Jikana Damaru

Marathon running plus other stuff

Last weekend our friend swam, biked and ran for 13.44 hours straight.

Yes, you read that right.

He swam for 3.8 kms, then jumped on his bike and rode 180 kms and then he got off his bike and ran a full marathon.

Who does that?

Let's not discuss how superfit this guy is; or how nuts he is. Or how much time he must spend training - just running and swimming and riding and riding and riding. As LOML and I like to say when we see someone out riding their bike in the middle of nowhere, "yep, look at him... nothing better to do". Oh, and when we see people out jogging we say, "yeah, you'd better run".

But I digress.

If you ask someone like Roger why he does what he does he talks a lot about how it feels when he finishes. The actual doing of the Ironman event is gruelling, exhausting, painful - your basic fucking nightmare. Pushing through enormous physical and mental barriers again and again and again. Ignoring the aching limbs, the blistered feet, the thudding heart, the sheer loneliness. Breaking through your fear and riding the pain all the way to the finishing line is the biggest high (apparently) you could ever (supposedly) climb to (I am told). It's success and achievement and satisfaction and 27,000 'you rocks' all wrapped up in a very sweaty gift.

Life's a bit like that. Sweaty. Plus the sheer gruelling drudgery of life is enough to make you want to run the 100 metres in the opposite direction. But we're all signed up for the Ironman and we've got to just keep on plodding.

How are we going to last?

By focusing on the finish line, the whole reason why we're here doing what we're doing. Plodding along towards our notion of what success looks like; the thing or things that makes it all worthwhile. Trouble is, I'm not entirely sure I know what that end goal is. Trouble indeed. How am I going to finish this bloody marathon if I don't know what it is I'm running towards? What's going to help me push through the pain?

So, in prep for next year, I'm having one of my Big Thinks and I'm writing down those big, big goals. Why am I swimming and biking and running and running and running? What does the finish line look like to me? And how will I know when I get there? As usual, my Big Think might take me a while to think*, but I know it's one of those really important ones that I've just got to get to the bottom of. I've just got to know.

What are you running for?

And what's waiting for you at the finish line?

* Anyone still waiting hopefully for me to discover what I believe in? Me too.

[Image via weheartit]

trial and error...

Finally loaded up my Olympus OM-10 with some Kodak Pro 100 film. Seems I didn't fully comprehend the impact of this less light-sensitive film on my indoor shots. Light metering for this environment showed exposure times that exceeded my ability to handhold the camera. Shake, shake blur. Only a few images turned out and a hindsight lesson was learned. Next time I'll be reaching for ISO 400 film.

North Rock Gallery

From left to right:
Jewellery storage tree, sparrow key ring, oak tree tray, mushroom shaped sponge, fairytale bird soft toy , ceramic bird, toadstool pen, apple blossom and wild berry candle, owl beaker, red hare print, twig colouring pencils

Today on label love I am sharing with you North Rock Gallery, which I was recently introduced to. It's a great online boutique full of gorgeous Scandi-chic interior pretties, Nordic inspired art and a host of gorgeous woodland inspired decorations.

Northrock Gallery was opened in May 2009 by textile designer maker Suzanne and her landscape and architecture photographer boyfriend Mark. Located in the Shetland Isles, Scotland, they sell well known Scandinavian brands such as Sagaform, ISAK, Rice DK, Blafre, Pluto Produkter, and Maileg, as well as some stylish British brands such as Orla Kiely, Mini Moderns and Bold and Noble.

In 2010 they launched their web shop to help them reach a wider audience, where they sell a large selection of the products available in store online and are currently expanding the artwork available to buy online, selling the work of several of the artists who's work they exhibit in their gallery.

Have a sweet day!

Party on down: Tables

The table decorating part of party hosting is outta sight fab if you ask me. Beautiful images created from beautiful food on beautifully set tables - what's not to love? Do bear in mind that out of all the party elements, the 'party table' is all about the parents and not really about the children. I don't honestly think they even notice that you've lined your topper-topped cupcakes up just so on their matchy tray.

That said, it's so easy to get the 'parental wow factor' with your fancy table full of your clever food... but I'm a bit forgetful. I focus mostly on the games and the theme and the general merriment and then panic right at photo time because my tables don't look good compared to all those stylist-party-blogger sites. To be honest, I'm far too slap-dash, impatient and whatevs to ever be able to do one of those tables. But a little effort is acceptable.

