A long, hot weekend

The boardwalk at Risser's Beach

It's been an especially hot long weekend on the south shore (30+ degrees with high humidity making it feel even warmer), which made it hard to accomplish much. I did manage a short run into town and back early yesterday when it was cloudy but I was dripping with sweat by the time I got home so didn't attempt the same feat today in full sun. We also got some sorting and unpacking done yesterday while it rained. We've spent the rest of the weekend resting at the beach or on the back deck, cooking, reading, watching Netflix and playing with Jackie Blue.

I'd hoped to spend a few hours playing with my camera this weekend but ended up taking just a few shots when we took Jackie to the beach for a long walk Saturday morning. The rest of the time, it's been either too hot and sunny to be outside for long, or I was busy doing other things. The great thing about our walk on Saturday morning was that we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. Apparently, other people don't like the fog as much as we do.

The old wharf at the end of the beach is a favourite spot for stalking snails

The remnants of the wharf

Petite Riviere from the back beach at Risser's

I had a really hard time taking good photos of Jackie in the foggy conditions. She moves so quickly, most were out of focus, and she looked far too serious in many others. It made me realize just how difficult it is to capture her joy when she's doing something she loves. Here are few that almost do it. In the last two, she's waiting for Husband to throw her favourite toy (a rubber ring) so she can chase it down the beach.

After our walk, we popped up the road for a bite of lunch at the Ploughman's Lunch, before returning to the beach for a couple of hours of reading (Husband and me) and snoozing (Jackie Blue). The fog never lifted entirely but that was okay because it helped moderate the air temperature.

We spent most of yesterday at home but did a quick run to Mahone Bay for a bit of shopping in the afternoon. En route back, we popped in for a pint of excellent micro-brew and some live Celtic music (including a bagpipe) on the patio at Saltbox Brewery. It's a puppy-friendly place, so we took Jackie along and, as you can tell, she loved it!

Today, we headed back to the beach in an effort to escape the stifling temperatures at the house. Unfortunately, it was nearly as warm there and the beach was packed so we didn't enjoy it as much as we hoped to. On the upside, Jackie got some exercise, we squeezed in a short visit with my folks (who were camping nearby), and I got to take Patti for a spin. I have to admit it felt good to be back on my motorcycle - so long as I didn't think about too hard. I'm far too aware of my mortality to enjoy riding as much as I once did - especially in the heat!

I mentioned we watched Netflix this weekend. That's new for us. We're not big TV watchers and gave up cable years ago so have had limited options since. Very occasionally, we'd rent a movie on iTunes, break out an old DVD, or watch a TV show online, but mostly we just read books instead. Now that we have a Netflix account, that may change. There are heaps of movies and TV programs I've been wanting to see, and, as part of our big move, we've just set up a cozy den that will make watching them a lot more comfortable.

Speaking of our move, I have to say I've been a bit horrified to realize just how much stuff we've accumulated over the past decade. For much of that time, we had two or more "homes" and our belongings were spread out amongst them so we didn't really notice how much stuff we had. Consolidating everything to one house has been eye-opening, to say the least. We'll be months disposing of things we no longer need, and it will be challenging to find good homes for some of it, but we're determined to be ruthless so we can return to living in a relatively uncluttered space.

And that was our long weekend. It's back to the coalface for me tomorrow. Hope your long weekend was good, wherever you are! 

Still here and blogging...

...in my head, at least. Unfortunately, I rarely have time to write these days and, when I do, I usually spend it catching up on email. 

What’s got me so busy? A good question. I wonder sometimes why life feels so hectic when I don’t seem to do much besides work and hang out with Husband and the critters. I never watch TV, rarely go out, and train only sporadically. The trouble is I’m so tired that, even when I do have a little time, I’m not inclined to spend on my laptop. I’m more likely to pour a glass of wine and play tug with Jackie Blue. 

Life is especially tiring at the moment because we sold our city house a few weeks ago and I’m commuting 200k a day to work and back. I only drive about 150k of that since I catch a bus at Tantallon but the round trip eats up 3 hours of each day. I’ve been using the time on the bus to read novels, which makes it feel a little less like work, but all that travel still makes for a longass work day. Fortunately, I’ll only be commuting for a few more weeks. I've lined up an apartment to rent in the city starting the beginning of September.

The decision to sell the house was a bit spur of the moment. At the time, I thought I might be giving up my job and the housing market was hot so we decided to take the plunge and sell the house while we could get a good price for it. However, things at work have improved to the point that it now makes sense to stay in my job awhile longer and see how it goes. It would be nice to end my government career on a high note instead of leaving earlier than planned out of frustration. 

Moving's not the only thing that's been consuming time and energy. Husband and I went on a wonderful trip to Newfoundland and Ireland in late May/early June, which I hope to blog about in detail eventually. In the meantime, here are a few photos to wet your appetite.

In addition, we've had a regular stream of visitors since early July. Most booked their time with us before we decided to sell the house so we didn't feel we could postpone, and anyway we've enjoyed having them. It just made July that much more hectic.

The other issue for me has been the heatwave we've had over the past few weeks. Normally, I enjoy hot weather but not this year. Coupled with regular hot flashes, the very warm temperatures have kept me from getting enough sleep.

Fortunately, I've booked two more weeks of vacation in late August so it won't be long until I get some proper rest. In the meantime, I'm doing my best to pace myself, eat right, drink plenty of (non-alcoholic) fluids, and cut myself a bit of slack on the training front. 

At the moment, the most I can manage is a couple of short runs per week and I often end up having to walk parts of them on account of the (internal and external) heat. It's frustrating but I remind myself that it's better to do some training than none at all. Once I've moved into an apartment in the city, I should have more time for running (and blogging) since Husband plans to stay in the country with the critters most weeks.

So that's the news from here. Hope you're having a good summer, wherever you are. If you're a female runner of a certain age, I'd love to hear how you manage hot flashes when you run (and the rest of the time, for that matter). If you're a long distance commuter, how do you spend so much time on the road without feeling totally exhausted at the end of the day? Love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!