FBurgNews https://fburgnews.com Fredericksburg's Community News Blog Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 Teddy’s Last Selfie https://blog.odonnellweb.com/teddys-last-selfie Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000 https://blog.odonnellweb.com/teddys-last-selfie Teddy Ballgame, aka Ted, aka Teddy, aka Theodore J. Dog, crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday.

We found Teddy at Petsmart where the Orange County Humane Society was running an adoption event in 2017. One of our senior dogs had recently passed on and the other was really struggling without her partner. So we adopted Teddy. The shelter told us he was six. Our Vet at the time guessed 3.

Ted drew the short straw in the genetic lottery. He was likely the product of a puppy mill dachshund and a puppy mill Jack Russell. He struggled with bad skin allergies, more food and environment allergies than I can count, and he developed thyroid disease, pancreatitis, and Cushing’s disease while a member of our pack. Last week he started vomiting every day, and when we saw the vet last week, she determined he had added kidney disease to his collection of ailments. She also told us there was nothing more to do for him but take him home and spoil him for a few days while we decided. He was deteriorating every day, and getting him to eat was becoming a challenge, so we knew it was time.

The Vet administered a sedative a few minutes before the final shot. I picked him up after the sedetive injective, and he was snoring in my arms 3 minutes later. When the Vet came back in she said he looked so comfortable we were just going to do it right there. So she administered the injection with him sleeping in my arms, and then he just wasn’t breathing. His last memory will be of me picking him up to hold him as he drifted off.

I can only hope my time is that peaceful.

Teddy’s last selfieTeddy’s last selfie

]]> An Evening with Weller: Bourbon, Cigar, and Birdsong http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/2026/06/an-evening-with-weller-bourbon-cigar.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:29:21 +0000 http://fburgnews.com/?guid=ab66c8633f7fe64601b98da9fe98d28a
I spent a relaxing evening on the deck recently enjoying a special cigar-and-bourbon pairing: the Weller by Cohiba cigar and its inspiration, W.L. Weller Antique 107 Bourbon.

The Weller by Cohiba series is a collaboration between the premium cigar brand Cohiba and the Weller bourbon brand from Buffalo Trace Distillery. The annual releases come in a 6 x 50 Toro vitola and are packaged in individual aluminum tubes. Despite their premium price, the cigars are highly sought after. They are typically released in the fall, and I’ve managed to pick up a few each year since 2023, including the 2025 edition featured here.



I’ve had the 2025 Weller by Cohiba resting in my humidor since October 2025. The cigars were removed from their aluminum tubes upon arrival. This edition features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and a Broadleaf binder aged in Weller Antique 107 barrels. The filler blend combines tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The bands, aluminum tube, and box all reflect the deep crimson-and-gold branding associated with Weller Antique 107.

Before lighting the cigar, I enjoyed a few sips of the Weller 107. It’s a wheated bourbon — often credited as one of the first bourbons to replace rye with wheat in the mashbill — and it displays the expected wheat-driven sweetness. Bottled at a hearty 107 proof (53.5% ABV), it also delivers a warming heat that can linger on the tongue and occasionally overshadow the sweeter notes. Layers of caramel and toffee add further complexity. I enjoy Weller Antique 107 immensely, though I rarely reach for it because of its scarcity. Interestingly, despite being moderately difficult to find, its MSRP remains around a relatively modest $50. (I refuse to participate in the secondary bourbon market.)



Upon lighting the cigar, I found the draw more snug than I prefer, and smoke output was somewhat limited at first. Like many cigars that begin with restricted airflow, it opened up as it warmed, though it never quite reached the balance of resistance and openness that I favor.

The medium-bodied smoke offered balanced notes of cedar, cocoa, and vanilla, along with subtle touches of sweetness and baking spice on the finish. It began creamy and smooth, with the spice gradually increasing as the cigar progressed. Aside from that evolution, the profile remained remarkably consistent from start to finish.



As I smoked, the spicier aspects of the Weller 107 began to overpower the cigar’s more delicate flavors. Adding just a few drops of water to my glass restored the balance. The sweeter side of the bourbon emerged, allowing more of the cigar’s cocoa, cedar, and leather nuances to come through without being overwhelmed by the alcohol intensity.

So much of the enjoyment of a cigar comes not only from the cigar itself and its beverage pairing, but also from the setting. Whether shared with friends or enjoyed alone, the experience is shaped as much by ambiance as by smoke and spirits. During this Weller-inspired evening, I was particularly struck by the peacefulness of the outdoors. There was no distant hum of lawn equipment — only the occasional aircraft passing high overhead.

Most noticeable was the abundance of birdsong coming from the woods in the early evening. The avian chorus included Ovenbird, Carolina Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Great Crested Flycatcher, American Robin, and Chipping Sparrow. Together they formed quite an orchestra, one that was as beautiful to the ear as the bourbon and cigar were pleasing to the palate.



As always, Weller Antique 107 was thoroughly enjoyable and provided a satisfying accompaniment to the cigar. The Weller by Cohiba was likewise an interesting and rewarding smoke. Although it was created specifically to pair with Antique 107, I can think of several bourbons that would complement it equally well. I still have a few Weller by Cohiba cigars on hand from several past releases, and I look forward to enjoying them — perhaps next time with a bourbon that is a little less scarce.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]
]]> The Grand Blog Reunification https://blog.odonnellweb.com/the-reunification Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000 https://blog.odonnellweb.com/the-reunification A couple of months ago I did something very stupid and bricked my desktop. Then I realized that my source markdown directory for blog posts was not syncing with my cloud storage. So that left me with hundreds of HTML page blog posts, but no markdown.

Oops.

I’ve been blogging at chrisod.org since then and it’s fine, but I wanted everything back in one place. This weekend I gave it a try.

So I started with Duck.ai using Claude to vibe code a python script that used Pandoc to revert all those HTML pages to markdown. The 2nd iteration of the script worked perfectly. Then I loaded everything up to a GDrive folder and bought a month of blot.im to see if I could use it as a blogging engine. Blot is a headless CMS for blogs, sort of. There is a config UI, but to blog I just drop a file in a GDrive directory and it shows up on the blog 30 seconds later. Pretty nifty. Then I exported the dozen or so posts at chrisod.org and added them to the Gdrive directory. After a couple of hours of fiddling with Mustache templates and CSS, I had O’DonnellWeb back together again.

I’ve added a redirect for both blog posts and RSS and it all seems to be working fine in my testing. I am aware of some pages with broken embeds, and I’m making a list of pages to fix.

So AI saved me who knows how many hours of work unwinding hundreds of HTML pages back to Markdown. If you are an AI hater that just lost all respect for me, so be it.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled blogging.

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