Wine, Dogs, Snow and Crazy

A few weekends back it snowed just a little bit. Well, more than a little, but nothing major; nothing like what has been going on up north over the last day. I was scheduled to take care of the C.'s dogs out in Bucks County, so driving up 95 without wiping out or going blind, and choosing a route that would help me avoid still snowy/slippy hills were incredibly important. D. texted me at one point to see if I had arrived safely...I had not, but it did give me the opportunity to ask her the best way to omit an especially spooky hill and for her to give me a great alternative path. When I arrived I took care of the dogs, letting them out, giving them treats and pills, that kind of thing. Meanwhile D. texted me, saying I should get a bottle of wine from their cellar to enjoy and relax with. They have quite a selection and I don't know enough about wine to know which are incredibly good or bad, which made picking a wine at first very difficult...I didn't want to pick a bottle not knowing it was an incredibly rare vintage or came with a hefty hefty hefty price tag...but honestly at the same time, I didn't want to try a Yellowtail bottle that would not widen my knowledge or palate in any meaningful way. So then I saw this Chateauneuf du Pape...which I know is kind of fancy. And then I agonized over whether it was too fancy for a dog sitter to avail herself of just because she was given a bit of a 'carte blanche.' So I texted Mr. Ass, as it was his parents' house/dogs that I was looking after. My first text was basically 'is it gauche to open this nice bottle of wine?' and then was followed by a second text that basically realized that if I had to ask the question, I probably didn't want to open the bottle. So then I took another look around and decided on another bottle, which I noted they had more than one bottle of...but then Mr. Ass texted back giving the go ahead....so I went ahead. Two things about this story:

1. The wine was delicious. I savored it. I drank about two glasses that first night while enjoying a few episodes of television with the dogs on either side of me.

2. I shouldn't have opened it. It's one of those things where just because someone says it's okay, doesn't mean that you're not going a bit beyond standard procedure. I'm still getting pangs of guilt about it two weeks later. But then those pangs alternate with the fact that I really enjoyed the wine and appreciated it. It was especially nice with the chicken I roasted the next night (spoiler alert).

The next morning I awoke with the dogs and got quite an early start to my day, which mainly involved hanging out with the dogs, brining a chicken, watching television and eating cheese.

By the end of the weekend the snow was almost entirely gone from the back yard.

The dogs on their respective perches. The C. house is delightful in many a way, just one of which is the fact that you can take a photograph of almost anything and it'll turn out looking decent because of their interior decor. Another of which is just how many comfy spots there are to read a book or watch a show. I would get confused about where I wanted to set myself up, so one part of my day was trying to give each sofa a bit of attention. The dogs obliged as well.