SMASH BURGERS - REMOVE ALL HAM RADIO INFASTRUCTURE - ELEVEN YEARS AGO - WATCH "LIGHT LINE"

I found a few videos on "smash burgers" recently and thought I would give it a try. Not much of a stretch from just frying a hamburger patty.

The process seems be the same from the several different videos I watched.

Smash the patty on a grill or, in my case, the cast iron skillet. Most suggest a patty smashed fairly thin which I tried the first time. 

The juices do indeed stay inside the burger and both surfaces are sufficiently crusted. Salt and pepper only suggested in the videos and just fine. We always use 85% ground chuck from Sam's. Also smashed on to a puddle of melted butter as suggested. 

Second attempt for breakfast this past week was much more favorable leaving the patties a little thicker.  Six to seven minutes for medium. First side three minutes before turning. Start at medium heat and work from there.

Cheese melts perfectly after the first flip. And don't monkey with the burger. Smash it, time it, flip it, cheese it and plate it.

Using a piece of parchment paper between your press and the burger works too.

I will probably stay with this process for ease and flavor. From a quick hamburger steak to a full-blown burger, the process works fine. 

Do not do this in your kitchen. Splatter is noticeable. Outside cooking station works fine and clean-up easy. 

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 CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS...

ripped from the headlines

"California Officials declare Ham Radio no longer a benefit; Demands Ham radio repeater infrastructure to be Removed"

Just another story stuck in the muck and mud of media this week. The headline screams --- officials demands.  One more freedom on the chopping block. This one is another good example that "they" are coming for all of us in every nook and cranny of our lives. 

The article is short and to the point. 

HAM operators can talk all over the world. In my last post, I shared a brief story of attending a hillside ham shack set up with several HAM operators trying to make contacts across the pond. And we did. 

It was as easy as setting up an antenna, hooking up a high frequency ham radio to a portable battery power supply. With a proper ham license, operators search frequencies for others talking and make contact bouncing radio waves off the atmosphere. It is as easy and as complicated as that. 

What all of this means is that ham operators can talk to other ham operators anywhere around the world and get exact, up-to-date information sharing. No middle man/woman official editing information. Freedom of speech seems to be a major problem and many think it should be eliminated. 

Good quick video 1  https://youtu.be/2Mgd06UAHbU

Good quick video 2  https://youtu.be/3uCh8NrkmAo

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Eight hours of steady rain followed by light rain showers and wind gusts. A couple inches for most of the state.

Fall's leaves covering most of the yard and driveway this morning. Color, although at the end of peak, still holding on. Can see further into and through the woods now and some of this beauty now needs to be mulched with the mower or raked and tossed. 

Regardless, this has been a wonderful season of color that has been appreciated.  

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Eleven years ago, my wife and I were using a small, power-driven snow blower to clear our 900' driveway from the house down to the main road. My wife is making the first pass down the hill and the driveway is defined by the high snow banks on either side. We did not plow at this point that winter because there was no more room for pushing snow.

We were younger then. 

  

Second pass back up the hill. 

We would take turns and the dog went with us on every pass. Yea, we were younger then!!

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Confined area landing near Eagle Alaska 1986, Temsco Helicopters.

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Watch "Light Line - Jean-Baptiste Chandelier"

 Another good video from Jean-Baptiste Chandelier

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 Thanks again for the visit this week.

 

 

RIB EYE REPEATS - ELVIS AND ANN MARGARET - HAM CONTESTING

That time of the year again when we find a good cut of rib eye roast and cut our own steaks. 

We have been doing this for the past few years and have shared this before with pics. What has changed?

The price. And it appears these treats will keep trending higher. 

These steaks priced out at $9.78 each and, in my book, that is expensive. Seems not too long ago this price was in the seven dollar each range. But always always much less cost than buying a steak or two cut and packaged by the butcher. The quality of meat and size of each steak is also much better. 

I priced two similar steaks packaged at the same large chain store earlier this past week and two rib eye steaks like these were selling for $40. 

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SHUFFLE DANCING AND MUSIC that is fun to watch and listen to.  INTERPRETING THROUGH DANCE. 

