So August was a bit of a “normal” month, nothing particularly gossip worthy or eventful. OMG is life all just a fanta-sea?

 

We are fully in the swing of the fortnightly jaunt around the South Island doing the Flahute thing, I’ve had my first part of my treatment plan for my toes and I am giving it full noise to test it out. It has been good not to hold back as much as I have of the last few years, still a ways to go before I am where I want to be, but I don’t think anyone is ever content with their speed/ability/fitness level – always good to have another step/goal/challenge. But unfortunately it wasn’t an miracle fix, so the most likely course is the snippy snip option.

 

It’s certainly being a pretty mild winter, not very cold and a bit wetter than average, spring is certainly coming, all the orchards around the farm are in blossom and a first is that the pines are in pollen as well, which I have never seen in a late winter, is it spring period, No real cold snap arrived, it was more of the same.

 

With the early spring conditions, Haven has gone nuts, unfortunately we haven’t had enough dry days in a row to get stuck into the spraying regime, but the park isn’t too shabby after winter – a few trees down and a couple of slumps, but all negotiable. We are working our way around the place, so it’s all tickety boo by the middle of spring in time for a long summer of shredding.

 

We finally had the “right” weather for a winter ride on the West Coast – after seven events with me saying that usually in winter it’s perfect, we had 6 shit or just average rides, but finally for the Quiet Earth, the “normal’ winter weather appeared, a perfect sunny day with little or no wind, a highlight of the month.

 

Preparations are beginning in earnest for the Alto Cycle Tours journey to Belgium and the London Marathon. It’s getting exciting to start wistfully turning my attention to this goal. Training and marketing is going well for the both of our tasks!

 

Candy is training hard for her two half marathons with the first coming up in Dunedin in early September. My body is adapting well to the current goal of 300-400k a week with a 150k ride every fortnight or so. With luck I can time my almost certain surgery to coincide with an opportune gap in training as I move from the existing regime to my next one.

 

The Cats have been enjoying the fire and roaming around teasing the dogs, it’s a tough life. They are slowing down a bit  as they enter “old” age. Macchiato has come into heat for her second time, a bit early according to Candy, and we have had the fun or trying to keep them in their compound, not really, and to keep the two local intact gentleman callers at bay – they live 2ks away but that doesn’t stop them. Unfortunately they are both allowed to roam free and don’t have secure properties so it’s been a bit of a pain. At least we have gotten to the point that their compound is a prison again and they can’t get out, but when we got back from a weekend away, we did find one of the gentlemen all cuddled up with the girls in bed. Hopefully he snuck in their when they were being fed by a friend. Ccino has been a great aunt and is long suffering with the monster puppy with no manners.

 

Next month is going to be a busy one for us, with us on the road every weekend – whoop whoop.

And now some pretty pictures >> https://photos.app.goo.gl/rFwkrZ22Tk5n3rgs6

 

Freebird

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on, now
Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see
But, if I stayed here with you, girl
Things just couldn’t be the same
Cause I’m as free as a bird now
And this bird you can not change
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
And this bird you can not change
And this bird you can not change
Lord knows, I can’t change
Bye, bye, baby, it’s been a sweet love
Though this feeling I can’t change
But please don’t take it so badly
Cause Lord knows I’m to blame
But, if I stayed here with you, girl
Things just couldn’t be the same
Cause I’m as free as a bird now
And this bird you’ll never change
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
And this bird you can not change
And this bird you can not change
Lord knows, I can’t change
Lord help me, I can’t change
Lord, I can’t change
Won’t you fly high, free bird, yeah
Freebird