The To Do List

The to-do list ruled my day and even for me, it was a long one!

House:

I had people coming over this afternoon so got busy this morning getting my house cleaned and tidied. I should have people over more often- it would probably stay cleaner!

Exercise:

I got out for a 3km run this morning and it felt really good. I wasn’t pushing myself or worried about pace- just plodding along, which of course, meant I did better than normal. I did a total of 124.1km this month and have caught up on my monthly goal. I’ve actually gotten an extra 6km done and am hoping to do a little extra in August too to ease my September which is usually crazy busy!

I got a walk in this evening just because it was beautiful!

Baking:

I’m out with friends tomorrow and needed to do some baking, especially for Sally’s Monthly Baking Challenge which for July was no-Bake cheesecake. I really wasn’t sure how the cheesecake was going to turn out since I had to make it vegan, so I made some mini blueberry tarts first.

The cheesecake did turn out well and was super easy. I took one block of vegan cream cheese and mixed it with a tablespoon of lemon, the zest of a lemon, a teaspoon of vanilla, two tablespoons of sour cream and mixed it until it was smooth. I then mixed in a container of coco whip and poured it over a base of one cup of gluten free graham cracker crumbs mixed with two tablespoons vegan butter spread. On top of the cheesecake layer I made a blueberry sauce and did a layer of that. Blueberry sauce is so easy to make and only takes nine minutes! Put two cups of blueberries in a saucepan along with 1/3 cup sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla. In a small dish combine one tablespoon corn starch with two teaspoons water. Heat the blueberry mix over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves- about five minutes. Then mix in the cornstarch and stir until thickened- about three minutes. I threw a piece of mint on top of the cheesecake just so I could use more herbs from my garden:). I tested their recipe out on my friends this afternoon and they both said it was super yummy!

I’ll let you know what my friends tomorrow say.

Knitting:

I had to get all my yarn off my floor and put away today. I did end up being able to separate each weight into a separate box, though the worsted is actually in a garbage bag for now.

I had offered to teach my friend’s daughter to knit. I used to have a knitting club at school and have missed this element of my life this year.

I can’t believe how quickly Tavia caught on. She already had seven rows done in less than an hour! It would seem that she is a natural.

I also got some more of my summer tee done. I’m onto the endless stockinette in the round, so am watching movies as I knit forever!

Eating:

Today was supposed to be a super careful eating day, but trying the treats threw that out:(

I had a cheese omelette for breakfast, a poke bowl for lunch and mini tarts and cheesecake for dinner. I had to make sure I wasn’t going to poison anyone!

I was so happy to see that the poke bowl I’ve been eyeing was on sale, that I bought it without checking it out. Turned out it just had two packages of tuna and two packages of poke sauce in it and the poke sauce had gluten in it. Thankfully I discovered that before I ate it! I made a poke sauce and had one of the packages of tuna along with half an avocado. Yum!

Back to knitting!

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday #16

Well my day had a few changes and was a lot cooler, but overall, quite a nice vacation day:)

Exercise:

I got out this morning for a 3km easy run. This is all bonus mileage for the month so didn’t want to go crazy, but wanted to stay in the routine. It’s a good thing I wasn’t going for time or anything as I got stopped by an old neighbor and talked with him for a while.

This evening I went out for a walk. I looked at doing a workout but didn’t want to get hot and sweaty before trivia so decided on a 6km walk instead. It was great to see one of my old students out running with her dad!

Socializing:

I met up with Corianne and Lyndsay to plan out our road trip to Seattle this weekend. I wasn’t much help until I had processed it all and responded this evening at 5pm. Boy am I a slow processor! I think we’re going to have a lot of fun!

Eating:

I had blueberries for breakfast and when I met up with Lyndsay and Corianne I gave into temptation and had the waffles at Green Mustache again. Cori and I really should have shared it as it was entirely too much food for me! I hope she’s willing to share food this weekend!

For dinner I am super proud of myself for making the decision to eat a salmon patty at home and just have a sangria at the pub.

I worked out that 20% of my meals for the week is four meals and that’s been really helping me lately to stay on track. I know my weekend will all be out so I have to keep this in mind!

Knitting:

I have spent some more time sorting my yarn by weight and it seems to be going okay. I just have to decide now if I’m going to group lace, light fingering and fingering in one box, sport and DK in another and worsted and bulky in a third or try to have each on a separate box. Thoughts and opinions are appreciated:)

I’ve also been knitting on my crewneck, raglan sweater and am quite happy with it, though as usual I am worried it’s going to be too big:(

I had to pass two tops onto Lyndsay and Cori today as they are just too big for me.

