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A View From the Field |
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September, 2014 September 30 Oh, gosh. September is history. Sigh.
I went up to the north end at a reasonable hour last night, I thought, but apparently I spent too long staring at the floor before I took my bath and it was after midnight before I got to bed. I slept very well - about 5 hours without getting up, although I did have to turn over. I'm always a bit suspicious about that; it usually means I'm not getting rid of the fluid like I should, although my feet were OK this morning.
I got up around 10:00 and I knitted my two rows. Now it gets serious. Between the next two rows and the ten after them, the stitch count goes from just over 400 stitches to nearly 600. I'm not sure I can do two rows of 600 stitches at one sitting. Anyway, it will be nice to be working on a different pattern for a change. This morning, I started out badly. I discovered that when I was knitting up the edge stitches yesterday, I lost a yarn over, and I had to recover that. It usually isn't hard, at least at the edges, and now the stitch count is right again.
I got off to the car place almost when I wanted to, but it was hard, because I had a nasty accident - partly Grayson's fault - and had to change my bottoms, and then I wanted to put the cooler back into the car. I think I was a little late, but it didn't seem to matter. The results aren't the best, but I guess I can live with them. Apparently a U-joint in the drive train (now, why would there be a U-joint in the drive train anyway?) is worn and failing and should be replaced soon. It's a part that isn't serviceable (read: no way to grease it - dumb, dumb, dumb) and after a while it dries up and wears out. It isn't going to be too expensive, not like a transmission problem would be, so I guess I will get it done in a couple of weeks. The tires are going, too, but I knew that, and they will get me an estimate on some new ones. I know about what they would cost at the place where I got the last set, but evidently there is a rebate at the dealership, so they may be a little cheaper. I hope so. I'm stuck with this car. I can't afford a new one or even a good used one. Sigh. They didn't say anything about the exhaust system, but we both know it's going, and one of these days I'll have to have it replaced, too. I don't think the catalytic converter is involved, but the rest is. I can only hope it lasts till next spring. Oh, sigh. If it's not one thing it's another. So that's over with, and I guess the car is in as good shape as possible for next week.
Then I went off to Pat's for a few things, and I stuck to my list for a change. I only succumbed to a bag of potato chips that I don't like (some of those things made of ground potatoes, not whole ones - my mistake). I got home around 6:00. Grayson wasn't very happy, but he behaved himself while I brought in my bags. I had a nice piece of fish for dinner.
it was a beautiful day, if a little cool, to be out and around. It was completely clear - in fact, it was already clear when I woke up for the first time - and it's so lovely to really be able to see the blue, blue water and blue, blue skies again! The high temperature here was only 48º, but there wasn't any wind, so it was comfortable with a fleece jacket. It was so pretty! The leaves are still turning, but the first ones to turn are mostly down now and there are still some green trees that aren't oaks. Things don't ever turn all at one time, though, and this year is about as good as it gets. Of course, most of the side of the hills that face the big lake are still green, but I can see (I can see!!!) that the mountain is beginning to turn orange. A few leaves on my oaks are beginning to get red, and my little maples are all orange. Oh, it's a pretty time of year, especially when it's clear like it was today.
The guys were mostly sleepy. Grayson has been making me laugh when he goes to sleep. The sun on the fleece throws under the south windows is too warm for him, so he sleeps with his back up against the bookcase, in the shade. Louie was sitting on the bead tray when I got up to leave. I had to shoo him away from Grayson. I don't know what gets into his little head. And when I got home, he went out into the great room and howled. So I howled back. They are funny little critters.
Now
it's time to go to bed. The moon was shining in the windows and reflecting all
over the windows in the great room, so it's still clear out. It's a cold, clear
night in the field. It's so nice to see stars again! September 29 I got to bed shortly after 11:00 last night and I slept pretty well, with the usual wakeups. I got up before 9:30 this morning. I knitted and oh, my! I did my two rows, but on the return row, I discovered that a long way down I had dropped the second stitch from the end, which is in the edging. Ugh! There was no way to fix it except to ravel the three edge stitches back to where I made the mistake and knit them up again. So I was at it for over two hours. It's fine now, though, and I can go on. I'm ready to do the last two rows of the regular pattern, before I start increasing like crazy, which starts the edging. I really don't like how the transition between the body of the shawl and the edging looks, but I'm not about to try to fix it. If I'd had my way, I would have put a couple of plain rows between the two patterns. I think it would have looked better. However, that's only one of many wonky things in this whole pattern, so I'll deal with it.
That was about all I did. I read for a while this afternoon, and that was about all. My tail is slowly getting better - sitting on the toilet doesn't do it much good, but it feels better when I'm in my chair - but my knees are still bad and getting up is a trial of the worst kind. I hurt, but that's partly the weather. My eye keeps getting better. The diffraction spikes are gone now, but there is still some flare around bright point sources. Hopefully, that will go away, too. It can't all be the cornea. It looks like I'm looking through dirty glasses, but I'm not. Anyway, everything seems to be going well.
I did make an appointment to get the oil changed in the car tomorrow, and they will check out the clunk I heard in my transmission yesterday. That's the first time I've ever heard that kind of noise from the transmission, and I don't like it, but I can hope it's only low fluid or something like that. The exhaust system is slowly getting louder, too, and I think my tires are going as well. Well, it's still less than a new car would be. And I don't know what the problems are yet.
The weather was not very nice today. The wind was rising and the lake was singing before I went to bed last night, and that has continued all day today. It was cloudy and dull but the only rain was overnight. The temperature was almost steady at 44º, and the wind was strong, with gusts up to 34 mph from the east. Kind of nasty. I am going to have to investigate the patio door, I guess. It wasn't very warm in here today, even though it wasn't very cold outside. If I need new weatherstripping (which is what I suspect), now is the time to do it.
The guys were their sleepy selves for most of the day, although Louie was a bit feisty at times. Grayson got to sit on me twice, and he wanted to come back when I started typing, but Louie came at the wrong time. I'm a bit upset with him, anyway. He lit into Grayson more than he should. Grayson thought he wanted some of my pizza tonight, but when I offered him some, he didn't like what he got. I think it's the cheese, but I know onions aren't good for cats and I can't separate the cheese. They are funny little guys.
Now I will be off to the north end soon to wash my hair. I need to get my scalp back into shape before next week. At least my appointment at the car place isn't until 3:00 tomorrow, so I don't have to get up early. I only have to decide whether to stop at Pat's before I get gas or not. I used every last speck of flour when I had chicken last week and my onions have all gone bad, so I can't make either chicken or pork chops. If I stopped, I could probably get some fish, too. Hmm...We'll see.
Now it's a dark, noisy night in the field.
September 28 i went up to the north end at a sort of reasonable hour - I read for too long - and I had taken my bath and was brushing my teeth when I realized that I hadn't refilled the pill dispensers. So I had to do that. I take so many pills that I'm sure I would forget some if I didn't have them all in the little boxes. It was 10:30 before I got to bed. I slept well, with the usual wakeups, and I was asleep but having a very weird dream when the alarm went off.
The one thing about having to use the eye drops is that I can count on it taking about 15 minutes that I would rather spend doing something else. I have to wait at least 5 minutes between each drop, and there are three of them. Well, at least I'll get over this eventually.
I am happy to report that the diffraction spikes (I checked, and that's what the line through bright lights is called) are gone. There is still a little fuzziness around lights, but I imagine that will go away, too, as my eye heals.
I managed to get away to church almost when I wanted to, except that I am so creaky and weak that it was hard to stand up. I got to church later than I wanted to, and I'm not sure why, because almost all the slow drivers I encountered pulled over when I came up behind them, or else there was a place to pass.
Church was good, with communion and the old service, and Pastor's sermon was a very good one. The October calendar was out, and I think he will be able to join us at Harbor Haus on the 8th. I hope so. I want to thank both of them for what they're doing for me.
I was quite surprised that I had no trouble getting home. The color is just about at its peak, although there are still green trees (not evergreens), and I expected more sightseers. It is a truly beautiful fall, with most trees dark gold and orange and every so often a brilliant red one. The view across Lake Medora is inspiring.
i got home before 1:00, and while I caught up on my newspapers, I had most of the afternoon to read. I am still extremely shaky and creaky, although my tail feels better every day. I am having a hard time standing up after I've been sitting for a while, and that includes everything I sit on, including the toilet. i washed the last load of clothes, and it is now in the dryer. Fortunately, I had a couple pairs of underpants left, because the last load is always the white stuff.
It's too bad that there weren't more people out enjoying the color, because it was a beautiful morning. The morning was clear and lovely, and the temperature peaked at 73º at 11:00. Then it started dropping off, although it was still warm in town. By mid-afternoon, it was down to 58º and it is now 51º. After 2;00, it clouded up, and around 5:00 it got foggy for an hour or so. Weird. I guess it's supposed to rain tonight and get cold again, although so far it looks like Tuesday may be sunny.
Louie slept with me for most of the night. Grayson was quite upset when I left, but he felt better when I got back after only four hours. Late this afternoon, he spent some time on my lap, getting petted and purring, so I guess I'm back in his good graces again. Louie got some lap time, too, but I had to make him move because I wanted to do something and he is so big I can't do anything on the computer when he is on my lap. They seem to be shedding a bit more than usual, so I guess they are beginning to get their winter coats.
Speaking of shedding, I didn't know until I moved up here that evergreens shed their needles in the fall, too. Not like deciduous trees and not like tamaracks, but around this time of year, they drop the oldest needles on their branches. It's always alarming to see all those brown needles on the trees, but it's a normal fall thing. The cedars look terrible, with raggedy brown patches all over, and before it's over, the part of Woodland Road on the south side of the culverts will have a rug of fallen needles on it from all the big old red pines. It makes some sense, but I'd never seen it before because I'd never lived with pines and cedars before.
