Now Norma Knits

Fitter Knitters Represent at the Vermont City Marathon

So about that running thing.

Yesterday I was joined by four wonderful women to run the relay race in the Vermont City Marathon.

The Fitter Knitters

(Our shirts got us a lot of attention and friendly inquiries and photo ops! If you would like to get a shirt like ours, go ahead and go here and order one. They will put your name on the back if you ask. You can search around if you want one with sleeves like Lisa has, on the right in the photo. Or different colors. Whatever you want.)

I'm completely new at this marathon huge race thing, and thankfully at a dinner party the other night, a friend who has run this race gave me a tip about making sure I lined up in the right place for my expected pace. I've been running 10-minute miles in most of my races. I was hoping to run 9 this time, but I decided to undershoot rather than overshoot, and lined up with the 10s.

~~~

One of my teammates, Kat, shot this photo at the start line. I'd be some little speck over there by that 10:00 flag by the white house. I was standing right next to that flag. It was a mob scene, but a very sedate and happy and polite mob.

It was SUCH a beautiful day for a race right next to the Burlington waterfront and running through the city and neighborhoods of Burlington. The whole community embraces this race, with the most wonderful and supportive and entertaining crowds. I am very thankful there is a relay option -- otherwise I would never be able to participate in something like this. We learned a lot about things that worked well, and things we would do differently next year.

Yes, we are already talking about next year. Heh.

We got up at the crack of dawn -- 4:10 a.m. in my case -- we ate crockpot oatmeal, and Vermont bacon and fruit, and drank a little coffee. (Next time I would remember to drink more water, even though it is 4-freakin-something-a.m.)

Wheels up at 6 a.m. to head to Burlington.

We arrived at about 6:35 a.m., early enough that we snagged a prime parking spot in a nice shaded garage, verrrrry close to the race site. We walked the block to the waterfront, and turned around to see an ocean of people walking down the hill. Five minutes later, and we would have been fighting for parking. It was astonishing, really. So the extra-early departure was a good idea. It made for a very long day, and it messed up, maybe -- ahem -- some of our natural rhythms, if you know what I mean. But no matter.

In the first leg of the race, I saw a hot pink sign held by a spectator that seemed made just for me: "F*&king AWESOME!" In the first mile, I had terrible dry-mouth -- it felt like my tongue was a big wad of dry cotton. I was extremely worried about that. "Ohmygod, are you kidding me? I didn't drink enough water and I'm THIS dehydrated? I'm going to let my team down ON THE FIRST THREE MILES?!" But that fuckin' awesome sign made me smile against my dry teeth, and press on and hard (the first mile was up a hill, as well). My body quite quickly cooperated and released the probably-retained water from the salty bacon I had eaten that morning. My mouth became moistened and I felt fine, albeit a bit hot. SCORE ONE FOR BACON. And the human body.

Another sign that made me laugh: "Worst Parade EVER!"

At about Mile 2, I came upon a senior gentleman runner whose shirt said, "Larry. 1,300 Marathoner." People were congratulating him on the marathon he ran the week before, "Great job last week, Larry!" and asked him, "Is this 1,301?" He said, in a southern drawl, "Somethin' like that."

I Googled him just now. A lawyer from San Antonio! Fantastic!

I passed two people (and saw several more later in the day) whose shirts said, "50-State Marathon Club" (or something like that). The woman seemed to be being interviewed as she was running. I heard her say, "This is my 48th state." She was YOUNG. She seems to have a long running life ahead of her. Will she go through the 50 states TWICE? Or will she move on to something else, like swimming all the channels in the sea?

On Church Street, at about the 3-mile mark for me, a super-fabulous Patriotic Transvestite, dressed in ridiculously wonderful red-white-and-blue garb and sparkly outrageous blue glasses, was urging us on, to not slow down, to keep on moving. Made me smile so hard, made me bear down and speed up, and makes me smile again just remembering it. Even though at that moment I was hot and cranky and thinking, "SO glad I'm only doing 3.3 and not 26.2... or even 6."

During Kat's leg (I think it might have been the most difficult leg of the race), she was cheered on by bagpipes, bands, neighborhood parties, and maybe best of all, these Taiko drummers at the base of Burlington's version of heartbreak hill:

Taiko drummers at Vermont City Marathon from Norma Miller on Vimeo.

These guys helped to give her the will to get up that hill.

Kat made it up that hill and handed off the bracelet to Lisa. Lisa took off like a shot. On her leg of the race, she ran through lovely neighborhoods where property owners had their garden hoses on, spraying overheated runners if they wished to be sprayed for a cool-down.

More fun memories for me: A text message from Carol at 11:53:  "Still no Lisa."

Next text message was 12:04 from Lisa: "On bus." 

Made me laugh. Because in other words, Carol must have just barely pressed "send" on that text, and then, "OOOOOOPS, there's Lisa! RUNNN!"

(Lisa and Carol are pretty zippy!)

We all had the most fun time. At least two of us (Adrienne and I) had personal bests, as well. Smiles all around.

I managed to break away from the 10-minute milers about halfway of my little 3.3-mile portion of the race (the first leg), and kept pace with my hoped-for 9-minute milers. My average pace was 9:30/mile, according to my trusty Map My Run app:

Yeah, I was happy with that.

We sweated, we focused hard, we had packs of fun, and we got 'er done. We had laughs and wonderful camaraderie. It doesn't get any better than that. It was a beautiful, beautiful day. I feel sore but happy today, and I'm so appreciative for my teammates for joining me in this adventure.

A year ago, I didn't believe I would ever run a race of any kind. I had no interest in doing so -- it didn't even enter my consciousness as an idea of something I would do. Not even a 5K. It was just a non-thing. The idea that less than a year later I would take part in something like this... I don't even know what else to say about it. It is just plain awesome.

But I have no aspirations to run a marathon. No no no no.

QUOTE OF THE DAY YESTERDAY, from teammate Lisa:

"A half marathon is only four 5Ks and a little bit, Norma."

Yeah.

No.

Maybe.

But no.

-----------------

After the race:

Fitter Knitters VT City Marathon Team 2014

Kat Kennedy, Lisa McGuire, Adrienne Martini, me, Carol Bradford-Roe

So.Much.Healthy.Fun.

The sweet necklaces we are wearing in the photos were a gift from Lisa.

Thanks again, ladies!

