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A View From the Field |
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October, 2012 October 31 - Reformation Day I don't celebrate Halloween. I've thought it was stupid since I was a little kid. However, today is the day Martin Luther nailed the Ninety Five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, and it's a great day for all us Lutherans.
I read for far too long last night, so I was late getting to bed. I did sleep well. The singing of the lake was a great lullaby. I got up around 10:30 and I have finally gotten back to the place on the mitten where I decided to use bigger needles. I'm still not totally happy with the size, but to make it bigger I would have to add stitches and fiddling with the pattern to do that is just too much work. They fit, they're just not as loose as I'd hoped.
About all I did was go to the post office, where there was a big pile of mail. The yearend catalogs and pleas for money are starting to come in. Mercifully, there were no bills. I was so late getting up that I didn't finish my surfing until after the talking started.
The weather wasn't very nice. The high temperature of the day was 38º, and it was very humid, although we didn't have any rain or snow. I guess it snowed in Calumet and Houghton. The wind backed northerly during the day, and while it slowed a bit, it was in the 20-32 mph range all day - no more gale force gusts. The lake is still singing, if not quite so loudly. It was cloudy and dreary and gray.
The guys felt like the weather, so I don't have much to report on them.
Now I will read a bit more - I hope not quite as long as last night - and then I will crash. It's a dark, windy night in the field. And October is over.
October 30 I read for too long last night, so it was after midnight before I got to bed. Before I went to bed, I unraveled almost the entire mitten. By the time I went, the lake was singing, so it was a good night to sleep and I did. It had turned cloudy, too, so there wasn't as much moonlight as I'd hoped. I saw the moon rather high over Porter Island, sometime around 6:30 or so, but I didn't see it set. Charlie Hopper had a picture on the PastyCam this morning - it was clear right over the horizon as it was setting.
I got up around 10:30 maybe, and I reknitted the hand of the mitten on #9 needles, and I think it will be a little looser. I got up to where the thumb gusset starts before I quit. Geez, this has been a hard project. The second mitten will go faster, because all I have to do is duplicate the first one, with the thumb on the other side of the palm.
It was a quiet day, and I didn't do much. I worked on the bracelet while the talking was on, and I read. That was about all.
The weather was good to be inside. It was mostly cloudy. The temperature stayed right between about 39º and 41º all day. The wind started out from the east and is now from the northeast, between 20 and 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. When I looked at the Live Ships Map this morning, there was not one ship out in the lake - and there still isn't. There are a bunch up in Thunder Bay and back behind Isle Royale, and another bunch over in Whitefish Bay and St. Mary's River. It's not a full-blown gale out there, but those guys just aren't taking any chances. The waves don't seem to be much over 8', but you never know.
I don't think we're getting anything from Sandy directly, but it's probably pulling the winds around from the northeast over us. I was through one hurricane when I lived in South Jersey, but not such a destructive one, and I really feel for the people there.
The kitties were sleepy all day, so I don't have much to report there.
Now the lake is still singing and it will be a good night to sleep. I will read a bit and I need to wash my hair tonight. It's a cloudy, windy night in the field.
October 29 I walked out into the kitchen last evening to get something, and I was amazed to see the moon hanging over the Fort. When I came back, it was rising in the southeast, and I realized that what I'd seen was a reflection on the front windows. It was a neat effect - almost as neat as seeing all the reflections of the setting moon in the bedroom. I was in bed by 8:45, and I got up about 9:15 this morning. That should have been enough sleep, and I did sleep, but I've had kind of a sinus headache all day. I slept very well, but I also had any number of dreams, some of them very strange. I saw the moon set over the lighthouse again - it was quite clear all night - and that was very pretty. There was too much moonlight to see any stars.
I was late enough that I didn't knit and I didn't have time to do much of my surfing before I was off to see Johanna. I feel much better for my massage, but that always makes me sleepy, so I won't be up very late tonight, either.
When I got up, all the weeds, the junipers, and the north side of the garage and breezeway roofs were all covered with heavy frost. So the frost is on the pumpkins. It actually got down to 28º from 7:00 to 9:00 this morning, so anything that was growing isn't now. It turned out to be a lovely day. By the time I left Johanna, the temperature had risen to 43º, and the high was 44º. There was almost no wind. It was mostly clear except for an hour or so late in the afternoon.
I didn't do much besides my surfing this afternoon, although I worked on the bracelet a little bit. I kept getting the thread tangled up, and now there seems to be a knot in it that I will have to try to get out. Late in the afternoon, I got a call from the doctor's office, and apparently my doctor wants to refer me to a rheumatologist. Fortunately, there is one at the other hospital - the one in Hancock - because I'm not interested in going to Marquette or Wausau, or anyplace very far from here. Apparently she is hard to get an appointment with, so it may be some time before I see her, but I think it's probably a good idea, since I don't seem to be responding to the meds I'm taking.
The kitties were not pleased when I left this morning, but they were happy when I got back. Both of them sat on my lap and got petted this afternoon. They haven't been with me long enough to get the way I operate, so now they're suspicious every time I leave.
Now I will read for a bit (hopefully, a little bit) and try to get to bed early again. When I need to recover from not getting enough sleep, I've found it takes two or three nights before I'm OK again.
Now it's a clear (I think) cold night in the field, and the moon will be bright again.
October 28 I was in bed by 9:15 last night, but it was a terrible night, one of those where I never got into a really deep sleep at all. And besides, I woke up around 6:30 and had to pee. So I'm really tired tonight, and I don't think I'll be up very long.
I did my morning thing and got myself ready to go to church. When I got up so early and got ready to go away, I think the guys thought I was leaving town again. Poor guys! Eventually they'll get used to me leaving on Sunday...and then I'll have to go away again. I wish I could talk cat.
We celebrated Reformation Day today in church, even though the real day isn't until Wednesday. There was communion, too, so it was a long service. I can't sing A Mighty Fortress. It's another one of those hymns that make me weep.
Anyway, it was noon before I started home. I was thinking about stopping at Pat's for a few things I need (or want), but my knees were really bad and I was so tired that I decided not. Next week will have to do.
The nice thing about this time of year is that there is almost no traffic. I did get behind Mary Ann and Bill going down, and he was being very cautious on the covered road, but I could see why. There was dew or frost or something on the road, and it was so cold (about 27º in the higher elevations) that it could very well have been slippery. It didn't seem to be, but who knows? I lapped them at Delaware, because I wanted to get to church in time to stop in the bathroom, and there was nothing on the road for the rest of the way down. And coming home, there was one guy going north at Phoenix, and that was all. Aahh! My time of year.
The weather was better than it's been in a while. It was cloudy most of the night, but when I was up around 4:30, it was evidently clear, and the almost-full moon was so bright it was amazing. I almost got to watch it set, way north over the lighthouse, around 7:15. If it stays clear, we may catch it on the camera, but I'm not going to reset the time just for that. It was cold - 30º - when I left for church, but when the sun came up in a clear sky, it warmed up fast - or at least a bit. The high was only 41º, but there was no wind to speak of and the skies were mostly to completely clear.
It sure was nice to bask in the sunshine for a while, and Louie spent the afternoon in the navy blue chair, with the sun shining full on him. I don't think Grayson could have stood it, but one thing about white cats is that they can lie in the sun and not get overheated. It was almost clear at sunset, too, and the moon should be bright and clear tonight. It isn't actually full until tomorrow, but these fall moons spend a lot of time around full phase, so we will have several nights of bright moonlight.
The leaves are mostly gone, and even the tamaracks are mostly bare. There are a few tamaracks and a few oaks with leaves still on them, but mostly the woods are dull and gray now. This might not have been the reddest autumn we've had, but it was very colorful and it lasted a very long time, which was nice.
Nothing to report on the kitty front. Grayson did notice the birds hawking insects outside the windows, but not for long, since he realizes he can't get out to catch them.
Now I will read for a little while - a very little while - and then I will go up to the north end and crash. I have a massage tomorrow, which I think I need, so I have to be up and about at a reasonable hour. Now it's a lovely clear, cold night in the field. October 27 I didn't think I diddled around very much, but it was after 11:00 when I got to bed. I slept quite well, I must say, although I was up several times after 4:00. I finally got up around 9:30. Grayson wanted to be loved, so we did that, and just about the time I was getting bored, he heard something and went away. I knitted on the mitten, and I have the thumb gusset almost done. Probably the #9 needles would have been better, but oh, well. I don't feel like tearing everything out again.
Today was washday, and I got right at it. The last two loads are in the dryer now. The only perplexing thing is that I seem to have lost one compression sock. I expect (and I hope) I will find it in with the loads in the dryer, although I went through them very carefully and didn't find it. Well, tomorrow I will fold and put away, and maybe I'll find it then. I hope.
In the meantime, I mostly read. I want to finish at least one more bracelet, but since it's not an acute problem, i can do it slowly.
