Day 1: Running up the Mountain!

Summer has officially started for me! My day started with sleeping in until 6:10 or so. Then I had to throw a pillow at Wishy because he wouldn't shut up about all of the love he wasn't getting.

JerkCatButtFace!

So I ate breakfast, read the news I wanted to read, and took a nap with the good one.

As some of y'all know I've been working on these wooden postcards, and I'm really having fun with them. We don't always sell dulcimers at the shows we attend. In fact, I've only ever sold one off of the table. So we make other crafty stuff to pay for the other necessaries.

This is one of my favorites that I've done. Val wants to color it and send it to her momma. I said she has to pay the going rate, but we're not clear on the price yet. Any suggestions? I'm thinking $20.

Then I got the three coats of shellac on the rabbi's instrument, and it looks fantastic. This may be one of the best finishes I've done. There is still some room for it to go wrong with the varnishing, but so far it is so pretty!

When I was searching for some way to learn to build instruments, specifically dulcimers, I fell in love with the Sunhearth and Bear Meadow instruments because they are the prettiest ones out there to me. Don't get me wrong, there are other gorgeous ones, like Blue Lion, but there is just something about the ruddy, sleek look.

 This was really an all day process, and I decided to run in between steps, which I did. But I wasn't sure where I was going to run. Then I remembered a pretty okay guy I work with who is a triathlete told me I could run up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is 20 minutes from our house. I said that the roads are too busy for me to enjoy a run there, and he told about the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.

Driving there is always a treat. We live in the foothills, but to drive into the mountains proper is refreshing as driving to the beach was back in the day.

One of my favorite things to do in FL was to run near the beach and then go to the beach to swim. I'd just be in the water for hours. I always feel so at peace--or at least in harmony with the world. But the drive was never like this. Beautiful in its own way, but I'm not unhappy we are here!

I ran the two miles up the mountain. There was only a 400 foot rise in elevation, but crap it was hard! I was definitely sucking wind at the two mile mark where I turned around.

Going  back was fun and faster. I parked where I could climb down into the creek, and man was that refreshing!

I finished the day with a walk. It was sunny and 79 degrees. And then Val and I watched "Big Stone Gap."

What a fantastic first day of summer!