100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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Cranberry Mead

I am making mead today. It has a little cranberry in it, not much. I suspect it will be quite subtle in the finished product. The coffee can contraption holds the honey pot (jug) so the honey can all run out in just a matter of mere hours without having to baby sit. The recipe is as follows:


  • Water
  • Yeast, Lalvin EC-1118 Saccharomyces bayanus (Champagne) 15 grams (rehydrated)
  • 2 quarts Cranberry juice from concentrate
  • 10 pounds of Raspberry Honey from Howland Honey
  • The starting gravity turned out to be 1073.

The liquid that mead is made from is called "must".



The temperature is above zero out there for the first time in a couple of days. I think it is 3 above right now. The llamas seem happy, the chickens are happy anytime I give them sheep food. We got 4 eggs this morning so everyone is still producing.

I re-read the coal stove manual and discovered I was not using it as efficiently as I could have been. I had it in "weak draft" mode. My draft is excellent, I can run the hot gases through the internal chambers to more effectively extract heat to the room. It did make a significant difference. We add a log or two when the coal starts slowing down and the coal comes right back. The cats like it.

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