fang i faldes

The advantage of running in a running skirt:  after landing on your butt in a gooey patch of mud, one can simply reverse the skirt when it comes time to get in the car and drive off!  VOILA!  No mud on the seats.

Another good day started with a mucky run.....shoes soaked again, this time with dew as I successfully forded the stream dry-shod.  

One does wonder, mid-stream, how things like that car door clicker thingy would survive a dunking.

Quan vaig a fer futing, porto una falda  - evidentment una falda fet expressament per correr (ho sento molt, pero l'ordinador que estic utilitzant no te accents!).  Hi ha alguns avantatges de portant una falda i un va sortir ahir.  Despres de caure sobre el cul en un quantitat ben ple de fang, fang molt enganxosa, a l'hora de pujar la cotxa per tornar, simplement girar la falda fins que tot el fang esta a davant i VOILA!!!! ni un toca de fang en la cotxa.

Vaig tenir un altre dia molt bon que comencava amb una excursio de futing ben fangos...les meves bambes estan xopats - aquesta vegada de rosada i vaig travessar la riu sense mullant les sabates.

Haig de rumiar, en aquest moments, com sortiria aquesta cosa amb els botons per obri i tanqui la porta de la cotxe si caic.....

New route! Una via nova

Close to where I work I was SURE, absolutely certain, there had to be a way to get into a small remnant forest with a creek running through it, and I have been looking on and off for a couple of weeks.

Today I found the way in and it is GLORIOUS!!!  I had a bland run in parks and on roads till I found the route, then slid down a long super steep muddly slope, forded the river (wet squichy runners) and trotted here and there.  Bliss.

I was even delighted when I wiped out, even hit my face on the ground.  No damage, even the sunglasses I was carrying were fine!

Glorious way to start a working day.  Walk the dog - off leash - while chatting with friends, a quick drive to work, then a good wet muddy run on trails to make you feel like you have a great life all before you switch on the d*mned computer!

A prop d'on treballo, estigui segur que hi és una manera d'entrar un bosquet amb una riera.  Ho he estat buscant - de tan en tant - per setmanes.


Avui, ho he trobat i està gloriós.  He anat corrent per unes rutes avorrides en parcs i pels carrers fins que hagi trobat la ruta....he baixat - riscant - un pass super fangós i super pendant fins que arribava a la riera que he cresgut (amb les bambes ben xopats) i he anat corrent per aquí i per allà.  Tant contenta!


Estava molt contenta fins i tot quan he caigut...molt ràpidament, he donat un cop a la meva cara a més i no em molestava gens ni mica.  No m'he fet mal - ni he fet mal les ulleres del sol que tenia al mà. 


Una manera de comenár la dia.....vaig a caminar el gos - deslligat - i xerrant amb amics.  Anar conduint cap a on treballo sense transit, fer una ruta ben fangós en el bosc sobre camirols.  Tens un bon sentit de viure bé abans de encendre l'ordinador pel dia, no?


Softcat no funciona ara. Ho sento.

hmmmmm

I think a toenail is coming off.  Just sayin'

Em sembla que una ungla del peu se m'està caient.  Només vull dir-ho.

Ran a race. Vaig fer una cursa

I had two goals, going in.

1.  Don't break anything

2.  Don't come last.

the results?

1.  Done, nothing broken

2.  Anti-anti penultimate, and very happy about it.

Tenia dues objectius per la cursa:

1.  Que no trenqui res

2.  Que no sigui l'ultima

Les resultats?

1.  Fet, no vaig trencar res

2.  Era l'anti-anti-penultimage, i molt contenta de ser-ho.

Very fun day.  Un dia molt divertit.

the problem with work. El problema quan treballes

There is little else to blog about. Your drive in?  Your work - no.  The drive home?  Your chat with your husband about it?  Seeing the kids for an hour before bed?

Not.

No tinc rés a dir.  Quan he conduit a treballar?  El meu treball - clar que no.  Quan he tornat amb cotxe?  Quan he xarrat amb l'Home sobre el meu dia?  Passant un horeta amb les nenes abans d'anar a dormir?


No.

Good. Bé

For the last few days where I work we have been having a massive accreditation inspection.  We got the results today, and I have to say that I am very happy.  Indeed, it could not have been better.  Everything was extremely good and we still have suggestions and movement for improvement.

YEAH!

Per els últims dies, a on treballo, vam tenir una inspecció per acreditació molt enorme.  Ens han dit els resultats avui i estic molt contenta.  Veritablement, no poden se millor.  Tot ha anat super bé i a sobre tenim suggeriments per millorar i per moure.


