Weekly Mileage #171 and the Fourth of July

Monday Sunshine and I had our first socially distant, in-person Scout meeting, which went pretty well. It was funny to watch the girls troop vs the boys troop. The boys were playing kickball, the girls were catching up on their advancement stuff - signing things off and such. They played some corn hole, but mostly they worked on advancement stuff.

Wednesday I worked on patterns and prototypes. I'm close on the journal cover- just a couple more tweaks and it should be good. The smaller tote I made last week turned out to be a mini tote and isn't big enough for my planner. So I redid the pattern to make it larger.

The zip bags I've been working on were a bust, so I need to find a new pattern.

That night we had ward council to discuss how we're going back to church- we can go back in groups of 25 or less, which will require some planning and scheduling.

Thursday I went for a trail run that was hot and humid and may be the last one for awhile unless we have some cooler days. I only did about a mile and a half and it took a lot out of me.

Wild blackberries!

I saw this sign at the kiosk next to the parking lot and had to wonder if it contributed to the emptiest parking lot I've seen since lockdown started. That or the heat and humidity discouraged everyone.

I spent more time redoing patterns and working on prototypes- I'm making good progress!

Friday we had a socially distant playdate in our friends' cul-de-sac. The boys did pretty well not getting too close to their friends, and Ocean was super happy to get out of the house and see a friend.

I worked some more on those silly zip bags. I've made so many of them. I did finally get a decent result, but I'm not completely sure it's worth my time to make more of these. We'll see. And I'm not sure about that loop. I want a loop, but I can't figure out another way to add one in and make it look good.

The zip bag that I made before that I mostly like, but the size isn't quite right and zip isn't as pretty as I'd like. This one was of thicker leather than what I used in the one pictured above- that may also make a difference.

The pile of past zip bag attempts:

I cut all the zippers out so I can reuse them in other bags. I'll use the leather for different experiments.

Saturday was the Fourth of July and we did some fireworks in our driveway. I discovered that if you video fireworks in slow motion, it looks really cool.

We did our fireworks before it was fully dark so the boys could go to bed and I think we were the first in the area. After we did ours, we heard a lot of other people setting off their fireworks. Canceled fireworks displays in the city meant a lot of people did their own at home- more than usual.

I spent more time doing leatherwork. The tote I made earlier in the week fits my planner, but I still wasn't super happy with the size. So I made the pattern a little bigger and now have four evenly stepped totes from mini to small to medium to large. I really like the medium and large totes- they're the most useful for me and what I tend to carry.

Punching holes with the arbor press- so much easier than whacking the punch with a hammer.

Leather washers and Chicago screws to hold the straps in place. I'll be using copper rivets in future versions because I cannot get the Chicago screws to stay tight.

Sunday Jeremy and I went to church for our ward's trial run. We're approved to meet in groups no more than 25, but will be aiming for groups of 20. It was good to meet in person again, but no singing and we were spaced very far apart. We'll be meeting every other Sunday, in 4-5 sessions. Jeremy and I will take turns taking the older two kiddos and staying home with Ocean. He doesn't follow directions well and I can just see him licking the pew and then somersaulting over it (he's done the latter way more times than I'd care to admit), and he would find whatever germs had managed to escape being wiped down with Clorox wipes. He's just that good.

Pretty good picture of me, wearing my new canvas work apron.

I passed 365 miles for the year! My goal is 365 foot miles and 365 bike miles. I'm a little ahead on bike miles and a little behind on foot miles, but I'm doing good staying on track.

Weekly Mileage
Tuesday- 15.0 miles biked
Thursday- 1.63 miles run and hiked
Saturday- 15.0 miles biked
total- 31.63 miles

2020 totals

25 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

159.12 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
11.00 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
200.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
370.12 miles total