BLOG CHALLENGE! Show me some Spring from where you live or some Fall!

We haven't had a blog challenge in a long time! So for those in the spring/summer season hemisphere show me a pic or two of spring where you are.

For those in the Southern Hemisphere who are now entering their fall/winter show me a pic of that!

FuzzyGalore's Voices of Moto Bloggers Challenge

You all know what I look like, followed some of my adventures through my blog life, but rarely do I post video of myself talking.  This is probably a good thing because I can be a wee bit chatty. It's pretty cool hearing what you all sound like because generally the world of Moto blogging is pretty quiet and generally written.  

Rachel aka FuzzyGalore Moto blogger extraordinaire issued the Voices of Moto Blogger community challenge.  Hello My Name is Fuzzy - The Voices of Moto Bloggers challenge

Hello can you hear me eh??  This is me in all my Princess Scooterpie diva-ness. Do I sound Canadian? Eh?

Post cards from the edge - ToadMama's Snail Mail challenge

Kathy at ToadMama.com issued ba challenge!  We in blog land love challenges!  Here's how it works, you message me your address and I will send a postcard!  There is an email link on the top right corner of my bloggio.  Who doesn't love receiving postcards!  I do! 

Martha's grab some colour & eat it challenge

Well it took some time for this one, but here it is. Kale & coleslaw salad with pumpkin seeds & dried organic cranberries. Yum!

BLOG CHALLENGE!!!! Time to get your spring on!

Okay peeps it's been forever since we have had a blog challenge!  Calling Fuzzy Galore !  Who is the queen of blog challenges.  This challenge is to post a picture on your blog of any sign of spring where you live - yup I know that a lot of you are still buried under snow & sub zero temps, but amongst all the freezing cold there has to be a sign of spring somewhere! Be creative, it doesn't have to be a pic of flowers or buds, but something that represents the coming spring to you.

Yup I am looking forward to wearing these babies!  See how easy that was! 

Cool places to park a motorcycle challenge

Gary France has issued a challenge of cool places to park a motorcycle. See here http://garysusatour.blogspot.ca/2013/04/competition-cool-places-to-park.html. Here is my contribution.  And yes the bike is the centre of my universe ;)

Tell me are your Christmases like Martha Stewart or Clark Griswold Challenge

I am issuing a Christmas Story Blog Challenge, tell me what your Christmases are like and if you don't celebrate Christmas tell me about your funniest holiday. Are they Martha Stewart-like i.e perfectly decorated tree, table settings and wassail bowl, or are they more Clark Griswold-like  ie. the cat shorting out the Christmas tree lights, farting relatives and never ending mishaps? Tell me your funny Christmas anecdote.

My Griswold-like Christmases started early in my life with one year my dad nailing two trees together to make the Charlie Brown Tree we had look fuller, another was when they had the top of the tree tied with string which was attached to a hook to the ceiling above the tree because it kept falling over. But I have to say I always have the best memories of when I was a kid and decorating the tree and great Christmases. One would have hoped that over the years that Christmases would have become less Griswoldish, but the trend continues, albeit not every year.  Here are a few of my memorable adult Christmas tales.

When Motorcycle Man and I got married we were excited about our first "married" Christmas.  This was when we could start our own traditions and we looked forward to it.  Keep in mind we lived up north and it was really cold at Christmas, so Christmas trees when you got them were pretty frozen.  A few days before Christmas we went off to trudge through the bush to find a tree, but the snow was too deep and we decided to go to a commercial tree lot instead. Off we go to the tree lot and we are browsing through the trees looking for the perfect tree.  This is kind of hard when  they have the trees tied up with cording around them, you really can't see the tree fluff factor or if you are picking a Charlie Brown tree.  After much browsing and complaints of it being cold, standing out there (it was -25) we finally picked a tree.  Off we go to home with the tree tied to the top of my Chevy Sprint, that was a sight to behold the tree was almost longer than the car.

We had to saw off at least 2 feet because it was too tall and then  popped that baby in the stand.  We had to let the tree thaw out because it was frozen. Motorcycle man was checking it for rodents because you just never know if there is a rogue critter hanging out in a warm Christmas tree.  A few hours and a few rum and egg nogs later we started stringing lights.  Motorcycle Man and I have extremely different approaches to light stringing.  He is a minimalist, whereas I am a blinger - the more lights the better.  He is organized in his approach and I am lets get these babies on the tree. He also does not like blinker bulbs, much to my chagrin, I just wanted to put it in for a little bit. I also tend to go back and thread lights through bald spots were there isn't quite enough and in the end it is like taking apart a light strand puzzle (knots). We happily got our lovely tree decorated and had a few too many egg nogs, but the tree was perfection. 

