Pssst! $3 Per Ounce Will Score You the Good Stuff

This is the first post in a new blog category:  "Potpourri"
for topics that don't belong anywhere in particular.

Last weekend I harvested half the hops 

This is the second year for my experiment with growing hops, and they really performed well this year despite the wet, weird weather. I grew them for the first time last year for a coworker that was brewing his own beer. This year he's on to something else, so I'm selling the harvested, packaged cones at $3 an ounce; internet market value.


David, as usual, pitched in to help with my experiment, and built the 20-ft framework that supports the hops bines (similar to, but different than vines) as they grow. He also devised the system by which we raise and lower the bines. This is necessary because the top half of the hops are ready to harvest sooner than the ones on the bottom, due to getting started sooner, and getting the first kiss of the sun.

Here are some post-harvest pictures, after the hop cones had been dried for a few days on a screen in the greenhouse. Sorry about the fuzzy picture--that's what happens when you're too lazy to put your glasses on to see if it's in focus or not... 

Some browing of the leaf tips is okay, but I think mine may be showing signs of improper watering, according to my research. The yellow stuff between the petals is what the brewers are after. According to several internet sources: "It is the 'yellow powder' or lupulin glands within the hop scales which contain all the acids and essential oils responsible for the hop character." 

Random List: Switch It Up

I found a special switch in my car. If I hit this switch at any point in my commute, one of the following things will happen:

• The car in front of me will slow down
• An emergency vehicle will fire up its siren and need to get by
• A dense fog will form
• A state trooper will become visible in the median

That's correct. If I hit the cruise control switch, one of those things will happen. Try it on your next drive!







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Journal Entry #24 - Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota

Sunday 9/22/02                                                

Day Twenty-four / Day 2 of 2nd leg

Starting mileage 92610 / Ending mileage 93145

Well, I let yesterday's description flow into this morning. So I thought I might as well start a new journal day on the same page. It's a little after 8 and we're going to drive awhile before fueling & breakfasting.

8:20am fuel stop and then brkfst at McDs. No one ever came to the drive-through window (we even honked) so David went inside.

Wisconsin border at 92668 mileage, switch drivers at 10:45 and I didn't fare much better with the road sleepies. Made it an hour, then we stopped to make lunch & top off the fuel. Headwinds are hurting our mileage. David walked the dogs & I walked Tig. He's been trying to get out since he had to spend the night in the truck, so he was pretty happy to  strut through the grass. Back on the road at 12:00.

Crossed the Missippi River and into Minnesota at 12:59pm, mlg 92854, then on til 3:30 and a rest stop. Decided to aim for Sioux Falls SD by 6:00 tonight. Hit the SD border at 5:08pm, mld 93129. The scenery was quite nice. (Back in Wisconsin, we noticed it was similar to the central Ohio landscape at times). Arrived at the KOA 5:45 and set up the tent before heading to fuel, dinner & essentials like milk and another notebook! Perkins didn't want our business so we ate at Arby's. Back to the KOA for dog play, unpacking, showers, etc.  The dogs really love it in the tent. Cool weather but dry. No elec. hookup so no heater. Body warmth! Ahhhh, sleep....

Tolls: IL .40, IL .40

Fuel: Rockford IL / 27.4 gal / 408 miles / $40

WI / 150 miles / 10.1 gal / $15.26

Sioux Falls, SD / 24.3 gal / 351 miles / $35.50

End of Entry

Journal Entry #23 - Willoughby Hills OH, Indiana, Chicago, Union IL

Saturday 9/21/02                                                

Day Twenty-three / Day 1 of 2nd leg

Starting mileage 92190 / Ending mileage 92610

Dog duty called at 6:30am, and I was fairly alert so I got up. Besides, David seemed to be resting well. It was T-shirt and sweatpants temperature, and only slightly damp from last night’s thunderstorm (more light than boom). The dogs ate, and “both did both”, but when I got back in the trailer I wanted to leave David undisturbed so I just stayed up front & read my book. Didn’t want to run the water since the pump would wake him up, so I filled the coffee pot with water from Leslie’s garden hose...

By 7 it was starting to be light, and I read until 8:00 when I heard David stirring. Alex helped me take the dogs for a walk, then we went back and had waffles & eggs for breakfast. David had cereal in the trailer, then started packing for the next leg of the trip without the trailer.

Leslie had to go to a baby shower at 11:00, so we ended up parting ways then. Matt & Alex were a big help keeping Tessa entertained and also by carrying things out to the truck. They were disappointed that Vince didn’t warm up to them but we tried to convince them that was normal for Vince—he’s just that way.

