Embroidery Update

Here's a picture of where I'm at. I'm getting very close to moving to another section. I picked up a few more new colors, and the correct green I started with for the vines.

In other news, the dances are all planned for a mini-ball of 4-5 dances at Art-ic Madness, and I hope to be able to perform one, but I'll see about that.

I'll be on vacation on the 21st to the Black Hills and Wyoming with my family. I'll be taking along the wedding veil I've been working on for my foster sister, one of TJ's shirts, and the blackwork. There will be lots of time just sitting in the car. I'm taking two books, Dune and God's Clockmaker. And I lost 6 lbs last week! I am very proud of me.

Four Firkins Review

Here's the list of what I have from there currently that is unopened:
Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 16. Ale matured in whisky casks. See below for a description.
St. Peter's Winter Ale
Mikeller's Black Hole Coffee Stout
Bogedal No. 127. Dark Ale Brewed with Orange Peels. This was not cheap, $35 a bottle. I'm saving it for something really special. It was a special purchase so they had limited quantities.
It's brewed In Scandinavia with a gravity system, no pumps, so everything goes from cask to cask by a pulley system. See some pictures here in the link below. The main page is in English, but any links in the site are not. It's worth looking at any way. From the look of the site, they give tours, so if you ever find yourself there...
http://www.boegedal.com/engelsk/brewery1.html
Ichtegem's Belgium Ale. Spontaneous Fermentation, 25% ale aged in Oak, 75% fresh ale

Here's what has been tried already:
Peche Mortal (French for mortal sin). Imperial Coffee Stout brewed with fair-trade coffee. It was okay. I'm not sure if I'll try this again.
HaandBryggeriet. Norweigan Sour Ale Aged in Oak Barrels. I didn't like this. I'm not a big fan of sour ales. It was good, just not my type of beverage.
Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 16. I bought a second bottle of this so it has to be good. The casks they were used for Highland Park's 16 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky. It's really different from anything else I've had. It's very thick and dark. Highly recommended.
Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12. Same as above only the casks are from the 12 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Also, the bottles on each of these are numbered and dated individually. They also have the Head Brewer's and Master of Wood's name printed on.
Hebrew Pomegranate Ale. I got this because I wanted to see if I could taste any pomegranate and really couldn't. I won't be buying this again.
Weihenstephaner. A light colored ale from the self-described world's oldest brewery. I got some of this in about 2002 and really liked it. It was a one time special purchase from a liquor store, MGM I think. Then, I couldn't find any until The Four Firkins opened. I was so happy when I found it. It's not one of the higher end brews, but really good for a light colered ale.
Sheaf Stout. Yum. Enough said.
Golden Cap Saison Ale. Modern version of a traditional farmhouse ale. Brewed with spelt and bottle conditioned. This was good so I'll probably get more.
Samuel Smith Taddy Porter. I just really like this.
Flemish Primitives Wild Ale. Made with wild yeast, brewed in Western Flanders. I'm on my second bottle of this. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have bought two.
Avery Anniversary Ale Fifteen. Ale brewed with spices, herbs and figs. Ingredients from hte label are: Rocky Mountain water (the brewery is in Boudler, CO), malted barley, malted wheat, hops, black mission figs, hibiscus flowers, white pepper and a very unique strain of brettanomyces yeast (another wild yeast variety). Highly Recommended. This is my second bottle and will be given away as a gift.
Duchesse de Bourgogne. A top fermented reddish-brown ale from the West-Flanders region of Belgium. A blend of 8 and 18 month old ales matured in oak casks. Unpasteurized. I really did like this one. It had a a good flavor without being too light or too heavy. I definitely will buy this again sometime.
Why this review in my A&S blog?
The Four Firkins is a beer geek's dream, Mecca and Heaven all rolled into one. Jason Alvey, the owner, really knows what he is talking about. On one trip there, I typically don't spend less than $30 so it isn't cheap but what he has are things that are hard to get any place else. If you ever find yourself in the Twin Cities and want to go, ask me and I will be glad to take you.
Here is the link, and there is a mailing list you can sign up for.
http://thefourfirkins.com/

A.S. 50 List-New Items

22. New Champion Baldrics for the Barony of Nordskogen. I almost have all the threads pulled for these to have 12 even strips out of the blue. They will be lined with white linen. There will be a seam at the shoulder so they sit better on the individual wearing them. By the end of September I want to start the embroidery.
23. Build a small shade fly with side walls to use for cooking.

Library Thing

I started adding books in Library Thing. I'm under the name Constanza, of course.
The Art Show went very well. We continue to top the last show each time. People were in awe that someone would take the time to do anything by hand at all. I'm amazed that they wouldn't.

Art Show Tonight

Tonight is my church's annual Art Show and Small Group Kickoff. I'm displaying my table, the corset project and the silk wedding veil I'm making for my foster sister. This year's theme is Art on the Spot, so I'll be working on either the wedding veil or the corset during the show. I'll see how that goes. I'm also bringing along the linen for the Nordskogen Champion Baldrics. None of the embroidery is started for that. So far, I'm just preparing the linen by pulling threads out to make 5" wide strips. Those will then be cut apart, have the badges sewn on and then lined. I'm going with sewn on badges so when the linen needs replacing, the badges can just be taken off and put on new linen.

I've been a slacker.

I'm sorry to admit that, but I have been. My current and least interesting project is recovering from a nasty case of Bronchitis. Yipee. No fencing, biking, or anything else fun like that. I've been watching lots of Monty Python and sleeping. Other than that, it is work and school.
Home organization is another fun project. I picked up the first of the replacement shelves from IKEA. Running out of bookshelf space is a huge problem. I've had to go to vertical bookstacking.
I do have one more item for the list:
Champion Baldrics for the Barony of Nordskogen. The only thing we have for the Champions are the choir robes, which are hot and uncomfortable.