Vacation Time!

It has been a month since my last blog update. We have been quite busy with the new “sticks and bricks” house. Many changes and updates are now completed or else will be done soon. Such is the life when buying an older home. I find that doing many of these chores is very enjoyable, but after three months with very little time off, we are both ready for a break. Besides that it is getting cold in Virginia and we have already gotten two small snowfalls! Vacation time!

Last 30 Day Recap

The new refrigerator (a beast) has arrived and will rest in the sunroom until they are ready to install in the new kitchen.

We also have the range and range hood. The range is a new KitchenAid model that has induction. We are looking forward to using the range after all the research we did on induction cooking.

More painting included the master bedroom and its cathedral ceiling. The dark green ceiling required four coats to cover it completely. That was a tough, back breaking job. It looks great now. Much lighter with the white ceiling and Sherwin Williams “white duck” for the walls.

I built a 7×3 foot workbench for the garage. To be used for woodworking projects and for the brew shop. Built from 2×8 lumber with a 3/4 inch MDF top. Very sturdy.

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Painted the basement crafts room. Another room a dark green before requiring three coats or more for good coverage.

Painted the kitchen and coffee bar room ceilings. Another dark blue before and now white. Yes, three coats again. I wanted this work to be done before the kitchen remodeling begins.

And finally, the new bedroom furniture has arrived! About a month late from the Amish folks in Ohio due to a variety of reasons. This was the reason for our Florida travel delay. The delivery was late, but the furniture is remarkable. The solid wood materials and craftsmanship is very nice. The finish is a rustic cherry.

Family Thanksgiving

We had all of our small family together for the holiday! It was great after a year of not doing much because of the virus and our focus on the house. It great to have our son Bryan and daughter-in-law Jenn to come over from their DC home to spend four days along with local son Ross and Audrey.

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We had some great meals prepared by all, some great craft beer supplied by Bryan, and played many pool and card games with the gang. It was nice to be able to have a large home to host our family again.

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The Thanksgiving feast included a turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli salad, dumplings and gravy, home made yeast rolls, cranberry sauce and two pies. Seems I missed something. And everyone made something in the super busy kitchen!

Life is just too short not to enjoy our families even though Fauci and Gov. Ralph have encouraged the foregoing of family get togethers this year.

There were also a couple of local Radford park hikes. This town has some nice parks and walking trails.

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Brew Day

I also worked in a Brew Day about two weeks before we left. Just in time to allow for fermentation time and then to transfer it into a keg. I tried the “green” non-carbonated beer and was very pleased. It should be perfect when we return in April.

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The beer I chose was a recipe called Black Magic. In the dark mild brown ale category. One of my favorites. In a future blog, I will go through the process documenting each step. In case someone might be interested.

This home brew was an all grain version, meaning that I started with the base grains instead of an extract kit. A much better end result!

Warmer weather here we come!

I really do not care for the cold weather Up North. Living most of my life in the northern regions of the US I got used to bundling up for work and shopping travel. My short pants and tropical shirts are packed. It’s time to go and enjoy a vacation. Since our 2nd home has wheels, we will be taking it south by December 1st in the future.

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I have thought it strange though to be leaving the home that we have worked on for the past 3.5 months. Get most of the work done, then leave. No time to enjoy. Except for the Thanksgiving break.

We are now in Asheboro NC. A quick stopover place on the way to Myrtle Beach for three days, then Georgia, and finally Florida for two months. After that, who knows. I will wait until the 60-70 degree days are back. That, I’m pretty sure.

Take care and God Bless.