Tag Archives: beer

I should have known this was coming.

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The Barn Mahal is the gift that keeps on giving. It grows. It changes. It morphs into something I no longer recognize as a barn.

Why do I say this?

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Because last week my husband took me shopping for the next addition to his man cave extraordinaire.

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Yes.

He wants a refrigerator.

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And because he’s a man who demands instant gratification, he wanted to go home with it that day… which we quickly discovered was impossible. Thank you Covid 19…. yet another reason you suck.

All the refrigerators pictured on this blog, every last one of the small barn appropriate models that were on the display floor?

Unavailable.

It was enough to send us to our local pub for a drink… or two, and lunch.

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Which for me was a massive fried haddock sandwich with homemade onion rings. For the husband?

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A tool box and the light filtering blind we bought for the window we always sit in front of. The sun shines through it something fierce and we were tired of our bartender talking to us with his hand over his eyes.

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For this kindness we refused payment… support your local businesses!…but received 4 free drinks when the bill was presented.

A win win.

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And then it was back to the elusive we’ll show it to you but you can’t have it, neener neener refrigerator shopping.

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The absolutely only one anyone had in stock was this small, wonderfully inexpensive model.

The husband vetoed that. Not enough room for beer.

So we spent a fruitless day, visited 7 stores and ended up coming home to order this one online.

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Ample beer storage will be had…

But not for a week or two.

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How many tables does one man need?

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After the Barn Mahal clean out… there was open space. Glorious, uncluttered open space. I knew it wouldn’t last, but I appreciated it all the same.

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And when I looked around? There was a table and chairs.

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Okay, we’re building a bar for that… but whatever.

The next day?

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There was another table and chairs.

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The day after that 3 more tables had migrated their way in. WTH? Is the husband planning on opening a cafe….

Which is exactly what I asked him during our inaugural beer.

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No, it wasn’t our first time on the nectar of the gods merry go round, but it was the first time we drank inside the barn, seated at a table, with heat.

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I never did get an answer to my why do you need 5 fricking tables question… but we did manage to get that stupid mobility scooter we wasted $850 on last year up and running again.

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We purchased it second hand for his brother, who swore he needed it… until we gave it to him free of charge, when he decided he didn’t want it after all. 😡

We tried selling it last year but didn’t have any luck. Now the husband wants it gone so I’m going to list it again… for half what we paid, damn it…. and see what happens.

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Note to self? It’s probably not a good idea to drink beer for hours and then fully charge a scooter.

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The following day I figured if I couldn’t beat the too many tables paradigm, I’d join it… and hung a little something of my own for flavor.

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Perfect!

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With apologies to the yoga follower I deleted.

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You know the drill… if you’re a business blog and are trying to sell me something? You’re history.

This goes for the slew of robotic self help sites as well. I’m as good as I’m ever going to get. I’ve accepted that… they should as well.

So yes, I zapped a yoga promoting site that followed me recently… but not before I checked out their page.

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Yoga? No thanks. The days of twisting my body into a pretzel are long gone. The husband isn’t happy about that either…. but what are ya gonna do?

But beer? There’s an exercise routine I fully support.

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Drinking beer and posing? Heck, I’ve been doing that for years!

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Beer.

I always figured it went with everything. But yoga?

Who knew!

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Barn, Belgian beer and Brussel sprouts.

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We were back in the barn this weekend and ran the new heat pump for the first time. It’s a big space so it took a while to warm up… but the building held the set temperature all day, which means all our stuff and seal each and every god damn gap insulation work…

Worked.

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But there were still a few more windows to trim and that’s when things went downhill.

There was sputtering, mumbling, cursing and okay…. small pieces of wood may or may not have been flung across the room.

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When the wood started flying? I knew it was time for a distraction… so I trudged down to our crap filled underground nightmare basement and retrieved a treasure we purchased a few years ago.

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A neon bar sign from the Ommegang brewery in New York. We stumbled on them when we visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and fell in love with their Belgians.

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https://www.ommegang.com/

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If you’re ever in the area, check out their tasting room in the old barn… and if you’re visiting this time of year? Try my favorite.

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There’s a tavern in Brussels famous for it’s pigeon racing?

Sounds like my kind of place.

And speaking of Brussels…

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When you live across the street from an organic vegetable farmer?

You never know what will show up on your doorstep in the morning.

👍

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Are you one of those people?

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You know the ones, they pick up every free paper or publication they see no matter the subject?

Proctologist Monthly?

Yes.

Belt Sander Enthusiast?

Sure.

The Do It Yourself Lobotomy Newsletter?

Why not.

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It probably won’t surprise my regular readers to learn my husband is one of those people.

Free is his favorite word.. which is why he came home with one called the Maine Agricultural News the other day.

