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A View From the Field |
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August, 2009 August 31 Well, August is history. This was a month where the weeks went fast but the month seemed to last forever. I have some like that, and not always the 31-day ones, either.
I went up to the north end early last night with the idea of doing some reading, but my backside was so sore I couldn't find a comfortable place to sit, so I went to bed about 9:30. Around 12:30, I got up and expelled a large amount of gas and other stuff, and then my behind felt fine, so I slept well - with the usual wakeups - until after 9:00 this morning. I would have slept longer, except that I had to pee. So I petted a cat and did a little knitting, but my behind got sore again, so I didn't do much.
And I'm afraid I didn't do much at all. I still can't decide what I want to do next, so I did nothing. I read for a while, and the book on Ben Franklin is very interesting.
It was clear for most of the night and all day, and it was pretty. The temperature overnight was only around 53º, with light west winds. It got into the lower 60s during the day, with north winds that got up to 10-15 mph before they dropped off at sunset. There was a nice sunset, with a big orange sun hanging over Porter Island, but I know from experience that I just can't get a good picture of that, at least until I learn (if ever) to do the manual settings in a hurry. It was a pretty day, and I should have done something, but I'm reverting to my old habits real fast.
The hummingbirds are still hitting the feeder hard, so it is empty again, but I don't think there were a lot of other birds out there today, not like yesterday when the chickadees and nuthatches were waiting for me.
However, one reason I got up when I did was that I was looking out the bathroom windows from the bed and I saw some kind of big bird fly up to the top of one of the dead birches and perch there this morning. So I had to get up and put on my glasses, and I had to get the binoculars (or the monocular, because I can only see through one side) and look at it. I am still not absolutely sure what it was, but I think it was a young red-tailed hawk. It sat there for quite a while, looking around, but it had flown off when I got up to get dressed. There is still a lot of tansy out there, and I suppose there were little critters running around in it.
So that was my day, and I'll soon be off to the north end and try to read a little tonight. It's a clear, cool night in the field and August is over.
August 30 I guess it was about 11:15 when I got to bed. I spent some time trying to read an article on C. diff that someone sent me a link to, but there were clearly problems with either my connection or the site and I couldn't read all of it until tonight. Anyway, I slept well, and I got up around 9:30, I think. I petted a cat and knitted a bit, and Jasmine actually came in to say hi to Buster.
I haven't said much about Jasmine, because having Roxie around just spooked her, and we haven't seen much of her. I think that's one problem Buster has had. He may not want me to think he likes her, but he does, and he likes having her around. Since she's spent most of the last week in the basement, I think, it's bothered him, especially since he thinks Roxie is just fine. In fact, several times when she didn't pet him, he hollered at her until she did. Pet me...pet me!!
I still can't decide what I want to do next, so I didn't do much. I finished the book on cooking, and it was so-so, but it was another one of those books by a man that are totally impractical for a normal kitchen. The articles on various things were interesting, and one of these days I may even try making some custard...I love custard, but I've never made it. So it was an interesting read, but I can't decide whether to file it with the cookbooks or with the general information.
The weather was nice but cool. It was partly cloudy early in the day, but it has finally cleared up completely. The temperature was in the upper 50s, and there were light north winds. It is nice to see blue skies and a big old orange sun setting over the end of lighthouse point.
Now it is early, but my backside has been sore all day, so I think I will take it up to the north end and wash it and maybe read a while. There's still the book on Ben Franklin.
It's a clear, cool night in the field.
August 29 I don't know exactly when I got to bed, but it was probably around 11:00. The lake was already singing, and it was a good night to sleep, so I did, with only three wake-ups, until about 9:30. I petted a cat and started the first square on the second side of the sweater, but my backside was a bit sore, so I didn't knit much.
I didn't mention it yesterday because everything was still up in the air, but by this morning, Roxie had decided she had to go back to Racine. Her mother is not doing well at all, and it sounds like she doesn't have much time left. So she left this afternoon. I'm sorry to see her go. She was fun to have around, and she certainly goaded me into doing things I should do but normally wouldn't.
She was gone when I got up, out to see her friend and look at the lake kicking up, but she left me a note. I can certainly understand why she would want to be with her mother. She didn't leave until about 3:00, so she isn't home yet.
The other activity of the day was that I spent a good amount of time on the phone with Charlie or Jonathan, but it wasn't until about 7:00 or so that they finally got me reconnected to the network, and it turned out to be a typo in my entry in the access list at the Mountain Lodge. By the time they found it, I was beginning to believe that had to be what it was, because everything else was working all right.
So I finished the necklace and read a couple of books that came this week, nothing great. I am not sure what I want to do next in the way of jewelry, so I thought I might as well take a day off.
Then there was the weather. It rained all night and didn't stop until about 2:30, giving us another 1.01" of rain, and there was an east wind in the 20-35 mph range. The lake was kicking up quite a fuss, and actually it still is, even though the wind has died down. It was dark and cloudy and dreary until late in the afternoon, when the clouds finally started to disappear and the sun came out. There weren't many pictures from the camera, because I had it down for most of the day to prevent it from interfering with the testing we were trying to do. Sorry about that. Tomorrow should be better. The temperature was nearly steady right around 55º, which is our average low for this time of year. It wasn't very nice out.
It wasn't very good for the arthritis, either. The middle finger on my right hand is still horribly sore and swollen, and while I can type with it (it does ache), I can't do anything that requires putting any pressure on it. It's supposed to be clear or nearly clear for the next few days, and maybe that will help it.
Sometime in the early afternoon, Roxie noticed a couple of waterfowl out in the harbor, diving, and when I looked at them through the binoculars, it seems like they might have been goldeneyes. They were quite a ways out in the harbor, and I couldn't see them well enough to add them to my life list. I do know they weren't loons and they weren't mergansers. They were chunky things with round heads, and they seemed to be about the size of a merganser or a bit bigger. I wish they'd come a little closer so I could identify them for sure.
So that was my day, and at least the broadband seems to be back, which is a relief. I spent some time catching up on my comics as well as I could, although I couldn't figure out how to get previous days from one of the sites. I wanted to write them, but I couldn't even access their contact page. So evidently they don't want to hear from those of us who don't like the site or have problems with it.
Now I will haul in the bird feeders. I was glad I left them out. There were very few birds when it was raining, but they rallied round once the rain stopped. I can imagine they were hungry.
Now it's a partly clear night in the field and the half moon is shining in the south windows, and it's time for bed. It's a cool night in the field and the lake is still singing its song.
August 28 I got to bed about 10:45 and I did sleep well, except for a short time around 4:00 when my mind started going in circles. I got up around 9:30, and I got to pet a cat and I finally finished the first quarter of the sweater. Whew! My bottom felt good, and nothing came out.
Until after breakfast, that is, when I didn't quite make it to the bathroom. I had to go to my bathroom because that was where the collection equipment was, and I didn't make it. So I had to change my clothes on the bottom and clean the floor and the toilet. Yuck.
I wanted to try to do a little surfing before I went to town, and I put in a call to PastyNet which resulted in a call back from Charlie, so I didn't start off until 1:00 or so.
When I got to the lab, I discovered that they had neglected to tell me that the sample in the urine collection bottle was supposed to be either refrigerated or frozen, and they weren't sure the first two would be useable. Well. If you don't tell me what to do, I won't do it. They were a bit accusing, but for heaven's sake, I can't read your mind!
Then I signed the release to get my records up here, and I went off to Pat's Foods. Evidently the time to go to get all the good deli salads is fairly early on Friday, and I came home with a lovely selection. I like their salads much better than Econo's.
Then it was home, and an old guy in a boat of an old Oldsmobile who went five miles under the posted speed limit no matter what it was. He had five or six cars behind him when I passed him going down the hill to Ahmeek. There was a guy on the way down, too, but as soon as we got to Delaware we all passed him. I got back around 3:30.
The weather was the problem. According to the NWS, we have had 1.11" of rain since last midnight. It rained all night and most of the day. It wasn't raining when I had to get into or out of my car, but it rained most of the way down, sometimes very heavily, and it rained most of the way back. The temperature made it up to 61º, briefly, but for most of the day it was in the upper 50s. The wind picked up in the afternoon, into the 15-25 mph range from the south.
Tomorrow they are predicting more rain and a nice little blow, as the wind switches around to the north. We'll see about that.
It was foggy around here, as well as rainy, for most of the day. It would have been a good day to hunker down and bead. I did do that before I left, when I was waiting to see if Charlie would call me back, and after I got home, and I finally finished the last strand. Now I am fooling around with getting the ends tied off. One is done, but I have to fiddle with the other end. That is for tomorrow.
After my accident this morning, my backside got very sore, and it wasn't until after I got home that it settled down.
I was beading and listening to the radio when I got a strange call from the doctors' office that was so garbled that I didn't think they were talking about me. Finally someone else called and explained the situation: they had already looked at my samples, and I have C. diff. Like I didn't know that. The doctor who is covering for my surgeon while she is on vacation wanted to put me right on vancomycin, in a pulsed protocol. That is probably what I will end up doing, cost or no, but since I have the appointment with the internist, I decided that I will just wait it out until I see her. No need to get another doctor involved in this.
Apparently I don't have any other parasites, and I don't need to take more samples, so that is good.
I still can't get connected to the broadband, but Roxie was in town and couldn't get any wireless, either, so the network is still down. As I suspected, when they installed the new relays, they had to program in every single user address, which is time consuming, to say the least. I don't suppose most users know or care, except that the broadband is down, but having been there and done that (with different equipment and applications), I understand. Not that I like it. If it is down very much longer, I will begin asking for a credit. I think my address is a non-standard one, and that has been a problem from the beginning.
