2025 Life Logs, Day 233: H&S in Groningen, Wine Group Fun, and Tomato Time
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Cooler; High Temp 66, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
When I woke up this morning, I read a text from Heather saying she and Sam arrived safely in Amsterdam, rented a car and drove to Groningen, and was happy to report that Sam’s room in the Emergency Housing for Foreign Students is great. Last I heard from them, they were in IKEA buying out the store. So, all is well there.
I totally forgot to mention in last night’s log that I was with my wine group last night. The theme was Down Under, wines from Australia or New Zealand. Interestingly, we all brought Australian wines. I went to Kappy’s and asked one of the managers what Australian wine he would take to a Down Under tasting and he suggested The Stump Jump saying it was a fun wine. What did he mean by that? And such a crazy name. Plus, when he first showed me the wine, all I could think is that it had a really ugly label. Still, he convinced me it was the best choice and it was only $10.99. How could I go wrong with a cheap wine with a crazy name and an ugly label?
When I got home, I looked up information on The Stump Jump and that started changing my negative feeling about this wine. Here’s the story I found about the name. “It is rumoured that the inventor of the Stump Jump plough, which enabled a ploughshare to jump over tree roots, had poor eyesight and required regular tests to ensure he could still operate machinery. The design of this label is inspired by an optometrist’s eyechart and serves as a makeshift sobriety test. If you can hold the bottle at arm’s length and still read the front label, you can enjoy another glass.” Such an Aussie story! And when we tasted the wine, even the pickiest wine connoisseurs in the group really liked it. So, I guess price is not always an indication of how good a wine might be. It really was a fun choice.
Today Ollie spent the afternoon downtown with friends and then met his dad at the middle school for 8th grade orientation. Having a little time, I turned my attention to the 30 pounds of tomatoes I picked up yesterday afternoon from Peach Tree Farm as I do every August. But then, I had a 3 pm Indivisible Zoom call and 6 pm Indivisible meeting, so all I got done was blanching and peeling. I will continue that project tomorrow.
As I sit here, I can hear the wind Erin is sending us building outside. We are only supposed to get 25 mph winds tonight and into the morning, but by tomorrow afternoon the wind should go back down into the teens and it is forecast to be sunny and back in the mid-70’s. Summer returns.
