Rainy Day Tiki Project

Michael Uhlenkott tapa cloth on 1 X 2 frame. Added Dave "Lake Tiki" Hansen accoutrements.

Let There Be Light!

Low voltage LED lights for six pantry shelves. Who's thirsty? 

Tiki Mug Shelf

Re-purposed a shelf unit into a nifty new Tiki Mug shelf. 

Tiki Display Lights

Got these cool LED lights from Amazon. Really look good. Thanks RTGS! 

1973 240Z

Best picture of my Z for fellow blogger Pilotes if he stops by.

Holiday week is over. (Finally!)

I'm almost looking forward to going back to work, almost. I hope everyone enjoyed whatever activities they participated in over the last week. We started off with a trip to the family lake house last weekend. Alex wanted nothing else but to ride and drive the ATV. I held him at 3rd gear and 15 miles per hour!

We went into North Bend and got some chain, a hitch pin and some other items. My Mom has a drag harrow and we rigged it up to drag the beach. It looked pretty good after repeated passes with the harrow spikes pointing down. We're still trying to find the right combination to make the beach smooth and grass/weed free. We don't spray the grass or weeds with pesticides or herbicides as they'll end up in the lake where we swim. 

After two days at the lake we headed back to Lincoln. I worked two days and then was off the rest of the week. We next went to Seward for our annual 4th of July celebration at my Mother-in-laws. This 4th of July marks 25 years that my wonderful wife and I have been with each other. I am very lucky! We watched Alex light off his fireworks on July 3rd and we went back on the 4th for Seward's public firework display. It was pretty good even if it ended poorly compared to years past. 

While we were in Seward on the 3rd, we honored Pete's request to spread some of his ashes along the railroad tracks at the depot where he worked for so many years.  

Have a good week everyone and keep cool. 

Toys?? In the attic.....

We leave our thermostat set at 78 in the winter and the summer.  In the summer when it's 90 degrees or more, the air conditioner runs well into the late night hours until the attic temperatures go down.  I crawled up there a while back and was surprised to see about 6 inches of insulation up there.  

I called around and folks told me I should have a minimum of 10 to 12 inches which meets the minimum code for a R-38 insulation value.   

I had Krieser Insulation blow in what looks to be nearly two feet more in to my attic this morning.  If I remember correctly what the owner said on the phone, I should now have an R value of 50.  Two of my neighbors have done this too and one say's he's saving $1200 a year on gas and electricity.  WOW!  

I have the house opened up today and will be watching the thermostat closely!  

The Krieser guys were right on time and did the work fast with minimal mess.  Thanks Krieser Insulation! 

Aku Tiki Room

Friday, the postman delivered some new tiki art to the West A house.  I had Robert make this piece for me, with some of my favorite elements of the tiki style.  Gruesome carved tiki idol, fish float lamps lit by a huge moon, a sliver of light emanating from a distant A Frame thatched hut.  You can almost here the waves crashing the cliffs below. Perfect!  

I have been working on an area in my basement for about three years now.  I keep trying to add layers upon layers of things to feast your eyes on.  I have some matting not put up yet and my stock of bamboo is getting pretty good.  I call my space the "Aku Tiki Room" in a nod to the only tiki bar/lounge ever here in Lincoln.  I know it's not a very creative name but it's tribute to the past and I like it.  

The lilies are looking good

My wife loves lilies, I like the Tiger and Asiatic best.  Nirak, I am marking my calendar for this fall so I can ask you for real this time if you'd like to come and get some.

I hope everyone had a good Monday, the Missus and I had the day off. Did more yard work, exterior house work and had lunch at The Oven. We hit Leon's afterwards got a bunch of goodies we never see at Russ's.  

Have you seen my ducky?

Lilly will be one year old soon.  She is something else, what that is I don't know.  Today she attacked the broom I was using to clean off the slab we put our pool on.  She absolutely hates the gas trimmer/edger and tries to bite the end while it's spinning.  Crazy dog!

She has the most expressive face.  Her ears are always moving and she wrinkles her forehead like no other boxer we've ever had.  I'm looking forward to many many years with little Lilly Pad.  

It should come as no surprise...

