Guns and more Guns

What does an Army soldier do in Iraq with some spare time on his hands? He looks at pictures of guns, of course! At least that's what my son does. I've never seen anyone love guns the way he does. He had me take photos of all his guns here at home and e-mail them to him. Whenever he starts missing them, he'll pull up the pics and look at them. I'm sure the first thing he'll do when he's home on leave is go touch THE GUNS.
He sent me this photo of a cup and saucer and matching pistol. Just the thing for afternoon tea. Does it hold cream? Does sugar come out of the barrel? It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. Nice pattern too.

Sundogs

How I managed to live (mumble, mumble) years being unaware of sundogs, I'm not sure.

It's been two years since I first saw one (and wrote about it), and I've seen dozens since.

But I still haven't managed to get a good photo of one.
I see them more often in winter, especially when driving south late in the afternoon. (AL-75S gives great sundog.)
No use trying to race them home, though. They're slithery, and don't hang around for portraits.
Here's a nice, simple page with a good sundog photo, as well as other atmospheric phenomena. Here is the definitive page on the science behind the "why" of all the optics.
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The latest I and the Bird is up over at The Birder's Report. Go see!

Apethorpe circular

Me, Eddie, Barry, Gordon, Maureen. Last minute decision, with booklet - done in reverse. 6.7 miles. Weather fine while we were out, with a chilly wind, but it began to rain later, just as we ate lunch. Brilliant timing.

Wildlife: deer - muntjac - , kites, a hare.









I wasn't sure who would be walking today, and we had no advance plan. Luckily Eddie had a booklet to hand, and with its help and the usual map we did this shorter walk from Apethorpe. We left the village along the road at the side of the Kings Head and walked west. At the junction we took the left hand turn (signposted to Lodge Farm). This road runs behind the hall grounds, and continues more or less south. There is a clear sign to say that the bridleway has been diverted off to the left, and we followed the new path to the right hand side of a small lake, then round to rejoin the original roadway. Our route was now just north of west to the corner of Tomlin Wood, where we turned left towards another small wood, Morehay Lawn.



We walked along the edge of this wooded patch, and carried on, turning slightly to our left then right along a field edge and into another wood (Holey Brookes). We crossed another track in the wood but carried on through. At the edge of the wood, our path led almost due west, diagonally across one field, and then along the hedge of the second one. In the third field is an abandoned cottage, and a footbridge slightly downhill and to the right of it.



We had to cross a ploughed field after the bridge to reach the corner of Bushey Wood, where we had a break, before following a track along the right hand edge of Bushey Wood and then the edge of Hostage Wood. The track heads north east and downhill to the stream. The crossing is a bit steep and muddy, with some stones to help.



The route continues on a track which becomes covered in tarmac and leads past Spa Farm, with its watchful and barking dogs, the onwards to Spa Farm Cottages. Here we turned right and followed the road back to Apethorpe, meeting the road beside the pub.



Then we went to the Sondes Arms in Rockingham to eat and celebrate Eddie's coming of age (65) tomorrow.

It looks like Christmas already!

This walk from Aug 11 covers some of the same ground

Another Welland wander

This was between two and three miles in all - down to the bridge over the Welland, and then a bit, and a short spur along the footpath by the weir, and over a couple of fields. Glorious weather.

Oilseed rape and Harborough Hill

meadow cranesbill

cow parsley

low-flying aircraft

Buttercup field

River level is pretty low

reflections

sky

chaffinch

railway bridge

footpath up the hill

Latin or Scots?

New street signs have been put up in my home village. Some of them formalise the affectionate names given to little lanes - many named after local characters. Others refer to local landmarks. Most of them are in Scots.

So this is the hill (brae) leading up to the minister's house (manse). Apparently a very Scottish street name, but 'manse' comes from the Latin word 'mansa', or dwelling. There are two manses at the very top of the hill. The new one, dating from the 1990s, and the old one, built in the early 1800s and now owned by Glen Grant distillery.
But in my childhood this hill was called 'the dominie's brae'. 'Dominie' comes from the Latin 'dominus' - teacher - and the schoolmaster's house stood at the top of the long straight stretch. I don't know why the schoolmaster predominated over the minister, but the name was used by children and old people alike.
I am now conflicted. Manse Brae has a good, solid, Scots ring. But I know it's really The Dominie's Brae.

Rolling with the bling

A big fat Thanx to Ron at King Cage for the new Titanium cages!

