Get a Grip!

She has often said that  a Harley Davidson Motorcycle is the only toy that has more available accessories than Barbie. When they bought the bike last summer, they added a few accessories including Screaming Eagle 203 Cams, a Screaming Eagle Pro Super Tuner, Kuryakyn Electromagnetic Cruise Control, Panacea rear lights, passenger floorboards, highway bars and Vance and Hines Big Shots Staggered. They also added a windshield bag and the large sissybar bag so she can carry a purse with all her essentials that every biker needs, like eye drops, allergy medicine, extra gloves, lip balm, first aid, safety pins, pen and paper, sunblock, etc.

This year for the new riding season, they’ve added a few more things. He has seemed to have a lot of trouble with his hands going numb while riding. They are sure He probably has Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which is a major contributing factor to the discomfort. So, for more flexibility in the positioning of the handlebars, He changed the stock bars out to 14″ Ape Hangers. Funny name, and somewhat appropriate, but they look really great on the 2008 Heritage Classic. Oddly enough, even though the bars are taller, he has gotten a lot of relief from the numbness. His arms are pretty much shoulder level, not lower, not higher, so maybe that helps.  (I bet this guy’s hands get numb!) (Sorry for the dirty windshield shot below!)

Along with the new bars came some new chrome. They replaced the stock mirrors with new Harley Script Teardrop Mirrors. And, with all the changes, everything on the bars is now bright and shiny, including the housing for the cruise control and the cables.

He also added foot pegs to the highway bars so he now has more positions for his feet giving him more comfort on long rides. He didn’t forget about her comfort on this upgrade, either! A new larger backrest was added for her, and, it’s not only more comfortable, but more stylin’ too, with studs to match the seats. They had planned to add Kuryakyn adjustable passenger pegs for her, but unfortunately they aren’t currently available for the 2008 year model.

So, they have spent a few more Harley Dollars*. Now that they have a grip on the new bars, I wonder what will be next? I’m sure there won’t be any struggle to come up with something else to want!! Little girls with their Barbies and Big Boys with their Harleys. They have a lot in common, I tell you!

*One Harley Dollar = One Hundred Dollars

Kosmo

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Bloom Where You are Planted

He and She were off work recently for an extended weekend during which they did a lot of motorcycle riding. The weather was really beautiful each day, and they were able to officially kick off the bike riding season in style.

On one of their day trips, they had dinner at a restaurant in Opelika. They’ve been wanting to try it for some time, so they stopped in at Cock of the Walk.

On the way into the restaurant, they encountered this proud fellow:

He was willing to pose, but he wouldn’t show off his beautiful plumage for the camera.

Cock of the Walk is a very unassuming place. You are fed from tin plates and tin cups as if you had just gathered around the campfire after a long day of riding the trail. (They had been riding the trail, so to speak, except their trusty steed has Harley Davidson written on the tank). Here are the grilled chicken fingers and white beans he orderd. That slice of onion you see is pickled. That was a neat departure.

The atmosphere is rustic, and the food plentiful. She was a little disappointed to find out it is basically a Catfish restaurant (she doesn’t eat fish – what’s up with that?), but ordered the Fried Chicken Fingers as an alternative. One of the sides they offered was cheese grits, so she couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

She really enjoyed those grits! And, they had cornbread, just like Mawmaw used to make!

Not pictured here was the wonderfully delish coleslaw. She is not usually a colelsaw fan, so it was a pleasant surprise for her.  All in all, the food was pretty good.

The view from their table looked like this:

The pond surrounds the dining area, and is inhabited by these:

Just outside their window in the pond, she saw this:

It made her think of the quote by Mary Engelbreit, “Bloom Where You Are Planted”. These old logs must have served for years as supports for a once sturdy pier. Over time, the pier deteriorated and disappeared, but the pilings still stand. Not only do they stand, they thrive. Somewhere in all of this, I’m sure there is a life lesson about finding contentment and adjusting to one’s circumstances.

I guess I can understand that. Just look at Alley. She has certainly found a way to be happy here at the House of 9 Lives, where she has been “planted”!

See how she blooms in the sunshine? 

Flirt

High on the Hog

Well, I’m sure most people were dining on Turkey instead of pork, but “High on the Hog” is a term we use in the south to describe good eats, or living decadently. So, in that sense, it could definitely apply to the elaborate and bountiful meals people typically enjoy on Thanksgiving Day. He and She didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional sense.  Instead, they were high on a different type of Hog. They got together with BamaJama and went for a short ride on their Harleys. They might have missed getting any good pictures over the last few weeks when the colored leaves were at a peak, but they were able to see some great sights while riding on Thursday, and she took these photos from the bike:

They were happy to share a beautiful ride with BamaJama, and realize it was probably the last chance they’ll have for a while, as winter is coming soon.

Even though they weren’t able to get out and see a lot of the fall trees, she did take these pictures around the house a few weeks ago:

After the beautiful day on Thursday, the rain set in and for the remainder of the weekend, it was gray and wet. When that started, there was a whole lot of this going on:

You can see in the picture that Kosmo has been on the ottoman, in front of the fire, for so long at this point, he is starting to melt and run off!

I’m going to have to see if there might be room for me on that ottoman, now!