Trivia:

It was just the three of us and you could definitely tell!

What I knew:

A popular song by Chumbawumba?

Tubthumping

The next five words in the song American Pie?

How to dance real slow

How is insulation rated?

R Value

What is the number one tho g men ask their wives for permission?

Going out with the guys

Put these fractions in order smallest to greatest.

7/12, 5/8, 2/3

What is an Elvis Presley song with Blue in the title?

Blue Suede Shoes

A song by Faith Hill…

Breathe

The number one hit song from 2018? (Shown a picture of the singers)

Shallow by Lady Gaga

What was the job of the seven dwarves?

Miners

What is the most important book to Muslims?

Quran

Who was James Bond’s secretary?

Miss Moneypenny

Who produced and co-wrote Uptown Funk?

Mark Ronson

Well that’s it for me as I have a new book to read:)

Have fun!

AJ

Out, In, Out, In,…my life has a pattern lately

After being out all day yesterday, I had a much quieter day today.

Exercise:

I set the alarm so I would get up early enough to head out along a main road. It has little shade so I knew I had to get the run done early. I had forgotten how nice it can be to run the main road and get a lovely few seconds of break each block or so, as long as I have my auto pause on so it doesn’t affect my pace too much. I also discovered that it is 156 squares from the bottom of the hill to the top. For some reason counting squares really helps me get up the hill. The furthest I had to run was five blocks straight and I got 6.7km in which gets me completely caught up on my yearly mileage🎊🎉. Now I have two days to get a little ahead in mileage in case something happens in the future.

I also got a workout in this afternoon. I love my usual workouts, but have been feeling like I really need to do some concentrated weights, so today I went bottom to top, trying to hit all my muscle groups. I did 3 sets of 12 of each exercise with no rest between sets, but decreasing the weight each time. The amount of weight (in pounds) is what changed depending on the exercise. I did:

Calf raises- 10, 7, 4

Hamstring curls- 7s for all 3 rounds

Reverse lunges- 10,7,4

Squats- 10,7,4

Deadlift- 10,7,4

Bridge- 10s for all 3 rounds

Full sit up- 10s for all 3 rounds

Dead bugs- 2s for all 3 rounds

Stopped and stretched all my lower body muscles

Chest press- 10,7,4

Flies- 7,4,2

Bent over rows- 10,7,4

Bicep curls- 7,4,2

Overhead tricep extension- 10,7,4

Front raise- 7,4,2

Shoulder press- 10,7,4

Stretched all upper body muscles

I would like to find my 5lb weights and get rid of the 2s. I think I’ll try to get to this workout once a week at least as I really liked it, though I don’t like how difficult it is to get to my workout gear right now!

I finally also went for a walk this evening, just because it was so beautiful!

Knitting:

I was so happy to be able to start my sweater today. I had already decided I wanted to use the Cascade Heritage Prints yarn I had bought for the April Tank for a tee for myself. I quickly realized I didn’t want a v-neck though because the stripes didn’t line up properly. I ripped it all out and have started again with a crew neck raglan sweater, though I’m having to make up the pattern myself as there didn’t seem to be one for fingering weight yarn on Ravelry:(. Oh well, so far I’m happy with it.

I also spent some time starting to sort my yarn by weight. I thought this might be a better way now that I have multiple colours of one yarn. It would also allow me to see which yarns I could combine to make multi-colour projects. During this process, I also got some more of my yarn entered into my Ravelry stash. My goal is to have it all there so this also made me happy!

Reading:

I finally finished my latest NetGalley book, The One Who Stays by Toni Blake.

This is the story of Meg, an innkeeper on Summer Island who has a lot of soul searching to do when two men are in her life. She has had an open relationship with Zach for five years as he leaves for long periods as a commercial fisherman. However, Zach then enters the picture as a handyman around the inn.

I would definitely call this novel women’s fiction rather than a romance novel. Yes there were elements of romance, but there was a lot more introspection and angst than action. At one point I really wanted to tell Meg to shut up and have a glass of wine.

There were elements that I really enjoyed too though which saved the book. I recently heard Sarah Morgan say that a well written setting becomes another character in the book and this is definitely true in this book. Blake paints a beautiful picture of Summer Island as a peaceful, friendly, safe island where one can go to heal. I could see it in my head and wanted to go there. It also played a large part in the story.

