Clear and Crisp and The Bundle Up Cycling Blues: Wednesday, February 12th!

The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. -Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (12 Feb 1809-1882) 

Bright and sunny today so I'm just waiting for it to warm up before I go for a ride. Don't want to worry about any skims of ice that might be on the roads. We have an appointment at RBC, at 1:15 pm, to sign papers for the line-of-credit we arranged to use as a "back-up" for completion of Chloë's basement suite. I'll ride to bank, to meet Lady Darjeeling who will have her servants deliver her in a palanquin, encrusted with rubies and diamonds, and when finished there start my "official" ride. Mike started framing on Monday and has been hammering away ever since. The Sisterhood have purchased the appliances and most of fixtures for both kitchen and bathroom so things are well underway.

I'll need to be quick about ride as Rita and Bill are coming for dinner this evening, at 6:00 pm. [He had his still operating on Monday so perhaps he'll bring some of his latest moonshine!] On a Greek theme, we are planning to serve fried Haloumi, with sliced tomatoes, for an appetizer, followed by lamb and lemon/Feta potatoes, with zucchini. Rita offered to bring something so Lady Dar requested a gluten-free dessert, [Rita makes fabulous biscotti as well!], although I really wanted to have Aberlour a'bunadh, 60%, my dessert malt, as it really is like a high octane treacle! 

Laela Jade made a very fast entrance into the world at 4:09am this morning! She weighs 7lbs 5oz and is 20 3/4” long! She already loves her brother and squawks at him steady and looks like his twin! Everyone is doing well and we are excited to continue on this journey with another baby!!

With the bright sunshine today, I took the opportunity to go for a ride. While most of the main streets are now ice-free I had to be somewhat careful, at times, as there were small skims of black ice, particularly where roads were shaded. Wind was really not a factor as it was only blowing out of the N at 3 km/h, gusting to 6 km/h. Anyway, I dipsy-doodled my way, following my tried and true route regulare, [PTC, etc.], hamster-wheeling myself for the duration of the glorious outing. Even bumped into Thomasino, walking along Lakeshore, [at times, gulls filled the sky along the water's edge], which is often his route regulare, whom I met on the bike trip in Poland in 2018. He and Carol, his wife, live in Naramata, and are a lovely couple. Aside from anything else I was pleased about AVG. Clawing my way towards 20 km/h, I hope! Onward! Fight!!Map and Stats for ride: 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4544156141#.XkSeIoUKw6o.email

Thank you and Corrine for a wonderful evening. Dinner and company so much appreciated. Hi Chocolate Dessert & Brandy People! Thank you both for the lovely, generous contributions and the more than delightful, pleasant, fun-filled evening. See you at The Kitchen Sink tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again for coming. Fondestos to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Trust mother-board installation goes well! Then you must use a razor scraper to clean all the accumulated creosote from the glass platen of your fireplace. Remember a bit of moistened newspaper, rubbed in the ash, will work more than wonders on the glass! Will hardly have to use any elbow grease tomorrow morning as platen was still almost completely clear before I loaded last few pieces of firewood before going to bed to read for an hour or so before switching off bed-side lamp! Pics: Dinner with The Lovely Rita and Guillermo Salvaje! 

Maybe we could split the cost…? Kevin Hi Kevin, et al! Thanks for making me feel inordinately depressed! Quite a story! For my part, I certainly cannot complain as I just received a bottle of moonshine! When over for dinner this evening, good friend, Bill, presented me with a bottle of his "brandy", currently going for over $2 million! Stay well. Thanks and Cheers, Patrizzio! Pic: Local hootch!

 

https://coolmaterial.com/food-drink/the-worlds-largest-whisky-collection-is-now-for-sale-by-the-bottle/?utm_source=CM+Shop+List&utm_campaign=d4a2d5f0e7-RSS_DAILY_EMAIL&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6704d3e7f3-d4a2d5f0e7-299991065&mc_cid=d4a2d5f0e7&mc_eid=92cacf5a59


I watched the amazing video and liked Charles McClean introducing himself as a person “who drinks for a living”!!😉what an astounding collection!!! And a magnificent arrangement and display. His home must be spectacular, as we only see the whiskey library🥃peace/Colin
 

Richard Gooding was a Denver businessman that made a considerable fortune selling soda back in the day. More importantly, he was a man after our own hearts because he chose to invest decades of his time and money hunting down rare bottles of whiskey to create “The Perfect Collection” that is now up for grabs by the bottle thanks to Whisky Auctioneer.
 

Gooding puts everyone who thinks they have a great collection to shame because his includes almost 4,000 bottles of some of the rarest and most sought after whisky ever produced. 

Glenfiddich from 1937. Campbeltown from 1919. Balvenie 50 years old. Dozens of Black, Gold and White Bowmore from 1964. 

The Macallan in Lalique from numerous years. There’s also a 1926 Macallan Valerio Adami (that’s currently going for more than a million bucks by itself), 1926 Macallan Fine & Rare and, well, the rest of the largest collection of The Macallan ever to go to auction. 

This man did not assemble a collection, he assembled the whisky equivalent of the Library of Alexandria.

Laela Jade!

Hi Kimberlee! Congratulations, indeed, on the birth of Laela Jade! What a beauty! You seem to have had little difficulty with her birth so trust this was the case. All of us here are more than delighted with this wonderful news so hearty, hearty congratulations again, to all the family. Rowan James sends his best wishes as well and can hardly wait to meet his cousins, at whatever remove! Stay well. Fondestos and Cheers, from everyone here in Penticton and LA! Patrizzio!
 
Welcome to the World, Laela Jade! Hip Hip Hooray!! For She's a Jolly Good Fellow! Love, Corinne and Patrick!
 

Please, O Please, Won't you be my Valentine? A secret, very bashful admirer!