Here I am, I haven't forgotten what I started for no reason other than to be like so many others.  But I experienced a massive case of burnout.  I just didn't have the gumption to sit down, think about what I should say, take pictures of what I wanted to show you, edit the photos, and then plop it all down here.  

The main reason is that my Father in law was really sick the last two years and he lost his fight with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on September 21st.  Having no father figure in my life nor Grandfather for my son is something I'm having a hard time adjusting to.  Father's Day is coming up and it's another one of those "Firsts" that our family has to get past to get back to some attempt at normalcy.  

We knew how the leukemia would turn out but coupled with both of our dogs dying in late 2010, I was shell shocked to say the least in 2011.  Hell, we all were.  

The West A house trudged along and we're keeping our chins up.  It's all you can do when life kicks you where the sun doesn't shine! 

We did get a new boxer pup, Lilly six months ago.  She has brought laughter and joy back while still being a handful; as all Boxers are.  Today she escaped the backyard and I don't know how yet.  Thankfully I was in the front yard and she just wanted to be with me.    

I am sorry to those of you who may have enjoyed seeing what I was doing and then I left you hanging.  I am back and I will post.  Here and on that tumblr thingy. 

Have a great weekend! 

Hello Friends!

Hey how are you?  We're doing well here at the West A house.  Spring feels like it's here and we've been busy!  Yard cleanup is in full swing and we've taken advantage of some recent good weather to do some hiking/walking/bike riding.  

We recently visited Omaha and enjoyed a trip to the Durham Museum.  I'm a bit of a train fan so I was very glad to have finally visited.  The structure is amazing.  I tried to imagine it was 1942 and the place was busy with many people coming and going or waiting for their train.  Taxis and busses dropping off and picking up folks who may have come from New York or were going to Denver. 

Alex of course liked the model trains and the ability to go inside some of the rail cars down at track level.  Lincoln used to have a trolley system, as did Omaha.  Too bad Lincoln couldn't have kept it.

Staying on the train theme, last Sunday we hiked south on the abandoned Union Pacific line to the point where the Rock Island line crossed over.  If you go southwest on the Rock Island line there's a bridge that crosses Salt Creek, we plan on hiking to that the next time.

Have a good weekend everyone! 

Boozed up hot tub of love......

Well now that I have your attention, let me just say that I've read a lot of food related posts the last couple of years but that sentence about takes the cake!  Steve makes food I wish I could eat. Guess I'm going to have to try making that in the near future. 

Did you enjoy the weekend?  What a great couple of days!  My wonderful in-laws took "The Boy" Friday night so the Missus and I had some time to go out and let someone else serve us. And we both slept in Saturday and today, that is always a treat!

We ventured out to 56th & Hwy 2 Saturday night and had Indian food at Taj Mahal.  The place was very busy but the wait was worth it.  After the meal I was invited into the kitchen to see what Chef Raghani was preparing, he had a huge pot of base sauce going and he was pureeing it with the biggest stick blender I've ever seen!  We talked a bit about paneer cheese and after showing me his, told me to air dry my next batch in the fridge for two days to firm it up.  I was thrilled to be invited into a working Indian kitchen!

I prepared a pecan smoked honey-rosemary pork loin this evening and sauteed some zucchini and green peppers along with the pork.  This week looks to be fantastic weather wise so the grill will be hot at this house! 

I hope you're all doing well and I'll see you soon!

Happy New Year!!

Well it's 2011! I might know what you're thinking, "Where has this guy been?" Well the year ended and it's time to get the new year started on a new fresh foot. I don't have any legitimate excuses for ignoring WestADad since October. I was just lazy. Sorry! 

I'm roasting a chicken for Sunday dinner at the moment and with a recently aquired laptop at a countertop seperating my kitchen from the dining room, I felt the urge to post something.

I hope each and every one of you that comes here had a wonderful holiday season no matter what you celebrate. With Lincoln Public Schools closed since December 22nd we've been busy entertaining "The Boy". Movies, bowling, Children's Museum, Lost In Fun, and two "Christmases" with both sets of Grandparents on the 24th and 25th. I'm ready for him to go back to school and I'll go back to work.

