Anja and I joined our good friends Paul and Katie at Mindekirken in Minneapolis for a Syttende Mai service and parade today. Anja was a bit overwhelmed by it all. We made it through the concert and a bit of the service before she was ready to go. The church was absolutely packed and most of the service was in Norwegian, which may have just been too much new stuff for her. In any case, we joined in for the parade which was a shock to most of the Minneapolis neighborhood which is now predominantly Somali. One man came up to us and asked why we were demonstrating. Afterwards we headed over to Grandma Marilyn's house and took some photos in front of the chokecherry and flowering crab trees.
Hop Farming
In other news, now that my graduate coursework is finished (I still have my thesis to finish) it's time to take on some random projects this summer. I used to be a fairly avid home brewer and plan to do a bit of brewing again this summer. I also thought, I should try growing hops, so I ordered some rhizomes online and planted them today. Evidently there is a hop shortage (which is why the price of beer has recently gone up) so if the four vines I've planted are successful, we may just expand production and start on a new career path :-). Or I'll just start a micro brew if anyone has $70,000 laying around they'd like to invest. No matter what happens with my newly planted cascade and willamette hops, I had fun operating a Bobcat for the first time! Stay tuned for updates about how these crazy things will grow. They're actually a vine and commercial growers use 18 ft. high trellises!
4 comments:
Those Anja pictures are uber cute. Great picture taking Erik. I'm always looking for ways to drink more beer. I member talking to you about your home brewing plans. Let me know if you need help (money, marketing, etc.). I would love to help get this off the ground. FYI, hops prices are up about 400% from last year because of increased fuel/fertilizer costs and a bad crop in Germany (poor weather caused lower yields). Like always, if you want to know anything, just ask me.
Hei Erik, Shana og Anja!
Tusen, tusen takk for flott amerika-gave:o) Det var virkelig overraskende - veldig koselg!!!
Det var bare en glede aa "laane" bort huset, dere er hjertelig velkommen tilbake, any time.......
Flotte bilder av prinsessa i bunad forresten:-))
Mange hilsener fra Elisabeth og Vidar
Hi guys,
I finally found you! Internet is really a wonderful thing, and I discover you are now 3 and leaving in Norway. In truth, I do not know what to ask first! Anyways, I don`t know if you still use facebook but i think i found you there...
cheers,
Pascal, from Maplelag 2002/2002!
I'd love to try some of the beer when it's done. :)
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