Hex Floor Tile Redo

I need advice. I've read somewhere about how to make grout black, other than mildew, between tiny hexagonal tiles. When we put this floor in with white grout, I didn't think about how it would look twenty-two years later. It's a dingy shade of tan. I've bleached it and tried all kinds of cleaners. It just won't come white again. So I want to make the grout black. Would a Sharpie permanent marker do the trick? Any ideas or suggestions?

Eagle on a cliff

Acouple ofweeks ago we were driving along Highway 61 on our way to do the hike to Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota. As I was driving, Jessica was gazing out at Lake Superior when all of a sudden she exclaimed "There's an eagle sitting on that cliff!". Of course I had to turn the car around to check it out, since I didn't see it when we first drove by. As we slowly approached the view where she had spotted the bird, sure enough, there he was sitting on the edge of a small (approx. 20 foot tall) cliff overlooking the lake. It was such a strange sight. I've seen eagles on the beach before, mostly going after fish that have been recently cleaned by commercial fishermen. But, I've never seen one perched on a cliff like this. He sat there for a few more minutes before taking off and landing in the top of a nearby tree. The sighting of this bird was a great start to our day, and I took it as a good sign, since we were going to be hiking Eagle Mountain that day :-)

St Andrews Castle

To continue with the mini-series of 'the ski trip that wasn't', here's St Andrews castle. A bleak but easily defensible location, looking out across the cold North Sea. The first castle on the site dates from around 1200. It was originally the Bishops' Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of St Andrews. After much siege and battery over the years, it was eventually destroyed during the Reformation, around 1560, when Scotland broke from the Roman Catholic Church.
I'm very honoured to have been given the 'Kreativ Blogger' award by Guy at Liege City Daily Photo. Thank you! I will pass it on, but with life as it is at the moment I'll inevitably take some time about it.

Indian Valley Open Space

I think Mom shoulda made a photoshow outta this adventure, because there are so many pictures of another one of my favorite places. Our county has an amazing string of lands set aside for doggies like me, Sammie, (and people too, cyclists, and, other furry creatures - some wild - and some not. I personally like the horses because of the delicious apples they leave behind. It was still a dark and stormy day, but the riverbed now has rushing water in it which makes me extremely happy. I got a lot done here yesterday - met some old friends, investigated the gopher holes, checked out the bridges to see if they were still safe for my peeps, and finally - FINALLY ran into my old golden buddies from last fall! Just seeing them made me kick up my heels in a frenzy. I get a total case of the woopies! This is when I run about 90 miles an hour around and around, making me, as well as anyone watching go totally dizzy with vertigo. In the last picture you can see Roddy's tongue in the corner trying just to stand as I race around him. That sure was fun. I was old mud-puppy again. When I got there, I was so clean (see below). When we got back to the car, I felt exhilarated and satiated. Mom and Dad massaged the mud off me with towels and I slept until dinner time. What a day! And super good cause Dad came home early from work! I hope I get to go back soon!
Love and Licks,
xo Sammie

Foothill Gold

Foothill Gold, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Poppies on the Hite Cove Trail near Briceburg, California.
For some reason, the poppies in the Yosemite foothills seemed to have smaller flowers than those in the Bay Area. Perhaps it's the soil or the colder winters, but these poppies are definitely distinct from their Bay Area counterparts.

Serene

A look back on a summer reveals the scenic beauty that can be found just outside San Francisco.

Vivaldi in the National Museum

In my Scotland Street post I mentioned my long-suffering teenagers, waiting after a morning of playing in a concert at the National Museum of Scotland while I took photos. Here's what they were working hard at - a concert featuring the music of Vivaldi. Their school has a community baroque orchestra, and two groups from it played recently for Sunday visitors to the National Museum. Here they're playing Vivaldi's concerto No. 11 in D minor for 2 violins, cello and strings. My daughter has longed to play this with an orchestra ever since we attended the Suzuki World Convention in Turin, when it was played (from memory) by hundreds of young violinists, violists and cellists from 28 countries - the common language of music. My daughter is at the extreme left in the front row of standing violinist, and my son is second from right in the two standing violists. The acoustic in the museum is glorious, and the orchestra really enjoyed playing there.
In taking these shots I realised even more my photographic limitations. The museum has beautiful stonework, but I need to find out about exposures and all that stuff. This is hard for me - it involves numbers.

A New Star in the Skies...

We were so sad to hear that Sierra-Dog crossed the Rainbow Bridge today. We ache for her family and send them huge hugs and kisses. Rest in Peace, dear Sierra-dog.

