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Earls Pearl – Honey Mead

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11/19/22

Recipe:

3 lbs honey
1 Cup hot black tea (I used Earl Grey tea….hence the name of the mead)
1/2 orange peel (I used fresh orange and peeler)
1 Tblspn Fleischmans Yeast (Yup bread yeast)
2 oz chopped raisins

I sanitized everything prior.  I chopped the raisins and added them to the 1 Gallon jar.  I poured in the honey.  I didn’t use a funnel or anything.  I added the hot tea to the honey pot to melt the remaining honey and get it out.  I poured that into the gallon jug.  I added the orange peel and then filled jug 1/2 way with water.  I shook and shook until it was mixed well.  I then added the rest of the water (not all the way to the neck!!!) and added the yeast.  Put the stopper on with water in the airlock.  I did not have a hydrometer so I couldn’t take an initial reading for ABV.  I will get one before I make the next batch though.

The yeast started working almost immediately.  I could see the airlock activity within an hour.

11/30/22
Earl has been setting under my desk in the office for a little over a week.  Haven’t touched it.  There is still activity in the airlock.  It will be time to swirl it on Saturday.  Can’t wait!

 

12/3/22

I swirled Earl today.  There is still a fair amount of activity in the airlock.  Not gangbusters but still going.  Next step is to swirl again in a week.  Then let it rest and rack.

12/12/22

I swirled Earl again today.  Airlock activity is slowing considerably.  I’d say about every 30 seconds.  It will be time to rack it soon.  I’m going to give it another week or so but that will be Christmas time so we’ll see…..

12/21/22

I racked Earl today into the 3 Liter plastic container that I have.  Didn’t quite get 3L out of it.  I left to much head space on the gallon.  Tasted pretty good but very alcoholic.  It will mellow and clear over time.  Should let it rest for 4 more weeks…..

1/17/23

I’m bottling Earl today.

I of course “tested” the mead also and it tastes amazing!!!  I could really taste the orange.  Not over powering but it imparted a great flavor.  I didn’t get much raisin or tea flavor.  It was still pretty cloudy as you can see in the photos but very (and I mean very) drinkable.  Now all there is to do is try not to drink in all to soon.

 

1/23  I poured a small amount for consumption last night.  It is clearing very nicely in the bottle.  The bottle that I tried was cold from being refrigerated.  60 Days

Kathleen Willett – Mother of all Secrets

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This is an Amazon first read.  I started this book on 11/26/22.  I’m almost 50% done with it in just a few days.  I like it (I think..).  Kendra read it first so she knows how it ends.  Moms group for new babies meets.  One of the moms goes missing.  One mom goes crazy trying to figure it out but some of the clues point to her as the villain.  We shall see.

I finished on 12/6/22.  10 days.

The book is called “Mother” of all secrets.  Seems there’s one more mother that everyone forgot about.  She is the one who saves the other moms.  Good read, chapters not to long but characters are not that memorable.  Not to many characters and the husband….Ugh.

I give this on an 7/10.  Didn’t not like it.

Sudden Prey (book 8) – John Sandford

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I’m starting this book the same day I just finished another one.  11/9/2022.  I’m looking forward to getting back to the story.  Lucas’s cops gun down three bank robbers.  LaChaise escapes from jail to avenge his wife getting gunned down.  He kidnaps Sandy Darling and LaChaise and Dick along with Sandy try and go after Lucas and some other cops.  Weather won’t hold up in the hotel and LaChaise gets to her in the hospital where she works.  It didn’t end well for him.  Lucas gets his man in the end.  I finished this book on 11/25/2022.   16 days to read.  Give it a 8/10.  Characters were memorable and easy to keep straight.

