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A View From the Field |
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September, 2013 September 30 Wow, another month is over!
I made it into bed by 9:30 last night, and that was nice. I slept well, for once, with only three wakeups, and I got up around 8:00. That was nice, too, because I got to knit, although getting dressed and eating took enough time that, after I spent some time in the powder room, I had to go right off to my massage.
Johanna is fine, looks like she has half a basketball in her middle, and she is feeling good. She still gives a good massage, and I felt much better after it was over.
Then I stopped at the fish market, but Jill didn't have any more scones, and the post office, where there was more stuff than I would have thought. The fall catalogs are beginning to come in. I finished up my surfing when I got home, and that was about all I had time to do before the talking started.
It was a sort of in and out day, with some sunshine and some clouds. The temperature got up to 69º briefly, but then it dropped off rather quickly. There were some fairly strong winds around noon, with gusts up to 25 mph, but they have died down, too. It looks like it might be clearing up, too. It actually was a rather nice day.
The guys were not happy that I went off, and they were happier when I came back, but most of the dry food bowls are empty, so Grayson is trying to cajole me into filling them. Tomorrow. There's canned food and one bowl isn't empty. Louie sat on my lap a lot, until I had to make him move. Grayson slept under the south windows, the first time in a while that he's slept there.
So that was a quiet day, and I hope to get to bed early again tonight. It's nice to have so much time during the day. Besides, I seem to still need 11 hours in bed, so the earlier I start, the earlier I can get up. I still don't feel all that great, so it's taking me a while to get over my cold.
Now it's apparently a fairly clear, warmish night in the field, and September is over. Sigh.
September 29 Well, that was refreshing. I only read a little and I didn't sit around staring at the floor, so I made it into bed by a bit after 9:00. I would like to say I slept well, but I actually didn't. I was up any number of times - why, I don't know; I didn't drink that much water yesterday and I didn't have fish for dinner. Anyway, I actually probably woke up around 6;30, which is natural, but I dozed (and had a very vivid dream about my parents) until the alarm went off, by which time I was nearly back to sleep again. 7:00 is just not a natural time for me to wake up.
I got myself up and out to church only a little late, and that was because I had to spend some time in the bathroom. It was nice to be in church again, and since this was a fifth Sunday, we had communion with the old liturgy, rather truncated. Our new choir sang very nicely, considering that there were only six of them. They need more women (how odd!) so I will be trying to go this Thursday. It was nice to have a choir, even though it meant we didn't sing the Gloria in Excelsis, but that could also be because our regular organist was away and the other one clearly is not very familiar with the old liturgy. Anyway, it was nice.
Afterwards, I went off to Pat's because I was running out of eggs, but I ended up getting a whole lot more stuff, of course. Oh, sigh. Now the freezer is so packed that I will probably have to take some stuff downstairs, much as I don't want to, but Schwan's will be coming Friday and there are a few things I want from them, too. I guess I'm getting set up for a long winter or something, but part of the problem (which it isn't) is that I haven't been eating quite so much lately, so things go further.
I am pleased to report that the color change is coming along and at least the maples look to be mostly red and orange this year. There are spots on the covered road that are about 40% changed, but it's still somewhat spotty, and the birches, oaks and tamaracks haven't started yet. It was a lovely, sunny day, and it was pretty. I should have taken the camera. Maybe I can remember that next week, which should be about the peak.
It was a lovely sunny day, but it wasn't very warm, at least here. I guess down in Houghton it got up to 67º, but here it only got to 64º, briefly. There wasn't a lot of wind, unlike last night. We had just a little rain between 8:00 and 11:00, and the wind was very strong. I was awake around 2:00 or so when a couple of gusts hit the bedroom hard enough that everything creaked. The NWS station evidently didn't pick that up. I might have thought the wind only hit here, except that Mary Ann said she heard it, too. After about 5:00 this morning, the wind died down and it cleared up. I did see a few stars when I was up, but not over in the west, so there were clouds for most of the night.
Grayson still wants to sit on me a lot, and he went to sleep on my lap for a long time when I got home. Louie parked on the desk behind us, and when he started rustling around, Grayson got up and left. I don't know what the problem is, unless they remember that I left for a week around this time last year and they're hoping I don't do that again. Well, i won't.
I read some this afternoon, so I won't have to stay up and do that tonight, so I think I will totter up to the north end and try to get to bed relatively early again. I do have to prime the dishwasher, though, and that will take a while.
So it's a cool, clear, calm evening in the field. Days like this are why autumn is my favorite season.
September 28 I made it into bed by 11:00 last night, and I slept well - until 11:00 this morning. I still don't feel all that good, but if I can get a few more good night's sleeps, I should be doing better. I knitted, and today was washday, although I got such a late start that the last load isn't finished yet. I need to rinse it and get it into the dryer.
Otherwise, I didn't do much, but there wasn't much time.
The weather started out warmish and breezy but sunny, and that lasted longer than they predicted. It was more than breezy: we had gusts up to 39 mph from the south. Eventually, it clouded up, and just a few minutes ago, it started raining. It looks like it's just one line of showers going through, and it's supposed to be a bit cooler and sunny tomorrow.
I don't think the guys like the wind. Grayson was around me for most of the day, which cut Louie out. I don't know why he gets so loving every so often. Right now, he's asleep on the sewing machine chair. I didn't see much of Louie at all.
I filled the pill dispensers at this end of the house, and I have to do that at the north end, too, and then I have to take a bath, and I want to get to bed as early as possible. We'll see how that works.
Now it's a windy, rainy night in the field. Yuck, but we need the rain.
September 27 Well, I didn't. I just sat and it was midnight before I got to bed. I slept well, and I didn't have any coughing fits, although I was up several times. Grayson decided he wanted to sleep behind my knees just about the time I needed to turn over or get up or something, which made it interesting, until he finally gave up and went away. I hate to move him, because I like him to sleep with me, but when he wants his piece out of the middle of the bed, it's hard.
I didn't get up until 11:00, so I think maybe I got enough sleep. I knitted, but I was late getting to the studio. While i was knitting, I got a call from some friends of the site that I've met before - they try to come up every year - who wanted to stop by this afternoon. It was so nice of them to call! I got to at least get half of the trash bagged up before they got here, but they brought me some nice home-grown tomatoes, and Jim insisted on taking them out to the kitchen, so he saw all the trash on the stove side. Oh, well. I warned him. Maybe I can get the rest of it in a bag by tomorrow, although it's washday, so I'm not sure how much I'll get to do. It is nice to have some counter space, I must say.
They are nice folks - they didn't stay all that long - and two of them decided to walk all the way back to Eagle Lodge, which they think is about five miles. Yikes! I guess when I was in my prime I could walk five miles, but that was a long time ago, and I wouldn't have wanted to do it, or walk up to the top of Brockway, which they also did. Well, it's one reason they're thin and the rest of us aren't.
The weather was beautiful - I would even say superb. The high temperature was 71º, and it was that warm all afternoon. There was a brisk southwest wind, with gusts up to 26 mph, and there were some clouds in the sky, especially toward sunset. I guess it may rain tomorrow. Anyway, it was lovely to have a day like today. We may not have very many more. i opened the slider in the great room, the window to the porch and the south window in the studio. The only thing is, it didn't feel like nearly that warm to me. In fact, it felt rather chilly, but then, I guess that was me and the result of the wind. It did cool things down in the house bit.
The guys were themselves. When the guests came, Louie was lying on my lap, and he immediately ran away, but he stopped at the end of the hallway and I tried to coax him back, but he wasn't having any. He ran downstairs. Poor Louie. The people like cats and they would love to have seen him. Grayson was in his element, until they stayed a bit longer than he thought was necessary, but he did go to sleep on the end of the couch. He loves people, and he went around and made sure everybody petted him. Snot.
So that was my day. I have started reading First again. With my dire financial condition, I'm toying with the idea of trying to publish some of my stuff, and that's one that would be first. I wish it had a better title, but I can't think of one that somebody else hasn't already used. That and Erlon, which is more of a fantasy, are the two I would try to publish first, and then Special Forces (ooh, I love that story!). However, I'm just toying with it. Those things are all my children, and I'm not sure I can handle the idea of sending them out with the possibility that they might be rejected. I would not have made a good mother.
So that was my truncated day, and I do not expect to be up so late tonight, or I certainly hope not. Now it's a cloudy, breezy evening in the field, but it's still quite warm.
