The Defiant Dragoon: 05/01/2006

Last Sunrise in May

Smokin' . . .

This was fun! Country-style ribs with dry rub and apple juice spritz (mop) at 200 degrees for about 7 hours. Finished off the entree with burgers and brats on the gas grill . . . all went as planned. You know you're hitting the marks when: a) there are no left overs, and b) the atmosphere around your neighborhood is a buzz with the question "what the heck is he grilling now?"

Sunday . . .

I've been looking forward to this morning for several days . . . Sunday morning has become a special time for me . There's nothing quite like brewing a pot of coffee and waiting for the sunrise. Unlike several previous Sundays this month, this morning's temperature was nearly 60 degrees before 6:00 a.m. and hanging out on the patio was very agreeable. There's at least 2 families of blue birds living somewhere near my front yard . . . damn, they are elegant birds.

Today is our family cook out day! I'm psyched. My son and I will fire up the smoker grill in another hour or two . . . more country-style ribs to be slow-smoked . . . should be fun tending the fire and sipping on some Smithwickes. Sometime around 3 or 4 p.m. we'll fire up the gas grill and do burgers and brats to finish off the meat entrees. This is going to be a great day outdoors.

Duty - Honor - Country - Family

Memorial Day 2006

A Sure Sign of Summer

Ready For Memorial Day Weekend

Sunrises and Sunsets This Week

Steaks on the "old smoker grill"

Doubt if we'd ever see this around here . . .

. . . but, it's an inspiration just the same (LOL)!

Writer's Cramp

Sunrise Sunday Morning . . .

What am I doing? Dog tired from a full week of work and a bust-my-ass Saturday, I'm up and about this morning . . . doing the coffee, watching the birds and sunrise thing! There'a nothing quite the same as feeling the warmth of the first few sun rays against your face on a brisk morning . . . maybe that's it . . . of maybe it's the thought that when you start getting a bit older, the sight of a sunrise has far more restorative value than a few more hours of sleep . . . anyway, this morning's sunrise was spectacular!

Miss Abbey

Near Perfect Country-Syle Smoked Ribs

Country-style smoked ribs weekend! I seasoned these ribs with dry rub and they've been smokin' away since 0800 this morning @ about 200 degrees. Now 4 hours into the process, they are approaching "yeah buddy status" and look to be about as near perfect a smoked country rib as can be made on a gas grill.

I've been tinkering with wood pellets and wood chips in a cast iron container placed against the burners. The process seems to work quite well - good smoke volume and fairly easy to tend. I'm using hickory pellets and apple wood chips today - that too seems to be a good combination.

Mr. Spencer Spends The Weekend

Spencer is a true "tea cup" Poodle . . . he's a little bit more than nothing in size and weight . . . but as fast as a rocket and fearless. Over the years, acquired a number of nicknames - Spenny, Spenny Spen, Mister Ben, Benny, and Mister Bub. Originally our second Poodle, he sired the litter from which Madison is the first born. Turned out that Mister Ben didn't play well with our other dogs and needed a solo living situation . . . so we gave him to neighbor family who live directly behind our house. He's brought joy to the 2 children in that family and occassionally comes over for a visit. This weekend he's "staying over" while our neighbors are out of town. Same on Spenny . . . pees every where to mark his turf and doesn't take anything off of the other Poodles . . . gotta love him!

D+14

MW Snap . . . cool freeware!

MW Sanp is freeware . . . capture any screen image . . . I used it to defeat the MSN Virtual Earth block on screen captures in the last post . . . crafty of dog you are Mr. Dragoon!

My Home Place . . .

MSN's Virtual Earth is awesome! Here's the place in Gettysburg where I grew up!

What a cutie!!!

Pretty Close To Perfect

Rediscovering Baltimore

My position with a new company takes me into the heart of Baltimore every day. It's been decades since I spent more than a few hours in this city . . . well, that's changing quickly. Baltimore, especially "the neighborhoods", is an enchanting place as I am rediscovering. Hopefully it won't take too long before I'll be able to scoot through this place like a local.

CNN Interview

In a recent CNN special on U. S. Special Ops Forces, the reporter asked an Army sniper: "What do you feel when you fire your weapon at a terrorist?" The soldier, without hestitation, replied: "Recoil".