De mauvaise humeur, peut-être¹ ...

Interior of a library, from Boethius

So if no one reads it, why bother to write it?

I do appreciate the few who actually stop by here daily², but ...

Be back in a day or so, or not. This blogging thing is becoming wearisome.

Perhaps I'm just in a bad mood.

We'll see what a good night's sleep does.

Going on the road Sunday, grandchildren are involved. Might help my morale.

Who knows?

Ciao.

¹ I n a bad mood, maybe ...

² All 90 of you as of 1830 Friday ...

Before and After

Spring 2000 - Before
SW Photo

Twenty seven tears ago next month, I retired from the United States Air Force. Did twenty four, which I felt was enough. They offered to waive high year of tenure for a Master Sergeant (which is, surprise, surprise, 24 years) and let me stay in until twenty six.

"Cool. Can I stay in Germany?"

"Uh, no, you'll have to PCS stateside."

A quick mental calculation ran something like this: when I arrive at the new base with two years to go, they're not going to give me a decent job. Maybe they would but no, I doubt it. Long story short, I said "No." Never looked back, never regretted that decision.

Anyhoo.

We lived with my parents for a couple of months while I looked for work. Which I finally found, right here in Little Rhody. Another no regret call there, loved the company, loved the job (until the wrong people took over), did twenty five years there.

We bought Chez Sarge in September of 1999, moved in in October of 1999. Nice house which needed some work, we knew that, if I had that to do over again, the old owners would have done some work before we moved in. A lot of work actually, or knocked ten grand off the price.

Anyhoo.

You see that opening photo? That's the backyard when The Missus Herself started working on it. You can see her in the background digging, preparing what we call the Oval Garden. (Duh, it's an oval. You can see it in the next photo, with the two dwarf maples, which are, surprise, surprise, 26 years old.)

That stretch of dirt with the rocks piled to the left, that's where the koi pond sits now. I had rented a powered sod cutter to strip off the crab grass which inhabited that region. (We used the sod rolls we dug up to raise the Oval Garden by a foot or more above the surrounding terrain.) The Missus Herself asked, "What are we going to do there? Plant new grass?"

Me? I saw the rocks, and thought, hey, let's do a rock garden.

Which we did, which grew a pond a couple of years later. The first pond was a single piece of molded plastic, maybe a foot and a half deep which was discovered, and occupied by, a couple of frogs. Later The Missus Herself decided we should have koi, so the pond was tripled in size. Didn't bother the frogs at all, in fact I think the local frog population views it as a resort. We have at least one full time resident and during the summer we'll see as many as two others sunning themselves on the rocks next to the water.

Spring 2026 - After
OAFS Photo

All the chain link fences are gone, the shed has been redone, though the bones of the current shed are the same as when we moved in. New siding and a new roof really made a difference. The maple in the northeast corner of our lot was there when we moved in. It has grown a bit since then. (Both photos are looking roughly northward.)

FWIW, the house was originally the same color scheme as the shed, not particularly attractive but not all that bad. With real estate it's all about location, and really, it was the town we fell in love with and our neighborhood isn't far from downtown (a mile or so, walkable, I've done it) and the neighbors are nice. Even though at times we think we live in Portugal, 80% of the neighbors are indeed first and second generation Portuguese, mostly from the Azores. Not a problem, their food is awesome, as is their bread and wine. DAMHIK.

So before and after, that's how Chez Sarge evolved, and is still evolving. Thought some of you would like to see what came before.

Man, that was a long time ago ...

New Birds

OAFS Photo

As many of you know, Chez Sarge has a koi pond. Something that Virgil Xenophon¹ always took an interest in, though I think he meant to eat the koi, not admire them. There are other things out there who want to eat my fish. Wading birds: herons, egrets, cranes, and other long skinny feathered beings of that ilk.

We took to stringing a net over the deep part of the pond. The fish view that as a sanctuary as that's where they "sleep" in the winter. (I say sleep but they actually enter a semi-dormant state where they don't move much and they don't eat.) That sort of works, but then the flying koi-menace will watch and occasionally nab a fish in the shallow end. The koi like that end as it's sunny and warmer than the other end.

So we expected a bit of predation of our piscine friends. And it did happen, though not as often. Then one day The Missus Herself found these life-size bird statues on Amazon. I was hesitant at first, as they were not cheap. I also remembered the plastic life-sized coyotes my old employer set up around our facilities to keep the geese away. (The geese weren't a danger to life and limb, usually, but they did shit everywhere. And I mean everywhere, see here.)

The problem with the fake coyotes is that someone had to move them periodically, otherwise the geese would eventually be on to the scheme.

One Christmas break, no one moved the coyotes. Guess what? Yup, the geese returned to defecating at will, everywhere.

So I was concerned that the metal birds, not moving at all, wouldn't fool the real birds. Well, it seems, so far, to be working. Over a year and no predation of our aquatic neighbors.

Now one thing about the original pair of metal birds The Missus Herself purchased, seems that they are Black Necked White Canes. Native to the Tibetan plateau, not New England.