Most all of the dancing I see these days in the selling for products or an attempt to share, falls way short of intent. But these youngsters shuffle dancing.....well sound up and full screen. Enjoy. 

 Elvis and Ann Margaret remix to shuffle dancing. (stay with the video)

Watching Ann Margaret dance to the same song. My Goodness!! 

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BLACK AND WHITE

A make-shift yard debris compost site out back that is worthy of photographing in black and white. This would look like a junk pile in color.

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 PEAK FOLIAGE 2006.

OCTOBER 2019

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LEOPARD PHOTO TAKEN 2007 KRUGER NATIONAL PARK 

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HAM ON A HILL

 Friends, tents, HF radios, portable HF antennas, coffee, doughnuts and talking with folks half a world away.

Spent yesterday morning in a small HAM amateur radio shack in eastern New Hampshire during a contesting field exercise.

A very poor black and white of one of the folks I was watching and working radios with, tuning the 20 meter high frequency band for contacts in Scandinavia during their contact contest this weekend. 

This was my first opportunity to work my recent ham license upgrade on the high frequency bands. My first contacts were in Denmark and Finland. 

So what? Well, it was a first. I was learning more using amateur radios and how challenging this can be to a new comer. AND it was fun and I want more experience.

This winter is going to be spent learning before buying equipment and building antennas. 

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Appreciate the visit again this week.  

DIY HOME TIME LAPSE - LAND ROVER - NO ROOM FOR POTATOES - THE INCREDABLE IBEX - MAIDEN

A good video of a fellow building his own home for his family. Doing all the work himself. A 3 year time lapse video I found on 90 Miles from Tyranny.

Enjoy this fellow talking his way through the first three years of the home he designed and built. 

The photo above was taken 16 years ago during our new home construction. For builders, these kinds of photos are an art form of a moment in the process. 

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I am still impressed with Samsung S7 photo quality at a moment's notice. 

I had been carrying my phone outside this past week while working around the year. Wandering our back trail over several weeks of fall foliage and depending on the light, offers some remarkable views. What struck me most was how well the cell phone picked up the sky over the colors. I never see this in my Canon camera until playing with it in post production. But the cell phone camera did pick it up and gave a very indication of a final photo. Although the colors are not popping, the sky and view down the path was worthy of saving.

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It will not be long now before local home photos again show the onset of winter.

I realize much repeats here, but it is times of our lives. Fall leaves will lose their colors and quickly fall to the ground. The forest will be lost to the trees and readers may again have to endure more musings of cold, first frost and first official snow fall. Once that begins, past seasons will again be but a memory. 

Over the course of the past year, we are spending more time outside for a little hard work sprucing the up the old homestead.  A hot cup of tea, visiting of life ahead and seeing the fruits of our labor; quite an excellent way to reacquaint ourselves with days when we were younger and media was a no-never-mind! 

FOR THE LOVE OF THE LAND ROVER DEFENDER

We spent part of 2006 and 2007 living in South Africa. We were going to be there long enough to warrant the purchase of a used car and we chose  an older Land Rover Defender. 

Why not add some more fun to this adventure and this vehicle forever set us in a love affair with this vehicle. We so wanted to bring "Ginger" home, but because of her restively young age, she was not importable to the states. We tried, asked a lot of questions, but in the end we had to leave her behind.

She had a gas v-8 engine with 4 (more with the lower gears) on the floor. 

We did learn that owning a Land Rover means having our own trusted mechanic too. That holds true today here in the states. 

Our advice is to never buy any Land Rover without first finding a mechanic and not a dealership mechanic, but a real mechanic that makes his/her living working on and repairing these vehicles. Once you have secured your own trusted mechanic, go for it. Also make sure you can keep her garaged and out of the weather when she is not being driven. Stay on top of the little things, learn basic maintenance and drive it often.

Another reason to purchase this vehicle was South Africa-specific. Land Rovers were not sought after by hijackers.

THE NEW 2020 LAND ROVER is not your fathers/grandfathers Land Rover. My opinion.

