Tag: Beer

Categories
Beer General

The cutting of the tree

I had another excellently productive Saturday.

Woke up at about 8am, paid a few bills, cleaned up my office a bit, and then Kelly went with me to to John’s Market so I could pick up another keg of Guinness. I keep saying I’m going to get something else (I’ve had Guinness pouring non-stop since October), but, well, what with St. Patrick’s Day coming in a few weeks, I figured I may as well leave the special Guinness tap and faucet attached to my kegorator, and keep the goodness flowing. I am, however, going to resist tapping it for another week or so. If I can. It taunts me.

After picking up the keg and doing some grocery shopping, Kelly and I tried to beat the rain to get some more pruning and yard work done. I’d picked up some lawn fertilizer / moss killer mix, to try and repair my moss-infested lawn. I spent some back-breaking time trying to rake the moss from the grass, and then spreading the mixture into what quickly became some large mud patches. I only got about half of the back yard done before I had to call it quits.

Part of why I ceased my lawn enhancing activities is that my brother T came over with his chainsaw to help me cut down my falling apricot tree (mentioned previously). Within two hours the tree was reduced to a 5 foot tall stump. It was a bittersweet thing to have to do. I loved that tree, it was gangly and hadn’t produced fruit since moving in, but it provided some beautiful texture to our  yard. Sadly, it was beyond saving, and had started falling on another tree that was perfectly healthy. It had to go. A “cut off the foot to save the leg” kind of thing. Either way, I now have to get the stump removed and figure out what to replace it with.

And now, for your viewing pleasure (and a first for my blog) here’s a video that’s not a YouTube ripoff. Filmed by Kelly while I struck the killing blow. That smile at the end? It’s just me trying to hide my tears over what I’d just done.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/videos/2009-02-28_apricot-tree.flv image=wp-content/videos/2009-02-28_apricot-tree.jpg /]

Ax Men, look out!

Oh, and here’s a really nice shot Kelly took after the damage was done.

Categories
Beer Food

Dentist, White Eagle Saloon, Trebol

Today I had a dental exam. I have been a slacker when it comes to dental health, and now get to pay steeply for it. I get to go in for two rounds of fillings (total of four, three on one side of my mouth, one on the other), and a deep cleaning session or two with a periodontist. This is what I get for not going in for my regular cleanings for over 10 years. A lesson for all you young ‘uns, take care of your choppers.

Tonight Kelly and I went out for some dinner with friends. On our way, we stopped by the White Eagle Saloon for a couple pints. I really like the White Eagle, especially early before the live acts go on. It was empty while we were there, probably about 6 other patrons. Kelly and I had a couple pints of the nut brown ale while we got caught up on each others days.

Then at 6:30 pm we met Miranda and Brian at Trébol, a mexican restaurant in North Portland, for dinner. Had a great time hanging out with M & B, and the atmosphere and service at Trébol were fantastic, but I will say the food wasn’t great, not bad, but not fantastic for the price. Still, it was a good night out.

Categories
General

Productive day ’round the house

Kelly and I spent our day at home, doing chores and generally being productive. I woke up around 10am, went downstairs and cleaned the kitchen up and made coffee. Kelly rewarded me by making delicious buttermilk waffles. Hooray!

After that, while Kelly did some cleaning indoors, I took advantage of the semi-sunny early afternoon and washed our car. It’d been months, and it was filthy, inside and out. Gave it a good wash, took all the trash out of it, vaccumed, wiped the interior down and cleaned the windows. It’s all sparkly and shiny now. Almost like new, except for some paint chips and the odd new scrape / small dent I discover every time I wash the car. Grrr.

Once the car was shiny, I joined Kelly in some yardwork. We need to get our pruning done, and there’s quite a bit to do. As I walk into the back yard, pruning shears in hand, and notice that our sickly/dying apricot tree is leaning backward a bit more than I remembered (something that’s hard to tell from inside the house). As I walk up to examine, I realize that it’s leaning a lot back, and the soil around one side is pulling up. The poor tree is now starting to fall over. Argh! Need to get it cut down, soon. I set a stick under it at an angle, so I can see how urgently I need to buy a chainsaw. If it digs into the dirt at all (and I’ll be checking tomorrow) then I need to go buy a chainsaw and get to cutting immediately. Dammit.