Lake Manawa Trail

The week continues to be a beautiful week for bike riding. Thursday and Friday I parked at the Wabash Trace Trailhead and headed out for the Trails Center.
At the trailhead, there still are signs that the trail is closed. Again near the bus bar, and at the end of E South Omaha Bridge.
I had heard that the water was down and could get through there. The worst of the mud has been cleared from the trail. Looks like there were waiting for the "mud" to dry when it can be swept off. It is dry, except for one short section under the railroad. (today's photo)
Thursday was a bit breezy - winds from the NNW. It was rough pedaling up Indian Creek into the wind. Stopped at the Trails Center for the normal visit. Next stop was Xtreme Wheels, then back down to the trailhead. A good 19 mile ride.
Friday, I started off with the same route. Wind was not as bad, but still basically from the North. Instead of riding up to the bike shop, I rode back via Manawa - did not want to ride Harry Langdon with Friday afternoon traffic.
The two rides where enough that I made my first 100 miles week this year.

George Heriot's School

The first of another occasional series, on schools. Edinburgh has a large number of private schools - about 25% of the city's children are educated privately, whereas in the rest of Scotland the figure is about 4%. This is one of the oldest private schools in the city - George Heriot's school. The school was founded in 1628 as a charitable foundation for the education of 'puire fatherless bairnes' (poor fatherless children) through a bequest in George Heriot's will. He was the son of a goldsmith, and himself became Jeweller and Goldsmith at the Court of King James VI. He amassed a fortune through this position, but died childless.
The school is right in the centre of Edinburgh, with Edinburgh Castle just behind it. Perhaps it's distracting to look out of the classroom window and see such a view - or perhaps the pupils don't notice after a while, like many Edinburghers. Some people wonder if Heriot's was a model for Hogwarts.

Quick Look II: A Peek into Another Day in the OBX

No, I’m not trying to set a new fashion trend with my bare feet and jacket attire.  The temps on Hatteras Island may well be summer-like, but with the wind blowing non-stop, a windbreak is an essential part of our attire here … especially when the sun is going down and the day is starting to cool off.

(The above will make sense to those who have questioned my sense of fashion in yesterday’s Quick Look … wink, wink.)

Following the storm that blew through here Sunday night, we have had great weather.  The forecast each day has been for temps in the low-to-mid 70F (22-23C) range, with sunshine and mostly blue skies.  The Phaeton’s temperature gauge would seem to agree with the forecasted temps, but it’s been feeling a lot warmer than that while we’re out exploring the OBX.  Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, mind you.  Unless the weather gods decide to give us a break, tomorrow just might be the last sunny and dry day of our vacation.

But, I’m not going to focus on what might be.  Instead, here’s a quick look at what we did today.

We were out the door very early this morning.  Like 6:15a early.  Heading south this time, we arrived at the tip of Hatteras Island just in time for the 7:30a ferry to Ocracoke Island.

leaving hatteras for ocracoke 
(shooting into the sun)

Our half-day visit to Ocracoke, found us making stops at …

the pony pen … home of the descendants of the wild mustangs

The British Cemetery

The Ocracoke Lighthouse

Although there were just four vehicles on the ferry going out to Ocracoke, the one returning at noon was packed to the gills, including two tour busses filled with school kids on spring break.  We left a third bus and a growing line of other vehicles behind us for the next ferry, and arrived in Hatteras 40 minutes later to loooooooooooong, multi-lane lines of vehicles waiting to make the crossing.  So glad we didn’t wait to go to Ocracoke later in the day.

The afternoon hours saw us making stops at …

The Graveyard of the Atlantic
(one of several granite memorial markers on the museum grounds)

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We were back at the campground by 4:00p, pleasantly tired after our long day of exploring the OBX.  Armed with our chairs, and some wine and crackers, we walked the short distance to the beach and made ourselves comfortable until dinner time.

Chicken and rice, and salad for dinner.

Tomorrow we go out exploring again ...