If one plans to drop $50K and more, might I suggest finding a real Defender  that will never ever loose its value. It will also be an investment and offer the real driving experience. Used Land Rover Example. There are still many for sale and in excellent condition. These older Defenders will always turn heads and bring "ohhhhs" and "ahhhhhs" from any car lover.

Pull an older Defender up next to a new one and folks will still gather around the older Defender every time. The older Defender will have a name and is a recognized member of the family.

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 NO ROOM FOR POTATOES

Homemade beef stew has been on my mind for over a month. A rainy Wednesday morning gave me a good excuse to make beef stew this past week.

Any good meal preparation should be proceeded with quality ingredients. Grandmother had everything fresh from the farm from which to feed her family. I think her and my parents' cooking set deep flavors in me as I was growing up.

I have learned to cook from good ingredients first before the process. 

The meat shown here was the best boneless chuck roast I could find at the market.

The smaller of our two dutch ovens was used. I am trying to cook just for two and have yet to achieve that plan.
The meat was trimmed, cubed and floured in a plastic bag of flour, salt, pepper and a little garlic salt. 

Then browned in the DO in olive oil and some butter; on low. This is a little time consuming, but taking the time to brown the meat pays off in flavor. I was satisfied having at least 3 sides well browned.

After the last small batch of cubed roast, I added a third of a can of beef broth and a sprinkle of flour left on the plate. Still on low heat, the bottom dregs of the DO were stirred into a rouix and thinned a little more as needed. A full squirt of tomato paste was added and rouix was cooked for a few minutes for thickness and making sure the bottom of the DO was scraped clean of "debris." (My better half says that debris is a Louisiana term).

Larger cuts of 2 onions, a few washed carrots and celery were layered in the rouix to fill the pot. Some thyme and basil added for flavor. Oven set at 290 and cooking for 6 hours, then 250 for the final two hours. 

Check the stew during the last few hours as it may be done ahead of time. If so, turn off the oven and let it rest in the oven till dinner time. 

Red wine can be added to this along with other veggies as per individual tastes..

My wife always adds a third of a head of chopped cabbage and a jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce. No tomato paste or tomatoes. Her (actually, her mother's) recipe is thicker when it is done. Mine always has some noticeable broth. Both excellent.

The full dutch oven pictured above cooked down by a third and small baby red potatoes were added the last 2 hours of cooking.

In a perfect world of no dieting, I would serve this stew over a bed of rice, pasta and/or make sure that there were hot home made rolls on he side. 

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THE INCREDIBLE IBEX

I found this video by accident. If you have not seen this before or know of the Ibex, you will be amazed and appreciative of this animal by the end of the video. Walking on the edge of the edge w/o issue. Enjoy.

More photos here.

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MAIDEN

An incredible must watch movie. Released in June of this year. 

If  you love movies about folks who do not stop or quit when many other people tell them they cannot do something, you will embrace this story. If you love boats, you will love this story. The last 10 minutes of this movie is one of the best ever.

My wife says this is a feminst movie. I disagree. This is a human story for every corner of the world.

I promise you this story will stick with you for a long time. 

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Peak foliage passing this weekend. Temperatures noticeably colder. Mother Nature starting to deal from the up coming winter deck.

Thanks for the visit this week. 
 

PHOTOGRAPHY

Cleaning out old closets has re-surfaced many old photos and memories. Here are a few of my favorites.

Ten year old bird feeder in the back yard that has survived quite a few bear knock downs. Black and white photography is one of my favorite types of photography and this photo was some recent practice with camera settings.

A bird on a winter branch during a first of the season snow fall.

Bugs had their way with one of our trees next to the driveway a few years back. 








Wind storm took off the top and I took this photo before taking the tree down and off to the dump

Wild boar photo taken inside Kruger National Park SA in 2007

Logs washed up on the Washington State coast line.

This horse poked his head out of the barn at our bed and breakfast near Cape Town SA, 2007.

Typical confined area landing spot near Eagle, Alaska during a three month flying job for Temsco Helicopters in 1986.

