Sun Dogs

Sun Dogs .. Winnipeg Jan 25

This morning at work it was suddenly very bright in our SE facing office........ brighter than we had seen in a long time.

The light in our office was coming from the Sun Dog on the left.
Quite a few people in the place had never seen them before .... so we went outside to take some pictures and share around.

Cheers!

OMMAG

Just Because It's Friday

See Marketa at the beach ..... we should all go to the beach ......

The Christmas Door

A repost from the past ... but the door is essentially the same .............


Thanks everyone!

And Merry Christmas to all of you.















OMMAG

The Plan ...

OMMAG

Saturday Shovel the Snow

Well ..... last week it was the deep freeze.
This week it's snow ... snow .... snow!
Yesterday the stuff was falling over night and made a nice little mess for going to work .... then it really came down. I think it was something like 15 cm or more total ... but ... over the 11 to noon period we got about 8 cm.

So .... OMMAG junior was supposed to have taken care of the driveway before I got home from work .... not so much as it turns out. He had just enough cleaned off to bring the truck in and I spent an hour and a half digging out enough space to get the Jeep parked and cleaning up.

Tweeked the back in the process (luckily got a heating pad on it in time to prevent total seizure) and woke up today with plenty of sore muscle.

Haven't been out yet to inspect the situation .... apparently Jr. brought his girlfriend home to shovel sometime in the evening .... but I know for sure there's crap to move from the city plows .... and a lot of snow to knock off the eves..... so off I go.....

Lucky for Mrs. OMMAG she had a spa day booked ... so it's back to me and my back to clean up the rest.

Last weeks frost on the window....

The beauty of Saturday mornings is that I do not have to get up before the sun....

Another thing .... I do not have to go out!

OMMAG

A Friday Girl

With the onset of winter weather and snow ....

Friday's Beer !

I've been on a date with this Belgian beauty before but I can't find the pictures.........

So just like it's the first time .... let's say hello to Blonde beer from Abbey Malonne of Belgium.

A clear golden body that bubbles like Goldie Hawn on a Rowan and Martin special.... she fills my happy glass with effervescent joy.

A whiff off the top gives a first taste of sweet yeast and lemony hops.... a pause and the second delivers banana skins with floral spices and a caramel pastry back in the kitchen.



Yep ... over the lips and onto the tongue she goes... with a kind of bake shop melange that is so very mouth watering . A hint of that lemon zest and honey like wildflowers that feels like cream on the palate.

A clean floral finish .... and in we go for another!

To bad the bottle is so small (330ml) ... moderate abv @ 6/3% is ok ... but just ONE small glass is not the way to go .... It's like bringing your date home before the hour of doom.

Cheers!

OMMAG

Beach Racer ?

Not sure exactly what that is ... but a Ducati Testastrata in any form is a highly desirable thing for a thrill junkie.........................

Now just imaging ripping up a fire road on That!!

OMMAG

Friday's Beer !

Meet LAVA Stout from Iceland ........................ from Olvishot Brugghus


This one's a real deep dive in the flavour fiord.

Black as the view from your Volvo when you are buried in volcanic ash.... no light gets through this brew.
But a treasure trove of fabulous fumes and foamy flavour...........






Lava - Smoked Imperial stout
A rich nosefull of sweet floral hops over top af bakeshop sugars and breads. Mouthwatering before the first sip.
On the palate .... creamy and rich .... a real clean finish and a satisfying quaff.

500ml bottle 9.4% abv


Highly recommended for fall outdoors.... around the bonfire with friends, roasting sausages in the flames.

Cheers Baby!

OMMAG

Friday's Beer !

Down in Jackson Wyoming we found a popular local brewery and bistro.


The Snake River Brewing Co. has a menu of brew consisting of 8 beverages on tap inside the bistro..... at any given time and a longish list if you inlcude specials and seasonals.

I tried out their AK Session mild ale and the Pale Ale with my meal but was too full for more after stuffing down one of their more than ample pub meals.

The "Roper" is a smoked brisket sandwich with bacon and onions on a largish home baked bun. All really good ..... but after about a week of beef, cheese and fried things for every meal I was running out of appetite for even the tastiest of food and beer.

I was able to take out samples of their Zonker Stout, Vienna Style lager and OB-1 organic ale and this week had a buddy over for a sample of the Zonker.

Zonker is a robust and deliberately over the top dark roasted malt beer.
It hits the nose with a strong whiff of burnt sugar and bakeshop aromas topped with coffee perking in the background.

The body is black as black gets and over the palate feels thick and creamy.
The taste buds get the same treatment as the nose and the rich chocolate and coffee flavours finish off with a nice after-glow of hops.

This beer has won international awards ..... and deserves them!

Cheers! and Ein Prosit people!

And on the way out .....
Here's some Octo-floozies for ya!









OMMAG

More Days On The Road..............

Sunday ........






Monday...





Tuesday ....

Wednesday ....






CYA Later..........


OMMAG

An OMMAG Vacation

Day one of our trip:

Mrs. OMMAG and I take our time getting ready on friday morning, running some last minute errands and checking in at Tim's for a last extra large for the road.

If ommens are to be read into small events .... our visit to the drive through on St.Mary's south was not good. The lineup was especially slow and one jerk (it's a two lane line up that has a merging area) thought he was going to cut in in fornt of the OMMAG ... Ford F150 wins battle for space occupation over chevy sedan. But the OMMAG is not happy and Mrs. is already complaining about my attitude. Hey! It's my vacation too .....

