Latest news with #KatieJones
Times
23-04-2025
- General
- Times
How an Englishwoman is saving 100-year-old French vines
When is it good to be old? We humans, generally, are in no rush: wisdom doesn't seem to have quite the currency it once did, while wrinkles are valued exactly as they always were. We should take our cue from wine, which is traditionally considered to improve with age — at least, fine wine is. This was true even in Roman times. Their finest wine, Falernian, from the fabled vintage of 121BC, was considered so good that it was still being drunk with enthusiasm 75 years later and with rather less gusto a century after that. Still, it was kept because it was so good and considered so good in part because it aged well. What is odd, given how much drinkers care about ageable wine, is how little we talk about vine age. A vine needs at least three years to produce grapes that can be turned into wine; after that vines, like people, generally improve as they mature. If planted in the right soils and looked after but not cossetted, vines that escape disease or disaster can age a long time — there are vines on Santorini believed to be more than 200 years old. Really old vines yield very few but very high-quality grapes, and the resulting wine will often have a subtle extra layer of flavour and texture. The trouble is that these precious vines have often been replaced by more productive youngsters. 'They are very high maintenance,' says Katie Jones, an Englishwoman who founded Domaine Jones in the Languedoc in 2008. 'The cost of taking care of them can be astronomical.' She has vines dating back to 1905, the rows planted a horse-width apart — which is too narrow for a tractor, so everything must be done by hand. She can understand why people rip them up — but she is not afraid of small quantities: her output is just 16,000 bottles, only 300 of which are her spicy yet luscious La Perle Rare Grenache Gris. And she thinks the history in these gnarled old vines, and the quality of wine they produce, makes them worth saving. So she has put her best old vines up for adoption. 'They are up on the hill, surrounded by little stone walls, with wonderful views of the Château d'Aguilar' — a 12th-century Cathar castle. It's like adopting a dog, she reasons: 'the prettier they are, the more likely they are to be rescued!'. Vine lovers who join this Old Vine Club win the right to rename their vine, a 10 per cent discount on Jones's lovely wines and, should they drive the 40 minutes from Perpignan, a VIP tasting — 'and I take them out in the 2CV to have a glass of wine beside their vine'. And people do come to visit their vine, up in these wild and beautiful hills that feel a long way from anywhere — as they would have been before the car. 'They really develop an attachment,' says Jones, who relays photos and messages between parent and plant throughout the year. 'They literally go up and start talking to it!' People often name the vines after loved ones, 'so they may have something they want to whisper to it, or sometimes they sing it a song'. There's an invitation to the annual harvest day party for vine owners, where Jones barbecues and members can pick a few grapes and picnic among the old vines. She isn't the only one preoccupied with protecting old vines — from being ripped up and also from having their importance diluted by the cynical use of the term (there is no legal definition). Rosa Kruger, the admired South African viticulturist, has started an Old Vine Project that records the whereabouts of older vines and shields them from modern efficiencies, helping to save an irreplaceable element of the Cape's heritage. There is also an Old Vine Conference that promotes research and shares information. Its Old Vine Hero Awards recognise the people who are doing the most to revitalise, learn from and communicate about old vineyards. The awards were announced at the end of March, with a Bolivian winery, Bodegas y Viñedos Yokich, winning Best Viticulture Team for over 20 years of protecting and promoting the region's ancient vineyards. Jones's project germinated during Covid, when she would film her rambles through the vineyards and was surprised by the level of interest in the life of someone (perhaps especially, someone English) making wine in this wilderness. She has had an illustrated map drawn up and her vine lovers can stroll in the vineyards. She plans an audio guide too, but her ambitions are bigger: she wants to let the vines speak for themselves. 'They do talk, you know: 'I'm so thirsty,' or 'I just had my hair cut' [after she prunes them]. There is massive potential to get them to tell the history of the region.' Quite right too. After all, they are the history of the region. Adopting a vine and joining the Domaine Jones Old Vine Club costs £70 including a welcome pack and visiting privileges, or £320 a year, which also includes 12 bottles of wine.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Decriminalizing jaywalking crashes into police opposition
The Brief A bill making its way through the Minnesota legislature would limit the potential citations for someone "jaywalking" in Minnesota. The proposal says a person could only be issued a citation while crossing a roadway if they are stopped for an unrelated violation. The Minnesota Police Chief's Association opposes the bill. They say it'll lead to more dangerous jaywalking. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A new bill would take most of the teeth out of jaywalking enforcement in Minnesota. Jaundiced jaywalking The proposed law would limit tickets to people who actually create traffic trouble when they walk across the street illegally. The authors say most Minnesotans are jaywalkers, and they know when they can safely cross the street. But police are worried people will walk more dangerously without the threat of a citation. "I mean I've jaywalked, most people have jaywalked," said Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart, (DFL-Minnetonka). It would come as no surprise to the senator that our cameras had no trouble finding jaywalkers on Nicollet Mall and elsewhere in Minneapolis. "This is a crime," said Bryce Maples. Disability concern During the winter especially, Maples says he can't keep his wheelchair off the street. "I am committing a crime by trying to get around as a person with disability," he said. He's supporting a bill from Johnson Stewart and Rep. Katie Jones to essentially decriminalize jaywalking. Limited enforcement Police could only cite jaywalkers who create a traffic hazard. "I think it's important that we don't decriminalize jaywalking altogether," said Sen. Johnson Stewart, who says she's seen dangerous jaywalking near the University of Minnesota campus most frequently. The current law is already scarcely enforced. We searched court records and found only about 435 jaywalking tickets issued in the last five years. More dangerous? But police are worried decriminalizing it will bring more of the worst kind of collisions, the ones involving pedestrians. "We think it will increase the number of people crossing in dangerous situations in uncontrolled portions of the roadway, instead of at the light where there's a crosswalk," said Jeff Potts, executive director of the Minnesota Police Chiefs Association. The bill's authors say data tells a different story in Virginia, Nevada, and California, where they've already made similar changes. "They have not seen any major spikes in safety incidences when it comes to jaywalking," said Rep. Katie Jones, (DFL-Minneapolis). Timeline The bills are moving forward in both the House and the Senate, but the House bill lost all of its Republican authors when the chief's association opposed it, so the chances of getting the bill passed are 50/50, but if it passes, it would take effect on Aug. 1 of this year.
Forbes
23-03-2025
- Forbes
Spring Wines From Australia, USA, Argentina, South Africa, France
The following wines produced on the continents of Oceania, America, Africa and Europe are ideal for spring—with crisp or brilliant acidity balanced with pronounced fruit and elegance. Three are whites, one is sweet and four are hearty reds that bridge winter to spring. This 14% alcohol wine includes aromas of dark red plums, raspberries, pencil lead, mocha, eucalyptus, mint, cedar, coconut and eucalyptus. Astringent attack followed by dense, chewy and edgy mid palate rich with flavors of fudge, chocolate and black cherries; on the finish—toffee, brownies and an explosion of red cherries. This is a captivating mystery, with delicate red fruits blanketing firm but suave tannins. Layered and rich—a Saint-Émilion of the southern hemisphere. A slice of Australia in America. Aromas of raspberry and strawberry jam, malt balls, red cherries and teak. A juicy, invigorating wine with dense, complex mid palate flavors that include brownies, black cherries and black currants. Layered and well buoyed by fresh acidity. Subtle and silky tannins in a delicious matrix of dark, chewy flavors. Consider pairing with barbecued beef or with vegetarian pumpkin truffle ravioli. Napa Valley, California, USA Chardonnay from grapes grown in San Pablo. 