September 26 I wrote about 1700 words, and then I listened to the nice music and it was midnight before I got to bed. I had a hard time getting to sleep; I was coughing a lot and it was warm, but once I took a cough drop, I did good. As a result of all that, it was at least 10:30 (I don't remember) when I got up. I knitted, so it was late when I got to the computer. I had not really finished my breakfast when I had an urge, and I didn't manage to make it to the bathroom. Second day in a row, but at least I've managed to save my jeans.
I decided that the task of the day was to finally get to the post office, which I did, after I went to the fish market/bakery and got fish for tomorrow and lots of yummy baked goods. I decided to stop at the fish market first because I wanted to make sure there was fish, and Jill had lots of yummy stuff that I like, from cinnamon rolls and cheese/bacon/chive scones to bilberry turnovers. Yum. I'm not very hungry tonight, or I would at least have had the turnover. Yum.
On a completely side note, I've been reading my book on food again, and I was interested to find that while blueberries are a New World species, Bilberries are from Europe. All I can figure is that the Scandinavians brought them. It's interesting what you find out when you're not looking.
It was another nice day. When I woke up around 8:00, we were socked in, and it looked like the fog didn't go away until around 9:00. I couldn't tell; I got my last three hours' sleep after 8:00. After that it cleared up slowly, although there were some clouds until late in the afternoon. The high temperature was 66º, which was nice, but it got hot in the house again. I guess I'll have to crack the window in the bedroom. There wasn't much wind.
The guys were both asleep in the bathroom when I got there this morning, and they slept until it was about time for me to get dressed. One of the canned cat foods I got yesterday was one they'd never had before, so I took a deep breath and gave them half a can - and they ate it up. I don't know yet whether it was just that it was something different, or if they really like it, but we have 23 more cans to eat, so we'll see. They are such snots. They are going to eat what they want, no matter what I think they should eat. I think I'd probably have to get them as little kittens to get them to eat the way I think they should.
In the past couple of days, I've gotten a couple of very nice donations from people, for which I thank them profusely. You are helping a lot. I was going to sit down and try to make up a budget, at least for the next three months, but I was so late I didn't get a chance to do anything. Tomorrow. Things are tight right now, and I'm going to have to try to figure out how to get through the end of the year without totally exhausting my savings. Oh, sigh. The generous people who have sent donations have helped a lot.
So now I think I will read and maybe write for a little while and try (again) to get to bed early. I could wash my hair tonight, but since I'm not planning to go anywhere until Sunday, I don't need that. It's a clear, warmish evening in the field.
September 25 I wrote about 2600 words last night, but mostly because there was music I wanted to hear, and I finally had to call a halt to it. I took a bath, and I was very late getting to bed. I slept very well, although I woke up once having a night sweat and just made it to the bathroom. Evidently I was deeply enough asleep that I wouldn't have had a potty dream. I got up around 10:30, I think, and I knitted. I now have 424 stitches on the needles, and it's taking me more than an hour to do two rows. Fortunately, most days I don't have anything I have to do in the morning.
That was about all I did, except that I filled the cats' dry food bowls and I put away the canned food I got last Friday. All the canned food I ordered last week came, too, but I didn't unpack it. I opened one case, with something we've never had before, and I want to try it on the guys. I hope they like it. I now have a bunch of boxes in the breezeway again. Sigh.
The weather was lovely again. The high temperature was 67°, and it was 66º for several hours this afternoon. The wind was under 5 mph all day, mostly from the west. The skies were clear and blue, and it was lovely. I had to open the east window, because it got so hot in here, but it's cooling off now and I'll have to shut it soon. Nice.
The guys were themselves, although they had to tell me the dry food bowls were empty and would I please fill them. Grayson sits over by the fridge and looks at his bowls and me when they're empty. He's a clown. Louie spent a whole lot of time on my lap, and as a result I had an accident.
While my elimination is nowhere near normal, I seem to be down to one or two eliminations a day, and I am just going to have to go back to my ancient habit of going right to the bathroom after breakfast. If I could get it down to that, I wouldn't be unhappy if it was runny. I must try to do that from now on and see how it works.
I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I'm still not completely over my cold, so I don't feel very good today. I was going to go to the post office and maybe get some fish, but I didn't. My box will be overflowing whenever I go. And I'm writing this early tonight, in the hope that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. Trouble is, the radio station I listen to seems to schedule all the stuff I want to hear - last night it was Beethoven's Fourth, as well as some other good things - late in the evening, and I want to hear that stuff! Maybe I can be strong tonight and ignore it.
So that was another lost day, and I hope to be in bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It's a clear, warmish night in the field.
September 24 I wrote for a while last night, and while I started up to the north end around 10:00, it was almost 11:00 when I got to bed. I had to turn over to get to sleep, but I did fine until around 1:30, then for some reason I don't know, I was wakeful for a couple of hours before I got back to sleep. it wasn't pills - I know I took those. It might have been that it was warm in the bedroom, but I have no clue. I was awake around 8:00, but that was too early, so I went back to sleep, and I didn't get up until nearly 11:00.
I still don't feel very good, I need a lot of sleep, and I'm not very hungry, but I'm not coughing quite as much. I still have a paroxysm occasionally, but not very often.
Anyway, I was so late that I didn't do anything much at all. Oh, well.
I will note that the days are now just about 12 hours long, and the moon is in the sky longer than the sun is. We won't get to see it set this month; it's setting way north of the lighthouse, I think, and not until afternoon. If you watch the camera, the sun is setting due west, in the little notch on the front side of the mountain, but it's moving fast now. Oh, sigh. Well, at least I don't have that trip to Detroit to look forward to. I just reset the start and stop times for the camera.
The weather was pretty again. The high temperature was 64º for a couple of hours and there was almost no wind. It was clear all day, although there were a few clouds around sunset. Nice. I should have at least stuck my nose outside, but I didn't.
The guys were their usual selves, mostly sleeping. Louie slept on my lap for quite a while. Grayson has been around, and he wishes I'd fill the bowl he likes best, but he didn't sit on me. I'm not used to cats who eat so much.
So now I will read or write some more before I take a bath and try to get a good night's sleep. I keep saying, only sleep will get me over this thing. It's a clear, warmish night in the field.
September 23 I read last night, so I was late getting to bed, and I didn't sleep very well. I wasn't sure why, but this morning I discovered that I hadn't taken my Neurontin, so that explains it. I take that for the neuropathy in my feet, but it has a lot of other good effects, including acting a lot like a sleeping pill. Anyway, eventually I did sleep, and I got up around 9:30. I knitted before I got dressed.
I decided it had cooled off enough that I could go back into my three-season jeans, and I was gratified that they still fit. I was worried there for a while. They aren't loose, but they don't constrict me.
Otherwise, I didn't do anything. Slowly, I'm not coughing as much, although I did have a fit this afternoon for some reason. I still don't feel good. I think perhaps I can try to not wear my panties to bed tonight, and that in itself should make me sleep better. I don't think it's fair that I only have a coughing fit when I need to pee. I thought I might go to the post office, but I decided not.
The rheumatologist's office called, and my uric acid levels are really, really good, so that's all right. My renal function is still a little off, but I don't think that will ever be normal again. So I think I can wait until I see her again, and in the meantime, I have a complete blood workup to have in October sometime. So that was good news.
The weather was beautiful, although I didn't go out. When I got up this morning, I looked out the front windows, and there was the gibbous moon riding high in the sky, so pretty. The temperature today got up to 60º, briefly. The wind was from the southwest with gusts up to 23 mph. It was clear and blue all day, and it's so nice to see that.
The guys were rather rambunctious this morning, but then Grayson went to sleep on the desk, and Louie slept on my lap until I had to get up. Today was Louie's day to be the aggressor, but they seem to switch off. One time when i got up, he was lying on the rug beside the bed, and I had to roll him over to get him enough out of my way that I could get to the bathroom. He still doesn't get it that I can't just step over him when he's in front of me.
I think I may write on Bolin for a little while tonight, but I intend to be in bed relatively early. I'll never get over this cold if I don't get enough sleep.
Now there are enough wispy clouds in the southwest that i haven't seen Venus yet, although mostly it's a clear and breezy night in the field.