Fast forward a couple of days to Christmas day, we were having family over for dinner and cooked the perfect turkey, had all the yummy food and then of course everyone was in the turkey coma after dinner.  Soon it was time for everyone to leave.  After we had cleaned up and were snuggling on the couch looking at the tree I saw some flickering reflections.  I commented on how pretty the reflections were and then they started to increase (no it was not my mind hallucinating or too much egg nog).  I got up and decided this needed some further investigation, on closer inspection to my horror our tree was crawling with SPIDERS - YUP the only thing to do at this point was to scream, flap my arms and do a little dance of "OH MY GOD KIRK THERE ARE SPIDERS ALL OVER THE TREE!!!!"  He thought I was kidding, but I wasn't.  The tree was seriously infested and even a can of Raid was not going to do the job and we probably would have suffocated from the noxious fume cloud from the volume of Raid we would have had to have used to kill them all.  I guess the spiders hatched out because the house was warm and dry.  I am shivering just thinking about this. 

Our beautiful tree that we had taken hours to decorate was de-decorated within 20 minutes flat.  Ornaments and lights were heaped all over the floor and the tree was unceremoniously chucked out the front door into the -40 night  and 10 feet of snow - TAKE THAT SPIDERS!!!  That was our first married Christmas. 

There have been a few Martha-esque Christmases in there, but for the most part the Griswold-esque Christmases seem to outnumber the Martha's. 

In 1996 there was a blizzard and we were living on the floathome in Victoria and spent most of the holidays shovelling snow off our house so we wouldn't sink. Friends had come for dinner on boxing day and ended up being stranded at our house for 3 days because the city shut down due to the volume of snow.  Thank goodness I had cooked turkey and had plenty of stuff in my freezer.  I truly believe there are more Griswold-like families than there are Martha-like families.

So come on and tell me about your holidays, are you are Martha or a Griswold?

Martha's 7:00am challenge

Awhile back Martha posted the 7:00am picture challenge. I will have to add the link later as blogger for iPhone doesn't give you the option. Here is what my 7:00am looked like today.

Blog challenge! It's an easy one!

Post a picture of your favorite non-motorcycle/scooter shoes & one of your motorcycle/scooter boots/shoes. Link back to me, just a mini challenge.

The Return trip home - blog challenge

 The return journey home varies for me a bit, it all depends on what I feel like at the end of the day, sometimes I take the down & dirty straight home route or if I really want to decompress from a stressful day at the office and the weather is nice I usually take the scenic beach drive along the Dallas Road waterfront and back through downtown Victoria past the Legislature & Government street home. Today was a scenic tootle route, the weather was off, but it was a nice ride just the same today. Blogger was giving me nothing but grief when I tried to post the return trip pics.

                                            Leaving the scooter lair at the end of the day.

Daily Commute Challenge - the beginning

The beginning of the commute - a very well packed garage, scooter, 2 motorcycles and a vintage beetle.

I love blog challenges and when I saw this one I just had to do it!  Martha issued the daily commute challenge on her blog Living Among Tourists.  My commute is not extraordinary or even epic, its a down and dirty 15 minute rip to work in the morning through the crazy traffic of BC's capital city Victoria.  By commute standards this is a piece of cake because most of my fellow bloggers have heavy traffic and longer distances to do than I.  So when I get grumpy because someone upsets my scooter/bike sensibilities I have to remember that.  My commute takes me through the heart of downtown Victoria up to the relatively sedate municipality of Oak Bay - this is where all the blue hairs live who are the sidewalk commandos in their electric scooters.  You see one of the babies coming you best get out of the way because rules don't seem to apply to these sidewalk mayhem makers.

The destination - the bike lock-up at work, which I share with 2 or 3 bikes and a lot of building junk.
It's Vixen or Scarlet's daytime nest, I have to admit it is easier manoeuvring Vixen around in there than Scarlet.

