Sun and daffodils

It's really starting to look and feel like spring here. The recent rains and warmer weather have turned the hills green. Well, they were green a couple of months ago but the cold and the lack of rain browned them out again. There's a stretch along the side of the freeway that was planted, several years ago, with daffodils. Since they naturalize quickly, the hillside is now covered. Even on my most crappy morning in traffic, when I get to that spot and see the large tract of bright yellow flowers I have to smile. The daffodil that was in my back yard when I moved in has also become daffodils. There are about a half dozen in bloom right now. Very pretty. Very springy.

Saturday was a TnT mentor run at Independence Park in Livermore. I had thought that this was the same park that I had run through with Maria several years ago and I was right. It was warm at the start and sunny, and got warmer as we ran. I did 4 quick miles. My legs felt pretty heavy, I'm not sure why. Afterward I went to breakfast with a few other mentors, at the Rising Loafer in Livermore. I had my usual Loafer Scramble with egg whites; it wasn't quite as good as at the Danville Loafer, but still yummy.

Sunday I ran 14 miles on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail with the gang. When a few of them stopped at the bathroom at the 3 mile mark I continued on with Bree. We slowed down a bit and added another walk break, and it felt much better. I had studied the map to see where the heck the trail continued after Moraga Commons. I hadn't been past the 6 mile mark (counting from Olympic/Pleasant Hill) since the days long long ago when I cycled with Shithead. We found where it continued, but man, I had forgotten the really steep hills! We walked the worst of them, so it wasn't too bad. Sandy caught up with us in and finished the run with us. It was cooler than Saturday, about 50-ish, partly overcast, with a light breeze. As we got back to within a couple miles of the finish the breeze turned to a head wind. I don't do well with head winds! But our last mile was our fastest of the day.

I crowned both runs with lovely naps. I had big plans for cleaning, gardening, etc. but that never got done. Saturday, the nicest day all year (it went up to upper 70's!), I spent taking a 3-1/2 hour nap. Damn, I was tired! Sunday I limited the nap to 1 hour and actually managed to do lots of laundry and straightening. Cleaning? Nope. Didn't happen. I need a maid. And a gardener who knows that weeds and grass don't belong in flower beds.

I did manage to get some knitting done. I finished weaving in ends on a couple of scarfs and started a pair of fingerless gloves for my sis. One scarf, pictured here, was Patons SWS; 70% wool, 30% soy. It's very soft and fluffy and self-stripes nicely. I bought this the day after Thanksgiving at Michael's with my 50% off/$10 off coupon. Very cheap indeed! I'm hoping that the soy will de-itch it enough for me to wear. If not, it's pretty enough to hang up and look at. I made up the pattern for this (not that it's too advanced, or anything). It has a garter stitch border, seed stitch, then a simple cable. Very easy to do, especially with a couple of stitch markers for the cable. I'll probably do this pattern, or one like it, again and again. Very zen knitting, which is my favorite.