Suzy Sells Sea Shells

What this morning looks like.

05 May 2012 4 Comments

by shellssells in Uncategorized

Something New. Again.

18 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by shellssells in Uncategorized

I fondly remember my Nana and my aunt making rag rugs of various sorts.  They were often made from old fabric or old t shirts.  Jason, in all his moving, mentioned that he needed to go through his t shirts and get rid of some. I knew I needed to do the same, and I thought “Why can’t I make my own rag rugs?”  So I asked for Jason’s t shirts and I went through all my t shirts, and ended up with a pile to turn into yarn.

Many of the t shirts are light colored, which is fine. But, I rather think it might be good fun to also dye some of them in order to add to the color scheme. I’ve got some dyes around that should work on cotton if the correct fixer is applied, so once I have the yarn created, I’ll see what colors I can make out of the lighter t shirts.

I used the rotary cutter to cut them into strips:

In reality I am only about half done with that process.

Then, I cut the strips and balled up the yarn:

So far, so cool!

Bug and the Reel Mower

12 Apr 2012 1 Comment

by shellssells in Uncategorized

So, last evening Jason brought his reel mower over to my place as I wanted to try it out on my lawn. The basic reason for this being that hauling my gas mower up the steps onto the upper level is really hard on my back, and I never quite know when it is going to do me in. I just don’t have time for that right now.

Well, we’d gotten back from some errands a bit late, and I needed to get Bug to bed. Meanwhile, Jason got out the reel mower and gave it a go on my rather overgrown and unruly lawn. I promised Bug that she could see what he was doing once she got into her PJs and all ready for bed. It turns out this was a bit of poor planning on my part.

You have to understand that she’s been trying to get me to allow her to mow the lawn with the gas mower for the last 2 years. This, I think, is a rather dangerous endeavor for a 7 yr old, especially on my rather difficult and strangely situated lawn. That would be if she could even push the mower in the first place. I’ve told her many times it is a job for when she is older.

Once she saw the reel mower however, she knew immediately she could handle that and wanted to give it a try. She enjoyed herself so much and was so absolutely determined to do it that it was downright comical. I pulled out my camera hoping to capture the moment. She was moving too fast for me to get any decent pictures, but here is Bug mowing lawn in her PJs for your enjoyment.

A Picnic Done Right

06 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment

by shellssells in Uncategorized

Yes, this post is about cycling again.

Earlier this week Jason asked if I’d like to leave early on Thursday and rather than do the regular 20 miles, we’d go all the way from Council Bluffs to Malvern on the Wabash Trace. This is a route I’ve done before (and blogged about), but not one I’d done this season. I, being rather eager to get some extra miles in, immediately said yes to this proposal. Until I realized that it was going to be one tough ride with my mountain bike and its knobby tires. Jason then suggested that he would be willing to pull a trailer if we wanted to have a picnic. This would serve the dual purpose of allowing us to not spend cash on a restaurant, and would hopefully slow him down enough so that we could be an equally matched pair of cyclists for this ride. (I don’t really ride my mountain bike very well, I am not terribly speedy.)

I decided to take care of the picnic, as I had earlier that morning purchased a groupon which would work for picnic foods. That didn’t go quite as expected, but that is an entirely different story. I left work early yesterday, picked up sandwiches and pastries, packed a cooler and supplies, packed many extra clothes since it was not a particularly warm day, and waited for my ride. We went down to the bike shop and got me slicker, narrower tires so I’d have an easier time riding the route, and then we were on our way.

At the trail head, we had to organize a bit.

Jason gets the trailer ready to go after I’ve packed it.

And then we are off!

We do the typical ride portion of the trail with ease and then take our first stop in Mineola.

We fly on through Silver City and head on down the trail to Malvern. All in all, the trail is in great shape for this time of year. Everything is very green due to rain and a couple of very warm days. There are patches of violets and wild blue phlox, as well as a lovely taller white flower. Spring is certainly bustin’ out all over the trail. We stopped on a bridge outside of Malvern and I snapped a shot while the sun was quickly setting.

And then we really needed to finish up the first half of the trip and eat. We were both getting a bit tired, and very very hungry. We rolled in to Malvern, grabbed a picnic table, and spread out.

And, at the same time, bundled up. With the setting sun, the air was quickly cooling. I was very glad of Jason’s suggestion that I bring a pair of wool socks. I needed every bit of my extra gear.

We enjoyed our food and a half bottle of wine and some time looking around before heading out again. I did, at that point, put my camera away.

