New Years, or there abouts

 Saturday I helped my friend Sam move some stuff into storage.  Across the tracks, over a one lane bridge tucked away on a no name street, I found this!  Sarah and I returned later in the day to check it out.

 Inside we met Frederic Bouche who is a fourth generation vintner, and the first to move the operation stateside.  He makes just two ports.  A red and a white.  But he has a beautiful and interesting collection of artifacts from the old winery in France.  Above is a home made smugglers belt.  It would hold 18 bottles worth of moonshine.  We both were enamored by Frederic and really appreciated his time and the incredible port that he makes.  I wish we'd've taken more pictures, but I guess we'll just have to go back again.

 We took a break from running errands to have a bite to eat at the new and improved Ithaca Beer Brewery.  Sarah and I have already begun saving bottles to make a clever up-cycled decorative divider like the one they have.  Yes mom, if it works out we'll build you one, too.

 This is the patio that is going to be so fun and entertaining come spring.  There are hop plants all over out there and the beams, poles, and strings will act as an elaborate hop trellis.

 Sarah enjoyed a flight of their heavier, winter beers, and looked lovely doing it.

 We drove past Buttermilk Falls on the way home.  It is apparently hibernating.

 Ummm... Sunday(?) we went skiing.  It was a lot of fun and already better than all of last season.

 Monday we went out for a little ride.  The horses are unshod and the ground is a little precarious.  I thought we were going to call it quites, but then Sarah saw the sled.

We had a lot of fun working with Rambo.  We remembered from the lariat days that just because the rider thinks the rope is not a snake does not mean the horse thinks the rope is not a snake.  And let me tell you, a horse reacts just like you would if you came upon a 30' snake that was striking at your neck! We got to work with the rope and dallying and pulling and backing and not freaking the heck out and jumping sideways... LOTS of fun!

So as you can see, after a little bit of time, things were going well enough to add a rider to the sled!

 Here is Sarah having a go at it as well.  We started with just the sled, then added the rim for some weight, then added a rider.

 Rambo was such a good sport!  You'd never suspect he was gonna be 30 this year!

 This is Erik's kid, The Bandit.  I think he's been introduced on the blog before, but he's acting more and more like a human being.

 A pretty cute one too.  He really likes my hat and kept putting it on and running around even though it comes down over his eyes.  He didn't scream or poop much while we were over for the New Years dinner and drinks which was cool, too.

 We took a potato soup that Jennifer gave us a recipe for.  Everyone found it delicious!  Sam grilled some moist and flavorful venison and made a great cashew chili.  We also took a bottle of port that we'd picked up for the occasion.

 This is from this morning after the dogs and I went out and played in the yard and brought in some firewood.  Indy had to warm her tootsies.

 So she could go back out and play some more!

 And go for an awesome hike.

This little guy is a common redpoll!  He is at the very back of my bird book and there was a whole flock of them on the feeder that Sarah was watching.  The red spot on their crowns is brilliant!  There were eight of them on the feeder a moment before I took this picture, but you'll have to just enjoy this guy and know that he is the bravest (or hungriest) in his flock.

Looking forward to another great year.