September 22 Well, I read too long (Special Forces) and I sat too long, and it was 10:15 before I got to bed, then I coughed for another 45 minutes before I realized I had forgotten to put on some panties and an incontinence pad, so it was after 11:00 before I finally got settled down on the right side and went to sleep. I was up a couple of times, and then I woke up around 6:00, and it was clear to me that I wasn't going to church. So I turned off the alarm and after coughing for a while, I went back to sleep and I didn't get up until 10:30.
I knitted and I spliced in a new ball of yarn before I got dressed. Then I had an accident, so I had to get dressed all over again. Oh, sigh.
Other than that, I didn't do anything. I read for most of the afternoon.
The weather was cold, and it was cloudy in the morning. When I was up around 11:00, there was a very bright moon shining in the bathroom windows, but after that it clouded up, so we didn't shoot the moon. There's a possibility of doing that tomorrow, but we'll see. It's clear now and just a while ago I looked over to the southwest and there was a lovely bright Venus twinkling over the hill. The high temperature was only 51º and it was in the upper 40s for most of the day. Yesterday it was windy enough that the lake was singing, but it died down overnight and now it's quiet again.
The guys were quiet, too. When I got up, they were asleep in the bathroom, and when I had to go back there to clean myself up and get some clean panties, they were back there, sound asleep. Grayson got some love-in time, but Louie didn't, because I wanted to comb his rear and he didn't like that.
So that's all I know. Now it's a cold, quiet, clear night in the field and the moon should be bright tonight.
September 21 I don't know exactly when I got to bed last night, but it was probably around midnight. I slept quite well, and I got up around 9:30. I didn't want to, but I had to pee, and I figured that if I got up then, I wouldn't have too much trouble getting to sleep early tonight.
However, I still feel cruddy enough and I'm coughing and blowing enough that I'm not sure I will go to church tomorrow. I will see how I feel at 7:00 tomorrow.
Anyway, I knitted, and that was about all I did, except that late this afternoon I got the dishwasher almost ready to run tonight. I should have done it last night, but I completely forgot. The kitchen is still a disaster, but I didn't feel good enough, and my back hurt enough, that I didn't start working on the trash. At least we will have clean dishes tomorrow.
The weather was cold and blah. The high temperature, 54º, was actually at midnight, and it fell off after that. It didn't get over 50º all day. Well - it got up to 50º, briefly, but for most of the day it was about 49º. Cold. Particularly cold, because there was a 20-30 mph wind from the north. I didn't go out. It was cloudy and dark.
The guys didn't do much either, although they did get a bit active around noon, when I was getting ready to get dressed. For most of the afternoon they slept, mostly on me. Grayson got me first, and when he went away, Louie sat for a long time, and just now Grayson was back. I don't know why, except that I think they worry when I go away like I did yesterday. Anyway, I was chilly enough that it was nice to have a warm pad on my knees that I could sink my fingers into.
So that was a nothing day. I ate dinner early, and I won't be here very long before I totter up to the north end and take my bath. It's a cold, cloudy, windy night in the field.
September 20 I made it into bed by 11:00 last night, and I didn't get up until 10:00 this morning, so I guess I got enough sleep. I didn't feel all that good, though. I was late enough that I didn't knit, and since I had an accident about half an hour before I was going to leave, it was a busy morning.
I had to pass a couple of people going down to Delaware, including one person whom I noticed, as I passed, was hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life - and driving at about 30 miles an hour. A person like that might well pull over if they thought about it, but they were so terrified by the road that it would never occur to them. It happens that there are a couple of places both going into Copper Harbor from my road and going down the covered road where there is actually enough visibility to allow safe passing, even if there is a double yellow line. I'm sure I totally terrified the poor person who was clutching the steering column.
The reason I wanted to leave so early was that I stopped at the bank in Mohawk on my way down, finally. The checks I've been hanging onto for so long should clear in a day or two. I got behind a slow driver there, too, but I was the third guy, and by that time I knew I would be in time to get to Laurium.
I wanted to get to the hospital early for a couple of reasons. For one thing, they have the normal front entrance roads totally torn up, and I wasn't sure I could find the back way. Not only could I, but that's the way I will go from now on. It's much easier. And I wanted to get my blood drawn before I saw the doctor. I did that, too, and they were so speedy in testing it that the rheumatologist's office called me before I got home. Unfortunately, she was gone by the time I got here, so I will have to try to remember to call on Monday.
I'm not sure I got out of the doctor's appointment what I wanted, but we had a good chat and I got the name of an ophthalmologist, so I can make an appointment with him. And I got my flu shot. The doctor's opinion is that I just have a bad cold, and there doesn't seem to be any bronchitis or pneumonia, so I just have to live through it. They did make me wear a mask, just so I didn't spread my germs around.
So that turned out all right. Then I was off to the optician, whom I finally located. I think possibly they have finally gotten my glasses adjusted right, although I'll have to wear them for a few days to be sure. At least right now they feel better.
And finally, I stopped at Pat's, mostly for cat food, although I did get a few other things - much more than I'd planned. I got a piece of fish, but it turned out I didn't feel like cooking tonight, so I will have it tomorrow.
I got home around 4:45. I had to follow the school bus all the way from Delaware. He doesn't drive exceptionally slowly, although it was slower than I would have gone. It was drizzling the whole way, too, so I just moseyed along behind him.
When I got home and sat down at the computer again, Grayson came and went to sleep on my lap until I had to blow my nose. I think it was mostly because his dry food bowls were empty.
It wasn't a very nice day, although I only got drizzled on. The temperature got up to 64º around noon, before it dropped off as the rain moved in. It was cloudy and dull, and there was a 15 mph or so wind for most of the time. Not very nice.
The guys were real pests until I left, and they got just as pesty when I got home, until I filled their food bowls. Little snots. I had to go out to the breezeway to get a bag of food, and Louie took it into his head that he wanted to go out, too, but I saw him, and I closed the door on his neck. If he's as smart as I think he is, that will teach him to stay away from the door. Grayson doesn't want to go out, ever since he got a quick look around and saw that there isn't anything interesting out there. I don't know what got into Louie's head, except that all the food does come in from there. They just don't like the low-calorie stuff anymore, and I'm not sure why, unless I got a bad bag. I have another one, so we'll see. We're down to three flavors now, so I have to fill them more often.
I noticed that the fall color is starting, although unless something amazing happens in the next week, it's going to be quite late this year. I would say that in most places it's less than 10% turned, except for an occasional pocket. There were some nice reds along Cliff Drive, although it was dark enough that it was hard to see. It looks like it might be a nice red year, whenever it comes. The woods are still mostly green, although at this time of year all the trees are sort of yellowish.
So that was my day. Now, they're playing Mahler's Second, "Resurrection", which is about my favorite Mahler symphony, so I have to stay up to hear that. It's a dark, cloudy and probably rainy night in the field.
September 19 Well, the best laid plans, and all that. I finished the journal before 9:00, but when I tried to upload it, I couldn't get connected. In fact, I couldn't even reach the website with IE. So after fiddling around for a while, I called PastyNet. I got Jon, and after we tried a few things, he decided my DNS software had gotten corrupted, and I should do a system restore. Ugh!
So I did it, and there was no change. Unfortunately, for some reason not known to me (I thought system restore only restored Windows programs and files) Norton decided it hadn't gotten updated for a while, and it downloaded 118mb of stuff. My connection was about as fast as it gets (768kbps) but still, it took a long time. There was no change in the problem, and when I tried to access my site from the laptop, I couldn't do that either. So I decided to roll back the restore, and Norton decided to download the 118mb again. Sheesh!
By that time, Charlie had called me, and we spent a long time trying all sorts of things, including plugging the receiver directly into the computer, which required moving the CPU out from under the desk. That was good, because I discovered that the air intake grille was all covered with a combination of cat hair and dust. It should be running cooler now, and one of these days I'll have to open up the case and clean out the inside. I'd like to go downstairs and see if I can find my vacuum tools first, though. I also discovered that the cord from the keyboard had gotten under the CPU case, how, I don't know, and I'll have to fix that, too.
Anyway, moving the cable didn't do anything either, Finally, after we both tried a lot of stuff, Charlie discovered that the only sites we couldn't access were the pasty.net and pasty.com sites - the problem afflicted him, too, in Eagle River. By this time, though, it was around 1:30 AM. There had been somebody doing some work up on Horace Greeley during the day, and after Charlie noticed that all the access points that couldn't get to PatayNet were north of there (he knows all the IP addresses, so he could get around the DNS problem), he deduced that somebody had goofed and somehow set up a block in or between the routers. It had to do with both my camera and the one at Sunset Bay had last updated right after 6:00 PM.