~~~

I'll make another plea for donations for my upcoming runs for charity. Maybe do it for the Fitter Knitters, because we rock.

See this post, and thank you.

 

 

I Just Called To Say I Love You

Hi To My Loyal Readers,

I am popping in here after all this radio silence to let you know I'm still here, but just fully FULLY occupied. I've got a nice big CART gig that I'm still in the midst of, and it's left me either without internet access (except with the Android, which is really just close enough to a computer to be an annoyance), or if I do have internet (in my hotel room), I'm just too doggone tired to open the lid and turn it on. Mr. Jefferies has been at the sitter's for much of the time, so we both apologize, but Terrier Tuesday will be on vacation this week. 

My gig features a diverse group of Americans from all parts of the country, some of whom have been heard to grumble that "There's nothing to do here," or "We're city people; we don't like all this wilderness," or "The Mexican food here sucks," or whatever. So I have somewhat taken it upon myself to become The Ultimate Full-Service CART Provider/Tour Guide/Vermont Ambassador, and have made a mental note that the next time I go to, say, Texas, I will be sure not to mention that I don't like their French food or their lack of maple trees. Or what have you. 

This afternoon/evening featured a ride to the Ben & Jerry's factory; to the village of Stowe (including to a yarn and quilting shop because my riders happen to be interested in both things); a ride up the Mountain Road; a stop to walk around, collect stones and take pictures on the tippy-top of Smuggler's Notch; to eat in Waterbury; and the pièce de résistance -- a stop and tour of the Williston rest stop. I can't wait for my companions to give a little piece of Vermont rock to each one of the participants tomorrow (which is the plan we've hatched, to have one at each of their table places in the a.m.), and to regale them with stories of me taking them on a tour of A.REST.STOP, Vermont-style. (The one with tractor picnic tables and water conservation exhibits that I reviewed here.)

hahahahahaahahahahahhaahahaa

Having a great time. Wish you were here. No, seriously. 

 

 

This Weekend Was For The Dogs

We had company over the weekend, and I can't believe I didn't get any photos. There were so many photo ops, but the camera was out of reach. There was my Android and our guests' two iPhones always handy, but somehow we still didn't manage. 

Our nephew Alex and his fiancée Marie came to visit with their 10-month-old pup Lucy. Lucy is a gentle soul who already knows some pretty impressive tricks.

She was a perfectly mellow companion for Mr. Jefferies. At least that was MY opinion. Mr. Jefferies' opinion, as you might expect, was a little bit different. She chewed up his TOYS. And he did not LIKE THAT. She stole toys right out of his MOUTH! Plus, Alpha was petting her!

