Merry Christmas from Show Us the World

We hope everyone out there had a very Merry Christmas. We only had two of the five kids with us, and no grandkids, so that made for a very quiet and somewhat sad day. Setting that aside, it was one of the best Christmases I can remember. We were low on funds, so we knew we would not get many material gifts. Which meant we had very low expectations. The really great thing about low expectations is you are rarely disappointed and in this case, we were tickled pink with whatever gifts we had. Nathan did all of the gift shopping and he did a great job. I really love that man!



The boys were very mature about the light number of gifts. I've been very proud of both of them lately for various reasons and today was another reminder of why. I told them today that they are so much cooler than I was when I was there age. One of them told me they are cooler than I am now. I agree!



We did enjoy our biggest family gift, which was Ava.

Lucky for us, we all love her and think she is a great gift. She spent the whole day going from one of us to the next, soaking up all of the love and cuddles she could get. Even the guy who swore he'd never get a little dog thinks she is the bees knees. Having just written that, the fact I use the phrase the bees knees might just be part of why the kids are so much cooler than me. Who cares. The point is, Ava is by far the best Christmas gift I've ever received. I love that dog so much!

Outside of the little sweetness known as Ava, our family had much sweetness this season with those people who are with us right now. I am really humbled by the gifts that others have given to us, especially with those given to the boys. It has reminded me of the true reason for the season. We really have had a great holiday so far and hope it continues into the New Year!

Hope everyone else enjoyed their day too.



Merry Christmas to all!

Drivers are Not a Different Breed

I have been reading some bicycle blog posts lately where the authors describe feeling betrayed when their non-cycling friends say something nasty about cyclists - you know, the kind of thing a clueless and self-entitled driver might say, but certainly not a friend who happens to be a driver. I mean, they're different, right? Those drivers who cut us off and shout at us are bad people, whereas our friends are good?



Problem is that this difference is fictional. After all, each of those nasty drivers is also someone's dear friend. As hard as it may be to believe, they are not usually "bad" outside the context of being behind the wheel. Likewise, just because someone is our friend does not mean they are incapable of thinking or doing things that would outrage us. We can disagree on issues and never know it until that issue comes up, and my experience has been that cycling is one of those issues - right up there with abortion. Once I began cycling for transportation, I learned fairly quickly not to discuss it with friends, co-workers or relatives who are non-cyclists unless I wanted these conversations to turn into heated debates, or all out fights.



Recently a friend and her husband were visiting Boston, and I met them for dinner at an outdoor cafe. I knew that they were both avid recreational cyclists, so I let my guard down and was speaking to them about bicycles - the pros and cons of different roadbikes, that sort of thing. I was feeling good that finally here was someone from my "real life" I could discuss bikes with. Then some cyclists rode down the street past us and the husband shook his head. "Those idiots are going to get themselves killed." I was confused. "What... Why?" He then explained how stupid it is when cyclists "think they are cars" and cycle "right on the road, without bike lanes or anything." "I hope you don't do that!" he added as my friend nodded. Turns out there is this huge national park where they live, and that is where they ride their bikes - unless it is an organised charity ride, which is the only time they'll go on the road. Not only are they drivers the rest of the time, but having exposure to cycling has done nothing to make them empathise with transportational cyclists. We could have spent the rest of our meal fighting, but instead I changed the subject - it wasn't worth it to me. After dinner they took a taxi to their hotel, and I walked around the corner to where my bike was locked up, then rode home "as if I were a car." Those drivers who hate cyclists could be anyone - our friends, our relatives, and even, apparently, other cyclists. People are people, ever ready to feel frustration and annoyance.

Covered Bridge Number 4

Tonight the guys went to pickleball alone, and Mira and I stayed behind. She made dinner for all of us when they returned. It was spaghetti, and we all voted it to be the best sauce we ever tasted!

Goth Acomas

Our previous house had a deck, and we wanted to grow plants with white blooms on it, to glow in the evening when we were in the pool. We chose a semi-dwarf crepe myrtle, Lagerstroemia ‘Acoma’, for its white flowers and smaller size.

The original plan was to grow the crepe myrtles in pots for a year or two, then plant them in front of the house. That plan fizzled, and our two young trees were trapped in their large cylindrical, clay containers for more than 5 years, where they rarely produced a flower. By the time we moved here, they were barely 2-feet tall, and they’d contorted themselves into twisted, cascading bonsai specimens, sending their almost leafless branches down over the sides of the crumbling pots toward the deck, away from the sun. Using them as normal trees was no longer an option, and we were advised to just ditch them and start over.

