Wino in the Woods
Yep, we did Wine in the Woods yesterday, so this blog comes to you with a large cup of tea and aspirin on the side.
I went in on a press pass, which was an ace way to spend the day – photographing and chatting to people whilst sampling wine. My write up is in the Baltimore Post Examiner – see it here: The Wonderful World of Wine in the Woods
We had our very own Wine in the Woods tour guide – Tom. He showed us how it works, what to do, how not to get totally annhiliated in the first hour and how to make the most of our day. Plus, we got to go in the VIP tent, which meant that when it did rain, we had not a care in the world!
Some people diss Wine in the Woods, but that’s okay – we enjoyed it loads. We almost headed over to the Beer Festival at Clydes too, but were too late to join in the revels there. Wine and beer together tho…… now I’m glad we did not make it, after all!
Totally brillopads – I met Ken Ulman, Executive of Howard County, and his lovely wife, Jaki. Their kids go to the same school Harry is going to next year, so we are totally going to hook up for playdates and BBQS!
We meet Ken and Jaki!
Ken is a bit of a king in these parts. He is my age and as County Executive he has made this lovely commitment to the citizens of Howard County: ‘make good government even better’.
At the time he made this statement, Ulman was 32 – the youngest County Executive ever elected in Maryland. Residents responded to his energy and ideas, and in 2010, Ulman was sworn in for a second term. Lucky for Howard County, I say.
His website says: ‘Ulman and his administration continue to follow through on that promise by strengthening core priorities such as public safety and education, finding efficiencies within government, exercising sound fiscal management, protecting our environment, and creating a healthier and more vibrant community.’
Hurrah for Ken!
Rain!
Some lovely wines to choose from 🙂
Ain’t that cute?
My commemorative Wine in the Woods glass
🙂
Thanks Ken, and very lovely it was too!
The throngs!
Just some of the wonderful people there!
We chose our wine and sat down to put the world to rights!
A dry rose
It’s not just wine at the festival – and Harry’s not impressed 🙂
Wine sampling
Winery wine
Press pass!
The queues were long!
Cheers!
McMansionVille
Some areas where we live have massive houses. Not just massive, they are like mansion massive.
And I hear it has been christened ‘McMansionville’. An excellent name.
So I just wanted to share with you this property that is on the market currently.
It has two kitchens! Who the hell needs two kitchens unless you live in Downton Effing Abbey? One kitchen is hard enough to clean.
These houses are crazy big. Who would buy a house like this one, I wonder…..perhaps one of the Real Desperate Housewives….?
Ah, the sweeping staircase – just like the Ewings have 🙂
ukdesperatehousewifeusa 
I don’t know what they need 2 kitchens for in the house shown; maybe one for parties. But 2 kitchens, strangely, were very common in parts of the Northeast with immigrant families. There would be the kitchen that was actually used to cook in, and usually to eat in. That was often in the basement! The other was the one you pretended to use, the one “for show”. No one ever cooked or ate in that one. It was a sign that you “made it”, you were a step up the ladder from the old country, and women took great pride in having a spotless kitchen that was exactly like the pictures in glossy American magazines. This is somewhat related to the (also-common in the same era) living room that no one ever entered…with transparent plastic slipcovers so people could see the upholstery-though they wouldn’t dare sit on it. I’m ashamed to admit we laughed when people did this (not laughing in front of them, but still…). Now I can have a little mercy for how proud they were to have a stove that you didn’t shove wood in, or linoleum instead of dirt floors. Usually first-generation Americans, I wonder what happened to those 2 kitchen houses when they moved.
What a brilliant history lesson! 🙂
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Wow that looks like such a fun day out! Plus you cannot go wrong with wine 😉
🙂
Oh, Wine in the Woods! Some of my favorite, yet fuzzy, memories are from there!
I´m in Germany, and also have 2 kitchens. One (full) upstairs where we live. The other (half) is a summer kitchen (and weight room for my husband) downstairs and right off the garden. Stove, small cooking area, sink, and small fridge. Given the size of European refrigerators, it´s nice to have an extra one for entertaining. But for the most part, it´s not used, and sort of a waste of space.
And incidentally, it just kinda stayed there when the house was remodeled and living space moved upstairs. it was cheaper (given power/water connections, etc.) to just keep it there. And, I don´t clean it. It just collects dust. 🙂