Also: "Is she going to stay here PERMANENTLY?" 

Also: "Grr." 

And yet: "Hey, wanna play?"

"Hey, wanna snuggle?"

"Here, I'll just eat your food, OK?"

He was a little bit confused by the whole situation and was pretty relieved when she left and he had his domain all back to his Yorkie self.

Marie and I went for a run together on the Rail Trail this morning, and Lucy came along with us. While Lucy's parentage is completely unknown, as far as I can tell, she looks and acts like a Greyhound-Black Lab mix.I love to observe the different traits of different breeds. She was so happy on the running trail, and constantly searched for places to leave the trail and run alongside. She was happiest running like a gazelle in trees, when she could. It was quite beautiful. She would leave for a few seconds, and circle back to check on us frequently, never really leaving our sight (or us, hers). 

It turned out to be "Family Fitness Day" on the trail, so there were loads of people and kids. Lucy was just awesome. She was off leash, and I fully expected some over-protective parent to freak out unnecessarily, but there was no need. Lucy just ambled along, ignoring and seemingly oblivious to the people, and constantly checked in with us. Wouldn't it be great if all dogs were like this?

Poor Alex, though, who was walking along far behind us at a slow pace because he only had on his flip-flops, was suffering a bit of a crisis of which we were unaware. He thought he had lost Lucy. He didn't know that she was with us the whole time. So when we were running back, Lucy along with us, people were asking us, "Is that your dog? There is a lost black dog that someone is looking for."

Aww. Poor guy.

But anyway, it was a case of Marie keeping me accountable with the running thing, and it was a very good thing. It was a very successful run for me, and I followed it up with much, much stretching. The stretching took twice as long as the run did, and it was worth it. My back pain seems to have abated. Mr. Jefferies took the opportunity to find safety under my bent knees while I was on the yoga mat, while Lucy gently played with him. Lucy has lovely manners and is clean and sweet.

In the end I think we both agree: Lucy can come stay with us anytime.

Terrier Tuesday -- The Auntie Lisa and Auntie Jenn (Nipperknits) Edition

Dear Readers,

Well, yesterday we had a fun visitor: Lisa. Lisa is an old, old friend of Alpha's, and she and her husband have a sugarhouse which makes, according to Alpha, the best maple syrup in all the land.

Alpha remembers going up to their woods the first year they were tapping their virgin trees about .... oh, she doesn't even know ... maybe 20 years ago? Something like that. Maybe even more, but Alpha doesn't want to think about that, because that means that everyone is much older than she likes to think.

Lisa also has dogs, lots of dogs:

So Lisa really knows how to speak my language. We had so much FUN playing with the squeaky toy yesterday, but silly Alpha forgot to get pictures of us. When Lisa first got here, she said to Alpha, "You give him such a personality [in the blog]," and Alpha said, "He's got the personality. I just have to write it." By the time Lisa left, she had changed her tune. She said to me, "You have SUCH a personality, Mr. Jefferies."

Well, duh. 

I don't know why people are always so surprised about this. I just don't know about people. They are so not with it sometimes. But what're you gonna do? When you're a Yorkie, you just have to tolerate them the best you can. That's my advice to you if you are a Yorkie: Just be as tolerant as you can. They will give you treats and take you for walks and coo a lot, and that makes it worth being a little bit tolerant of their other shortcomings. 

Anyway, I'm glad to call her my new Auntie Lisa. 

But hey, that's not all! I've got so MANY loving aunts!

This weekend Alpha and I are going to visit my Auntie Jenn, also know as Auntie Nipperknits, in New York City. We've been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and that trip is why we had Auntie Lisa bring us some syrup. We're going to see a whole bunch of our New York City-area friends, and Alpha is going to try to sweeten them all up with some of that Vermont syrup. 

But she has missed a very important fact: She is bringing ME. So what more sweetness do they need? 

Again, we just have to smile and nod and be tolerant. 

Auntie Jenn has a new website and all kinds of new and exciting news to share!  

You might remember stories that Alpha has told about her "Cousin Jenn." They love each other and go back a long way. Jenn was one of Alpha's very first blog friends, and she has remained one of the closest. And somewhere along the way it came out that Jenn's last name is the same as Alpha's last name used to be, and thus the "Cousin" moniker. (When you are a Yorkie with a personality such as mine, you use words like "moniker" without even batting an eyelash.)

But anyway, Jenn shares some of Alpha's DNA, we are convinced. She is a super-smart and accomplished knitwear designer and technical editor with some amazing things on her resume. 