The story of the day was the weather. There was snow in the valley between the breezeway and the garage when I got up, but the skies were partly clear. I was minding my own business around 1:00 when I looked out, and wow! Here are the pictures the camera took, Our first lake effect snow squall of the season! Half an hour later, it was nearly clear, with nice sunshine, but it left probably ½" of snow on the deck. That quickly melted - or sublimed, i guess - and the rest of the afternoon was cloudy but dry. That squall dropped 0.04" of water on us, so it was a good one. The temperature was good for lake effect, especially since the water is still quite warm. Our high was 37º, and it was right around there, minus a degree or two, all day. That, my friends, is close to our average minimum temperature for this time of year. There was not much wind except during the squall, when we had 17 mph gusts. From the north, of course. So now we've had our baptism for the year, although it melted and I doubt they will report it on the snowfall site. It's about time. I didn't go out. I didn't intend to, and with the weather the way it was, I was quite content to sit around in my sweats and look out.
The cats were sleepy again. Louie wanted to sleep on my lap this afternoon and I had to boot him off in order to do the wash. He has turned into another real lover cat, and I guess he has decided I'm an adequate replacement for his former person. Grayson, of course, is Grayson, and he still sometimes starts purring just because he's near me. Grayson sat on me for a while late this afternoon, but I had to get up to tend my dinner, so he had to move. Louie asked to come up just a minute or so ago, but I have to type, and that doesn't work well with a humungous (or even a small) cat on my lap. So he went away, and I suppose he is on the navy blue chair again. Grayson is asleep under the south windows. This weather isn't good for woman nor beast, although my back wasn't too bad today.
Now I will cease reading and go up to the north end. I have to fill the pill dispensers tonight, and I want to get to bed early. It's a cloudy, cold night in the field, but the moon is almost full, so even when it's cloudy, the sky is bright.
October 26 Oh, well. Instead of going to bed like a good girl, I stayed up and read until a horrible hour this morning. I actually got up around 10:30, but I didn't have nearly enough sleep. Grayson wanted to be petted, but something went "bump" (I don't know what) and he jumped off my lap, so I knitted for a while. I'm not really good at colorwork, but I think the mittens will be OK.
I was so late that I didn't do a lot. Somebody, Louie, I think, had made a pile on some papers in the laundry room, so I cleaned that up, but I need to sweep the floor. I finally got the papers together that I need to send off, and I finally got the bracelet packed up. I went to the post office and sent both things off, and I stopped at the store for eggs.
Oh, and that turned into a disaster. I dropped one bottle of lemonade on the floor in the store, and evidently that loosened the cap, because when I set the bag on the floor a bit hard, in the kitchen, the top came off the bottle and most of the lemonade spilled out before I realized what was going on. So now my kitchen floor really needs to be washed! There is a large area in front of the fridge that is sticky and shiny from the lemonade. i sopped up what was liquid, but I didn't clean up the floor. Yuck, what a mess! Weil, I will just have to bite the bullet and wash the floor, and soon. Yuck. Tomorrow is washday, though, so I'll be busy with other things.
The weather was very November-ish. The high temperature was 42º. briefly. There was a strong northwest wind, with gusts up to 31 mph. It was mostly cloudy, although there was a peek of blue sky this morning. I wasn't out much, but it actually didn't feel that cold when I was out. Of course, I was bundled up in the heavy fleece jacket, but I didn't wear a hat.
The guys were sleepy again, and I don't have much to report about them. I wasn't pleased with the pile in the laundry room, but the papers are left over from Buster (yup, I just left them), and I suppose since he could smell them, he thought that was a reasonable place to go. I was more concerned that it was rather loose, and from that point of view, I wish he'd do a few more, so I can watch him. I think it's Louie. Grayson seems quite clean about things like that. That's the trouble with having two cats - it's very hard to decide who is doing something. Anyway, Louie slept on my lap after breakfast, and Grayson slept on my lap after dinner, until I started typing.
I finished reading Voyages last night, up to the point where I stopped writing episode five, and I've started Trine again. I hope that one of them will inspire me to start writing again. I didn't do any beading today, but the supplies I sent for to make breast cancer awareness scissors or key fobs and cell phone fobs came, so now I have something else to think about. I'm not really happy with all the stuff I got, but I'll make do. I got a few "survivor" charms that I like a lot, and I'll have to make several fobs with those on them. And there are some neat little angels as well. We'll see how it all comes out.
Now It's a dark, cold night in the field and I will read a bit, but I need to get to bed a bit earlier tonight. We'll see how that works.
October 25 I planned to go to bed earlier last night, but then there was music, and around midnight, we had a lovely thunderstorm, with about 0.55" of rain in an hour. The guys were a little disturbed by all the thunder and lightning, and I stayed up to be sure we didn't have a power failure or something. We didn't, so It was after 12:30 before I got to bed. I slept very well, with only one wakeup. Evidently there was another shower between 5:00 and 9:00, but with no thunder, so I missed that one. I got up around 10:00, and while I was sitting and knitting, it got very dark (not good for knitting with black yarn) and we had another thunderstorm. That one dumped 0.43" of rain on us between 10:00 and 1:00. Between 2:00 and 8:00, we had a further 0.22" and now the wind is rising. So since 11:00 last night, we've had 1.52" of rain. Much needed, but I wish it had been earlier in the year.
I was so late getting up and there was so much to read today that I ended up not doing anything. It was so dark when the talking started that I didn't try to bead, even with the light. Oh, I did get the counter cleared off and the bag out the door, which fills up an orange bag. if it's better tomorrow, I will try to get it to the compactor.
The weather was bad enough that I stayed in. The temperature went down all night, and it was around 49º until 2:00 when it started dropping again, and it is now down to about 42º. At the same time, the wind began to rise, and it's now 22 mph with gusts to 30 mph. All the big rain has moved off to the east, but there may be more, and the "s" word is in the forecast. It's supposed to be colder over the weekend but not as damp. Ah, late October!
The guys were not happy about the thunder. Grayson spent quite a while on my lap this morning then after breakfast, he disappeared. Louie spent a lot of time on my lap or under the east windows during the day. Now that it's dark and it's not thundering, Grayson has reappeared - I think he was in the basement. After all, at this time last year, Grayson was probably outside, and thunder and lightning probably scared him a lot then. He'll have to learn he's safe and warm and dry here.
Now I will read a bit, trying hard not to overdo, and then I will take a bath, since I had an accident this morning. It's a dark, damp, windy night in the field.
October 24 So I read for too long last night, and then I had to take a bath, so it was 1:30 before I got to bed. I didn't wake up until 6;00, so that was nice. I woke up again around 9:30, and I had to walk, so I got up, even though I didn't want to. I'm tired.
I started the mitten on #9s, and after seven or eight rows, it was clear that that was too big, so now I've started it on #8s. That will have to do. There aren't 7½ or 8½ needles.
I was so late getting to the studio that most of what I wanted to get done didn't get done. I got together the documents I need for an inquiry I got, but the bracelet didn't get sent, partly because PayPal was evidently down for most of the afternoon. I will try to get everything together tomorrow.
I worked on the next bracelet while the talking was on, but I only got one repeat done. I was having trouble telling the difference between the shiny and matte beads. There are several things that make it harder for me to see, including poor light, but one of the main things is not getting enough sleep. Maybe I can do better tonight.
It was a good day to ignore the outdoors again, although it was surprisingly warm. The temperature got up to 57º, and there wasn't much wind. It was dark and cloudy, though, and between 12:00 and 2;00 we had some rain. There is another bunch of rain to our west, too, so probably it will be a wet night. Oh, and the snow they were predicting yesterday to happen Sunday is gone from the forecast. You know, the more I observe the weather, the more I wonder about those guys at the NWS. They are so wrong so often.
Nothing much to report on the kitty front. They slept for most of the day, as they usually do when the weather is bad. Too bad, too. I was in the powder room when a little bird hit the screen twice going after bugs. I'm not sure it wasn't going after a fly that was inside. The screens are nylon, so the birds bounce off them.
Now I am going to read for a while again - hopefully, not too long - and try to get more sleep tonight. It's a dark, dank night in the field, but it's warm for late October.
October 23 One way to see that I get a good night's sleep seems to be to go to bed late. I read last night, and it was 11:30 before I got to bed. I slept fairly well, although I did have some wakeful periods. I got up around 9:30.
I knitted on the mitten until I was ready to start the thumb gusset, and then I realized that it was too tight and I need to use a bigger needle. Sigh. So I ripped the whole thing out, and I'll start over tomorrow. Drat. But this is an experiment, so I wasn't too surprised. I can't add more stitches because the pattern won't work right, so I guess I'll just end up doing the whole thing on #9s like I did the hat.
After I did my surfing, I turned to the bracelet again, and I finished it with not very many problems - certainly not like I had yesterday. It's nice and straight, and I think I've learned how to overcome my two worst problems - a jog where I start a new thread and ends that are two tight. At least the one I finished turned out pretty good. Sometimes dropping a craft for a while is a good thing. I started the next one, but of course I had my usual problems with starting, and I only did four rows before the talking stopped. That's the reason for all the lights in the last pictures from the camera.
I'm not sure I'll get it in the mail tomorrow, because I have something else to send, too, and I have to go through my non-filing to find some documents. We'll see.
It was a good day to ignore the outdoors. The temperature was mostly in the upper 40s, and there was some wind from the east, with gusts up to 25 mph. Around noon, it started raining, and between noon and 7:00 we had 0.67" of rain - more than we've had in one storm for a long time. It was yucky outside so we ignored it. The rain has moved off to the east now, but it's still rather windy.
