Back to Running, Stuart's Legs and SKYDIVING!

Running
Running is back in full swing after a short summer hiatus.  

Theresa and I got back in to race mode after the heat of July at the Burlington Feeling Groovy 5K at Spencer Smith Park.   Lovely waterfront trail run.  We both took it easy running a good break in pace with both of us over coming some recent injuries and stiffnesses.   With an easy first 4K and a stronger finish I was still 57/227 overall and 18/147 for females. 

Here we are at the finish. 

Last weekend, I ran the Run Against Crime from Simcoe to Port Dover along the Lynn Valley Trail.   This 10K trail run is the first year for this race and it was a fantastic run on one of the most beautiful trails in our area.  I placed 7th overall from ~80 runners…in a great time of 48:46.

Theresa and I at the finish with our ice-cream and then we enjoyed breakfast at one of my favourite places in Dover...The Crepe House.

In a previous post I mentioned that the gym was being moved from the 3 seasons room to the 4th bedroom upstairs.   Since the 3 season room is too cold to use in the dead of winter; the exact time I want to use the treadmill, it made sense to move the equipment to a room that will be suitable when the weather turns cold again. 

Here's the layout of the new gym.   The footprint is smaller so I had to edit out some equipment and just keep my favourite pieces.

I also added a place to hang my medals and bibs from races.   They make for great motivation and also provide good memories of races gone by.  :-)

Stuart's legs...

Stewy is coming along wonderfully now after a small regression from his original treatment.

He had to be splinted for several days; since he had started to grow again.   It looks like the splints at this point have significantly improved the straightness of his front legs.  This translates into a VERY happy mama!

Here is by baby boy with his legs splinted and a couple with his new straighter legs and mom.

Izzy Update

Izzy has been schooling like a seasoned veteran.   She is gaining confidence and strength and her ability to keep her shoulders up and hind quarters under and engaged is getting better and better.   The other day I was feeling grateful for the progress she's made and I remembered the time many years ago when she couldn't do a walk to canter transition.   Now those seem easy and all the finesse work is slowly starting to get confirmed and feel more natural and effortless.   I tend to be a sissy in the heat and don't really ride too much when the heat and humidity exceed my human capacity for insanity.   Izzy has had more time off than I'd care to give but I also know my tolerance level to heat and she seems to share that threshold as she stands in the shelter sweating when the heat waves were in their peak.

She did enjoy a check up from the equine Chiro since last post.  No significant issues that need further follow up, so I feel very good about her training and the fact that she is feeling even and pain free. 

Here she is getting treated.

Harvest

The oats in the back 40 have been harvested and we now get to enjoy hacking through the new up and coming hay field for 2016.

The straw has since been baled and the field provides fantastic hill training for Izzy!

The old apple tree along the north fence line is loaded full!    Since Fletcher's apple farm is not yet open for the season...DH and I made our own harvest!   Happy horses with fresh fruit in their bowls every night!

The first batch of spaghetti sauce is now in jars cooling from the first tomato harvest in the garden.   It simmered all afternoon on the BBQ and made one heck of a mess!    Glad it was outside!   

The gourds that have grown up the garden fence are also reaching a considerable size!

Skydiving

My niece Bella graduated from High School this year and she will be heading off to college this fall.   As part of the transition to this new phase in her life, I like to celebrate these occasions with an adventure.   And an adventure it was!!   We went skydiving at the Niagara Skydiving School.   We both made tandem jumps with a tandem master and got the experience of a minute of free fall and the powerful jerk and pull of a shoot deployment.   We jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft at 13,000 feet, free fell to 4,500 feet and then the shoot was pulled and we glided to the ground for a rough and fast landing on the very calm, clear day we had.   It was quite a rush and one that certainly has your inner ear a tad out of balance when the tandem master swings you and spins you at 4,000 feet!   Thanks Bella for being part of one of my bucket list check marks...a day I will never forget!  xo

Here we are pre jump!

Our plane

Flying

The landings

We lived to tell the tale!   Yes, Papa Bear we lived!

Papa Bear

Dad made a visit to the farm this weekend to help with the regular work around the yard for the first time since his accident.  He's doing fantastic and the scars are starting to thicken slightly so that he has less chance of injury from just a small rub from anything on the sores.  It is amazing how tender the thin layers of new skin are.   It was great to see him at his regular pace and of course he didn't stop the entire day cutting grass!   We even had a good laugh that it was the hardest days work he's put in for over a month and he wasn't used to no relaxing time in his chair watching TV in the heat of the afternoon!  LOL...

Front Patio

DH and I got the first layer of armour stones placed for the front patio and tiered garden that is going to be at the front of the house.   

Now that Papa Bear is feeling better I will put him back to work on the backhoe digging the second layer so the next group of stones can be placed.

Finding Beauty

…in the small things.  The spider webs along the fence and gates on a dew filled sunrise.

