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A View From the Field |
March, 2016
March 31 End of March, at last. Somehow, March always seems longer than other months with 31 days.
I was late getting to bed, of course, mostly because I was reading. I've been on a FreeCell jag, and it's beginning to get old, so I didn't play it very much. But then I had to wash my hair and do all that stuff. Then when I did get to bed, I was apparently lying on the wrong side and I didn't really get into a deep sleep until I turned over. Once I did, I slept well, but not long enough.
I got up around 10:30. That wasn't enough sleep, but I didn't dare go back to bed. I knitted my two rows without much trouble. It's so nice to have a small chart and not have to have that big (18" x 24") magnet board on my lap.
Apparently, I finally got gas, either yesterday or today, because there was a receipt stuck in the front door. I'm glad to see that. I was down below 20% in my tanks, and I would hate to run out of gas. I shudder to think how much I got, though, and what it cost. I'm not sure my heating system is working quite right, but at least I haven't used the amount of gas I did a couple of years ago when it wasn't. Of course, this was a mild winter, but even so, it seems like I'm using less than I did before. And tomorrow I can finally pay off the bill for the repairs they did last fall. That will be a relief, too.
I was late enough that I didn't do much, especially since I had a yucky accident and had to change my undies. I blame it on one of the websites I visit, which wanted me to take a survey. Since it was almost impossible for me to find what I was looking for (a sewing pattern), I wanted to take the survey and tell them what I think. It seems clear to me that the people who have set up the websites for the big sewing and crafts companies (I'm thinking here about JoAnn and Hancock) do not understand anything about the merchandise they are attempting to put online. Both sites are really, really dumb. Anyway, I was trying to answer the questions, and I waited too long to totter down to the powder room. Sigh. It didn't do any serious damage to my jeans, though, which was good.
Anyway, after that, there wasn't a whole lot of time to do my surfing and all before I had to leave for choir practice. I can't tell you how nice it is to leave here when the sun is still quite high in the sky! No feeling around in the dark for where the road is. It was also very nice (and very fast) to be driving on clear, dry roads. There is still some water on the covered road, because there is still a lot of snow in the woods, but it was above freezing, so it wasn't a problem.
Choir was good, although Barbara and I had an argument with Pastor. He seems to think the second F above middle C is high for a soprano, and both Barbara and I know it isn't, and we want to sing it. I hope we managed to convince him, because it's really frustrating.
it was still light when I left Laurium, and I don't remember the last time that was. It was getting dark by the time I got home, of course, but it was so nice to be able to see where I was going! Oh, spring will come. Really.
It was a nondescript day, weatherwise. The temperature was almost steady, between 34º and 37º. It was apparently foggy all night, until about 9:00 AM, when the humidity started to drop. There was a bit of wind during the afternoon, up to 23 mph from the east. It was dull and cloudy all day, but there wasn't any precip. Blah.
The guys slept. They both got some lap time, but mostly I didn't see them. Since it's gotten a bit warmer in the studio, Grayson has been spending a lot of time on his throw on the desk. He's close to me, but he isn't on me, and the way things are in here (a disaster) Louie can't get on the desk to bug him.
So that was my day. Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
March 30 Even later, of course. I was reading again, and time just passed. I was only up once, and I was awakened at around 10:30 by a phone call. Nielson wants me to keep a radio diary (!). That's the first time anything of the sort has ever happened to me. I said I would, but we'll see when I get the information. It will be just about the same every day anyway.
So I got up and I knitted. I did four rows, because that brought me to the end of chart 8. Wow! Only about six weeks, but it was 90 rows. Tomorrow I can start on the last chart, which is 48 rows long. There is only one more nupps row, though, so that will be good. Of course, there are 34 nupps in that row. It looks like it will take me about another month to finish this thing. Then I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'd like to wear it, but it's so huge, I really don't have a place to block it. And yes, even though it's garter stitch, it really needs to be blocked, to bring out all the pretty patterns. We'll see what happens.
I was so late that I didn't do anything much else. In fact, I forgot about chapel, so I just finished that. I will read a bit more, but I have not been getting enough sleep, and tonight I have to wash my hair. I expect it will be late again.
The weather was better ignored. It was raining when I got up, and it was dull and gray and it rained lightly all day, after about 8:00 AM, and around 7:30 PM, the fog moved in, and it was very heavy. I couldn't see the lighthouse light at all after it got dark. The high temperature was at midnight, 50º, and it went down slowly but steadily until now, when it's 36º. The humidity was over 90% and the wind was under 10 mph all day. Yuck. And very bad for the joints.
The guys slept. Louie had a coughing fit this morning - he's shedding, too - but he seemed better afterwards. They both got some lap time, and Grayson slept on my lap for a while after breakfast. He is a much better lap cat, because he's so small, but every time I twitch, he gets up and runs away. Louie is actually too big for my lap, but I can twitch all I want and he won't move.
So it was another quiet day, and I am getting really tired. Now it's a cool, very foggy night in the field.
March 29 Late again, of course. I was reading, mostly. I slept well, with only one wakeup, but I woke up around 9:30 and that was too early, so I stayed in bed even though I had to pee, and I dozed for another hour before I got up. I knitted two rows. I really toyed with the idea of doing another two, because it only took me about 50 minutes to do the two rows (they were almost all plain knitting), but that would have made me too late.
I've noticed that if I have a day where I don't eat very much, I'm ravenous the next day, and I was today. Sigh. I tried to control it, but it's hard, because I go hypoglycemic and I feel terrible.
Anyway, I put in a load of bottoms to wash before breakfast, and then I had a nasty accident and had to wash all that stuff, too, so I haven't dried the load yet. It's time to get back to eating rice every day for a while, I guess. Other than that, I didn't do anything. There was chapel today, and it was communion, which was nice, and YourClassical.org had a nice hour-long program with Easter music that I listened to.
The weather was lovely, and I suppose I should have gone out. There was some cloudiness in the early morning, but then it cleared up until about 4:00 PM, when it clouded up again. The high temperature was 48º, so briefly that I missed it, and it was in the middle 40s all day. There was a brisk southwest breeze, with gusts up to 25 mph. It's so pretty when it's clear and blue!
The guys slept. Grayson got a little lap time, and he got combed. I have to comb him these days - the brush doesn't do the job - and I got a handful of fur out of him. He's really shedding. I mean, he sheds almost all the time, but now he's walking around in a cloud of loose fur. It's a wonder I don't have hairballs, too. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, but he's shedding, too. Spring is coming. There is new fur all over the house.
So that was another quiet day, and now it's a warmish, cloudy, breezy evening in the field.
March 28 - Easter Monday I was later than i wanted to be again, because I was reading and because I spent a long time staring at the floor. I think it was 11:30 or so before I turned out the light. I slept very well, but I was up a couple of times. I got up around 9:30, and I didn't knit, so I had time to eat before I was off to see Johanna. I feel much better now. My back isn't hurting so much.
Of course, when I got home, I didn't do anything. I woke up with a headache, and I didn't feel like doing anything afterwards, so I didn't. Well, I did do one thing. I looked over my taxes and got the acknowledgment ready to send back. Big deal.
The weather was rather nice, but cold. The temperature was mostly steady around 34º, although it did get up to 37º and it has now gone down to 30º. There was a bit of wind from the northeast, up to 20 mph, this morning, but it has now died down almost completely. It was mostly clear for most of the day, and there was so much sunshine that the temperature got up to 76º in the studio. Ah, how nice it is when the boiler doesn't run, especially since I have so little gas left.
The guys mostly slept, of course. Grayson got a little lap time this morning, and he slept behind me for most of the afternoon. I didn't see Louie, but I heard him when he went after Grayson. He does that when I'm not paying attention to him, so I try to ignore it.
So that was another quiet day. I need to go to bed, but I just finished eating, so I want to digest a bit before I do. Now it's a cold, clear night in the field.
March 27 - Easter Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Try as I might, I didn't manage to get to bed until around 10:30. Sigh. It just doesn't seem possible for me to turn out the light before then. And try as I might, I didn't sleep well. I did sleep for about four hours, and when I got up, I was glad to see there wasn't any precip. However, when I was up again a couple of hours later, I could only see one light at the other end of the harbor. Oh, dear. I was up again, and it was still snowing, and there was snow on the ground and on the garage roof. Oh, sigh. It wasn't warm enough for it to melt and it wasn't cold enough for it to be anything but slop.
I got up when the alarm went off, even though I didn't want to, and I think it was still snowing or sleeting or something. I tried to get done with breakfast and surfing early, but I didn't manage very well, so I missed my 9:00 deadline by about 10 minutes.
I knew it would be a slow commute, and it was. The covered road was a mess, and it took me over half an hour to get to Delaware. It was a bit better after that, although there was still slush on the road in spots. I didn't get to church until 10:10, and somebody else had grabbed my parking place. The breakfast was over, too, so I didn't get any goodies until later.
Church was very nice. We sang as a sort of call to worship, which was a nice way to do it. Since this is the fourth Sunday, there was communion, which was also nice. Pastor had wanted us to sing a descant to "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," but one of the sopranos who said she would do it wasn't there, and besides, it was one of the communion hymns, so we didn't, and I was just as glad. We would have had to stand at the lectern for all eight verses, and I was having a hard time getting up and down because of the weather. Pastor's sermon was good, too.
After it was all over, I ran into one of the ladies who had contributed to the breakfast, and she gave me a piece of her quiche (ooh - that rhymes!), which I had for my lunch. It was very nice of her, and it was very good quiche. As she said, no calories. Hah!
