The original date for the walls to go up was on Nov 19th. When supplies weren’t delivered and no one showed up on the 19th, I put in a call to the contractor. Now the new date is Nov 27. In the meantime, the concrete pad in the backyard has become the new patio. Sascha uses it to stretch out in the sunshine.Rich had waterproofed the Jake chairs, but they weren’t getting dry on the patio. So he moved them out to the concrete pad and the sunshine to try and get them dry. After moving the chairs, the pad all of a sudden really started to look like the new patio. The other day, I look out and Rich is sitting out there having a sample of the Husky Paws pale ale. Sascha is sitting out there with him. I think she was hoping for a taste. She was the inspiration for the name. No free tastes though.
If you know Three Floyd’s brewery in Munster, Indiana, then you know Zombiedust. This is their pale ale with citrus hops. Rich decided to try his hand at making a clone of that flavor in his own version. He calls it Husky Paws. It was really good right after brewing. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Rich tapped the keg. We’ve been enjoying it for several days now. It gets better as it warms up and the citrus flavor comes out more. Hopefully, this will be a repeated brew in the future.
This Thanksgiving turned out to have a small crowd. Jon and Patty came out from Michigan with Patrice. I scaled back on the food, but we still had plenty of leftovers. Rich did a buttermilk brine for the turkey and stuffed it full of herbed butter. He then smoked the turkey along with a pork shoulder. They cooked for most of the day. About the time a rain shower started coming in, Rich pulled the meats from the smoker. The smell was heavenly.
As her usual habit, Sascha found a prime spot right in the middle of the kitchen floor. I’m crisscrossing the kitchen to fix the side dishes and having to walk over her. There is a good reason why we refer to her as the kitchen speed bump.
On Friday after Thanksgiving, we went up to my friend, Dave, to join in Thanksgiving with his family. There was ham, turkey, and a lot of food. It’s always a good time with Dave’s family. Once again, I ate way too much. Thanks, Dave and Chris, for having us by.
It turned out that Dave’s nephews have started homebrewing. They brought some of their beer and Rich had some of his Husky Paws. There was a meeting of the brewers. Rich mentioned he had bottles that they could have for their new enterprise. They came by the house later in the evening to pick them. Hopefully, they will remember to share of their brews with us in the future.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the traditional day for us to put up our Christmas tree and decorate the house. In the last few years, Rick has put up the tree and decorated it. This year, we did it together. I add something new to the tree each year. I add some tartan ribbons trailing from top to bottom. Rick resisted, until he saw the angel tree topper that was tartan as well. It kind of tied it all together.
I redid the garland around the front door. After a few years, things just get worn. I got new garland with holly. I used my leftover tartan ribbon to create bows for the outside garland. It definitely looks new and less weathered. Now I just need Rick to put them outside.
Next up: Wrapping of the gifts. I’m typically done with Christmas shopping by October. This year, I didn’t get started as soon as normal in July, but I was able to finish right on time. Only probably with shopping early is that I forget what all I have! It’ll be a new view of the Christmas that I have planned for the guys when I wrap it all up. I just have to pick a good day with Christmas movies for wrapping up those presents.
So to recap, the garage should start getting walls this week. That will be exciting! Finally, the concrete pad will stop being a patio and starting looking like a garage.