Jazz
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Happy Thanksgiving

Ah…zey knew zee luck vould not hold out! Eef you read zee previous post, you veel know zey had zee beeg teleeveesion in zee shop. Zey vere very pleased to find zee repairs vere covered under zee extended varranty. Unforshunatly, zey deed not have zee same experience wiz zee car! Yes, zee leetle Jetta had to go into zee shop for repairs weech set zem back ovair seven hundred dollairs!  Ouch!

To add eensult to eenjury, zey had to drive zee beeg truck in zee meantime. Eet made a beeg differaunce to go from 45 mpg to 15 mpg! Zey are very zankful to have zee leetle Jetta back at home.

Ve hope you too, can find somezing to be Zankful for zis Holiday season! From all of us here at Zee House of 9 Lives, Happy Zanksgeeving!!

Now, if you vill excuse me, I have some consoling to do!

Casanova
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Moose Tracks and Trains

Moose tracks and trains – that’s two things you hardly ever see in the same place, here in Central Alabama! But, He and She have been at it again! Out riding that motorcycle, and you just never know what they might see when they do that. He said this past weekend was just too good to pass up a chance to ride. We really had “Goldilocks” weather -that means it was “juuust” right!

On Saturday, after breakfast, He and She set out with no particular destination in mind, but found themselves in the heart of downtown Alexander City. They knew of a quaint little place there called Carlisle Drugs, but had never visited it. RxNiece is a pharmacist and works there, so they decided to stop by and see if she happened to be on duty. RxNiece had the day off, but, they do have this at Carlisle:

They believe it is the oldest surviving Soda Fountain in the state! More on that, later!

Before they went into the store, they met a very nice guy who is a photographer and train enthusiast. He also happens to enjoy riding his Honda Shadow, and has visited many places that He and She hope to go to one day on the bike. You can visit Dale’s website here! While they were standing outside Carlisle Drugs, Dale set up to take a shot of an on-coming locomotive. This shot on his site is just like the one he took on Saturday. Because She likes to take photos for the blog, when She saw what Dale was doing, She tried to get the same picture. This is hers:

Of course, his shot is much better, as he is a serious photographer, with a very nice, serious-looking camera. But, She didn’t hesitate to give it a try with her cute little pink Sony!

Here is a picture of the historic marker that tells all about the Savannah and Memphis Railroad. The last car of the train is seen going by. She was disappointed there was no caboose!

This picture isn’t particularly artistic or interesting, but She wanted to give an idea just how close to the building the train runs. RxNiece says you can actually feel the train as it goes by.

Here is the exterior of the building as it faces the train track. They loved the old painted sign and advertisement on the side of the building. This place is full of Nostalgia!

Here is the Soda Fountain inside:

He and She can’t make a habit of going there. Because of this:

Yep, that’s a Moose Tracks Malt – it didn’t have a very long shelf life:

The actual tracks the moose left – caramel filled!

Carlisle is more than a Soda Fountain and Pharmacy, they also have a large selection of gift items. Way more than what is shown here:

After enjoying the malt and soaking up the atmosphere for a while, they got back on the bike and went visiting. They had a great time with RxNiece and her family and also spent some time with MomTo3Niece and her family. It was a really good day all the way around!

Lilah
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How We Roll

Today ees zee first day of zee Fall. Zees ees a favorite time of zee year for a lot of people. Can you blame zem? Avround here, eet means a break from zee hot, humeed days of zee Summ-air, zee colleege football, and zee beautiful, turning leaves.

“He” and “She” took zee opportuity of zee cool-air temperatures to do a leettle firevood cutting yesterday. Zee vooded area on our prop-air-ty provides zem wiz ample firevood, and zey do not even have to cut down trees to get it. Usually, zee vind veel see to eet zhere are a couple of beeg leembs or trees zat go down. Zees ees where zey get zee firevood. No need to take down a healzy tree, when zee vood ees already zere for zee taking.

Vhile zey were out doing zis:

They Traded “Hogs” for logs. 

To get zis:

Cozy Fires to Come

Ve were doing zis:

Cat Napping

Yeah, zis is how ve roll!

And, wiz zee change in zee weazer, He and She hope zis ees how zey vill get to roll more often!

A Couple of Shadowy Figures

Casanova
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Just Peachy

Sunday, “He” and “She” rode the bike up to Pelham, Alabama to Heart of Dixie Harley Davidson. It was a great ride and they were joined by Papa J., Mama V., R. & N. On the way there, they stopped at Peach Park in Clanton Alabama where they are known for their peaches.

Luckily, they had the new sissy bar bag on the bike, because He bought these:

At Heart of Dixie, they saw some really great bikes, like this red Softail Deluxe and this black one:


Here are some other pictures She took while there:

They also got a new kitty while they were there. Not to worry, though. This one will stay healthy. This is Axle:

Axle is a Harley cat – he even wears a nice leather Harley cap!

Speaking of healthy cats – Jazz continues to do well. He is eating strictly by mouth now, however, he still insitsts on being hand fed. He is not yet eating from a bowl. Dr. M. says this could be due to the fact that his sense of smell has been impaired by all the nerve damage he had. We are still hopeful he will start eating on his own. He still has the feeding tube as it makes it a lot easier for him to get his many medicines each day. He is on the mend – it is just going slow. He and She plan to visit with him tomorrow.

By the way, does Axle remind you of anyone?

Isn’t that just peachy?

Alley