Race Season is Off and Running

The Psycowpath mountain bike racing season kicked off this morning with the Maskenthine XC Classic. Tired of winter, shaking off cabin fever, over 100 riders took to the trails.
The weather was windy, cool in the morning, and with hazy sunshine (but compared to last year season opener - who could complain). The trail was in good Spring riding condition. There were a couple of soft, damp spots.
The race was hosted by the Elkhorn Valley Cycling Club. One racers won a KHS singlespeed bike (compliments of Cleveland Bike & Sports of Norfolk).
As usual, yours truly was busy photographing the races. Once the nearly 400 shots are processed, they will be on my web site (or a link will be on my web site).
On the way home, I was able to do some PR work. At the West Point McD, a guy stopped to chat. He is a mountain biker but had not raced in some years. He directed me to Wilderness Park in West Point - it now has hiking trails. They could be upgraded to mountain bike trails.
In Bennington, at a convenience store, the Manager talked with me. A friend had showed him Tranquility Park - he had had no idea idea we had such trails. Gave him my card, suggesting that he check out the T.H.O.R. web site. Guess it was the Bike Masters jersey and Iowa ball cap!
A busy, enjoyable, productive day.

Strike a Light!

We got caught up in delays caused by roadworks - usual thing,queues of traffic, lots of maintenance vehicles,no men working.


We waited...and waited.

My gaze fell upon some trees - several wonderful, long, rows of poplars,

which look a little out of place in this rural landscape.I remember reading that these trees were planted with the intention

to sell them to Bryant and May,

the match company.


The company closed in the late 1980's.

Perhaps this is why these trees escaped the axe.So, they tower very elegantly over undulating farmland,looking as though they lead to

somewhere quite grand.

© IWM (EPH 4207)

I wonder how many match sticks were made from a single tree.

and just how many of these rows of trees

remain dotted around the countryside.

A crop which wasn't harvested.

Eventually, the lights changed and we moved on

to visit dear old Aunt Lillian.

The homeward journey is always sweeter.Country roads, as much as possible.Quiet, single track ones,preferably.

We met no other trafficand had time to enjoy views like this.

After a hasty sandwich I harnessed Toby Too

and we set off for a 'training' walk,

along this track...

we both enjoy it,for different reasons.I like the peacehe loves the smells,the possibility ofencountering a pheasantor a rabbit.

At the end of the track is a paddock with a wonderful assortment of animals...are these sheep or goats?I am never quite sure.They miss nothing.

They share the paddock with this fat little pony,who is companionto

this beautiful, milk-white steedand a couple of little goats.
On misty evenings, as I look out across the barley field,this lovely horse almost looks likea unicorn.

borrowed from sodahead.com

Notoriety

Recognition is a strange thing that can come at anytime. Yesterday I paused to snap the above picture at Urliup, when someone who was out jogging on the dirt road that I hadn't met before recognised me from this blog. It's not entirely incomprehensible, given that this page would probably appear in the top 10 results if one typed "Urliup" into any search engine, but it was still quite a surprise. They also invited me to drop in for a chat anytime I feel like it, and I may take up that offer one day. I should just be glad it happened at Urliup rather than a place like Ipswich or Caboolture that's received less flattering treatment from these pages.

As to the ride itself, I continued through moist air, climbing Tomewin to head for the Garden of Eden. Inspired by last week's effort, I rode The Black Magic again. It's interesting to note some aspects about riding long distances on an MTB. While the acceleration isn't the same as other bikes, they are remarkably smooth when you're just holding a consistent rhythm. That would be telling later on.

I crossed the old Glengarrie Road across the top of the range, taking in the spectacular views, negotiating mud patches and climbing on the rocks. Here The Black Magic was in it's element, but the bursts of acceleration that I normally associate with this stretch just didn't seem necessary, and it was negotiated with ease. At the summit I opted to descend on the Zig-Zag road - a shorter option, but with more dirt these days as the rich boys are moving in below. It also has more interesting views, and I'd made up the distance I needed on the Garden of Eden road at the other side. The consistent descent and the roaring tailwind that pushed me home made for an embarrassingly easy finish to the adventure.