Then the more unfortunate part of the trip began. Biking often gives me heartburn and I generally pack some antacids along with my gear to keep this at bay. Unfortunately, due to packing differently and feeling all around great, I didn’t pack them. And apparently combining wine, good food, and a bike ride is a deadly combination for me. I just felt awful, I had to stop a couple of times and we just didn’t have anything that would help. Not even a piece of gum. It was a tough ride, but there really wasn’t anything we could do about it but press on. Once we hit Silver City, Jason tried to see if the bar there carried any type of gum or antacids, but they did not. He even took to asking complete strangers for something, which they did not. (I must have been in a bad way!) I figured, if nothing else once we got the steakhouse in Mineola, they might have some baking soda, which has always alleviated symptoms in the past. So, again, we pressed on and made it to Mineola. Well, the place was hopping! By that time I was feeling a bit better and didn’t want to disturb anyone with my requests. We met up with some friends in Mineola, hung out for awhile, and then rode with them back to the trail head. By then I was feeling ok and enjoying the chatter that happens on group rides. I was extremely exhausted at this point, and could not even be egged on into a sprint. (unusual for me).

All in all, it was another fantastic ride with so much to see and do. A beautiful day made better by being on the bike. And even better with good company.

I must say though, even though I was able to complete the ride on the mountain bike, it was tough. I realized just how tough as I tried to walk up the steps to my front door with all leg muscles tired and tight.  I was so happy to crawl into bed!

With stops, the 44 mile trip took 6 hours. We might have been able to push for a faster trip, but I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much.

A Bicycle Built for Two

27 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by shellssells in Uncategorized

So, now that the weather is warm and pleasant, I figure if I don’t talk about cycling a little, you will have absolutely nothing to read. I’ve really done so little knitting lately. I have done some flick carding, but that is hardly worth mention and certainly not worth pictures. The spinning I’ve done is minimal. So really, even though this is unlikely to become a blog about biking, without biking content I may be left with no content at all.

So Jason recently purchased a tandem, and I’ve been itching to try it out ever since it arrived. I, being quite optimistic was just positive it would be easy to ride and the experience would be fantastic. I do believe Jason might have been slightly less optimistic. But, both of us being the type of people who enjoy new adventures, we decided that Sunday was the day to give it a try.

Jason took it out for a quick spin without me first. This was with the idea he would be able to get a feel for the bike and for its wide turning radius.

Then I got on the back and snapped a quick shot of what was to be my view for the rest of the evening.

Then the real wake up call began. We now have to figure out how to get two people on one bike pedaling upright. Now, this is a much bigger challenge than one might think. We had quite a few false starts, and I must admit in those moments my optimism about the adventure waned quite a bit. But, persistance on both our parts won out and we modified what we had read and found something that worked for us. Stopping did not seem to be a large challenge, thankfully. Steering, on the other hand, well, Jason described that as trying to steer a piece of spaghetti. I think in that moment I knew that I would never take on the captain role.

After a trip or two around the block, we took a breather. Then discussed if we wanted to take the tandem out to our local paved trail and give it a try. We both, rather hesitantly, agreed to it. We met up with our friend Marja and headed out. It was not until I actually got on the trail that I began to think of every obstacle that we’d come across in our chosen route, and THEN I got quite nervous. But in the end it didn’t matter if I was nervous or not, I wasn’t in control of the bike, and maneuvering those obstacles wasn’t up to me.

We had a 12 mile round trip route planned for the evening with a stop at Culver’s to rest and eat. I was just too nervous to clip into my pedals on the trip out, I felt the need to be able to put my feet down if necessary. But, there was a little incident on the way up a small hill where my feet slipped off the pedals, causing me to (somewhat comically I am sure) have to lift both legs far above the still quickly rotating pedals until I could communicate with Jason that I’d lost control and he needed to stop pedaling long enough for me to get my feet back into position.  This was the point where I decided that I’d have to learn to clip in on the return trip in order to save my calves.

We managed to get to our destination and relax a bit. Marja pushed on for a few extra miles. And then I got a text from her. Poor gal had a flat! She managed to get the bike back to Culver’s by the time we finished eating, and we changed her flat before heading back. I must say, the numerous flats lately really have boosted my confidence in my own ability to change one should it happen when I am all alone.

On the return ride, I did manage to clip in, and get quite a bit more comfortable on the tandem. I could actually release a hand from the death grip I had on my handlebars, move about a bit more comfortably, and look around to see what there was to see. I saw geese and wondered if they were sitting on eggs they were so still. I saw ducks in areas I’d never noticed them before. I got to watch the sunset, looking at the big beautiful Nebraska sky in detail rather than just glancing at it from time to time. I realized that I could get used to this tandem thing after all!

We will need to make a few changes, some adjustments to the bike itself and new saddles for both of us. I will eventually need to raise my seat up quite a bit, but cannot yet figure out how to get started with both of my feet off the ground. However, with as much progress as was made in just 12 miles, I think it has potential to be a fun new cycling activity. It is surprising how much extra power can be gained with 2 strong sets of legs on the same bike. It did seem to make pedaling into the wind far easier. I think we were fortunate to have Marja along for the first ride, as she did a great job clearing paths of people out of our way, calling back any obstacles around corners we might not see, and just generally keeping conversation with me. I don’t think we gave her much cause to point and laugh, but even that is appreciated at this stage. I’ve always loved new adventures and learning new things, hopefully this is one more activity I can add to my cycling repertoire. Hopefully my captain feels the same.

(Not quite a finally tuned team yet, but getting there.)