Friday! The Week in Review...

 Not much to say.   It was a typical week in January for us.   We run, we bike, we come home and mess around with some things, eat some stuff.. and then go to bed.  I'm sure many other folks have a similar routine only they add in a job to the mix.  But when your days are that mundane and simple, it is difficult to find things to blog about. 

I guess the weather.   Weather is a good topic.   Everyone loves to talk about the weather.  

Weather in Iowa....  Cold and snowy.    ( Pause....)  I guess that sums it up?  Details?  I guess so...  Temps have hovered in the mid 30's.   The previous snow has been slowly... SLOWY melting until yesterday.   When.. it snowed again.

Not too much.   Just enough to cover the sidewalk and Subie.  Cheryl was more than eager to get out there and brush him off.   Look at her go!

We managed to run everyday this week except today.  Cheryl has been feeling a little pain in her leg so we took the day off and traveled to Muscatine to check out the trail and eat some pizza.   The snow followed us he entire way. 

The good news!  The trail was clear all the way down to the concrete!   The bad news:   It was snowing and could be covered by tomorrow.  But we figured we would risk it and run there anyway.  Oh!   And apparently,  Yesterday someone got hit by a train right there in town.  Obviously, his death will be listed as Covid 19 being the primary cause. 

Not to be too dark here, but seriously,  Who gets hit by a train?   Trains are big and loud and usually have a horn that warns  and deafens people.  It is true that there is a "No Horn" section near where we run,  (So the hotel guests will not be upset when they hear a train during their morning breakfast.)  But I doubt that was the real cause/reason for the incident.   Details are sketchy, but the news investigation says it was "intentional".   A 40 year-old man entered the tracks as the train was approaching.   Can a suicide be labeled as Covid related? 

 I know I should be more understanding and all.  But all this means is more warning signs on the tracks and my bike path will be further disrupted with safety railings.  

Back to reality,  Cheryl continues to play with her ideas and I continue the embroidery projects...  With the help of a cat.   

Rocket likes to take on the role of "sidekick" when he is in the room with us.   Here he is doing his "sexy pose" preventing me from using the BROTHER PE 770 Embroidery Machine. ( A High tech marriage  machinery and technology!) What good are cats if hey do not somehow get in your way? 

The weekend is upon us and I have no idea what to plan for.  Muscatine again, tomorrow.  And possibly more of the same activities until the weather warms up and the snow melts fully.   We shall see how the next few days pan out and maybe I will have something more exciting to blog about.  Thanks for stopping in.   

Oh! And try to avoid getting hit by a train.   We do not need to add any more deaths to the Covid Tally.

A Week Without Blogging?

It has been several days since I have posted anything on the blog.   The reason is that nothing really exciting has happened over the last several days that I feel is "blog worthy".   However,  Eventually,  I believe I must blog...  because I know that people secretly want to know everything about my life and what I do on a daily basis... not matter how trivial things might seem.  Plus!  I still believe that the NSA and the now CONFIRMED UFO extraterrestrial aliens tune in to my blog for updates on the going-ons of the average human being.    So I have to blog... For my country...  for Humanity!

So let's get to it!

This week's running conditions. See Muscatine's
Icy sidewalk....

First,  there is still quite a bit of snow here in Iowa.   Cheryl and I have been forced to re-visit Iowa City for the last week because that is the only place that has been maintaining their trails to any level of satisfaction.   We visited Muscatine on Saturday, and the trails were still ice covered with no plowing or salting in sight.   The well groomed trails have been very popular with many of the locals, it appears that even more people have been using them ever since the parks service decided to earn their pay this year.  Normally, they simply plow along the river;  they do NOT salt anything; and they leave the path around the lake unattended completely.  I'm just happy they have changed their policy this year. 

Thread sale! 

The thread sale at JoAnn has forced me to buy huge quantities of colored thread.. again.   At least I'm using it this year!   I have been working on more embroidery patterns and projects to continue my wasting of time and self-taught education.  I'm currently at a loss for what my next project should be, having completed every edible mushroom I can think of that would look good on a shirt.  Any new mushroom species would only be odd and strange.  Poisonous or pretty but inedible mushrooms don't seem to make much sense to start a conversation...  ( Because that IS the reason for the embroidered shirts.)  

New Subie Shirt!

I have been upgrading my Subaru shirts with a little more flair.   A bit of color and a few extra words on the sleeves really bring the entire shirt together. I need to separate myself from the "hippy artist" Subaru owner/enthusiast  for the more Cool and Hip RALLY TEAM USA Subaru man.   Subaru's Rally!  

RALLY!  Without a Rebel
flag.

