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A View From the Field |
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July 2016 July 31 Well, there. I'm a year older. I got to thinking about it, as I frequently do on milestones, and I realized that this is a particularly meaningful birthday. I'm 75, the stem cell transplant was 15 years ago, I moved into this house 15 years ago, and I retired 20 years ago. Talk about everything converging...
It was a very nice day, although it started out a bit rocky. I was later getting to bed last night than I wanted to - about 10:45. I slept well, but I woke up about 45 minutes before the alarm went off and just dozed after that. Then I started running off at the bottom a lot more than I have lately, so I was late eating breakfast. I had to fetch my bags from the powder room, so I was later than I wanted to go back up to the north end, and then I ran off some more and I had to curl my hair. Oh, yes, and I stopped in the laundry room and found my white jeans. So I was later getting away than I wanted to.
Then I got behind some extremely slow drivers leaving the harbor, including a guy in a bus-sized RV who was down to 25 mph on the hills and curves. Once I got past him, there was another guy in an SUV who was meandering down the road with not a concern in the world for those of us behind him. Ah, summer in the Keweenaw! Fortunately, in another month it will be pretty much over with, and it does bring in some revenue. It got better after that.
Church was very nice, and we sang well. Then I had to stay after to clean up the altar. There isn't anything startling about that, so I think I could probably do it if I had to. I left my flowers for next week, since I don't think anybody has place flowers for then.
Getting home was easier. I guess everybody who was coming up for the reenactment was here by then. When I got home, I took off almost all my clothes and went back to bed. I slept for about two hours, but I woke up feeling worse than when I went to sleep. However, I was able to stay awake for dinner.
Dinner was very nice. Johanna and I had a good time, very good food, and we laughed a lot. It was great. As usual, we just about closed down the place. I finally got to see all her pictures of her trip to Hawaii earlier in the year. That's a place I'd like to see, although I don't think I'd like the climate at all.
The weather here was beautiful. The high temperature here was 78º, briefly, although it was warmer down by Laurium. The humidity was quite low, so it was comfortable, even though there was almost no wind. It was clear and blue all day long. Lovely. Very few times that I can remember has it been so nice.
I was worried about Louie this morning. When I got up he was sitting in the bathroom, and then he moved to the rug in front of the back door and he just sat, so much that I had to move him when I left for church. He was gone when I got home, and I didn't see him until after my nap. Whatever his problem, he seems to have gotten over it, though, and I just had to move him off my lap. Grayson was himself, and I think he slept with me while I was taking my nap. They like consistency, and they don't like things like taking naps in the middle of the day or going out twice in the same day, but they'll just have to learn. I can't stay home all the time.
So that was my nice birthday, and now it's a clear, warmish night in the field.
July 30 It was 12:30 again last night, but I slept well, and i got up around 8:30. I knitted and I washed a load of bottoms, but then I had an accident right before I had to leave for church, so i washed everything over again.
It's comforting to know that most of what the Altar Guild does here is the same as I'm used to. There are one or two quirks, but they're not serious. I saw my flowers, and they're beautiful. I must thank Mary when I see her.
I was most relieved to find that I could get up and down the stairs with not too much trouble. Up was worse, because I had been standing for quite a while when I had to go up, but I made it. There are things to hang onto both going up into the chancel and down into the sacristy, and that helped. Deanna is a nice girl. She had her youngest - about 6 months - with her, but we never heard him. I think he slept while we worked.
I was tired when we were finished, but I wanted to go to Pat's for a couple of things I needed. I made it, barely. I didn't get home until about 5:15, and I had to sit for a while after I put everything away. Not that there was much of anything. I did get a nice lamb chop for dinner, but they were out of lake fish. Makes me consider having fish tomorrow. We'll see how I feel when I get to Harbor Haus.
I guess I wasn't surprised that there was a lot of traffic in both directions. I almost never go out on Saturday at all, and now I know why. On the covered road, one guy actually pulled over, but he had three motorcycles and two cars behind him. However, the guy in front of me didn't pull over, so I had to pass him. These motorcyclists were going as fast as I wanted to, so all that happened was that we all had to pass the guy towing the boat. Like I say, lots of traffic.
The weather was perfect. It was clear or almost clear all day - there were a few puffy clouds, but not many - and the high temperature hit 77º, briefly. There was almost no wind and the humidity was very low. It was lovely, except that it was hot in the car and very hot in church. I was hot in Pat's, but that was because I had to circuit the whole store - from lettuce to eggs - to get what I needed. It's hot around here, too, but since I don't have very many windows open, I wasn't surprised.
The guys slept, I guess. Grayson got some lap time twice, but Louie hasn't been around.
They are shooting off the cannons at the fort, so I guess maybe this is the Battery D (or whatever they call it) weekend? How much we find out about the schedules of both the fort and the town depends upon who is in charge of both, and we aren't getting a lot of information lately.
So that was my day. I still have to fill the pill dispensers at the north end and take my bath. I'm extremely tired, but those things have to be done.
Now it's a clear, warm night in the field.
July 29 So last night it was 12:30, for no good reason except that I was too tired to move. I slept very well, with only two wakeups. I got up at 8:30 again, just because I knew if I went back to bed, it would be noon before I got going. I knitted my four rows, and I only have two more repeats of the pattern plus the top to do and I can work on the edging. This has turned out to be a much faster knit than I would have thought. Good. I'm getting tired of thick yarn.
