Steve's Notebook Blog

Johnson Brothers Coffee Roasters

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:23:02 +0000

My latest coffee order arrived yesterday, and from what I’ve tasted so far, it’s really good stuff. This time I ordered from Johnson Brothers Coffee Roasters of Madison, WI. They shipped the order on the day they roasted the beans. Here’s what I got:

Afternoon in Occoquan

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:08:53 +0000

I decided to break from tradition this year and get a pie instead of a cake for Mimi’s birthday, so we went down to historic downtown Occoquan for a nice lunch at The Garden Kitchen and a visit to Mom’s Apple Pie for some fresh homemade pie. It was sweltering hot, but we went prepared:

I’ve never seen a baby look this cool:

July Mega-post

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:13:14 +0000

I haven’t gotten around to posting anything recently, so here’s another mega-post. As usual, it’s pretty much all about the baby since our lives now revolve around her.

This is where the expression “sleeping like a baby” comes from:

“I’ll have the organic whole milk please”:

I think our closet is haunted:

She always dances spontaneously when she hears Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)”:

“Looks like we’ve got a mystery to solve…”

“YEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!”

Cute overload:

Rice puffs sticking in all kinds of unflattering places…

…including in the dog’s mouth:

She finally figured out how to properly use a spoon!

Darling getting ready to amuse herself by rolling her ball down the stairs:

Iron Baby

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:40:20 +0000

This is hilarious and cute at the same time:

MegaPost

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:19:01 +0000

I’ve been very busy lately and haven’t had much time to post, so here’s a couple weeks worth of posts consolidated into one big MegaPost.

I bottled my home-brew beer last weekend. This one is Cooper’s Wheat Beer. Should be a nice refreshing summer beer, but I won’t be able to taste it until it finishes secondary fermentation in about a week or two. There are 29 bottles here… about 22 liters of beer:

Baby Arwen got her first pair of sunglasses:

Those eyes might make Japanese manga characters jealous:

Baby ATTACK!

Just fell off the guitar case:

Darling examining a beetle on the window screen:

Father’s Day dinner with the family:

Taking advantage of the sweltering 95 degree weather we’ve been having lately:

It’s been a rough day… crash on the couch:

Coava Coffee

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:04:44 +0000

Now this is service you don’t get from a bigger company! My latest coffee shipment came from Coava Coffee Roasters of Portland, Oregon, and fulfilled by Go Coffee Go. I ordered three bags of coffee, but got 4 in eco-friendly packaging with a hand-written note saying that a buy-3-get-1-free promo just started and they were throwing in an extra bag, signed “Keith and Matt”. How cool is that? It’s companies like this that go the extra mile for the customer, even when not asked, that will see huge success when the economy booms again.

The coffees I ordered were Ethiopia Sidama ARDI, Colombia Monserrate, and Brasil Chapadão de Ferro. The Colombia and Brasil coffees each scored 90 points on Coffee Review in April (Coffee Review is the most prestigious coffee reviewer in the industry). The Ethiopia scored a superior 95 points, ranking it up there with the greatest coffees ever roasted. It also won 1st place at the 2009 Taste of Harvest competition. I haven’t tried the Colombia or Brasil yet, but the Ethiopia has very nice flowery and honey aromas.

Started a new Aerogarden today

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:55:44 +0000

I just planted the new AeroGarden seeds I received last week. The lettuce garden we had before was kind of disappointing compared to the success we had just planting lettuce outside in the garden one year. So we’re going back to herbs.

This time it’s Cilantro, Mint, Lemon Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Genovese Basil, and Sage.

Weekend pics of Ar’n'Dar

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:02:03 +0000

Arwen playing the spoon flute:

Arwen setting up our entertainment center:

Arwen checking Darling’s teeth:

We went to the local farmer’s market last Friday…

…but Arwen slept through the whole thing:

Lots of work to do this week, but at least I have help:

We’re in love with our Miele

admin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:35:13 +0000

As seen in the previous post, my vacuum cleaner of 10 years recently died, and we embarked on a search for a new vacuum cleaner. Searching around online, I kept running across reviews that went something like, “I’ve purchased x vacuum cleaners over the past x years, so I finally decided to buy a Miele”, or “My parents have been using their Miele for 20 years and it’s still working great, now I want one”. So today we invested in a Miele (pronounced MEE-la) S2180 Titan… hopefully the last vacuum cleaner that we have to buy for at least 20 years. The company actually claims that they are designed to last at least 20 years. I say “invested” because these things aren’t cheap. Check it out on Amazon.

Miele cannister vacuums are well known throughout Europe for being the Rolls-Royce of vacuum cleaners. They are German-engineered and made in Germany. They have enormous power, but run quietly. Arwen no longer cries when we turn on the vacuum. In fact, Arwen loves the vacuum as much as we do.

We’ve only had this vacuum for a few hours and it is the first time I’ve ever been excited about a gadget not associated with entertainment. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t wait to vacuum the entire house with it!

Obituary

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:17:34 +0000

Eureka Whirlwind passed away Tuesday, June 8, 2010 while vacuuming the kitchen. Attempts at resuscitating Whirlwind failed when flames erupted from its motor during emergency surgery in the basement. Whirlwind is survived by Black and Decker DustBuster and SteamFast Fabric Steamer.