Monday, February 28, 2011

Missing Summer

The forecast here in Greenville, North Carolina says that the high for today will be 82f. Not bad, however, I just went outside and it isn't there yet. Having grown up in a small town (at least it used to be) in California, I am used to sweltering heat. I can remember days that would reach 113f! But the heat was dry so any amount of shade would quell the blistering heat. Our first summer out here was definitely a shock especially given the fact that we moved here from Boston, Massachusetts. I can't say that we were necessarily ready for the humidity that we encountered upon moving down here. The humidity index likes to hang out at around 95% for a few weeks before it finally takes pity on us all and lets go in sheets of torrential downpour. Not that I don't like monsoons LOL. All in all it is a great place to spend a summer. Personally I could live in the heat 100% of the year and be happy. I do enjoy small (controlled) exposure to snow and ice, however, it is rarely something that I seek out for enjoyment. I was never any good at snowboarding or building snowmen. During the summer here you can find me, Lex and Chorizo at Indian beach, Nags Head, Manteo and anywhere in between. The sand in NC is not gritty like it is up North and the environment seems to be less commercialized than out West. Wouldn't be a bad place to retire. I've yet to surf out here but the water can be a little crazy out near Buxton and Rodanthe. We visited our friend's parents' house out there last year and learned quickly that riptides and jellyfish are an ever-present danger. Nonetheless, we will continue to make our homage to the coast as we do every year and stop at our favorite places along the way. Until then, we will be weathering the rest of the cold and looking forward to a very exciting summer.
__________________________
While I was typing I listened to:
Bachelors Of Science- Song For Lovers
Ben Sage- Geisha
Ben Sage & Savvy- Sleepless (VIP)

Friday, February 18, 2011

It's A Boy!!!!

I really don't know why I had such a hard time coming up with the title of this post LOL. Alexia and I went for our second and last ultrasound today with the goal of determining the sex of our chalupa. The beginning of the appointment was pretty standard with questions galore and a little lube to get everyone in the mood. The ultrasound technician dimmed the lights and we were able to see the first signs of life- namely all the chambers of a heart! Pretty cool and of course I had a million geeky questions to ask. We were able to see ribs, a femur, lots of cranial shots and a very defined spinal column. We were both getting pretty anxious about finding out the sex of the baby and we were assured that we would know in "no time." We saw the baby shadow boxing and what looked like a mean left hook. This was our first indication. The second ultrasound technician came in and took the helm and was quick to verify Alexia's assertions. A boy!! We were both relieved to hear that things are progressing well and that we are on schedule for everything. Below are some pictures that probably won't make much sense, but luckily the important ones are labeled.



Hope you guys enjoyed the photos. You kinda have to use your imagination for some of these but the details are there. To those of you hoping for a girl (maybe next time) for those of you hoping for a boy... you were right!!! It's an exciting time. Lots of aunts and uncles out there.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Hendrick's Gin


Just a quick blog post to reflect on a wonderfully amazing gin. My best friend Johnny introduced me to this amazing liquid once upon a gin & tonic up in Boston. He says to me "this is no ordinary gin" and knowing that my taste can be somewhat snobbish at times his introduction was well- merited. One sip of this not-so-piney concoction infused with juniper and Bulgarian rose will preclude even the most staunch opposition from turning their nose. A brief history (borrowed not authored):

*Hendrick's uses a blend of spirits produced from a Carter-Head Still (constructed in 1948), of which there are only a small number in the world, and a small pot still, originally built in 1860.

*The pot still is generally referred to as the Bennett still. The still itself is quite small, which in general will allow most of the flavour characteristics of the botanicals to pass into the spirit. The still is charged with neutral spirit and the botanical recipe added to the liquid, along with some water. This is left to steep for 24 hours, which begins the process of extracting the flavour from the botanicals. The still is then heated by means of an external steam jacket to boil the liquid. As the pot begins to boil, vapour moves up the short column of the still and eventually meets the condenser, where vapours are turned back to liquid and collected. First runnings can be as high as 92% alcohol, with a gradual decrease in the strength as the distillation progresses. Once all of the alcohol is collected, the final spirit will be approximately 75% alcohol v/v. This spirit is of a heavy, oily character with a strong juniper-flavour.

