Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I Really Need to go for a Ride!

I need a break. I spent all day prepping for Winter. I walked through the woods today and cut up 8' sections of downed Oak trees. I shouldered them out of the woods and went back for more. I felt like the Ant from Aesop's Fables, "The Ant and the Grasshopper". Tomorrow I'm going to be the Grasshopper. The high is supposed to be in the mid 40's and I'm going riding!
I made a Sawbuck out of two pallets and two short pieces of chain. It worked pretty slick. I cut 6, 16" lengths from each 8' section. It went pretty fast.


Then I had to split it..


The beauty of the day was not lost in work. I managed to finish dinner just in time to see this..


Tomorrow, I'll move the wood out of the driveway and go for a ride!

Monday, October 29, 2012

A day in the Garage... Part II

I finished cleaning up the garage today. The floor is swept and everything is put away. I put the floor in trailer after giving it a quick coat of sealer. I have to move the 2 bicycles down to the basement. There's still plenty of room for my truck.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

A Day in the Garage.

After yesterday's day in the woods, I spent today in the garage. I'm trying to make room for everything in the garage. I should be done tomorrow.

I filled the wood piles in the garage and added a little pile between them. I now have 2.25 face cords of nice, dry Oak ready to go. I have more piles outside.


We finished off some left overs and made a little treat tonight.
In keeping with Trobairitz' and Bob's posts of apple dumplings made with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. We used Pillsbury Cescent Rolls and Hillshire Farm Beef Lit'l Smokies.
Cut each Crescent Roll dough triangle into 3 long skinny triangles, wrap a Lit'l Smokie and place them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Nancy likes a little Parsley on hers. Makes 24 little 2 bite snacks.


This got me reminiscing about my years in Elementary School. My very favorite lunch when I was at Washburn Elementary School in Bloomington, MN was their Pizzaburgers. I still have the old recipe book from a school fund raiser. We made pizzaburgers a while ago and they tasted exactly like I remembered. We don't make them often, they're just a special treat. Comfort Food !!!

The book.

The recipe. It makes 36 pizzaburgers. The recipe could be halved. Luncheon Ham is Spam.

The finished product... mmmmmmm Tasty!!!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Another Day in the Woods.

It was quite cool this morning. A little too cool to take any of the bikes for a ride. So I did the next best thing.

I spent most of the day...


I got to play with these...


While a couple of the cats got a few minutes outside.


When it was all over, I had this...


While I was working outside, Nancy was busy inside....
Brad, Brandy, do you recognize this?

She also made a big pot of vegetable beef soup...


After dinner, I plan to spend some time in front of this...


And maybe some time in here...


After 2 of these..

Friday, October 26, 2012

Where did all the color go?

It's looking like the bright colors of Fall have been replaced by the dead, drab colors of impending Winter. I know that nothing lasts forever, but It would have been nice to have the bright colors last a little longer.

This morning, Martha posted a picture of the woods behind her house. I thought I'd show the difference between today, and just 26 days ago on 9/30/2012...

The woods behind my house... today.

And at the peak of color.


The side of the house by the garage..... today.
The wood piles are growing!

Again, at the peak......


It looks like I'll have to take advantage of any day I can ride between now and Winter.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

My Utility Trailer Rebuild Part 2...

Work progresses on the trailer. It's been sandblasted, primed and now painted. Today I finished wiring up the lights. They work like they should and follow the correct wire color usage.
I have yet to find a source for true 2"x2" Oak lumber for the side stakes. I plan to use either plywood or Cedar 1x6 decking for the sides. I may have found a deal on tires.

I present the almost finished project....


This is a much heavier trailer than most 3000# utility trailers on the market. The side and front "C" channels are 5.5 inches tall and the 4 cross beams are 3.75 inches tall. The trailer uses Jeep CJ springs, Rambler hubs and 15" wheels with light truck tires. I think the tires would rub on the fenders before it was structurally stressed! A 3/4 inch 4'x8' piece of plywood slips right in between the frame rail for the bed.
Most of the trailers I've looked at lately have light wight mesh floors and a single light weight square tube that bolts to the trailer for a tongue.

Now, it's almost too nice to park outside!!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Meeting Another Fellow Blogger.

I know a lot of us follow other motorcycle related blogs. Some of us even have the little links to other blogs on the sides of our pages. Some day maybe I'll get around to doing that.

