cat shepard

Linda, I agree with Sandi @StLouisCruisers, you seem so happy in your new life! Good luck in the Chili Cook Off!

Thank you for getting this right! I had the wrong date marked. 😞

@Crazy For Cats Happy Birthday, Jake! May your new year be filled with love, laughter, great health & cruises!

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! Thank you for taking us with you, Roy & keeping the lists even on the high seas. Congrats on getting your 5⭐️ Pin! Zumba, gardening, and then an evening get together with friends. The sun is bright in the sky and there is a cool feel in the air. Perhaps Fall has returned. I should save this for Bike Week, but…. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! ******** Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc~Viognier White Blend All released vintages of this lovely wine share the same very good - excellent reviews and reasonable prices. Consumers love it too! This is one of my two favorite white blends. Great for just sipping, or with a meal. I found numerous online distributors with prices starting at $9.99. Wine Enthusiast, 90 This fragrant, stylish blend of Chenin Blanc and Viognier is the type of dry white I wish more California wineries would focus on. Think of a spring flower garden oozing with melon and citrus blossom notes. Fresh, light to medium-bodied, and dry, it is a food-friendly white to enjoy as an aperitif or with food.

Bon Voyage! @summer slope & @StLouisCruisers hope you can share some of your adventures on the Daily!

@CHIEFWINEMAKER Welcome to the Daily! Love your “code name”. Ann

Lenda First, this is the perfect place to rant/vent! You need to release that emotion. And darn, you and Steve have every right to be angry. I hope he doesn’t spend precious energy worrying about what those “other problems” are. He is in the perfect place to find out, so then he can focus on getting better. Keeping you both in my prayers. Ann

Thank you for your service Veterans! Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! Though sunny and lovely here, I can still see the very outer bands of Nicole rotating off to the West. It is surreal. Bindi was happy not to have to dodge rain this morning. Thank you for keeping our lists & taking us along, Roy! I am heading out to pick up the small branches that are scattered around the yard, then off to the gym for one class. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating. Stay well everyone! ********** Moulin de la Roque 2017 Les Hauts du Vallon Red (Bandol) Provence I would love to try this red. I have enjoyed Mourvèdre as part of a GSM blend, but never as the star of the show. It is a bit elusive, but I found a couple of online distributors with prices starting at $23.99. Distributor notes Moulin de la Roque is our new producer in Bandol making superb value wines. The calling card of Bandol is its noble grape variety Mourvedre: a notoriously difficult variety to ripen. Bandol has 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, with a climate tempered by the Mediterranean wind, the Mistral, allowing the grapes to reach maximum ripeness with freshness. This wine is 95% Mourvedre with 5% Carignan. Black fruits with notes of scorched earth, cocoa powder, Mediterranean herbs with a structure built from powerful tannins and fresh acidity. 93 Wine Enthusiast.

Bon Voyage, Roy!

Lenda Great news about Steve’s release to rehab!

Thank you for today’s Daily, Rich! Bindi and I timed our morning walk perfectly. We did not hit a heavy rain band until we were almost home. The deer, squirrels and local hawks were all taking advantage of the break in the rain. Not to mention my fellow dog walkers. The wind was only bad on the streets that run East - West. Please all keep @JAM37, Julia in your prayers and well wishes. Her condo is in one of the string of 10+ high rises in Daytona Beach Shores. At first only 5 were deemed unsafe, but yesterday afternoon officials had the local police and sheriff personnel go door to door and recommend everyone in all buildings evacuate to a shelter. The fear was if one or more collapsed then the entire section of land would become unstable and unable to support the structures. And this was long before the height of the storm hit. Roy, congrats on having the tropical storm warning/watch lifted South of Jupiter. That will help the port to get up and running. I have no plans for the day. NONE. My efforts will focus on find those perfect opportunities to get Bindi out. And lest we forget that in two weeks we USA citizens will celebrate Thanksgiving… Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! ******* Château Bois Malot 2020 Bordeaux Blanc Bordeaux This white Bordeaux blend sounds lovely. It is a bit elusive, but I found one online distributor offering it for a reasonable $11.99. 90 Wine Enthusiast "This rich wine has a high percentage of Sauvignon Gris in the blend. That softens the acidity and adds perfume as well as a ripe pear and spice character. The wine is intense and full, just hinting at herbal acidity at the end. Drink now. -RV" Product Detail CountryFrance RegionBordeaux Sub-RegionWhite Bordeaux Varietal(s)Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Semillon Features Taste: grass, gooseberry, grapefruit, lime, melon, citrus, mineral, flint, apple, lemon, apricot, acidic, fig, pear, saffron and bell pepper Nose: apple, pear, kiwi, citrus, stone, grapefruit, melon, lemon, honeysuckle, spice, floral, apricot, quince, honey, pineapple and cream

