Mead! Huzzah!

Good Day Everyone!
Hope you've had a fantastic week!
It's hard to believe that another week has past. Time flies when you're having fun....That's a weird statement since I don't remember any fun. Hhhhhmmmmm.

Anyway, I promised some photos last time around so here they are.....

My mead was ready to be bottled last weekend, so I made a trip into Atlanta to get the corks and shrink caps. Man, what a long trip. I decided that I would make the trip from work, as it would be shorter. Still a 25 minute drive from there. It took me forever to get home...traffic was horrible! But I prevailed! Yay!
I got synthetic corks (which allows the bottles to be stored upright). The shrinks that I got have a gold foil center...I really don't like them. Live and learn. I think the next batch will not have shrinks. Maybe 'wine wax' instead.
When I thought the mead was completed I asked some of my wife's friends (wine drinkers) to taste it. They all said it was good. We have decided that it is 'dry' mead. Not sweet. A heart felt Thank You goes out to Joyce, Janie, Melanie and Charlene! Thanks for your help and honest opinion!
So after we decided it was good (and I wasn't going to poison anyone) I bottled it! I got nine 375 ml bottles out of a gallon of mead. Not too bad. I am fairly happy with how they look. My corker leaves a 'bulge' in the top of the cork and the shrinks sit a little oddly because of it.
Here's a little information before the photos.....
I used Lalvin EC 1118 yeast, 6 oz of blackberries and 1 pint of blueberries. And for the honey I used 1 lb of blueberry honey, 1 lb of blackberry honey and 6 oz of meadow farm honey. The honey all came from "The Bee Folks". They have a great selection of honey (and other things) and ship quickly.
The mead was started on 6/11/2012. It was racked once (in July) and then bottled on January 28, 2013. For a total of just over seven months before bottling. It needs a few more months before drinking. The owner of the wine supply store I go to told me that if I could leave them for four or five years they would be 'incredible'. Apparently this is the conclusion of the other mead makers that frequent his store. Good to know.
Now that you know the details, here are some photos....

375 ml bottles being 'sanitised'

part way through bottling

you can see the cork 'bulge' here

corked and shrink capped

see the gold lump on top? blah!

pretty little bottles of mead.

Black and Blue Mead from Blak Faun.

Almost professional! LOL!

I also said that my wife and I were looking at redoing the floors. We had been out to look at wood flooring and have come across a few that we like. Nothing definite yet but a good start. I saw a floor that I really liked that was a 'white wash'. However, I have been unable to find the flooring. The man we spoke to said that it was likely a 'raw wood' that was actually white washed. Custom...of course. Can't ever do anything simple. Oh well, what are ya gonna do. Of the two pictures, I think I like sample #1 best. Going to keep looking until we find one that we really like (as it will be there for a very long time).

sample #1

sample #2

I have been posting to my 'exercise page' this past week as well. I've been doing fairly well, I only missed one day this past week. This coming week I hope to add other activities to the list. Wish me luck!

This past week we also picked out some new material for the kitchen windows. One over the sink and the one on the back door. The ones we found at first were not what we wanted so I decided I would make them. I'm going to use the existing ones as patterns. I think they will look great when they are completed. 

lil' chefs and black and white checkers!

I've been getting the urge to do some sculpting too! So maybe by the next post I will have something to show you. I've had rabbits and foxes running through head. Lots of ideas to work from! Not sure if I want to do something that can be molded or something that can be fired. Still thinking about that one. I'm kind of leaning towards fired at the moment. Maybe I'll look up some kilns - I have no doubt that the prices will probably scare me. :)

Guess what else I got this week? Give up? My first notification for ticket sales to the Georgia Renaissance Festival! Huzzah!! It's coming up quickly. Good thing I already have my costume (didn't get to go last year). Can't wait. My wife's friends said they wanted to go, so maybe this year we will have a group! Sally told them that I dress up for the festival, not sure what they had pictured in their heads but the looks were "are you crazy?". 

That's all the news for now...

until next time...

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!

TTFN