I found time yesterday to have another fiddle with the other bike and again managed to start her but she has developed a habit of dumping a quantity of petrol over the garage floor instead of running. Using my limited deductive powers I tried starting her with the fuel cock switched off and it was a Doctor Frankenstein "IT LIVES!" moment. Swiftly followed by an "It's Died" moment when I turned the fuel on and flooded it.
This suggests that the carburetters are gummed up with old fuel deposits and will need a bit of attention to get her to run for anything more that a few seconds. Now my mechanical skills are at the "take it off, put it back on" level and I think cleaning precision balanced components and hoping they will work afterwards is probably beyond me plus the garage isn't the cleanest environment to work in so a trip to the Workshop needs to be arranged.
30% and I have made a damn good start on the Kitchen with much filling and sanding. That pretty much sums up what will be happening today too.
Yesterday evening's entertainment was in the form of the Village Idiot turning up with two frozen mackerel - Don't Ask, Just Don't Ask - and requesting assistance to load his few sheep in to a trailer so he can drop them off at a local farm for shearing. I said I was up for this and would pop round this evening adding that the mackerel were quite likely to find their way in to our Hot Smoker.
VI then advised that he had a forthcoming appointment at the Magistrates Court as a result of a misunderstanding with the DSS or whatever they are called now. He had previously had a few interviews about sums of cash in certain bank accounts that invalidated claims he was making and thought he was in the clear when they simply advised that he needed to pay back the over claim. It now seems that they have decided that a court appearance is in order too.
30% and I have recently been giving the matter of employment a lot of consideration in view of our recent brushes with redundancy and as tax payers VI's incredibly blase view of what basically distills down to fraud didn't meet with our approval. As a result 30% gave VI both barrels and pointed out quite clearly and concisely that she did not appreciate VI coming round and, to use the modern idiom, "giving it the Large" about making fraudulent claims and the minimal punishment he was likely to get from the Magistrates in view of his heart condition that prevents him from working but doesn't seem to stop him from doing quite a lot of decorating and gardening "on the side".
I could wax lyrical about VI but it is definitely a case of extremely eccentric inbred ingrate.....
... and after after moving 10 of his sheep off to a local farm for sheering I hope he looks kindly upon me when his lambs have been butchered because the bugger certainly owes me a cheap one!
Showing posts with label Motorbike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motorbike. Show all posts
Friday 4 June 2010
Thursday 3 June 2010
As Predicted.
As predicted; many things were done yesterday but sanding the wood work in the kitchen was not one of them.
As hoped: the ham hock at "The Ugly Sister" was very good - totally inappropriate to the time of year - but very good, as was the lemon meringue and the two G&Ts that accompanied it.
As wished: I found twenty minutes in the schedule to connect the battery and insert new spark plugs in the "other bike". On the off chance I tried the starter a few times, not really expecting much as there was a few cc of oil in each of the cylinders which keeps the bores lubricated but needs to be expelled before we have ignition. For a brief moment she purred in to life, not stuttered, not coughed, but purred. It is a sound I haven't heard for far too long and I am talking years plural not months.
It is a good job that the meal at the Ugly Sister was so good as that was why I was dragged from the garage yesterday evening.
As planned: TP and I knocked up a couple of batches of sausages. 12 lbs in all. About 5 lbs of Sweet Chili which are self explanatory and are great either for breakfast or on a barbecue. The remainder were a Gloucester Sausage which is a mixture of pork, suet, fresh sage, marjoram, nutmeg and salt and pepper. The recipe calls for water to moisten it before stuffing but my hand fell upon a can of cider and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today TP is off to his Grandma's for a few days so 30% and I may actually make a start on prepping the kitchen rather than finding many other less important, but more enjoyable, things to do instead.
I'll leave you with these thoughts. The World Cup is approaching and that raises my heartbeat, blood pressure and pulse rate.
Yes, that's right, I loathe football. Do I rant or not? To be honest it's not worth getting up tight about because its a game and nothing more.