Over Hear Dead Body – Susan Walters

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Amazon First Read: I started this book on 11/1/2022 and just finished it on 11/9/2022.  Good read.  Chapters are short, characters are well written and believable.  The twists and turns are to many to list.  The “Devil” gets her due in the end.  I’m giving this book a 8/10 review.  I really liked the writing style and story.  Ashley (the actress) and her roommate (Jordan) are living together as friends.  Ashley is a struggling actress without a break.  Until one day her dog runs away to the “Scooby Doo” house down the street.  This puts in motion the story and twists and turns it takes.

A Good Girls Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson

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I started this book on 10/12/2022.  It was a TikTok recommendation book.  I’m about 6 chapters in and so far it’s really good.  I like it.  Pip is a high school student trying to gather info on a murder that happened in her town 5 years ago to “prove” that the boy didn’t do it.

We will see how it goes. I finished the book on 10/30/22.  18 days.  I really liked the book.  The writing style was excellent.  Chapters were fairly short and the characters were well defined and easy to follow.  Being an English writer, some the terms and slang you just had to figure out.  I’m giving this book a 8/10.  The way that it finished was really good too.  Pip did a great job on her report…..

Susi Holiday – The Hike

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This is an Amazon First Read for September 2022.  I started it on 9/27/2022.  First time reading this author.

10/11/2022.  I finished this book.  I didn’t really care for it at all.  The characters were muddy.  I couldn’t remember who was who and who was married to who and who killed who.  The writing style was OK.  I like the fact that chapters were broken into segments of the day so at least you could keep a timeline of events.  Catherine and Paul, Ginny and Tarryn.  Those are the four main characters.  They go for a hike that has been planned.  There is an plot to kill 2 or three of them by one of them.  Doesn’t go as planned but some how the one gets away.

Just based on my opinion I didn’t really care for the book but I’m still going to give it a 6/10 rating.  14 days to read.  Glad it’s over.

Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher – Never Never pt. 3

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Started on 9/25/2022 and finished on 9/26/2022.  Yep 24 hours to finish this one.  Do you believe in love at first sight?  How about “soul mates”?  Charlie and Silas are soul mates.  When life rocks the boat with family and legal issues the soul mates get “rocked” out of their memory.

Great story.  All in all I give all three parts a 9/10.  She could have included “the shrimp” a little more or wrapped up the families coming back together for the kids.  The ending chapter is cool though.  At least Charlie and Silas know what is coming……

Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher – Never Never pt. 2

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Started on 9/23/2022.  If part 2 is half as good as part 1 I’m probably going to finish it soon.  Finished on 9/25/2022.  Yes only 2 days.  It was pretty short. We find out a lot of information about the kids.  Charlie is locked up somewhere.  Silas can’t remember much but goes looking for her.  Finds her and rescues her.  They spend the night in a motel and review all the notes and journals.

I LOVE this series.  Giving this a 9/10 only because I think she could include a lot more detail. 

Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher – Never Never pt. 1

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Starting this book on 9/18/22.  Haven’t read any of it yet.  9/23/22 I finished part 1.  This is a three part book.  I’m going to review each one as its own though. DAMN!!!!!  This is a great read.  Chapters are by person.  I love that.  They are mostly short chapters.  I love that.  The story line is FANTASTIC!  Silas and Charlie are high school sweet hearts who have both lost their memory.  They have to figure out who they are and why their life is in such disarray.  The ending is a shocker, just like every Colleen Hoover book but she blames it on Tarryn.  I will start part 2 today.  I just can’t even put it down.

Kaira Rouda – The Favorite Daughter

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I just finished two very good books.  Kaira is a great writer though and I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one.  I started on 9/6/2022.  I’m only one chapter in so far. Finished on 9/17/22.  11 Days.  I didn’t really care for this one.  It’s mostly the thoughts of a crazy woman trying to scheme her way around her daughters murder.  She is very narcasistic and doesn’t think anything is her fault.  Characters are easy to remember, chapters are kind of long and subject matter I didn’t really care for.  All in all I’m only giving this book a 6/10 for enjoyment.  Writing style was OK but a LOT of rambling.