The guys were very sleepy all day. Louie has taken up residence under the east windows for his siestas. Evidently he wants to be close to me, which I appreciate. Grayson was wherever he goes until around 6:00 when he appeared and settled down under the south windows. It was a good day for that sort of thing. Grayson did jump on my lap and get a good petting this morning, but he is getting quite independent. Louie is less so, and he's still timid.
So that was my quiet day, although I did do something, and now I will read for a while before I go and take my bath. It's a dark, dank, windy night in the field.
October 22 I was in bed before 9:30 last night, but I didn't sleep well again. Maybe it will be better tonight, because one of the things that was bothering me has been resolved. I hope so. I'm tired. I got up around 9:15. Grayson was around, but he was playing with one of his catnip toys so he wasn't interested in cuddling.
So I started a mitten. This one is going to be interesting, because I'm sort of doing the pattern as I go along. I want a pair of mittens to go with my nice hat (which fits great, by the way). The hat has a red background with black patterns, but the mittens are black with red patterns, because the red gets dirty faster than the black. I did this once before, back in the middle 60s, but it didn't come out very well and it wasn't good yarn (and it was blue and white). The mittens have a hem rather than ribbing, because my parka has tight cuffs. I got the hem done and started the main pattern. I was supposed to start exercising this morning but I forgot. Really.
I didn't do a whole lot today. I unloaded the dishwasher, which was good. I have a lot of stuff on the counter (already) that needs to be thrown out, but I didn't do that. I spent a lot of time this afternoon working on a bracelet and I have only two more snowflakes to go. Then I have to dig through stuff and find the beads and elastic for the clasp and one will be done. I plan to do two, just to get ahead a bit. I hope if I get some more sleep, my eyes will be better. I was having a hard time seeing.
It was a good day to ignore the outdoors. Not that it was bad, it was just blah. The temperature finally made it to 50º around 5:00. For most of the day it was 49º. There was no wind. It was cloudy and dismal, but there was no rain. Now it's cleared up a bit and the half moon is shining in the south windows. Blah.
Louie slept under the east windows almost all day again. Grayson was off somewhere for most of that time, then he slept for a while under the south windows. He wanted to stand on my bead board again, and Louie was interested in it, too, so I had to chase them away. Grayson played himself out this morning. The catnip mouse was in the bathroom when I got up, and he played and played with it. I don't know where Louie was then. Before I got up, Grayson had played himself out and went to sleep on the bath rug. He really likes those catnip toys. So does Louie, so I'm going to have to try to find some more.
Now I'm really tired, and maybe I can sleep a bit better tonight. It seems to be a fairly clear evening in the field - don't know how long that will last - but it's cool. A good night to sleep.
October 21 I got to bed a little before 9:30 last night, but I didn't sleep well at all. I'm not sure what the problem was. I got up when the alarm went off, and I got to do some of my surfing before I got dressed and off to church.
I thought I'd have an easier trip because it's so late in the year, but I got behind a guy with an ATV (I think - either that or three bicycles) in a trailer who was ambling down the covered road at about 30 mph. He missed two nice big turnoffs before he finally pulled over at Lake Medora. I still got to church when I wanted to, though, so that was good. It was a nice service, without communion.
The church council has decided to go with the latest hymnal - yeah! - and I want to encourage them, so I signed up to buy four. Anything to get rid of the abomination they've been using. The first hymn was so massacred that they used the tune from either the old, old hymnal or the new one, and things like that happen a lot. We will start using it on December 2 (the start of the new church year), and it will be a real relief. There was some kind of political correctness thing going on in 1982, and in "updating" the old hymns, they made a mess of them, so much so that I think Christ the King was only one of a large number of churches that never adopted that hymnal at all. Whoever edited the hymns had no ear whatsoever for either poetry or music and the results were an insult. I'm not sure where I'll get the money, but I'll find it, just because I feel so strongly about it. The new hymnal isn't perfect - I keep finding favorite hymns that aren't in it - but it's so much better than the current one that I can handle that. And they've added a lot of wonderful hymns that weren't in the old, old hymnal. All the service settings we use, including the old one from the old, old hymnal, are in the new one, too.
On the way home, I got behind a guy on the covered road who wasn't going very fast, and he apparently felt I was following him too closely, so he pulled over, and I had a clear shot for home. I got home around 12:30. The guys were glad to see me. I'm afraid they thought, when I went off, that I was going for days again. They'll learn.
It started out to be a lovely, clear day, but rather cool. The sunshine lasted until after I got home, and then it clouded up. The high temperature only got to 54º, but there was no wind, so it was rather nice out.
The leaves are mostly gone, except for right around the lakeshore, and it's getting very dull and gray. It's been a very colorful fall, mostly gold and orange, and the color has lasted a lot longer than it does some years.
The guys were awake when I got up, but they slept for most of the afternoon. First Louie went to sleep on my lap, but he is so huge and he wanted to use my right hand for a pillow, so finally I had to move him under the east windows, where he curled up and slept for most of the afternoon. I was minding my own business when Grayson erupted onto my lap and startled me, but after he got a nice pet, he settled down and went to sleep with his head on my left arm, which is better. After a while he moved over under the south windows and slept until just a while ago. I filled the dry food bowls when I got home, and they seem happy about that. I enjoy having a cat sitting on my lap, purring, with a smile on his face.
So now it's a cloudy, warmish evening in the field, and I'm tired. I think I will read a bit before I crash. I didn't do any beading today, because I wasn't seeing very well, which is usual when I'm tired. Tomorrow.
October 20 I was in bed by 9:30 again last night, and I slept very well. Once when I was up, there were stars, but they went away. For all the northern lights we missed, of course there weren't any.
I got up around 9;15 and I finished weaving in the ends on the scarf, so that project is done. I want to make a scarf for Debbie for Christmas, but I have to wind the yarn, so I can't start it yet. Actually, I could, but it might not work very well. In my wonderful book on Shetland shawls, there is a picture of some ladies knitting shawls, from probably around 1900, and they are knitting from skeins draped over their arms. Since they were knitting to make a living, I can understand why they wouldn't want to spend the time making balls. However, I don't think it would work very well with the cats. In a pinch, I guess I'd try it, but not otherwise.
Besides that, when i got to the studio, there was an order for a bracelet - the Snowflake Bracelet, of course, the one I don't have any of. Naturally. So after I did my surfing, I hauled the beading tray over to the desk and began, When I haven't been beading for a while, starting is difficult, but I finally got it done, and I've done two repeats with not a lot of trouble. It does take some time, though, and I had to stop about 5:30 because the sun was shining in my face. My eyes are giving me some problems when I do the close work, and the MagEyes don't help much, because I have to keep looking from the beaded piece to the tray and I'm having trouble focusing even with bright light. I'll keep practicing, though.
Oh, yes, there was sunshine! It never got very warm - only up to 52º - but there wasn't much wind and there were almost no clouds at all, at least during the afternoon. It was nice to see the blue sky for a change. And right now the fat crescent moon is shining in the south windows. It interests me that for several weeks it was so cold we were hardly reaching our usual minimum, and now we're exceeding our maximum temperatures. Weather is funny.
It didn't seem to interest the cats. Grayson got a pet this morning, then after he ate, he went off someplace and I didn't see him until around 5:00. Louie spent some time on my lap while I was surfing, and then he moved over to the east windows and went very soundly asleep, sometimes with his head upside down and sometimes with his paw over his eyes. When Grayson came to, he wanted to step onto the beading tray, and just now I had to move it, because he sat down in the middle of it. I do keep a cloth over it, so it didn't upset anything, but I don't want him to get the idea he can do that. Now he is sitting where the tray was with his head down, but he's not asleep. They still seem very happy I'm back.
Now I will publish this and go up to the north end right away and see if I can get to bed early again tonight. Tomorrow is church, so I have to get up early.
It's a cool, clear evening in the field.
October 19 I toddled up to the north end, took my bath, and I was in bed by 9:30. It took me a little time to get to sleep - just winding down from the week - but once I did, oh, my, did I sleep. I was up three or four times, but I didn't get up for good until 9:45. Grayson got a good pet, but since I didn't feel like working in ends on the scarf, I didn't do much knitting. I have a pair of brown socks on needles, but that was boring.
It was a quiet day. I got the suitcases put away and most everything into the house except for a couple of things in the car and a couple of things in the breezeway. I caught up on my email and my games, and I went to the post office, where there wasn't as much mail as I'd feared. Besides all the political junk, would you believe there were a couple of Christmas appeals for money? Geez, already!
It was a much nicer, if cooler day than yesterday. There was a little rain this morning - before I got up - but this afternoon there was actually some blue sky. The high temperature was only 52º, but since the average high has now dropped to 46º, that wasn't bad. Since there was almost no wind, it wasn't bad at all outside.
The cats spent a lot of time on my lap, alternately. Louie got a couple of good love-ins, finally, and he is a happy cat again. Ron tells me he wouldn't come out from the basement door. Grayson, of course, loves everybody. Me, too. He got his, too. Louie spent most of the night, I think, on the end of the bed, right in the middle, although he was asleep in the window seat when I got up. Grayson was asleep on the other side of the body pillow then. They seem very happy that mom is home again.