This weather is hell on my arthritis, and I was hobbling around all day. The fingers on my right hand are very badly swollen and red - and sore. Fortunately, I can type and bead without them hurting too much, but other things are hard.
So that was my soggy day, and it's time to totter up to the north end and put myself to bed. The sound of the raindrops on the deck is almost as conducive to a good night's sleep as the wind banging and the lake roaring. It's a nasty, wet, cool night in the field.
August 27 I forgot to mention yesterday that I was sitting and doing my beading when I looked up, and there was a downy woodpecker perched on the thistle feeder, eating thistle seed! Then he flew to the tube feeder, ate a sunflower seed or two and started pecking around the bottom of the feeder. I wonder if there were a few bugs down there? That wasn't satisfactory, so he perched and ate sunflower seeds for quite a while. Apparently downy woodpeckers' second source of food is seeds, but I was really surprised to see one at the feeder at this time of year.
I went up to the north end after I uploaded this thing last night, and I was in bed around 10:30. That was nice, except that I was up about every hour all night long, which got real old real fast. Mostly it was gas, but it was messy, and my backside hurt. Then my hands got sore, so I didn't get much sleep. And this morning, I had to change my underwear even before I got out of the bathroom. This is getting very tiresome. I managed to make it to the bathroom for the rest of the morning, and I've been fine this afternoon, although I am starting to gurgle again.
I had finished my breakfast and discovered that the broadband is still down when the surgeon called and asked me if it was too early for good news. Hah! It's never too early for good news! And the news is that there is no problem. One sample was fibrous (a cyst), the other had something to do with a milk duct, and the third didn't seem to be anything at all. So I am fine, and that turned out as well as can be expected. I really wasn't worried, but it's nice to know I was right, and it's nice to know for sure there is no problem. So that set me up for the rest of the day in spite of how tired I was (and am).
We had pretty much decided that the task of the day was going to be cat pans, and oh, dear, did they need it. I felt really sorry for the poor kitties when I saw how awful they were. However, somebody had come up with an alternate solution that didn't involve peeing on the floor, which was nasty for us but pretty bright of him (or her). So now all the pans are nice and clean and I hope they appreciate it. I keep saying I won't let them get in that kind of shape again, but as long as Roxie is here, I'm sure they won't.
By the time we finished that task, I was exhausted. I have two strands with spikes finished on the bronze necklace, and it is going to be pretty. The smoky topaz AB crystals are a perfect match for the seed beads. That is a painfully slow task, though, and since I had left too much thread at the beginning end of one of the strands and I had to pull it through, I didn't get as much done as I might have.
The weather was so-so. It was partly to mostly cloudy all day, and the temperature was mostly in the lower 60s, with very little wind from all directions. It was very humid again, and in the middle of the afternoon, a little fog cloud came in for half an hour before it went out again. That was neat.
I went to the post office and got a bunch of mail, including some things in boxes that I had ordered.
So tomorrow, I have to take my final sample and run them all down to Laurium, which will take up most of the day.
And that was another quiet day in the field. It's a dark, cloudy night tonight, and the weather forecast says rain and cool temperatures for the next three days. It's time to toddle up to the north end and hope to sleep better tonight.
August 26 When I got up to go to the north end last night, the moon was setting over Fanny Hooe, looking like a slice of lemon. I turned out the light about 10:45, and I slept. I didn't even hear Roxie come back. I slept until about 3:30, and then, oh, well.
I got up to do my thing, and I had just made it back to the side of the bed when I realized I was going to have to go back. Well, I didn't make it. I really didn't make it. I made a terrible mess, which I tried to clean up as well as I could in the dark, not very successfully, as it turned out, then I changed my nightie and went back to bed. Sigh.
I was so wide awake and so upset that it took me quite a while to get back to sleep. I got up around 9:00, and then I saw what a mess I had made, so I knew I would be cleaning the bathroom today. And of course, I tried to take my samples and didn't have much to give. Naturally.
Then after breakfast, I did my thing again, and stood up to wash my hands, and didn't quite get my pants back down. Then tonight, I knew I had to go, and I just barely made it again. Three times in one day! My internist appointment can't come soon enough for me!
We had other plans, but I had to clean the bathroom, no question. While I was cleaning up what I did last night, I decided I might as well do the whole thing, which I did except for the floor, and when I was through with that, I was tired enough and depressed enough that I didn't want to do much else. I had to wash two nightgowns and a knitting bag, so while I was at it, I washed the three robes I brought down from upstairs on Saturday. I am sure they had been hanging around on Champine long enough that they needed washing.
I took a bunch of pictures of jewelry and several of the sunset tonight, but the broadband is still down, so I won't even attempt to get them uploaded tonight. And late in the afternoon, I consoled myself by beginning the bronze spiky necklace. I have about 14 strands done.
The weather was nice, but quite cool. It was clear when I was up in the night, but it had clouded up this morning. That went away by 10:00, and it was mostly clear for the rest of the day. There was a kind of nice sunset tonight, and when I went out to take some pictures of it, the moon was hanging behind some thin clouds over in the south, nearly half full. The temperature briefly made it to 61º, around 6:00 tonight, but for most of the day it was in the upper 50s. There wasn't much wind - 10 mph or less - but it was from the east, which meant I ended up having to shut all the windows, except for a brief period late this afternoon when it got sort of hot in here. It is closed again.
While I was fooling around with the camera, I started pushing buttons, and now I have the little slide gauge back on the screen that tells me whether the lens is at wide angle or telephoto and how much. It disappeared a long time ago, and I couldn't figure out where it went. Well, apparently the wrong button got pushed at some time or other. In fact, now I have lots of useful information showing on the screen that wasn't there for a while. Amazing.
So that was my not very nice day, and I will be off to the north end as soon as I get this uploaded. It's a cool, partly cloudy night in the field, and maybe I can make it through the night?
August 25 I was in bed before 10:00 last night. I didn't have any trouble with pain, and I slept relatively well until about 9:00 this morning, which rather caught me up.
We had a wonderful stormy night. I could hear grumbling outside when I got to the north end, and there was lightning going on, but it seemed to be out over the lake. Sometime later, I woke up, and there was lightning and thunder that passed south of us, but we got to see the light show, and it was a good one. There apparently was another one between 7:00 and 8:00 this morning that I missed, or it was only rain, but it rained hard.
When I got to the office, the broadband was down, and it is still down. I can't even see the Mountain Lodge. Apparently there was a lightning strike up on Horace Greeley that zapped the relay up there, and they are still working on it. I did a few things on dial-in but it wasn't working very well either. So the updates of the camera were very spotty today. I couldn't do all of my surfing because I couldn't get some of the pages to load at all.
It was a very windy day, too, so much that the bird feeders never got put out. I was sorry to disappoint the little birdies, especially the hummingbirds, which are very hungry, but the nectar would all have run out of the feeder anyway.
The temperature got up to 71º briefly, around 10:00, and around noon we had a momentary power failure, just enough to reset the clocks and make the computer reboot. For most of the day the temperature was in the upper 60s, and the wind was in the 20-30 mph range. The highest gusts were between 10:00 and 11:00, at 34 mph, and we had another rain squall then, without any thunder. After that, it began to clear up, and it was partly cloudy and rather nice, if breezy, for the rest of the day.
Roxie decided this was a day to do something around the house, so we attacked the breezeway, and now it doesn't look like my house at all, but it is very nice and neat and clean. We can actually get in and out the door to the outside, for the first time in a good many years. She has a collection of orchids, and they are now happily (I hope) situated in the window in the breezeway, where they will get the morning sun and it isn't too cool. Of course, now there is a bunch of stuff piled up in the hallway that needs to go down to the basement, but that's for another day.
Tomorrow the task is the trash. The pile is really impressive, and we need to get as much as we can into my car. But that's for another day.
I took my first sample last night, and when I read the directions, I called the lab this morning, because that wasn't what the technician said. So I will take another sample tomorrow and the third one on Friday, then I will have to go down to Laurium and deliver it.
While I am there, I will have to sign a release to get my records from my internist sent up here, because I have an appointment with Dr. Griffin on September 11...a two hour appointment!! The person I talked to said she seemed excited, so maybe, just maybe she will be able to help me with my elimination problem. I can hope.
So we had a busy, productive day, and now Roxie has gone off to see if she can get her email (it just occurred to me that with Horace Greeley down, she won't) and make a few phone calls, and I am going off to the north end to get another good night's sleep.
It's a partly cloudy night in the field.
August 24 Well, we got to talking again last night, and it was 2:00 when I got to bed. I did sleep better, but I got up at 9:00 anyway, and that wasn't enough sleep. Tonight will be earlier, I promise. The cat wouldn't sit on my lap, and my backside was sore anyway, so I didn't knit or anything.
I did my morning surfing and got my stuff together, although I forgot the power of attorney (again), and we went off to the hospital. That hospital is just as much a rabbit warren as every other one I've been in, although it's smaller, but we eventually found our way to the right area, and we sat in the waiting room and knitted until they were ready for us.
The procedure was interesting. I had always thought that ultrasound technicians were just techs, and all they did was take ultrasounds. Well, not quite. This one was working right with the surgeon and telling her where to aim for and whether she had hit the right spot. There were three spots they wanted to biopsy, the three that I had seen on the original ultrasound (I mean, they were obvious). We all agreed that they looked much smaller and not as formed as they did on the previous ultrasound. Two of them she did needle biopsies on, and the third one was a punch biopsy, where they punch out a little plug. Now all we have to do is wait a week or so for the results.
