Lots of things are happening around here, but I haven’t had time to write them all down. In no particular order:

My sister-in law and fiance asked me to come and take a look at a house they were considering purchasing in the Hunting Ridge neighborhood. A little Google-Fu revealed it was the former house of some acquaintances we’d made through friends who live two doors down the street. It’s a beautiful house from the street, but over a year of being on the market hasn’t been kind to it. Walking in the door, I was immediately faced with debris left behind, which included clothes, papers, books, a drum kit, mattresses, and most hauntingly, piles of toys. Knowing the couple had split up, and that their departure was most likely done in a hurry was depressing. In a more positive note, I was snooping through the basement by the light of my iPhone (I hadn’t had time to go home and fetch a flashlight) and came upon an old Cones and Rods poster with my name on it.

Yesterday, before bed, Jen, Finn and I spent about a half an hour playing with a balloon left over from the birthday party. All we did was play a game of keep-it-in-the-air. Time stopped; she giggled.

I have a new brewing kit ready to go, if and when I get some free time to brew it: it’s called Chinook IPA, and it’s a two-step fermentation recipe. I’m already down to about 18 bottles of the English Pale Ale, which has settled down from its initial molasses-like flavor into something that tastes only mildly caramelized. Brew and learn, I guess.

Due to all the rainfall, I haven’t been in the Scout for two weeks, other than to pull it out of the garage to put the soft top back on. I have to source a new bolt for one of the bow brackets, which disappeared while I was reinstalling everything. I’m also going to buy a pair of pipes to use as sleeves for installation of 3-point seatbelts, which I’ll have welded in when I get back out to Chestertown to have the bumper constructed.