So that was a quiet day, and I think I will be going up to the north end shortly. I had an accident late this afternoon. It's hard to believe, but I am beginning to believe that going for 24 hours without my probiotics may have messed up my innards. Next time, I'll have to take them with me, even though there are some that won't be full strength because they are supposed to be kept refrigerated. Then we'll see. It could also be partly because I'm so creaky that I just don't want to get up.
Now it's a cloudy, quite cool night in the field and it's going to rain.
September 27 Oh, i did it again. The music was nice and I was reading, and then about the time I was going up to the north end I had my second accident of the day, so I was very late getting to bed. I got up around 10:00 and I knitted my two rows. If it's taking me an hour to do two rows now, I'm not sure how long it will take when I have 700 stitches on the needle! The edging spreads out very quickly through the chart I'm working on now, then more slowly on the next one. The way they did the chart, I think there are more "no stitch" marks than there are stitches. But if I can block it right, the lower edge will be wavy and very pretty.
Today was washday, but I started so late that I haven't done the third load yet, and I think I will just postpone it until tomorrow. I have a couple pairs of underpants left and that's all I need. I didn't get the dishes washed last night, so I will have to do that tonight. The pill dispensers at the south end are full, but I still have to do the ones at the north end, so I will be going up there soon. I want to get to bed early tonight.
The weather was amazing. It was clear all night and all day - and yes, I can see stars, at least a few stars. The temperature got up to 78º for a while this afternoon, with light southwest breezes, and once I got a couple of windows open, it was lovely. Before that, it was very hot in here. The guys were so happy to be able to get out onto the porch that I think I will leave that window open tonight. I guess tomorrow night the temperature is supposed to drop and Monday is going to be cold and rainy. Yuck. Well, at least we've had this. When the temperature starts to drop depends upon who you believe. The Weather Underground says tomorrow afternoon, but Environment Canada, who seems to be more trustworthy, says not until tomorrow night. We'll see.
The guys were mostly sleepy. Grayson seems to have gotten over his mad and he got some loving, although every time he wanted to sit on me, I was doing something else, so he didn't get to sit. Louie didn't get to sit either, but he got some serious petting. I think they are on the porch now, although Grayson keeps coming around and looking out the south window, which is open. They are such funny little critters.
So i will be going up to the north end pretty soon now. It's a warm, sunny evening in the field.
September 26 It was around 1:00 when I got to bed, I slept well, along with Louie, and I got up around 10:00. I knitted my two rows, but since it's been several days since I knitted, it took me a bit of time to remember what I was doing. So now I'm working on the edging chart, although it will be at least another 6 rows before it's anything different from the rest of the shawl. Now that I can see, I see that the color I'd been knitting with is very pale violet, and I think it's turning blue now.
I didn't do much else. I thought I might start the wash today, but I had an accident (the first in a while) and by the time I got cleaned up from that, It was too late to do anything. My back and my tail and my knees are bothering me anyway. So I sat, which wasn't all that comfortable, with my tail.
Early this morning, I looked out the bathroom window and I could see some stars without straining, and that was nice. It was a beautiful day today. It cleared up overnight and it was clear and sunny all day. The high temperature was 70º, but it was at about 11:00 this morning, then it dropped back and it was about 66º all afternoon. The winds were calm all afternoon. Lovely. I guess we're in for another day and a half of this and then next week will be cold and wet again. Ah, fall! At least we should get to see most of the color.
The guys were mostly sleepy. Louie was around me all day. Grayson has finally decided he has chastised me enough, but he hasn't slept on my lap yet. What a snot he has turned into! He thought he wanted some of my dinner tonight, but when he smelled it, he decided not and jumped off the counter with a thump. Louie is nicer. He is just happy I'm home and I didn't go away today.
So am I. I need to wash dishes tonight so I don't do everything tomorrow, which means some work. The symphony concert isn't interesting enough to keep me up - Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky - so maybe I can get to bed at a reasonable hour and get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow to wash clothes. Back to the mundane.
Now it's a rather warm, clear night in the field.
September 25 Grayson was going to be contrary last night, and while I invited him several times, he wasn't about to come in from the breezeway - he sat at the top of the steps and groomed his whiskers on a paper grocery bag that was there - so finally I gave him a razzberry and went up to the north end. I realized that I did in fact need a few things out of my bag, so when I was nearly ready to go to bed, I came back down and moved the bag to where he couldn't see it, then I looked for him and he was looking in the door. I opened it, and he almost played coy again, but I guess he realized that if he didn't come in, he was going to be in the breezeway all night. Little snot. He seems to have gotten the idea that he can have things his way, and I am just going to have to show him that isn't so.
I decided it would probably not be a good idea to take a shower last night, so I was in bed by 11:00 and I slept well. I had Louie with me for part of the night, but he's learned that when I get up, i usually turn over and there is a lot of thrashing around when I get back into bed and turn over, so he left. When the alarm went off this morning, Grayson was beside the pillow on the other side and Louie was sitting on the nightstand, apparently trying to get him to move. So I got up.
I got off to the doctor about when I intended to, but there were some extremely slow drivers around, so I got there only a little bit before my appointment. Then there was a mix-up - a tech who mumbled and decided "Sharon" must be the lumpy gray one in the wheelchair - so instead of seeing the doctor at 11:00, it was 11:45. Sigh. I told the doctor's private secretary about it.
I guess everything is going well, and at least it looks good. I got to look through a pinhole screen, and the doctor said that based upon what i could see, they should be able to correct my vision in that eye to 20/25, which will be plenty good enough for me. He also told me I haven't been using the drops correctly and told me how to do it so that most of them don't run down my tear ducts. However, when I got into the dark with only an overhead light on, I discovered that I could see a smeary line running through the light from one side of my vision to the other, and only in the eye with the surgery (the right one, by the way). That concerns me a bit, because I recently read an article in Sky & Telescope magazine that I should have read before I had my consultation in Green Bay. The woman who wrote the article had that happen and it turned out to be a wrinkle in the back of the lens capsule and she had to have a lot of extra work done to fix it. I hope this is just temporary, but we'll see. Anyway, I will see my doctor here again next week, to see how things are going.
I was interested to go to choir practice tonight, because I wanted to see how much difficulty the artifact would make to driving, but I was pleasantly surprised. I can see it, but the lens is so much clearer that I could actually see to drive much better than before. That's a relief. Of course, I can't read road signs at all right now, but I can see the sides of the road much better.
That was a good thing, because I don't think I have ever seen so much traffic going south while I was coming home. It looked like half the population of Calumet had been in Copper Harbor, and half of them had defective headlights so one was always on bright. I won't say my night adaptation is what it was even 20 years ago, but it was good enough that I didn't have a problem most of the time. There were also a certain number of the turkeys who don't know they should dim their lights when there is ongoing traffic, and I had to pass three cars that were going so slowly it would have taken me two hours to get home. Geez! I thought after Labor Day, the traffic would thin out. Wrong.
Anyway, I got home in time to have the rest of my Harbor Haus dinner, which was almost as good as it was lasts night.
It was a nice day but cloudy, so I still haven't found out if I can see stars. The high temperature was only 64º, and it was humid, but there was almost no wind, so it was very pleasant out. I probably won't find out about the stars tonight, either, because it isn't supposed to clear up until tomorrow. The weekend is supposed to be warm. This is our Indian Summer, I guess, although we haven't had a frost in Copper Harbor yet. They have down the peninsula a way. I love this weather.
The color is changing fast, and it's beautiful this year. Last year, it changed slowly, so there never was a really great display. While there is still quite a lot of green, the maples are mostly in the process of changing and it's beautiful. This is the time of year when you drive down the covered road and the trees just glow, whether the sun is out or not. And every so often you come across one that is bright red. It really is pretty.
The guys were mostly sleepy today. Grayson gave up on sitting on my lap before I finished my breakfast, and while he was sitting at the door when I came home tonight, he hasn't appeared, so either he got out into the breezeway in the dark (I forgot to leave the hall light on) or his nose is out of joint again. What a funny little cat he is. Louie is just so glad I'm home tht he doesn't care, and he got some lap time. Not as much as he wanted, but some. I think Grayson knows that if he doesn't come in from the breezeway when I open the door, he's out for the night.
So now I will go up to the north end and take a nice shower (aah!) and wash my hair (aah!). and then I will do my eye drops the right way and go to bed and sleep and sleep and sleep. I don't need to be anyplace tomorrow or Saturday (although Saturday is wash day). So when I get up tomorrow, I can knit to my heart's content.
So now it's a cloudy, relatively warm night in the field, and that damn cat better come in (if he's out) or he's out fo the night!!
September 24 Ah, another interesting day in the eye saga.
We went to bed early last night, but I didn't think I slept well. At least I remember dozing a lot, although Marcy got up twice and I didn't hear her and she said I was snoring, so I must have been asleep. We woke up around 7:00 (our time) so we had plenty of time to get ready, get packed up and check out.
And then. I was trying to get into the right side of the car (which I seldom do) and I think I was trying something fancy when my right knee buckled and I ended up flat on my back on the pavement. I hit my tail pretty hard, and it's sore, but not sore enough that I think I broke anything. Just as I was trying to figure out how in the world I was going to get up and I was trying (on the wrong side, as it turns out) to get onto my knees, three very nice people came by with two men and between them and what I was able to do for myself I got back onto my feet. Believe me. I was very careful getting into the car after that! I know the combination now, and I think I can remember it for the next time. And now I know what I suspected - I do not want to fall down again. It will make me even more careful than I have been!