About 2:15, he called me back to explain what the problem seemed to be and said he hoped he wouldn't have to go up to Horace Greeley in the middle of the night, so I gave up trying to connect to my website.
However, I didn't go to bed. I sat and read for quite a while longer before I finally tottered up to the north end and crashed. I had already decided I still have too much of a cold to try to sing tonight, so I didn't take a bath. I slept like the dead, with a couple of wakeups, until around 11:00 or so.
I knitted, and I did my surfing, but I feel pretty cruddy, and tonight I do have to take a bath, so I'm presentable for the doctor tomorrow. Otherwise, I did nothing.
It was a nice day today, even though it was mostly cloudy and humid. The temperature got up to 75º for a while this afternoon, and I opened both the south and east windows. I was struck by the smell of the outside - watery and almost like ozone, but wonderful. Every season has its own aroma, and this is autumn's. There wasn't any wind, and it was cloudy. Several times it looked like it might even rain, I think there may even have been a few sprinkles this evening, but nothing that registered. It was nice to have a warm day, and the guys liked the open windows.
When I got up, the guys were already sound asleep in the window seat, and they didn't even get up with me. Both of them got some petting; the dry food bowls are empty again. However, I have to bring in a bag of stuff from the breezeway, so they'll just have to eat the kind they don't like for another day.
I plan to stop at Pat's tomorrow and get some more canned food. I have been very disappointed to discovered there doesn't seem to be a place where I can get all the varieties of Friskies, and they like some of the more obscure kinds.
So now I need to go up to the north end and do my thing and try to get to bed relatively early. I am exhausted and my head aches. It's a cloudy, warm night in the field, and we won't get to see the Harvest Moon.
September 18 I made it into bed by 11:00 and I got up around 10:30, but since I was up about every two hours or so, coughing and peeing, I didn't get as much sleep as I'd hoped. I still don't feel good, and by this time of day, my head feels like somebody has been beating on it, from all the coughing. Unless I feel a whole lot better tomorrow, I won't be going to choir practice. Well, it usually takes two weeks at least to get over a cold, so I shouldn't be surprised.
I knitted, and I broke down and ordered some cat food, but otherwise all I did was spend the afternoon talking to my friend Rick. He is such a nice person, and so is his wife. I hope they can get up here again sometime next year. I miss seeing them.
The weather was dull and gray and blah. The high temperature was 64º, and there was hardly any wind. They said it might rain, but if there was any rain, it was south of us. Blah.
The guys were blah, too. They were rambunctious at intervals overnight and in the morning, but as usual they slept all day. They weren't too pleased, because I didn't give them any new canned food today. Tough. They didn't eat what they had. I know they were rambunctious overnight, because I was sitting in the bathroom when they decided to wrestle and somebody bumped into me and turned over, and I got some nice scratches on my leg, fortunately above the cellulitis. I yelled so loud, they both ran away. Curiously enough, they both know what "OW!" means - it means we did something mommy doesn't like and we'd better scoot. They aren't bad scratches, but he did break the skin. I think it was Grayson, he of the needle-sharp claws.
I began to try to make a list of things I want to talk to the doctor about, because for some reason I don't remember, something flashed through my mind that I'd forgotten, but by the time I got a pen and something to write on in a place where I could write, not only had I forgotten it again, I'd forgotten a couple other things I want to talk to him about. Oh, the joys of getting old...
So I will read a bit longer before I totter up to the north end and take a bath. It's a dull, cloudy night in the field.
September 17 I didn't get to bed as early as I wanted to last night, and then I forgot to turn over for a while, so I lay there and coughed until I remembered, then I turned over on my right side and slept for nearly four hours. After that, i was up about every two hours, and I finally gave up and got up around 10:30. I knitted - 396 stitches.
I didn't do anything. It took me most of the afternoon to do my surfing. I've been reading a bit, and maybe I'll finish part 4 tonight.
The weather was nice again. The camera hung up around 10:30 - thanks, Allan, for pointing it out to me. It was clear and blue all day. The high temperature was 63º. There was a little wind for a while in the afternoon, from the southwest, but it has died down. It was a pretty day, and I didn't stick my nose outside.
The guys didn't stick their noses out much, either. They were active this morning, but they had zonked out before I finished knitting, and I didn't see much of anybody all day. I think they are more awake at night anyway.
So that's all I have to report. It's a clear, calm night in the field.
September 16 Oh, gee, I almost forgot this again.
I got to bed around 11:00. It was later than I wanted, but I took a bath and probably fiddled around a bit. I had to turn over, but as soon as I did, I went right to sleep and didn't wake up for over three hours. It's been a few days since I've done that. Actually, I slept fairly well, although I was up a couple more times. I got up around 9:30 and knitted my two rows.
I had two tasks for the day, and I accomplished both of them. I had to call the propane company because I didn't understand my bill, and that may mean I will get a better monthly payment. At least I hope so. And I needed to call my financial advisor and get my yearly distribution. That call turned into a little more than I anticipated, and as a result, I spent the rest of the afternoon entering the data off my credit card bills into my ledger. Tomorrow I need to do the rest of the ledger. The financial situation is looking rather grim, I have to say, and I'm going to have to learn to be very careful of my spending. I hope that will be all I need to do. As I've said before, anyone who can help me keep the camera running and the site up and going would be appreciated. Sigh.
The weather was apparently rather, nice, although I didn't go out. The temperature got up to 54º for a while, and there were only light winds. The sky was clear and blue. Nice. However, once the sun set, the temperature plummeted, and it is now 46º.
The guys were sleepy, and I didn't see much of them. Louie came to sit on me a while ago, but I did something he didn't like (I'm not quite sure what) and he tried to bite me, so I booted him. Grayson spent some time asleep on the dark blue chair. I haven't figured out how they decide where to sleep.
So now I will read a bit more before I totter up to the north end. It's a clear, cold night in the field.
September 15 It was a dark and stormy night in the field, and I was awake for most of it. Arrggh! A bit after I wrote last night's entry, I had a coughing fit, so bad that for a moment I couldn't breathe and I felt woozy. Evidently I was woozy, because I forgot what day it was, and along about 10:30, I wondered why the weekly backup hadn't started. That happens at 7:00 on Sunday, by the way. So I started checking around, and I discovered that evidently I missed the "insert disc" message from last week, and the 9/8 backup aborted.
I hate Microsoft Backup. For one thing, it seems to assume (ass/ u / me, remember?) that the backup disc is in the reader all the time. I remove it, both to label it with the date of the last backup and in case I want to either reboot the system or I want to do something else with the reader, like play music or something. Then, when it asks for the disc to be inserted, the message only stays on the screen for 30 seconds or so, which is not helpful if I'm not at the computer, like I'm in the kitchen or the bathroom. The backup only stays running for 24 hours or so, with no further messages, before it aborts. All of that is dumb, dumb, dumb.
Anyway, since I discovered that last week's backup didn't run, I decided I should run one right then. Oh, wrong. Another thing that annoys me is that MS Backup is incredibly slow. It apparently converts all files to .zip files before it writes them to the DVD, and it must have the slowest .zip converter in captivity. Since this backup was a new one, it wanted to backup all my files, and it took either 4 or 5 hours (I'm not sure exactly what the start and stop times were) to run. I had to be here, since it took 3 DVDs to get everything on, and as I mentioned, the messages and the process don't stay around forever. So I read and checked the weather and the progress of the backup (which is very hard to do, because the progress it reports is wrong) until all hours of the morning. I was not a happy camper.
The only thing that relieved my mind is that when the real backup started tonight, it asked for the last disc from last night, not a whole new set. My only consolation is that if I hadn't done the complete backup last night, it would have done it tonight. That's another beef - the user has absolutely no control over what is backed up or how it is backed up. There is no way, for example, I could tell it not to back up my email files (what good are those?) or to simply back up everything that had changed since 9/1 and go back to automatic calculations from there.
Anybody know of some good backup programs that are fast, accurate and allow user control?
