AN APB AND THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW......SEPTEMBER 12 2011

An All Points Bulletin  has been issued for the Pittsburgh Steelers Football team.  They have been missing since Sunday morning and if anyone out there knows where they are, please notify someone!

The only good part of the Steeler game was the Budweiser commercial.  If it didn't bring a tear to your eye, well, I feel sorry for you.  It was beautiful watching those magnificent horses paying homage to the victims of 9-11.  No, we will never forget!

And now, for the things I didn't know.  I'll bet by this time you thought I knew everything.  Guess I put on a good front.

We did our one day bus trip at Niagara Falls on Wednesday of last week.  I knew about the barge stuck on the rocks just above the falls, but didn't know for how long.  Now I know.  I never knew there was a Monastery at Niagara Falls, but now I know.  I had never heard of ICEWINE before, but now I have.  I guess you are never too old to learn new tricks.

First - the barge.  Also known as a "scow".  This is the thumb-nail version.  In 1918 the barge broke loose from the tug boat hauling it with 2 men aboard.  The barge then began drifting down river toward the horseshoe falls.  There was nothing the two men could do but wait to be swept over the falls. 

However the barge became grounded on a rock shoal 2500 feet above the falls.  The entire saga is 14 pages long, the gist of it was that they were able to get a line from the shore to the barge and the two men were rescued by going hand over hand along the rope. 

Second, the Monastery.  Mount Carmel Monastery was settled at Niagara Fails in 1875 by the Carmelite Friars.  It was a retreat house or hospice for clergy and laity.  In 1919 it became a "house of studies" - a novitiate, college and high school.  In 1979 it reverted to a retreat house.  Today they conduct work shops and provide spiritual direction for people of faith.

And third - ICEWINE.    We visited Joseph's Estate Wines  near Niagara-on-the-Lake for a wine tasting  First we had tastes of your traditional white, red, dry and sweet wines.  Then after drinking some water to remove the taste of these wines, we were served ICEWINE.

All I can say is - I very rarely indulge in hard liquor and wine - but .. I could very well become addicted to this fantastic tasting wine.  Just about everyone on the bus felt the same way.

I am now going to quote from information I found on this type of wine.

Icewine is a rare gift from a magical Canadian winter.  Picked at the coldest moment of a winter's night, each frozen grape creates just one drop of Icewine. 

Icewines originated in Germany and Austria.  It has taken the Canadian winemakers to bring Icewines to North America.  Today almost every winery in Niagara makes Icewine.  In fact Niagara produces about 80% of the Canadian Icewine supply.

Needless to say I brought a bottle home with me.  It is very pricey, but will be great for a special occasion.

So as you can see, I really don't know everything - I am just able to make folks think that I do.

Now better get cracking.  I have apples from the farm waiting to be made into apple pies and put in the freezer for eating down the road. 

So will sign off for now.  Have a great day and God Bless.