Returning back to base camp in Eagle Alaska. We would often hop down to low level flying along the Yukon River at days end. The geologists we were flying for especially loved this types of flights.

One of my favorite photos taken during our stay in South Africa, 2007.

Wonderful colors of boats docked in the basin in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Weather man says to enjoy this weeks weather as colder air is moving in from Canada by next weekend. Maybe these are the last few warm days of 2019 and my wife and I are determined to enjoy being outdoors.
 

It is said in long term winter weather projections that a lot of acorns on the ground is an indicator of a hard cold and snowy winter to come. If this is the case we are in for a challenging winter. 

 

It is impossible for us to walk off of the driveway into several of the cleared areas with out walking on a bed of large acorns. 

 

Thanks for the visit again this week. 

 

 

 

 

DRONE OVER BRADFORD - FALL ARRIVES

 Afternoon pics over the hills around Bradford , NH

I had forgotten how difficult it is to fly and photograph when standing in direct sunlight that makes viewing the screen on the tablet impossible. On this day, I blindly shot these 3 pics and quit. Fall colors just starting.

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 UFO'S

My thoughts parallel those of a recent post from American Digest Blog.  

The Navy has released UFO video and pilot commentary and noted that these should have never been released to the public. I wonder if the Navy thinks we "can't handle the truth." It is not like there have not been sightings, photos and video's for "eons." To think we are alone is a head-in-the-sand thinking, in my opinion. 

So why no good photos with the photographic tools available today? My guess that there are such photos, the best probably from orbiting satellites and the ISS.  I, for one, would so enjoy seeing some of those photos and knowing they are real. Would make for some good conversations over a glass bottle of wine.

AND THEN THERE IS THE "STORM THE GATES" AREA 51 GATHERING

As loony as many of these folks are, I can't help but wonder if any of them  know better than not go over the gates into Area 51. My guess is there is a whole new world of crowd dispersal gadgets at Area 51 just waiting for some real world testing.

If ever there was a crowd to stay away from, huh??

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"SO YOU LIVE HERE YEAR AROUND?"

In the process of cleaning out the homestead, I am selling most all of my major floor, wood-working/ metal working tools. I am not building or making any more like in my youth. The tools sit and it's best they be in the hands of youngsters who are builders and makers. The nice fellow from Massachusetts who drove up here and purchased the metal lathe asked us if we live here year around. Our driveway is a challenge in the winter and I think he realized that turning off the main road and "s" turning his way up the hill to the house. 

We have learned how to adapt to winter over the past eighteen years. At worst, the winter has challenged us in keeping the snow removed so we can come and go. The only time the winter beats us is with ice. We just stay home instead of using salt to keep the tough spots clear. 

Yep, we live here year around. 

  

One of my favorite photos from two years ago is looking down from the top of the driveway. My son was coming over to help with some snow removal and was met with birch and popular trees bending the knee from fresh fallen wet snow.

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OFFICIALLY FIRST DAYS OF FALL 2019

Acorns falling and covering the ground. Most are large and look pristine.

Sadly, there are no squirrels close by bundling these up for winter. The cat has taken on the local chipmunk family and reduced that significantly. 

Last season, as I mentioned before, just the opposite. New Hampshire seemed overrun and over-populated with squirrels. AND there were no acorns to be found last year.

The only critters we have visiting on a regular basis as Fall opens are Doves. 

 

My wife received the flower arrangement sitting on the picnic table as a gift from a friend.

Whoever put this together knew what he/she was doing and with an artistic touch worthy of note. 

I do not know any of the flowers, but find this bunch of flowers a most welcome sight outside as we move around doing our seasonal chores. 

Quite often, it is the little things that catch my eye and attention. 

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Glorious weather in middle New England and we are in full appreciation.  

Thanks for the visit this week.

 

 

 

FRIED ONIONS ON CHOPS - "..AND DON'T LET THE OLD MAN IN."

LOTS OF FALL OUTDOOR COOKING THESE DAYS

 

I remember the early years with my folks of perfectly cooked pork chops smothered with fried onions. This was one of the meals they prepared with seemingly little to no effort and I always enjoyed watching this perfect cooked meal come out of the oven, pork chops resting on a bed of fried onions. 

