time to brew

brewing my first batch of "double white salmon IPA".
minimash of 4 lbs 2 row malt plus 1/2 lb carapils plus 3lbs of some unkown grain left over from the last batch

mashing at 165 deg for 1 hour. then adding 4 lbs bries liquid extract, 2 oz magnum hops and 2oz amarillo hops at the end of the boil....pitching with wyeast 1098 british ale yeast....

happy mothers day mothers!

It's A Small World

If you've ever watched Little People Big World, then you've heard of the Rolloff family. They were in Hood River today shooting footage for their reality t.v. show. This is a bad picture from far away, taken on a cell phone, but that's them!

Dan's Hobbies!

This was what Dan was doing last weekend...fishing and flying.

We drove up to the mountain to go on a mini - afternoon vacation. There is still snow up there...and people skiing.

This weekend, Dan was windsurfing! The guy stays busy!

Miss Cool

More Shrink Material...

Happy Belated Birthday...

...aunt C.C.! We miss you and love you!

p.s. how was the movie?

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

...and happy "anniversary of dating", baby! Wow! It's been 9 years of couple bliss! Love you, babe! (this is from a book Tracy made us for our wedding...our story in pictures)

The story behind the picture is that Tracy and I had a cocktail party while we were roommates in Boston .....and she invited her brother, Dan. Dan came up from Connecticut to Massachusetts with his friend, Ryan.

At the party, Ryan grabbed my camera and took a picture, saying, "Hey you two! Get together for a picture so you can show your kids someday!" He was trying to embarrass us, but it turned out to be a prophetic statement!

We started dating two weeks later.

Got married a year and half later.

Had a kid.

And she loves looking at pictures of Momma and Dadda!

Dinner!

Dan and Michael went fishing on Saturday and caught three lake trout. They were yummie!

Pink Bunny

It was a long time coming, but Amya's Pink Bunny finally arrived! (Amya always emphasises the "pink" part. Apparently the size of the bunny needs no explanation)
Dan's Grandma Shaw mailed this inflatable, glowing bunny long before Easter, but it only arrived a couple days ago. No matter. She loves it! ...and doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Easter is passed.

We have to tell her the Pink Bunny is taking a rest sometimes, or he would be on all day long! :)

Thank you Great Grandma!

Growings On

Following Danielle's lead...

...I'm doing a post about what is growing in our yard (better phrased: What has the potential to grow in our yard).

The south side of the yard has a couple lilac trees and a magnolia tree. We planted bamboo in between (the clumping kind, so it won't go crazy). The bamboo should fill in nicely.

Where the flowers grow! What kind? It's going to be a surprise this first year.

...the steps to the hilly part of the yard.

This is the garden. Half of it is under the protection of a growing cloth to keep the bugs out while the lettuce and peas are still young. The other half is under cardboard to help kill the weeds before planting. Just to the left, is another small garden.

This is the strawberry and raspberry patch (with a rhubarb plant in front)

I love this ground cover and am trying to figure out how to transplant it lots of different places. Less grass = less mowing! In the background, you can see the fire pit, garden and berry patch.

We forgot how much Amya loves rocks until we made this fire pit. I will be redesigning it, so that it is less appealing to her :)This is part of the yard at dusk. And those are plum trees! We want to get more of these solar yard lights. They look very pretty in the evening.Here is Dan working on the pergola...more of that to come later!

Is It Possible To Measure The Difference Between The Male And Female Of Our Species?

I argue that it is. Here it is, in it's simplest form:

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...and just so we're all clear:

I Miss My Sister

...I haven't actually seen my sister since October, but that's not what I'm referring to. My sister has been in Italy for a week and a half, so apart from paying international fees and disrupting her when she is working, I can't call her! --actually, I disrupt her from working when she is in the U.S. all the time, so that part shouldn't matter.
I hate it when people are traveling because I know I can't get a hold of them if I need them, and that makes me think I need them more! Does that make sense?
So, I haven't talked to my sister since Friday, April 17th, when she was sitting on an airplane, ready to take off to Europe....and it feels like forever!!
Just to be clear, it is quite possible that I would not have talked to her in the past week and a half, but the fact that I can't talk to her, well, that makes it difficult.
She is the person I call when Amya has done something that either A) has me completely frazzled or B) has me completely floored....and that has happened a few times in the past couple weeks. Man, my sister is really missing out. She missed the story about Amya's 10 min. time out, when she screamed the entire time and was hoarse for hours....and when she pointed to my mid-section and asked if I was hiding a baby sister for her in there. Man, she is really missing out. I bet she can't wait to get home from Italy!

Happy Belated Birthday...

...Uncle Bryce! Sounds like you had a fabulous birthday!

From The Mouths Of Babes...

This is my pantry, the disorganized mess that it is. Amya likes to get my fabric grocery bags and go "shopping" in the pantry. So, that is the excuse for the bottom shelves. The top shelves? ...u-hem... ...anyway, today Amya found the fruit pectin and brought it to me and said, "Look Momma! I found chemicals!"

I don't know.

But it did make me read the back ingredient list! And I'm ok with it ;)

Spring

I followed Amya around with my camera today. It was kind of fun to just be the observer and see what she got into, without my prompting or protests...

...she painted outside, then painted the door window. I thought it looked pretty, so I let her do it.

Amya found her sled and wanted me to pull her around

(OK, I may have gotten her to pose for this one)