Sunshine Valley Sunbeam and Bartier Brothers Blues: Tuesday, July 17th!

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph. -Haile Selassie, regent of Ethiopia (23 Jul 1892-1975)

Hi Chooch! Sorry I wasn't able to connect when at Folk Fest. Try this for an ice-breaker! Yesterday, shortly after we unloaded, at Spirit Ridge. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Great ice-breaker. Really sorry we couldn"t be there with you all. Super sad news. Paulette's nephew died of malnutrition yesterday. He was 28 years old. Hug each other and be thankful!!! Love xoxo Ciao, Patrizzio! Back from the wilds of Memphis, sporting a broken baby toe – it was definitely an adventure at Graceland! Wanted to follow up with you, as my trip is drawing near! I would love, love, love to meet and taste with Senka if she has time. What is the name of her winery? Would also love some recommendations of places to eat…I’m a foodie as much as a wino! ☺ Thank you! And of course, artists/art galleries to visit…and must schedule some time to come meet all of YOU, of course! Thanks so much, and see y’all soon! Cheers, OKJane  

Hi OK Jane! Sorry to learn of your broken baby toe! I'm sure it is still very painful. Most people don't realize just how debilitating such an injury can be. Anyway, I trust you are on the mend. I apologize for not replying sooner but life has been extremely hectic ever since we returned from the Folk Fest in Vancouver, a little over a week ago. Senka and her husband, Bob, own Terravista: [https://www.terravistavineyards.com/contact/] Again, let me know your dates for Penticton/Naramata and we'll plan accordingly. Fondestos from Commandant Coriandre, a fellow broken toe sufferer, to you, Jane. Cheers, Patrizzio!

This morning we drove down to Osoyoos, with Colleen and Al, to spend three nights at our "fractional condo", [A recreational property we bought last November, in a resort called Spirit Ridge, which allows us two weeks occupancy every six weeks, if we choose to stay. If not, suite goes into rental pool and we receive revenue based on total occupancy rate for entire resort over the fiscal year. Chloë, and three of her girlfriends spent the weekend there while we were at the Folk Fest and she stayed to visit, at the pool, before she left for home.

 

This morning, Summer Kitchen Chef did a wonderful breakfast on bbq, back bacon and omelette with our own garlic scapes. Lady Dar had a few errands to do before we left for Spirit Ridge so while she was out Big Al helped me reconfigure one of the rain barrels on the back patio. I had never been happy with how run-off was directed once barrel was filled and Al came up with an elegant solution. He changed down-spout so water from eaves-trough went directly into barrel and then connected a garden hose to overflow outlet so that excess water will now flow, through hose, all the way to storm grate in back lane, just beyond our fence. 
 

I have yet to bury hose between barrel and fence as we use this walkway, to front of house, and don't want to have hose as something easy to trip over. Other than that I'm delighted that excess water will now not run over and under carpet we have in sitting area around fire-pit area. Big news on kitchen front is that all of the walls and half of the living room ceiling have been painted. Most of cabinets will be delivered today and island/stove top tomorrow, with actual installation to begin on Friday. 
 

As it happens, we will be driving back to Penticton on Friday for a meeting with bank over Chloë's mortgage, [Big news, on this front, is that she had a call yesterday to say she will be able to move in to her Sendero Canyon townhouse on August 8th, walk-through on August 2nd! Everyone is ecstatic, for obvious reasons!!! Furthermore she passed her exam, taken last Tuesday, so she is now a licensed Strata Manager!], as well as to attend Poplar Grove's wine club appreciation party that night. Colleen and Al will pop by to see how kitchen is progressing as they will be en route to Salmon Arm to spend a few days with friends there, as part of their holiday, before heading home.

Not sure if we will head back to Spirit Ridge on Sunday or Monday, as Upper Bench's wine club appreciation bash is on on Saturday night!. Will depend, in large part, if Lady Dar is needed to answer questions about rest of cabinets, flooring, new appliances, etc. Anyway, very, very pleased that things are moving along. Funnily enough, I have really been enjoying doing dishes, here at Spirit Ridge where we don't have to use one of the bathroom sinks!

At any rate, when we had loaded both cars we left Burns Street around 2:30 pm. Stopped briefly at Swagman, bike rack company, to have my bike rack replaced. This is the third rack. When we bought the MarriageMobile, two years ago, I bought the first one and was very pleased with it. A year later, I noticed rust bubbles beginning to appear and planned to stop by company offices to see what might be suggested. Before I could do this Lady Dar was picking up car, from GM dealership, where it had had an oil-change, and a chap approached her, noticing rust on rack. Turned out he was sales manager and told her that there had been a problem with powder coating so company would replace rack. Delighted, of course, to hear this I took car in a few days later and had brand-spanking new, higher end model installed!

Then, last March, when we were back from our holiday in Costa Rica/US, I noticed some rust streaks on our back driveway but didn't think much about them, at the time. However, next time I needed to use rack I couldn't move one of the arms used to hold bike in place. Put 3D oil on the swivel joint but to no avail. Back to Swagman and as soon as I described problem chap I was dealing with knew what problem was. This time there was a problem with the swivel joints used by manufacturer! As this was in early April, new stock was not expected until May and I knew I'd be in Europe by then. Didn't really matter, of course, so I said I'd do exchange, when back. So this is what I did. Wonder how long this rack will last!

 

Then on to Painted Rock for first tasting after which on to OK Falls, to Noble Ridge, as we had a wine release to collect. Enjoyed a great tasting there before continuing on to Oliver, taking Black Sage Road to Bartier Brothers where we had another release to collect. Arrived minutes before closing time at 5:00 pm so had Tasting Room all to ourselves. Staff there are wonderfully friendly so we had a blast before making for Osoyoos. Stopped at a fruit stand just outside property, on Chloë's advice, to buy some vegetables and delicious samosas. More unloading once at Sage, our building, and then directly to Adult Pool for msot refreshing swim/hot tub. Chloë left before us as she was heading back home. Sarge was already there as he was spending night. He was collecting his to granddaughters, Avery and Ashlynn, this morning to bring them to Spirit Ridge. They will be in our suite/pool for most of day as their suite won't be ready until 4:00 pm. Lady Dar, with our help, will be doing dinner for ten this evening: Joe/Heather, (Sarge's uncle and wife, from Chilliwack), and Rebecca, mother of A/A. Corey and Flamin' will arrive tomorrow and then rest of Clan Sutherland, mainly from Kamloops, will descend so riot police are already on alert!