Charlene Good to see you! Enjoy yourself, there is nothing you can do. Still not 100% sure where it will make landfall, but I know I will be on the Northeast side, unless something totally unexpected happens. But I should be fine. 🤞🏻 Volusia County just announced that many of the string of high rise condos in Daytona Shores are condemned from Ian’s destructive waves & storm surge. I am not sure if @JAM37 Julia’s is included, but some of the destruction resembles earthquake damage. Entire pool decks and underground parking areas destroyed. I think Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel even showed a couple in one of his reports. There are already parts of A1A closed from surf cresting the dunes and washing over the road and even part of the scenic loop on the mainland side of the Intercoastal is flooded. Several drivers had to be rescued by one of the county’s new amphibious vehicles when the tides came in so fast and high earlier today. The storm won’t peak until tomorrow, but today’s tides might be a bit worse because of Monday’s full moon. Bindi also realizes conditions aren’t going to get any better, so she takes care of business quickly. Ann

I explored with some great companies in these areas. We had amazing weather in Skagway & Ketchikan, but even in the rain our Juneau excursion was great. In Skagway we did a HAL excursion to Haines. Because we knew we would be coming back close to “All aboard” time, we wanted to make sure HAL would wait for us. The name was “Haines Eagle Preserve Float & Wildlife Quest”. We were road the high speed ferry to Haines and the took a bus to the launch point. We were exchanged our shoes for water boots there. There were six of us in the huge rafts and a guide. Cordelia, our guide, even offered each of us a chance at the helm. We only saw about six Bald Eagles, since we did not float down a river where the salmon were running. The warm and sunny day was cold and super windy on the river. But this trip gave us a sense of how wild Alaska can be. The company provided a decent lunch - except for the hot chocolate. In Juneau we did a combination small boat whale watch/hike to view Mendenhall glacier with Gastineau Guiding. There was a small group of sixteen people. Linda was our guide for the entire trip, and she was joined by Nick for the hike. Both were knowledgeable, but Linda had an amazing easy way of imparting a vast amount of knowledge. She also shared a time-lapse video of Mendenhall glacier receding. The whales were the highlight, of course. One is famous and has been named because she has brought a new calf with her for four consecutive years. This was a four hour adventure and I would have loved it to be even longer. In spite of the rain and the raw wind on the water. We were given water and a decent snack on the way to the glacier. We hiked through the rainforest to the shore of the lake that Mendenhall created when it receded. We also took the tram up Mount Roberts in Juneau, but the clouds were so low, the visibility was poor. In Ketchikan we did two private excursions. We did a Misty fjords flight-seeing tour with Island Wings. Michelle the owner/pilot was amazingly knowledgeable about the area and knew just how to show off the beauty of the area. She landed the float plane on an isolated lake and we even got to pick and eat wild blueberries. Then we did a Tongass Rainforest hike. Our young guide was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and clearly was passionate about her chosen field. In addition to walking through the rainforest, we walked along a salmon stream and saw a black bear enjoying its lunch, hundreds of salmon and dozens of gulls. We also toured an abandoned saw mill and visited a totem park where we witnessed an artist carving a totem. I did not record the name of the company, but I bet I could find it, if you liked the sound of this tour. The time of year you go can dramatically change what you experience, but it is such an amazing land I suspect you will enjoy whatever you end up doing.

Jacqui Thank you for sharing José’s tribute with us. It touched my heart and mind. Hugs. Ann

Praise be Lenda! Thank you for sharing the wonderful news!