I wasn't going to mention it, but I've started trying to exercise again. I've been having such a hard time that I'm getting desperate. Yesterday, it was so humid, and I was so tired, that I couldn't do much of anything. Today was better, although I had to be careful with my hip and my shoulder - left shoulder and right hip, just what I need to sleep well! It's too early for it to show much, but I have some hope, if I can keep it up. I know that just three days of doing the compression exercise has made my back feel better, but most of that is muscular anyway, and the exercises help that. So I will try to keep it up.
That was about all I did. I went to the post office and discovered that there is some kind of conference about women and bicycles in town, so it was very busy. There was one card, from Arthur, which I was very grateful for. I'm trying to stay 74 as long as possible - which means about 7:30 PM on Sunday.
The weather was nice. It was clear or mostly clear all day. The high temperature was 73º - my kind of temperature - and for most of the day the humidity was low. It didn't start to get humid again until the temperature plunged from 73º at 8:00 to 63º at 10:00. The dew point has been just about steady around 55º. There was no wind. Nice. I could take lots of this.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie only came around when I was about to get up, so he didn't. He got his tummy rub when I got up this morning. I brought in the big bag of kibble I got when I was at WalMart the last time, so now they have their favorite kind again.
So that was a quiet day. Tomorrow is supposed to be washday, but I have to meet Deanna at church at 3:00, so maybe I will get one load done, and the rest will have to wait until Monday or Tuesday. That's all right, I guess. I am running out of compression stockings, but I have some backups, and I don't need the rest. I will have to dig through the pile and try to find my white jeans - again - tomorrow, but I guess I'll just wear my blue tops on Sunday. The other two tops I wanted to wear both need ironing, and there isn't anyplace to put the ironing board right now. Someday I should do something.
Now it's a cool, calm, clear night in the field and I'm off to the north end, although maybe not until the Schumann ends.
July 28 Bedtime is creeping up again. I didn't turn out the light until about 11:30 last night. I did not sleep well, and I couldn't figure out why until I got to the studio this morning and discovered that I didn't take my evening pills last night, including the one that tamps down the neuropathy in my feet. As a result, my toes felt like they were cold all night, even though they weren't at all.
I got up around 8:30 anyway and knitted four rows. I could have done more, but I decided not to.
I didn't do much else. I hurt all day, so I sat, except when I had to get up to visit the powder room. I looked through some of piles of paper that I've accumulated around the studio and organized them a bit, including putting all the shawl patterns I've done in a binder. I was looking for a washcloth pattern I got from Jill several years ago, and I did finally find it, after much searching, and I started a washcloth. This is an interesting one that is circular, but it's done in wedges, around in a circle. It works on #8 needles with cotton yarn, and it's easy once I get the hang of it. I have such a problem keeping my white washcloths white that I decided it might be nice to use knitted ones instead. We'll see how that works out, but this is a fun knit and it goes pretty fast.
The weather was cold. The high temperature was 67º, but for most of the day it was colder, and there was a bit of breeze from the north to northeast. It was clear and blue all day, at least here, so it was a pretty day, but I had to mostly close up the house in order to get warm. It always interests me that the big lake will be completely clear, while there are little puffy clouds over all the land around it, including right up the spine of the Keweenaw. Superior makes its own weather, and we are the beneficiaries of it.
The guys slept, sometimes on me. They both got lap time, and they both went to sleep on me, until my arms started to go to sleep. Closing up the house didn't seem to bother them very much, and they spent most of the day - when they weren't on me - moving around to follow the sun.
So it was another quiet day, and now it's a cool, clear night in the field.
July 27 I didn't get to bed until around 11:00 last night, and it will be at least that late tonight. Actually, considering that I had to take a bath, I did fairly well. I slept well, except for a while in the middle of the night, and I don't know why that was. I got up at 8:00 (!) and I knit four rows, which took about an hour.
I didn't do a lot today. I did pay a bunch of bills (social security day, you know) and I put the bulletin together and shipped it off to Steve.
The weather wasn't the best, but at least it didn't rain. I can't give you a complete picture, because the weather station was down until 11:00 and then up and down for the afternoon. The high temperature was only 66º, and it was quite humid. There was almost no wind. It was cloudy and dull all day. Not very nice.
The guys slept. I had to go up to the north end late in the afternoon, and they were both socked out on the bed. Grayson got up and he got some lap time, and in fact, he went to sleep on my lap, but Louie came along while he was there, so he didn't get any. I am not about to kick one cat off my lap so the other one can sit there.
So it was a quiet day. It's nice to have a little money again - or it was. It's all gone already.
Now it's a cool, calm, cloudy night in the field.
July 26 I'll stop saying it. Just assume that when I write this, I'm tired and I will be off to the north end as soon as I post it. I'm trying hard to get my schedule under control.
I wasn't early last night. It was midnight when I turned out the light. I slept very well, however, and I got up around 9:00. I felt like I could have gone back to bed, but I don't want to get into that. If I get up earlier, I'll go to bed earlier. I'll have to. And tonight I have to wash my hair. My body has gone into summer mode, and while, thankfully, I don't have to wash my hair every night, it needs it every other night. That doesn't come out even, so I do it Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so that I have nice clean, curled hair on Sunday. When I get so that I envy women who only have to wash their hair once a week, I remember that all the oil is the reason the wrinkles aren't very bad yet, and I get used to it. I mean, I've had a couple of zits since it warmed up. I'm still oily.
