A week on and I’m still talking about the race. Two slogans caught my attention.
I don’t like Lance Armstrong but I think I’ll make this my life slogan:
“Pain is only temporary, quitting is forever”.
It was written on the road at the start of the run.
On a guy’s teeshirt at the pre-race meeting:
“Because I’m older, I’m wiser and I train whilst you sleep”.
Good psych-out teeshirt.
It was a constuctive weekend this weekend. When you’re building a house, the only gardening you get done is of the construction variety and it really helps when you get a guy to turn up with a cheesy great big excavator. Bring it on!
The back of the lot has turned from an undulating patch of weedy rubble that collects a pond, big enough for ducks when it rains, into a gently sloping weed-free pile of dirt and stones. THAT’s the weeder I want.
The front has been freed of the pile of dirt that’s been sitting at the entrance to the driveway since last October. That and other eyesores have been moved and spread out across the front of the house so that we now have a reasonable step down onto the earth from the deck, instead of having to risk an ancle every time you make the 3’ leap of death. It is nice to have the earth brought up to your own level for once.
Hubby spent Sunday building a stone wall with natural rocks from the dirt pile. He had occasional help from me to roll a really big boulder that he couldn’t manage alone. The neighbours popped by and told us they sell natural stone at the garden centre for 10c per lb. So our wall is, by now, worth about $600.
I continued edging the garden and started expanding the long edge into a path. When the sun got to much I retreated to the shade of the tree to pull the clover out of the lawn since it’s now 70% clover, 30% grass. It’s quite therapeutic really, like searching through dog fur for tics.
I don’t like Lance Armstrong but I think I’ll make this my life slogan:
“Pain is only temporary, quitting is forever”.
It was written on the road at the start of the run.
On a guy’s teeshirt at the pre-race meeting:
“Because I’m older, I’m wiser and I train whilst you sleep”.
Good psych-out teeshirt.
It was a constuctive weekend this weekend. When you’re building a house, the only gardening you get done is of the construction variety and it really helps when you get a guy to turn up with a cheesy great big excavator. Bring it on!
The back of the lot has turned from an undulating patch of weedy rubble that collects a pond, big enough for ducks when it rains, into a gently sloping weed-free pile of dirt and stones. THAT’s the weeder I want.
The front has been freed of the pile of dirt that’s been sitting at the entrance to the driveway since last October. That and other eyesores have been moved and spread out across the front of the house so that we now have a reasonable step down onto the earth from the deck, instead of having to risk an ancle every time you make the 3’ leap of death. It is nice to have the earth brought up to your own level for once.
Hubby spent Sunday building a stone wall with natural rocks from the dirt pile. He had occasional help from me to roll a really big boulder that he couldn’t manage alone. The neighbours popped by and told us they sell natural stone at the garden centre for 10c per lb. So our wall is, by now, worth about $600.
I continued edging the garden and started expanding the long edge into a path. When the sun got to much I retreated to the shade of the tree to pull the clover out of the lawn since it’s now 70% clover, 30% grass. It’s quite therapeutic really, like searching through dog fur for tics.
When the outside really got to me I picked half a tree of cherries off next doors tree in exchange for packing boxes and paper and boiled them down to make cherry crumble. This is after a sizeable chunk of time spent picking out the maggoty ones.
In amongst all this Percy Thrower / Delia Smith activity, I also managed a very nice run along the North shoreline of the village – to places I haven’t been yet. There are some really cute little “properties” along there where someone’s bought 20 ft of shoreline. There’s no room for a building – just a garage or a caravan with a garbage can, a boat, a kayak, a dock, a few plant pots and a “private property” sign. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of open beach too but it makes me wonder just what a waterfront property with garage would sell for now. I never have run with an I pod or other musical appendage because I don’t listen to that much music but I was glad I didn’t have it on Saturday because I could listen to the grasshoppers singing and the kids laughing and screaming in the water and the distant humm of motorboats and people enjoying their holidays and it made me very happy to live here.
In amongst all this Percy Thrower / Delia Smith activity, I also managed a very nice run along the North shoreline of the village – to places I haven’t been yet. There are some really cute little “properties” along there where someone’s bought 20 ft of shoreline. There’s no room for a building – just a garage or a caravan with a garbage can, a boat, a kayak, a dock, a few plant pots and a “private property” sign. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of open beach too but it makes me wonder just what a waterfront property with garage would sell for now. I never have run with an I pod or other musical appendage because I don’t listen to that much music but I was glad I didn’t have it on Saturday because I could listen to the grasshoppers singing and the kids laughing and screaming in the water and the distant humm of motorboats and people enjoying their holidays and it made me very happy to live here.
jj said...
I'd love to live in one of those waterfront lots. To have the water 'there' in all weathers. dream dream dream.