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Elderflowers have been soaking for 4 days now with some lemon zest. Adding sugar and acid today, 1.085 and ph 3.4 is the target. Then let the yeast do their thing. :b
 
My youngest has been saving cash and gift cards so he (well, we) can build him a PC. His birthday was a couple weeks ago and he came away with almost enough to build a pretty nice unit. A little bargain shopping and one small part swap and we got it done. Ordered the parts today and everything should be in by this time next week. Looks like we'll have ourselves a nice little Memorial Day weekend project.
 
Wifey and I took a longer than normal walk which set up for a rushed cook for dinner. Sat down and wondered, we need a fire pit or something. Used the bottom of the Weber bullet and gathered some twigs/branches that I was too lazy to take back to the pile in the back yard. Worked out well. Wife and I got to have some really good conversations.

Had an amazing conversation with a member here, up the them whether they share or not. Conversations that happen at our house stay at our house unless the other individual wants to share. I value when someone from this forum takes time to get to know me and my wife over the phone. Just nice to hear a voice and associate it with a name.

Warmest night I can remember since last Summer. Drizzling a bit but the fire is going strong and my wife and I continue to connect better than we have in years. Kinda starting to like this getting stuck at home thing.

5-15-20_fire.jpg
 
Nice to see a fire. Our neighborhood has a weekly yard debris pickup from April through November. With COVID, they aren't doing that right now. But with plenty of time on my hands, I've been trimming things back and getting the yard looking a little better than I normally can this time of year, due to baseball. I've got a small pile of 'stuff' that has been drying for a couple weeks now and plan to light up the fire pit next weekend. It's a Weber, of course. ;)

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Second night in a row for a small fire in the driveway. Guess we have to get one of these fancy portable fire pits. Wifey wanted to buy me something for our anniversary tomorrow, but I think I'm too late at suggesting it (still curious what she bought me). Got the makings for smores, I'll watch the kids (including one neighbor kid) make them as I slurp a homemade beer. Maybe I can continue my diet starting Monday, LOL.

5-15-20_fire.jpg
 
I think this is becoming a habit. Got dinner done early. Wifey had a nasty day in the OR, lots of potential COVID exposure. She needs to unwind. Brought her computer out to the garage (aka Craig's haven) and I started up a small fire. Always helps down the road if we connect now and I actually listen (yes, I can listen) to help diffuse her emotions. Of course I'm allowed a beer if I'm acting as counselor, I think that is fair, isn't it?

5-18-20_fire.jpg
 
Finished up refurbishing the grill today - success! Friday I received and installed the regulator and hose and connected up to the natural gas. I also received my new nozzles, but, the three main burner jets didn't fit my 2004 style valves. "Thinking swiftly" he said.... actually it occurred to me that I was going to convert no matter what and the old jets were history anyway so why not just match the spec. hole size and drill them out. It worked out really well after a few slow and cautious attempts I ended up drilling and re-drilling to a diameter .015" larger than the mfg. specs listed. Maybe my altitude or age of the grill but at spec. the grill wouldn't stay lit on low and had a hard time holding a consistent flame around all three burners. Adjusting the air shutters on the burners, low flame adjustments on valves and drilling (cleaning) out all 570 holes on the burners, yes I counted, it now burns great on high or low settings. Lastly installed the ignitors and all sparkers light on command now. I did use it all weekend starting with a lighter though.

Friday night I also had the pleasure of an hour and a half long happy hour and gab session with @ceeaton , Craig and his wife Barbara. Really an enjoyable and fast 90 minutes covering so many topics I can hardly remember them all. A whole bunch of lite beers may have had something to do with that also. Anyway he's offered some tutorials and advice when I try my hand at some beer making and hopefully it's something I can try soon. I feel an actual connection to a number of you and finally having a voice to voice conversation was neat, almost felt like talking to an old buddy.

On to the search for the next project but first up to the deck for happy hour!
Burners.jpg
Mike
 
You can build me a grill anytime! 570 holes seems like a lot though.

Barb and I enjoyed the conversation as well, and there were many topics that I may have to be reminded on as well. We had so much fun we are burning a mini bon fire and watching our youngest daughter make smores, again. Can't seem to get my wife to have one, maybe she had too much ice cream last night!

