Back from Canada
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: 'When It's Over" by Loverboy
Forty-eight hours up and back. :) We had a wonderful time! Left on Friday evening, made it as far as Syracuse, and then continued on Saturday morning. Our first stop was Niagra Falls on the Canadian side. It is truely a lovely place to visit (and I want to go back when we have a few days to wander about).

But who would guess that it would be so packed with people? O.k, yes, I was foolish to think that we'd easily find a parking space, and walk to the falls. But no, we had to park about 1 mile away, but for $5 US, all four of us took the tour bus to the falls and wandered around for about an hour.

Yes, we were wet.

But the kids loved the falls, as did my husband and I. Here is a picture of some of the hotels which overlook the falls.

After leaving the falls, we continued to Leslie's house for the party. We met her wonderful family; parents, in-laws, and friends. I think Martha Stewart could take lessons from Leslie in hostessing. The food was fabulous! I had my first fire roasted ear of corn (beats boiling ANY day!). After eating fast food for the past 24 hours, Leslie offered us a true feast; grilled tri-tip roast beef, spicy pork, salad, burgers and dogs, and more food than I can remember. All of it was delicious! The evening was topped off with Icewine and Champagne with raspberries (this is to die for!) after dessert.

Oh, and should I mention that if Leslie ever asks you to play croquet, that you should run? No, really, I haven't played croquet in probably 30 years, but this was the most fun game I've ever played. It didn't hurt that most of the participants (except Leslie's Dad and I) had been drinking David's margaritas, so as the game progressed, the antics on the croquet court grew more animated. :)

Leslie also breeds Border Collies. My kids are terrified of dogs. But after Leslie sitting down with the boys, and showing them how they could play with the dogs, this is what happened for several hours.

Thats Calvin throwing a tennis ball to three of the six BC's that were there on Saturday night. :)

Of course, I have to show you the coat that Leslie is making for the Felted Coat/Vest class. Here I am modeling it.

This coat is floor length on me (as you can see), but I've had windbreakers that weighed more than it did. It is wool infused on silk. The final embelisments are not yet completed, but that is the basic coat. I've already decided that I'm going to make a swing coat as my project in the class.

And here are a couple of pictures of the felted vessels that we'll be making in September's class.

Sunday morning found me back at Leslie's place, picking up the rabbit food, and saying our goodbyes. I had told Leslie's husband that we planned to check out one of the winery's that you'll find all along the QEW (a major road going up to Toronto from Fort Erie). David suggested one to us, and then we were off. Our first stop was here, at Legend Estates Winery. This winery over looks Lake Ontario. Here is a picture of the growing vines and the lake from the store/tasting room.

I now have several bottles of their Caberbet Franc and Vidal Icewines. :)

Jumping back on the QEW, we then headed down to Chateau des Charmes. Located in a newer chateau, this winery is surrounded by aces of vines. They have two "wine boutiques" and a tasting room. I did try their 2003 Ros?, Cuv?e d'Andr?e (V.Q.A. Niagara Peninsula), which was wonderful. But again, my quest was for Icewine. I tried both the Riesling and the Vidal, but settled on the 2000 Vidal Icewine (V.Q.A. Niagara Peninsula), which was slightly sweeter.

Incase you are wondering just what Icewine is, it is made from grapes that were allowed to freeze on the vines. The grapes are picked after it reaches -8 to -10 degrees Celcius, then crushed before they have thawed. The resulting wine has a sugar content of around 20, while dry wine will have a sugar content of 0, and a fruit wine might have a sugar content of 2. So this is incredibly sweet wine.

We also purchased these tiny wine glasses made especially for icewine. They look like little cordial glasses.

After leaving Chateau des Charmes, we headed home. It was a long drive, but we finally made in back to Bay Colony Farm around 7:15 p.m.

It was a wonderful weekend, and Leslie is the hostess with the mostest! Dale told her that we were going to have a hard time topping that party when she's down again in September. She's a hard act to follow. :)