The result is that I have a sore tail and probably some bruises. Also, interestingly, both knees where I had to kneel on them are also sore. However, I'm all right.
I was a bit shaken, but we made it to the clinic a few minutes early - and we waited for 45 minutes before they took me into the interior, so I had plenty of time to settle down. I was using a wheelchair by that time, by the way. There was the usual stuff, including getting my face washed with the same stuff I use all the time, and telling about seven people my name and birthday and what I was having done. Before I went into the O.R., the doctor came and talked to me and I was much more favorably impressed, and then while he was doing the procedure, he explained what he was doing. I could tell when the old lens was out - the overhead light got very fuzzy - and when he inserted the new lens - it sharpened up a lot.
There was no problem with having lunch at the same restaurant where I ate the last time I was down there, although what Marcy had wasn't very good, and it was probably about 1:30 when we started for home. We took a little detour to a cheese shop and we both got some cheese. One of mine is 3 year old cheddar and the other just says "blue" on it, even though it's orange. I will be anxious to try that one.
we made good time getting home and we got to Harbor Haus right about 7:00, which was a problem. They were really tied up again, like they were the day before my birthday, but when I called them from Calumet, I was able to wheedle a table out of them. Not a window table, but we didn't care. Dinner was great, as usual.
When we got home, Marcy left the door from the garage to the breezeway open and Grayson sneaked out, but she started the door down and he came running in, but then he sneaked out into the breezeway again and I haven't been able to get him in. Well, if he doesn't want to come in when I am ready to go to bed, he can just stay out there all night and eat mice. I guess he was trying to punish me for leaving him. Huh.
The shield they put over my eye is clear, which was nice, and when I put my drops in I was able to take it off. I will wear it tonight, just in case I sleep on my eye, and I've decided it would be safer not to take a shower until tomorrow, but otherwise, things are good. I can already see what a difference in colors there is between the two eyes. My left eye is all brown and my right eye is brilliant. My eye is still dilated, and there is a halo and some crystalline stuff around bright lights, but everything is coming along fine and within a day or two, it should be better.
So everything came out well.
The weather was lovely again, but it was a bit cloudier. I think it was in the low 70s when we left Green Bay and there wasn't much wind either place. I guess it got up to 71º here, earlier in the afternoon. It's supposed to be cloudy tonight, so I won't be able to check for stars until tomorrow, but then it's supposed to clear up.
Louie, at least was happy to see me, but I had to remove him from my lap because I needed to use my drops and I had to go and get them. I don't know about Grayson. He is going to have to learn he can't act that way or I'll leave him out.
So I'm home, and I have a new eye, and I'm sure it's going to be much better. Tomorrow I Have to see the optometrist at 11:00 (ugh! Early night tonight!) to make sure everything is all right and then I can go on with my healing. And the next one should be a no brainer.
Now it's a partly cloudy night in the field and I'll be off to bed in a few minutes.
September 23 Well, best laid plans and all that. I got my bag together at a reasonable hour, but then I sat in the bathroom and stared at the floor for far too long and it was midnight before I finally got to bed. I slept well, which was surprising, but I was not ready to get up at 8:00. Ugh. I got myself together and was able to do some of my surfing before Marcy arrived. I think we probably got away around 10:15, maybe.
We got to Hancock about noon and Marcy showed me a new place to eat lunch, in the old hospital building. It was really good food. Then we were off and running. There is even more construction than there was in August, and I got us lost a couple of times, in Green Bay, but we made it to the motel by a little after 5:00 (our time). Marcy went shopping while I caught up on my email, then we went to dinner at Olive Garden and that was good, too. Now we are getting ready for bed. It's early, but we need to be up fairly early tomorrow and I, at least, am tired.
The weather was perfect. It was beautifully sunshiny all day. While the high temperature at Copper Harbor was only 63º, from Calumet south it got into the low 70s with not a lot of wind. We did use the A/C, but the car gets hot in the sunshine.
The guys were very sorry to see me go. Grayson came to greet Marcy, but Louie sat behind the door to the basement and peeked through the cat hole. They just aren't sure if I'll ever get home. I imagine they'll feel better tomorrow night, but then I have to go away twice on Thursday...or I think I will I'll see how it goes when I go down to Calumet to see the doctor, but I should be able to drive.
So that was my day. We arrived safe and sound. This keyboard, plus a slow internet connection here is making me crazy, Oh, the color in the interior of the UP (Houghton to Crystal Falls) is just beautiful, although it's tsill spotty. Where there are stands of maples, they're lovely. It's coming in the Keweenaw, but it's behind the interior.
Now it's a clear, cool night away from the field and I'm off to bed.
September 22 I got to bed around midnight. I don't remember why, but I did spend some time staring at the floor. I slept well, except that I was up about every two or two and a half hours. I woke up around 8:30 and managed to hold on until around 9:00, but then I absolutely had to get to the bathroom.
I knitted two rows, and I am ready to start the first edging chart any time I have time to knit almost 400 stitches. The next eight rows are the same as I've been doing except that the chart looks different, so it will be a while before I start something new and interesting - twisted stitches and centered decreases, to name a couple. When I finished, I put the whole thing in a plastic bag and sealed it. The last times I left it for a couple of days, I found breaks in the yarn that were suspicious enough that I'm not going to take chances.
I did a few things around the house, not a lot. My friend Rick called me and we had a nice - and long - conversation, so it was good that I didn't have much planned. I finally got the cat litter and some other things out of the car that have been there all summer. Even though I get my cat litter in bottles, they weigh about 20lbs each, and they are hard to move, but they're gone now. The car is all ready to go, as much as it will be. I haven't decided whether to leave the cooler in or not. We will have room without it, so I might.
Then I washed a bunch of pots and pans and put most of them away - I will do the rest when I start for the north end - and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. I'm not going to wash dishes, because there aren't enough to do, but I've found that when I leave for a day or two I feel better when I come home and don't find the sink full of dirty dishes and dirty pots and pans all over the kitchen. So that is done.
I started putting together little bags with my pills in them. I will be gone a short enough time that I don't want to bother taking four whole pill dispensers with me. I have some little 2" x 3" bags (mostly for beads) and I have marked each one with the time. I still have to fill the ones from the north end, and I need to put the probiotics in tomorrow. So that is mostly done.
When I go up to the north end, I will begin to pack my bag. I don't need much except for stuff I can't do until tomorrow, but when I to on these trips these days, I always take a spare pair of jeans and lots of underpants and incontinence pads, just for contingencies. In fact, I will stash a pair of pants and some pads in the bag I keep with me, just for contingencies.
The weather was exceptionally nice. When I got up, it was cloudy over in the west, but shortly after I started knitting, the sun came out and the rest of the day was clear and sunny. The high temperature was 66º and it was breezy, with gusts up to 25 mph mostly from the north. When I was out in the garage, it was lovely.
The guys were mostly sleepy. While I was talking to Rick, Grayson was lying on the desk almost on his back with his belly turned up to the sunshine, and he looked so comfy! When I was out in the kitchen making my dinner, Louie started crying, and when I found him, he was standing in front of the window to the porch. He really wanted to go out, but it's not that warm, and I don't want to leave the window open while I'm gone, so I had to explain to him that he couldn't go out. He was not pleased. I suppose Grayson senses that something is up, and he certainly will when I start packing, but that's too bad. Stuff happens.
So that was my day. I think I've done most of what I intended. As I've done this exercise, I've gotten more and more modest about what I think I can do the day before I leave. This seemed to be a good amount, although I'm still not packed.
Oh, by the way, I am taking the laptop, so there should be a journal tomorrow night, not that there should be much to report. i debated, but there is at least one email that I want to read Wednesday morning, so it goes. I'm just assuming that the motel has wi-fi. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, it doesn't.
Now it's a warmish, clear night in the field and as soon as I upload this and Mozart finishes, I will be off to the north end to do my thing.
September 21 Well, despite my good intentions, it was 10:45 before I turned out the light. I had my usual trouble getting to sleep, until I turned over, and then I was all right, although I was up at least four times. I was asleep when the alarm went off, and I really didn't want to get up, but I did. I actually went back to the north end earlier than usual, but then I sort of dawdled and I was late leaving. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic in my direction, so I made good time.
When I got to church, I discovered that the sweatshirts and totes we ordered a while ago had come in, so I now have a lovely hoodie and a big totebag with Luther's shield on it, the name of our church, and the dates - 135 years! Not all in the same building, but the congregation was organized in 1879. I do think our little church is at least 100 years old.
Well, we sang the hard song, and I guess we did all right, although nobody said anything. I guess we did the best we could under the circumstances. Another month of practice would have helped. The service was Matins, which I like, and Pastor's sermon was on the laborers in the vineyard, and it was a good one.
I didn't do much today. As usual, I am leaving everything for tomorrow, but i hate to travel, and it shows. I did finally get all the trash off the counters and put new bags in the wastebaskets. One of those baskets was full of cans, mostly cat food cans. One of these days I will have to contact Dawn to see if she wants them. I have a lot. I still have a lot to do in the kitchen, but I think I can do it tomorrow if I pay attention. Packing my bag shouldn't be too hard, mostly extra stuff and soap, toothpaste, etc.
I have pretty much decided I will not try to bathe in the motel. Even if it's an "easy access" room, there are problems, and besides, I don't want to schlep stuff like shampoo and conditioner. Marcy said they told her she shouldn't wash her hair for a week, and she ignored them, so I can, too. If they say that to me, I will just laugh at them. With my oily scalp, there is no way I could possibly do that! Even going three days results in things like the problem I had a week or so ago, when I actually grew a zit on the top of my head. I keep saying I will eventually dry out - and I have a little bit - but it hasn't happened yet.
