Wait....What the heck?!?!

Can anyone guess what this is? 

It looks like a bird pooped on his ear…  Actually, it is just a scab and powder from a nick the barber gave him with the straight razor that morning.  Still say it looks like bird poo though.

I JUST ... Ran my 4th 5K for the year

The weekend after my trip to Mom’s was Strawberry Festival Weekend here in Lebanon.  I have been trying to get into shape to run the Strawberry Run 5K for two years and I finally got into this one.  The run was June 2 at 9am.  The route is from the American Legion, through downtown along Main Street, then out to the Old Wal-Mart and back.  It was a fast and flat track and I managed to trim 50 seconds off my 5K time.  My next run is July 14 so I hope I can trim more off my time with that!

I JUST ... Participated in Motorcycle Visibilty Day

Motorcycle Visibility Day at OSU was Wednesday May 23 this year.  I rode Bella, it sprinkled a little bit when she was at the MU, and had a really good time.  I volunteered to be up at the quad with the bikes for an hour and was totally blown away by how much attention Bella got.  I had never heard of Triumph until about 2 years ago and apparently I didn’t know squat – they’re pretty popular.  A better talk-up of the event is on Troubador’s page.

I JUST ... did some yardwork with Josh

A little backyard update.  We’ve been planning on putting in sod and raised beds in the backyard since we moved in.  There was never anything in the backyard but rocky clay and weeds and we bought the house with the intention of getting the yard in ASAP. 

That was 5 years ago…  We finally got a contract signed with a landscaper and were told to get everything in the backyard that was on the weeds onto the concrete so they could come in, trench, lay irrigation and level with top soil.  So that is what we did!  Josh weed-whacked everything down and raked it into piles (for me to pick up later when the yard bin was emptied),

I pulled the lilies, trees and other tubs up onto the cement in an orderly fashion

and we used the apple boxes (we bought two or three years ago) as make-shift planters for the veggies we have since our sod and planter boxes won’t be in until late June. 

Took us most of the day, but we did it and then we crashed on the couch with the girls for a movie.

I JUST … Ran a 5K (and took a ride on Bella too)

Actually, I ran the 5K on May 19^th but have been busy since then and haven’t gotten this up.  May 19^th was the FlorenceRhodedendron Festival in Florence, OR.  They have a 5K/10K Fun Run and I decided that it would be my May Run.  Josh was in Denver and everyone else was busy so I packed up my food and running gear in Bella’s saddlebags and rolled out of the cul-de-sac at 6am. 

The route was backroads until I got to Shedd (there was a detour at the RR tracks and I had to ride 2 blocks in gravel – yuck), then I hit 99W and took that to 36 at Junction City.  I’ve never ridden past Cheshire on 36 and it turned out to be gorgeous.  I turned off at Poodle Creek Road and took that South to Hwy 126.  I’ve driven that road many times on my way to diving classes at Woahink Lake in Florence, so I was looking forward to seeing how it has changed in the past five years.  It was great!  The rhodies were blooming and the traffic was light.

Once I got to Florence, I found the Events Center and since I had an hour and a half before the race, I found a booth at the Dunes Café and ordered some Hot Cocoa to warm up.  I was cold and shaking.  The hot chocolate eventually warmed me up and I ordered a “Mini” stack and a side of bacon.  This place does mini like it does sand dunes – HUGE.  The side of bacon was 6 thick strips.  I only ate about a third of the pancake and a strip and a half of the bacon, then packed it away in my saddlebags for later. 

I headed off to the Events Center, parked Bella in the back of the gravel lot (yuck), got out of my gear and into my running kit, then picked up my bib and shirt. 

