Ride the Wave!

Oy! the difference a pair of shoes make.... I am still plugging away at my C25k "training" plan. It's been going slowly and steadily, though I keep getting waylaid or stuck on certain weeks (for good reasons - like I got to go on vacation and instead of running, spent the time hiking instead). Anyhow, I had thought that I was doomed to early failure but it seems that my feet and myself have come to an agreement. After various evaluations of my foot strike and various trials, I am happy to report that the shoes I finally settled on, seem to be working out - course, I'm still in the interval training portion of C25k, and haven't run that much in them, but never-the-less, they seem to be doing the trick....what are they? Mizuno Wave Rider 9s :) I'm not so crazy for their looks, but they are light, and my feet luuuurve them. Or they seem to be semi-infatuated at least.

Speaking of running, I am pleased to say I am actually able to run the equivalent of a lap + now. I don't remember the last time I was actually able to successfully run a full lap on a track! It was probably ages and ages ago back when I used to run track in High School! Eek! There is something to be said for coming to the realization that a milestone has been hit :) In theory, the next thing I'll notice is I'll actually be able to run a full *4* laps (or a mile!)...

The early reward for hitting this milestone? (I'm a big fan of rewards ;) ) A fancy schmancy new watch...in periwinkle blue...conveniently, it's good for training too. And no, I'm not looking to train for a tri - I don't care what make or model the watch is there will be no tri training here :P . The reward came early because my other watch met an untimely death. I think it got ran over by a car :(

Have a fantastic 4th of July Holiday for those who are celebrating :D

Virga

vir·ga

Wisps of precipitation streaming from a cloud but evaporating before reaching the ground.

It seems that that's all we're getting down here, while the poor eastern seaboard seems to be covered in a deluge.

Nevertheless inspired, Virga is the name of the first of my Ethereally Elemental colorways (very subtley variegated, perfect for lace & texturework!)

Want a peek?

Color me Crazy

Busy weekend full of color here :)
Of course, there was only just the tiniest bit of blue and not a bit of violet/purple to herald in the next month...

What you see on the bobbin there (yes, there is a bobbin under there...) are the various colors of batts I was working on...

Incidentally I also discovered that if pressed, I can likely squash nine pounds of fiber or yarn or a combination thereof into my ginormous dyepot. So yes, there is a shop update coming soon :)

I've got the Blues

June is slowly winding to an end, and the project spectrum color for the month is blue...

This month I spun up some blue wool...then plied it with a variegated blue chenille yarn, hoping for a wonderful and unique yarn...

I can't say I'm really thrilled with the results. The plying went all unevenly, the chenille was not so happy to be dragged into this project. This skein is aptly named "I've got the Blues."

Also for June, in honor of Project Spectrum and Spin Out, I made up a bunch of little mini batts for those who will be participating.

Desert Daybreak colorway - they have both blue and a bit of purply goodness in there in case people want to hold them til July...Cara took some much nicer photos. If you can't make it to the spin out, you can still participate by donating to Heifer International...and you can win prizes! There's some scuttlebutt about inclement weather, lets all send good weather thoughts to NYC :)

In addition to the spinning, I've also been knitting up some blue-ish colored yarn - I've been playing with a lovely color of Gianna from SWTC. Sorry, no photo - the project is still very much a WIP (and it's a design for a new pattern I'm working on ;) )

It's Good to be Back :D

Time away to play is always welcomed with open arms, though I may have gotten more than I bargained for this last time.

In addition to seeing some marvelous Southwest Fauna (elk, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, kangaroo rats, lizards, raptors, a coyote, an antelope and a spectacular rattle snake) and some non-natives (grazing cattle of various varieties and a mess of crayfish)...not to mention some rather spectacular scenery, I had a bit of a close view of wildfire at work.


..As in perhaps a little too close for comfort...They always start small...but with the desert southwest experiencing a rather long drought, everything is ready to go up in flames if you just look at it wrong.

This is the Brins fire as of last Sunday Night - the fire has since climbed down the mountain and into side canyons, burning down Sterling Pass - which I hiked on my wedding day years ago - and on into Oak Creek Canyon. After sitting and watching the fire spread, and watching the helicopters and slurry planes at work, I think I will forever associate the drone of helicopters to fire fighting. The entire forest will be closed to access at 8am tomorrow morning.

Happy Solstice!

Happy Summer Solstice!