And then, she wrote an order for more fecal bacteria tests, which I had to bring home with me, since they want them on three separate days, and I couldn't produce anything while I was there. So I will have to go back to Laurium at the end of the week with my bottles in hand.
Roxanne wanted to take M-26 home, which was all right with me, and we happened by Gail English's place when she walked out of her shop. She is doing painting on glass, and her things are just beautiful. I would have been tempted to buy, except that I already have so much of that kind of stuff. She is a very talented painter, as well as a very talented musician.
We left the hospital around 3:00 or a little after, and we got home about 5:00. That was nice.
My boob doesn't seem as sore as I thought it might, but we'll see how it is during the night. It bled a little, but that seems to be over, too, and the whole procedure wasn't as painful as it might have been.
The weather was nice, and not as hot as they predicted. It was sunny until we started home, when it started to cloud up a bit. the temperature here peaked at 72º, and there was almost no wind for most of the day, and just light winds at other times. It is partly cloudy now, and I guess there won't be any stars tonight, but tomorrow should be all right.
That's good, because Eric is planning to come and cut down some more weeds. I think probably it will take at least two more days to get it all cut down.
So that turned out much better than it might have, and hopefully, I won't be too sore to sleep on my left side tonight. Deb called to see how things were, but of course, we don't have any results yet.
Now it's a nearly calm, partly cloudy night in the field, and I am going to bed early tonight. No more talking all night. It's a nice, calm night in the field, even if it isn't completely clear.
August 23 So after I uploaded the journal, I got to reading a magazine, and it was 2:30 before I got to bed. Oops. I didn't sleep very well, I think from the over stimulation, and I got up around 9:00, so I'm tired.
As a result, I didn't do very much today. No beading, although I looked at the beads and the spinner a couple of times. I unloaded the dishwasher and washed up the pots and pans, and I read a couple more magazines, trying to catch up. This evening, I started a book about Benjamin Franklin and electricity that I think is going to be a good one.
The weather was rather nice, actually. It was cold over night - the temperature was about 46º until 8:00 this morning, when it jumped up into the 50s and eventually got into the low 60s. There was almost no wind and there were almost no clouds for most of the day. It was a pretty day.
Roxie went off to see her friend Peg and I did not much. However, this evening we got to talking, and I will be late again tonight. Oh, well. It was fun. We were sitting in the office and I looked up, and there over the Mountain Lodge was the thin crescent moon, big and pale yellow and sooo pretty! We watched it until it set. The camera only caught it when it was half behind the mountain, but that was a neat shot.
So that was another quiet day in the field. Tomorrow is my biopsy, and that will be interesting, even though I wish I didn't have to go. Now it is late, and it is a cool, clear night in the field.
August 22 I think it was around 11:30 when I got to bed last night, and as usual, I was up several times between 3:00 and 7:00, and I just dozed until around 9:00, when I decided I'd better get up. My backside was a bit sore, but Buster got a good petting anyway and I knitted a few rows.
The task of the day was to do something upstairs before Roxanne got here, and I postponed it as long as I could. I went to the post office and stopped at the store for eggs, and finally I went upstairs. Things weren't as bad as I thought, as it turned out, and all that was really necessary in the bathroom was to sweep up all the dead flies. There wasn't even a lot of dust, which I don't understand, since there is so much in my bathroom. The other task was to get the boxes out of the bedroom, and I almost accomplished that, except for two that I just couldn't handle.
In the course of moving boxes, I found a few things that were missing, which was good. I finally found my three robes, two chenille and one fleece, which I had been wanting for some time. The chenille ones aren't as heavy as the fleece robes - in fact, one is so old and has been worn so much that a lot of the chenille is gone. I keep it because it's so comfortable, and if I ever make another robe, I am going to want to use that one as a pattern. So that was good.
Roxanne arrived around 8:00, and we had a late, long dinner. We seem quite compatible, and we have a lot of talking to do. She finally got some stuff she needs out of her car, and she is now upstairs getting used to her new home.
Buster was wandering around us for most of dinner, and he is puzzled about this new person in his house and just what is going on. Jasmine, of course, has been nowhere to be seen, but now that the coast is clear, she is around again. This is going to be all new to them.
The weather has finally calmed down. It was windy until around 3:00 this morning, then it died down, and it was very light all day, from the north, although it has now swung around to the west. It was cloudy until around noon, when it began to clear up, and the afternoon was nearly clear and very pretty. It was cool, more like June was. The temperature got up to 59º about 8:00 this evening, then it fell off a cliff, and it is now down to 46º, which is a bit chilly for August. The humidity has been very high again.
So at least I accomplished what I needed to do today, and it's time to totter up to the north end. I sweated so much that I need a bath, and maybe I will sleep. It's a cold, clear night in the field, and there are stars.
August 21 I got to bed about 12:30, to the singing of the lake, and I slept well, until about 9:45. Of course, I was up several times, but not for long.
This morning, I got to pet a cat and knit a while. My bottom has felt much better all day, so maybe, just maybe, that is over with.
It was raining when I got to the office, so I was glad that the bird feeders were out. It was clear that the hummingbirds had hit the feeder early and often, and around noon, I had to dodge the raindrops and refill it. It does annoy me that I can't leave the feeders out, because the little birds like to eat early.
Sort of out of the blue, we had a nice blow today. The wind gusts got up to 41 mph around 9:00 am, and the wind was in the 20-40 mph range all day. It started out from the east, and it has finally died down to between 15 and 20 mph from the north. It was very foggy and drizzly, and there were wonderful breakers, both between the lighthouse and Porter Island and on the rocks on the south side of the harbor. I didn't feel the wind at all here, because I am so sheltered on the north and east, but it was a good storm. The temperature stayed between 54º and 59º. It was fun to watch, but it was a good day to stay indoors.
I finished the necklace, with some difficulty, and it came out OK. After that, I didn't do anything until around dinnertime, when I finally cleaned up the stove side of the kitchen. It looks so good that I decided not to cook tonight and mess it all up again. The other side isn't pristine, but it isn't too bad, either, so maybe I will work on that tomorrow.
My back is still feeling the effects of the cool dampness, so I worked with some difficulty. My hands are stiff and sore, too.
So that was a quiet day, and it's time to totter up to the north end and call it a day. It's a dark, damp night in the field, and the lake is still singing loudly.
August 20 I read for a while before I took my bath, and I got to bed around 10:30. I was up several times, but it wasn't bothersome until about 7:00. I dozed until just after 8:00, when I got up.
I must say that while I was reading, Buster was bombing around like a kitten, so he felt really good for a change. He seemed to feel pretty good today, too, although he didn't get as much loving as he wanted.
When I went to put out the bird feeders this morning, Jasmine was on the ugly chair's footstool, which seems to be her current favorite place. She runs when I come toward her, of course, but I'm flattered that she wants to be in the same room with me. One of these days...
It evidently began to rain around 4:00 am, and it rained more or less steadily all day. I did get to put the bird feeders out, but they won't come in tonight, and we'll hope the bear doesn't come. So far, we have had 1.02" of rain, and it's still falling. The wind was from the south until about noon, when it began switching around to the east, in the 10-20 mph range. The temperature was about 60º until noon, when it dropped to 57º, where it has stayed since. Besides the rain, there was a lot of fog in the harbor. It was not a nice day.
All the windows except the one in the window seat in my bedroom are now closed, darn it, but the boiler kept coming on and I didn't want to try to heat the great out of doors.
Instead of doing my chores, I worked on a spiky necklace. Even with the bead spinner (which does help), it takes a long time to make that necklace. It has eighteen strands, and especially the strands with the spikes seem to take forever. Next time, I think I will do them first. This one is gunmetal iris with jet hematite Swarovski® crystals. That is the color of the first one I made, and I like it. I am going to do one with the bronze iris beads, which I think will also be very pretty. It is extremely difficult to get all the strands the same length, and keep the ends even. I am now ready to start the finishing, which means tying off the ends, getting everything even, and putting on the findings. That's for tomorrow.
It was a good day to be sitting down. Cool damp weather is bad for my arthritis, and my back was telling me so. So was my left thumb, after I spun the bead spinner for a couple of hours. So I did what I could.
Something nasty happened to the broadband this afternoon, and I wasn't even getting dialup speed, so the camera didn't update very well and I had to call in my Schwan's order. I hope I can copy the journal, but we'll see.
I am going to get to bed after midnight tonight, but it should be a good night to sleep, all cuddled up under the down comforter. It's a damp, foggy, rainy night in the field.
August 19 I forgot to mention that last night while I was getting my dinner ready, I was sitting down, and I looked out the kitchen windows, and there were two eagles wheeling over Lake Fanny Hooe. I know they weren't vultures, because their wings were completely flat. They were soaring very high, and in fact, one of them disappeared behind some low clouds for a few seconds. It was really neat.
After I uploaded the journal, I worked on the bracelet until I finished the fourth repeat, so it was around 11:15 when I got to bed. I slept well until about 4:00, and then I had to get up three times in three hours, to eliminate water. When I got back to bed the last time, my bottom was so sore I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up around 8:00. Not enough sleep, but oh, well.
When I was up during the night, it was very starry outside, and I think when I got up at 4:00, Vega was shining over the lighthouse.
It was fairly clear early in the morning, but it began to cloud up almost at once, and the afternoon was gray. There wasn't much wind, mostly from the southwest. The temperature finally got up to about 72º, briefly. It was cool this morning, and it was in the 60s for most of the day. The wind has backed southerly now, and there is rain coming. It was an unprepossessing day.