Que bé!

touching base.

Working too long and sleeping too little.

Thinking of you all, but this is about all I can do.

Estic treballant massa i dormint massa poc.


Estic pensant de vosaltres, erò no puc fer més.


Espero que tot vagi MOLT BË!!!


Hope everything is going really well!

Fight or flight, no, make that flight or flight. Córrent com una galina

Went to go running this morning, all dressed up, Chuck had his leash on, opened the door and.....there was a skunk, right there.  Chuck went into stupid mode, trying to bark at it and got dragged back inside the screen while I stood on his leash.  Adrenalin SURGED through his body.
He anat a córrer aquest matí, tot vestit, en Chuck lligat, he obert la porta i.....hi havia una mofeta allà mateix.  En Chuck tornava boig bordant i li he tirat a dintre i he trepitjat la seva corretja.  L'adrenalina ha anat donant voltes pel cos d'en Chuck.

We had to wait about 30 min before his royal skunkiness moved far enough away and Chuck calmed enough to go out.  Enough being a relative term.  Skittish is the word that comes most strongly to mind about Chuck's behaviour on this short run.
Hem hagut d'esperar unes 30 minutes fins que la mofeta ha sortit prou lluny i en Chuck li trobava una mica més tranquil.  Tranquil vol dir menys histèrica.  Espantadís potser serveix millor.

My speed was, shall we say, highly variable.  Every time anything rustled in the underbrush, anywhere within hearing Chuck took off like a husky with a bear on his tail.....SPEED!!!!!  Front of my thighs got a workout breaking more than anything else.
He corregut amb un ritme molt irregular, cada cop que hi havia una soroll al nostre voltant, en Chuck anava corrent com un gos esquimal amb un ós al darrere.....quina rapidesa!!!!  Les meves cames han treballat, frenant més que res.

Here's hoping for a calmer run another day.  Espero que tenim una  excursió una mica més tranquil per la pròxima vegada.

Getting bug bit to get online....Em mossegan, les mosquits, però l'internet funciona moltmillor aqui fora!

I am sitting outside, in a sort of field, with the dog sacked out at my feet, with the sun going pinkly down to my left behind a big willow.  Sounds great, but the bugs are also biting me.
Estic asseguda a fora en una mena de camp, amb el gos dormint als meus peus.  El sol està baixant amb una posta de sol molt rosa a la meva esquerra al darrere d'un salze molt gran.  Sona molt bé, no?  Però les mosquits!!!

What we'll do for a good internet signal!  Que faig per un bon senyal.

I was delighted today with the running.  I was supposed to be doing a 45 min run with hill sprints tossed in, but I was running out of time and as I was driving to work I was talking myself out of the run.  Then I got near the conservation area I had planned on running, and know what?  I really wanted to run.  As is, 'forget what I'm supposed to be doing, and let's go!' wanted to run.  I only managed 20 min, but it was a great 20 min, immediately onto single track trails (YEAH), though it was flat as a pancake.  Wonder if I can go again tomorrow?  The Man's driving me to work tomorrow, so we'll see if he's game.  Em trobava molt contenta avui, pel tema de córrer.  Teòricament, feia unes 45 minutes amb pujades també, però quan estava corrent cap a on treballo estava pensant que no anés a córrer.  Quan estava més a prop del parc a on he plantejat d'anar a córrer volia anar a córrer, però molt.  Que bé!  Nomes tenia temps per fer una 20 minutes, però era una 20 minutes espectacular.  sobre camirols immediatament (YEAH) encara que era absolutament pla, era fantàstic.  Estic pensant de tornar demà, per més temps.  L'Home em portarà a treballar demà.  Haig de mirar si ho volgués fer.


Oh, the bugs are getting bad, I've gotta go. Oi, hi ha MOLTES mosquits, haig de marxar.

Chuck in the woods. En Chuck en el bosc

Chuck when walking in the woods near the cabin where we're staying is on full alert.  A sort of mixture between enthusiasm, high curiosity and alarm.   En Chuck, quan estem caminant pel bosc a prop de la cabina on vivim ara veure tot amb una concentració...una barrege d'entusiasme, curiositat i po.  

After dark, the balance shifts a bit to more alarm, still curiosity and rather less enthusiasm.  He's pretty content to get back indoors.  Quan fa fosc, canvia una mica cap a més po, encara curiositat i no tan d'entusiasm.  Està ben content de tornar a dintre la cabina.

