In the garden of..

Each spring I get high hopes for my "garden" and I have decided that after 5 years of poor yields that I am just not going to do it.  So this year I have planted some shallots and garlic...and if they take great and if not well I am just going to let it go.  I do have a successful herb garden and my inside plants look great.  My next project will be to plant my rosemary that I picked up this morning.  Just trying to decide if it is going to go in the ground or live in a pot.  While planting that I also have a spider plant cutting that wants to live in its new home as well.

I love fragrant herbs and you can find lavender, chives, sage, thyme, and mint growing around my yard.  I can't wait until my yard looks older because right now it still has that "just moved in" feel to it.  I love older homes with their well tended and well loved yards.  One of these days we will get to landscaping our backyard with a stone patio, pergola, and built in fireplace.  I want my yard to be our little sanctuary and I want it pretty as well as functional.

And if it weren't for the onslaught of black flies, I would be out tending to my yard before the rain moves in.  But I was forced back inside with new little bites all around the back of my neck.   For a cloudy day, it's been delightfully sunny here in Barnstead.  The windows are open and a gentle breeze is blowing through the house.  The only creature not enjoying the breeze is the cat who has decided she needs to live in the basement again.  But as seen in these photos, she does come out of hiding every once in a great while.

I am also making steady progress on John's sweater.  I am well more than 3/4 of the way done with the body of it and have used up at least half of the total yardage of yarn.  Good thing too because in my mind I am already onto my next project.  I have some cotton yarn I want to use up with a knitted tank top.  Simple yet pretty.

And since I didn't run this am, here is to hoping for a dry run on Sunday morning.

What (not) to wear

Now I am not one to use my girl card very often.  John tells me that someone who runs voluntarily into a burning building and can use a chainsaw doesn't get use of her "girl card" EVER.  I should've thrown that away when I joined the fire service, but at times I still need it and this afternoon well it was out!  Oh the decisions I had to make when trying to decide what to run in this evening.  I started with my BFR running shirt and black EMS shorts and that wasn't cutting it for me, so then I tried my navy blue tank and black shorts.  Nope that didn't work either.  Next I dragged out the running dress and contemplated putting that on.  Okay didn't do it for me.  So then I got out my North Face running skirt and back on went the BFR shirt.  That shirt soon got stripped off and exchanged for the tank which I then paired with the running skirt.  Holy smokes!  Man was I rocking it!

And I even made it out the door in time for the race.  I do not recommend the North Face running skirt for anything longer than a 5k or even for warmer weather.  It's got a nice lightweight feel, but the shorts underneath do some not so nice rubbing.  That is where the infamous chub rub (aka Body Glide) came into play tonight.  That stuff saved the day so I could look oh so trendy out there.

Props go out to the folks at NHTI for putting on a slick Friday evening 5k.  It was a nice run through the campus with some off road trails in the middle.  Tonight I finished at 29:17 (it was a wee bit warm) and 20th overall in my division.  I finished dead smack in the middle of the pack at 250 with 500 runners total.  

Oh just heard the horn in Pittsfield...time for the hoodlums to get in for the night.  And with that I am off to do some knitting!  

WIP Wednesday...changing the pattern!

We watched an episode of Channel 5's Chronicle on Monday night and it was all about running.  Tonight John and I started out on our little trek trying to train our brains and change our gait patterns.  The whole point was to avoid the heel strike to decrease the overall force that each step produces.  This is the theory of minimalist or barefoot runners.  I must say my first mile was around 8:30 and the second mile at around 9:30.  Super fast for me.  John just dashed my theory and said my first mile was that fast because I was running downhill.

By not leading with the heel, you land on the front part of your foot and in the process actually speed up your cadence.  It's a great theory and it's going to take some time to change the way we run.  I hope by changing our pattern that my IT band pain will go away and maybe I won't feel so tired so fast.

On a side note, did not get as much knitting done as I would've liked last night after we made two trips to Belmont.  The first was for ice cream at Jordan's and the second was for a 3rd alarm structure fire.  And as we were heading to Belmont in the fire truck, I got to thinking that the mint chip ice cream in a waffle cone was not such a good plan as it sat like a brick in my stomach.  Someday I will learn...but it sure was tasty!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

I was given permission to use the roads for the 5k so the Barnstead Firefighters Association 5k is offcially off the ground and we are ready to run with it.  Pardon the play on words!  Mark August 25th on your calendars for this inaugural race!  There will be t shirts for the first 150 people registered and it will start at 9am.  The race is an out and back along the scenic Barnstead Parade.  It is a flat and fast course so if you are seeking a PR then this is the race to do it.