The drive home was better. It had warmed up a couple of degrees, just enough to melt the worst of the junk on the road, except from the Mountain Lodge to the blinker, for some weird reason. Since church was late, it was about 1:00 when I got home.
I have to say, it's a real pleasure to be driving my own car again. I know how it will respond and what I can and can't do in it, which means I can drive with much more confidence. Even though that Traverse was a new, snazzy car, I like my horrible old one a lot better.
I didn't do anything much except read for the rest of the afternoon, and I'm tired, although I didn't get tired enough to try to nap this afternoon. I will just go to bed very early tonight. I see Johanna tomorrow, and I think I'll need her. Maybe yesterday the humidity didn't get to me, but today it sure did. I have been having a horrible time getting off the pot. I'm not particularly achy, except for my hands and wrists, but I just can't move. It feels like I'm cast in concrete.
The weather was, frankly, awful. It was still sleeting when I went off to church this morning, and I think it either sleeted or, occasionally, snowed for the rest of the day, although there wasn't any more accumulation. The temperature was between 32º and 35º all day, and the humidity was over 95%. There was almost no wind. It was dark and dull and cloudy all day. Horrible.
The guys reacted a usual - they slept. Grayson slept on me when I would let him. Louie tried a couple of times to sit on me, but he didn't try very hard, and he didn't get any lap time.
So that was my Easter Day, very quiet. Now it's a cool, foggy evening in the field, but they claim tomorrow will be better (weatherwise, of course - today is the best day of all).
Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
March 26 Late again. I was reading again. I finished Special Forces and started on the sequel, so I was quite late. I was so tired that I fell asleep without the pillow, and I couldn't remember if I finished my prayers or not. I got up around 11:30, I think, and I knitted two rows. These were busy rows, with pattern on both sides, and besides, I had to move all the sanity markers, so it took me a while.
I went to the post office, where there was surprisingly little mail, but we're in between seasons now and there aren't many catalogs. I didn't stop at the store, because Kelly couldn't tell me if there was a package or not. I'll probably have to stop tomorrow, though, because I would like to have the DVDs, but we'll see. Maybe Monday.
The weather was nasty. It sleeted most of the day, until late in the afternoon when it turned to snow for a while before going back to sleet. The temperature was 34º all day, and the humidity was close to 100%. Nasty. I was most surprised that my joints weren't too sore, so evidently I still don't understand what makes me sore. Anyway, I was sorry to have to go out.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me several times, although as usual, when I twitched, he got up and went away. Louie got a little lap time, but not very much, because he wanted to stomp on me rather than sit down comfortably.
So it was a very quiet day, and I'm off to try to get to bed at an early hour so I can get up tomorrow. It's a dark, cloudy, snowy or rainy night in the field. Yuck.
March 25 - Good Friday I was late again, but this time it was because I was reading, and then I had a yucky accident, and I had to clean that up. I didn't get up until after noon, but I got my sleep.
I immediately got at the part of the shawl that I'd screwed up and got it back together. It still doesn't look very good, but that's because I pulled the threads while I was reknitting the rows. It's impossible to avoid doing that, and I will just have to work at it until I get things back to sort of normal. Then i did two rows. They were all knitting except for the very edges, but there are so many stitches that it took a long time - too long for me to get to the post office. I did go out to get my Schwan's order, but only to the end of the road.
I had had another accident right before I went out, so when I got home I changed what needed to be changed even before I put my frozen stuff away. Now I have everything I need for the next few weeks.
I ate my first meal so late that I wasn't very hungry, so for the first time in a long time, I didn't have fish on Friday. Tomorrow. I ate late and not very much. I didn't get to church, either, since I was so late.
The weather was all right. It was sunny, but the sky was white, from very high, wispy clouds and it clouded up late in the afternoon. The high temperature was 39º, for three hours this afternoon. There wasn't a lot of wind except for a couple of hours early in the afternoon. Then it went calm. I guess there may be some nastiness headed our way for the next two days - rain and snow and sleet or something, but we'll see how it works out.
The guys slept. Grayson wanted to sit on me all afternoon and he wanted whatever I was eating, except that he didn't. I guess he just wanted to know what it was. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, when he wanted to be petted when I wanted to do my knitting.
So it was another very quiet day, and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
March 24 - Maundy Thursday Late again, but not nearly as late as the night before. I had to wash my hair, and of course, I sat staring at the floor for a good while before I did that. I got up around 11:30, I think.
I knitted, and I have a real mess now, where I goofed yesterday, but I think I can repair it without ripping out 10 rows, including the nupp row. I am determined not to rip again. So we'll see how it goes.
I didn't make it to church, although I originally planned to go. When the time came, I just didn't feel good enough to go, so I stayed home. I'm sorry about that, but that's the way it is. Not that they needed me in the choir or anything, since it was a combined service and there are only sopranos in the other choir.
Otherwise, I didn't do very much at all, except that I got the south end shawl straightened around and on the right needle and I did some more work on it.
The weather started out cloudy and dull, but by 1:00 it was beginning to clear up, and the late afternoon was beautifully clear and blue. The temperature was nearly steady right around freezing, plus or minus a degree or two. There was some wind from the east, with gusts up to 21 mph. It was so nice to see the sun, and so nice for my depleted gas stores. The temperature in the studio got up to 76º, and I was hot.
The guys were mostly sleepy. Grayson got some loving, but Louie jumped onto my lap and then got right off, for some reason. They are just happy when I don't go away.
So that was a very quiet, truncated day, and I'm tired enough that I plan to go to bed early tonight (but you know about my plans). Now it's a clear, cold night in the field.
March 23 Oh, I went into zombie mode last night, and it was ridiculously late before I got to bed. I was only up once, and I think I got up around 11:30. Not enough sleep, but oh, well. I can actually see better right after I get up if I don't have enough sleep, oddly enough. My eye muscles haven't had time to completely relax, I guess.
I knitted four rows, which made me very late, but I wanted to get as far beyond the nupps as I could. They went well, although when I inspected what I'd done, I discovered that I had dropped one wrap on one nupp. I will repair that when I get to it - it's marked. Now I only have 60 rows left on the body of this shawl, and only one more nupp row to go. That will take me a while, of course, but I'm beginning to see the end.
Last night, when I was reading and knitting, I had the connector come off one end of the cable on the needle I was using. This has happened to me with any number of KnitPicks interchangeable needle cables, and it really annoys me. They always replace them, but still. It shouldn't happen. I began to try to recover, but it's going to mean slipping those 252 stitches several times to get onto a new cable and get back to where I was when it happened. Because of the way the shawl is constructed, I can't just knit from one needle to the other, so it will be a while before I get back to real knitting. Grr.
I didn't do much of anything today, but I did cook a bit. I made barbequed pork chops. That seems to be my pork recipe of choice these days, but I had the other one so long that I'm not in any hurry to go back to it. I'm still fiddling with the recipe, and this time it came out a bit better than last. I used less water, and there was much less sauce and it was less runny. I used a bit more chili powder and pepper, too, and a bit less sugar, so it turned out less sweet (it's sweet-sour) and a bit spicier. It was good. I still wish pork was a bit more fatty, but that's because it was when I was growing up, and it's much juicier that way.
I didn't go to chapel until after the talking was over with, because it was communion. Dean Grime preached another good sermon, and he officiated, too. There is communion tomorrow, too, because it's Maundy Thursday, and I'll be interested to see how they do it. I think I will be going to church tomorrow night, where we will have communion, too, but we'll see how things work out.
The camera shot the moon this morning, and even though I haven't set up any gallery pages for this year (and I won't do it tonight - it takes too long), I just had to share the picture with you. I don't think I've taken any more spectacular ones. So that is what the full Paschal moon looks like. The camera hung up late this afternoon, so we didn't get to see much of sunset.
The weather started out nice, but after noon it clouded up. It was a bit windy overnight, but there was hardly any wind today. The high temperature was 33º. It has been much less humid for the past couple of days, and my body is feeling much better, and I'm having much less trouble getting up from sitting. So I guess it's cool dampness that causes the problem, although I'm sure the barometric pressure has something to do with it.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, and Louie tried, but just as he did, I was trying to pay some bills, and I just had to dump him. Sorry, Lulu. Maybe later.
So that was another quiet day, and now it's a cloudy, cold night in the field.
March 22 I was later than I wanted to be last night, too, and I don't remember why. I think I did spend some time staring at the floor, and it's so hard for me to get up off the pot that I have the tendency to just sit. However, once I got to sleep, I did well, 10 hours with only one wakeup. I got up around 10:30.
I knitted four rows. It took me a long time, but it puts me back where I was when I goofed, so tomorrow I can try those rows with the nupps again.
I was late and hungry when I finally had my breakfast, and I was just finishing when I got a call from the dealership saying that my car was ready. Wow, that was faster than I thought it would be. They hadn't changed the oil, though, so I had them do that.
I forgot that I wanted to stop at the bank on my way south, and then I had an accident that meant I had to change my undies before I could change my pants (I was wearing sweats) so I got away later than I intended, but it turned out all right. The total price was a bit less than I thought, too, although they add some stuff in at the end that jacks it up. The transmission itself was $1800, but it didn't take them as long as they quoted to change it in. So I now have my own wheels back, but I'm poor again. It's good that Social Security day is tomorrow, or I'd overdraw my checking account. At least it's over with, and the car is in good shape again, although they pointed out that I probably need a new air filter. Why they didn't just change it, I don't know. I will have to ask them the next time I take the car in for service. I had to get gas - I didn't even try to go to my usual station - so I got home around 5:30, and I didn't eat until around 10:00. Obviously, most of my body isn't on Daylight Savings Time.