As hoped: the ham hock at "The Ugly Sister" was very good - totally inappropriate to the time of year - but very good, as was the lemon meringue and the two G&Ts that accompanied it.
As wished: I found twenty minutes in the schedule to connect the battery and insert new spark plugs in the "other bike". On the off chance I tried the starter a few times, not really expecting much as there was a few cc of oil in each of the cylinders which keeps the bores lubricated but needs to be expelled before we have ignition. For a brief moment she purred in to life, not stuttered, not coughed, but purred. It is a sound I haven't heard for far too long and I am talking years plural not months.
It is a good job that the meal at the Ugly Sister was so good as that was why I was dragged from the garage yesterday evening.
As planned: TP and I knocked up a couple of batches of sausages. 12 lbs in all. About 5 lbs of Sweet Chili which are self explanatory and are great either for breakfast or on a barbecue. The remainder were a Gloucester Sausage which is a mixture of pork, suet, fresh sage, marjoram, nutmeg and salt and pepper. The recipe calls for water to moisten it before stuffing but my hand fell upon a can of cider and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today TP is off to his Grandma's for a few days so 30% and I may actually make a start on prepping the kitchen rather than finding many other less important, but more enjoyable, things to do instead.
I'll leave you with these thoughts. The World Cup is approaching and that raises my heartbeat, blood pressure and pulse rate.
Yes, that's right, I loathe football. Do I rant or not? To be honest it's not worth getting up tight about because its a game and nothing more.
Tuesday 1 June 2010
And, Relax.
Yesterday saw a rare visit by 30%'s sister and her boyfriend. They are not particularly close but get on well enough so we had a leisurely morning in the garden drinking coffee and exchanging news. Time did what it does so well and flew by. Before we knew it it was half past lunch and we were starving.
30% and I were suffering from a large dose of "can't be arsed" and therefore decided that we should try out the less picturesque of the two pubs in the village rather than rustle up some lunch. The village grapevine had suggested it was well worth a visit as the food was good and the prices were reasonable.
Now with this pub you need to be very careful about how you treat this news as it changes hands more frequently than your average person changes their socks so just because it was good last week when a dog walking acquaintance found it to be "serving excellent pub grub in relaxed and informal surrounds" means nothing. We could well be heading towards a Gastro Pub that has eye watering prices and decides that you really want to see 20% food and 80% plate or even worse a Harvester!
Fortunately it was still under the same Management Team and the food was good. We only had a light lunch but I am tempted back by the menu description of a Ham Hock served on an Apple and Mustard Mash. Probably more "winter warmer" that light Summer Supper but with English weather I should be able to report back within the next few days.
The afternoon saw a tramp round the lanes with Tyson & Marauder and then I retired to the garage for an hour or so to tinker with my latest project.
I have previously mentioned that the Vespa is in an expensive Cheltenham Private Clinic undergoing exotic and expensive treatments as it rightly deserves so my other neglected bike is having to undergo a more "herbal" or DIY approach on its journey to road worthiness. The fairings are off, the plugs are out and the oil drained. I'm now at the point where I need to start putting things back. In a few days it will be a gallon of unleaded, a turn of the key and a push of the starter if all goes to plan.
I had been appointed chef for the evening so I knocked up a Spaghetti Carbonara with eggs from the hens and a piece of bacon that I had cured and smoked a couple of months ago. A side salad and a glass of weak battery acid - sorry a light white wine - suited it well enough.
I've been curing bacon for a while now and am really pleased with the results I have been getting. Done properly there is nothing finer that a decent bacon sandwich and I was getting more and more disillusioned with the excuses for bacon most shops sell. I have had some premium stuff and it is very good but expensive and still short of the mark so I dug out a recipe from the Internet and set to. All of my attempts were edible and deemed good by those in the know but a little trial and error plus a heap of encouragement from a Rare Breed Pig Farmer and Butcher and we are now producing some excellent bacon.
