Hows my little updater?

April was a busy month, I feel like just in time for me to feel all nice and rested I would do something to get my body all exhausted again. It all began with a big load of shit.
Literally.

About 10 miles from our house is a sheep farm and their big thing is called ewe poo compost. So while we were borrowing my Dad's truck for the roofing supplies I figured I would dump a load into the garden. You can't get a much more organic fertilizer than grass fed sheep poop, right?

Contrary to what you might guess, the poop doesn't actually smell, and it's all dried out and ground down, its more like dirt than poo. But yes, I am standing in a big pile of shit...The things people will do for their garden.

If you're wondering about the hay, we cover our garden with landscape fabric and hay during the winter and that combination kills weeds like it's nobody's business. Last fall we expanded our garden by quite a bit (the diagonal fencepost in front was the corner from last year). We didn't turn over any of the grass or weeds and had almost none survive the winter!

That strip of hay was where I already had ewe poo, and had planted onions, which are growing nicely now!

One of the most exciting things from this month was FINALLY!!!! receiving my Blichmann BoilerMaker brew kettle. I bought this beauty back in January and due to some ridiculous manufacturer supply issues I didn't get it for nearly three months! I have yet to brew a batch with this bugger but I can't wait! Check out this beauty:

The only hiccup is I didn't really understand how all grain brewing worked when I bought this and now I've got a new project to work on to utilize the false bottom. Oh well... 

We also got the opportunity to check out the fantastic and mostly abandoned Fischer Theatre in Danville through the YPN (Young Professionals Network) group we meet with. I've got a soft spot in my heart for abandoned places, I'm not sure why. Abandoned and grotesquely dirty bathrooms are also really cool to me.

  

Jazz Greats like Duke Ellington performed on this stage. Rumor has it Gene Hackman got his start here as well.

Why is that tube there? I'm not sure I care to find out why the water is so brown.

The Fischer is spending their money on useful things first like roofing and cosmetics last, but this ceiling in the main entry has been restored beautifully.

Last weekend was the Illinois Marathon and boy was it a good one! This year Laura and I both signed up for the I-Challenge, we ran the 5K together and then both ran the half marathon the next day. Laura and I tied at the finish of the 5K with a time of 31:05, except I got 1570 place and Laura got 1572 place, apparently someone finished between her and I. The next day we were both not so excited about running the half marathon since on the drive over it was down pouring, windy, and the temperature was hovering right around 50 degrees. Lucky for us the weather broke and the wind died down, the rain stopped, but it stayed cold. I was fortunate to have dressed properly and my plaid tights really pulled through on this one, I got lots of good comments and jokes about them, and laughed at quite a bit too. I was pretty jazzed about my time I was hoping for even one second less than two hours but bested that by several minutes. My chip time was 1:52:35. This was Laura's longest run she has ever done in her life and managed a great time of 2:45:32. My Dad also completed the Half marathon, I apparently passed him in the last mile and he didn't even say hi! I spent like 11+ miles looking for him before I gave up. 

I-Challenge Hardwear. 5K, Half, & I-Challenge Medals.

This is our I-Challenge crew post race. Three first timers and two veterans.

On Sunday, while feeling only a bit sore (thanks to some good training?) I decided while the dumpster was still in our driveway from the roofing project I should take an old plugged up chimney out of our attic. This would make way for our big upstairs project should we decide to ever get around to funding it. This was only fun for about 5 minutes. Playing Jenga with 8 pound bricks that can crash through your floor/ceiling if you fuck up is not fun. Also climbing a rickety ladder with heavy 5 pound buckets over and over and over is a giant pain in the ass.

Yes that chimney is crooked and leaning on the top right.

I either raised a lot of dust or awoke a lot of orb spirits. Believe what you will.

So Life has been pretty busy. I should have warned you this was going to be a long one.