The California poppies were in bloom. It's still a little odd to see them just growing in grass like that, whole hillsides dotted with orange...

These beautiful, but tiny, white flowers were also abundant (any guesses?).

Wildcat Canyon is actively grazed during certain times of the year. These cows were close enough to touch. (Well not these cows.) At one point I had to pass by a mother cow and her (large) calf and I was a little nervous - mothers can be protective of their babies - but I made as wide a detour as I could and no harm befell me. Cows mowing their way across a lush pasture sounds just like someone ripping up paper, non-stop! When I passed back the same way on my return trip, around two hours later, most of the cows were lounging in the shade of some big trees. Eating grass is hard work!

Super adorable cute ground squirrel of some sort! At first I thought it was a groundhog, but I don't think it's big enough. I was so focused on getting as close as I could to the one in the center of the shot that I didn't even notice the second one until I downloaded the photo later. Where's Waldo?

All in all it was a pleasant, relatively short 7 mile hike (approximately) over 3 hours (including a lot of lollygagging) along the Clark-Boas, Belgum, and Wildcat Creek Trails.

Check it out, I ran a race! Every year I make New Year's resolutions and every year I pretty much give up on them by February. This year I was determined to stick to them. One of the resolutions this year was to complete the C25K training program and run in a 5k before my birthday. Even though I am quite thin I am not at all in shape - I have terrible aerobic endurance and I suffer from both exercise and allergy-induced asthma (and have since childhood). Though I am pretty active (dancing, hiking) these things do not equate to excellent cardio-vascular health. C25K seemed reasonable and achievable, and about halfway through the program I signed up for the 3rd Annual Benicia Education Foundation Run for Education. It's a fundraiser for a good cause, and fairly close to home (so I wouldn't have to wake up too early...), plus it was timed at just about the end of my C25K training and right before my birthday. Once I had paid that entry fee there was no going back. :)

I finished the "program" this past week (I missed a few weeks because of travel and other reasons) and ran my first race today. When I started just a few months ago I could not even run a mile without difficulty, and if you had said that in a few short weeks I would be running in a 5k (without stopping!) I would have called you a big liar :) Yet this morning I did just that! Though I am a pretty slow runner still, I managed just under a 10-minute-mile pace and ran the whole thing, hills and all, in about 30:40 (no official results yet). This was the first time I had run a full 5k as well - the farthest training run I had done to date was about 4.75k.

I must admit I am pretty proud. :) This was something completely new to me. It was something I did on my own (no family or friends trained with me, raced with me, or even came to the race). It was difficult! And I accomplished a goal I had set out for myself. This was the first race for me, but it certainly won't be the last. I've caught the bug, so you might have to endure the occasional running post on top of all the other randomness that appears on these pages. I think I have the next race all picked out...

I did make a few small modifications, though they are all small things like "picked up 17 stitches instead of 15 along gusset" and "apparently do not know how to follow directions". The biggest surprise about these socks is how quickly they went. Though it took me a full month from cast-on to cast-off, in reality I only spent about 2 weeks working on them, and even then I was working on other things at the same time. Simple socks are easy! And fun! Note to self for future socks when I decide I need to make the most complicated pattern I own: simple socks equal near-instant gratification.

Other than that things are moderately quiet around these parts (other than work, but that's a whole other bit of drama entirely). I'm working on something non-knitting related that I might blog about in a few weeks time - we'll see. I'm diligently plugging away at Le Lapin Noir as well - I decided to modify the back so that it isn't so low as in the original. (Why is this no surprise? I can't not modify a pattern...) I've about 1 1/2" more until I begin the neck shaping and then about 2" (I think) until the back is finished. And then on to the colorwork on the front! I can't wait.