All the time I was awake, the wind was howling and banging around the house, I could hear the rain hitting the windows, and the lake was singing loudly. The wind was from the northwest, which is always noisy, and just about the time i went to sleep, it peaked with 38 mph gusts. Then, half an hour later, it suddenly switched to the northeast and died down a bit. That didn't last long, and it got up to 31 mph gusts around noon.
I was up about every two hours, coughing and having to pee, and the last time, I had a little trouble getting back to sleep, and Louie decided he was hungry and started making a pest of himself, meowing and pushing stuff off the nightstand. Eventually I got up, but I didn't get nearly enough sleep, and I will definitely be going to bed early tonight.
I knitted this morning, I did my surfing, and I filled the dry cat food bowls, but otherwise, all I did was read. There are some things I need to do, but I couldn't today. I haven't been coughing quite as much, thankfully, and I haven't had quite as much trouble standing up as I did yesterday, but I still don't feel good, independent of my lack of sleep.
The weather today was cold, so I was glad I didn't have to go out. The high temperature was at midnight again, and during the day, it was 50º, plus or minus a degree or so. The wind blew until around noon, but now it and the lake are nearly calm again. It was cloudy until around 4:00, when the clouds began to break up, and at sunset it was quite clear and pretty. Wow, the sun is over Hunter's Point! Anyway, it was a good day to hibernate.
The guys did. They both ate a little canned food this morning, and then I didn't see either of them for the rest of the day. Grayson just now wanted to lie in my lap, but I can't type when he's there. Louie came out to investigate the dry food bowls, but he's gone away again.
So it was a really nothing day, and I won't be up long. Now it's a clear, calm, cold night in the field.
September 14 Well, it's a good thing I'm not going to church tomorrow, because I'm going to be late tonight. I was sort of late last night, too; I think it was around 11:00 when I turned out the light, and I was up any number of times. It seems like about every two hours I would wake up coughing. After the first wakeup, I realized that I was going to have a problem, so I had to wear a pair of panties and an incontinence pad for the rest of the night.
I got up around 9;30. I wasn't ready, but I woke up coughing and I decided I might as well get up. I knitted two rows, and I finished lace chart 2. Tomorrow I can start chart 3.
Otherwise, I did nothing. I still don't feel very good, and besides, my knees and my back were bothering me again. I think that has to do with what ails me.
The weather was nice, even though I didn't get to enjoy it. The temperature got up to 72º for a while this afternoon, the state high for the day, by the way. There was a little wind from the southwest. It was nearly clear this morning, with those high, wispy cirrus clouds that warn that a change in the weather is coming, and by 4:00 it was pretty nearly all cloudy.
The guys were active early and again when I got up, but after that they slept. Grayson slept on my lap for a long time this afternoon, and when he wasn't there, he was on the desk behind me. It never ceases to amaze me that when he wants to, he can jump off a desk or a counter so softly I can't hear him. He can also come down like a ton of bricks, so I guess it depends upon what he wants to do. Either Louie isn't so agile (which is true) or he doesn't want to sneak around as much. Grayson is being very nice, because the dry food bowls are empty again. Now that I'm down to three varieties, they empty faster. He likes what he had in canned form, but he wants his dry food, too. Boy, picky!
So that is all I know. I will read for a little while longer and I will take a bath tonight, even though I'm not going anywhere tomorrow. Since I didn't finish eating until around 9:00, it will take me a while to finish my JD. It's a cloudy night in the field, and it's beginning to cool off.
September 13 It was a strange thing. I could hardly get up when I went out to the kitchen to get some dinner, and almost all I had was a banana and a JD, but when I got up to go to bed, I had no trouble, and I could get off the toilet with no trouble. So that phase is over, and I don't understand what happened. My legs have been a little gimpy today, because I stood a lot, but I haven't had any problems getting up or sitting down. Strange.
I guess it was around 11:30 when I got to bed - I was reading again - and I slept very well, with several wakeups. One of them was a leak, and about 4:30 this morning, I had to change my nightie. Try getting into a new nightie in the dark, especially when it's inside out.
I didn't get up until around 10:30, and I knitted two rows before I got dressed. I made up for my fast yesterday by having blueberry pancakes for breakfast - yum! My tummy is still a little rocky, and especially when I've been coughing or blowing, I feel a bit nauseous, but at least I've been able to eat. Not so much for dinner, but that's all right.
I got the dishwasher ready to run before I went to bed last night, but I haven't done anything about unloading it. I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like that job. I went to the post office, where there wasn't a lot of interesting stuff. I paid my taxes, but I haven't quite figured out how to fund the check. i have until at least Monday.
The weather was pretty but not as warm as it looked. The high temperature was 57º. but it didn't last long. The wind was mostly from the northeast, but it was very light. I wanted to open the east window, but because of the direction of the wind, I couldn't, so it's warm in here. It was mostly clear for most of the day. Right now, there is a lovely quarter moon shining in the south windows, and maybe I'll get to see Venus tonight.
the guys were their usual sleepy selves. When I got up, they were both in the bathroom again, in their usual spots, although Grayson did move, because where he was made it hard for me to sit down. He went back after i was situated.
I think I feel a little bit better today, and I'm certainly stronger. I think I will sleep long again tonight and see if that helps, although I'm not going to church on Sunday. Coughing and blowing is not something the rest of the congregation needs to hear. This morning, I was coughing up globs of stuff that evidently leaked out of my sinuses - very gross - and every time I lean over so that my nose is perpendicular to the floor, I leak. But I'm making progress. Sometimes these acute things don't last very long, and I'm hoping about this one.
Now it's a cool, pretty evening in the field, and I will read for a while before I totter up to the north end and crash.
September 12 Double ugh. I listened to the nice music and read for far too long last night, and then I had to wash my hair. When I got to bed, I started to cough. Eventually, I dug out the cough medicine and the cough drops - the strong ones - and that helped, but I was up several times because of all the fluid I drank. I woke up around 9:15 and decided to get up, even though I didn't have enough sleep. i took my temperature, and it's normal, so I guess so far it's just a nasty cold. Ugh.
Well, that was the beginning. i wasn't hungry, and I couldn't decide what to eat, so eventually I made scrambled eggs, and I could only eat about half of it (I tried warming it up for dinner, which didn't work). And then...I stopped being able to get up out of a chair or the toilet. Oh, woe. I tried walking with the cane, but after I nearly dropped my tray, I decided I'll just totter around without it. I waited too long to pee again and wet everything, even though I was wearing an incontinence pad, and then I was hardly able to get off the toilet again.
I am going to bed early tonight, with a dose of cough medicine and a cough drop, and maybe I can feel better and be stronger tomorrow. I wish I could get my seat risers, but I think they're probably upstairs, or I think one is, at least. They aren't very good ones, but it's better than getting stuck on the pot.
It was a cold, mostly cloudy day. The high temperature, 61º, was at midnight, and it slid down all day until it came to rest at about 52º. In the meantime, the wind picked up from the north-northeast, until the gusts got up to 33 mph. I can hear the lake roaring. We had a nice sunset, but unfortunately, I was trying to get out of my chair, and I missed getting a picture of it. The camera didn't do badly, and I'll try to post it tomorrow.
The guys slept for most of the day, although when I got stuck on the pot, Grayson came and sat on me and purred, which I thought was very nice of him. Then the next time I was there, Louie started running around. I had a door stopper that broke, and it is on the floor in the hallway, and Louie was playing with it. I think he knows I'm having a problem, too, and his way is to try to cheer me up by being cute. They're such nice cats, even though they're jealous. This morning, while I was knitting, they were both asleep on or near their rug in the bathroom, although Grayson started out between the wall and the toilet, as he frequently does. They want to be near me, and I think they both know when I don't feel good.
So that was a nothing day. I called Pastor to tell him I wouldn't be coming to choir practice, and it seems like a lot of people who want to be in it couldn't make it tonight. We may have to change the day. Anyway, I don't feel quite so bad about missing the first meeting. Maybe I'll be better next week, and if I'm not, I see the doctor a week from tomorrow.
Now it's a cold, windy night in the field, and I'm going to bed soon.
September 11 Ugh. I don't feel good. I'm coughing and blowing and my head aches. I hate colds.
I listened to the nice music, including Schubert, for too long last night, and I got to bed around 11:30. I slept well, with a few wakeups, and I finally got up around 10:30. I didn't feel any better when I got up than I did when I went to bed, and besides, my eyes were watering. I knitted four rows on the shawl, but that took me two hours, so I'm going to have to cut back. I have six rows to go on the second chart - 396 stitches. It's a pretty thing, and I'm glad I'm doing it.
