Above 1200 Sq/FT Harley Jim's place

[harley jim]

It was 90 today, much better.
I got a gallon of blackberries today and was going to make some wine! I could not find my wine making stuff anywhere, I tore this place apart looking! Finally got Pat to come help, we searched everywhere, second trip through the shop she asked, what's in the white cabinet behind that pile of stuff! Bingo, found it, then I remembered putting it there for safe keeping. The cabinet is going in the wood shop once the bil's car comes out, so it's not in the mix with the other cabinets! Just there by itself.
To late tonight to make wine, Ill start tomorrow after I go get Pat's new tires installed. Then maybe I can get back on the cabin! Im running out of time quick! We're supposed to start building trikes after the holiday.

 

[xtremek]

........ Then maybe I can get back on the cabin! Im running out of time quick! We're supposed to start building trikes after the holiday.

Preach that about running out of time. I swear I'm busier than when I was working full time.

 

[harley jim]

I warned you! I have told people that Im going to go back to work so I can get a break! I got Pat's tires changed, went to Lowes and bought some stain for the porch, mowed the grass, and that was about it. Time for supper.

 

[harley jim]

Stayed in the house almost all day today!

I had a 1/2 gallon of blackberry puree that needed to be used, I added 1/2 gallon of grape,cranberry juice, 1/2 gallon of water, 3.5 lbs of sugar, some yeast nutrient, and some pectin, brought it to a low boil and reduced the heat and simmered for 30 minutes!
Then some guy texted and said he was 45 minutes frome Cleveland and was coming for a trike! So I explained that it was by appointment only, he was on his way through from Indiana, so I agreed to meet him, he bought a frame, we talked a bit and Im sure he is crazier than me, he has a kz motor planned for it! He may come back for the drift trike!
So then I was able to get back to my wine making, the mix needed to cool to about 85° before I added the yeast.

This is about an hour after adding the yeast, it already has a 1/2" head on it so the yeast is doing it's job. We should have some wine right around Thanksgiving!
I may make a batch of watermelon tomorrow, food city has them on sale for 1.99 each. There's a limit, but I have three value cards so I got this!

 

[harley jim]

Went to the 4th of July celebration in Benton yesterday, yes they had it on the 5th! The town council figured out that they could save 30,000 dollars on there fireworks if they wait one day! So there fireworks celebration is always the Saturday after the forth!

I don't know this boys name but he is involved with the west Polk co. fire dept. Everytime he sees the trikes he comes over and talks, this time a girl came over and wanted to ride a trike so I let her, come to find out it is his twin sister. Now they both want to ride.

 

[xtremek]

Seeing the young man on your bike I finally get a feel for their size. They're a lot bigger than I thought. I like the size.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I think Orlando did their fireworks on the 3rd. Just don’t seem right.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I think Orlando did their fireworks on the 3rd. Just don’t seem right.

There's a saying my grandpa used about daily.. Save a buck, don't get fucked.
And here endeth the lesson.

 

[harley jim]

Seeing the young man on your bike I finally get a feel for their size. They're a lot bigger than I thought. I like the size.

Yes, they suprise most people that finally see one in person. They are 70" long, 40" wide, 42" high.
I have a guy thats 6' 5" 330lbs that wants one, Im going to have to make highway pegs on his so he can sit upright.

I think Orlando did their fireworks on the 3rd. Just don’t seem right.

I think it's all about the money.

There's a saying my grandpa used about daily.. Save a buck, don't get fucked.
And here endeth the lesson.

I agree 100%

 

[harley jim]

Too hot outside! It's still around 100° so I stayed inside, got bored so I made some watermelon wine

We had three watermelons, Pat cut one to eat, I took the other two and made about 3 gallons of wine. Hopefully I can get outside today!

 

[xtremek]

I have to vote against Strouty on this, but I'll take the snow over the temps above 85*F. Been so hot (to me at least) that I actually looked at a mini-split for the shop. The price for a 28k-30k BTU is cheap enough, BUT Robin would kill me when she saw the electric bill.

 

[Prospecter]

I have to vote against Strouty on this, but I'll take the snow over the temps above 85*F. Been so hot (to me at least) that I actually looked at a mini-split for the shop. The price for a 28k-30k BTU is cheap enough, BUT Robin would kill me when she saw the electric bill.