 If you don't know what that is:  Imagine Formula 1 cars on dirt, mud, ice, snow and Gravel  roads....  Like the Dukes of Hazard with snow and ice added.   ( Bad visual, but fitting analogy.) Rally takes high performance vehicles, like Volkswagen, Saab, Porsche, and BMW's off the track and puts them where 4X4 trucks should be. And here is where Subaru s RULE! No Soccer Moms or Dirt bagger's allowed here!  Only the guys who "live in their Mom's basements..."  ( Brother-In-Law Andy's term...  He is so Politically incorrect. )

Octopus balls. With 
Shrimp!

Cheryl samples. 

We have been branching out in our food experimentation.   Japanese Octopus Balls, or Takoyaki has captured Cheryl's interest. We made our first batch with cocktail shrimp because we could not find any squid or octopus.  

Flipping them is a skill.

Served with Mayo. 

 The Japanese put Mayonnaise on them for some reason.  I personally think they would go well with anything...  including catchup, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, or any other dipping sauce you like.   They are similar to deep fried beer batter.... without the messy oil.   I'm getting hungry just thinking about them... and that is not a good thing for my new year's resolution!

Cats helping Cheryl put the puzzle
together.

Signs of life...

Cats and Puzzles.  Cheryl has begun working on our last puzzle.  When she is not putting a pouch together or sorting buttons,  she is working on the puzzle.  The cats sometimes "help"  but mostly they just annoy me with their requests for food, play time, and being allowed to go outside in the cold.  I comply far more than Cheryl does.   She can tune them out better, I guess.  

Other than that,  Cheryl has been working on  pouch designs and I occasionally help her with some embroidery.   I have also been working on small 15 second video's for the stocking shop, now that stockings are over.   The videos are so short, it has taken me a while to figure out what exactly I can do to make them noteworthy.   Basically, I patch a bunch of short picture burst together with a little movement for visual appeal.  Hopefully,  the various "blip-verts" will pique someone's interest in the future and tip them over to the "valued customer" side of our shop.   Finger's crossed. 

Wow,  that is a long post.   I should have broken it up a bit.   At least I can rest easy knowing I have saved humanity from an alien invasion once again.   I don't claim to know the alien's motivation, but I'm sure that my boring, face paced lifestyle will keep them guessing about the danger levels of humans.  ("Mostly harmless"...  for people in the "know.") 

And to the NSA,  I continue to fool them into thinking I am of no special significance.  It is a good thing to be off the Government's radar.  And for those reasons, I will continue to write in code so they will not know what I'm secretly plotting.  

Sorry for the long post.   Seriously,  nothing is happening here in Iowa.  No alien abductions, no crop circles,  no Bigfoot sightings.  Just Cheryl and Ethan running, biking, eating, and sewing.  Thanks for stopping in. 

Candy Coated Ice Fog Along The Mississippi.

 It has been cold the last several days.  Temps barely get above 20 degrees (which is cold for Iowa...)  and, as a result, my camera has been "shutting down" before the battery is fully drained.    So,  even when we run in Iowa city,  I can't take any pics  of Eagles for the blog.   

But today,  we traveled to Muscatine for some River Trail running.    I love the drive because I own a Subaru.   And driving a Subaru is as close to being in Heaven as a driver can get.   Plus,   running along the Mississippi has its own perks,  with friendly people, nice trails, glittering water, and the occasional river boat. 

The hope was that the river would warm the temps up a bit and that the park's staff would have cleared off the trail again after that second wave of snow/ice fall.   

Cheryls inspects the Trail. 

I think the Picture says it all...

Both hopes were dashed!  As we finally arrived to Muscatine only to realize that the trail was impassible!   At least last time,  there was some bare spots where Cheryl could run on concrete and I could bike without slipping.   

Ice Coating.

Like Candy....only colder and 
more slippery. 

But today!   The entire path was iced  in and fully covered!  No plowed path or salted trail to see here.   I did not even dare attempt it with the bike.  Everything in the area was covered in a fine "candy coating" of ice.   Very pretty, but not very fun to run on.  Even the trees had that crystal ice formation that we used to see on the Tundra in Alaska.    

Like Frosted Flakes on Trees.
Only colder and less tasty. 

So...  back home we went.   Slightly disappointed that we could not enjoy the outdoor physical activity,  but we did get to ride back in a warm Subaru...  And that made the feeling a little less bad. 

Finished Button Puzzle.

I enjoyed calling out the Old slogans
and politicians. 

