Ants, ants and more ants

If you served coffee to a guest in the designer coffee cup below you better be ready that it gets dropped on the table or the floor. After all, who wants "ants" in their coffee?

Ramblin' Rose Tri 2

We have been in Winston-Salem for a bit more than a year now and Amy decided to race the Ramblin'Rose Triathlon again. When she did it last year we had barely been here, and this time Amy actually had planned it a bit longer in prep for a Half Ironman in September. The goal was to be faster than last year and hopefully go sub 1 hour. Amy had an awesome race and finished in 59:07 and 51st out of almost 500 starters. (last year she finished in 1:04:22) Below are a few pics from the race.

Amy sets up her little transition area quite focused



Amy with neighbor Caroline before the race



The transition area with Winston-Salem in the background



The pre race meeting was busy and enthusiastic



The pool looks quite serene



Caroline and Amy in line ready for the swim



Amy about to start her swim



This race has a long run from the pool to the bike transition



Amy and Caroline in transition



A quick transition allowed Amy to get out fast



Heading out for the run after a fast bike ride



Almost home, sub 1 hour and more than 5 minutes faster than last year



The results area was quite popular

The ART piece that stayed at home

I made this mixed media art piece for the recent ARTpARTy but somehow felt that I liked it too much to give it up. I created a second piece and kept the one below. What you see are real flower elements on a black painted canvas with a really thick coat of lacquer on top.

A yard update

The front yard of our home on Clover Street was quite nice when we bought the home earlier this year. It really needed a bit of love though and some expert grooming and now it looks fantastic. Mostly bushes were trimmed back, a small rotten tree removed and some smaller bushes redistributed. Plus lots new mulch added.







This is what the front of the house looked like in April of 09

Nice cufflinks

Made from old payphones, these cufflinks are quite nice.

ARTpARTy on Clover

Last night we had our first ARTpARTy in our new home on Clover Street and it worked out great. There were lots of interesting and beautiful artworks plus a ton of nice people. Below are a few images of the people as they arrived with their creations. A few hours later everyone went home with someone else's art.

Amy finally wanted to create her own art piece



My artwork reflected too much and we had to go outside to not use the flash



Despite being a bit sick the last week, Mary was able to come



Caroline and Matt each worked on an art piece for the party



Art pieces showed up in all kinds of different ways



The older son of Nate and Jenny give them the inspiration for these popular items



Laura and Jared brightened up the party with their painting



An old tourism card print was crafted by Scott and Mitch



Tom and Travis and their candle art



An endless art piece by Laura



Luke and Melissa worked with wood



Ken is a neighbor from up the street and created an interesting Mango



Leanne and Breck worked in cork



Nancy created a 2-piece artwork



Treb ran an errand for us and thus came a bit later with his beautiful rope work



Related image galleries:
- Piedmont Leaf Lofts ARTpARTy
- 2007 Chattanooga ARTpARTy
- Late 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga
- Early 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga

Faded glory

We recently noticed that the dishwasher not only took the coffee stains out from inside this mug, but also the writing on the outside of it. Amy kind of felt bad because she used it a few times, but I think she is not to blame. My award seem to be fading away in conjunction with my fitness. :-)

Coffee and Milk Art

Mona Lisa in coffee and milk? Or should I say an image of Mona Lisa created from over 3,500 coffee cups of various mixtures of milk and coffee? One thing is for sure, someone in Sydney, Australia made quite an effort to create this piece.

Life is a beach

Well, the title should have been Life at the beach, because that is where we were last weekend. Amy, Pete and I went to Litchfield Beach in SC where we met Amy's Dad Ron and his wife Amy. We had a great time and especially enjoyed the delicious shrimp dinner that Amy prepared. Yummy.

Pete seemed somewhat puzzled by the ocean and the sand


Friday night we grabbed dinner on Murrell's Inlet


Saturday morning we went on a 2 hour ride before it got too hot or busy


Happy to be on the bike after a long time off with various injuries


Looking good with a new leash and collar


Trying to be as close as possible to mom and dad during the drive

Little runner girl

Over the weekend my niece Sara Nina ran a 5k race with my younger brother Manfred, and the 2 of them crossed the line in 32:29. That is not shabby for a little girl who just turned 6 in May. She is the little girl on the left with bib# 397. Which one do you think is my younger brother?

Solar eclipse

An interesting shot taken during the solar eclipse in Allahabad, India. Now those are some cool shades dudes.

On the tracks of Andy Griffith

Over the weekend we got a visit of Amy's mom and we had a very nice time with her. Saturday night we cooked dinner at home and our neighbor Mary joined us. During dinner conversation I found out that both Mary and Amy's mom like Andy Griffith, so on Sunday we drove to "Mayberry" and had lunch there. Mayberry of course is a fictional town based on Mount Airy, NC, and that is where we went.

Mom's new ride

Well, my mom didn't get a new bike, but she did get a new car. So here are a couple pics of mom's new silver colored Opel Corsa. Go Frieda.