Cheryl's Missed 5K "Downgraded" Race.

I had planned on blogging about Cheryl's adventures this last weekend....  but life got in the way. 

Actually, her injury flared up again.   It had been getting better with each one mile training run and walk...  but then she thought she should "See if I can actually run three miles."   And that is when things began going south.

She is better now.   Two days of complete rest has caused the pain to go back to "almost undetectable."   But she wants to give it an additional three weeks before trying anything stressful again.  Which means:  More walking. Less running.

It's ok for me.   Other than having nothing to blog about,  I can keep up with her walking.  Stocking sales are climbing and Cheryl continues to score the GRE.  Things are looking slightly better than they did during the summer.   In addition, the hot weather has finally given way to more "fall-like temps.  With a little luck,  Cheryl will be back on her feet and ready for some small fall race soon enough.   ( And we may actually have enough money to attend it!)

So that is all for now.  I had planned on posting a few pictures of my latest origami.   However, the pictures always turn out crappy and I'm working on a light box to help capture the light better.   Otherwise the lighting either shadows the detail or blinds it out.  Such is the problem with taking pictures of small detailed stuff.

Hope everyone is having a fine day today.   For those living in Iowa,   Enjoy that partly cloudy, cool weather.   This is the best time to be in this state. ( It only happens a handful of days each year) I will also see if I can post my plans for next year's tomato garden.
 Cheryl wants to buy exotic seeds and try them out.   I have also reached my threshold of tomato sandwiches.   I'm beginning to feel like I have consumed an entire bottle of Draino!  (Sure, it cleans you out, but leaves you feeling hollow inside.)   Actually it feels more like I drank battery acid.   But it is my own fault for eating so many at one time.  The season is almost over and we are now able to afford different foods....  so I shall be fazing out the tomato sandwiches soon.  ( But they are Soooo Good!) 

Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the Harvest!

When Cheryl Gets Distracted.... Things Get Flooded!

I do it all the time.  I get distracted.   Who doesn't?   Distracted drivers, distracted walkers, distracted humanity as a whole.  (In a hole!)
 But every now and then it happens to someone who rarely gets distracted... and the results are blogworthy.
Cheryl is one of those "hyper focused" people.   (The kind I admire and dislike....mostly.)   The other day she was taking a bath in the evening (her usual routine) when she somehow became involved with her tablet.  ( surfing the internet for images, I guess) She lost track of time and left her water run;   Flooding the bathroom completely!

You might be saying,"Why is this such a big deal?"   Well, other than the clean-up,  it is true.   People burn cookies or cakes because they become distracted in the kitchen. A little smoke alarm noise and you are jerked back into reality.   Except Cheryl was IN THE BATH AS IT WAS OVERFLOWING!   You would think the noise of the water running over the rim of the bathtub would have woke her out of her "slumber",  but no.

So now she is helpless in the bathtub, surrounded by 2 inches of water all around.   Call in the Hubby/Handyman.

It was not that bad, really.   Even reading this, it is difficult to make this mole hill into much more than a very large molehill.   But the real take away is that this happened to Cheryl   And that is rare.

 And besides,  what else am I good for, really?

As mentioned before, I get distracted all the time.   Usually in a different way.   While driving, I will be in "full story mode" when I see a police car behind me.   My conversation/story immediately drops and I Totally forget what I was talking about!  The same happens with deer, bouncing balls, stop signs, children playing, fast or weaving cars.   I totally ditch the conversation and focus on the distraction.   Most of the time this is a "good" thing.  But other times, I miss turn-offs and addresses because I am making sure I don't hit the person or car crossing the road.

Kind of like this video.

So,  sometimes we discover that even our superheros are human after all.  Not that big of a shock, really.   And I guess the lesson is to live in the "Now".  But that sounds like a page from some "self help book".  And I'm not selling that stuff.   Mostly, I just wanted to tell the world the funny story and remind Cheryl a year from now about that "one time in the bathroom..."   And I did not like getting wet and having to come to the rescue. Leave that stuff for the guys in capes.

