KatDoc's got a new name

It's WineBabe! (Not to be confused with Wine Girl, who blogs about wines from her home in Cincinnati.)


Now, when I'm not saving dogs and cats, I'm moonlighting as a member of the hospitality team at Harmony Hill Winery. Basically, I pour you a glass of wine or uncork your bottle, take your money, wipe up the counter, restock the supplies, and try not to screw up when I do a tasting.

the tasting room at Harmony Hill

I get a T-shirt, discounts on wine, and - oh, yeah - they're gonna PAY me. Can you believe it? And it is such a totally fun job - no trying to convince people to spend money they don't want to spend on medicines they are going to forget to give, no trying to convince people that good nutrition and wellness care are cheaper in the long run than treating disease, no saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Owner, your pet has an incurable illness." No, the wine business is all about drinking nice wines while relaxing in a pleasant environment and listening to music.

my "uniform" -
a Harmony Hill T-shirt

So far, customers, staff members and owners have all been very helpful and forgiving when I screw up the register or mispronounce the names of the grapes. I have learned to uncork and recork a bottle, to pour a taste or a glass, to pronounce words like traminette and chambourcin, and that Ohio liquor laws require you to pay for all alcohol - no free tastings. (Sorry!)


Saturday, I finally got to meet the Harmony Hill dogs - they moved around so much, I only got pictures of two of the four of them.

Bo

and Belle (Bubba and Sadie were MIA.)

After working two 4 hour shifts, I'm officially done for this season. Next weekend is the last that Harmony Hill will be opened to the general public - 5-9pm on Friday and 12-6pm on Saturday, with live music both days. Next year, the season starts Memorial Day weekend. I hope I will remember what I have learned so far. I'll let you know when I'm working, in case you are nearby and want WineBabe to serve you.

three Harmony Hill babes:
Donna on the left, owner Patti on the right,
and your blogger in the middle

The grapes are nearly ready - harvest starts soon. If you live in the area (Clermont, Brown, or Hamilton County) and want to help pick grapes, Bill is looking for volunteer labor. Contact him through the Harmony Hill website.

grapevines netted to protect the crop from greedy birds

Cheers!

I like Ike?

While we may not have enjoyed the aftermath, the skies during Sunday's "big wind" were dramatic. [Over 100,000 in the Cincinnati area still without power, 6 days later.]

click below to see more skies

Sun-Moon Mug

I have been experimenting with glazing techniques lately. I am trying different colors, glazes which have built-in speckles, which are fired at different temperatures, and with underglazes.

Since I cannot draw or paint, I thought I would try using stencils for additional detail and interest in my pieces. Here is my first attempt:



I used a pencil to trace the designs onto the bisque-fired mug. (The stencil was plastic, and the curve of the mug was too great for me to just hold the stencil on the mug and paint it directly. On a platter or other flat surface, that might work.) Then, I filled in the design with a fine brush, handglazing two layers of black. After that dried, I covered the entire mug in three layers of the yellow glaze. When it was done, you could just barely make out the stencil, and I didn't think it would work. I picked it up from the studio this evening (one of the few things that got fired before the power went out. The studio is still dark tonight.) and was pleased with the results. I am trying to think of a way to make a more flexible stencil - maybe trace it onto contact paper - to make it a little easier to do the transfer.

What do you think?

Thank you, Duke employees!

More storm images.

Just one of dozens of trees down or damaged along my daily route.

The sign at Speedway is broken, but the light at the intersection with the 4 lane highway is fixed. Hurrah!!

As I listened to AM radio last night, to learn more about the area-wide power outages, I heard the DJ talking with a call-in guest. The driver was headed southbound on I-75, and he was remarking on the wave after wave of electric company trucks driving north toward Cincy. Seems the linemen from Duke Energy Carolina were on their way to help local crews get our lights on just a little bit quicker. They arrived last night and were on the job at 7am today.

This happened at least once before in my memory, after a disastrous snow storm in December 2004 shut down the area for days. As before, energy workers banded together for the good of the community. It made me mist up to hear the caller say, "And there's another one!" as a convoy of trucks passed him, coming to our aide. Thanks, guys! You're the best!

Soon, we should be seeing a lot less of this:

and more images like this one:

And for the best news of all, my mom's power came on today, a little bit before 3 o'clock, while I was on the phone with her. We both heard a strange whining noise, and just as I said, "What was that?" she exclaimed, "My fan is spinning! And, my clock is flashing!" She couldn't decide which was her first priority: Hot coffee, hot food, or a hot shower.