So far, the native wildlife hasn't figured that out yet. (You can see the one of the original birds below, closest to the camera. The other is across the pond. No not the Atlantic, my pond.)

OAFS Photo

Now the new birds, which I ordered because ...

Well, because I thought they looked cool. And (bonus) they are native to the region. They arrived Wednesday while I was working in the fields cutting the grass. I think they look pretty cool.

I picture the scene above as the new birds (Great White Herons) are telling the Black Necked White Cranes to take a hike, "Y'all ain't even native to this area!" (Yells the one with the outstretched wings.)

The new guys need to be careful though, the non-native birds are a good ten inches taller than the new guys, heavier too. Might be interesting. (As long as they keep the real birds away, I'm happy.)

Yet another reason to enjoy my backyard!

¹ Has anyone seen or heard of Virgil? Haven't seen him around any of the blogs for quite some time. Let me know.

As the World Goes Insane ...

Neuville défense de la porte de Longboyau
Alphonse de Neuville
Source

Just when I think I know where I'm going with a story, I start reading and learn new things. It's going to take a day or two to fit my newly gained knowledge into the tale of the Franco-Prussian War. So be cool, we'll get there, I hope.

In the meantime, let's hope the world slows down for a bit and people try harder not to do, say, or think very stupid things.

I know that's asking a lot, but ya never know.

Talk quietly among yourselves, don't break the windows, scratch the floors, or empty the liquor cabinet, such as it is. And this time, replace the freakin' keg under the bar, you know who I'm talking about.

In other words, have fun, but don't break my stuff.

I need a vacation!

What Mulch?

This is all that remains of ...
OAFS Photo

... That
OAFS Photo

Okay, so I thought about doing another piece of historical fiction, but ...

Monday was so frigging beautiful, we spent most of the afternoon in the yard, and (drum roll please) we finished mulching the gardens around Chez Sarge. Okay, it ain't Versailles but we like it a lot.

OAFS Photo

OAFS Photo

OAFS Photo

OAFS Photo

OAFS Photo

OAFS Photo

The Missus Herself has turned our yard into something approximating Paradise. Works for me at any rate. And at the end of the day ...

OAFS Photo

Nothing like an adult beverage to wash down the dust from the mulching.

My Mondays are so much better than they used to be. A fellow could get used to this retirement thing. Personally? Five stars, no doubts.

Ciao!

Texas is making Wine? Whoda Thunk?

Texas is making Wine? Whoda Thunk?

 

Source

As one can see, there are a LOT of Texas Wineries.  When I went to College in the late '70s,(and the drinking age at the time was 18) there were 3 wineries in Texas. Val Verde winery in Del Rio was established in 1883 making wine for the predominately Catholic populaton in the area.  It is still in operation.  The other two were Llano (pronounced Yawn Oh) Estacado and Messina Hof winery in College Station (my new home town) both of these were established in the early 70s.  I consumed quite a bit of Llano while at Tech being a poor college student and their wine being drinkable and affordable.  OK, not great wine at the time. (I thought it really good at the time, but what did I know?). Still in business and makes some pretty good reds, again not great, but again affordable and drinkable.  Messina Hof makes pretty good wines also, but I'm not a fan.  Haven't found one I really liked,  your tastes and assessments may differ.  As a wise man once told me "Nobody likes every wine, but everybody likes a wine."  

True 'Dat!

But, as I said, that was millenia ago.  Now there are 191 Wineries in the state making it the #5 largest producing State in the Nation.  One guess on who's #1.  If you said California, pat yourself on the back, but that was an easy answer.  The others were Washington, Oregon, New York and....Texas.

 Most folks are familiar with the first four, so I'm going to discuss Texas wines

When Texas first started making wine (Val Verde Winery and Religious wine being an exception), the only model out there to decide on what wine to grow was....Wait for it,  Wait for it....

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay!  There's a reason for that.  If you look at the climate of all four states, they are fairly cool.  Cab Sauv and Chardonnay grapes love cool weather.  Texas is not known for that feature.

But, the wine growers went and visited and learned from the vineyards there.  Came home and planted....you guessed it, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.  The plants grew ok, but didn't usually develop the flavors and characteristics that the two wines were expected to have.  They tended to be a bit thin in mouth feel (Not a good sign.)

So...On with the story of my eight wineries.  

 

Texas Hills Vineyard

Source

 

Texas Hills Winery is just outside Johnson City, Texas about 30 miles west of Austin.  Established by retired pharmacists Gary and Kathy Gilstrap, they fell into the trap of Cab and Chard, but quickly realized after a visit to Italy (where the climate is a bit more like Texas) that just maybe some other grapes would do better.  So they replanted (They kept some Cab because of the deep red color they could add to other reds).  Tempranillo, Shiraz, Sangiovese, and Grenache were planted.  A lot of hard work, mixing grapes, swirling, sniffing, tasting, and those wines became best sellers.  Unfortunately, Gary passed away a couple of years ago, so Kathy sold the winery.  It's still in business, just doesn't have the joie de vivre for Mrs J and I.  Not only did we love their wine, but the 4 of us have literally been around the world together.  Thanks Guys, it was great while it lasted.

