Round We Go

It's been way too long since I've done a Parkinson's update. Perhaps because it's been so long since we've accomplished a hard-fought goal.

We've been trying to pedal all the way around the nearby reservoir for two years. It's hilly, hot and crowded in summer, slippery in winter and sometimes plagued with flying bugs that get in our eyes, our ears, our noses, our mouths, our clothes... Sometimes we even find leftover bugs in our hair the next day!

But last weekend, Lizard accomplished the goal. It wasn't the planned ride, and riding all the way around wasn't our initial objective. Lizard was having a very good day and a very good ride, so he just kept right on riding.

We had to take six rest stops in 12 miles. Part of the three hours the entire journey took encompassed his downtime, when the Parkinson's medication has worn off, and he has to wait an hour or more for the next dose. He had to take the next dose on the trail. (We took bike path and trails all the way around. He does not ride on roads with traffic anymore at all.)

Typically, his downtime is his worst time, and it happens four times a day every single day. During that downtime, he typically is incredibly miserable. We've known since the beginning staying active is the key to managing Parkinson's. Let this ride be a testament to all. Riding really does help in the battle against Parkinson's!

Two years it took to accomplish this goal! 24 months of refusing to give up! 730 days of often grueling battle! Well, probably at least a couple months more than precisely two years; I will have to look up the exact day we set the goal. I recorded it in my journal.

The 2021 Ride the Rockies was approaching, and we had swallowed the bitter pill of knowing we might not ever be able to do anything like that again. We'd been slowly, patiently trying to work up his mileage, often only a mile or two per ride. I came up with the idea to do our own RtR... Ride the Reservoir. We would do a couple of miles each morning before I had to begin working, and by the end of the week, we'd have looped the reservoir. However, riding five or six consecutive days in a row turned out to be more than Lizard was able to accomplish. We never finished our own little RtR.

But now we've done something even bigger! My Lizard never quit trying! We rode all the way around the reservoir in one day!

Tweet

Purple Needle Eater

Tweet

Chocolate Gone Bad

I keep hoping I can become a better AI artist, but so far, my track record is not going well. (I specifically prompted six sides to achieve the below image, and even in reiterations, I still could not convince the program to recount!)

The below image (not generated by me) totally communicates my feelings on AI!!!

Using an AI program, an artist (in this case, me) enters a description of the desired image, and with some programs, the artist may use a photo or drawing to help enhance the artificial intelligence rendering. I have seen some spectacular creations, but as of yet, most of my AI artwork is not up to my standards.

After receiving several (highly inspiring!!!) emails with links to the unbelievable (because the images are generated via AI) ice flower blooms on the Songhua River, I decided the world needs my crocheted snowflakes posing as ice flower blooms on a sunrise-reflected smooth water surface. No matter how awesome my writing and how diverse my vocabulary, I have not been able to get anything near as exquisite as the lovely artwork likely created by an experienced AI artist.

(And I can't for the life of me figure out why said creator of above images has not stepped forward to claim the now world widely-circulated images (being passed off in many cases as real photos).)

The above scene is not imaginary, although it is a stacked image. It is NOT AI-generated. The photographer explains how and why a stacked image is created. Most astrophotography is stacked, and many famous snowflake photographers use stacking software. I have an image stacker, but I've yet to snap enough photos of one snowflake to use the Photoshop plug-in. (My snowflakes melt too fast!!!)

Back in my days of journalism, most photographers would provide details if an image was altered. Back then, I absolutely hated Photoshop because I thought it would lead to images that were not real being passed off as genuine and "straight out of camera" or SOOC, which, in my mind, should be a relevant hashtag!!! Now, Photoshop is one of my best friends.

I started with the purely innocent removal of dust spots from my images (and closing zipper flies in family and wedding photos), but I gradually learned the concept of digital art, and oh, how I LOVE the medium. Yet I never try to pass off altered images as real life.

Anyway, here are a few of my frustrating AI attempts at generating a crocheted-snowflake-on-the-water image.

I even montaged two of my photos in Photoshop to try to help AI create what I was looking for. My altered photo turned out better than anything the AI generator has come up with so far.

I gave it another go in an attempt to create a chocolate snowflake with peppermint heart embellishments. My time might have been better spent in the kitchen with real chocolate and peppermint, but then I'd probably weigh 100 pounds more than I do now. So I guess I'll keep giving AI second, third and four-thousandth chances.

Tweet

Teary Lizard Eyes

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Tweet

Spicy Avocado

My most recent jar of avocado skin/pit dye didn't produce as vivid tones as I'd hoped. I think most of the avocado dyes I've been using through the winter are third and fourth dip. I did the freeze/thaw cycle on this dip because I've found the dyes seem to adhere better if I let them dry before I attempt to wash. Freezing overnight and then thawing also seems to richen the colors. We had two snow accumulations while I let the yarn dry.

I did get some lovely tone variation, but I'd like a little more depth. So, back in the dye jar this hank went, and I consolidated all of my brewing dye jars into that one jar. Some of those jars have been going since August. They may not have much pigment left, so I may have to give this hank a third soak, but for now, it looks pretty in the jar. It's on the porch now with two more hanks I started two and three weeks ago.

I started three new jars of avocado pit dye and one new jar of avocado skin dye. It's warm enough they can sit on the porch now, but I kept the fluid levels down just in case it does freeze overnight. I don't need any more broken Mason jars!

We had a record low of 13 degrees Monday night! Good thing it came with enough snow to blanket the flowers that have been fooled into spring! 13 degrees would have wiped them all out!

The jars survived. Thank heavens!

Lizard loves to watch when I start new avocado dye jars. The color deepens pretty quickly the first day, and he's amazed every time. He couldn't believe the starting hue while I was grinding up the pits in my thrift store blender. (Kitchenware should never be used for cooking once it's been used for dyeing, so I opt for super cheap dyeing tools by buying them used.) Lizard said the crushed avocado pits remind him of a good bowl of chili with cheese. The color is rather similar!

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Tweet

Home Improvement

Leaky, sloped sandbox with weeds and rusty shovel came with the house.

This is what we did with it last year.

This is who thought we did all that hard work for her.

This is who ate what Pierce, the bunny, left behind.

This was paradise.

I couldn't get enough photos!

This was heartbreak, pure and simple.

This was a nightmare.

This made me cry.

This is the first step of our initial stab at trying to do it all over again this year, heartache and all.

And these are just two of the hundreds of reasons why we keep trying...

Tweet