September has been busy

Back on to this blog after almost 3 weeks.  Man this month has been busy.

Where do I start?

Busy Crowd

The start of the school year went actually quite smooth.  We have finally got a good team in place with the wine and beer areas. 

First weekend of September was the Niagara Food Festival.



I went there on the Friday night to see it all set up and running smooth.  Had a couple of drinks with Dorita and her husband, Craig and the Olsons. 

I noticed a storm coming in on my app MyRadar and it looked like a doozy.  As I was walking to my car Craig texted me to stop in at the Olson's house for a small impromptu party.  Well after trying to figure out how to get to there home (lots of road closures in Welland) I arrived and knew most of the people there.  Michael was grilling steak, grilling bread then putting tomatoe puree on it with thick slices of smoked bacon.   Damn it was good.  He also had some very cool craft beers.    The coolest was Fucking Hell. 

Fucking Hell is a German Pilsner or pale lager. It is named after the village of Fucking in Austria. It is brewed by the Waldhaus Brewery located in the Black Forest.  The beer's name (which also plays on hell, the German word for 'pale' and a typical description of this kind of beer) was initially controversial. Both the local authorities in Fucking and the European Union's Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office initially objected to the name. It was eventually accepted and the lager is now sold internationally.

During the next week we had loads of activity happening.

On the Monday, students picked Chardonnay grapes for our Sparkling Wine Project.  The grapes came in real clean and looks like a great year for sparkling.  It was a sunny and warm day and I think the students had a blast. 

Later that week Ron G. organized a “Grape Stomp”.  Again the students had a good time pressing the grapes the old fashion way.  The bees were all over the place and it was again warm out and sunny. 

Getting the juice

The same week the teaching brewery released a new growler.  A growler is a glass or ceramic jug used to transport draft beer.  They are commonly sold at breweries and brewpubs as a means to sell take-out craft beer.   Growlers are generally made of glass and have either a screw-on cap or a hinged porcelain gasket cap, which can provide freshness for a week or more.

I went golfing in a tournament at Peninsula Lakes with Bruce, Tony and Norm.  On the way to the game it was raining CATS AND DOGS.  I was wondering to myself, holy shit what am I doing here?  We then got lucky.  It stopped raining 10 minutes before we teed off.  Thank god it stopped raining because it would have been an awful day if it kept up.  I golfed like shit and Bruce won the day. 

That night I met Karen at Peter’s house because Peter T. was throwing a 60^th birthday party for his partner Peter R.   His big present of the night was a wood fired pizza oven.  WOW what a cool gift.

A couple of hotties staying warm

Peter T’s backyard is so beautiful (it has been featured in the Toronto Star) and he even has an outdoor gas fireplace.  Karen and Shelley hogged the fireplace most of the evening. 

A few days later Karen got ready for a whirlwind trip to Turks and Cacos, Granada and Bahamas.  She had a great time even with her 14 hour delay at the Rochester airport to leave.  On one day she had breakfast in Turks and Cacos, lunch in Granada and dinner in the Bahamas.  WOW she has some cool business trips.

Well the time has come for the start of the Niagara Wine Festival.  I attended the announcement of the new Grape King (Kevin Buis) at Peller Estates Winery.  Apparently you could see me drinking wine on the news that night.

Crowd to see Rick Hansen

The next day I attended the kickoff luncheon for the festival at Club Roma.   Always a sold out affair (about 300 people) and the guest speaker this year was Rick Hansen.  Rick did a speech that was the most inspiring thing that I have ever heard.  He is truly a Canadian Hero.

On the Friday night I attended the RBC awards.  These awards recognise different people and wineries for their contributions.  I was happy to see that John Potts got an award for his dedication to the wine festival.  He is a good man.

Later that night I went to Peter Secord’s home for a fund raising event to raise money for his run at mayor of St. Catharines.  Peter’s good friend was there as well, Bruce Croxon.  Bruce is a Dragon from TV’s Dragon Den and a very successful entrepreneur.  He is also a nice guy and I had the chance to chat with him that evening.  I wish I had gotten a picture with him though. 

That night Karen went to see Enrique Iglesias in concert in Toronto.  She went with her friend Terri Lynn Crawsley (TLC) and they spent the night in a hotel close to the Air Canada Centre.  She also saw Pit Bull and had an absolute blast.

The next day I went over the river to replace shoes that my lovely evil dog Lucifer ate.  When I got back I went to the park to check things out.  Karen showed up there and the rest is history.  Around 9pm we both staggered to my sister Nancy’s house and a couple of more drinks with Ron and her and then Nancy drove us home.   Reminds me of a day in Mexico when Karen and I drank tequila together.  Hmmmmmm.

"Happy" Couple

Next morning Dustin drove us to get our cars and I went golfing at Royal Niagara with Bruce.  Again I golfed like shit.  (have some great holes and then fall apart on others).  I have decided that I have to get out more and golf. 

Well that is it for now.  Been busy and fun.  Let us see what the fall has in store for us.