I follow, and am followed by, Doug. I learned about Doug and his blog last year when he e-mailed me with a blogging question. I've followed his blog, Coop's Corner, ever since.
When I lived in Prescott, WI, we were riding in the same area of south-western WI, an area known for great roads! Doug has also blogged about riding in the area of northern WI, where I live now.

On Friday the 19th, I got an e-mail from him saying that he was going to be up in Duluth, MN at the Aerostich/RiderWearHouse store. He offered to meet me on Sunday at the Delta Diner in Delta, WI, which is maybe 30 minutes from my place outside of Cable.

On Saturday, I got another e-mail from Doug. He said that the temps were still cold and it as foggy down in the cities. He said that he would still be coming, but in the car.

On Sunday morning, the temps were still pretty chilly up here.

I decided to drive the truck up to Delta for breakfast. I thought I was going to be late, but I wasn't running as late as I thought. I was at the Diner maybe a minute when Doug pulled in. The typical Sunday crowd had gathered and there was a 20 minute or so wait for seating. Doug and I chatted while we waited for our seats and our food.


The Diner has a small but interesting menu. It has your usual breakfast items, plus some less common things like a Perch, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, or what I had today....Pancakes with Jalapenos in them. There are 3 of them on the plate. They're very thin and light, but also very tasty (and hot) thanks to the Jalapenos.


Doug's a very interesting guy with a very nice blog. Check it out and say Hi!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

My Utility Trailer Rebuild...

Way back in about 1975 or so, my dad had a local welder build him a heavy duty 4'x8' utility trailer. My dad used it to carry supplies into the woods every fall for Deer season. I've posted pictures before of the Hunting Shack.
The trailer became mine after my father passed away. I had it for many years and stored it under the deck behind the house. It has followed with me whenever I moved. The last 10 years or so, it has been parked at my sister's cabin not far from my home in the north woods. Parking it in the shadows of old Pine and Poplar trees was hard on it. The plywood floor rotted out and the metal turned to a giant pile of rust. It was a very sad looking trailer.
This summer I brought it home to my new place and told myself that I had to restore it to its former glory.

Here it is way back when... me in the trailer.


Here it is after I had it sandblasted and I primed it with Rustoleum primer.


I have to finish the job with black implement paint and some new plywood. The side boards are stake pocket style and the originals were 2' tall tapering to 1' in the rear. I plan to make the new sides all 16" high so I can cut all 4 parts out of a single sheet of plywood. I've located a modern version of the original vintage tail lights and have all my wiring supplies. I've already repacked the wheel bearings, but have to find a deal on some used 205 or 215/75-15 tires. The tires on the trailer are severely weather checked and deeply cracked.
I'm quickly running out of 55° days.

Friday, October 05, 2012

The Leaves are Falling and the Color is Fading!

Wow, It's amazing how fast the season changes! Just 5 days ago the Fall foliage was at the peak of color and today it looks like Winter will be here in a week  just a few hours...

My front yard 9-24, then 9- 30, and today, 10-5...


In the last week, I've been busy with Fall projects, but Nancy and I managed to get in one more day in the kayaks. We had a nice 70° day and thought it was too nice to be working round the house, so we loaded up and took off for a slow paddle a local lake.


I also managed to find the time for a ride on the FJR. It's been neglected lately, so I warmed it up and took it for a nice long ride. I filled the tank and added Sta-bil.


Nancy noticed that at night, when the lights are on in the backyard, the orange colored leaves really glowed... We tried to capture the colors in the night photographs we took.


It hasn't been all fun and games though. I added a few things to my tool box. I bought a couple of American made files to sharpen my axes, a splitting maul, and in keeping with my family's Scandinavian heritage, I bought a Husqvarna chainsaw. My Uncle's old Jonsereds 49SP was getting a little rough and no longer wanted to start easy or idle.
The new saw is so much different than the old one. It starts quick, has a compression release to make starting it easier, is a lot quieter, vibrates less. Just a much nice tool to use. I've been cleaning up a lot of downed trees in the area around the house.

I've just about filled this little stack, and I'm starting to add more the the pile out back.


It's now 1150 p.m. and it's snowing for the second time this fall.... That's Screamer(one of the cats) saying hello about 9 seconds into the video.