Anyway, I knitted six rows, and that's too much, so I won't do it again. It was cool and humid and I hurt, so I didn't do anything, even though the kitchen is beginning to bug me a lot. I did finally do my system updates on both computers, and I could tell the difference in the speed of the downloads. It's so nice, even though it's still extremely slow compared to those of you who have cable. Well, I don't, and I never will, so to me it's fast.
The weather was actually rather nice. The high temperature was 75º, early, and it was in the low 70s for the rest of the day. However, the humidity was over 70%. The wind got up to 14 mph from the north, which is why it was so cool and humid. It was partly cloudy all day. Not bad at all, unless you're arthritic.
The guys slept, I guess. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't because he came around while Grayson was asleep on my lap. Grayson has been bugging me, though, running by me into the studio and trying to jump onto the laptop when I had it open and was downloading updates. i finally shouted at him and made him go away. Sorry, gray cat.
So it was another quiet day, just the way I like them, and I will be off to the north end soon and hope I can get to bed by 11:00. Now it's a partly cloudy, nearly calm night in the field.
July 25 Tired again. I was in bed by 10:00 last night, but I was up about midnight and for some reason it took me a couple of hours before I was able to get comfortable again. It probably had something to do with the cool humidity. I finally did get back to sleep, but I woke up just before 8:00, when the temperature was 68º, and there were winds out of the north that were gusting to 29 mph. I was cold!!
I knitted 4 rows, and then I closed the porch door and the windows, but I was still cold. I went off to see Johanna, and my massage helped a lot, especially with my back, but it left me very sleepy. I still am.
In the middle of the day, I didn't do very much at all, after I finished my surfing. I was off to choir about 6:00. It was a good practice, and we got to sing some things we like a lot. It was a long practice, though, and I didn't get home until almost 10:00. I ran into very slow drivers going both ways, but I did manage to pass them. The guy I passed on the way home - on the covered road, where there is a double yellow line - immediately speeded up and wasn't too far behind me when I got to the harbor. I do not know what was in his mind that he was going so slowly. It is a curvy road, but there are very few places where even an RV has to go 35 mph, and certainly a truck doesn't. Oh, tourons.
I had to change my clothes when I got home. My jeans are getting alarmingly tight, and while I have discovered a way to drive that means I don't have to lift my leg and aggravate my hip, I can't do it very safely in my Crocs, so I have to wear my walking shoes, which are a bit tight when my feet swell. Other than that, it's working pretty well, though, and I hope it will help my hip to heal.
The weather was nice. It was cloudy this morning, although I did see stars overnight, which they didn't predict, but the clouds mostly went away by 11:30, and the afternoon was clear and blue. It was quite windy until around 8:00 this evening, with gusts up to 29 mph. Now it has gone almost calm, which is nice. I finally did get warmed up, but it took a long time.
The guys were themselves. Grayson got a lot of lap time, but I had to chase him off just now, so that I could type. They don't like having the porch closed off, but I would rather be warm, thank you. Louie has been beating up on Grayson again, and I don't know why.
I've been forgetting to comment on the wildlife again. When I was up quite early on Saturday, it was completely calm and quiet, and the windows were open. First I heard a loon, the first one I've heard in quite a while. It was somewhere north of me. It called a couple of times, and then it started burbling. It was so nice to hear it! And at the same time, I heard a pileated woodpecker drumming for a few seconds. I know they're there, they're just shy, so I always love to hear them. This afternoon, on my way home from Johanna's, I had to come to a halt on our road because a doe and two fawns (rather large fawns) were standing in the middle of the road, and I had to practically run into the doe before they moved. Two of them ran off toward the lake, but one almost went in the other direction before It decided to follow mom, while I was waiting for them to do something. On my way home tonight, I was on my way toward the hill on this side of the culverts when a bunny ran across the road in front of me.
Oh, yes, and I am being bedeviled by a swarm of little bugs about the size of a pinpoint (yes, point, not head!) that are small enough to come through the screen. They swarm around the monitor screen, as well as anything else, including me. Yuck. Well, I've always said it's not Paradise. Close, but not. At least the black flies and mosquitoes can't get through the screens!
So that was my day, and now I will be off to bed as soon as possible. It's a nearly calm, clear summer night in the field.
July 24 Ooh, I'm still tired!
I made it into bed by 10:00 and I slept very well, with only two wakeups. I did not want to get up when the alarm went off, but of course I did. However, I was moving slow, and for various reasons, I was late getting away. I am happy to report that the new elastic in the pants worked well, and I now have one pair of dress pants that's comfortable. Unfortunately, they're light stone color, so they're just summer pants, but that's all right.
I left late and I got tangled up in several tourons on the way to Laurium. Or I think they were. South of Mohawk, of course, it's hard to tell the tourists from the Sunday-only drivers unless they have out-of-state license plates.
Church was good, with communion, and Pastor Neider's sermon was a good one, too. I thought the choir sounded very good, although it was a good thing that Barbara and Ted's daughter sang with us, because without her, there would only have been three sopranos.
It was a long service for several reasons, and then I had to get gas, which has gone down to $2.319 for some reason. Hey, I'm not complaining! So it was almost 1:30 when I got home.
I was so tired that I almost went to sleep in my chair, and I probably would have except that it isn't very comfortable. I dozed a bit late in the afternoon.