Anyway, now I’ve got dinner cooking, and am enjoying a beer. Time to eat!

Categories
Beer Food Work

Henry’s, Montage, Mash, Thatch and Rose

It’s been a crazy weekend so far.

Yesterday, to celebrate the end of a busy week at the work, I joined a few coworkers at Henry’s Tavern for some happy hour drinks and grub.

Later last night, Kelly and I met up with several friends at the Montage for dinner. The primary reason for the dinner was to meet up with our friend C, who was in town from New Jersey looking at some houses here in Portland (looking to move back after spending several years on the east coast). I hadn’t been to the Montage in many years, but their spicy mac & cheese is still utterly nummerific. The portion was quite small (smaller than I remember), but that’s probably a good thing, considering I could easily eat my weight of the stuff, and then die from a heart-attack. It would, however, be a very happy death.

C stayed with us last night and left early this morning (shortly after Kelly, who sadly had to work today). After the house was emptied, I sat and sipped coffee, tried to get caught up on all my blog reading, and played a bit of Call of Duty 4. At around 1pm I took advantage of the sunny (if cold) day and got a 2+ mile walk in, just wandering around the neighborhood. Felt pretty good to just get out in the sun for a bit.

Tonight Kelly and I had dinner plans with our friends Jason and Jen. Prior to meeting them we stopped in the Mash Tun for a beer. I hadn’t been there for a few months, and they redecorated the inside. It looks very nice, and it’s much more warm and inviting than the warehouse feel it had before. Plus, when we were there it was very empty and mellow, which suited my mood.

We met up with J & J at a tiki bar called Thatch at 7pm. Tiki bars aren’t typically my ‘thing’, as they tend to be places for fufu drinks and a brand of kitsch that I don’t typically find appealing, but this place (despite the street-side appearance) was pretty fun. It had a cozy and ‘warm’ feeling, with the right music and food options that made it feel like an escape from the usual (which is, I suppose, a must for any themed bar/restaurant). I will say, however, that the service was less-than-warm (the server seemed a bit ‘too cool for school’ and at one point was kind of rude to Kelly, which automatically made me hate the wench), and the food was pretty spendy for the portions. However, overall, it was a good time.

After leaving Thatch, the four of us headed down the street to the Rose & Thistle for another round of drinks and some more grub.

Had a good couple nights out. Now, if only I could spend tomorrow in solitude, but alas, we have dinner plans with my folks. Oh well.

Categories
Beer Entertainment Food Movies Technology Work

The past few weeks

Yeah, it’s been a few weeks since my last post, which means it’s recap time!

Work has been keeping me plenty busy. Many long hours and late nights. It’s been good, but very exhausting.

We had a petty nasty wind storm a couple weeks back. The large tree in front of the house lost about five 8-9 foot long branches. The front yard looked like a war zone. Branches, twigs, and needles blanketing everything. It took a good few hours of sawing and raking to get it mostly cleaned up.

On the morning of Obama’s inauguration I had to rush into a dentists to get a filling replaced (one that’d started breaking loose from a molar a few months ago). It wasn’t what I would call fun, but it’s all good now.

Portland got a bit more snow earlier this week. Just enough that my bus got stuck trying to go up an incline (the bus wasn’t chained up). After getting stuck, I got off and walked back home and worked from there for the rest of the day. The strangest part was by 5pm it was 40 degrees and all the snow was gone.

My kid brother C turned 24 this week, and he and brother T came over to my pub (my garage) for a few beers, some pizza, and some dart throwing. Happy birthday C!

Tonight Kelly and I met some friends at the Goose for some dinner and beers. Yum.

I picked up a Roku (used for $80) earlier this week. So far I’m pretty impressed, the streaming quality is pretty good. Kelly’s watching An American in Paris as I write this. She’s quite excited.

Oh, and I got another keg of Guinness today (after the last one ran dry about two weeks ago). I swore I was going to get something different, but I couldn’t help it, Guinness is just too delicious. Yum!

Other than that, I’ve been watching Lost and Battlestar Galactica now that those are both back on, and as I said above, working.

That pretty much covers it, I think.