Family Reunions, Stewy's Tendons, As the Garden Grows, Finding Myself...

Lots of news from the farm.  

Family has been the dominating life force these last several weeks.   All kinds of family.

Starting with 2 family reunions.

First the Dunbar Reunion...

Then the Burwell Reunion...As you can see it was a chilly Aug day.   Summer in Ontario...You just never know the weather.

                                      

Me with my 2 beautiful nieces!

The Grill Masters

The kiddies

Auntie and Dad

Laura (+1) and Mom

Uncles

Dad has been released from the hospital and is recovering really well at home on outpatient care.   Good to see him up and mobile again and socializing with all the relatives at the family reunion.  :-)

The garden has been growing like mad.   The heat turned up in the last 2 weeks and the plants took off!   The gourds and squash are somewhat out of control.  Tomatoes are a slight jungle.   The rogue sunflowers are blooming and beautiful...much to DH's dismay!

 

The first harvest of tomatoes.

Bottle gourds are hanging on the garden fence.

My Baby Stewy was able to avoid surgery so far!  Hurray!   He did require drug therapy and splinting to help stretch and support his tendons.  Fingers crossed that this procedure corrects his legs.   I am feeling hopeful. He's been such a little clown with is big clumsy wrapped legs, cavorting and cajoling on his play time from stall rest!

Had a chance over the last few weeks to recover from a bruised arch which put a significant damper on my running.   I am back running regular again now that the heat wave has also passed.   I planned no running races in July, thinking it could be hot and life would possibly be busy with Baby Stewy arriving.   I'll be back racing this coming weekend with a 5K.  During that heat wave and down time I spent a nice evening out on the Grand for a paddle.

I had a couple of days off work in the last few weeks so I enjoyed a couple longer runs.  One was to Dover for breakfast at the Crepe House.   Just love that place for both savory and sweet crepes.   The other was River Rd to Cayuga.   Not as hilly as Jerseyville Rd in Ancaster but some long slow hills and a good steep one as you make your way into Cayuga.   Kicked my butt good on that hill!

The route to Dover on the left and hill therapy on the right.

 

Molly also had the displeasure of wearing the cone of shame for a week as she got a hot spot on her tail that she just found irresistible.  I received more than a few scratches from that cone ramming into the backs of my legs as she tried to pass without giving her head a wide enough berth. 

 

A new horse has arrived on the farm and she has settled in and is a lovely fit.   Lilli is a pleasant and well-mannered mare that both DH and I have found wonderful to handle and care for.  

DH and I spent some time revamping the outdoor riding ring.  To make the ring more secure for riders, we have now placed 2 board fencing around the perimeter.   This will also make it less inviting for any little monster to escape when in pasture #6!

 

I also wanted to give mention to this beautiful orchid that still blooms in my bathroom.   I think I first reported it was starting to bloom in my post back in April.   It’s still in full glory and still beautiful.

 

I found beauty in some unexpected places lately too.   Like this standalone sunflower that is growing beside the dirt piles for the pasture shelter at the back fence line. 

 

And this heart that Izzy left me after she scratched herself with her nose.

 

Now…a bit from the insides…

We humans have an interesting way of remembering our wholeness, our gifts, our power.   We remember by experiencing who we are not.   By stumbling, by falling, by making mistakes that we are meant to learn from.   Ironically, the universe also keeps presenting these same opportunities in greater magnitude to us, if we didn’t get the lesson on the first, or 5^th or 50^th go around!

Sometimes the universe sends us people and events to test us.    Not to show us our weaknesses but to show us our strengths.

I am finding my strength…and no…it’s not my first go around!   The universe knows me well, as a stubborn and strong willed learner!   I think all of us go through times that test us.  Times that teach us the stuff we are made of and the stuff that we know we need to let go of to let us grow and evolve into our better selves.   These times generally fill us with self-doubt, heartache and sorrow.   We realize that grief never ends; but it changes.   We begin to understand this is a passage in time and not a place to stay.   Sometimes we get lost.   Lost from the things that grounded us or the people that fed us the positive energy that helped nourish us.    There can be beauty in getting lost.   Sometimes we have to get lost to find ourselves.   Sometimes we have to get lost to find each other.   We can’t always control what the universe sends to us.   We don’t always know what will set us adrift.   We just have to trust that the universe has a plan for us.   

Then one day, slowly we wake up to the vibrations of the universe that will help us navigate through the changes that these people and events bring to us.   We have to be still; breathe in the moment and try and be open to whatever the wind is sending our way.    We acknowledge that trauma always leaves a scar.   We reconcile the pain and the fear.  We emerge more powerful, more enlightened and enriched with inner courage.  We find peace in the anger and forgiveness in the bitterness.   We eventually emerge into gratitude with the knowledge that we have to sometimes get a little messed up to step up.   

I am...finding my strength….