The Quest continues...

I am pretty lucky to live in a very remote area with a large tract of wild woods that surround us. I thought I'd take advantage of the overcast skies to take a hike and try out some more things I learned from doing a bit more research about Lego photography.

Below is my backpack that is a Kurgo backpack made specifically to carry a small dog. My dog said no. I put a camera bag insert into the 'pet area' years ago and this became my go to backpack.

I can carry water bottles, snacks, and all sort of other goodies in the other section of the backpack.

Old plastic sandwich meat containers are perfect for carrying Lego minifigs or pieces.

 

When I got to the creek, I set my pack down. Did I mention that it is made to sit up straight and that it has a rubber bottom on it? Perfect for setting down in damp places.

I wanted to test out an idea I'd seen a Lego Photographer use when trying to photograph Lego's in a puddle or stream. If you have ever tried it, the boats sink or tip over, the kayaks and canoes don't really float. I've stacked rocks up against Legos in the stream to keep them in place only to back off and get the shot ready...

and the Lego minfig tips over and floats away.

One person suggested hot gluing a piece of metal to the bottom of a Lego minifig stand. I tried that method and it worked well for a while. After bumping around in my backpack and being repositioned several times, the metal washer came off. But it was a fantastic solution and an easy thing to do.

I also took a flat 6 X 6 plate and stood a horse on it. The stream still wanted to pull on the horse, so I put some rocks on the plate to hold it in place. It worked like a charm.

Anyone who has ever ridden horses [or mules] knows that sometimes horses don't like streams or even shy away from puddles.

I imagine that Princess Sara's faithful steed, Ice, wouldn't want to cross the stream. Princess Sara had a tough time convincing Ice that it was OK to go in the water. She even waded into the stream to show him.

Apparently he had none of it until Joan of Knight rode her workhorse into the stream to show Ice that it wouldn't hurt him.

At this point, I was not using a tripod, but was standing in about 8 inches of water in a little pool in the creek. I had to squat down and get the camera close to the water. I felt something cold on my rear end and realized I'd squatted right into the creek.

[Yeah for CrossFit squats!]

Phew!

Princess Sara and Joan got across safely and continued on their Quest. The frog had said that they just needed to go into the forest and the Quest would make itself known to them.

The camera settings were pretty basic. I use an f stop so I could get both figures in focus. But I also set them in the same focal plane.

Getting low was the key. Very low. My hands were resting on top of the water and since I was wearing knee high waterproof muck boots my feet didn't get wet. But my rear end did!

The sky was cloudy so I was able to shoot without worrying too much about highlights on the minifigs.

Processing the shots were fairly straightforward, I have presets that I've developed for certain kinds of looks.

Stay tuned. The Princess and the Knight continued their Quest.

I am just following along.

So why do you CrossFit?

So the title is not really proper. I know that CrossFit is not a verb, but it has changed so much for me.

Let me be frank. Last year on my 62nd birthday I started to feel a bit fluffy around the middle. Others might not have noticed it, but I did.

The idea of 'going to the gym' was already in my head but ... that was for later, when I had time.

Sure. When does one get that time?? I certainly was too busy for that time. I struggled through replacing some fencing that had to be re-done after the Bulldozer guy came through and knocked down two dead ash trees.

I only had 5 posts to pound back into the ground, but I struggled after each one and had to rest. After two posts were driven into the ground I had to quit for another day. It took me 3 days to pound 5 posts into the ground. I was surely a super wimp.

The post pounder that my husband made doesn't have handles. It is a heavy metal tube with an end on it. He made two of them. Last summer I used the lighter one because it was almost too difficult to lift the pounder over the T-post.

Last week I pulled 10 t-posts out of the ground and reset them.
Bam
Bam
Bam

I literally pounded my way across the top of the creek. 10 posts in no time flat and I wasn't out of breath nor was I fatigued.
I couldn't have done that a year ago.


My hand strength....

My osteoarthritis in my thumb joints and fingers had rendered my hands weak and tender. Some mornings it was hard just to make coffee.

I had some concern with this when I started doing CrossFit.