Sorry for being so remiss in posting - I was happily welcoming in the summer in the outdoors! The trip was good, I made hardly any progress on any of my fiber projects, and I had plenty of excitement. More on that later...

Just One Word

Pilfered from Cara's blog

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me - it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

Otama!

Look! A matcha-green Otama! Isn't it cute? He's from Mariko :) He arrived with some little friends - some cool little springy pinchy daschund-shaped clips for holding papers all kinds of other things. My camera was misbehaving (note the slight focus issue on the poor Otama) so I didn't manage to get a clear photo.

Anyhow, the Otama had a good time checking out the plants...

...and then he opted for some snuggle time with Marble...

want some super-cuteness? Click on the photo for a slight zoom - note the curled paws and the barely-visible fangs (on Marble, not the Otama ;) )

Of course, not too long after this photo, Marble and Troy decided that the Otama wasn't just for sitting nicely with - so I had to rescue him and put him up where cats can't reach.

Thank you so much, Mariko :) you're wonderful!

Finally Finished :)

Remember this sweater (the checkerboard one)? Well, it was converted into this...and then reknitted into this - and now the last bit of the sweater has been turned into this :) Of course, I now have to felt them down, but I figure there's no rush since the cats won't have anything to do with them for now...it's just plain too hot. They'd rather lay on the cool tile or in front of one of the fans.

A good use of soda...

Alrighty - if I hadn't given away all the coupons...I'd have a perfect way to consume all those 2 liters of soda -
check this out (oh, and there's music, so um... get yer headphones!)

(and if for some reason the embedded version isn't working for you, go look here)

And while you have those headphones out, and you haven't seen it yet, this webmovie about the Evolution of Dance is sure to make you smile :)

Lured in with luscious looks

mmm. Berries. Gorgeous, red, plump and fragrant - strawberries herald in the summer. I love to have them plain with a light dusting of sugar...or on shortcake...or in a smoothie...with a wonderful sale at the local grocery store (a pound of berries for a buck!) I thought I was in for some wondrous berry goodness over the weekend.

Unfortunately, the berries in question were masquerading as scrumptious fruit. You see...a properly ripe berry is not white in the middle - well, okay, it might have a little bit of white in the middle, but it should not just have a faint red blush on the outside when cut open - it should be red almost all the way through! *sigh* I was lured in with the wonderful price, the fragrant scent and the lovely looks. Sadly, these berries are tart, and generally lacking. And I have four pounds of them.

Pasta Risotto?

Yes. There is such a thing. Probably more authentic if I had used Orzo instead of mini penne - so I guess I'll have to give it another try sometime.

In a nutshell, you cook the pasta like you would cook risotto - by adding stock and stirring away and adding more stock and more stirring and so on and so forth until the pasta is al dente (well, not so much with the stirring but you get the idea).

Curious? Have a look at my notes here.

Chop Chop...

It seems every year I go through this...it is always a question of timing it seems. If when the Intolerable Heat hits, if my hair is not yet long enough to pull back or pin up without the use of excessive hair product, it gets chopped off...and even if it does time out correctly, if I can't stand it sticking on me at night, it also gets chopped. The last time I successfully managed to make it through the summer with it long was several years back, at which point I had enough to chop off and donate to Locks of Love.

Anyhow, I didn't make it very far this year - it's not even officially summer yet, and I had to lop off ~3.5 inches. I would have gone shorter, but as it is, I had it cut flush to my natural hair line (easier maintenance than if I had chopped more off). Excuse the minor flippy parts - I slept on it wet...

Caffeine Anyone?

whoops! Perhaps a mite too much caffeine on my part as I accidentally posted a blank post! LOL. I dutifully submitted a bunch of codes for the olympics last winter and while none of it resulted in a "real" prize, I've got enough coupons to be caffeined up on 2 Liters for quite some time. Incidentally I don't drink a whole lot of soda, and I definitely tend not to purchase in the 2 Liter size (I prefer cans...that and the 2 Liters seem to go flat before I can finish them off). Anyhow, anyone in need of a coupon for 5 free 2 Liter bottles of Coca Cola Products? If so, leave me an interesting comment and a way to contact you :) If I get a larger than anticipated response, the names will go into a hat for a random drawing ;)

Spin Out!

Those of you yonder near New York should be sure to welcome in the summer with the Great American Spin Out! And if you're like me and you can't attend, there's a Spin n' Win raffle :) Lots of lovely prizes for donating to a good cause...you might even with one of my batts!

Go over and check it out :D