GoGoKitty’s Do-It-Yourself Secrets

One of the great secrets of travel is to ‘do what the locals do’. Local people will almost always know the best things to do and the cheapest way to do them.

Take the case of the ‘tourist bus’. It can be very convenient to get to know a foreign city quickly, using the local open-top bus. It can make an excellent introduction to a city and allow you to narrow down the list of places that you want to explore in more detail. However, you don’t see many Londoners on the open-top buses in London, do you? Even if they are showing visitors around their beloved city. Why? Because there are much cheaper and more effective ways of getting around the city. A day pass on the London buses is cheap and you will see at least as much, if you plan it carefully. And you won’t have that annoying, patronizing commentary.

So how about traveling to places outside London? This can seem more complicated to arrange and many people seek the safety of an organized tour. But think about Oxford, for example. This beautiful historic university city is only an hour or so from London. There is an adequate train service. But what do the locals do? They take the bus. In fact, there are two bus companies operating on the London to Oxford route in competition, which means that the fares are cheap and the service is frequent. For less than twenty pounds, you can get a return ticket on one of these services to Oxford. Go when you want, explore Oxford at your own pace and return to London when you want. This is what a Londoner would do and I’d advise you as an informed visitor to London to do the same.

So where do you find these buses? There is a convenient bus stop situated at Marble Arch, on the Hyde Park side. Look out for a service named the ‘Oxford Tube’ (as you probably know, the ‘tube’ is the popular name for the subway system in London.) Just pay the driver as you get on the bus. Take my advice and go upstairs. You’ll enjoy interesting views of the western London suburbs and see how Londoners really live. And once you cross the outer London ring road, you’ll love the views of the green and rolling Oxfordshire countryside. Remember to bring your camera!

You’ll have a great day out, save money and be more like a real Londoner. What could be better?

The fruit wine making process is one which is quite complex but which can be understood rather easily, if you are willing.

Harvesting or picking is always the first step in the wine making process, as you need to have gathered the materials for your wine before you can begin
making it. A combination of science and old-fashioned tasting go into the harvesting process, and harvesting can either be done mechanically or hand, whichever you prefer.

In cases of grape wine, this is made from pure grape juice. But for other fruit wines, additional water is needed to dilute the juice prior to the winemaking procedure. This is mainly because of the intense flavor. Secondly, some of the fruits may be high in their acidic property, which in turn makes the wine too sharp in taste if used full strength. Examples include gooseberry and blueberry juices.

Home wine making possibilities are endless when you think about it. You can use any type of fruit that would make a good wine. If you wan to experiment with just about anything, you can do this as well. You do not have to stick with what other people do, you can make your own blend.

Once
this fermentation process is completed the clarification process begins. Filtering and fining are also usually done at this stage, filtering which can be done with everything from a course filter that catches only large solids to a sterile filter pad that wipes wine of all life. Fining on the other hand, occurs when substances are added to a wine to clarify them. Finally in the wine making process is the stage of aging and bottling. You can either bottle the wine
immediately, or further aging can be done in bottle, stainless steel or ceramic tanks.

Proper amount of acidity is a crucial factor for wine preparation. No instructions for wine making seem to be complete without the discussion of acidity and its significance in wine preparation. Acidity is important mainly because of two reasons. It is essential to improve the character and balance of the wine produced in general and to enhance the fermentation process. Acidity largely varies between different fruits. There are essentially two ways to test acidity in a fruit juice. One is with pH testing strips and the other one is doing a titration. The former is not a very accurate way to measure acidity level; however, the later is useful to offer a better result.

More ideas on outdoor wine making will be foundhere Gravity Filter for Wine Making