The characters were interesting and well written. I felt like I could also picture them, however I really had a difficult time liking Meg!

Finally, the diary element of the story was very cool and the ending was super unexpected! It was sweet and surprising which made me happy I had finished the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I’m going back to my sweater!

Have fun!

AJ

Sunny Sunday

It was a lovely day, not just because the sun was out all day:)

Exercise:

My run this morning once more turned into a walk, but mainly because I wanted to hear the news from my friend with the broken foot and the two who just returned from holidays. They walk at a good pace so I didn’t mind a 5km walk over a run.

I did get another workout in this evening. It consisted of:

30 jumping jacks,20 lunges,10 plié squats

30 butt kicks, 20 crunches, 10 pushups

30 mountain climbers,20 bicycles, 10 reverse crunches

30 skaters, 20 high knees, workout supermen

30 sec front plank, 20 second right side plank, 20 second left side plank, 10 second reverse plank.

Then you repeat all of it again.

I liked this workout as I repeated each round twice before moving on so while it seemed to go fast, I also didn’t need to go back through it again:)

Eating:

After a quick change I drove downtown to meet my friend Em who just arrived back from a trip to Ireland. We were supposed to be going to Festal, but was shocked to find they were closed! They need to update their website! So today I ate:

A kind bar

A Crispy Kalamari Caesar at Meet Gastown. This is an awesome vegetarian restaurant that has lots of gluten free and dairy free options. Their calamari was made out of oyster mushrooms and their Caesar salad also had kale in it. It was super yummy!

I highly recommend Meet if you’re in Vancouver. They have about four locations and I so wish they would open another one closer to me!

A red pepper with hummus, 2 crackers and some blueberries.

Shopping:

We shopped our way back to Em’s place. We both had the most luck at the Joe Fresh stand-alone store. I was super happy to find a pair of kids aviator sunglasses as I’ve been wanting a pair of sunglasses that are a little more dressy than the ones I currently have. I also found a new running shirt and a cute dress!

Knitting:

The rest of the night has been spent finishing up the blanket. This definitely ended up being a much bigger project than I had planned on, but at least it’s done and I think it’s a good size for a lap blanket.

I had to play yarn chicken and ended up taking apart a provisional cast on I had done for another project.

This blanket has 200 stitches across on size 4 needles. Four border stitches, 48 sets of 4 pattern stitches (knit 4, purl 4), and then another four border stitches. I did four rows of k4,p4, then four rows of p4,k4. Four garter rows at the start and end. The yarn used is just Red Heart Comfort and boy am I glad to get this out of my stash!

Oh and for those of you who wanted to see my stitch markers. They really aren’t that exciting, but I like them:)

I included my silicon stitch markers too as I now have about ten different colours. I like a different colour for each place so I don’t have to try to differentiate between them.

Well I need sleep!

Have fun!

AJ

Knit Saturday

If you don’t like knitting you may want to stop reading now as that’s all I’ve done today.

Exercise:

20 minutes of yoga and some ab exercises. I slept for twelve hours straight so by the time I woke up, it was just too late to go.

Eating:

I have been very good today since I was out yesterday and will be out again tomorrow. I’m trying to think of that 80/20 ratio for the week as a whole, which means only four meals a week can be out of the ordinary.

Today I had: a sausage patty, blueberries, cucumbers with cheese.

Knitting:

I have had enough of this blanket and so just want to get it done. I have literally spent most of the day on my deck knitting away. It was too hot in the house with the blanket over me, but being in the shade with a nice breeze on my balcony made it the perfect temperature to have the blanket on me as I knit away. I have one more pattern to go and then bind off, so I should be able to show it off tomorrow.

For something interesting though, I’ll tell you about some of my favourite knitting items.

1) Addi Turbo needles.

I inherited a lot of knitting needles so really don’t need to buy any very often, however when I do, they are always Addi Turbo. I love how smooth and light they are and the ends are not so pointy that my fingers start hurting!

2) interesting stitch markers

I bought myself a set of stitch markers at the last Knit City that had a Hogwarts theme. I use the largest one as a start of round marker and it makes me smile every time. I also like the stitch markers that are made out of silicon as they are pliable and don’t hurt when I end up holding them in my hand.

3) Ravelry

I love being able to keep track of all of my projects in one place and being able to search so many patterns! I do wish you could make the projects you’ve already done exempt from the search though as I always seem drawn to the same ones. I suppose that’s why I made it in the first place.

I also keep meaning to put all my needles onto ravelry so that when I see some on sale, I can tell whether I need them, though I probably don’t.