I told the coaches about my hand issues and they found some modifications for me to do.


I've done modified push ups, pull ups, I've lifted weighted bars and sometimes my hands ache after a work out. However not too long ago, I accomplished a hand stand against the wall. I hadn't been able to do anything like that in years!

I went from not being able to turn a door knob easily to...

Being able to repair a barbed wire fence by cutting it and making loops with MY hands.
Something else I couldn't do a year ago.
As I bent the wire and twisted it ...with nice thick gloves ... I thought about how many times I'd grabbed something and grimaced. I know I am hesitant about my hands but the our coach looks at me, smiles and says *Lubricate those joints!*

I have to say I was pretty damned pleased with myself.

Am I happy?
You bet I am.
Oh these hands still ache like crazy some days. But I'm no quitter.

For *CrossFit-ing* has made a huge difference in this 'ol' lady's life.

I'm thinking about getting that post hole digger out and finally putting up ta new tie rail for the mules next to the outhouse.

I thank all my coaches and workout friends for all of their encouragement.
And my son for his encouragement.

Work out of the day

I know my subjects here daily are all over the map. One day photography, another day something else. New experiments in Infrared, hikes, goats, farm work, dealing with an ill husband, and so forth.

That is how I operate. Last week was very tough and things didn't improve much this week at all. I felt myself being drawn into the dark hole of his depression and it scared me.
So put an extra effort to drag myself out of bed and get things done by not checking my emails in the morning with a cup of coffee. Instead I had coffee and went outside to take care of critters as the sun came up. Twice Charlie and I just took a walk to the ridge top and back to get rid of the cobwebs in my head.

I went to CrossFit every other day and this worked out well for me. I literally dragged myself there Monday feeling quite guilty for not being there for a whole week. But the snow/ice/rain/wind storm of 3 days kept me home anyway.
I did my WOD and felt refreshed enough to grab a Kona Coffee and some donuts for Rich on the way home. I was super charged and did book work and spreadsheets and watched as gloomy cold weather settled in outside as well as inside the house.

Wednesday was another workout day. Something fantastic happened. Coach Josh watched me prep for the dead lift and encouraged me to go up in weight. I was supposed to be able to lift 80% of my body weight for this. I kept adding a bit at a time until I was at 90 lbs. I was to do five reps of three with rest in between. I did it.
I did it.
And I did not feel exhausted. Coach looked at me and smiled. He gave me a thumbs up and announced to the rest of our crew that I'd PR'd with the dead lift. There was applause. I felt pumped.

Friday was even more special. Our work out consisted of Kettle Bell Swings, a 400 meter run, modified sit ups and repeat the workout as many times as you can in 25 minutes.
Sounds brutal doesn't it? After the third round the Kettle Bell Swings were a huge effort, I used my 400 meter run to catch my breath and loosen back up for the next round.
I blew through the beginning of the 6th round and sprinted the 400 meters, well as hard as I could. Something from my race running days whispered sweet nothings to my legs and I increased the stride and picked up the pace.
I literally flew [well, in my mind] and headed towards the door when Coach Luke called out the last seconds.

I made it inside and dropped next to my Kettle Bell and caught my breath. Sure I was almost done in, but the excitement of the 'chase' was there. For a few moments I thought for sure that I was not going to be able to do much of anything else all day.

Then I got a text from my neighbor. *Soccer at Washington Park 2:30 Adults vs kids*

I did my town errands and informed hubby that I was going to the Friday soccer games.

The point was, I was refreshed and renewed from a tough work out. I felt on top of the world.
I know it is due to the endorphins released into my body from a hard work out.

Endorphins are produced by the brain which trigger a feeling of a positive feeling, not unlike morphine. Your brain gets a positive buzz for up to 24 hours in some cases.

I think I even produced some extras while playing scrimmage with kids that are easily 50 years younger than I am for about two hours at our 'pick up' soccer game.

Yes, I woke up stiff this morning, but still in a great mood.
I think the sunshine added to that.

Plus the allure of going out to the woods at some point today to find some spring wildflowers. Or perhaps the thoughts of riding a mule....on their first spring ride.

Kudos for WODS.