On a Clear Day ...

Which the day after Thanksgiving was not. How is it that there always seems to be such foul weather at the Holidays? But some friends and I headed east towards Slovenia to tour two wineries that were in the Udine/Trieste region. Braving the snow and rain we stopped first at the Bressan winery. Owned by the Bressan Family for 10 generations and currently overseen by Fulvio Bressan it has been in active production since 1726 and creates some of the finest wines in Europe. He is leaving Tuesday for Vienna to recieve an award from the European Union that says this ... so it is not just me. Although I would drink his wine for the rest of my life quite willingly.

The majority of the grapes that he grows are specific to the Friuli region: Tocai Friulano, Malvasia, Ribolla Gialla,Schiopettino and the legendary Pignol which is on it's way to extinction. He uses no chemicals and no synthetic fertilisers and no industrial yeasts. There is much more information at:  http://bressanwines.com/.


Stop two was to Castelvecchio (the "Old Castle") in Gorizia on the Slovinean border. There we toured the cellars. Entering though here:

A bit tough for the claustrophobic. And so down this shaft for a bit and then you come upon:

Lovely isn't it? When these cellars were dug out there was quite a cache of old Roman coins discovered. The wines here were also quite tasty although I am afraid that we should have come here first as the Bressan wines are impossible to follow. The homemade prosciutto crudo was wonderful as was the Sagrado Rosso, a wine they are quite well known for. The Viila has is being renovated and is beautiful ... and careful attention has been paid to the mosaics on the floors.

In other news. I have finished my designs for the "What Would Madame DeFarge Knit?" book that is coming from CraftLit in February. I am trying to finish the test knit on one last item and then it will be time to start on some new designs that have been floating round in my head and on bits of paper in my office for the last month or so. While I was knitting I was listening to a new audio book:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I listened to the Audible.com one but am going to order the book to have. It was wonderful and I was very sorry to see it end. I think it should be a movie.

A foggy landscape
Fond memories of my home
Hanging on the wall.

Gainful Employment

I am a bit jealous. It's a hard thing to admit ... but I am jealous of JennietheDog. You see, while I am not allowed to seek gainful employment here, she has already found a job and settled right in. She is in training to be a Therapy Dog and so she is working at the local library helping the kids who come in to improve their reading skills.

Here she is on a Saturday being read to by a young girl. Today she goes to help the preschoolers. She loves her job since it means that sometimes she gets to be petted and sometimes they read her to sleep. It's a hard job ... but some puppy has to do it. Here she is hanging with her new friends just before she heads in to work.

We are off to work ... she still can't drive ... it's that "no opposable thumbs" thing. But if I get some good pictures I will update this when I get home.