I sat myself down and finished the bracelet, so that is done, and now I can go on to other things. I gathered up a bunch of trash with the idea of going to the compactor, but my back was bad enough and I felt weak enough that I didn't, so there are trash bags all over the place. I did go to the post office, where my new catalog from my favorite place has finally come, so I can start making wish lists. I noticed that the fall catalog inundation is beginning.
I got the pots and pans all put away, with the idea of working on the kitchen, but my back said otherwise.
My bottom was sore until after noon, but it feels fine now. So if I could just lick the C. diff, the other problem would probably solve itself. Things are a little better, and I'm not leaking so much, at least.
I must do something about the kitchen, and I would really like to get upstairs and clean the bathroom and move the boxes, but we'll see. With my back the way it is, I'm not sure I can do any of that.
So that was a quiet day, and even though it's early, it's getting dark and it's time to totter up to the north end. The days are only 14 hours long now and getting shorter at 3 minutes a day. Sigh. It's so easy to get used to the long days! The sun is setting before 9:00 and not rising until about 7:00. See? Summer is over after my mother's birthday, weather or no.
It's a cloudy, breezy night in the field, and the rain is coming.
August 18 I think it was about 11:00 when I got to bed last night, and for once, I slept well. I think it was because it was cooler and I was able to adjust the temperature around me. I was up several times, of course, and I got up around 9:00. I felt much better today, and I think it was because I got enough sleep for once.
I was fooling around with the computer when the car dealership called, so I drove the loaner back to Calumet. That car has some problems. However, when you have a 1998 car with 108,000 miles on it, which was traded in for something newer, I guess you have to expect that. It was nice to get back into my own car again. I was back here around 3:00 or so.
They are still doing things to US-41, so there was a tie-up going both ways, but they were working on the stretch between M-26 and Mohawk, so it should be over soon. I don't know what good they think filling those cracks with goo does. It raises welts, which mean the tires bounce, which causes ripples in the road which causes it to break up...I guess it's because they've always done it that way.
Other than that, I washed up all the dirty pots, pans, and lids, and I was thinking about working on the kitchen, but I didn't. Sigh.
The weather was a lot better today. The temperature topped out at 67º, and there was a brisk wind from the northwest, in the 15-30 mph range (that's why the bird feeders didn't get put out, besides that I forgot). The humidity, while still rather high, was much better than the last few days, and it wasn't bad at all, although I wore a light sweater when I went out. The sky was partly cloudy, with those puffy white clouds with gray bottoms that sometimes turn into rain clouds but didn't. they have mostly gone away now, and it's a pretty evening, but still very breezy.
Most of the house is closed up now, except for the east windows. That must be all right, since the heat hasn't come on. It will be another good night to sleep.
Yesterday, I took my socks with me to knit on while I waited, and when I finished the ribbing, I decided I wanted to do them in a lace pattern, and I couldn't figure out how it worked, so today I charted three lace patterns and started one of them, although I only did one row. These socks are tan, gray and pale yellow, and I thought a leaf or diamond pattern lace would look good. We'll see how that goes. I didn't work on the bracelet at all.
This morning, Buster didn't stay on my lap very long, so I folded the underwear and put it away, and by that time, my bottom was sore. It feels fine now, but since I go between 3:00 and noon, usually, by the time I'm done, I hurt. I keep hoping that eventually my bottom will heal up and eventually I will get rid of my C. diff.
Anyway, Buster wanted to sit on my lap a lot this afternoon, which was another reason I didn't do much. I did read a magazine I hadn't read before.
Late this afternoon Roxanne called, and she is going to arrive Saturday, for sure (unless her mother dies), so that is on track. I really need to get upstairs and do at least a little before she gets here. We had a nice long conversation, with lots of laughs.
So that was my day. Now that I don't need it, the A/C in the car is fine, and I have a start on the kitchen. We'll see tomorrow.
It's a clear, breezy night in the field.
August 17 Somehow, I got to bed at 9:30 last night, and I slept fairly well, with only a little wakeful period around 3:00 until I got the temperature right. I got up around 8:00, and I worked fast, so that I could leave the house about 9;15.
All the traffic was going north, so I had a smooth drive to Calumet, except that I ran into a road crew patching the cracks, and they made us wait so long everybody turned off their engines. Dumb, but I guess it doesn't take a genius to work on a road crew. When I got to the dealership, everybody was outside - I guess that was the end of their 10:00 break.
It took a couple of hours, but they determined that the leak was in the conduits to the rear air conditioning, which were corroded out. They are under the car (another dumb design), and the road salt gets to them. Since I don't think I've ever used the rear A/C, and I don't envision a situation where I would, I told them to just cut the lines and weld them shut. that is going to cost enough. Replacing the lines would be about twice as much, and I can't do things like that anymore.
So now I am driving some kind of 1998 Buick, and I don't like it. It seems very primitive - no keyless entry, no compass, no automatic lights. It runs OK, though. With any kind of luck, I should get my own car back tomorrow. Of course, it will mean another trip to Calumet, but oh, well.
After I got through at the dealership, I decided to check out Pat's Foods, which is in Calumet, and where a lot of my native neighbors shop - it's locally owned. It is a lot nicer store than I remember the last time I was there. The only thing I found strange is that they don't carry Clorox 2 powder. Very strange. However, I was walking by a freezer case - and there was a huge shrimp ring, for only $10.00! Oh my! I also got some nice deli salads and some good bread. Their deli isn't as varied as Econo Foods, but I liked what I bought. It was a good thing I had put the cooler in the truck when I left and transferred it to the loaner.
Anyway, now I have another place to shop, and since they seem to have some things Econo doesn't, I will probably go back. It is a nice, clean, well-laid out store, well marked. Of course, it is huge, but not quite as big as Econo or Wal-Mart.
I was back by 1:30 or so, in time to take a call from the surgeon. I am still not used to doctors who make their own telephone calls. It seems Dr. Lehman was adamant that we need to do a biopsy, but he opted for an ultrasound-guided needle biopsy. It won't be fun, but it will be better than the alternative. It is scheduled for next Monday afternoon, and I hope Roxanne will drive me down. What a pain. I will have a sore boob.
I had hoped to have shrimp for lunch, but they were frozen, so they are thawing in the fridge, and I will have them tomorrow. Yum. I did have two kinds of potato salad, both good, a nice variety of cole slaw with tomatoes and I think cucumbers all chopped up fine, with a dressing that had some bacon in it. Yum. The other one I bought was bow-tie pasta salad, which is about the same as Econo's, and isn't robust enough for me. It has parmesan cheese, but the dressing is mostly oil, with very little vinegar. I may try to spice it up a bit. I could eat that cole slaw by the pound.
I spent most of the rest of the afternoon beading, and I am starting the third repeat on the rope and post bracelet. I have had a lot less trouble with it this time. Until I began to lose my concentration, I didn't make any mistakes.
For dinner, I had a flatiron steak and asparagus, with some of the good bread. It was good. It was interrupted by Debbie calling me back. I thought I should tell her what was going on, but she was apparently in the middle of getting a new phone when I called her. So I ate and talked to her until her battery died. Buster wanted some of that steak juice. So finally, he got to the plate, which was nearly clean, and licked a couple of times before I chased him away. About half an hour later, he barfed. See? I'm not just being mean.
The weather was more of the same, although it was a bit less humid, at least during the day. The temperature got up to 81º between 4:00 and 6:00, and there wasn't much of a wind from the west-southwest. Now the breeze has just sprung up, and they are saying it will be cooling down a bit tomorrow. Of course, because I am spending the money to get the A/C repaired.
So that was my day, and it's time to totter up to the north end again. It's a cloudy, apparently breezy night in the field.
August 16 Since everything was a little late last night, it was after 11:30 when I got to bed. I didn't wake up until about 3:45, and it was raining - hard and straight down. It apparently continued to rain more or less hard until around 7:00, which didn't make it more comfortable to sleep. I woke up around 8:00 and tried to go back to sleep, but I only dozed, so I got up about 8:45.
It has been a long time since I got to hear the rain coming down with all the windows open, and that is another one of the soothing sounds that puts me right to sleep. Besides, it smells so good!
Buster didn't come until after I was through sitting, so I knitted a little bit, but doing my thing makes my tail hurt, so I don't sit very long anymore. He got his pet later, in the office, and he spent quite a while on my lap this afternoon.
The task of the day was wash, and it is done. The towels are in the dryer. I use a lot more clothes in the summer, because I sweat so much, but I have to wash when I run out of compression hose.
Otherwise, I did not much. I looked at the computer until my eyes were sore, and I ordered a few pills I need. I worked for a little while on the wrap and post bracelet, but I sort of lost interest when I had to pull out five or six rows because I started the pattern backward - s-twist rather than z-twist. It might not make any difference, but knowing the problems I've had with that pattern, I wanted to do it just like the picture, so that when I get lost, I can figure out what to do next.
It was another lousy day, weather-wise. The Temperature got up to 78º a couple of times, but the humidity was horrible again. There was a southwest wind that was in the 15-25 mph range. We had another shower between 3:00 and 4:00 this afternoon that prompted me to close the sliding doors, but that was all right, because everything else is open, and by that time the temperature was in the lower 70s. Yuck. Everything is damp, including the pages in my check register. It has really done a number on my hands and my back.
I paid a couple of bills and renewed a few of the magazines I subscribe to, which meant writing in the check register.
Now the next task is to get the dishwasher loaded, since it absolutely has to run tonight. I'm out of cat dishes.
