Posts made in October, 2011

Making and bottling your own wine is a dream to many people – myself included.  It’s fun, surprisingly inexpensive, and doesn’t require very much time or general effort.  In fact, getting started in making wine doesn’t even require purchasing books or learning a vast amount of information.  A quick look at a few blogs, printing off some general information, and ordering your own wine making kit is pretty much all your going to need to make your own wine.

But what about storing wine after you’ve bottled it?

This is a question that I get asked with a surprisingly high degree of frequency, which is why I’ve begun going into more in depth detail on the mechanics of it.  It’s as simple as everything else, you just need to know what it is that you are doing.

• Basements work great.  I keep my wine bottles stored in my basement, against a wall that doesn’t have any light.  This is essential to keeping the wine in its best possible shape, since any light that gets on to the bottles for a long period of time will inevitably have negative repercussions.  Light exposure is one of the worst things you can do to a bottle of wine.
• Temperature control is critical to the quality and longevity of your wine bottles.  You don’t want it in a basement that gets really cold in the winter, and gets really hot in the summer.  In fact, you want to keep the general temperature as consistent as humanly possible.  I worry less about this than light – so remember that.  Keeping your wine in a dark place is more important than making sure the temperature never changes.  But any temperature fluctuations will have a detrimental affect on the finished product.
• Are your bottles airtight?  Are you a hundred percent positive?  Bottling and corking your wine is a fun and pretty easy part of the process, but making sure that you aren’t overfilling the wine bottles is important if you want them to age well.  And if you are corking at home, making sure that you are using a good corker is important.  These can be rented from a lot of wineries and wine equipment shops, so if you don’t want to shell out several hundred dollars on a good one its pretty easy to get one for your uses anyway.  I highly recommend this over buying a cheap one that may do a ‘decent’ job.  That ‘decent’ job very well may impact the longevity of bottles of wine that you have put time and effort into.  There’s nothing worse than fermenting a hundred bottles of red wine and finding out that eighty of them went bad before you could enjoy them or give them to friends just because you skimped on the wine bottle corker.  Go rent one.  You’ll thank me later.

On my blog www.winestainedfeet.com I talk about the importance of wine storage a lot, I even detail wine storing compartments and other higher tech gadgets that you can invest in when you have the money.  They aren’t necessary right out the gate, but are worthwhile investments when your home wine making hobby has moved up to the next level.

Successful tennis players can go an entire career without winning a single grand slam title. The pinnacle of success is reserved for the very best, along with the few one hit wonders that can make a lucky break through. The stranglehold that players like Federer, who has 16 titles to his name, have on the biggest prizes in tennis is amazing. These tournaments feature the best players every single year, but there are always a few that rise to the top. Overall success in tennis has no better measurement than performance at the majors. These are filled with pressure packed situations where a player finds out what they really are made of. It is at these tournaments that the professionals find out if they have what it takes to become champions.

Retired Tennis Champions

The best of the past tennis champions is Pete Sampras. The number of titles he managed to win eclipsed everyone else. With fourteen different grand slam victories, Sampras vaulted himself to the top of the ranks, where he remained until Federer later unseated him. The most notable part of the Sampras game was his serve. He had incredible power on the serve, but it was really his placement and sound tactical decisions that so often led him to victory. By employing an efficient and effective method of serving and volleying he was able to claim victory at Wimbledon on seven different occasions.

Active Tennis Champions

The most competitive champions of the ATP men’s tour are restricted to the top three. None of the other players at this point have made any sign that they are capable of cracking the armor of the men on top. Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are the strongest competitors that can back up their mental toughness with rock solid game. Djokovic is the next rising tennis star, but the other two veterans can’t be counted out yet.

With Federer on a fast decline and Nadal struggling with injuries, it seems like tennis may be in store for a new set of champions. Djokovic has stepped up to claim his spot, but there will be room for at least one more solid player to make that difficult transition. The most likely candidates among the top players are Andy Murray and Del Potro. Murray has made two slam finals, falling miserably in both of them. Del Potro already has a single title to his name, but struggled for a while with injuries. These players will look to impose themselves as top champions in the new tennis era.

It is Djokovic that has drawn the most attention to himself over the rest of the active famous tennis players. After an incredible 2011 performance, everyone is wondering if he will be able to keep up the pace over the next few years. If he can do it, there is little doubt that he will break into the upper echelon of the slam title list. Djokovic has shown that his all around game has almost no weakness, coupled with a return of serve that is feared by everyone in the tennis world.

Koh Samui is a large island in the Gulf of Thailand that has grown in popularity over the last 20 years as a holiday destination. A huge part of the reason for Koh Samui’s popularity is obviously the beautiful white sand beaches and year round great weather (except for the month of the monsoon), but also a big part of why people go to Koh Samui is that there is plenty to do and see on the island. Below are details about popular activities in Koh Samui and sightseeing spots.

Water sports

Being an island surrounded by warm tropical waters Koh Samui has naturally lots of water sport options. Several beaches including Chaweng, Laem Set and Coral Cove Bay all have coral reefs near the beach that are suitable for snorkeling.

Most beaches have a dive school. These schools offer PADI courses and for the qualified diver day trips to both local dive sites and other sites in the Gulf such as Sail Rock, Chumphon Pinnacles and Ang Thong Marine Park.

Sailing enthusiast can hire a catamaran and other yachts at Saard’s Watersports Center in Bophut. Those who enjoy kite boarding can enjoy the sport at Laem Set. There is no surf in the Gulf but during the months from September to February there is often enough swell to body board near the shore.

Other sports

There are a number of golf courses and driving ranges on Koh Samui. The best (and the most expensive) is Santiburi Country Club which has the only full size course. For those still nurturing the inner child there is a go kart place near Bophut which has some powerful carts to drive.

Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand. There are several spots around the island where you can see fights including the spectacle of lady boy s fighting in Lamai. There are also several gyms around the island where you can learn the martial art or just enjoy a good work out.

More gentle activity is available at the bowling alleys at Tesco Lotus on the Chaweng Road. For those who want to see something of the interior there is Canopy Adventures (based in Chaweng) that has a series of tree houses joined by zip lines.

Nightlife

For those who want to party the night away there are some great nightlife options in Koh Samui. Chaweng has the largest selection of bars, restaurants and night clubs. They have Brazilian samba at Zico’s, several discos, places that have live music and of course strip joints. Lamai also has a similar night life scene with more of an emphasis on discos. Bophut is famous for its beachfront bars and pubs overlooking the harbor. You can find Guinness, pub grub, live sports, Irish bars, Auzzie bars and also the infamous ‘beer bars’ on Koh Samui.

Sightseeing

The main tourist attraction on Koh Samui is the iconic 12 meter-high Golden Buddha at Bang Rak. It is perched at the top of a grand staircase that leans out over the bay. It has become a symbol for the island. There is also an impressive Thai temple or ‘Wat’ at Plai Laem. For those who like the strange and curious there is a 30 year old mummified monk at Wat Khunaram near Baan Bang Kao.

Even from this brief survey of things to do and see in Koh Samui it is clear that the visitor will never be at loss for something to do when he or she visits Koh Samui.

We’ll take a look first at the basic BMI calculation, then discuss interpreting the results for both adults and children. Just to clarify first of all, BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is a measure of the levels of body fat someone is carrying. One can then go on to determine how much body fat one has relative to everyone else, and the risk factors associated with being overweight or underweight.

Calculating Your BMI

The actual calculation for BMI in metric is BMI (in kg/m²) = weight in kg / height in m². Just plug in accurate values for your height and weight and you’ve got your BMI.

How to figure out your BMI is not that difficult. The equation above as you can see is a quick and easy BMI formula that saves the bother of getting out your calculator.

What It All Means

Once you’ve got hold of a figure, you need to know what on earth it represents. For adults over 20 years of age, the classifications below will give you your answer.

• BMI under 18.5 – underweight
• BMI of 18.5 to 25 – normal
• BMI of 25 to 30 – overweight
• BMI of 30 or more – obese

These classifications are important because they tell you for example if you have a higher risk of developing a range of health issues such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers. These have been shown to be more prevalent if your BMI is over 25, so when you fall in the overweight or obese categories.

So, How’s This Going To Help You Lose Weight

For most of us, simply knowing that you’re overweight or obese is going to have some motivational effect on you, perhaps leading to changes in diet and exercise routines to reduce the calorie intake and increase the calorie burn respectively.

For others, the issue may be a more complex one, and further assessments as to the cause of perhaps being overweight need to be determined. But in most of these cases too, a program can be created to compensate, holding the potential of bringing you back to normal levels.

Really, your BMI is just a good solid measure of fat levels, a starting point to doing something about it and nothing more. It course will also help to review BMI levels as they fall to hopefully provide a further motivational tool.

Doing Things Differently For Children And Teens

One final point. BMI is worked out in just the same was for those under 20 years of age. However, the results are looked at differently. This is because healthy body fat levels differ below 20 as compared with above. Not only that, different ages below 20, and indeed whether you are a boy or girl, will provide differing BMI levels that are seen as healthy or not.

A higher BMI will be seen as healthy for a 2 year old vs a 4 year old for example. 2 year old just carry that bit more fat.

As a result, a whole new set of charts and classifications need to be used for this demographic group.

Sooner or later we all find ourselves giving gifts to the individuals that we really care about. The holiday season and birthdays are typical occasions for giving but then again it may be to say thank you or that we care. So then, who hasn’t struggled to think of a fantastic present? For many groups of people it is really difficult to think up a fitting gift, one that will delight. Thankfully shopping for presents for home gardeners can be straightforward and there are lots of very good gift items to choose from. The challenge with some gardening gifts is to avoid buying the old favorite presents again and again. Now it is the time to get more original with your ideas and think a little.

Most of us would like the presents we buy to be liked, treasured and most of all remembered. With a bit of extra thought you could come up with a suitable gift idea for your special gardening friend or relative. Every so often we hit on a great gardening gift idea. To broaden your search why not think of garden related products. Things that can be used to relax in the garden may be great gift for a gardener or garden lover. After all gardeners spend lots of time outdoors, so think of ideas to make their time more comfortable or perhaps productive.

Here are a few products that folks first consider when purchasing a gift for the gardener:

Gardening Books – can be a great idea although a little pedestrian. The answer to make this idea interesting would be to choose a subject they are already keen on or something completely new to them which they have never tried.
Plants – try for something a little different, it could be a particular orchid or perhaps some sort of plant they are really less likely to have grown before.
Gardening Tools and Equipment – a bit of an old favorite here. Add some interest with some thing a bit quirky or the latest product. Try a digital weather station for something different!

Products for Garden Users

Almost all home gardeners are usually garden fans at the same time, devoting considerable time in their gardens possibly doing work but also unwinding. This will give you the opportunity to select a useful gift that is garden linked one way or another – you need to use your imagination here. Maybe a hammock bed for relaxing after a long day or perhaps some great new barbeque equipment. Artistic garden lights or perhaps a piece of outside sculpture might be fantastic gift ideas and will surely remind them of yourself when they have them within their garden.

Whenever you start to consider garden related items the number of gift ideas can increase considerably, not simply the dull old gardening gift ideas which have been rolled out previously with very little creative thinking. A truly successful gift idea for a garden enthusiast needs to impress and inspire, but if you can make it memorable then you’ve succeeded with a fantastic gift.