So what did you do with your OTHER hobbies today?

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I hope I can get my “hop yard” cleaned and sorted out this year, it has been neglected for various reasons for a few years in a row, sadly. Maybe this year is the year I install a reasonable trellis for the row I have. All the hops need to be fed, and “runners” discovered and removed as well. The weather is not good for that activity today.

 

[DuncB]

@day_trippr
I got some of that artificial sandpaper but for orbital and sheet sander. Fantastic when sanding down a fibre glass canoe.

 

[HBT_Admin]

@day_trippr
I got some of that artificial sandpaper but for orbital and sheet sander. Fantastic when sanding down a fibre glass canoe.

Is the weather suitable for canoeing?

 

[Deadalus]

Is the weather suitable for canoeing?

You can wear a wetsuit (or drysuit even) if the water is cold. I've worn a wetsuit after ice out while canoeing.

I just got a solo canoe for tooling around and maybe doing a little magnet fishing. Haven't used my wetsuit in years and not sure what condition it is in.

 

[DuncB]

Is the weather suitable for canoeing?

I'd say so. Can paddle out to the ocean seen on the far left upper of the picture if you want.
The inlet below is fine though, good for satwater fly fishing as well.

 

[Broothru]

Planned another multi-week roadtrip to Wisconsin in our RV, the Duke of Earl. Running' kinda low on Spotted Cow and Wisconsin cheese, doncha' know.

 

[Broothru]

It takes 20% of your effort to accomplish 80% of a task.

Needless to say, I ain't got time to 100% much.

Reminds me about doing my taxes. Anybody know a good accountant?

 

[fluketamer]

striped bass season opens here in af ew days . i been getting all the tackle ready. looks to be a good one this season . theres already a ton of bait in the water.

 

[Agent]

While gathering my chili makings, I found we were out of canned beans. So I took the opportunity to can up 27 pints of garden-grown dry beans to restock the shelves.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Fancy (not crazily priced) 00 high protein (16% range) Italian flour for panettone has arrived. I made a panettone failure last Christmas, the dough had never been the right consistency and I didn’t have the right form for it, which for the outcome, would have just been a waste of money. It was tasty but not as light and airy as it should’ve been. Today I’ll introduce my stiff sourdough starter to this flour with good feedings and and a little luck it will become a good lievito madre, and there will be panettone for Easter.

 

[balrog]

I got a typewriter, but it's having issues so I've spent a frustrating amount of time trying to figure it out. Think I have the wrong ribbon on it, but no clue.

The romantic idea of using a typewriter wore thin really quickly. LOL.

Funny story: we kept the old Royal manual FOR EVER. Because I just couldn't let it go. Sat in the basement forever on a bookshelf in the room we kinda made a nice movie watching room for the kids when they'd have friends over. Turns out, they were always dinking around on the typewriter. When we said we were downsizing, the very first thing one of the kids wanted was the old Royal manual typewriter, because "it just feels right, typing on paper".

Is the weather suitable for canoeing?

I have to reference my picture from this morning's snow, and say, not so much.

 

[DuncB]

I've seen the picture, really not sure how the Eskimos managed.
They have a lot of words for snow, perhaps your fall is known as " dusting"!

 

[fatjay]

Steel price is up already. Bummer. Went to the steel shop and picked up the rest that i need to finish my solar patio roof. $1300 worth of material on the trailer. They craned it on and the front end came up, so i took 400lb of chicken feed out of the truck and put it on the front of the trailer to weigh it down.

Going to dig out my footers and pour concrete and have that set, then get to work.

 

[whoaru99]

Planned another multi-week roadtrip to Wisconsin in our RV, the Duke of Earl. Running' kinda low on Spotted Cow and Wisconsin cheese, doncha' know.

Dunno if you like gouda, but if you do I think the Marieke brand gouda is top notch. The older/more aged the better, for me anyway.

The factory is around Thorp, but I think it's sold at other retail locations too.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm currently a renter, and I've had problems with the grass in the backyard for years. To the point that I turned off the sprinkler system and just let it all die. It's weird... I don't know WHY it would be so hard to grow--it gets good sunlight. But last year I decided to give it a go, planted some fescue, and it looked GREAT for a month... And then all started dying off.

So... I'm trying something different. I ordered some devil grass. Kikuyu, a grass that's so invasive and difficult to get rid of that it's considered a noxious weed, and where I live (Orange County CA) is one of the very few areas in the US it's even legal to be sold. The seed should be here tomorrow and I'll likely try to get it started early next week.

Everyone tends to hate kikuyu because it can completely take over a yard and it's impossible to get rid of.

Let's hope so

 

[Deadalus]

I'm currently a renter, and I've had problems with the grass in the backyard for years. To the point that I turned off the sprinkler system and just let it all die. It's weird... I don't know WHY it would be so hard to grow--it gets good sunlight. But last year I decided to give it a go, planted some fescue, and it looked GREAT for a month... And then all started dying off.

