Inheriting the Making Gene

It's Father's Day today, and I'm thinking about how I inherited my love of making stuff from both my parents. Dad is always working on something, even in retirement. He's got a vegetable garden on the go that I'm betting will have some really tasty tomatoes pretty soon. I think that it's his need to make things that keeps him active and healthy... and I'm grateful I got some of that from him.

Yesterday was bright, dry and sunny, but with a nice cool breeze. We went to the pool for a swim, then I had a massage after lunch. I booked it for pure therapy: my body has been feeling pretty beaten up with all the training. I must have really needed it, because, even though the masseuse was working through some pretty serious knots, I was almost asleep near the end. Sigh, I need more of those.

When I got home, I took advantage of the cool day to get some baking done. I know it sounds kind of "Little House on the Prairie" to say that I NEED to bake, but really: when the weather is as warm as it has been, I take advantage of any opportunity I can get to make my daily snacks. It's a consequence of being too cheap to buy granola bars.

On the left, my regular Banana Oat Snack Cakes, with half the sugar and with avocado instead of butter. I usually have one every day - good source of potassium and iron. On the right, chocolate cupcakes, made with bananas and applesauce and 3/4 of the sugar in the original recipe. And yes, they're both delicious... and I eat one of each every day!

A sunny day that is cool enough for baking = pretty awesome day.

Later on, I made a batch of Silken Tofu Chocolate Pudding, which I served in one of the vintage glass dessert dishes I was lucky enough to snag at an antique store. Before I took the photo, I grabbed a few blueberries off one of the bushes in the garden, as well as a couple of mint leaves from the plant bed. Photogenic, and so good:

Tonight, I made chicken and dumplings - one of the hubby's favourite dinners. I also made a bunch of Southern Fried Tofu for lunch this week. And tonight, I'll keep working on my Draco Shawl, which I making pretty good progress on.

In truth, a lot of this making stuff is distracting my brain from the fact that my half marathon is officially one week away now, and I'm trying not to panic. I'm working through a nagging injury that is scary, but seems to be manageable if I'm smart about it. I did a 13km (8 mi) run this morning with only slight discomfort in places. Lots of rest and massage and stretching and more resting is on the table for this week. It hasn't been easy, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you have to be careful who you tell your fears to when the going gets tough. And, at the end of the day, you can't quit just because something is difficult.

That's another thing I learned from my Dad. Happy Father's Day!