Blue Skies, Rivers Rise, And Birds and Butter Flies.

Blue, Blue Skies!

Rather Productive day.

 Looking back at today, you might think we did a lot!   But it really is one of those days where you just did a few little things that only make it look like you did something productive.  I guess it was a nice enough day for it,  The Cooler temps and the blue skies practically begged for us to be outside.   So...

Cheryl "Buggin' Up!" 

Tiger swallowtail. 

Our Normal run out at the Kewash trail.   The Bad news:   The Black flies are coming out and they are attacking me.   Also, the hodge podge repair job I did on the bike last week was beginning to unravel... Good thing I got the sets of New Ball Bearings in the mail yesterday.

The Good news:  We go a really close shot of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.   He was so busy drinking the flowers he barely noticed us.   I wish I could have seen that the focus was a little off, I might have tried a little harder to get a clear shot.

Headset.  The Problem Area.

Back home,  I decided I would try to replace the bearings in the bike before heading out in the afternoon.   When I took it apart, I discovered that ALL of the bearings on the lower end of the headset were missing!  No wonder it was acting so crappy!   I just thought that the trail was still rather soft from all the rain yesterday.   Nope!  Turns out,  This project was begging to be attended to.

Old Bearings.. bottom ones missing!

New Bearings in Top and Bottom. 

With REAL Ball Bearings ( as opposed to 3 mm steel shot for BB guns...)   I wanted to do a good job.   I selected the next higher size of bearings this time to see if they would make a difference for the better.   Besides, the 5/32 size are very small and difficult to work with.  They are also lost very easily if the headset is no cinched up tight. 

Kewash Bike Ride! 

I watched a couple You-Tube videos,  torqued down the specs with my new Torque wrench, and took it out for a ride.  So far so good!

The River  approaches.

Water is still a little high. 

The test was this afternoon on the evening bike ride.  We wanted to check out and see if the water had subsided. It did.  Lucky us!  No leaches and no path obstructed. 

Red Headed Woodpecker Nest.

Can you find the Oriole in this
picture? 

While out this time,  our wildlife sighting consisted of an Oriole and a Red-Headed Woodpecker.   The Woodpecker has a nest near the turn-around point on the trail.  I have been wating to get a picture of them ( there are two of them.)  coming and going from the hole in the tree.   Today,  Cheryl managed to capture them as they flew away.

Other than that,  Cheryl  made Ice Cream, Berry Oatbake, and Pineapple Pizza.   We had planned on making Pizzas all during the Corvid scare, so it turns out our fridge was fully stocked with the Pizza making ingredients.

Pineapple Pizza!  Yum!

 We are , just now, getting to tap into the reserves. ( Which is a good thing, because eating all those tasty Tarts was beginning to wear on us... time for a change!

Hope every one is outside enjoying the great outdoors.  It is certainly a great place to be.    Thanks for stopping in.