Hello my friends,
I am telling you about much (most) of what January held for me, and it will be in no actual chronological order. First let me say that December did not end the year 2016 too well for me. I think I complained to all of you and each of you enough, but let it be known that I was sick for way too long -- and like you Larry -- had that horrendous cough stay with me much longer!
I will try to do this report with some kind of order.
PATCHWORK: Let me start with this.
You know I do the coffeeneuring challenge (but with tea), and I earn a patch for each year I do it. I now have three of those and also purchased an "always coffeeneuring" patch that has no rules attached to it -- it simply assumes that one is always on the search for coffee, or in my case tea.
How to display these patches is a challenge for everyone. Hard, to sometimes impossible, to sew onto one's pannier, and if sewn on that could compromise the rain resistance by creating holes (even though small). I thought of gluing them on (one person on fb was trying hot glue) but learned that that would end up cracking (especially in our weather) and potentially ruining the patch and maybe the pannier. Same thing with double sided tape that I was considering. What to do other than stuff them in a drawer?
Fortunately I have a creative and talented friend in Bette-Ann. She did this ...
I had this map holder that she lined with upholstery fabric (because it doesn't ravel), put a piece of cardboard inside for a stiffener, and tacked each patch onto it. Tacking makes it possible to easily remove and add more patches as they come ;'-)
Here is how it looks on my rear bike trunk:
I am very pleased with my patch display and thankful for my friend Bette-Ann.
FROZEN FUN plus ONE MILE:
You will recall the photos I sent you showing our frozen tundra. It has been that kind of January and has kept all of us from doing much bike riding. Finally my friend Cindy and I decided to give it a try -- we were unsuccessful in recruiting any other of our friends who may have had more sound judgement than to ride in below 30 degree weather.
I had so many articles of clothing on, I felt like the boy in "The Christmas Story" who couldn't get up from his fall because of all the clothing he had on. Layers and layers above and below (plus those chemical hand and toe warmers) kept me warm enough to complete a nice little ride with Cindy. And she served us soup afterward. I tell ya, I have the BEST of friends!
That's ice covering the pond we meandered around to visit. Two days later I thought I would take a little ride around my neighborhood. HA!
ONE MILE!
I don't know if ever I have ridden just one mile!!
Here I took the time and all the effort to get bundled into all those layers of clothing, got on my bike and rode only around my block for one mile!! It was simply too cold -- or I was too cold. I don't know because Cindy and I rode in colder temps and we were fine. So this day it may have been a combination of things -- riding alone; not having the right mind set; no warm up days in between. Whatever - I was not having fun and felt frozen from the start so simply returned home. All I could think of was reading my book in my nice warm home!
There were some ice patches out there, but nothing I couldn't have avoided --- AS LONG AS I KNEW in advance that they were there and didn't come upon them around a turn or they were hidden in some corner or under some tree! My block did not seem dangerous, but I was surprised to see a few thick ice patches out there.
TEANEURRING:
I have not taken photos of each ride with a tea and crumpet stop (you know any pastry for me is a crumpet) but I did get a couple. I had a few rides to Top Pot Doughnuts with a couple of friends and totally enjoyed the goods.
And yesterday we had a fine stop at a cafe in a pharmacy! I liked that because I could add it to my "list" of strange places for places. Also on my list (of two now) is having had sandwiches from a deli in a liquor store.
"Stilly" is a colloquial shorthand for the Stillaquamish River which is the river that this town of Arlington is on.
This is a poor photo but I was trying to show that we are in a pharmacy having tea and crumpets.
End Part 1 ;'-)
SOME OTHER RIDES:
Unbelievably, given this ice laden month, I got in a few more rides mainly with friends.
Yard art always welcome.
Cows are few and far between so close to home anymore.
The old large tree trunk nurses new tree growth.
Our siting today. This regal eagle!
TWO PLAYS AND A MOVIE:
"Singing in the Rain" was well done at our local theatre -- with semi-professional acting group. Though I enjoyed it, it is indeed "dated" and I don't have to see it again. Well, maybe the real thing with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds ;'-). The theatre extended the run of the play in memoriam of Debbie.
"Woodie Sez" was a very entertaining and well done play about Woody Guthrie -- his music, his drive for the underdog, his life story, and the Huntington's disease he died from. I very much enjoyed this one.
"Hidden Figures" is the movie that Pat and I saw this month. A rather moving story of three black women in Virginia in the 50s and early 60s working at NASA, knowing more than many whites who worked there, and the discrimination factors that existed. Good movie that I could see a second time.
SOME READING:
Not at all high brow, and no where near as educational nor classic as much of Larry's reading, but I did get three books read this month.
Story of Ingrid Bergman by Ingrid and Alan Burgess (from Mary @ Christmas) Lots of disconnect in her life -- interesting read.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (from Pat)
Retired school teacher in small town of Crosby Maine with many different characters and each have their own stories to tell.
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy (from Mary last Christmas). Kind of like a soap opera and rather enjoyable even though it does ramble on just like a soap opera.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS (for now):
This has gotten to be quite a long cyber report, but I love sharing it all with you. I save thoughts and take photos to share and it is helpful to me as well, to see all I have done. Though January is not quite over, I will add anything else I do this month into my February report (that's a short month and maybe a short report ;'-)). Maybe not.
One last photo -- two year old Kaitlyn found her way to see what was going on outside in her yard.
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