Author Archives: Geoff

USS Albacore

Earlier this Spring, Beloved Wife attended a conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and NatureBoy and I tagged along. While BW was conferring, the boy and I ourselves busy. In the evenings, we ate out and explored some of the shops in Portsmouth downtown.

One of the things NatureBoy and I did was visit the USS Albacore submarine museum, which comprises a small gift shop and museum, and a self-guided tour of the actual submarine.

The Albacore has two large, offset rudders and twin, counter-rotating propellers for increased speed and power. 

USS Albacore - port side

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Snow days are fun

We’ve been getting a lot of wet, heavy snow over the last day, and more is on the way. I even got my car stuck in the driveway on top of the snow. /sigh

snowday-02

I decided to take a day off to spend with NatureBoy during his winter vacation. We had a quick morning errand, and had to dig out my car. This gave us an opportunity to exchange volleys of snowballs.

Much of the rest of the day was spent playing BattleLore, which we hadn’t played in a long time. We played three games, and NatureBoy won all of them.

snowday-01

It’s a fun combination of strategy board game and miniatures.

snowday-03

I also roasted a chicken with carrots, leeks and turnips in my dutch oven. It was very moist and flavorful. Have I mentioned that I love cooking with my dutch oven?

The Oathbound

The Oathbound (Valdemar: Vows and Honor, #1) The Oathbound by Mercedes Lackey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars Finished this last night. I grabbed the Sword and Sorceress III volume from the library in order to read the beginning of the story, and that was very compelling. This volume developed the characters and story arc. I found it less a single novel than a sequence of encounters, but there is an undergirding narrative that connects the separate chapters flowing and coherent. Although I liked this book a lot, I didn’t see the kind of growth and change in the characters that I have seen in other Lackey novels. I will continue reading the the series, though, and see where Tarma and Kethry take me. View all my reviews >>

Greens, beans, and rice

I improvised a dish with some collard greens, some black beans, and rice, plus onions, carrots, and some dice kielbasa. And I started with two strips of thick-cut Mckenzie bacon.

greens-beans-rice

It came out very well; Beloved Wife had to go back for a second helping! And I got to use my birthday dutch oven again.

Sneak attack soda – yum!

A while back, I posted a link on Facebook about the Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition Spellcasting Sodas from Jones. The mom of a kid who participates in the kids D&D group saw that link, and ordered a case as birthday party favors. And the kid wanted bring some to the gaming group.

dnd_jones_soda

Well, I was skeptical. But I had the sneak attack soda; I think it was the best cream soda I’ve ever had. Of course, NatureBoy wants to get our own case so we can have D&D soda bottles that we treasure forever. :-).