Weekend

I took Thursday off to help T with his new motorcycle. He purchased it the end of May with my help and it was delivered a couple of days later. The first day it was dropped off, he drove it from the trailer to the front of the garage, over balanced and dropped it. This is pretty common for motorcycles and something that happens. He was pretty bummed because it bent the handlebar. Not enough to make it hard to ride, but enough to be annoying. Then he started riding it - mostly in the neighborhood and then further out just to get used to the bike. A couple of weeks ago, I threw the dogs in the truck and followed him to a rec center that had a big parking lot because he wanted to learn to rev-match when downshifting. We got to the parking lot and he waved me over. He said the handlebar felt "loose" and he was afraid it was going to break. He drove straight home, pulled the bike into the garage and two minutes later the handlebar broke. We think, in retrospect, that it had been damaged in an earlier fall, which is what caused it to bend when it tipped over in our driveway. They aren't supposed to do that from tipping over slowly from a stand still. The faring did have marks on it showing it had been dropped in the past.

 It's Yamaha R6

Anyway, we were very thankful that he was safely home when it happened. He ordered the part online, had it shipped to a nearby dealership and then had to wait a week to get it into the shop. Thursday was the day and so we headed to the Uhaul dealership to rent a motorcycle trailer bright and early. Then we had to stop and pick up rachet straps to attach the bike to the trailer. It was a little scary to load the bike minus the handlebar, but we managed, got it strapped down incorrectly and headed to the dealership. The bike fell in the trailer about the time we hit the highway and T fumed the entire way to the dealership. Luckily for me, the bike wasn't damaged and we learned a valuable lesson in tying down a bike.We unloaded, dropped the trailer back off at Uhaul, grabbed food and then went back down to get the bike. T was exceedingly pleased that "Shark" was back in one piece and rideable. He did a good job navigating some pretty hairy traffic and not great roads. His confidence is growing, he drives very defensively, doesn't take it out during rush hour and has demonstrated his growing ability to handle the bike. I feel like he is as careful as he can be on a motorcycle in Denver.

I did a half lesson after that adventure, which I detailed in my last post.

Friday, I stayed home and canned. I bought a bushel of green beans (30 lbs for $30) and spent Friday cutting beans, stuffing jars and running them through the pressure canner.

 It's a lot of green beans.

 I know why people don't can very much any more. This is one of the most labor intensive things I've ever done.

50 jars of canned green beans.

Just call me the Lesbian Prepper

Saturday morning, I went to Circle Star Arena and helped with the schooling show they had. I was masked and socially distanced the entire time. I was the gate/paddock steward and there were only 11 rides for the day. The only bad thing was the temps. It was over 90 by 10 am and a high of 97. I kept dunking my mask and hat into the cooler of ice, which helped for the length of an EOH ride. The final EOH ride happened at about 1 pm. I said my goodbyes and headed for the barn where I said hi to Ashke, stuffed his face with carrots and then headed home.

It was just too hot to ride.

I spent the rest of the day making my world famous Sweet and Spicy Sauce and jarring 20 of them for the year. I did it a little different this time (third time is the charm) and ran everything through the blender prior to cooking. I like the flavor and texture of this most current batch. And I have 26 pints of it on my shelf. 

So much happiness in little jars

I woke up thinking I would ride on Sunday, but when I got to the barn I remembered that the hay was being delivered. So, I emptied our hay area, raked all of the moldy and bad hay out from under the pallets, rearranged the pallets so that there was room for the new hay, and hauled out all of the nasty stuff. Then I went to lunch. By the time we had eaten lunch, the hay had arrived, so we got it unloaded and stacked in the area. All of that while wearing a mask. Mine had the added benefit of screening out the hay dust and mold, making the abuse my lungs were taking a bit less than it could have been. I would never have thought to put on a face covering, under normal circumstances. 

Organized and neat.

There were no baby bunnies in the nest I destroyed under one of the pallets.

It was way too hot and I was pretty darn miserable, so Ashke got turned out with Kat to play.

 

Random moments

 You would think the one with all the fur would be too hot to lay in the sun.

 I can't tell if Boo thinks she's a dog, or if she just believes that all things belong to her.

 Maya snuggling her kitten.

Co-sleeping

Boo is laying across my chest in this video.