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A View From the Field |
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May 2014 May 31 Egad! May is over! I can hardly believe it.
There was no symphony concert last night, so I thought I'd get to bed early. Hah. I was reading, and just about the time I thought it was time to go to bed, they played Brahms' Triple Concerto, which I haven't heard in a long time.
So I was late. I was up three times, and twice I didn't quite make it to the potty to pee. I think the problem there is that (besides my usual problem) when I get up after having spent time lying down, it takes some effort to keep myself upright and walk, and it seems like it's either bladder control or walk, not both. It's hell to get old.
I knitted one row, and I'm back to where I want to be now. I like to do a right-side row first and then the return row, and I'd gotten off. I have only about 20 rows left to do before I start the edging. I think now the shawl will come out a better size than the pattern had it, but we'll see, if it ever gets blocked. I just finished a fairly wide band of a very pretty shade of lavender, and I am now using a pale gray that seems to be trending toward green. Purple and green isn't my favorite color combination, but oh, well. This is mostly about the process anyway.
My task for the day was to do some work on the baby wrap for Johanna. Well, I got the pattern traced and determined that the bias binding I bought is good enough that I won't have to make my own, which would involve trying to find my bias tape makers (and heaven knows where they are!). I was going to cut out the wrap, but I just didn't get that far. I have tomorrow afternoon and most of Monday to work on it, and it's not hard to put together. The only thing is, I've decided I want to sew down the binding with a fancy stitch from my new sewing machine (hearts) and that means I will have some swatching to do. Maybe I can do that tomorrow, but since I need to do some food shopping, we'll just have to see how it comes out.
The weather was one of those interesting days. it started out cloudy, cleared up for a while and lately it's gotten cloudy again. At 1:00 this afternoon, the temperature hit 80º, but the next hour, the official temperature was 61º, which is where it stayed for the rest of the day. While the temperature was rising, the wind was from the west-southwest, and we had up to 25 mph gusts. Then it switched around to the north, the temperature dropped, and the wind went calm. When the temperature got up to 80º and I was at the north end cleaning myself up, I opened the door to the porch and the window. I'm not sure I will keep them open tonight. Oh, and the pollen is out in force; I just started sneezing my head off. Ah, spring! Something also bit me on the arm, I think. Ah, spring! It's close, but paradise it isn't.
The guys were mostly sleepy, although they did want to sniff out the window in the studio. They were asleep when I opened the porch door and window, but while I was making my dinner, Louie went out there and then wanted to come in the kitchen door. He can't, because of all the stuff in front of it. Grayson wanted some of my dnner, and he wasn't happy until I gave him some. Now he has gone off, and he is probably out on the porch.
It was so nice having the window open! While i didn't hear many birds, several times this afternoon, I heard the drumming of a pileated woodpecker. He's saying "ah, spring!" too.
Well, for the next three days or so we are supposed to get rain, which is a good thing, even though I don't like to be out and about in it. We need it if we are to keep up the gains in lake level we got over the winter.
Now it's a cloudy, calm and medium warmish night in the field, and I will be trying to get to bed at a reasonable hour so I can go to church tomorrow.
May 30 Since I got home so late and all, it was 1:30 or so before I got to bed. I slept well, and in fact, it was around 5:30 when I woke up for the first time and made a dash for the bathroom. Louie was not pleased. I was up a couple more times, and I got up around 9:30. That wasn't nearly enough sleep, but I want to be able to go to bed early tomorrow night, so I don't want to get off-schedule.
I knitted two rows and a bit more, but I didn't get the next return row done. I wanted to get up and going. Not that I did anything. The only thing I did was go to the post office, and I didn't take any packages with me. That will come, but probably not until next week.
My top from Lands End came, and I like it a lot, even though I don't think it's worth what I paid for it. It fits, and at least I will have something new to wear to church for a change. I think it will need pressing before I can wear it, though. I will hang it in the bathroom tomorrow and see if that helps.
The weather was lovely. For the first time I could go running out of the house without a coat or jacket or sweater, and it was nice. The high temperature got up to 73º briefly, but it was above 70º for most of the afternoon. It finally got so hot in here that I had to open the window a crack, and I will leave it open tonight. It was partly cloudy, with lots of sunshine until late this afternoon, when the clouds thickened a bit. There wasn't much wind. Nice.
The juneberries are beginning to come out, so now spring is really hear. They aren't all out, but there are at least four or five different varieties, and they don't all bloom at the same time. It's nice to see those white flowers, especially the ones that bloom against leaves that are dark reddish. Oh, spring is here!
The guys just slept through it, although Grayson has been going back to the window a lot since I opened it. He got some lap time, but I was doing something else when Louie wanted to sit, so he didn't get any.
So that was a quiet day and I'm tired again. Sine there wasn't a symphony concert tonight (I don't know why), I can go any time I want, and I think I want. It's a warmish, partly cloudy evening in the field. Spring is here.
May 29 So last night I diddled around forever and it was very late again before I got to bed, since I had to take a bath. I slept well, except that I was up a lot. I guess that's good; it means I'm getting rid of the excess fluid, but it's annoying to wake up every hour and a half. It was annoying to Louie, too. He wanted to sleep with me, and I kept getting up and turning over. I finally got up around 11:30, and I knitted one row. I hate to do that, because it means the next row is plain, but I didn't want to take the time to do more.
The task of the day was to mend at least two robes, and I accomplished that, not that it was a hard job: two buttons and a hook. The others will be harder, and I can't do much with them until I get some black hooks, one way or another. I got some of the buttons I ordered, and I found some the right size, but they are all matte black, which means I will have to replace all the buttons on that cassock, and there must be 15 or more. I guess I will wait to see what I get with the next bunch. It seems 9/16" black buttons are not very common, or something.
I had to leave around 5;30 to make sure I met my ride at church, and I was early, which was nice. When the traffic is light, it means I can get to Laurium in 50 minutes at most, which will give me a few more minutes to sleep on Sunday mornings. It was a nice service, with lots of hymns. I think we sang every Ascension Day hymn in the new hymnal, plus a couple more. At the end of the service everybody processed outside and they let loose some balloons while we sang another couple of hymns.
Pastor wanted our choir to practice, so we went back to St. Paul's and sang for another hour or more. I guess i am going to sing alto a week from Sunday. Our one alto works that day, and the song we are singing, which is for confirmation, has a very nice alto part. I've never sung alto in my life, but I think I can probably do it. I will probably be standing up there with my finger in my ear, because I can't hear myself when I'm singing so low. So we'll see next week how it goes. I wish I had a keyboard. Actually, I do, but it plugs into the computer, and it needs a piece of software that is $100, which is a bit beyond my means right now. I may have to get it, though, or see if I can find something free or nearly free that will control a MIDI keyboard. Anybody know something?
Anyway, it was 10:30 before I got home, and then I had to eat, so I will be late tonight, too, but not, I hope, as late as last night. I'm tired. I was tired when I started out, and now, after standing up and sitting down a dozen or more times and singing for two hours, I'm really tired.
It was another nice day. The temperature here spiked up to 66º around 11:00 this morning when the wind shifted to the southwest, but it dropped back immediately. The wind was mostly calm. I might mention that when I got to Laurium, around 6:30, it was 80º. The people i drove with agreed that it's a bit early for it to be so warm. I'm glad I live in Copper Harbor, where the lake determines our temperatures. It was partlyt cloudy all day, with lots of sunshine. There were just enough clouds that the harbor wasn't blue.
The guys were sleepy and they had no idea I was going to go away until I went up to the north end to change my clothes, and then I think they blamed it all on each other. Every so often, Louie gets out of patience (or something) with Grayson, and today was the day. I think he should leave Grayson alone, but he just can't do that. Fortunately, Grayson can jump higher than Louie can, so most of the time he can get away, but Louie gets positively mean, and I don't know why.
So that was my day, and I'm really tired, so I don't think I will be up very much longer. They were playing Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony (I hope that character comes out on your computer - it's supposed to be an e-umlaut, which I didn't know was a French character, but oh, well, what do I know?) when I got home, but now it's Faure, who doesn't turn me on very much (geez, Microsoft is a bunch of Philistines - they don't know any classical composers!). It's apparently a nearly clear, coolish night in the field.
May 28 I was so tired that I was in bed by 10:30, and I slept very well. Having the window open, if only a crack, has gotten it cool enough in the bedroom that I was comfortable, except, of course, when I had to pee. I think I was up three times. I got up around 9:00 or maybe 9:30, I don't remember now, and I knitted. I have 367 stitches on the needle now, and it takes a long time to do one row, especially when I lose my concentration and start making my own pattern.
I had two tasks for the day, and I got one of them done and one partly done. I had to get the trash out of the breezeway, just so I can get to the car, so I did that, with difficulty. When I'm filling those bags, I have a hard time realizing how heavy they're getting. Most especially, half gallon JD bottles are heavy, but there are other heavy things that get thrown away. However, I did it, and i can walk through the breezeway and the kitchen now. There is still trash that needs to be bagged up, but that's for another day. I also finally got the stuff in the powder room into a bag...and that didn't include the newspapers, catalogs and empty boxes. It's been a while since I cleared out the wastebasket and the area around it and it was gross. At least that is done. I need a larger wastebasket there, for sure.
Then I brought the robes into the studio and inspected them again. There is one cassock and one robe that I can probably get fixed pretty fast, especially after I discovered that there was an extra button sewn into the hem of the cassock. I think I can scare up enough hooks to fix one of the robes, but there are two more robes and another cassock, and those are more of a problem. I will have to go down to the basement and find the box of hooks before I can work on the robes, and I will have to wait until some buttons come before I can fix the cassock. I also discovered that I simply could not see well enough to do any sewing today. Sigh. Well, hopefully, before the snow flies again, that problem will be fixed. Fingers crossed.
Speaking of that, I called the eye clinic, and it seems like they think my appointments are right, and after some talking, I got them to send me a list of local hotels (or motels). So I will wait until I get that. It was not an entirely satisfactory conversation, but oh, well. We'll see how it goes.
The weather was pretty but not very warm. The temperature spiked up to 55º twice, but it dropped to 45º in between. I don't know what would cause that, because there was almost no wind all day long. The skies were partly cloudy, and there was a lot of sunshine.
The guys slept. Both of them wanted to sit on me, but at times when they couldn't (like when I was eating). Grayson slept mostly on the desk, although he did curl up under the east windows, where there isn't very much room right now, for a while. Louie has staked claim to the navy chair, and that's where he spent the afternoon.
