Resistance Training

 

I've just found a great resistance exercise that one can do whilst preparing baked goodies for your family - working with refrigerated dough! No kidding. I can feel an ache in my arms and shoulders (and maybe even my neck) from having 'worked' cold dough a few times yesterday. There was a lot of resistance, and I had to press hard to roll out the dough each time I got it out of the fridge!

I didn't do a very good job, presentation-wise with my pie, in my opinion (I only photographed the acceptable part!), but my taste buds approved, so I was rewarded for my efforts 😃

Anyway, my advice to you is, do your next workout in the kitchen, and get going on your resistance training. You don't even have to go to a gym and get exposed to COVID! Who needs fancy belts and stretch bands? A good old rolling pin in the comfort of your own home does the trick. And, you don't have to resist having a slice!

Basket Labyrinths

 

The animal baskets I crocheted with all my odd leftovers are nesting together in these photos. They're for a local Wildlife Refuge, which is licensed to rehabilitate injured, sick and orphaned animals. They are a colorful sight.

It's so satisfying to have found something useful to make with scraps and leftover yarn. Plus, I learned new skills and techniques and had a lot of fun doing it. Oh, and it's probably also good for my arthritis! Win, win, win!

Snow Ghosts

The season's first snow

Swirls about like wisps of smoke 

On road surfaces.

 

*   *   *   *

Phantom breaths of air 

Shift and dissipate like ghosts

Under passing cars.

 

Abstraction Distraction

Abstract depiction of the lake. I was sitting on my lakeside bench in the sun, watching 5 mallards paddling about, when I noticed these beautiful patterns on the surface, from their activity. It distracted me from watching them. 

 

There were reports of juvenile tundra swans passing through our area just before Thanksgiving, and some were spotted on Lake Arrowhead, so we visited different beaches and lakefront access points, as well as our own cove, to see if we could hit the jackpot (it would be a 'lifer' for us to 'grip' this species - from Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, which covers 'The misery, the scandal, the heartbreak of bird-watching' - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1118244.Bill_Oddie_s_Little_Black_Bird_Book).

No luck so far.