At the moment I don't have a Bacon Slicer so have to slice it by had with a knife - Shame that - I cant get it wafer thin and have to put up with 4 - 5mm thick slices of home cured and smoked bacon. This leads me neatly on to one of my bacon sandwich theories or perhaps metrics. I feel that there is an important bread : bacon ration that once attained or exceeded turns a mediocre sarnie in to a butty of distinction.
This isn't complicated. This is how you do it. Take bacon from fridge and start to cook it. That's it - all of it. Then start to assemble the sandwich. If you partner gasps and says words to the effect of "Your not putting all of that in one sandwich" or the more succinct "You greedy pig" you are probably getting close to the correct bread : bacon ratio.
On the subject of sauce, you can put what you like with commercial bacon but would you ask for ketchup to go with a perfectly cooked piece of Longhorn sirloin that had been hung for a minimum of 21 days? I think not.
Right, when I made the Carbonara I made sure that I left a few rashers for this morning. Breakfast time I think.
30% and I were suffering from a large dose of "can't be arsed" and therefore decided that we should try out the less picturesque of the two pubs in the village rather than rustle up some lunch. The village grapevine had suggested it was well worth a visit as the food was good and the prices were reasonable.
Now with this pub you need to be very careful about how you treat this news as it changes hands more frequently than your average person changes their socks so just because it was good last week when a dog walking acquaintance found it to be "serving excellent pub grub in relaxed and informal surrounds" means nothing. We could well be heading towards a Gastro Pub that has eye watering prices and decides that you really want to see 20% food and 80% plate or even worse a Harvester!
Fortunately it was still under the same Management Team and the food was good. We only had a light lunch but I am tempted back by the menu description of a Ham Hock served on an Apple and Mustard Mash. Probably more "winter warmer" that light Summer Supper but with English weather I should be able to report back within the next few days.
The afternoon saw a tramp round the lanes with Tyson & Marauder and then I retired to the garage for an hour or so to tinker with my latest project.
I have previously mentioned that the Vespa is in an expensive Cheltenham Private Clinic undergoing exotic and expensive treatments as it rightly deserves so my other neglected bike is having to undergo a more "herbal" or DIY approach on its journey to road worthiness. The fairings are off, the plugs are out and the oil drained. I'm now at the point where I need to start putting things back. In a few days it will be a gallon of unleaded, a turn of the key and a push of the starter if all goes to plan.
I had been appointed chef for the evening so I knocked up a Spaghetti Carbonara with eggs from the hens and a piece of bacon that I had cured and smoked a couple of months ago. A side salad and a glass of weak battery acid - sorry a light white wine - suited it well enough.
I've been curing bacon for a while now and am really pleased with the results I have been getting. Done properly there is nothing finer that a decent bacon sandwich and I was getting more and more disillusioned with the excuses for bacon most shops sell. I have had some premium stuff and it is very good but expensive and still short of the mark so I dug out a recipe from the Internet and set to. All of my attempts were edible and deemed good by those in the know but a little trial and error plus a heap of encouragement from a Rare Breed Pig Farmer and Butcher and we are now producing some excellent bacon.
At the moment I don't have a Bacon Slicer so have to slice it by had with a knife - Shame that - I cant get it wafer thin and have to put up with 4 - 5mm thick slices of home cured and smoked bacon. This leads me neatly on to one of my bacon sandwich theories or perhaps metrics. I feel that there is an important bread : bacon ration that once attained or exceeded turns a mediocre sarnie in to a butty of distinction.
This isn't complicated. This is how you do it. Take bacon from fridge and start to cook it. That's it - all of it. Then start to assemble the sandwich. If you partner gasps and says words to the effect of "Your not putting all of that in one sandwich" or the more succinct "You greedy pig" you are probably getting close to the correct bread : bacon ratio.
On the subject of sauce, you can put what you like with commercial bacon but would you ask for ketchup to go with a perfectly cooked piece of Longhorn sirloin that had been hung for a minimum of 21 days? I think not.
Right, when I made the Carbonara I made sure that I left a few rashers for this morning. Breakfast time I think.
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