The weather was cold - really cold. The high temperature for the day was 48º, which is just 2º above the usual minimum for this date. It was right around 46º, plus or minus a degree or two, all day. It was cloudy and possibly drizzly this morning and the wind was very strong from the north to northeast. The highest wind gusts were 33 mph around 11:00. The wind is dying down now and shifting to the north, and after about 2:30 it began to clear up. It was totally clear at sunset and it was a pretty sunset, with red on the horizon all the way from southwest to northwest. It's supposed to warm up somewhat this week. I hope so.
The guys mostly slept. Grayson went to sleep on my lap when I got home. I think they know something is up, or at least he does. Not only do they understand English, they can read minds.
So that was my quiet day, and I will try to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It's a clear, cold night in the field.
September 20 I discovered that the symphony concert was one I wanted to hear - Dvorak's Cello Concerto and Beethoven's Seventh - so instead of staying here and doing nothing, I went up to the north end, turned on the radio in the bathroom and knitted four rows while I listened. It was worthwhile. The Seventh is about my favorite of all the symphonies and I don't get to hear it often. I did my cleanup stuff while the encores were playing and I was in bed around 11:00. I slept fairly well. I was up around 7:00 and that was too early, so I went back to sleep. I woke up around 9:00, but I felt groggy, so I didn't get up right away (a mistake) and it was 10:00 before I finally got up. I worked another four rows on the shawl, so I have only one more row to go on chart C and then I can start the first of the two edging charts. This edging is just a continuation of the shawl, but it increases so fast (from around 400 stitches ot over 700) that the result will be a wavy border. It is bound off with a crochet hook and it should be pretty. The pattern is of leaves in clusters of three. I'm anxious to get at it. in fact, I'm anxious to get it over with, even though I don't exactly know what i will do next. I started this project on July 31, so it's gone on for a while.
I got to the studio late, of course, and I took a book to the powder room with me, mostly to make sure I want to keep it (I do), so I didn't do much except go to the post office. There was a lot of stuff there, including the face soap I ordered and some bills. Later, I started wondering about the fabric I ordered for Amanda's cuddle wrap, and when I checked, UPS says they delivered it on Wednesday. Well, I haven't seen it. It isn't on the front stoop and there isn't enough stuff in the breezeway that I would have missed it. It isn't outside the breezeway. I will have to look around more carefully the next time I am out there, but I don't seem to have the packages (there should have been two). Oh, dear. Well, I will look around before I start calling people.
The weather wasn't very nice. The high temperature spiked at 66º around 1:00, but then it dropped off. Between 9:00 and noon we ha 0.08" of rain and it was cloudy and gloomy for most of the day. It was quite breezy between noon and 3:00, but the wind has been dropping since. It's rather humid. Just my favorite kind of weather, although I was walking all right today. I think it had to do with getting enough sleep for a change.
The guys were strongly affected by the weather, and they still are. That means they mostly slept, close by me. Grayson was in the bathroom when I got up, and a while later, Louie came in and sat down almost on top of him, then they both went to sleep. If I were Grayson, I would have kicked Louie, but it didn't seem to bother him a lot. They are funny little critters.
So that was a quiet day. I was reading, but i will go up to the north end as soon as I post this, and hope to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It's a cloudy, humid night in the field and the temperature is dropping.
September 19 Well, that was a nothing day.
I guess it was the music last night, because I didn't do very much but listen and read a bit. I was really late again. I slept fairly well, except that I kept waking up sore someplace or another - shoulders, hips, knees, legs, hands, feet...I guess it was getting humid, although there was some wan moonlight early in the morning. I guess there were some northern lights last night, too, but with my fading eyesight, I couldn't see them. Sigh. Well, soon...
The only things I have to complain about are that in the middle of the night two toes on my left foot suddenly got extremely sore, and only lately have they stopped - and it was the ends, not the joints - and when I got up this morning, I had a severe itch under my right arm that I can't scratch, because I actually have no feeling there from the nerves they cut when I had my mastectomy. I find it hard to believe that at this late date, I am beginning to regrow nerves there, but this isn't the first time it has happened. It's very frustrating, because no matter how hard I scratch or rub, I can't stop the itch. Oh, yeah, and I just discovered that "regrow" wasn't in Microsoft's dictionary, if you can believe it. Sometimes I wonder about them more than other times.
I got up around 11:00, and I knitted four rows, which meant I was very late getting to the studio. I had intended to go to the post office, but when I went up to the powder room, I started reading, and I was too late. So tomorrow. There are a few things that should be there that I need to have.
The weather today was not very inspiring. The temperature did get up to 63º, but it was windy, at least until about 3;00. Until about then, it wasn't very humid, but then the humidity started to rise as the wind dropped, and between 4:00 and 8:00, we've had 0.16" of rain and a couple growls of thunder.
The thunder spooked Louie, and the second one sent him into the basement. Poor Louie. It didn't bother Grayson at all, as far as I could see. I didn't really hear the thunder, because I was listening to the radio and running the microwave in the kitchen at the time. They both were happy to have me around today, and they both got some lap time. I had to shoo Grayson off when I had to go to the powder room, but he got back on my lap when I came back and slept a while. Louie came later and he sat until I had to type something. I just can't type with a lapful of cat.
So I have not much to report. It was a quiet day and now it's a cloudy, rainy night in the field, but it's not cold.
September 18 Well, I went up to the north end at a reasonable hour last night, but then I read everything left in the binder, so I was late again. Not nearly as late as the night before, but around 2:00. As has become usual, I couldn't get to sleep until I turned over, so it was 3:00 before I did. I was awake around 8:30, and I could have gotten up, but I decided it didn't matter much, so I went back to sleep and it was 11:00 when I got up. I
knitted my two rows, and this pattern row is the one with the "knit 4 togethers" in it, so it went rather slowly. A bit more slowly than usual because I dropped something, fortunately not seriously, but I had to get out a crochet hook to put everything back together right. Besides, there are 365 stitches in that row. Like I've said, it's a weird pattern. The last pattern row was 333 stitches, and then everything expands. As you might expect, the side edges are rather wavy, and I'm toying with the idea of blocking them that way - if I ever block it.
Otherwise, I didn't do much. I was still doing my surfing when the talking came on, and i decided that I would cook before I went to choir and reheat after I got home. It is chicken breasts in mushroom soup, and it's good, except that I overcooked it. I guess I'm our of practice. The cooking times in the recipes are way off. I keep forgetting that the kind of pans I use get very hot and hold the heat even when the flame is turned down. Well, live and learn. It tasted good anyway, with jasmine rice, peas and corn to put it on.
This afternoon, I got a call from my accountant, and she is retiring, so from now on, I will be doing my own taxes again. I was so sorry to hear that, but I can understand why she's doing it. She seems to think my taxes are easy enough to do that I can do them myself, and online. We'll see about that. I'm not even too sure where to start, but I have a while to look into it. It was good to talk to her, though. She is such a nice person!
Then it was off to choir and I think maybe we can do a respectable job on our anthem for Sunday. It's not an easy piece, though, and the soprano part is the hardest. If it comes out all right, I doubt the congregation will notice. It is a pretty piece, so I hope we can do it justice.
Marcy and I got our plans together for Tuesday, so that's all right. I guess we will be driving my car, because theirs has a potential problem (not that mine doesn't) and that's probably good, too. I can help with the driving going down.
The weather was cold. Period. It got down to 33º - here - overnight, and the high for the day was only 48º. It was cloudy in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon and cloudy tonight. There was almost no wind at all. We are in for some rain over the weekend, but it still looks like the weather will be good for our trip.
The guys were their usual sleepy selves. They didn't like their breakfast, and I guess Grayson kept waiting for me to give him something else. Huh. This afternoon they slept together on the desk. They were very unhappy when I went away, but Grayson, at least, was happy to see me come home. His favorite dry food dish is empty, and I have the bag outside the back door, but I haven't gotten it in yet. Grayson wants to sit on me, but I can't type when he does.
It was dark when I got home at 9:00, sigh. It's time to reset the start and stop times on the camera. Maybe if I do, I can turn on the ceiling lights in the studio in the evening. The days are getting short. Sigh.
So that was another quiet day. I'm tired, so I'll be off to the north end shortly. Really.
September 17 I wrote an entry last night, but I forgot to upload it. Sorry about that, and thanks to Phil and Charlotte for pointing it out to me. So if you didn't find it when you looked, it's there now. Sorry about that. My mind was elsewhere.
And I finally got my hours completely rotated around. I didn't go to bed until after 4:00 AM and I didn't get up until after 2:00 PM. Then, while I was knitting, I got a call from the place I'm having my cataracts done, so I didn't get to the studio until after 4:00. I had a small meal and another small one just now, and I am going to try to start reeling back, so I can get on a schedule with the rest of humanity for the next three weeks or so. Now that I've been retired for a long time and I don't usually have to be anywhere, I have a tendency to do whatever I feel like, and there are times that for some reason I just don't feel like going to bed. I don't know why; I was certainly tired enough last night. I just didn't. I don't know whether I'll be able to sleep tonight, but I have to rry.
Obviously, I didn't do anything today - there wasn't time. I did knit two rows, and the count has gone back up to 365 stitches. Like I say, it's a weird pattern.
The weather was cold. The high temperature for the day was 51º, and that was at 7:00 this morning. For the rest of the day it was around 45º. There wasn't much wind, but it was from the east for most of the afternoon. It was cloudy until around 6:30, when the clouds began to break up, but there were still a few when it got dark. There might be a few stars tonight, if I could see stars. Wait a couple of weeks...It's supposed to be cold tonight, and there may be either frost or freeze in the interior, but then it should warm up a bit, at least for a while. So far it looks like it should be good weather for our trip to Green Bay.