However, I did get the dishwasher almost completely loaded. I need to run it - I'm running out of dishes! That's for tonight, and I am not going to wait very long to go to bed, believe me. I am still exhausted.
The weather wasn't very good. Between 3:00 and 6:00 this morning, we had 0.17" of rain, and until noon, the humidity was nearly 100%. I didn't fool around - I took some Tylenol with my morning pills, and it did help. I ran into quite a bit of fog on the way south, although there wasn't any in the harbor. It wasn't really thick, though. The temperature overnight was about 66º and it didn't start to warm up until after 9:00. Around 4:00 this afternoon, the wind shifted to the north and began to blow, the skies partially cleared, the temperature went up to 81º, where it is now, and the humidity went down to 50%. Ah, relief! However, I'm sore again. It takes me a while to recover from weather like we had this morning. It sure was nice to see the sunshine, though.
The guys were sleepy, of course. Grayson got a lot of lap time this afternoon, although he kept coming and going. Now I think both of them are laid out on the dining room table on top of the blocking pads, where there is some sunshine. There was a problem, because their food dishes were empty. There was plenty of kibble on the floor, but they wanted it in bowls. Their favorite, though, is still out in the breezeway, and I didn't feel up to hauling a 22 lb. bag into the house. Tomorrow. So they got the other stuff, but that seemed to satisfy them for a while. They are funny little creatures.
So that was my day, and I am going to crash as soon as I finish loading the dishwasher and start it. I have a massage tomorrow, so I won't be able to sleep in then, either, and i expect it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before I'm recovered from my exertions.
Now it's a mostly clear, warm, breezy evening in the field.
July 23 Ooh, I'm tired!
My internet connection was down when I went to bed, and I turned out the light around 11:00. I didn't sleep well. I think it was partly the diuretic effect of the fish and partly because I knew I had to get up early today. I finally set the alarm for 8:00, but by about 7:30, it was clear I wasn't going back to sleep, because I couldn't get warm enough, so I got up. I knitted two rows.
Then I got dressed and got my breakfast, and Charlie was here for a while before I knew it, but my Internet connection was up, so I could upload yesterday's journal and read my morning devotion, which was nice.
In fact, I had connectivity through almost everything he did, and he didn't leave here until around 4:00. The good news is that I have a blazing fast connection, for wireless, and all new equipment, so everything should be fine from now on.
In the meantime, we cleaned up the floor around the desks, and I got the wires from the monitor fished through the hole in the desk, so they don't go down the front anymore. I also got the wire from the printer untangled and stretched out so it doesn't go down every time I move the box. Not that it really matters a lot, since the printer is broken again and I may well have to get a new one. I moved the printer toward the monitor, which gives me more wire to play with.
Then, since he was still fiddling with things (I mean, this is an entirely new bunch of hardware), I attacked the pair of pants I needed to put new elastic in and I got that done, finally. I still don't know how to properly wind a bobbin, but it seemed to work right anyway.
So I did a whole lot today, and it was nice. I found a few things on the floor that I was missing, and I swept up a whole lot of crumbs, cat hair and small pieces of paper.
The weather wasn't bad. The high temperature was 79º. briefly around 4:00 PM, and at 5:00 it was 71º and headed downward. although it has recovered a bit. There was almost no wind. It was sort of clear this morning, but for most of the day there has been a high haze of clouds over everything that is probably the precursor of the thunderstorms they say we'll be getting tonight.
I think Louie spent the day either in the basement or on the step below the door to the basement. Grayson was around, and when he had to sleep, he went to sleep on his pile of old nightgowns right outside the studio door. After Charlie left, he came and went to sleep on my lap until I had to get up to make my dinner. He was a bit interested in what Charlie was doing when he was drilling a hole through my wall. Now he is asleep behind the monitor, with his nose on his paw where I can see him.
So that was my day, and I now have a wonderful Internet connection that should mean I can stream anything I want to. Now it's a warmish, sort of cloudy evening in the field. And I'm tired.
July 22 This may not get posted tonight, because there is something wrong with my wireless receiver and I may not be able to upload. Jon is working on it, but I don't know if they'll be able to fix it remotely.
I'm so tired because I almost pulled an all-nighter last night. I was reading and time just passed. As you know, I do that occasionally. I got up around noon and knitted my six rows, but it took me an hour and a half, so I may have to go to four rows sometimes. I have 146 stitches now, on my way to 210. Since most of the stitches are manipulated, it takes a while to do one row. There is only one plain row ever six rows.
That was nearly all I did. I went to the post office, and Ron actually brought my mail out to me, so I didn't even have to get out of the car. It was probably just as well, because I started having an accident on the way home, and heaven knows what might have happened if I'd had to get out and back in. It wasn't a bad one, but I did have to change my bottoms, and now I have two pairs of jeans and a pair of shorts to wash. Maybe tomorrow. There was something else I did, I think, but I can't remember what it was, so it obviously wasn't very important.
Oh, yes, the clock radio in the bathroom has finally become unusable. I've had a lot of trouble setting the minutes on it for a long time, and last night when I was finally trying to set it after the power outage, it quit altogether. It has a radio in it, but the real reason I have it in the bathroom is for the clock, so I will have to find or acquire another one. Grr.