I have tried many times to achieve fried onions like mom and dad used to make, but never achieved the look and flavor until early this week. I believe it all stems from the cookware and again, it is the seasoned cast-iron skillet. 

The onions took about 12 minutes to turn golden brown. Two onions cut up, salt, pepper and a fair coating of olive oil. All mixed first in a large bowl and then dumped into the skillet. The garlic in the photo above was an after thought and they will be added first next time. My wife loves crispy fried garlic in much of what we cook, especially skillet cooking. She is notorious for scraping the bottom of the frying pan at the end of the meal for crisp chunklets. 

The pork chops were salt and peppered and cooked 12 minutes in the air fryer. A thicker than normal center cut chop this time. We termed this meal a free meal on our low-carb dieting. Next time, 3 large cut up onions will go into the skillet.

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VERY INTERESTING LIFE STYLE

This blog is one of my favorite to visit weekly. A young couple with a new baby have been sailing around the world and living on their boat for over 5 years. They blog weekly and new blogs are usually up by late Mondays EST.

They are currently heading up the east coast to Maine, but their posts are several weeks behind their current locations and living. I think easier for them to put up video's. They have been posting from the Bahamas for the past couple months and current postings have them moving north along the islands before the storm. Regardless, a fun young couple living a life and their posts and videos are welcomed in the crazy world and times.

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 PLAYING WITH THE DRONE

It has been too long since I have charged up the drone and components and gone flying. It takes time to get re-acquainted and comfortable setting the little guy loose and then getting him back safely before low low battery. 

The photo above is middle New Hampshire looking north as fall colors are just starting to set in. Beautiful countryside this time of year.

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DAILY BLOG HITS DOWN

And rightfully so. I have not been true to every Sunday posting and summer/fall living is uneventful. Biggest events for the past few weeks for us is cleaning out this home from stem to stern and posting shop woodworking tools for sale. The time has come to throw "it" away or put "it" where it belongs. There is so much now that we will never use again and has become work to just keep up. 

I think this time comes in all of our lives. I have been dragging my feet for a few years now, but have finally and comfortably come to terms with all of it. Change is constant and I think change is more difficult the older I get.

"...and don't let the old man in."

I happened on this article and quote from Clint Eastwood. At 74, his take on getting old/older hit home for me. Mr. Eastwood is an actor I have long enjoyed and him being a man's man. I am sure he triggers many a folk this day living life on his terms. But not letting the old man each day he gets up is wizardry in thinking. Proves to me we are never to old to learn and I take to heart his approach to aging. 

And sometime today, my wife will say to me; "...up, up, up." Quit hunching over when I stand up and walk. And I do take just a moment to straighten out (and I still can) and up and walk a little taller. She means well, looks after me and I do appreciate. 

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It gnaws at me each week not to include some comment on days events. In the end I tell myself not to for I see no good coming from it. I really do not want to spend any more time in the muck and yuck of the times we live in and I seriously doubt the few of you who still come to visit want that to look forward to weekly when you check in. 

 

We will quit here this week.

 

Stay away from crowds and "up, up, up."

    

 

DOWNSIZING - SURVIVED GROWING UP - FRESH GARDEN TOMATOES - QUICK WAR STORIES

Remnants of Hurricane Dorian blew through last Friday night. Six hours of welcomed rain. Cool Saturday morning, clearing skies, trees letting go of rain on soaked leafs and mother nature again at her seasonal work. Rusting ferns along the driveway are a reminder that there is still order in the world. Fall colors are on their way. 

I expect the birds to return soon to the feeder. 

Seasonal clean-up and winter preparation with new projects of cleaning and downsizing much of the "stuff" that accumulated over the past 20 years.

Young son has a rule that if he has not touched "it" in the past year, off to the dump it goes. With us, if we have touched it in the past 10 years, off to the dump it goes. Surprisingly, it is not missed and open clean spaces are much appreciated. 