I was so late and I felt so bad that I didn't do much, although I did get the dishwasher loaded. I won't run it until tomorrow, but there isn't much stuff in the sink.
The weather was nondescript. There was some sunshine this morning, but it went away and it was cloudy for the afternoon. The temperature peaked at 77º, then it dropped off rather quickly when the wind shifted around to the north. I guess it's supposed to be quite cool tomorrow. There wasn't a lot of wind from any direction except for about three hours this afternoon when we had gusts up to 27 mph. Not very interesting.
The guys were sort of sleepy again. When I got up, Louie was asleep on the rug in the bathroom and Grayson was between the wall and the toilet, although he got up and moved when I sat down, then he went back to sleep parallel to Louie. While there's still a lot of jealousy when I'm around, I guess they like each other pretty well. Now Grayson is watching the parade out the east window.
I do have to take a bath tonight, but I don't think I'll be up very long. The only thing that will cure this is sleep, so I expect to do a lot of it. Now it's a mostly cloudy, cooling night in the field.
September 10 The power glitch caused more havoc than I knew last night, so I ignored the messages I was getting. But I was reading. I finished part 2 of Voyages and started part 3, which begins with a scene I love to read, so I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Sigh. I slept hard, with only one wakeup, and I only came to around 9:15 because I heard something that wasn't there, a problem I have occasionally.
i knitted four rows on the shawl and I now only have ten more rows on chart 2, although the rows are getting so long that it's going to take a while.
I didn't do anything. If I had any ideas, they got aborted. I called the doctors and canceled my appointments in Detroit and I made an appointment with my doctor here. Then I started to try to fix the problem I saw last night.
There was a part of Norton Security that wouldn't work, so I tried to download the software all over again. That didn't work, so I had to contact Norton support. Well, it was something I could have fixed, except that the guy who did it had all sorts of problems. He had to completely uninstall Norton - and some McAfee stuff I have no idea how it got on my computer - and reinstall it, and that meant not only downloading the whole thing again, it meant deleting some stuff from the registry. When he tried to get it started again, he had all sorts of problems, probably partly because he tried to do some stuff that didn't need to be done. Anyway, having things continually fail always makes me crazy, so I was glad it was him and not me. Eventually, he got it back together, and all I had to do was some small configuration things. Whew!
Then there was the Microsoft monthly updates, so I did that on both computers. So I guess I did something, after all, although it wasn't what I should have been doing.
In the middle of all of this, all of a sudden, I began to have a very scratchy throat, and it seems clear I'm coming down with a cold. It's just beginning, but it seems clear I won't be going to choir practice this week, although I'll wait until Thursday before I make a decision on that. The way my throat is now, I couldn't sing anyway.
The weather wasn't very nice. When I got up this morning, it was foggy down the harbor, and the humidity was 100%. It did warm up to about 69º, but it stayed cloudy and humid and dull all day. There wasn't any rain, though. That's all right; between 5:00 and midnight we had almost an inch. I knew it was raining hard. Today, there wasn't much wind, under 10 mph, although I saw a couple of gusts that didn't register at the NWS station. Not very nice at all.
The guys did what they usually do - they slept. At one point, I looked over toward the sewing machine and found Louie under the chair and Grayson on it, on the bag with my new slacks. He got some loving, but Louie didn't.
I was doing nothing (waiting, I think) this afternoon, when I heard something and when I looked over toward the patio doors, there was a little bird clinging to the screen near the center edge. I went over and looked at it, because it clung there for a long time, and I still can't figure out what kind of bird it was. From its beak, I'd say it was a warbler, and it may have been a young female black-and-white warbler, but nothing in my bird books looks exactly like this guy. It was only about 4" long, and it had some very bright white stripes on its head, with a black streak through its eye, but its crown and nape were very dark gray. It had some buff under its wings, with some stripes. Unfortunately, I didn't particularly notice whether its wings were barred. Unlike most warblers, it didn't have any yellow on it at all that I could see. it was a cute little thing, anyway.
Oh, yes (scratch, scratch): while I was bringing in the groceries on Sunday, I got a black fly bite on my right wrist. It's formed a nice little blister, and it's exceedingly itchy. I suppose, since it never got very warm this summer and it was very rainy, that the black flies didn't ever die out. We're only lucky that they weren't particularly bad.
So that was my day, and I am going to bed earlier than last night. I think I will forgo the bath and do it tomorrow, just in case I can go to choir practice. It's a cloudy, damp night in the field, and I don't feel very good.
September 9 I guess I'd better write this. We just had a power glitch and the computer rebooted, and since there are rather severe thunderstorms all around us, I don't know when it will happen again.
I don't remember exactly when I got to bed last night, but I think it was after midnight. I slept well, with the usual wakeups. I got up around 8:20, but when I first looked at the clock, I thought it said 6:20, and I thought, oh good, I don't have to get up. Well, I did. So I knitted two rows without my glasses on and got dressed and out. I was a little late, but that was all right, because Johanna had somebody before me, and she was late getting out.
I feel much better for my massage. Johanna is now about 6 months, and she's bulging nicely. She's feeling good, although she looked tired to me - I guess that's common.
After that, I went to the fish market and got a piece of fish, which i forgot about tonight, and a couple of things from the bakery. Jill is a good baker. Then I went to the post office, where there was a lot of junk and not much else.
I didn't do anything for the rest of the afternoon, except to finish my surfing. And I don't think I'll be up very late tonight - or I hope not. Who knows, when I start reading?
The weather was sort of yucky. The temperature finally got up to 64º just a while ago. For most of the day it was in the low 60s, with not much wind, but it was dark and gloomy, and after 3:00 it started raining lightly. We'd already had nearly a quarter inch of rain before these storm started to come through. I think there will be a nice amount; I could hear it raining hard even before the lightning started. It was not a stellar day, though.
I didn't see a lot of the cats, although they both got some lap time. Grayson was being real nice to me because his dry food bowls were empty, and after I filled them, he sat on me again to thank me. Louie is more laid back about that. I guess he figured I'd be feeding him sometime today.
So now I will read for a while more before I totter up to the north end to bed. It's a dark and stormy night in the field.
September 8 I made it into bed by 10:00, but I was up about every hour and a half again. I guess I'm still getting rid of the fluid. Other stuff, too, and I can't figure out whether (or what) what I eat makes a difference. Anyway, I got up when the alarm went off and I got myself off to church not too much later than I wanted.
I was following a guy down the covered road, a little slower than I wanted to go, and he actually pulled over and let me pass! The fall people, who are usually older, are nicer than the summer people in many cases.
Church was nice, but I'm not sure how Pastor got everything into about 45 minutes. There was communion and receiving new members and two solos as well as most of the liturgy. He did cut his sermon a bit shorter than usual and the prayers were shorter than usual, but that was about all. I don't mind if church goes on for an hour, but evidently some people do.
After that, I was off to Pat's, with the idea of getting some stuff I forgot last week - hah! I'm not quite sure why what I did get was so expensive, but wow! And then I had to get gas, so I didn't get home until around 2:00. On the way home, I got behind a motor home and he didn't pull over. So some of the fall people are nice and some aren't.
It's a whole lot quieter around here than it was a week ago, but that happens every year. That's why we always got here the Friday or Saturday after Labor Day. it's quiet and rather nice after the hordes that were in the harbor over the summer. I'm glad for the businesses, but I don't like it.
The weather was quite cool. It only got down to 54º overnight, but it only got up to 64º, and that briefly, this afternoon. There wasn't much wind. It was sort of clear until around 2:30 or so and then the clouds began to move in. I guess we're in for some rain this week. I hope so. It's been a while since we've had an appreciable amount.
Of course, since there is supposed to be a lovely conjunction between the moon and Venus tonight, it's cloudy and I won't be able to see it. Naturally. Any time something is scheduled to happen in the sky, it will be cloudy. Last night, though, was as clear as I've seen it in a long time. There were lots of stars I could see even without my glasses. When I get up around 3:00 these nights, Vega is blazing in the northwest, almost behind the cedar tree from the bathroom window. So pretty.
