Gardening: Spring's First Harvest

This weekend we thinned our garden a little and in doing so harvested a couple different vegetables.

Here's the garden after separating and transplanting. 

Radish!

Some really flavorful arugula.

Unfortunately after we transplanted and watered, Boulder area was hit with a huge storm (more on that soon) including quarter-sized hail and the garden and fragile plants were pummeled and flattened. Since then (one week) they have perked up again but sadly there were a few casualties.

Remnants of a Rawhide

Today I came home from work to find my little guy had made a mess of himself! 

From time to time Ben gives the pups rawhide bones before he leaves for work -- which helps to keep Higgins occupied while he's crated. 

See Byrdie's bone? Not even touched, but Higgins' bone? Well, you can see bits and pieces around his mouth and on his front legs.

There's no denying that this little ball of energy loves him some rawhide!

Ladies Weekend!

Surprise! Well, sort of. Near the end of May some of the old Point track ladies meant to surprise Veronique and I by coming to Colorado, only I ruined the surprise by seeing a message from Mindy to Ben. Nevertheless the weekend reunion was long overdue and much-appreciated! We found a little cabin tucked away in the hills near Black Hawk and spent the weekend catching up and reminiscing. This was the first time since 2004 at least that we were all back under the same roof--not since the good old days of 1635A College Ave. So much has changed since those college running days, but that old familiarity and comfort of a place where we all once existed together came rushing back immediately. Hikes (which, I guess, would equate to track and field trips taken together in the past), dinners, drinking games (yes, Circle of Death and Quarters), Malibu and cokes, dancing, and all sorts of reminiscent laughs and arguments filled us and the short time we could all spend together. There is so much to be said about your history. And it feels good to be reminded of who you once were and who you've blossomed into since. The past and present intertwined this weekend to make for a pretty amazing reunion. 

(Pretty much sums up our game of Quarters.)

The original 1635 College Ave alum. 

We parted ways with promises of regular reunions.

This history we have together is too precious to be forgotten.

Gardening: The Beginnings

"Come the end of the dark days, I'm more than joyful. I'm nuts." -Barbara Kingsolver

Truer words couldn't have been spoken to describe my feelings for the turn of the season this year. The harsher-than-normal winter combined with the snow showers lingering late into spring meant my anticipation for gardening soared to a whole new level of enthusiasm (borderline madness?). Ben and I spent the last couple of summers churning the soil in our little garden, hand-picking this herb and that plant to try in the vegetable patch, watching the light and the growth of our little shoots, and by doing so, learning to make the most of the small space we have available to us. Truth be told, we put in most of the work on the patio during those days-- pulling up rock beds, re-planting the ice plants, churning and fertilizing the vegetable and flower beds and hacking down that almost untamable mint--so this spring, we were able to delve right into the good stuff!  

As I mentioned, I was more than a little excited to put the garden in order this year.  During early-March, B. and I hit up the local greenhouse and picked our seeds:

 

(All local and organic seeds for us!)

And behind the table you can see our small plot for vegetables:

Here's what the garden looked like at the mid-March--in between snow storms, that is:

Since the ground could be worked as early as mid-March, I went ahead and planted my seeds and bought little domes to help protect the seedlings in their vulnerable stages. Good thing I did because we've had countless storms since then. I guess I never did snap a photo of the garden when I first planted, but here's a picture of Ben enjoying some Southern Sun goodness, and if you look beyond the table you'll see the garden. 

You might notice that some of the stakes are lopsided or missing. That would be the handy work of Mr. Higginbottom...

In past years, we purchased plants to put into the ground rather than seeds; if it wasn't one thing, it was another keeping us from starting the plants from seed. This year I was determined to grow as much of the garden from seed as I could manage.

Two months have passed and I've finally had the time to finish planting the last of the vegetables and flowers. We purchased a hummingbird mix to plant under the feeder but found that they would not flower the first year. I sowed them into the flowerbed anyway and then planted a few perennials which B. and I chose today. I'm so excited to show the progress we've made in the garden!

 

 

So far, I'm pleased.

Six Months!

Six months old, forty-five pounds (he has reached Byrdie's weight), and still growing!

