Someone left the gate open

Because of this...

I found this wandering around my yard on Friday afternoon.

The mower's right there, buddy. Think you could do the back yard?

Fortunate Thursday

Ok, I have no idea what this little bit of Irish wisdom is supposed to mean. Listen to the river and you'll get a trout? What am I listening for, trout chatter? Perhaps all the tying of flies and endless casting into the river are useless. I need only listen for loudmouthed fish.

Last Sunday was brew day at Chez Brewgal. Mr. Brewguy brewed a Hefeweizen in preparation for next month's BBQ. This was his Father's Day present. Brewgal loves how easy it is to make Brewguy happy.

1/4 ounce hops to be added later.





First wirt hopping



It's the sparge! Note how Mr. Brewguy is dressed to blend into the mash tun.

Alien landing craft? No, the boil! As an added plus, the aluminum foil keeps the beer safe from unauthorized interstellar transmissions. I kid.

Brewguy's biggest worry is that the basement is now too warm to get the wirt down to yeast-pitching temp in a reasonable amount of time. There was mention of "ice bath" and "clear out the refridgerator." That's just crazy talk.

Fortunate Thursday

Fortunate Thursday

Designs sometimes fail.

Witness the example below. I had very high hopes for this one. It started with a nice charted design.

Unfortunately, the execution left a lot to be desired.

Not what I had hoped for. This looks more like evil eyes.

The design was inspried by an ancient middle-eastern tapestry fragment in the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon. The original is much more curvy and intricate (see my badly photographed example below).



As an aside, the Gulbenkian is a very cool museum. In addition to their regular holdings, which include a fabulous collection of Lalique jewelry, the museum had a special exhibit on Cartier. Two jewelry exhibits at once. That smear on the glass display case? My drool.





Can you imagine showing up to a party with this attached to your midriff? Dragon Lady indeed.

This is the advantage of hanging out with The Professors. I never would have thought to go to the Gulbenkian on my own. I tend to avoid museums when I'm on vacation. I like to hang out in street cafes, drinking local brew and people watching. However, going to Lisbon with La C is a different affair. Not only did she introduce me to this little gem, we got in for free! La C and her lovely husband have this innate air of culture and intellectualism that permeates the atmosphere, forcing my inner yee-haw to keep up.