My First Bike Ride of 2011 & beading

I found this picture/animation on the net and I think this grandma is doing lots better than I did today! Whew! I took off on my new bike (actually new to me, it's a used bike but in great shape!) this a.m. and headed to our friends, Peggy and Sammy's house..just down the street. The key word here is 'down'! Peggy decided to ride with me so off we went. I should say off Peggy went! In our community there are 'rolling hills' and lots of them! I guess when I would walk in the community I didn't notice the 'hills'! Peggy was just clipping along like nothing and she doesn't have a 10 speed like I do. Well, I thought at one point I was either 1) going to black out 2) have a heart attack 3) have a blood clot explode in my head or just fall off the bike from sheer exhaustion! And I thought I was in good shape! NOT!! At least my cardio isn't in good shape (this is from my son the triathlon rider!). Peggy took pity on me so back to her house we headed and then I started to walk (my bike & me!) up the hill to head home (remember I took the easy way 'down' to Peggy's house - so I had to go back UP!). After walking past about 8 or so houses I felt much better so back on the bike I went! And I rode all the way to our house! After I kissed the ground and got my heart rate back to normal, Mandy and I sat on the front porch for a few minutes. And I thought Mandy panted hard! Geezzz I really did enjoy the ride I'm just not in good cardio shape...I'm pretty flexible even with my RA but the old lung capacity and heart rate need some work! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow to ride again. I have to catch up to Peggy's stamina!


So after feeling back to normal I had a nice soak in the tub, then I started beading my December BJP for 2010! Finally! This is my tree that I printed on some Friendly Felt. My thought process is to bead the tree with some bugles and seed beads to fill in for the branches. I'll just fill in with enough beads until I attach to my quilted background.
I'm going to mimic tinsel by stitching some type of fringe on the tree, this will also help attach the tree to the background. I'm also thinking of making one or two presents out of material to place under the tree but we'll see as I change my mind almost as much as the Michigan weather! Speaking of weather, it was 75 at one point today and is 64 at 6:30 p.m. as I type this blog. Just another beautiful day today.


I'm digressing again aren't I!



While I listened to 'Reliquary' by Douglas Preston on my Ipod I did some beading (below) on my tree! I finished 'Fear the Worst' by Linwood Barclay, who is a good mystery/thriller writer. I still have to look up the difference between mystery and thriller..they both seem the same to me!

And I wanted to show my 'bead box'. This jewelery display case was given to me last winter by Betty in our Weaver's group here in Ocala. I just love it!! I can close the case up and carry from room to room and not spill my beads. The case fits on my lap perfectly as well. If you ever come across one of these for sale at a jewelery shop (perhaps going out of business or on the net) pick one up! They are great! I really appreciate Betty giving me this and I think of her each time I use it!


















And to close is a picture of our Sybil! He's doing just great and lovin' the warm weather as much as we are.