My first two weeks back in the County have been packed full of activity despite the lighter training load that we're still enjoying. The weather up here has been decidedly wet but with mild temperatures most days, the training has been quite manageable. So far Kelsey (click here to visit her blog) and I have only managed one road bike adventure (I'm not too fond of riding wet roads) and the mountain bikes have remained on hold until the trails are a bit dryer. Maybe, if the weather men have more days like today where rain was forecast but it's been quite sunny, we'll break them out later this week. Unfortunately (for me…not for her) I'm about to lose my new training buddy to a family trip so the muddy-bike christening for this season might be a solo event.
Here are some highlights from the past two weeks in photos, because I believe my ramblings are more interesting with some form of illustration!
Kelsey and I took advantage of light training hours and made a trip down to Freeport for a Fast & Female event hosted by LLBean. We brought one MWSC devo athlete, Anya, down with us and met up with more of our crew at the event.
MWSC representing with Kikkan and her crystal globe!
MWSC's Kelsey (tutu) and Kaitlyn (recently named to new MWSC board and former MWSC athlete - to the right of Kelsey) getting their slalom skiing on as we "do the Winter Olympics" outside the store during the afternoon session. Our morning session was quite interesting as pouring rain kept us indoors so we literally ran around inside the LLBean store. Boy did we ever get some strange looks!
MWSC devo athlete Anya pretending she's a skeleton racer.
Doing the Winter Olympics with Kikkan outside LLBean.
Kikkan might need to work on her biathlon standing position a little bit...
Obviously I was really enjoying myself or something quite funny just happened...
The crew after the afternoon session...
MWSC junior athlete Kaelyn was PSYCHED to get Kikkan's autograph!
Although spring is finally here and the weather is starting to get warmer, I'm stuck in crochet mode with growing plans for the coming fall and winter. Kelsey and I are locating places around the County to sell our hats so we've been working on coming up with a name and logo to work under.
These hats are headed for customers and fans of Out There Biathlon through the Out There store, based in Wisconsin. So far we just have the store-colored hats listed but we're working on a custom option where customers can get in touch with me to create a one-of-a-kind hat just for them!
Two one-of-a-kinders left over from the winter….
And the rest of the creations that I've got hanging out in my closet till next winter…or until they sell!
Kelsey and I came up with the name 'Foxy Toppers' for our hats…it's a trendy name and we could sell other things under the same label if we get to that point. Right now we're thinking about making up a bunch of bullet earrings to sell too…who wants a pair?
Studs made from spent rounds...
The design process for our 'Foxy Toppers' logo...
And the printed version of the final fox in black and white and with a little orange.
With words!
More craftiness happened after the logos were done. My mom needed new earrings to fill my display in Beans & Greens (my family's business) so Kelsey helped me come up with these:
And photo cards (95 of them!) that also made their way to Beans & Greens:
The kitty antics have continued in fine form since I've been back. With the warm weather we've been letting them sun themselves in the porch (enclosed so they can't escape and get hit by the jacked-up trucks that rip past our house). Eva likes, no LOVES, the carpet right by the sliding door for some reason. She also found a perch on top of my computer bag one day. I think she was pretty comfortable until she had to remove her fluffy tail from the velcro strap she'd laid on.
And the two kitties enjoying their view from the window in our dining room where they can keep an eye on me (and my breakfast) and what's going on outside:
Kelsey, Seth and I had a make-your-own sushi night last week…I think we did pretty well.
Our garden has grown (and continues to grow almost daily) this spring with the addition of an almost-new rototiller to our collection of yard equipment. I think we've probably already doubled in size. So far we've got peas, beans, carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, broccoli, beets, cabbage, brussels sprouts, zucchini, and squash in the ground.
Seth testing out the new toy…don't worry, it wasn't as dark as it appears in this shot.
Yes, when we went to get veggie seeds there were flowers too and I couldn't resist a few more flower photos to add to my collection.
Gorgeous view from one of my favorite hills in the Saint John Valley. The shot was taken on New Canada road in Wallagrass. Everything is turning that lovely shade of spring green…I LOVE it.
Another of my recent creations that has yet to be completed but it's getting closer every day. This is destined to be a mug shelf for all of our miss-matched coffee mugs from races and places. Tomorrow I get to pick out a paint color…right now I'm leaning toward Cucumber Green.
Seth and Kelsey duel it out in Kube…right here Seth is about to claim one of many wins on the evening and assure Kelsey and I that he will continue to be the defending champion.
We'll see about that.
And last but not least….this gave me a good laugh. Can you find Eva? Not sure how she got there but she was quite pleased with herself.
Check back soon for more pictures of training….I promise to bring my camera along more often, even if it means I have to resort to a ziplock bag in the rain (No, I don't have an iPhone, otherwise I'd have life-proof pictures from everyday!)
Happy Spring!
