It's been sew-sew, lately...

Actually, it's been great, but I've been sewing a lot the last 3 days. I am getting ready for my next encampment, and I needed to make sure my boy had acceptable cold-weather clothing. I had an abandoned capote I was making for myself, but when I was halfway through, I realised that I didn't have a big enough blanket, so it got shoved to the back of the closet and forgotten. When trying to figure out what to do about my son's lack of cold-weather clothing, I stumbled upon it, and realised that I probably had enough to make a capote for him. I took his measurements, and got to work. In keeping with the french marines, the cloth is a heavy, cream-colored wool, and I used navy blue wool yarn to sew it. It took about 6 hours, but it turned out nice.

The next day, I was talking with my wife, and she informed me that she had not gotten around to sewing the neck line, cuffs, or gussets on her shift. Another 6 hours later, and I completed her shift. Will I ever win any sewing contests? No. But are we ready for the reenactment? You bet we are!

Squib

THIS is why you stop and check when a shot doesn't sound right. Yes, this was a reload, and yes, I trust the reloader, but every once in a while, weird things can happen.

BE AWARE OF YOUR GUN!

Saturday

Yesterday was busy. My son had his tonsils taken out Friday, so we've been letting him laze about, watching movies and eating icecream. But in the morning, I went to my brother's house to beg him to help me pull an oil cooler hose off of our '90 model Isuzu Trooper. Being a mechanic, even though it was in the most inaccessable place ever, my brother managed to get it off in a reasonable amount of time, without having to disassemble the engine. It's a high-pressure hose, so I will have to go get one made... no quick trip to Napa on this one. When I got back home, we ate some lunch, then I was getting ready to bottle my 2 batches of beer, when my other brother called. Seems he was helping move his mom-in-law, and his help's back gave out. That's what family is for though, so I set aside my bottling equipment to go help him move his mom-in-law (who is a nice lady that I would not mind helping, anyway). I let him know that I was happy to help unload the moving truck, but that as soon as it was empty, I had to go, so I could bottle my beer. In about 2 hours, she was unloaded, and I bid my brother farewell, and headed back to my house to bottle. My wife pitched in, and I had finished cleaning the beer equipment and tidying the kitchen by 7pm. I made my wife and I some turkey sandwiches for dinner, because it was about all I felt like messing with. By the end of the day, I had a happy, tired son, a full belly, a clean(ish) kitchen, a truck that was one step closer to being fixed, and a thankful brother (who had a thankful mom-in-law).

Oh, yeah, and I had 99 bottles of beer conditioning in the corner.

Aaaaaannnndd done!

Well, it's in the carboys. Now to put it somewhere dark and clean the kitchen.

(Sigh).

More Beer

Brewing 2 batches at once! It's been pretty easy so far, but things might get a little dicey when it comes time to cool the wort and put it in fermenters. Sure smells awesome in the kitchen, though.

American wheat on the left, and nut brown ale on the right.

W00t!

Mulligan Stew

Cut up a pack of bacon. Brown the bacon. Remove the bacon. Make a roux with the bacon grease. Add 6-8 medium potatoes, cubed up and peeled. Add bacon back. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until potatoes are tender. Serve over rice or white bread. Enjoy!

That's all it takes to make a mulligan stew. It's a campfire meal, but on cold days like this, it goes great in the home, too.

And, yeah, I voted today, and yeah it is more important than dinner, but given our options at the polls, this is WAY more satisfying.

Happy voting, everyone. No more campaign ads tomorrow.

Four-Wheelers

The Boy-o and I went riding with my brother and a longtime friend of his, J.C.

We had a great time, and Boy-o got to ride on 2 different four-wheelers. I'm paying for it today, with a sore back and legs, but it sure was fun! In the picture, you see J.C. with 2 of the 3 atvs we brought. The local riding trail is 28 miles long, and has mud holes, rock climbing hills, banked turns, long straightaways and jumps galore. It took us the better part of 4 hours to finish. We were all dusty, exausted, and happy when done.

Can't wait till next time!