First time making pho

It turned out pretty tasty. Not quite as good as the last bowl I had in a local restaurant, but pretty close.  Paired with a New Belgium Coconut Curry Hefeweizen. And that was really good.

Hydroponic tomato roots!

Cleaned up the experimental vertical hydroponic garden the other day. Here is a shot of the roots (over 3 feet long) from one tomato plant. I tasted some. Not bad. Might make a good substitute for pasta. Or, they might be poisonous.

great weekend..

Aidan was in town this weekend from UW. Good to be with him. My brother was also in town. He is getting to be a Spokane regular. Maybe he will move back. I worked on Friday and missed Terrain which was a bummer. Next year!

Sarah, my brother and I did a bus and walking tour of the local breweries on Saturday. We hit River City (tasting at The Rocket), Iron Goat, Budge Brothers, Steam Plant, and ate dinner at Benniditos. Was going to do NoLi and Ramblin' Road, but RR hasn't opened yet for tasting, according to their phone message, and we seem to go to NoLi a lot.

How about adding 12 Strings (although it's in the Valley),  and the breweries on the north side and the one up on Perry, when they are up and running? That would be epic! How about bicycles instead of the bus and walking? Even better. Still, a $3.50 all day bus pass buys you a lot of time and adventure.

The end of the weekend featured the traditional goat cheese open house in Chattaroy. I can see why Ben Stuckart wants a goat.

Opened up the first bottle of the recently brewed all grain pale ale. I think it's my best beer in years!

On the picket line with Deaconess workers

Deaconess workers can't get management to even talk with them about the dangerous profit-driven cuts to staffing they have made.

Beer!

Bottled my pale ale this week. This is my first batch of all-grain brewed beer in about 20 years. It turned out great!

So, what's next? Well, I have a plum-infused mead/melomel that will be ready to bottle soon and I will be making some apple cider in the next week or so. But, the next beer-centric event is definitely the Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival. I've been going to this since its inception. Back then, it was called "Oktoberfest." Yes, now it is called the "Inland NW Craft Beer Festival." Rolls off your tongue doesn't it?

Newspaper articles have been making a big deal of how this year's festival will no longer be Oktoberfestish. However, last year there was no German food or music, and worse yet, no fräuleins in dirndls. and I think maybe the year before was like this, as well. No matter what it's called, my first move, when I go to this event, is to upgrade to the collectible mug.

Spokane's brewery scene is exploding. And having been homebrewing for about 25 years and watching the microbrewery booms and busts during this time, I think if you don't get out there and partake in what local micro (make that "craft") breweries are up to right now, you will regret it. Sarah and I were on the west side recently, trying out their offerings. Spokane's are just as good, sometimes better and the diversity of our beer and ale styles are much more pronounced.

So, come rain or shine, I plan on being at the festival tomorrow. Maybe I will see you there! If you plan on going, buy your ticket at the festival website and save $5. 

Turkeys

There are seven turkeys that have been hanging out in our yard. Have had lots of families stop and take pictures. Last night, we were eating supper. Our dining room has a large open window. As friends of ours passed by with their kids after watching the flock in the yard, I yelled at Sarah to pass me more turkey.

Keeping the neighborhood edgy.

One Day Bellingham Out and Back

 A very early morning start.

 Ryegrass, our first stop. Love the windmills. Never noticed these signs before. 

 Had a very foggy drive until Moses Lake. This is starting up the Cascades.

  College Town!

 The coffee table was pretty nice. Don't know if the TVs or air hockey worked.

 Asked our son if he and his friends ever went across the street and watched the stars at night in comfort. He said, "Not yet."

 A beautiful Bellingham Bay bonus.

 We took Highway 2 home. Really fast, apparently.

Had a really good dinner in Coulee City at a place called The Last Stand. It took a really long time because they were really overwhelmed by the amount of diners there, but I would eat there again.

It's a long trip to Bellingham and back in a day, especially if you take Highway 2. But, it sure beats staying overnight unless you have something to do over there. Next trip - Seattle and then we are empty nesters.

Great bubblin' beer!

Japanese Garden Fun!

So good, in so many ways!

First home hydroponic tomato

Have had to make a couple of adjustments to the vertical hydroponic garden. It's an interesting problem to figure out the correct slope to drain the top row into the bottom one. The slope needs changes as roots start to block exit ports and the overall weight of the green mass climbs.


