Bikes, Beer, Mushrooms, and Touching Up The Subaru.

Earth Time with Cheryl, Beer, and Deep Fried Mushrooms!

Yesterday and today have been the same theme:  Relaxing.   Or at least doing things that we find enjoyable.  I guess you could say that is a form of relaxation.  Technically.

With plenty of Relaxation.

Cheryl and I have been hitting the rail pretty hard these last couple of days.

Coming through Wellman Iowa. Soon!

Train of Bikes.

We learned for sure today, that RAGBRAI will be running through Wellman.  I'm no sure we will even be here since we will be starting another project tomorrow.  But it will be exciting to see so many bikes riding through our town.   And who knows?  If the opportunity presents itself, there still might be a slight chance that we could join them for a day.  (Well,  to Iowa City anyway...) 

Riding in the heat

Cheryl suits up.

In the mean time,  15 miles a day!   Plus any bonus running Cheryl can pull off in this heat.  Some people might not find that very "relaxing",  But we seem to.   Call us crazy!

While staying in the shade.

Let's fry up those Mushrooms!

With the fried Fish and Mushrooms working out so well last Sunday,   Cheryl wanted to cook up the remaining mushrooms in the beer batter.  We even purchased some Trumpet Mushrooms ( from Michigan!) from the store and tried them out in the mix.

Cheryl is excited.

The first round!  Trumpets!

Beer battered anything is awesome enough.  But the mix of mushrooms was delicious!   Add in that we washed it down with a summer Ale.

Trumpets and Buttons.  Mmmm Good!

Why not eat them outside?

 Keeping with the Bike riding theme,  Cheryl selected the Long Ride from Confluence.  Light and refreshing as every summer beer should be.   Whether mowing the lawn or laying outside and enjoying deep fried mushrooms,  the pairing was excellent.

With some Biking Beer!

Good color,  Very Refreshing.

With the remainder of the afternoon open,  I decided to tackle the hood of the Subaru.  The Iowa gravel has done a number on poor Subie.  I sis not want the rust to get out of hand here, so I thought I would just sand and grind down the pock marks and touch up a little. 

Let's fix these dings.

Sanding down the holes.

There were even a few holes on the roof!  Better get those before they become serious!

Grinding out the rust with Dremel.

Even a ding up on the roof!

I thought it would be a simple ordeal...  but I underestimated slightly.   At least I did not have to break out any of the Bondo!

Subie take a Beating from Iowa Gravel.

Primer it up.

Sand it smooth.

Now add paint.

 Even without those steps,  it is taking a full two days.  Even now, I'm waiting for the clear coat to finish drying for a last finishing coverage. Unlike the fenders, I think you can tell the difference in the paint on the hood.

   I keep telling myself that "perfection" is not really the goal here.   I'm very happy with "slightly better than good enough"!  Where ever that falls on the "quality scale".

Sanding it down again.

Three coats for protection. 

As long as there are no visible signs of rust, no serious paint flaws... I will be happy.   I know the job will probably only last a year or two, but why not have Subie look his best for as long as he can?

I think you can see the paint difference. 

And now,  Clear Coat!

Hiro and Cheryl reading together.

So that is all for now.  Pearson begins tomorrow and we will be back at it for another week or two.  I was happy to get this far with the body work on the Subaru.   I may have to wait even longer before taking on that large dent in the front passenger side.

   In the mean time,  Cheryl reclines and reads her  Magazine with the cat.   Hiro has been enchanted with Cheryl's latest hobby,   String Art jewelry!  Perhaps I will blog about that when I have more time and pictures.   Thanks for stopping in.