The weather was nondescript. It was dark and cloudy all day, and there were some snow flurries down around Calumet. The high temperature here was 35º, briefly, but it was over freezing for most of the afternoon. There wasn't very much wind. Yuck. However, when I came back to the studio with my dinner, the almost-full moon was shining brightly in one of the east windows, so it has cleared up some. With all the moonshine, there won't be many stars, but it will be a bright night.
The guys were mostly sleepy. Grayson got some lap time. Louie spit up a huge wad of blue plastic bag - I didn't know there were any blue plastic bags around, but I guess that's what the paper comes in, and he must have eaten it while I was someplace else. I'm glad it came up, even though it was on the kitchen floor. I wish there was some way to talk him out of eating that stuff.
So that was my day. I am glad to have my own wheels back. I could probably get used to that Traverse, but I don't like it very well. It did have more leg room than my car does, and my legs felt really cramped when I got back into mine. I've coped with that for 15 years, so I guess I can get used to it again. I was glad to get the rest of it back. Now it's an apparently clear, cold night in the field and the Paschal moon will keep things bright.
March 21 Well, i didn't get to bed quite as early as I hoped last night. Windows Backup took it into its head to do a complete backup, and I decided to try to let it go. However, I ran out of DVDs and eventually had to stop it anyway. Grr. That is a total abortion of a program, and I wish I could find another one that would do what I want it to. It's times like this when I wish I had kept up my plan to learn C+. I never coded just for the fun of it, but when I had a task to perform, I could go at it nonstop. However, that was 20 years ago now, and I doubt I could even code Fortran or Basic (if that's still used) anymore, and Fortran was my native tongue.
Anyway, it was about 10:30 when I turned out the light and it wasn't until I turned over a bit after 11:00 that I got to sleep. I was up several times, of course, but I ended up not getting up until 10:00. The previous time I was up was 7:00, and that was clearly too early.
I had an appointment with Johanna at 11:00, which I certainly wasn't going to get to, so I called her, and then I proceeded to do all my surfing, so it was after 1:00 when I finally ate for the first time. I can do that, but I was getting pretty queasy before I did. I have hypoglycemia, and not eating for too long gives me a tummy ache and makes me nauseous and headachy.
Then I went to chapel. I am interested in this week. Evidently, at least for today and tomorrow, they are reading the Passion story, with some acting. There is a narrator and the voices are read by other people. And Dean Grime gave a very nice homily. I'm excited to see what the rest of the week will be, although there isn't any chapel on Friday. They get four days off for Easter, and there is no chapel when there are no classes.
Tonight I finally made rice, although I won't get it packaged up tonight. It's time. I have finally gotten all my probiotics and my psillium, but I need the rice to get things back under control.
The weather was a bit nicer than they forecast. The high temperature during the day was 30º, but that was at 8:00 this morning, and it was around 28º all day. There wasn't much wind. It was sort of cloudy this morning. I woke up around the time the moon was setting to see it peeking through the clouds over Porter Island, so pretty! It cleared up around 11:00, and the afternoon was beautifully clear until around 4:00, when it began to get cloudy again, and it was all clouded over by sunset. I guess it might snow a little tomorrow, but it shouldn't be more than a flurry or two. After all, this is still March.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got quite a lot of lap time, but I haven't seen Louie yet.
I got the dishwasher loaded and almost ready to wash tonight. I was determined that I wouldn't wait until it was so overloaded this time, and it isn't. Things will wash better this way.
Now it's a cold, cloudy night in the field, and I won't be late. Really. I won't.
March 20 - Palm Sunday & Spring Equinox I think I've slipped over the edge. I always said I'd know I was old when I could fall asleep in my chair. Well, this afternoon, I was so sleepy, and it was too late to lie down, so I leaned back in my chair - and I think I fell asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep, and it only lasted 45 minutes or so, but still. I slept in my chair. Sigh. Now I'm officially an old lady. When I do that every day, then I'll be a really old lady.
I was tired for a number of reasons. It was a bit after 10:00 before I got to bed, and I had a restless night. I did sleep, but I was up several times, and I woke up around 6;15 and realized that I couldn't wait to get up until the alarm went off. So I didn't get nearly my whole quota of sleep. Then it was so humid that I hurt all over and it was almost impossible for me to stand up in church, so I expended a lot of effort there.
But from the beginning.
I got off to church a bit later than I wanted, as usual, but the road, at least going south, was good, so I was only a few minutes later than I wanted to be. Church was good. I love all the Palm Sunday hymns and we sang two good anthems. It was Matins, but we sang so much that we were late anyway. Pastor loves to sing.
Then I had to get gas. I was down to an eighth of a tank. So I went to my usual station, the one where I get a break from shopping at Pat's. Well. The one pump where there was no ice was broken, so I tried another one, and it was so icy that I knew there was no way I could get back into my car - if I could have gotten out of it. This car is a real trial for me to get into and out of, which is, I think, the main reason I would never buy one. More about that later. So I had to go around to the BP station closer to Pat's. Gas was the same price - $2.099, and I wasn't going to waste my Pat's discount on a rental car. It was a bit icy there, too, but not as bad and I was able to clear most of the slush beside my car. I did find a slightly safer way of getting in, by putting my right foot completely into the car. It's very difficult for me to raise my leg that far, but by working on it, I got in, and it doesn't put as much pressure on having a good surface for my left foot.
The one weird thing that happened today was the temperature. When I was driving south to church, the temperature was in degrees Fahrenheit, but when i got in after church, it had changed to Celsius - and I swear, I didn't put my finger on any buttons! I don't have any idea how to change it back, even though I searched through the menu items when I got home. I did get the clock reset, but that's not a big thing because the time display is so small it's hard to read. I am getting the idea that the people who designed this car are very young and smitten with radio and the Internet. At least they have neglected or trashed some things that are very important to the rest of us.
The trip home was a bit more difficult. The down-bound lanes of the covered road were clear, but the up-bound lanes still had ice on them, even though there were two tire tracks that were ice-free in most spots. I got home around 1:30, and I was already exhausted.
I was also so sore that I could hardly move at all. I think it was the humidity, but I don't know. It's gotten less humid as the day went on, and I'm moving a tad more freely now. Not a lot, but a little. So I spent the rest of the afternoon in my chair at the computer. Mostly I read, but I got the body of the Ojo de Dios shawl picked up and i knitted one row. The next row is "yo, K2 tog" across, and since I was reading, it would be hard to do that, and besides, my hands were - are - sore.
Then I got so sleepy that I was tempted to go up to the north end and lie down, but it was already 5:00 and that was too late. So I sat back with my head on the back of the chair - and I think I feel asleep. I only dozed, and I woke up several times, but I think I more or less slept for about 45 minutes. I woke up with my mouth hanging open (another sign of getting old), and it was so dry I immediately had to drink water. So I've slipped over. I'm old. Sigh.
The weather wasn't too bad. The high temperature here was 35º, briefly, and it was around 33º or 34º for most of the day, at least here. It was colder in town. There wasn't much wind. It was very humid this morning, though. The camera hung up twice, once at the beginning of the day and again late in the afternoon, so I had to reboot. It seems to have been relatively clear in the morning, then it clouded up in the afternoon. When I woke up around 6:00, it had cleared up almost completely, and now it's lovely, although the wind is a bit gusty.
The guys slept. Grayson sat on me for a while, and then he moved over under the south windows and went to sleep there. Louie came around about the time I woke up, but he stomped on my legs so hard I had to send him away. Grayson discovered the palm leaves I brought home and immediately began to chew on them. I hoped he would. He pulled them out of my bag, too. Cats thing everything of mine is theirs.
So that was my day, and even though it's early, I'm going to bed. I am so tired, and I think I'm supposed to see Johanna tomorrow. If I get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight - and I think I will, or I'll fall asleep wherever I am - I should get up in time to get to her house by 11:00. Or I hope so.
Now it's a cool, mostly sunny evening in the field, and I can hardly keep my eyes open.
March 19 I was late last night, but nothing like the night before. I was awake around 6:00, and Jupiter was shining brightly low in the west as it began to get light. So pretty! I got up around 10:30, which wasn't nearly enough sleep, but maybe I can get to bed early tonight.
I knitted, but only two rows, in part because I was so late and in part because I had some repair work to do. I think everything is back together now, although some of the holes are bigger than I would like. I'm not happy with my knitting on the whole project, so a few more bad spots won't hurt much.
The task of the day was to go to the post office, but I had the worst accident I think I have ever had. I won't go into the gory details, but I had to hose myself off in the shower to get cleaned up. It was horrible. So I washed three pairs of jeans. Luckily, I have four pairs.
I had a bill to send, so Ron and I had a nice talk and I got a bunch of the end-of-month and beginning-of-month bills. Shudder. I think things will be OK, however, and I got a wonderful contribution from one of my faithful readers. I am so grateful! All of you help me keep going with this enterprise.
After I finished my surfing, I sort of sat around until I got sleepy, so then I went back to reading (First, again) and I finished knitting the last triangle on the Ojo de Dios shawl and started picking up the stitches for the body. I do not like how this thing is coming out. It needs a narrow border on the bottom, but I don't know if I will have enough yarn for it. The yarn is still available, but there's always the dye lot problem. In fact, it's on sale at least one place, but again, there's the dye lot problem. I don't like the yarn and I don't like the pattern very well, but the colors are scrumptious, so I will plug on.
The weather was cold but oh, so pretty. The high temperature was 31º and there was almost no wind. It was sort of cloudy at sunrise, but by 9:30 it began to clear up and the afternoon was wonderful, with blue skies and lots of sunshine. In fact, there was so much sunshine that it is 76º in the studio, and I'm a little warm. I can stand that. There are a few clouds in the southwest now, but it's still clear and pretty.
