And the Time Flies!

Cheryl in the fields

Cheryl at the trail

 Another week has snuck by.  How is it that the days and week seem to be passing by at a far greater speed now that I'm older?   Looking back I see that it has been almost a full week since my last blog posting.   Surely something must have happened this week that was blog-worthy....

Cheryl after running with a cold

Well,   Not really.   I managed to give Cheryl my cold....  so now we both can share the joy of coughing and sneezing.   I'm still suffering the aftermath, but I think I'm pretty much over it.   Cheryl still suffers from the achy, coughing, stuffy-head part.   I guess there will be a few more days of that.

She still runs though

Through the town

But that has not stopped her from running.   The weather has been cooler this last week.   Almost perfect weather for running.   I say "almost" because running 14 miles with a cold is still a miserable affair. Still,   she managed it and we have continued to run a few miles every day this week.

Down the roads

Past the Silos

Out into the fields

Woosh!

A few things to note:  Normally I fill the blog with pictures of dusty car engines or scantly clad female runners.   But there are other things that I interesting.    Namely, the butterfly weed is out in all of its glory.   I managed to find both varieties.   Purple and orange.   Butterfly weed may be visually striking and bring in the butterflies, but it is not very pleasant to smell.  I wonder why that is.   Well, at least the bugs don't seem to mind.

Purple Butterfly weed

Black Raspberries are out!

Butterfly weed

In addition,  a few wildlife shots.   The deer, in particular, have been quite active.   Several times during a run, Cheryl and I have seen them running at us on the path or standing in yards in the middle of the day.   At one point we thought a doe and fawn were those ceramic lawn ornaments you see from time to time.   We were both shocked to see that the deer was moving!  I managed to snap this picture this afternoon on our way home.

Deer in mid afternoon.

Bunny on the trail

Plenty of rabbits this year.   Several have been running around our yard.   I guess with our cat remaining inside, they have less to fear at the moment.  And there are tons out on the trail as usual.

If only finding inspiration were so easy.

With the summer Solstice over, we can now plan on trying to survive the summer.  We both have a few things to work on.   I have been slowly inching away at the book while also trying to get a few origami items folded up.  It's tough when you have to really work on the inspiration.  Cheryl has also been working on her designs and drawings.  She has added a few things to her shop for runners.

So hopefully we shall be over these blasted colds before the new week begins and can focus on things that are awesome and blog-worthy.   I'll let you know how things work out.   Until then,  thanks for stopping by.

Singing, and running in the rain.

Oh Lovely Rain!

Bundled Up

 Another rainy morning in Iowa.   But Cheryl did not let that hold her back.   Today was one of those rare days where we started scoring later in the day ( noon) and had a few extra hours to run a bit longer.   No measly downpour  was going to keep her from that!

Diving in.

In addition to the rain, the temps have fallen almost 20 degrees.  Making for a rather wet AND cold run.  But that is the Runner's Favorite Running weather.  If only I could say the same about biking alongside her.

Rain picks up

The Flowers seem to stand out in the rain

Luckily I had my Goretex.  And a change of clothes for after the run.  I still managed to get my shoes and socks completely soaked.

She's Singin' 

And Dancin' .... in the rain.

The rain helped point out a few flowers that Cheryl noted.  I'm not sure why the sun seems to keep them hidden,  but I thought I would at  least stop and take a few pics of them.


All this rain made me think about one of my  favorite Movie.   Gene Kelly Singing in the Rain.   This is one of those ICON movies that define a time for me.   Call me a romantic...but I love Musicals.  I manage to track down this clip. ( my favorite)  Enjoy!

Training with Trains and Running with Deer. Cheryl's Week in Running.

Sexy summer-like weather.

Cheryl's version of panting.

This Monday started right off with one of the short long runs for Cheryl.   14 miles in Davenport.   Compared to the Twin Cities the temps were much warmer.   Cheryl and I both down-dressed half way through the run.   It was about as nice a day as one could hope for in a Monday after a race.   Cheryl was even feeling frisky and spirited as we trotted along the Mississippi.

Faster than an anchored barge!

Slower than a speeding Diesel Freight Train?

It just would not be Davenport if Cheryl was not racing or chasing a train.   And I managed to capture the action as it happened this time.

Not to say that Cheryl is slow...but she did just run a 10 miler in Minnesota and she had already ran 10 miles in this training run.  Not to mention Trains are made of metal.   And trains are strong!  They burn diesel fuel....which is kind of a cheat if you think about it.    Ah well.... Good things trains do not show up at races....very often.