When we saw a deer and a couple or raccoon this morning, he was pretty thrilled and the bunnies are GREAT fun to chase.  Aquest matí, hem vist unes ósos rentadors, i un cervol estava emocionat i els conillets són molt divertit per seguir.

Animal count today?  1 deer, 2 raccoons, lots of bunnies, big and small and that's about it.  Yesterday, mallard ducks, male and female, Canada Geese, adults and teens, blue jays, red wing blackbirds and los more bunnies.  Avui hem vist, 1 cervol, 2 ósos rentadors, molts conills, grans i petits i ja està.  Ahir, uns anecs mallard, mascles i femellles, oces Canadencs, joves i adults, moltes conills i alguns ocells.

Not too shabby.  No gaire malament!


L'internet va SUPER lent, no puc fer cap correcció.  Em sap molt de greu les faltes.

Loss. coses perdudes

This has been a bit of a season of loss, mostly of gain, but also some loss.  Feels...uncomfortable.

Some losses are minor, some silly, some pending or possible and major.

Pending/possible? Friends with cancer.  Simply speaking, it sucks.  Hate it.  Gonna have to go and walk another 100k, what else can I do.

Loss, silly loss, but goodness gracious with all this running? The girls are disappearing on me, not my kids, but the girls.  I have never been exactly heavily endowed, shall we say, but this is getting silly.  I came here with two bras, one doesn't fit at all, but I brought it just in case, one did, but not so much now.....though maybe it's getting to where I needn't bother.  Save me some shopping anyway!

Then there's gains, like health with all the running, and now I float, which is a weird one, last time that happened was in the Dead Sea... and skunks being stinky outside the cabin every night and lots of wildlife to view, and drives and runs further north to offset the outrageous dreadfulness that is outer GTA.  

Seems I need a good chunk of time outside of cities for being happy.  Had it on the boat, have it in Spain, creating it here.

Loss, offset by gain usually anyway.

Traffic, transit

I spend far too long driving through the greater GTA, urban sprawl and I just want to say that the GTA has got to be the biggest god-awful blot on the landscape.  Soul-sucking disaster. What the heck are we (not) thinking.

I also spent quite a bit of time thinking about the difference between driving and being driven.  It is a weird difference.  I do hate driving, simply and profoundly hate it.  It is boring and uninteresting.  It requires enough thought that you cannot really consider anything else deeply, but not enough to really engage your mind, especially on the highway.  Bleh.

Yet a lot of people feel powerful and capable and independent and a sense of freedom when they drive.  

I have to confess I have not been generally overwhelmed by this, though the first few times I drive after coming back from Spain I do feel like a grown-up again in some weirdly angled way.  You see we don't have a licenses in Spain as they do not recognise Canadian licenses and we would have to do all the exams like a kid of 18, costs about a thousand Euros by the time you're finished, and it isn't worth it, but after a year of riding in other peoples cars (not a lot, but still, sometimes) when I get behind the wheel I do feel a certain sense that yes, indeed, I am an adult.  

Odd that, isn't it.

Then it just devolves into a general hatred of cars, driving, highways, trucks, pollution, stop signs, red lights and dorks in cars.

Ask me right this second if I prefer Toronto or Catalunya, hands down, it ain't here. Dawns on you when you haven't had a lunch break even one day you've been at work, not even once.

I have a connection! Tinc cobertura!!!

Blogger is blocked at work, and I cannot normally get on where we are now living, the signal is soooooooo slllloooooooooooowwwwwwwww!  But right now?  Lickety-split quick!

What have we been up to?  We've moved, to a funky cabin in the woods, with a lousy signal but lots of other good stuff, like quiet and time to read and hang out, all very good indeed.

I discovered today that I now float!  Never have before, it was a weird sensation!  Must be all the running, though I thought muscle sank and fat floated, not that I have ever been very fat, indeed I have never been fat at all, but I have, incidentally, lost some weight and one would think......


What else,

I was talking to the man about the wildlife we've seen in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) since getting here and it is impressive:

Squirrels, Chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, a fox, coyote, lots of rabbits, a hare, otter, turkey vulture, american goldfinch, frogs and toads, not sure what more, but I am sure there is more.....

I have been running a bunch, but all rather shorter distances till this weekend, when I managed two gorgeous runs, long and lovely and trails!!!! Part way into yesterday's the Man phoned me to say that it was pouring where they were, fortunately, it wasn't raining where I was.  Just a moment after we hung up though?  Thunder.  Cut the run a little shorter as the route back to the car was through a really big field....got back dry though, so that's good.