The guys were mostly sleepy. When I am in bed, they seem to spend a lot of time sleeping in the bathroom, which is warmer than the bedroom. They get active around sunrise or a little earlier, and when I got up for the first time, the bedside rug was all out of place. They don't do what Buster used to do: he would rush down the hall and scream to a halt on the rug, which would send it sliding halfway across the bedroom. Each of them has his own way of playing. I still miss Buster, but then, I spent over 16 years in his company. Grayson just came and sat on my lap and got petted, but he went away when I started to type. Louie will probably get some petting when I go up to the north end.
So that was a nothing, backward day, and I'm off to the north end pretty soon. Really. It's a cold, clear night in the field.
September 16 Oh, I pulled an all-nighter again last night. I think it was because I really didn't want to face today. It came out all right anyway. I got up around 10:30, I think, and I knitted two rows. The last rows had almost 400 stitches, but these two had less than 350, and the next two are even shorter, even though I'm increasing two stitches on every row. It's the weird pattern. Anyway, then I started reading again. I finished the long, horrible story last night and started the sequel, and I read on that one today. It amazes me that the first one was written in 1978 and it was really poor writing. The sequel was written in 1979 and 1980, and it's actually pretty good. Trouble is, I've gone on from there and the history in the official canon is completely different from what is in these two stories. i like some of the ideas, but I'm not sure where they would fit into the history as I know it now. Anyway, I wanted to reread them to see if i can use any of the material. Maybe, maybe not. I will probably read some more tonight, but I didn't get nearly enough sleep and I'm tired.
I was so late that I didn't get to do a whole lot except my surfing before I had to put on some decent clothes and go off to Chip's. It turned out much better than I feared. That man is so organized it's almost scary. There were 45 of us - they are (were) such nice people, they made a lot of friends over the years. There were a lot of people there I should know but I don't because I'm a hermit. I think they know who I am. Anyway, Chip had written a very nice eulogy to Nancy that had us laughing a lot. After that was over, we had dinner catered by Mariner, and it was good, too - lasagna. I do know that I am absolutely going to have to start exercising again. I had to have a lot of help to get around, especially on the rocks. And I had enough trouble going up and down stairs (even just two at a time) that I wonder if I can get down into the basement if I want to. Oh, well. And I got through the whole thing with just a few tears right at the end.
Johanna brought Sawyer with her, and he was a very good baby and very interested in all the people. He is a real cutie, and he's getting so big. I guess he's almost 9 months old now, though, so he should be getting big.
It started ar 4:00 and I left about 6:30, so I wasn't gone long.
The weather was only so-so. It started out partly sunny, but when I went out at a little before 4:00, it was dripping a bit o drizzle. It didn't last long, but it was cloudy and not very nice. The high temperature was 62º for a couple of hours around noon, The wind was from the north, and it wasn't very strong except that it was a bit gusty for a while. It wasn't very nice out.
The guys were upset when I got dressed and went off, and when I came home, they both came to greet me. Otherwise, they slept, as usual. They want it quiet around here and they want mommy to stay home.
So that was my day, and even though it came out all right, I'm glad It's over with. Nancy was a wonderful person and a very creative person and we will all miss her. Now that this is over, Chip has closure and he can go about the rest of his life. We never get over losing those people, but in time we do get used to the idea.
Now it's a cloudy, cool night in the field and I'm going up to the north end and read for a while before I crash.
September 15 Gosh, the middle of September already! Pretty soon it will be 2015.
I think it was about 11:30 when I got to bed. I slept well, with only a couple of wakeups. Unfortunately, I was up around 7:00, and I knew if I went back to bed it would be 10:00 or later before I got up. Little did I know that it would have been all right. So I set the alarm for 9:00 and got up then. I was late (or I thought I was) anyway, because I had to change my underwear, but when I got to Johanna's, it turned out that my appointment was for noon, not 11:00 like I thought. So she went off to feed Sawyer and I dozed on the massage table.
I feel much better for my massage. My back was really bothering me, and it feels much better now. There isn't anything she can do about my sore joints, but she does what she can, and just loosening up the muscles does help.
I didn't do a lot for the rest of the day, but I did call the insurance place and I think I know what they're about. I have an appointment to call them on October 10 to try to get settled on some supplemental insurance for next year. I'm still pissed about that, but I imagine everyone in my place is. Anyway, it didn't take as long as I feared to make the initial contact, and at least it's under way.
The weather was cold but rather nice. The high temperature was 55º and it was breezy, with winds in the 15-25 mph range from the north. It was clear for most of the day, except for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. It was a little less humid than yesterday, the kind of weather that always surprises me when I find out how humid it was. It was actually rather nice to be out, if you were dressed for it.
The guys slept, although Grayson tried to keep me from going. It was one reason I had to change my underwear. He got some lap time and so did Louie, and I didn't have to push either of them off my lap. I like it better when they decide to go. A couple of days ago, there was part of a mouse in the hallway when I got up, but there haven't been any since. A while ago, I heard a guy who purports to be an expert say that cats aren't particularly good mousers, and I guess he's of the same ilk as the ones who say it's easy to give pills to cats. Huh. I've never known a cat who wasn't a good mouser and I've only known one who would sit still to take a pill - and even he would spit it out if I wasn't careful. All my guys have been excellent mousers, and I'm so glad. I saw what havoc mice can make and I don't want that to happen here.
So it was another quiet day, and I need to wash my hair tonight. Tomorrow is Nancy's wake (well - Chip isn't calling it that, but that's what it is), so I want to look presentable.
Now it's a mostly clear, cold night in the field.
September 14 I went up to the north end early enough, but I started reading again, so it was 10:30 before I got to bed. I didn't sleep particularly well. I was up any number of times, and at one point my right hip and my left ear were both sore, so I couldn't find a comfortable way to lie. I had to get up about 6:30, but I didn't want to get up then, so I went back to bed, and then I discovered that while I set the time on the alarm, I never set it. Oops. I was only about 10 minutes late getting up, but it set me back for the entire morning.
I made it out of the house not too much later than I wanted to be, and fortunately, I didn't run into a lot of really slow drivers, although I had to pass a motorcycle and a car that were going rather slowly on the covered road.
Church was nice, with communion and the old service, which I like. We sang well, according to Pastor. His sermon was a good one, about how we should not insist on our own ideas when they may cause other believers to fall away, but we must insist on them when someone says we won't get into heaven unless we do it his way. There are passages both in Corinthians and Romans about that. There are so many things that aren't in the bible about how we should behave as Christians, and those things are left up to us to decide. If you don't want to drink alcohol (to take one example), fine, but don't try to tell me I won't go to heaven if I do. It was good.
Then I had to shop for food. Ugh. I brought my Crocs and changed my shoes, but my feet were sore before i ever got up this morning, so it didn't make much difference. Both my regular shoes and the Crocs eat socks, and I have a terrible time when socks get tight over my toes. I was miserable by the time I got home. It wasn't only my feet. It was very humid and cool this morning - it rained while we were in church - and I hurt all over. But I got it done, with not an exceptional hit on my credit card.
Chip is having a dinner on Tuesday to celebrate Nancy, and while I didn't talk to him about it (I was really out of it the day he called), I assume everybody is bringing something, so I wanted to get some different kinds of cheese and stuff for munchies. Good cheese is expensive. However, Pat's got in a nice selection of things I like and haven't had for a while, including some Jarlsberg (like Swiss but better) and a thing that has layers of Cheshire and Stilton and is really yummy. I was so glad to see that! I haven't gotten a good selection of cheeses since I stopped going down to Detroit. I didn't get any Brie, because the stuff they sell up here is horrible, but I did get some goat cheese, and a thing called "cowboy caviar" that will be good on top of it. I discovered yesterday that I have quite enough crackers.
Otherwise, I got some pork chops and some chicken breasts and not very much in the way of frozen stuff. Not only is it expensive, but Pat's isn't carrying the kinds I like anymore (I don't know why, unless my tastes are just too different from the locals'). Besides, after the Schwan's order I got Friday, the freezer is really packed, and I had a hard time finding room for the stuff I did buy. I also got a nice piece of fish, but I was so late eating tonight that I'll wait until tomorrow to have it.
I discovered that I needed gas, so I had to stop and do that, too. I was exhausted by the time I got home.
The weather wasn't very good. it was quite humid and not very warm and a little windy. The high temperature did get up to 59º late in the day and very briefly, but for most of the day it was in the upper 40s or low 50s and breezy. It was very dark and dismal this morning, but this afternoon, we had a little sunshine. It rained lightly around the middle of the day. Not very nice at all. Apparently that blow we had Wednesday was bigger and more unusual than I thought. It brought down a lot of trees and it came up so suddenly and blew so hard that it dropped the lake temperature by around 10º. According to what I read, that means we may have a very unsettled fall, but that's all right. i am actually happy that the lake temperature is going into the winter low. That should mean there won't be as much lake effect snow, which is worse when the lake is warm and the air is cold. We can hope.
The guys were mostly sleepy. They came around when I got home with the food, and Louie kept hanging around hoping I would forget about a plastic bag and he could eat it - I didn't. Most cats want something to clear out the hair in their intestines. Some eat grass, but none of mine ever have. Buster chewed off most of the straws on my hearth broom and he also chewed on the regular broom. When I had them, he chewed the tops off my pony tail palms. Louie wants to eat plastic grocery bags. So far it hasn't caused him any trouble, but I don't think it's a good idea. I'm not sure what Grayson wants, if anything. I just don't think grocery bags are good for cats. Grayson spent quite a while on my lap, purring when he wasn't asleep. Both of them were staring out the patio door in the great room early this morning, but whatever they were seeing, I didn't.