Also got out on the bike today because in the back of my mind I did say I would do a sprint triathlon this summer.  And last check of the calendar, the tri is just under three months away.  I put almost 12 miles in this afternoon on dirt and paved roads.  And yes, the hills of town kicked my butt again.   Thanks to our vacation a month ago, the bike seat wasn't all that painful and I can actually sit on my duff this evening.  I can't swim yet because the water is still on the chilly side.  But if I can get some swims in early June and throughout the month I should be ok.

I look forward to the challenges the months ahead have to offer as I put together my first road race and train for a tri.  Looks to be a fun filled summer with new and old friends!

Monday Musings

I sit here on yet another abnormally warm evening wondering what possessed me to start a sweater at this time of year.  It's actually going quite well and coming along nicely, but it sure does get warm sitting upon my lap as I add row upon row.  This is the second sweater I have done from the top down and it seems to be my new favorite approach to sweater making.  My bottom up sweaters have either been way too long or way too short.  At lest from the top down I can get a more accurate look at how it will look before it's done.  I am two weeks into it and more than halfway along.  I am now at the easy mindless portion so I can sit back watch some playoff hockey and keep my fingers busy.  Always planning ahead, I am going to knit myself a top down hoodie next.

Busy week ahead for the Savages including a trip to the selectmen's meeting tomorrow night so we can start to move forward with the Barnstead Firefighters Association 5k.  And we will round out the week with a Friday evening 5k up in Concord as part of CARS.  It's a mere 26 days until the Big Lake Half and I am really looking forward to my sushi dinner apres run!

Our little run this evening was hot, but we were going to head up to Belmont to Jordan's Ice Cream after our showers.  I decided to check on their hours to make sure they would still be open when we got up there and it's a good thing I did because they happened to be closed today.  Bummer!  Guess there will always be tomorrow...

Damn you junkyard dog!

I finally got out to run yesterday morning and started early in the am before the temps started to warm too much.  I had a great pace going at 9:20 min/mile until I hit my second mile.  I could feel my mojo coming back and this seemed fun.  Until suddenly I had this snarling, barking, growling pit bull chasing me down the road.  The kicker was that the door to the house was open and several vagrant looking children were playing in the yard.  Ever hear of coming out to check why your kids are yelling and your dog is freaking out?  Although this is the same house where I once saw a small boy of about two left unattended and wandering in the road so maybe they just don't care.  They definitely get my "Parents of the Year" award.  And while out on my early morning runs I usually encounter a Barnstead police cruiser at least once in my travels.  Yeah no such luck Saturday morning.  So I will give the homeowner a reprieve this once...next time not so much.

And this being just one of the several junkyard dogs down on this stretch of road so I am always on the side of caution.  More often than not they are all tied up or fenced in their yards and they just bark a lot.  I was just thankful that I didn't have Scout with me because she does not take kindly to being chased by another dog and doesn't realize that she is a mere 15 pounds of fur.  Not really a match for a pit bull.

Thanks to another firefighter in our town who happened to be outside his garage when I walked (notice I was not running anymore) by because the damn dog was still nipping at my heels.  He offered to give me a ride home and I politely thanked him, but I still had 5-6 miles to cover.  So he ran interference while I continued on my way.  I never did regain my pace because I tackled some serious hills.  I made it to my water stop at mile 6 and decided to buy a new fuel belt yesterday.  The rising temperatures and warmer sun have made it necessary that I start carrying some water with me on my long days.

And I have to send out congratulations to Phoebe and family on the birth of their baby boy yesterday.  She can be found here on the interweb and I am looking forward to hearing about her new adventures with baby as she gets back to running.

Afternoon on Blue Job

Took a short walk after work today up to the Blue Job fire tower over in Strafford.  It was a gorgeous afternoon to be out with John and the little dog.  The wind gently blowing to keep the black flies at bay and the warm spring shining on our backs.  We head up Blue Job several times a year, it only takes a mere 10 minutes to get to the top and the views are stunning.  To to the east we could see Rochester and Dover and to the north, the big rock pile that is Mt. Washington which is covered in snow again.  All  in all one of the top ten days of spring for the views because there was not a cloud in the sky.

Now back during the summer between high school and college, I had found an ad in the paper for a seasonal job of manning the fire tower on Kingston Hill.  I thought it sounded like the perfect job for me.  Dad said I would just be bored.  But the lure of the fire tower has been with me ever since.  And today was the first time I had ever seen someone up in the tower doing fire watch.  I immediately start thinking that a trip up to the top of the tower would make a great blog post.  Actually getting to do something I wanted to do way back before I joined the fire service.  As we walked by, I chickened out knocking on the door and instead waved to the spotter before we started down.  But you can check out the NH fire tower site and see for yourself why I find these so interesting.

So if anyone reading this knows one of the fire spotters who man the towers in the summer months...well I would love to go up and visit.  Or maybe we'll just have to wait for another red flag day and head up Blue Job. And this time I will just climb up and knock...now that would make a good blog post!