Departed Leslie’s at 11:10. Made one stop to get ice for the cooler, then hopped on I-90 at 11:25, mileage 92196. Next stop fuel & a Subway sandwich at noon. Got a good strong digital signal on the phone, so I called Karin and we finally talked live vs. email. She said Dick is on vacation to see family/friends until the 29^th and that this is “hell week” for her at work. Sounds like *Alex & Winston are helping her stay sane!

Rest area stop at 1:30pm to give us & the dogs a potty break. I decided to drive for awhile, and it went okay. We’re testing out how long I can drive before getting sleepy, and if I can get through the impulse to close my eyes. Felt a little cotton-headed after 45 min or so, and again on & off for the 2 hours I drove, but it seems fairly beatable. We crossed into Indiana at 2:55pm, mileage 923855. At 3:30 we switched drivers—I’ll go longer next time. Our general plan is to get an hour past Chicago to a KOA, probably around 6:30pm.

At 4:30 we switched to Central Time, so I guess we’ll be stopping @ 5:30! We have a little grocery shopping to do, and I need another notebook.

It’s 4:45 (CT) and we’re driving by Chicago downtown & David said he didn’t go this way on his road trip years ago, and wanted to go this way to see the city. Even though it is Saturday, the traffic is very heavy, but not totally stopped up. Must be a real pain on weekday rush hours. Oh, we just passed an “Accident Investigation Site: (a convenient place to pull over so you don’t block traffic) with activity, so we’re probably mostly in a rubberneck jam. It’s 4:50 and a sign says it’s 80 degrees.

25 minutes later…Still driving by Chicago but the outskirts now. Traffic was thick on and off, but we got to look around more that way. We’re pretty hungry since it’s after 6:00 “our” time.

Okay, now another hour has flitted by and have arrived at the KOA in Union IL (near Elgin). We set up a tent and an air mattress since we don’t have the trailer.  CONDENSED VERSION OF EVENING EVENTS: mosquitos, wind, soft dirt, rain, reading by flashlight, noisy campers past quiet time, David yelling, going to office, no action, no sleep, cute dogs hogging bed, up at 6:30am, David’s master plan, all packed up & leaving by 7:45am, flipping off noisy campers, taking license plate #s, on to I-90. Fun, fun, fun!

*Alex & Winston: Her dogs, a Yorkie and West Highland Terrier

End of Entry

Why, Indeed?

One of my favorite readers pointed out that I haven't explained why we were making the move that is being shared in The Journal. An oversight on my part, and if it will make reading the entries more enjoyable or satisfy any curiousity, please read on. I tapped into my husband's memory for this project, so some of this is from his brain.

It all started rather innocently...

We had been living in a beautiful house in Auburn, Washington for about 7 years.

During this time we were the owners and operators of a small, franchised print shop. While we were doing well with the business and earning a comfortable living, we also found the stress of being small business owners too much for our liking. We worked with the franchiser to sell our business, and after receiving an offer (just post 9/11 by the way, which is a whole other story), we decided that since we were going to have to enter the job market and "start over" anyway, why not do it in a completely different state.

Now, I'm not sure at what point this next thing happened, it may even have been before we decided to sell the business, but it was a HUGE event disguised as a throwaway moment: Dad and Elsie were visiting, and Dad mentioned that he had been in contact with the people that owned the house I had grown up in, in Ohio. I can't remember what all he said about that, but I remember he and Elsie were sitting in the back seat of the car while David was driving, and Dad said he thought they might be ready to sell the house and retire to Florida. I remember briefly meeting David's eyes, and the seed of an idea was planted.

My family lived on the eastern side of the country, and David's sister was his only remaining relative. Even though she also lived in Washington state, they didn't visit each other frequently (she has since moved to Arizona). If we moved to Ohio, friends would be missed, but since we had been business owners for many years, we hadn't really had time to enjoy much of their company anyway. Plus, with the proceeds from our business sale and our house sale, we could purchase acreage in Ohio and live for a year or two before going back to work.

So, we decided to make a pass at buying my childhood home from the current owners, even though it wasn't up for sale, and start a new life in the Ohio countryside. I pumped dad via email for whatever info he had, and sent a nice "how do you do" letter to the homeowners. We let them know we would be visiting Ohio in September, and would like to get together. 

Well, the rest of the story is what you're reading in The Journal. Now if you'll excuse me, I simply must get back to posting breaking news from 2002!