So that was my day. I hurt, pretty much all over, so I will be going up to the north end shortly. I may read for a while, but hopefully not long. I have a massage tomorrow, so I need to get up at a reasonable hour. Now it's a breezy, partly cloudy night in the field.
September 13 Same scenario as the night before, except that I was a little earlier getting to bed. I got up around 10:30, but I knitted four rows again, so I was late getting to the studio and I didn't do much of anything.
The shawl is coming along. I think I'm halfway up chart C. I've been doing the same pattern for so long it's getting boring, but another 18 rows and I should start the border, which will be really interesting. It is a pattern of big leaves in clusters of threes, and I think there will be more than 700 stitches in the last few rows, but when it's blocked, the edges will be wavy. The blue band was so pale as to be almost gray-white, and then it turned pink. Now I'm doing pale yellow again. The color runs in this yarn are so long that even with 300 or 400 stitches on the needles, there will be a band of color. It's going to be a pretty thing, but since it's so sheer, I'm not sure how much use it would be if I ever blocked it. It's the process, you know. I'm making it so large because if I did block it and wear it, I'd want it big enough to be useful. I think I've said before that these "shawlettes" are of absolutely no use to me. I am a large person, tall even if I wasn't fat, and I need a large piece of cloth to cover me. It's my arms that get cold, so I want something that covers them.
So that was about it. The weather was nondescript. There was some sunshine this morning, but it clouded up later in the day, although from the MODIS imagery, it seems like there is a cloud right over the Keweenaw and most of the lake is clear. I can remember many years when I was vacationing up here that I saw that. The high temperature was 54º. There was almost no wind. So make a liar out of me - the sun has just come out below the clouds in the west. That's nice. It's still rather humid, but not like yesterday and I am not nearly as achy as I was then.
The guys slept, except that Grayson tried to take every opportunity to sit on me that he could, even when I was eating. He doesn't want my food, he wants me. Louie got some lap time, too, and he went to sleep deeply enough that he was dreaming. They are sweet guys, and you're not going to convince me they don't love me.
I will be going up to the north end soon and hope to get to bed at a reasonable hour. I started working on Trine 4 again, and I want to get beyond the changes I have to make because of what I just added, but i won't go further. Now it's a cool, partly cloudy night in the field, but it might clear up - and again, it might not.
P.S. Phil just pointed out to me that I forgot to post last night's entry, so you can read on below. Sorry about that. My mind, you know.
September 12 Oh, the usual. I listened to the music for too long, and then when I finally went up to the north end, I read for a while. That story is really horrible and not worth doing much with, except for some of the ideas and the planet it's set on. I really thought that by 1978 I was beginning to write reasonably well, but that one sure isn't. Yuck. There are some interesting ideas, though. I discovered that way back then, I actually wrote about a tsunami forcing water back into a nuclear reactor and causing a meltdown - or in my case, a nuclear explosion. This isn't the first time I've found myself writing about things that later actually happened, and it's eerie.
Anyway, I was very late getting to bed so I was very late getting up. I woke up with a backache that went away as I sat for a while while I knitted my four rows. I have about 350 stitches on the needles now, and I'm really going to have to cut back to two rows a day. It's taking me about two hours to do those four rows, and I have other things to do. Not many today, though. I was going to return my phone call from yesterday, but then I had a really nasty accident and by the time I got cleaned up from that, the talking had started, so it was too late. I will do it Monday.
The weather wasn't very nice. The low temperature overnight was 39º and the high today was only 51º. There wasn't much of any wind, but it was cloudy all day and between 2:00 and 4:00, we had 0.10" of rain. So not only is my back sore, my shoulder and my feet and my hands and my knees are, too. We did have a ray of sunshine right before sunset, but that was all.
The guys slept, although Grayson spent quite a lot of time on my lap, and every time I went out to the breezeway - I got another small package and a Schwan's order - he acted really worried. Poor Grayson. I hope he isn't getting like Buster was about me going away. I don't know what it will do to him when I go away overnight in a couple of weeks. Grayson acts like he's really laid back, but he isn't. Remember. when I got him, he had scratched his cheeks nearly raw. That's nerves. Louie just slept. He's a lot more laid back, but then, he's been through more.
So that was a very quiet day, and I think I will go up to the north end now, before the symphony concert. There are a couple of pieces on it that I'd like to hear, but not enough to impell me to stay up. Then I can read some more. Oh, yeah. I cooked rice tonight, so I have to bag that up and get it into the freezer. Well, it's a cold, cloudy, humid night in the field, so it wll feel good to hunker down under the covers.
September 11 - Remember I don't remember quite what I did last night, although I got back into Special Forces because there were a few lines I wanted to add. I got to bed around 12:30, and I slept well, until around 11:00, as it turned out. I feel much better today. I knitted my four rows, although with something between 350 and 400 stitches, I'm going to have to stop at two rows pretty soon. It's going to be a pretty thing. The pale green has turned into pale blue now, and it seems like it will be a big band. I'm working away at chart C, and I might even get to finish the whole thing with one ball of yarn. That would be nice, because then I'd have another ball to make something else with.
Otherwise, I didn't do a lot, but I did go to the post office, where I paid my taxes and got a check I was looking for, which I immediately turned around and mailed off to be deposited. It will be good to get that in the bank. Ron and I had a long conversation about the snow removal for the winter. He is going to investigate what to do about our tractor and its broken blower, and I am going to investigate the possibility of getting the county to clear the road. I'm not sure it will work - or if we can afford it - but It's worth looking into. While I think it unlikely that we'll have another winter like last, we still have to make some plans.
The weather finally settled down. There were still 42 mph gusts at midnight, but the wind died down after that and we didn't have any more rain. However, it's still cold. The high temperature was only 48º. Quite a change in a week. It was cloudy until about noon, and then it began to clear up, and it was mostly sunny for most of the afternoon. It would be nice if it was clear overnight, because there was apparently a CME today, and there may be northern lights, although the moon, which is still almost 90% illuminated, will wash out a lot of it.
The guys were their usual sleepy selves, although Grayson sat on me twice and he was hanging around both before I went to the post office and afterwards, and he tried his darndest to get me not to go to choir practice. He was waiting at the door when I got home.
I did go, though, and it was good. I had some things to do in the breezeway and the garage, though, and as a result, I forgot my cane. I got a shipment of cat food today, and in with it were two little packages of the eye ointment I use at night. I almost forgot about them, and I had thrown the boxes into the garage by the time I remembered them. They were in the bottom of the box, though, and I rescued them. I can tell Walmart isn't used to shipping to customers. On my way home tonight, for the first time since i got back to choir, I didn't take the shortcut on Cliff Drive. It was beginning to get dark, and seeing wasn't that good, although I was actually seeing pretty well on the way home. Well, in a couple of weeks, I'll begin to get that under control.
When I got home, I discovered that I had missed a call when I was at the post office, from the people who are trying to help us transition away from company-sponsored Medicare supplement policies. I am still really angry about that. As if J.P. Morgan - Chase doesn't make enough money already! Grr.
So now it's a cold, clear night in the field, and I'll be off to the north end soon.
September 10 What an interesting day.
I read and listened to the music for too long last night, and then I had to wash my hair, so it was a ridiculous hour when I finally got to bed. I woke up for the second time and the clocks were blinking, but I had to get up anyway, so I did, and then I discovered that it was only 10:30. I didn't get nearly enough sleep! I stayed up, however, and I knitted my four rows. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to give in and just do two.
The wind and the surf had been roaring since last night, and I noticed that the wind seemed to be from the east, which is not a good direction for us. It was really loud, too, but I love the sound of the lake when it sings tenor or bass!
I set all the clocks (what a chore! I wish all my clocks were battery powered). When I got to the studio, finally, all was well, but the NWS station had been down for some time. I was about to do something beside eating my breakfast when we had a power failure. I learned later, from Ron, that it was the second one. I was beginning my surfing when the power failed again. So the computer rebooted, and eventually, while I was in the powder room, line power came back up. Aah, I thought. Hah. The notification for the first Tuesday system updates came in, so I thought I'd do them. I was about halfway through when the power failed again! So the generator kicked in, i finished the updates, and I updated the laptop, too. I am still on generator power. Ron called me around 4:30 to say that this time it was a tree on Woodland Road and UPPCO was on its way. Hah. They said it would be about 4:45 when the situation was resolved, but that was about 4½ hours ago. He told me that the first outage actually lasted some time. Since I was asleep, I wouldn't ever have known.
Anyway, I was so late that I didn't get to do much else. It was colder in here than I am used to, so I'm wearing a sweatshirt, and I have been curious to see that twice the door to the breezeway has opened up, even though I thought I engaged the lock. That wind...I was also curious that the guys didn't try to get out. Evidently, they've been there so it's not interesting anymore.
The weather - ah, the weather! By the time i got to bed, the wind was from the east in the 20-30 mph range, but there wasn't any rain yet. By the time I got up, the wind was in the 25-40 mph range and it had started raining rather hard. There was about a four hour hiatus in readings, but the wind is still 33 mph with 44 mph gusts, but it has shifted to the northeast, which means I don't feel it quite as much. The lake is singing loudly, and I love to hear it. It's been a long time since it's really acted up. The temperature has been in the upper 40s all day long. I had planned to go out today, but I'd decided to bail even before I heard about the tree. We usually have a blow like this sometime in September, although it's usually a little later, closer to the equinox. It's the announcement that summer is over and autumn is upon us. I was surprised that we didn't have one or two over the summer, because usually there is at least one in August, but the climate is changing so much, I guess we can't rely on past years so much anymore.