The route is a fun one, the Events Center sits on a hill, then you head down the hill to Bay Street, along Bay Street which is lined with Harleys for the Festival, then through some residential areas and back up a hill to the turn-around.  Then you go back the way you came.  There were people lining the whole route, out on their porches, sitting in their lawn chairs with their coffee and at the little bakeries and coffee shops in Old Town.  I loved it and everyone was really friendly and happy.  I made it out of that run and shaved 7 seconds off my Hillsboro time.  As soon as I was done, I threw back my chocolate milk and ate my Power Bar, put my riding gear back on and hit the road.  As I said, Old Town was filled with Harleys and only more were coming so I wanted to take advantage of the empty road up North and head up 101.

Bella’s light came on at 160 so I got gas in Yachats (ya-hawts) and rode on into Newport.  The bay was clear so riding over the bridge was really neat.  I stopped at the Quilter’s Cove Quilt Shop and checked out the inventory – they have a TON of patterns. 

Then I wandered down to Nye Beach to check out a place Troubador and Trobairitz have recommended, The Chowder Bowl.  It is a cute little place and I grabbed a seat by the window so I could see the people walking by and relax a little. 

I ordered a cup of chowder ($4.95 – ouch) and a plate of Fish and Chips and was kinda disappointed. 

The chowder was so-so, the fish soggy and the chips – eh.  The best part was the tartar sauce!  Oh well, I tried it and it’ll do in a pinch – much better than Mo’s Annex (but I’ll still take the drive to Lincoln City for Mo’s if given the chance).  Then I headed down to Newport’s Bay Street to pick up a birthday gift for a co-worker at Newport Bay Candle Company.  I saw these great glasses – Redneck Wineglasses – that were Mason and Ball Jars on wine stems.  They were perfect for Frank and Alma so I had to get them a pair.  On my way back to Bella I ran into some pirates and had them pose with Bella – arrrgh! 

Then it was back on the bike and on home.  Hwy 20 was pretty clear, only me and two other cars the whole way home.  I rolled into the garage at 2:30pm after 217 miles and was beat.  The girls were in Beaverton so I crawled on the couch with Molly and napped the rest of the afternoon.  Good day!

I JUST ... Found the Wocket in My Pocket

Over at her blog, Trobairitz' Tablet, Trobairitz challenged her readers to see what is in their riding gear - what we take with us when we go on a ride.  I figured I better get this out before I get too far behind.  My Joe Rocket Jacket has two outside pockets and two hidden inside and my REV'it Riding Pants have two, but I still don't manage to carry a whole lot - most of what I carry goes in the saddle bags and I am not dumping them for a photo!

What I've got in my jacket: All-Purpose Leatherman Tool, Doublemint (gotta keep the helmet smellin' fresh), phone, lip balm, wallet and ear plugs.
What I've got in my pants:  Ear plug holder w/a set of ear plugs and key for Bella.  Yeah, I have some AFROTC gear - how am I supposed to work there and not have the gear too?!?!

I JUST ... Pieced a Row Robin Row

The quilt guild I belong to, Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild, is doing a Row Robin this year.  The concept is fun and has given me a little bit of an impetus to get cracking on my pattern designing.  Here's the lowdown on a Row Robin:

Owner creates a row for a quilt - their theme, their ideas, their wishes.  The original row is passed to another person who creates a row to go with the original using the Row Robin Theme for the month and the owner's ideas, theme, wishes, etc.  This continues month-to-month with the quilt rows being passed on to another person each month with a different Row Robin Theme.  At the end of the Row Robin time frame (for us it is six months), the owner will have 6 rows to put together into a quilt.  There will have been 6 people who contributed to the quilt which means a lot of variety and creativity.

This month is the third month and the theme is Triangles.  I have Marjorie M.'s rows and she had red, white and blue fabric and stars as her only theme ideas.  I added the yellow to match a previous row and made the pinwheels in a wavy pattern.  There are six blocks total with three pinwheels apeice.

Here is a close-up of two of the blocks.  The smaller pinwheel is floating in the background and all three pinwheels are different sizes so this wasn't an easy-peasy slap together row.  It was challenging to get them to fit, but I enjoyed myself.

The journey of the pattern will be in future posts.