So that was a quiet day. I may read a little, but I think I'll be in bed early again tonight. I need to catch up on my sleep. I also need to get rehydrated. I never drink much when I'm traveling, partly to keep stops to the minimum and partly because it's hard to drink while I'm driving, so now I need fluids. I got a lot today, and it helped, but I need more.
Now it's apparently a cool, partly cloudy evening in the field and I'm tired again.
October 18 I'm home! Yea!
I went to bed at 9:30 last night, but I couldn't get to sleep. One problem was that I didn't take my neurontin (for my foot neuropathy) until I went to bed, and it took several hours to work, for some reason. Finally I did sleep, but I was up several times. I woke up around 7:00 and decided to get up, because otherwise i would have been really late and I decided I'd rather sleep at home.
It was still 9:30 before I got away. It wasn't a very fun trip. It rained or drizzled nearly the whole way. When I got onto the freeway, there was a vicious crosswind from the east, and I was being pushed around so much that I had to slow down a lot for about 30 miles. For most of the rest of the time I could nearly keep my speed. I pulled into the garage at 5:00. I am tired.
By the way, one loose end. When I stopped at the Indian reservation on Monday, gas was $3.46. Today when I stopped, it was $3.21. Now you know how much the state and federal governments collect in taxes. Elsewhere, I saw prices anywhere from $3.53 to $4.00 (or maybe more, I don't remember) and it didn't have a lot to do with location.
The kitties didn't seem to quite believe I was real, until Grayson got on my lap for a while just now and was really happy. I bought a couple of catnip toys for them, and they went over very well, except that Grayson wanted both of them. I also bought some new catnip, and Grayson has already been trying to get into the bags of stuff. Oh. They do like catnip.
It didn't rain very much here, but it was dreary and foggy. The high temperature here was 55º, and there was some wind this morning. This afternoon was just blah, and it still is.
It's nice to be back on the desktop. LogMeIn is a wonderful invention, but it doesn't work well enough to be a seamless connection. I had a terrible time typing things on this computer. However, it did solve the problem of moving files to the laptop and the apparently insurmountable problem of moving emails from the laptop to the desktop, so I will continue to use it.
Now I'm really tired, so I won't be up very long. I do need to bathe tonight, and it sure will be nice to have my own shower again.
It's a dark, dank night in the field, but it's not cold or windy. And I'm home. Yea!
October 17 Well, here I am in Grayling, and tomorrow I'll home. Yea!
It was later than I thought last night, but I think I got to bed before 11:00. I didn't sleep very well. I was up any number of times. I got up around 8:00 (If only I'd done that yesterday!). I got myself together and packed up. It's going to be a while before I'm going to want any more sausage egg and cheese biscuits. I don't like them very well anyway, and two days in a row was just too much.
I left the motel a little after 10:00. I had to stop at the bank (again) because I realized I had left myself with three $50s and four $1s, and that makes it difficult. Then I went down to Staples. I knew I wanted file boxes and probably a cheap calculator for the bathroom. I decided I might as well pick up some printer ink while I was there, since they claim to have the lowest prices. I'm not sure about that, but I haven't checked yet. While I was there, I looked at a Kindle Fire, and I want one! It is the neatest device! The guy I talked to assured me that if a book has color pictures, the Fire will show them in color, so I can order the Kindle version of a book I sent back recently. It also has great sound, which is amazing in such a small device. Now, how did that guy know would like Beethoven? Well, I can wait. It doesn't ship until November, and probably it will be a while before it's generally available. In the meantime, I have other device problems.
Then I was off to the pet food store, where I didn't do very much damage, since they didn't have much that I need. I did get some of the guys' favorite dry food, and several catnip toys. Their favorite catnip toy is just a bag of the stuff, so I got a couple of things that are as close to bags as I could get. Not much damage at all.
I treated myself to lunch at FIshbone's - Pasta Orleans, of course - and it was very good.
I started north around 1:00, very happy to be going. I was even happier after I got out of the traffic, which was pretty bad all the way to Bay City, I haven't seen such incredibly crazy driving since I used to come home over I-94 from Belleville at 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening. Yie! I've gotten used to saner drivers.
I got to Grayling around 4:00 and settled in pretty fast. It's nice to breathe fresh air again.
Speaking of that, Michigan had a day of Indian Summer today. The temperature when I got here was 73º. There was a pretty vicious crosswind all the way north on I-75, but it was sunny and lovely. I would like to have left the outside door to the room open, except that the sun was shining in and I couldn't see the screen to do my surfing. It wasn't so nice in Copper Harbor, cloudy and in the 50s, but oh, well.
It turns out that I was using the wrong router at ParkCrest, which was why I was having such bad problems. It's' working much better here, although of course it's not like sitting at the desktop at home. My worst problem now seems to be that I keep hitting the touchpad while I'm typing and moving the cursor around. If you find any really weird typos, that's probably what happened. I have to disconnect the mouse because it flops around and makes a real mess. I'm learning to use the touchpad, but there are a couple of things I can't do with it, so when I need to move a file or enlarge a web page, I plug in the mouse.
So now I'm on the homeward leg. It could be a long trip tomorrow, because rain is forecast the whole way, but I don't think the probability is over 50%, so maybe I'll be lucky. And by tomorrow night I'll be home. Yea!
Despite the problems I've had with LogMeIn, it will be so nice not to have to worry about moving files or losing emails that it's w orth the aggravation. What a neat little program!
I wazs thinking about using the handicap shower tonight, but I have the idea I will probably just crash. I'm tired. I won't really crash until tomorrow night, but maybe I can make a dent in my sleep deficit, and who will see me tomorrow anyway? Well, my hair is horrible. Hmm...
Now it's a cloudy night in the field and tomorrow I'll be home. Yea!
October 16 I am very tired. With all the problems I had with the cell phone and the Internet, and a bath, it was after 1:00 before I got to bed, and I didn't get to sleep right away. Then I was up around 6:00 and I never got completely back to sleep again. Besides, apparently I didn't undertstand how to set the alarm on the cell phone, so it was 8:20 before I got up. i had to read my daily devotion - an email at Copper Harbor - eat and try to leave my room in some kind of order. Whew!
Then, when I got to the clinic, there was a sign that said the valet parking was closed, so believing it, I had to find a place in a really crazy porking lot and walk. When I got inside the clinic, the valet was there, and I said, "but the sign said the valet parking was closed", and he said "Oh, that's why there weren't any cars!" Geez.
Even with all that, i was only five minutes late, and they took me right away, both for the blood draw and to see the doctor...and then I waited close to an hour to see him. He had gotten hung up with some problem with another patient, and when he came in, he was very red in the face and he looked like his blood pressure was astronomical. He likes to see me, though, because I'm one of his successes, at least so far. We had a nice converstation, if rather short, mostly about gout, and i learned a little more. I got my flu shot and went on my way.
Since I couldn't meet Deb for lunch, I came back to the motel and checked my email, then I was off to the eye doctor. That wasn't such a positive visit. My eyes haven't changed a lot since last year, which was nice to know, since I just got new glasses. Howerver, my cataracts are continuing to grow and there are issues with my cornea condition that may be serious. The doctor wants me to see a cornea specialist next year, and at least now the only one is at the Henry Ford main campus, which is downtown someplace and where I've never been. i'm sure it's one of those mammoth places where I always get lost and have to walk for miles. However, that's next year, and they are actively trying to find a cornea specialist for the clinic where I go. Sufficient unto the day, and all that. So far I am still not a candidate for cataract surgery.
I managed to find my way back to the motel, but it was hard. When they dilate my eyes, I have a hard time seeing anything. It was too bad, too, because it was a nice, sunny day and Lake St. Clair was a lovely blue - what I could see of it. Even though I'm glad I don't llive here anymore, I still enjoy driving around the Grosse Pointes. Everyone keeps their proplerty in immaculate condition, and the leaves are just peaking here. Many people garden, and it's always nice to see that, too. This is a very attractive area, and much of it is quite middle-class (despite what you may hear), but it is mostly a mature area, so the trees are big and the homes are older and more interesting than newer areas. A subdivision in GP doesn't mean what it does in areas that are just being developed.
Anyway, I got back to the motel and listened to ATC on the computer, and I went to dinner at the Blue Pointe. There weren't as many decrepit old people there tonight. I like their lake perch, although they've raised their prices again. it cost me more to eat there than it does at Harbor Haus, and there's really no comparison. They've updated their menu a bit, though, which is nice, and things like the salad was much nicer. But I still got my rutabaga. The Blue Pointe is the first place I ever tasted rutabaga, and I still like it. Ant he perch were good - not as good as those I had with Suzanne and Paul last summer, but good. Bony, though. I got one bone between my teeth, which is not something nice to have happen in a restaurant.
When I got back and checked my email again - the router is fine tonight - there was a panicky message from Ron saying that he had lost my key and did I know anybody in town with one. I was typing a reply when my phone rang, and there was a message saying he had gotten one from Phoebe and everything was OK. Phoebe? I don't even remember giving her one. I called him back and had the same problems with the cell phone I had last night, so I guess I'll be getting some kind of new one shortly. I don't use it much, but when I do, I want it to work reliably. So all is well at home and Grayson needed to be petted. Louie was a little more shy, which I thought he would be. He'll be OK, and then I'll be home.