The guys did mostly what any good cat would do in weather like this. Both guys got lap time today, and I was so surprised that neither of them apparently got into the breezeway when the door was open. Grayson probably wouldn't go, because he got shut out the last time he went, but evidently Louie noticed that and he didn't try to go. There haven't been any more mouse parts for the past couple of days, either, which is good.
Late this afternoon, there was an email from Marty saying that he would not be able to help us with the road this winter. I've expected that, because he had to stop in February, but it will be more difficult without him. His suggestion was to relocate, but I can't possibly do that, so Ron and I have to put our heads together and have a serious talk. I can be snowed in for some time, but I do need to get out once a week or so, and of course, he has to get out every day. I don't know what will happen there. All I can hope is that this winter isn't as bad as last and stay loose.
So that was another quiet day. Now it's a rainy, windy night in the field and it will be a good time to sleep. If I can make myself go to bed.
September 9 Oh, well. There was a lot of good music last night, and I got caught up in it, so I pulled an almost all-nighter again. I got up around 11:30, I think, and then I decided I wanted to finish chart B, which was six rows, so It was ridiculously late by the time I got to the studio. Maybe I can do better tonight. I'm back to Trine 4 again, but I don't think I'll be doing any writing. I just want to read what I've written.
I didn't do a whole lot, but I paid some bills and looked sadly at the shambles of my bank account.
The weather was nicer than I had been lead to believe. The temperature got up to 71º for a couple of hours, and there wasn't much wind. It was partly cloudy, with lots of sunshine, until around 5:00, when it started to cloud over. I guess we are in for it the next couple of days, though - rain and wind and there is a flood watch out, because it's supposed to rain a lot. Well, it's September, after all, so the weather is always iffy. There is rain out to the west of us, but I don't know if it will come this far north.
The guys were their sleepy selves, and I didn't find any more mice.
A good friend of the site sent me some money via PayPal, and i thank him very much. My finances aren't getting any better, and I need all the help I can get.
Now it's a cloudy night in the field, and the temperature is dropping.
September 8 I went up to the north end at a reasonable hour last night, but then I started reading and it was 12;30 before I got to bed. I slept well, with not very many wakeups, and I got up around 10:30. I knitted - the yarn is green now - but after I did my four rows, I finished the story I was reading, so i was late getting to the studio anyway.
I didn't do anything much. It was nearly time for the talking to start when I finished my surfing. so there wasn't much time.
It was a nice day. The high temperature was 73º for a while this afternoon and it was partly cloudy, with a lot of sunshine. It was breezy, with west winds gusting up over 20 mph. The humidity was nice and low, and it was very comfortable.
The guys were sleepy, but I know why. Yesterday afternoon, while I was starting my dinner, I looked down to see a mouse in pieces on the floor under the chair, and this morning, Louie was sitting on an apron that usually ends up on the floor and when looked at where it usually is, there was the hind half of a mouse there, too. Yuck. At least they could leave them in one piece! So our fall onslaught of mice is beginning, a tad early I'd say. Anyway, after two such busy nights, it was no wonder they were sleepy both yesterday and today. They both got some lap time, though.
I read for a while and finished Bolin, and there is a binder up at the north end with a couple more stories in it that I'd like to reread, so I suppose I will start. It's a partly cloudy, warmish evening in the field, and the moon is full tonight, so we might shoot it tomorrow morning. I wish I could see the stars.
September 7 So last night I went up to the north end early and I was in bed by 9:30...and then I didn't sleep very well. I was up any number of times, and after I woke up at 5:00, i never got back to a deep sleep. I don't know why. I got up when the alarm went off anyway.
I seemed to be moving slowly this morning, but I managed to get off close to when I wanted to. But then I ran into a guy towing a trailer who was going very slowly and wouldn't pull over, and a while later we both got behind a guy in a car going 30 mph. Arrgh! The guy in the car did pull over at the Lake Medora public access, but the guy with the trailer didn't. The best he could do was to move sort of to the side at a place where there is a clear stretch, even though it's marked for no passing. So I passed him and I was on my way. Down by the Eagle Harbor Cutoff road, a large coyote ran across the road right in front of me, the first time in a while I've seen one. It was large enough to be a wolf, but it was brownish and I think its tail was too bushy to be a wolf. It was really moving and I didn't get a very good look at it, but I was happy to find that I can still see enough to notice things like that.
I was only about five minutes later than I wanted to be. Church was nice, and I think we sang well. We had Matins again today, and I enjoy that. It didn't mean we got out earlier, or maybe it was because I talked to several people on the way out. I was home in just under 50 minutes, because there wasn't any slow traffic on the way home.
I didn't do much of anything for the rest of the afternoon, although I did get the dishwasher just about ready to run tonight.
The weather wasn't bad. The high temperature was 64º, a bit lower than was predicted (it got warmer in Calumet). It was clear to partly cloudy for most of the day, although I can't check that, because the camera hung up at 9:30 this morning and I discover it until late in the afternoon, then I stopped the camera and forgot to restart it until sunset. There was a time when it seemed to cloud over, but that didnt' last nlong. There was a little wind around the middle of the day, but it soon died down.
The guys were rather energetic when I was getting dressed this morning, and Louie was going after Grayson again. Otherwise, they slept. They were asleep together on the desk when I got home, with the sun shining on them. They both got a little lap time this afternoon.
So that was a quiet Sunday, and I will be tottering up to the north end soon. I was rather tottery today for some reason, and now my shoulder hurts. Oh, well. It's a mostly clear, coolish evening in the field.
September 6 I went up to the north end early last night with the story I've been thinking about transcribing and i read for w while, until my eyes wouldn't focus at all anymore. I was in bed aroudn 10:30. I didn't get up until almost 11:00 this morning. Of course, I didn't sleep all that time. I was up any number of times because i had fish for dinner last night, and that's a wonderful diuretic. Anyway, I think I got enough sleep for a change.
I knitted my four rows, but I have 321 stitches on the needles now, so I think I will probalby have to cut back to two rows. I don't like to do an odd number of rows, because there will be days when I will have two purl rows and only one pattern row, and that's boring. Anyway, the yarn has turned pale green, a very pretty color. There was a nice band of pale yellow before it. It's such pretty yarn!
I didn't do much else for the rest of the day. I was so late getting tot he office that I didn't have a lot of time. I did read all the newspapers I picked up yesterday. The Daily Mining Gazette isn't the best newspaper I've ever read. but it does have local headlines and it usually has the police log, so I can see what's going on in Keweenaw. Being a Keweenaw County sherriff would be a nice job. I wonder what they do when there isn't anything going on? Right now, they have a sex offender in jail (the sheriff's wife cooks for the inmates - that's one thing it means to be a frontier county) and there are the usual tourists who get locked out of their cars, but there are days when there's nothing at all logged. I have to tell you, it's one reason I love living her so much. I mean, it's quiet around here.
The weather was fallish but rather nice. THe maximum temeperature was 64º so far, because it rose slowly all day. There was a brisk north wind that was rather gusty for a while; there were whitecaps on the harbor when I got up. It was mostly to completely cloudy, so tonight I could participate in look at the moon night if i wanted to - and if I could see anything. The humidity went down all day, and that was a help to my gimpy joints. It was a pretty day, if not very warm.
The guys were sleepy except whlle I was getting dressed, when they romped around some. Several times, Louie started talking loudly, I don't know about what. Now Louie is asleep on the desk, and I suspect Grayson is on the dining room table. It's in the sun.
So that was a quiet, rather truncated day. I hope to get to bed at a reasonable hour again tonight, so instead of readint here, I think I will go up to the north end and read there. The story I was thinking about is much more poorly written than I'd remembered, but I wrote it back in 1976. It eose have possibilities, though, and i want to finish reading it. There are a couple others in that bincer that I want to read, too. The problem is that with the sun the way it is now, it's hard to read anything written after about 8:00, sometimes earlier, since I don;t want to turn on many lights. Oh, the days are getting short!
Now it's a coolish night in the field. The wind has died down and there should be stars and a mooon tonight
September 5 My natural sleep pattern seems to have settled down to be between 2:00 AM and 10:00 AM, so I guess I might as well just give in. The only problem with that is that the rest of the world doesn't work on that schedule and every weekend I have to try to get back to getting up at 7:00. Eight hours isn't enough time in bed, either, since I typically spend almost an hour in the bathroom during the night. I will have to try to get back to a more reasonable schedule. Anyway, it was at least 2:00 before I turned out the light last night. I got up around 10:00, I think. I knitted rather efficiently this morning, though, so I got to the studio by 11:30.
I didn't do much of anything except go to the post office - I paid a couple of bills I have to send by snail mail - and I stopped at the store to get some things so I don't have to shop this week. I hated to put anything more on the credit card, but it was a whole lot less than if I'd gone to Pat's.
The weather was rather unsettled. The high temperature was actually at 3:00 this morning, at 72º, During the day, it got up to 68º at 1:00, and it has been dropping off ever since. It was very windy, with gusts up to 33 mph this morning. For most of the day, the wind was from the northwest, but as it died down, it shifted more to the north. It was partly to mostly cloudy, but we're having a nice sunset again.
The guys were full of beans this morning, no doubt because the barometer was higher than it's been for several days. They settled down about the time I got to the studio, but for most of the late afternoon, I had to keep shooing Louie away from Grayson. Now Grayson is on the sewing chair and Louie is on top of the fililng on the desk, both sound asleep. Well, they had quite a workout this morning, so they deserve their sleep.