 

Val Verde Winery 

Source

 

 As one can likely ascertain, Val Verde Winery is the oldest winery in the state.  Growing grapes and making wine wasn't as automated then as it might be now.  But....They're still around.  While going through pilot training in Del Rio, we would visit them and taste their wines.  Not bad, but I was in the "Sweet wine" state of a wine lover's career.  (I got over that as I got older).

The winery's history can be found here. Pretty interesting, They're still in the winery's original 1883 building.  Haven't been down there in quite a while, so can't/won't comment on their wines.

Yes, Beans, it's only about a 5 hour drive down there, what am I waiting for.

Anyhow, on with the wineries I'm a bit more familiar with.

 

Becker Vineyards 

Source

 Becker Vineyards was started by Dr Richard Becker and wife, Bunny. They bought land in the Fredericksburg area in the early '90s and started planting vines.  Today, their winery is one of the best wineries in the state.  As mentioned before, Cabernet Sauvignon is a difficult wine to grow and their Cab is very much the exception to the "Good Cab Sauv can't be made in Texas."  Their other wines are also very good.  Highly recommended.

 

Grape Creek Vineyards  

Source

Grape Creek was founded by Ned Sims. He and his wife bought the land and started planting grapes in the late 80's. I've written about Ned a few times, one was just a few weeks ago.   It's a good story, I'll wait.  Their wines are also very good.  Makes a nice Merlot and a Cab/Merlot blend.  As a WWII vet, (invaded, Guadalcanal, Saipan and Tinian) he was getting on in years. On his passing, the winery was sold and bought by Heath Family Brands.

 

 Sister Creek Winery

Yes, that IS the Sister Creek winery and tasting room

Sister Creek Vineyards is a bit off the beaten path being in Sisterdale TX (pop. 25)(sistercreekvineyards.com) Established 1988, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are their wines.  All very good.  There Chardonnay is one of the VERY Few I will drink. 

 

 Llano Estacado Winery

Llanowine.com

 

Llano Estacado was founded in 1976.  First wine that I drank on my own.  Texas had just passed a drinking age bill that allowed 18 year olds to consume alcohol. Their Grape Vineyard is in Lubbock because the climate conditions are very amenable to wine grapes.  Dry, flat soil with few bugs and/or heavy rain conditions. I assess their wines to be middle of the road.  Pretty good for day to day consumption, but not for a high-falutin dinner party.

 

Messina Hof Winery 

tourtexas.com

 

Messina Hof Winery.  Located in Bryan Texas (close to where we live now). winery is also one of the oldest wineries in the state.  Much like Llano Estacado, it's not bad wine, but more of a consumer "grab a bottle for dinner" wine.  A lot of it is sold, just not my cup of tea (Glass of wine?). 

 

Fredericksburg Winery

  

Fredericksburg Winery Established in1996 by two brothers, both Army Vets.  Most of their wine is fruit flavored.  Again, not my style wine, but a lot of it is sold. To each his own. The winery is located within the City Limits of FBG which attracts the tourist trade. One doesn't have to drive from, and more importantly to, their B&B...

As I mentioned earlier, Texas has been making wine for a long time (since 1650) but it hasn't taken off until recently.  Recently being 30-40 years.  With a little bit of exploring, you can find (and consume) some really good wines.  C'mon Down!

Peace out, y'all! 

 

 

Moving Mulch

Your Humble Scribe, his Pile o' Mulch, and his Trusty Wheelbarrow
OAFS Photo

For many of the years we've lived in Little Rhody, The Missus Herself has had gardens. Lots and lots of gardens. Somewhere there is an extent photo of her the first spring we were here. She's standing by herself in a yard full of absolutely nothing. Within a couple of years she has terraformed our yard into something quite pleasant.

Me? I pick things up and put them down.

Mulch is one of those things, though that wasn't always the case. Back when I had a paying gig I would always try to find an excuse to be elsewhere during "mulch weekends." I've written about that before ...

Now last year, my first year of complete retirement, we did not mulch. So I didn't need an excuse to dodge my term behind the wheelbarrow. This year?

I had no excuse. But as I'm retired and have no need to join the rat race Monday through Friday, I can mulch to The Missus Herself's heart's content and then take my repose as I will. During the week when all you working stiffs are laboring for "the man." (Or "the woman" as was my lot in life at times. Didn't bother me, two of my all time favorite bosses were ladies, to include the one I had before retiring from the last job. She was pretty much the only reason I worked until I was 71 years of age. I enjoyed the work I was doing but she made it painless, she screened me from having to deal with folks outside the lab. Which I really appreciated. Now I work for a woman 24/7 and you really should pity The Missus Herself, I'm a terrible employee.)

So it was a mulching I did go.

Your Humble Scribe works the shovel
OAFS Photo

Now imagine The Missus Herself in the background of that last photo yelling "Put yer back into it laddie!"

I wonder if there is such a thing as a sea shanty for mulching? Ya know, "Roll the Old Wheelbarrow" or some such thing ...

Back at ya next week with new fiction and probably more tales of mulch and high adventure.

Or something ...