Oh, the weather. It was mostly sunny and it got up into the 50s here - nice. In Copper Harbor, it apparently rained until around 3:00, and we got 0.46" of rain. It was clear at sunset. The temperature was in the middle 40s.
I just had a nice talk with the night clerk at the motel, who moved my car a foot or two so it wouldn't get slammed at night, and is a very nice person. A very broad range of people stay here, but it's an OK place in spite of that, and the people have been very nice to to me.
Now if the router will stay up long enough for me to get this posted, I will do that, and then I'm going to BED!! And tomorrow, after a little shopping, I'll be on my way home. Yea! Yea!
October 15 Well, here I am in Detroit. Yuck.
I got to bed around 9:00 or so last night, because I decided not to bather with a bath. However, about an hour later, it became obvious that I wasn't going to get to sleep, no matter how tired I was, so I broke down and took a sleeping pill. Then I went right to sleep and slept well. I woke up just before 6:00 and decided that was a good time to get up.
Even though I didn't dawdle much - and I didn't read my funnies - it was still 8:45 before I made it out the door. I move slowly and there was a lot of stuff to do. The kitties were not happy, even though they didn't realize exatly what was going on.
It was a pretty good day to travel, although there was a vicious wind out of the north between Marquette and Munising - the lake was really rolling in - and I went through any number of patches of drizzle. I got off the freeway at around 6:30, I think. I also got off without nearly running out of gas, which was nice. I mean, the gauge said nearly empty, but the low-fuel light didn't come on. I had to wait for over half an hour for my dnner, even though I called it in when I was up by Crooks Road. It was worth it, though. My goodness, that place has good food!
The temperature all the way south was in the low to mid 40s, until I got here, where it was around 50º. When I had to get gas, it was cold, particularly in Newberry.
I did pee my pants, though. I should have stopped, but the closer I get to the bigh city. the more suspicious I am of rest stops. Anyway, that's why I always bring extra jeans.
The lady who was on evenings remembered me, and she helped me get unloaded. I sure do bring aa lot of stuff!
Debbie called me while I was eating, and she is sick, so I won't get to see her while I'm here. In the course of our conversation, I ascertained that my cell phone isn't holding a charge anymore, which is an annoyance, since I hardly ever use it. I guess I'll have to go and see Verizon when I get home. I had hoped to wait until we get our cell tower, but oh, well.
I am writing this using LogMeIn, and that has been a pain, too. It has brought home to me just how slow my internet connection at home is, but besides that, there have been some problems with their router, and I keep getting disconnected, so I think I will wap this up before I lose it.
It's a dark, cold night in the field and I'm not there with my guys.
October 14 I made it into bed before 10:00 last night, and I slept fairly well until around 4:00. Sometime during the night, I was restless and I apparently kicked Louie out of bed. Darn. I hoped I wouldn't do that, but it's been so long since somebody slept at my feet that I didn't know what it felt like. I hope he'll come back. I was asleep, or almost so, when the alarm went off, but I got up.
I managed to get off to church around the right time, and I wished I'd been a little earlier. It was dark and cloudy in the harbor, but when I got to the top of the hill, it was all foggy, and the fog lasted until almost Calumet. Sometimes it was rather thick. I got behind a couple of rather slow drivers, and it was foggy enough that I didn't want to pass them, since there were some idiots driving without their lights on. I guess it never occurred to them that the reason for turning your lights on during the day is to be seen, not to see. Duh.
Church was interesting. It was all about marriage, and it was a rather harsh lesson. But there was communion, and that was nice. It was a long service, too. We didn't get out until nearly noon, so I was a bit late getting home.
Then, of course, I sat around. I did pack up the computer and my tote and I started packing the camera case. I usually take the whole thing with me. I discovered that I had charged some batteries then just threw them on the case, and I like to have a backup set when I go off. They're still charging, for some reason, so I don't know if they'll be done before I go up to the north end or not. I thought one set had charged and the other didn't, but it turned out that there was something not quite right about how the charger was plugged in, and now they're both charging.
In the course of trying to get the kitchen together, I stopped to have some lunch. When I gathered up the stuff to put it back in the fridge, I grabbed the mayo jar by the lid - and the lid wasn't tight. Ugh! There was a big glop on the floor and splashes all up my pantlegs. So I threw the sweats in the washer - forgetting that I had my little clock/calculator in the pocket. So now my nice little calculator, which I must have had for at least 25 years, is dead, and I discovered that they don't seem to make those things anymore. I'm bereft. For the trip, I can use my cell phone, but I kept that thing in the bathroom, and it was sooo handy! I had it with me because I've become aware that it seemed to have gained a couple of minutes of time, and I wanted to reset it so I could set the clocks at the north end correctly, as well as my watch. Sigh. Well, it's been a couple of days like that. When I get home, I will search further. I do feel the need for a calculator at the north end, and it's nice not to have to twist myself into a pretzel to see what time it is. So we'll see. In the course of doing that, I discovered that Amazon's search engine - excuse my French - sucks. I searched for "clock calculator" and I got everything from clocks to calculators to GPS units and smart phones. Geez! I complained. I buy a lot from Amazon, and I'd probably buy a lot more if I could find some of the things I'm looking for.
Anyway, eventually, I got the computer, the food and the boos into the car. The kitchen is clean. I haven't done much but get out the suitcases up at the north end, but that usually isn't too much of a problem. The guys are sure something is going on. Louie barfed a whole stomach-full of dry food, and Grayson has been walking around looking concerned. Well, I don't want to go, either, guys.
The weather was not nice. It was very dark and cloudy and misty all day, even though we didn't have any fog in the harbor. The temperature got up to 48º, so at least it wasn't frigid. However, there was an east wind which has been rising all afternoon, until now we are having 31 mph gusts. The lake is singing tenor. I was looking at the MDOT road work map, and that is a really neat page now. Among other things, they report conditions at some of the roadside parks - if you can call the Seney Stretch a "park". They have had over 5½" of rain in the past 24 hours. Now, why can't we have some of that here? Anyway, tomorrow looks to be a pretty good day to travel. I'm not so sure about Thursday.
The downside of this weather is that my back has been bad. When I get home I am going to have to get into my exercises for real, so I'm fit to make Thanksgiving dinner. I'm fine sitting down, but I can't stand up for very long. I am going to try not to take a sleeping pill tonight. I really don't like those things - I sleep well when I take them, but I don't sleep well the next night, and I'd rather sleep tomorrow, too. I'll see if two double JDs will work.
Now it's a dark, dank noisy night in the field, and I still have a lot to do.
October 13 I started to read my prayers last night, around 10:15, when Debbie called back, so it was 11:30 before I got to sleep. When I went into the bedroom, Louie was curled up on a corner of the end of the bed, and he slept, looking like a little angel cat, until after I turned out the light. Sometime during the night, he left, but now I know he'll sleep with me. Grayson got up on the bed while I was talking, too, but he wanted to burrow under the covers and play, so he didn't stay. He spent part of the night on the towels in the bathroom. It's warmer in there, and he evidently likes that.
I got up around 9:30, I think, and I started weaving in the ends on the scarf. I got some done, but there's still a whole lot to do, and I won't have time to do any more until I get home. The only thing that consoles me is that the yarn is so soft, I just enjoy holding it.
I got a few things done today. I began clearing out the stuff in the kitchen, I did cat pans, I went to the post office, and I organized all the boxes in the front hall, even though I didn't get them out. Not a lot, but something.
It was a good day to ignore the outdoors. The temperature got up to 46º, and there wasn't much wind, but it was dark and cloudy and we had 0.06" of rain around midday. It was really dreary. It hasn't been often lately that I've wanted to turn on the lights in the studio to see what I was doing.
While I was doing my thing with the scarf, all of a sudden, I began hearing scuffling around. Grayson had been dozing on the rug, and he immediately jumped up and ran off. When I went toward the kitchen, a while later, both cats were sitting in the hallway, staring around the edges of one of the boxes, and a while later, I found a very dead mouse in the kitchen. I don't know if it was there when I originally got there. These guys are great mousers, and while they sometimes don't seem to like each other very well, it seems like they know working together is more likely to result in a dead mouse. They also seem to know that a bite through the neck will dispatch a mouse. Sorry if i grossed anybody out, but when you live in the country and have cats, you get used to things like that.
When I went downstairs to do the trays, they both went down with me and everything I did was very interesting. I had just put about half of the litter in one tray when Grayson got into it and did something - little snot. I guess that's supposed to tell me he appreciated what I did. I'm sure he did, and so did Louie, since the trays were horrible, but there was almost nothing done outside them except where some litter had spilled on the floor. Good kitties! I will have to try to be better about cleaning the litter. I also filled another good-sized tray, and that will help.
Then, after I rested a while, I began breaking down the boxes, and of course everybody had to come and see what I was doing. I opened the closet door to hang something up, and I finally hung the Autumn banner. Of course, Grayson had to go into the closet to see what was there. It's been so many years since I've had new, young cats in the house that I've forgotten just how curious they can be. Grayson is excessively curious anyway, but it's kind of fun to watch.