Somewhat less clear-cut has been the pursuit of accommodation for my Alpine Classic adventure next month. After thinking I had it all taken care off on Friday, I received an e-mail from the place I was staying in Bright advising me that the room I'd booked wasn't available after all, but someone had forgotten to update their page on roamfree.com. That's poor, but fortunately I've been able to make other arrangements.
Meanwhile, my two nights in Melbourne on either side will be spent at the same backpacker hostel that I stayed at in 2002 on my first visit, just before my tour in Western Victoria. I've actually thought quite a bit about riding the Great Ocean Road a second time, and there's a small feeling of nostalgia about this coincidence. The Great Southern Randonee is on this year, covering that particular piece of territory. I probably won't be ready for the 1200, but the 600 is a distinct possibility.

The Gulf Coast

My turn to drive, so at 7:00 a.m. I was at the meet-up area for a San Antonio Hill Country Hikers day trip to Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Two people rode with me: Mara and Glenn. Both were gracious and contributed to the gas fund.

We had lively conversation in the car for our 2-1/2 hour drive. Topics ranged from Comic-Con to Peace Corps to full time RVing to where everyone grew up to movies and much more. Bob did not attend today as his plantar fasciitis is still bothering him (it hurt to walk), and he had work to do.

Once we got to the beach different parts of our group set up at shaded picnic tables far from each other. Then Gary arrived with his ocean kayaks and drove waaaay down the beach near the jetty.

Mara

A visitor in Mexican ground squirrel clothing.

Mexican ground squirrel.

Laughing gulls.

Dave and Jessie pointing to where Gary put his truck.

Our table with a view.

Lilibeth

In an effort to get the group together, Theresa (our leader) came to let us know where Gary was and we were invited to join everyone down there. "Down there" (by the jetty) was approximately 1/2 mile away. We had two coolers, chairs, an umbrella tent and bags of towels, food, and clothes to transport. None of the six of us wanted to haul our stuff 1/2 mile, slogging through sand in the midday heat. We stayed where we were.

Mara and I walked to the water and waded out to our knees. It's the first time I've put my feet in the Gulf in Texas. The water was nice and warm, so different from the frigid Oregon coastal waters. Maybe next time I'll go swimming.

Our group certainly brought enough food! Mara packed chicken salad sandwiches, home-made chocolate chip cookies, jalapeno chips, Baby Bel cheese, apple slices and crackers. I brought mustard potato salad, Sun Chips, Chex Mix, fresh strawberries, paper plates and plastic forks, Jacob brought Bud Light, and Lilibeth brought onion-chive potato chips to share. We would not starve.

Later on some of us walked down to visit the rest of the group while Glenn guarded our stuff.

Amanda and Jake hauling out kayaks.

Theresa and Amanda.

Gary emptying water out of kayak.

Hilary.

Theresa and Gary heading out into the surf.

Looking toward our spot from where the rest of the group landed.

Now you can see why we didn't want to haul all our stuff. It was a long way!

Gary's kayaks were a hit. Jessie, Amanda, Jacob, Jake, Theresa and Gary took turns kayaking beyond the surf and coming back in on the waves. More people may have kayaked as well; I only knew about those mentioned. The kayakers said ocean kayaking really kicked their butts, plum wore 'em out.

While we were visiting Gary, Theresa, Amanda, Hilary, Jacob, Jessie and Gary, we saw a small import car stuck in the sand up to its frame. A park ranger hooked up tow straps and pulled it free. Two minutes later, after the ranger left, they were stuck again. The ranger saw them and towed them out again. According to Gary, even he got stuck in the sand in his truck on the way out. I'm glad we didn't try to drive across the sand!

Susan, Mara, Glenn

At 3 p.m., we decided it was time to leave. The six of us at our picnic table decided to eat supper at Snoopy's Pier just before crossing the bridge off Padre Island. Snoopy's Pier has an interesting history. You can read about Snoopy's Pier and the Redfish Wars here.

Mara and Glenn at the entrance to Snoopy's.

They insisted on taking my photo too, hat hair and all. I look like I'm doing a scout pledge.

Yours truly.

For dinner, I opted for the shrimp plate with six deep-fried shrimp, fries, hush puppies (they call 'em "pups"), coleslaw and a drink. Jacob ate my hush puppies because I'm not a big fan of them. The shrimp were so yummy!

In addition to Snoopy's Pier, the same owners run Scoopy's Veranda next door for ice cream desserts. We were too full to partake of ice cream.

We headed back to San Antonio; a very relaxing day at the beach accomplished. Thank you to Theresa for organizing the event and keeping track of us, and to Gary for bringing sea kayaks, folding chairs and a tent or two for us to use. What a fun, thoughtful group to belong to.

Have a good week.

Travel Bug out.