The weather was warm again. I can't quote numbers, because I can't get to the Internet. I think the high temperature was around 86º again. It was very windy this morning, which is annoying. The wind coming in the porch door has been blowing my washcloth off the towel bar and dropping it into the cat water. It was clear and blue all day long, which was lovely. The wind kept it nice and cool at the north end, although it's warm in the studio because I can't get to a lot of the windows or the door.
The guys were not happy with the wind, so they were more wakeful than usual. I think they're all asleep now, to make up for it. Louie finally curled up on the kitty condo, which is amusing, because he is really too big for it. I'm not sure where Grayson is.
I have to curl up, too, whether or not this gets uploaded. I am extremely tired, and the only fix for that is to go to bed. Charlie just called, and he will be out early tomorrow to fix my problem, so I must go to bed. Now.
It's a warm, calm, clear summer night in the field.
July 21 Of course, I zoned out again last night, tired as I was. One reason was that I wanted to cool off a bit before I went to bed. I think I turned out the light around 2:00, and I don't think I finished my prayers before I was gone.
I woke up around 5:45, and I was sitting in the bathroom when I started hearing rumbling. It started a long way off, but it got nearer, although it seemed clear that the storm cell was out over the lake. So I went back to bed, although I had a bit of difficulty getting back to sleep. I woke up again later (I'm having a hard time recreating the timeline) and it was blowing hard, and it was raining in, so I had to get up and close the windows, and I had a hard time getting the porch door closed. Then the heavens opened, and it poured. I finally got back to sleep, and I didn't get up until 11:30, I think. Part of the problem I had getting back to sleep was that when it started to thunder and blow, Grayson came running down the hall, meowing at the top of his lungs. Poor little kitty! At least he came running to me. I think he settled down with me, although I was too sleepy to notice.
Anyway, I came to around 8:00, briefly, because I had to turn over, and the clocks were blinking. I think the power went off about 7:15. So I ignored that and went back to sleep.
When I got up, I knitted, but only six rows, and that took me an hour. Lace is slow going. That was about all I did. The power didn't come back until around 4:00, and then there was a glitch, so I had to set the clocks twice, and I haven't been up to the north end yet. It was a pretty long power outage, and it affected most of the Keweenaw, I guess, because I didn't have any Internet until then.
We got 0.82" of rain in about an hour, most of it after 7:00 AM. It was so humid that everything felt wet. By the time I got up, the sky was clear and blue and it was breezy. The high temperature officially got up to 87º, although the wind was from the northwest, which means it was cooler here. It was a pretty day.
I think Louie was probably in the basement during the storm, although he did turn up later. He wanted to sit on me, but he wouldn't, because I was wearing shorts and he won't jump up when he sees bare skin. Grayson did get some lap time, but he is still a bit out of sorts. I feel sorry for both of them. They just don't understand that they are safe in here, and the noise and wind worries them.
So that was my day. The computer came up right the first time, when the generator came on, but it didn't when we had the glitch, so I had to reboot again to get things straight. I think I got a clean boot the second time.
Now it's a clear, breezy night in the field.
July 20 As is usual when I have to wash my hair, I zoned out completely and it was a ridiculous hour when I got to bed. I think it was around 12:30 when I got up, and I knitted. I was getting pretty warm by the time I finished.
I got my wish today. It's been several years since I have been able to open up the house, but most of it it is open now. I even managed to get the screens on the porch taped up a bit. It's clear now that it's Grayson trying to get out. Snot. I only didn't get the screen on the great room patio door fixed, and of course, I can't get to the patio door in the studio. But everything else is open. That was all I did.
I needed that air. The temperature got up to 87º officially. I discovered, after I collapsed in the studio, that it was 91º on the deck in the sun. I know it was horribly hot in the screened porch - which Is why I don't sit out there. The wind was under 10 mph and from variable directions, although it seemed to me that it was coming from the southwest a lot. It was clear all day, so that was nice. I'm just not used to such warm temps, since it rarely gets this hot. And we're in for another day or two of it, with possible thunderstorms in between. However, I have to say it's been several years since we've had a real summer in Copper Harbor, so I can't complain too much. If I want to have the windows open, I have to deal with the heat.
By the way, we've lost over half an hour of daylight, and it's obvious. We still have almost 15½ hours, but around the solstice, it was nearly 16 hours. That was so nice! It's one thing about summers in Copper Harbor that I love, even though we pay for it in winter.
The guys aren't used to the heat, either. They both came running when I opened the porch door, but it was too hot for them, too. Grayson spent most of the day on the dining room table, and I suspect Louie was probably in the bathroom where the tile is cooler.
I only just finished eating, because I didn't feel "hungry" - I only had a horrible headache - and I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat. I finally remembered something easy and fast, although like most things of that nature, it has a whole lot of salt in it. My headache has gone away, but I'm still very tired, so I will be going up to the north end soon.
Now it's a sort of clear (I think), very warm night in the field.
July 19 it was around 12:30 when I got to bed last night, and I slept well, even though I had some discussion with the cat about whose bed it is. I got up around 10:00 and I knitted. My twelve rows took longer than I expected, but I have something like 130 stitches on the needles now, so I guess I will have to cut back on what I do every day.
Otherwise, I didn't do anything. Late this afternoon, Charlie and his new trainee came out and swapped out my receiver, and already I am getting much higher speeds than I ever have before. He assures me that it should get even higher when they tweak things a bit. That would be so nice! There have been a lot of problems in the wireless network this spring, and they've replaced a lot of their equipment with newer, faster stuff. That should help, especially in the wintertime when there aren't as many people around. They just left.