To give good table, you've got to have a basic concept in your mind so you can work a few accessories. It's all about trial and error. Use things you already have at your place to pull it altogether, purchasing only when strictly necessary and limiting yourself to things you will definitely use again in the future. Make sure you leave yourself lots of time to move things around and add bits here and there.

Don't be scared, my party tables don't look anything like the party table above either. Mine are generally fairly cobbled-together jobs so I've started with a couple of mine and then branched into tables created by far less lazy people. Enjoy!

Cappers' rainbow party

The Badoo's pink party

[Source]

How freaking cool is this!! [Source]

[Source]

It goes without saying that Amy Atlas is the Queen of the Party Table! [Source]

I am barely wiping the surface of the amazing tables that are out there in blogland. More on my Pinterest board.

Do you think the party table is sometimes all about the table and not enough about the party?

Next time: Decorations

[Main image sourced via pinterest]

and so she (finally) covers a lamp...

I did it. Only took me 6 weeks to get around to it but folks, I covered me a lamp! Turned out to be (like most crafty endeavors) super-duper easy-peasy and made me wonder why I didn't do it sooner. But she's covered, folks!

I really appreciated the words of wisdom from Anna, Janette and Emily on how to do such a thing but actually when it came to the task and my computer wasn't turned on, I just followed my nose! There are countless covering lamp tutees out there on the web so I won't bore you with my own how-to... I made one teeny tiny mistake and had to discard my first fabric cutting, but second time worked a treat! And so, with nothing more than a bit of fabric, some fabric glue, a hot-glue gun and a bit of trim my black Ikea monstrosity now looks like this:

And I'm happy! Looks all kinds of flabby in my new studio which - yes - I will reveal to you next week. I am happily ensconcing myself in my studio at every available second and I'm like a happy pig in mud! Can't believe it took me 5 years to gat around to it! What crafty endeavours have you got up to this week??

One Pavlova - Two Ways

In the recent edition of the My Little Jedi Magazine Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes and I decided to create this delicious Pavlova two different ways - one for easy presentation on your table and the other to use as a great take home Christmas favour.

First up is the Pavolva Tree - this is honestly so easy to put together as I took these photo's of Jacki creating her tree in about 1 minute flat - she just kept layering it with all the delicious components and it worked a treat. Here are some photos showing just how simple it is to put together.

The second version of this wonderful dessert is a Pavlova in a jar. Great for take home gifts or a cute way to serve your guests at the party. As with the tree you just layer the components on top of one another, close the lid and tie on a cute tag. Yum!

Jacki's recipe and instructions are below.

Nutty Chocolate Pavlova Tree Recipe

Find your favorite Pavlova recipe, or use the one below, and made a few quick and easy changes to the way it is put together and you have a Pavlova Tree or a Pavlova in a jar – great to serve on Christmas day and for party favours for your guests.

You will need:-

6 egg whites (room temperature)

330 gms caster sugar

1 tbs cornflour

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

25gms cocoa powder

6 Ferrero chocolates, crushed

600mls thickened cream

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1/3 cup icing sugar

Pistacchio nuts, hulled and crushed

Punnet of blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 140°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add in the caster sugar. Continue beating until meringue is thick and glossy, about 5-7 minutes. Sift cocoa powder into meringue and fold in the crushed ferrero chocolates.

3. If making the pavlova tree, spoon the meringue mixture into rounds on your baking paper using different sizes circles. This will achieve the Christmas tree cone shape. Make as many rounds as you like and make the tree as high or wide as you like.

4. Put the trays in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 120°C. Depending in the size of your shells the cooking time will take between 1 and 1½ hours. Keep checking. The shells will be ready when the surfaces are hard. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar until the oven is cooled.

5. To make chantilly cream, beat thickened cream together with the scraped vanilla bean and icing sugar until stiff peaks are achieved.

6. To assemble, get your favourite cake stand or plate and place a small blob of cream on the stand and start layering the pavlova shells, with the larger circles on the bottom and work your way up. In between each layer, pipe the chantilly cream with sprinkle with the pistachio nuts and blueberries. Top the tree with a swirl of cream and a luscious blueberry.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe by Blissfully Sweet

Jars, Printables and cake stand Sweet Style

Photography Sweet Style

wordless wednesday : Mother & Son

wow it's wednesday again! thanks for being here & playing along. {if you are new here all you need to do is add your wordless blog post to the list. link back to here & enjoy getting to know some new bloggers}