All little girls love ponies . . . especially purple ones!

A few years and a couple motorcycles ago hubby and I were out for a ride with some friends.  We were cruising along behind them enjoying the road and the passing view. All of a sudden a wayward gust of wind managed to get up into his helmet, ironically through the partially open face shield that he had vented to allow for air flow.  That errant poof of air somehow popped one of his contact lenses out, suddenly leaving that eye practically blind and throwing his depth of field totally out of whack.  Hubby pulled off onto the shoulder.  Our friends were ahead of us, but we had no way to let them know we were in trouble so they continued on.  Now, for all intents and purposes, with only one eye that he could see out of we were pretty much stranded.  I didn’t know how to operate a motorcycle and it wasn’t safe for him to ride in that condition.  Miraculously, when he removed his helmet we discovered that his contact had gotten caught up in the lining and he hadn’t actually lost it.  With a quick rinse he was able to pop the lens back in and we were on our way. 

This got me to thinking . . . yeah, it happens sometimes.  What would happen if we were out riding the bike and something happened and I actually had to operate the bike?  I didn’t have any real idea how and that wasn’t a good thing. So, I discussed my thoughts with hubby.  He didn’t think I was serious about wanting actually learn how to ride a motorcycle and he let it go.  I brought it up again and he finally got the hint that it was something I really meant to do.

Hubby has been riding for years and years . . . since he was a kid.  He had loads of experience but he was self taught and he didn’t want to teach me to ride and thus pass on his bad habits to me.   He insisted that I take a motorcycle safety course so I found the closest one to us, which just so happened to be right in our town, and signed up.   Keep in mind that when I decided that I wanted to learn how to ride I had absolutely no intention of getting my own bike, it was merely a precaution against the unlikely possibility that I would need to get help.

In short order, I was in the classroom and passed the written exam with flying colors.  Then onto the practical course where the hands-on learning how to ride would take place.  They had dozens of bikes to choose from.  I decided on a Honda 250 Rebel because it was small and relatively light weight, a decent little bike for a novice rider. 

We started out with the basic function and mechanics of operating a motorcycle.  Soon my butt was in the saddle and I was actually riding . . . and that was it.  It was all over.  I got home from my class giddy and keyed up.  I announced in no uncertain terms that I wanted my own bike.  I was totally in love with riding a motorcycle after only a short amount of scooting around a parking lot. 

I’m not sure if hubby was thrilled or dismayed . . . maybe a little bit of both. 

Irregardless of any misgivings he might have had, after I passed the riding portion of my class and got the motorcycle endorsement on my driver’s license he bought me the cutest little motorcycle; an adorable red Yamaha Virago 250 and I was absolutely delighted.

I rode the bike for about a year.  Despite the fact that I absolutely loved the bike, I was starting to think that I probably need to move on to a larger bike.  Baby-V, as I lovingly called her, was awfully fun to ride but she was light weight, short on power and I hated the way I got buffeted around by tractor trailer turbulence when riding on the highway.  It was pretty scary.

One day we were shopping for new riding gloves or some such thing at a motorcycle dealership and I spied the prettiest purple bike in the whole wide world.  I walked by it gaping and drooling . . . I had to have it!  Within a week I had traded in Baby-V and had my self a brand spanking new-to-me Yamaha V-Star 650 motorcycle.    I still kind of regret giving up the Baby because I loved her so much but I do love my purple bike.

It took some time but I bonded with the purple bike and I love riding it . . . hell, I love riding in general; however, I am often conflicted.  I absolutely love riding my own bike; but there’s also something to be said about being on the back of hubby’s bike with my legs straddling his body, my arms around him and just enjoying the ride.   Sounds kind of sexy, huh?  Yeah, it is.  The good thing is that I have the option of doing either and I am a happy, happy girl!

The RUGER® SR1911

A day in the garden - Stuff's growin'!

I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe

As if I haven’t already mentioned it a multitude of times before . . . my husband is awesome.  He’s a sweet, affectionate, intelligent and handy.    He’s my personal Mr. Fix-it; plumbing, electrical, mechanical . . . he’s my handy man.  He's my every man . . . he's awesome!

I drive a 1997 Honda CRV with over 160,000 miles on the odometer.  It’s a great little car that serves me well and I love it.

I recently noticed that the front end was making noise . . . specifically; when I depressed the brake pedal . . . a grinding, scraping sound.   So, I had hubby take a listen.  He checked out my brakes and rotors and determined that they needed to be replaced .  . . soon.  He admonished me that I should have had some sort of warning that the brake pads were wearing down and instead of relatively inexpensive repair I now had a fairly expensive repair. Blah!

He can change out the brake pads and rotors himself but we live in a condo with no garage; which means he’d have to do the job working on the ground in a crowded parking lot.  He was willing to pay someone $100 just so he wouldn’t have to do it himself.  So, he asked me to call around and get some estimates on what it would cost to get my brakes done.

I called around and it was going to cost me at least $350 to get new brakes and rotors put on my car.  Hubby wasn’t about to spend that kind of money to do something that he could do for way less.

So, from my observations and endless questions is my interpretation of how to change the brake pads and rotors on my car.

The first thing he did was jack the car up off the ground so that he could remove the tire.  That sounds easy enough until you take into consideration that my car is full of gardening stuff and the jack was buried in the wheel well under all that crap.  

Okay, so once the car is jacked up he put a jack stand under the car to hold it up in case the jack should happen to fail so the car wouldn't go smashing to the ground.

When he removed the tire it fully exposed the gouged out rotors beneath.

See that thingy-doodle up there?  That's the caliper.  What does it do?  It calipates, what else!  Actually, Brake calipers squeeze the brake pads against the surface of the brake rotor to slow or stop the vehicle.  That had to come off next.

After removing the bolts he gently pried the caliper loose. Then he secured it with a bungee cord in order to keep from pulling on the brake line  . . . he's so smart.  :)


The caliper mounting bracket came off next. 

And then the brake pads came off . . . the very worn out brake pads.

And then off with the rotor; which was a fairly difficult job since I don't think the rotors have been changed in the car's 15 years on the road.  The bolts holding the rotor in place were pretty well rusted on.  So he used a cool tool called an impact driver.  An impact driver delivers a strong, sudden rotational and downward force.  It is used to loosen larger screws (bolts) and nuts that are corrosively "frozen" or over-torqued.  It's pretty spiffy.

Then it was time to install the shiny new rotors.  They are packaged with lubrication to keep them from rusting on the shelf.  So, he sprayed them with Brakleen . . . brake parts cleaner . . . to remove the oily coating.  Slick brakes aren't a good thing.

He also coated the bolts with caliper brake grease, which is a high temperature  grease that is used to prevent corrosion.


Then the caliper mounting bracket went back on and the brake pads were prepped for installation.

He prepped them by smearing on Disc Brake Quiet.  Disc Brake Quiet stops brake squeal by dampening vibration at caliper/brake pad interface. It also proveds a tighter fit and protects against corrosion.

Old pad on the left . . . new pad on the right

Then the new "cushy" brake pads went on.  

The caliper goes back on next.  But before that can be done it needs to be compressed.   But, some of the brake fluid should be suctioned out of the master cylinder first.  Otherwise brake fluid will spill out all over the place when the caliper is compressed. 

Then using one of the old brake pads to protect the caliper and a C-clamp, he compressed the caliper.


Once the caliper was compressed, it was ready to be installed.

Then, finally, the tire went back on and  . . . 

. . . .tada . . . new brake pads and rotors.  

But, he wasn't done quite yet.  He checked the brake fluid to make sure the levels were good and then a quick test drive to make sure the brakes were functioning properly.

Yay!  New brakes . . . for $100 he did what an auto shop would have charged over $350 dollars for.

Job well done, my sweet and awesome hubby!  Smoochers!

A day in the garden - Bumble Bees

A day in the garden - Zucchini Blossoms

A day in the garden - I'm so excited I could pea my plants!!

A day in the garden

A rose is a rose is a rose unless it's a daisy

A day in the garden - update

Hubby and I went away for a week for a much needed and well deserved vacation.  I was worried about the garden . . . was it getting enough water, would the weeds be taking over, did some beastie ravage the plants?


I was happily surprised . . . mostly.  The tomato plants looked a little wilted and there is A LOT of weeding to do, but overall the garden looks pretty darn good.


The pea plants vines are managing to find their way to the fencing we set up for them to climb.  There's purslane popping up all over, I can't wait for a yummy salad of the greens!  There are developments in the radish and jalapeño plants . . . they are starting to bear fruit!  An unexpected surprise was bean plants popping up miscellaneously all over the garden . . . we didn't plant them but there they are . . . I can't wait to see what kind of beans they turn into because I have no clue.  And, finally, I planted a couple of sunflower plants given to me by the innkeeper of the motel where we stayed (and always stay) on our vacation.


I love to see the progress that can be seen from day to day . . . stay tuned!

Busy Bee

The highest paak in New England!

Clouds

The early bird gets the worm.The early worm... gets eaten.

Eater of Twigs

Rain day flowers

Little red squirrel

Fear no beer

Moat Blueberry – 4.5 % a.b.v. an American style wheat ale with a  a medium blueberry nose and a gentle fruit finish.  Fermented with steam-extracted juice.  Summer Seasonal




Moat Mountain Violet B's blueberry beer tastes like New Hampshire.  At least to me it does.  We visit the Mount Washington Valley several times a year.  We always return home with several growlers of beer from Moat Mountain Smoke House and Brewery.  Why?  Amazing beer from a great brew pub.  They have their standards, which rock, but the blueberry is my favorite.  I look forward to its seasonal release each and every year.  YUM.  Beer? No fear!

North Conway, NH 03860