Prescription Warning

This is a warning to anyone using prescription drugs. Take the time to do some research on the drugs you are taking. Don't just take the word of the doctor that prescribed the drug.
Over the last week, I averted a drug interaction problem which could have had devastating consequences. I start chemotherapy for a cancer. The medical oncologist nurse gave me an informational sheet about the chemo drug.
As I researched the drug on the internet, I found an article that warned of an interaction with one of my maintenance drugs (one I have been taking for almost 20 years). While not immediately life threatening, in time it would have taken some blood count to dangerous levels.
The problem was confirmed by another of my doctors. Now I will be on a different maintenance drug.
I point this out because I found this because I did some research. The medical center that cares for my health has a full list of my medications. Someplace they missed the interaction.
My prescription drug plan would not have found the problem because the chemotherapy drug would be administered at the Med Center.
If you are not on an insurance plan that has prescription drug coverage, you are at higher risk. Take the time to visit with your local pharmacist. He/she will be able to tell you of any possible interactions.
Always keep a list of your medications in your wallet. In case of an emergency, the medical staff can check your medication list before they administered a drug than my not compatible with the drugs you are already taking.
Finally, never take over-the-counter drugs and/or herbal remedies without consent by your primary care doctor.

A Ducky Day Near Pescadero!

Around 9:30 a.m. on July 4th, Dad, Mom, me, Avalon, Sue and Shanti arrived in Pescadero for an interesting day at a beautiful spot close to this sign.
Lovely Jones Lake is part of a property owned by a Nursery that leases the land to groups who practice for hunt tests with their dogs. As such, it is very private - we felt incredibly fortunate to have been able to share Independence Day with only a couple of other people and their dogs! What a treat it was going to be for our little pack to see what dogs who train for hunting have to do! But first, we had some fun; actually, we had a blast throughout the entire day!

This is a little collage to show that when we got up close and personal from the rowboat, that it was really quite wild. You can biggify. As you saw in the slideshow, there are lots of birds and ducks and probably turtles too! (I'm sure there were frogs, Norwood, but we didn't see or hear any!) The other doggies you see in the movie are Shanti, Cadence, Musette, and Shanti's brother, Rondo.
Thought I was stuck in the rushes for a moment!

Lunchtime, Dad!

My favorite part of the day was swimming after my kong on a rope of course, but as you can see, my sis has learned how cool it is to swim after something too - like a big bumper! And if you aren't too squeamish about things that sporty doggies learn to do (they chase down fowl), You can click here to see what Avalon learned about. (I don't have a clue as to where she thought she was going, though...)
Just wanted to hang and swim, eat a little (LOT) and chase my kong. Hope you had a great 4th! We want to thank Debbie and Nelson a bazillion times for inviting us to spend such a peaceful day at Jones Lake, as well as Sue and Shanti - we had a ball!

Remembering Joe Puryear

Last Wednesday, October 27th we received tragic news that friend and former climbing ranger Joe Puryear lost his life while climbing Labuche Kang, a remote peak in Tibet. His partner on the climb was David Gottlieb, a current climbing ranger.
This loss has deeply affected everyone in our community. Joe was an incredible person and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with Joe's family and with David, as he continues to deal with this situation in Tibet.
To read more about Joe's incredible life and climbing adventures please visit his website.

Blast from the Past: In Another Life Perhaps?

June 1982

Look what I found while I was scanning our pile of photo albums and loose photos?  (Actually, what I found was the original, which I thought was long gone.)

No, it's not 1882 ... it's 1982.
And no, that’s not our grandparents.

Go ahead, laugh all you want — we collapse into giggles whenever we catch a glimpse of this one.

We've always had the ‘travel itch’.  Long trips, short trips — the length never mattered.  Back in 1982, we didn't have much spare cash, so most of our travels consisted of day trips.  Usually we drove to our destination — at times 300 miles (480 km) each way — just to explore someplace new.

On this occasion, we splurged a bit and took a day trip on the Princess Marguerite II, a ship that used to ply the Salish Sea between Seattle, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia before it was taken out of service in 1989.  This photo was taken aboard the PMII on our way back to Seattle.  What made us do it?  Who knows; it’s not like our budget allowed for something so frivolous.  But I'm glad we did as it shows that we do have a playful side that we let out every once in a while :-)

If you'd like to see more from our trip to Victoria, click here.  We sure packed a lot into that one day!

And They're Off

Luckily, today dawned clear and dry. Perfect weather for a race (upper 70s to lower 80s). After breakfast, I gathered up my camera equipment, stopped at Xtreme Wheels to demo a bike, and headed to Swanson Park.
The Nebraska State NORBA championship race was held this afternoon. That was the last of the Psycowpath 07 races - and I got shots at each one. Looks like I took some 1775 photos, which are on my web site (today's race probably will be posted Thursday).
With all the rain the last week, it was touch and go it the trail would be dry enough for the race. Thanks to Martin, Christine, et al, the course was in great shape.
One of the racers told me that my photos have been getting better -- happy to hear that. I know they are appreciated. After retouching today's photos, I have one remaining item to work on - that's making DVD(s) of the photos from the Banquet.