So it was a quiet day, but I did accomplish something. It's nice to look outside and see green, but the weeds are growing fast. That's always the way. Now it's a mostly clear, cool evening in the field and I will be going to bed early again and hope I can see better tomorrow.
May 27 I did it again. I was reading and the music was mostly nice, so I stayed where I was. Actually I might have gotten to bed around midnight except that the last thing in the next hour was Beethoven's 5th, and of course I had to hear that. After that was over, I just didn't go to bed. Sigh. I didn't get much sleep, either, because I woke up around 9:30 and decided to get up. Tonight, earlier. I'm exhausted.
I'm exhausted because I worked on the kitchen again. I am overdue running the dishwasher, and I had a mess in the sink, so I got all that taken care of and put a load of pans in to soak. Now, after I add my dinner dishes (and where will I put those?), I can run the dishwasher overnight. I don't say the kitchen is looking good, but it is a little better. Doing that took quite a while and did a number on my back.
The weather was partly cloudy and cool. It was clear at sunrise, but the high clouds came in before I got up. There was enough sunshine that the kitties were moving around to find the sun, though. The temperature for most of the afternoon was around 50º, plus or minus a couple of degrees, It went down to 48º around noon and up to 55º around 7:00 this evening, but where the forecasters are getting their predictions, I do not know. The wind was from the north or east, but mostly under 5 mph. Nice weather - for April.
the guys were sleepy. Grayson spent most of the day on the desk, and he's back there now. When I went to get my dinner, he was lying on the back of the navy chair, with his legs on either side of it, looking so funny. Louie got some lap time, but we had a difference of opinion and I finally had to make him go away.
I spent most of the afternoon looking at JoAnn's button listings, which annoy me extremely. At least half of them did not indicate the size of the buttons. If you don't know the size, how can you buy the button? I have also determined that it is apparently nearly impossible to buy plain black buttons - or plain anything buttons. Makes me glad I have such a stash, but unfortunately, there are no plain black 9/16" (18mm) buttons in it. It makes me very annoyed. It also isn't easy to find snaps and hooks and eyes (but then, when I search for "hooks" at JoAnn's, I get hooks, snaps and a whole lot of other stuff that is not germane). So there was some frustration. We'll see where it goes from there.
Now it's a partly cloudy, cool evening in the field.
May 26 - Memorial Day I hope you've had a nice Memorial Day doing what you want to do. I didn't do much of anything, but that's OK.
I didn't get to bed until about 10:30 for some reason I don't know, but once I did, I slept and slept and slept until 10:30 this morning. I didn't really sleep for 12 hours, because I was up at least four times, but I certainly made up for lost sleep. I knitted, and all my sleep didn't do a thing for my eyes. I had a terrible time seeing what I was doing, but at least I didn't drop anything. Then I had pancakes for breakfast - yum.
I needed to cook tonight, and there was no way I was going to be able to do that with all the trash in the kitchen, so I spent some time getting it out. It's all in the breezeway, and there's so much I can't even get down the steps, but it will have to be tomorrow when I take care of that. My back was really bad and I had to sit down several times. But I was able to get to the cupboards and the counter and do what I had to do. It's been a long time since I've had that particular dish, and it tasted good. I have two more meals, so if I space it right, I won't have to cook on Thursday when I get home.
I was watching the live ships map, and I watched the Coast Guard cutter Alder leave Ashland, Wisconsin around noon and start for Keweenaw. I saw it stop at Eagle Harbor and I got all excited that I might actually get to see it drop our buoy. No such luck. Around 3:30, the fog began to creep into the harbor, and it didn't creep out until 6:00, by which time the Alder was passing between the tip of Keweenaw and Manitou Island. It's over in Bete Gris now, apparently having set the buoy at the channel to Lac LaBelle. Rats. Anyway, if the wind dies down and I can have the windows open, I expect to hear ding-ding-ding (slowly) from our buoy. Summer is here.
I opened the window in the window seat a bit last night, which enchanted the guys, and it was more comfortable last night. When I came back to the studio tonight with my dinner, I was so hot (and it was 80º in here) that I opened the one window on the east side a bit, which delighted Grayson. I don't think it's open enough that he could get out, but the screen seems fairly stable, as is the one in the bedroom. I don't know that he would get out again, although he might if he thought he could catch some of the critters he evidently can see out there.
The weather wasn't bad, although it didn't get as warm as the forecasts said it would. It spiked up to 72º at 8:00 this morning before it dropped back to the mid 60s for a bit and then down to around 60º when the fog came in. It's 50º at the waste ponds now, although it's 55º here. The fog came back around 7:30 and has now gone again, but it's very humid. The sky was partly cloudy, and there was a lot of sunshine, even though it didn't show much on the camera. I certainly hope this is not a reprise of last summer, with all the fog.
The guys were sleepy during the day. I think they were up most of the night. It seems like there's a real parade going on outside the north windows, and having that window open only makes it better. Grayson got some lap time but Louie hasn't been around yet.
Every day the leaves and flowers on the trees come out more, and Bill's forsythia is in full bloom. The juneberries aren't blooming yet, but they're coming. So spring is here, at last. This isn't the latest I've seen. One year the leaves didn't start coming out until after the first of June, so we're a week ahead of that. It sure is nice to see green again. There is still some snow, but it's going fast.
Now it's a partly cloudy, coolish evening in the field, and my schedule says I need to take a bath tonight and get to bed relatively early again.
May 25 I made it into bed before 9:30 last night, but I had a bad night. I think most of the problem was that it was very warm in the bedroom. I'm not used to being able to sleep with no covers, so I kept getting hot. That wasn't the whole thing, though, and I don't know what caused it. So I'm really tired tonight and I will be going to bed early and sleeping late.
I made it out of the house when I wanted to, and for the first time this year, I could go running out of the house without any coat, hat or gloves. It was so nice! It was a little cool here, but it was warm in the car and it was warm in Calumet when I got there. Sooo nice!
It was a good service with a good sermon. I think the choir did good, and Barbara and I hit our high Gs with no problem. I hope the congregation enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed singing it. Since there was communion, we got out late, but that's all right. It means a lot of people went to communion, which was true.
Then it was off to the gas station to fill up. Even though I know gas is 20¢ a gallon cheaper in Houghton, I just didn't want to drive all that way for about $3. I got home around 1:00 and I read my paper before I changed clothes.
When it was so cold and I was in hibernation, I stopped my paper, because I was only emptying the box every 7 to 10 days, and that meant it was hard for the carrier to deliver it, and besides, since there were so many, I wasn't reading them. I started it again last week. I have been planning to start it for several weeks, but I kept forgetting to call. So I read the Saturday paper today. Well, actually, it's the weekend paper. It isn't the best paper I've ever seen, but it does have some local news, which I like to read.
For the rest of the afternoon, I did nothing. I got very sleepy in the middle af the afternoon, in part because it got quite warm in here, but I decided not to lie down. I will just go to bed early, that's all.
The weather was nice. It was nearly clear, with some high, hazy clouds in the sky, but there was a lot of sunshine. It was quite warm - over 70º - for most of the night, but it plummeted to 51º at 8:00 AM when the wind picked up. The temperature here spiked to 77º at noon, but then it dropped back and for most of the afternoon, it was around 62º, plus or minus a degree or two, until 7:00, when it went up to 73º for a couple of hours. That was when the wind dropped to nothing. When i got home, there was a brisk north wind that was raising some little whitecaps on the harbor, but it died down eventually. Since the water temperature is only about 34º, when we have offshore winds, it's cool around here. Inland, like at Calumet and the airport, it can be much warmer. It was 81º in Laurium when Ieft church. That's a bit warmer than I like.
The guys were asleep together on the desk when I got home, and they didn't even get up to say hi. They are really sleepy, but I think it's probably because it's warmed up so much so fast. It wasn't warm enough here to open the window, although I do plan to open the window in the breezeway tonight, provided the screen is intact. Grayson got some lap time after breakfast, and Louie spent a long time on my lap this afternoon, so they got their love time.
Now i am going to bed. There is no point in staying up and trying to read when I can hardly keep my eyes open. It's a partly clear, fairly warm evening in the field. Not only is spring here, summer seems to be upon us all at once.
May 24 I did it again, darn it. The Beethoven was wonderful, and there was some other nice music following it, so I just sat until it was ridiculously late. I was a bit earlier than the night before, but not much. I got a little more sleep, though, and I didn't wake up until after noon. I knitted, too, so it was really late when I finished my first meal. I don't know what you call it when you finish it at 3:00 in the afternoon. So tonight I had a little less than I usually do, because I wasn't that hungry.
I actually did something, but not much. I went outside and pulled up the shutters over the porch. Oh, it's going to be so nice to be able to see again! I also discovered that there is something not quite right with the screen on the patio door in the great room, and I had a hard time getting out and an even harder time getting back in. So I guess I will have to call the glass company next week and get somebody out here to do something about the weatherstrip on the studio door and fix the screen on the great room door. Frankly, even though it is a national brand, I am very underwhelmed by the quality of those doors and screens. Oh, yeah, and one of the screens on the back of the house got broken (yup, the frame broke!) by the snow over the winter. Like I say...
The weather was definitely more spring-like. For most of the day, the temperature was around 60º, and then in the past hour or so, it jumped up to 73º when the wind dropped. Ah, the summer drop of the wind around sunset! Ah! Not that there was any wind all afternoon. It was nice out when I was outside. Unfortunately, at this rate, the bugs will be out, too. It was mostly clear for most of the day, but it has begun to cloud up a bit now, and we may have some rain overnight. Not too likely, but we might.
On that topic, it may have been clear last night, and there may have been some meteors (not a storm, by all accounts) but I didn't even try to see it. Once I did get into bed, I slept. Oh, well. I've seen meteors before. I like to watch them, but I'm not hung up on them, like some people are.
The guys were sleepy all day again. Louie was in bed with me when I got up, and he got petted, and then Grayson came and got petted. After I ate my first meal, Grayson sat on my lap and purred until he heard the gurgling, and then he got off. I should have gotten up right then, because I waited and I had a slight accident. Well, I never can tell.
So that was a very quiet day. I am really tired, and as soon as I post this and finish my drink, I will be going up to the north end and try to get to bed as early as possible. it's a partly cloudy, warm evening in the field. Oh, my, is it nice to be able to write "warm"!
May 23 Oh, I waited too long again, and now I have to stay up and hear the concert - Beethoven's 6th and 7th, two of my favorites, which I haven't heard for a long time. Sigh.
I wanted to go to bed early, because i certainly didn't last night - or this morning. I was reading and the music was mostly nice, and time passed. Too much time. I was only up once, and it was 12:30 before I got up, witn not nearly enough sleep. So I was tired all day and I had a problem seeing.