A Saturday Without A Farmer's Market.

Not this Week anyway, 

Cheryl wants to RUN!

After last weeks disappointing performance,  Cheryl decided we had better take a week off from the farmers market.  Not because we don't need the money.   (Although that would have been a nice reason.)   But rather because we needed a break from heartbreak..   for a little while anyway.

Run Forest Run! 

So to cheer herself up.   Cheryl decided to go for a run.    Only to discover that she is still broken.   And thus...bringing on further disappointment.  Only this time, in a new area of life.

Better save first,   In case things don't turn out. 

Too bad life is not a video game where you can go back to your last save.  Wouldn't that be nice. No wonder the Simulations are so popular these days.

Iowa City Trail

Kind of a nice day.

The running has been "ok"  I guess.   She runs about three miles and takes a couple of days off between them.
  At the very least she is able to finish the goals she sets for herself.   Her plans are to go to the Quad Cities Marathon and beg to be downgraded to the 5K.   ( I guess they allow that quite often.)

Cheryl gets Giddy.

So she will at the very least get a medal and run a race she had scheduled before the injury.  I'm all about salvaging the money already invested.  Call me frugal.

Origami Pegasus anyone?

As for me,   I have been playing around with Origami. The fish have been tiring me out lately,  so I have been taking a stab at some different models I discovered that the paper makes a HUGE difference.  If only I had realized this before hand.

Well,  technically, I DID know.  I simply had no understanding how to correct for it.  Or how to make my paper this way.  (Technically, I'm still on the learning curve...)   The origami Pegasus gives me a little confidence to try more complex models.   We shall see what I come up with.

I'll need to put these guys in water soon

Hops are Happenin'!  

So that is all for now.  One good thing about running again is that we get to visit the Hops.   They will last maybe another couple weeks.   The tips of the cones are already becoming brown.
Once they get over half way,  I hear they are no longer usable.   Not that I was going to brew up any beer anyway.  But I will not have much to look forward too on the runs after that.  No more berries or fruit trees.  I guess they is always the wildlife and butterflies.

The Muscatine Farmers' Market Wrap Up...

          Sun rise over Muscatine.                

Happening later and later these days.

As the sunrise over the Mississippi symbolizes,  the days are getting shorter.  And that means Fall is coming and the Farmer's Market vendors are going to have less stuff to sell.   It was true for this last farmer's market.

Almost up before the show

Cheryl's Last Showing.

  Many of the vendors were not there and, with kids back in school,  the crowds have definitely thinned.  Some had signs telling people this was their last show for the year.

                               Cheryl shows off "Attitude Rabbit"                

So Cheryl wanted to at least show off her latest creation:  The Bunnies with Attitude!
They were not quite the hit we had

               Inspection complete!               

envisioned.  But at least they made a showing.   And it offered definitive proof that we had reached the end of our "newness" at the Muscatine market.   Time to bail out and find other offerings.

See the Variegated Fritillary>

Random Fall Flower.

With a measly 20 bucks worth of sales,   Cheryl and I could not go on our lavish spending spree we had planned.   Instead, we decided to go for a walk and brainstorm our next move.

Fuel for Brainstorming....

And nothing helps brainstorming better than Beer!   Particularly:  Hoppy Beer!   We selected a couple new ones to try.   This one with the Space Invader box and label really called to us.   Mostly because Cheryl's brother is a video game guru.

"Dank Hops!"

It bragged "Dank, Eye-popping Hops Bitterness!"   And I think it delivered.    Especially on the "dank" flavor note.    No pine.   No citrus.   Just a wonderful lingering bitterness on the tongue.  It fools you with a fruity flavor at the beginning.   How awesome to be surprised in your tastings.