Anyway ... we get to order station and the kid starts telling me I cant have the breakfast sandwich!!! WTF!! says I to the twerp ... I've been waiting in this line since well before end of breakfast time and you are telling me it's too late? I hate settling ... but what can you do in this situation?


So..... off we go with our coffee and bagles instead of the correct road food we desired.... down to the border crossing ... past the construction areas where the road is down to one lane each way.

At the border crossing .... they're spending a lot of time with each vehicle .... asking ALL the questions and repeating them ... as if somehow hoping to trip up people as an excuse to snd them home for the long weekend. Sheesh! I respect the whole border security thing ... but ... for chrisakes use you freekin head.... we've got aur PASSPORTS with us!

Half tons pulling campers and cars packed with kids and suitcases all stuffed with whitebread Canadians from Winnipeg are NOT your freeekin security problem!


AH well.... on to Grand Forks enjoyiing the 75mph speed limit ...... and a short stopover for refreshment. We spotted the new Canad Inns at the Alerus center from the highway and beetled over Demers ave. to check it out. The local brand seems to travel well into the US side and the Tavern United had a ... surprise! ... better selection of beer in Grand Forks North Dakota than in Winnipeg. (Memo to self .... send an email to the folks running out local to get on the ball with the beer thing) AND BTW ... Sam Adams Oktoberfest is a a really good beer... lots of flavour... banana and citrus scented and nutty flavour with a good clean finish. First Rate beer!

Back on the road to Fargo ..... a few miles of similar highway construction coming into Fargo ... why? is it that here in the US a construction zone speed is 65mph? when in Manitoba it's 80kph and 60 any where near a bunch of "workers"???? Past a couple of troopers south grand forks out to slow down the Labour Day weekend crowds... although I don't know how fast the guys who got pulled over were going ... the traffic on Friday afternoon was well spaced and cruising along anywhere from 75 to 85 or so .. no problems and little need for radar and speed traps as far as I can see.

Into Fargo and find the Holiday Inn .... the place is really in nice shape... we get a room and relax for a while then ghead out to find a place (a chinese restaurant we used to like called the Mandarin) ... but it's gone and we find instead a Japanese place called Kobe. In spite of the very full parking lot and the less than imaginative marketing (Kobe? come on....) we try it out.

Surprisingly .... service is first rate .... a small crowd and reception gets handled efficiently by the hostess who looks after us in no time at all .... takes us to the bar for a pre dinner cocktail where we meet a small group who end up at the teriaki grill station with us for supper. Nice people.... a local girl with a friend named Dante from Northern Italy and a quite young woman from Brazil along with another local couple.

The setting is classic Japanese grill with a 'U' set up around the entertainment. The cooks are noisy and willing to push the limits of personal space for fun and entertainment. Lots of clatter and yelling punctuated with huge fireballs of sake fumes over the food on the grill.....

We tried some spider rolls and some shrimp with avocado .... just to get going... then followed up with chicken and shrimp (mrs. OMMAG) and steak and scallops for me. Now remember this is in Fargo ND!! The food was excellent!! Oysters were perfect shrimp were perfect steak was perfect chicken was perfect.

If you are ever in Fargo .... I highly recommend the Kobe.

Today ... it's off to Rapid City SD....

Cheers!

OMMAG

A Father's Day Beer

Well lucky me! I was fortunate enough to have this treat brought to me last week and now double lucky because my visiting relatives were satisfied before it got down to the very special....



Abbey de St. Martin kerstbier

Not something you'd expect to come your way in June .... but that's how things work when you live in the beer wastelands of the prairies.

In spite of what you may have heard or read about this beer ... It really is something special.


The bottle I opened just about exploded with deep caramel froth ( I might show you the pool on my countertop some time) .....

The pour was lively even though being chilled and the body in the happy glass was deep amber topped by healthy head that settled down to just a 1/4 inch or so.

The nose consists of fragrances complex and strong.... ginger, cardamom, caraway, cloves, juniper, dried fruit ... minced meat. The aroma sets off taste alarms in flavour town that cannot be silenced.

The flavour is just like the aroma ... except the bake shop sweets and caramel malts come over the top and the herbs and spices just clean the palate for the next mouthful.

Given the right circumstances and the time to enjoy it .... St. Martin cuvee de noel really is something special.

Cheers!

Truth! Beer = Civilization (Scroll down on the new page....)
OMMAG

Carbon Fiber Art

I do not know exactly what it is ..... but it looks like an all carbon fiber Ducati.

And it is beautiful..........


OMMAG

Just Because It's Friday

Went out for a beer after work.....




No Christina there .... just a couple of Guinness' and a plate of lemon peppered wings.

The beer was ok. It seems a fresh keg has some good qualities like more flavour... more head...

All in all not a bad afternoon at the Tavern United...
But still .... No Christina.


Cheers!


OMMAG

Just Because It's Friday

What is there to say?

Hello Elena .... It's beautiful outside.


Beer on the patio.













Cheers!


OMMAG

The Sixties .... Just Because

Just Because It's Friday !

Hoar Frost

Sunday Morning .... after coffee.... the whole neighbourhood .....

OMMAG

Just Because It's Friday !

Happy St. Valentine Day .....


Maybe I should crack open a couple of those Pink beers?

















Cheers!

OMMAG