The only thing I did was go to the post office, where there were a lot of bills and some packages, including one that was addressed on the outside to me and to a poor Sharon Smith in Washington state on the inside. So I called, and they don't know how it happened either, but they don't want the stuff back. It's a book and DVD on altering patterns, and I think I know enough about that. I might look through the book, but they suggested I try to find somebody to give it to. Geez. Those people (Nancy's Notions) have a whole lot of good stuff, but their business is nearly out of control. I wonder if they actually make any money, or if they care.
Anyway, then the guy came from Schwan's, and that was my afternoon.
By the way, when I was out, I noticed that between yesterday and today, the maples are flowering and the birches are beginning to show green! Wow, that was fast! I'm sure they weren't there last evening when I went down to Laurium. However, that means spring is officially, really, truly here. Only about eight weeks late. Of course, there is still some snow, including in my woods and down in the culverts. But now we can enjoy the flowering, and after what we were through, it will be doubly enjoyable.
Among the things I got was some stuff from the eye clinic, and it has left me with a lot of questions, so I guess I will have to call them. Then I tried Google Maps to get some idea of how to get to Green Bay (where I have never been) and got into another mess, where they had me taking all sorts of back routes - highway U and highway R or something, when it looks to me like I can just go US-41 to US-141 and be done with it (and a lot faster, too). So I will have to consult people who have been there. At any rate, it looks to be a five hour drive at least (from here) and since the second appointment is at 2:45, (well, 3:45 our time) and will probably be an hour, I don't see how I can drive back home afterwards. They didn't give me any information about places to stay or anything. So I will have to call. I hate these things. I hate having to go off by myself to a place I've never been before and try to find my way around
Today was a beautiful day. It wasn't really warm, at least right on the shore, because the temperature only got up to 55º and there was a 15 mph north wind, but away from the water, llke by the community center, it felt very warm. Of course, anything over 60º would. The sky was nearly clear all day, although I see that it is clouding up a bit now. Of course, since there might be a meteor storm tonight. Well, I will look outside when I'm up, and see what, if anything, I can see. If there are meteors, I should be able to look out the bathroom window and see them.
The guys were sleepy all day, and I didn't see a lot of them, so I don't have much to report there.
So that was a truncated day, and as soon as the 7th is over, I will be off to dreamland. It's a clear, warmish (comparatively) night in the field.
May 22 I was late again. I slept well, but since I got to bed so late, I wanted to sleep in, and when I was awake around 9:00, Louie decided it was time I got up. Not me, so I ended up chasing him away and shutting the door. I suppose he wanted his bowl of Friskies filled, but there are two other bowls of food on the floor, and he hadn't eaten all the Friskies that had spilled out, so phooey on him.
I knitted my two rows, but I was so late getting up that I didn't do anything else except for my surfing.
Just to catch up, there are a couple of things I've been forgetting to mention (one of which I've forgotten again). When the guy delivered my package yesterday, as he was leaving he noticed that the hose bib on the side of the house was on. WOW!! So he turned it off for me, and lo and behold, no running water and no pump going off! It wasn't on full, but it wasn't just dripping, either. So I guess that mystery is solved, and I didn't have to go upstairs! Now what was that other thing...
I got off the schedule I wanted and I didn't eat before I left for choir, and it was too late to do what I was planning when I got home, so I sort of ate whatever I could find - shrimp cocktail and a salad. Choir was good, and two of us are singing the high Gs, which I love to do when I can. I always wanted to sing as high and as loud as possible, and evidently it's still possible, at least sometimes.
Pastor had brought out the gowns that need attention, and that is going to be more of a problem than I thought. Two of them are actual cassocks, with buttons, and two of them look like graduation gowns, with hooks and eyes. I will have to go downstairs and find the box of hooks and eyes, but I think I have some the right size. The buttons are another story. They are plain black buttons, 5/8" in diameter, with a recessed center and either two or four holes (one cassock has both, which doesn't look very good). Well. So far, I have not been able to find any plain black buttons with rims for less than 50¢ a piece. Geez, when I really need a dime store! I had to give up looking, because there are thousands of buttons out there, and as usual, JoAnn's search function is practically useless, but i will keep searching. I brought all four gowns home with me, so we'll see how fast I can get them fixed. It still blows my mind that I'm the only person in the congregation who would volunteer to sew on a few buttons and hooks.
The weather was nondescript. It was mostly cloudy all day, although there was a little sunshine around 2:00 this afternoon, and it was clearing when it got dark. The temperature got up to 48º when the sun came out, and then it dropped back for a while before it recovered. There was a moderate wind from the north. Meh.
I didn't see much of the guys after I got dressed. Grayson wanted something I had for breakfast - I think he smells butter, and I will have to put down the empty dish and see if he licks it. He really wanted to try the shrimp, but I'm not going to start him on that. Louie was around this morning, but I didn't see much of him during the day. They're usually both around someplace close by, but I may not see them. Some people wonder if cats really like their people, but I don't. Knowing cats as well as I do, I know they wouldn't hang around me like they do if they didn't think I was all right.
When I drove down to town, I discovered that Cliff Drive is open, finally. I had to laugh. The northern half, from the Eagle River north, is nearly as bad as Woodland Drive, full of potholes that either haven't been patched or have been patched badly, but on my way home, I noticed that they had put up a "rough road" sign on the southern end only. Yes, it certainly is rough, but they could use a sign on the northern end, too. One of these days, they will have to give in and repave it. I think they don't in the hope it will keep speeds down, but it doesn't. Anyway, it's nice to have the shortcut open. Not only does US-41 go through Mohawk, which is slow, it's a longer route, and I think almost all the residents use Cliff Drive by choice during the summer.
So that was my day, and I'm tired. I think it's a clear night in the field, but I haven't checked lately.
May 21 Well, with the nice music and my bath, it was 1:00 before I turned out the light, and it was 2:00 before I turned over and was finally able to get to sleep. Sigh. I got up around 10:00, and I really didn't want to, but I need to try to keep on a human schedule or getting to church on Sunday is just too hard.
I knitted, and while i had to do it with my glasses off, I didn't have any problems, for once.
I actually did something useful today. Since I wanted to take a sewing kit with me tomorrow, I had to get to the sewing machine and the drawers, so I started sorting magazines and catalogs. I now have three bags of catalogs that are so heavy it's hard to move them, I can get to the sewing machine, most of my pressing station is clear and things are in much better order than they were. It's not a hard job, just another one, like filing, that I don't like to do. However, it's nice to have things in a little better order than they were. There is still a whole lot of stuff piled up on the counter between the sewing machine and the computer, which needs to be moved, or something, but at least I've made progress. That's a job I can do while the talking is on, so the only problem is light, and I started early enough that I didn't have that problem.
The weather was dull and cloudy and there was a lot of fog this morning, followed by a lot of wind. The high temperature, 53º, was actually at 4:00 this morning, after which it dropped off, and it was around 45º all day. That was much cooler than was predicted. The wind this morning was from the southwest, but then it shifted around to the north. It got up to 20 mph, but it has now dropped off. This morning, it was extremely foggy, but after the fog went away, it was dark and cloudy all day and it's been very humid. I couldn't have sewed, for example.
The guys were so sleepy I didn't see much of them. Grayson sat on me this morning until I had to go to the bathroom. Louie was around, but he didn't ask to sit on me. Grayson wanted some of my dinner - a pseudo-Chinese thing - but he was happy when I gave him a couple of little pieces of chicken.
So that was my quiet day. I had to track down the package that should have come yesterday: it was marked "delivered," but I didn't get it and I didn't sigh for it. So around 5:00 today, it appeared. Who knows? My other package - that I really wanted - didn't come, because of "adverse weather." It is (or was) in Houghton, and I still am not sure what the adverse weather was, unless it was the fog this morning. I will have to ask when they finally do deliver it. Humph. It wasn't that foggy up here, and when I checked the PastyCam webcams, I didn't see much fog.
Now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field and maybe it will be nicer tomorrow. This is the weather we should have been having six weeks ago.
May 20 Oh, I diddled around again last night, so it was late when I got to bed, but I slept very well. I got up around 10:00, and since I knitted about two and a half rows, I was late getting dressed. I'm caught up, though, and i can go back to two rows a day. I wish I could knit faster, but I have over 350 stitches on the needles now, and it just takes a long time to do one row.
And I didn't do anything. I am still tired, so I just sat. Sigh.
The weather was good for that. When I was awake in the night, it was windy and raining, and it apparently rained until noon or so. The wind was strong, with gusts up to 32 mph, but from the south. I could hear the lake complaining, but it wasn't like it will be when the wind is that strong from the north. We had about half an inch of rain. The temperature got up to 52º, just a while ago, which was quite a bit lower than the forecast, but I didn't go out, so it didn't bother me. When I got up, the rain clouds were so low, I couldn't see the mountain at all. It sort of cleared up later, but it was misty and dull gray all day. It's days like this when the pictures from the camera look like they're in black and white. No, but it was a gray day.
The guys were mostly sleepy. This morning, when i was about to get dressed, Grayson came in and he licked Louie's head, all very nice. I don't think Louie likes that very well. Louie wanted to wash the inside of Grayson's left ear, and I just don't understand why he wants to do that. As far as I've been able to tell, it isn't dirty. Grayson doesn't like it very well, either. But then this afternoon, Grayson was asleep on the desk and twice I had to chase Louie away when he wanted to mix it up. I wish I could read their little minds.
So that was a nothing day and I have nothing much to report, except that I broke down and bought the summer top I've been looking at Lands End for three or four months. I really, really want something new to wear to church, and this one will look good with either white or stone pants. It was on sale, too, but it was still more expensive than I wanted. Am I the only person who thinks the prices of clothing have just gotten all out of line?
One of my correspondents wrote to give me some information about the eye clinic, for which I'm very grateful. Now all I have to do is find the place, but I understand they will send maps. I'm still not looking forward to that, but it has to be done. I need to be able to see.
Now it's a dark, gray evening in the field, and I have to wash my hair tonight. Besides, I'm still tired.
May 19 I don't remember why I didn't get to bed until 11:30, but oh, well. Then I had to turn over before I could get to sleep. I made up for it by not getting up until 10:00. I knitted, but I only did a little over one row. I goofed on the first row, and when I started trying to figure out what I'd done wrong and fix it, I found I couldn't see anything, so I just laid it down and got dressed. Then I had an accident and had to change everything - which reminds, me, my jeans are in the washer. Sigh...