You have to go see her new blog, where you will find a new free hat pattern, which I totally love because her sample is the same color as my green sweater:

Like Auntie, Like Yorkie

 

Keep your eyes out for a contest there in the next few days, too!

Here's the direct link to the blog: Nipperknits

Please go take a look at her new site and say hi. 

Tell her Mr. Jefferies sent you. 

Sweetest maple syrupy congratulations to my Auntie Jenn. She deserves all the best, and we can't WAIT to see her this weekend, when I'm sure we will generate lots more stories for the blog.

Love,

Mr. Jefferies

 

 

 

 

Red Scarves and Spindles and Other Stuff at Grand Isle Art Works

Beautiful red scarves sent to Grand Isle Art Works from Rosemary McNutt, displayed in Jim's beautiful spalted maple wood bowl. Yes, it's for sale. Contact [email protected] for more info

An action shot -- Jim turning a spindle IN THE DARK, as he was doing when I arrived

So here's the yarn bowl I picked up for Kim.

It's beautiful, made of Vermont apple wood.

Jim's spindles

My Special Visitor

Scout and I only had a short visit over brunch, which was perfect since I was dressed for work and was all very Breakfast at Tiffany's. She shot this photo on her iPhone before I brought her to the airport in the middle of my UVM function. But we packed a lot of conversation into an hour and a half or so. Wish it could have been longer! Miss ya already, Scout!

A Visit to A Friend's Antique Shop

I visited the shop of a friend of mine in Isle La Motte, Vermont, this weekend. If you ever come to Northwestern Vermont, Isle La Motte is definitely worth a visit. There is the St. Anne's Shrine which I've written about before, a historic (now closed) black marble quarry, a fascinating ancient reef. It's an island, so as such, it is right in the middle of beautiful Lake Champlain. It is a lovely, interesting, historic little place, and as I have mentioned before, it is my birthplace.

I took a few snapshots of Evan's shop and some of the lovely things inside. She has such great taste, and even her wonderful shop -- the building itself -- has a fascinating history.

SORRY, THE MOLD IS SOLD.

Evan needs a little breathing space for a few days to get caught up, so for the meantime I've taken down the contact info for a while. When she feels ready, we will put it back up again.

 

A Fabulous Gardener's Day Out

What does a blogger do when she's had pretty much an all-around unfortunate and unhappy week? She's a lucky one, this blogging woman, because better times usually have a way of finding her. 

Reader Judy M. from southern Vermont contacted me this week, said she was going to be in St. Albans, and could we meet for breakfast Saturday. Then as we talked, we planned a trip to Gardener's Supply as well. 

She brought along her friend and fellow gardening enthusiast Julie, who proclaimed she doesn't knit! To which I replied, "That's good, because NEITHER DO I [much]!" Three kindred souls thus established, we were off.

We ate and gabbed at Libby's Diner (I had the most delicious black-bean-and-sausage frittata), and then braved the pouring rain along with seemingly every other gardener in Chittenden County (based on looking at the parking lot) to converse in botanic Latin together. It was the perfect day out for gardeners on a day when it was just too wet, cold, and drizzly for doing anything else.

A welcome sight: veggie plants for sale at Gardener's Supply 

Julie and Judy brought me eggs from their own chickens, some of which promptly became supper last night, with asparagus, mushrooms & spinach. Ommmmmmmmmgggggggggg. 

While at Gardener's Supply, I bought a small-bird water station that was on deep discount, and filled it and set it up in the garden. 

Isn't it cute?

(And Judy, I lied!) 

I told Judy that I had not seen any sign of asparagus yet, but there it was waiting for me when I came home. This is in my old, well established asparagus bed. I even saw a tiny nubbin of a spear poking up in the new bed that I planted last year:

Can you see it? That little phallic thing at about 6:30, bottom center-left of the photo? 

So then I could not help myself: I lugged 320 pounds of potting soil up the hill (40 lb. at a time) in the cold drizzle, and proceeded to plant 25 strawberry plants.

My lovely friends from the Northeast Kingdom, I apologize for this, because you don't want to hear it: All the recent rain (For you it has been snow. Don't hit me.) has been very good for things. Lots of growth is showing on the garlic, the onion sets, and all the seeds I planted at the beginning of April (many varieties of lettuce, micro-greens, bok choy, spinach, beets, radishes). Still no sign of peas, though. 

A House Guest

I have a house guest! 

(It's Gale Zucker.) 

