Our baby girl, Katherine Elizabeth Allen, finally arrived today. You can check out pictures and more at my web site.
Progress at The Nook
My dad’s bar has come a long way. He has over 70 beers available and 10 beers on draft. He has multiple coolers setup to keep the beer at their preferred temperature, too.
The building is slowly coming a long, too.
The sign at the street is
being redone, which is badhy needed. The original sign was painted with what looks like a roller. It is hard to paint letters with just a roller. Both sides of the sign don’t even look the same. But, this will all be fixed with the new sign.
With the sign fix on the way, the inside of the building is the process of being painted to tone down the Irish green that is everywhere. The bar had been Patty’s Pub at one time so everything is covered with bright green and the colors of the Irish flag.
They are going the start some radio advertising, too. My dad has not decided the details, but it is in the works.
Progess on Our House
We are starting to make progress on our house. The dining room remodeling is starting to show signs of the end.
We have had so many problems with the walls. The original wall paper was not hung correctly. The wall paper pulled a lot of the sheet rook off, which makes the repairs very hard. After many muddings and remuddings, we finally finished prepping the walls for paint.
Today, we started the painting just have some the wall to pull off onto the paint roller. But, we will have to just wait until tomorrow to see how bad the damage it going to be.
Hopefully, it will only require a little repair so we can wrap up the dining room and move onto the next project.
– Brian Allen
Memorial Day
Well, it is time to kick back and fire up the grill all while remembering those who gave us this freedom.
I could drink a Freedom Ale from Tun Tavern, which would seem appropriate. Or, I could drink something from Yuengling, which is the oldest American brewery.
Hamburgers are the correct food for day.
Larry Woellhart at The Nook
Larry Woellhart played at The Nook last night and the place was packed. With Larry performing, we put out the word in order to introduce a lot of people to The Nook. We had invited coworkers, friends, and the Huntsville Free The Hops group.
Everyone enjoyed Larry's music. My dad indicated that Larry was the exact type of performer that he was looking for his bar. My dad is wanting to have a bar with entertainment start directly after works. He doesn't like the idea of a band starting up around 9 o'clock at night.
The Free The Hops guys and gals enjoyed the great beer select. To quote Dan of Free The Hops,
“Well, a few of us checked out the Nook last night, and I was pretty impressed. They are off to a great start with this place. The beer list was impressive for Huntsville, and the place is clean and non-smoking.”
Karen, my pregnany wife, got to show off her growing belly. Most of our friends know she pregnant, but they haven't seen her.
I know that I had fun. It was great get together.
The staff at The Nook was overwhelmed a little, but Betty and Beverly keep up with the pace.
Heading to The Nook with the Buds
After work, I am heading to The Nook with friends from work. I think it is good to get out. Because, I know that I will be doing less of this in the future.
I want to introduce some of my coworkers to The Nook especially now that the beer selection is improving. I just hope the beer selection continues to improve.
Baby Due in 9 Weeks!
It is hard to believe, but our baby girl is due in just 9 weeks. And, we are still getting ready.
Yikes!
The Nook is Coming A Long
As I have indicated before, my dad purchased a bar. He has been in the process of making the changes he wants to the bar over past few weeks.
This week is big for changes at the bar. On Tuesday, his direct draw cooler arrived. Direct draw cooler is beverage industry speak for draft beer cooler with taps on top. This addition will give the bar up to eight beers on draft and room for storage, which will be great. I hate going to a bar or restaurant to learn that they are out of beer.
Today, the Glass Door Merchandisers arrived. Glass Door Merchandisers is industry speak for refrigerators with glass doors. He wanted the selection of beers to be highly visible to the staff and customers. They are replacing Deep Well Bottle Coolers, which are the coolers normally behind a bar with siding top doors.
He has a moving company down there today helping setup the equipment. Because, the equipment has to be lifted over the bar and it weights over 400 pounds.
He is hoping to have the coolers all stocked by tomorrow.
Updating My Blues Collection
I decided to expand my blues collection, which is sorely lacking. I knew that I needed to focus on the classics so I started looking for who are the must haves.
I came up with a number of names, but these three stuck out: Sonny Boy Williamson [II], Elmore James, and Muddy Waters. Once I decided on who I was adding to my collection, I needed to decide what albums I was going to purchase. I searched iTunes and Amazon. After looking forever, I decided a collect was the right answer.
I decided on the Chess 50th Anniversary Collections of Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters. For Elmore James, I selected The Sky is Crying: The History of Elmore James collection.
While doing all of this searching, I ran across a number of good collection album in the “Milliennium Collection” series. I just couldn't pass on the “The Best of Blues Guitar” and “The Best of Blues Rock Songbook“.
Here are links to the albums on iTunes:
His Best : Sonny Boy Williamson [II]
The Sky is Crying : Elmore James
The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection: Muddy Waters – His Best, 1947 to 1955
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Blues Guitar
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Blues Rock Songbook
Now, I can turn my focus onto more current blues talent like Sue Foley.
– Brian Allen