I also like that I’ve started putting my stash on Ravelry. It makes it easy to see what I already have when I’m at the store.

4) Knitty

I love this online knitting magazine. I always seem to find at least one pattern that I want to make and as I write this, I’m thinking I should make that a goal one year- make all the Knitty patterns I like!

5) Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup (HPKCHC)

This is a group on Ravelry that I belong to. Each month there are about eight “classes” that you have homework for. I mostly do a project and then figure out which class it will work for. I love this group not so much for earning points or getting the house cup, but for the fact it gives me some ideas and guidelines for what to make each month. I just love being busy and this helps me decide what to knit next:)

6) Project/ Supply Bags

I am always on the lookout for cute bags to hold my supplies and projects. Lately I picked up a cute little bag for my needles in Alert Bay. I have a super cute bag for my stitch markers that says “I’ve got 99 Stitch Markers and I can’t Find One.” It definitely makes me smile! My favourite project bag right now says “It’s all fun and games until the yarn runs out”- so true!

I know that I could go on forever about knitting items, but I’ll stop before I bore anyone to sleep. If you have a favourite knitting item, I’d love to hear about it!

Have fun!

AJ

Friday Fun Day

It was nice to wake up with actual plans today.

Exercise:

I got out for a short run this morning-3.25km. It wasn’t a great run but I can’t put my finger on why. I think I’m going to blame it on my being tired from the trail run last night. The good news is that I only have 6.7km to go until I am completely caught up on my yearly mileage goal. I should have that done this weekend:)

I did get a workout in this afternoon. I did 45 seconds of each of the following:

right leg bench squat,

side shuffle x2,

left leg bench squat,

right wood chop,

weighted cross country skier x2,

left wood chop,

weighted jog x2,

left knee pull,

right knee pull,

squat with left shoulder press, dumbbell row to deadlift x2,

squat with right shoulder press,

frog crunches x2,

left oblique crunches,

right oblique crunches,

left lunges, right lunges, squat with alternating leg lift x2,

left fire hydrant,

right fire hydrant,

left leg lift,

right leg lift

I also got a walk in this evening because it was such a nice night:)

Socializing:

I had arranged to meet up with one of my work friends to go explore Fort Langley. It was a lovely day. We started with lunch at Wendell’s Books and Cafe. I had the roasted turkey sandwich on gluten free bread. They messed up the dressing for the salad, but quickly and efficiently fixed the problem:). The bread wasn’t great as the crusts were falling off, but the filling of turkey and cranberry was great! This would be a great stop if you’re looking for gluten free in the area.

We then proceeded to look in every single store. It was neat to just wander and take our time. There is a good mix of clothing, new home and self care stores and vintage and antique shops. It was a relaxed day in a beautiful location.

I love all the old houses in this area. The one above is called The Little White House and it serves high tea and has lots of cute clothing and jewelry. I checked and they don’t do a tea that is both gluten free and dairy free:(

Eating:

Besides the yummy turkey and cranberry sandwich and side greens I had for lunch.

I had a rice cake with peanut butter and jam for breakfast

I had a pepper with hummus, cucumber with cheese, grape tomatoes and blueberries for dinner ( I love a charcuterie meal!)

Knitting:

I have been knitting like crazy, but the blanket doesn’t seem bigger. I did count though and it is 48 squares wide by 37 squares right now. I guess I’ll concentrate just on getting to 48 by 48!

That’s it for me!

Have fun!

AJ

Trail Thursday

It was another great holiday day, though with a small worry in it:(

Shopping:

I headed out this morning and bought ten pounds of blueberries. I put them in the backseat so I wouldn’t eat them all before I got home, but I still put a sizeable hole in them. They’re just so good! I realized that I am very loyal when a place is good. I’ve been buying from Never Say Die nursery for a very long time. I’m going to have to try some of their eggs and other veggies as they looked so good!

I stopped on my way back from there at Amsterdam Nursery. I explained that my last cilantro plant must have come with a caterpillar and that he had eaten all but one leaf by the time I got home from holidays. I just wanted to know if it would regrow, but they gave me a new plant:). I also picked up a new lavender plant and got instructions on it too. I’m going to need to start putting labels on my plants as to when I’m supposed to water them! Amsterdam is definitely another place I am loyal to. There are closer nurseries but they have awesome customer service and are so helpful and knowledgeable!

