I like apple cider, but it’s hard to find good (or even real) cider around here without driving way out to the orchards in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.
So I bought a grinder and a press and built a cider station!
Building the bench took up a good chunk of Saturday–longer than I expected since it’s not exactly complicated, but I plugged along until it was done.
That made Sunday, Cider Sunday!
I bought 9.5 pounds of apples from Safeway: 50% Granny Smith, 25% Fuji, 25% Envy. I sliced them up, Corinne put them in the grinder, Heather ran the grinder. Then we loaded them into the press and out came beautiful, rich cider.
The 9.5 pounds of apples turned into 4.5 cups of cider. Less than I was expecting, but it tastes really good.
Also….not cost effective. I’ll have to pay attention to sale prices on apples. My delicious cider, ignoring equipment costs and labor, came at a cost of $6 a cup, yikes.
I did not get much of any game playing done in August.
The family played Vantage, but didn’t ended it incomplete to get to bed.
Then Heather and I played Vantage with friends and after several deaths (and running out of time) decided to call it a defeat.
We’re still really enjoying the game though. So much to explore. It’s really about the journey–not the destination, so leaving a game incomplete doesn’t seem like a waste of time. And being defeated is okay since you got to learn more about the world.
Did lots of reading but volumes two and three of the Baroque Cycle took a long time to get through.
The Confusion by Neal Stephenson
Volume two of the Baroque Cycle. The adventures continue around the world. Capers, betrayals, antics, and science.
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
Volume three of the Baroque Cycle. We bring the 4300+ page story to a conclusion back in England. Isaac Newton’s mastery of the Mint is called in question after an epic heist. Our protagonist is imprisoned and led to the gallows. And alchemy brings someone back from the dead.
I enjoyed the series, but as I mentioned on volume one, I’m not sure how it would land for someone with no prior knowledge or interest in the early scientific revolution and its characters. Some knowledge of France and French helps too throughout.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
And now, for something completely different. This is one of Jess’ favorite authors, so I thought I’d give it a try.
It’s written entirely in present tense which gives it a strange feeling–which goes well with the story which is about a strange circus.
There are competing magic systems at play, but unlike, say, Sanderson, we’re not giving some in-depth explanation of how they work. It’s left vague and dreamlike.
It was certainly different than anything I’ve read recently. I liked it alright.
Our flight home was Aug 5. It didn’t leave until the early evening so we at least were able to have a leisurely day packing everything up. We popped back down to Amato’s for Heather to pick out a souvenir since she hadn’t picked gotten one yet. She had seen a “Spudster” stuffed animal in Canada, but we didn’t buy it. But, lo and behold, Amato’s had a whole line of Spudster creatures. She picked a cat and named it Potato.
After lunch we headed to Friendly’s for one last round of sundaes. After several layers of miscommunication we ended up with ~15 of us there. So it was quite the farewell party.
Somewhere along the way in Cromwell I picked up three boxes of Funny Bones to take home too.
We flew out of Bradley with a layover in Chicago. We landed in Chicago early, but then couldn’t get a gate until 25 minutes late. We had just enough time to get across the concourse, use a bathroom, and get on the next flight. So it was good that we were getting fed dinner on the plane.
Monday, Aug 4, we decided to take a trip down to Gillette Castle in Hadlyme. While I have vague memories of having been outside the castle I don’t think I had ever been inside before.
Due to traffic on the highway due to an accident and then construction we just barely missed our tour time, but then found out it doesn’t really matter. We were told the tickets were good for any tour time within an hour. So we got in on the next one.
Then Corinne was feeling ill and Jess took her back outside. And then she felt better and Jess got back in on the next tour time and caught up with us. So it was a rocky start.
Once inside things went more smoothly. Just barely a hundred years old it was built by an actor famed for playing Sherlock Holmes on stage. Although intricately constructed and detailed it’s not as large as it seems like it should be when looking at it from the outside. Wikipedia says it’s 14,000 square feet, which makes me think there were significant areas not included in the tour or maybe the design deceives the senses as to the size.
He built a narrow-gauge railroad around the property too and gave rides to visitors. Sadly the railroad was dismantled long ago.
After the tour we went to lunch at the restaurant next to the Goodspeed Opera House. They put a blue flower on my pasta dish.
That evening Megan and Chad ran another “The Price is Right” game for the grandkids (the one at the reunion was really for Grandma & Grandpa’s immediate children). They all had a blast. Heather won a surprise prize which is a ball on a string you’re supposed to attach to your head and punch. What could go wrong?
Corinne won a set of the hand paddles with a ball that have Velcro to play catch with. She and I played in the backyard for a bit, and eventually it was grandkids everywhere running around and having fun.
