365 Days Handmade

Making life a better place, one day at a time

Monthly Archives: November 2015


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Day 313/365: The Day After Monterey

Boy, has it been a long day.  Sean and I got up early in Monterey, went out for breakfast, returned to the hotel, packed up, and checked out.  Then we got in The Rental and headed back down to Morro Bay.

Sadly, I’d neglected to bring along a work in progress that I could knit.  So I watched the scenery go by, and I took some photos for the blog.

I thought the low clouds in the distance looked pretty neat.

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Gray skies and clouds

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There was actual rain!

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Passenger-side view. Call me a nerd, but I really liked the way those clouds just hovered so closely over the ground.

When we got back to the Morro Bay house, we were both pretty tired, but we still had to drive 150 miles more down to Ventura.  Sean had to teach the next day, and I had to get my allergy shot in Oxnard.  So we ate lunch, took care of a few things around the house (laundry, dishes, mail), and then got ready to head back down to the Ventura apartment.

I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and spotted my Swatch on a side table.  I thought, I’m going to need that, and I put it on.  Then we grabbed our stuff and headed out.

When we got to Ventura, it was a lot warmer than it had been in Morro Bay and Monterey.  I took off my hoodie and my long-sleeved shirt, and then I noticed my wrist.

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I’d put on my Swatch when I’d already been wearing my Garmin under my long sleeve.

I think that about sums up my day and my state of mind.


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Day 312/365: The 2015 Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay

We did it!  We successfully finished our second half marathon of the year.

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Everyone has their reasons for training to run a marathon or a half marathon.  Some people want to set PRs (personal records).  Some like having the sense of accomplishment; others go for the experience and to run with friends.  And then there’s me.  I just like to eat.

Post-race breakfast!

Post-race breakfast!


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Day 311/365: The Saturday Before The Big Event

11.7.2015a

This afternoon we left Morro Bay and drove up to Monterey Bay for the Big Sur Half Marathon tomorrow.  I brought the Cabin Fever sock and knitted during the drive, finishing the sock in the first hour.  I didn’t bring any other knitting projects, so now I have to find other ways to entertain myself.

Speaking of entertainment, I thought this was amusing:  Our hotel room is old school fancy.  There is a gas fireplace and a cathedral ceiling with solid wood beams.  There is also a telephone within easy reach from the toilet.  You know, for those times when you’ve got to take care of business– while you’re taking care of business.  Tee hee.

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P.S. We went down to the front desk to ask about staying another night and were informed that we could, but Day 2 we’d be housed across the way in their other, newly renovated building.  Apparently, renovations for our current building start tomorrow.


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Day 308/365: In Which I Learn I’m Old

11.4.2015

“That’s a nice watch,” Mr. A said to me today during his routine follow-up appointment.

“Thanks,” I said. “It’s a Swatch. You know, like the kind that was popular in the 80s?”

“Nah,” he said, slowly shaking his head to indicate that he didn’t know. “I’m not that old.”

Riiiiiggght. Because this was a kid who was born in 1994. The year I graduated from U of R.


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Day 307/365: New Project

Remember the tangled mess from my memory blanket class?

I decided to set that aside and start a proper blanket of mitered squares.  I went into the yarn stash and saw that I had this bundle of yarn that I’d purchased some time ago to make the granny stripe blanket designed by Lucy of Attic 24.

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I thought, You know what?  I’m going to use these to make a colorful knitted blanket of patchwork squares, instead.

So I got started.

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There are a few advantages to making a knitted afghan this way.  Each square goes by fairly quickly and the process involves decreases, so you’re not just knitting back and forth lengthwise and getting bored.  You can switch to a different color when you start a new square, so your eyes don’t get tired of looking at the same color yarn throughout the whole project.

There is one drawback that I can see, though.

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There are a lot of loose ends to be woven in.

 


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Day 306/365: The Strawberry Patchwork Quilt

Facebook does this thing where it will notify you of photos that you posted three years ago, two years ago, a year ago.  This morning it reminded me that one year ago, I shared this photo:

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This is a patchwork quilt that I finished last October, using a combination of newly purchased fabric and a pink strawberry print that I’d been saving for years.  The back of the quilt is made with a Strawberry Shortcake cotton fabric that a friend of mine had given me several years ago.

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The quilt is sitting on a shelf in the linen closet and I’d forgotten about it until today when Facebook reminded me.  Now that the weather is cooling down, I’ll have to bring it out of storage and enjoy it.

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Day 305/365: Lucky Day

A week from today is the Big Sur Half Marathon at Monterey Bay.  Sean and I got up this morning, ate some breakfast, and set out for our last long run (6 miles) before the big event.

On the way home, during the final mile, I spotted something on the ground and looked at it in disbelief.  Surely, it couldn’t be… ?  I picked it up and sure enough, it was.  And the real deal, too– not a counterfeit.

I have to say, that was by far my best run yet.

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This is what it looked like on the ground when I first spotted it.

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And here it is in all its Andrew Jackson twenty-dollar glory.