Don't believe she's really in my house?  

How 'bout this for proof:

Here she is, blogging and signing books with Mr. Jefferies on what we now fondly refer to as Paula's bed, which is the daybed in my "fiber room."

We met some friends at my favorite yarn shop for knitting and talking and laughing 

 Jill, me, Jill's daughter, Shawn, Joan

(Gale's behind the camera, of course.)

...and OMG, I tried on one of the shop model sweaters that I had been eyeing for months. I bought the pattern for it several months ago:

...and once I tried it on, it was all over by the paying:

I sooo much wanted to just buy the store model, but Jill wouldn't let me. Look at that thing! It fits me like a glove, and who wants to KNIT it when you can BUY it? 

Oh, wait.  

322. Gale Does Montpelier with The "Famous" (Exaggerated Air Quotes) Blogger

Gale Zucker drove up to our li'l capitol last Saturday for a book signing, and turned an otherwise dreary day into a right fine one.  The weather was crappy, but none of us cared, or really even knew, once we were ensconced in the Knitting Studio's lovely warm and comfy new digs on State Street.  There was a great turnout and lots of great conversation and companionable knitting. To a person, everyone there had a great sense of fun and humor, and we had a lovely afternoon together. Leslie and Brigitte of The Knitting Studio were warm and hospitable and made the visit even more fun, even when we got a little rowdy. (Who, us?  Rowdy?)

Gale kept us entertained with her stories behind the book, and we all got to meet and enjoy her book producer/packager/agent (chief cook and bottle washer) Rebecca Davidson of Ravenmark. Later, Rebecca's business partner Linda joined us and another friend for that incredible dinner I told you about on Sunday.

(Gale and Rebecca, showing some proposed cover shots that sadly did not make the cut)

Knitting for and with men was the unintended theme of the day. There were two Cobblestone Pullovers being knit (can you believe how these patterns catch on?!), both in lovely yarns.

 

Sarah's is in a greeny-blue O-Wool Balance, which is a fantastic organic wool-cotton blend from a Vermont company, and Kathleen from Warren (demps in Ravelry) was doing one in brown Kathmandu.  That was super-soft and lovely stuff!  And there I had been thinking (from the photos online) that Kathmandu was the same yarn as the Kilcarra Donegal Tweed in my stash.  No way; not even close. And of course when I wasn't gabbing or taking photos, I was knitting away on my own blue sweater.

(Carol and Sabra; and Sarah's hands with her blue sweater next to mine.)

Carol Farmer and Sabra Massey from Montgomery were both there. I had never met them before, but when they explained that they have a co-op fiber shop in Montgomery, I had to laugh.  I asked, "Um, Dillner Hillside Farms?"  Stunned looks.  "Yes, Jessica is in our shop."

I reached in my knitting bag and pulled out the socks I just finished knitting in Jessica's exquisite sock yarn. They couldn't believe it, Gale called me Willy Wonka (I had something in my bag for everyone), and they confirmed that that sock yarn is no more -- Jessica does not have it made anymore -- so the last two skeins are in my possession, and they are going to be socks for me-me-me! This was before the surgical intervention that occurred on Sunday, and I told the group that I had to add an inch to each sock. I loved Sabra's sage advice:  "Eh, tell him to cut his toenails." 

"And who are you?" asked Sabra and Carol.

The best joke of the day was Gale saying on repeated occasions, "Norma's a famous blogger."  Um, gentle memo to Gale:  Famous means never having to answer the question, "WHO are you?!"

(Gale's Imogen.  Probably not for a male, but you never know.)

  (Someone chronicling the fun.)

Later, Carol and Sabra told us of a wonderful men's knitting group they headed up in Montgomery last year. They taught guys to knit squares for an afghan to be auctioned off for some local cause like, I don't remember, a fire truck or something (I'm making that up, because I really don't remember WHAT it was for, but some local fund-raising venture or other).  Sort of Montgomery's answer to the Men of Maple Corner, I guess. The men and Sabra met at the local bar on Tuesday nights and did their knitting.

What.a.HOOT. I was all like, "You mean real, regular old Vermont men?  Not some flatlander gay guys who've moved in?"  Nope, your regular local Montgomery Joes. One guy they told of had a method for remembering when he was on a knit row or a purl-back row:  Beer on the right for knit; beer on the left for purl. Sometimes he'd get so into his knitting he'd forget to move his beer.  This I wish I had seen and wish I had been involved in.  Totally blog-worthy, and even more:  totally Yankee magazine-worthy.