I didn't see much of the guys. They got up when I did, but they were back in bed before I left for church, and I didn't see much of them for the rest of the day. Grayson is telling me the dry food bowls are getting empty again. I am experimenting with canned food. Yesterday they got half a can, which they haven't yet eaten all of. Tomorrow they'll probably get more of that. I do know they prefer to eat in the afternoon and at night, so I will have to adjust my schedule to that.
Before I went to sleep last night, I decided I don't want to go to Detroit this year. So this week I will try to talk to my oncologist, just to make sure he doesn't need to see me, and I need to talk to my regular doctor. When I do, I will try to get a referral to a local ophthalmologist. It had already become clear to me that there was no way I could get my cataracts done in Detroit - the logistics are just too bad - so I might as well switch doctors now, before I am in dire need. I was just dreading that trip. My appointments are for October 21, which is entirely too late to travel. For starters, it's too dark, and there may be bad weather by that time. Besides, I dread it so much I could see myself having heart palpitations, which I don't need. I won't give up on the oncologist, and if I ever have any more problems, i will go back down to see him, but otherwise, I see no reason to make that trip, which I hate, to a place that i also hate. Besides, it's too expensive. I think, with the gas and all, it costs me about $500 for the four-day trip.
I don't think I will be up very late tonight. i have a massage tomorrow, so I won't be able to sleep in too long. I might as well start early. It's a cool, calm, partly cloudy night in the field.
September 7 It was another lost day. I made it into bed around 11:00 last night, I think, but I didn't sleep very well. I was up about every hour and a half - fish again - and several times I woke up because my hips hurt. That was probably because it got very humid overnight. There were some stars, though though they weren't very bright. Around 3:30, I looked out the east windows of the bathroom and there was Jupiter blazing away right over the trees. So pretty!
I got up around 8:30, and I knitted four rows on the shawl - 352 stitches - before I got dressed.
That was about all I did. It was so humid this morning that my joints all ached, so I just sat. Too bad, too, because I need to do some work in the kitchen, but I hurt too much.
The weather was interesting to watch. When I got up this morning, it was dark and dreary, and not too long after I got to the bathroom, I heard some thunder out over the lake. I guess it did rain lightly for a couple of hours - 0.03" - but nothing very interesting. The temperature dropped all night, to a low of 58º around 11:00, before it started to rise a little bit and the humidity started to fall a little bit. It has now recovered to 63º, but it was cold all day. Around 3:00 it began to clear up, and now it is beautifully clear and blue. There wasn't much wind, although it did get up to 15 mph around 2:00, from the northeast. It is now from the north, but very light.
The guys were very sleepy, as usual. Grayson spent most of the day in the loft, and Louie spent most of the day in the studio. He slept on me until I started to get cramped up, then he went under the sewing machine chair and slept on the slacks that have fallen on the floor. I need to mend those slacks and wash them. I guess I'll have to put something on the floor there so he has a place to sleep, although one reason he may sleep there is that they smell like me.
By the way, I've noticed that the sun is now setting either in the gap between Lighthouse Point and Porter Island or over the end of Porter Island, and the day is only 13 hours long (exactly 13 hours, today). Oh, sigh. The sun doesn't rise until after I get up on Sundays, and it's setting around 8:20. Days are getting shorter at over 3 minutes a day. Oh, sigh.
I don't feel like I got enough sleep last night, and I probably won't tonight, either, so I guess I will totter up to the north end soon and try to start early. It's a clear, cool night in the field.
September 6 I don't have much to report tonight.
I wrote another 1300 words or so, but the music was nice and for some reason I didn't want to go to bed, so I didn't, and it was outrageously late when I finally turned out the light. As a result, it was noon before I got up, and I only knitted two rows on the shawl.
I didn't do much else. I was all set to go to the post office, but as I was getting into the car, my gut started to gurgle, and since I stopped in the breezeway for something, I didn't make it back to the bathroom. It was a nasty one, too, and by the time I was more or less cleaned up, it was too late to go. I like to get there before 3:00, so that I can get any packages that may be there, even though I don't think there are any. The only other thing I did was to knit two very short rows on the lace weight shawl, to get it onto the dark colored needle. It will be much easier to see that way.
Since I ate my first meal so late, I didn't eat dinner until around 9:00. That's the trouble with getting off-schedule like this.
The weather was cloudy and threatening all day, but it wasn't until after 4:00 that it started to dribble rain. It has rained or drizzled ever since, so it's humid and yucky again. The high temperature was 73º, around 1:00, but it went up and down after that and since it started to rain, it has dropped off. There wasn't much wind. Not very nice.
The guys didn't think so either. They were both asleep in the window seat when I got up, and they stayed there until I was cleaning up after my accident. Grayson has been around ever since, but Louie went back where he was. I can't say I blame him.
So now I will write for a while, since I seem to have discovered a way forward, but I don't think I'll be up long. I need to get back on track. Now it's a cloudy, moist and coolish night in the field.
September 5 I wrote about 1700 words last night, and that, plus having to reread it, meant it was nearly 1:00 before I got to bed. Part of the reason for that was that I couldn't remember whether I had uploaded the journal, so I had to trundle back to the studio and check it. I had, as it turned out. I slept very well, with only two wakeups, and I got up around 10:30. I knitted four rows on the shawl - 340 stitches - and it was late when I got to the studio. There is always a lot of stuff to read and links to follow on Thursdays, so I didn't finish my surfing until after the talking started.
While the talking was going on, I decided I wanted to knit on the other shawl, and when I looked at it, it seemed like I had screwed up the whole thing, so I tore it all out and started over. I got it to a point where I'm sure it's right, about 14 rows into the first chart, before I stopped. One thing that discombobulated me is that the directions said to place the center marker after the center stitch instead of before it, like we do here, and it took me a while to realize what was going on and make sure I had everything right. From now on, it should be easier. This one increases four stitches on every right-side row, and it's a leaf pattern framed in lace ladders. I am still having a problem with the fineness of the yarn, but I'll get used to that eventually. I may have to switch to a dark-colored needle, though. The yarn is paler than I thought it would be, and I sometimes have a problem seeing the stitches. Well - today I was having a problem seeing. Sometimes that happens.
The day was pretty but cold. The temperature finally got up to 64º. just a while ago, The low was 46º, overnight, and for most of the afternoon it was in the low 60s. There wasn't much wind at all, but in the middle of the afternoon, it switched from WSW to ENE in the course of a couple of hours. Another front... It was clear to partly cloudy all day, and it is now clear, although the sunset looks like there is a lot o f stuff in the air. The MODIS images are amazing - the lake is as dark blue as I've ever seen it. I still have the house closed up, but I did have to open the east window late this afternoon, because it got very hot in here.
The guys were their usual sleepy selves. I didn't give them any canned food yesterday. I just got tired of throwing away the stuff they didn't eat. So this morning, Grayson asked for some and he even ate a little of something he usually doesn't like. I don't know about those guys. I am running out of canned food, and I don't know what to do. Maybe I will start trying to give them only half a can at a time and see if they'll eat that. Louie spent a very long time on my lap, getting his tummy rubbed and sleeping, before we both finally decided it was time for him to move.
Now I am writing a little more. I think I know where I want Bolin to go, although I'm not sure it's going to be a very exciting story. I do want to write it, though, so we'll see what happens. In some of the other stories, things are happening all the time, so it's harder to write when there are long periods where nothing happens. We'll see how it goes.
Now it's a clear, cool night in the field.
September 4 I made it into bed around 11:30 last night, and I slept well, although i was up a lot. I'm finally getting rid of the fluid, and most of that happens at night. i got up around 10:30, so i should have had enough sleep. I knitted four rows on the shawl in an hour and a half, so evidently some days my speed is greater than on others.
Other than that, I didn't do anything. I was so late getting to the studio that all I did was my surfing. I had some thoughts of knitting here, on the other shawl, but I didn't. It was probably better. My left hand, the one I use to hold the piece and manipulate the needles, was going into spasms before I stopped this morning. I remember sometime last year that I was having a terrible time with that, and I don't want it to happen again. That is all arthritis-related, and I just have to deal with it.
The weather was pretty but cold. Since the "high" for the day happened at midnight, I sort of had to eyeball the day. The high was about 60º and for most of the day it was around 54º. The wind peaked at midnight, too, with gusts up to 43 mph. I was asleep by that time. For today, it was mostly under 15 mph, from the east, although it has now switched back to the north. It was mostly but not entirely clear. There was a lot of sunshine. Around and just after sunset, there were some clouds around and they all turned pink, against the pale blue sky. So pretty.