I have been writing a bit in gmail, and I will see if I can do timed posts as my ability to get on is so limited.  Sadly, I'm going to skip the Catalan version today, to try and get this up as it is so hard to get anything at all posted this year.

Happy summer time to you all!

Cheers,

O

moving tomorrow, demà ens translladem

We're moving house again tomorrow, we've been with friends for a couple of weeks and now we're moving up to a cabin for the bulk of the summer...till we get on the boat!

The Man seems OK with it, enthusiastic, I wouldn't say, but OK.  Eldest seems reasonably cheerful about it and Youngest, depressed.

Here's hoping it all turns out well, and that a reasonably good time is had by all.  I may well have quite a bit of trouble posting as I am locked out of blogger at work, and the IT guy REFUSES to let me in again and the wifi connection up at the cabin can be SUPER slow.....

I am planning on writing at work in gmail and then I just have to copy and paste when I get home, let's see how it goes.  Writing may get a little sparse though given the challenges.

Ens translladem un altre cop demà, hem quedat amb amics per els últimes dues setmanes i ara anim cap a una mini-finca per la majoria de l'estiu fins que anim a la nostre barca!


L'Home sembla força content, i la Gran també.  La Petita no gaire.


Espero que tot vagi molt bé, o si no, força bé, o simplement prou bé.  Crec que tindré dificultats penjant aquí, no puc accedir blogger a on treballo i el informàtic ha negat en rodó de deixar-me entra i el wifi a la finca està molt a poc a poc.  


Estic plantejant d'escriure en gmail al despatx i ho copiaré i pegaré quan arribo a casa, mira com anim.  Potser no penjaré tantes coses amb tots aquests reptes.


The upside?  Looks like there'll be some great places to run just a short-ish drive away.  Looking forward to that.


El que trobo bé?  Sembla que tindrem unes llocs molt boniques per anar a córrer no gaire lluny d'on quedarem.  Això em dona ganes.

Dream in High Park, Somni en High Park

If you get the chance to go?  Go.  They're showing Midsummer night's dream and it is very well done.  Is the acting the best in the world?  Certainly not universally, but funny funny funny it certainly was.  Very well done and I would highly recommend it.

You go for around 6:30 or 7:00, with a picnic dinner, show starts at 8:00 and your out around 9:30.

Fantastic.

Si tens l'oportunitat, i pots entendre anglès, Vegis.  Fan el Somni d'una nit d'estiu i està molt ben fet.  No ho actuen el millor del mon, sincerament, no tots, però està molt divertit.  Molt ben fet i el recomano molt.


Arribis a dos quarts de set o les set, amb un sopar de tipus pícnic, comencen a les 8 i acaben a les nou i mig. 


Fantàstic.

Beasties...bixos!

Today I saw an utterly fearless baby squirrel, I had to come to a complete stop on a major road and wait for it to leave, and an equally fearless baby bunny that hopped just out of my way when I was running. I admired it for a bit, and then in the interest of its continued survival stomped my foot and it disappeared.

My dad saw a tortoise and Eldest saw a black squirrel with a blond tail!  The Man has been seeing otters, and Chuck and I saw some baby raccoons and a coyote.

Avui he vist un esquirol sense por, havia de parar entremig d'un carrer gran i esperar fins que marxava i un conilleta amb tan poc por també.  Ha saltat just prou lluny de mi quan estava corrent i parava.  Li he admirat per una estona i desprès, que pugui aprendre i sobreviure, li he espantat i ha desaperagut.


El meu pare ha vist un tortuga, la Gran un esquirol negre amb una cua rubia.  L'Home ha vist una llúdriga i amb en Chuck, vaig veure unes ósos rentadors i un coiot!

Eurocup

Well, a good day all around.

Spain BLASTED the Eurocup 4 − 0 against Italy!  GO SPAIN!!!!

Canada day, bangers going off, they know nothing about this compared to the Catalans,

Pride day!

what more can you ask for!?!?!??  Well, Chuck is hiding under the bed, he'd like the fireworks to stop.

Un dia fantàstic en totes maneres.  España ha guanyat, sense dificultats el Eurocup, 4 − 0 sobre Itàlia!!!!  ESPANÑÑÑÑAAAA!!!!!


Està la dia de Canada i hi ha moltes focs - però no saben res en comparació de Catalunya.


Dia del PRIDE!!!!!


Que més podries voler?!?!?!?  Doncs, en Chuck està amagat a sota el meu llit, voldria que no facin els focs.