Yard and Family Stuff

So one of the things that happened earlier this year was that we purchased a used truck.  We've realized over the few years that we've owned our 16 acres that we needed a large vehicle just to tow stuff and be able to do general things that you have to do with a lot of property.  Move cut up trees... move large tractor implements... accumulate rocks for our rock wall we're building.... get wood chips...

Pretty much everyone with a larger piece of property at some point realizes they need a truck.  This is our red beast:


We were happy to get a used truck as it will simply be used for hauling junk all over creation.  We didn't want to worry about putting the first scratch into it... and we aren't since it had a lot of scratches when we bought it!

One of the first things we did was finish clearing out brush and junk bushes from an area that we use to go from the driveway to the back portion of our property.  We wanted to stop driving the tractor across the grass, so we cleared a path and then used wood chips from the town to keep the weeds down and prevent the area from turning into a mud path.


With the trees greening up, the area looked really nice (and still does).  It provides a good transition between the yard and the woods.


Last but not least, in early June, some of my siblings and I participated in a 5k race in our hometown.  The race is dedicated to a student (he was a senior when I was a freshman in high school) who was killed in a car accident.  He was a very dedicated runner on our cross country team and had always wanted to go to school for physical education (he had a running scholarship to St. Lawrence University) and to be able to come back to the town and improve things there.

When we were in high school, we didn't have a track to run on.  The only track we had was an old cinder track that you'd be more likely to break your ankle than to set any records.  So we practiced by running laps around the parking lot.  We had a total of four hurdles to practice over for races where you needed to clear 10 of them, and yet, we had one of the best track teams in the state.  The race has been held for 21 years now, and the town has one of the best track and field facilities in the entire state thanks to the participants of the race and the donations that have come in as a result of the race.

Anyway... I digress a bit...

Last year, I participated in the race by walking with my younger sister (the one on the far left in the photo below).  After we did it, my other sister (the one on the far right) said she wanted to do it this year.  We also roped one of our brothers into doing it with us as well this year.  The three "dry" looking people walked the race and carried umbrellas since it was pouring the entire time.  I ran the race and got completely drenched.  We had a great time though, which was the whole point of it.  I also ran a personal best of 33:55, which was 3 minutes faster than a 5k I had run a month prior.


We ended up with a fun weekend of the siblings getting together.  The rain didn't damper our spirits at all.  I hope we can all get together to do it again next year!

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Quilting Mojo

Ack!  Its been months again since I last posted.  How does that happen?

It seems that I've lost my quilting mojo as of late.  The past few months I've had little desire to go and quilt (which is highly unusual).  I sometimes wonder whether its lack of enthusiasm in the projects I'm working or just plain not wanting to spend more time inside than outside.

I tend to have the later problem when its summer time.  My office at work is buried in a large manufacturing building, so I don't see daylight unless I have specific meetings near the front of the building.  As such, by the time I get home (or on weekends), the last thing I want to do is be inside.

The up-side to that is that I've been doing a lot of running outdoors.  Earlier this year, I participated in a 5k at work (which didn't go as well as I wanted), a 3.5 mile corporate challenge, and then another 5k in my hometown.  Between the 1st and 2nd 5k, a month of training passed and I was able to decrease my time by 3 minutes, which is pretty significant considering the races are 3.1 miles.  I was able to drop my time by 1 minute per mile.

I've still been training, but haven't selected my next race.  I keep telling myself... sign up for the next race when the weather is cooler on a Saturday... but the weather hasn't cooled off yet! :)  I will sign up for one soon and hopefully I'll finish around the 30 minute mark for the race.

I have gotten some quilting done, but no photos to show for it.  Its been slow going with two kids quilts that I was supposed to have done in June.  Oops.... I'm a bit late with them.  They are surprise gifts, so at least the recipient doesn't know its coming.. or how late it is.  LOL.

I will try to post some more on here... it has felt like each week goes by really quickly and I just never seem to get around to quilting (or posting).  Its been a crazy year so far and will probably continue to be.

I hope everyone is keeping up with their quilting (or other crafts)!


Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations