Making Vino!

As you guys know I made my own wine recently. It was a surprisingly easy process but it took over three years to come about. It started when I stumbled down the back of my old property in Kingsland and discovered that my clothesline had grapes growing all over it. This tells you two things. One: It's not that hard to grow grapes. And two: I don't do the washing very often.

The year before I made jam from the plum tree at the front of the property so I thought I better do something with these grapes before the birds had their evil way with them.

I wanted a challenge and as I'd already made jam so I thought to myself - wine. My chum Waz has made feijoa wine so I thought he was the man to talk to. And I was right.

So was born the Clothes Line Vine

Liberated from a clothes line in Kingsland these grapes were of unknown origin. However they have produced a lively, sweet summer drop that is the colour of pink panties with hints of rocket fuel.

The winemakers themselves are surprised by the drinkability of this fine drop. Enjoy in the shade in Summer and do not operate heavy machinery afterwards.

Crafted by hand and lovingly pressed by foot.

So here for you're viewing pleasure is the making of the wine...

This is at Waz's place but that's some of my jam in the background there. It wasn't part of the process. More's the pity. 

All this sugar went it. It's what makes the wine boozy. 

That's that. Now we had to play the waiting game. So we left the wine to sit in Waz's garage.

Fast forward three years. It was time to bottle up. So I purchased some old bottles on trademe and cleaned them up. Sterilizing the bottles was relatively simple but getting the labels off was the real job. I realized that taking labels off a bottle is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman. Some just come off in your hand while others make your life a misery.

 
Once the bottles were cleaned up. It was time to bottle up.

First you'll need some sterilized corks.

And one of these things.

Waz, me and his boy Benny made a little production line bottling the wine. We were done in no time.

The first sampling.

Then it was time to add the label.

Then simply sit back and enjoy it's sweet goodness. Oh and, true to form, it's incredibly alcoholic. Which is nice.

The Deadliest Game

The trailer for the film that I wrote featuring Greg Broadmores Dr Grodborts world is up.

Check it out here... THE DEADLIEST GAME.

Keep Your Wig On...

I've been a real gypsy lately. I have no real fixed abode, it had been my intention to move to Wellington and go to the mattresses for a while.

However, as usual, life had different plans: the TV series I'd been working on - Nothing Trivial - became a run-away success. So much so that it was quickly picked up for a second series. The series creators Rachel and Gavin were good enough to ask me to work on the new series. Which was nice considering my terrible behavior on the story table. This meant I needed to get my bum back to Auckland. So I'm back and sleeping on my friend Kathryn's couch.

I've been trying out Auckland's new bus system because - as you know - I like to try new stuff. You see I have discovered that "new stuff" is the best place to find ideas.

It was on one of my bus rides that I spotted this shop tucked away in Point Chev. It's one of those old-world specialist shops that the Internet is herding into extinction. So I decided to snap a few shops of it in the wild while I still could and share it with you lot. Also I'm a bit tickled because my sister's name is also Jessica. To my knowledge she doesn't wear a wig.

Also some of the little touches around this shop are so priceless. The shoplifting sign in particular is a wee pearler.  

Where the Hell have I Been?

There's no easy answer to this one. Just let me say this it has involved becoming a gypsy, the wasteland of no Internet connection, an enlarged spleen, a tax audit, a ton of writing projects, three feature film scripts, some accidental art, my old friends the cuckoo clocks, oh, and moving a spa pool.

Life is what happens when you're making other plans the old saying goes and that has never more true of my mad life recently. Things are settling down and I notice I've lost a few followers - not that I had that many to begin with - so it's time to get the old Wood of Kings back on the radar again. NO REVERSE MANOEUVRING!

Here's some snaps from some of the stuff you've missed out on and I promise you - dear reader - I will endeavour to fill in as many blanks as I can over the next few weeks. Keep checking in there's so much to tell...