But Philo & I like to experiment, so we gave them a second chance, pruning out the interiors, and coaxing them into a sort of espalier form along the fence. Two years of reshaping have encouraged them to grow trunks, with branches arching upward and outward, and the Acomas now graze the top of the 6-foot privacy fence. By next summer, they should filter our view of the neighbors’ pink tree. The trunk shape is spare, flat & angular, while the branch tips bend with the weight of the flowers, and there is enough air and light around the trees for other plants to grow.

Our Acomas bear little resemblance to the multi-trunked crepe myrtles growing like separate, huge, stalked bouquets around the shopping malls, for their charm is not that of a natural plant grown well to its full potential. Instead these blooming survivors cast weird, skeletal, interesting shadows on the fence.

Raindrop

I took this photo after our rain last Friday morning. You can see some of the other tree branchs in the raindrop

Beautiful Stranger... Yet So Familiar

You know how it goes: Just when you thought you were over your Ex, she turns up wearing a sexy outfit. That's how I felt when I saw this creature in the neighbourhood! Though it wasn't my old bike, the beautiful stranger was not only of the same nationality, but had similar tastes in adornments.



Leather washer grips and a twined coffee cup holder. Not sure what that additional black bracket is on the handlebar - maybe for an extra battery-powered headlight. The Co-Habitant and I were debating whether this is a newer Pashley or one from a few years ago. He thinks it's older, because the frame is muddy and the saddle is well broken in. I think it's newer, because of that Sturmey Archer shifter (didn't these just come out in ?). Also, the tires were not the usual Schwalbe Marathon Plus, but something by Continental.



Close-up of the twined coffee cup holder. I've never seen one that integrates with the overall look of the bicycle more harmoniously! And I think the twine may also solve the loose fit/ rattling problem some of these cup holders are known to have.



Twined cable lock - just one of many locks that were keeping this Princess safe. I am ashamed to say that I never provided mine with this much security!



And the piece de resistance: a Carradician triumvirate, its olive magnificence catching the golden afternoon sunlight just so. The saddlebag is a Barley model, but I have never seen these Carradice panniers before.



The panniers are absolutely gorgeous and use what could be an Arkel mounting system. I wonder whether they are custom made (I know that Carradice will sometimes make bespoke items), or a new model I did not know about. Oh Beautiful Stranger, if only you could speak!

Autumnal Updates

When I acquired my vintageGazelletwo months ago, I had meant to give her some TLC and a tune-up - but ended up doing absolutely nothing to her until now. She functioned fine despite having sat abandoned in someone's basement, and I've been taking the poor, loyal creature for granted. But every bicycle enjoys care and personalisation, and I have finally givenLindasome much-deserved attention.

The original rubbery-plastic grips must have been reaching the end of their life expectancy, because they felt soft and sticky - as if the material was slowly degrading. So I replaced them with Elkhide sew-on grips from Velo Orange.Although these are not exactly a breeze to install (they are strips of leather that you must cut to size and sew on yourself), the result is worth it - soft, pliant, subtly textured, and beautiful.Luckily, I did not have to destroy theGazellegrips in the process; with some effort they slid off and I will hold on to them as keepsakes.

I have also outlined the head tube lugs in silver. There was trace evidence that they had once been outlined in this manner and I wanted to restore Linda to her prior glory. I think the outlining goes nicely with the chrome fork crown and the silver headbadge.

But while these changes are nice enough, the Co-Habitant gave Linda a gift that is even nicer: he "brightened" her headlight by replacing the halogen lightbulb with an LED. This is a temporary solution, before we execute our grandiose plan to overhaul both the head and tail lights with a super bright LED + standlight system, while retaining the original Gazelle casings. It was reassuring to see that DBC did this to their bikes; hopefully our project will be equally successful (if it works, we'll post instructions). But for now, at least I have a brighter headlight - good to have that sorted now that it is starting to get dark so early.

In addition to the lights project, we are still planning to eventually replace the old, cracked tires with cream Delta Cruisers, and to finally give this bicycle a proper tune up. I am also considering whether I should replace the standard dress guards with something personalised, like the beautiful hand-made guards I've received from Bobbin and Sprocket.



Linda has been so good to me since I got her, that it is only fair to reciprocate. It's true when they say that one person's trash (she was discarded by her previous owner) can be another's treasure.