Creation

We had a warm spell this week, and took full advantage of it. The warm, sunny days peaked yesterday with mid-fifties and a strong breeze. Jack and I had everything ready to go for indigo dyeing and took to the laundry line outside with a drop cloth, lots of clothespins, and a vat of indigo dye. We made numerous beautiful things and hung them on the line to oxidize. The magic of the green changing to blue in the open air is so exhilarating to be a part of! Here's a picture of all our things hanging on the line - obviously, the color is more vibrant when wet. But all the items turned out beautifully, including: the white skirt which I hardly ever wore because it was white (now it's blue!); the little sundress that I dip-dyed for a beautiful ombre effect; three hanks of yarn that I spun this winter; and the sheet and pillowcase set that we put flour paste resist on so that it the pillowcases were two clouds and the sheet was a lightning bolt!

 After the dyeing was finished, the clothes all rinsing in the wash machine, I went for a bike ride. I dressed for the temperature, but felt much too warm. Perhaps it was really in the low-60s as my bike computer insisted (though it's known to be inaccurate these days, it's been sun-fried a bit...), or perhaps I am in such a winter mode right now that I really felt like mid-50s was the warmest day of the year.  I'm registered to do the Wildflower Century bike ride in Chico at the end of April. It was a rather spur-of-the-moment decision, as I found out about it on the last day of early registration (= less $), and decided to just go for it. I haven't ridden a 100-mile bike ride since 2008 by my calculations; the closest I've come were the 53-mile rides I used to do with my friend Dain in Bodie back in 2012. Now it's 2018, and I've not really ridden over 15 miles in the last several years, except for a couple 20-ishers last fall and this winter. But I have faith in my innate ability to ride a bike forever. After all, I was raised on this stuff. My muscles are built to churn the crank of a bicycle if for nothing else. My stamina on a bike is the stuff of legend... at least, these are all the things I was telling myself when, around the halfway point of my 18-mile ride, I felt my mind starting to flag.

Riding around here is a lovely experience. There's shoulders in most places, and when there isn't the road is typically expansive and flat and easy for cars to see you and each other, so you don't feel too risky out there. Not to mention that we have pretty minimal traffic. The roads are in pretty decent shape, not too bumpy, although post-snowplows there is a lot of cinder on the shoulder in some sections. I only run into broken glass on occasion, which is impressive in a rural area where you'd expect a lot of people to be drinking and dropping their glasses. The roads are hilly - lots of up and down, both gradual and otherwise, that makes the pedaling very rewarding. And on top of all of this - the views are lovely.

Last night the breeze picked up, and when we awoke today it was to temperatures as much as 20 degrees below yesterday, and lots of blustery wind. If it does get above 40, I may go out for a quick roller skate to use some different muscles today. There is a chance of snow the rest of the week, and I'm praying it comes to pass. I'd love to be able to get out there and go skiing and snowshoeing again before the winter is over! For now, I am snug on the bed in the guest room, about to start my last "discussion post" for this week's homework. Today had no real plans, so I am simply and serenely whittling away at my to-do list. I spent the morning finishing a knitting project, then cleaning out the drawers below our bathroom sink (so many containers of floss!!!... among other things). After I get this homework post done, it'll be time to decide if I want to brave the cold breeze or do yoga inside. I've got several small sewing projects that I'll probably dive into today, and if I'm up to it I'll go through my clothes dresser too. I'm moving away from store-bought snacks (as I'm supposed to do in winter anyway), so I need to bake something hearty for the coming week's munchies. But now I've turned from writing prosaically to merely listing what's already written in my weekly planner, so I suppose this is the end of the post.

Until next time!

P.S. - There's a good chance I'll be revamping my blog layout again soon, so don't be startled!