I didn't see much of the guys, although Grayson slept beside me while I knitted and Louie spent a long time on my lap early this afternoon. He got a nice tummy rub and tried to go to sleep before I moved him.
So it was pretty much a nothing day. I have been thinking about Bolin again, and if I can read off the end tonight, I may write some, but I don't expect to be up all night to do it. It's a nearly clear, cold night in the field.
September 3 Well, the music was nice and I was sitting comfortably, so it was late when I got to bed. I slept very well. I was awake around 8:00 and that seemed to early, so I got up at 10:00. I only knitted two rows. The shawl is getting long enough that it takes me an hour to do that much, since every row is different, especially since I'm having to keep track of three different patterns.
I didn't do much of anything except purge out my email inbox. There was a lot of stuff to read and follow the links, so I didn't actually finish my surfing until after the talking started. I had a slight accident, which meant i had to change my underwear. This one was my own fault; I was in the middle of buying a magazine when the urge hit me and I waited too long. I should know better.
It was a nice day, weatherwise. It was quite windy; when I got to the kitchen around noon, there were little whitecaps on the harbor. The high temperature was 71º, and the wind was in the 15-25 mph range from the north. There were a few clouds in the morning, but they all went away and it was clear and blue all afternoon. Nice.
The guys were not happy that their dry food dishes were nearly all empty, and Grayson, at least, was not pleased that I went back to bed when I got up around 6:00, so he got on the nightstand and batted a couple of things onto the floor. Snot. He wasn't happy until I finally filled the bowls this afternoon. Otherwise, they mostly slept, although they had a few wrestling matches.
Now I think I will read for a while and hope the music doesn't get too nice, so that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. It's a clear, breezy evening in the field.
September 2 I crashed around 9:30, which was as early as I could, since I started the dishwasher before I went up to the north end. I think I was asleep about a minute after I finished my prayers, and while I was up several times, I slept hard enough that I leaked at least twice. I got up around 9:00. That should have been enough sleep, but I've been having a hard time seeing all day, so evidently I'm still not recovered from my exertions. I guess I'll have to do it again tonight, although I probably won't be in bed as early again.
I knitted four rows, and I now have 320 stitches. That takes nearly two hours to do, so I'm going to have to cut back. This is going to be a very pretty thing.
I didn't do much else. I was late getting to the computer, and all my usual Monday stuff came through as usual, so my surfing took a long time. I wanted to look at both Eddie Bauer and Lands End, which have sales that are ending today, but I finally decided it would take too long, and I'm still not seeing that well. So I played games through the talking and now I'm reading.
The weather was cold (cold being relative) and windy but it got sunny and pretty. The high temperature was only 61, and the wind was from the north and over 20 mph all day, with gusts as high as 37 mph. It's still pretty humid, but with the temperature so low, it's not as obvious. It's been clear and blue all afternoon.
I didn't see a lot of the guys, but both of them got their loving, and Louie tried to sleep on my lap for a while. Grayson is acting like a snot again, because the dishes that hold the dry food he really likes are all empty, but there is still stuff to eat, so I'm ignoring him.
All night long, I had two very sore toes on my right foot, but thankfully, they aren't sore now. I haven't been wearing socks when I wear my walking shoes, because they aren't big enough anymore, and I think I rubbed the end of those toes on the lining of the shoe. I didn't form any blisters, thankfully, and they're all right now. I guess I'm going to have to break down and get some wider shoes. My rheumatologist says everybody gains about one size in length and two sizes in width as they get older, and I think that's true. Unfortunatly, it puts me into a size 12 E or EE, which is very hard to get. I have one place I know sells them, but they're expensive. Maybe I will try it with a pair of black ones for winter.
The only thing about the shoes I'm wearing now is that they're not leather, so they don't stretch, but as I confirmed yesterday, they don't leak, either, so I was able to wade through the lake in front of Pat's without getting wet feet. And I've had them for at least 7 or 8 years, and they look almost like new. If they were wide enough, I wouldn't ever have to buy any new shoes. Of course, I couldn't wear them with a skirt, but I doubt I'll want to get into that anyway.
So now I will read for a while, but not long. I'm reading Voyages again, and that isn't likely to keep me up forever. Not that I don't like it, but the part I'm reading now isn't that long and doesn't have so many exciting parts.
Now it's a clear, cold, windy night in the field.
September 1 So now it's September. Sigh.
I made it into bed by about 10:00 last night, but I didn't sleep very well. I was up about every hour or so all night. I seem to finally be losing the fluid in my legs, or at least some of it, and that kept me awake.
I got up at 7:00 as usual, although I certainly didn't want to. Before I got to the computer, we were having a thunderstorm, and while they say we only got 0.02" of rain, it came down hard for a while, and I was wondering if maybe I should abort, but I wanted to go to church and I needed to shop.
I made it out only a little late, but it was a slow drive, because, among other things, I got dumped on north of Phoenix. By the time I got to Laurium, it wasn't raining at all, but I wore my slicker in to church anyway.
Church was very nice, even though Pastor only got back into town last night. His father is succumbing to Alzheimer's, and they had to go back to Ohio to arrange some things with a lawyer as well as check on his dad. He had a good sermon. In the middle of the sermon, we had a thunderstorm there, too, and evidently it rained very hard for a while.
Since there was no communion, we got out early, and I went about my business. First off, I found that the blocks of M-26 that are the main entry to the hospital are dug up right down to the underlying dirt, so getting into the parking lot is going to be, shall we say, interesting, for the next few weeks. It has taken most of the summer to do the part that goes by the Fitness Center, so heaven knows how long it will take to get this part done. Not that it didn't need it. Woodland Road was smoother.
So I went around in circles and eventually made it to Pat's, where there was a lake in front of Pat's and Shopko. That's how I deduced that it had rained very hard for a while. I did my shopping, although there were some things I couldn't get and a couple of things I forgot, even though they were on my list. By the time I checked out, my feet and knees were killing me, so I was glad to sit down.
It rained all the way home but not very heavily. Getting from the Mountain Lodge to Copper Harbor was interesting, because the bike festival (It used to be the "Fat Tire Festival," except that Fat Tire is the name of a beer made by a rival of the race sponsor) went on in spite of the rain, and as I went through, the riders were biking up the hill, through the woods, across the road and up to the lodge. So we had to wait while the riders crossed the road, and there was only one lane open down to Copper Harbor. I certainly wouldn't try to ride a bike up that hill, and in fact, I passed one guy who was walking his bike.
As a result of that, I didn't get home until 2:00. Then I had to change my shoes and my clothes and bring in all the stuff I bought. I got a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, which no doubt won't do my innards any good at all, but I don't care. By the time everything was packed away in the fridge, I was exhausted, so I didn't do anything else for the rest of the afternoon. I'm still exhausted, so I definitely won't be up very late tonight!
The weather, as I said, was damp, It rained until around 3:00, more or less hard. In the meantime, the high temperature was at noon, 68º, and then it began to decline precipitously. It's now 56º. At the same time, the wind switched around to the north and began to rise, and it's now 26 mph with gusts to 33 mph. Needless to say, it was very dark and dreary all day long. Not nice, and not good for arthritic joints, either. We usually get one of these things in late August or early September, although this is a bit late for it. The lake is roaring tenor.
I saw the guys this morning, and Grayson was not happy about the thunder. He didn't want me to leave. When I got home and sat down at the computer, he wanted to sit on me, but I wanted to eat, so we had a difference of opinion. Louie was around when I got home and he just wanted to be petted. He didn't want to sit on my lap. There is a pair of slacks under the sewing machine chair, and that's where he's been for most of the afternoon, I think. I'm so sorry they are upset by thunderstorms. The last batch of cats wasn't, so I've forgotten. I try to be kind to them.
I was sorry to notice that sunrise isn't until 7:10 now, and soon it will be dark when I get up on Sundays. I hate to see the long days go! I think, also, that the sun is setting in the gap between Lighthouse Point and Porter Island, so pretty soon there should be some good sunsets, or I hope so. I didn't like the weather this summer: either it was cold and foggy or hot and humid, both of which are among my least favorite kinds, but it sure was nice to have those long days!
Now it's a cold, windy night in the field, and I'm tired.
Last updated 10/01/13 09:08 PM
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