But first... after work on Friday night I made my first step along the road to running in the Knee Knacker in July. I started off as usual running along the trail by the water to Burnaby. It was a perfect evening, sunny and not too warm, so I thought I'd do a loop on a few trails in Confederation Park... up to Hastings St, then go back home. I got to Hastings and I could see Burnaby Mountain. There's a really nice trail that goes up there, so up I went. The result of all this was me arriving home 2½ hours later, quite hungry... but feeling optimistic about running. If I can get out for runs like that every couple of weeks I should survive. Maybe.
My legs weren't exactly fresh on Saturday morning, but good enough to propel me around to buy a new bathroom door. We decided our closet-sized bathroom wasn't improved by being painted beige, so about 6 months ago we bought two shades of lime-green paint. Last week the paint finally made it out of the hole behind the washing machine and onto the walls. We cleaned up all the old shelves and other bathroom paraphernalia and bought a new shower curtain... and are very pleased with the results. The last problem was the door. A full-size door made actually getting in and out of the tiny place quite challenging, and it was beige... so out it went. I bought a folding door and after a few hours of experimentation I got it to open and close. Finishing this project means we can move to phase two of the war on beige, which will also be beige's last stand. Will a rusty-red colour conquer the kitchen wall? I think so.
Full of confidence from my door-attachment success, I tackled another task that I bought the parts for about 6 months ago. A kayak cart. These things are great, you strap it under your boat and they allow you to wheel it around like a wheelbarrow. You can wheel it onto the ferry, wheel it to your car, wheel it around Canadian Superstore and load up for your expedition if you want... except you'll probably get thrown out. I had found a really fantastic pair of wheels, complete with rainbow tires and just needed to to the chopping, drilling, and gluing of the ABS drain pipe to get the thing rolling. I went for the simplest design I could come up with and am pretty pleased with it. Hopefully it works.
It doesn't end there. Oh no. I went up to Commercial Drive to check out the Stone Soup Festival which it turns out is named after a myth that I'm sure I was taught in school. It was a good place for a hungry person to be. I came back home, full of food, and ready to tackle my own bit of urban farming. Our balcony isn't spacious enough for raising chickens, keeping bees, sowing oats... or any of that, but after some experiments last year I know I can grow tomatoes and a few herbs.
After all that excitement I was ready to relax by riding my bike down Fromme as fast as possible with Krista. We'd not been biking together for ages and it was great to catch up... and had a great run down damp, grippy trails in the cool forest. Today I'm off to Squamish with Paul and Angie for an XC ride in the sunshine. Spring is here. It's great.
Home improvement
Thanks to Marc for this!
Full of confidence from my door-attachment success, I tackled another task that I bought the parts for about 6 months ago. A kayak cart. These things are great, you strap it under your boat and they allow you to wheel it around like a wheelbarrow. You can wheel it onto the ferry, wheel it to your car, wheel it around Canadian Superstore and load up for your expedition if you want... except you'll probably get thrown out. I had found a really fantastic pair of wheels, complete with rainbow tires and just needed to to the chopping, drilling, and gluing of the ABS drain pipe to get the thing rolling. I went for the simplest design I could come up with and am pretty pleased with it. Hopefully it works.
Roll, roll, roll your boat
It doesn't end there. Oh no. I went up to Commercial Drive to check out the Stone Soup Festival which it turns out is named after a myth that I'm sure I was taught in school. It was a good place for a hungry person to be. I came back home, full of food, and ready to tackle my own bit of urban farming. Our balcony isn't spacious enough for raising chickens, keeping bees, sowing oats... or any of that, but after some experiments last year I know I can grow tomatoes and a few herbs.
I love the smell of tomato plants in the morning
After all that excitement I was ready to relax by riding my bike down Fromme as fast as possible with Krista. We'd not been biking together for ages and it was great to catch up... and had a great run down damp, grippy trails in the cool forest. Today I'm off to Squamish with Paul and Angie for an XC ride in the sunshine. Spring is here. It's great.