I did get away when I wanted to, and I was early enough for my appointment that I was able to work with one of the girls to try to get my glasses feeling better. I think we may have succeeded, but we'll see. Then I saw the optometrist, and the good news is that I like him. The bad news is (as I knew it would be) that my cataracts are "ripe" and need to be taken care of. Since i have the cataracts, a cornea problem and Sjogren's syndrome, he thought it would be good for me to see both a cornea specialist and the cataract doctor at one time. And it's in Green Bay. That is the place where Pastor's wife had hers done, and I know of some others who have been there, too, and they apparently do good work, so that's good. But the first appointment I could get to see both doctors is in August. That's later than I hoped, but oh, well. Maybe we can get it done before the snow flies next fall. I am still shaky about it, because these are the only eyes I have, but there is no question that it's time to have it done. The good news is that I will be able to pass the eye test when i have to get my driver's license renewed this summer.
I found it interesting that this optometrist is doing everything the ophthalmologist has been doing, with just about the same result. So if that's true, I guess I've been paying more than I needed to for a very long time. The only difference is that when I need something more than a diagnosis or new glasses, he has to refer me. I guess I can live with that. Once the cataracts are done, I should be good to go anyway.
Of course, by the time I left, I could hardly see, and driving home was, shall we say, interesting. There was a guy on a motorcycle in front of me, fortunately quite a way in front of me, because I could hardly see him
Speaking of that, my big-city-trained mind has been getting very suspicious lately. There are a couple of old houses beside the road in Delaware, and several times, I've seen a couple of cars parked by the side of the road with their trunks open and some guys around. Then today, this motorcyclist, who had been going faster than I was, suddenly stopped in the same place. I'm not suspicious enough to call the sheriff, but it certainly does make me wonder, being a big city girl.
I got home around 5:45, I think. My eyes are getting better already, since it's cloudy and dark, and I can see the computer screen better than I could this morning. Grayson was a bit concerned when I had my sunglasses on for a while, but after I changed them, he went away.
It was WARM! I went out without anything on (relatively speaking, of course) except for my sweatshirt sweater, which is cotton, and I was quite comfortable. It's so nice to be able to pick up my cane and my bag and walk out the door without worrying about coats, hats, gloves and all that. Oh, summer will come. Now I'm sure of it, even though there's still quite a bit of snow around. The glacier is down to about 3' high.
The high temperature was actually after I left, 68º. but it was in the 60s from 10:00 until after 6:00. Oh, it was so nice! There was a little wind from the southwest late this afternoon, and the rain is on its way, finally. It was mostly cloudy, but bright-cloudy, and there was some sunshine. If I'd been home, I would have gone out and pulled up the shutters, but that will have to wait until after the rain.
I don't know much about the guys. They were asleep when I left, and I haven't seen Louie. Grayson welcomed me home, but he's asleep now, too. My barometers.
So that was my day. I've known for a year or so that it was time for the cataract surgery. I'm shaky about it because this is the only pair of eyes I have, and I use them a lot. Every time I think I'm all right with it, and cataract surgery is 97% successful, I hear another horror story. But the alternative is to go blind, and that's not acceptable, so I will have to get it done. This place in Green Bay has a good reputation, and the alternatives are either Detroit or Mayo, both of which are too far away. So I will go ahead and hope I like the doctors there. These are among the disadvantages of living where I do, but the advantages so far outweigh all that that I will just do what I have to.
Now I'm tired again and my eyes feel sort of like they are out on stalks, so I guess the best thing to do is to go and close them and try to catch up on my sleep. I was thinking about washing my hair, but I'm not going anywhere tomorrow, so how I look doesn't matter.
It's a cloudy, breezy night in the field, and the rain is on its way.
May 18 Oh, my. It was another bad night. Maybe it was that I got up so late yesterday morning, or maybe it was that it was warm in the bedroom, but it was sometime after 3:00 when I finally got to sleep, and I was up one more time before the alarm went off. I did not want to get up, but I did anyway.
My timing was good this morning. I was dressed early enough to sit in the powder room and look at the song we were singing, since, try as I might, I couldn't remember it. I went through it several times (mentally, of course) until I was pretty sure I could sing it. Then I was off to church. I got there at just about the time I wanted, which was nice.
It was a nice service, and I think we sang all right, even though there were only four women. Pastor spoke on John 14, and it was a good sermon. At the end, he asked for a volunteer to sew buttons on the acolyte cassocks, so I did. I guess I will have to donate the buttons, too, but first I have to see what they look like. At least I can sew on a button! Or lots of buttons. Somebody, probably his wife, looks after Pastor's robes, but apparently nobody is too interested in the ones the acolytes wear. Acolytes in our church light the candles and put them out and collect the communion cups after each table drinks from them. Not a lot of work, but they are supposed to be teenagers who have just been confirmed, and it's hard to get volunteers.
So I got home just before 1:00. On my way home, I came up behind the first tourists of the season. Oh, sigh. I think they were actually locals, out for a nice Sunday drive, because one of them turned into the Mountain Lodge and the other one pulled into The Pines, which was having their usual Sunday turkey dinner. But still. I've gotten used to coming and going without encountering any traffic at all.
I was really tired when I got home, but I was really hungry, too, and the hunger won out. I got so sleepy in the middle of the afternoon that I had a hard time staying awake, but I can go to bed early tonight and sleep for a long time, since my appointment with the optometrist is at 3:30 tomorrow.
The weather was warm for a change. Well, warmer than it's been since sometime last October. Around noon, the temperature actually got up to 62º before it dropped back, then around 2:00 the wind shifted from the north-northwest to due north and the temperature dropped down to 48º. That was weird, because at 1:00 there were 20 mph gusts, but at 2:00 the wind had dropped to 7 mph and it was nearly calm for the rest of the afternoon. The temperature did recover to 58º, but now it is dropping again. For most of the day, the sky was cloudy but bright, with some periods of sunshine. Lately, it's been quite cloudy, and I guess it's going to rain tonight and tomorrow.
The grass is green (where there is grass) all of a sudden, and I could see buds swelling on the maples and birches, but no flowers yet. The tag alders down in the culverts have some catkins on them, but not a lot yet. So slowly, ever so slowly, spring is creeping up on us. A few more warm days and rain will bring out the maple flowers and the birch and willow catkins.
The guys were sleepy, even though the barometer is high, and today they didn't want to sleep together. Both of them got lap time twice, and both times, they left of their own accord. So I got purred at a lot today. Grayson thought he wanted some of my dinner, which had beef gravy, but when he tasted it, it wasn't as good as it smelled. Or maybe he just wanted to know I'd give him some.
I was going to actually cook something, but I was too tired, and this (a bag of frozen stuff) will give me dinner tomorrow, too, which I'll need, since I'll be getting home late.
Now it's a warmish, cloudy evening in the field, and I may read a little more (it's Osara, because I had some thoughts about some other things I want to change) before I go and crash. ' May 17 Well, I stayed up and listened. The Brahms was the Fourth Symphony, and it's been a while since I've heard that. So it was 11:30 or later when I got to bed. I slept well, and it was four hours before I woke up, but then I had to sit in the bathroom for half an hour to get rid of my cramps. i slept well after I got back to bed, with one more wakeup, and I got up around 9:00, I think. Maybe I can sleep tonight, too. I knitted, and before I got dressed, besides working on the shawl, I cast on another sequin scarf, for me, on needles two sizes larger than the first one. The only thing that's bothering me is that the clusters of sequins seem to be in groups of two, rather than groups of three, so this one may not be as glittery as the first one, unless this is only a problem with the first few yards. I think it will work better on bigger needles, and I have only 40 stitches, rather than 50, so it should get long faster. i knit four rows, and at least so far, the larger needles are making the whole exercise easier. I will continue with the shawl, but I wanted to get the scarf started and see what it would look like (not that I have knit far enough for that).
Otherwise, I didn't do much of anything. I am tired, which I think is a good thing, but it is affecting my eyes, so I have had a hard time seeing.
The weather...oh, the weather. It was clear for part of the night, because I could see Jupiter setting over the lighthouse when I went to bed. It clouded up later, and it was around 11:00 before it started to clear up. The temperature for most of the day was around 45º, but just lately, it jumped up to 59º. I really should stick my nose out the door and sniff. The wind has been from the north all day (it was from the west all night), up to around 15 mph. It certainly was nice to see blue skies and blue water. There is still a raft of ice out in front of the house, but it gets smaller every day, and I expect it will probably be mostly gone by tomorrow.
I didn't see much of the guys today, as usual. In the middle of the afternoon, I went through the great room and Louie was laid out in the navy chair, and Grayson was curled up in the pale blue chair because there was no room in the navy chair. Louie got some serious lap time, but he got very upset with me when I combed out a knot on his flank (not upset enough to leave). Grayson came and sat beside the monitor while I was eating dinner, and I'm not sure whether he wanted beef (not Chinese beef, which I proved by showing him some) or he wanted to sit on my lap. It's hard to eat from a tray with a cat on my lap. Now he has gone away again. They were both someplace else when I looked out the bathroom window and saw a bunny hop across the way to the bushes. I'm sure it would have interested them. When I was up for the first time last night, I had to sit and look at the shadow from the lighthouse for a minute or two before I realized that what I was seeing on the wall was the shadow of a cat looking out the west-facing window in the window seat. He was still there when I came back, but he had moved a bit so I couldn't see his ears. I wonder what parade was going by at 4:oo this morning?
So that was a very quiet day, but my eyes are not good and my back isn't very good, either. So soon I will go up to the north end and try to get to bed as early as possible. Now it's a sort of clear, sort of warm evening in the field.
May 16 Well, given how late I got home, it was midnight before I turned out the light, and I was so tired that it was 4:00 before I woke up for the first time. I got up around 9:00, so I will be in bed early tonight, too, although the symphony concert is a good one tonight - Schumann and Brahms. We'll see.
I knitted, and I'm starting the last graph I made. I will be interested to see how much yarn I have left after I finish it. This yarn is so fine that there are almost 18 yards per gram (ugh - how to mix measurement systems!), and if I do the edging the way I want to, I will need quite a bit of yarn for that. I have just finished another blue band and it's turning gray again. I had hoped to get more bands like the first two or three in the ball, but so far they've repeated the lavender, yellow, aqua blue and gray. All very muted, of course. The colors aren't garish, and in fact they're sort of dull. Anyway, I have over 300 stitches on the needle now, so two rows take a long time.