Kinda Looks like a Betta Fish

So Now onto Stockings, Scoring, and perhaps back to running.   Cheryl insists that she is feeling better these days.   We shall see.

See any resemblance?

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.   The weather definately feels "Indian Summer"  Meaning cold mornings and warm days.   ( That is my definition anyway.)   The cooler weather calls to Cheryl to be outside more...  and what better way than with running/bicycling.

Underwings, Hawkmoths, Hops, And Almost Healed Runner.

 Cheryl is very excited that she is once again, the  cover-girl of my blog.  As if I would have anyone else...  Mostly because she is almost able to run again.   We have been going out for short one to  two mile runs.   The injury is still tender, but at least she is capable of running a little.   Which makes her almost happy.

What also makes her happy is going to the Muscatine Farmers' Market.   Today we set up the display so she will have a full picture of the set up.   Minus the annoying ragtime tunes...

The key feature will be "Rabbits with Attitude!"  We shall see how they sell.

Not a lump of mud after all. 

Five-Spotted Hawk moth.  Tomato Horn Worm adult.

While heading out to the bike the other day,  I noted a large "muddy lump" on the bike tire.   Turns out it was a 5 Spotted Hawkmoth!    For those who may not know,  this is what tomato Hornworms and Tobacco Hornworms become when they mature.   This one was very fresh with most of his color still intact!  A very cool find.

Isn't he/she cute!  

Released on my tomato plants.   

My grandfather used to kill  them as soon as he found them.   Me, on the other hand.... I like all God's creatures.   Mostly I would keep them as pets...  It's easy enough to feed them. And look as this awesome adult!   Who would not want to see  these guys reach their full potential?   Not to mention my tomatoes have been rather slow on the uptake this year.   Why not let them have a chance at them.   I don't eat the leaves, after all.  And this late in the season will probably not hurt the plant much.  (Note:  Adults do not eat tomatoes... only the caterpillars do.  But adults DO lay eggs.  Maybe next year.)

An Underwing visits our flowers

I wonder where the name comes from?

White-lines Sphinx Moth larva

In addition to the Hawkmoth,  We found an Underwing. He did not hold still long enough to get a good picture of the colored hind wings.  Still,  seeing a large moth is always exciting.

White-lines sphinx moth.   

With the soybeans turning color,  time to find those White-Lined Hawkmoths coming out of the bean fields.  They look similar to tomato horn worms...but have dots along the side instead of stripes.
 The adult matures  into a very cute hummingbird-type day flyer.  Watch them sip nectar from the same flowers your hummer enjoys. All we found was this Woolybear.    Larva of the Isabella moth. Still,  Stinging hairs are fun to pet... sometimes.

Hops!   Growing wild on the Trail.

Let's give it a taste.

And finally!  HOPS!   Cheryl and I went for a walk yesterday down the trail... looking to see if the hops were out yet.  They ARE!   We did not go very far into the forest ( where there should be many many more!)   but still found a few to have some fun with.   We both had to taste them...  very Piney!

Cheryl accepts the dare

Do they smell like pinecones?

 A truely lovely bitter flavor of pinesol!   Cheryl found it a little too bitter for her taste.   I find that lightly sucking on the small nuts at the base of each cone leaf releases the most flavor.  No citrus taste in these guys!

Octoberfest in September!

So after playing dress-up,   we brought some home to tack above the door.  Perhaps it will bring good fortune and happiness to the household.  

Posting on building for Luck and happiness.

 I'm sure at least a little happiness will be realized...  after I drink a seasonal Hoppy beer!  A new one from Alaska!   I can't wait to try it out later tonight.

Bring on that Happiness!

From Alaska!  Hoppythermia!

So that is all for now.   Cheryl is busy scoring and I continue to fold and blog about her.... sometimes.   Like an old Movie Actress,  She is only popular if she is active in her field.   In Cheryl's case... running.   Or tasting hops.

What does she think?

I'll take that as a "thumbs down."