May 29, 2022
Sunday May 22nd and Birthday #2
A beautiful start to the day. All three families out for a swim. Bottom right, family and two babies.
Took the triplets for a walk around our park.
Showed off our garden, these are the radish seeds. Peas and beets are up. Sadly our beans do not appear to have germinated. It has been so wet and cold.
Gorgeous pink dogwood tree.
One of the many trails here in the park.
First winery of the day. They have an outdoor tasting table for those with pups. You can barely see Colin’a head above my purse. They even put fresh water in the dog bowl just to the left of Josh for the girls. 50th Parallel used to be my favourite. I love their Pinot Gris and Colin used to send me a case or two for my birthday. I really only wanted to have a glass of my favourite wine but they said no, I could only do the tasting as they do not sell individual glasses as it was illegal unless seated in their restaurant. I explained that we have a long history with the winery as Colin had been their main photographer in their first few years. No go. So then I asked that instead of the five individual tastings that they give me five shots of the Pinot Gris. No go. She did give me an extra shot when I told her that it was my birthday. I did not even purchase a bottle.
Colin and the girls sitting in the shade behind the tasting bar. They were so patient.
Next stop was Gray Monk Winery. After we parked we sent Pauline & Josh inside for the tasting while we sat on a bench outside with the three girls, in the shade. Today was our very first almost hot day this year. We got up to 22C/71.6F on May 22nd. I was familiar with this winery and as I was feeling tired ( I don’t have the stamina that I used to – today was day three of entertaining ) It was enjoyable to just sit. This winery as well as the 50th Parallel have wonderful views of Okanagan Lake. It was a near perfect day. Sadly Gray Monk was very busy this May long weekend and the wait for a tasting was just over thirty minutes. So we moved on.
We stopped at Arrowleaf Winery, great place to take guests. Due to Covid they had shut down their restaurant and now were offering tastings on the patio. Arrowleaf has always had a huge area with picnic tables over looking the lake. Folks are welcome to bring their own picnic lunch ( or buy something for the restaurant when open ) and purchase wine to consume in this lovely area. I finally got my birthday wish, to sit outside in the sun overlooking the lovely vista and enjoy a full glass of Pinot Gris. I had Ciela with me while Colin had to walk away to keep the other two quiet. I loved my glass of wine and the freedom of the moment but missed having Colin with me. We are going to do this again in the near future.
Back home and time for appies. Not sure but I think Sequoia is at the bottom of the heap.
Not enough time to sit on the patio. Colin made the marinade while I cleaned our very special shrimp from Mexico.
Nothing like three dogs underfoot next to the kitchen.
Pauline tried to get the girls involved in a game of chase the bubbles.
My third dinner was yet another success.
Sequoia and her parents left Monday the 23rd. I spent the day just sitting in my recliner relaxing. Colin surprised me with my favourite Nanaimo bars and Happy Birthday streamers all over the house. I can’t recall what we had for dinner but likely leftovers from the past few days. It took me until Wednesday to get back to my normal energy level. I guess that after Covid I am not up to entertaining so much. Three days in a row was too much for me. Getting old I guess, not looking forward to next year and 70.
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Happy Birthday, Contessa!!!!
I know what you mean about not having the energy to entertain anymore, half a day is more than enough for me…
I’m so happy you got to enjoy your glass of wine in such a beautiful setting.
love reading your blog
Catheline
It was a wonderful weekend! Food, wine, margaritas & of course the best hosts with 2 adorable doxies! Thank you so much! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Your picture of the dogwood turned out so much better than mine did.
Arrowleaf winery was amazing! I hope you can get back soon so that Colin can try their red “Field Collection” it was the most interesting red I had all weekend. The others we tasted I enjoyed too.
The comic is cute 😉
Happy Birthday! The wineries look like fun, especially with the views you had. Hope you had a great day!
Looks like it was a great visit!
Belated Happy Birthday. Every year seems to get harder.
Looks like the Visits were a success.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It’s about time.
You have definitely been busy! Arrowleaf is my favorite winery, I’m glad you enjoyed your time there.
Belated “Happy Birthday” Hey turning 70 isn’t bad. Your doctors find more things to give you pills to take and more reasons to send you to a Phlebotomist to have more Blood Lab work done. Happy Birthday.