All Hallows Eve 2021

After taking last year off, Halloween is just about to start for 2021. We had a bunch of friends come over and help us get the yard set up. We have over 2,000 pieces of candy. The yard is dressed up and looks pretty good.

It's been a nice sunny day but it is still cool. The temperature right now is around the low 50's which feels really comfortable. I know that is going to change in about ten minutes when the sun sets.

More of a report tomorrow.

One Day to 'Ween

It is the day before Halloween and Susan tells me we have a lot of work to do. I'm not even going to go into it, other than to say that there will be lots of pictures tomorrow. Here is one of a punkin that Susan carved.

Prepping for Thanksgiving

Along with all the stuff we are getting ready for Halloween, I am taking today to do a test run on a turkey.

I want to barbecue our Thanksgiving Turkey but I have never done it before and I would like some practice time.

Fortunately, while looking through the freezer the other day, Susan discovered we had a 12 pound turkey in there. Just right for practice.

I decided to thaw it and give it a try on my Weber, using the rotisserie and charcoal.

I am using the method for slow cooking in a Weber where the charcoal is placed in a ring around the outside of the kettle. This is known as a charcoal snake. I lit one end of the snake and that starts the cooking.

2:15 PM: The kettle is up to 200° which is good. The problem I am running into already is that the turkey is not very well secured to the spit. I have already opened the lid to reposition the bird and I am hoping that will work.

The turkey has been on the spit for 40 minutes so far. It has about two more hours to go.

3:19PM: I just shined a flashlight through the vent to see if the turkey was spinning on the spit. There was a little movement I didn't care for but it is spinning and the temperature is up to 260°.

4:53PM: It is almost time to check the turkey and see what the temperature is. I'm supposed to pull it off when it reaches 170-175° in the thickest part of the thigh. It still is not terribly secure to the spit but I have let it go anyway.

5:04PM: I just checked it and it is only at 145°. I'm going to let it go another 1/2 hour and then I'll check it again.

5:45PM: I have pulled the turkey and placed it into a cooler wrapped in aluminum foil. We are going to the Hub to have some beer and let the turkey rest.

6:30PM: I am very pleased with the way this all worked out. I have learned a couple of crucial lessons which I shall apply to the bird come Thanksgiving.

One lesson is to make sure the turkey is really bound up tight and secured to the spit. The other lesson is to do some flavor injecting into the turkey. It has a definite smoky flavor but I think it could be better.

The main thing is that I am full now. 

Back On Line

I have been off line for the last couple of days. My computer would not go on line. It kept telling me the Wi-Fi button was turned off. I went into Settings and found the Wi-Fi button but it would not engage.

This morning, I took the computer to Friendly Computers to see if they could fix it. We plugged it in, he did a couple of things and it was working.

There is a Wi-Fi icon at the top of my keyboard. It must have been touched and turned off the Wi-Fi. I think the cat got up here and walked on the button. The reason I think that is because my mouse was on the floor on Monday, the same day I realized I was not getting on line. I'm sure she got up on the table, walked on the keyboard and batted the mouse around. It is a mouse after all.

Today, in preparation for Halloween, I am going to get our little fence put up around the yard. It's just a series of stakes pounded into the ground around the sidewalk with a chain hung on them.

Then I need to work on the pallets we set up in the yard. I have to build and repair some shelves that I built into the pallets. I'm also going to get the Scarecrow in the ground and perhaps get to work on flying ghost.

But the main thing is that I'm back on line.

 

HalloPrep

With nine days remaining before Halloween, and our decision to participate this year, the Halloween stuff is coming out.

There is a lot of work ahead of us this weekend but I've given us a good start.

Ten Days to Halloween

Here is a picture that appeared on the cover of the Northwest Section of today's Spokesman-Review.

 I added the commentary.

Waverly Place Winery 2021

Hewlett-Packard was started in a small garage. Apple Computers was started in a small garage.

Likewise, the Waverly Place Winery is still in a small garage and not likely to change, unless we build a bigger garage.

Today we crushed 200 pounds of grapes that we purchased in Prosser last weekend. We have 100 pounds of Cabernet and 100 pounds of Syrah.

I tested the gravity on the two wines and it is up there. 1.110 for the Syrah and 1.100 for the Cab. We are looking at around 14% alcohol by volume.

I also completed a little work around the yard despite the half inch of rain that fell. We are supposed to get an inch on Friday.

I have put away the yard furniture and got some of the Halloween stuff down from the Carriage House. Look out for that bat!

R.I.P. Jim's Home Brew

It is official! Jim's Home Brew, one of my favorite businesses in Spokane, is no more.

I drove by yesterday and the building was a small pile of rubble.

I should have driven by on Monday. I've been keeping tabs on the building and should have realized it was coming down on Monday.

In any event, I will have nothing to do with Consumer Auto Liquidators (C.A.L.), who purchased the building, gave thirty day notice, and put Jim's Home Brew out of business.   

Trim Painting

I have completed most of my painting project.

I am going to wait until Spring to add a second coat.   

A Typical Retirement Tuesday

I have spent the day working on productive projects around the house. This is in spite of my having contracted the Covid 19 Virus. I am well past any major symptoms, having lost the sense of taste and smell. But they are back now and I am in quarantine until Friday.

I spent the day working in the yard. I am painting the trim around the base of the house. The same dark green that we painted on the front porch last summer.

Yesterday, I did most of the scraping. Today, I used my belt sander to sand out as much as I could from the trim. It's a pretty long stretch. From the front porch...

to the rear of the house...

and up onto the rear deck.

I managed to get the whole thing sanded and primed today. It took a while but I'm not on the clock. I'll do it in my own sweet retired time.

I'm pleased with my progress. I got everything sanded and everything primed.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'll get started on putting down the dark green.    

Boiler Game Canceled

I have had to cancel the Boiler Game for this year. On Saturday morning, I noticed that the heat was on. I am not sure how that happened but I'm afraid it is a disqualifying factor for the Boiler Game.

It's really too bad because I had great hopes for a record this year.

Susan has gone to work today, having received a negative Covid test from the place to which she went. I am feeling better with my sense of taste and smell returning. No more Sluggo on the couch. It's back to life in the real world!  

Frustration and Covid

It is the time of year to start working on getting Halloween set up. We had no Halloween last year due to the pandemic. We have decided to proceed with the scary festivities for this year.

However,  a monkey has thrown a wrench into the works. I tested positive for Covid two days ago. Thanks to the vaccine, I have minimal symptoms. I'm feeling sluggish, sniffly, and my sense of taste and smell are on hiatus. Other than that, I'm feeling pretty good and am not really suffering.

Susan on the other hand is a twisted pile of seething frustration. She went to this local urgent care place (Indigo) for a test. She is feeling no symptoms but can't go to work until she gets a negative test result. 

She finally got a text this morning from them (Indigo) but when she clicks the link, it goes to a page that gives her no information about her test results, only that she did indeed show up there. Calling this place (Indigo) is like calling a brick wall. 

I think she is going to have to go up there (Indigo) and find out in person.

In the meantime, she is trying to work from home and can't completely access her programs at work. This causes a large amount of expletives' and unkindness to come forth from her angry, frustrated lips.

So I'm in quarantine for at least another week and Susan is beating her head against an intractable wall of frustrating frustration.

(Indigo) Not a fan

Editors Note: Italicized words should be expressed with distain and a sense of derision.

Susan eventually got her results and tested negative.