The guys slept. Grayson got a little lap time, but I haven't seen Louie since I left the bathroom to get dressed the first time.
Even though the temperature was below freezing, there was so much sunshine that the road is in pretty good shape and there was some running water on the hill, and evidently there was some snow on the roof of my bedroom which melted, too. Spring will come! Actually, it comes at around 12:30 EDT tomorrow morning, by the sun, although I don't think meteorological spring comes to Keweenaw until at least the first of April, maybe later.
Our days are just a little longer than 12 hours now and they are getting longer at the rate of 3m26s a day, about as fast as they ever do. That's 21 minutes a week, which is nice. The sun is now 42º above the horizon at noon, which means it isn't shining in my eyes while I surf, if I get up early enough. The only thing that concerns me a bit is that the Weather Underground's long-term forecast says that it will be warmer than average over the summer. I hope that's just for most of the northern tier of states and it won't affect us, but one never knows. What we like in the winter isn't so nice in the summer. On the other hand, maybe I can open up the house and leave it that way, which I haven't been able to do for quite a few years.
So now it's time to totter off to the north end and try to get to bed early so I can go off to church and sing tomorrow. It's a clear, cool evening in the field.
March 18 So I pulled an all-nighter last night. There was no reason; I just didn't move. I didn't get up until 1:30, which was already too late to think about going to the post office, so I knitted instead. I only did two rows, and I dropped something at the beginning of the first row, but fortunately it was in a fairly easy part of the row, so I managed to get it back together. The rest went well, but I didn't want to do four rows, because I was beginning to get pretty hungry.
I didn't do anything other than my surfing. I was going to make rice, but time passed and I didn't. Maybe tomorrow, depending upon what I decide to eat.
The weather was beautiful but cold. The high temperature was 30º (if you don't count midnight) and there was an east wind that was rather strong overnight and not very during the day. The clouds rolled away by about 2:00, and the rest of the afternoon was clear and blue. So nice to look at - or sleep in, if you're a cat.
And they did just that. Grayson got some lap time. Louie has been eating plastic bags and giving it up later, so I hope I have hidden the bags well enough that he can't do that anymore. I don't think they're good for him. I guess it comes from not having any grass to eat. He has been keeping himself fairly clean lately, and he's shedding, so I'm sure he's eating a ton of fur. I have never had good luck trying to grow cat grass, or I'd try it. And I'm not going to sacrifice a ponytail palm. I tried that, too, and it didn't work.
So it was a quiet day, and I will go to bed earlier tonight, but I only finished my dinner at 10:00, so I want to digest a bit. Now it's a clear, cold night in the field. I expect to see stars, but not a lot, because the moon is almost full.
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day I know, I'm not Irish (except for a very little bit of Orangeman), but St. Patrick was a formidable Christian and he did good work. I'm sure he would not like being venerated any more than any other real saint would. And I'm sure he'd shake his head at some of the shenanigans that happen in his name.
This was not a very good day, although it was better than last Thursday, and it ended well. I was late getting to bed last night, but not as late as the night before. When I finally woke up the second time, the clock was blinking. What? Another power failure? Geez! It was 10:45, I found when I got to the bathroom and looked at my calculator-clock.
I started out to knit the row with the nupps, and about 100 stitches in, I dropped a stitch, and before I could catch it, it had raveled back 7 or 8 rows. I tried to fix it, but it was in the middle of the pattern, and I just couldn't, so I ripped, 10 rows before I was done. Oh, how I hate to do that, especially when each row has over 400 stitches in it! I picked up on the ninth row, and then I had to unknit the tenth row to make sure I had all the stitches. Fortunately those two rows were the ones that are mostly all knitting, but still. And then I knit those last two rows back up to make sure everything was right and replace all the markers (about 40). I was getting pretty hungry before I was done.
I had a large breakfast/lunch/whatever, which was good. I had a yen for pork sausage and scrambled eggs, and I had a lot of sausage, since I bought a lot the last time I shopped, and what I had was getting old. It was still good, though, although I was surprised by how salty it tasted. I eat so little salt that I'm very sensitive to it, and it never ceases to amaze me how much there is in most prepared food.
When I got to the studio with my nice breakfast, I discovered that the computer had shut down after the power failure. I guess it was because it detected that it had not shut down properly twice in a row, but I was annoyed. Not that there was much to see in the way of pictures during the day. They all would have shown the same gray view. But of course, I had to wait until it rebooted and got itself situated, which takes several minutes. And Norton is sort of screwed up again.
Anyway, I waited too long and had a messy accident, so I changed my bottoms, but I had run out of incontinence pads, so I had to go out to the breezeway to get a new package - and I had another accident! Geez!! So now there are two pairs of jeans that need to be washed. I was not pleased.
I was a little later than I should have been getting away to go to choir practice, but it felt good to be going again. I realized that I was really late when I saw the road from the Mountain Lodge south. It was horrible! We didn't have much snow at all down here, but it was clear that there was a whole lot in the "higher elevations," and the road was a mess. They had spread a little sand and salt in some spots, but not on all the curves, so it was a very slow drive. I might have gone faster in my own vehicle, but I did not want to put my nice new loaner car in a ditch! So I was a tad later getting to church than I intended.
When I got down about Kearsarge, I realized that they had gotten hammered, and Pastor said there was 13.5" of snow by this morning. Wow! Double wow! Most of the old snow had melted, but the piles are really high around the parking lot again. The only thing is, with DST, it's light when I get to church, which is very nice.
I had wondered why Barbara wasn't in church on Sunday (we had only three sopranos!) and I found out. She had been helping her daughter unload her car on Thursday when she slipped and fell and hit her back on the edge of a cement step and broke some ribs. Ow! Double ow! She is still in pain, but they gave her some meds. There's not much anybody can do about ribs but let them heal. They used to wrap them, but according to Nancy, our nurse, then people got pneumonia, which makes sense, if you can't breathe deeply. Anyway, she is ambulatory again, although some of the stuff they gave her to take spaces her out a bit.
We had a good, if long, practice. There are five services between now and a week from Sunday and we don't practice again, so we had a lot of stuff to go through, and Pastor threw a couple of new things at us again, including a descant to "I Know that My Redeemer Lives." It's pretty, but I wish we had more time to practice it. I won't go to all the services next week, but it's all right because both choirs sing at the mid-week ones. I think I will go on Thursday, but we'll see. They are having communion, and I always like to go to communion on Maundy Thursday. We'll see.
Then I had to drive home. I don't know exactly when I left Laurium, but it was 9:45 before I pulled into the garage. Again, I had to drive slowly, because I want to preserve the car, but I doubt I would have gone much faster in my own car. It was just ugly out there.
Grayson was waiting when I came in, but when I opened the door, he ran in the other direction. I guess his night out has recalled to his mind that he doesn't want to be out there. He did come and get petted.
So that was my day. In spite of how late I was, I did manage to get my surfing done before I left, which is good, so I can go to bed any time now, as soon as I publish this.
The weather was sort of blah. The high temperature for the 24 hours was 36º at 10:00. It was colder for most of the day, and below freezing for much of the afternoon. The wind was strong overnight, with gusts up to 37 mph at 8:00 AM, but it died down later to almost nothing. The lake is singing again, though, and the gusts are up to 24 mph at 11:00 PM. It's supposed to be colder tomorrow, but there isn't any more precip until maybe next week sometime. When I saw how much snow they had in Laurium, I was ever more grateful to be living here. I will have to tell Ron.
As far as I know, the guys slept. They both got some pets, but I don't recall anybody being on my lap, not that I had a ready lap very much.
So that was my day, and now it's a dark, cloudy and breezy night in the field.
March 16 Ooh, early night tonight! Last night was not. I started reading George and I just kept on until I finished what I'd written. It's a neat story. So I was very late, after I spent a long time staring at the floor in the bathroom.
One reason for that is that lately, with the cool temps and the high humidity, my knees have been horrible, and it's very hard for me to get up off the toilet. It turns out to be easier in the powder room, because there is a window sill about two feet from the floor, but the sill in the bathroom is much higher, and I can't use it the way I used to. I have an idea, but it involves the two-step ladder, which I put in the car when I thought I might have to get into a tow truck. And the car is in Calumet.
Speaking of that, they finally called me today. Evidently, my attempts to get out of various snowbanks finally fried and fused the clutches, so the current transmission is so much junk. I figured that. I'm not sure when I will get the car back but it will probably be sometime next week. Not a problem; the current vehicle is quite adequate for my use, but I wish I had that step stool. Well, next week, and I haven't gotten permanently stuck on the pot yet.
I was very late getting to bed, and the first time I woke up, the clocks were blinking. I knew there was a storm on the way, and I could tell that the wind was strong before I went to bed, but at this late date, I didn't expect a power glitch. That was about 8:30, I think. I set the clock in the bedroom, just for sanity's sake, and I went back to sleep. I got up around 11:30. That wasn't nearly enough sleep, but oh, well. I knitted four rows again, but I don't think I will tomorrow, because the first row is the row with the nupps, and those two rows take forever.
When I got to the studio, the computer had come up nicely, thankfully. Of course, all the apps I have open had shut down - except for the camera - and that's a pain, but there don't seem to be any other problems. My only other problem is that LiveStream is apparently still having difficulties, and I can't stream the chapel service, which I was looking forward to. It was a disappointment, but those things happen.
