Birds...

Birds in the sky at work are craaaaaazy... and mesmerizing

Halloween at the Hawthorn House

Smile frown?! try it.... its pretty funny! 

 loads of deer about, and they are pretty friendly... (all with freakishly big ears!)

 we had a dump of snow as well which was pretty exciting!

 This years Halloween was celebrated with a party at our vintage house..

 we each carved a couple of pumpkins...

 ...this one is my masterpiece

 along with all the others :)

 dressed up...

 it was a very drunk night... four people puked (no.... I was not included in that four!), we let off some fire works and played beer pong.

 good times :)

 and then dealt with the clean up the next day!!

Meanwhile at work, we got the last of the fruit in (HOORAY!) 

Now just a couple more weeks of clean up and I'll be done!

Donuts anyone?

 The Okanagan produces some amazing produce. The fresh food here is delicious...I'm getting used to eating organic ;) 

Last week Tracey and I made donuts... It was our first attempt and we were pretty happy with the results.

First the dough....

 Vince made a delicious chocolate glaze

Then we shallow fried them and Tracey made some custard

 Then we filled them with custard, or jam, rolled some in sugar and glazed the rest

 YUM!

 Taste explosion.... all over Tracey!

Oktoberfest Penticton style

 Last night I ventured into Penticton to go to Oktoberfest at the convention centre.

The photos say it all really.... many many beers consumed! 

 I love beer?!

 some needed to be carried home :p

Voilet Beauregarde?!

Digging out tanks is up there with my favorite things to do at work

 I have set a personal record of being at work for only 2 hours and getting the messiest I have probably been to date.... yes..... it looks like I may have been shot or may be turning into a blueberry?!

 some pretty cool moments while making wine that I think are photo worthy... like below, I was sucking the juice off the top of what is called Lees (its the solids settle on the bottom of the tank)

 Thanks to Dad and Julie for the cash to get a new work jacket. BOY am I glad to have it... it's getting seriously cold!

Monday marked another year older on my Calender and although I had to work, my friends and I went out for the dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant which was lovely :)

 

 Everyone here knows me so well already.... I was very spoiled with some amazing gifts

and CAKE :D

A room with a view

 It has been stormy the past couple of days and our poor tomato plants have taken quite the beating! We are however, blessed with lovely rainbows out of my bedroom window :) (above) 

Today was not so stormy, but BLOODY cold (even though it doesn't look it!) 

I manned the crusher for most of the day and this was my view. Not a bad place to work eh!

 A load of fruit to be crushed... 

within the day it will be crushed, pressed, transferred to a tank, put through the Centrifuge (which takes out solids),  transferred to another tank and then the yeast is added to get it fermenting. 

It's really amazing how quick the process is here at JT

mmmm wine and cheese

 Even though I'm making wine, I'm surprisingly not sick of it! 

Al, Fiona and I ventured out to the Upper Bench Winery. They not only have a winery but they also make cheese. Delicious Cheeeeeeese! 

We treated ourselves to a cheese and wine paired sharing platter and enjoyed the last of the sunshine. Yum!