odd core workout and photos

How often have you noticed something, and wondered how long it had been like that? It happens to me all the time, but most days it's not a big deal. This one was, though.

We noticed one of the pot lights in our guest bathroom had partially fallen out of the ceiling. I couldn't push it back in. That means a trip into the attic, and I'm not about to do that at night, so it had to wait for today. It looks like someone stepped on it, but as far as I know the last people in the attic was a year ago to fix the vent from the bathroom fan.

Please tell me that it hasn't been half fallen out for a year. My suspicion is that they did kick or step on it, but shoved it back up and wedged a piece of wood up against it. When the roofing guys were here the other day, walking, cutting, banging as they did their thing, the vibrations caused the light to slip back down again, and the wood to wedge itself again. Oh, and the new roof looks awesome in the daylight.

In any case, getting up there looks like this.

My ladder is 6 feet high. I have to stand on the top, and do some perverted cross fit move I don't know the name of to lift myself up into the attic, and get my feet onto a rafter. Arms, abs, and hip flexors. Sort of like a backwards muscle up. From there it's scramble over a couple of rafters, being very, very careful not to bump my head against the nails holding the shingles on.

Remember how the cartoon rocket ships have the tripod legs that fold out from the body of the spaceship? The pot light has a similar arrangement to hold it snug against the drywall. One of them was broken, and the lip had broken away from the rest of the unit. I played a bit with trying to rig up something to support it properly, but gave up. A new one was $27.

Undoing the wiring on the old unit wasn't bad. You can see the hole where the new one would go. 

It turned out that rewiring the new one was pretty simple, considering I was in a deep squat, balancing on the edge of a 2x4, and reaching below my feet to connect the new wiring all together again. It went much better than I had expected. I do not flatter myself I'm getting better at it. I got lucky and I'm grateful. My cranky hips and low back are grateful too.

Recently it's been cold here, a little colder than an average Calgary winter. The upside is that it's really pretty. Here's some photos.
I think this is a willow tree. Some of the white is from hoar frost, and some is from actual snow. Pity the sky hadn't cleared so there was a brilliant blue background.

The house just behind us has this beautifully shaped tree.

When I stand at the bottom of my driveway and look right, this is what I see. It would have been nice to go for a run down there.

This is my neighbour's tree, slightly dressed up in Snapseed.

Last night I was curled up reading, with both cats on my lap. I got a nice shot of Curtis looking pensive.  Do you think it's pensive or something else? You can just see a bit of Celina's bum in the corner. It took a bit of squabbling for them to get settled.

Other than a brisk walk, and the balancing squats, no workout today. I probably should have done a spin session first thing. No way am I going to do one after the attic work. I totally deserve this glass of wine.

We did a batch of Christmas cards today, in a reasonably organized fashion. Some of you readers will get one. Try not to be astonished.

I've been playing in Snapseed. Watch my Facebook cover photo.