Did it Again!

Well, I did it again....I purchased another motorcycle.  Marie thinks I am crazy and really isn't the happiest camper about the new project.  I did promise her that I would sell it after I got it running and shined up.  Yes, another motorcycle that doesn't run!  This is what I love to do....turn some wrenches on a bike.  This beast is a 1978 Honda CB 750K...this is where the modern superbike "crotch rocket" came from.  I have always wanted a vintage CB 750...put some flat bars on it and go!  I found this cycle on good ole ebay.  It wasn't on an auctuon but a classified ad.  There was a blurry pic and it was posted as a 1975 ( the year I really wanted).  So I contacted the seller and scheduled a showing with him....he lived 2 hours away so I took a trailer just in case I just had to have it.  Well long story short.....It's a 78', but the $$$ was right.  Now it resides in the garage next to the KZ.

Starting to polish up a little and remove the carburetors.

This rack of carbs was super crusty.  They are going to need to be rebuilt...meaning new jets and needles.

 Rebuilt with pod filters

The bike started right up and ran pretty good.  I went around the block...a little scary though, NO BRAKES!

A little KZ update.

I had the top end rebuilt (new gaskets and rings).  I purchased smaller signal lights and a tail light.  I installed and I am ready to strip it down and paint it.  I did get some new tires and I will install them after it gets painted.  The color I chose was a soft blue with metal flake (similar to Carolina Blue). If I painted it Duke Blue Marie might kill me!

Summer Love

The summer of 2012 was a great time for weddings.  Two very special weddings to be exact!  We have not taken time to post about these... but they were the highlights of our summer - perhaps the highlights of our year actually! Thank goodness Papa Chuck and MarSue had 5 crazy kiddos and those kids are slowly but surely finding their ways to true love. True love and marriage.

June 16, 2012 Mark Robert Milliren and Amber Loy Bosley - Their lovely wedding allowed us to spend some quality family time in Chestertucky with Mom and Pop Millhorn.

Pipe time with PC

Let the brew-drinking begin.

Frisbee on Harold Drive

Bridal Brunch for Amber with Mom and all the Milliren sisters.

Lovebirds. So tute.

Matt Gauch shows the mountain-pie-maker who's the boss.  Nice ribbon belt too!

Uh-oh...The dancing/grinding begins.

Jason joins the party after blowing a heater in the woods.

"Matt, I think you broke the seal... in your pants."

Winnie likes having everyone home.

September 8, 2012 Matthew Lewis Gauch and Margaret Love Milliren - Though the family circumstances surrounding their wedding were not ideal, their wedding weekend could not have been more thoughtful and entertaining.

Marglemeat... is that a penis in your cleavage??

Girls night out... in about 5 minutes the bride falls asleep!

Mawtha being escorted by her handsome son.

Loving the summer of Love!

Brother Max - practicing escorting the bride.

All the kids hanging out in the hotel.

Loving on sweet Josie.

Mom with two of her bridesmaids from 39 years ago!!

Carolyn and Luke <3

A pic with the beautiful bride!

Deez Nuts = 2gether 4 ever!!

 Of course, no summer is complete without a little B. Love... we got a whole lot of B. Love during our short visit to Marion before Mag&Matt's wedding.  He is a handful... a fun, loveable, goofy handful.

A sleepy handful; he can sleep ANYWHERE.

ANYTIME! This was mid-day. Marie sent him to take a nap... fell asleep before he got on the bed!

Connor loves Brad.

Spa Treatment. Marie did pedicure. Connor gave neck massage. Brad fell asleep. Literally. He was snoring in that chair!

A joyous night.

 I know. Tons of pictures... but these were all such fun moments in our crazy little summer. Our summer of Love... Can't wait for 4-20-13... More love to come!!

10-mile Hike

Last Sunday, we took a drive to the far east-end of our county to a little town called Packwood.  From there, we drove about 5 miles into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest so that we could hike to Packwood Lake.

Unlike our adventure in July to find a hidden lake, this was a well-tread path that led us deep into the woods and brought us right to the lake.  The forest was gorgeous. Green moss on the floor... towering trees...peaceful and quiet.  It was a 4.5 mile hike into the lake from the trailhead.  We wandered around the lake a bit, but didn't get the whole way around due to time constraints.

Connor tried to catch some trout... Marie was hoping to find wild blackberries... Neither of us had any luck.  But, we still considered it a lovely day.  On our hike back to the car (about an hour and a half), we said our prayers and counted our blessings... Called it church for the week.  It was perfect.

You Gotta Try This!!!

This is the way to welcome the cooler weather of fall: with a delicious beef stew/biscuit pot pie. It is well worth the effort and it really isn't even that much effort for such a fantastic meal.  The only change I made to the recipe was to add about 1.5 lbs of stew meat.  I ate so much that my stomach hurt... seriously couldn't stop. The biscuits are just too yummy! Thanks Mags for introducing me to Joy the Baker... love her blog!

Beer Can Chicken!!!

That little yard bird is just about done.....I love beer can chicken and so does Marie.  We haven't prepared one all summer long, so we were do.  I kept it simple.  I made a marinade with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, chipolte chile powder, garlic, salt and pepper. I chopped up half a bunch of cilantro and rubbed it all over. I marinaded the bird for a few hours. You need a tall can to cook the average size bird.  I settled for the Champagne of Beer.

You know that nectar really added the needed flavor!!!

To go along with the bird I stuffed some of our home grown Anaheim peppers.  They were delicious.

Vibrant green!

Bacon....say it!

Along with some home grown grilled squash.

It was a great meal!  Come join us next time.

Helianthus annuus

Well, 2 of the 4 fat bottom sunflower girls have been harvested.  It truly is amazing that one sunflower seed can produce thousands of others.  I love toasted and salted sunflower seeds.  I remember growing sunflowers along our backyard fence as an early teen.  I let them dry on the stalk and then picked the seeds and toasted in a warm oven.  To make a long story short....I did it again, but this time I soaked them in a brine overnight before roasting.  I roasted them for about an hour in a 300F oven.  When they were done I tossed them in a very small amount of olive oil.  I divided them in two separate batches and mixed in salt and pepper in one batch and garlic in the other.

Sunflower heads consists of many individual flowers.  The left one has them removed.  Those our our onions in the back right.  I am curing them in the garage right now.

I cut most of the stalk off and strung them on some nylon twine.

Pickn' tha seeds!

24 hours in the brine.

Going into the oven.

I collected about 1/2 gallon of seeds.  Yum......