Speaking of the fur-faces, they don't like this weather, either, and they spent most of the day sleeping someplace. Buster went to sleep under the east windows in the office, and at least once, he rolled over, looked at me, and squeaked - as if to say, "I don't like this - fix it!". He has gotten a lot more vocal lately, partly, I think, because Jasmine is so vocal. And besides his usual sounds, he has been going around grumbling, sort of a hoarse yowl, or squeaking, like Jasmine does. She has the littlest, squeakiest voice of any adult cat I have ever heard. I know she can make noise when she wants to, but mostly she just uses a high-pitched grunt, without even opening her mouth. Buster has occasionally silent-meowed me lately, which always makes me laugh. Mouth open, so I can see it, but no sound.
Now there are dark gray clouds under an almost clear sky and a little sunshine where the sun is setting over the lighthouse. We could have some more rain.
It's another cloudy, damp night in the field.
August 15 I can hardly believe that August is half over already. Egad!
I was in bed before 10:00 last night, and I slept relatively well except for a while around 3:00. That was in part because there was a period of distant thunder and lightning. I guess there was a storm cell out over the lake, because while we got some of the noise and light, there was no rain.
I got up around 8:30, and since there was no cat, I knitted a couple of rows on the sweater, but my backside was sore. It usually feels all right when I get up in the morning, but doing anything makes it sore again. I keep hoping it will heal up, but it hasn't yet, although it is getting better slowly.
I didn't do a thing with my long day. I got so sleepy in the late morning that I toyed with the idea of going back to bed, but I didn't.
I finished the twisted rope bracelet, and I started the rope and post bracelet with a whole lot less trouble than I expected. I haven't done much on it yet, but maybe I'm getting the hang of it. Of course, every time I begin to think that, I start having terrible problems. I think it's a matter of concentration, and sometimes I can do that and sometimes I can't. When I was young, I could concentrate for hours on end with no problems, but age and chemo have changed all that. Oh, well. I figure if I keep trying, at least I am exercising my brain.
I apparently got a black fly bite on my shoulder at the base of my neck yesterday. Johanna noticed it when it first started to develop, and it is now a rather large bump that is very itchy. I put some Adolph's on it last night, I think, but I may have missed the spot. I will have to do that tonight. It is very itchy.
I think the last round of black flies is pretty much over, actually, since the weather has turned so warm, but if there is a black fly in Keweenaw, she will find me and bite me.
The weather was more of the same - warm and humid. the temperature got up to 77º for most of the afternoon, with humidity over 75%. There was almost no wind for most of the day, and the occasional breeze might come from anywhere. The skies were partly to mostly cloudy, with all that haze from the water. I hate this kind of weather.
My back was bothersome enough that I am going to forego the dishwasher tonight and do it tomorrow.
I ate a late lunch, because around 3:30 I was terminally hungry and that was too early for dinner, so I didn't eat dinner until almost 10:00. Oh, well. I notice that since I have been off the boos for a month, the JD is affecting me more than normal, too, but that only means I will get to sleep faster.
I am having my usual summer problems with my equilibrium. For the past several years, when the allergies start to kick in, even though I don't sneeze or get itchy much, it affects my inner ears. Mostly it's dizziness when I sit up or lie down too abruptly, but sometimes I sort of reel around the floor, too. It's nice that there are things to hang onto almost all over the house.
For quite a while this afternoon, there were a couple of jet skis whizzing around the harbor. One of them was towing an inflatable raft with several people in it, and twisting around so that the raft went over its wake all the time. I hope they all were wearing life vests, but probably they weren't. The summer has been so cool until now that I don't think the water, even in the shallows at this end, is very warm. But most people who come from the south don't realize how deep and cold even Copper Harbor is. It was a good day for being out on the water, though, and I more or less expected to see kayakers, but there weren't any.
This weekend is Art in the Park. I would love to go to it, but I am just not steady enough on my feet, even with a cane, to go wandering around on the uneven turf in the park, and I would need to sit down frequently. I probably should acquire one of those canes that have a built in seat for occasions like that. It's probably just as well that I stay away from the art show, though. I would probably be tempted to buy something, and that's bad.
The house is all opened up, except that I had to close the south window that I opened when a breeze sprang up. It has died down now, but I won't reopen the window until tomorrow. We all love having all the windows open.
So that was a quiet day, and it's a damp, dank night in the field and it's time to totter up to the north end again.
August 14 Sorry for the confusion, and thank you to the reader who pointed out to me that I managed not to upload last night's journal. Well, sometimes my mind deserts me.
I got to bed not long after 11:00, and I slept quite well. All the windows were open, but there wasn't much breeze, and the temperature never got under 68º all night. I had to get up before I was ready, around 8:00, and I don't feel like I got enough sleep. This weather makes me tired anyway.
Eric arrived when he said he would, but after trying his weed whacker on the spotted knapweed, he got his lawn mower, and he got quite a bit done. I had to leave around 11:00 for my massage, and he was gone when I got home, but I had to stop at the store for eggs and milk. The garden area and the parking lot, and a big spot in the middle of the backyard are all cut down. So we make progress. I think he did the easy parts first.
As usual, my massage took the kinks out but it left me feeling very sleepy, so I didn't do much for the rest of the day. I worked on the bracelet a bit, but I didn't get it finished.
The weather...oh, the weather. Be careful what you wish for. The high temperature was 80º. officially, at about 1:00, but it was warmer in town and cooler here, in the high 70s. The humidity was atrocious again, over 75% all day. There were very light winds, mostly from the southwest. It isn't pleasant, particularly if you sweat the way I do. Yuck.
The house is all opened up again, but we sort of laid around this afternoon. Jasmine slept on the porch, and I don't know how she could stand the sun on her. Buster has staked his claim to the window seat, and he was there for most of the day. Of course, they disappeared when Eric was around making horrible noises. Buster remembers when we lived on Champine and the lawn service (or all the lawn services) came around, and he does not like those noises. Neither do I, really, but one has to cope.
So that was my quiet day, and I think that instead of beading anymore tonight, I will just go up to the north end, take a nice tepid shower, and try to catch up on my sleep.
It's a warm, humid and nearly calm evening in the field, but it's nearly clear.
August 13 I went up to the north end early last night, and I was in bed before 10:00, but it didn't help. I had a hard time getting to sleep, and when I woke up the first time, around 1:00 am, it was several hours before I got back to sleep. Part of the problem was gas that was pressing on my sore bottom, but I just couldn't get the temperature right. The outdoor temperature didn't get below 70º, and it was very humid and it seemed like it was breezy, even though the NWS station didn't say so. Eventually, the wind dropped to nothing, and I was able to get to sleep.
I hate that, but I have always been very sensitive to the temperature when I sleep, and it seems as I get older, I get even more so. Tonight I will be quite a bit later, and maybe that will help. I do feel sleepy.
I got up around 9:00, and I did a few things. Buster didn't want to sit on me because the window on the north side of the bathroom was open, and that was much more fascinating. I knitted one repeat on the sweater. That last block on the right front is taking forever.
Eventually, I got the house pretty much opened up. All the windows in the bedroom are open, and the two windows on the east side of the great room, as well as the one in the powder room. During the day, I have all the doors and sliding doors open, and eventually I turned on the fan in the office.
Because it got warm. The official high was 80º, at noon, when the wind was calm. Later, we had a period with a very nice north breeze, around 15 mph, that kept it quite comfortable, actually. It was humid, but that lovely breeze kept it tolerable, in the upper 70s. The breeze has gone away now, but the temperature is dropping, too. Maybe it will be easier to get my temperature right tonight. It was mostly clear, with those hazy clouds that happen when the humidity is high.
I did a few things. I got some stuff out of the fridge, and I got all the stuff out of the car. I worked on the bracelet, and I only have a couple of inches left to go.
I know Buster doesn't like wind, even light ones, so he hung out in the great room, although he would have sat on my lap a lot more if I'd let him. Jasmine took up a position on the porch behind one of the pillars, and she seemed quite comfortable there. Until the sun got around, it would have been a good day to porch sit, and in fact, I toyed with the idea of eating my breakfast on the porch, but the table is dirty and my back was bothering me.
I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, although it really was more like brunch, since it was nearly noon when I ate, and I didn't eat dinner until after 8:00. I was hungry both times, but a small amount fills me up. I guess that is good. The pancakes were wonderful. I like bilberries better, but these big, plump blueberries will do.
I seem to have a real flock of hummingbirds, so I guess the first broods have left the nests. The immature males look pretty much like the females, and I didn't see any mature males at all today. I love to watch them. When they hover, they spread their tails waggle them around and they look like tiny ballet dancers.
I missed the Perseid meteors again, but sky conditions have not been good for meteor observing, with all the water in the air and the waning moon rising quite northerly. Even my summer star, Arcturus, was little and puny when I saw it over the lighthouse.
I know we usually get some weather like this every summer, but it never makes me like it better. It is supposed to cool down a bit next week, and I certainly hope so. It is nice to have the house opened up, for the first time in a couple of years, I think.
Today is my mother's 92nd birth anniversary. She has been gone 16 years now, and I still miss her terribly. But when I think of how her two friends went, I think it was probably better that she went when she did, not that it was easy.
So that was another quiet day, and now I will haul in the bird feeders and toddle up to the north end as soon as Beethoven's First ends, and hope to sleep better. It's a warm, clammy night in the field, and any stars will be dim.
August 12 Well. today was a day.
I got to bed before 10:00 last night, but I didn't sleep well. It wasn't my appointment for today so much as it was not being able to get the temperature right, and having to get up a lot. I did sleep well after about 6:00, and I got up around 8:45, which was later than I'd hoped. I was able to do my morning surfing, although the broadband was slow, before I took off for points south.
