A Wine Tasting

I'm a bit fuzzy-headed this morning, having been to a wine-tasting event at a colleague's house last night. She knows a guy who -- for a fee, obviously -- will come around with ten different wines and all the required glassware, and put everyone through their paces. In our case, we tried four whites, four reds and two British sparkling wines. There was no spitting. And yes, we talked about swirling the wine in the glass, and the "nose," and tannins, and all the different tasting notes of citrus and vanilla and blackberries.

But it wasn't at all stuffy -- in fact, we got a bit loud and silly. It's a fun way to have a party, actually. You'd think nine teachers would be well-behaved in a learning environment, but not when alcohol is involved! (Maybe not ever.)

I stumbled home to find that Olga, sometime during the day, had damaged one of the two amaryllis plants that has sent up a flower stalk this spring. The amaryllis sit in a pot at the garden door, and my guess is a fox or squirrel went by outside and she went ballistic. So the jury is out on whether that flower stalk will survive.

(In fact, this is the first year that all four of our amaryllis aren't blooming. I guess they need a rest now and then!)

And now, I really must do my French homework.

(Photo: A former jazz club in West Hampstead that has been closed for several months. From the way the sunlight is passing through the building, it looks like it's completely gutted inside. The signs say the building has been sold, but we've seen no obvious indication of what's moving in next.)