So now I will read just a little more and try to get to bed early. I will go to church tomorrow, and I have a lot of stuff to do, just like I always do. I wish I could get my act together, but I've always been a procrastinator, and I guess I always will be.
It's a dark, dank, cloudy night in the field.
October 12 I think the reason I was so late last night was that I was listening to some good stuff on the radio, but I finally had to call a halt. I did get to bed before midnight, I think, and I slept fairly well, with the usual wakeups. I was up around 5:00 in the morning, and I do believe I saw some northern lights. At least, clouds shouldn't be that light and that shape. They weren't moving very much, though, so I went back to bed. I was up around 8:00, too, but that just seemed too early, considering when I went to bed, so I went back to sleep. When I woke up around 10:00, Grayson was sleeping with me, which was nice for a change. I thrashed around for a while and finally got up, since I had some sore joints. I didn't do anything with yarn, since I was so late.
Even before I got my breakfast, I rustled around in the studio, and I found the form I thought I had lost, so I didn't have to make that phone call. I did decide, however, that it would behoove me to check to make sure all my appointments in Detroit were in place and all my motel reservations were in place. I was particularly concerned about the one in Grayling, because I couldn't remember if I'd made it for the 17th or not. Everything is fine, so all I have to do is get myself out of here.
I did some of my surfing before I left, and I hit a good time at the hospital. There was hardly anything going on, so I walked right into the blood draw and right out. I doubt I was there for 15 minutes, because Faye was busy doing her job, so I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Then it was off to Pat's, where I picked up a few things I need for the trip and a few other things as well. Gosh, food has gotten expensive! I got home a little before 4:00.
It was another cold day. The high temperature here was 43º, and there was about a 15 mph wind from the north, but it was partly cloudy all day and there was a lot of sunshine.
The color is far past peak, but it was still a pretty drive. The red leaves and many of the gold ones are turning brown now. The tamaracks are turning color. There are still a few green trees, but I don't know what varieties they are. It has turned out to be a mostly gold and orange year, with not too much red. The aspens and birches are yellow, of course, and they haven't all turned yet. I took the camera, but there wasn't much to take pictures of.
The boys were active this morning, but after breakfast, Grayson went off to his nap. Louie kept following me around bugging me, but finally, I said to him, "go take a nap!" We happened to be near the closet by that time, so he went over into the corner, burrowed under the clothes, and apparently got into the cat bed that has been back in the corner forever. That's fine. That's what it's there for, and if he likes it, it's a good place for him. I get the idea that he was kept out of his master's bedroom and he probably had a cat bed someplace. He hasn't completely gotten the idea yet that all rooms (except for the breezeway and the upstairs) are open to him. He'll come around eventually, although I wonder if he'll ever sleep on the bed with me.
I was going to try to put out the boxes when I got home, but I was tired, and it never got done. Sigh. The next two days will be busy ones.
Now it's a partly cloudy, cold (under 40º) night in the field, and I will read a bit before I totter up to the north end.
October 11 I almost forgot - today is 10/11/12. A numerology day. I love these neat dates. As we get further into the century, there will be fewer of them, too.
I read too long again last night, so it was after midnight when I got to bed. I slept fairly well, though, although at least one of the dreams I had was rather disturbing. I got up around 9:30. Since Grayson wasn't around, I got right at the knitting, and I've finished the knitting on the scarf! It seems like I didn't really want it to end, because I messed up about two rows from the end and had to rip back a row or two. Then I had to graft the beginning to the end, which is harder with the fine yarn, or at least keeping it even is harder. Now I'm starting to weave in all the ends left from the moth damage to the balls I was using. That will take enough time that I doubt I'll be done before I leave town.
I was supposed to work on the boxes today. I did have to get rid of a bag of bags in the kitchen, because Louie still has the bad habit of wanting to chew on plastic bags. He barfed overnight, and there was bag in what I picked up. Yuck. I got the boxes by the back door out onto the platform in the breezeway, but Grayson got out, too, and after I had to run after him and haul him back in, my back was so sore, I just didn't do any more. Drat. So I guess I'll be really busy Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow I have to go to town for a blood test and I will stop at Pat's for the stuff I need to pack for my trip.
The weather was more like November again. The high temperature was 44º, and there was a strong north wind, with gusts up to 37 mph. It was dark and cloudy all day, and along about 4:00, we had what they said was rain, but it was actually a snow squall. Wet snow that melted right away, but still, it was snow. The wind was blowing it horizontal at this end of the harbor, and it looked like December for a while. Yuck.
I guess I shouldn't be upset. I've been hoping for a good, snowy winter, and if it's this cold this early, it seems hopeful, although it's not possible to predict what the weather will do next.
The guys didn't appear until I started rustling around, and then while I was trying to keep Louie out of the breezeway, Grayson got out. I think it's just that it's a place where they've never been, because Grayson ran down to the other end, by the garage, then he started back, slowly, sniffing at everything he saw. I know there are mice out there sometimes, which was no doubt one of the things he smelled. Oh, and by the way, there was a shrew in the bathroom this morning. We got rid of the mice, so now we're being attacked by shrews. Sigh. It's always something. Grayson came and sat on my lap for a while after dinner, just to make sure there was nothing between us because he got out. Louie thought he wanted to sit, too, but I can only hold one at a time.
Now I will read a bit before I go up to the north end. I have to take a bath tonight so I look decent tomorrow. It's a cold, dark, windy night in the field. We could do without any more snow.
October 10 Well, I did a little better last night. At least i got to bed before midnight, i think. I slept well, but with the usual wakeups. I got up around 9:30, and I petted the cat and knitted. Now I only have two repeats left to go on the edging. I wanted to do it that way so that I can connect the beginning to the end right away.
The task of the day was trash, the post office and the store, and I did all that. i ended up taking five bags to the compactor. I've finally gotten it through my thick head that I should keep the weight of the bags down to a reasonable level, so that I can hoist them into the compactor myself, although Rich immediately got out when he saw me and tossed them into the bin for me. During the winter I won't have that luxury, and I'm going to try hard - very hard - to do trash every couple of weeks, so I don't end up with a garage full of orange bags again.
There was a bunch of stuff at the post office, and it turned out that when I opened the box and started pulling stuff out, a whole lot of it went out the other side and on Ron's head, since he was kneeling right under my box. Oops. He hasn't gotten as neat as Clyde was about filling a box, but he'll learn, especially if he keeps getting hit on the head. I got my other tee from Eddie Bauer, and this one is a good color (the other one was awful and I sent it back). Now the only question is how, or whether it fits, and I'll see that tonight.
The weather wasn't good. The high temperature was 42º, and it was right around 40º all day. That, by the way, is our usual minimum temperature. The wind was in the 15-30 mph range all day, from the north, and believe me, it had a bite to it when I was out. It was cloudy until late in the day, when there was a little blue sky, and it was the bluest sky I've seen in a long time. It looks like it was clouding up again when it got dark.
The cats were off-schedule today. Grayson wanted to sleep, and Louie wanted to be awake and he was bored. He sat on me until I had to start my chores, and he spent a long time wandering around trying to figure out something to do. Grayson turned up late in the afternoon and sat on me and purred for a while, too.
I haven't commented lately on how short the days are getting. Days are only a little over 11 hours long now. Sunrise isn't until after 8:00 AM and sunset is just before 7:15 PM. It doesn't help when it's so cloudy. I just reset the camera, and took almost an hour off the beginning and ending pictures. Well, it will get shorter before it gets longer.
So that's about all there is. I think I will read for a while again. I'm reading Voyages again, with the idea that maybe I can do some writing when I get back from Detroit. it's a dark, cloudy, windy night in the field.
October 9 I did it again. It was very late when I got to bed last night, and I got up around 9:30, so I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Hopefully, tonight will be an early night. Grayson got petted and I knitted three repeats on the scarf. I think I only have five or six more repeats left to go.
That was it, except that I am getting the dishwasher ready to go tonight. Nothing. Time is moving on, and there are clearly some things that aren't going to get done before I leave, as usual. Maybe I can get the kitchen cleaned up, and I'd like to get the boxes out of the house. We'll see.
The weather was good for ignoring. The temperature hit 50º briefly, and there wasn't a lot of wind except during a rain squall we had in mid afternoon. It was cloudy and dull all day except right before sunset, when it cleared up a bit. Blah.
I'm sorry to say the camera hung up around 9:00 this morning, so we didn't see any of the things that happened during the day. I will have to check a bit more carefully for the next few days. It wasn't because I had to move the computer, either - I wasn't anywhere near the studio when it went down. I had to move the computer because there was an Internet glitch around noon, and I wanted to power fail the client. However, before I could do that, I had a strong urge, and I had an accident before I could get to the bathroom. Grr. By the time I got back to the computer, everything was fine, so it must have been something downstream rebooting.
The guys were mostly sleepy today, although there were several wrestling matches. Then they both slept for most of the afternoon on the desk, but with as much space between them as they could get. Even though all the dry food dishes are full, Louie really liked what they got for breakfast this morning, so I guess I'm going to have to get some Fancy Feast canned when I'm in Detroit. I mix one can of pate with one can of grilled, and that seems to go over rather well. They don't have the taste for gravy that Buster had, but sometimes the pates are too dry. I'll figure it out sometime.
I need to pay a couple of bills tonight, and I will probably read a bit, and it's hair night, as well as dishes night. It's a dark, I think cloudy, night in the field.
October 8 Well, it was a lost day. I read too long last night - I like that story - and it was after midnight when I got to bed, so it was 10:00 or so when I got up. Grayson got some love and I knitted two repeats on the scarf. I think I only have 10 or 12 left to go, but I'm not sure it will be done before I go to Detroit.
Otherwise, I did not much except that I finished the knitting on the hat. I still have to sew it together and make the ties, but the two-color knitting is done, and I think this one is going to be a better size. I want to get done with it, because I'm going to make a coordinated pair of mittens and I'm anxious to start that, because I'm not quite sure how it will go. The main color in the hat is cranberry red, with black, and the mittens will be black with cranberry. Since I discovered yesterday that my gouty finger has gotten so big I can't get a pair of leather gloves on, I guess I need some mittens.
The weather was uninteresting. The temperature got up to 54º, which is more like our normal high for this time of year. It was mostly cloudy, although there was a little sunshine every so often, particularly this morning. It was rather windy, in the 15-25 mph range from the southwest. Around sunset, it started to rain lightly. Typical fall.
The cats were more with it today, I think. At least there have been a couple of wrestling matches. Louie had to wait until after dinner to get on my lap - he wanted to sit while I was finishing the hat - and he has a nice hole under his chin. So I guess they're still negotiating. He hit the patio door this afternoon, too, because a bird landed on the deck and he tried to go after it. Grayson mostly slept on the desk.
There are still birds, although I think most of the warblers are gone.
So that was about all I have to report. It's a dark, rainy night in the field, and another good one to sleep, if I can ever get to bed.
October 7 I made it into bed around 9:30, and I slept rather well, with some interesting dreams. I was awake around 3:00 and trying to decide whether to get up or just turn over when somebody jumped on me with all four feet. So I got up. He hasn't done that in quite a while, and I guess he forgot. I woke up at 7:00, but I dozed for 10 minutes or so, and I ended up being a little late all morning.
It didn't help that I got behind a guy on the covered road who was doing 30 mph. Finally, he saw a turnoff - not that he hadn't missed half a dozen before that - and let me and the guy behind me pass. I guess I sort of flew from then on, because I was only about 5 minutes later than usual getting to church.
I always feel so much better after I've been at church. My friend Eleanor (the 91 year old) was there today, so that was nice, and we sang some good hymns. The sermon was a good one, too. There was no communion, so we got out early, and I was home by 12:30. There wasn't so much traffic on the way home.
I ended up not doing anything except scoring a new high in Bookworm. As usual, I was tired.
The weather has calmed down a lot, although it was breezy all afternoon. The temperature got up to 48º for a while, and there was a strong northwest wind in the afternoon, with gusts up to 28 mph. It was mostly cloudy, although there was some sunshine while I was going south. The sky was full of those big, puffy clouds with the gray bottoms that sometime give off rain or snow, but there wasn't any precip. Now it's calmed down a lot. There was a ray of sunshine right before sunset, and it's amazing how far south the sun has moved just since the equinox. It's now setting in that deep notch between Brockway and the West Bluff.
The guys were full of energy this morning when I got up, but by the time I got home, they had settled down. Grayson got his pet, then Louie got his pet. Now Grayson is asleep on the desk and Louie is on the sewing machine chair. It's nice that they want to be with me, but one reason is that it's warmer in here than it is other places, except for the bathroom.
Now I will read for a while, but I don't expect to be out of bed long tonight. The change of seasons always affects me, and I'm feeling it. I need my ten - or more - hours every night. It's a cloudy, cool night in the field.
October 6 I feel bad. I realized, about the time I went to bed, that yesterday was the 100th anniversary of my father's birth. I should have mentioned it then, but it was too late to come back to the studio and change the entry. So here it is. Happy birthday, daddy. Love you. Wish I'd gotten to know you better. Now I'm older than he was when he died.
I don't remember what I was doing, but it was 11:30 before I got to bed. I slept well. The lake was singing tenor and every so often a gust of wind would bang against the upstairs and it was a good night to sleep. I was only up about three times. I woke up around 9:00 and got up, because if I'd gone back to bed, heaven knows when I would have gotten up.
I knitted three repeats on the scarf, and I'm finally within a dozen repeats of the end. That was about all I did. I got the dishwasher unloaded, finally, and began loading it again. And I decided it was time to wash fleece. I may have to wear my heavy fleece jacket tomorrow, and since it sat in the hallway all summer, I'm sure it needed washing. I think the dryer is finished now.
The weather was more like November. The temperature hovered around 40º, plus or minus, all day. The highest wind was around 9:00 this morning, with 39 mph gusts from the north. It was cloudy and gray all day. When I sat down in the bathroom and looked out the window, there was snow coming down - just little flakes, and there was no accumulation, but still. Snow. On October 6. There was a little more precip all day, not much, and I think most of it was rain. It was a nasty day to be outside, so I didn't go.
The boys were somnambulant all day. Grayson slept on my lap for a while, then Louie slept on my lap while Grayson was on the desk. They know what to do in weather like this.
Now I will read for a little while before I go up to the north end and take my bath. It's a cold, cloudy, windy night in the field.
October 5 I read for a while, but I was in bed by 10:00. I was up a number of times, and I had some strange dreams, but mostly I slept well. At one point, I had turned over and put my feet out of the bed, as though to get up, and I fell back to sleep. When I woke up again, I had messed up my left hip, and it took me some time to get over it. I was up around 8:00, but that seemed early, so I went back to sleep, and I didn't wake up again until 10:00. I guess I was catching up.
I seem to have missed a power outage. Amanda said it was 2½ hours, but I don't think so, since it was on when I woke up at 8:00 and 10:00, and the blinking clock in the bedroom only said an hour and fifteen minutes. However, I didn't check to see if the generator was on when I got up, so it could be. Anyway, that meant I had to set all the clocks - oh, and I forgot the one on the ovens again. I'll do that later. I'm glad to say the computer rebooted itself properly, not that there was anything inspiring about the views today.
I ended up only knitting one repeat on the scarf, because I dropped something, and when I was almost through with the next repeat, I realized I had left a hole because I hadn't ripped back enough the first time and I had to rip out 14 or more rows. By the time I finished the repeat with the error, It was time to get going.
I was going to go to the post office and the compactor today, but it was just too nasty outside. So I read, with one cat or another sleeping on my lap. Another lost day. Sigh.
The weather was nasty, although the wind didn't get as strong as they were predicting, at least here. Out in the middle of the big lake, there were waves as high as 18 feet. The high temperature was only 43º, and the wind gusts got up to 32 mph from the northwest. It rained lightly from midnight until about 11:00, and there were some drips later in the day that didn't register at the NWS station. It was dark and cloudy all day. Now they're saying there may be some snow overnight, but mostly in the higher elevations and it won't stick. Oh, goodie! Maybe we will have a good winter this year...just as long as it doesn't start until after October 18.
The cats were very sleepy all day. Grayson didn't appear until sometime in the afternoon, then he sat down on my lap and proceeded to go to sleep, purring a lot of the time. Sweetie! Louie came up around the time I was thinking I was going to have to move him so I could go to the potty and then when I came back, Louie settled down until I had to get up to get some dinner.
I think part of the reason they wanted to be with me is that the northwest winds made it cooler in here than it has been since they've been with me. In fact, it was only 66º when I got to the studio around noon. Finally, I jacked up the thermostat and got a nice hot mug of herb tea, so I got warm. Even then it was nice to have a nice hot pad on my legs and a nice lump of fur to put my hand in. And I'm sure they liked having a nice warm lap to sleep on. Grayson sleeps in a much better position for my legs, but then, he's a lot smaller than Louie is. Sometimes Louie gets in the spot where Buster used to sit, and that makes my legs get all twitchy. So we cuddled and we were all comfy.
When I got up to get my dinner, Louie was lying on his side on the floor where I wanted to walk, and the end of his tail was curled right around his hind foot. It was so cute!
Now I think I will read for a little while and try to get to bed early again tonight. It's a dark, cold, windy and rainy night in the field, and there may be even a little bit of winter.
October 4 I read for a while before I went up to the north end, and I was a little later than usual because I wanted to come to a natural ending point, so it was 10:45 before I turned out the light. I slept well, although I was up a number of times. I got up around 8;45, so I guess I got my 10 hours. Grayson got a short love-in, and I knitted two repeats on the scarf, mostly because I got confused about where I was in the pattern and I could see that it wouldn't be good to push it.
I didn't do much. I am still tired from yesterday, so I just sat and petted a cat occasionally.
The weather started out to be another beautiful day. The temperature got up to 66º, although it was getting a bit windy. It was clear and lovely. Then around 4:00, the wind did a 180º, from south to north, the temperature dropped to 57º and the wind began to rise. Now it's 51º, cloudy, and the wind is gusting up to 40 mph from the northwest. Oh dear, there go the leaves. We are under a wind advisory for all day tomorrow, although I think they started it rather late. With the gusts we're having already, it's going to be a hairy night in the field.