Offer always open on beer making discussions, hoping to pick up a 55 lb of pale malt this week if my UC payment comes through, because as you know, beer is food!
 
Finished up refurbishing the grill today - success! Friday I received and installed the regulator and hose and connected up to the natural gas. I also received my new nozzles, but, the three main burner jets didn't fit my 2004 style valves. "Thinking swiftly" he said.... actually it occurred to me that I was going to convert no matter what and the old jets were history anyway so why not just match the spec. hole size and drill them out. It worked out really well after a few slow and cautious attempts I ended up drilling and re-drilling to a diameter .015" larger than the mfg. specs listed. Maybe my altitude or age of the grill but at spec. the grill wouldn't stay lit on low and had a hard time holding a consistent flame around all three burners. Adjusting the air shutters on the burners, low flame adjustments on valves and drilling (cleaning) out all 570 holes on the burners, yes I counted, it now burns great on high or low settings. Lastly installed the ignitors and all sparkers light on command now. I did use it all weekend starting with a lighter though.

Friday night I also had the pleasure of an hour and a half long happy hour and gab session with @ceeaton , Craig and his wife Barbara. Really an enjoyable and fast 90 minutes covering so many topics I can hardly remember them all. A whole bunch of lite beers may have had something to do with that also. Anyway he's offered some tutorials and advice when I try my hand at some beer making and hopefully it's something I can try soon. I feel an actual connection to a number of you and finally having a voice to voice conversation was neat, almost felt like talking to an old buddy.

On to the search for the next project but first up to the deck for happy hour!
View attachment 61338
Mike

Looks spectacular, Mike!
 
Hardest oil change ever. This was on my LS-swapped BMW, which starts out about 2" above the ground, so up on my hillybilly jackstands (a spare set of wheels, one under each tire). Still not much room to crawl under there.

The filter was on insanely tight. I cannot blame Jiffy Lube, because I put it on! My filter wrench collapsed the filter's can, and put a hole in it, so I couldn't even contemplate driving it to someone who knows what they are doing! I had to either fix it or have it towed.

So, the can is collapsed, and there is not much room in that area to boot. I found a strap wrench with an offset bar that allows you to use a ratchet wrench, but it kept slipping due to the collapsed can. Meanwhile, we have a tornado watch coming, so I had a deadline. I finally got it in a position where I could use all of my puny strength AND keep the wrench from slipping. I was so happy when it moved!

Now I am enjoying an adult beverage of the beer variety. Bring on the tornado. (Please not, just kidding!)
 
Wifey bought the family a present to preserve my Weber bullet smoker bottom. She bought an inexpensive fire pit, if it lasts two years it was worth the cost (well under $100). Gathered some fuel from the back yard and let it rip. Seems to do a good job of concentrating the heat to the center, so the logs caught on fire no problem.

5-23-20_fire-pit-2.jpg

Edit: Of course a heavy rain shower is headed our way, guess we'll see how this does getting a bit wet while in full burn, argh.
 
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Sounds great! Are you using any specific recipe?
I guess I’m not. But, here’s my recipe:

In my 5 gallon brew pot:

5lbs of Rhubarb (frozen)
16lbs sliced Dole strawberries (frozen)
14lbs sugar
1 gallon spring water
1 1/8 EX-V

First I put in the Rhubarb. I sprinkled 1/2 tsp EX-V on the Rhubarb and added 4 pounds of sugar. I then put in the frozen sliced strawberries, the remaining EX-V, 10lbs of sugar and the gallon of water.

I’ll let this sit on my counter for 3 full days. I’ll press the fruit and must into gallon jugs using my fruit press. I’m expecting the fruit to be pure mush as that’s what EX-V does. I’m expecting to get 3.5-4 gallons of must.

I’ll then add the must to a fermenter, top up with spring water to 6.5 gallons. I’ll add some tannin and nutrients. I’ll test pH and add TA as needed. I’ll be pitching E-1118 for the yeast.

Have you used a specific recipe? I guess I should have tried looking one up as this is my first go at Strawberry/Rhubarb wine...lol.
 

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