Melisa Welcome & be safe. Now that you are in Florida, you need to dodge the FEMA trucks, too. I hope the damage to the family home is not too severe. Ann

Thank you for today’s Daily, Rich. Well squalls from Nicole’s long reach have arrived. Bindi did not dawdle on our morning walk. My County is taking this seriously. Ian caused terrible shore erosion and flooding - and we are still dealing with those after effects. Nicole’s 4-6 inches of rain coupled with storm surge and the King tides of the full moon are expected to cause further infrastructure damage. Roy hope you are safely tucked in to your hotel. I found your menu intriguing. Thank you for taking us along with you. Today I get my haircut and then do one class at the gym. The EXACT schedule I had the day before Ian hit! Good thing I am not superstitious. 😎 Prayers for all need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! ********** Mayacamas 2018 Merlot (Mount Veeder) Napa This Merlot has lots of fans. It has excellent reviews, though it is a bit outside my budget range. I do not usually gravitate towards Merlots, but I would love a taste. A bit elusive, I found several online distributors with prices starting at $58.89. Winemaker Notes The wine opens with lifted aromatics of violet and lavender supported by a lovely fruit set of raspberry, plum, and dried blueberry. Savory tones of dried sage and fresh mint broaden the mid-palate, bringing detail and nuance to the wine’s mid-weight frame. The finish is persistent with lingering notes of red berry fruit, black tea, and dried herbs. Blend: 94% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc WE94 Wine Enthusiast With 6% Cabernet Franc, both it and the Merlot aged in neutral French oak before spending additional time in foudre and barrel, this elegant wine is grippy in its youth, with undeniable structure and elegance. Chalky tannin and earthy iron, dried herb and violet accent beautiful layers of raspberry and plum. Built to age, enjoy best from 2028–2038.

Tina Your pictures are amazing. Some of the detail is exquisite! Thank you for sharing.

Holy cow, Carolyn! A miracle that Beth wasn’t hurt. I bet I would feel a bit shaky if that happened to me. I can imagine what the conversation of the folk who were removing the tree was like! That is some amazing damage.

Linda there might even be a YouTube video that could help.

Lenda Thank you for sharing. Adding my prayers that all goes smoothly for Steve, and you can relax a bit.

My local weather guru posted this & I just had to share….

My trusted weather guru says to ignore the cone. This is a huge storm. So I hope people take it seriously- even if it remains a tropical storm. My sympathies on the finger. It is good that you went to the surgeon. Glad it is not too painful. Stay safe.

Thank you for today’s Report and Daily, Rich! An eerie color to the clouds this morning and it is already quite gusty here. The weather folk I trust still are not sure what Nicole will be when it reaches my area, but it is coming. So I will prepare for the worst. Our poor coastline, already seriously damaged by Ian is going to get another hammering. And the waters of our local state park are already flowing over onto roads, we do not need another day of torrential rain. Bindi is NOT happy. Roy thank you for keeping our lists. Hopefully Nicole will not be worse for you in Southern Florida. Be safe. One of my pre-retirement activities was guiding leadership development groups for my organization. This would have been a great tip to share with these folk…. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! And if a USA Dailyite, please vote! ********* Malvirà 2020 Roero Arneis Piedmont Another wine that is new to me. I would definitely like to try this one! Consumers and critics are fans. Available from several online distributors with prices starting at $12.90. Winemaker Notes Lifted and fresh on the nose with notes of white blossoms and snappy fruits. On the palate, the wine gives way to stone fruits and hints of melon before finishing with a zip of refreshing acidity. The finish is clean but long and showcases this classic vintage perfectly. WE91 Wine Enthusiast Made with organically grown grapes, this has delicate, enticing aromas reminiscent of ripe white stone fruit, crushed mint, pineapple and freshly made bread dough. On the linear, savory palate, notes of bitter almond and ginger accent a core of Bartlett pear and lemon drop before a tangy mineral close. Best Buys D90 Decanter Rich and smoky with lots of gunflint complexity and some saline minerality all held together with lemon pith freshness.

Charlene The NHS and NOAA are not sure if it will be TS Nicole or hurricane Nicole by the time the storm reaches us. The biggest concern is that so many places are still flooded from Ian, so they do not need Nicole’s rain and the Full Moon “King” tides. The St John’s river basin - especially! I think your nephew is calling it correctly. Enjoy yourself! Ann