Now, I have to think good thoughts for my sister in Columbus, who is still in the dark. Of course, this is a normal condition for her, so she should be used to it.

It's an ill wind

... and it blew through Cincinnati yesterday. They tell me it was the "remnants" of Hurricane Ike, but I have to tell you - it scared the pants off me. It was the weirdest storm I have ever seen. Sustained winds in the 50 and 60 mph range (Wind that blows at the same speed as I drive?) with gusts in the 70's. One unofficial spotter reported a gust of 84mph. This is big wind for the midwest. Yet, despite the winds and the storm-tossed skies, not a drop of rain fell. I have never experienced anything like it. And this was after Ike spent its wrath on Galveston, after it dumped 7 inches of rain on Chicago, when it was supposed to be exhausted. I have to tell you; people who choose to stay and ride out a hurricane are certifiable in my opinion.


The aftermath has been challenging, to say the least. Trees and power lines are down everywhere. Electricity is out all over the area. At the height of the blackout, 700,000 Duke Energy customers were affected. Two million homes and business from Columbus to Cincinnati to Louisville are without power, according to the latest radio reports. Some areas are under a "boil water" advisory or are requesting residents conserve water use. The hum of chain saws can be heard around every corner.


The effects are spotty, though. I have seen some areas with only small limbs down


or minor building damage,


and other places with trees on buildings or electric lines. One of my clients today said the transformer blew off the pole by her house. The latest predictions are that some people may not have their power restored until the weekend.

We have electricity on at our office, but the food mart across the road is still dark. I lost my electricity Sunday afternoon and it came back that night, but my mother, in an area with a much larger population, is still blacked out. Food is going to waste in refrigerators and freezers in homes and businesses. People are having a hard time finding gasoline. Those stations with gas have no electricity to pump it; stations with power are running low on fuel.

The biggest hassle, from my point of view, has been the number of traffic signals that are not working. This, too has been hit or miss. The Speedway station has electricity, but the light at the crossroad of a major 4-lane state highway is dark. Then, the next light, at some minor intersection, will be functioning fine. It is rare to find a police officer directing traffic; most of the time the old "4-way stop" rule applies. The majority of drivers are being pretty good about it, but I see one blow through an intersection here and there, and it is the worry that I might meet one of these rude folks that has me on edge.

my view during most of my commute today

I know our troubles are nothing compared to the real tragedies of the world. It is these relatively minor inconveniences that make you appreciate all we have in our lives. Still, the adventure is getting old now, and we would all like to return to normal, please.

If nothing else, God, please turn the power on at my mother's condo. Thank you very much.

in mourning

today, i am blue. today, i am in mourning. today is a Very Bad Day, because it is the day after OSU was thoroughly trounced and totally humiliated on national TV.

today, i am sad.

Holly's "ow-di-gator"

Holly's fall allergies have kicked in again. I had her pretty well controlled with Atopica, omega3 fatty acids, and chlorpheniramine, but when I went to work Wednesday morning she was scratching, and when I came home that night, her face was a mess.

compare this face to last year's

It looks the same!

So, she's back on prednisone. This helps with her itch, but means she loses nearly all bladder control. On Friday, she got to come to work with Mama.

Now, when you itch all over, you are terribly thirsty, you have to pee every two hours, and you are forced to spend the day with your mother at her work, you deserve a present. I took Hol to PetsMart at lunch time to choose her reward for being good.

She walked up and down the toy aisle, sniffing at the various stuffed animals and tug toys. I tried to tempt her with things I thought she might like, bouncing a ball in front of her and swinging the dental floss rope under her nose. She was not impressed. She even walked over a stuffed monkey-thing that someone left on the floor. Nothing doing. It was obvious she was on a mission to find the perfect toy, and she would not be denied.

I found one of those crazy-looking canvas cats by Fat Cat Inc. like this one.



Ordinarily, I don't encourage my cat-loving dogs to play rough with cat-shaped toys, but I thought we'd give it a try. I showed it to her. She gave it a cursory glance, then looked beyond the cat toy in my hand to the next item on the shelf. Her eyes lit up! She had found her toy.

This - an "alligator swamp-thing" by the same company.

The tag promised it would hold up to 1/2 ton of tugging force. I thought we might try it out.

Wonder if it can stand up to my girl?

Um, that would be a "No."

It's not the tugging that's a problem, it's the chewing.

My ow-di-gator.*
Mine.

* The word "ow-di-gator" will be familiar
to viewers of "Jon and Kate Plus 8."