13% alcohol. Aromas of citrics that include lime and lemons, as well as wet granite and slight mango and mint. Crisp, fresh and tangy acidity and a finish both creamy and enticing. Serve with buttered scallops or a pineapple upside down cake dessert. Malbec. Dusky aromas of dry earth, gorse, red cherries and red plums with some burning sage. Delicate and delicious mid palate with soft tannins; layered and creamy flavors of red and black fruit flavors enveloped by firm acidity. Pair with a beef broth, grilled tuna steak or with cheese ravioli. Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina Aromas of honey, nutmeg, sage, mandarins, ginger and queen of the night. Coherent beam of a rainbow of flavors; luscious and focused stream of nectar. Medium bodied with brilliant acidity folded around tropical flavors as well as candy cane. Brilliant. Shared this with a Dutch sommelier in Minervois in France who recommends pairing it with duck liver and figs. Vin de Constance, South Africa Named after the American heiress who purchased Klein Constantia in 1913. Classic grapefruit aromas as well as some peach and honey, dry granite and minerality. A fresh, crisp, classy and elevated Sauvignon with rich flavors and brisk acidity. Includes nectarines and tangerines mid palate and slight gooseberry finish. Pair with Dover sole with lemon. From the Languedoc Roussillon region of France. Barrel aged 100% Syrah from Katie Jones. Creamy cherry and chocolate chip aromas, with stroganoff, cassis. A hearty, dark and chewy mouthful with flavors of German chocolate cake and soy and a raspberry parfait on the finish. Tannins enfolded into hefty dark fruit and mocha flavors, highlighted by firm acidity. Lovely. Pair with a beef and carrot stew or with vegetarian samosas. Lulu Trotteur. La Rencontre. Vin de France. 2023. 92+ points. A 70/30 Gros Manseng/Sauvignon Blanc blend from Anne-Sophie Labourdette in Bordeaux, creator of 'vins audacieux,' or audacious wines. Consider the original blend of grapes—one from the base of the Pyrenees peaks and one characteristic of Bordeaux. Subtle and syrupy first nose, followed by aromas of honey dew melon as well as honey, limes, guava and mandarins. A brisk and edgy attack followed by an engaging and dynamic mid palate—with tension between acidity and fruit and flavors of oranges, strawberries, green apples as well as spearmint on the finish. Artisanal, energetic and gastronomic. Serve with scallops or with buttered white fish. Anne-Sophie Labourdette, owner of Lulu Trotteur, Bordeaux, France
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Knitting is cool again. Here's everything you need to get started – and what you don't
Unless you haven't been paying attention, you'll know that knitting is having a serious moment. Thanks to knitfluencers such as Katie Jones, Stephen West, Ella Emhoff and, of course, Tom Daley, the meditative hobby is riding a new wave of popularity. A big part of its appeal is making clothes and accessories – from waistcoats to hats, kids' mittens and scarves – and knitting can also help improve focus, cognitive health and wellbeing. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Luckily, it doesn't require a lot of kit to get started, and the essentials can be acquired for about a tenner. Here's all the stuff you need – and the bits not worth wasting your money on. It's easy to get overwhelmed when it comes to yarn: which fibre? How thick? What colour? Superwash (this means the natural fibre has been chemically treated to withstand gentle machine washing without felting or shrinking) or not? Different types of fibre feel different to work with. For instance, plant-based fibres such as cotton and linen have little elasticity and can be hard on the hands. Sheep's wool has more give, but depending on the breed and how it's spun, it has varying levels of softness. Alpaca yarn has plenty of give and is buttery soft, but can be a bit slippery to work with. When starting out, sheep's wool is your friend. Prices vary wildly. As a beginner, you don't need to splurge out. Knitwear designer Enya Ødegaard suggests affordable woollen yarn for beginners because it 'can be ripped back [undone] many times easily without damaging the yarn, whereas hairy and delicate yarns such as mohair are harder to undo, and the yarn will not be as nice afterwards'. All yarn comes with information about what needle size is recommended, so try to find a DK (double knit) weight, which requires a needle size of approximately 4mm. It's thick enough to show clear stitch definition and easy to handle. Drops Lima and Merino extra fine are affordable choices with a good