Caddyshack, Fairlee Style

I wish this post could include smells because the combo of blooming lilacs and apple blossoms is just incredible right now. We have 4 huge lilac bushes in our yard.... so amazing... and even more amazing that the sun came out and the sky turned blue....it's been about 3 weeks since we've seen it...check it out:



We've been slowly planting the garden too. So far the lettuce, spinach and peas are up and the green onions have only just decided to poke out. Sunflowers, corn and beans are next...and once the baby tomato plants are hardened off, we'll be good to go with those. Here are the baby peas, getting ready to climb an upside down tomato stake:



A few weeks ago, as we lounged in the hammock, we noticed that there is a HUGE woodchuck living in the bank of bushes along the side of the yard. And where there's one... We found 3 different holes and now we're terrified that all of our hard gardening work will be for nothing when he (or she) finds the rows of easily accessible beans, corn, lettuce and zinnias (a favorite among varmits...) So we've begun the occupation...have not resorted to all out war yet (that's when we call in the neighbor with the 22)... here's where the main holes are...as you can see, right next to the garden:



Before we call out the big guns, we want to try a more humane approach to capture... and release, across the river in the yard of some poor, unsuspecting New Hampshire resident (who will likely shoot it and eat it for dinner...and mount the pelt on the wall over the woodburning 50 gallon drum) but what I don't see, I don't know so I'll feel good about releasing him AWAY from my precious plants. Here's the trap we got:



We're on day 3 and still no prisoners. We may need to rethink the bait...right now it's just a crummy old lettuce heart. Maybe some banana would do the trick... We put the trap right next to the hole because we read that they eventually get tired of going around it and just try to go thru it. I'll believe it when I see it. We also covered up the hole with sticks so that we could monitor activity...



I'll be getting out my hose and bucket hat soon...Bill Murray would be proud... Two years ago, on the day before we planned to harvest, raccoons ate EVERY LAST EAR of corn from our garden. They took it just beyond the edge of the yard and chowed and made an actual PILE of corn cobs, like they were taunting us...making us feel bad that they didn't invite us to their party. The budwieser cans alone took all day to clean up. Bastards... Defeat will be declared when we decide to put up a fence...

Our other tactic right now is convincing the woofie that she should pee all around the garden. You can see how that's going...



ON THE TRIATHLON FRONT
My run training is still going really well. I upped the mileage for my base run from 4 to 6 miles on Monday (well, Tuesday actually) and it felt ok. My left quad is still a little sore so the ice pack has been my friend lately. Seems to help a lot. Tonight is one more fartlek run...distance will depend on how I feel... shooting for 50 minutes this time with 3-4 minutes of work and 2-3 minutes of recovery time. I'm feeling dependent on my iPod lately so I think I'll leave it home tonight. I say that now but we'll see... I don't plan on racing with it so I might as well practice that way.

I did a slow easy ride twice around the lake last evening and took pictures for you to enjoy.... have a look:


I run around this golf course when I don't run around the lake. Everything is so green and yummy smelling right now.

Here's the Town Beach where the transition for the Great Fairlee Triathlon is set up. It's amazing that they find room for 600 athletes in this tiny little space. Note the nice sharp gravel in the parking lot...quite enjoyable on the bare feet. The swim happens just beyond...



Here's the swim course...they put big orange buoys out for us to swim in a counterclockwise direction. It always looks REALLY far to me...it's only 0.75 miles but compared to sprint courses it's crazy. I can't wait to see what half IM courses look like... oy....



And here's what it looks like coming out of the water and into transition...except there's a chute and a kiddie pool to rinse your feet off. I always pray for a rack on the grass...so far I've been lucky...



Here's the view looking Northeast from the West side of the lake...I used to live three houses down from where I took this photo...a GREAT spot to be. If you ever get a chance to live near water, DO IT. Somehow it feeds my soul... Mt. Moosilauke (pronounced Moose-i-lock or Moose-i-lockie) is the big mountain way in the back...it's a 6000 footer along the Appalachian Trail in NH.



Here's the view back toward the Lake Morey Inn which is right next to the Town Beach... I drew in the swim buoys again... This one is taken from camp back toward the south.



Here's the main house at camp - check out the huge porch. My favorite thing is to get coffee after breakfast and sit on the top step in the sun as the mist burns off of the lake... the smell of warm wool and fleece and the feel of snuggling close to good friends...



I tried being artsy but I really need a better digital camera (suggestions welcome - I'd love the video option too). Sometime I'll bring out my Dad's old fully manual Nikon with a telephoto lense...then we'll have artsy...



And LAST, I promised Weasel Boy a surprise for him on this post today. He's dilligently planning my next month of training for me...this past month of run training has been amazing so I asked for more and I have no doubt he'll deliver. It's like having a free coach!!! So Weasel, remember this?...



WELL, now it looks like THIS:



START PACKIN' BUDDY!!!! ;)

Stay safe and train hard!!