So... I'm trying something different. I ordered some devil grass. Kikuyu, a grass that's so invasive and difficult to get rid of that it's considered a noxious weed, and where I live (Orange County CA) is one of the very few areas in the US it's even legal to be sold. The seed should be here tomorrow and I'll likely try to get it started early next week.

Everyone tends to hate kikuyu because it can completely take over a yard and it's impossible to get rid of.

Let's hope so

You can get your soil tested for free from Ag extension office usually. You might have some sort of imbalance. Not sure what types of issues occur longer term in CA soil. In the east, adding lime is done but the rainfall is year round and calcium leaches out of the soil. Drier/hotter environments can get buildups since the water evaporates and doesn't percolate through to the groundwater.

 

[Arnaud de l'alpage]

Other hobbies.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I was supposed to be in Chicago today. Had to pivot on that trip.

So I made Chicago thin crust (aka tavern style) pizza...

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Gearbox Goin back in today... hopefully

 

[Broken Crow]

Gearbox Goin back in today... hopefully
View attachment 873095

Thanks for that! I first saw this thread and was heart-broken. Owing to injury, there are so many things I could and did do prior to injury but I didn't really think of them as 'hobbies'... it was just 'Living'. I grew up in a service-station and was a student of physics so by my teens there was no vehicle, machine or device I could not understand and repair/fix/modify. I've been very distracted from this forum the last couple weeks because my 93 year old dad-in-law had a medical episode and I had to do some longer and further driving than usual.... My muffler split. Not a big deal as I needed to replace it anyway, but as I know what I can get away with while still driving, I also have an overdue replacement of my EGR valve and had a small leak in my radiator.... I was gonna get around to those, but first the muffler clinched it, and then the tariffs which always raise prices and while sourcing proper but affordable parts, the rad went even worse, [The cat canverter itself is made in Mexico, the flex hose portion is made in the USA and the tubes and assembly made in Canada. The radiator core is made in Hamilton Ontario, the tanks in Mexico, and assembly in Michigan. I'm pretty sure the EGR is entirely from China.] I bought the parts and I've done these jobs a hundred or thousand times over, but not since the brain/spine/CNS injury. I can't resume grocery shopping until I fix at least the rad and exhaust and I can't afford to pay someone else to do it...not to mention that; yes I acknowledge I am injured, but hey: a lifetime of doing pretty much any and everything myself makes it extremely embarrassing and existentially disturbing to have someone else work on my things. One of my main issues is the temperature and atmospheric pressure; I'm freezing cold below at least 76°F and it inhibits my function and if the barometric pressure rises or drops below 1016Hpa too fast, my vertigo sets in.... not to mention my massive oversensitivity to humidity!
Sorry If I just seem to be ranting. I should be out there now doing the rad or egr, but it's so damn cold and I can't support my own spine or neck for more than about 10 minutes at a time.
I'll try and take pics and post back here when I finally do it.
Thanks All for the vicarious Living!

 

[Arnaud de l'alpage]

I was supposed to be in Chicago today. Had to pivot on that trip.

So I made Chicago thin crust (aka tavern style) pizza...
View attachment 873079
View attachment 873080

Nice man. My poor Kitchenaid has been abused from so many years of breadbaking that I always cringe when I make pizza dough in it. I'm too lazy to mix it by hand. What kind of dough do you make?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Nice man. My poor Kitchenaid has been abused from so many years of breadbaking that I always cringe when I make pizza dough in it. I'm too lazy to mix it by hand. What kind of dough do you make?

I made Kenji's version of Chicago thin crust. The pizza of my upbringing ;-)

 

[day_trippr]

Somebody threw up on your pie

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sourdough crust for Neapolitan/NY style. Mixed by hand, KA 00 pizza flour.

I’ve got a 20% whole wheat loaf bulk fermenting, and the starter for panettone is looking strong.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Planned another multi-week roadtrip to Wisconsin in our RV, the Duke of Earl. Running' kinda low on Spotted Cow and Wisconsin cheese, doncha' know.

This former cheesehead will NEVER understand what people like about Spotted Cow... Craft-beer prices, for Pabst Old Style flavor.

(hoping this doesn't come across as attacking you, @Broothru)

 

[Broothru]

This former cheesehead will NEVER understand what people like about Spotted Cow... Craft-beer prices, for Pabst Old Style flavor.

(hoping this doesn't come across as attacking you, @Broothru)

Not at all. I like a good Pabst!

I also like a good Coors. But mostly I like variety when it comes to beer. I also rather enjoy the regional attachment that comes with many different beers.

There are many styles of beer that reflect the culture, cuisine and terrior of the diverse areas of this wonderful blue marble we inhabit. My great passion in life is celebrating as many of them as I can in the brief time we exist here.

So, sure, there are favorites as well as one-offs. I’m a sucker for lagers, and I’ve had the pleasure of quaffing Kirin in Osaka, Arctica in São Paulo, Boykapeb in Moscow, and San Miguel from Spain to the Philippines (and many places in between).

That’s just a small sample of the many places I’ve enjoyed local beers. Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, even Iceland. Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic. Alaska and Hawaii. To remote islands like the Azores, Ascension and Diego Garcia, I’ve found that beer is the universal language. So much so that I’m in wonderment of the fact that I still have a functioning liver.

In the end, it’s not about the alcohol, or merely trying to ‘up the score’, but rather it’s the experience of meeting new people and trying new things. So yeah, I’ll buy some Spotted Cow, and go out of my way to stop at Petosi Brewery along the way. Every Wisconsinite owes it to their heritage to do it at least once. Just be prepared to stay a while and take the tour if you do. That place is a treasure trove for beer nerds. And the burgers and beers are pretty damned good, too.

So, no. I don’t feel “attacked.” Rather I feel blessed to have experienced both the great (and the not so great) along the way, and to have had so many memorable encounters.

Some have observed, “Life’s too short to drink bad beer.” I think life’s too short to risk missing out on a great beer, and the even better people and places along the way.

 

[Arnaud de l'alpage]

I made Kenji's version of Chicago thin crust. The pizza of my upbringing ;-)

Wow, awesome man. Kenji is a genius. Chicago thin crust. Have you seen Jon Stewart's polemic on Chicago deep dish?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Wow, awesome man. Kenji is a genius. Chicago thin crust. Have you seen Jon Stewart's polemic on Chicago deep dish?

I have. IMO the big problem with trying to argue about which is "better" is that it's comparing two different foods. I'm not going to agree with Stewart that deep dish is "not pizza"; it's certainly pizza. But a direct comparison between the two is simply impossible.

It's like trying to argue which is better, a Caesar salad or a Caprese salad, because they're both "salad". They're both excellent, in their own way, and incomparable on a head-to-head basis.

That said, this is a proper hot dog. That's a hill I'm willing to die on.

 

[Arnaud de l'alpage]

I have. IMO the big problem with trying to argue about which is "better" is that it's comparing two different foods. I'm not going to agree with Stewart that deep dish is "not pizza"; it's certainly pizza. But a direct comparison between the two is simply impossible.

It's like trying to argue which is better, a Caesar salad or a Caprese salad, because they're both "salad". They're both excellent, in their own way, and incomparable on a head-to-head basis.

That said, this is a proper hot dog. That's a hill I'm willing to die on.

View attachment 873279

Oh, I think he was just shaking the leg man, pure comedy. The fact he was about to have a brain aneurysm is classic Stewart, had us on the floor. Our son was born there, we lived there god, decades, love Chicago, and.....in my worse days, inebriated from too much "sensory evaluation" on the brew deck after work of our 12 Goose Island beers or so on tap, mawing some deep dish slice on the way home to....maw dinner, yeah, I did love me some Chicago deep dish casserole.

Dog. Damn right man!

 

[Agent]

Said hello to one of my 3 year old rhubarb transplants. Looking good and spry finally!

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Gearbox Goin back in today...

I have one of those tow bars where the hook is detachable on the old beater, or rather supposed to be detachable. The other day I was gonna "check it to prepare for vehicle inspection" and got a little upset and carried away because it had rusted and was impossible to remove...

 

[Brewsmith]

I finished the on-board wiring on six more guitar pedals. Time to start planning cases and graphics.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Back at my favorite stream, won't see it again til next year but had a few successful outings this year... here's one of many

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Seems like a lot of threatening language. But no worries... It's all being planted in Orange County

 

[MaxStout]

Spent yesterday in the wood shop, finishing the cornhole boards we'll be using tomorrow when family comes over. Used up some leftover paint from last year's bathroom painting projects.

Also replaced the tires in my band saw. Wish I had two extra hands, as it took some wrestling to get them onto the wheels. A bunch of 2" spring clamps did help.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

That said, this is a proper hot dog. That's a hill I'm willing to die on.

View attachment 873279

Needs ketchup

 

[MaxStout]

 

[DuncB]

It's a bit early in the season for our spaghetti harvester. We are still importing.

 

[fatjay]

Everything I do is so unbelievably heavy...

So I stood the 2 legs up and braced them.

Then I lifted a 20' angle iron to where I needed and marked with wax pencil. I had to take each leg down, and cut them at the proper angle in the bandsaw. I had to take them back out and put them up and brace them again.

Then I had to walk up the square beam and place it on the legs while trying not to knock the legs to much, and put the c-clamp on to pinch the two.

Finally tac welded it in place then went and filled my tired body with alcohol.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

The following 3 images include steps for training the stiff starter.



I’m
First dough

First dough following built ferment.

Second dough with more egg yolks, butter and inclusions incorporated. Unfortunately, it’s like thick cake batter not dough.

After some more proving, but not enough to be panettone. More like cake. At least it’s tasty and edible. Will give it another attempt in the winter, learning from mistakes.