I managed to get sick last Thursday. Actually, it started Wednesday night with a massive migraine, but it continued over into Thursday with sore throat and that achy feeling in my bones. I slept off and on and drank plenty of fluids. I was feeling better by Friday morning, but it was still quite the chore just to make it out the door and into work. And Friday was pretty much playing catch-up all day with several projects. Mo said she started to feel bad Friday afternoon and so she wasn't feeling too good by Friday evening.
My father continues to improve. It is, of course, a slow road back to good health. He said the therapy really makes him tired and he usually takes a nap when he gets home. But the doctor has advised him to start cutting back on the naps as his sleep pattern has been getting off. When I talked to him on Friday afternoon, he was feeling very tired. He has gotten a lot of the feeling back in his arm and his leg is starting to get some feeling back in it. They are continuing the work with getting strength back in his leg. They are also working on his eyesight and there is the possibility that he will be able to drive again after all.
On Saturday, I took the munchkin to "Breakfast with Santa" which was an event at the Maplewood Applebees that was being run by Bethel 19 of Job's Daughters to raise money. Mo stayed home as she still wasn't feeling all that well and needed some more sleep. Our little munchkin was a little shy at first and didn't want to have anything to do with Santa. Eventually she did get over her shyness and sat on Santa's lap so I could snap a couple of pictures. The pictures are still in the camera, sorry about that. Then we sat down for a pleasant breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and sausage. Munchkin had fun, so all was well. When we got back home, we played a little, read a few books, and watched a movie. After we had lunch, I had to get ready to head off to work at the part-time job. I was working the closing shift so it was pretty late by the time I got back home.
We didn't do a whole lot on Sunday. I didn't have to work, so worked some around the house and getting some cleaning done before the holiday. We drove down to Mo's parent's house and I helped move their cable box to a different television. Then we drove over to Mo's sister's house. She is doing much better now that the doctor has said that she can start driving again. She had cut her hand in an accident a while back and has been unable to drive or use her hand for anything. She has been doing well in therapy and I believe the prognosis is good for getting over 90% of the functionality back.
The pumpkin beer is now bottled and resting in the basement. It has a good taste and quite a bit of sludge on the bottom of the fermenter. I'm hoping that I get good carbonation this time around. The alcohol level looks to be about 4.5%. The color was close to a orange or reddish-brown. It didn't really have a lot of the pumpkin pie aroma though. The bottling process wasn't too bad and I wasted very little beer. The bottling wand worked very well this time around. Of course, I took flack for getting the floor sticky after it had just been cleaned. Not to mention the counter top ended up being sticky as well, since I overflowed several of the bottles by just a little.
I came across what looks to be a clone recipe for Young's Double Chocolate Stout and I'm going to price out the grain bill. BYO printed a clone of this Stout a while back, here is the recipe:
3.1 kg of pale ale malt
0.31 kg Crystal 60
0.37 kg Chocolate malt
0.34 kg Lactose
0.23 kg Invert sugar
0.11 kg Cane sugar
0.17 Kg Cocoa Powder
9.4 g Liquid Chocolate extract
1/8 tsp yeast nutrient
40 g Fuggles
7g EK Goldings
Wyeast 1318
Mash at 67C for 60 min
Boil for 90 minutes add the cocoa after 75min.
Add Liquid Chocolate extract to the secondary
Coming up this weekend, on Friday November 28, 2008, is the Christmas Traditions Opening Ceremony at 11:00 AM in the Gazebo (400 Block of S. Main Street, Kister Park). Santa arrives by horse-drawn carriage to open the holiday shopping season. Festival runs 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
http://www.stcharleschristmas.com
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