The Old Sod

© Sept '07    photo by smck

© Sept '07    photo by smck

On our 25th anniversary we took a nine day trip to Ireland - and fell in love with the country and the people.  This day we were in the Folk Park - 26 acres of re-created 19th century life - of Bunratty Castle, County Clare, getting ready to walk through the Bunratty Walled Gardens.  I was filming the beauty of the stone potting shed and inadvertently captured the tower of the Church of Ireland building in the background.  We later walked through it and I somewhere have nice exterior and interior pictures that I will post later in my rambling way. 

Well I found one (of the church) quicker than I thought, eh?

"This little church is an original Church of Ireland building, which was moved stone by stone from where it had been originally built in 1824 in Ardcroney, Co. Tipperary, and rebuilt in the Folk Park. It was opened to the public in 1998."

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/1a0e6f#ixzz26Oh1TFbJ

European Hornet - Vespra Crabro

© 11 Aug '12      photo by smck

 We have had the misfortune of having a nest of this large hornet being built in the eaves of our house which is old and not as tightly constructed as more modern houses.  This particular guy was crawling on the floor of our bedroom exactly where I would normally put my bare feet when I would get out of bed in the morning.  I placed a paper cup over him and carried him to the kitchen table so that I might get the photo you see above.  The 'Toonie' coin with a diameter of about 1 and 1/8th inch - 28 millimeters exactly - gives some idea of his size which I estimate to be about an inch and a half long - i,e, 38-40 mm.  They are normally very un-agressive, but I have had three people that have been stung by them tell me that it was the worst sting they ever received and hurt for days.  Even though I usually am a 'live and let live' kind of person,  the intrusion of a large number of these hornets into my house area and the attendant destruction of our lilac shrubs has prompted me to try and eradicate them.


This large European Hornet was introduced to the U.S. from Europe, being first reported in New York state in about 1840 and has since spread across most of the eastern and central part of United States and lower Canada.   Technically it is the only true hornet of North America.  The so-called Hornet of North America - sometimes called the Bald-Faced Hornet (chiefly distinguished by building large grey paper-like football shaped hanging nests) - is actually another version of the Yellow Jacket.  The Bald-Face Hornet is about half the size of the European Hornet and is much more aggressive also.  The European Hornet is sometimes described as the Gentle Giant.  But make no mistake, it can give a very painful sting - especially when the nesting area is approached to closely - or if you inadvertently happen to step on one in your bare feet! 

Full Sturgeon Moon

© Aug '12     photo by smck

Full Sturgeon Moon – August.  The North American fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

 re/Farmers Almanac 2012

River Tillard

© Aug '12     photo by smck

McCARTHYS Oregon Single Malt

© 10 Sep '12    photo by smck

McCARTHYS Oregon Single Malt 

Clear Creek Distillery in Portland Oregon, Pot Distilled Whiskey   

Distilled from a Ferment Mash of Peat-Malted Scottish Barley.  

Barrel aged 3 years.  

ALC 42.5%  (85 Proof)

 Himself's Take    (done for the first time in a structured fashion)

COLOUR - Very Pale Gold

NOSE - Mild with soft peat, pleasing suggestion of non-cloyingly sweetness

BODY - slow opening, medium body, slightly oily, hint of alcohol

PALATE - Soothing mild peatyness ,  oaky wood notes, kind of a mystic Lord of the Rings flavours that change as you think you've deciphered them.

FINISH - Long and surprisingly easy on the inhale with those mystic flavours riding steadily on

SCORE - upper 80s, say 89

On Sep 2nd I wrote the following:
While in Baltimore yesterday - 1 Sept '12 - I purchased a single malt distilled in Oregon state.  So it's whiskey with an 'e' and the word Scotch conspicuously missing on the label.  However it is a decent member of the malt whiskey set, Scotch or no.  To wit:  McCarthys Oregon Single Malt, a pot distilled whiskey by Clear Creek Distillery.  These words I'm posting today are really just a warm-up of a more in depth review as I was exhausted when I sampled a wee dram late last night.  It was decent enough though to me seeming a bit 'thin' in the opening taste and then coming through with mildly pleasant peat flavour and other little flavours that I will have to dwell on tonight.  At the present I will simply say neither bland nor overwhelming and pleasing flavours that finish well.  More later on this. Promise!!

I've since sampled a few pleasing 'wee drams' and enjoyed them all - but found it hard to describe this American WhiskEy.  On reading a number of reviews I find that it is an extremely well reviewed whiskey - named one of the ten best American Whiskeys and receiving a score of 96 from Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible.  But the theme that was common to them all is that for a whiskey aged for only 3 years this was an unbelievably well crafted and well and truly aged single malt.  Once you get past the strange tasting comments that reviewers seem compelled to mention (pine-sol??,  butterieness, etc.) you will see that all are in agreement that this is a fine Single Malt.

Me too!!