Family:

I had just gotten home after dealing with construction in every direction when my nephew texted to see if we could check out another ice cream place. I had actually already taken him when he was a kid, but we went again. This is La Casa Gelato on Venables and it boasts 238 different flavors including garlic, wasabi, maple bacon, Caesar, and a whole ton more. They had a couple of freezers of sorbetto so I got to choose from them and ended up with orange crush and lemon iced tea. Gus had a triple scoop of three very yummy ones. We both agreed that it was neat to see all the flavors but was super expensive and the people weren’t all that nice. They had attitude:(

They did however have a lovely garden across the street where we could sit and eat our ice cream and they had a parking lot which I appreciated since parking in Vancouver can be tough to find.

I spent the afternoon after dropping Gus off reading, knitting, listening to a podcast and having a nap.

Exercise:

This morning I got out for a 4.85km run. It wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t wonderful either. It did help to keep in mind what I heard on the MTA podcast yesterday- you can’t be trying to lose weight and get faster at the same time. My focus is definitely on losing weight right now, so I’ll ease up on myself about being faster.

This evening I did end up going to the trail run clinic, but I viewed it as a hike rather than a run. We went 400m straight up and then ran down. Unfortunately even the running down was a little dicey as the terrain was super unstable. I found myself more relaxed with not thinking of it as a run:). The view at the top was beautiful!

Well I’m going to go back to veging on the couch.

Have fun!

AJ

Workout Wednesday Prevailed

I really didn’t plan on a lot of activity today, but it happened anyway.

Eating:

I was still so full from pub food from last night that I haven’t been very hungry today. I’ve had: shrimp plate (boy do I love the Costco shrimp plate), Greek salad, 6 crackers and cheese.

Reading:

I finished the second book in Alexa Martin’s Playbook series, called Fumbled. I think I liked this book even more than the first (which is saying a lot) because the drama was dialed back a bit and it had a deeper issue in it. It’s still another awesome beach read and I can’t imagine that I have to wait for December for the third book!!!

Knitting:

I am knitting away on the blanket, but the ball of yarn isn’t getting smaller and the blanket doesn’t seem to be getting bigger. I have promised myself that I will use the whole ball of yarn so I don’t have to add it to my stash count, but I think this may turn into a full size afghan. I really wish I was knitting a sweater right now!

Socializing:

I met up with my friend Anna and her two sons today. I always love spending time with them as the boys are adorable and so well behaved. Anna really is amazing with them. We walked over to the playground (getting a tea on the way) and just hung out and played with the boys. It was such a lovely afternoon!!!

Sammy insisted on wearing his “helmet” as Ruben had to wear his because he was on his bike.

Exercise:

I really planned on just my one run this morning. I went out and around the park this morning. Of course it managed to pour rain on me for about ten minutes in the middle of it. I definitely saw that reflected in my pace as I slowed to try and figure out how to protect my phone:( The run really was fine though and I felt strong. I did 4.52km at a 6:45 average. I know that’s not fast for most people, but it’s decent for me.

This afternoon my friend Sarah texted me to see if I wanted to run Bert Flynn with her. I’m not one to ever turn down a run, so of course I said yes. We did about 4km around the trails in there and it was lovely and cool as the day had heated up. When I run with Sarah, I keep in mind that I have a mileage goal this year, not a pace goal. I just slow down and enjoy the scenery and the company as it isn’t often I have company!

I haven’t decided what to do about my trail run tomorrow night. I’m not super excited about going for a few reasons. Now that Dennis has broken his foot, I really won’t know anyone, they are obsessed with elevation and that’s not what I was looking for, my knees hurt from all the up and down:(. I’ve paid for it though and know it’s good for me and it would get me out of my comfort zone. Ugh why do pros and cons have to be even?!?!

As I was knitting away this evening I was listening to another episode of the Marathon Training Academy podcast. It was about weight loss for marathoners. It was great to listen to this, even though I’m not a marathoner, because my goal this summer has been to get back to my favourite weight/shape where I feel amazing. I was reminded of a lot of good things by this podcast and recommend it for anyone who needs some tips or reminders. They also set out an easy weights workout that I was inspired to do this evening.

I did 3 sets of 15 reps or 30 seconds of the following:

Forward lunges

Squats (while getting my butt as far down towards the ground as possible)

Calf raises

Plank

Side plank

Superman

Bridge

I did each of these slower than usual so I could really ensure proper form. It was a nice, quick workout and only took 22 minutes, but at least it was something!

Well I’m going to go watch a movie and knit again.

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday #15

It was an unplanned day that turned out to have fun in it.