The weather was nice. The high temperature was 74º and the winds were light. It wasn't so humid today. It was mostly clear for most of the day, although there are some clouds now. We could see the full moon rising behind the trees, and it was in some clouds. This is my kind of weather.
The guys were sleepy, although Grayson made a pest of himself when Charlie came in to talk to me, like he usually does. He just doesn't understand that not everybody loves cats. I haven't seen Louie, but I suppose he went down into the basement when Charlie turned up.
So it was another quiet day and now it's a cool, breezy night in the field.
July 18 I didn't dawdle, but I was moving so slow that it was a bit after midnight when I got to bed. I slept well, although I had some trouble getting into a comfortable position, what with both cats in bed with me. And the first time I tried to sleep on my left side, my left shoulder was so sore, I couldn't get comfortable. But overall, I slept very well. I got up around 9:30.
I knitted, slowly, as it turned out. I'm still getting the hang of the pattern, and someplace in the first 12 rows I knit, I lost two stitches - or didn't make two stitches, I'm not sure which. So I did do 18 rows, but that won't happen again, since I'm close to 100 stitches now. I'm not sure I like the lace pattern very much, but the yarn is so nice it's a pleasure to knit with.
When I checked, the computer was still running hot, so I decided it was time to buckle down and dust it. That involves opening the cover and blowing out the dust and other stuff, including, I think, some cat hair. I don't remember ever opening the cabinet before, but I must have done it, because Rick had written some numbers around the USB connections. So this is actually the second time it's been open. There isn't much to see except for that humungous fan that keeps the CPU cool - or it's supposed to.
I determined several things in the course of opening, closing and setting up the cabinet. I don't have a MIDI connector on this computer, so if I ever want to try to use my keyboard, besides fixing it, I either need another sound card or I would have to try to use the old computer. And in the course of using the memory card from the camera, I managed to mess up one pin, so I won't be able to ever use that again unless I figure out a way to get at the socket and reseat the pin (which is at most a millimeter long). Fortunately, I have a card reader that works just fine. I don't know how I managed to break the socket, since the pin that isn't there isn't on an end. Both of those things are disappointing but not too surprising.
Anyway, when I closed everything up and restarted the computer - which I had to do twice, because the camera driver didn't load right the first time. Talk about a piece of junk software! - the CPU was still going bonkers and running hot. I wish there was a way to tell which program or service was using all that CPU, but if there is, I don't know about it. When I got home from choir, though, everything is all nice again. The CPU is hardly being used at all, and everything is running nice and cool again. I'm suspicious of Norton, but what was going on for the past two days is beyond me. Anyway, the inside of my computer cabinet is now all nice and clean again, so I won't have to worry about that for a while.
Then there was choir. Kathleen is out of town, but we had a good rehearsal, and we sang through the things she passed out to us last week, which will surprise her when she comes back. I mean, these people really, really like to sing and like to sing well. We keep getting compliments, so I guess the congregation likes what we're doing.
The weather was nice, much nicer than yesterday. I can't give you a complete report because the weather station went down sometime between 4:00 and 5:00. The high temperature before that was 65º, and I think it probably got up to 68º or so late in the afternoon. There was a little wind, up to about 15 mph, from the north. It started out cloudy, but it cleared up by 9:30 AM or so. A cloud bank came through around 6:00, but by the time I got home, it was gone, and it was clear when it got dark.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson caused me to have an accident - I should have gone right to the powder room after breakfast, but what I was doing was interesting, and then he settled down on my lap. Louie spent most of the day in my bed, I think. He really likes sleeping on that sheepskin pad.
So that was my day. Now it's time to totter up to the north end and try to get another good night's sleep. It's a coolish, clear night in the field.
July 17 I actually moved about as fast as I can last night, and I turned out the light at 10:00. I didn't sleep at all well. I think it was a combination of the humidity and that it was so warm in the bedroom. I hurt. When the alarm went off at 6:30, I was just getting into a deep sleep, and I didn't want to get up.
But I did, and I was moving slow, so I was late leaving and a bit later than I like to be getting to church. It was nice, a lay service. The gentleman who is leading it is a nice man and he does pretty good sermons, but he mumbles, so it's hard for me to hear everything. It was all about the one thing needful, and we all agree on that.
On the way down to town, on the covered road, I went through a very hard rain squall, and it apparently hit Copper Harbor after I left - we got 0.17" of rain, most of it between 10:00 and 11:00. It didn't rain in Laurium or Calumet at all, at least then.
I had to shop. I didn't want to, but I had to. It wasn't easy, and I was even more exhausted when I was done. i made it home by around 2:00, and while I put the meat and frozen stuff in the fridge, it was around 8:00 before I unpacked the rest of it.
I did the rest of my surfing, and I was so sleepy that I leaned back in my chair, and I was almost asleep when I heard thunder and a little gray cat crawled onto my lap. That was quite a line of thunderstorms that came through, and we got half an inch of very hard rain in about half an hour between 5:00 and 7:00. I mean, it really poured there for a while.
