Summer Project

As if planning a wedding wasn't enough of a project, we'd decided that we wanted to try brewing some beer this summer. You know, for fun. You see, if there's one thing Sara and I have in common (and trust me, there are more than a few), it's being into the whole DIY, "let's see if we can do X", "why buy X if we can make it better ourselves" kind of thing. Plus, homebrewing sounded like fun, and who doesn't like beer??

We figured out last weekend that if we got a batch started this week, we could actually get it done, bottled, conditioned and maybe even partially drank (with a little help from friends....hint hint!) before we head back up for the school year, so on Tuesday we stopped by the local brew shop and got our supplies, and Wednesday night we got a-brewing:

Getting the grist in the bag and ready to mash...notice the bottle of Central Waters on the counter and the empty sixer of Sam Adams in the background. What, are we supposed to work without inspiration??

Sara took this pic of me checking the temp of the mash...she thinks I look like an evil scientist.

Boil...boil, my precious wort!

Here's where we thought we had a problem. We finished brewing and got everything in the fermenter around midnight Wednesday night. Yesterday when I checked, the airlock was bubbling like crazy, so I knew the fermentation was going strong...but then this morning there was nothing! I watched for 5 minutes and didn't see a single bubble, so I thought something had gone wrong...most things I read said the fermentation should last about a week or so...but when I went to the brew shop to pick up a couple things today and asked the beerlady, she said it's possible that with the weather a little warmer, it might be done that quickly. Hmm. So I took a reading and whatdayaknow! Just about right!

Well jeez, we wouldn't want to waste that baby beer we had to take out for the test, now would we?? (Yes, Sara had just gotten out of the shower...a clean brewer is a happy brewer!)

Next, we get the liquid gold into the secondary fermenter, let it sit and mellow for a while, and then bottle 'er up! We'll let you know how it goes, that's for sure. But in the meantime, I think we've found a new hobby :-)

Even more random summer pics...

So our summer place...with the fenced back yard...oh yes, Loki is a big fan. He had a run-in with a bird the other day, so now his big thing is to hang out under this one specific tree, waiting for another bird to magically drop into his clutches. If one doesn't he tries to climb the tree...or dances on his back legs trying to reach the branches. Yeah, we never said he was particularly smart.

All the running around outside this summer requires adequate hydration, of course.

So we were out on a boat ride up north this past weekend, and we came across a flotilla of pontoon boats having soe kind of battle with big hoses and spraying water. Looked like a lot of fun, actually...it was pretty durn hot.

Just in case you've ever wondered what would happen if you stuck your camera lens into an empty beer bottle and took a picture...now you know.

Loki made a couple new friends today. Our friend Liz's dog Riggs (the Golden) was really, um, friendly...and then another guy came along where we were hanging out on the river and had a Doberman he was teaching to swim. So it was a big ol' dog party on the river.

Who'da thunk it...there ARE actually fish on this part of the river! Learn something new every day, I guess...

Random Summer Pics

My nephew's going to be a left-handed reliever. Or at least a utility infielder.

I think Loki likes the heat even less than we do.

We had a shower. It was fun.

So what have we been up to this summer?

Oh, a bunch of wedding planning....

And a little bit of this.

Ain't we cute? :-)

Summertime...

...and the livin' is easy.

So as you have likely deduced by now, there will probably be a limited few number of posts this summer on my Alaska blog, due to the fact that we're not, you know, in Alaska.

I may update here and there to post pics and let you know what's up...there's plenty going on, of course. Between wedding planning (not to mention the actual wedding), seeing people, catching/stocking up on stuff that I can't do during the school year, ya know...it should be a really, really fun summer.

And we'll certainly be doing a lot of this

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Weeeee!

So. After a truly hectic few days, here we sit at gate C3, waiting for our flight from Anchorage to the middle of the Middle-west, stomachs full of good food and maybe a couple beers :-P

See you in a few time zones!

Air Lab

So now that school's over and our days are filled with sleeping in and packing endless boxes, we've had a bunch of time to procrastinate take Loki swimming. We've even got him into dock-jumping. He was leery when we started...the first couple times he'd only do it once, and then only go in from shore the rest of the day...but once he got used to it and figured out how to keep his head mostly above water when he dives in, he loves it. Absolutely can not get enough. Check it out:

Now we just have to find a nice dock when we get home to WI this weekend :-P

*blink*

So that's it, huh? The school year's over already? Doesn't seem like it's possible.

Let's see, what's been up? Well, I helped chaperone a slumber party last weekend for the 5th grade class and the Junior High basketball team. It was pretty fun, and noone was too poorly behaved or annoying (thank god). At one point I let the kids use my camera, which resulted in about a hundred pictures (like the one at right) on my card in a stunningly short period of time. Which is cool by me :-)

What else? Oh, got to drive the boat over to Akiuk for the first time this spring. We took off after sunset, which worried me a little bit seeing as the sun had already set, but thankfully the angle the sun goes down in this part of the world meant we had more than enough twilight to get there and back, still able to see the paths and cuts between lakes. It was cool, actually my first time driving the whole way, so now I'm pretty confident in my knowledge of the path. It was like the first time snowmobiling to Bethel...it's different when I'm the one that actually has to, you know, pay attention to the route :-P I'm really a hands-on type of learner.

Other than that, now it's all about getting stuff cleaned up, packed up, and moved. We're heading out a week from Friday, so we've got a little time left...thank god.

Link

Just wanted to post a quick link to this story I saw from the New York Times the other day. It's pretty sad, but I thought it was worth posting...the author touches on some important issues in this part on the world.

NY Times: In Native Alaskan Villages, A Culture of Sorrow

More Pics

Sara and I took Loki for a swim this weekend. He seemed quite excited to get back in the water after a long winter...or that could have just been me projecting. Here are a couple shots of the action: