Happy Feet ? NOT!!

Folk often ask why I run as far as I do. My answer, because I can. But how do I do it? I really don't know. Other than sheer insanity I have no reason to explain why anyone would push themselves to such extremes.

But I am not a born athlete and running does not come easily to me. Behind all the medals and certificates is plenty of pain, grunt, grit and hard work.
Case in Point, this Sunday:

PLAN: to run from Morialta Falls up to the top of Mount Lofty, a mere 18km., but rated 9/10 in the S.A. trail Runners code of difficulty.
This trail is never easy but I have done it several times. However, clearly this Sunday I would have been better condemning the alarm clock to an early grave and pulling the blankets back over my head, or hiring a Gopher!
After the first five steps I knew it was going to be ugly and that this Fat Labrador was not the owner of Happy Feet. The mind was willing but the hamstrings, glutes and calves were screaming No Freakin Way!!!!

Evi and I bribed each other up the first hill five steps at a time and really it felt like we were ascending to base camp on Mt. Everest. Sue and Mike who had done a fairly arduous bike ride on Saturday were more subdued than usual. DH plodded quietly along whilst Tracey who had been cooped up all week with a sick kid declared it was easy!!

Tracey finding it easy??? Sure!

Now running is quite an economical sport for me, in that I get full value out of my race fees.
I pay my race fees, but whilst everyone else has run their race and is back home in bed, I'm still plodding along like an epileptic caterpillar.
By the time I get to the finish line ( and I always do ) even the race clock is on overtime and the race marshalls are lying semi comatose behind the finish line.Waiting, Waiting!

Anyhow, returning to Sunday. We did all finish and actually did quite a good time. I had a few close calls with the Pewk fairy. Remember the golden rule. NEVER stand in front of a long distance runner with new shoes on !!

A close encounter with the PEWK FAIRY!

After an equally ugly Monday run I have decided to take the rest of the week off for cross training and give the body a rest.
Does quilting or cross stitch count as cross training?
And if not, why not?

Thank God for the Coffee at Mt. Lofty.

RUNNING MAKES ME HAPPY!

Thanks for dropping by,
Cheers Karen.

Papillons and Pillows.

I'm still plodding along with SoHRH but this second block is taking so much longer than I thought it would. There is just so much filling in to do on it, especially around the lettering. I am resisting the temptation however to start another block before I finish this one. I'm just a bit too anal to have a couple of blocks on the go.



In between I have just finished this freebie by BlackBird Designs. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to Paris, plus this little pillow by Bareroots, one of my favorite designers.

Bareroots Design.

Freebie design by Blackbird Designs.

The four legged children are all doing well and despite all being very elderly are still an absolute delight.

Lachlan still likes to chase his ball everywhere and drives us nuts with continually dropping it at our feet to be thrown.




Casey the little one we rescued 7 years ago from an abusive life is my absolute joy. I'm sure she smiles.




Myfanwy from the day we bought her home at 6 months of age is a couch potato. She rises from her throne only for food, the promise of food or the potential for food.She loves to go out in the car for a drive but absolutely refuses to walk. Her ladyship requires carrying. Casey always wants what Miffy has so she wants to be carried also and Lachlan is too tiny to walk far. So when we go out we have a kid that can't walk and three dogs who wont !!





Thanks for dropping by
Cheers Karen.

Birthdays and Bagpipes.

DS Luke AKA (His Royal Highness or Your Lordship ) celebrated his 27th birthday during last week.
I write during last week because he managed to milk a whole weeks worth of celebrations out of it with various friends.
Each birthday is a bit of a triumph in our house because when DS finally came home from hospital at 18 months of age his doctors were not confident he would be here for his second birthday.
BIG MISTAKE: they only saw what was wrong with Luke and not the courage, stubbornness, mental toughness and sense of humor he has.
So here he is; disabled, but a typical 27 year old. Attitude +++, mum and dad considered a bit weird and slow but good for a bed, food and cash!

His biggest disability is his appalling taste in music. Absolute fave is the bagpipes, closely followed by Gilbert and Sullivan. I challenge any mum to feel highly maternal at 6am. on a Sunday morning when listening to the bloody bagpipes or the Mikado at full blast!!
But wait, there's more, he also loves Dixie Land Jazz and German Beer Hall music. Anyone introduces this young man to heavy metal and they're so not gunna survive!!



He loves the ladies BIG TIME . We call him Captain Subtle ( not ) And my God he certainly ropes in the girls. DH just drools in envy!




Thanks for dropping by
Cheers Karen.

Poo is a wonderful thing.

In a previous life I was a lecturer at UNI SA and TAFE in Anatomy and Physiology and the Nerd part of me still enjoys the inner workings and plumbing of our bodies.

On our trail run last week from Kersbrook to Cuddlee Creek I saw some splendid examples of poos! ( from our four legged friends of course. ) One rather large specimen was a wonderful example, so why did my friends not appreciate the mini lecture I gave them on the Luminal Striations of a TURD?

I have since been the butt of all their jokes and lurid comments about Turds and they feel the need to point out any inconsequential bit of poo to me for closer inspection.
Turds aside, this was a really beautiful early dawn run and we replaced all burnt calories with a large plate of bacon and eggs at the local cafe.

Evi, Sue and DH.

Apart from cross stitching, quilting and embroidery I also quite like making dolls. Here are three taking in the Autumn sun.

Last year I bought an old church pew and my plan is to fill it with a congregation of my handmade dolls. The congregation is a bit light on right now, but one day......


Thanks for dropping by
Cheers Karen.

Mapless and Clueless.

Over the last 3 weeks I have managed to run about 100km per week in preparation for Sydney. Yes it's tough! I have a mega case of Bot Rot, Knee Rot, Foot Rot and Frontal Lobe Rot.
But it's not all hard work and we do have a lot of fun. Monday was a case in point.

PLAN: 16 -20km, through Parra Wirra National Park from Kersbrook, through Snake Gully to Hum Bug Scrub.

MY ROLE: to bring the map ....... Well, I'm 53, I cant remember everything. ( or anything ! )

So mapless the four of us set off. Tracey had done this run the previous week and had only got lost four times, ( once finding the starting line ) so we were all feeling very confident. Our running team has a well established reputation for being very creative with our directions.




We actually did very well and personally I think I did everyone a favor in not bringing the map. Being mapless we only had to find the right way. Having a map complicates things, because quite frankly we never know where we actually are on the map and which way it should face.
My philosophy is whatever way I am facing must be North !!! I'm ok with that.

A small confession: we did have to use one lifeline and phone a friend. We were not lost, but just wanted to make sure we were still in Australia.

Tracey, Moi and Cathy.

It really was a very beautiful trail run, the highlight seeing four Emus taking a family bath in a pond of rain water.
After three hours we finally finished, hot and dirty, with fake tan running, botox leaking and all of us willing to sell our grandmothers for a cup of coffee.

Cathy trying to look seductive in her Panda Hat

Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers Karen.

The Bag Lady.

A girl can never have too many bags, well at least that's what I think. And if you can't buy them well make them. And if you make too many then be prepared for your friends at Quilt Class to call you THE BAG LADY! Such indignities one has to endure for such an innocent addiction. I must confess to having a huge collection now however , and all too precious to use. So many new fabrics and so many new bag patterns!

My collection of bought handbags is just as big. I particularly like Oroton leather handbags, and for many years I had DH actually believe that Oroton was a Target homebrand. Well, if he's silly enough to believe that a leather bag cost $29 what is a girl to do?











Here's just a small selection. Notice I'm a BIG BAG girl, yes I could live off the contents of my bag for at least a month.


Cheers from the Bag Lady.

Mothers' Day.

I'm not big on buying cards for Mothers' Day, it seems to me that we are just keeping Hallmark in business at the expense of the environment. So this year I made my Mum a little cushion from a freebie by Plum Street Samplers. I think it's cute.



On Mothers' Day DS Luke and DH took me out for a fish and chip picnic, their favourite! It was lovely just being out together as a family




Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers Karen.

Girls in Pink

Girls in Pink were out in full force on Sunday for the Mothers' Day classic. A 7.5 km run held on Mothers' Day to raise money for Breast Cancer research. I have a fairly ordinary family history of breast cancer so this is something constructive I can do for all the girls in my family.

Evi, Moi and Cathy at the finish line.

This year I ran for my sister Helen, a survivor, my cousin Dawn, a survivor, my cousin Sandra who sadly lost her fight with this disease at 39 years of age, and my DF Lynne who fights her battle with such humor and dignity. And not forgetting our boyfriend Dr. Kolias who looks after all our BOOBS!!!

Thanks for dropping by,
Cheers Karen.

Snakes in blue t-shirts.

Snakes in blue t-shirts inhabit Anstey's Hill. Well according to DF. Cathy they do. With only 16 weeks to go until the 100km Sydney ultra marathon, I am training up in the hills in any spare time I get.

Cathy has decided to come up in the hills at least weekly. She wants to maintain her own running fitness but also thinks I need adult supervision! Personally I think she is just being a spoil sport. At 53 any chances of a virile young man wanting to have his wicked way with me is highly unlikely! AND SHE'S SPOILING MY CHANCES.
That's the thing about being over 50; kidnappers are not really very interested in you, and in a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
Anyway before I digress too far; there we were running along a trail, me talking away( what's new ) when suddenly Cathy started screaming and threw herself into my arms yelling "SNAKE"!! ( In Winter! Really?) I screamed because she was and then the snake slithered past.You know the sort I mean, long, tanned, skinny and blonde, the sort we all hate, and wearing a blue t-shirt and Nike runners! Yes, you guessed it, another trail runner, who looked moderately bewildered at our antics and hysterical laughter.

Now to a more serious subject; I HAVE AN ADDICTION! I simply cannot put down Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by CHS . I've tried I really have, but the withdrawal symptoms are too hard to bear. My goal is to complete one block per month but at May 5 I am already over halfway through the next block and have the threads for the next. The quilting is lying in the WIP pile of death threatening to sue for emancipation of the unwanted. I will get to it , I really will.

Carriage House Samplings; second block.

I have 6 flowers left to applique on this little beauty, Meg's Garden by Kellie Wulfsohn and then its ready to be quilted. I have enjoyed this project so much I will miss it when I have finished it. I've appliqued this all by hand. Kellie said anyone mad enough to do this by hand has SERIOUS ISSUES.
Fact is however that when I hit the sewing machine things turn UGLY. That's another story for another day.

Meg's Garden.

Thanks for dropping by
Cheers Karen.