In the meantime, I had noticed that my motherboard was running very hot, and that there seemed to be a whole lot of CPU usage going on, so I rebooted the system. That didn't help much, and on top of it, the camera hung up almost at once. I was trying to do my weekly backup when the program apparently hit a very bad spot on the disk, which caused it to go into such a tight loop that I almost had to beat it with a stick to make it stop. Of course, that meant I had to restart the backup with new disks, which meant it had to back up everything - over 2 DVDs worth - and that took forever. In the meantime, I had a nice dinner, and when I came back from cooking it, I discovered why, apparently, there had been such a high CPU usage - Norton was downloading files, and it wanted me to restart to install them. Oh, poo. That meant another reboot, which I have just completed. Actually, I was going to have to reboot again anyway, because every time I tried to restart the camera software, I got a green screen. And what I really wanted to do was go to bed! Now!
The weather, besides the rain, was icky in the extreme. The high temperature was 73º here and the humidity was over 80% all day. No wonder I hurt. It was mostly cloudy and dull. Unfortunately, with the camera problems, we didn't get to see the storms come through, but oh, well. Those thing happen.
The guys didn't want me to go away and they were glad when I got home. I didn't think thunder bothered Grayson very much, but he spent the whole storm on my lap, so I guess it does. Louie was probably in the basement. He wanted to sit on my lap, but I'm wearing shorts, and he won't jump up when he sees bare skin. Probably just as well, considering what he does when he does come up.
So that was my day. I still hurt, and I am extremely tired, so I will be off to the north end as soon as I get this uploaded. I accomplished my goals for the day - I got to church and I shopped for the necessities, which seemed to be mostly lettuce, bread and OJ. Oh, and JD, of course.
Now it's a nearly clear, breezy night in the field.
July 16 Wow, lost day! I read for too long, then I spent too long petting my nice yarn and the beginning of the shawl, so I think it was around 2:30 when I got to bed. I didn't get up until noon, and then I knitted for too long. In part that was because I love the yarn so much, but it was also in part because I'm still getting the hang of the pattern and I had to correct some mistakes and I wanted to knit a couple of rows after that to make sure everything was right. I now have 74 stitches (I started with one), and I increase one or two on every row. I like knitting a pattern that works on both sides - only two rows out of the 12-row repeat are just purled, and that makes it fun.
It's also true that my body is still on standard time. It's a bit strange, because we actually have Daylight Savings Time for longer than we have Standard Time these days, but my poor old bod just won't acclimate anymore. I always had trouble with it, but now I just won't. The only time that usually makes a difference is on the weekend, but that makes it even harder to go to bed when I have to and get up when I have to.
So I didn't do anything but knit and do my surfing, which I didn't finish until 8:00. There's always a lot to read on Saturdays.
The weather was nice, if I had been out to experience it. The high temperature was 70º, for several hours this afternoon. The winds were under 10 mph. It was clear and blue all day long. The camera hung up a couple of times, but that didn't seem to matter much, since the view didn't change.
The guys slept mostly, as usual. The only thing was, they both came to the studio to sit on me at the same time late this afternoon - so I shooed them both away. Grayson did get some lap time, but usually he's more insistent anyway. They both slept with me last night. You can't tell me they don't love their mommy.
So that was it - another lost day. Now it's a lovely, clear evening in the field and I need to go up to the north end soon so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour.
July 15 Oh, zombie mode. Bath. Ridiculous hour. Then I didn't sleep very well, for some reason. I think it was about 11:30 when I got up.
I had to rip out most of what I knitted yesterday, so i did it over with and I'm now starting on the body repeats. Since this starts at the point of the bottom, it's going fast now, but pretty soon it will begin to slow down, because it increases 14 stitches every 12 rows. It's another interesting knit, though, because there is a pair of twisted stitches at the edge and the center pattern is worked on both sides. The yarn is so lovely and soft, though, that I think I'm going to enjoy it. My only concern is how to join in a new ball of yarn, because this one is a single strand, so I can't split it to keep it from being thick. I'll have to work on that, but not for a while. Oh yes, and it's a z-twist yarn, the first time I've ever worked with one of those. Not that there's much difference, except how knit stitches look. Most yarns are s-twist.
I was so late that I didn't do anything else but go to the post office. I stopped at the store, too, to get some JD, and I got some stuff from Schwan's - not a lot.
The weather was so-so. It was sort of overcast for most of the day, and the high temperature was only 62º. There was a little wind this morning, but not a lot. Blah. Right now, the gibbous moon is shining in my windows and it's sort of fuzzy - there is still a high, thin layer of clouds overhead. It's good to see the moon, though.
The guys were sleepy, I think. Grayson was frustrated, because it wasn't until after dinner that I was sitting still long enough for him to sit on me. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, when he was asleep on the rug in the bathroom. I don't know where he goes during the day.
Right now, I almost don't have an Internet connection, so I can't listen to the radio stream. And I'm tired. I didn't get nearly enough sleep this morning. So maybe I will read a bit more and then I'll go to bed. I hope.
It's a sort of clear, cool night in the field. And July is half over!!!
July 14 Today is Bastille Day, and I was not surprised that something happened in France, considering how things are in the world these days. By the way, I don't think I have any French blood; I'm mostly German.
I was so tired last night that I was almost falling asleep while I was trying to read, but it was still midnight before I finally turned out the light. I move awfully slowly these days. I slept fairly well, and long. I didn't get up until 11:00.