So that was my day, As usual, I very studiously avoided attacking the decisions I have to make pretty soon. Maybe over the weekend.
Now it's a nearly cloudy, coolish evening in the field, but the wind has died down and the sunset is nice.
September 4 I read for too long last night, although not as long as the night before, and I think it was around 1:30 when I got to bed. I think I was asleep before I finished my prayers, but I don't remember for sure. I got up around 10:00, so I didn't have enough sleep again. I knitted, and I am halfway through chart B. The yarn is definitely turning yellow, although there was a nice wide band of pink. It's a pretty thing, even though the pattern is so weird.
Otherwise, I did not much except determine that I don't have enough money to pay the month's bills. I did pay one bill, and I will just have to see about the rest of it. Things are getting serious.
Tonight was choir practice, and again, we are singing something we hadn't practiced before. Pastor certainly has a lot of confidence in us. This is the first time since last spring that I have had to come home when it was getting dark, and it was dark by the time I got here. I think I can make it until I get my eyes done, but we'll see. Fortunately, most of the summer traffic is gone, so it wasn't a bad drive.
The weather was sort of yucky. It was cloudy and very humid again, and there were thunderstorms, although they were out over the lake. We just got a tiny bit of rain about noon. The high temperature was 68º, off and on all day, as it went up and down. There was some fog around the time I left for church and some nearly blue skies afterwards. Strange weather.
Grayson slept on the left side of the pillow for a good part of the night. Louie was sleeping in the bathroom when I got up, but there was some thunder and he doesn't like thunder, so he went away - I don't know where - until it was over with. They are strange little beasts. Louie is terrified by thunder, but cars and trucks don't bother him. Thunder doesn't bother Grayson, but the sound of diesel engines frightens him.
Speaking of diesel engines, finally the association has made arrangements to get the road graded, and they are going to do it on Monday. That's good; I've had some fears for my shock absorbers lately. To try to solve our problem would mean rebuilding the entire road, and we can't afford that, but the guy who is overseeing the grading says that twice or three times a year should keep it in good condition. For some reason I don't understand, the county is willing to do that for the cost of materials. That will help; at least they know how to grade a road. Anyway, when I hear the big diesels on Monday, I'll know what they're doing.
So that was my day, and I am going to bed. I'd like to finish Special Forces, but that would take far too long. Now it's a cloudy, warmish, humid night in the field.
September 3 I didn't feel like reading, so I just played games and listened to the nice music and I was really late again, since I couldn't put off washing my hair. Well, I could have, but I would have had a terminal itch by tonight. So I was very late again. I got up around 10:30, I think (I don't remember now) and I knitted my four rows. I got to a row like the one that caused me so much trouble the last time, but I was very careful about my "knit-four-together" and I think it turned out all right.
I didn't do anything much else except for my surfing. Another day off.
The weather turned out really nice. It was partly cloudy, and the temperature got up to 79º briefly. It was in the 70s for most of the afternoon, and I had to open the windows because it got so hot in here. The wind was mostly from the west, and every so often it would gust for ten minutes or so. Strange. We had another spectacular sunset tonight, and the camera managed to catch it. Nice, huh?
When I got up this morning, Louie was asleep in the bathroom, very comfortable, and from the angle of the bedroom door, I gather he and Grayson had gotten into it. It was quite a while before I realized that I hadn't seen Grayson, so I started calling him as I was going toward the powder room. Then I had to sit there for a while, and when I got up, I started calling again. I thought I heard a thump, but I didn't see anybody right away so I called down the basement, and just as I was closing the door, I looked down, and there he was. I don't know where he was or why he didn't get up for breakfast. He thanked me by getting on my lap and purring for quite a while. I have no idea what was going on there, but I was very happy to see him. Usually he's right around, so I don't know what got into him, except that I was a little earlier than I have been lately. Later, he and Louie were on the desk, but when I looked at Louie, he had the sourest look on his face that I have ever seen. He is very jealous of Grayson, unfortunately, even though I try to give him enough love. And besides, Grayson was here first.
So that was a nothing day. I wanted to read something, and it was dark enough that I couldn't read the binder, so I am reading Special Forces again. I haven't gotten tired of that yet, and I have made a few minor changes as I went along.
Now it's a mostly cloudy, rather warm night in the field, and we may get some rain overnight.
September 2 Well, maybe tonight. Last night i started writing and it was very late when I finally got to bed. I didn't wash my hair, so I have to do that tonight. I wrote on Trine 4 and I think I made some progress, but I don't feel much like reading it tonight, so I'm not sure. It's so much easier to write something from scratch, when the words are coming out faster than I can type them, than it is to try to rewrite, edit and revise something I've read already and don't like. I can see why I liked to write longhand, too, because when the words wouldn't come, I could just go back and reread what I didn't like, whereas now, i will sometimes just play Solitaire until I see where to go next. That's harder on the computer, since I have to keep the type fairly large so I can see it. However, the advantages of writing on the computer are so great that I won't ever go back. Not that I think I could; my hands are so bad now that I don't think I could hold a pen for any length of time.
Anyway, it was around 11:00 when I got up, I think, and I knitted. While I twitched a couple of times, I didn't do serious damage, and I got four rows done. The yarn is definitely mauve now, and it looks like it might be turning pink, although I can't say for sure yet.
The only other thing I did today was to call my financial adviser and get the money I need (or I hope it's all I need) for the next few months. I am actually getting a little more than I asked for, so maybe I won't need any more. The financial situation is still dire, but maybe I can make do. See the "Help" button.
Oh, there is a pretty sunset behind me, the first there has been in a long time. It would be gone by the time I could find the camera, make sure it still works and get outside, so you'll have to take my word for it. The webcam isn't showing it.
It turned out to be a nice day today, although I didn't get out to enjoy it. The high temperature was 74º for several hours this afternoon, and the winds were fairly light from the northwest. It was clear overnight and when I got up this morning, and it was only partly cloudy all day. There was a lot of sunshine. I should have at least stuck my nose outside, but oh, well.
The guys were sleepy, as usual, and they spent some time curled up together on the desk, although at one point when I shooed Louie away from Grayson, he had a new hole under his whiskers, where Grayson got him with those needle-sharp claws. It didn't seem to bother Louie at all.
So that was another nice, quiet day. Now It's a partly cloudy, warmish night in the field and I think I should go to bed.
September 1 - Labor Day Geez, summer is over already. Well - we never really had a summer. Ten days of warmish weather, maybe, but no more.
I really crashed last night. I knew I was tired, but I was reading, so it was around midnight when I turned out the light. Then I fell asleep in the middle of my prayers, on my back. I woke up a couple of hours later, still on my back, with my shoulder so sore I could hardly stand it and my mouth so dry my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. Yuck. I was really dazed, but I managed to get to the bathroom and get a drink of water, and I sat there long enough to get my shoulder back in shape. Then I went back to sleep and it was a good four hours later that I woke up again. I was awake around 8:00, in time to hear the Queen leave, and then the next time I woke up it was 11:00. Wow.
I knitted, and that was a disaster that took me three hours to repair. It seems that the last time I knitted, on Friday, I screwed up one very difficult decrease in two separate places, leaving a stitch hanging out. One place was pretty easy to fix, but the other one was so messed up that I had to pull out the whole area and reknit it, back eight or ten rows. Part of that was because i lost track of which part of the pattern I was working on. It's been a long time since I've messed up anything that much. I finally got it back together, although there are are some pretty big holes where I pulled the yarn while I was knitting, but the pattern is right. All that meant that I only did two rows, though. I hate it when that happens. I will just have to be a whole lot more careful when I do those knit-four-togethers.
Then when I came into the kitchen, I went over by the door to get a can of cat food, and when I looked out the door, there was Grayson sitting there out in the breezeway and the door was closed!! How i wish he could talk! I know he was inside last night, because he sat on my lap. All I can figure is that the wind blew the door open and he went out, then either the wind blew the door back closed or Louie leaned on it and closed it. I know why he went out: there was a mouse right outside the door. He came right in, and while he took a couple of mouthfuls of his breakfast, I think his next stop was downstairs. He spent the rest of the day asleep. How in the world did he get out? And if the door was open, how did it get closed again? I know that frequently I don't close the door enough to engage the lock, and at least once or twice the wind coming in the open window will blow it open, but then how did it get closed again? I think, if he had tried, he could have pushed it open by leaning on it, but he didn't know that. Really weird. The bag holder had been pushed over, too, so I guess he had to root out the mouse. It was all really strange.
It turned out to be a much nicer day than yesterday, although it was still humid. The high temperature was 69º but it was around 10:00 this morning, and it cooled off some later on. Overnight, there were some strong winds, with gusts up to almost 30 mph, but today it was calm until the wind shifted around to the northwest, then there were more 28 mph gusts. It was very cloudy and dull this morning, but there was some sunshine this afternoon, before it got partly cloudy again. it's still rather windy.
Louie slept with me last night and while I was knitting this morning, and he didn't seem very pleased that Grayson got back into the house, although when I got to the studio, they were curled up together on the desk. I have had to shoo Louie away several times since. I don't know about him. I wish I knew how Grayson got out.
So that was another quiet day. i was so late getting to the studio that I had to do most of my surfing after the talking started, and I finally finished First just before I started this. I'm not sure what I will do next. I have been thinking about how to fix Trine 4, but I'm not sure I feel impelled to do it. I did find the old story I was thinking about several days ago, but I need to reread it before I'll be able to see whether I want to try to transcribe it. Now, though, I think I will just go up to the north end and try to get another good night's sleep, after I wash my hair. It's a partly cloudy, breezy night in the field. And it's September. Sigh.
Last updated 10/01/14 09:43 PM |