My husband, the man who’s never planted anything (other than free trees he lets die) in his life.

Here are a few fascinating highlights:

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Color me proud. My state is one of the top 5 potato chip potato producers.

And lord knows I do my part to keep the Lays company in business.

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The Pomological Society? There’s a sought after membership if ever I saw one.

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For those who don’t know, Maine blueberries are highly prized and big business up this way.

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But thanks to President Trump’s Chinese trade war, among other things… the berry news is decidedly blue.

And finally, disaster.

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Say it isn’t so!

Maine craft brewers have cut back on the production of beer to make hand sanitizer?

Oh, the horror.

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CSA and grocery store giggles.

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The harvests keep on coming.

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Peppers, fennel, radish, celery, bok choy, chard, eggplant, salad greens and spinach.

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Of course it’s fall, so even the eggplants look like pumpkins.

And at the grocery store this week? A run on creamer.

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WTH? Is there a new Covid cure I’m unaware of that requires cream…

Good thing the beer aisle was still fully stocked.

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And if you’re lucky enough to live in an area that stocks Sam Adams? Do yourself a favor and buy their limited edition seasonal. Jack-O Pumpkin is da bomb.

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A four foot rope of sausage? Not so much.

🤢

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Paper towels are still a no go. Except this one lone package… which was on sale. 6 rolls for $13. But look at the regular price. $16. That’s $2.66 a roll!

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With prices like that, is it any wonder people are making their own truck repairs?

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Duct tape. A most versatile product.

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Random photos you don’t need to see, but will just to humor me.

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Our resident skunk who visits nightly.

Like everything else around here, he’s ass backwards with a black striped tail and white tip.

Regardless, he’s still a little stinker… and if the tip goes up?

Run.

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Two CH-53E Marine Corps choppers flying over our backyard during some rare state of Maine training.

We lived in the flight pattern of these babies down south when my husband was active duty, and trust me, when they go by? You feel it.

As does your house.. because everything that isn’t nailed down rattles.

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The sunset up the road from our house the other night.

You may ooh and ah at will.

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A sign I bought for the husband’s future barn bar.

Beer.

Making friends more interesting for centuries.

Social distancing chuckles.

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Where there’s a will there’s a way.

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In this scenario, I see my noodle landing in my margarita… and no one wants that.

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Distance.

It’s all relative.

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Canadians have the right idea with hockey sticks. You can measure distance as well as crack heads if someone gets too close.

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Wisconsin? I don’t know. I’d rather not be on the back end of that ruler…

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Bubble gyms?

If they were covered in black fabric so no one could see my quarantine twenty jiggling… maybe.

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Excellent.

And I bet their conversation is more interesting than your cousin Darryl’s anyway.

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Squirrels are people too.

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Pffft!

What’s next, motion sensor operated baptism?

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Now that makes sense!

Score!!!

 

Making a grocery run with the husband looks a little different these days…

 

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As does his idea of the word essentials.

 

 

But the real news of the day?

This:

 

 

We found two of the most elusive items in Maine. Flour and toilet paper!!!

Now I can say I know how a crack whore feels after a fix.

Well, maybe not exactly how.

But still…

 

 

We found these precious jewels at an out of the way, generic name grocery store in the back country.

And no, I’m not telling you where.

 

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I bet you didn’t know…..

 

There’s a political party of beer lovers in Poland.

The PPPP…  Polska Partia Przyjaciol Piwa. They won 16 parliament seats before breaking up into smaller factions. The Big Beer Party and the Little Beer Party.

 

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You didn’t know that.

But I did, because….

 

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I bet you didn’t know….

The unofficial mascot of Delta State University if the Fighting Okra.

 

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But it’s true.

I once went 4 rounds with some fried okra… but I’m sure no one wants to hear about that.

 

I bet you didn’t know…

Snow angels originated from medieval Jewish mystics who practiced rolling in the snow to rid themselves of evil urges.

Maybe I need to try that the next time I want pie and ice cream.

 

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I bet you didn’t know…

Horseshoe crabs are bled for medical science.

 

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Horseshoe crabs use hemocyanin to carry oxygen through their blood. Because of the copper present in hemocyanin, their blood is blue. … Amebocytes from the blood of L. polyphemus are used to make Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), which is used for the detection of bacterial endotoxins in medical applications.

 

Run crab….

Run!

 

I bet you didn’t know…

In Athens, Greece a driver’s license can be taken away if the driver is deemed “unbathed” or “poorly dressed”.

 

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Good thing this trend never caught on.

 

I bet you didn’t know…

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel This Side of Paradise was the first time the word ‘daiquiri’ ever appeared.

Rum… Paradise…

Makes sense to me.

 

 

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