Exercise:

My run this morning was a struggle. I had decided to try walking over to Murray Street before starting to see if that helped my pace, but I don’t know if it helped, hurt or just messed with me mentally. I definitely didn’t like that I only clocked 4.2km, rather than the 5.1km I should have gotten! I think I’ll go back to just starting slow as I go across the street.

I also got a workout in this afternoon. It was a countdown workout.

50 jacks, 50 crunches

45 jacks, 45 squats

40 jacks, 40 lunges

35 jacks, 35 pushups

30 jacks, 30 high knees

25 jacks, 25 crunches

20 jacks, 20 squats

15 jacks, 15 lunges

10 jacks, 10 pushups

5 jacks, 5 burpees

I was definitely a hot, sweaty mess by the end. I’m really thinking I want to find a good weights workout though.

Shopping:

This past week when it was pouring, I found out that my Helly Hanson rain jacket had torn along the seam on the inside. I know I’m not tough on my clothing, so this morning I drove it back to the HH store where I bought it. They have sent it in to be repaired and it will be delivered to my home so I don’t have to make the 45 minute drive again. Yay!

Knitting:

I have gotten another three pattern repeats done on the blanket today. I really wish I hadn’t casted on so many stitches so it would go faster!!!

Family:

My nephew texted today to see if we could go for ice cream. I’m always happy to spend any time I can with that kid, so off I went. He actually bought me the ice cream this time. He’s growing up so much!! He also kept me company at Costco and helped me carry stuff. Of course it cost me a slice of Costco pizza, but it was a price I was happy to pay for spending time with him!

Reading:

I finished Intercepted by Alexa Martin today. It was so good! I was captured from the first page! The characters were interesting, the plot had a good pace, and the drama was appropriate for the professional sports world. I would recommend this as another good beach read! I also immediately started on the next book in the series, Fumbled.

Eating:

Rice cake with peanut butter and jam

Greek salad

Ice cream

salmon bowl over greens and some nachos (I’m way too full!)

Trivia:

Tonight trivia was a theme night about The Office. It was just my co-teacher Liane, her husband Eli and myself. I know absolutely nothing about this show, but managed to get two questions right.

In which state does The Office take place?

Pennsylvania

Who did they initially want to play the character that Rainn Wilson plays?

Seth Rogen

I have no idea how I knew those two things, but I did. Thankfully Liane had amazing knowledge and we sat at 4th for a while:)

I contributed my neat printing and Eli contributed knowledge of the show and the idea that I should go on a date between each Hallmark movie I watch🤣🤣🤣

Well, I’m back to reading.

Have fun!

AJ

Running, Reading and Relaxing

It was a day of R activities, but all good:)

Exercise:

I had arranged to meet a friend for my run this morning. She would be walking, but it would allow me to run on the dyke, rather than just doing the usual.

I was aiming for seven kilometers, but we got to talking and I started running late. I was feeling strong and got 4.32km in under the blazing sun. I need to remember to get out at 6 in this heat as 9:30 was way too hot!

I also got a walk in this evening for an hour and a half and 100 reps of core exercises. I’m thinking I’ll do a tough workout every other day so that my legs don’t suffer so much, but on the other days I need to do core and stretching.

I got a quick stop for more gray yarn and some other essentials and then headed home.

Knitting:

I’ve only gotten one pattern repeat done today which is disappointing as I want to get this blanket done so I can get onto a cute summer top I keep picturing.

I have always organized my yarn by colour, but I’ve run into a problem. I bought yarns in two different colours this past weekend and don’t want to separate them. Anyone have an organization solution for me?

Reading:

I finished Playing House by Ruby Lang today, my latest NetGalley book.

The story of Fay and Oliver. They work in the same industry so have known each other for a long time, but one Saturday at a house tour changes their relationship. It moves fast, but it’s really not until they slow down that it becomes real.

These characters were very interesting. Fay is a partner in a urban planning firm while, Oliver is a freelance planner specializing in historical preservation. They are both driven in their own way, but also with many doubts about their failures in life.

The plot moves very quickly, but it does not read unrealistically. It keeps you moving through the book and wanting to know what happens next.

There is humor and introspection in good balance.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants a light read or enjoys architecture or home renovations along with their romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author and publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have since started the book, Intercepted by Alexa Martin and am loving it so far!

My not one, but two naps today are the relaxing part of my day. I just couldn’t seem to stay awake!

Well there you have it- my running, reading and relaxing.

Have fun!