As usual, I ended up going around in circles to find the hospital (although that meant only right turns), and I had to walk quite a bit to find the doctor's office. One of the reasons it isn't easy to find the hospital is that while there is a "H" sign coming up from Lake Linden, there isn't one coming from Calumet, which I think is rather weird.
I like the surgeon. She is a wonderful person, and she spent over an hour with me, getting my medical history, doing a very thorough exam, and showing me just exactly what she saw in my films. There is no resolution there yet, because I want to know what Dr. Lehman thinks, but Dr. Limback thinks (I think) that the thing to do is sit on it for 3 to 6 months and see if there are any further changes. She doesn't think any of the spots that seem to be there look very suspicious. She also suggested a local internist, and she gave me a gall bladder diet (which there is no way in hell I could ever follow). It was a positive meeting.
I will have to meet the internist before I make a judgment, but I've thought for a long time that it would be good to have a general-purpose doctor in this area. She may be able to help me with my C. diff, or recommend a gastroenterologist, and she may be able to help diagnose whether (or when, really) I should have my gall bladder out. Dr. Limback does laproscopic gall bladder surgery, so that is good.
And I found that I have indeed lost at least another 5 lbs. I couldn't believe I hadn't, since I haven't been hungry. Of course, the reasons aren't good, but at this point, I'll take any method that works, including C. diff and gall bladder attacks.
Unfortunately, I discovered on my way down to Laurium that the air conditioning in the car has failed, and I can't get the car in to see why until Monday (boy, is that cell phone useful, where it works), so I will have to go back down on Monday. Fortunately, it may not be so hot then.
Then it was off to Ming Gardens, where I drank a lot of iced tea and didn't eat much, and then I went on to Econo Foods, where I did the usual damage, but less than I feared, even with lots of TV dinners and boos. They had strip steaks and flat-iron steaks on special, so I got lots of stuff I shouldn't be eating. Oh, well. Those things haven't been bringing on gall bladder attacks anyway.
I started home about 4:00, and there was less traffic than I expected, I did have to follow four cars all the way from Phoenix, but they weren't going all that slow. I got home about 5:00, and got the car almost unloaded, except for three bags of stuff, by 6:45.
I really didn't feel very good, I have to admit. I had to sit down about halfway around Econo, and I was dragging by the time I started home.
Part of that was the heat. The temperature got up to 85º in Houghton, and 83º here, with almost no wind and rather high humidity. It was ugly. However, it was cooler here, as it usually is, and I turned on the fan in the office. I wore a tank top under a shirt, and when I took off the shirt and took off my shoes and socks and put on my sandals (for the first time this year), I wasn't all that hot, until I started bringing in the groceries. Then I dripped.
Speaking of dripping, I think my leaking has stopped. I took the last flagyl (the one I forgot Sunday night) this morning, and while I eliminated a lot (which is a good thing), I didn't have a sore bottom, and there wasn't a lot of leakage. So slowly things are getting back to normal. I didn't take all my new meds today, but I will try to take them tomorrow, and that will apparently help my problem.
So tonight I came home not hungry, and I am just finishing up a nice JD, which tastes wonderful and so far has not caused me any tummy upset. I am really tired. The heat will cause that, without all the walking, although by the time I brought in the cold stuff, I was feeling OK again. I need to eat something, which is a problem, since I didn't buy a sandwich, but I will scare something up.
When I got home, my replacement Swarovski® crystals had come, and they are the perfect color to go with the blue iris beads. So after I make the two replacement bracelets, I can start working on spiky necklaces.
So that was my eventful day, and I expect I will be getting to bed early tonight again, and I hope I will be able to sleep a little better. Maybe I will turn on the fan in the bedroom, and that may help.
It's a calm, clear (but hazy) night in the field.
August 11 I was in bed before 10:00 last night, but I don't think I slept very well. It was so humid (100% all night) that everything felt clammy and it was hard to get the temperature right. I got up around 8:00 and petted a cat a bit, but I had to do some work on my backside, so I had to shoo him away.
It was very foggy this morning, and the fog didn't lift until around 11:00. It was interesting to look outside, then look at the camera at the Fish House. There was a thick, white cloud down at our end of the harbor, and above it were relatively clear skies. It was neat.
When I got online, I discovered that somebody ordered two bracelets this morning! Whee! So I packaged them - trying the padded envelopes I bought - and took them off to the post office, where my stuff against hemorrhoids had arrived.
I got this stuff because it seems like it had helped people, and I wasn't sure whether it was something I ate or something I did something else with. It turns out that it is something to eat, or swallow whole, and it is completely natural. We'll see if it works.
When I got to the office, I discovered that I had gotten a call from the surgeon herself at 7:00 this morning, asking to have some of my records sent from my oncologist, so I got on the phone and did that, and a while later somebody from the surgeon's office called and could I come tomorrow? Well, sure. They had already gotten the records. I called the other hospital and they will courier my films to her. It is so nice to deal with some efficiency after some of the hassles I have had this year!
What puzzled me was why I didn't hear the phone, so I checked the phone beside my bed, and somehow the ringer had gotten turned off. I wondered - I haven't heard it lately. I don't know how it happened, except that it is just a slide switch on the side of the handset, and I suppose I hit it one time when I was using that phone.
My only thought was, oh dear, another early riser. I guess all surgeons are. Personally, I wouldn't be steady enough to do surgery at that hour of the morning.
Anyway, now the wrap and post and twisted rope bracelets are gone, so I started a twisted rope this afternoon, and I had a terrible time getting started, and I even had to rip out almost half an inch because I did the pattern wrong. I guess I should just keep making these things so that I don't get out of practice.
I listed the bronze medallion bracelet on etsy, and relisted the two I sold. And I did a little spreadsheet of the jewelry I have sold this summer, and while the net is only a modest amount, it's gratifying to know somebody is buying. I'm not sure I could keep up if it sold any faster.
The weather is the kind I don't like, but I would say summer, such as it is, is here. The humidity was horrible all day, and the temperature has gotten up to 72º. There was almost no wind all day. What there was came from the north. The sky was clear of clouds, but it was hazy from all the humidity.
So tomorrow I see the surgeon, and since I'm almost there already, I will go to Houghton and shop. I wanted to go on either Tuesday or Thursday, to see if Hughes Farm is open, but I don't want to make two trips when one will do ...although it took me a bit of time to realize that. Duh.
I think I just heard a woodpecker drumming.
While I was beading this afternoon, very quietly, so quietly I didn't even notice, Jasmine got up on the end of the desk under the south windows and went to sleep. She seemed quite happy there, and she didn't even run off when I left to go to the post office. Millimeter by millimeter, we make progress.
My bottom wasn't so sore today, or at least for most of the day it wasn't, and I felt good enough to wash up a few pots and pans and cook tonight. I made so many pork chops that I may have to freeze a meal of them. They are huge, and one is plenty. I don't know if I want to eat pork chops five days in a row.
So now the sun is about to set, and it's time to toddle up to the north end. There are less than 14½ hours of daylight now, and days are getting shorter at a great rate. It's a calm, damp, but clear night in the field, and it's warm.
August 10 I think it was about 10:30 that I got to bed, and I slept remarkably well, with only one wake-up, I think. That's a sign I'm dehydrated again, but it was nice. I got up around 8:00, so I took my morning pill late. I petted a cat and I actually got to knit a few rows for a change.
My bottom felt good until after breakfast, and then it got sore again, and in the middle of the afternoon, I realized that I had been leaking all over everything. Yuck.
I got the dishwasher unloaded, amazingly enough, and I got the buckets into the office and the bird feeders all filled. That is the reason the tube feeder hasn't been up for several days: it was empty, and so was the bucket, but all the other feeders were still pretty full until today.
After a while, my bottom felt better, I'm glad to say, so I got to sit at the desk and make the two necklaces I wanted for me. I don't know why I want them, because I don't wear any jewelry most of the time, but I like both of them a lot. They are semi-precious stones and cultured pearls, with gold filled beads and findings. I will try to take pictures tomorrow. I never got a good picture of the first lapis necklace, so I will take pictures of both of them. The old one had more pearls than lapis and the new one has more lapis than pearls, which would make it even more expensive. I almost costed it out today, but it would mean hunting up the current price for all the beads, and that is a chore, since unfortunately, that website runs very slowly. I am certainly glad I got my gold filled things when gold was only around $400 an ounce!
My oncologist finally called me, and I think we have it straight what he wants me to do. He didn't actually say he wants a biopsy - he just wants a surgeon to look at the films. So I called Connie to get the name of her surgeon and I called the surgeon, but they have to check with her before they can give me an appointment time. So I will go merrily on my way until I hear.
My internist has thrown up his hands over my C. diff and wants to turn it over to a gastroenterologist. Sigh. He knows a good one in the Detroit area, but I will ask the surgeon about that, too. That hospital is associated with one in Wausau, WI, where they have full services, and Wausau is closer than Detroit. We'll see how that turns out. I have one more day of pills to go, and I will be interested to see what happens then. I am relatively sure the C. diff is still there. I hope it doesn't rebound, like it did the last time I went off the flagyl.
I actually felt pretty good today, especially when my bottom wasn't bothering me, and that was nice for a change. I'm still not very hungry, though, which is strange.
The weather is still soggy, but it didn't rain. The temperature got up to about 67º this afternoon, and while it was calm all night long, we had a north wind in the 10-20 mph range until the sun started to set. It was partly cloudy all day. The humidity is still over 85%, which is yucky in the extreme. I am only thankful it isn't warmer. I do not like sitting quietly doing nothing with the sweat pouring off of me.
