Month: June 2008

The first bottle of homebrew, opened and smelt and tasted. A fine drop I must say.
A good head and bubbles on first pouring and a relatively sweet taste rather than bitter.
Only 50 more bottles to go.
I must decide what I will do next on the variety front. I have kept the old fridge to allow cool prolonged fermentation for lager beers.
Time will tell the effect on the insides.

So the winter solstice comes around. From now on we can look forward to longer days. Winter is now here, though the coldness has been around for a while.

Other cyclical events-Germany look poor only to win the knock out game and into the semis of another major tournament, and meanwhile Holland flatter to deceive. Next up will Spain wilt as usual and Italy come good after looking rubbish.
The TAB is taking a little more off me.

I have been slow on the updating front, maybe I could blame it on watching too much television. Certainly there is enough on, especially with Euro 2008. The games are on form 6-45, and so suit watching football with coffee and toast. The games I think overall have been good, though I am currently writing this watching Turkey -Croatia, which is not a thriller so far. It makes it all th easier that England are no even in the the tournament. It is much easier to watch and enjoy the game without the emotional investment and subsequent pain. Of course the Germans managed to beat a team I expected to make the final-so bang goes one of my TAB bets. I have Spain for the trophy at 7-1.
At the other end the England rugby team are here. Last Saturday’s game was not great to watch, and I am not expecting too much tonight. We are at a party so will not see it all.

Of course the rugby league continues-life would not be the same without “Friday night football”.

We went to the game, on a freebie thanks to Rebecca and Scott. We ended up sitting in the players family section as debutant player Adam Thomsons’ parents were just in front of us, and the young boy next to Sara was looking for his Dad on the replacements bench. Other family members of the team present generally showed disinterest in proceedings.
The weather was awful. I was wearing my thermals with my heavy coat, hat and gloves, and I was still cold. No wonder Brian O’ Driscoll looked hypothermic at the end of the game.
Ireland had their chance, and did play well in the first 20 minutes, and showed greater initiative, but were creaking in the forwards too early on, and the pressure told.
A good game despite the conditions. The players certainly earned the cash this week.

We would not have gone without the free tickets, and would have watched at home. The stadium was nothing like full, a shocker for Wellington and for a good opponent. Disillusionment with the game for the wider public? RWC hangover? Too expensive and less cash around in current times?
I am sure the bods in NZRU will be concerned.

I had fun yesterday throwing all the stuff into the skip. All ends as rubbish in the end?

Progress has been made, and most of the work has been done. The whole in the ceiling needs fixing, the final bench top is being made, the cuboards need restocking and the floors will need re-polishing, along with some painting. Otherwise it is done!