While I was knitting, Marcy called me to tell me that they had decided to cancel church tonight. I was a bit surprised, but evidently the storm is hitting Hubbell (it's at St. John tonight) harder than it has here - or maybe they panicked, I don't know. Anyway, I wasn't planning to go, but it was interesting. Based on the weather forecasts, I wonder about choir tomorrow, but we really need to practice, since next week is Holy Week and there is a lot of music. I need to practice, since I've missed two practices already, and there is one piece for Sunday that Pastor hadn't decided which setting to use the last time I was there. Well, we can wing it if we have to. At least I can sight read pretty well.
I was late enough that I didn't do much. Other than not being able to stream chapel, everything else worked well, so I did my surfing, although I wasn't through when the talking started.
As I suggested, the weather was lousy. It was just windy and very cloudy when I was up the first time, but when I got up again, the snow was coming down thick and fast. I hate it when the bad forecasts are right. It was clear, though, that the snow was extremely wet, because the screens on the east side were covered with raindrops. The lake is singing loudly, but the wind hasn't been as strong as they were predicting. The high temperature for the day was at 2:00 AM, and it was about steady at 34º all afternoon. The snow or sleet was wet enough to register at the weather station, and we've had 0.73" of liquid precip, starting sometime when the power was out (between 6:00 and 9:00, apparently). The wind was from the east, and it was strong, with sustained winds around 15 mph and gusts up to 32 mph, although that didn't last long, and most of the gusts have been in the upper 20s. It was cloudy and dark and dull and it was a good day to stay in and ignore all that. While there was a lot of precip, most of it melted, so there isn't very much new on the ground, thankfully. Yuck.
The guys mostly slept, but Grayson spent some time on my lap. Louie wanted to play a bit this morning, but not a lot. Mostly he wanted to go after Grayson, which Grayson didn't appreciate, since he wanted to sleep.
So it was another quiet day. I have to wash my hair tonight, whether or not I go out tomorrow. I don't think I'll be up very long, or I hope not. Now it's a dark, windy, snowy night in the field. Yuck. I hoped we were over all that.
March 15 Eek, the Ides of March! Didn't bother me.
I think it was a little before 1:00 when I turned out the light last night, and I slept well, although I had to turn onto my right side in order to do it. I was up twice, and I got up around 9:30. I could have slept longer, but I knew if I went back to bed it would probably be after noon before I got up. I was early enough that I knitted four rows, which was nice. I still have 70 rows or more, plus the top border, to do, so there is no way it will be done by Easter. Serves me right for getting into such a huge project.
It's going to be pretty, but I was looking at the bottom of the central diamond and I found a place where I goofed. Since it was only 50 or 60 rows into the pattern, there is no way I'm going to rip back and fix it, so I'll just have to hope nobody looks at it as carefully as I did.
I didn't do a lot. I had an accident and had to clean up after that, and I knitted on the south end shawl while the talking was going on. I have only one more triangle to go, and I'm working on that, and then I can pick up for the body and knit for a long time. The colors are pretty, but there are a lot of things about the pattern that I don't like. I don't have much hope that I'll have enough yarn to put a narrow border around the bottom, which will mean that it won't be even and it will curl. A lot. Well, the colors are nice.
The weather was not very good. The high temperature was 42º but only briefly, and there was almost no wind. The humidity was over 85% all day, and there was fog at times, especially late this afternoon. Otherwise, it was cloudy and dull. Yuck.
The guys slept. They both got some extended lap time. I noticed a couple of days ago that they have both started their spring shedding. It must have something to do with the amount of light, because it sure hasn't been warm enough. Grayson got a good brushing yesterday and Louie got his today, although Louie was lying on his left side, so I didn't get that. I did get a huge glob of fur out of him, though, all that undercoat that is as soft as cashmere. Maybe I should try to get somebody to spin it into lace yarn for me. It wouldn't be very pretty, though, because I have both their fur mixed together, so it would be white and tan and gray, all mixed up together. Fortunately, they will both tolerate getting brushed, provided they are sitting on my lap and I use a hair brush. They don't like combs and they don't like cat brushes.
I forgot to mention that the seminary is back in session, so there are chapel services again. There was a problem with LiveStream today (that's what they use for their streams) and I didn't get to watch today's service until after the talking was over. It still feels good to go to church every day, and I've heard some very fine sermons.
So now it's time to go to bed again, although I may read for a little while and listen to La Mer. While Debussy isn't in my top tier of favorite composers, I like some of his work, including that one.
Now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field, and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
March 14 Today is pi day, the last one for this century. Pi day? Oh - 3.14.16. Cool, eh? Actually, pi is 3.1415926536, and yes, I did commit it to memory when I was a teenager. I have a big "G" on my forehead, for "geek." Anyway, it's a neat numerology day.
I'm having my usual problems with DST. I got to bed around 1:15 EDT, and I slept well, with only one wakeup, until 8:45. I decided I should get up then, but when I started knitting, it was clear that I should go back to bed, so I did, and I didn't get up until 12:30. I felt much better then, and I knitted my two rows without much problem, although I did drop a couple of stitches, and it was slow going.
I was late enough that I didn't do anything else except for my surfing. That's the trouble with my weird hours. And I didn't start my dinner until 9:00 EDT. Either I'll get used to it or it will go away.
The weather was nondescript again. The high temperature was 42º and the low was 37º. There was no wind at all for the entire afternoon, but it was very humid, so we had some fog. Not nice. Not good for the joints, either.
The guys mostly slept. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't. Louie upchucked yesterday, but he seems to feel better today, or at least he was stalking a bird in the cedar this morning. Grayson is clearly bored out of his mind, but he'll just have to wait. Someday spring will come.
So that was a real nothing day, and now it's a dark, warmish, cloudy night in the field.
March 13 I actually got to bed at a reasonable hour last night - about 10:00 EDT (even though it wasn't yet). The sky was clear and there was a lovely thin crescent moon shining in my windows. It was lovely, but I didn't stay awake to admire it very much. I woke up around 6:15 EDT and I had to pee, so I didn't wait for the alarm to go off. Much as I dislike admitting it, that seems to be more like my normal period.
I wanted to be sure I left early enough, and since I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, I wanted to put my dirty dishes in it and start it this morning, so I actually was dressed early, but then I sat in the powder room and read, so I was late leaving and later than I wanted to be getting to church, but it didn't matter much.
Church was nice. There was communion and the choir sang a song we sang at the concert, so I was able to sing with them, which was a good thing, because Barbara wasn't there and we had only three sopranos. Fortunately, the song was in unison, but there were a couple of places where the women sang, and there were only four of us. I was glad I was there to help out. There was communion, so I was glad to be there for that, too. We prayed for Eleanor's family, and there are three other members of our two congregations who are apparently on their deathbeds, so we had special prayers for them, too.
I thought I might have to get gas for the loaner, but it didn't seem so, so i came right home and I had a quiet afternoon. I did get the last load of laundry done and it is in the dryer now. It has been so humid that things didn't dry out, and particularly, I had to wear some of my old and sort of small compression hose because all the pairs I washed yesterday still felt damp this morning. Ah, spring.
I had my usual DST/EST problems with the camera, but it seemed to shut down right tonight. I finally remembered that I wanted to download the system updates on the desktop, so that's done. However, i was reading Osara while it was going on, and when I finally finished, long after the updates and two reboots were done, Word had lost all the "ignore" items that I had in it because Word doesn't understand English, so I just finished putting everything back. I still wonder if the people who wrote the grammar checker have English as second language and never took a class in American English grammar. I know there is at least one newer version of Word than I have (maybe two, now) and I wonder if they've fixed any of that garbage. I would be willing to bet not.
The weather was nondescript. It was cloudy and dull all day, and the temperature varied between 41º and 43º all day. There was a bit of wind around noon, with gusts up to 29 mph from the south. Blah.
The guys were sleepy, but when I came in and started to take off my jacket, Grayson came running down the hall to see me. He got some lap time and so did Louie. Grayson thought he wanted some of my lamb chop, but when I finally broke down and gave him a piece, he tasted it and left it. That's the last time he gets any. I still say he really doesn't want any of my food, he only wants to know I'll give him some.
The lamb chop was pretty good, and I had a variation of what my mother always served with them - mashed potatoes with peas and corn. She left out the corn. It was a good dinner.
Now it's a dark, relatively warm night in the field, and I'm getting tired.
March 12 Ah, a nice quiet day!
I was later than I intended last night. I guess I was reading, and you know how that goes with me. It was 1:30 before I turned out the light, and then I got up around 8:30. That is just not enough sleep for me, and I was falling asleep not long after noon. I knitted, but only two rows. I wish I could do more, but I don't want to spend the time in the morning.
Today was washday, but I only got two loads done. There was a big load of bottoms and a smaller load of tops (and socks) and the white stuff will just have to wait until tomorrow, because I'm going to bed. We go on DST tomorrow, darn it, and I will have to get up very early.
Now that I have wheels again, I am going to church. There is communion tomorrow, and I want to be there. I think I can sing, too, unless Pastor has changed his mind about what we're going to sing.
I hate DST. It is just so stupid. Besides, I never get used to it, and it messes up what little I have left of a normal cycle.
Except to wash clothes, I didn't do a lot. I wrote a bit more on the story, and I read a lot. I needed a day like this.
The weather today was remarkable, especially for March. It was clear and sunny all day, and oh, all that blue sky and blue water! There was a little ice in front of the house this morning, but now it's all down across from the culverts and it's melting fast. The high temperature, 53º, was between 10:00 and noon, and then it dropped off a bit. It was only around 45º all afternoon, and it has just dropped again, to under 40º. I should point out that the average high temperature for this day is 24º. Wow. The wind was around 10 mph from the north for most of the day, but just now it switched all the way around to the south. I doubt that will hold up. Anyway, it was a beautiful day, and all that sunshine was a whole lot of free heat. It got up to 77º in the studio, and it's nearly as warm in the rest of the house. I'm sweating.
