Nanking's Blog

Well, I've just had my 2nd annual home winemakers party, and while I had a few unusual homebrews available (banana wheat, winter ale) I prefer to both make and consume wine (now) with adults... Why?  I've found that wine demands a slower appreciation of what you're drinking... the way a wine can change as it's being tasted.  While I love a good beer, I find that they still go down pretty fast and my need for a clear head in the morning is a must, so a slower style is for me.

  I started making wine 4 years or so ago, just because I was tired of making preserves (which only served my nephews and neices).  Thank god for the internet and a man named Jack Keller.  Like me he was a former Special Forces guy although his military record is stunning and puts me in awe.  He has an alphabetical listing of every fermentable form that can be found along with the awards he's won with them.  Recipe's are no different than cooking recipe's... And anyone with basic knowledge and a VERY CLEAN operation can make a wonderful wine.

This past weekend,  I was surprised that of all the wines I served, the one everyone seemed to like was the one I vowed never to make again... Lilac Flower wine!  Yes, it uses lots and lots of flower petals, and the only way I'm ever collecting enough again is if I can force my kids to pick them:)  The other wines were also appreciated: Strawberry, Cranberry, Blueberry, Asian pear, Cranberry/concord, Blueberry/concord, concord and Shiraz. 

Few things please me more than sending off someone with a bottle of my wine knowing that they truly appreciate the work that went into it... Now, if I could only get some of them to also start making some..... We'd have a really nice party next year!

How many of you really base your vote on how much is promised financially from a candidate?  I am troubled by the number of people who use hatred of corporations and CEO's and big this and big that to fuel the political campaign.  I own my own company, and yes it's a corporation, but I'm the only employee.  People use the term corporations as if they aren't made up of people who started with little and slowly built things up with good ideas and sound fiscal management into larger corporations employing thousands. 

  Granted, there are flies in the ointment... But America used to be a place where people aspired to become successful.  Now, it seems that more emphasis is based on how honorable it is to be less productive.  Politics will (in my opinion) soon reach a tipping point where the tax payers will become so much of a smaller percentage than the neutral or non tax payers, that the incentive to aspire to greatness will wither like out of reach fruit.

Atlas shrugged was a great omen

"who is John Gault?"

Well, I did it!  Thanks to the Governor and his increase in registration fees, I cancelled my personalized endangered species plates.  It was fun, and I justified having them as a personal identifier that I was a hunter and a conservationalist.... But no more!  Plate fees are insane. 

  Please chime in if you've given up yours also...  It will be interesting to see how much income (tax) the government will be losing because of the increase in fees.  The tipping point for me was this year.  I'm no longer a name.....

I feel like a number.............  (with a few letters thrown in)

PS. This might be a good news story.... look into it  wontcha?

Well, it's been a while... been busy with the family, work, hunting, wine & beer making and I felt the need to stop back and check the blogs.  What I found (at least politically) was still the same:  Bush haters squeeling louder (I didn't think possible), weather haters ( I'm getting there), and of course the upcoming election.  I'm gonna do something that still makes me grin when I think of it... I'm voting for Hillary in the primary!  This vote (ewww) is more out of desparation than anything else.  I personally think that Mc cain has a better chance of beating Hillary than Obama, and I'm encouraging all conservatives to climb on Hillary's abundant saddle and ride her to a Wisconsin victory! (Wretch)  Both her and Obama are sprinting towards socialist goals, and are throwing money around like a 20 y/0 pfc in Bangkok, "vote for me and you'll get this/ that and the other thing"

I usually vote for the person in the general election who'll tell me government will get the hell out of the way and let me pull my own weight, not how smooth the ride will be when we're all riding in back.

 

It will happen tomorrow, or maybe Friday, but I'll be darned if my Nanking Cherry bushes aren't about to explode with little popcorn shaped flowers up and down every branch in what I can only describe as "true spring".  As you probably can guess, I took my member name from my cherry bushes because those lovely bushes helped me get hooked on winemaking.  Just as the turning of the maple leaves in the fall give me the rush of adrenaline for impending bowhunting, so the cherry blossoms secure my hope for a fruitful summer.

  I think that if more people would take up activities that mark seasons: planting, hunting, sport seasons, etc... It would eleviate alot of the hopless feelings that some folks wind up enduring.  It sounds overly simple, but having something for each season to REALLY look forward to can give you hope... In a world where all you hear is how horrible everything is and how the end is near.  Hope springs eternal, and I'm all about looking for a reason to look ahead for the goodness.

Take a walk, look at all that's waking up from a long winters nap.... And follow its lead!

Steve

The recent Imus remarks and subsequent avalanche of calls for his firing are interesting.  I personally can't stand his tired blather compared to linear thinking conservative talkers, but I'm not sure he should lose his job because of it.  I think the market place should shun him, much like I understand some of his advertisers are.  In my world someone like him, or Mike Mcgee or the guy from Madison that called Condi Rice a ______ (name I can't use)  should be sifted from the pulblic by the screen of public demand, and or ignored. 

People need to be held accountable for what they say, and while he may lose his job, I think that the almost united slamming of him along with his (genuine?) apology should suffice.  Guys like him and Stern are feeding the lowest of the low with gruel that should be evaluated by all and ignored.... Then they'll go away.

