Photo safari

Borage from my garden

Since I couldn't go hiking because last week's injury is ongoing, I decided to take pictures of flowers and post them instead. They are not wonderful pictures, but what is a person to do when she doesn't have a hike to chronicle? The group didn't go into the High Country because of rain, but frankly, today it is almost full sun. It could be different up in elevation, though. Anyway, I'm glad I didn't miss a fun summer hike.

Crocosmia (red) and hydrangea (blue)

I see these lovelies every time I climb the stairs to my apartment. They are just to the left of the stairs and I enjoy seeing their colors. I wandered around looking for some good pictures, hoping that my photo safari would give me some interesting shots.

Hedi's pretty begonias

Hedi has some nice flowers on her front porch; these are her favorites, but her coleus are also really pretty, too. I've got some to transfer into planters myself. Hers are awfully pretty though, don't you think?

Coleus and an unidentified succulent

I ventured into our community garden, where some of us have flowers amongst the vegetables. I planted snapdragons and cosmos, which are doing quite well, even thriving, on my special brand of benign neglect.

Mishmash of pretty flowers

I should at least go out there and take out the weeds, but I'm not very much inclined to. Our zucchini is beginning to take over a whole section of the garden, and I'm eating it as fast as I can. Others are also helping; there's enough for everybody, or will be in another week or two.

Fragrant yellow rose

My garden neighbor to the east of me inherited all of Rob's lovely plants, including this yellow rosebush, which smells divine in the full sun.

Nasturtiums

As one enters and exits the garden gate, Carter has planted some nasturtiums for us to enjoy. One year I put these in my garden and they took over. You can also see the shadow of the photographer. I almost cropped it out,  but then I thought, why not leave it? I notice I always lift my little pinky when taking these shots.

Today's hikers

 Melanie sent me this picture of today's Senior Trailblazers, but the resolution is so low that I cannot identify everybody. Fourteen of them, in all, and I do hope they had a wonderful day. Mine wasn't bad: I walked to the bus and went to the Y, lifted weights and rode the exercise bike. At least I was able to get my steps in!
:-)

The YMCA will keep me sane

The stationary bikes at the Y

Today I went to the Y for my usual 9-10:00am class of Strength and Tone, which was fine, no pain at all, but then again it's mostly upper body weight work. I rode this bicycle for fifteen minutes before class, also without pain, and asked my friend Carol (who was in the 9:00 class too) if she would take a couple of pictures of me using the gym. She was happy to do so. Behind this particular very comfy bike style, you can see the ones with the skinny little seats, which are nowhere near as pleasant to ride as these. There are six of this particular style and at least one is always in use. You can make it hard or easy to pedal, and since I'm trying to keep my knee happy, I'm using a lighter setting. I might work up to making it harder to pedal if my knee cooperates.

The rowing machine

Yesterday Al saw me on the bike and suggested I give the rowing machine a try, since it would not only burn more calories but also give me an upper body workout. So today I tried it, and I found that it doesn't hurt my knee at all to use it, and in no time at all I could feel myself begin to perspire. Yep, these kinds of machines are going to be my new pals to help me get through without my hikes and fast walks.

Tomorrow I'll be going to my first yoga class since I hurt my knee and hopefully I'll find that I can do most if not all of the poses without knee pain. I guess it's noticeable that I'm limping: I walked by a little boy of three or four with his mom today, and I could hear him telling his mom that he can walk like that, too. He stiffened up his little legs and marched alongside her.
:-)