Wow! Wow! I am so impressed and inspired by this blog entry, Andrea. I had no idea of your alternative plans and lifestyle, beside work and travels. This is amazing to read, and truly inspirational to learn about your dream and it coming into fruition. What an amazing project to pursue during lockdown, and it seems that it may very much provide you with a change in direction in life. I do hope you, and all of us, may continue travelling again soon. If not, and also if so, you still have this amazing "happy place" to return to. An amazing read, thank you Andrea š
Well hello Alex! Hope all is well over in jolly olā! I havenāt been on for a while so I need to check in on my fav TB folks and see what theyāve been up to! Yes! The vineyard! My other hobby. Lol. It has been a āgroundingā in my life for a while now, in a good way. I can still travel. And isnāt that what life is about? A work-play balance. Hopefully one day Iāll be sipping my own vintage and looking over the rows with satisfaction. One day. Cheers! and thanks for your kind words.
Weird times These are weird times but our lives are not affected too bad. We both have our jobs and the adjustments we have made in our lives are not too bad. One of the inevitable changes we've made is that we travel much less and all the travels we do are domestic only and we avoid trains and buses. If it was safe to go abroad we would probably go to the US this summer. But we won't. We will stay in Sweden the entire vacation. We might go to Glasgow for a weekend in October. We have a (twice postponed) concert to go to there. If it is not once more postponed and if we are permitted to go to UK without having to spend a week in quarantine, that will most likely we the first trip abroad we'll make since March last year. How about you? Take care! /Ake
What a wonderful dream come true! You mention that you sell grapes to the wine producers at top prices. Would they consider paying you with bottles of wine with your label? That way you can avoid the expense of equipment and get the end results you want...your own wine...which you can then sell for possibly more than what they pay you for the grapes. Win-win!
Hi there! Hope this blog finds you both well. Funny you should suggest that, I was in talks with the latest winery and they have considered your idea. Havenāt exactly agreed to it yet but Iāve got my wine labels all ready to go just in case. Maybe! Unfortunately other than selling to friends and drinking myself Iād have to get a commercial license and try to sell in such a niche market, liquor stores are run by a govt mafia. So you gotta know someone who knows someone, you know how that goes. Lol while Iām still working, Iām good with having another winery do all that work, and I just drink and enjoy each glass of my blood, sweat & tears. Living la vida loca! Stay healthy, stay safe. And Cheers!
The world slowed us down Fruit brings freedom. Work can be a grind but it opens your heart to other possibilities and you found something that can fill your soil. I was fine for a long time but now I'd like to go some place again. I'm waiting for the right time and location. We've been to many wonderful places. It will be interesting to see where all of us go after this. The pandemic has shifted perspectives. Looks like you have a great crew. Send our best to mother superior.
Hi Binkleys! So glad to hear from you. All is good up here in Canada. How are things? I know one of you were still working last we spoke, and of course I know youāll be planning for a trip if the world opens up. Letās hope maybe later in the year as the vaccines roll out and the mutated strains donāt take over. Iāll be in my vineyard until late Sept anyways, which Iām so good with. Then maybe some planning from my hammock in Cabo. my happy place. Until then Take care, look after each other, and dream on of some new places to visit. All the best!
Your own vineyard - so cool It is so cool that you have your own vineyard and that you can grow grapes of such quality that you can make wine. I absolutely loved to read about it. Thank you for letting us all know. /Ake
Hi Ake! So glad to hear from you. How are you managing with the pandemic? Iām hoping many of us can start up our travels again in this 2021 year. Where do you think youād go if it was safe to do so? Take care and stay healthy.
:) It is excellent you have invested in something so unique and fun that it fills your heart with joy! I know that being outdoors gardening and growing is very meditative, and good for the soul. It's something I'll always do in some capacity! Wishing you safe travels when everything opens back up some day š
Thank you so much. I love finding others that appreciate growing things & enjoy the great outdoors too. Stay healthy and weāll be traveling again soon. Cheers!
Some little patch of dirt. Hi Andrea,
Wow... Really, wow. Wonderful to receive one of your blogs after a hefty hiatus, but what thrills is the eclectic content. We, like most I suspect here on TB, had no idea that you were a vigneron. What varietals are you growing.. Riesling, Weissburgunder, Muskateller? Regardless, we'll be sampling a bottle or two as soon as one crosses our paths. So glad that you've managed this shite year so amazingly and that you've been blessed with such a harvest. Who knows, maybe you'll be looking for excellent committed work-awayers down the line... and we haven't been to Canada in some time. Good on you. Here's to many awards for vintage 2020. All the best, A&A.
Hey A Team! So glad to hear from you. Alive & well I see. Great!! Iāll have to catch up on your blogs. To answer your question, My little dirt patch grows German Riesling. Ortega & Siegerrebe & a few Mad Angies. So thatās a bit sweeter than popular but the winery I sell them to manage to pull off a dry finish which makes it fantastic. The wine is like doing shrooms, you get clarity and crispness in each glass. And Itās fāing fantastic with Thai food. If thatās all itās known for, then Iām chuffed. I prefer reds myself but we canāt grow them this far north. So white it is. See you in Canada one day for a clink of the glasses! Cheers!! The other A.