colour range, as is CaMaRose Hverdagsuld. Beginners' yarns £3.35 at the Wool Factory£4.50 at Loop Knitting Most people think knitting is done with two straight needles, but the circular needle – that is, two needles joined by a cable – is more popular within the knitting community. This is because they allow you to make flat pieces of fabric and tubes, such as for hats, mittens and socks. A 4mm or 5mm circular needle with a 40cm cable will cover most beginners' needs. With that, you can make sample squares, hats, scarves and mittens. Bamboo needles are less slippery than metal, so there's less chance of dropping stitches. Metal needles are good for fast knitting as there is less friction between the yarn and the needle, but they're better suited to more experienced knitters. KnitPro Basix Birch or KnitPro Symfonie 40cm needles are good circular choices. For straight needles, KnitPro 25cm Basix Birch (from £3.40 at Yarn Loft) will cover the basics. Circular knitting needles From £3.65 at Yarn LoftFrom £7.65 at John Lewis Tapestry needles are essential for weaving in loose ends. They also come in handy for more advanced techniques such as the sewn tubular castoff, a type of castoff that's sewn rather than knitted, giving edges more stretch and a neater finish. Tapestry needle set £1.69 at Wool Warehouse£1.99 at McIntosh Other inexpensive useful tools such as stitch markers (I have a personal preference for gourd safety pins because they're cheap and removable) are helpful to keep count of your stitches and to mark different sections. A tape measure and a small pair of scissors are also handy. Hobbycraft stocks a useful knitting accessory kit that has all the tools you need and a few extra bits. Sign up to The Filter Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. after newsletter promotion Accessory kit £6.80 at Hobbycraft Hardcore knitters may choose to invest in certain items such as yarn swifts, which allow you to unwind skeins of yarn; ball winders, which wind skeins into balls; and blocking mats and pins, which are foam mats used to dry wet pieces of knitting pinned into shape. But these aren't essential for beginners. You also don't need stitch holders (used to hold live stitches) or cable needles (used to make cables in knitting) at first. I would recommend simple but small patterns, such as tiny scarves. The Sophie scarf by PetiteKnit is a popular choice for a reason: it's a simple garter stitch scarf (this means you only use the knit stitch, no purls) with tapered ends, which is relatively speedy to make and requires less than one ball of yarn. Other designs include Scarf No 1 by My Favourite Things (above), a triangular scarf with some simple lace, and Le Bandana by Aimée Gille, a triangular bandana that can be customised with stripes of different colours. Purl Soho has a good range of free beginner-friendly patterns. It takes practice to get even tension (all the stitches of an even size) when you're starting out. Beginners often knit tightly, but as you get more confident and relax into the repetitive motion of knitting, this will improve. All knitting patterns are made with two basic stitches: the knit and the purl. Armed with these two stitches and a few simple techniques for increasing and decreasing the number of stitches, you can do a lot. Mistakes are inevitable, but luckily they are (almost) all fixable. Even experienced knitters drop stitches, knit instead of purl, or forget an increase here or a decrease there. Understanding how to read your work and fix errors is not always easy when you're new, but try to look at your knitting and identify which stitches are knits, which are purls and why they look different. Most knitting patterns will refer to gauge at some point. This refers to the density of stitches and rows, and it's important to follow if you want a pattern to fit properly, but less important for items such as scarves and blankets. Ravelry is a social platform for knitters and crocheters, with a database containing millions of patterns. You can browse other people's projects, see what yarns are good for a pattern, and join groups and communities. YouTube is an invaluable resource to get started. Very Pink Knits and Nimble Needles have many clear tutorials with good explanations. Elise Damstra is an obsessive knitter, knitwear designer and podcaster behind the Purls Before Thyme podcast. She caught the knitting bug in 2019 and loves exploring new techniques and designs. She always has a project on hand, whether she's on the bus, at the beach or at a pub quiz. Knitting gives her a sense of calm and acts as a form of meditation