I didn't do much of anything else except go to the post office to return a book. That one is called The Science of Good Cooking and I thought I'd like it, because it combines some science with recipes. Well. When I saw the picture of the guy that was taken from below his eye level with him looking down, I began to get suspicious, and when I looked at the list of gear they suggest for a kitchen and realized it would cost several thousand dollars (do you have any pots or pans that cost over $100 each?) I decided this wasn't the book for me. Then I looked at a few recipes that used goo-gobs of heavy cream and butter and fry meatballs in 1½ cups of oil (!!), I said, ugh! Besides, it is an extremely heavy book (over 2 lbs) and the type is so small I could hardly read it and is too small to use the book in the kitchen, I decided it was worth returning. If you love it, I'm sorry, but it just isn't my cup of tea. I think I have had brushes with Cook's Illustrated before - I think a number of years ago, they were sending out mailings with sample magazines - and I was unimpressed then. More so now. End of book report.
Debbie called this evening, for a short chat, and I will be sending her the sequin scarf. I hope she likes it.
The weather was certainly not May-like. When I was up at 4:00, I thought I saw patches of snow on the ground, and at 5:30, I verified that. So it snowed or rained or something all night long. The snow was gone by the time I got up, but it was a nasty, cold day. The temperature varied between 34º and 39º. which is not nice for mid-May. There wasn't very much wind, so it wasn't frigid, but it was cold, damp and nasty. It was cloudy, of course, but there was a ray of sunshine or two, and for most of the day, it was bright-cloudy. I wonder if we'll have any summer. We certainly aren't having any spring.
the guys were sleepy all day. Grayson got a bit of lap time this afternoon, but I haven't seen Louie in a while. I agree, it was a good day to sleep.
And I'm going to do that. I am still tired, even though my feet aren't as sore as they were last night, so I need to crash again. Now it's a cloudy, cold night in the field.
May 15 Wow, am I glad the only place I have to go tomorrow is to the post office!
I was later getting to bed than I wanted to be. I was thinking about going up to the north end when we had a power failure. This one was long enough that the generator came on (yes, the generator came on!) so I wanted to wait until the computer rebooted to make sure everything was all right. Well, it wasn't, and it still isn't. Apparently the power failed right as the camera software was renaming the archives (here - not on the server) and I can't see most of yesterday's pictures. Fortunately, nothing was amazing enough that I wanted to save it, but it always upsets me when something like that happens, because it could be to a file I really want and need. Anyway, as I think I've mentioned before, it takes a long time to reboot a Windows system and get all the programs running again, and I wanted to check everything out to make sure it was OK.
So I was late going up to the north end, and then I started fooling around with the pattern for my next shawl. Not that I'm nearly through with this one, but I'm thinking ahead. The next one is from the same source, and when I took a good look at the charts, there are white streaks across every one, so that there are parts of the charts I can't read. That's going to be important, because it's a small thing as it's charted and I want to make it bigger, like I am the one I'm working on. The new one is going to be much more challenging, because the stitch count varies wildly from row to row, and having a good chart is a necessity. It's time I had another challenge. This one won't be quite as much a challenge as the Shetland scarf was, but it will do.
Anyway, it was after 11:00 before I turned out the light, and then I couldn't get to sleep. In fact, I don't think I got into a deep sleep all night. Oh, dear. It's been a while since that happened. I suppose it had something to do with looking forward to my day today, but I don't know why it should have.
I got up around 9:00 and I didn't knit. That was good, because I had a small accident and I had to change my underwear before I left. I left around 11:30, so I was a bit early at the dentist, but that's better than being late (so my mama taught me).
The dentist was fine, and now I have clean teeth for another six months. I wanted to go to the feed store to get some dog biscuits, so while I was there, I looked around at some other things they had. I didn't get into the garden area (I didn't think that would be productive) but I looked at cat food and bird feeders. I got a nice large canister of clear hummingbird food, which I've been seeking for a long time, and I looked at some feeders I'd seen pictures of on a website and determined that you're not going to see a fancy bottle when I put them out. The bottles are pretty, but i don't like the openings. So you'll see the old red plastic ones. I do intend to start feeding the birds again. Really.
Then it was off to Walmart. When I realized that they are selling gas for 20¢ a gallon less than I can get it in Calumet and I would need it on Sunday anyway, I stopped for that. I did the usual damage, and I realized after I left, I didn't even look at some things I usually do and wanted to. Oh, well, it was probably for the best. I did get a feeder hanger to replace the one that blew down over a year ago. That one blew down because some critter had bent the hook out of shape and it wouldn't hold in the tree. So one of these days, if it ever gets reasonably warm, you may see me out on the deck putting the new hanger in place. Then it's only a matter of filling the pails and the big feeders and I'll be in business again.
I got out of Walmart at just about 4:00, so I went on to Bambu and had an early dinner. It was good, as always. I brought some home, and since I ate so early, I heated it up and ate the rest when I got here. It was still good.
I ate so early that I was very early getting to church, so I sat in the parking lot and listened to the radio. While I did, something started coming down from the sky, and some of it was snow! Geez. Haven't we had enough of that? Most of it was just cold drizzle, though. Choir practice was good, but long. Our choir is going to sing all summer, I think, and I will enjoy that. Since we live in an area where people come for vacation and I don't think many people here go anywhere else, it will probably work out.
I got home around 9:30. I don't think it was slippery, but the roads were wet, so I took my time. Then I ate the rest of my Ma-La, read my email and did the rest of my surfing. Now I am very tired, so I don't think I will be up very much longer. It's so nice because I don't have to wash my hair tonight.
The weather was not nice. The temperature here was just about steady at 37º, which is the normal average low. It was a bit warmer in town, but it didn't get up to more than 43º. Then about 6:00, it started to drizzle. i mean, yuck. There wasn't a lot of wind, at least here, although when I was getting gas at Walmart, it was quite breezy (and cold) there. It was dark and cloudy and nasty, although the snow is still going away, slowly but surely.
I don't know what the guys did. Grayson came to say hello when I got home, and so did Louie, but he wanted to sit right in front of me when I was trying to get to the toilet before I had a second accident for the day, so I yelled at him and he went away. Grayson was interested in my dinner, but when I didn't give him any, he went away, too. Sorry, guys. I don't like to be away so long either.
So that was my busy day. My legs and feet are sore and I'm very tired, but I suspect I will sleep very well tonight. Now it's a dark, rainy, nasty night in the field, and I'm glad to be home and warm and dry.
May 14 I was a little later last night, but I made it into bed before 11:00. I slept well, no thanks to Louie, and I got up around 9:00. I knitted, and I am just about through the third of my charts, which should put me where the pattern ended. However I have a lot of yarn left on the ball, so I brought it with me and weighed it, and I have more than half a ball left. There is no way I want two of this pattern, which isn't all that great, so I will continue for at least another 40 rows and see how things are then. Sometimes I wonder about people who write patterns. I also had some changes to Chart 3 and I found some mistakes and ambiguities in Chart 4, so I fixed all that, and I'm good to go as soon as I get to knit again.
I'm not sure I will tomorrow. My dentist appointment is at 1:00, and the plan is to stop at the feed store for more dog biscuits, and to see what they have in cat food, and then attack Walmart before I have an early dinner at Bambu and go to choir practice. Whew! I will be exhausted by the time I get home.
Today i did not much, after I finished fiddling with the knitting pattern.
THe weather was pretty but not very warm. The temperature hung right around 45º, plus or minus a degree or two, and the wind was from the north at up to 25 mph. It was clear, or nearly clear, for most of the day, although it's beginning to cloud over now. It was pretty looking over the harbor. The open water was very deep blue, with little whitecaps on it. The wind has pushed all the floating ice down into our end of the harbor. It looks thick, but I sure wouldn't want to try to walk on it. I hope it will either melt or get pushed down to the other end. The "S" word is in our forecast for the next two days. Oh, sigh.
The guys were very sleepy, in spite of the nice weather. They slept together in the navy blue chair for the whole afternoon, and it was so cute to see them curled up beside each other. They've gone away now, and while Grayson was around - and he got several pieces of turkey breast - Louie has gone someplace else. I guess that means the weather is going to change again.
So tonight I have to try to get to bed early and sleep long and hard to get geared up for my big day tomorrow. Now it's a cool, windy night in the field.
May 13 I made it into bed by about 10:00 last night, and mostly I slept well. In fact, I slept so well that it was 9:20 before I got up. Eek! I had to rush, and I left a little later than I wanted to, but there would have been no use leaving before I was done in the bathroom.
i made it pretty much on time, which is all right, since the doctor is usually late. We had a nice chat, and she cut me loose. She is right, though, everything seems to be under control and she can turn my case back to my family doctor. That's fine. I know her, and if I have any other problems, I can go back. So that was a good outcome. I got home around 1:30, I think.
Driving all that distance always makes me tired, so I didn't do much of anything for the rest of the afternoon, except my surfing. I was reading, and I had added some chapter headings to Bolin when there was some kind of weird power glitch that seems to have only affected the computer and the printer. This has happened before, but it's always annoying. When I got everything else up and running again, I had lost the last couple of chapter marks, which is also annoying. i thought the automatic save happened more frequently than that. i'll have to check it out.
IT was a mostly cloudy, cool, windy day. The temperature has finally made it up to 52º, but when I was out it was in the middle 40s. The wind was mostly from the northwest, with gusts up to 33 mph. That always makes driving, especially in a high-profile vehicle like I drive, interesting. The skies are clearing up, too, which is nice. It was bright-cloudy all day, and it was clearer here than it was down the peninsula.
I didn't see much of the kitties, although Grayson came and sat on me after I got home, and Louie wanted to sit when i was in the middle of something. I will have to make it up to him. Mostly they slept someplace. Louie is sleeping at least part of the night beside the pillow every night now, although if I get too rambunctious, he will leave, usually with a thud. i don't know why Grayson won't sleep with us, but he likes it cooler than Louie does.
So that is about all I have to report. It's a clearing, windy evening in the field, and I'm tired.
May 12 So last night, I crashed. I was in bed a little after 9:30, and I slept well, although I was up about every two hours. My feet were so swollen, I wasn't surprised. I got up around 9:00 and I knitted. It's now taking me about an hour and a half to do two rows. I'm very close to the end of where the pattern says I should be, but I have at least half a ball of yarn left, so I see no reason not to keep knitting. All I need is enough left to do the edging.
And that was all I did. I didn't feel bad, but I don't have any energy, so I did my surfing - there is always a lot to read on Mondays - and I read. I'm in the midst of putting the chapters in Bolin. so I'm working on that. I had a massage this evening, and my back feels much better. Johanna can't do anything about my knees or my feet, though, and that's what's bothering me now, as well as my hands and my wrists and my shoulders...
