Free wine? probably not… (November ninety day 22)

Posted: November 22, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Didn’t spend any money, made a completely unphotogenic lunch, and forgot to take any photos of last night’s meal either (which was very nice!). I did get to be mystified for most of the day though, and it’s still not quite been resolved.

Shortly after arriving at work there was a call to my mobile phone. I thought it might be someone offering extra work but it turned out to be my mum asking me if I’d ordered any wine, as she’d just signed for two cases which had arrived at their house addressed to me! Anyone who has been following this blog will know how unlikely it is that I would be ordering wine at the moment, but I thought perhaps I might have entered a competition and then forgotten about it. This looked more unlikely when we realised there were three extra bottles in one of the cases, so 27 bottles in all, and no searches for the wine company name brought up details of a prize that generous.

I asked mum to phone the company, and they told her the wine had definitely been paid for already. Maybe it was a gift? However, when she managed to get the name of the buyer out of them it wasn’t one she recognised, and when she told me the name I didn’t recognise it either. Why was a complete stranger sending wine addressed to me at my parents’ house?? So, I started getting worried! What if someone had ripped off someone else’s credit card and started sending stuff to random addresses to mask their tracks, that kind of thing? Where did they get my old address from?

I decided I had to phone the company myself. Not pleased, as it’s an 0845 number and I was on hold for a couple of minutes. When I got through I explained what had happened and the man I spoke to told me they’d been having database errors, it sounded like a mistake, he would contact the purchaser and if it does turn out to be a mistake he will arrange to have the wine taken away. So, unless it turns out we did win a competition it seems I probably don’t have a wine-lavishing secret admirer. Bit of intrigue for a Friday though.

Sociable Saturday – bring a bottle

Posted: September 7, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happily, I’ve been invited out for dinner this evening at some friends’ house. Since I’m trying to post something every day this month I’m going to play it safe and show you what I’ll be taking with me, as I’m not sure whether I’ll get back before midnight (oooh, I’m such a goer! hehe).

Identifying vegan alcohol has become much easier over the past decade, particularly with the advent of Barnivore. I remember when Co-op started labelling their own brand alcohol, and what a boon it was. They were the trailblazers (although before that there were mail order firms such as Vinceremos that I was aware it was possible to buy vegan booze from).  Since then, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer are the other notable high street stores to follow suit. 

A number of stores also have information available on their websites, which is handy, but means you have to have something with internet access with you while you shop, or do some research beforehand. They may also keep lists of suitable wines instore, although in my experience these aren’t guaranteed to be up-to-date.

The wine I’m taking to tonight’s meal will be something my parents had left over from their ruby wedding anniversary party at the beginning of June and kindly gave two bottles to me:

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Yeah, sorry for the quality of my phone camera, you can’t really see it, but underneath the V it does say ‘vegan’.