Observer
07-03-2025
- Observer
Discovery of unexploded World War II bomb halts Paris trains
PARIS — Traffic ground to a halt at one of France's busiest train stations on Friday after an unexploded World War II bomb weighing more than 1,000 pounds was uncovered just north of Paris, causing travel chaos that extended across the English Channel. The bomb was discovered in the Saint-Denis suburb during overnight work on tracks that lead into the Gare du Nord, a major Parisian transit hub that serves northern France and other parts of Europe, including Britain. 'Traffic has been totally interrupted since this morning to and from Gare du Nord' at the request of the Paris police, France's national railway company SNCF said in a statement, adding that trains would start running again once the police completed demining operations. The bomb was discovered around 3:30 a.m. about a mile and a half from the Gare du Nord, the company said. Workers were landscaping at a bridge renovation site when an earth-moving machine revealed the bomb, which had been buried about 6-1/2 feet underground. It is about 3 feet long and includes more than 400 pounds of explosive material, the company said, adding in a travel notice that 'extensive earthworks' were necessary to safely defuse it. Mine-sweeping crews established a large security perimeter, which included sections of a nearby road and a highway that the police closed off. Traffic on high-speed and commuter railways was stopped for hours. All Eurostar trains that connect Paris to London, Brussels and Amsterdam were canceled, stranding travelers at the Gare du Nord, which served more than 226 million travelers in 2023. Across the English Channel at London St. Pancras International Station, crowds of bewildered Eurostar passengers were met with a closed barrier. One of them, Katie Jones, was planning to celebrate her 40th birthday at Disneyland Paris. Her plans for an earlier trip to Paris in 2020 had fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic that sent much of the world into lockdown. 'I'm scared of flying, and that's why we chose the Eurostar,' said Jones, who sobbed against a pillar as she called friends to relay the news. 'The irony.' It is not uncommon in Europe for construction workers to come across unexploded ordnance from the conflicts that tore the continent apart during the 20th century, and the French railway company said that the area in which the latest bomb was found was 'well known for its World War II remains.' Last month, more than 175 practice bombs that had been used for training in World War II were found under a children's playground in northern England. In 2018, thousands of people were evacuated in Berlin after an 1,100-pound WWII-era bomb was uncovered. 'It doesn't happen every day, but it happens,' said Fabien Villedieu, a leader of Sud-Rail, a union of national railway workers, who shared a picture of the bulky, cylindrical, rock-encrusted bomb on the social media platform X. Villedieu, who said he had received the picture through an internal information-sharing system for railway workers, noted that the unexploded device was found about 600 feet from a busy express road that circles Paris. 'It's in the middle of an urban zone,' he said. Local authorities in Saint-Denis said in a statement that nearby houses with windows overlooking the area had been ordered to evacuate during the demining process, which was expected to last about an hour. Six schools and a retirement home were also put on lockdown as a precaution. Philippe Tabarot, France's transportation minister, told reporters in Paris that the authorities were taking all the necessary steps to safely remove the bomb and that train traffic would resume as soon as possible. That was little solace to the passengers at St. Pancras, whose travel plans were turned upside down by a long-forgotten implement of war. Some took it in stride. Clara Thompson, 52, who is scheduled to run the Paris Half Marathon on Sunday, quickly booked a flight for Friday evening amid the chaos. 'It's an inconvenience, but I get it,' she said. 'They found a bomb and they can't do anything about it.' But Allison and Jon Heine, who had just arrived on a red-eye flight from Houston, suddenly had three inconsolable children — ages 7, 9 and 13 — on their hands. Their vacation in Paris had been months in the planning. 'It's not looking good,' Heine said. 'There aren't any flights. We heard there might be a bus, but it's eight hours.' 'They're super disappointed,' she said, pointing to her children. 'Tons of tears.' This article originally appeared in