One reason i'm so creaky is that it rained pretty much all day, although when I was out it was mostly drizzle. The temperature was nearly steady, around 38º, rising very, very slowly. It was dark and dismal and windy and very nasty outside. The wind is from the southeast with gusts up to 25 mph. Nasty, Overall, I think I actually prefer snow, but I sure hope we don't get any more.
The guys were sleepy, as usual. For some reason, Grayson was super loving today. He sat on my lap three different times and went to sleep. Awww... Louie wanted to sit on me, but one time I was busy and the next time, I discovered a couple of knots on his flanks, and he hates it when I comb them out. I suppose it pulls, but it would pull more if I didn't get rid of them.
I'm going to read a bit more (they're playing Bach), but I expect to be in bed early tonight, too. I get to se the rheumatologist tomorrow morning, so I need to take a bath and be up at a reasonably early hour.
It's a dark, dismal, rainy night in the field.
May 11 Well, with everything i had to do, it was after 10:00 when I turned out the light, so I didn't get nearly enough sleep. It was warm in the bedroom, from all the sunshine (not that I'm complaining about that!) and I was wakeful, with some very weird dreams that, fortunately, I don't remember. I had set the alarm for 7:00, but I woke up a bit before then. I had time to eat and do some of my morning surfing. It helped a whole lot that I didn't have to put on layer after layer of clothes before i left. In fact, I just wore a corduroy jacket, which is what I use instead of a blazer, and that was all. it was so nice to go running out without heavy coats, hats and gloves! I wouldn't have wanted to be outside very much, at least before church, but in the car I wasn't uncomfortable.
I wore the sequin scarf, and several people noticed it. I had to just hang it around my neck. It isn't long enough to loop twice, and I kept seeing places where the yarn left loops on the surface or at an edge. It's still a pretty thing, though. If I make another one, I think I will try it on bigger needles. That should make it go faster, and I don't think it will make too much difference in how it looks. For all the time I spent on it, it certainly didn't turn out very well.
Church was nice, and I think we did a passable job on our anthem, which was surprising, since at least two of us hadn't practiced it very much. There was communion, and this was Good Shepherd Sunday, so we got to sing all those great hymns and Pastor preached on Psalm 23. We didn't get out until noon, but that was understandable.
It had warmed up a lot by noon, but I was ready to come right home, for a change. My feet were sore and so were my legs, from standing on them. I got home around 1:00. I had a little lunch, and I didn't do much of anything for the rest of the day. I am tired enough that my eyes are really sore and I'm not seeing very well, so I mostly read. That's not too bad on the eyes, because I have the font size set quite large.
When I got up this morning, there was still ice on the harbor at this end, but when I turned in the driveway on the way home, there was nothing but blue, blue water out in front of the house. Yay!!! The ice isn't completely gone, but most of it is, finally. it is so nice to see open water, even if it's gray, like it has been for most of the day.
The high temperature, 51º, actually happened at 4:00 this morning, but it went back up to 50º between 9:00 and noon, before it dropped off again into the low 40s. It was much warmer in Houghton, but that's the lake for you. The water temperature has to be very close to 32º and that makes it cooler here. There was some sunshine and some clear skies, but mostly it was sort of cloudy and gray all afternoon. When I got up, there was a line of rain south of Houghton, but it went someplace else. We didn't get a drop. Now there is a little light rain over around Ontonagon, and some heavy rain west of there, which we are suppose to get tomorrow and Tuesday. There is still a lot of snow in the woods, and the glacier at the end of the harbor is still at least 5' high, but it's all going away slowly, and the rain will help.
The guys were sleepy, even though the barometer was high. They slept on the desk for most of the afternoon, until I had to get up. then Grayson tried to shift to the pink chair, and Louie chased him out of it. Grayson tried to give up a hairball, with not much success. He isn't a clean cat, but even as much as he washes himself, he's shedding enough that he's having a problem. Louie doesn't seem to, unless he goes to some secret spot. Maybe the grocery bags he likes to eat give him enough roughage to take care of the problem. Not that he's a clean cat, either. Both of them are greasy on their backs.
So now maybe I will read a bit longer, but I expect to be in bed very early tonight. I'm really tired, and after a while, fighting not being able to see gets to be too much. It's a sort of cloudy, sort of gray evening in the field.
May 10 i made it into bed before midnight, and I slept well. I got up around 10:00, but I'm tired again now. I knitted, which is taking longer and longer to do, and the wash is almost done. The dishwasher is pretty much ready to go (finally), too. i filled the pill dispensers in the studio, and when I get to the north end, I'll do the ones up there, too. I wish they would fill themselves. I've always hated to do anything I have to do over.
In the meantime, after I did my surfing and went to the post office, I started reading Bolin again. I think it's time I can put in the chapter marks. Unfortunately, it was open when we had one of our recent power glitches, and I discovered, to my disgust, that Word had lost all the "Ignore" marks I had put in the file, where the grammar and spelling checks were just plain wrong. Sigh. So I just finished getting the file back together, but I don't seem to be able to convince it there are no more "errors". Well, that's for tomorrow. For a program that has been around as long as it has, it certainly is a piece of junk.
The weather turned out nice. It was very windy overnight, with gusts up to 33 mph, but the wind is dying down now as it veers to the north. It was cloudy early this morning, but it cleared up by 9:00, and it was clear and beautiful all day. The temperature rose all day, and it finally got up to 64º, just a little while ago. It was lovely. The snow and ice will go away fast now. There is still ice at our end of the harbor, but even in front of the fort, there is now open water. So spring will come, after all, and probably fast now.
The guys were sleepy, and I didn't see much of them. Louie sat on my lap for a little while, and Grayson thought he might want to while I was eating my dinner (wrong), but mostly they were someplace else.
So now I have to get the dishwasher ready to run, get the last load of clothes into the dryer and fill the north end pill dispensers before I can take my bath and go to bed. Even though I should have gotten enough sleep last night, I've been tired and my eyes have been bothering me all day, so I need to close them soon. It's a clear, quite warm, lovely evening in the field. Spring is here.
May 9 So I was late again last night. I slept well, with only a couple of wakeups, and I got up around 10:00, I think. I knitted, and as a result, i had only half an hour to eat breakfast before I had to leave. I didn't get to do my surfing until tonight.
I took my sock (the waiting room project) and i finally got the heel turned and started on the gusset. I was at the dealership for a little over two hours. The word wasn't good. it seems there is a problem with a sensor in the air bag system that could cause them not to deploy in a crash, but the parts are about $250. And my battery is beginning to fail as well. So far, it's marginal, but I don't know how much longer it will last. That's about $150. Gosh, batteries have gotten expensive! They also last a whole lot longer than they used to. This is only the second battery I've had since I've owned the car. They couldn't determine what's wrong with the "Auto 4WD" switch. Oh, and not driving during the winter has prolonged the life of my exhaust system, which is a good thing, since that's a minimum $400. I guess i'll just wait to see what breaks first and hold off on the air bag thing. I wish I could take care of all of that, but since I'll probably be embarking on eye surgery and new glasses and all that, I will just have to wait. SIgh.
Anyway, after that, I went off to Pat's for a couple of things I forgot last Sunday, including some lovely whitefish that I had for dinner. I did good, and I don't think I bought more than one or two things I didn't need. Or I hope so.
The third stop was for gas. I was down below a quarter tank, and no way could I have gotten home and back to Calumet on that, even though it appears I'm getting reasonable gas mileage - for a full-size SUV. It's pretty awful by today's standards, but it's the best I've gotten on any car I've ever owned.
Then, finally, I could come home. Traffic both ways was minimal, and while the skies looked threatening, there was no rain. I got home about 6:00. By the time I visited the bathroom and put away what I bought, it was late enough that I made my dinner and enjoyed such a lovely piece of fish. Yum! All these other fishes are nice, but I like whitefish best, I think, especially when it's really fresh. They also had a lot of lake trout, for the first time since last fall. but I don't like that as much as I like whitefish.
The weather was interesting. It started raining around 10:00, like I mentioned last night, and it rained pretty much all night long, sometimes rather heavily. By the time I got up, however, it had stopped and there was fog in the harbor. By the time I left, at 1:00, the temperature had risen to 63º, and at 2:00 it was 68º and there was a little sunshine. Then the wind shifted around to the north, it clouded up, and the temperature dropped off to 52º. By the time I was leaving Pat's, it was below 50º and the lightweight jacket I wore (I put the down coats away this week) was not quite warm enough. Now the wind is gusting up to 32 mph or more, back from the west again. The weather is so much fun around here! When I came down the hill to Copper Harbor, however, there was open water both in the big lake and in the harbor. Whee! Spring is coming! There is still some ice at our end, but I'm sure it will mostly go away in the next day or so. And there is a huge ridge of ice in the gap between Hunter's Point and Porter Island. There are still big drifts around here, but slowly, slowly they melt away, leaving large puddles. On the subject of spring, though, there is nary a sign. The birches and willows are still dark gray and there isn't any sign of green in the grass or weeds.
I don't know what the guys did today, since I wasn't here, but they both came from the north end when I came home, so I suspect they were someplace sleeping together. Grayson looked at my dinner, but then he went away, and I haven't seen much of Louie. I suppose he's trying to tell me he isn't happy about my having spent the entire afternoon away. Wait until next week.
So that was my day, and my car is serviced, finally, So I'm ready to go running up and down the peninsula for doctors and dentists and things like that. The next couple of weeks will use a lot of gas. Then it's quiet again until June. I am coming out of hibernation whether I want to or not.
Now it's a dull, windy night in the field, and there might even be a little more rain.
May 8 It was the nice music again. I was about to give up and go up to the north end when they announced that they were going to be playing Schubert's Trout Quintet, which is one of my all-time favorites, so of course I had to stay and listen, And there was some more nice stuff after that. Then I had to wash my hair, so it was very late again before I got to bed. I slept hard, and I got up around 10:30, but I didn't get enough sleep. Maybe tonight?
I didn't do anything much around here, because I was so late, and I had to leave for choir practice at 6:00. It was very nice, although there is a problem in that we don't have enough music for both our choir and the one at St. John's, so we can't keep our copies. And pastor is still trying to get organized after his vacation. Apparently we will be singing all summer, which will be nice. I got home around 9:45, and then I had to eat, so I won't be early to bed.
