DT Rising

After a protracted struggle of my own that included busted knuckles and a fair bit of frustration I finally sent the bike off to the experts at O'Hanlon's Motorcycles hidden down in SOMA. Then after a grueling wait that stretched on and on as even the experts got frustrated the problem was finally tracked down.

The DT now has new points and condenser, a new lighting coil, primary coil, secondary coil, turn signal relay, a rewired tail light and a rewired turn signal. Though, it was the lighting coil all along and admittedly the weirdest and last thing anyone expected to be wrong preventing it from getting a spark. So, after a cursory carb rebuild, adjusting the cables and putting in some fresh gas it lights off on the second kick even when it's cold. I suppose the upside and those months and dollars spent resurrecting the beast is that it's about as reliable as it's going to be short of rebuilding the top end.

I'm in the snowy Midwest until after Christmas looking forward to getting back to the city and hopefully off down the coast for a day or two. Hoping I can get to my favorite salvage yard and score a bigger tank for the bike before I head back west.

I'd also like to add that Dave at O'Hanlon's really did me right on this and was more than fair on the price. I sincerely hope I don't run into another problem I can't solve on my own but if I do I won't hesitate to have Dave and his crew bail me out.

Even the smallest garden

It would be nice to have a half acre of decent dirt to raise some food on but living in the city I have far less than that. We do have a few nice beds and a fantastic plum tree in the yard we share with our building. So, instead of trying to square foot garden enough tomatoes for a season or a bed of potatoes I've focused my efforts on a great herb garden. I also grow a few things that are really more than herbs but serve to flavor other things rather than being a dish unto themselves. Garlic and shallots are really simple and go with about anything. They can both be grown in the ground or in pots and can even be used as edible centerpieces or decorative plants. You haven't tasted garlic until you've had green garlic. Just plant the cloves and use the greens like you would green onions. Truly fantastic.

In essence you can buy a lot of potatoes for next to nothing and then throw in some fresh herbs and make something really great, often something that simply can't be had in most stores. 

Today's farmers market was a little on the ordinary side but I still managed to find an heirloom variety of mustard, some miner's lettuce and another type or rosemary for the garden. They'll go nicely with many of the things already out there ranging from Roman myrtle to several varieties of lavender and mint. I even have a patch of dandelions coming along nicely for the greens and maybe an attempt at dandelion jelly. 

Even if only a simple window box is all you can manage give growing something a try! 

Palladium Boots

It'd been ages since I thought about Palladium boots until I ran across them in Lombardi Sports on Polk St. in San Francisco. My grandfather used to buy me surplus Foreign Legion boots when I was in high school and college. They were a standard "go to" shoe for me for years.

Light weight and built much like a canvas sneaker but with a lug sole and far more support, they make for an incredibly versatle shoe. They're  the kind of boot that keeps you from beating up your feet while not being so heavy as to make you regret wearing them 15 or 20 miles into your day. 

After tromping around San Francisco for a couple weeks in my new ones I'm happy to say they've managed to improve on an already great product. 

Potting soil for carnivorous plants!

I've always liked carnivorous plants. Who doesn't think Venus Fly Traps are cool? So, I recently decided to give growing some another shot. I've killed a number of them in the past and thought it'd be a great opportunity to share what I learned after digging in and sorting out why. As it turns out there are two major factors in keeping carnivorous plants, water and soil. Sounds simple enough? Not really.

Carnivorous plants are even more sensitive than the orchids I used to keep. You've got to keep them wet and in a humid environment but you also need to be sure and only use distilled water or rainwater that is known to be clean and contaminant free. RO filtered water is alright but the filters are costly and you could kill your plants if they fail and you don't notice in time. Distilled water is cheap and widely available anyway so there's little excuse to not use it.

The essential soil mix is a 1/1 ratio of pre-wetted peat moss to clean sand that won't leach minerals or untreated perlite. on the surface it's just that simple but if you'd like to read more you ca check out the full step by step Instructable here.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Potting-soil-for-carnivorous-plants/

Opinel knives

I was finally in the right place at the right time and grabbed a new Opinel folder. I haven't had one since moving west and have been meaning to pick up a new one for ages. I was lucky enough to find a shop that carried the nicer ones ad got one with an olive wood handle.

Opinel has been around since the 1890's and is still a family run business in the Savoie region of France. It was one of the first knives I ever owned having gotten my first as a gift when I was 6 or 8 years old. Though my first Opinel was an even more simple "penny knife". I may have to track down one of those as well. That was such a good little knife...

They're just simple well made knives with such a classic design as to not really need much of an update even after more than 100 years. Similar to both Nontron and Laguiole the Opinel is the more likely knife you will find out in the world. One thing I like about them is that being priced reasonably they are knives you won't hesitate to use. This is a knife that successfully combines style and function with the bonus that they tend to look better with time and use.

Still Here!

Hey folks,

haven't posted in ages but I am still out here. Keeping very busy at Instructables and doing more projects than ever. I'm also getting out and about and exploring more and more of not only the San Francisco Bay area but quite a few other places as well. In the coming weeks I hope to get back at this and work the blog into me regular routine. I'd like to post both my work projects as well as random things that I find interesting and a couple of projects here and there that I may not be posting on Instructables, though it seems there's room for just about everything on there.

Bacon!!

Another awesome food day today. Our plum tree has been in season for about a week now and I was able to put up five quarts today. I missed it last year altogether as we were out of town. I even got enough last week to make a nice loaf of bread and share about a dozen plums with friends.

I also picked up a couple pounds of pork belly and my friend Morgan was kind enough to give me some curing salt. So, in about a week I'll be ready to smoke fresh bacon! Crazy excited and can't wait to try it. I'll also be posting a step by step Instructable as soon as it's ready for a taste test.