Ever vigilant:


Here's the first one. Maybe a Charlie Chaplin, Early Girl? I kept a good record of the different types until I planted them. Rather daft.


There was a raiding of the conventional tomatoes, the morning of the taste test. But I dug around and found one hidden. It's the big one on the left. Charlie Chaplin or.... Never mind.


It wasn't a very fair comparison. The big conventional tomato did have slightly more flavor than the little hydroponic one. The hydroponic one still tasted great.


I have to say I am pretty pleased with the hydroponic garden. There will be some adjustments next year. Maybe some fish. Solar powered pump?

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Batboy the Musical!

Having had a home subscription to the Weekly World News back in the 1990s, our household has always been a big fan of Bat Boy.

Last night, Sarah and I went to see Bat Boy, the musical at the Lake City Playhouse.

It was a great show in a great venue. All cast members did a fine job, the staging and lighting was excellent too. If you get a chance, go see it. The play runs until August 10th. You can buy tickets online at the link above.

I did have a hard time making out some of the lyrics, but I attribute this to hearing loss.

The first act drags a little, but the second act really rolls and is a major payoff. Almost wish that there was no intermission to keep the story building.

We had a great time and don't miss the chance to see some great acting and a nice story. Of course, there is a lot of sex and violence, so maybe leave the wee bat children at home.

I wonder if these would really work.

BGE Table and Cabinet

The carts that people build for their egg usually have the egg sitting inside of it. These tables are pretty big too.

I already had wheels for mine and they've been nice for moving it around, especially as the seasons change and I move the BBQ a little closer when the snow flies. Plus, I really didn't want to just throw away the wheels and lose the mobility.







I built it out of cedar.



The top is rocket ship shaped.


I don't really like the whole dirty-BBQ-tools-hanging-on-the-front look, so there's a little box on the side that holds them. It also catches the bottle caps from the bottle opener above. Cool.
At first, I stained it a light redwood color. I didn't like that, so I dug around the shed and found some really old dark stain. I liked that better.  I hope the egg end doesn't catch on fire, but if it does, the  rocket ship motif will really look great.

A great send-off yesterday for a great guy.

Firefighters from all over the nation, and more than likely Canada, gathered yesterday to say goodbye to John Knighten. Spokane was a beautiful place yesterday and last night. Thanks to everyone in Spokane for being such great hosts and showing everyone what a great town we are.

Bike lanes, Shmike lanes.

$20 bluetooth bicycle music machine.

You can pick up a cheapo bluetooth player and put it on your bike. You have to crochet your own holder or procure an old sock.

LC Graduation 2013 - Eye in the sky!

Here is a link to some Lewis and Clark  2013 graduation photos. If you have some you want to share from a Spokane area graduation, email me your public photo link and I will get your pictures up.

Time is winding down! Make the best of it!

Like all of you, I have always had a lot on my plate. One of the things that I will be giving up at the end of this year is my involvement in my union's leadership. I feel like it is time for some younger blood and ideas. For over 10 years, I have been doing mostly PR and political stuff for my union (Spokane Firefighters Local 29) and have been on the executive board, except for when I took a break for paramedic school.

So, at the end of this year, I will be passing the reins of the newsletter, blog, facebook and twitter feed, as well as other responsibilities, to someone else.

I will be staying involved in local politics, mostly around peace, economic and justice issues, but from a more broader perspective.

Last week, a bunch of us from Spokane drove over to Tacoma to attend a funeral for one of their firefighters, Al Nejmeh, who died at work on a medical call. Our brother was originally from New Jersey and had lived quite a life. Beside being a firefighter, he was a peace, justice and ecology advocate who traveled around the world working to make it a better place. He was also an accomplished song writer, guitar player and singer. At the funeral, a retired battalion chief, in his Class A uniform, picked up a guitar and sang a song he wrote about this man - his friend. Wow. Very cool. You can read a little bit more about Albert Nejmeh here.

I will be writing more in this blog, as I am writing less for the union. I have some interesting projects which are starting to blossom right now and I will keep you posted.

Vertical hydroponic garden

Check! Will get it to solar and add fish later.


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Lots of little projects

This one is still under wraps.


Aquaponic garden start.


Aidan and I bottled Mugato Stout. Bare feet bonus.