Stroll along Lake Superior

I love traveling up to Lake Superior and one of my favorite shopping, strolling, talking partners is my friend Cat!  We do have a good time together!

This trip was multi purpose and included a stop at the Goodwill store, the Black Cat, the beach and the walkway along the lake and the down town area for some window shopping.  OH!  And the Chequamegon Food coop!!

But as you know, my primary purpose is always to get some good lake pix!

Cat at the lake

Unknown wild flower growing along the path

The landscape is just so different up there!!  I just love it.

Hope the photos from my day trip help you find some joy!!  :)

Soe tore and other oddities: a return to running

Mad conversation with self this morning:

Oh man am I tired.  Why the heck was I going to run again??  I am sure I should wait until tomorrow, I walked 7 miles yesterday, for crying out loud.

Oh for heavens sakes, quit whining.  You have that 5K run next weekend and you need to get a little running in so Sarah Jane doesn't have to carry you across the finish line.

Fine.

I suppose the horse needs to be fed first- alright, let's do that - then head out.

OW!  Hey my soe is tore.

WHAT did you just say???  Really?  Your soe is TORE???? THAT is something you say out loud wrong, you don't THINK that in your brain before it comes out of your mouth!!!!  Good lord, if you hadn't been just whining like a baby, you'd be going back to bed.

Oh shut up and let's get this over with.  I can't help it my soe, er, uh, my toe is sore.

Now you know!  Lol.  Seriously, who makes that sort of mixup in their brain before even saying it out loud.   

This morning I had to get a run in- in anticipation of the 5K and obstacle course thing I am doing next Saturday.  As some of you know and some may or may not know, I had a little knee issue recently.  MUCH to my dismay.  So I eased way off of everything involving knees in anticipation of the canoe trip and of course the resulting loss of fitness for running was highly discouraging.  I ran part of the Evergreen Road Run last weekend, then did one more run this past week.  a SLLLLOOOOOWWWW one, but still.  And so I wanted to get an interval session in today and then I will do one more interval session before Wednesday so I can rest the knee before the race on Saturday.  

MY BRAIN is ready to regroup and return to running.  My cardio fitness is getting there, thanks to a lot of walking this week.  My legs are not quite as confident as my brain wants them to be.  

On the road with Debi

What I found disturbing was how quickly I lost my cardio fitness!!  My heartbeat was way faster this past week when I was running than just a month ago when I had to lay off for a while.  UGH.  That is rotten!  All the work I did to get to that point.  But I am finding it is coming back pretty quickly, so that is good.

I was also distressed with how quickly my quad muscles lost strength!  I avoided most quad work whilst babying my knee, and I can feel it.  At least I am starting to regain some of the mass now.  A little of the definition is beginning to show again.  

Yikes!

Of course I felt pretty wiped after the whole thing, but it was a good feeling.  No soreness in my knee.  I iced it for good measure, so it will not decide to act up on me.  I can feel my edge returning, and I am going to attempt to go slow when adding mileage.  No more adding over a mile onto my runs once a week!  I do not want to go through that again.  Game face is on people!!!

Idk if you can see it, or if you want to, but there is a big ole blister on my middle (s)toe.  And that sucker hurts!  At least my pedi still looks good!

MAD-MARATHONER FRIEND!!!

On a more positive note, and just a bit on the random side, but why should this be different than any other day, I have a new playlist to run with!  THANK you to my good friend Samara, the mad-marathon buddy!!! She is my hero and role model!!

Seems like nap is a good idea, now, don't you think??

Until next time, be a joy giver and find some inner peace!  No arguing meow! ;)

Oh look, the Mad Art Teacher took pictures again!

A few nice photos for a picture post!!  I took these after the Boundary waters trip and they sort of got neglected!  So here is their own special place!  :)

Cool hay rake!

Sunrise

Torpy Park, Minocqua

Amazing clouds over the stone house

curves and wires

Misty morning

amazing clouds

Weinberger farm in the morning

Looking up!

speckles and dots

Gorgeous day in Minocqua

Hope you found a little joy in my little collection of photos!

Hair today?? Gone tomorrow???

Seriously I should not be posting this when I am so tired. It was suggested tonight that I might need to do something with my hair before school starts.... Something about wild woman hair......I know right! Speechless.

Anywho, I actually was kicking that exact thing around in my head tonight whilst walking. What to do, what to do.  I realized a week ago that I probably missed a hair appointment back in June, which does not really surprise me at all, as I have a tendency to forget to write my hair appts. on my calendar for some reason.  I need to be WAY more diligent about putting them on my phone calendar, and then setting 4 alarms, a buzzer, a dog to come and lick my face in the morning, and hire someone to come and get me and drive me there.  Seems like overkill, but I like to hallucinate.

Anyway, what do you think? Should I get it all chopped off or let it grow or something in between??? What say ye?

For some reason, I am having a moment of ye Olde Englishe speaking.  Verily, 'twill pass!!

Ok see, there it went........


So, I am editing the heck out of this post this morning.  I am right, I should never post things when I can't see straight, not to mention right off my blogger app on my phone. IN THE SPIRIT of certain posts at my favorite blog- tomandlorenzo AND the recent survey by the hilarious Pif at  greenvegina I will ask you this:

What do you think?

a.  WHO SAID YOU HAVE WILD WOMAN HAIR???  LET'S FORM A POSSE AND GET THEM!!!

b.  Um, yeah, Debi, we were going to talk to you about that whole constant ponytail thing, you need to visit Nancy.  Her number is 762-2251  Here, let me dial it for you...... and drive you there......  I think I know a dog you could borrow that day, too......

c.  Maybe a comb??

d.  Nothing that a trim and a flat iron won't cure.

e.  CUT IT OFF and begin again!!

f.  other- suggestions appreciated!!

WILD woman hair????  Not amused

This is an interactive blog post, people, lets see some comments!!!! AND if you are a quiet reader of my blog, I really like followers.  Somehow makes me feel loved.....  I've been stuck at 44 for a long time- go ahead take the plunge.  Join the cult of the MAD!!!  BWAHAHAHAHA

Ooops, sorry.  hehehe

Anyway, take the time today to give someone in your life some joy.  You never know when they might be having a bad day!!  

Kayak anyone?

In my quest to do something AWESOME as frequently as possible, I went kayaking the other day!  It was a gorgeous afternoon, I was lucky enough to have a friend from school who has a kayak and the ability to transport them around!  Thanks, girl!!

We started off our day by renting a kayak for me at Chequamegon Adventure Company, where I got this lovely vibrant yellow kayak for lake paddling.  Next was a stop at High Voltage Food Company, which serves rocking good vegetarian, vegan, raw and just plain awesome food!  We had wraps and smoothies, which was just the ticket for the day.  

We went to Minocqua Lake which is where Torpy Park is located, and followed the lake around the Island, under a road, near some islands and back again.  It was a little windy, and there were tons of boats and jet skis, so the water was pretty rough.  It was fine, I never really felt too tippy!  Well not from the water at least!

I look far more confident than I actually was!

After kayaking around and trying to not paddle it like a canoe (which was hard), we may have gotten thirsty and we may have stopped at the Yacht club, where there are no yachts.....

MMMMM, fruity!!

Gorgeous afternoon

Of course we did!

So, even though I did not tip the kayak- that might have been ill advised considering the refreshments we had indulged in- we did indeed go swimming afterwards!  

And of course I took pictures.  Look at this awesome potted arrangement at Torpy Park.  It has a gorgeous cherry tomato plant in it. Sucker was huge!!!

It was such a nice day, and kayaking is a hoot!  Summer, you need to slow down!

Did you know there is an ice cream place in Minocqua, too???  MMMMM, Java Chocolate chunk!

Until next time, be a joy giver!

My newest (food) obsession

I know this is crazy, but I have developed a super simple recipe for pickled beets that has me craving them.  Seriously.  CRAVING AND OBSESSING.  I know- crazy.

I sporadically watch things like Top Chef and similar shows that I usually avoid, because they either
a. make me extremely hungry or
2. make me somewhat ill.... (think whole animals and things like that- ew)

trust me, "a" happens much more frequently than "2".

Anyway, every so often these people talk about pickled vegetables- and I do love a nice pickled beet, but they are so so sweet. SOOOOOOO sweet.  You are getting the picture, I think.  I looked at a few techniques for doing this- its putting vinegar on cooked vegetables for heavens sakes- and so this is what has resulted:

SOOOO good and refreshing!

First of all, I LOVE my Chiogga beets- they are a striped heirloom beet that is not very beet like in the traditional strong, earthy, red sense.  They are sweeter and lighter.  Cook those babies too late to actually serve them for supper one night.
Two nights later peel and slice them.

Pour about 1/4 cup (I don't measure, btw) of cider vinegar over the beets, a sprinkle of salt and a quick squeeze of agave syrup (or honey).

Let it sit for about 5 minutes or more, if you are strong, stir and then sit down with a fork!!  Or you could be civilized and wait for a meal to come around, but it's summer.  Civility is way over rated!

*****SPEAKING of honey- I was totally disgusted to see I accidentally bought a blended honey the other day at the grocery.  BLENDED WITH CORN SYRUP! IN A TEDDY BEAR JAR!!!!  Are you KIDDING me????  That stuff is so going back to the store.  I'm going to look for local honey from now on.  Grrrr.

Whew, I just let that one go, but I put that honey jar by my purse for further action necessary!!!

Find your joy in the simple things!  :)

Artistic picture post part 2

Here is round 2 for you.  

I am always looking for unusual viewpoints or an atypical shot.  Then to play around with the color and contrast just makes everything that much more enjoyable. 

 

So many people in my life inspire me in different ways.  Each of these pictures has a little bit of my friends and family in them.  Each of them hold a piece of my heart.  Because I had limited battery power, I tried to make each shot count.  Attempted to have a memory behind each one.  Alas, since I had over 700 pictures, some of them were a little bit of a mystery to me.  Probably 50 - 75 or so were taken by other people, so a few of them really were a mystery!  

Sunrise on Vermilion Lake

Amazing foliage

The weather was nearly perfect.  The scenery was amazing. The people were incredible.  Nature at it's finest.

tangle of roots

Wind swept

rocky landing

Morning mist

Everywhere I looked there was something unexpected, photogenic, picturesque.  It was a transformative experience in many ways- artistically, personally, physically- not just for me, but for all of the members of our group.

perfect

How can you not be affected by the beauty of this place?  In so many ways it is like my home, yet it is so different.  I am familiar with the trees, the wildlife, rocks, the water, yet the quality of each of these things is vastly different.

Lily paddling

flowing

harbinger

unused

sunrise

waiting

The memories are something I will treasure forever.  The gifts given to me will last a lifetime.

And that is pure joy.