You need a solar array. Then you would not worry about the electricity!

 

[harley jim]

I have been looking at mini splits for the cabin,
I have a ptac on the back porch and it didn't really Make a noticeable rise in my bill, I was going to put one in the cabin but where Pat wants it placed will be too high on the wall to see how to operate it, so the next choice is a mini split, my hvac guy warns me against them but Im not seeing a choice. The ptac is way cheaper than a mini split also, (a domestic mini split not a Chinese unit!)
Tell Robin she has to take care of the help! Lol.

 

[Prospecter]

Tennessee should have an excellent climate for a mini-split. I have one in my shop, and a central heat pump in the house, with propane backup. After two winters, I have used less than 5% of the 1000g propane tank, which also supplies a Rinnai heater for garage storage, which I use when I am in there, and my BBQ. Ours do run off the power generated by our solar array, which helps, but the mini-splits are still super efficient.

 

[harley jim]

I like the ease of a mini split, and there are a lot of them in use here, even business are adding them in hard to cool spots. The shake shack has several rooms that used to be open dining, they put one in each room, they work great.
My hvac guy warns me that a lot of them don't stock parts in the US, so if it breaks, you wait on the boat from china!

I made sauerkraut a month or so back.

I took it out of the crock this morning and put it in jars.

This was the leftover, I had it for breakfast!

I picked blackberries again this morning, Pat should have about a gallon in the fridge now. She is going to make jelly, Im not sure how many she will need yet, but there are several still on the vine.

She got them salted and cleaned up, said she was going to need a bigger container now!
Im headed out to work on the cabin.

 

[larry4406]

Make blackberry ice cream!

Smash the berries and run them thru a metal fine mesh colander to separate the seeds out. Add the net pureee to a vanilla ice cream recipe of your choosing.

Awesome!

 

[Prospecter]

Nothing quite like home made sauerkraut. Looks delicious!

 

[Just Puttering]

Don't forget to hold back some of those berries for a yummy Blackberry Crisp.

 

[harley jim]

Ok Larry, you got me thinking!
I have the ice cream attachment for my kitchen aid mixer. I may have to do that!
Prospector, it is delicious, I ate the leftovers while I was packing the other jars!
Just puttering, do you have a recipe?
I love a good crisp or a crumble!

Pat got seven pints of jelly from that batch. Right now Im getting about a quart every two days. Pat said the next batch will be for blackberry dumplings!

I worked on the cabin again today, it's going slow, but Im making progress.

I wrapped the main beam and it split on both ends, so I glued and clamped them together, it was 93° so I decided the glue needed time to dry! Tomorrow is another day!

 

[harley jim]

I didn't hit a lick today!

I didn't want to take a chance that my wood glue wasn't dry so I didn't touch it today, LOL!
Actually I just decided to not go outside, it was cooler today but I just didn't feel like swimming in sweat and saw dust all day again.

Pat did convince me to go out for a bit!

Won't be long though, it's still 86° out here!

 

[xtremek]

It looks like a good reason to go outside on a hot day.

 

[harley jim]

Well! She did it, now I gotta go out again!

Im going to start this about 4:00 this afternoon, it's will take about 18 hours, should be ready for the lodge meeting tomorrow evening. Headed to the grocery store and Wallyworld now, hopfully Ill get some cabin time this afternoon.

 

[harley jim]

The Boston **** came out perfect

It was done at 6:00 am Saturday morning! I had some for breakfast!

This is a Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter tomato! They were developed in the 1920s. It tast like a tomato used to taste back when you were a kid!
Ill be harvesting seed from some of these for next year.

Had a pretty good haul today,
I picked another 1/2 gallon of blackberries.

Pulled all of the onions, going to braid them and hang them in the basement.
Mowed the grass, trimmed the grape vines back, they were hanging so low I couldn't mow under them, sprayed them with diatomaceous earth to get rid of the Japanese beetles.
Im going back in the shop Monday to start welding trike frames, we're completely out of everything, except four standard electric frames, and we have two people coming next week for gas frames. Wednesday Im having minor toe surgery, not sure what he's going to do exactly but two nails are coming off, for sure!

 

[xtremek]

Garden looks like it's producing well. And the wife loves Baby Ray's. Me, it's ok.