Radio Ga-Ga?

This morning George and I visited my Aged Aunt.





Last week we bought her a very nice new radio, showed her how to work it, wrote out the instructions in case she forgot.





At first she was pleased with it.





However, today when we visited to do her shopping, make sure she is eating alright, keep her company, etc. she issued a request.





She would like a new radio. This one must be the kind which says 'Good morning' when she switches it on and then proceed to read the news and the weather report for the day...





George very gently explained that this wouldn't be possible, and that the news is generally read out every hour if she wanted to listen to it.





She didn't really take it on board, because as we left she asked us again to get her a radio which would say hello and....









So, my lovely World of Blog friends, if anyone knows of such a radio there is a ninety year old woman who will be happy if you could pass on the details.





P.S. Before you ask, no, I am not ninety!

Colinton Church

There has been a church hereabouts since 1095 (see the date on the gate). The present church is a modern (1908) rebuilding and extension of the 1771 church. Whatever the dates, it's a lovely solid parish church in the hilly suburb of Colinton.

Studded Tires

This winter is looking to be another long one. Before Christmas I was thinking of buying a pair of studded tires for my hardtail. The trails around here in Council Bluffs are generally plowed. When the are plowed, we get several (many) icy spots.
In additional, last winter I learned how to ride singletrack in the snow. I would like to do more of that, to lengthen my riding season.
What I can see the Nokian Extreme 294 Studded Mountain Bike Tires - 26" looks to be a good tire. I like the tread and stud pattern. Wondering if anyone can comment of the tire, other recommendations?

Construction Update - Silver City

Yesterday (Sunday afternoon) I headed down to Silver City to check out the construction on the Wabash Trace. Also, planned to ride - perhaps as far a Malvern and back.
The first thing I noticed was that the approaches to the street (L-55) and the connectors to the side walk are completed. The "Trail Closed" signs at the street are gone.
I heard that there was a barricade across the Trace about a mile up from Silver City. Time to head North. Out of Silver City, the shoulder was not yet leveled. Up at Dobney Road, there is a gap in the pavement (for the cross road). See top photo.
From Dobney almost to the end of the pavement the shouldering has been done. The was no barricade across the Trace at that point.
The pavement extends about 1.1 miles north from downtown Silver City. If you are riding South from Mineola, The second photo is what you will see at the transition from crushed limestone to concrete.

I rode back down to town and headed South towards Malvern. Shouldering is being done South of town. The pavement extended until the bridge at the edge of town (0.2 - 0,3 mile). There, I was surprised to see a big barricade across the trail. Signage was for North-bound traffic. Perhaps they forgot to remove that one?
Anyway, there is an opening along the side to walk the bike past the barricade. From there, I continued my ride to Malvern.
Had a good ride. Was a strong wind from the South - head wind - on the way. Was looking forward to the tail wind on the way back!
Stopped to take some photos along the way. Several taken of the Silver Creek Bridge. Some of them may find their way on my facebook page and perhaps on the web site.
After an uneventful ride back to Silver City, I saw a notice stapled to the barricade just before Silver City. The notice includes a map with a detour for the Trace and estimate of the construction duration.
Someone took some time and effort to create the notice. It would have been nice to have such for the web site. Time to recommend such for the construction in Malvern.
Last time I heard, the construction crew is on a different job this week - returning to the Wabash Trace on the 13th. Do nit know if the barricades will go back up at that time until shouldering is completed.

Poor dear

My husband phoned on his way home from work. "There are two Great Pyrenees in our driveway!"
Not Jasmine and a new friend, as he'd first thought, but a neighbor's dogs. They wagged their tails, but retreated across the ditch when we approached.
We were puzzled, until we spotted the dead deer lying in the water. We figured he'd been hit by a car on the highway, then wandered over onto our property to die. There was a cut near one knee, but otherwise no obvious injuries.
I thought we should try to keep the antlers. As it turned out, we didn't begin the boiling-the-excess-meat-off process (that the internet recommended) until two days later. In hindsight, I probably should have guessed that the process would best be suited to the outdoors at that point.
Oh, the stink. I am not completely sure that I'll ever get that stench out of my nose. It was revolting. Fetid. Malodorous.
I am unable to find a word that means, "my brain clings to that hideously repulsive odor like flypaper, and brings it back fresh (ugh) to memory every time I even think about a deer".