Colder weather, warmer dress.

The weather dipped down  about 10 degrees the following day and it has been fairly cold ever since.  Today was nice because of the sun, but it was still chilly in the morning.  

Chasing the deer.

Object in camera are closer than they appear!

The highlight of the run was the deer.   Normally we see the token duck, goose, and maybe a blue heron.  Today we were graced with a couple of deer that allowed Cheryl to get close.   How close?   Well,  there was a moment in Iowa City where she could have petted one.  ( That happened twice!) But this was pretty close too.  And I managed to have the camera ready this time.

I'm liking this smart phone for everything but the phone.   I can play music on long runs AND I have a built in camera that is handy for moments like this.   I'm impressed that it did not come out blury or out of frame.  Sometimes I get lucky...hopefully I will be able to tap into that when we go to Boston.

Other than that...I have been working.  Two days in a row!  We both have more hours coming up next month so that will mean less SubNautica time and more time spent earning money.... which is not as much fun.   I have been donating a few hours each day for some Origami,  so perhaps I will post some of those pics in the future.  We shall see

Clocking the time.

Cheryl's 21 Mile Davenport run.

Cold day in Davenport

Hurray for Daylight savings time!   And the fact that the wind and rain and snow held off...  Leaving only the cold to hamper Cheryl's 21 mile training run.

But NO WIND!

I'll cut to the chase....because I'm tired and equally warn out.  Cheryl was successful!  She completed the run with no mishaps or melt downs.  In fact!   She pulled a new one on me today.   She started to sing!

The Mississippi looks like glass!

I've seen Cheryl angry...   I've heard her use language that might scare Drill Sargent!  But I have never seen Cheryl sing before.

Cheryl Singing. 

 It's....  kinda scary.

Creepy...

Now before you wonder why,   it is not because she can't carry a tune.  She never sings at home or in the shower....  Only I do that.   In fact, I'm so good at singing that if they offered a Naked Star Search, I'm sure I would win it!

Successful 21 mile training run!

Go Go Power Cheryl!

But at mile 19.5,  Cheryl started getting all Weird on me and I was thankful that we only had less than 2 miles to go.  I have heard that Marathoners become loopy right before they crash.   Luckily,  the run was almost over and we both survived it unscathed.

How did this phenomenon happen?

Other than that,  it was cold.  Just above freezing for most of the run and never getting above 40 at all.  Without the wind, this is bearable...but still the cold creeps up on you.  Mostly fingers, toes and ears are the parts that scream the loudest.  An unusual picture of an icicle on a small park tree.  The unusual part is that it was the ONLY icicle on the entire tree.  Heck, the only icicle in the entire Park!   The unusual part is it is not immediately evident HOW the icicle formed in the first place.  There was no dripping water above it or rainfall.  How did this icicle form and no other icicles anywhere else?   It was as if someone had intentionally created that one icicle  Very odd.  (Worthy of taking a picture and blogging about it.)

So you are wondering what song Cheryl was singing?   Here it is.  Check it out.

It's a Christmas Wrap!

Three last stockings for the day and we are done....almost.  There are a few more days left before the big holiday, but... for the most part,  Allenbrite Studio is done with most of the Christmas rush.








It was a better year that last year, but not as good as 2011.  Ah well,  can't have new Personal Bests every year, right?  And there are a few days left in the season where folks may not care if things arrive after Christmas.   We shall see how things pan out, but experience tells us that the stocking season is pretty much over by this point.


With a slight break in the cold, and the stockings,   Cheryl and I went out for a leisurely 7 mile run/bike in the snow.   Only two other people were brave enough to enjoy the weather outside with us... but we never saw them.  Instead, they left only the tell tale tracks in the snow. And they only ran about half way down the path.  Cheryl and I had the entire path to ourselves.  One of the perks for handling the cold weather.


With our new found free time,  Cheryl convinced me to help put up a few of the new IKEA items in the kitchen.   They replace the red shelves, but serve the same purpose.  We may add a few additional shelves over the table when we visit IKEA this coming Friday.

Other than that, I visited the "review" section for the Etsy Shop.  A few people were more than happy to share their pictures with us.  Cheryl does not like it when I read them out loud because she hates any "bad" review.  It's funny how 6 pages of "I totally LOVE your stuff" is no match for one  "I really didn't like it" review.  There is just no pleasing some people...but I know what it is like having your stuff criticized.

So...to remind ourselves about all the holiday cheer we DID manage to send....I wanted to post these photos of our stockings people posted... in action!  Enjoy!