The Catch-up (Vol. 2)

Hey there, minions.  This is my second entry about catching up the readers (that's you!) from when I was last  blogging somewhat regularly.  So, there is a second child in this house now.  Back in July 2011, he was just a glint in my eye.  Oliver Emile was born on July 17th, 2012.  And he is one happy baby.  He also likes to sleep a lot more than H-dogg ever did when he was an infant.

This is one fresh baby...right out of the....

Henry has been pretty fantastic with him, as well.  He is quite the mature little kid when it comes to being gentle with Olly.

Time has gone by fast, too.  He seems much stronger than when Henry was that age.  Although, we may have had something to do with that.  I feel like with Henry, we really had no idea what we were doing.  This time around....seems to be going much smoother.  On the other hand, Olly did bake a few weeks longer than Henry.  That could of played a part in it. 

As I am writing, Oliver is 21 weeks old.  A week away from 5 months.  I took this picture today.  Please, enjoy it.

The Catch-Up (Vol.1)

So, I am really behind.  Just saw that my last random post was in January about making mead.  I just assumed I had been writing constantly up until that point.  That is not the case.  The blog actually dried up in July 2011.  Fantastic.  Also, that last picture of Henry on this blog is super cute..but he looks like a baby in it.  He still hadn't slimmed down at that point.  Crazy.

What have ya'll done with your lives without this blog in existence?!?!  I mean, other than pester me about how you should start writing again. And by "pester", I mean beg me and offer me gifts to start writing.  Fine, MOM!  I will start writing again!

Let's start with Henry.  As of right now, he is 2.5 years old.  He loves superheroes.  His faves are Spider-Man, Batman and the Hulk.  Halloween 2011, he was Thor.  Halloween 2012, he was Spider-Man.

The Webslinger

Henry also loves music.  He loves dancing and singing.  Currently, he loves "Gangnam Style."  He constantly is doing the riding the horse dance move.  He cracks us up around the house, because he always has to make his angry face when he "rides the horse."  Also, in the mornings when he wakes me, I usually just throw him in bed with us.  He will lay next to me and just start humming songs.  Right into my ear.  And it is non-stop until I get out of bed.

More to come, I promise.

The Reboot

Here we go again.  Not sure why, but oh well.  It has been a long time since I last wrote...and I kinda miss it.        Life is definitely not slowing down.  It is also real easy to just flat out say that "I am too busy."  But you know  what?  Everyone is busy.  I enjoyed this...  

Plus, lots of things have happened since my last post.  Henry turning 2.  Our new kiddo, Oliver, was born in July.  He is already 4 months old.  My wife has a new job.  Full time MOM.  My job is the same...just a bit more pressure to provide for 4 human beings.

I also have a tumblr page where I have been randomly posting pictures that I have taken.  There is a possibility that I may just move them over here to this blog.  I think one of the reasons I quit writing is that it took up too much time to keep all these different pages up.  So, there should be some streamlining in the future.

Making Mead

This is easy.  When will it be done?!?!
My latest brewing experiment is making Mead.  Mead is pretty much the oldest known fermented drink.  I think it dates back at least 8,000 years.  The Vikings drank it.  So, did the Egyptians.  It was BEOWULF's drink of choice.  If it is good enough for Beowulf, it is good enough for me.  It is also pretty damn easy to make.  Water, honey and yeast.  Oh, and a lotta time just letting it sit around.

My goal was to make a 2 gallon batch of a dry mead.

Ingredients
2 gallons of water
6 lbs of honey
Irish Moss (optional)
A dry mead yeast by Wyeast
Yeast nutrient (optional)

I heated one gallon of water to a simmer in a large stainless pot.  I then removed the pot from the flame and slowly poured all the honey.  You must stir pretty quickly so that none of the honey gets burned on the bottom of the pot.  Put the pot back on the stove and bring to a boil.  I only boiled the honey water mixture for 15 minutes.  With 10 minutes remaining, I put a little bit of Irish Moss into the pot.  It is not necessary, but I had some from making beer.  Irish moss is a kettle coagulant.  Basically, it clears up your liquid.  It works wonders, too.  After the boil, you cool your honey water down to about 85 degrees.

Ha.  There are a lot of things going on in this photo.

The other gallon of water can be poured into your fermenter.  Next, pour your honey water mixture in the fermenter.  Shake and swirl liquids together.  Put in your yeast and the nutrients.  Then, put an airlock on the fermenter and put it in a dark place for a long time. I really don't know how long it will be in there.  I have read articles where people wait an entire year before bottling.  Well, that won't be me.  I think I will wait until it gets clear. I hope that is only a few weeks.  I will let you know.  The plan is to split the batches up.  One gallon, will not be messed with. It will just be a dry mead.  The other...I may add some spices to it.  Maybe some cinnamon sticks....or drop a vanilla bean in the fermenter for a few days.   That is still a couple weeks down the pipe...