 

[harley jim]

Garden is doing good!
Baby Ray's is ok.
My favorite is original open pit!

 

[harley jim]

Started on some trike frames today!

 

[BuffettFan]

Garden looks like it's producing well. And the wife loves Baby Ray's. Me, it's ok.

Garden is doing good!
Baby Ray's is ok.
My favorite is original open pit!

That's a whole lotta trikes, Jim!

If you get a chance, try some Meat Mitch Whomp Sauce.
The best store bought sauce I've ever tried!

 

[harley jim]

Terry, I have never seen that brand! But it says Walmart, and Ace hardware have it. I will find a bottle!


We have a system down real good.

We have two stages of jig tables, while I load the first half onto the first table Donnie is welding the second half on the second table. Then we switch!

It has proving to be the right way, we assembled 16 frames today in five hours. Ill be going for foot surgery tomorrow so Donnie will weld out and inspect everything. Thursday and if needed Friday. Ill be in my recliner!

I made some pico, with the heirloom tomatoes I grew this year. They tast just like the tomatoes we had when I was a kid, they are so good. The guys at the lodge helped empty the bowl!

 

[Prospecter]

16 trikes sounds like a lot! System must be working.

Good luck today on the foot. Hope you get back on both feet quickly.

 

[xtremek]

That's a pot full of frames. The pico does look good. And I hope your operation was successful.

 

[bugnut]

Jim, how goes it? Surgery go okay? Hope you're well!

 

[harley jim]

Joel, I made it to my appointment ok, after discussing what he needed to do and the recovery time, we postponed it. The recovery time could be 3 weeks, Im having scar revision surgery on both knees next Thursday so not enough time to recover. Getting old ain't for sissies!
So I just came home and went back to work!

 

[bugnut]

Jim, it sure is tough to keep an old dawg down! Keep moving!

 

[harley jim]

I intended to work on the cabin today but the tree man showed up! He was supposed to be here in February! Before the leaves came out!

I wanted these two trees topped , they are about 30' to tall. With the wind we have here I was afraid they would fall.

I hauled all of the brush to the back corner of the woods and stuffed it in tight.

Frank did a good job.

I also had him take down a dying tree out back.

Caught it falling, Frank in action, he's just a baby at 61 yr old. But he worked like a mule!

 

[xtremek]

How much/many trees did he drop?

 

[harley jim]

Topped two and dropped one for me.
Dropped two for Donnie next door.

 

[harley jim]

We had a Master Mason degree last night, they are a bigger event than the other two, so it was a late night.
I finally got to bed about 12:45!
So bright and early at 11:30 this morning I got busy!

While the fence was down, I went ahead and finished trimming the two trees in the side yard.

They haven't been limed up in about 10 years, so it was time.

They look really good now!
And the house is a lot brighter inside also!

Pat helped me put the fence back up, the neighbor has snagged the chain link with his mower a few times, so I took some pliers and fixed the snags! That isn't a fun job at all! Now when I mow, I mow two strips down the outside of the fence so he dosnt get close enough to snag it anymore.

The trees will fill back in in a couple of years,

But Frank did a great job on them. Were both happy with his work.

The banana plants are doing well this year. Im going to dig a few of the small ones out, Pat has a friend that wants some.

Last week Pat refinished the front porch, the whole place is getting a face lift! Now if I could just get some nice grass to grow!
Back to trikes tomorrow, we still have about 10 to finish welding. And about 10 to put in boxes.

 

[harley jim]

Forced vacation again!

This is way different that the last time, Doc put me in compression wraps, said no ladders, or scaffolding for 72 hours, I think Doc knows me too well! Pat just laughed!

We almost finished the stock in the trailer.

Donnie packed five drop tube frames, and three standard frames yesterday and today. We were down to three standard frames and normally carry ten, so four more next week and the trailer will be fully stocked. Then Im going to prototype a mini bike frame.

Fall show schedule.







We only have a week between the rod run and the rumble so we need to have stock ready beforehand, I don't do all nighters like I used to!
Im hoping some of you might be able to catch a show and say hi!

 

[bugnut]

Hey Jim, take it easy on the knees for a couple days, you'll catch up soon enough!

 

[xtremek]

"..... Then Im going to prototype a mini bike frame. ......"

Because you're not busy enough. lol