Send some over please ;) Sounds like you found yourself the perfect plan for the future, pandemic included. But, optimistic Ralf says: the world will open up for business again soon and you will be able to travel, should you so wish, in between the vineyard work.
I don't miss travel much either. Not at the moment. I see this as a year off from travelling, like a staycation! I travel so much, a year more or less matters little to me. I would imagine it is different for somebody who had planned their one and only world travel, took a year of work and then... the pandemic struck! That would suck! Anyway, all well on this side too. Enjoy the vineyard, and I promise I will enjoy the wine...
Well Hi there Optimistic Ralf! Nothing wrong with enjoying your staycation. Especially where you live! I love your country. Well, I hope you were able to stay occupied and fulfilled. Any blogs? I will check. It wonāt be long before we will all get our vaccine passports and be on our way. Glad to hear you are well, all the best from Canada.
We'd love to go on that hike We have also done a fair share of hiking this summer. The Teapot Hill seem to be a bit special though. We'd love to go there. So you are one of those who work in the ICU wards. I have heard enough stories about the daily life there to know that I do not want to get Covid-19. Take care. /Ake
Waving Back! Thanks Andrea. I agree also with everything you say here. It's comforting at least to know that such strange and difficult times indeed are shared, and that we are not alone. Me and mine are all well thanks, and I hope you and yours are too. I look forward to reading about the resurgences in travel when we all start travelling again, hopefully soon. Take care too.
Strange Days Indeed Thank you for your very positive and honest travel blog during these strange times. Even though we are thousands of miles away here in the UK, so much of what you say also rings true here. I also noticed a strong comeback in nature, particularly with the birds singing, as the traffic and cars slowed down. I have also come to appreciate the smaller, subtler things in life. And I completely agree with you on your wishes for there to be no more sensational news coverage, I think many of us have come to a similar conclusion. Great blog Andrea, and thanks for the encouragement that we will all hopefully be travelling again soon, in the not-too-distant future š
Waving to you from across the pond! Hi Alex! Hope you and yours are keeping well. These are strange and difficult times, eh? I am learning the new normal and finding I can cope fairly well as my life already embraced social distancing. I do miss my extended family and friends, there have been milestone birthdays and illnesses I would normally attend, but cannot now. A simple hug seems almost foreign. And lastly Iām missing travel. As Iām sure all TBloggers are. I donāt even dare plan anything as to not jinx it. Take care, and thanks for the lovely feedback on my blog! Cheers.
Glad you are making the best of the situation And thanks for your service! Like you, I don't have a problem with social distancing, I have always been a bit of a loner anyway. But things are not so bad here. Borders between Holland and Germany have remained open throughout and social restrictions have been less strict then elsewhere (except for Sweden, where it's even less strict), plus living on the countryside there is more freedom anyhow. We have a huge garden, so plenty to do. In fact, nothing much has changed for me. I even managed to go down to Germany and visit my girlfriend, and she returned to Holland with me after, leaving only yesterday. It's good you are hiking around nature (and that you have that possibility), it all looks very beautiful.
Hi Ralf! Glad to hear you are making the best of the situation. I assumed the travel restrictions were stricter in Europe, so itās a surprise that you can move around as you are. I agree, being in the countryside and working on a garden makes it feel like nothing is wrong. I love it. I do feel bad for those cooped up in the city apartments. After I completed my 14 day travel quarantine I did some vineyard work at my parents farm. Now that Iām back at work I cannot risk another visit/stay with them. In Canada, especially here in BC the crisis was managed very well and restrictions are now being lifted. I still canāt get used to lineups outside every store. It feels very communist!
This Canadian girl's passion for travel comes from two very adventurous parents. My brother and I spent most of our youth traveling all over North America in the family campervan, airplane & boat - going as far west as the Hawaiian islands, as far north as Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Sea...and as far south as Mexico and beyond, doing lots of adventurey stuff...canoeing, surfing, fishing, camping, hiking, skiing, exploring, jellyfish poking...it was the best childhood ever!
Nowadays most of my vaycay-time is spent in and around "Los Cabos" on the tip of beautiful Baja California Sur, Mexico. ... full info
alex waring
Alexander Waring
Wow!
Wow! I am so impressed and inspired by this blog entry, Andrea. I had no idea of your alternative plans and lifestyle, beside work and travels. This is amazing to read, and truly inspirational to learn about your dream and it coming into fruition. What an amazing project to pursue during lockdown, and it seems that it may very much provide you with a change in direction in life. I do hope you, and all of us, may continue travelling again soon. If not, and also if so, you still have this amazing "happy place" to return to. An amazing read, thank you Andrea š