Speaking of work, my co-workers decided to have a pot-luck back on December 23rd. So being me, I had to do something big and smoked a herb crusted ham out in front of the business that morning so it'd be right off the fire at lunch time. It weighed 8.9 pounds and was a big hit. I brought the leftovers/bones home and made a tasty ham and bean soup on New Years Day. Which was also pretty darned good according to the Missus.

I'm excited to start the new year saving up for the new deck/tiki hut I plan to build. I've laid down some plans on paper and continue to draw inspiration from TikiCentral. Some of the bars/huts/rooms posted at "TC" are simply mind blowing. One day not far from now you'll be invited over for some tasty treats and tiki drinks!

I've discovered a few new dishes the last couple of months (new to us anyways) and I'll be showing them to you soon. I hope you like them.  Chicken Yakisoba is a real favorite and easy to make too.

Since it's winter and I need a hobby to keep busy, I plan on showing you step by step my attempt to build some lamps for the tiki hut. Hopefully you don't laugh to hard at my handiness or lack thereof!

The chicken and taters are done.  I could eat dozens of these little roasted red bliss tasty treats.

Hope you have a good week and again I wish each of you a happy and prosperous 2011.

Happy Fall!!

I can't believe how the days fly by sometimes.  Summer is gone and now it's fall, my favorite time of the year.  We've been busy here at the West A House.  School and work, going here and there, meeting new people.

It's been a busy past month since I was here last, the Missus and I went to Dave Matthews at Qwest Center a few weeks ago.  It rocked as usual.  They played a new song, "Black Jack", it was awesome.  I hope the studio version turns out as good as the live version was. 

A week after Dave, we went back to Omaha and met some folks at Mt. Fuji for the first and hopefully annual "Mid-West Mai Tai Meet-Up".  We had dinner in a Tatami (tea) room with three other tiki-minded couples then migrated downstairs to the Mai Tai lounge for drinks and conversation.  Another couple joined us in the lounge and for a first time event, 10 people made for a nice party.  I look forward to doing it again!

Have a good week and if you get tomorrow off, have a nice Columbus Day.

And now for some pictures!!

Pupu ribs and ginger pineapple fried rice.
















Hand carved tiki "Nui Niho" by "Lake Tiki"-Dave Hansen of Milwaukee.
















Hot bowl of smoked pork three bean chili.

Gigantic fish float lamp by Trader Bill from Newport Beach California.

Ecstatic people getting Mt Fuji shirts. Thanks to Silverline for the picture.

Happy Labor Day

Here's hoping you had a nice day today.  Sorry if you had to work.  We made the most of our weekend by traipsing all over Eastern Nebraska.  We meandered up North 14th Street to Martin's Hillside Orchard and picked raspberries, apples and some of the best peaches I've ever had.  That prompted a nice batch of peach cobbler when we got home.  Probably make some sauce or syrup with some of the raspberries for pancakes.  And I know some of the apples have apple crisp in their future! The orchard is a nice excuse for a drive through the countryside to see the coming of fall.  Some trees are changing, the corn is drying.  The weather was perfect.  Decided that beef would be featured this weekend so I grilled up a platter of kebabs and the crowd went wild.  Okay not really, but the kebabs were devoured.

We loaded up the wagon the next day and wandered around Mahoney and Schramm State Parks.  The aquarium at Schramm is a popular spot for us and The Boy is always fascinated with the fish.  Especially "Big Blue" the huge catfish.  We explored the canyon ponds of the Gretna Fish Hatchery up into the bluffs on the north side of the Platte River.  One canyon pond was full of carp and another pond further up had great looking trout. Very cool!  

After lots of hiking we motored east, crossed the Platte into Louisville and searched for ice cream.  Finding none we ventured north through South Bend, past Mahoney Park again and found frozen treats in Ashland.  
All the fresh air and excercise made me hungry like a bear so I grilled steak for dinner.  Sauteed shrooms and broccoli too.

We rolled out to Seward today and hung out with the better half's family for lunch and conversation.  It was a great three day weekend and I hope yours was too.  Have a great week!

Sunday Dinner

Hi there!  Spent a lazy afternoon in the pool today, it was pretty chilly but we got used to it.  Tomorrow and Tuesday look to be possible swim days and that's probably about it for the season.  I like the fall season the best and I'm looking forward to it again this year.  I don't mind the fall yard cleanup, it get's you outside in the fresh air.  I've got some minor exterior house projects to finish up then too.  I hope you've had a good summer, you've got a couple weeks left.  Let's hope for a nice long Autumn! 

