Lunar Eclipse this morning

I needed to be into the office this morning by 7:00 AM to facilitate the workers who are installing new flooring in our office building. Since I was going to be up before the sun today anyway, I decided to get up a little earlier and view the the Lunar eclipse this morning. Mostly clear skies made for great viewing. I observed it down by the marina where the West River meets the Connecticut.

It's all in the yeast

One of the nice things about one of your best friends owning a brewing is having supplies at your disposal to brew at a moments notice. Everything except the yeast that is. Unfortunatley when I am in need of yeast my brew schedule is dictated directly by the timing in getting said yeast. I am forced to rely on the brewer to get me the yeast. This doesn't always work out in my favor. Even with enough notice there is no guarantee that the yeast will be waiting for me when I show up at the brewery. So no yeast Friday. I am locked and loaded and ready to boil. I just need that yeast, With any luck maybe I'll be able to slip on the brew session this week before we head down to Pee-aay for my Pop's 70th birthday.

Brew session coming up Friday night

It's settled, I'm going to brew some beer Friday night. I will start the preperatrions tonight for this Friday's brew session. Since I don't have enough lager yeast lying around, I'll be making an ale. Likely my standard Pale Ale. This time however I'm going to up the gravity slightly, and use a new hop combination. I think We'll go with Simcoe, Amarillo, and Centennial. In theory this should turn out very tasty. Perhaps I'll consider turing it into an IPA, instead of the regular Pale Ale...I think I'm on to something here.

I was down in the brewery...

Tapping myself a pint of the Russian Imperial Stout that I brewed back in July and ended up blending the batches together on order to make something drinkable. Well, I must report that this beer is shaping up quite nicely. So nicely infact that I'm quite delighted that I'll have around 15 gallons around for quite awhile.
This beer is not unlike the IIPA that I kegged back in June...High Octane fun!

Birthday Celebration

Winty turned five on Friday. We baked scones for her to share with her kindergarten classmates. It would seem that the year has flown by rather quickly. We'll be celebrating down at my In-laws today. I baked Louise Darlington's famous chocolate cake, this time complete with Butter Cream icing.....Pink Butter Cream icing with Ponies on top.

The bistro

Pam watched the girls Thursday night while Izzy and enjoyed a date night. We finally made it to Alici's Bistro. The food was good, a bit pricey but well worth sitting outside on the patio, and enjoying the fabulous weather. It did end up pouring around 11:oo pm last night.

Racking requirements

I need to rack some beer. I have ten gallons of California Common Lagering away in the Lager Chamber, and ten gallons of Amarillo ale that I would like to cold condition since my basement is still holding at 70 f. No other new to report on other then I'm still priming the east side of the house. My assistant is is still on vacation, so needless to say. I'm swamped at the office.

Back to painting the house

Life has been getting in the way of blogging these days. I have been busy preparing the house for it's fresh new coat of paint. While there are some clapboards that require replacement, as well as some wood filler here and there the east side of the house is ready. I ventured up to the third floor roof yesterday and started to apply the primer. Why do those roofs have to be so high? On the Left is a picture of the rigging I set up to transition from ladder to ladder. Once I get this section done I'll be relieved to work on the lower area's on the east side of the house.

Darlingtons in town

Henry and Louis are visiting from Michigan this week. We all got together up in Townshend for a picnic. They really are a part of my extended family. The Darlingtons were my next door neighbors growing up, and we have managed to stay in touch despite the fact that most of the Darlingtons are in Michigan and most of my family is in Vermont.

Losing teeth

Winter lost her first tooth this morning. I freaked for a second, and then realized it was perfectly natural. Now all she wants to do is read The Tooth Book.
The Darlington's are in town visiting from Michigan. We'll be getting together again with Henry, and Louise as well as Hank and Astrid on Tuesday up at the Townshend Lake Damn. It's our favorite new family hang out.

Beer Humor

double click the image if you can't read it.

Date night rules

My loving sister took the girls to Spofford last night for a picnic so Iz and I had a date last night. It was an awesome time. We tried to go to Alici's Bistro, but they were closed so we ended up eating Sushi at Shin La. After dinner we stopped by Flat street for a beer, and topped the night off at Mcneill's. We really enjoyed ourselves. It was great to just kick back and relax without the children for a change. I made the gross error in judgment by tapping an Imperial IPA for myself when I got home. This beer is some high octane no nonsense stuff that requires handling with care. I was foolhardy and am certainly paying for it today.
B and I are doing a little tag team brew session today. I measured up everything earlier this week and mashed in at 6:50 this morning. He came by and is going to do the sparge, lauter, boil, and hop additions. How excellent is that?

Happy Birthday Jerry!

The original Fat man would have turned sixty five today.
Please enjoy a toast to celebrate Jerry Garcia's life today. Heck, while your at it enjoy this set from the Legion of Mary at the Bottom Line in New York City from 4/9/75.
Although I never quite made the 100 show threshold, I give thanks to my brother, and my college friends for exposing me to Jerry's music which became a very integral part of my life. This life experience helped to mold some of my present values as well as broaden my mind.

The sun will shine in my back door someday.
March winds will blow all my troubles away