CLEANING TEAK CHAIRS

 

The two deck chairs were two years behind in cleaning seasonal weathering. A few minutes with a power washer and they are like new. A light hand sanding and a good coating of teak oil when they dry will hold them through another year.. 

These chairs are at least 8 years old and I am surprised that the joinery is as tight as when we purchased them. Unusual, but a testament to how teak weathers and how well it adapts to outdoor applications.

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 THE FERAL IRISHMAN BLOG

I found this article on The Feral Irishman blog this past week and had to laugh as my wife and I have had this (these) conversations a few times over these past crazy years. How did we ever survive growing up?

Adding to this article: hitting a .22 bullet sitting on a small rock to see what would happen. Only did that once. 

BB gun wars where the only rule was not to take head shots. We were smart enough to know some limits. Hiding the BB welts from our parents for a week or two was an art form.

Playing stretch with our pocket knives on the lawn. Never had someone stick a knife in my foot. But there we some good stories told by our peers.

Shooting a bow and arrow straight up over our heads, watching the arrow stop top flight, turn and weather vane back to the ground. The trick was to never lose sight of the arrow.

Building a tree house 60' above our driveway. Played and played and climbed that height to sit, lean on 2 x 4 railings and survey our entire neighborhood. Day after day for several years. Nailing the railings on the inside of the limbs was a construction lesson taught to me by my father. 

Pulling the front seat out of my 56 Chev to have some upholstery work done and drove for a few days back and forth to work sitting on a wooden apple crate. I would rock backwards hitting 2nd and 3rd gear and rock forwards into the steering wheel when I put on the breaks. Surprising what we can learn to do in a short period of time.

There are so many more!

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MOTHER SAVED EVERYTHING 

After all these years, it is time to organize all of the documents and photos from my parents. Immigration documents that will be passed down to my son so he knows of the folks from whom he came. Great people, great stories coming to America through the front door, love, marriage, family and a work ethic that my son exhibits to this day. 

The two photos below are of poor quality, but I cannot find any of these that I have saved and more likely lost over time. The top one is the CH-34 I transitioned into upon arrival in Germany in 1968. I flew this machine in and out of Hitler's old quarters in Nuremberg, flew the Czechoslovakian Border, "nap of the earth", several times weekly and once blew a piston right off the bank of cylinders at 2000' and landed in a school yard safely, w/o incident. 

Ironically on that flight, we had picked up a Captain and several other folks to transport. The Captain mentioned to the crew chief how much he hated flying. The sound of that piston blowing off he engine, then the silence of the engine turned off must have scared the hell out of him. Poor fellow was back on the ground just a few minutes after we had taken off. I wonder if he tells a similar story?

The Cobra pic was taken during my second tour of duty in 1969, the Central Highlands of Vietnam,  when I was flight instructing from the front seat helping unit Cobra pilots stay current. Flack vest is hanging off the canopy window. Did dozens of engine off full auto-rations during those training days. The lift stored in the wide blades of that rotor system, let us set the helicopter down oh so softly. Every time. 

And yes, we trained for the situation of engine out emergencies. Although we trained in Cobras empty of munitions, the time I lost an engine in the An Lao Valley, at gross weight with fuel and munitions, went as always trained, just quicker.

Good memories and thanks mom for keeping the photos and notes that I sent home.

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 BOX 'O' TOMATOES

Just yesterday we visited a neighbors home for the gifting of ripe tomatoes.

They are leaving on vacation at the time when their garden tomatoes are coming on. The split tomatoes, although rough looking, are dead-on ripe. A little trimming, slicing and a touch of salt and pepper and they become candy for my wife and me.

Twice daily now until they are gone, Caprese salad of sliced tomatoes, garlic salt, olive oil, thick balsamic vinegar, each covered with a slice of Mozzarella cheese, accompany a couple of our daily meals now. Just simply wonderful. 

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September 11th, 2019 today. It happened and our country grew close during those times. Never forget.

Heads up, enjoy your week, tell a joke or two, hug a loved one and them them you love them, be kind to others. Thanks for the visit this week.