Tag: yardwork

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Beer Food Music Work

Long week, short weekend

After a long week getting up to speed on work for the next software release (including many, many meetings), the weather started to drastically improve here in Portland Friday a friend of mine came by for some BBQ and beers. Had a really fun night, followed by a slightly painful yesterday.

I got up and watched several episodes of Top Gear before Kelly and I went to the Blue Olive for dinner, followed by checking out the Oregon Symphony perform Beethoven. The performance was fantastic, though the dinner had me feeling a bit too full and sleepy. After the show we dropped by the Back Stage Bar for our friend B’s birthday. Didn’t stay long though. Sleepy. Happy birthday B! We suck.

After an early night and many hours of sleep I was able to get some serious yard work done today, mainly cleaning up the pile of debris that sat to one side/corner of the house. It was the spot where two years of Christmas trees/wreaths, many years of potting soil and planters, and general yard junk had been dumped. Hacking, sawing, digging, and barkdust re-spreading. It looks, well, not trashy now. After all that, I’ve been able to sit out on the front porch with a couple beers and, well, write this post. Hooray for spring!

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Beer Entertainment General Humor Movies Television

(the rest of) May, and April (so far)

The past month and (almost) a half, quick style:

March 17th (St Patty’s Day): Spent the evening at Moon & Sixpence with friends. First time there for St. Patty’s Day and it was a lot of fun. Live Irish music played in one corner, and loads of friendly people, all in good spirits despite how crowded it was.

March 27th: Got a lot of yard work done, and was able to break out the BBQ and do my first grill of the season. Great day ’round the house.

April 8th: Went in for some oral surgery to fix up some gum disease I’d developed over the years of not seeing a dentist (brush your teeth kids, and go in for your regular cleanings!). This led to a week of stitches, and about two weeks of discomfort. I’m only now starting to feel back to normal. I have a photo of the stitches I took with my MacBook’s camera, but I won’t show it since it might make you feel a bit ill.

April 17th: Did some more yard work including my first lawn mowing of the season. The work I’d been doing over the previous few weeks, coupled with some unusually warm spring weather has resulted in fast lawn growth. I also picked up a keg of the delicious Irish ale Kilkenny (which has only been available in the States for about a year). This means Guinness has been supplanted. Mmm, beer.

Today: I managed to tackle some of my chore list: repaired my busted up front fence gate (which involved replacing a slat, some sanding, painting, re-hanging, etc), installed some much needed shelving in the utility room, replaced some burnt-out light bulbs both on the front porch and the kitchen, cleaned some windows, and cleaned up the garage. Good, productive day.

Other stuff: I continue watching Lost, Fringe, FlashForward, Stargate Universe, and Doctor Who, and have seen a few decent films including Empire, Up In The Air, and Franklyn.

I also learned of a blog that’s worth adding to your RSS reader: Sleep Talkin’ Man. It’s about this English man who talks in his sleep, and his wife records / jots down some of the nonsense he mutters, leading to some awesome quotes such as:

  • “I’m gonna have a great day…. Don’t you fuck it up.”
  • “Headstands are for girls only. When they wear skirts.”
  • “If I’m gonna be in charge, I need a cape. You can’t do the job without a cape. Take me to the cape tailor.”
Categories
Beer Music Work

Fancypants Fri, work Sat, yard Sun

Friday after work I joined Kelly for an Oregon Symphony event called ‘Party of Note‘ where people can hear small ensembles/quartets of Oregon Symphony performers play in a more relaxed setting. The one on Friday was held at a house in Portland’s west hills (where the upper echelon live) and this house was insane. It was like walking into an Italian-inspired palace, complete with columns, tapestries, wood-paneled dining rooms, chandeliers, and fancy furniture. It reminded me of visiting some of the palaces in Europe, only smaller. I was clearly out of place, having come from work in my usual jeans and shirt outfit, everyone else were dressed to the nines, sipping wine and nibbling hors d’oeurves. It was a bizarre experience, but the string quartet that played some Mozart and Hayden was great. Even Kelly said that the previous one she attended was much more casual, so hopefully (if I go again) it won’t be so stuffy. That said, I got to see how the other 1% live.

Yesterday I got up around 8am and spent the whole day and most of the night working, trying to put the finishing touches on some features I’m on the hook for. Kelly got me away long enough to take a nearly 5 mile walk though, so that was good. She also got me out to Moon & Sixpence for a couple pints of Kilkenny. Mmm.

Today I relaxed a bit, watched several episodes of this British comedy The Inbetweeners, and then got out and mowed my lawn (first time for the year), aerated the front and threw & watered a bunch of grass seed (in an attempt to revive the sad little strip of mostly mud).

Categories
General Music

Yardwork, and Midlake

After a long week of work, and my first Windows virus infection (long story short, keep your anti-virus up-to-date and Windows patched), I spent the day doing yardwork and went to see a band tonight.

The weather in Portland today was gorgeous (a sunny 65 degrees), so Kelly and I got out and continued to tidy up our yard; pruning shrubs, pulling weeds, and generally getting a jump start in the hopes that the rest of the spring and summer will be less upkeep and more kicking back and enjoying. Things are starting to look pretty good.

Tonight I joined some friends to see Midlake at the Wonder Ballroom. Midlake is something of a 70’s-inspired indie-folk-rock band that are perfect for chilling in the yard with a beer, or driving along a foggy coastal road. They have some really great tunes with some brilliant lyrics (though they also have some so-so tracks). I like ’em when I’m in a chill-out, introspective mood. Anyway, the show was really good, both because the band was good and the audience (a 21+ show) were polite and relaxed. That could have been due to weed (smelled some outside the venue), but all in all a good evening, and a good way to end a nice day in the sun.

Categories
Beer General

A very Spring-like February weekend

The weather here in Portland, unlike the East Coast or northern Europe, has been very spring-like the past several days. Yesterday the temperature reached 61 I think, with sunny skies. It’s hard to believe it’s mid-February.

Taking advantage of this weather, I spent the past couple days outside working on my yard; Pruning, raking, edging, trimming, and filling several yard debris bags. Things are starting to shape up. I’m exhausted, but I’m having what I believe is the best tasting pint of Guinness ever, sitting on the front porch in the sun.

Oh yeah, related to my previous post, I picked up the new keg yesterday. Had I known the old one had so much left in it before Friday I wouldn’t have babied it all week. Sheesh!