I was sitting doing nothing much when I started hear a bit of rumbling, and I thought, gee, that sounds like thunder. I checked the radar map and sure enough, there was some rain out in the lake. It wasn't much, and it was quite a way from land, but close enough to hear the thunder. The rain was neat. it was coming in waves, pretty much parallel to the wind direction. It didn't rain here, although I think it did a bit at the airport. Here, it just got cloudy for a little while, although it cleared up later. Something I was reading today was talking about complete silence being disruptive to sanity. I don't agree with that; I find I relish it. It enables one to hear thunder 30 miles away out in the lake, or loons calling.
The cats were rather sleepy today. I think they knew something. Louie slept in the navy chair all day, and Grayson spent a couple of hours asleep on my lap while the talking was going on. I don't know about Louie, but Grayson doesn't like the noise of the wind very much.
I forgot to mention that I got a lot done on the hat yesterday, and my plan was to continue during the talking, but I couldn't do that with a cat on my lap. It's nice to do a little project like this after all the big shawls I've been knitting. I'm not completely happy with the job I'm doing on it - I don't do much colorwork and I don't like it very well - but when it's on my head, I don't suppose it will be noticed very much.
Now it's a cool, windy night in the field, and the temperature is supposed to plummet into the upper 30s or low 40s overnight, with rain and lots of wind. It will be a good night to sleep.
October 3 Grayson is all right. I was about to get into bed when I heard a rather loud "meo-o-ow" from under the window that was open in the window seat. I couldn't see him out there, of course, so I turned on the lights on the porch and when I opened the door, there he was, just delighted to see me and meowing some more. So I went down to the door, opened it, and he came in and immediately tried to get in the window, which was closed. When I opened the door, he went running in and directly toward the kitchen.
I investigated the window and discovered that somehow the bottom of the screen had become unlatched - how, I don't know - and he had pushed it out. I put the screen back in place and I also closed the window, although I may want it open tonight. Little snot.
He has been himself all day, so I guess he is none the worse for his adventure. I can't yet tell if he is content now that he's seen the outdoors or if he will continue to try to get out. What's almost as interesting is that while Louie saw Grayson go out, he made no attempt to follow, and while he sat by the window - which he usually does - he never tried to get out. I guess his outdoor experiences must have been worse than Grayson's, but I think Grayson is just one of those people who can shrug off the bad stuff, very unusual for a cat.
I got to bed a little after 10:30, and even though I was very glad to know where my cat was, I had a hard time getting to sleep. Once I did, i did pretty well, and I got up around 8:45. I had a love-in with Grayson and I knitted two repeats on the scarf. I had time to do most of my surfing before I set off for town.
I have to say that the peak of the color, except right along the shore, happened last weekend. Already there is less red, and the birches and aspens are turning. There is still a little green, and I don't know what kind of trees those are. It was a very pretty drive, and while I took the camera, I didn't take any pictures. I would have to have had a video camera on for the whole 11 miles to have captured the beauty of the covered road. It was lovely. The cliffs are pretty, too, but it's hard to find the right place to take pictures of them.
I'm glad to report that, for once, they couldn't find anything wrong with my car. It is now all greased and oiled for the trip. I got gas, and then I went to Pat's, where I did the usual damage. I wish I could wean myself off the frozen dinners, because they're expensive, but it's just so convenient. I did get a chicken, so that will keep me happy for a while. I started home around 4:00 and got here a bit before 5:00.
It was a truly beautiful day. The temperature in Calumet got up to 72º, by my thermometer, although it only got to 68º here. There was hardly any wind again, and the skies were clear and blue. I guess we're in for it starting tomorrow afternoon, though, and it's going to be cold and rainy for the next several days. There go the leaves.
I got some new pill organizers today, and I can finally say I got some that do exactly what I want. Finally! I have forgotten to take my evening gout pill so often that I decided I need to put it in an organizer so I can check to see whether I've taken it or not. So now I have four organizers - two for the bathroom and two for the studio. I have to take the gout stuff and one other with food to avoid messing up my stomach, and I need to take the ones for my neuropathy several hours before I take my evening pills, This is getting difficult. I hope the organizers help. And I can throw away the ones with lids that have come apart. I also have two I've never used, because they open funny and I didn't like that. Those can go to Dawn for her garage sales.
So now the fridge is stuffed and I'm tired and footsore. I think I will read a bit before I go to bed. I succumbed to a veggie tray - first one in quite a while - but I need to take the veggies out of the tray, I think, because it's too big to get into the fridge. Then I think I will read for a while and try not to be too late to bed.
It's a clear, rather warm night in the field.
October 2 I think I got to bed around 10:00 last night, but I didn't check. I slept well, but I was up any number of times. I was awake around 7:00, and the boys were sounding off. I got up around 9:30, I think, so I should have had enough sleep. I knitted three repeats, mostly because I got to a place where there was a break in the yarn and I wanted to get beyond it, and my rule is to always knit a complete repeat, just to make it a little less confusing.
I did a few things today. I'm trying to do one thing a day. I got the dishwasher almost ready to run tonight. And I finally attacked the studio. First, somebody landed on the pile of filing and sent it all over the floor (on top of the thistle seed), and then somebody pulled a box of stuff onto the floor, so there was no way I could get to the doors. On top of that, I wanted to get the yarn sorted out a bit. I did that, and I now have four extra-large Ziploc bags sorted by kind of yarn - lace, sock, summer and winter. Then I piled up all the filing. I don't expect to get started on that until after I get back from Detroit. I swept all the stuff off the floor over there - or all I could get to - and threw it out the door. So things are a little better in here now. Not a lot, but a little.
The weather was rather nice. They were all wrong about when the clouds would go away, but they began to go around 1:00 and the later part of the afternoon was nice and sunny. The temperature only got up to 55º, but there wasn't much wind, so it was rather nice.
I'm a bit worried about Grayson. He was with Louie around 7:00, but I haven't seen him all day. There was a dead mouse in the kitchen (which I think I stepped on before I saw it), but I haven't seen a whisker of my lover cat all day. Louie took advantage. Twice today he got on my lap and went to sleep. He is a very heavy cat, and I finally had to move him because he was lying on my arm and making my numb fingers hurt. I wish I knew where Grayson is.
Now it's a clear, cool evening in the field and I think I will read a bit before I take my bath.
October 1 I was in bed by 10:30 last night, and I must say I slept well. Evidently the clouds moved in around the time the sun set, and the moon wasn't nearly as bright as it was Sunday morning. There were no moon shots, although a couple of pictures did catch the glitter path. It certainly was bright enough when I was up around 5:00, shining in the bedroom windows.
I got up around 8:30 - the earliest I've been up in a while. It was nice. I had a hard time knitting, because the sun came up over the garage a few minutes after I sat down and it shone right into my eyes. I managed to do two repeats, but I stopped after that, because I was evidently distracted and I kept trying to make my own pattern and having to rip. Grayson got a nice long loving, too.
I had several things in mind for today, but they didn't all get done. Monday is a day when there are a lot of things to read, and I decided I'd better pay a bill and send off the documentation to the mortgage company. That was hard, because I don't seem to be able to print an envelope. I am going to have to start bugging HP about that. I finally had to cut out the addresses and glue them to blank envelopes. Wow.
Anyway, then it was off to the post office. I'm glad I went, because the bill I was looking for came, as well as several packages. And I invited Elsebet and Ron for Thanksgiving. I know it's early, but I wanted to get my bid in first.
The weather was really lovely. The temperature got up to 61º, and even though there was a haze of cirrus clouds over everything, it was quite sunny. There was a breeze from the north that got up to 18 mph for a while, but that was all right.
When I got home, I hooked up the TravelDisk, and moved my old games onto the computer - to find that one was missing a file and the other one needs an old version of windows. Bah! I really wanted to be able to play Taipei again. I may have to search the Internet to see if there's a 16-bit Windows interface for the newer CPUs. And I am going to have to see if I can find that file on the old laptop. That one I can plug in. Firing up the old desktop would be nearly impossible now.
Grayson spent most of the afternoon sleeping under the south windows. I had to go downstairs to find something for dinner, and that was interesting to both of them. I haven't been down there since Louie came, and not more than once since Rick and Teri were here. I need to do trays. Anyway, I will have to fill food bowls before I go to bed tonight. Louie didn't sit much, because I have the east window open, and both cats were fascinated by the birds hawking bugs. At least twice, birds bounced off the screen, going after bugs.
I made an appointment to get the car serviced on Wednesday, and I will do some shopping after that. I know it isn't too long since the last time, but I want to be sure everything is OK before I take off for Detroit. Ugh. I'm not looking forward to that!
The color is getting pretty around here. Most of the maples have turned, and they are really colorful this year. The aspens and birches are still mostly green, but the oaks - at least my oaks - are turning, and they're not just turning brown. This is such a pretty time of year, especially when the weather is nice.
It looks like if you haven't gotten here before Thursday, you're going to be too late for the color. We're apparently going to have a blow from Thursday through Saturday, and the rain and wind will no doubt do a job on the trees. Well, this always happens, and at least we had last weekend and the next couple of days. We've had more good weather this year - and prettier colors - than we've had in several years.
Mow I think I will read a bit and try to get to bed early again. It's a cool, partly cloudy evening in the field.
Last updated 11/01/12 07:34 PM
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