Winnipeg Street and The Gatekeeper Blues: Friday, January 31st!

“Red hair is great. It's rare, and therefore superior.” ― Augusten Burroughs 

“If you're betwixt and between, trust the one with red hair.” ― O.R. Melling, The Hunter's Moon “While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads are descended from cats.” ― Mark Twain 

Hello Carrot-Top Minders! What a great snap of The Boy! Lovely, lovely smile!!! He seems pretty happy with the attention so life on Harvard, and in Winnipeg, must be agreeing with him. How did Marlo's Celebration of Life go? 

This morning I didn't see Duke until I went to the bathroom, around 5:00 am, when both he and Etta came in to drink from the sink. I went back to bed and I heard a skirmish around 6:00 am and then quiet. Just after 7:00 am Duke plunked himself on top of me, [Etta was sleeping on blanket.], and I was "forced" to stay in bed until 9:30 am! Even when I slid out from under him, he stayed curled up and is still there! Miss Etta, of course, was waiting for breakfast as soon as I came into kitchen. Plan to go for a ride a little bit later. It rained last night so I'm waiting for the streets to dry out. Looks pretty good already and sun is trying to break through the cloud cover. Will head back over to Winnipeg Street later to check mail, clean stove and work on gate pulls. Fondestos and Love to one and all. Cheers, Dad/Patrizzio! Pics: Deer, Dream and Felines!
 

Hello Patrick, I just spoke to Laxmi, and she is very interested in your kind donations. Yes,we had a nice and long snowshoe yesterday, and are off to Apex now for some downhill as long as the legs hold out. If we are out skiing on Monday please put at the front door. See you all on Monday. Jos

Scientists discover how to accurately date rare bottles of Scotch whisky and say nearly half are fakes | National Post In the event you missed this....✌️🥃colin https://nationalpost.com/news/scientists-discover-how-to-accurately-date-rare-bottles-of-scotch-whisky-and-find-treasure-trove-of-fakes 

Hi Colin! Quite enjoyed article on "fake" malts! I knew a little about similar scams with rare wine but wasn't aware of this with respect to malt. Fortunately, my budget doesn't allow me to fall prey to the fraudsters! Just picked up a Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength, 60%, to drown my sorrows while all alone! Everything seems to be going extremely well, in Winnipeg, given sad circumstances. Thanks to Noreen, Liam and Kevin for their more than generous help. Fondestos to one and all. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Lady Dar sent snap this morning, shortly after Rowan James had his bath! Real Malt! Noreen's carpet:) I love Ayn's post from Noreen's today.


Hi Deanna! I'm unable to open the January 2020 Spirit Ridge newsletter. Is there any reason file has a "pptx" tag? Thanks and Cheers, Patrizzio!

After I was up and had jolted myself awake I spent most of the rest of the morning messaging while watching the continuing Impeachment coverage, shaking my head, again and again, at the Republican Senators/President's Defense Counsel, shameful refusal to acknowledge the need to have witnesses and documents if this trail was to be considered a trial at all. At any rate, it was just before 2:00 pm when I set out. Having scoped the forecast I knew the wind out of the SSE at 28 Km/h, gusting to 41 km/h, temperature around 6º C, so it certainly seemed like another route regualre, Dear Reader! 

In fact, I followed almost exactly the same route I'd ridden on Wednesday when the wind was even fiercer. A few minor differences, an additional mini-loop here, an extra dipsy-doodle there, but otherwise I let the autopilot do all the work, following the streets it knew offered maximum shelter and just sat back and ticked off the distance. 

By the time I'd completed two, seven circuits worth of the Churchill loop I headed back to PTC and, much to my surprise, it started to become quite dark. At first I couldn't figure out why this was the case and thought I'd worn dark sunglasses as opposed to ones with clear lenses. Then I quickly realized that a fog-like mist had descended upon the north end of the city, enveloping everything. Although it was well before 4:00 pm all the cars had their lights on and the streetlights along Lakeshore flickered into life. Actually, I quite enjoyed the sensation and imagined I was a character in The Hounds of the Baskervilles, lost in the thick fog of the moors. Last time I had ridden in such circumstances was when we happened to be house-sitting for Lurch and Grogg and for a couple of weeks the fog was so thick that planes could not land at the Nanaimo Airport. More recently than that, I'd encountered somewhat the same shrouding mist in August of 2013 when we did a house-exchange in Cornwall. Anyway, today's conditions brought back very fond memories and these thoughts spurred me along.

One last series of loops, 3, of the the marina and PTC and I was ready for last few circuits of Churchill. By the time I was back along Lakeshore the sun broke through the clouds and the mist had almost completely dissipated, along low-flying clouds clung to the surrounding hills, completely obscuring their tops. Made the last leg of the outing, along WWW, towards home, even more enjoyable, in spite of the maddening wind. Not sure if these are atypical as I've never had the opportunity to ride, here in Penticton, at this time of year. Still, very, very happy to be able to do so even if I'm bucking puffed-cheek Aeolus much of the time. Cheers! Map and Stats for ride: 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4500018138#.XjTY_5UvfNI.email

Hi Year of the Rat People! Thanks very much for your lovely, lovely Lunar New Year's card. Sorry to learn about Colin's nasty cold and trust he is feeling better by now. Please wish Ron Jobe well with his hip surgery on February 3rd. Lady Dar, Chloë/Rowan James return from Winnipeg that afternoon so I will be driving up to Kelowna to collect them. Thanks, as well, for the UBC article on replacement varietals. Many of the ones that could be planted are favourites of mine so I'd be happy to see them grown here, although underlying reason is very disturbing, of course. In case Colin has not seen this, here is a link to an interesting scam:

Scientists discover how to accurately date rare bottles of Scotch whisky and say nearly half are fakes | National Post nationalpost.com Bottles of old and rare single malt Scotch have become increasingly popular among the rich. But the scientists put the number of fakes at 'approaching half'

Everything seems to be going extremely well, in Winnipeg, given sad circumstances. There stay has been made very comfortable, thanks to the generosity of Famiglia Sanders: Noreen, (Maya's grandmother), is letting C/C/RJ and Ayn stay at her place as she is in Courtenay visiting her son Kevin. He offered the use of his Volvo while there. He has a construction business in Winnipeg so travels between both places, fairly regularly. Liam, his younger brother, works for him there and arranged to have the vehicle waiting outside Noreen's palace.


Must away as the fire needs another log and Longmire needs watching while I sip Bourbon, in deference to Montana, where series takes place! Stay well. Fondestos to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Etta and Duke this morning! At this rate I won't have to make the bed until Lady Dar returns! PS: Speaking of India, have you seen Janet's blog? New entry on Janet’s India Blog: “Fine Dining in Delhi”: <janettomkins.wordpress.com>