I am having trouble with blogger today so the return journey is going to be Part 2

Blog Challenge "Whats that Wocket in Your Pocket"

I love blog challenges!  Even little ones!  They get me back onto the computer and looking for interesting pictures to post.  See Trobairitz's challenge blog post*

These the are all the little goodies in my pocket: camera, first aid kit, lipstick, baggie for cellphone, change, license, bank card and ICE card and gum.  It all depends on the season we are in because sometimes there can be more goodies in there.  I LOVE MULTITUDES OF POCKETS!

So "Whats that Wocket in Your Pocket?"

Pixelated! "Patiently Waiting for Spring Challenge"

I am pixelated!  Waiting for spring seems to be a little tedious come March.  I stare out my window at the schizophrenic weather that is happening outside I sigh and think, "When is it going to be warm?"  Today the weather was manic, we had high winds, dark grey clouds, heavy rain, sun and rainbows, most of this was happening at the same time.  But there are signs of spring everywhere, birds are chirping like crazy, the trees are in blossom and daffodils and tulips are poking through the dirt.  This is my contribution to
Trobairitz's blog challenge. I love challenges!

               My Quince tree coming into blossom

 Me at work finishing up a long day.  This was the first time I ever tried the self timer.  Wow I like to live on the edge.

Trobairitz's Blog challenge

#29 #29in29 Moto Brain

This is what your brain looks like when you are addicted to everything motorcycle.  (it's only plastic) Heh, heh, heh, I can hear some of you now - "Ewwww that is gross" I know, but it's day 29 in Fuzzy Galore's #29in29 photo blog challenge I have had a lot of fun venturing forth with the camera and have been wracking my brain to find different things to take pictures of.  So what does one do when they work in a brain doctor's office - you look around and find props and this happened to be sitting on the shelf.

I was reading a study that was posted on the web about motorcyclists who ride daily they seem to have better cognitive function and critical thinking skills.  We all knew that though didn't we?!  So while some are toiling away a Suduko I think I will go find a good twisty road to ride.  Yup I am definitely moto addicted.

#28 #29in29 If I water it will it get bigger?

 Some of you have had some really funky quirky large statues - Amos the the Giant Amish Dude, Fuzzy's tiki kinda of statue, Troubadour and Bluekat's Paul Bunyon and Babe.  The quirkiest thing I could find in Victoria was the giant watering can in Beacon Hill Park.  I actually contemplated rolling Scarlet up under the spout, but I knew as soon as I rolled one tire onto the grass in the park the coppers would have been nailing me for breaking some bylaw or other.  I know that they wouldn't get it;if I said to them, "This is for Fuzzy Galore's moto photo blog challenge, I just had to do it and I am 2 days short of finishing the challenge officer."  I think they would look at me like I had blown a tire or two and carted me off to the looney bin.  It's too bad it wasn't warmer out because I know where there is a giant gnome up island that I could have parked Scarlet in front of,I guess I will have to wait for my summer moto adventures to do that.  

So do you think if I water Scarlet you 

will grow into a 750???

#28 #29in29 of the Fuzzy Galore Photo blog challenge

#27 #29in29 Winter winds still blow

These pictures were from Sunday.  It was sunny in the morning and as with everything in winter change comes quickly, we went from sunny to dark heavy clouds filled with moisture.  It started to snow and I was sad because I wasn't going to get out on the bike today at all.  Deb and I planned on a ride in the sunshine and at one point it looked as if it wasn't going to happen at all.  We opted for a short ride and ended up at Oak Bay Marina. The clouds soon became heavy looking again and I was worried about it starting to snow.  The wind picked up and it was down right chilly.  We stopped long enough to snap some pictures and then off we went to our homes.  When I got home Scooterpie Junior wanted to go do some scooter practice in the parking lot.  Our Sensei Motorcycle Man was more than willing to take another eager student.  While she went around the lot as Motorcycle Man put her through her paces I took the opportunity to practice some quick stops, a few u-turns and riding on a straight line.  Then off I went to get gas for Scarlet.  On my return Junior showed me her new skills and I really have to say she is a natural and it is almost like she was born on two wheels.

Kiwi Deb taking a picture of me taking her picture. lol We are so goofy together.

                                       One of my little friends...

                                        Snow clouds?!

I was so cold when I got home and when I took off my socks, my toes were blue!  Only kidding.

#27 #29in29 Fuzzy Galore's photo blog challenge