HOP UPDATE PHOTO

Things are looking up.

HOP DIGGITY

       It's no secret that I like (love) beer. My Irish and German heritage and the fact that I was raised in Wisconsin made it inevitable. 

       While my husband was busy planting our traditional garden of potatoes and tomatoes, I was planting hops. I don't plan on brewing at this point, I'm just intrigued with the hop plant. After doing some internet research, I ordered my rhizomes and anxiously awaited their arrival like a first time mother. Once I planted them, I ran out everyday to see if they had broken ground. To my delight, I can report that all 4 of my babies, I mean rhizomes, have delivered plants, I mean sprouted plants. As these plants continue to grow they become a climbing vine. Hops grow during the day and twist in a clockwise fashion following the sun at night. I might just have to grab a lawn chair, a flashlight ... and a cooler to witness the night activity. I planted chinook rhizomes. Chinook is a very bitter; medium-heavy aroma hop with a spicy, resiny, grapefruit character. If all goes well, I will be harvesting the hop cones around mid-August. I'll keep you posted.

SIDE NOTES

Definition of a Hop: plural :  the ripe dried pistillate catkins of a perennial north-temperate zone twining vine (Humulus lupulus) of the hemp family used especially to impart a bitter flavor to malt liquors.

Wisconsin's bars outnumber grocery stores almost three to one.

Wisconsin has 5.88 bars per 10,000 people.

In the 1860s, Wisconsin produced 75 percent of the nation’s hops.

I've created a scrapbook for all the breweries and tasting room I've visited.

I kept spelling rhizomes with a "y" instead of an "i" throughout this post.

LAS VEGAS ... UNPLUGGED

Good Morning Las Vegas ... I don't think there are a lot of sunrises seen in Vegas, unless of course you're just crawling back to your room. That wasn't the case when I took this photo. The rooms were dark in the surrounding hotels and this was the view from our room. It was the only sunrise we saw on our vacation and was the beginning of our day in LAS VEGAS ... UNPLUGGED. After a few days of bright lights, chaotic casinos, buzzing trams, bedazzles and feathers it was time for a different kind of adventure. Just a few miles out of town we turned on dirt roads and explored the desert and all it's wonders. Along the way we found a town that I vowed I'd retire to ... until I remembered the temperatures that the desert serves up in the summer. Although, with the best burger I've ever been served up and a charming brew pub, I won't cross it off the possibility. Below is a little taste of our day in the Mojave Desert.

 

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon, Desert Mule Deer

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon,

Red Rock Canyon,  Joshua Tree

Nelson NV, abandoned mine building.

Nelson, NV

Nelson, NV

Remains left behind from a once booming mine town, Nelson, NV

Remains left behind from a once booming mine town, Nelson, NV

Remains left behind from a once booming mine town, Nelson, NV

Remains left behind from a once booming mine town, Nelson, NV

Remains left behind from a once booming mine town, Nelson, NV

 

Best Burger. The Baron served at The Dillinger in Boulder City, NV
(Half pound patty, jack cheese, pastrami, bleu cheese and tangy mustard coleslaw.)

Boulder Dam Brewery, Boulder City, NV

TRAVEL

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go first?

 

I have a "travel bucket list" that has places that I'd need a passport for, but my list contains so many places in the US that I want to see and experience that I don't know if I'll ever need one. For now I'll keep working on my National Park Passport stamps and exploring the diversities our country has to offer. Leave a comment ... you may name a place that I need to add to my list or make travel plans to go with you.

REFLECTION

A refraction of a reflection.

 

Every so often a person needs time to reflect. A stroll in the crisp winter air is a great place to clear your mind of clutter. Recently a stroll literally gave me time to reflect. While exploring at The Sculpture Park in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, I came across a clearing in the woods with a circle of full length mirrors attached to trees.  After my initial reaction of, "Yikes, who is that staring back at me with no make-up and those grey highlights," I realized it was me. I slowly turned in a circle and repeatedly saw that same person. Who is that person ... here comes the (self)reflection section of the post. She's a daughter, wife, mother, friend, coworker and is at a point in her life, she doesn't give a crap what other people think. It's part of the process called maturing. Now that I've made that statement, it's not entirely true. I do give a crap. I care when he pertains to being a daughter, wife, mother, friend and coworker. I don't like confrontation but I will fight like a momma bear if it is something I'm passionate about. I have a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. If you choose to not agree with me, then you're wrong ... just kidding. My opinions may change, but not the fact that I'm right ... just kidding again. Maybe this self reflecting isn't working out so good.