The weather was, well, interesting. Sometime between midnight and 2:30 or so this morning a line of thunderstorms came through, and there was some serious lightning, although most of it was out over the lake. One clap of thunder was so close and so loud that it scared poor Grayson, and I think Louie spent the night in the basement, probably with his paws over his ears. He did get into bed with me sometime early in the morning though. There was some very heavy rain with the thunder, and I was very surprised by how much of the snow has gone away. The lilacs are beginning to get uncovered, and the big drift that always forms over my garden bed has mostly gone away. The big drift in the culverts is only about 5' high now, and in spots, I can see over it to the harbor. Anyway, it apparently rained for most of the night, and sometime this morning, long after the lightning was gone, we had a power glitch, so the first time I woke up, the clocks were blinking. Grr. It was just cloudy all day, and the temperature got up to 55º briefly around 5:00 this afternoon. It dropped off pretty fast, though. I got down to Laurium and back with no rain, but it started not very long after I got home, and it looks like it will be continuing for quite some time. WGGL, which is in Houghton, is off-air right now, so evidently they had more lightning than we did. So now our winter weather is gone, and we're into our spring or summer weather.
Like I said, I think Louie spent the night in the basement, because I didn't see him until around 9:00 this morning. He was so sleepy that he didn't get up with me, and he was still in bed (MY bed) when I got dressed. Grayson was around, but I think he was glad to have me, and he was glad I got home before it started thundering again. Poor little fellows. They don't understand that all that noise is outside and it isn't coming in. I have to admit, though, that that one crack last night made me jump, too, because it was so loud and so close, probably out over Horseshoe Harbor.
So that was my truncated day. It was nice to get to sing again, and I expect to continue to do it as much as possible. Now it's a stormy, rainy night in the field, and I would go to bed if I thought the thunder wouldn't keep me awake.
May 7 Oh, the music was nice and I was reading First, which is shaping up pretty well, and it was ridiculously late when I got to bed. I slept, of course, with a couple of wakeups that annoyed Louie, and I got up around 11:30, I think. That meant it was a foreshortened day, and I didn't do anything. I thought there was one thing I did, but now I can't remember what it was, so it obviously wasn't important.
The weather was blah again. It was mostly cloudy all day (the camera hung at 6:30 this evening - sorry), but the temperature got up to 51º briefly. Wow, that's about the average! It dropped back the next hour, but it was in the upper 40s for most of the afternoon. There was apparently a rather brisk wind from the south, with gusts up to 25 mph, but I didn't even notice that. Mostly I noticed that it was dark and dreary.
The guys were sleepy, which told me before I checked that the barometer was falling. They both got some lap time, and as I mentioned, Louie slept beside my head for most of the night. i wish he would sleep at the foot of the bed, in the comforter, but I guess he's afraid of being kicked.
So that was a nothing day, and tonight I have to wash my hair, which is gross, and I am planning to go to choir tomorrow and I have an appointment to get my car serviced on Friday. So now it's a dark, dreary night in the field, and we are supposed to be in for a couple of days of rain. Yech.
May 6 I guess it was 11:30 when I turned out the light last night, and I went right to sleep. When I woke up for the first time, around 2:00, I think, the moon was shining in the windows double - in the front windows, and in the window seat and reflecting off the mirror. It was low enough in the sky that it had set before I got back to bed. The next time I got up, I think it was Saturn that was shining brightly. In between, I didn't sleep very well. Louie was in my way and I had a hard time not thinking about my finances, which are dire. i was wakeful until around 5:00, and then I went soundly to sleep, with a wakeup around 8:00, and I finally got up around 11:00. I am pleased to report that dawn is beginning to break at 5:00.
i knitted about two and a half rows, and that was all i did. I wasn't tired, but I didn't feel like doing anything and my back is bad. So I sat at the computer.
The weather was OK. The camera hung up around 6:15 this morning, so there were no pictures of a rather nice morning. By the time I reset it, the sky was clouding up, and the later afternoon was dark and dull. The high temperature was 48º, briefly, and it was in the middle 40s for most of the afternoon. There was hardly any wind. Not too bad, except that the average high for this time of year is 51º. The snow does continue to melt away, I'm glad to report, but there's still a lot of it around.
The guys were rather rambunctious this morning while I was knitting, but then they went to sleep and I didn't see much of Louie at all. Grayson kept following me around, for some reason. He actually ate a piece of turkey tonight - the dark meat - but he only wanted one piece. Oh, yes, Louie did sleep on my lap for a long time while I was doing my surfing.
I had an accident, and while I was going toward the laundry room with my (clean) sweatpants in one hand and my wet undies in the other, I got to wondering why it is that one's nose only gets itchy when one's hands are either too full or too dirty to scratch it. Strange.
So that was my quiet day. I suppose I should wash my hair tonight, but I'm not going to do it, and I will be going up to the north end pretty soon. It's a dark, cloudy night in the field, and we're in for a couple of days of rain.
May 5 Wow, how to crash! I was in bed by 9:00 last night and I didn't get up until 10:00 this morning. i might have slept even longer, but I got one of those "unknown name/unknown number" phone calls, and since the phone by my bed doesn't have caller ID, I had to answer it, and of course, there was nobody at the other end. That's not the first time I've gotten one of those at 10:00. Grr. Anyway, don't think I actually slept for 13 hours. I was up at least five times, for up to half an hour at a time, so I figure I actually didn't get more than 10 hours' real sleep. I'm still creaky, but i'm not nearly so tired. I think I probably have the Shari syndrome, which is my own personal thingie, where I'm not really sick but I'm not really well, either. I just have to endure, and eventually, I'll get over it.
I knitted four rows, and it took a while, because I had goofed someplace on one repeat and I had to sort that out. Otherwise, my only other task of the day was to cook the half turkey. That isn't hard, because all I have to do is throw it in the oven and try to remember how to set everything up, insert the probe, and go away until it's done. Or I think it's done. It's amazingly tough meat, but it's tasty, and I do like turkey, even tough turkey (ahem). I think I may make my turkey and noodles recipe out of most of it, and that will freeze, so I'll have lots of fast meals for when I just don't feel like cooking. Noodles, two cans of soup, onions and celery are a lot cheaper (and probably have a lot less sodium and calories) than the frozen stuff in bags. We'll see. I need to feel like my back is better, as well as get some stuff out of the kitchen, before I do that.
Oh, yes, and I made appointments to take my car in, see the optometrist and part of the mammogram thing. The mammogram isn't due until the first week of June, but after the problems I had getting it scheduled last year, I decided to try to start early. I haven't heard back from radiology yet, but I think it will be all right. I like to both see the doctor and get the mammogram on the same day, just to minimize trips to town. The car is Friday, and the optometrist is two weeks from today.
So, like it or not, I'm coming out of hibernation. Now I must try to get to choir on Thursday. Marcy told me yesterday that they are thinking of going right through the summer, and that would be nice. There are so many seasonal people and visitors in the summertime, that it would be nice to sing for them.
The weather was about as usual. When I woke up the first time, around 11:00, the moon and Jupiter were shining brightly in the bedroom windows, but after they went away, it clouded up and it was cloudy until about 4:00, when it cleared up. The temperature went up to 47º for about two hours, between 2:00 and 4:00, but for most of the day it was around 37º, as usual. There wasn't much wind and it was calm for most of the afternoon. Meh.
The guys were sleepy, which was surprising. When I got up, they both went to sleep on the rug in the bathroom, and they spent most of the afternoon asleep on the desk, until they moved to the sofa in the great room. We are a sleepy group, for sure.
Everybody is still amazed by how cold it's been for so long. The last I heard, Superior is still 40% ice-covered (watching the live ships map is amazing) and the ships are backing up around the Straits of Mackinaw because they can't get through the locks. I looked at the locks cameras today, and while the locks themselves are ice-free, Whitefish bay is still full of floating ice. I wonder if anything like this has ever happened before, since people have been keeping track. And yes, it probably IS due to climate change. "They" think the warming of the planet is causing much more dramatic weather shifts, of which this is one. At least I got to experience it, even though the whole experience wasn't that wonderful. We are losing snow at a good rate, even if it hasn't been all that warm. The sun melts the snow as long as the temperature is above freezing.
Now I will read for a while before I try to get to bed at a relatively early hour. It's a clear, calm, cool night in the field.
May 4 There were northern lights last night. I turned out the light before 9:30, but I had some problem getting to sleep. I woke up about midnight, and when I got to the bathroom, the whole northern horizon was light, to up above the level of the trees. I couldn't see Polaris, though, and by the time I went back to bed, ten or fifteen minutes later, the clouds had moved in. There was still some brightness on the horizon at 2:00, but by 4:30, it was all gone, but I don't know if it was clouds or the show was over. I checked, and it wasn't the sun this time. Something happened in the earth's magnetic field that let in some solar wind for a while. I sure wish it had been clear!
I didn't sleep all that well, and i didn't want to get up when the alarm went off at 6:30, but I did. I left around 9:00, but now that the roads are good, I don't need to leave so early anymore, I got to church really early. Gee, maybe I can sleep in that last half hour?
Church was nice, and there were a lot of people there. The Gospel and the sermon were on the road to Emmaus, so most of the hymns were about that, including "Abide With Me, Fast Falls the Eventide," which is one of the hymns I can't sing. It always makes me weep, especially the last verse. They can sing it at my funeral, if I have a funeral.
My feet were quite swollen before I even left the house this morning, so I took my Crocs with me, and boy, was I glad I did! By the time church let out, I could hardly walk, my shoes were so tight. So i put on my Crocs and went off to Pat's to shop. I did a lot of damage, but it's mostly things to cook, not frozen stuff. For quite some time, they have had half fresh turkeys (no, not half-fresh, half of a fresh turkey), so I got one. I never got my turkey last November, so now I can have it. It also turned out I was out of a lot of stuff, so I got that. We'll see how the turkey turns out. I will also get to play with my big oven. Depending on who you believe, it could cook in as little as an hour on convection roast. It will be interesting.
I got home around 2:00, but it took me a while to get everything in the house and put away, because my legs and feet were terminally sore and I was very tired. Now the fridge and freezer are packed, and I may have to forgo a Schwan's order on Friday, just because I have no place to put it.
It started out as a dull, cloudy day, quite unlike what was being predicted. In fact, the sun didn't start to come out until I was coming home, and it didn't clear up until after 2:30. Ever since, though, it's been beautiful. At least we can see blue sky, if we can't see blue water! However, it's still cold. The high temperature for the day was 41º. This morning, there were some rather high winds, with gusts up to 28 mph, but they died down rather quickly and it is nearly calm now - calm and clear, so pretty!
The guys were excited when I got up early this morning, but not so much when I went away. They were nowhere to be found when I got home, but pretty soon after i started bringing in the bags, Louie came and looked like he wanted to get out, and then Grayson came and sat in front of the door, watching me. I put bags in the hallways to wall off the doorway, but Grayson proved he could jump over them. He didn't get out, because the door was closed at that point, but it will have to be something higher than a brown paper grocery bag to keep him out. When i started putting things away, they went away again. Grayson came and purred at me while I was eating my lunch (Dunch? Dinch? Lunner?). but he just wanted to purr at me, he didn't want what I had. They've been off sleeping someplace ever since, although for a while at least Grayson was sleeping in the sunshine.