With our second puzzle finished,   I set out to change the oil in Subie and Focus on my next Mushroom foraging shirt.  Since I'm a big fan of the Russula, ( Brittlegill mushrooms) I figured I would make that my next mark.  I still have two shirts that have not been "doodled" on with any embroidery.   We shall see how far I get tonight. 

Only when she is busy. 

No project is complete
without a cat distraction.

And lastly,  Cheryl has finally experienced the joy's of being a "cat magnet".   Both Leo and Rocket only like to cuddle her when she is totally involved in  some other activity.  I figure she should enjoy the moment while she can... mostly because that keeps them off of ME.  And also,   they are both NOT OUR CATS!  (That is going to be a running joke for a while, I guess.)  

Normal Cheryl/Cat relationship.

Rocket doing the work to 
gain citizenship.

 Normally,  Cheryl repels cats with her over-eagerness to tackle, hug and aggressively pet them. I'm not sure why the cats are  so disapproving of being crushed, but they normally avoid her.  Personally I think they understand that She is the only obstacle to becoming a true card-carrying Allenbrite Studio Citizen.  They might have their work cut out for them, but I find Rocket to be uniquely resourceful and determined at times. 

Hope everyone is staying warm.  We have at least 12 inches of snow here in Iowa.   That is a rather rare thing for us.   ( We have been here 10 years now..) Normally, if we get that much snow,  it is followed by several warm days that melt most of it.   The last bits seem to last all winter long as the temps dip back down.    I wonder how this winter will turn out.   I guess we will see. 

Thanks for stopping in. 

Happy New Year! Cheryl Runs The New Year's Day Dash.

 IF you are reading this...  You survived 2020!  Congrats!   (Pat yourself on the back... You have earned it!)  I waited up past midnight to make sure I was still here, but there were no festivities to entertain me past the midnight hour.   No Ball Drop.  No Mic Drop...  No Shoe Drop!  ( Hopefully.)  And so 2021 was ushered in with a silent whimper instead of a noisy, drunken party.   I'm ok with that. I'm more than ready to move on.

2017 and 2018  were much
better years...

So how did you spend you first day of the new year?   Relaxing?   Sipping Tea or enjoying a cozy hot cup of coffee?   Well,  Cheryl and I went out for our "traditional"  New Year Day's Dash.   

Cheryl is ready to run!

It was predicted to rain and then snow today, (Which it DID!)  So we decided to keep things close to home and travel to Iowa City for the run/race.  The Kewash trail was certainly snowed or iced in and Muscatine was too far away.  We would never make it home before the storm hit.  So Iowa City it was!

Mostly Clear Trail.... Nice.

Iowa City has followed the leadership of many other shut down cities and has taken everything about the Pandemic VERY seriously.   ( One of the many reasons we have been avoiding it since the whole thing began...)   But one improvement they have made is that they actually shoveled the entire paved sidewalk around the lake and next to the river!   We had a clear, dry concrete path to run and bike on.  They even had one small port-a-jon operational for a bathroom break.  Nice...

Eagle by the river. 

Although the trail conditions were good, the weather was still cold and VERY windy.   That did not seem to stop many people, as the trail was quite populated for a Friday.  I'm sure many people are trying to get that "Better Year, Better YOU!" resolution started on day one of 2021.  Just like us. 

The camera got too cold for pictures about halfway through the run.   Thankfully, before it shut down, I was able to capture an Eagle near the river.   I had plans on bringing my telescopic lens on the run today, but figured there were too many irons in the fire as it was.   I never thought that the Temperature would become a factor as well.  Cheryl's Garmin ( Runner's GPS) is also sensitive to the cold and did not log the run either.  

But we finished it.  Cheryl says there was no set distance for the race.   I think we ran at least 6 miles, given that we only did the lake loop once.  Still,  I think that is farther than the actual race requires.  She put on the medal and posed for pics with her camera..  since mine was inoperable. 

Back home,  the rain and snow began to fell almost instantly.   We barely made it out of Iowa city and had to travel just in front of the storm.  I'm thinking we got at least another 3 inches... maybe more. 

For the rest of the day, I played with Embroidery and Cheryl put more pouches in the Allenbrite shop.  We finished our latest puzzle and Cheryl has just opened another box for us to begin.   I wonder how many puzzles we will complete before she gets bored of them.  (Hopefully...  this will be the last one.)  Hey!  My eyes are junk and seeing small details in the pieces can be frustrating alone, without trying to find where the piece actually fits in.  

2021...  Not an election year.  Not a new decade.  Just a new opportunity to fix what is broken with 2020 and get back to living.  I'll maintain an optimistic attitude for as long as I can.    Happy New YEAR!  And thanks for stopping in.