Hiking, Baking and Racing

Isle of Man Motorcycle Race Highlights | Break.com

2011-12-15T04:46:00.000-08:00

If your heart rate doesn't go up watching this you must be asleep!!

Isle of Man Motorcycle Race Highlights - Watch MoreFunny Videos

2011 BARBER VINTAGE RACE part 3

2011-11-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

This will be the last post in the Barber Vintage Weekend post, and it will be fairly long with a lot of pics. Not every picture will have something written about it mainly because I don't remember
a lot of what I saw... there was a lot to see!

This is what is on the wall just inside the main entrance to the motorcycle museum. They obviously don't have only motorcycles they also have several cars and I believe the worlds largest collection of Lotus race cars.

Erik taking in a beautiful example of a matchless.

Indian

Look at all those pipes! Power, Power, Power!!

The entire grounds of Barber Motorsports Park was first class and the artistic detail in something as simple as the presentation of museum pieces was just outstanding!

The Man

Mechanical fuel injection with individual intake runners, dual overhead cam and look at that belt drive!

This "Motorcycle Tree" was really amazing. I didn't take the time to find out but there are quite a few bikes up there. It went down another two sections but my camera could not get the whole thing in one shot.

I posted a picture of a double swingarm Bimoto not that long ago and the whole time I was trying to figure out just exactly how does that thing work? I was in luck because they had one there and if you look at the pictures you can see the design genius.

LOVE these fairings...

Two stroke power

John Surtees, (born 11 February 1934) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver fromEngland. He was 500cc motorcycle World Champion in 1956 and 1958–60, Formula One World Champion in 1964, and remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels.
(above borrowed from other sources not out of my own head)

This was a really incredible bike. This was a non factory race team and the innovations on this bike were truly amazing. take a look at the just the frame, there was detail and innovation like that throughout the whole thing!

Same team as above, different rocket ship.

It's all about power to weight.

They even had outboard motors!

This is the area that is on the bottom floor where much of the restoration and preservation processes take place.

The next three pictures are of bikes that are waiting their turn for attention. The museum has around 1300 motorbikes with about 750 always on display. Most of these are ready to be restored.

Nice place to work. This is another area where the workers apply their handy work.

You can walk around the walkway from floor to floor or you can take the elevator. There are bikes on all four corners all the way from floor to ceiling, about four stories up.

In my opinion one of the prettiest bikes Honda has ever made.

One mean Royal Enfield with the track out the window.

Dunstall Triumph

1974 Hercules W2000

Click on the picture below that talks about this bike. I bet it sounded amazing with three combustion's per revolution!

Again, the artistic vibe is everywhere and if you look up from your table as you eat lunch you'll get a good view of these bikes.

The whole weekend was really great and I had a blast with Erik and Ed. I hope that this won't be the last time I get to go to Barber. Maybe this should be a yearly trip?.....

2011 BARBER VINTAGE RACE part 2

2011-10-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Here is just one of the many, many Ducati's that were at the Ducati tent and there were tons more everywhere else!

Very nice 750cc Ducati and if you look closely at the side of the tank you can see the plexiglass "sight glass" down the side.

Horizontal mono shock just looks so cool...

This was a custom built bike by a member on the dotheton.com forum. really, really nice work and it won bike of the month on "do the ton".

Who knew a Virago could look this COOL! I've been seeing more and more of these bikes being customized on line and they always just look wicked.

The triple engine beast slaying Norton! What a fun engine that would be to build!

I really like the Honda CX's and this one is just too cool. I gotta say that at first I wasn't too hip on this style seat but I think that one day I'll have one on one of my projects.

We talked to the guy that built this bike for quite a while. He's out of Connecticut and brought two super nice examples of cafe' Honda's. They were both clean and the attention to detail was great as was the creativity of a lot of the small part modifications.

Barber had great areas like this all over. Nice tree covered areas that overlooked the race track and with the weather being so nice it couldn't be beat.

Here is just one quick shot of what the place looked like. All the bikes in this shot were ridden there and belong to spectators. The bikes are allowed to park along the road which makes it great for a continual "show" as you walk from place to place.

2011 BARBER VINTAGE RACE part 1

2011-10-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my father-in-law (Erik), his friend Ed Haas and myself made the trip to Birmingham, Alabama to attend the 7th annual vintage motorcycle race and show. I gotta say that it couldn't have been a better weekend for a lot of reasons. It was a real treat to watch the old bikes run flat out around such a professional and beautiful track, the museum was absolutely amazing, the "real" museum was all around outside everywhere you looked and the weather could not have been nicer.

A little racing action above with the rarely seen in the US sidecar racers below.

Some of these pictures are a little fuzzy but I was a little ways away and had the camera on full zoom. You can see the "monkey" move from side to side on the sidecar in order to shift weight so the bike will go through the corners faster without tipping over...hopefully.

Don't be fooled, these guys are moving at a pretty good clip and if you look closely and some of the "monkeys" you can see that they are women! Now that's trust!

I'll be posting more on all the great things that went on at Barber this year with quite a few pictures to come.

TWIST THE THROTTLE

2011-09-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

As far as I can tell this show was on a while ago but I just stumbled across it recently. I'm putting a link to the site where you can go watch the episodes for yourself and if you are a mechanical or a motorbike kind of guy (or girl) I think you'll really enjoy it. Once you click on the link look to the right of the page and there will be episodes to choose from, click on one of those and it should pull down several 6min clips. I'm not sure why they make us watch them in short clips but oh well. If you have a couple of minutes go check it out HERE!!

Guy Martin

2011-07-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered Guy Martins' television show on in the UK call "The Boat that Guy Built" and it is my new favorite show! I roll laughing at what he and his mate Mave talk about and how they talk. Plus it doesn't hurt that Guy is and incredible motorcycle racer and has been consistently making himself know at the Isle of Man TT every year.
I've included the first half of the first episode of his show (find the other half and all the rest on youtube) and a video of one of his laps at the Isle of Man. If you have a few minutes sit through both video's they are both great!

Beer, Beer and Beer

2011-06-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

I've been able to try several different beers lately and have pictures of most but haven't gotten around to posting about them yet so in order to help clean the camera here are a few...

Red Brick - Brown - 6.0%ABV

Brewed here in Georgia (ATL) I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It had a great smooth taste with complex flavors that I didn't really expect from a very reasonably priced ale.
The label has a nice little word from the brewers:
"Weep for your northern brethren: Long winters, suspect college football, and perhaps worst of all, no red brick beer. Since 1993 we've been brewing fine craft beers for the south. We're proud to stand alongside grits, hound dogs and mama as embodiments of the southern lifestyle. We're proud to be beer from around here."
I thought that was funny

Crown Valley Brewing - Big Bison Ale - 7.2%ABV

I think this is one that I like more than all the rest that I tried so far from Crown Valley. The rest were very good but I just really enjoyed the sweet taste and finish of this beer. Brewed in Genevieve, Missouri this is their take on a Belgian Dubble. It's not thick like a stout or porter but carries a bit of weight with it and is easy to drink despite it's higher abv.

Crown Valley Brewing - Plowboy Porter - 5.5%ABV

Another beer from Crown Valley, this porter was good but personally I like my porters thick and dark brown to almost solid black in color. You can see in the picture it is a bit lighter than a more conventional porter and I think that translated to the taste as well. It wasn't bad by any stretch but I feel that it could have been just a wee bit closer to conventional, just my humble opinion.

Weyerbacher- Merry Monks Belgian Style Golden Ale - 9.3%ABV

I am a sucker for a higher alcohol beer! I poured this into two wine glasses for Molly and I (we split all beer that we don't have multiples of) and the first thing you smell is bread! You could smell the yeast in it. This might not sound great to some of you but I love it, and couple that with a ABV of 9.3% and all I can say is that I wish I had more so I would get a full glass!

Kiuchi Brewery - Real Ginger Brew- 7.0% ABV

Molly and I first had this beer the night we arrived in Camden, ME. We were running later than we had planned because of our flights changing on us but because of that we ended up eating sushi with beer for dinner. This is one that was paired with our meal and it has a wonderful ginger taste and was perfect with our sushi dish. The ginger taste was not overpowering but was present enough to taste and enjoy the cool crispness that comes with ginger. We have had trouble finding this particular beer for sale in places other than on the internet however, on our trip to Charleston, S.C. this past Feb I happened upon it at the Charleston Beer Exchange.

Stone Brewing Co. - Sublimley Self-Righteous - 8.7% ABV
Southern Tier Brewing Co. - Imperial Iniquity Black Ale - 9.0%ABV

Both of these brews which I also bought at the Charleston Beer Exchange peeked my interest because on the flight down to Charleston I read an article about the rise of a style of beer known as a "black IPA". There are many opinions from what I understand as to weather can actually be categorized on it's own or weather it's just a sub category of an dark ale. It has however been given it's own rank at most beer competitions now. The Stone Brewing I thought was good and it had a large hoppy taste as many IPA's do, it was very dark in color but was not thick like the color might suggest it would be. For my personal tastes though I would prefer just a bit less bitterness.
Southern Tier's version was wonderfully well done I thought. Not over powering bitter but had a very well balance between the bitterness and dark sweet maltiness. The hops were definitely there, you couldn't miss them but I thought the balance and drinkability were spot on.

Boulevard Brewing Company - Dry Stout - 4.9%ABV

While Molly and I were in Iowa, we were pleasantly surprised at the abundance of beer we found from Boulevard Brewery out of Kansas City, MO. We tried several beers and Molly also loved their great reusable six pack boxes (no pictures I'm afraid). This was a good example of a dry stout and had a good drinkability as well. It was smooth and had a great taste. Hopefully sometime they will start carrying it further east so we can have it again!

Short Ride Today

2011-06-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

My good friend since early childhood was in town this weekend and when he is here we usually try to get a ride in if possible. Today we rode from my parent's house through some country back roads, a few small towns and back again, about 70 miles in all. Not too many miles but very nice to get out and always fun to ride with someone else.

I spotted this great little fill station a few weeks ago as Molly and I were driving up to Macon and had to come back and snap a few pictures.

Grarrett and his Victory Hammer 8 Ball

I wish people could tear themselves away from their overly busy lives to walk inside, talk to an actual person, put cash in their hands and use great pumps like these!

Yup, that's $0.65 per gallon.

Getting There...

2011-06-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

It's Hot in Georgia already!

Dream Job...

2011-06-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

I think Raleigh, NC could support a cool place like this. Who's got some start up money?

Deus - Camperdown, Sydney from Deus Customs on Vimeo.

I didn't stumble upon this my self but saw it over at motorcycle photo of the day. Great site go check it out.

This Year's Garden

2011-05-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

I planted our garden several weeks ago and so far it's been doing pretty well except for the caterpillars on my tomatoes and several of my herbs didn't come up (old seed I guess).
We bought some "Mr Stripey" heirloom tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, straight necked yellow squash, zucchini, acorn squash, egg plant and onions. Since I didn't till up a portion of the yard but instead used an existing raised bed my room as well as sunlight are slightly less than I would like. I'm not sure how the onions will do since they get the least amount of sunlight out of the bunch. It's not shady all the time but it's not full sun all day either.

The Little Garden

Red Pepper

We also planted several herbs in pots on the deck: Chocolate Mint, basil, sage, dill. These are all growing well but the rosemary, oregano, cilantro, parsley and chives all have done nothing. Not sure why but it's pretty annoying. Oh well, what is growing looks good and I can't wait to start harvesting!

Chocolate Mint

Sweet Basil

Sage

Wife..

2011-03-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

I bet none of you know as much as I do what a great wife I have! I was just thinking of the crazy first 1.5 years of marriage we've had and also how great it all has been! Wouldn't trade it!

Just look at all this B-day stuff she whipped up last Nov literally days after we moved in !! And she does so much more it's ridiculous!

I love you Molly!!

MMMM...BEER....

2011-02-19T13:57:00.001-08:00

So I've been pretty excited about trying some new beers here in Iowa that are not available back east. And as always I'm a big supporter of buying local as often as you can to help promote smaller brewery's and let them now that people are taking notice that they are creating good tasting beer. So I was given permission the other day to run across the street and pick up a six pack and this is what ended up in our fridge. "Iowa Pale Ale" brewed by Millstream Brewing Company out of Amana, IA. I have never disliked pale ales but I rarely buy them, I'm not sure why, but this little guy reminded me that good pales are REAL GOOD PALES. I also liked their play on IPA but instead of India it's Iowa. I also like the trees made out of hops on their label. I don't feel that I'm capable of describing what is going on within the tastes of these beers given that there is such an incredible amount of work that that goes into them and I'm but a novice in this game. So I'll keep my comments to, it tasted great, and I like their artwork. As I become a little more learned maybe I'll venture into describing the flavors and the variety of hops being used in the beers I try but I have a ways to go.

I been eying this bottle in the store now since we moved here and I haven't tried it yet because of the cost. About $5.50 a bottle. So I finally caved (Molly wasn't with me). It's brewed in Scotland in the oldest inhabited home in the country! I gotta say this is the best beer I've had in a while. Brewed with Coriander it takes an interesting taste and is easy to drink even in light of it's 8% ABV. The color was a very pleasant dark cola brown with a very thin white head.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving!

2011-01-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

My wonderful wife gave me a gift for Christmas this year that keeps on giving! It's a TrueBrew Gold home brewing kit!! I know!! So, after I read a ton more and scape together a little cash to buy ingredients I'll hopefully be brewing some tasty stouts and porters. Then when the weather warms pales and wheats... mmmm...
So the kit comes with a 7 gal food grade bucket with a hole in the top for a airlock and a hole near the bottom for a valve, a glass 6.5 gal carboy for second fermentation, a siphon hose with bottling valve, a brush for bottle cleaning, a hydrometer, an adhesive thermometer to stick to the carboy, an airlock and stopper, a bottle caper, cleaning solution and a beginners book to home brewing. So wish me luck and stay tuned to see what comes out of all this...

Calling for Snow...

2010-12-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

So they are calling for up to 6 inches which I think we could get if it stays like this. These are the biggest snow flakes I've ever seen!

Finally!!!

2010-12-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

For the first time since Molly and I have been married we finally got a decent internet connection! (I'll wait for the whistling and the applause to go down...) Don't get me wrong, we had internet in Charlotte, but it was less than fun walking around the house with the laptop looking for a single bar so that you can check your e-mail. However, this internet connectivity had it's bumps along the way... I called up the company we decided to go with just over two weeks ago and signed up for their DSL connection with no contracts for what I think was a pretty good price, $30 per first six months then up to $40 after that. After about 4-5 days later our modem showed up on our doorstep a letter stating to not hook it up until the internet was turned on, which was going to be that night (Wed) at 5pm. I plugged it in and waded through the instructions of what to do when. I didn't get very far when it was apparent that we had no signal. Hmm, I called our landlord Tom (who is great) and told him that our phone jack in the house had some cut wires and I think that might be the reason. He came out and checked everything out with an electrician and they said that there was a disconnect somewhere outside. Back on the phone with the internet people and made an appointment for the tech to come out on Monday between 8-12am b/c Molly was off that morning. Long story short they never showed up. Called them back on Monday evening and made an appointment for Tues. Never showed. Called them back and made an appointment for Wednesday. You guessed it! Called back again and the lady told me that they did come out on Tues but didn't find anything wrong outside. (I kept asking what happened to Monday or Wednesday and got no answer. So I made ANOTHER appointment for Thursday. The tech guy called me and said that it was disconnected in the box on the pole outside! I said "THAT WHAT I TOLD THEM!" So I have no idea what the guy who supposedly came out on Tuesday did but he certainly didn't check outside on the pole like what was suggested. Oh well that my rant about this whole thing. I'm glad that we have internet now but good grief!

1 Year Later

2010-11-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

A few days ago Molly and I had our one year anniversary! Some of you may remember our wedding cake and how none of it was left nor did we really relish the idea of keeping some of it in our freezer just to pull it out in a year and say... Do we really want to eat this?! We thought of this while on our honeymoon in Camden, Maine and one day while we were perusing the merchandise in a adult beverage store it hit us!! We'll just get some beer and hang on to it and have that on our one year anniversary instead of frost bitten dried out cake! We purchased a beer that was local (Portland, Maine) this is what it said on the bottle;

"Perfect as an aperitif or to toast a special occasion, our golden colored tripel reserve has a complex fruit and spice aroma. Complemented by a full palate with suggestions of honey. A long, warm and soothing finish follows. Allagash Tripel is well suited to cellaring, and will continue to mature in the bottle and improve with age."
CHEERS!

The Not so New Wheels

2010-11-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

So earlier this week I bought a truck to get me to and from work for a while. It's a '69 F-100 4x4 and it's not in super great shape but it runs and drives and will hopefully go through the snow pretty well. It has a little rust behind the front wheels and a tiny bit in the floor of the bed but other than that it's ok. Several dents here and there but hey, that what these old farm trucks were about. I don't think it's in good enough shape to keep long term so the plan is to drive it this winter and then look around for another cheap one with a little better body. We'll see what happens. As far as this one goes it's getting power brakes, a new windshield and stock steel wheels and hopefully stock bumper.
(I'll also be peeling off the Lynard Skynard sticker off the rear window!)

It's Official!

2010-10-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

This past May, not long after I was laid off, my father-in-law told me to check out a restoration shop in Iowa because they were looking to hire an engine machinist. Well about three weeks ago they called me and wanted me to come out and have a sort of working interview. So I flew to Sioux City, IA and worked for three days. The shop is very nice and the caliber of cars coming in and going out of the shop is really amazing. After I returned to NC I got an email offering me the job! So...in a little less than two weeks Molly and I are headed to Northwest Iowa to start the next phase of our lives together. Being married just under a year and looking back, it looks kinda crazy! You're not supposed to get laid off five months after you get married then move more than twenty hours away to a place that can have wind-chills down to -60 degrees! I know that we will be fine and that God will sustain us but it's still makes me a little nervous. However, everyone I have met out there is exceedingly nice and I'm sure we will fall into place quickly. Now for those of you interested this is a link to the place I'll be working and this is a link to where in the world Sioux City Iowa is.

Charlotte Oktoberfest!!!

2010-09-28T05:16:00.001-07:00

We had planned to go to the 12th annual Charlotte Oktoberfest for a while now but when the time comes to buy tickets we figured our money could be better spent elsewhere. Thank goodness for Molly's friend Amber and her husband Ralph!!! Ralph works for Abita Beer and received a certain amount of tickets and Amber hooked Molly and I up to get in free and we even got free food out of the deal! What a great day.
So the Charlotte Oktoberfest has about 350 beers to try and the give you a free 5oz tasting glass to help with the duties.
We tried about 8 different beers each and I think our favorite by far was brewed by a local home brewer out of Winston-Salem, NC. It was called "Hop Island Breakfast in Bed Stout" It was an oatmeal espresso stout. SO GOOD!

We were given these yellow wrist bands and that got us in for free along with free lunch, snacks and water.

There was definately no shortage of people. we looked on the website and they had sold out of tickets for a while. It's amazing how beer brings people together!

Next time we are going to have to score one of these pretzel necklaces, they were everywhere!

Thanks again Amber and Ralph!

The Newest Member of the House Family

2010-09-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful that I have a wife that has good taste and that we like so many of the same things!

In our quest for "all things vintage" we stumbled upon what became the newest member of our family. Well... stumbled may not be right, earnestly sought out might be closer. We both have always liked the old appliances and we were talking a few months ago and kinda decided that we ought to find one some time to replace our normal looking, non vintage, loud fridge. So the hunt was on! I would scan through craigslist almost daily finding incredible deals on incredible appliances... in New York...and California but not so many in North Carolina. One was finally posted in Winston-Salem which is about 1.5-2 hours from us. After many emails and a borrowed truck (Thanks Larry) we brought her home! Everything was in pretty good shape and worked great but needed a little paint and some cleaning.

The new old fridge as we got her. As far as I can tell it is an early '50's model.

Sanded and prepped for paint!

After a couple of coats...

Molly is demonstrating the difference in height and size of our current fridge on the left and our new fridge on the right.

Done and in action!

Very full. Our little freezer is pretty full as well.

I love the porcelain covered metal drawers for the vegetables and meats!

And what makes it even better is that it has a glass top/shelf so you can see whats inside without having to pull it out.

I was pretty excited about this bargain, total cost of new cool fridge...$155
I would be tempted to believe that just about everyone that has bought a new refrigerator in the last 15 years has replaced it but this one is still going strong and IT'S QUITE! I just hope I don't eat my words and have to replace anything anytime soon because I said that.
Now if I can only find an sweet old gas stove.

New Sopkes with Powdered Wheels!

2010-09-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

I received the new spokes a little more than a week ago for the CB450 wheels that I had powder coated . I have never attempted to lace and true a set of spoke wheels but I figured with all the info online I'm bound to get it sooner or later.

There is a certain order this has to be done in otherwise it work and you'll probably go crazy trying to figure out why it's not working!
I don't have a lot of pictures of each step but I messed it up a couple times and finally figured out what I was doing wrong and it went together real quick after that. It's amazing how well things work if you do it right!

This is the final product except for the truing part. That will probably take a bit of work.
Front Wheel

The rear wheel went together real quick the first time!

When I get done truing them and wiping them down I'll probably post a couple more pictures taken outside. They look way better in sunlight than in my living room at 5:30a.m.

Cool Sprocket Cover!

2010-08-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

I took the sprocket cover off a while ago and have been trying to decide what to do with it as far as cool vents. After a light bulb type idea went off in my head I came up with this...

First I found the relative center line with a pair of dial calipers and marked it. Then I used a compass to draw the lines moving outward. I measured with the calipers and marked equally spaced lines to set the compass.

I decided to use a .250 endmill to drill the holes and wanted the distance between the holes to be at least half the diameter of the hole. So I measured out .125, set my compass and marked all the lines where the holes should go.

I set it up in the Bridgeport and away we go!

Since it has a very small tip I used a starter drill to pinpoint where I was going to drill. That's all I did with it, since I was using an endmill I didn't have to have a pilot hole.
Milling...

After all the holes were drilled

Then it was off to the buffing wheel!
The polishing didn't come out as well as it could but I used red ScotchBrite, then 600 grit, then 1000, then the buffing wheel.

Bug's First Cruise In!!

2010-08-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my brother in law Wesley came to visit Molly and I. While he was here we took Molly's Beetle up to Kannapolis for a cruise in at their town center. I was surprised how many cars showed up but with the slightly cooler temps and all the car folks in this area I guess I shouldn't have been...

Here she is!!

A pink Rambler Wagon!

A very cool Volvo Truck. I'm told by my Volvo guru that these are pretty rare little trucks.

Oh how I love Fairlanes, one of my favorite years.

This is looking down one side of one street, there were cars on the other side as well as both sides of the other one way street

Another nicely done Beettle, but I think Molly's was the nicest VW there with this one being the closest competition.

'57 shoe box

We are hoping to go to a few more cruise in's and car shows as the weather gets nicer.

After More than 30 Years...This Happened!!

2010-08-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

I put the carbs back on the CB450 the other day and made a gas tank out of a 20oz water bottle and fuel line and I couldn't get it to run except for about 3 or 4 seconds with a shot of starter fluid. So, I had air and spark but obviously no fuel... I took the carbs back apart and and found that one of the previous owners had no idea how to set the fuel float level. After a quick adjustment and re assembly I put them back on the bike. Now I'm sure that the motor has been cranked and started since the last time this bike was inspected/registered but it had not been inspected/registered since 1978!! After I put the carbs back on it took about two turns of the engine and this happened!!!

WOOHOO!!!
I love when stuff goes right and works like it should! I still have other adjustments to make i.e. check timing points and fine tune idle screw and throttle cable but so far its off to a great start!

Tail of the Dragon!!

2010-08-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Molly and I headed to Robinsville, NC for our friends wedding. (Ben & Stef) For a long time now I've wanted to drive/ride Hwy 129 in western North Carolina affectionately known as "The Tail of the Dragon". This short stretch of highway starts in NC but soon crosses over into TN and attracts thousands of motorcycle and car enthusiast from all across the US. The reason for all this interest is that on 11 miles of this highway there are no intersecting roads, driveways or turnarounds. Oh, and there are 318 curves in that short 11 mile run! We drove the mustang to the wedding that weekend and I couldn't convince myself not to go since I was so close. So on Saturday morning at 10 till 6am I set out...

I obviously did not take any pictures once I was on the dragon's tail but these are leading up to it headed North.

At the south end there is a little motel with lots of motorcycle parking where motorcycle/car clubs many times meet up or stay the night before their run. They have a tree of shame outside to remind riders of just how dangerous this road can be especially if you ride unsafely or beyond your limits. There has been 25 deaths along this 11 mile stretch since 2000.

I'm not sure who put the child's tricycle up there.

The Fugitive Dam

I gotta say that it was a blast driving this beautiful Hwy, if you're ever in the area head on up, just make sure you're there early. It gets pretty packed during the day. I was lucky enough to only see a handful of cars and several of those were state troopers, so drive safe!!!

PUNK KIDS!

2010-08-01T14:06:00.001-07:00

My youngest brother-in-law Timothy painted and pinstriped this mail box for us as our Christmas present last year. (the one we had was really ugly) He did a great job!

This morning as I was getting ready for church I looked out our bathroom window and saw this! It was laying all the way over and I propped it back up.

I must confess that since then I've been thinking of ways to make a new mail box "really hard on the hands" if you try to smack it with a bat... I've got a few ideas.

Finally Finished the Seat

2010-07-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

So of you may have seen a previous post of mine in which I started working on Molly's CB450 seat. Well it took me a while but I've finished it and I pretty happy with it. If I had to do it over again I would do a few things differently but all in all I'm pretty pleased.

This is the original seat how it came off the bike.

You may remember the mice that made a nice home inside!

All foam removed and seat pan sandblasted. After looking around at other people's seat projects I realized just how good a shape this pan was in! most others that I saw were rusting around all the holes and the sides were very often almost gone!

The foam and glue that I bought to make the seat shape

This is the original rough shape I came up with. Also notice the narrowed front nose so she can stand up and touch the ground a little easier.

This is the final shape I ended up with. I had to slope the hump in the rear because the drastic 90 degree angle would have been very hard to cover without making several panels, and after I did I think I like it a lot more.

A closer look at the rear hump. I used an electric knife to get my basic shape and a palm sander with 80 and 120 grit sandpaper to smooth it all out.

This small little shop is only about a mile down the road from the house and Wayne was very helpful in giving me pointers and helping me pull the final vinyl cover on.

I bought this thin foam material and the vinyl from Wilgrove's. The thin foam helps to smooth out any imperfections and makes the holes in the sides of the seat pan a little less noticeable.

The bottom of the finished seat! Vinyl pulled and trimmed and pan painted. Since the original hold down tabs were removed from the front when I narrowed the pan I used aluminum rivets to help the glue hold the vinyl in place. You can see one on the upper side to the left of the rubber mount and along the bottom.

The top side. I had the vinyl folded and sitting in the spare room for a few days until I was ready for it, DON'T DO THAT! That is one of the things I would have done differently. You can see the small crease on the slope because of the folding.

One other thing I would have change is the nose. I thought I had a decent amount of foam built up at the far end of the nose but once you pull the vinyl down tight it slopes it downward quite a bit. So next time I know to put a lot more foam at the front for a proper nose.

Well there it is. Like I said, I'd change a few things if I had it to do over again but nonetheless I'm still happy with my first shot at upholsery and trim since I finished school.

Down the New

2010-07-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Molly and I drove up to West Jefferson N.C. a couple of weekends ago to paddle down the New River. We had planned to kayak but they were booked up for kayaks so we paddled a canoe instead. The weather was very nice and not too hot, the scenery was fantastic as usual and the only down side to the whole trip was some sore shoulders and backs after our 10 miles of river. Afterward we headed just down the road to West Jefferson and had an ice cream cone, then it was back to Charlotte. If you're ever in the mood to paddle anything between 5 miles and a several day 40 mile trip give the people at Zaloo's Canoes a call.

To My One And Only Sweet Thang...

2010-07-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

I love you babe! Happy Birthday!!!

Remember summer?

2010-07-08T01:57:00.000-07:00

Remember playing in these on hot days like today when you were a kid? Between sprinklers, pools and water balloons I'm surprised I was ever dry as a kid!

Sumer Garden

2010-06-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

This year we planted a summer garden. I haven't done any gardening since I was 10 years old or younger with my friend Mr. Townsend who lived behind us in the house I grew up in. So I must say that the joy of seeing our garden grow and the disappointment when something dies was a little unexpected. I find myself getting excited every time I find a cucumber even if I've already found three that day! So without further ado here are how things are looking at the moment.

We have been eating cucumbers almost daily and we make it a point not to throw any away so we are constantly looking for new recipes with cucumbers. (I think some of these pictures are funny because the vegetables look huge!)

The beginning of our Ichabod Eggplants. We can't wait for these to be ready to eat. I don't think it will be too much longer because I took this picture yesterday and this morning they are twice as big!

The Bell peppers are mere days away. These will find their way into a lot of suppers on our table as well as salsa that Molly is planning on making once a few other ingredients are ready.

Jalapenos! (for that spicy salsa)

Here is a look at some of our tomatoes. (nevermind the weeds)
Not sure if you can tell but one of the tomato plants is out of control!

From that out of control plant... These are Heirloom Sun Gold tomatoes. They stay small like a cheery tomato and the taste is like no other tomato I've ever put in my mouth!! Seriously! I never knew a tomato could have such a complex and wonderful taste!

I'll be honest, I don't remember what kind these are but I'm sure they'll be very good as well.

I love this picture of our little Roma tomatoes because it looks like they are wearing sombreros! I think it's very cool to see the different vegetables start to take their different shapes.

We also have a little bit of corn and some zucchini. I think the corn will do okay but we are struggling a little with the zucchini and I'm not sure why. More updates as things ripen and I'm sure Molly will have updates as things hit the table and the pans!

Asheville Beer Tour

2010-06-24T04:56:00.000-07:00

While Molly and I were in Asheville a couple of weeks ago we made it a point to find and try some of the city's local craft beer. We were not disappointed! We looked several up before we went and stumbled upon one by surprise...Asheville is on par with Portland, OR when it comes to micro brews and home brewing. We found out while we were enjoying a glass that Asheville has tied Portland for several years and just beat them out this past year in online poles and as well as a few other points that I can't seem to recall right now... (it has nothing to do with the beer)

Lexington Avenue Brewery
First up we tried the Chocolate Stout & the Belgian White Ale

This place was real cool, they had covered outdoor seating that had glass garage doors that could be lowered for bad weather or in the colder months.

This is a good picture of the outdoor area

Jack of the Wood/Green Man Brewery
We ate dinner here and it was very good! (Check Molly's blog to see more)
I had their Porter & their seasonal IPA

The Wedge Brewery was actually the first place we stopped. We found this by accident while roaming around the galleries in the river arts district. And I think we liked this one the best!

The wall reads "He who works with his hands, head, and heart is an artist."

Molly's fantastic Witbier and my 9.0% Golem which is a Belgian strong golden ale.

The owners wife maned the taps for us

The building was once a storehouse for food and where the brewery is now was once used to store slaughtered hogs! Most of the River Arts District looks similar to this. It is great that people are taking these old buildings and putting them to noble use again and with all the artist and creativity in the area there is detail everywhere once you get up close and look!

If you find yourself in the Asheville area don't just stay on the interstate or only go to the Biltmore, check out all the cool stuff they have going on around town and have a pint!

2 wheels bring people together...

2010-06-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

Starting in April there was a bike night of sorts that gathers once a month at the Grapevine in Fort Mill, SC. Molly and I have not been able to go because of other things going on but last night we had the chance to ride down and check it out. Several people from the "Queen City Aces" club were there but the weather pushed most to drive their cars.
We left about 5:30 with the clouds getting darker and darker and just as we pulled onto I-485 it came down. Thankfully we were out of it in just a minute or two and tried to stay in front of it. We were in luck until we headed south on I-77 then it came down again this time it brought the wind with it! We made it down to the Grapevine pretty wet but not too bad. The bad weather didn't last long and the bikes started showing up, like this cool Bridgestone! I don't know much about these bikes but they were built in Japan then later here in the states from 1952-1973, with the largest engine size being 350cc. This one was picked up by the current owner in the town of North South Carolina.

Molly is a sucker for a BMW bike, I gotta say I am too!

A very cool modern classic, Triumph Bonneville. The owner rode up about an hour and a half from Columbia SC.

Here was a nicely done Honda CB550. Notice it's wet!

It's always fun to get together with other people that ride. Last month they had about 50 bikes and maybe 20 last night so hopefully next month the weather will be nice and the number will go back up.

Free Vintage Bike Show

2010-05-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Molly and I went up to the North Carolina Transportation Museum to go to the vintage motorcycle show they were putting on. The museum is more trans than anything mainly because it is in an old locomotive repair factory. Spencer NC was on of the fastest growing towns in the state at the height of the steam locomotive era. However with advent of the diesel engine the need for repairs and upkeep fell drastically. They do however have many cool old car, motorcycles and even a few planes. One thing that I love about the museum is that is is always FREE! So with the word free in mind and motorcycle exhaust in the air we headed up for a quick afternoon fix.

2 very cool BSA's

Just look at all those pipes! CBX's are one bad dude!

Above is one of my favorites a CB400F

Above is a custom built CB 450 and a very cool
Triumph below.

A real British built single cylinder 500cc Royal Enfield

And there was no shortage of cool bikes in the parking lot.

Quick Afternoon Trip

2010-04-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday afternoon was so beautiful that Molly and I couldn't stand to stay at home, so we ate a quick lunch and headed north.

Spring was barely here with the buds just coming out and even the breeze still chilly.
We drove up Hwy 321 through Blowing Rock to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed south.

We stopped just after the Linn Cove Viaduct and if you're not sure what that is click on the link and check out the pic. The hiking trail was closed so we didn't get any pictures of our own.

"Closed" seemed to be the theme on our little trip; as we headed down the parkway it was closed just south of Hwy 221 and we decided to start making our way back home. The closures were due to the large amount of snow the area got this past winter and the hash storms a few weeks ago which caused an awful lot of damage to the trees and littered the road with limbs and debris. Molly snapped a few great shots out the car window as we made our way though the valleys back toward I-40.

It was just a short few hours but I'm thankful that we live close enough to make it up on short notice and sad that we don't make it up more often...

QUEEN CITY ACES

2010-04-19T02:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Molly and I joined a motorcycle club that is just starting up here in Charlotte. The club caters toward vintage and cafe' style bikes. We had our first meet and great and first ride before we even had a name. We decided to me at Fuel Pizza and the weather could not have been more beautiful.

It didn't take take long for everyone to trickle in and to start to tell stories about their bikes, where there got it, what work had to be done and what awful things the previous owner had done that had to be addressed.

A sweet little 1976 CB360

1978 KZ650Z Cafe'

1982 Honda CB750K Cafe'

1975 CB 750

We rode through uptown Charlotte then south of town to the Triumph/BMW/Ducati dealer followed by a long rural ride though the country back home.

Later that week the original eight members of the club decided to name it
"The Queen City Aces"

Seat Progress...

2010-04-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

There are several reasons why I decided to recover the seat on Molly's CB450:

It looked awful, the seat is obviously old worn and not that appealing, so off it came.

As you can see the seat foam made a wonderful home for some mice over the years.
(on a side note, I'm tired of mice!)

After getting rid of all the junk foam and padding and sandblasting the seat pan I was ready to reshape the pan a bit. Even though the bike is pretty small Molly is smaller! She doesn't quite touch the ground when standing up on the bike, so one of the things I'm doing to make the bike fit her is to narrow the front of the seat pan. This will let her stand up straighter when getting on and off and at lights so her feet are more comfortably on the ground.

I bought some seat foam on line and have some different density foam around the shop to use for the base. I'm going for a somewhat cafe style seat so hopefully that's what I'll end up with.

I cut the foam down the middle and glued the two half's together with some 3M foam adhesive. This way I got the thickness I was looking for without having to buy a 4 inch thick piece of foam. Cheap is the name of the game! I painted the bottom of the pan and glued on the foam. Using an electric kitchen knife I trimmed all the edges around the pan. Let me tell you, the electric knife is the way to go!! Later when I start to work on the final shape of the seat I'll use an electric grinder with a 120 grit sanding disc. This also works amazingly well!
You can see the part that I narrowed up in this picture...

So here is the basic shape with quite a bit left to do. I'm hoping to get a chance to finish it up in the next week or so. It may not look like much now but it's looking better than what the mice were working on.

this post dedicated to
my friend Erik O.

Try Try Again...

2010-03-05T02:20:00.000-08:00

I've been out of the blogging game for a while now but I'm going to try and keep up with it a little better in the future. A lot has happened since the last time I posted so instead of playing catch up I'll just start from where I am now.
Most of you know that I bought Molly a Honda CB45o motorcycle for Christmas this year... and of course it needs work! We also went to the International Motorcycle Show in Greenville, SC in January. Not only did Molly find the perfect Ducati for her but she found what color to paint her Honda.

It's a stock Triumph flat burnt orange and I think it will be a great look on this old bike. I am doing a good bit of work to the 450 and I hope to post my progress as I go. I have the carbs rebuilt the paint stripped off most of the body and ready to be sent to my good friend Chris in Kansas City for paint, and I'm working on the narrowing, lowering and recovering of the seat. I'll try to get progress pics posted soon.
Oh! I suppose I should post a before picture of the little cb...

19 DAYS!!!

2009-10-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

Can't wait to marry you babe!

Lucie Ellen Drury

2009-10-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

My newest niece Lucie Ellen Drury was baptized last Sunday and Molly and I were very happy that we were able to make it down for the special event!

This is why...

2009-07-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while because my camera took a crap on me so I have to send it in to have it fixed. For some reason I'm not real hip on blogging without pictures. So hopefully in a few weeks I'll get some pictures up along with what all has been going on around here!

Dry Run

2009-05-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Matt, (my friend from work) his brother Mark and I went on a short ride. It was only about 100-120 miles but it was still a lot of fun and they needed to get a dry run in before they head out on there big trip next week! They are leaving from Kannapolis, N.C. and meeting up with their dad and step dad (both leaving from Arizona) in North Dakota. From there they will all ride together through Canada into Alaska and all the way up to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska which is on the Arctic ocean. Round trip will be about 11,500 miles! Also they are planning to camp every night but one. So, needless to say a dry run, although short was a good idea. The bikes of course stopped a little slower and felt quite a bit heavier but all in all they said they didn't think it would take too long to get use to.

We stopped in Lancaster, N.C. for lunch and some of the towns world famous BBQ. I'm pretty sure there are more BBQ joints here than there are gas stations or churches. I got a chopped plate with potato salad, fries and hush puppies. I'm usually one to finish everything on my plate but this was just so much food that if I ate it all I was going to have to stay a long while longer before getting back on the bike.

I think the sign of a pig serving BBQ on roller skates is hilarious!

Everything seems to be ready for them to go on their trip; bikes are prepped, camping gear is packed and I know they are anxious to go.

June 6th-July 5th
North Carolina-Alaska-North Carolina
11,500 Miles
Have fun guys!!

Met in the Middle

2009-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Follow the LINK.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm......

2009-05-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

I love my grocery store!! If you can find either of these and if you like high gravity, then you will like these.

They are the big bottles!

Upgrades Con't....

2009-05-03T18:37:00.001-07:00

So I've been wanting to break up all that gray on my bike for a while now and I finally got around to it. I won some Honda decals on Ebay for $0.01! Granted in was $3.99 shipping but still a darn good price. I put them on one day while on my lunch break and was very very happy with the way they turned out.

Next project is to fix and update my gauge cluster. My roommate dropped it a couple of weeks ago while moving it to get his car out of the garage. Everything else was fine but it busted up my gauges. So hopefully I can post another update in about a week or so....

"One Piece at a Time"

2009-04-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my bike little by little and slowly it's starting to look a bit more respectable, although I still have a long way to go. I found some turn marker on the ebay machine from an older GSXR for $1.80!

The mirrors that were on my bike were the wrong ones so as soon as I got these they went straight in the dumpster. The mirrors were one of those things, to my surprise, that changed the whole look of the bike.

I took the stock peg mounts off and milled "windows" in them to make them look a little more modern. I also got rid of the very large rubber foot pegs and replaced them with aluminum pegs from a late 90's Honda. I intend on making some new peg mounts from scratch but just haven't sat down and drawn it all out yet.

There are still several, several things I am either in the process of doing or is on the list...the long list of things I want to do.
I have painted the wheels finally, and painting the engine will be one of the next things. New wheels and tires are on the list as well as a little more paint on the fairings and tank. Hopefully I will be posting more pics of progress soon.

10 point bonus: Who sang the song named in the title?

WEEKEND FUN!!

2009-04-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

So last weekend I made the short 4hr drive
down to Statesboro GA. (home town) My sister
and I have been planning on attending the
Chris Thile (Punch Brothers) Concert in Savannah during their
nearly three week music festival. The concert
was amazing as always!! The weather was pretty
amazing as well... it rain the whole way over...
and during... and back. The thunder did add an
unusual aspect to the music.
The next night my girlfriend Molly and I went to see the "Infamous Stringdusters". I saw them in Charlotte last year and loved them, Molly saw them a while ago in Macon as well. Before the concert we were able to catch a quick meal at "Moon River Brewing Company" . I had blackened scallops which had a little too much
blackened on them but the great beer made up
for it!! Molly had a hamberger and some of their womderful porter beer.
On monday we got up fairly early and made the short drive to George L. Smith State Park to go canoeing for a few hours. We couldn't have asked for better weather especially after all the rain earlier that week.

(watch the video I took of the Punch Brothers last week)

Badin Lake Kayaking

2009-03-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday the weather here was beautiful! So I had the kayak loaded up the night before and all ready to go on Saturday. I ended up not leaving the house until almost 10:00 but it worked out well because it's still getting down in the 30's at night here. The closest place for me to put in is about 30-40min up Hwy 49 near the Uwharrie Nation Forest. The flat water that makes up Badin Lake is caused by several dams along the Yadkin River, which is just to the north east of Charlotte, N.C. I really enjoy going up here because it is real hilly, almost like small mountains, and there is not as much boat traffic as many of the other lakes around here. It was so peaceful and relaxing to get out and be on the water again. (I must say that I've been looking forward to warmer weather this year like a kid looks forward to getting out of school for the summer.) I paddled up stream for a few hours until it was about time to stop and eat some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I brought. So I wedged myself up against a tree limb so I wouldn't float away and propped my feet up on top of the boat. The whole time I was on the water I was constantly surrounded by Great Blue Herons, Osprey, and Anhingas. I don't think I could have had a much better day to go.

More Pics - http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn288/nathanhouse82/badin%20lake/

WHAT IS THIS?!!

2009-03-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been seeing this happen in our ice trays at work and could not figure out how this happens!!! It's been driving me nuts for weeks now! A few days ago I was here at the house and grabbed an ice tray and guess what... there this thing was on our ice at the house too. All it is is a spear of ice coming straight out of the cube. As you can tell it's not always straight up and down but often at an angle. At first I was sure there was water dripping from somewhere but the freezer at work doesn't even have water run to it. If anyone has a reason for this I would love to
hear it, because I have no idea...

weird!

Rainy Saturday Dinner

2009-03-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a rainy one but I did get out to go some friends of mine wedding Saturday afternoon. While I was on that side of town I figured I'd better stop by The Fresh Market, other wise I'd wish I had. I have been wanting to make tuna steaks for a while now but for whatever reason just haven't done it. So... that's what I did Saturday evening, dinner for one! I also picked up some snow peas (probably on my top 10 foods) and some couscous. I rubbed a little oil on the tuna then added salt, pepper and thyme. I seared the tuna and added fresh lemon juice. I've posted about snow peas in the past so this will be short. The snow peas were cooked the way I usually do, oil in a pan and salt. I must say that I did have a smile on my face as I looked at my empty plate and crashed on the couch for a while...beer in hand.

Rare is the way to go with this fish!!

International Motorcycle Show:

2009-02-24T18:21:00.000-08:00

So here are a few bikes that I took pictures of over the weekend at the
International Motorcycle Show in Greenville, S.C. I went with my friend Matt, his wife and brother and their son Lachlan.

You may be able to tell that I absolutely LOVE Ducati!!
This is one of my favorites, the Ducati Monster...real nice.

This next picture is of a KTM big Duke, also one of favorites at the show.

I really liked the old look of the bike along with the new performance parts like good forks, big brakes and new wheels and tires. Kind of the rat rod of motorcycles in my opinion.

Lachlan got to ride a bike for a while and I think he would have stayed there the rest of the day if we didn't have to eat lunch.

Even though he was the only one that got to take a nap I think if the rest of us had strollers we would all have been out!

I have quite a bit more pictures so just follow this link if you want to take a look.

Everyone loves the CrockPot

2009-01-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

I was on the way home from church Sunday afternoon and I had to stop by the grocery store and pick up a few things. Well as usual I ended up getting a few things that I didn't plan on getting. One of these things was a roast... in my defense it was on sale. As I was walking around with this thing in my hand I was trying to think of what else I needed to get so I could put all this goodness in the crock pot Monday morning. I ended up getting the basics... onions, potatoes and carrots.
I rubbed the roast with some olive oil and sprinkled some rosemary, a little bit of sea salt, and black pepper then seared it in the frying pan just enough to brown the outside. The whole time I'm doing this I'm still trying to decide on what else to put into this thing. I found some, I guess you would call it hot sauce, that I got in my stocking this year at Christmas. It was a Vidalia onion and orange hot sauce. It was really good, kinda sweet then the after taste was a bit spicy.

So I sliced up the onion, quartered the potatoes, sliced the carrots and added some green beans. I also added a little more rosemary salt and pepper then dumped the whole bottle of hot sauce on top. The potatoes and carrots seemed to soak up the sauce more than everything else and the whole thing, I thought, was really tasty. It ended up more like a stew than just a roast, but I'm easy to please when it comes to food and I was pleased with the way this turned out. Of course I guess it's hard to make something not taste good in the crock pot.

--I think next time I might substitute the red potatoes for sweet potatoes--

I'm not sure why this next picture is so blurry. I
took it about seven times and this was the best
one.

snow? I mean uh... SNOW!!

2009-01-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

So they were calling for anywhere between 2-5 inches of snow last night and today. Well we didn't get that much, but it was enough to cover the car a little so I snap a picture this morning as I was headed out to work. Most of the main roads were fine but all the side roads were pretty slick, although I only saw one car pointed the wrong direction in the ditch. I know what you're thinking... and no, the car in the ditch that I saw wasn't mine!

Free Weekend Entertainment!!!

2009-01-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

So humor me and read to the bottom of the stuff I posted. I know it sounds really stupid...probably because it is!! So all the guys at the shop I work at were offered free tickets to the TNA pay-per view wrestling event in Charlotte this weekend. At first I wasn't going to go but the more I thought about it I decided that if I could convince my roommate to go with me then I would go. I mean hey, it's free! So Ben and I headed down to the old Cricket Arena to watch so serious ass kicking! (I wish you could hear the sarcasm in my voice) I remember watching professional wrestling when I was a kid and even then I knew it was all fake, but I never remembered it being THIS fake! So it all started about 7:30p.m. Sunday night and went until 11:00. I must say that it was a lot of fun... but I don't think I would ever pay to see this out of my own pocket. Lots of Laughs

The icon Sting! This guy was doing this when I was real little.

Mine and Ben's best wrestling faces!

This dude was over seven feet tall!! Look at how tall the rest of the guys are.

The guy in the white is 6'8"
Wow! all this action!! HaHa

This is really funny! I was laughing so hard...

Cravings

2009-01-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

For the past several weeks I've had an unexplainable craving for scallops, so Saturday while I was out I stopped by the Fresh Market and pick some up along with a couple of other items. I opted for bay scallops instead of sea scallops strictly because of price. I paid $8.99/lb whereas the sea scallops were $15.99/lb and since I was only cooking for myself I went the cheaper route.

Scallops in Vermouth Cream
1 pound sea scallops
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry vermouth or other white wine
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Toss scallops with flour. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add scallops. Cook 4-5 min or until lightly browned on both sides, turning occasionally. Remove scallops from skillet.
Add vermouth to skillet, stirring to loosen bits from bottom of skillet; bring to a boil. Cook 2 min or until vermouth is reduced by half. Stir in whipping cream, salt, and pepper; reduce heat to low. Add scallops; cook just until thoroughly heated.

I also made some brown rice to go with the vermouth and scallops.
While at the Fresh Market I picked up some snow peas and sauteed them in olive oil along with one shallot. I also happened to find a beer that I'd not yet had so that made it's way onto the table as well.

I've also had a realization that has turned into a sort of craving. While at home in Statesboro GA over Thanksgiving and Christmas I was able to go to the Sugar Magnolia Bakery several times. This got me thinking, and I realized I haven't even looked for a bakery here in the Charlotte NC area! So, Saturday morning I visited a couple that were both very good but a good bit different. I first went to "Amelie's" which is a french style bakery focusing more on pastries and sweets although they do have bread and sandwiches too.
I had to make a decision about what to buy and it took me a few minutes but I decided on a Vanilla Eclair and a Chocolate Croissant. Both were excellent!

The second bakery I went to was closer to downtown Charlotte and focused more on the bread side of things. "Nova*s" was a very beautiful bakery and I bought a loaf of country sourdough and a loaf of pumpernickel. Click on the link above and read their history, it's very interesting and their website is really nice!

Messin' Around

2009-01-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

So I got home from work the other night and started looking at my camera and looking through all the menu features, that sort of thing. I've had this camera almost a year and I've taken a lot of pictures with it but I've never really messed with
the settings to see just what kind of
things it can do. I still don't know
much about changing the
aperture and other settings like
that but at least
I now know a little more about
shutter speed.
The top picture was taken with no flash to get an idea of how dark it was for comparison. All the rest were taken with only varying shutter speeds.
The brightest light in the sky was the moon but I never could get a clear picture of it. Also there are several stars, I think a planet and of course airplanes.

Cannon Power Shot A720IS

X-MAS 2009 CON'T

2008-12-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd talk a little about our Christmas family dinner. Growing up our tradition was always a large breakfast and then a more simple dinner later that day. Our breakfast always consisted of pancakes (which dad only made on Christmas), eggs, sausage, bacon and sometimes homemade biscuits. However, I've noticed that our family traditions are changing somewhat and it may be just because I'm older now, but I think I like it even better. For the last several years breakfast is still a big to do but now we all pitch in for the afternoon dinner instead of it just being my parents preparing the food. Some of my favorite
Christmas memories over the last couple years have
been talking to my sisters about what everyone is going to make and being in the kitchen with my family. I think that this years dinner was particularly good, I'll try to remember each dish.

Breakfast:
French toast with french bread from Sugar Magnolia Bakery, sausage links and patties, bacon and fruit salad.

Dinner:
For starters we had a basic salad with Parmesan cheese and candied pecans, then for the main coarse corned beef(which was amazing!), acorn squash with pear stuffing and an orange juice sauce, asparagus with jalapeno hollandaise sauce, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stewed apples and wild rice and mushroom soup. And to wash it down a glass of Pinot Noir.

Dessert:
My sister Stephanie made a custard but I'm not sure what kind and my niece Hannah and I made a Carrot Cake with a
cream cheese frosting. Hannah is allergic to dairy and most kinds of nuts so we made a special cake for her excluding the walnuts and cream cheese frosting. (see the little rectangular cake in the picture?) I must say that experience is often the best teacher because the first time I made this cake I did not let the cakes cool long enough or the frosting setup long enough so even though it tasted okay it looked like someone stood on the other side of the room and threw it onto the plate! This time it was much better but still not quite as nice as I would like and I think next time I'll add a little extra cinnamon.

Nap time!!

X-MAS 2009

2008-12-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

So I was able to score a whole week off of work for Christmas this year! My week was filled with a lot of laying around and running around so all in all it was very good. My dad told me over Thanksgiving that he wanted to burn the pile of trash in our yard sometime over Christmas. Monday happened to be the coldest day that week (30's that night I think; highs in the 70's the rest of the week). I must admit that the fire didn't last too long after it was lit and I had been expecting to be up late making sure it was out. We had several people come out to enjoy the fire and I was particularly excited about all the kids that were running around and the very little ones that were being carried by all at some point throughout the night.

Mike and Royal

My sister Stephanie with my youngest niece Ava.

Me and Steph

Everyone

Haydn (click on this one, he's pointing to how high the embers are going)

Molly, Brandy and Francys

Oooo... fire...

One of my many nearly world famous mixed drinks...really!

Okay, Okay that last statement wasn't completely true... they're no where near world famous.

Hanging out inside because it was actually cold outside!!

Candace and Molly

I'm not sure what I can say about this... let's just leave it open to interpretation.

Thank you to everyone who was able to come out. I don't get to see any of you very often and this was a lot of fun for me and a good time to catch up with you all.

PME Christmas Party

2008-12-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Last night was my work's annual Christmas party. For the past couple of years we've gone out on Lake Norman aboard a chartered boat. As usual it was a lot of fun! Most everyone and their dates bring a gift to anonymously exchange. Once it's your turn to pick a gift off the table you can either choose one that is on the table or take one from someone that has already opened one and then they get to open another. Each gift can only change hands three times. The gifts ranged from dvds and knives to whoopee cushions and monkey butt. (Google that, I'm not explaining) My name was drawn early on and I unwrapped a set of three flashlights... they were promptly taken from me. Then I received the new AC/DC album... that too was taken quickly. Finally I got something that no one took... a little metal Christmas tree that you can hang pictures or cards on. This was a great gift for any of the women there that night but what am I going to do with that? So on the way back to the car at the end of the night I gave it to our secretary and it is now being proudly displayed on her desk at work!

The food was a sort of holiday buffet. We had mashed potatoes, ham, turkey, prim rib, green beans, many other vegetables and pumpkin pie or peach cobbler for dessert. (I tried both desserts as you can see) The food was good but middle of the road at best. It got extra points for being free, however the ham was actually very good. All this accompanied by the open bar made for a very relaxed and fun evening.

Christmas Cantata

2008-12-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

Last night and tonight was my church's annual Christmas cantata. A festive evening of elegant music and Scripture performed by the Sanctuary Choir, soloists, youth and children's choirs, Christ Covenant brass ensemble and members of the Charlotte Symphony. I was very happy and excited that a friend of mine from work said that he and his family would go with me. We ate at a
nearby 50's style diner then settled down in our seats for the night of music.
The music was absolutely fantastic! Much of it I've sang myself and some of it was composed just for this concert. My friends Matt and Melissa also brought their two year old son Lochland who normally loves this type of thing but with only a 30 minute nap earlier that day he wasn't particularly impressed with everything that was going on.

He was ready ready for the rest of that nap about half way through but I think he settled for some cookies that were out in the foyer. There were several time when the music was very soft and melancholy and then went straight into a loud strong piece that gives you goose bumps and always seems to bring a smile of awe. (He sat up immediately and listened for a while when that happened)
As expected the turnout was very good and the music was wonderful! It is always so encouraging and joyous to see and hear God's people using their voices and talents to sing of His glory. His grace and love for His people is an incredibly beautiful thing. It makes mouths drop in awe and keeps in perspective who He is and how we are to serve Him to His glory.

<<<>>>

Pockets O' Pita

2008-12-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

I decided today to make something I've been want to make for some time now but haven't...pita bread! I wanted to try it some time ago but never did for some reason, then I was watching "Good Eats" with Alton Brown and he was explaining how they get the pockets in the middle (I never knew) which made me want to make them more so I finally set aside time today.

I made my dough and rolled it out. I actually had ten of them but I had to put the other ones on another tray.

They have a very short bake time of 8-10min at 500*. I sat on the floor in front of my oven and watched them rise , while one of my roommates laughed at me.

I was very happy to see that the pockets had done just what they were supposed to.

As for the filling I made a tuna fish salad type thing. (I'm not sure what to call it) I put 2 cans of tuna, chopped celery, mayo, shredded cheese, orange juice, salt and pepper. I know all that probably sounds awful but you should try it. Oh yeah, I topped it off with a Flying Dog porter. Porter's are definitely one of my favorite types of beer. I know that there are others that would go better with this meal but that's what I had, and it's way good!

THE SEASON IS OVER (now the work begins)

2008-12-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

I work at Pro Motor Engines in Mooresville, NC. We had a very good season logging 13 wins in two different series'. The #33 truck owned by Kevin Harvick and driven by Ron Hornaday was our big winners this year. The 33 team won 6 times in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series and their sister team won twice with the #2 truck. Pro Motor also had engines in two other winning trucks this year and in three winning ARCA series cars. The championship came down to the last race and even the last laps, with a late race pit stop making the difference. So heartbreaking, but I think I'm starting to get over it. Many people ask me what we do in the off season since we're not building engines and nobody is going to the track to race. To tell the truth we are actually more busy during the winter months especially after Christmas than we are the rest of the year.
At my shop every year for a few weeks we make changes to the shop and renovations where needed. This year was no exception and we changed a lot of stuff around! The picture above is our new cylinder head area (Mike pictured) which I'm really happy with. We also re-waxed all the floors in the shop, repainted all the offices and all the walls in the machine shop. Still some work to be done but I'm not sure if we will get to the rest of it due to the start of the season fast approaching.

We are an independent engine builder, meaning that we don't have a team that operates out of our shop, instead we supply several different teams with engines. Since we own our engines and lease them out we always have scores of them sitting on the floor waiting to be torn down, cleaned , machined, assembled and dynoed during the off season. We currently have over 100 engines in the shop right now, the large majority still have to have a complete rebuild. We also use the off season as a time to spend a little more time and money toward research and development. I am so thankful that I have a job where I love what I do.
Notice how clean the shop is? Most professional shops at this level are like walking into a hospital they are so clean. It puts a little different perspective on the grease monkeys huh?

Simplicity

2008-12-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

Many times I think that the simplest things in life are the things that I enjoy the most. Everything from just happening to see a shooting star that you're sure no one else saw to simple dinners. One meal I make often is hard boiled egg sandwiches. I've had my heart set on this since before lunch today so I was pretty happy to get home at a reasonable hour tonight. Tonight's meal was missing a few things but was good none the less. I usually like to just add mayonnaise, mustard, relish or chopped celery, lettuce, salt and pepper. My Dad makes a really good homemade sweet relish but I've already eaten it all! (All I had was mayo, mustard, salt and pepper.) I did have some honey french bread that I made a couple days ago that I toasted.

Cold Weather Riding

2008-12-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I finished my motorbike a while ago and have been riding pretty regularly even in the colder weather. I thought I'd give a little information about winter riding since every time I show up somewhere several people seem to ask me, "It's a little cold to be riding a motorcycle isn't it?" The truth is... YES!... but that doesn't deter me from riding anyway. I really do enjoy riding even if it's cold out, and the way I see it is we as a culture rarely experience any discomfort, I know that's true for me. That's not to say that riding in the bitter 20 degree weather is some sort of self empowering pilgrimage, but it has brought to the forefront of my mind that I have an awful lot to be thankful for even if it's something as simple as a car heater! It also got me thinking about how blessed I am when there are so many other people around the world that have so little and would look at any of us as fabulously wealthy! God has been generous and gracious to me in so many ways, ways I'm not even aware.

So, now onto a little about buzzing around on a motorcycle in 20 degree weather or less.
I'll start at the top; My helmet is a Zox brand full face helmet. These aren't the super high dollar helmets but it had really good reviews and was in the price range I was looking for. I also bought a highly reflective band called a "Halo" so hopefully that will help people see me when it's dark out i.e. to and from work. I also have a neoprene face mask to help keep my head warm and the wind from hitting my chin and neck. Chap stick is always a must as well.

I wear a Fieldsheer Corsair jacket that has a wind proof/waterproof inner jacket. I was a little surprised at how warm it is for being as thin as it is. It has ballistic hard padding in the shoulders, elbows/forearms, and down the back. This was a must for me when looking for a jacket because of the added level of safety. It is still necessary to wear a warm base layer underneath but not too much is needed just something long sleeve and a t-shirt usually does me fine.

As for gloves I chose Alpinestars' "Drystar Vega" they are a all season glove and are waterproof. I think I could have actually opted for a warmer pair because my fingers tips after about 30-40min start to get pretty cold. Another selling point of these gloves for me was the carbon fiber knuckle protection. Your hands are an often forgotten part to protect yet they many times can get pretty badly hurt if you were to lay the bike over or get into an accident. Come summer I will buy another pair of gloves just for warm weather.

As for pants I didn't spend allot of money for the real nice cold weather riding pants, instead I went to Burlington Coat Factory and bought a pair of ski pants. They were about $190 cheaper than if I had gone the other route! I have been real pleased and the lower half of my body hasn't even started to get cold since I began wearing these. They are also windproof and waterproof and have an rubbery elastic gator at the bottom of the cuff to keep the pant leg in place instead of riding up due to wind or riding position.
And as always I wear boots that are high on my ankles waterproof and made of leather. All of these things add protection and comforts when you have to shift with your toes.

SACRED HARP/ SHAPE NOTE SINGING

2008-12-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

I've been singing shape note music for a little over three years now and every time I go to one of our monthly sings I'm taken by it all over again. This is a very old style of music that was largely criticized by the academics that taught music in the universities and such. However it was very popular with the people, especially rural families and along the Appalachian mountain range. The purpose of the shapes were to assist the general congregation in singing by associating each shape with a specific note in turn allowing one to follow the line of musical notes throughout the song. One of the things I love most about this type of singing is that you don't have to have a great voice just sing loud and I love the fact that you can hear individual voices with all their imperfections singing to God's glory!
At the beginning of each song everyone sings the song by the notes only, those being Fa, So, La and Mi. Click on the the picture blow and you can see the different shape in place of the traditional musical notes.

FA= triangle
SO=circle
LA=square
MI=diamond

There is so much more to this historical and beautiful form of music than just what I have posted but I hope this might encourage someone to broaden their horizons a bit and look around to see if there is a local group of folks you could sing with. You may even have as much fun as I did my first time and every time since!!

WATCH and LISTEN ---

CHRISTOPHER BRAYDEN RENTZ!!

2008-12-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

One of my very best friends from childhood was blessed with his first born on November 24th 2008! I've known Chris since the 4th grade and we hit it off as soon as we met. The whole time we knew each other up until I moved an hour and a half away we were basically inseparable. I taught him how to play baseball and in one short year he was surpassing me in skill and at that time I was a little league veteran! Hunting, fishing, respect and love for wildlife and the outdoors are just a few of the things that I'm sure are going to be introduced to Brayden at a very early age. I am so happy for my dear friend Chris and his wife for the life of this little boy, and I pray that the Lord will live in his heart at an early age so that he will live his whole life under the love and admonition of the Lord. I love you dearly brother!

Lots going on!...no computer...

2008-12-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot going on in the past month or so but no computer to post with. So, now that I'm back up and running it's time to play catch up.
About a month ago my roommate Luke was laid off and he decided that it would be best for him to move back to Kansas and finish his engineering degree. The racing industry, like most is struggling a bit with the current economy. With less money coming in from sponsors big teams as well as the smaller independent teams and engine builders all have to really pinch their pennies and unfortunately that often means layoffs.

Luke moved out the first of November after living here for about three years and since he was the one that paid the cable and internet bills I've been without for the last several weeks.
My good friends Ben and Stef (who I knew from living in Houston) graciously let me move into their spare bedroom until I find something else. I never seem to realize how much stuff I gather over time until I have to move! Three pickup truck loads later I have thrown away all the stuff that I can honestly ask... why do I still have this?

All in the Family...

2008-10-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

I believe my sister may have made mention of this but hey, we did grow up in the same house.
Some of my most vivid memories as a child while living in the small town of Jesup GA were very hot summers that at the time didn't seem to slow me down, the awful smell of the pulp mill which now brings back fond memories somehow, the attic fan which would pull so much air in through the windows that the curtains would stand out straight and the smell of my mothers home made bread. Now that I'm older it makes me smile to see that my mother and all three of her children enjoy making their own home made bread.
The younger of my two sisters, Stephanie, has worked in several bakeries for several years. She can make some pretty incredible breads all by hand. My oldest sister Melissa makes it for her family at home on a regular basis and for the past several months I too have been trying my hand. The recipe I used today was a simple wheat bread recipe from Melissa with olive oil as my usual substitute for butter and with sesame seeds, oats and wheat germ added in the mix with a little sesame seeds and oats on top as well. I will admit that it took me several loaves before I finally figured out what temperature and how long it needed to stay in my oven. I think I have a little better grasp on what I'm doing now and I've been pleasantly surprised the last couple of times, except when I totally forgot to add the yeast and I ended up with a bread brick! Oops...

Okay, Okay!! Here we go...

2008-10-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here I am Mellisa!! Okay, I now have a blog that I am going to try and keep up. I always enjoy looking at other people's blogs but I've always felt that the many hours I devote to wandering though blog after blog after blog might have been better spent doing something a little more constructive. (That's the big reason I've never had a myspace or facebook account) Not that long ago I did decide however to post pictures of what my life is being filled with on my photobucket account --
http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn288/nathanhouse82/
This I think might be a better way to share pictures and events because I'm really bad about putting details along with my pictures so maybe this blog will help with that.
The picture above is of my current project that I'm hoping will not be a project much longer because I need it to drive to work. This is how I bought the bike, not in great shape but not too bad either. It's a 1982 Honda CB900F, it's currently being painted and I still have to fix the rear brakes but other than that it ought to be about ready to ride. The idea is to sell my car and rely on this as my main source of transportation. I was hoping to have it running before it gets too cold but with every passing week the air is feeling more and more like winter. The plans are to ride this everyday including in the rain and snow this winter. If the weather is to bad or the roads icy I guess I'll drive my truck. So this is what is now consuming my time along with a newly formed blog (Thanks to my sister). Stay tuned... I might just keep this up.......