This is how we roll on NYE

This is how we celebrate NYE at the maushaus:

Put the chickens to bed with a bit of extra scratch to ward off the cold. Dragged the chimenea into the middle of the yard and stocked it with chunks of wood from my father's land. (I was helping him stack some firewood and we'd throw the broken chunks and pieces/parts into the trunk of my car). Perfect night for it: ground damp, air cold, wind almost still.

Sat in front of the fire and stayed toasty as midnight approached and the temps dropped. I drank a homebrewed hefeweizen and Dear Wife and I talked for a few hours. Timed the fire stoking so that by midnight it would be just about done.

While the fire was still going strong we cooked some Jiffy Pop over the exhaust stack of the chimenea. We found that if you hover the Pop about 3" above the hot chimney it will be about right. Worked fine; 1 unpopped kernel and 3 partially-burned kernels. I will warn that the package warns specifically against this kind of off-label use of Jiffy Pop. You Have Been Warned.

Not much celebratory gunfire this year, for which I am grateful. A few rounds from what sounded like the Bowser / Belt Line area and maybe a few more from due east. Some fireworks complaints called in over the police radio but I didn't hear anyone complain of gunfire. Only saw one large bottlerocket type firework in our area.

After midnight we check to see the fire was out, then preheated the electric blanket. As Samuel Pepys would say: "And so to bed."

I hope everyone has a good 2011.