Low-key weekend
I didn't engage in many productive tasks this weekend -- actually, I lost ground when I lost a nearly-done NPC writeup to an inconvenient computer shutdown, only partially offset by ordering some props I'd been flailing about -- but I got some useful practice time in, and caught up on sleep.
The bike's name isn't Parsnip -- it's Vicky.
We and Alymar went to a stretch of the Minuteman bike trail extension in Bedford, near Fawn Lake, to practice. (The sign for Fawn Lake is corrected in chalk to Beaver Swamp; we saw neither fawn nor beaver.) That stretch isn't paved. Most of it is packed stone dust, but some sections have a fair bit of sand on the surface of the trail, which is much more difficult to ride on. On the up side, I was managing to stay upright for long enough sections of it to notice the difference. On the downside, when I wiped out (a few times), in addition to putting a few sets of claw-mark scratches in my right calf and ripping a chunk out of the left handlebar wrappings, I got sand in the chain. It sounded awful. I cleaned and re-lubricated the chain as best I could when we got back, but it still sounds gritty, and short of pulling it off entirely and scrubbing it, which I'm not sure I'm up to yet, I'm not sure I can make it much better. Possibly the sand will be knocked out with further use, but I'm afraid it's going to chew on the chain and/or gears in the meanwhile. (I also dumped evil device junior in the sand, but it seems to be none the worse for wear after being dusted off.)
On Friday I dropped by EMS and picked up three wicking sports bras, a wicking racerback tank bra-top, and a wicking tshirt, all of them techwick, which might be an EMS house brand. (The other options they had were from Moving Comfort, the maker of my previous wicking sports bra, which I'm not so fond of.) The only one that's been sweat tested so far is the tank top, which isn't magic, but is a whole lot better than a cotton t-shirt over a cotton sports bra. The sports bras are comfy, and interesting. (I'd want something with more support for anything higher impact than biking, and if EMS's selection is typical that means hitting title nine.) These are fascinating in that they appear to be knit as a single piece, with all the structure built into the pattern of the knit, with the only seams at the tops of the shoulder straps, plus the binding around the armholes and neckline. I'm terribly curious to see how they they wear out, as most of my bras eventually lose to either hooks bending in the wash, or the surface fabric fraying over the elastic. I've had other part-lycra fabrics fail as the lycra fibers slowly broke and pulled out of the body of the fabric, but the lycra in this fabric isn't visible, which I'm guessing means it's in thinner fibers.
I made banana muffins, brownies, lasagna, and a spinach-and-chicken dish which involves cheating horribly but is tasty anyway, which adds up to more cooking than I've done in a while. (Very sad, that, but the timing never seems to work out.) The brownies were in a 8" round pan instead of the 9" round I usually use, and took a lot longer to bake -- they probably could've used a minute or three more, even -- but they were good, gooey in the middle (to the point of trying to escape through the cooling rack -- I should have cut them in the pan) and not overdone at the edges. The almost-two-year-old present approved -- "chocolate" is on her short list of useful words. (Taking after mom, she is.) The lasagna would probably have benefited from being covered for the first 3/4ths of the baking time, and my sauce/cheese proportions are still iffy. (Usually they involve making far too much sauce on purpose and saving some for later, but that wasn't an option this time.) I think, though, that a little more of the drier sauce plus covering the lasagna would end up about right. The spinach-and-chicken came out better than it had in a while. Lots of nutmeg seems to do it good, and the high proportion of spinach was what I wanted. (The terrible cheat is lipton onion soup mix with sour cream. The first time I made it, I was improvising madly, and happened to have most of a carton of leftover dip. I'm sure one could make a fine dish without the soup mix, but it'd have a wildly different flavor.)
I was too running late to help chenoameg with painting, but did manage to catch jencallisto while she was in town, and met a much younger pikan in the process.
The bike's name isn't Parsnip -- it's Vicky.
We and Alymar went to a stretch of the Minuteman bike trail extension in Bedford, near Fawn Lake, to practice. (The sign for Fawn Lake is corrected in chalk to Beaver Swamp; we saw neither fawn nor beaver.) That stretch isn't paved. Most of it is packed stone dust, but some sections have a fair bit of sand on the surface of the trail, which is much more difficult to ride on. On the up side, I was managing to stay upright for long enough sections of it to notice the difference. On the downside, when I wiped out (a few times), in addition to putting a few sets of claw-mark scratches in my right calf and ripping a chunk out of the left handlebar wrappings, I got sand in the chain. It sounded awful. I cleaned and re-lubricated the chain as best I could when we got back, but it still sounds gritty, and short of pulling it off entirely and scrubbing it, which I'm not sure I'm up to yet, I'm not sure I can make it much better. Possibly the sand will be knocked out with further use, but I'm afraid it's going to chew on the chain and/or gears in the meanwhile. (I also dumped evil device junior in the sand, but it seems to be none the worse for wear after being dusted off.)
On Friday I dropped by EMS and picked up three wicking sports bras, a wicking racerback tank bra-top, and a wicking tshirt, all of them techwick, which might be an EMS house brand. (The other options they had were from Moving Comfort, the maker of my previous wicking sports bra, which I'm not so fond of.) The only one that's been sweat tested so far is the tank top, which isn't magic, but is a whole lot better than a cotton t-shirt over a cotton sports bra. The sports bras are comfy, and interesting. (I'd want something with more support for anything higher impact than biking, and if EMS's selection is typical that means hitting title nine.) These are fascinating in that they appear to be knit as a single piece, with all the structure built into the pattern of the knit, with the only seams at the tops of the shoulder straps, plus the binding around the armholes and neckline. I'm terribly curious to see how they they wear out, as most of my bras eventually lose to either hooks bending in the wash, or the surface fabric fraying over the elastic. I've had other part-lycra fabrics fail as the lycra fibers slowly broke and pulled out of the body of the fabric, but the lycra in this fabric isn't visible, which I'm guessing means it's in thinner fibers.
I made banana muffins, brownies, lasagna, and a spinach-and-chicken dish which involves cheating horribly but is tasty anyway, which adds up to more cooking than I've done in a while. (Very sad, that, but the timing never seems to work out.) The brownies were in a 8" round pan instead of the 9" round I usually use, and took a lot longer to bake -- they probably could've used a minute or three more, even -- but they were good, gooey in the middle (to the point of trying to escape through the cooling rack -- I should have cut them in the pan) and not overdone at the edges. The almost-two-year-old present approved -- "chocolate" is on her short list of useful words. (Taking after mom, she is.) The lasagna would probably have benefited from being covered for the first 3/4ths of the baking time, and my sauce/cheese proportions are still iffy. (Usually they involve making far too much sauce on purpose and saving some for later, but that wasn't an option this time.) I think, though, that a little more of the drier sauce plus covering the lasagna would end up about right. The spinach-and-chicken came out better than it had in a while. Lots of nutmeg seems to do it good, and the high proportion of spinach was what I wanted. (The terrible cheat is lipton onion soup mix with sour cream. The first time I made it, I was improvising madly, and happened to have most of a carton of leftover dip. I'm sure one could make a fine dish without the soup mix, but it'd have a wildly different flavor.)
I was too running late to help chenoameg with painting, but did manage to catch jencallisto while she was in town, and met a much younger pikan in the process.