I'm Baaaack

i do apologize to you my family and friends, who use this blog on a catch up of what is happening in Ruth-Ann's life, for being delinquent in writing. i have wanted to write many times, but was just too tired to do it justice. also the things i would write about would just be about work, and i really don't want this blog to just become me venting about work. i just don't think it would translate well to blog world. neways i have finally done some things that were not work, so here i am to fill you all in.

lets just start by saying, i'm fine. things are going well or as well as can be expected. still busy but not as busy as i was doing emergency. so a little more breathing space. i am still tired when i get home and still feel like the weekends aren't long enough, though i do feel lucky to have most of my weekends again.

and on one of those weekends i went to the hunter valley with 2 friends. we drove down on Sat morning and stayed till Sunday. it was a BRILLIANT trip. just simply relaxing. we stayed at Nightingale Winery and Villas and it was absolutely superb. the villa was luxurious, the winery was beautiful in its winter splendor and the food and wine were just sumptuous. we spent some time going around to other wineries and then on Sat night, there was a Christmas in July function at Nightingale.

that my dears was just stomach filling. we met the owners and had a great time. they started with champagne and nibbles in the cellar, then moved on to the dining room where we had like 5 courses of food. i was stuffed by nights end. the food just kept coming, and when we thought that we couldn't eat more, they brought out a cheese platter, and then i thought, 'oh i couldn't eat another morsel' they brought out chocolate cake and the Nightingale Gail Force Port, which is simply the best port i have ever had. smooth, velvety, went with chocolate and had no burn. ahhhhh you know i got a bottle of that when i was leaving. the wine flowed and man they had some of the best wine. we also met some amazing people, Philip and Jo who were this beautiful couple at our table celebrating their 2nd anniversary. their story was soooooo cute. neways that was a great night.

the next morning i slept in, took my time and relaxed. the stay included hot breakfast in the restaurant which was great. the whole weekend Jo and i thought, man we chose a great place to go to. the staff, everyone was so friendly. the service was spot on. you could tell that these people took pride in their jobs and loved the winery. i mean, we saw one of the girls dusting the wine bottles, and she didn't just dust the front ones, she unpacked all of them, dusted them all and re stocked them on the shelves. Philip and Gail, the owners, a different Philip to one mentioned above, were so friendly, kept checking on us to make sure we were having a good time and that all was well. there were so many other little things that they all did that just made the experience great. in terms of wine, i found a great red, their signature Cab Sav which was a red that 'spoke' to me and their Permium Cab Sav was really good as well. in the white category, their Verdelho was beautiful and their Oaked Chardonnay is probably the only oaked wine that i really liked. they oak it differently from other wineries and that makes it have a softer taste, which was perfect for me. i know how they do it but i won't give away their secrets....:)

so all in all it was a great weekend. and i have re stocked on wines, thanks to Nightingale wines. i will definitely be going back and sending people to them.