I mentioned last night that Grayson was out in the breezeway. Sometime during the evening, Louie came in and stomped on me, and then he talked at me before he went away. When I went through the kitchen and looked out into the hallway, Grayson was sitting upright right at the door looking in with big eyes and Louie was sitting inside, waiting. I opened the door and Grayson came right in, then Louie was happy and went away. Grayson was very grateful, which he told me by chirping (he has a very cute chirp) and trying to get as close to me as he could so I would pet him. Little snot. Maybe that will satisfy him for a while and he won't try to get out again. They slept today. Grayson was somewhere around me all day, but I haven't seen Louie. I think perhaps he's asleep in the window seat in the bedroom. He would sleep there all the time if it didn't get so cold in the winter.
So that was my nice quiet day, and now it's time to totter up to the north end and get ready for tomorrow. It will be an early morning, so I might as well get started on it as soon as I can. It's a clear, warmish night in the field. There should be stars, but I said that last night, too, and there weren't very many.
March 11 This was a much nicer day than yesterday, I'm happy to report.
It was before 11:00 when I went to bed, and there weren't any stars out, but when I was up around 4:00, there were. Jupiter was over in the west. It's in Leo, which is my sign, but I had a hard time tracing his head. And either Vega or Altair, I'm not sure which, was just rising over the garage. It wasn't exceptionally clear, but it was nice to see stars. I got up at 8:00. I didn't want to, and I had a bad sinus headache - a seasonal problem for me. I got right dressed and ate breakfast, then I made some phone calls.
The guy who was going to extract the car from the snowbank didn't leave Hancock until around 9:30, but it apparently didn't take him any time at all to pull the car up to the parking lot by the gate. He is a nice guy, and I would definitely use him again. Some people just don't seem to understand that you catch more flies - and customers - with honey than you do with vinegar.
I was up at the north end knitting when he came, but when he was gone, I came back to the studio and wrote for a while. There is an episode of the current story that I've been thinking about for a while that I wanted to get down, and also I finally decided what to call various groups of special forces and their commanders, so I wanted to make all those changes. Then I went back up to the north end and knitted some more. It was so nice to have time to knit again, but this is the last day I will be doing four rows, I think. I have around 430 stitches on the needle, and it takes me 20 minutes to do a plain knitted row. It's a shame, because it's going to take me even longer to finish this thing, but I've been putting around 2 hours into it and that's too long. It's not good for my hands, either.
Anyway, while I was knitting, I began getting calls from a strange 800 number, but when I got back to the studio, they had left a message and it was AAA. I had to call them again this morning to dispatch the guy to come and cart the car away, and I let fly about all the problems I had yesterday. The person I talked to today took notes, and I got at least three return calls to make sure that everything was all right. At the time they called, it wasn't, but they didn't retrieve the car until after 3:00, because it was still there when Ron came home.
He picked me up and ferried me down to the dealership. It was so nice of him. I hate to tell him that his car needs new shocks and struts. I'm sure he knows that. It made me appreciate my rather stiff suspension even more. The car was there when we got there, so that's all right.
I have, in my garage, an almost new Chevy Traverse. I'm impressed that they would lend me something like that, but they treat it like a no-cost rental car. Their idea was that they wanted me to have something that I could get up and down our road in, and I really appreciate that. If I was ever in the market for a new car - fat chance - I would definitely give that dealer high priority, because they've been very good to me. As to the Traverse, it's OK, and if they'd give me an even trade, I'd take it, provided they took out the back seats. It's set up to hold 8 people, with a third set of seats, which I will never need, and that leaves almost no room for cargo. I went right to Pat's after i got it and we almost couldn't get everything in the back. It also has poor visibility in the rear, which I don't like. And there is a button on the steering wheel that, every time I hit it, throws me back to XM radio and some horrible station I don't want - apparently there is a station that plays Springsteen all the time. I can handle a small amount of Springsteen, but I wanted to listen to NPR-ATC at that point, and it drove me nutty before I finally figured out what was going on.
On the other hand, they have finally - FINALLY!!! - put the cruise control controls on the steering wheel, like the Ford products have had for a long time. It took me some fiddling to figure out how to use them, but they're really nice. One of the nicest things is that there is big button right by my thumb that take me out of cruise, so I don't have to hit the brake pedal. That's cool.
Oh, yes, and it's very difficult for me to get into. The seat is nearly as high off the ground as in my car, but the door opening is much smaller, and every time I get in or out, I hit my head. It's a struggle to get in and get straightened around. On the other hand, they finally heard us, and there is a remarkable amount of leg room. If I wanted to, I could stretch my legs full out in front of me. I find I've gotten used to not doing that, though. And if I do that, the steering wheel is too far away.
Like I say, if they gave me an even trade, I'd take it, but I don't think I'd buy one. There are so many new models that it's good to be able to drive one for a while. And I figure it will be several days before I can get mine back. It sure is good to have wheels again, though! Now if I want to go someplace, I can.
I didn't get home until nearly 7:00, and then I had to unload the car and pack away the groceries before I could make my dinner. Dinner was nice, though, a lovely piece of fresh whitefish. My back was killing me before I was able to come down to the computer and sit.
While I was in the powder room, I looked at my newspaper, and I had a shock. My friend Eleanor, who was 94, died last Sunday. She was the oldest member of our congregation, and she was a wonderful person. I know she had been having a hard time of it over the winter, but she made it to church almost every Sunday, with Bettyann's help. Apparently she took a serious fall last week, and that was what did her in. I'm so sorry. She was so wonderful, and a real inspiration to me, but she had had a remarkably long and productive life, and she deserves her rest. I will miss her.
The weather was beautiful. It was almost clear all day, so there was a lot of sunshine and blue skies. The high temperature was 45º, which was a bit cooler than they forecast, but hey, in March, I'll take it. There was some wind from the southwest, with gusts up to 28 mph. Oh, I see. It's not the humidity, which was quite reasonable this afternoon, it's that the barometer is taking a dive. That's another thing that messes up my joints.
Louie and Grayson were confused again today because I didn't do what I usually do. When I got home, Grayson was looking out the door at me, and while I was bringing in the groceries, he ran out into the breezeway. He's still there. I left the door open while I was moving stuff - makes it much easier - and I invited him in a couple of time after that, but he wasn't having any, so I went about my business, and I almost forgot him until I was eating my fish and he wasn't here. I will have to try to remember to get him in before I go to bed. He hasn't done that in a while, and it isn't too cold out there tonight, so we'll see. I hope he understands that if he doesn't come in when I go up to the north end, he's out until tomorrow. Dumbshit.
Oh, and I nearly forgot. Ron brought my mail with him, and when I looked at it, there was an envelope from my secret supporter in Traverse City, and in the envelope was a large bill. I wish I knew who that was, so I could thank him (or her) properly. I don't know that I would send off an envelope with that much money in it and no return address. Anyway, you know who you are, and I thank you profusely. This car thing has trashed my budget plan for the year, and what you've sent will help keep the website and the camera up and running.
So that was a much nicer day than yesterday, and I'm tired. Now it's a windy night in the field, but it's quite warm for March and there should be stars.
March 10 Oh, my, what a horrible day!!
I called Debbie after I wrote last night, and that turned into the usual - 124 minutes. We haven't talked in a long time, though, and she had a lot to tell me. She has a job she likes better now, which I was relieved to hear, even though it doesn't use a fraction of her talents. Both her kids are shaping up and will start college in the fall, and that's good to hear, too. So it was a long conversation, but it was good to hear her voice again.
Then I had to wash my hair, so I didn't get to bed until midnight. As a result, I didn't get up until 8:00, and while I didn't knit or anything, it still took me a while to get to the studio and start making phone calls. Then I waited.
A few minutes before noon, I saw Ron going back toward his home, and he called to tell me that the tow truck was stuck halfway down the hill. I waited another hour, and then I decided to go see what was going on. The guy was still stuck. Then all hell broke loose. For some reason, I decided to back down the hill and go home, and since I couldn't see the road in any of my mirrors, I backed into a snowbank and of course I got stuck. In my attempt to get out, I lost the rest of my forward gears. So the car is sitting in a snowbank halfway up the hill from the culverts.
However, the guy in the tow truck winched himself out and went away, after assuring me that he would call another truck and I would be out of there in an hour or so. Yeah, right. Finally, around 5:00, Ron, who had left his car on this side of the culverts, came and helped me get out of my car and into his and get home. By that time, I had peed my pants badly, and I was not happy.
The towing service had left a message on my answering machine saying to call them when I could, and when I did, they said there was nothing they could do for me. They would not send another truck out, because the road was too bad. It turns out that AAA will not pay for extracting a car that is more than 50 feet from a county road, and of course, I was at least half a mile in. They did finally suggest another towing company that, while they don't take AAA, did do off-road towing, so I called them, and hopefully, the car will be extracted and out at US-41 by noon. Then I will have to call AAA again to get it moved down to Calumet and wait until Ron finishes at the post office to get down there to get my loaner car.
The thing I find most annoying is that I went out because the person I talked to at AAA convinced me to wait at the house and let the tow truck come there. If I had gone up to US-41 like I intended in the first place (If I could have made it, which is iffy) this would never have happened.
Oh, the frustration! When I finally got back to the house, it was too late to call the dealership, so I will have to try to get an early start tomorrow and call them and explain why my car never showed up today. It's almost a 2-JD night.
