Just wondering
Posted: October 30, 2008 Filed under: current events, Just wondering, politics 2 CommentsWhy is it the Republican Party thinks it’s ok to sue the Ohio Democratic secretary of state in an effort to possibly purge some voters from the rolls, but when that same Democratic secretary of state looks into phone calls linked back to the Republican Party, it’s a “partisan witch hunt”?
Oh never mind. I suppose it all depends on which side of the fence you’re standing.
My phone is ringing off the hook today. Just about everybody is checking in, from professional athletes to famous actors and actresses. It’s amazing how popular we are in Ohio.
It’ll be a relief to get past election day and have something else to talk about.
Snow!
Posted: October 29, 2008 Filed under: Autumn, home, nature, politics, snow, weather 2 Comments
(First snow of the season.)
Well, the first snow of the season was flying around like crazy today. Lake-effect snow of the large-flaked variety. The ground isn’t cold enough for it to stick, but it was pretty to watch.
I have four phone calls on the answering machine from the McCain camp. I’m getting to the point where I just don’t care anymore. I can’t be bothered to record them, upload them, put them on the blog, etc. I’m fed up with politics in general and can’t wait until the election is over.
I will say that two of the calls are invitations to a McCain victory rally at a high school up near Cleveland on October 31st. Seems a little early for a victory rally, but I can understand wanting to stay optimistic. One is a call in which the issues are presented with McCain’s solutions. I don’t mind any of those three calls. The third is another let’s put the fear of Obama in them kind of call.
I suppose one out of four isn’t all bad.
Today’s view of the pond
Posted: October 28, 2008 Filed under: Autumn, home, weather 2 CommentsBecause I know you all just can’t live without it. 😉
It’s been cold, rainy, and generally dreary today. Snow is in the mix for tonight.
What amazes me is how many leaves are still on the trees. It’s been blustery (and gusty) here today. Even the barn door was blown wide open in spite of a number of preventative measures taken to keep that from happening.
For those paying attention: Have fun watching the pedal boat move around the pond. 🙂
Hmmm…
Posted: October 28, 2008 Filed under: politics 2 CommentsYet another story about voter registration forms being considered incomplete and/or invalid: Up to 10,000 Registrations Deemed Incomplete in Colorado.
M the Younger and his fiancee are newly registered voters in the state of Colorado. I hope this doesn’t affect them.
Applesauce
Posted: October 27, 2008 Filed under: Autumn, food, home Leave a comment
(Today’s view of the pond)
It’s cold and dreary here today. There’s a mix of rain and snow in the forecast for tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night.
Brrrr!
Yesterday M made applesauce. Lots and lots of applesauce. He likes to use golden delicious apples in his applesauce. I think that stems from when we were living in southern Ohio. We had an apple tree in the back yard that was a great producer of golden delicious apples. They’re sweet enough that you don’t need to add any sugar.
I like my apples and applesauce a little tart so while we were at the orchard on Saturday I picked out a peck of a variety of apples, some sweet, some tart. When M finished making gallons of applesauce from the golden delicious apples, he made a gallon batch for me using the apples I’d picked out.
Mmmmm mmmm good! It’s the perfect combination of sweet and tart, just the way I like it.
ACORN response
Posted: October 27, 2008 Filed under: current events, politics Leave a commentSomething to think about.
Another blip: Some voters ‘purged’ from voter rolls
In the bucket
Posted: October 26, 2008 Filed under: Autumn, beer, canning & freezing, Domesticity, food, Harvest, home | Tags: beer, home brewing, sauerkraut Leave a comment
(This morning’s view of the pond.)
Several years ago (at least) I took up homebrewing beer and mead. It wasn’t something I wanted to do. It was something M wanted to do, but didn’t have time for. Because I wasn’t working at the time, he asked if I’d learn how to do it. We were living in southern Ohio and there was a homebrew association in the area to which several of our friends belonged. So, (very) reluctantly, I said ok. I’d learn. With the caveat that if my first batch of beer came out tasting like what you’d expect homebrewed beer to taste like (I’m sure you know what I mean), then that would be it. No more homebrewing for me.
Well, much to my shock and dismay, my first batch of beer was not only drinkable, it tasted good. Thus began my crazy homebrewing career in which I experimented with lots of flavors, including things not traditionally used in beer. My specialty was spruce beer, a recipe I picked up from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It’s pretty good. The recipe ingredients include the new spring growth off of a spruce tree. If you’ve ever looked at a spruce tree in the spring you’ll notice small, bright green pine needles shooting out of the branches. That’s the new spring growth. You might not think the type of spruce tree makes a difference, but it does. The new spring growth from the Norway spruce are the best I’ve found so far. In fact, I won’t use any other kind having experimented with others that have been available to me and found the taste to be, well, not so great. Palatable, but…eh… barely.
A good spruce beer, in case you’re wondering, requires a bit of aging. Once it’s aged it mellows into a sort of Dr. Pepper or cola flavored beer. Not quite as sweet, but in that general direction in terms of flavor. Spruce needles, in the days of yore, were a common flavoring in beers in the northern latitudes as a substitute for hops which were not so readily available. Word has it that the Sitka spruce makes the best spruce beer. It would be nice to someday try a sample.
I also used to make a kickass mead. Just saying. I best not get into that or this post will be much longer than originally intended. (It already is!)
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Me too. I’m approaching the half-century mark and once I get rambling about something I tend to forget where I was going.
Oh, right! Fermentation! That’s where I was headed.
I’ve given up homebrewing for a variety of reasons. M is doing the beer making now. And it’s been a couple of years since I made a mead. But I am still interested in the fermentation process so I decided to take a different route this year.
Life in the Bogs 