Sunrise this morning...

Isn't this a wonderful way to wake up in the morning - well this was at 7.15am this morning - sun starting to rise, still low mist in the valley - gorgeous :)

And just because I didn't have any other stitching projects to work on.... have started Gail Pan's BOM - check out link on right hand side of my blog... did this tonight at stitching with the girls whilst we shared quite a few laughs and had the most yummiest ginger cake - mmmm

How was your day??

Hugs

New runners...

The new runners... Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9's - don't shoes have crazy names and crazy prices!

Just 'breaking' them in walking from home to station to work to station to home routine - been planning on testing them out on a shuffle-jog when I get home after work... though dark nights, chilly air hasn't been to tempting!

Shins are crossed that these will help stop the shin splints flaring up.

Bella is beached on the computer desk, her tummy is getting rather rotund - she is such a greedy kitten/cat... hmm how am I going to tempt 'lard' into getting more exercise ... as it is we have to lock her away when its the 'big cats' time to get feed - she's in like a shot when she hears the bikkie tin rattle!

Hugs

La Bella ... all snuggly

Hmm... wondered why the indoor airer was looking a little buckled... Miss Bella has decided it is the perfect spot to create a hammock of sorts - while there are bedsheets airing !!


She's just too cute to get mad at, so I left her there all snuggly...

A5 and A6...

This is A5 - not a bad block to make, however have lost the points on the triangles a common complaint when I do these...


And A6 - wonderfully easy block :) very pleased - next one A7 is a needle-turn applique so will show that at a later date.

A very chilly day in Wellington today, the All Blacks are playing the French tonight at the Stadium... not watching (don't want to jinx the AB's) so have no idea who's winning...

Went for a gentle shuffle jog this morning - with a couple of power walks in between, the shin splints are painful - its definitely the shoes - so will need to go visit ShoeClinic and go on their fancy machine to find out the best runners to buy (and then put them on layby), came home from the shuffle jog and hopped onto the indoor trainer for 30 mins. Fingers are crossed that it will be a kinder day weather wise tomorrow so can go out for a 'proper' bike, is so boring peddling away staring at the garage door watching the minutes slowly tick by on the watch...

Hope you've had a good day, leave me a comment so I know that you're here visiting - love to hear what you have to say about my gobble-do-gook that I write.

Hugs

Look who's surfing the internet...

Bella !! Checking out Kait's conversations on Bebo :)

I went with my girlfriend Les, to a Simply Silver one day jewellery class on Saturday at Inverlochy Art School - isn't this the coolest house for an Art School...

Check out the tiles in the entrance foyer, doesn't this look like a quilt - gorgeous...

Here we are being shown a few of the key components for making a ring... once you've measured the length of silver needed to make your ring/bracelet - you need to cut - the hacksaw has the finest of blades that snaps very easily...

after cutting your silver, you then begin the hammering, letter punching or whatever to create the design in your piece, the more you 'hit' the harder the silver becomes, so you need to anneal the silver to make it soften.

The anneal process can occur a number of times, before you get to the next stage of shaping your ring/bracelet...

Here is the ring I made - three images to show the writing I stamped - please visualise the words as 'level'...

Here is the gorgeous bracelet and ring that Les made - very cool !

And three images of the bracelet I made, to match the ring - though in a thinner silver band... again imagine the lettering is 'level' - though I reckon it adds to the quirkiness and originality :)

Was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday, catching up with a favourite girlfriend, learning a new craft - could be addictive ... certainly can get some fast results.

Sunday was spent doing the 2nd stage of the Rangitikei Active Duathlon series, after last months adventure of entering the Long section, Sis-in-Law (Leigh) and I decided we would enter the medium course 2k run, 10k bike, 1.5k run - the course layout was way better, the hills were still undulating however manageable, the weather was warmer, though we got heavy rain on the bike section.

Our aim was to ensure we bettered our times from when we did the same distances in our first duathlon (April 09, in Wellington) - at that event we both did 1hr 12 min - today Leigh did 54.39 and I staggered in 3 minutes later at 57.07 - we were stoked. Leigh's a machine, she jogged both run sections, I managed to jog 3/4 of the first run section - I was coming last at the end of the first run section, at transition I crawled to my bike and peddled like crazy to try and catch up to Leigh (and the others), I managed to pass two people (yeah, I wasn't last anymore!!) but couldn't catch her - she was in my sights the last kilometre before transition to the 2nd run section - by then my legs were not happy, I was wet from heavy rain in the bike section - so I decided to power walk the 1.5km - I tried a couple of times to get the shuffle jog into action - though the shins were screaming NOOOOOO. So I walked. And I still came in 3rd to last for our section - I was stoked...

Here's Leigh coming back at the end of the 2nd run to egg me on to the finish line :) the runners behind me are from the Long section run!

The training focus for this month is going to be more gentle jogs with Kait a few times a week (she's keen to be my jogging buddy) and get some good quality shoes to help with the damn shin splints. (I used to get them wickedly when did aerobics, and you'd think after been a couch potato for nearly 2 years that would have rested them enough - but NOOO).

Next event is July - round 3 for the Rangitikei Active series.

Hope you too had a great weekend.

Where do the nights go...

Hi, yes I'm still about - the nights and weekends seem to be disappearing on me... have just spent the last couple of hours catching up on "bloglines" so I can catchup with all the blogs I follow - it continually amazes me (and impresses me beyond belief) how much craftiness and completion of projects some of you ladies achieve - I am in awe :)

Unfortunately I haven't any crafty photo updates for you... however I am going to a sterling silver jewellery class for the day tomorrow - very excited about that - so will take my camera to get some arty shots to share...

Sunday is the 2nd duathlon in Marton, Sis-in-law and I have decided to do the medium course - 2km run, 10km bike and 1.5km run - we got caught out last month thinking that undulating countryside was just that undulating... in fact in places it was bloody steep... the distance for this course is similar to what we did in April for our very first duathlon so will be interesting to see if we improve our times :) here's hoping.

Wishing you all a lovely restful weekend, keep warm.

Hugs