Tea and Strumpets with Mary Swanson

I rather enjoyed my LAST entry where I started with a photo completely unrelated to anything in this particular blog. Today's edition pays tribute to the Christmas of 2007 where I made a Bouche de Noel. What is a Bouche de Noel you ask? Well if the term "Yule Log" doesn't ring a bell, then check THIS website and edify yourself

I made this tasty dessert with the help of six sticks of butter. A single square inch bite is enough to spike your blood pressure into astronomically high levels. Yup, six sticks, so needless to say it's a fairly rich dessert.But that's two years and a lifetime away, so I'm on the healthy comeback trail right now. After an excellent stay in Tucson with Custis and Co. I made the trip out to Santa Barbara for the second of a two week mega huge training block. I'm loving life as I slog along these four, five, and six hour days in sunny-See-Aye. Here for example is a shot atop the Gibraltar climb, which puts me up around three thousand feet above sea level. Sure darn felt like a million feet, but that would mean I did a million feet of climbing in 45 minutes so that's a pretty stellar effort.My first three days here in Santa Barbara were post-card perfect. Here are a few shots that pay testament to that...Down by the beach.Then off to the farmers' market.And here's my home-office/dining room/living room/bedroom.And now the close up on the right of the previous picture. Notice the fresh oranges ripe for the pickin' on the right. Yup, thanks next door neighbors!ROBBIE infamously once ate a burrito before Merced weekend in '06 that was larger than his head in a single sitting. He should have earned a t-shirt or a free meal for that effort. Legend has it, that it was larger than his torso. This particular tortilla filled with rice, beans, carnitas meat, various spices, topped in cheese, spicy tomato sause, guacamole, and green salsa (which is also offen referred to as a "burrito") wasn't quite as large, but definitely many times more delicious. Before......and after. Note the alluring hefty portion of sour cream on the left that I wisely opted out of.Today was a bit overcast, but overcast sure does not mean snow, which is probably what's happening back home in NH. So here's the view from my hog that Aaron and Kim generously lent me this week. I'm merely coasting down the hill because you'll notice the speedo is barely nicking fifteen. Full throttle and I'm easily maxing this beast beyond 90... and that's through town.Good stuff. I love Santa Barbara. Peace out.