So that was my day, and I will be off to the north end as soon as I bring in the bird feeders. When I unhooked the cedar feeder last night, a squirrel jumped out of it, and it was so close I almost brought him into the house. I now have four squirrels, and at least two of them seem to be small and skinny, so maybe somebody had a litter that survived. Of course, they are all greedy and they don't want to share. It was sad to see one little one standing away from the feeder and darting in to grab a seed when he thought the other guy wasn't looking.
It's a partly cloudy night in the field, and the sun is setting.
August 9 Well, another interesting day. I think I was in bed about 10:00 last night. It was icky - the humidity was so high all the sheets and towels felt wet. I slept well anyway, and when I was up in the night it seemed to be raining. I got up around 9:00 - Buster was getting anxious.
It was an icky, sticky morning. I filled the pill dispensers for another four weeks. I still didn't do any knitting, but I was able to sit for a longer time.
In fact, when I got up, and until about noon, I felt really good for the first time in a while. So of course, I had a gall bladder attack. The last two I have had have apparently been brought on by eating a piece of cold, buttered toast. Really weird. The attack lasted about 5 hours, and I feel fine now, but tired again. I was so sweaty while I had it that I will have to bathe tonight.
So I didn't do anything. I read. I finished the white binder, and the one that starts everything and isn't finished, and I wasn't inspired to write. So I read the two parts of the stories in the blue binder that I have transcribed, and I am partway through the second one.
While I feel better, I just am not hungry. I may have some cereal before I go to bed, but maybe not.
I do have to report that my bottom is not sore. I am still leaking a bit and bleeding a bit, but it feels fine, and that is a great relief.
The weather is miserable, in my opinion. The temperature got up to about 75º for a while, with a north wind that was sometimes moderate and sometimes very light. It never got below 62º all night. The problem is the humidity. It has finally gone down to 71%, but all night it was above 90%, and it was in the 80s for most of the day. I really hate that. It does my arthritis no good at all, even when it's warm, and of course it feels much warmer than it is. When I got sweaty, my sweat didn't evaporate at all. It was cloudy to partly cloudy all day, but now it has pretty much cleared up and it's gotten breezy. I will be able to leave the door open again tonight.
I got together the supplies to make another lapis necklace, and also another one with the pearls and semi-precious stone chips. I won't sell them. They are for me. I sold one of each, but they are expensive to make and need to be sold for a high price. Since I can't get many people to buy my modestly priced things, I doubt I could get them to buy the expensive things.
Now the sun has set, and it's time to totter up to the north end and sleep. It's a lovely, clear night in the field, if you can stand the humidity.
August 8 I got to bed about 11:00 last night, and I slept fairly well, with several wakeups, as usual. I rigged something to keep from leaking on my nightie (which only works if I'm not sitting down), so that was good. It was warm in the house, and I guess I should have opened the door.
I got up around 8:00, and the first thing I noticed was the fog down the harbor, then I noticed that the deck was wet. It was horribly humid. I still can't sit in the bathroom for very long, so I petted a cat until I got sore and didn't knit again.
My whole bottom is aggravated, so I had a hard time sitting today, but I did it anyway. I am in much less pain than earlier, which is nice. I read for most of the afternoon, and this evening I finished the white binder and started another story, the one that starts everything and isn't finished yet. I thought I would attack that again.
I also got the dishwasher almost ready to run and went to to the post office. I had to stop at the store - when I was there the other day, I forgot I was almost out of milk.
The weather was not nice. It wasn't cold, but the humidity was absolutely horrible, and until it began to warm up in the afternoon, I was sore in all the usual places, especially the middle fingers on both hands. They are still stiff and tender. It also affected my back. The temperature finally rose to around 70º for most of the afternoon, but that only made it nastier. I couldn't do anything much without breaking out in an icky sweat. We had a little rain between 8:00 and 9:00 this morning, but for the rest of the day it was just humid and horrid. There was a little wind from the southwest (10-20 mph) until about noon, but it has been calm for most of the afternoon. Not nice.
Buster likes it when I am reading at the computer, because he can sit on me and sometimes I even pet him. Yesterday, he didn't want any Laxatone, but today he ate it, so I guess his tummy was bothering him yesterday. And once he has been able to sit on me a few times, he doesn't want to stop, until he gets to be a pest.
So that was my quiet day, and I am off to the north end again. I wish I could skip the bath tonight, but I'm not sure it would be a good idea. We'll see. It's a warmish, humid, cloudy night in the field.
August 7 I see why people Twitter. It helps to remember things.
When I went out to bring in the bird feeders last night, I unhooked the cedar feeder from its hanger and a squirrel jumped into the tree. I'm not sure which of us was more startled. I almost dropped the feeder.
I got to bed about 11:00, and I slept, with the usual interruptions, until about 4:30, when I had to get up two or three times in half an hour. I leaked a bit overnight, too, but not as severely as the night before. I finally got up for good around 9:00, but my bottom was sore again, so I only petted the cat a little bit and I didn't knit at all.
In fact, I didn't do a lot. I did do a few things in the kitchen, and the dishwasher is partly loaded to run tomorrow. I washed up a few pots and pans and put the next group to soak. I had started sorting a bag of beads yesterday, and I finished that, but I put the whole thing away, and mostly I read during the afternoon. My bottom isn't so sore now, but it isn't completely comfortable. and I'm still leaking, which is annoying. Diapers are so uncomfortable, I don't want to have to wear one.
Anyway, that is a good story, and I like to read it, although it always amazes me how many typos I missed on the first re-read. And I suppose I've missed some more this time. It also appears that Word has a hard time keeping track of all the "grammar errors" I told it to ignore. It's annoying to have to go back and tell them to ignore things I know I did at least twice before. I discovered Word's "full screen" mode a while ago, and I like it, although reading the computer screen bothers my eyes, and I bet a Kindle or other electronic book reader would, too. It's one (of many) reasons I have never had much interest in movies and lost interest in TV - they bother my eyes. I used to get horrible headaches in movies.
The weather was nice. It was clear this morning, but it was partly cloudy to cloudy for most of the day. The temperature got up to 70º for several hours, and there was a 10-20 mph wind mostly out of the south. I didn't open up the house, but there was a nice breeze coming in the windows that were open.
So now my bottom is sore in other places from having sat so long, and it's time to totter up to the north end and put it to sleep and hope things will be a little better tomorrow. It's a warmish (for this summer), partly cloudy night in the field.
August 6 I must say that this was a better day, overall.
I fell into bed around 9:00, I think, and I didn't get up until after 9:00 this morning. I was up any number of times during the night, probably because of all the water I drank yesterday, and I discovered that I had bled all over the back of my nightie. Evidently, I was leaking all night long. And I had an accident this morning, which was disappointing, to say the least...and I leaked after that, too. I don't know what that is all about. However, I was not in any pain, which was a great relief.
I didn't do anything much except go to the post office, met the woman who laid claim to the bracelets, and sold them to her. She is from Iowa, but comes up here twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter.
I finally took some pictures of the Bronze Medallion bracelet, and amazingly enough, they all came out pretty good. Here they are. The close-ups came out good enough that I found an error I made - there is a piece of thread showing. So I fixed that, and I hope it doesn't cause the thing to fall apart. When the camera is working like that, I keep wondering why it doesn't do it all the time...although the last time I used it, the batteries were going, I think, and maybe that makes it harder to auto-focus. The way those batteries work, they either show full charge or no charge, so there is no way to know when they are dying. Tomorrow I will post them to etsy.
Otherwise, I did not much. I sorted a few beads, but I am not in the mood for that, either, so I didn't do much. I am thinking about doing a spiky necklace, but I need to decide whether to do gunmetal or bronze. I can't do the blue iris one until my new beads come. It's always something, isn't it? I want to try my bead spinner again and see if I can make easier work out of stringing 18 strands of 18" of beads, although I doubt it will help.
The weather was nice, but cool again. The NWS says that July was the second coolest on record, and that was at the Houghton airport. It was even cooler here, and so far August is shaping up to be about the same...or I hope so. Some really hot weather now would be agonizing. The temperature barely got up to 65º. and for most of the day it was in the lower 60s. There was a 15-20 mph wind out of the north. The skies were mostly clear, and there was a lot of sunshine and blue skies.
I just noticed that there were a lot of black pictures from the camera, so I reset the start and stop times. Sigh. That means we are on the downward leg. and we are losing daylight at nearly 3 minutes a day. Sigh.
I finally got to eat the rest of my dinner tonight, and it was good. I had to disappoint Buster, though, because he can't have beef. He has been feeling much better for the past couple of days, and I am giving him the Laxatone every day. He loves it, and it is really funny to watch him try to get into the tube before it's open and lick the end clean. My only problem is that I don't actually know how much he is getting, but evidently it is working. Lucky him.
So now it is dark, and it is time to toddle up to the north end and hope I can get another good night's sleep, and maybe not leak anymore. It's a mostly clear night in the field, and the moon is full tonight.
August 5 This one is going to be short. I got to bed a little before midnight, and I was up several times in the night, sort of dribbling off. I got up around 8:00 - not nearly enough sleep! - and my backside was extremely sore, and it got sorer as the day went on, until I couldn't sit or stand or lie down with out severe pain. However, there weren't any dribbles, so late in the afternoon, it started to feel a bit better, and I think I will be able to sleep tonight, which I couldn't do during the day, even though I was tired.
I did not much. I sent for some stuff that has a very good recommendation, but it won't come until next week. I sure hope this doesn't happen again. I tried some old stuff I had around, from the other house, and maybe that helped a bit, too. The new stuff is pretty expensive, so I hope it works.
Otherwise, I read the story from the white binder, correcting all the typos I found (again - this is either the second or third time, and I find new ones every time I read it.