A mess

Things didn't go quite as planned on the 600km ride at the weekend. First of all, my train from Fortitude Valley to the start at Westlake (both suburbs of Brisbane) didn't show. This meant that a) I had to ride 25km to the start; and b) I got there 20 minutes late. Still, I arrived confident that I could make up the time -- after all, I've been through enough crap to get there. I set off from Westlake, and just pootled around the outer suburbs of Brisbane, focusing mainly on finding my way through the convoluted route than trying to make up serious time. It was at this point that I started to enjoy things again, all the crap that went on last week finally disappeared under the joy of just riding largely unfettered.

25km or so in, I passed one of the riders doing the 300k -- he told me he was basically abandoning there and then, and that he didn't feel as though he'd make it. I couldn't really think of any consoling words -- how do you lift the spirits of someone who's quit after 25km (and who you've already caught after a 20 minute delay)? I rode on, through Ipswich, and out to Laidley and the first checkpoint. Here I caught one of the earlier starters, Dave, who had been delayed acting as a witness in a car crash. We set off together after that, over the climb of the Great Dividing Range via Ma Ma Creek. This was probably the most scenic part of the ride.



I managed to stay with Dave until Clifton, but I had a dilemma. He was setting off quickly to try to catch the other riders (of whom there were now just two). I hung back to eat some serious food -- this was probably my fatal mistake. I had enough muesli bars to hang on until Pittsworth, but just didn't do it. Darkness fell on the way to Pittsworth, and the wind and rain intensified. I was struggling, but I hung on through this section. On making it to Pittsworth I realised that I wasn't losing any ground on the other riders, but again, arrived at the checkpoint just as they were leaving. The 20 minute delay at the start still haunted me! Again, I opted for more food, and again I was riding alone.
Pushing into the wind and probably the first decent downpour this area has seen for several months, I began to get disheartened. There was no reason for this, as I wasn't really losing any time, but the distance just seemed daunting. At one stage I literally ran off the road through tiredness, but managed to recover enough to avoid a nasty crash. I made it to Oakey and decided I'd had enough after 280km. I abandoned and got a ride out to Dalby, the 600k was effectively over. This was another mistake, as I had, in fact, negotiated the hardest part of the ride to get here. Had I just continued -- even if I'd had a break for 10 minutes to get my thoughts together, I have no doubt I could have made it to Dalby.
As it was I got back on the bike at Goombungee the next day and rode the final 170-odd km to "finish". For most of this I felt surprisingly good, apart from a little fatigue in Toowoomba (which didn't last long). That disappeared on the descent of the Toowoomba range where I passed four trucks. I shared the ride home with Lisa, who had traveled up from Inverell for this event, and was still a chance to finish. Clearly, she knew what she was doing better than me, having already done 300k and 400k events (I was jumping in without ever completing either of those). We passed the time with some idle chatter, and I learned that when I hit a flat spot, I just need to persevere and ride through it. Had I done this the previous night, I could have completed the thing. I suppose lessons are never too late for learning.
We had one interesting moment where the route slip... er.. gave us the slip. We ended up taking a stretch on the Ipswich Motorway. The signs didn't seem to list "bicycles" among the prohibited items on that road, so we may have even been doing this legally! Even so, I think the dangers of riding on these roads is grossly overstated. I didn't actually take any pictures on the second days' ride. There were probably one or two opportunities, but I just didn't really think of it.
As for what I'll do differently next time, I'll definitely be doing the full series next year. I've done enough 200km rides to sink a battleship, but the 300 and 400 would have been useful preparation, as well as being decent achievements in and of themselves. I will also (hopefully) eradicate the late start and the pre-ride mechanical problems that basically destroyed my final preparation this year. Overall, considering the preparation and how naive I was about this, I probably did reasonably well to finish with 458km. Physically I know I'm up to this, it's just the mental barriers that need to be knocked down.
Incidentally, Saturday's 280km was the fifth time I've been at or above 280 without managing to break 300km. This is becoming a habit, and one that I want to eliminate as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Maybe an extended ride taking in Byron Bay, Ballina and back through Mullumbimby in the near future might be the tonic.