The only bright spot is that I got a lot of knitting done on the waiting room sock, and I may even have a new pair of socks to wear next summer. Not much consolation.
The weather was chilly and humid, and it was very cloudy for most of the day. Around 6:00 it cleared up, and the last pictures of the day showed a crescent moon in the west in a nearly clear sky. The high temperature was 35º, officially, although it was apparently a little warmer out here. There was a bit of wind, between 10 and 15 mph, from the north, which has now gone calm. It was very humid, which didn't do my legs any good at all. I had a terrible time getting out of the car into the snowbank, after sitting there all afternoon. There is now a very lovely crescent moon hanging over town. So pretty!
The guys slept, I think. Grayson pulled his usual trick of sleeping on my lap to try to keep me home, and I didn't see much of Louie until after I got back home.
So that was my lousy day, and I will be off to the north end soon. It's a clear, cool night in the field. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
March 9 I wasn't quite as late last night, and I slept well. When I turned out the light last night, there were stars! There was also some fog along the ground, but the sky overhead was nearly clear. How interesting.
I got up around 10:30, I think, so I got caught up on my sleep. I knitted, and I finished the strawberries motif for this repeat, so now I'm back to the easier stuff. No nupps, and no "knit three together." However, after forty-five minutes or so, if I twisted my right wrist in just the right way, it felt like somebody was driving a knife into it. That's still happening, and it hasn't made it easier to do anything.
I called the financial people, and that's underway, so I'll have the money to get my car out of hock. I finally got the dishwasher completely unloaded and began to load it up again. This time I hope not to wait until it's overloaded and I'm totally out of dishes before I wash them again. Then I attacked the trash. There is one bag outside the back door and another that is not quite full enough to tie up. There is stuff in the fridge that I have to get out, and that will fill that bag. It's nice to be able to see the counters again, but they're very dirty, so it's a mixed bag. It was hard to do those things in the kitchen, because my back is bothering me, but I had dealt with the trash long enough. One of these days, I hope to be able to get the kitchen under control again.
The weather was not very good. It was dark and cloudy all day, and I think there was a bit of rain while I was knitting, but if so, it didn't register at the weather station. The high temperature was at midnight, and it went down all night, until it finally came to rest at about 29º this afternoon. There was a 15-20 mph wind out of the northeast. Not especially enticing.
The guys slept, and I didn't see anything of them. While I was eating my dinner, Grayson decided he wanted to be petted, but I didn't do much, so he went away. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, but he did get a pet. I know how they feel. Me, too.
I will be going up to the north end almost at once. I need to get up at a fairly early hour tomorrow - no knitting - to try to get this car thing underway. I feel very tired now, and I suspect it's mostly because it has depressed me extremely, and when I'm depressed, all I want to do is sleep. I hope I can.
The moon is new, so it's a very dark, cloudy night in the field, but it's not very cold and it's supposed to get warmer tomorrow.
March 8 Another late night and not enough sleep, but evidently I got up later than I thought I did, because I didn't get dressed until around 2:30. It was a long knitting session, but not that long. There were the 26 nupps, and of course I screwed one up, as well as dropping a stitch or two in the same place, and it took a while to get things back together. But not that long.
Anyway, I didn't do anything but my surfing, so it was a quiet day. I tried knitting on the shawl at the south end, but my hands hurt too much so I had to quit. That one is on big enough needles that I can knit by touch, but only if my hands will stand it.
The weather was warm and damp. The high temperature was 51º for three hours this afternoon, and between 2:00 and 3:00 we had 0.17" of rain. The humidity is still close to 100%, and it was foggy down the harbor all afternoon, although not thick. The wind was from the west, mostly around 10 mph. It was mostly cloudy, with just a couple of rays of sunshine this morning. The ice seems to be mostly gone out of the harbor, although there may be some down at the west end. In front of my house, there are just some thin slabs. An amazing amount of the snow on my deck has melted, and I guess a lot of the road is clear. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, but not below freezing. Ah, spring.
The guys slept. Both of them got some lap time, but not a lot, and they weren't quite as combative today, although Grayson did spend most of the time I was in the bathroom under my feet. He has finally figured out that I won't let Louie go after him if he's there.
I have a sore foot. evidently I dropped something on my big toe knuckle and there is a small bruise, but it has swelled up and gotten stiff. I have no recollection of doing anything, but that seems to happen. Anyway, it was a bit sore today.
So that was another quiet day. Now it's a dark, cloudy, damp night in the field.
March 7 I was late again last night. Oh, well. I managed to say my prayers before I went to sleep, but just. It was five hours before I woke up again. I didn't go back to sleep very deeply after that, but I must have slept, because time passed faster than I thought it had. I got up around 10:30. I knitted, of course. The next row is the one with the nupps - 26 of them now. Ugh.
I waited most of the afternoon, and I had an accident, but I finally called the dealership. The guy claimed he tried to call me. Yeah, right. I've been here the whole time, and he did not call here. I hate it when people lie like that. Anyway, the bad news is that it's going to cost me around $2500 to replace my transmission. Aarrgh! The other bad news is that they can't schedule me until Thursday. Geez, don't they understand... I guess not. Anyway, I guess it will work out one way or another. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to get that amount of money - for sure not from my credit cards - so I will be calling my financial advisor tomorrow, after I try to divine how much I'll need. I hate to tap the IRA so early in the year, but this is a necessity. I guess I will have to go into full retrenchment mode, which might even mean no more JD. We'll see. That upset me so much that I had two tonight...
I might be able to get away with less from one of the other repair shops around town, but it would probably mean a lot more hassle and I wouldn't have a car. The dealership will probably be able to give me a loaner, and the new transmission will have a warranty. Since there is no way I will ever be able to buy a new car (unless I win the lottery, which is hard, because I don't by lottery tickets), I guess that's a good thing. One of the things I still have not gotten over is wanting to have minimum hassle. I guess I still feel that way. What I will do when the IRA is gone, I don't know, but the Lord will provide, one way or another.
So that was an unpleasant end to the day. Sigh.
It was a rather nice day, but much cooler than yesterday. Actually, the high temperature was 50º. It kept rising all evening, even in the dark, until around 1:00 AM, but then it plunged from 48º at 3:00 to 39º at 4:00. It was around 39º for most of the afternoon, with very light winds from the east. It was clear until around 1:00, when the clouds moved in and it was cloudy and dull at sunset.
The guys slept, I guess. They both got some lap time, but I didn't see much of them.
So that was my upsetting day. It upset me enough that I was unclear whether it was Monday or Tuesday...oh, I guess it's Monday... Now it's a cloudy, rather warm night in the field.
March 6 Well, you know what's paved with good intentions.
I'm sure that in part it was because I knew I didn't have to get up early today, and in part because I am finding taking a shower increasingly more difficult. So it was ridiculously late when I finally got to bed. It wasn't all that bad when I went up to the north end - quite late, but not that late - but I sat and stared at the floor for a very long time. Once I started on the things I had to do, it wasn't bad, and frankly, the shower wasn't as hard as I was afraid it would be. I guess eventually I will actually have to bathe in the tub, but on a seat or chair. Fortunately, it has a hand shower, so it should be possible. I will fight that just as long as I can, but if I live long enough, I'm sure it will happen. I only hope it doesn't happen until I don't have to wash my hair every two or three days, because that will be a mess.
Anyway, once I got to bed, I slept very well. I think it was nearly six hours before I got up for the first time, which is quite unusual for me, but my feet are swelling, so I didn't have to pee so often. I finally got up after noon. I knitted, but it took a while. I discovered that I missed a yarn-over about eight rows back, and it took some doing to get that fixed. Picking up dropped stitches in garter stitch is the pits, and it only looks all right - after a lot of fiddling - because lace is so loosely knitted.
So I was extremely late getting something to eat and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my email and doing my surfing. I had a brief thought about going out to inhale the warm temps, but there is still 6" of snow on the deck in front of the great room patio doors, and I can't get to the doors in the studio.
The weather was very spring-like. The high temperature was 47º, at 5:00, but then it dropped back rather quickly. After about noon, there was no wind. It was mostly cloudy this morning, but around 4:00 it began to clear up, and it is completely clear now. There will be stars. I should at least have opened the door and sniffed, but I didn't.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't, and when he wanted some love, I was busy. Maybe I can make it up to him tonight when I go to bed. I think they are beginning to shed. It must have something to do with the longer days, because it hasn't been that much warmer in here lately.
We have 11½ hours of daylight now, and we're getting more at the rate of 3m26s a day, about the most it ever gets. That comes out to 24 minutes a week, so it's getting lighter fast. The sun is moving rapidly north across the camera frame, too, toward the notch in the silhouette of the hills where it is on the equinox. It still has to cross the top of the hill, though. So spring will come, and unless we get a last blast of winter in April, we will have an early spring. I hope so. We deserve it, just like we deserved the mild winter we've had so far.
So that was a very quiet day. Now it's a clear, warmish night in the field, and I am looking forward to seeing the stars.
March 5 The plan was to go to bed early and get up early. Hah. Instead of being early, I was very late, and I didn't get very much sleep, because I got up around 10:30. First, I fell asleep before I finished my prayers, on my back with no pillow, and then when I went back to sleep, I ended up on my back again. That's unusual for me. Usually, I don't even roll. And I'm sure I snore even more on my back, like most people do. Snort!
I knitted my four rows without much trouble. It's amazing what having enough light in the bathroom does. I did drop something, right on top of some decreases, but I was able to recover without much trouble, and when I looked at it later, I couldn't tell where I'd made the mistake.
That was all I did. Ron came by just as I came out of the north end and picked up my taxes, and he is going to hand deliver them, because we both use the same accountant. He is so nice. It saved me $6.45. The only other thing that got done was my surfing.
