What a good day feels like

Today was a good day, and tonight I'm doing a bit of work .... although I'm not doing much of anything because I have to search for a missing cd of data in the basement. Searching the basement is yucky.

A good day started with getting to mass on time with a minimum of fuss, and a homily that wasn't preachy and which was relevant. A good day took the kiddies to yoga right after mass, and mum and dad home to make plans for the rest of the day. A good day then picked up the kiddies after their yoga class and then went out for brunch/lunch and had chicken coriander that is consistently fantastic.

Then a good day dropped the kids off at Zia's, and drove to Niagara to get some wine. Wine that had to be tasted first of course, and then cases had to be bought. 30 Bench had a wine "event" where they're releasing some of their 2007's....and last year was a banner year in Niagara, so most of what we tasted was quite good. They also had a little pinot noir rose that will go nicely in the hot sun this summer, and we bought a case of that. Then over to Hidden Bench, where they were only pouring whites. The fume blanc from 2006 is excellent, and their estate riesling (also 2006) can sit for a bit but is nice. We did end up with a lot of white wine today, just because there aren't a lot of reds out this early in the summer.

Off to Organized Crime, where we were berated for having ruined our palates on all that heavy oaky phlagh...and where a pinot gris was surprisingly good (we were also slapped for turning up our noses at even tasting the stuff, never mind buying it) and the rose was again, quite nice.

Finally to Alvento, where friends of ours had visited the weekend before. Our friends are distinctive, not just because E is very small and S is quite a bit bigger than her, but because they were on about having come down to Niagara not just for the wine, but also to buy a new rabbit. They keep rabbits as pets, I see them as food; to each his own. Anyway, at Alvento their 2004 Elige was very harsh, but the 2005 was lovely, as was the viognier. We went to the back to sample the 2007's out of the barrels, and as expected, both the merlot and the cabernet franc were making sultry promises for later. The chardonnay out of the barrel was still carbonated, so a bit like champagne, hadn't even been filtered yet.

After that, we'd tasted about 15 wines and still had to drive 1.5h home, so left with our car full. Kids were next door at Zio's, we ordered pizza and discussed with Big One why some kids turn out okay and some have a lot more difficulty. She is a good conversationalist, especially when it comes to discussing the behaviour of others. The pizza was definitely the low point of the day.

A good day makes the rest of the week easier to face.