Favorite Wine Selection

I just wanted to share my favorite wine. I don’t like sweet wines so if this particular gem hadn’t been shared with me I never would have tried it. It is a dry Riesling so it doesn’t taste anything like any of the other Rieslings I am familiar with. If you like dry whites I highly recommend this particular wine. It is great for entertaining because I have found it appeals to a lot of different palates.

 

It is produced by Villa Maria Estate at their Marlborough, New Zealand winery. I was a little worried when I moved to the Lake that I wouldn’t be able to get it here. But we have a Hy-vee and they have a wonderful wine selection. It is a great supermarket. I am so glad they opened here. It’s not the same as a Whole Foods Market but at least finally we have some decent organic food options and a vast fresh produce selection. I love cooking so it my favorite store here.

UPDATE:  I went grocery shopping today and Hyvee didn’t have my wine! I’m devastated. I am going to go talk to them about this! No bien!

UPDATE 2: Hyvee has the wine again but the price went up from $11.99 to $14.69 which I understand. It’s really good. Ah, supply and demand.

Updated 3: I live in Louisiana now and I have not seen my beloved win anywhere here. However, they do have sweet tea vodka which is interesting. But, of course, not the same at all.

Weekend Project

I spent last weekend painting my kitchen and dining room. I use the terms loosely because I live in a very small house so the living room is also in the same room. They are more like “areas.” When I moved in I followed a heavy smoker with two dogs and a penchant for hanging things up on the walls.

I have had my work cut out for me. The walls were washed before I moved in which is a saving grace alone. One less thing I have to do. But you could still see the smoke stains…not to mention all the holes in the walls. I patched and sanded all of those and then went to Lowes and picked up some paint.

 

I took my time picking out the paint colors I finally chose. I have had numerous color swatches hanging up for the last two months.

I don’t even know what to say about that shiny blue door. It just looked bad.

Then I had this gross color that I can’t even name. It doesn’t even match the blue or look good. Obviously there was a fire sale.

And then there was light.

I decide to go with a lighter more neutral color. The wall that is adjoining will be a dark blue/green color called Dusty Spruce. That’s next weekend’s project. But you can tell by the current color that the spaces will be delineated very dramatically. I can’t wait! I wanted to use very different colors that still go together to differentiate between the dining room and living room.

My kitchen now looks bigger and cleaner. I love the darker brown on the door.  I also chose a flat finish so nothing would look shiny.

The lighter brown on the walls is: Valspar SR410 Cottage Timber
The darker brown on the door is: Valspar SR413 Picnic Basket

I used the darker brown Picnic Basket on the formerly ugly colored wall. It now looks cleaner and ties in with the door. I also bought a new air return grill because whoever painted before painted it! Gross. You can’t do that unless you paint the walls white or alabaster or something. It looked dirty!! EEWWW! Best $8.00 I ever spent.

Well the warm browns actually give off a bit of a southwestern feel but since I have all floor length windows and sliding glass doors surrounding me with a view out to the lake I won’t be hanging anything up on the walls! The view is the picture. The former tenant didn’t get the picture.

I also needed to get some patio furniture for my deck so I can enjoy my Charbroil this summer. I actually grilled out three times this winter when the weather was mild. I’ve been looking at furniture and since my deck is not covered my main concern was forking out a bunch of dough for something nice that the elements are just going to trash.

Holly and I went up to Lowes and I showed her the cheap table I was thinking of getting. It was marked down since last weekend. So were the chairs. It was so cheap we were like “Let’s just get this! If it gets trashed I can throw it in the dumpster and buy something new.” It looks cheap but you get what you pay for and I didn’t spend much. It’ll do just fine. I’m happy with it. The money I saved I can now consider getting the covered bar with the two bar stools.

It’s not too hideous and it was actually pretty easy to put together. I did it myself. It took me a little longer than if I’d had help but it wasn’t hard to do.

I also did the painting job by myself because the only thing big I had to move was the refrigerator and it’s on wheels and has a long cord. I just pulled it out in front of the dishwasher and left it there until I was done.

With the warm weather coming it’s time to spray so those pesky bugs know they are not welcome! Bring it bugs! It’s your ass! Also on the agenda for next weekend: Holly is going to help me paint the living room because I need helping taking the vertical blinds down and moving the television. Once I get that done then it will be time to move on to the bedroom. It is currently orange. Oh yes, pumpkin orange!