I do have quite a few favourites, including tea of many types, coffee, whisky, gin, wines, some exotic cocktails, even beer these days. However, increasing age and decreasing income has affected my ready access to some of the more potent items on the list, and probably just as well for my health status too. As well, I much prefer to drink our local Tasmanian wines and spirits, rather than imported...and these are usually at the upper end of my budgetary allowance, so are quite rarely imbibed these days.
Having said that I have never been a drinker, to me it is more about the occasion and the company I am with at the time. However, a glass of wine with any family members who are about, is a very civilised way to end the day.
Back in the dim past I loved making my own wines, usually with fruit.
Dad made his own wine long before I had the time, inclination and sheer space to indulge this very pleasant hobby, so I had had some mentoring and had learned from his experiments. Some of my favourites were elderberry, fig and rose hip, raspberry, and a very special peach Tokay style wine that was an absolute knockout, but only after about four and a half years of storage...before that it had a very distinctly "worn socks" smell that at least kept it protected from imbibers for the length of time it needed to turn itself into the most delicious golden liqueur.
I only rediscovered it by accident when searching through my storage racks for a spare demijohn to start a new fermentation and I almost tipped it down the sink. Luckily, the aroma was so different it tempted me to taste the wine to enable me to complete my notes on the batch. I was completely blown away by the quality of the result...sadly never repeated. We moved away from the small orchard we had developed, I got much busier with my career and university studies...you know how it goes.
Enough of this wandering through the golden mists of time, I decided, for my inchie image today, to use the most basic of beverages, one I am trying hard to increase on a daily basis into my diet (I have to say it's not my favourite), which is a glass of water.
Those of us who live in areas where clean fresh drinking water is a freely available commodity should give thanks daily for our very good fortune.
These local walnuts have a most beautifully sweet flavour and a lovely creamy texture. They put packaged, shelled and often very elderly nuts from the supermarket quite into the shade...I'm already thinking of recipes and uses for this little harvest.
We are still waging a small (but friendly, trust me), war on a few birds who have decided to call our balcony rail home, bless them. The juvenile gull has a most persistent and strident cry which keeps up, totally ignored by Mother/Father Gull, but which sets the neighbors' dog, Oscar, off in a frenzy of barking...he is constantly chasing the birds as he has little other employment. Things can get pretty noisy at times, so one of us, whoever gets irritated first, rushes out to wave them away. This is repeated ad nauseum throughout the day...keeps us active!
Di