We Got the Runs

This weekend I got together with a bunch of runner friends in the area to compete in the Colfax Marathon as a 5-man relay team. I've never competed in a relay road race before and I'd have to say that I had a ton of fun! Everything about the race reminded me of the good old days of racing at UW-Stevens Point. The waking really early in a house filled with teammates, the breakfast of bagels and fruit, the team numbers, the warm-ups and cool-downs with the team, the chatter about mile splits and competitors and the race course, and especially having an old Pointer alum there with me! Almost everyone on our team raced collegiately, and while none of us are in top form like our college years, we still went into the race ready to compete.

Like I said, there were five different relay legs and we decided to have the guys run the longest legs and the women run the shorter legs. Most of us not knowing exactly where we were pace-wise, we just went with the practical decision to have the men race the long legs. Our order was as follows: 

1. Veronique 

2. Suzy 

3. Trent 

4. Leah
5. Bobby

Veronique started us off strong coming in as the first female in the exchange zone and Suzy kept that lead going -- both ladies had great performances and somewhere at or under 7-minute pace! Trent took the third hand-off and race a lightning fast 5:45 paced seven-mile leg. I took off in fourth place and as the first female in the marathon (even though I was just in a relay). The race is a very long out and back and my leg included running about a mile down the road passing the competitors still coming out. Let me tell you, I got so many cheers and words of encouragement from people thinking I was the first female I almost felt bad! At one point I actually told some women who were hooting and hollering about me being first that I was only in a relay. Still, I didn't mind the encouragement. :) During my leg I only actually "raced" against two men -- one passing me and eventually winning the marathon and the other who was unfortunately fading fast when I passed him  -- and otherwise ran alone the entire 4.7 miles.

I was pretty pleased with my leg. I'm not 100% certain of all of my splits, but I know I was out way too fast, slowed down a bit for the second mile, realized I was going to slow, dropped the hammer during mile three (6:30, woohoo!), and then mostly maintained until the last 1/4 mile. I had a pretty big downhill and straightaway at the end of my leg, so I kicked it into high gear. Turns out that wasn't such a great idea, leaving me dry heaving at the end of the race (seriously embarrassing). Ha! As Trent said, the dry heaving was worth it because I ran faster than I thought I could! Two weeks ago I raced at 7-minute pace for five miles, this weekend I raced at 6:45 pace for 4.7 miles. I maintained our fourth place and handed off to Bobby to anchor us home at 8-minute pace. 

Overall, our team did better than we originally thought! We ended up fifth overall and first for the co-ed division. You can see pictures of Suzy, Bobby and me here courtesy of the race photographers.

And, the best part of the day, We Got the Runs enjoying a drink together post-race!

Fruita: Sharing our Campsite

After the 18 Hours race, Ben and I stuck around Fruita so we could take our time getting back to the hustle and bustle we know to be our day-to-day life. We stayed at the Highline Lake State Park campground again--the lake is where the race was held--but moved campsites to be a little closer to the water. After we set up we were sitting around contemplating our day and I heard what I thought to be an owl's hoot. (Have I ever mentioned my knack for seeing animals in the wild? I have this ridiculously primal gift of spotting wildlife: on the side of the road while driving, in the woods while running, on the hills while backpacking and yes, Ben, even soaring through the air--for instance, bald eagles. I guess should give partial credit to my sportsman father who would rather be in the woods or on a lake than inside... seriously, I've yet to meet another who competes with my dad's hunting obsession.  And to add some ironic cruelty to this almost impractical gift in this day and age, I don't even like the taste of fish or wild game.)  I pointed out the hoots to Ben who told me that yes, infact, there were some owls hanging around the campground. Well, lucky us, they were nesting in our campsite!

After a minute or two of owl-hunting, I spotted these two Great Horned Owl fledglings nesting right in our campsite! They were amazing! Although I've heard plenty, I can't remember ever having seen owls in the wild before this. We even saw them leave their nest around dusk, beginning the evening's hunt for food.

Our last day at camp, a couple drove up while B. and I were enjoying the morning sunlight and some camp coffee and asked about the owls. I pointed out the tree where they nested, and the bird watchers lugged their camera and a ridiculously long telescopic lens over to the tree, but the owls had not yet returned from their hunt. A couple of hours passed and as B. and I were finishing our run around Highline Lake, we spotted the couple still searching for those evasive fledglings. I smiled to myself, knowing although they are nesting right in a campground filled with people, you can still count yourself lucky to see them and even more fortunate to capture the images we did.