I had the honor of meeting Phillipe Coquard, the man who runs the vineyards that make CedarCreek wines and it was more than a pleasure.  I had been busy with family/church events and missed the pruning lesson he gave last weekend.  I managed to get there just as he was cleaning up his demo vine, and showed him a pic of my vines along my arbor in the back yard and asked him for his pruning ideas.  He was so polite, cordial, and professional, that I was very impressed...

He complimented me on my vines and even expressed surprise at some of the varieties I have grown which aren't that cold hardy.  To make a long blog short... Cedar Creek Winery ran a fine open house and should be very proud of themselves.  In a business that (let's face it) has its snobs.... Cedar Creek stands tall.

Here's a tough one... How do you decide when to stop blowing the snow on your block?  When I was a kid, the only snow blower we had was my brother and me.  Now, I recieved a free blower from a friend and I enjoy it so much that I find it hard to decide where to end.  I remember looking out the window when I was young and praying "please mr. (blank), just this one time".  It very seldom happened but when it did, we loved that man.  So, at what point do you stop and turn it back towards your house?  Clearly this antique of a blower will not last long, but it is fun do get so much done so fast.

The kindness of Americans is only taken for granted by those who believe the gloomiest of reports.  This was taken of my brother handing out toys to kids waiting in line for an American/Jordanian hospital that got NO coverage by the media.  HMMMMM?

 

I have a problem with the way the argument of global warming is being framed.  At some point in human development, we've decided that everything must stay as is, and anything contrary to stasis is horrible.  Have people forgotten how the Darwinians claim we've evolved?  Species die, meteors strike and wipe out most life. Solar flares and an ever-aging sun will eventually enlarge and turn this world into vapor...  And yet, Al Gore declares that because of global warming of .07 degrees in 100 years, we are all in peril.  I have to laugh, and I'm sure God is laughing too at mans ego.  I have no reason to argue whether the earth is warming due to many things: Solar, sea currents, jet stream variants, volcanic activity, cow gas, etc...  But, it is our need to explore, evolve and move on technology wise that makes it imperitive that we stop this talk of stopping evolution or industrial revolution.  All these doomsday folks are playing to our fears, and yelling at anyone with alternative theories to "shut up".

When I was in middle school back in the 70's a biology teacher told me that I couldn't possibly become a truck driver (back then cbs were hot) because all the gas would be used up, and we'd have moved onto some agrarian utopia in his opinion.

He was wrong,

I'm driving on gas,

and man lives on

The great thing about winemaking is the endless varieties you can create, and not one will taste exactly like the next.  I've made the decision that once a few of my carboys of: Cranberry, Cranberry/concord, strawberry, lilac, pear, blueberry, and blueberry/concord are empty... I will take on making either a sparkling mead or another sparkling wine from a bevy of recipe's I've found.  The only problem with making champagne is that you need champagne bottles unless you want glass grenades laying around the winerack waiting to explode!!  Wine bottles are not reinforced like champagne bottles are.  The only problem is that New Years Eve celebrations are the best place to get them and recycle them for use by the home winemaker.  I'll probably do a 6 gallon batch which means 30 bottles will be needed.  I think I'll talk to some people who are getting married or maybe I'll get a reception hall to save some for me.   Sometimes winemaking, like hunting... The preparation and anticipation are the best parts.   Anyone else who enjoys this hobby, please weigh in on your experiences.

  I only hope that this ultra cold weather hasn't damaged my grapes in the back yard... A few of them are on the edge of the climate zone parameter.

I work outside for a living as an owner operator. It's hard on the back, but it keeps you in shape. God has a funny way of evening out all that sweet 70 degree days with the 90+ and the -30 doesn't he? My mustache was coated with frozen breaths today forming stalagtytes galore!! I honestly didn't mind it too much except for the feet and fingers. They are the first body parts to start screaming.
I'm always amazed at some of the kids walking into the mall during days like this. No coat, no hat, and dressed like it's 70. I always think wouldn't it be funny when they go out to their car and the lock is frozen, or the car won't start and they have to put freezing coats on, if they even have them in their cars? Oh well, I guess that's the price you have to pay to look trendy walking into stores to buy 75 dollar pre-ripped oil faded jeans. LOL
Tomorrow doesn't look much better... wish me luck

Well, let's see...It's -25 and I'm not fond of frozen mustaches so I thought today would be a good day to transfer a few batches of wine that have waited a few months. Asian pear wine made from the giant asian pear tree in the back has had a long time to clear and is taking it's sweet time. Every racking leaves a little more sedement behind though and Much like the apple wine I made last year, its color will apparently be yellow. I also transferred 10gal of my blueberry wine into two 5gal carboys and they are still bubbling away,,,though, much slower than at first.
This hobby is quite addicting, partly because of its ease to make it your own. What I mean is it's as hard as you want it to be. You can make wonderful clear wines with ease or you can make something hard and sassy to mix with some 7up. It just takes time.
I sit here for my first post, sipping from 2005's pineapple wine wondering a few things though...

Where are the good news stories about Iraq and Afghanistan? I've sent some from family who are serving over there to the papers and all I get is "we've done that type of story before". Well, they sure as hell cover every IED that goes off in a fruit stand don't they? My brother...Over a year ago gave the opening speech for the US for a US/Jordanian hospital that opened in Mazur E Shariff and it didn't make the news even though the US turned a crap hole clinic into a hospital that treats 600 people a day. I was willing to send pics to the Journal but they said no thanks.....Go figure.
Kinda makes you wonder why everyone is sick of the news from Iraq and Afghan.?