So that was another day, and now I'm exhausted and I have very sore feet and legs. I don't think I will be up very late at all and I expect to sleep very well. Its a clear, cold evening in the field, and it's so nice to see the sun again for a change!
May 3 I don't remember exactly when I turned out the light last night, but I think it was about 10:30. When I looked outside, there was the crescent moon and Jupiter. They both seemed rather hazy, but that could have been because of my eye ointment. I don't think so, though, because a while later the moon, at least, had disappeared behind a cloud bank. I went right to sleep, but after the first time I woke up, I didn't feel like I slept very well. Early in the morning, I had a coughing fit, but I went back to sleep for an hour or so, and I got up around 9:00. That should have been enough time, but I don't feel like I got enough sleep.
I knitted, but not very much. I have enough stitches on the needle that it takes a long time to do two rows. I started a third row, but I quit before I'd done very much. I started the third chart I made, and it's clear that I can make the shawl much bigger - or make two. So I spent the afternoon correcting chart three and making a fourth chart that will end up with almost 450 stitches. That should be enough to make a reasonable sized shawl instead of a triangular neck scarf.
I didn't do very much. I had an accident and had to wash almost everything I had on. I went to the post office, where there was nothing of any interest except for a package.
The weather was not very good. It was dark and cloudy all day, although it is beginning to clear up some now. There was some drizzle when I was out. You can't tell from the camera how it looked, because it hung up sometime early in the day, for the first time in a while. My theory is that the driver is not a good piece of work and it bleeds data until it finally gets totally flaky and shuts down. Humph. It's a Microsoft driver - but maybe that figures. The temperature got up to 44º just a while ago, and it was rather windy all afternoon, from the northwest, with gusts up to 25 mph. It wasn't bad to be out in, but it's been very humid, which is bothering my joints.
The guys mostly slept. Grayson got a little lap time, and Louie would have slept on my lap all afternoon if I'd let him. They know what to do on a gray, drizzly day. At least it isn't snow.
I was getting my dinner (the pizza survived the freezer better than I expected) when I looked out on the harbor, and there was Aaron and his friend in their tent, quite a way out. So I guess the ice is still thick, even though there are puddles on the surface. It hasn't been clear enough for me to tell how much ice there is on the lake, but whatever there is hasn't stopped the boats. There are always at least 18, and sometimes 24 or more, out there, mostly still going in convoys, although they don't have an ice breaker with them anymore. The Mackinaw was over in Duluth the last time I looked for it, and the other guys have disappeared. That may not mean anything, because there are gaps in the coverage of the lake and ships will disappear into a hole and never show up on the map again. It's been a long time (if ever) since the shipping season has started so late and it caused so much havoc down south, including steel mills having to shut down, that the lakers are trying to make up for lost time. It's cool to see all the ones I remember from past seasons going every which way across the lake. They are going far enough from the Keweenaw that I suspect there is still some ice around here. If it stays this cool, it will be a while before it's gone.
So that was a quiet day, and I will be going to bed early tonight, so I can get up and go to church tomorrow. Now it's a clearing, cool night in the field.
May 2 Well, with my bath and all, it was 11:30 before I turned out the light. The problem with the water pressure was the filter, and everything is fine now, except maybe the water is browner than it should be, but it isn't as brown as when it was trying to get through the clogged filter. Sometime in the next few weeks I'll be down in Calumet, and Ace Hardware (the go-to for everybody in Keweenaw - if they don't have it, or can't get it, it isn't) will have a replacement. Doing the replacement is another thing, but maybe I can figure it out.
I slept very well, with the usual wakeups, until 11:00. Wow. I knew I was tired, but I didn't know I was that tired! I knitted on the shawl, and of course, the first thing I did was drop a bunch of stitches. Then, on the return row, I realized I had screwed up the central increases, so I had to do two more rows to get that straight. It was 1:30 before i made it to the kitchen.
I was going to go to the post office and the store, and I thought I'd taken care of my morning visit to the powder room, but as I was getting ready to go, I had a cramp, and by the time I was over that, it was too late. So instead, I went downstairs again. Oh, is that a chore! I have been hearing running water when I was in the powder room, so while I was down there, I attempted to find out where it was coming from. I turned off the humidifier well before I went down (I don't think I need that anymore this year), but I could still hear water, and it was loudest right around where the humidifier is. I thought it might be the toilet in the basement bathroom, but that was fine. I walked around and around, but I couldn't find anything. i didn't have a flashlight, so I couldn't see the ceiling as well as I might, but it looks to me like the humidifier was installed without a turn-off valve for the water, so I couldn't try that. I finally gave up. It hasn't been quiet enough since for me to determine if the water is still running or not, but it's a weird problem. I wanted to bring up some tubs to put yarn and other stuff in, and lids for the tubs I have here already, and I had a hard time getting the ones I wanted. No, I don't want three and I don't want five, I want four. and seven lids. I finally got them together and got some more stuff out of the freezer. It looks like I will be eating a very old frozen pizza and pea soup this weekend, unless I pick up something amazing when I shop on Sunday.
Then, of course, I had to get up the stairs. Oh, that is such a chore, but I wasn't as tired as I was yesterday, so it was a bit easier. I've often thought I should go down and back up every day, as an exercise, but it's so hard, I probably won't.
The weather was marginally better than yesterday. There was thick fog in the morning, but it was gone by 10:00 and the rest of the day was mostly cloudy, but not quite as dark as yesterday. In fact, there were a couple of rays of sunshine, but not many. The high temperature was 38º. That's still pretty close to our average minimum. Shades of last year! The wind was still from the north, but there was hardly any, and it's been calm for sometime now. Just a blah day.
The guys weren't quite as sleepy as they were yesterday, and they were very interested when I went downstairs again. Getting upstairs was made a bit more difficult because Louie wanted to sit about two steps up from where I had the tubs, but I finally chased him away. Those tubs, which are still in the back hallway, are very interesting. Both guys got some lap time. For a while they were both sleeping on the desk under the south windows. Maybe they thought the sun might shine. Grayson likes that place, and he has been sleeping there regularly since it got warmer, especially when the sun is shining.
So that was another quiet and rather truncated day. The symphony isn't very interesting tonight, so I think I am going to go to bed soon. It's a cloudy, cool evening in the field.
May 1 Oh, there was music again last night, and I don't remember what else, so it was 1:00 before I got to bed. I didn't sleep very well, actually. I was wakeful for a quite a while early in the morning, because my knees and hips were so sore I couldn't find a comfortable way to lie. Has something to do with the humidity, I'm sure. I got up around 10:00 and I am happy to say I finished the scarf! Whee! It's done, but I'm not very happy with it. It isn't long enough, and of course, I screwed up enough that it's not the best knitting I've ever done, but it's finished. Now I can go back to my beloved lace, or the sock I've been working on for three years. It took me a long time to get it put together, so it was 1:00 before I got to the studio, but it's done. Whew!
I actually had a rather productive day today, and I'm exhausted. I had to go downstairs to investigate the water pressure thing, and I didn't want to go without changing the cat pans. My guess was right, and when I turned off the water filter, the pressure went right back to what it should be, or at least it seems so. I haven't been up to the north end yet to see how it is in the bathroom.
Then it was the cat pans and surrounding area, and that is always a chore, especially when things are as bad as they were today. I had two very interested cats watching every move I made and pointing out things I was missing, although it was mostly Grayson who did that. And he had to check out all the pans when I put the cleaned ones back down and filled them with litter. I guess it met his expectations, although he didn't actually use one while I was there. Cats are funny that way, or at least most of my cats have been: they don't like me looking at them while they use a tray. Well, I don't like people watching me doing that stuff, either.
Anyway, I wanted to see if I could find some stuff I think I may need to do some sewing, and some boxes had fallen on the floor, so I had some other work to do. While I was over in the area where my sewing stuff is, Grayson went into the bathroom that is down there, and when I looked in, i discovered that someone has been using that as a potty, too. Well, by that time I was too tired to do any more cleaning, so i tried to close the door, and it won't close. Most of the doors in this house close just fine, but not that one. So I closed it as much as I could and I will hope that nobody will be using it for a while, until I can clean it up.
I found a lot of stuff that should be up here, so I had a barrel full of stuff to bring up. I also wanted to see what I could find in the freezer, and there was some stuff to bring up there, too. So then I had to haul myself, a barrel, and a bag of frozen stuff up the stairs. Think two steps up, hauling myself up on the railing and my cane, move the barrel and the bag up two or three steps, and do it over again. I was wet with sweat and exhdausted by the time I got upstairs. In the middle of the stairway, I had to stop and watch the cats, who were having a boxing match through the cat door. They are funny little guys. Oh yes, and when I came up, I discovered I had forgotten to turn off the basement light. I just cannot go down there again, so the light is on. I will see how I feel tomorrow, and I may end up asking Ron to go down and turn off the light. I am so grateful to him, and also that I live in a house where I don't usually have to do stairs. Now I am really tired, and it's a hair night, and, if I can get it ready, I should wash dishes tonight. I've used 14 of my 16 cereal bowls.
The weather was just about like yesterday. It was foggy all day, and the temperature hung right around our average low - 35º. The wind has shifted around to the north, finally, and risen to 15 mph or so, but for most of the day it was almost calm. We had a little rain, but not much. It was dark and dismal and yucky, and all that humidity - nearly 100% - didn't do my arthritis any good at all.
The guys were sleepy until I went downstairs, and then they were extremely interested in everything I did. I got a big laugh out of Grayson pointing out everything that I needed to clean or move. He thinks he runs things around here, and he may be right. Louie was there, but mostly he just sounded off. I hope they are happy with their clean trays, and they use them. Actually, they are extremely clean cats. No spraying (fingers crossed) or going over the side of the trays. The pee stays in the trays. The other stuff, not so much, but I can understand that. It was pretty gross down there. I must try to do better.
I must try to see if I can find a source for kitty litter that will deliver, too. I will get some at Walmart when I'm down in Houghton in a couple of weeks, but most of the time, it would be better if someone would bring it to me. We'll see, though. Kitty litter, in the quantities I need, is heavy.
So that was a more active day than usual, and I'm tired. At least I accomplished a few things. Now it's a dark, dismal, cold night in the field and it's May already. Sure doesn't feel or look like it.
Last updated 06/01/14 09:00 PM |