The weather was nice again. It wasn't completely clear, but there was a whole lot of sunshine until about 3:00 when a very dark and ominous cloud came over, but it didn't do anything, and by 6:00 it was mostly clear again. The high temperature was 33º, and there wasn't much wind. It was novel to go out to the garage to shut the door (it won't go down of its own accord in the wintertime) and not be greeted by a blast of frigid air. Not that I would have wanted to stand around very long out there, but it wasn't too bad for the few minutes I was there.
The guys slept. Louie made a dash for the basement when Ron came in, and he opined that Louie has gained weight. I thought so. He has been looking much more like a pillow lately. The trouble with having two cats is that you can't put just one on a diet. I don't think I could do it anyway, actually. When Louie gets hungry, he bugs the daylights out of me, and I don't like to be awakened like that. I'm hoping that maybe he will drop a pound or so when it gets warm, just like I hope I do.
So that was my day, and even though I'm not going to church tomorrow, I will try to get to bed at a reasonable hour and sleep long and hard. It's a cool, partly cloudy night in the field. There may be a star or two.
March 4 I don't remember when I got to bed last night, but it wasn't very late. I slept quite well, except that I had to sleep mostly on my right side again. I don't know why, although I do remember that I had the same problem while I was still working. I got up around 9:30 and I knitted, of course. I now have only 100 more rows to go before I start the top edging - only! I still love the yarn, although I don't like the color very well and the pattern is getting boring. I will keep at it. I've gone too far to stop now.
I didn't do anything else. I didn't hear from the car people, which I find annoying, but we'll see what happens Monday. i know they have lots of other people to service, too, but really. He could have called me back.
The night was clear, with stars, and so was the day, until about 3:00 this afternoon, when it clouded up. The high temperature was 31º, for a couple of hours, and the wind was under 10 mph. We all love the sunshine. There is some snow off to our west, around Duluth, but it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow and Sunday, so I doubt there will be much snow. And they are saying next week will be almost all above freezing. What that will do to our road, I don't know.
The guys slept, but they both got some lap time. They love to sleep in the great room when the sun is shining in the windows. Louie was laid out full length on the sofa, where he takes up about half of it. Grayson likes the pink chair, which is now covered with fur, since a while ago they pulled the blanket onto the floor and I just never put it back. I will have to clean off the fur and put the blanket back.
So that was another very quiet day. I will probably not be up for very long tonight, but I do want to read a while, and maybe write? I don't know. I had an idea of where I wanted to go with that, but now I've forgotten it, so the thing to do is go back several days and see if I can recover the thought.
Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field. No stars tonight.
March 3 This has not been a good day.
I was late getting to bed, but not as late as the night before. When I turned out the light, there were some nice stars in the west, including Jupiter, but I didn't look at them a lot. When I was up during the night, I could see Polaris, but it wasn't as clear as it had been earlier. My sleep was weird. i kept waking up, probably to pee, and just lying there dreaming for a long time before I finally got up. Happened twice. I got up around 9:30 and knitted. That all was fine, and so was most of the day.
I got ready to go to town early, because I wanted to get gas and food. Then I got in the car and backed out of the garage. When I put the car in drive, nothing happened. I mean, the engine revved, but the wheels didn't do anything. That's weird, I thought. I didn't think the driveway was that icy. So I put it in low gear and it moved. When I tried to put it in drive, or "3", nothing happened, so I drove up to the highway in 1 or 2, which also worked. However, when I got to the highway, which was mostly clear and dry, and put the car in drive, it was clear that the wheels weren't turning. Oh, no!!! It has to be the transmission.
So I turned around and limped back to the house and put in an immediate call to the people who do my maintenance. The first thing the guy (whom I don't like very well) asked was how many miles there were on the car. I hastened to assure him that I can in no way, no how, buy a new car (or even a used car). So he is going to cast around and see what kind of numbers he can find for either repairing the transmission or replacing it with a remanufactured one. He is to call back tomorrow. Sigh. Whatever, it's going to cost me.
I left a message for Pastor, telling him that I won't be there for a while, and I called Ron and found him astill at the post office. He was kind enough to bring me my mail and the package that was at the store, as well as the three items that I was out of - eggs, milk and lettuce. He is such a wonderful person! He will be driving around tonight, too, because his car is fixed and Trevor was driving it back here, but that meant that he had to drive Trevor back to wherever he is living now, which is in Calumet or Laurium, I think. Well, I don't konw what I would do without him.
I will try hard not to think about what this will cost me.
The weather was sort of like yesterday but not quite. It was cold overnight, with a low of -2º, but it warmed up fast. It was warmer, with a high temperature of 28º. It was clear or nearly so this morning, but it clouded up this afternoon. We did have a sort of nice sunset. There wasn't any wind to speak of. The camera hung up right before dawn this morning, so we didn't get to see the lovely blue skies there were when I got up.
The guys slept. Grayson did not want me to go away, so he sat on my lap right around the time I would have been leaving, and he sat there again when I came back. And Louie sat on me while I was on the phone, and I had to push him off. They would like it best if I never left home at all. Well, that's likely to be the way things are for a while.
So that was an unpleasant day. Now it's a cloudy, warmer night in the field. And I don't have any wheels.
March 2 I was stupidly late last night - or this morning - but it just seemed to happen, and when I did decide to go to bed, I had to load and start the dishwasher. It sure is nice to go to bed with a load of dirty dishes and wake up in the morning with them all clean and ready to use again.
I got up around 11:30, I think, which was not nearly enough sleep, but oh, well. i knitted, and the nupps went well. It didn't hurt that it was a sunny day and there was a lot of light in the bathroom. When it's sunny, that is the best place in the house to do needlework, because the windows are big and the one beside the toilet faces almost north, so there is no glare and no shadows. Anyway, I have now almost 400 stitches on the needles and my worst problem is working all of them. The second diamond band is closing, but all that means is that there will be more nupps every 24 rows. I discovered - and I wondered - that the designer had to fudge a bit at the beginning of that band, but hopefully, nobody else will notice. My hands were, and still are, so sore it was hard to do four rows. I think it has something to do with the high barometer.
I was late enough that I didn't do very much, but I did make the two phone calls that I've been postponing. The gas company assured me that nothing is wrong - I'm not sure about that - and I now have access to my Superior National Bank account again. So there. I did it.
The weather was cold and sunny. There were a couple of hours this morning when the temperature dipped from 19º to 11º and then went back to 21º. When that happens, I always wonder if there's something wrong with the weather station. The high temperature was 23º, briefly at 2:00, but it has now gone down steadily to 7ºat 9:00. That's what clear skies will do for you. There wasn't much wind. The skies were gloriously clear, at least here out in the lake. It was more partly cloudy down in Houghton. Oh, that sunshine is so nice! The sun is now high enough in the sky (about 36º at noon) that it is capable of warming things up, and it was really cozy in the house today. I don't think the boiler ran nearly as much today, which is good for both my gas consumption and my electric consumption. I guess tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, or almost sunny, too, which would be nice.
I guess the guys were sleepy. I didn't see much of them.
So it was another quiet day. Now it's a clear (I think) night in the field and it's going to be a very cold one.
March 1 Well, we made it through February with not too many problems, and that's good. Spring will come, eventually. I will have to change the start and stop times of the camera again soon.
I was a bit late last night, but not excessively so. I slept well, with a couple of wakeups, and I got up around 10:30, I think - I don't remember exactly. I knitted, of course. The next row is the one with the nupps in it, and I'm not looking forward to that, but at least it only happens every 24 rows. I had an accident, because I waited too long - there was a lot of interesting email this morning - and I messed up almost everything. I washed my compression hose and didn't put any more on, which is not something I like to do. It feels really strange and a little chilly, too. I'm used to that extra layer of thick fabric on my lower legs. And of course, my ankles and feet are very swollen, which isn't comfortable.
And I didn't do anything. I had some plans, and I just didn't. Sigh. The seminary is on break, so there was no chapel, and there won't be any for a couple of weeks.
For the second or third time in the past couple of weeks, when I tried to open FrontPage, it wouldn't completely load. This time I was darned if I was going to reboot, so I started closing things, and after I had closed all the open windows, it worked just fine. I closed things from the right to left, but the next time, I'm going to try closing Internet Explorer first, since that seemed to fix things this time. I don't know why there should be any interaction between FrontPage and IE, but then, Microsoft does things all the time that don't make any sense to me. It is annoying, though, especially since I was listening to the radio stream. Oh, well, at least I didn't have to reboot!
The weather was unremarkable. It was cold. The high temperature, 17º, was at midnight, and it went down from there. It got down to 12º at noon and now it has recovered a bit - just a bit. There was a little north wind, but not much and not very strong. The highest seemed to be about 20 mph from the north. It was cloudy and dull, although there was a brief ray of sunshine right at sunset. Blah.
The guys slept. Grayson didn't come and sit on me, because there was no chapel. I wonder if I have a Christian cat? Or more likely, he knows I won't be doing anything while I'm watching chapel services, and it's a good excuse to get petted. Louie did come and get petted, and he went away of his own accord. When I went into the kitchen this morning, Grayson went and sat over by the cat food bags. I don't know if he was reading my mind or if he was telling me the bowl of the main flavor was empty and I should fill it. I knew that, so we agreed. Sometimes I think he's reading my mind.
So it was a quiet day, and I'll be off to the north end soon. I absolutely must wash dishes tonight, so I have to load the dishwasher, and that will take a few minutes.
It's a cloudy, very cold night in the field. But it's March.
Last updated 04/01/16 09:50 PM |