Enough of the semantics. This gin was touted as Best Gin in The World 2003 by The WSJ. The way to drink this gin is straight out of the bottle (no just kidding). Here is one of many ways I enjoy this gin... you will need these ingredients:

- 1.5 oz Hendrick's gin
- 1 generous tablespoon of mulled cucumber
- Schweppes tonic water
- 3 ice cubes

So here's how I do it: Grab your favorite tumbler and throw 3 ice cubes into it- mull up a good amount of cucumber (honestly I never measure) and throw it in with the cubes. Next, take your 1.5 oz of gin and throw it in as well. Apply the lid and shake your tumbler like your pissed at the world LOL. People don't ever shake well enough... shake till the tumbler is frosty. Once you start to think to yourself "Manny must do it this much" you are probably good :) Take the lid off of your tumbler (DO NOT STRAIN) and add it to the bottom of your favorite double old fashioned lowball and top off with the Schweppes. Take a sip and realize what you have been missing.

Note: For a more classic G&T simply substitute 2 quarters of a lime (squeezed into the tumbler) for the cucumber... Again, shake the lime quarters in with the gin and ice... No straining! Love it.

I have had quite a few of these over the last 3 years and have never looked back. Although it is prudent to respect Plymouth and others, this blog is not about them. I find it interesting that I have chosen a drink that has both juniper and quinine in it as my favorite... hmmm. Sounds safe enough! Promise me.. wait promise you that you will try this. Let me know if I make a believer out of anyone out there.... I'll be interested to hear about your experiences. If not, come over and I'll make you one personally! Give gin a try, it doesn't all taste like The Sequoia National Forest although it's fresh taste may have certain parallels.

M

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Snow Place Like Home


Kinda soon for another post but I figured "why not?" Alexia spent most of the morning trying to get me out of my funk... I guess she had a few good suggestions: Get outside, take some photos, quit whining LOL. So...I decided to fill the Mazda up with gas and head out into the cold with my wide angle. It was decidedly cold this morning but nothing like the rest of my family is experiencing (from Boston to Presque Isle, ME). Let's take a quick tangential moment to talk about Presque Isle, Maine or more specifically Wade, Maine which about 3% of the population has heard of (I have not statistics to back that up LOL). Mom always said that she wanted a cabin out in the middle of nowhere with a small parcel of land so that she could enjoy nature. Nature Mom? Really? I respect the Sequoias and of course the National forests spread across the US but you live IN A FOREST :D Weather: 12 degrees... FAHRENHEIT and that's during the day!! Tonight is going to be a balmy umm I don't know THIRTEEN BELOW!!! for a RealFeel of -10 LOL. Honestly, there is no place like home and Mom and Jim, your home is no exception. Truth be told, you would have to be crazy NOT to want to live up there... just make sure to have a couple of time shares and a condo somewhere balmy from October through February. Here's the evidence:
Back to my scheduled post though. Driving around Ayden, NC and surrounding area wasn't too eventful although I wished at many points that I had my zoom lens with me. A sparse brushing of snow early this morning left many trees with a stark outline that I rushed to capture. I was a bit too late given that the sun came out at around 11AM and melted most of the snow away. More on the zoom lens though, starlings are out in full force. These little black birds are incredible! They roost and flock in the thousands and are not afraid to fight even turkey vultures in numbers. Carla and I once got some great shots of one of these flocks but sadly I lost those photos. I did happen upon an empty field to drive into and get a couple of photos of which this was my favorite:
I particularly liked this shot because it captured both blue sky and snow... which is not always easy to do. Chances are that if I was caught by the right person on this road that I could have been shot (or worse). Luckily I managed to escape with little more than some mud and a few photos to document the experience. All in all a fairly productive morning in that I got to go outside, take some photos and quit whining.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

This Old House

So as I sat and stood and sat and stood (more than a Sunday mass) I started thinking about how this house will eventually come together... eventually. I scraped double and triple layers of wallpaper for the last 7 hours or so and found it to be quite a task. I decided to get off of my butt and do some work on what will soon be the nursery for the impending chalupa. Cracks in the wall joints will have to be filled and windows will have to be replaced. Fixing this room up will probably give us a good idea about how the rest will go. Two out of three wallpapered rooms down to the plaster! The walls are kinda scary-movie dungeon green thanks to the old glue that was generously applied to the old paper so hopefully a little scrubbing (and friends) should get the walls prepped for whatever we decide to do with them. Martynas and I did half of the room that I finished today about 2.5 months ago. Here's a link to the evidence:

For those of you got an email with photos of the house... this room is the guest room nearest the master which previously had half of a wallpapered wall.