Raise your hand..

if you are ready for warm weather. Sheesh! It's cold! But heck, the sun is shining, so we were outside!

First, Zach exploring the front yard tree.



Zach figuring out reverse




And we've just about finished the big raised bed for the shade garden.

This is one of the 20 foot boards Andrew nailed together.


A 20 foot section for the back, with two 4 foot sides.


The completed structure! Almost, you can see some gaps in the front where the underlying structure isn't quite even. But we are going to let the rain work on it, and then shim it up with wood and dirt before starting to fill it later this week. I am very proud of Andrew for designing the structure, putting it together, and figuring out the kinks! Good job Andrew!
And stay tuned! We have 10 cubic yards of dirt coming on Thursday!

Happy Easter!

A beautiful, if chilly Spring Day is here, bringing all sorts of adventures to the Pfannenstiel house hold!

First, Easter pancakes! Zach approved.

Second! Sunshine and wind means line drying. I especially love drying the whites on the line because they bleach so well. Other favorites include thick clothes that take a long time in the dryer. This photo also shows another neat Michele trick, carrying two babies at once. Zach, coming off illness, and getting his one year molars has been a bit clingy of late. So my choices are either stay with him in the living room (not a bad choice when I want to rest) or babywearing. Here, he is tied to me using Alex's life saving Moby wrap. He gets to be with me, and I get use of my hands. The only downside is that I am carrying both babies and it is somewhat intense on the back. However, I can keep up up for about 30m at a go, which is usually enough for Z to find some courage to explore the world on his own.

Third! Plan B brew is bopping along! Here you see a lot of what we used today. The grain (seeped in very hot water) the malt extracts and the hops. This is all going to be combined in the big kettle, boiled for an hour, and then poured and cooled into the fermenting vat.

Saturday Evening

Well, we have had a rather long week. Zachary seems to be on the mend, he's just congested as all get out now. But, he has some flashes of energy and giggles, which is nice. He's also getting much better about reading and playing nicely with books rather than tearing them apart and carrying them around like a Labrador.


Reading one of our favorite touch and feel books

And we are coming along with Plan B Brew. We cleaned 5 years worth of dust off the pot, carbuoy, and the wort chiller. We figured out which sink to use and how the cooking the wort is going to work.

And we figured that Zachary's fit pretty well into a 5 gallon carbuoy.

So the plan thus far for plan B Brew:

Zach and I walked to The Brewer's Apprentice and bought the ingredients for an alt beer. This is a medium hop beer with some malt flavorings and overtones.

We found all the brewing supplies and washed them.

Tomorrow we are going to boil and cool the wort, and then set the final liquid up for its first fermentation.

In a couple of weeks, we will siphon off the liquid, hopefully leaving most of the sediment at the bottom of the carbuoy, into another carbuoy. This will then sit for another couple of weeks for the second fermentation. The recipe should make a beer of about 5% alcohol. This is more than Budweiser or the like, but a lot less than some other microbrews.

The resulting liquid, much closer to beer, will be bottled and capped and set to ferment again. We then get to test it weekly for carbonation!

Hopefully everything will be all done by the time the baby comes around!

Illness abounds

Well, it has been an exciting 2 weeks around here. Zach has essentially been sick, save Saturday and Sunday for two weeks. What fun. Last week it was his GI tract. This week we are trying to see how much gray hair we can give Andrew and Michele by playing, just how high can my fever go? This morning was a new record at 104.9. It came down with Advil, Tylenol, a cold bottle, cold compresses, and a unhappy baby in a cold wet onsie.

We've also been using lukewarm baths to bring his fever down. Happily Aunt Cathy (Andrew's sister) bought us water drums! So, we sit and play them in the bath.

However, even a fever of unusual height can not keep intrepid gardeners from work on a sunny spring day. This is Zach helping with the first of two tomato beds! He's been asleep for 2 hours now from his excertions. Poor puppy.

Wiggling about the house

Andrew caught these on Monday morning.

Mom was off with Grandmere at the doctors getting another peek at the new baby. He measured 4# 11 ounces and 33w 2d.

A Busy Sunday!

It was quite the day around the Pfannenstiel house! Andrew and I worked on the back raised bed. It isn't quite done, I'll take a picture when it is, but it is going to be two tiered and shaped kinda like an "E". It is in the shade, and will be used for salad fixings!

Grandmere and Grandad come over to enjoy the afternoon.


Zach learned how to crawl up to the deck!

Doing a little walking with Dad

Big boys need big wheel barrows

Balancing on mamma. This is also our 32 week shot. I have a sizing US tomorrow.

And a good meal after a long day is very important! Zach had his first tourtiere (pork pie) and gobbled it up! Considering how hard it is to get him to eat anything, 2 tablespoons of filling is a rousing success!

One Year Old!

It has been quite a year. I hope you enjoy this retrospective. Thank you everyone for your love, support and encouragement as we became a family of 3!