good morning all.
We did a tough hike on saturday. not all that nice either. the forest service requires a paid permit to park there, and the trail had not been maintained in years. we climbed up over (or under) at least 75 downed trees on the way. and a stream crossing on a nasty log with devils club and nettle everywhere. and then I wore the wrong boots and my left foot was killing me by the time to come down. wow, was I glad to see the car, 9 miles about 3000 foot gain.
sunday was garden day and our lawntractor finally died. It's very old had has been nursed along for years. but at the absolute bottom of our lot! we had to rig up a rope to the truck and pull it back up hill, several hundred vertical feet. while I ran alongside the mower, "steering" it. then had to reverse things and get the truck below it so we could run it up some ramps into the truck bed. none of this was easy but we got it done. whew!. no wonder you see old farm equipment sitting out in fields. when it stops, even with wheels, it is hard to move. getting a new one maybe this week. every time we shopped for one before, we'd go home and the old mower would mysteriously snap back to life sso we'd run it another year. this was it, though.
so instead of relaxing on monday after our jerk breath neighbors turned the neighborhood into a war zone sunday night, we went on a bike ride with friends. thought it would be easy, but nooooo. it's a flat gravel trail and they have middle of the road bikes. our road bikes would die on the gravel so we took the mt bikes. Let me say here and now, that no mt bike should be sat on and ridden for 40 miles. with the fat tires, we had to pedal constantly,, furiously, even on the slight downhill parts., while our friends mostly coasted. for some reason there was no water anywhere along the trail, and only one overly full port-a-potty. wowsa. I was so dry when we got done I drank 3 full bottles of water in 10 minutes. no one brought enough food or water and I pulled out a bag of peanuts toward the end and it was like a flock of vultures!
So I'm not really complaining, we just weren't properly prepared and actually don't have the right kind of bike to ride that far on mostly packed gravel. my sit bones were talking to me by half way thru, and my legs were like limp noodles by the end.
but I went to yoga this morning and feel fine after mucho water and a decent nights sleep. and then after the weather being winter-like since may, now suddenly this week it is switching to the 90's, abruptly. so I guess I will complain! no one is acclimated at all, it's been in the 40's and maybe 50's during the day and today will be 70-ish but the rest of the week will be much, much warmer. so whine, whine.
cathy, I don't know what a 60 m is either.
Lynda, that sounds like a lovely dinner and evening.
Deb, you're right boards were down for a while. I assumed maintenance or something. cyclamen are pretty but I've never had one so no plant advice here.