The weather was sunny for most of the day, although it has gotten cloudy now. The temperature went up to 66º and stayed there all afternoon. There was a wind in the 10-25 mph range from the north all day, although it has died down now.
I was cold for most of the day, partly because I didn't eat much, so I put on a fleece jacket. I had taken off my jeans and put on the big shirt because I thought maybe the crotch was pushing against my backside. That may have helped, too.
Now I am terminally tired, so I will be toddling up to the north end very soon, and I hope to get into bed very early.
It's a cloudy night in the field.
August 4 For some reason, I got very warm before I went up to the north end, and I was warm all night long, so I didn't sleep well at all. I got to bed before 11:00, and I got up around 9:00. I petted a cat and knitted a very little bit, but my seat is still sore, so I didn't sit around long.
I didn't do much of anything. I'm still contemplating my next move. I heard from my boarder, and she will be arriving around August 22, so I still have time for that. The kitchen is a mess, but I was tired and my back was sore, too, so I didn't do anything there. I looked at the beads and finished sorting one box, but then I just put the rest of them in bags for future play days.
While I was putting the bird feeders out this morning, I got two more black fly bites on my left wrist just below my watchband. They are nasty little things, but the bites are small, so far, and while they itch like crazy, they haven't blistered badly. I will use Adolph's tonight and maybe they will go away fast. I don't think it's quite fair when we have two infestations a summer. One is more than enough.
Syd picked me up after 6:00 and we had a lovely dinner, as usual, and we had a lovely talk. We came back here and I showed her the jewelry, which she liked, and we talked some more, about lots of things. After hearing her report, I was glad I didn't go to the Association meeting last weekend. It was about as usual. I've said many times that the only thing those of us who own property here have in common is that we love the place. Otherwise, we don't mesh very well at all.
The weather was OK. It was clear to partly cloudy all day. The temperature got up to 67º late in the afternoon, and there was a brisk wind from the north-northwest in the 15-30 mph range. There was kind of a nice, orangish sunset, with only a few clouds in the sky. There is an almost-full moon low in the south, peeking through the windows.
So that's all I have to report, and it's past time to totter up to the north end and do my thing. It's a clear night in the field and the wind has died down to almost nothing.
August 3 I'm not quite sure what its problem was, but FrontPage couldn't even get logged on last night, so I am still copying by hand. Maybe it will go if I ever get any more pictures to post.
I got to bed around 10:30, and I slept relatively well, although I was up several times. My bottom felt OK the first time I got up, but by morning it was sore again. So I had to sit back down three times to get everything taken care of. What a pain. I got up around 8:30, I think. Buster stayed a little while, but I only knitted a row or two.
I still didn't feel very robust, so I didn't do much of anything. My small order of beads came, and there were no dark sapphire ones, even though they told me they were sending some. Besides, the clamshells had come to pieces again and there were beads all over everything. Sigh. I did get my beautiful aqua beads in quantities enough for quite a bit of beading.
I have wanted to reread the story that originally was in the white binder and is now on the computer, so I started that this afternoon - Taipei didn't go well this morning - and I got a way into it before the news.
Then I started transferring the clamshells to bags, while taking out the bugles, the big beads, and the strange shapes. There are some beads in this mixture that look like fat propellers. I'm not sure what one would do with them, but they are interesting. There are also a few cubes, rectangles and flat rectangles, and a lot of those ugly yellow ones with the black stripes. I got part of two boxes done.
Then Syd called and invited me to celebrate my birthday again tomorrow. Hey, I almost never say no to a dinner invitation, and besides, she has been so busy since they've been here that I have hardly seen her.
So that was a nice end to the day. I remembered that I had never converted the July journal to Word, so I just finished doing that.
It was a partly to mostly cloudy day with almost no wind at all, and the humidity is now rising. The temperature got up to 73º briefly before it went back down to the low 60s. What little breeze there was came from all directions including east. Not a really nice day.
Now it's a nearly calm, cloudy night in the field, and it's time to trudge up to the north end and put myself to bed.
August 2 I tried to use FrontPage to upload the files twice last night, and it wouldn't go, so I had to do it by hand. What a pain.
I got to bed about 10:30, and I started out fine, but I was up several times, and wakeful for a while, and my bottom started getting sore again. I got up around 8:00 anyway. Buster was very loving, and my bottom hurt, so I didn't do any knitting.
I didn't do a lot of anything, because I got very sleepy, although my head was in better shape. I gauge that by whether I can win games of Taipei (sort of a Mah-Jong game, very old, and still the best one I've played). I couldn't do anything with it yesterday, but this morning I won the games I couldn't, and went on to a few more. I usually stop when I begin to have a hard time with one.
I finished the bronze medallion bracelet tonight, and I will try to take pictures tomorrow. That is an interesting colorway. When I am working on it or laying it over my arm, I don't think much of it, but when the lady who bought it had it on, it looked just lovely. She is blonde, and her skin color goes better with the bronze beads. I'm not sure what I will do next. Time to think about it.
I also put the Summer Torsade set up on etsy, and one person had already looked at the bracelet before I was finished with the necklace. I kind of think, though, that there is somebody at etsy who looks at all submissions, and that counts as one person.
The weather was windy again, but clear. When I was up around 4:00, there was a star, maybe Vega, just peeking in the window, and it was a lovely morning, with whitecaps on the blue harbor. It was so windy, I didn't put out the bird feeders. The NWS station reported gusts up to 29 mph from the northwest, but it was windier here. The temperature was in the 60s most of the day, and got up to 69º briefly. Late in the afternoon, some clouds started drifting over, and it is now more cloudy than clear. I guess there may be some rain tonight, but that's not certain.
So now I will take my sore butt up to the north end and put it to bed and hope it gets better. This is turning into a pain in more than one way.
It's a calm, cloudy night in the field.
August 1 I will start this a bit early tonight, I guess.
I was in bed by 11:00, and the two times I was up, there were no stars, although the second time was around 7:00, and it was light. I noticed that it seemed to be raining hard. It had tapered off by the time I got up at 8:00. I petted a cat a bit and knitted a bit, but my tush is sore again. so I didn't sit for long.
This has been a day when I couldn't find anything I wanted to eat, and I couldn't find anything I wanted to do. Ennui, I think is the word. I don't know why.
I worked on the bracelet a bit and I am almost halfway done. I know it would be better if I did it in one sitting, because I've noticed that my tension varies from day to day, but I was having trouble seeing the beads. I spent some time sitting in the ugly chair with a cat on my lap and knitting an afghan, but that was boring, too. There are already 240 or so stitches on the needles, and it takes a long time to get around a row. I also paid a couple of bills.
I was hungry about 2:30, so I had a sandwich. Not very good, with old cheese and old bread, but the braunschweiger was good. Anyway, when it got to dinnertime, I wasn't hungry, or not very hungry, and nothing I thought of sounded good, so I am having potato salad and cole slaw for dinner. I hope my mind is in better shape tomorrow.
The story of the day was the weather. We had 0.22" of rain between 6:00 and 8:00 am, and there was one small grumble of thunder. It was a dark, cloudy morning. Then, between 10:00 and noon, we had another 0.21", mostly in a real downpour between 10:00 and 11:00. Then the wind started rising, and it was a hairy afternoon. The wind was from the west or northwest, and the NWS station reported up to 36 mph gusts between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, but they are sheltered on that side. I am sure it was windier here. It was also almost clear. The wind blew most of the clouds away. There were whitecaps on the harbor and breakers on our beach. Now the wind is dying down, and it might cloud up again. It was a good afternoon to sit in the ugly chair.
Oh, I just heard dogs...little dogs, so I guess I have neighbors to the south. I thought I heard shouting from that direction a while ago, but I couldn't tell where it was. Well, that's nice. That is a nice house, and it doesn't get used much anymore.
I'm finding that I keep forgetting some of the interesting little things that happen around here. Like a couple of weeks ago now, I went out to get the bird feeders and I heard "quaak" from the water, and when I looked out, there was a mother merganser with five or six little, fuzzy babies, maybe 4" long, who were putting their heads under the water to scan for fish just like mom. They have a sort of grunty quack that is distinctive. I think that one meant, "stay close to me".
Or the several times when the squirrel has almost grabbed seeds out of the feeder when I was holding it, or the hummingbirds were nearly divebombing me while I hung out their feeder.
They are just little things, but they are some of the pleasures of being here. This evening after I moved back to the computer, Jasmine got all excited, and there was a squirrel sitting on the last post before the stairs of the front deck. Well, it's hardly a deck - it's maybe 4' x 6' - but it's the way into my front door. The squirrels frequently come and sit there, acting like king of the castle. Sometimes they sit and chatter, like they were daring somebody to chase them. I certainly know why there is a term "squirrelly". They sure are.
Now the wind has dropped precipitously to just a breeze, so I don't think I will be hearing the lake tonight.
I think I also forgot to mention that we have had a resurgence of black flies, and they are vicious. I have been really chewed up. One got inside my shirt and bit me several times just above my left armpit, then worked around my upper arm and got me once on the back. That is to add to the ones that climbed up my sleeves and bit me on both sides of my forearms. I don't know why they aren't going for the bare places. Maybe it has something to do with the air temperatures - they find it easier to bite if it's warm, like under a shirt. Sigh. For the moment, I'm sure the wind has blown them away, but I fear they'll be back. It has been such a cool, wet summer that they haven't had any trouble hatching a second batch.
So that was a quiet and bored day, and I think the thing to do is go to bed early and hope for better times tomorrow. It's a breezy, partly cloudy evening in the field. And it's August already.
Last updated 08/04/11 08:45 PM |