Something completely different

I owe you an update on what's happening at the house outside of the garden. A few major changes coming in the next few weeks including carpeting in the master bedroom, new granite countertops in the kitchen and the installation of a temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar. Preparation for all three took up a good chunk of time last weekend, that and the mowing which was amazingly overdue (amazing because I'd just mowed two weeks previous and it's a bit early still for weekly mowings).

The granite countertops turned into quite a palaver. Who knew that I had to have the old tops removed before the granite people would even come in and measure for the new ones? That leaves two plus weeks with the old tops off and the new ones yet to arrive. I've managed to convince my contractor to give me at least a sink and my center island while I wait for the granite to be cut. I'll need to take a trip up to Albany next weekend and pick out the exact slab for my tops (which is actually kind of cool).

The wine cellar is a neat exercise too. It'll have a capacity of close to 200 bottles. Right now I have 60 but my brother, AJ, has plans to invest in a few cases to put away for five or ten years. He's in the wine business so I trust his judgment. I'm thinking I may need to charge him for storage or at least take a cut of any appreciation when realized. I've found a cool application called Cellar Tracker which allows me to track my entire cellar on line and includes tasting notes, drinking windows and valuation. I'd recommend it to anyone with a collection.