I ran across a recipe for some enchiladas a few weeks ago so that's what we had for dinner tonight.  It's not the usual enchilada but it was mighty tasty.  Here we go.  Using pecan wood, I smoked two pork loin, four tomatoes, an orange bell pepper (red is preferred) and a hot red pepper.  Smoke all of this for 40 minutes, the pork cooks until medium doneness.  Cut the pork into bite size pieces and set aside. Remove the skins and seeds from all the veggies.  Puree them in the blender along with some onion and garlic.  Simmer this sauce for about 15 minutes and give it a shot of salt and some chopped cilantro as you take it off the heat and set it aside. 

Sautee more onion in a large skillet until it's soft and nearly translucent.  Add some garlic and the pork and sautee this for a few minutes.  Then add some cooked drained black beans, chicken broth and chili powder.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer it until the liquid is mostly gone.  Prepare the corn tortillas the way you like to eat them. Fried, microwaved or like I do, tossed onto a hot gridle.  Place some filling and some Jack cheese on each tortilla, roll em' up and place in a baking dish.  Cover the whole lot with some of your sauce and top with more cheese.  Bake until the cheese is to your liking.  15-20 minutes.  EAT!!

Have a good week everyone!

Goodbye Sweet Zoey

We had to put Zoey down this morning.  The last couple of weeks have been pretty rough.  The vet said she had congenital heart disease and it was amazing that she lived as long as she did.  We adopted her from the humane society and we think she was 11 or 12 years old.  We promised her that she wouldn't ever suffer again like she had before we adopted her.  I remember her being so emaciated her front legs almost touched when we brought her home.  She must have been beaten because if you touched her anywhere near her tail she would cower from you.  She grew out of that and was quite the specimen!  We knew she had a heart murmur but she was very strong and such a sweet dog to the very end.  She loved being in the front yard where all the neighbor kids would give her attention. 

Williamsburg Vet Clinic was very kind and let us use their special quiet room, we laid on a soft blanket together, Zoey was given the injection and was gone in less than a minute.  My heart said "no" but my head said it was the kindest thing to do.  We stayed with her body for a little while and we'll get her cremated remains in a few days. 

She was a wonderful affectionate gentle dog and I will miss her.  Boxer's are such clowns and Zoey was no exception.  One time she chewed up a stuffed toy and that was it.  Never trouble, loved everyone she ever met. 

Goodbye monkey girl, I love you.

Weekend Eats and Treats

Since the Mai Tai Lounge in Omaha is not a convenient place for me to practice my tiki hobby, we're planning a tiki hut/bar in the backyard next year.  With the house all spruced up now, part of the the plan is to make a little "escape from reality".  We'll build a bigger deck and in one back corner I plan to construct an A-framed hut of sorts and load it up with my tiki treasures.  I've been steadily collecting mugs, artwork, carvings and other Polynesian paraphernalia.  I got two of these cool fish float lights from a fellow member at Tiki Central.  Awesome! 

The Boy had requested bbq ribs the other day so I obliged him Saturday evening for dinner.  What with Ribfest in town the last several days, it seemed the tasty thing to do! I got two fresh racks from Sam's club

Saturday morning, put a sweet/smokey rub on them and rested them in the fridge for several hours.  I have read on several barbeque sites that pecan is the Cadillac of wood to use for smoking so I used that.  The chunks of pecan don't have an in-your-face smell and they don't emit much smoke during the cooking process.  But man does it give the meat an awesome taste.  I smoked them slowly for two hours then mopped on some homemade sauce the last thirty minutes of cook time.  Dem bones was good eatin'!

Tonight was a simple Thai chicken sate and some roasted zuchinni and onions from the garden.  Odd combination but pretty darn tasty! 

Have a great week everyone!

All Spiffed Up

After replacing the siding, we shot new paint on and brush painted the trim and windows.  It's a damn big yellow house! 

Before:  Polished Oak with Hunter Green Trim

After: Quiet Veranda with Fossil Butte trim and Vanilla Milkshake shutters.

Thanks for stopping by!