Black Friday flight

Nothing like nice cold dry winter air for a plane ride . We met at the maintenance hangar to check out the software upgrades on the Garmins for the Bonanza.

After a bit we sorted it out and went for a ride in the Decathlon.

180 hp and the 10 degree F air made for a quick departure from Rwy 36 and 30 seconds after receiving clearance we were at 400 ft before we crossed Rwy 11-29. Note the reflection in the window.

A quick view of the Portland peninsula over our shoulder as we leave it behind us . . .

 . . . and do a 180 at pattern altitude over the commercial terminal ramp.

We pass over the old Redbank housing development.

While the throngs of ground bound lemmings fight it out at the Maine Mall for black Friday sales.

Shortly we are over my house (the corner property with the red fence)

And then over the Scarborough marsh looking at Black and Pine points.

I just love the random patterns of the marsh.

A few minutes later we are over the old Biddeford Mill

And 20 minutes later we cross over the Piscataqua river where Maine ends and New Hampshire begins.

And we fly over the old Pease airport in Portsmouth with the KC-135 air tankers on the ramp.

Thanks to the wonders of modern electronics, the Ipad shows us as the blue plane on the moving map display headed south past Pease making our way to Lawrence, Massachusetts.

short final for Rwy 32 at Lawrence.

Where we check out a few aerobatic planes in the spotless hangar.

Then we pop over to Nashua, New Hampshire for a quick lunch at the airport cafe and a visit to the pilot shop where we meet an Argentinian chap, his wife and very gynourmous and friendly Goldendoodle dog that flew in from Connecticut in this neat looking all composite Liberty aircraft.

Next we head back up to Biddeford airport for some fuel where on departure we fly over the cemetery.

Back in the setting sun Old orchard Beach under the right wing.

and again over the Scarborough marsh with Black Point in the distance.

Over the rail yard at Cash Corner in South Portland

The low sun makes for some neat colors.

Base turn to final over cash Corner gives us a view of the south Portland bridge.

The view from the back seat of the Decathlon

The South Portland tank farm with its new paint job and the new Mercy hospital in the background.

Short final for Rwy 36 . . .  a lovely day of winter flying.

Duck for Turkey day

One over priced Buddhist duck from the chinaman on St John's St.

This one came with the "smilings" and "runaways" ( head and feet)

Remove said smilings and runaways and preserve for stock pot. EMT shears work great.

Perforate the skin liberally (do not puncture the flesh) Dunk in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Season as desired Goya Adobo works for me, and stuff with 2 peeled tangerines, oranges, lemons or what ever citrus you have at hand.

Into a 500 deg F oven along with a couple of spuds chopped and dressed in salt, pepper and olive oil, and the smilings and runaways. Let it rip for an hour.

 It will render about 3/4 of a cup of golden elixir. Save and set aside preserve for future cooking.

Toss one shallot and one large clove of garlic in about 3 table spoons of said golden elixir in a hot pan, let melt and add some sliced Portobello mushrooms. Add a handful of sunflower seeds and a mess of chopped fresh dill , toss for a couple of minutes in the hot pan and serve.

With some 3 buck Chuck (formerly known as 2 buck Chuck)

O yes I almost forgot, after you drain off the fat from the pan, and you let the duck rest, pour in a bout a cup of orange juice and clean up the pan, add a couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce and a splash of brandy and reduce for a gravy.

* Save the head feet and whats left of the carcass/ bones and make duck soup the next day.

Squash Soup

One large Butternut squash cut in chunks dressed with olive oil and salt in an 500 deg F oven for about 45 minutes.

While you wait boil down the previous night's chicken carcass and a big white onion and make about 4 cups of broth. Let cool and spoon the now coked meat off the squash rinds and mix with the broth from the chicken and the coked onion. Run it all though the blender and pure. Warm it back up in a stock pot and season with allspice, clove, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and chopped chives.

Good for whatever ails you.

Finished Roscoe's Deck

Managed to finish the the deck project without any further major digit damage beyond the usual bumps and bruises. I did manage to bump the injured finger a couple of times but it seems to be healing nicely.

Wound up replacing all the skirting below the deck as the old stuff was quite nasty and just a jumble of short pieces that followed the grade making it look a bit ratty. Also made the railing all the same height and tightened up the balusters to a 3 inch gap to keep Rosco in. The straight lines and matching spacing help unify it all.

Also added a fenced enclosure with the same 3 inch gap between pickets to allow Rosco to do his business unleashed avoiding the need to dress up when the dog has to go.

And the small off color panel on the end is hinged to allow the kids to fetch the stray ball from under the deck. All in all I am pleased with the results, was spot on budget and it looks much better than what we started with. Better yet the customer is happy. Page back to the previous posting to see what I started with.