A post with many names

There has been alot happening lately and I can't decide what to call this post and so here are some possible post titles:

• One year Bloggiversary - post#184
• Phedippidations 1/2 marathon race report
• Better home and garden ponding update
• Tabletop Hill adventures
• Guinness! It's spelled Guinness!

So...I'll tackle them one at a time. Yes, today is exactly one year from my 1st tenative post into the unknown. Little did I know what I was getting myself into and it was all good. The virtual community of runners of all abilities who support each other and offer advice and kind words during the good and bad times. Though I've only met a couple of these bloggers in real life whom I can now call my friends, I'd like to think that many of my other virtual friends whom I've never met would also become good buddies if we ever got together for a race of a run. It's because of this community and people like Andrew and Marc that my running has gone to another level and is ready to progress even more in the coming year. Thank you all!

Today's run was my version of the Phedippidations 1/2 marathon on my own private course. There were no mile markers, no water stops, no cheering crowds except in my head while listening to the latest edition of Steve Runner's podcast. My results are now posted. It was just a normal Sunday morning run with loops and turns around town, a quick stop at home for extra drinks. I was feeling fine for most of the run but did tire a bit over the last few miles. Total of 13.1 miles in 1:48:48

We've also been busy, or at least Jo has been busy reworking her pond lately. My involvement is mainly in the heavy lifting, wading into cold waters, and removal of small dead animals from time to time. As you can see there are some huge plants surrounding the pond and gazebo area. The tallest plants with the red flowers are a Canna lilies and are over 6 feet high!
Right now the focus is on the waterfall area of the pond and getting some large flat rocks in place. The trick is to get them level and not have huge leaks that take away from the flow rates. There is also the aesthetics of it too and so the 'right' rocks must be found for each spot in the overall arrangement. It might take some time and alot of foamy glue stuff to get right.
Did I say what a gorgeous day we had here today, in fact all weekend has been near perfect, though a little cool in the early morning. After lunch today we took a few hours to do a little hike in the local area of Bayside called Simpson Hill. It was a winding but rugged trail up and down and the view of the river and estuary were quite amazing on this perfect clear day. It's hard to believe they're considering turning this into a quarry.
There wasn't alot of wildlife but we did run across a few small snakes basking in the sun which I captured on camera for Dawn. Sorry, Dawn ;-) but it is a cool shot with his forked tonque in the sun and all.
Now last but not least is the Guinness story. Thomas gave me a hard time for misspelling the name. It was an honest mistake and now here is the offending beer in full blog glory including a closeup of the rocket widget.
It's not quite like the Widget on the how it works website, maybe it's an American variety? I guess you learn something new every day, right Thomas?