It all started with the coffee cupping (aka “tasting”) class.  That taught me how to evaluate coffee with nose, mouth and tongue.  That’s when I realized that I could taste the filter in my cup, which was brewed in the Mr Coffee machine.  There was a common component to the flavor in my cup no matter what the grounds were that I used to brew the coffee.

The follow up class was on coffee brewing.  We were taken through a half dozen different brewing methods.  Our teacher would prepare the brew using each method and we would then taste the result.  The difference between brewing methods was huge!

Three of the methods used a paper filter to keep grounds out of the cup.  Our teacher would pour hot water over the filter, discarding the water, before putting in the grounds.  A light came on in my head.

Back home, I put the paper filter in the Mr Coffee basket and rinsed it with water.  With the rinse water discarded, I put my favorite grounds in the damp filter and brewed my coffee.  That first cup was completely different than anything I’d ever had through that machine.  It was great!

The problem came in the second cup and beyond.  That beautiful flavor and those subtle essences were being cooked out as the pot sat on the heating pad.  That’s when I remembered what our teacher had said about a vacuum pot.  Keeping the coffee on the heat ruins the flavor.

The solution was to use my large vacuum cup.  Now, I pour my freshly brewed coffee into that cup which retains the heat.  Two small changes made one huge difference in my brew.  Thanks Rodney!

An Invitation

Won’t you join me for I Did It! – Monday?  Please do and follow the link to the “I Did It!” blog and register your participation.  Tell your friends too.  Thanks.

This is the one day a year that we set aside in this country to give thanks for the good things that we have.  For the founders of this tradition, it was about survival.  For some folks it still is.

I am thankful for faith, and the faith community of which we are a part.  I am thankful for health and that my physical needs are met each day.  I am thankful for my blogger buds and other friends that support and encourage.

This year, like most, I am primarily thankful for that young gal I met in 1957 at a birthday party that both of us nearly missed.  But we didn’t.

Four years later we would wed.  She has always been there for me.  A more perfect mate and companion is impossible!

I am thankful for our two sons who are in some ways as different as night and day and in other ways it is obvious they got their DNA from the same sources.  I couldn’t be more proud of them.

The daughter-in-law is as perfect a mate for our older son as his mother is for his father.  I remember when they were dating how they would sit in the family room at our house and talk for hours.

The granddaughter is now 20 and a junior in nursing school.  Beautiful, talented and loving, she takes after her mom.

Thanks to these five people, I can make it through whatever the future holds for I am truly blessed beyond measure.

Sylvia joins me in wishing each of you a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.

No turkey will be consumed here.  Be at ease there big bird. :surrender:

I don’t normally post videos here, but I ran into this the other day.  Not expecting to bump into something so good,  thought you might enjoy it too.  If not, take comfort in this.  It’s short. 😉

Do you remember this meme?  My sister, Clara, started it on her blog, which is no longer available online.  I loved this opportunity to share accomplishments and victories with fellow bloggers.  I’ve wanted to see this revived and so I asked Clara if it would be okay to bring it back.  With no hesitation, she gave me her blessing to do that.

For that reason, I have started a new blogger blog to support “I Did It! – Monday.”  You can get there by clicking on the banner.  I invite you to join me on Mondays–or later in the week if that works better for you–and leave a link to you post on the IDIM blog.  And please tell your friends.  Thanks–a lot!

Sylvia’s Big Project

The impetus to launch IDIM this week came from Sylvia.  When she found out that her dad would not be home last Tuesday, she realized she had Monday and Tuesday open.  That didn’t last long.  Monday morning while I was making my usual online rounds, I realized that she was doing something in the bathroom next to the office.  The “cottage cheese” or “popcorn” ceiling was about to be removed.  I helped with removing lighting fixtures.  Then I got out of the way.  (I can be very good about things like that.)  When the day was ended, two bathrooms had smooth ceilings.

Come Tuesday, Sylvia sanded the ceilings, wiped them clean and painted.  Tuesday ended with fresh paint on the ceilings.  Sylvia was very tired, but had a huge smile on her face. 😀

I replaced lighting fixtures on Wednesday and Sylvia did some cleanup.  It’s done!  All I can say is, “Well done Honey!”  Oh, “And thanks.” :up:

In the past 24 hours, I have been deluged with spam comments. :frustrated:   I have changed my anti-spam plugin. :pray:   Please let me know if you have a problem with comments.

On the same day that I saw the yellow dandelion near my back door, I saw this more typical scene.  It was in our flower garden.

I think milkweed is beautiful.  How about you?

Last night I was remembering how I used to tease my sons when they were youngsters.  (No longer true.  One of them is retired already.  How can that be?)

They would say, “Dad, tell us a story.”  Sometimes my response was this ditty that I learned from my Dad:

I’ll tell you a story about old Mother Morey,
And now my story’s begun.
I’ll tell you another about her brother,
And now my story is done.

As you might expect, they didn’t appreciate that response.  I would then proceed to tell them a story.  I miss those days on the one hand.  Yet, on the other hand, I’m glad to see that they are grown and have done well with their respective lives.

I had them memorize verses from the Proverbs back then.  One my favorites was this one, “A wise son makes his father glad.”  True 3,000 years ago when it was penned.  And still true today.

My sons have made me glad.  Almost as much as their mother has.

On Friday, I posted an extreme closeup of an object.  I had captured that image earlier last week.  This is that image:

Not surprising that many of you guessed flower petals.  These included Black-eyed Susan, Chrysanthemum and Mum.  Another had offered the generic version: “flower petals.”

Well my friends, you were all on the right track.  I’m going to call this one, “Close, but no cigar.”  I called my sister, Clara, on Friday with a question.  She answered the phone by saying, “What excellent timing.  I was just looking at your blog and trying to figure out what that image is.  I first thought it was a dandelion, but realized it was the wrong time of year.  Tell me, please, what is it?”

Could it be a dandelion blossoming in November?  Yes, it could and is!

Just outside our back door is a south-facing, sheltered area.  I was surprised last week to see this dandy in bloom.  It became the inspiration for this little game.

The Winner

I’ll have to declare everyone who left a comment  as a winner.  Those really were good guesses.  Each of you is a winner in my eyes.  Congrats!  And thanks.

Wild Weekend

Great NASCAR action from Phoenix over the weekend.  Both the truck and Nationwide series races were action packed.  The way these things usually go, I expected the next-to-last Sprint Cup race for this year to be dull.  It wasn’t!

Wrecks and retaliation played big in the action.  Oil on the track during the final lap saw some crossing the finish line sideways, backwards or spinning.

The big drama going into Sunday’s race focused on the championship chase.  Jimmie Johnson had a seven-point lead on Brad Keselowski who, two weeks earlier, had had a seven-point lead on Johnson.  Misfortune overtook the 48 team as Jimmie lost a tire and hit the wall.  Hard.  Brad brought the number 2 through the final carnage with a battered car, a sixth place finish and a 20-point lead in the standings.

Next Sunday wraps this year’s racing.  The contest at Miami/Homestead will decide this year’s champion.

You know what I’ll be doing next Sunday afternoon?  That’s right!

We haven’t played this game for quite a while.  Here’s how it works: 1. I show you an image.  2. You try to guess what it is.  3. The first correct answer wins.  Okay?

Here’s the image:

Here’s a hint.  This extreme closeup was taken earlier this week. :thinker:

Good luck on this one.  I’ll share the correct answer and announce the winner on Monday. :smart:

Have a great weekend.  I’ll see you next week.

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