I wanted to finish the Wonderlake Shawl, which I did, but that meant I had to rush, and it was still nearly 2:00 before I left for Mohawk. I got my license tab and my handicap hangtag - which is good until 2020, I think. If I'm still around by then. I had contemplated going on down to Calumet and shopping, but I ran through some showers and I was behind a guy who kept slowing down at strange places, and by the time I got to Mohawk, I could tell I didn't want to drive very much longer. My hip had been feeling much better, and in fact it is, but having to continually lift it from the accelerator to the brake left it very sore, on top of the humidity. So I came right home. I will shop on Sunday and stop at the store when I'm out tomorrow and get my JD.
The weather wasn't good. The temperature went down from 69º at midnight to 65º this morning, but then when it started to rain, it went down to 57º and stayed below 60º for the rest of the afternoon. It didn't rain hard - we only got 0.04" - but it sent the humidity up over 90%, where it still is. I had to take some Tylenol when I got home. It was cloudy and dull all day. Not very nice. Actually, I like the temperature better than yesterday, but the humidity got me.
The guys slept, and for various reasons, nobody got any lap time. Grayson did come and stand on me, but he just wanted to stomp me and he wouldn't settle down, so I made him move. I haven't seen Louie since this morning.
When I got home this afternoon, I started the next shawl, Squall Line, but it's fiddly and I only got 6 rows done. It's on worsted weight yarn, too, with #9 needles, but the yarn is a yummy and soft pure Marino. It's dark purple or something - in some lights it looks blue - which means the patterns won't show as much as they should, but it was the only shade of purple I could get on sale. I always have a problem starting these things, but it should go faster as I get used to the pattern and get more stitches on the needle. This is a more conventional triangular shawl, but it goes from the bottom up and it has a wide border with both cables and lace in it. I think I'm going to enjoy knitting this one.
So that was my day. At least I accomplished my goal, and now all I have to do is remember to put the tab on my license plate before the end of the month.
It's a dark, dank, chilly night in the field.
July 13 It was ridiculously late when I got to bed this morning - not quite an all nighter, but close - so I'm going to try to make up for it by going earlier tonight. Wish me luck.
I got up around 11:00 or a little earlier, and I finished the fourth section of the shawl and started the top. (Geez, I must be more tired than I thought - my right and left hands are out of sync!) I should finish the whole thing tomorrow, thankfully. This one got old awfully quick, but then, I don't like knitting with knitting worsted. The next one is on #9 needles, too, but it's a very soft, roving type yarn that I've never used before. It will be very dark purple, almost black, because that was the only purple shade that was available on sale. It's a very pretty color, but it's so dark that the patterns won't show up as well. I was looking at the pattern today, and it will be an interesting knit. I'm anxious to start it.
Other than that, I didn't do anything. It was too hot, and there was too much surfing to do.
It was hot. The temperature only got down to 69º overnight, and it was 86º for several hours this afternoon. The only thing that kept it semi-tolerable was that there was a strong wind from the northwest, with gusts up to 28 mph. There were a few clouds in our sky, but mostly it was clear and blue, with whitecaps. It was rather interesting. In the middle of the afternoon, a narrow band of thunderstorms went through just south of the peninsula, so I had the delight of having bright sunshine and thunder at the same time. The lake and the hills on the peninsula do some interesting things to weather patterns. All that is gone now, though, and it's cooling off some. Thankfully, it's supposed to cool down overnight, and it will only be in the low 60s tomorrow.
That's a good thing, because I have to do down to the Secretary of State office in Mohawk and get my new license tabs and renew my handicap hang tag. Normally, I would just renew online, but they won't do the handicap thing that way, so every so often I have to renew in person.
The guys slept, as any self-respecting fur covered beastie would do on a day like today. Grayson got some lap time, but that makes both of us hot. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, but I suspect it's a bit cooler up at the north end.
The coreopsis and St. John's Wort are coming out now, and there are still a lot of daisies and buttercups, so we're getting into mid-summer around here. I am glad to see that I still have some coreopsis and a few Sweet WIlliams, although neither seem to be where they used to be.
Now it's a warm, windy evening in the field, and I'm tired.
July 12 So I went into zombie mode again, and it was very late before I got to bed. I slept very well, of course, with two wakeups, and then I knitted eight rows, so everything was late today. I'm down to around 100 stitches now, so the knitting is going faster all the time. I have 12 rows left to do. I was thinking about doing some more, but it was 1:00 by that time, and I should finish before the end of the week anyway.
I was so late that I didn't do anything but my surfing.
The weather was summery for a change. The high temperature was 79º, twice - once at noon and again at 9:00 tonight. In between, it went up and down. At noon it was 79º, but at 1:00 it was 67º because the wind shifted from southwest to north. It recovered some, but it was up and down for the rest of the afternoon as the wind died down and came from mostly the east. It's been from the northwest for the past few hours, but under 10 mph. It was cloudy this morning, but by 10:30 or so it was beginning to clear up, and the afternoon was mostly clear and blue, blue, blue! It only got down to 64º overnight, and it's supposed to be even warmer tonight. Ah, summer. How I don't like it. It rained a bit (0.26") between 5:00 and 7:00 - heard the thunder, but it was far away - but after that the humidity began to go down a bit. The dew point was around 60º all day, so what the relative humidity was depended upon the temperature. It was good for my joints, though.
The guys slept. I'm still concerned about Grayson, but he seems to be doing all right.
So that was a nothing day, and now it's a warm, mostly clear night in the field.
July 11 I think I was in bed around 11:30 last night, and I slept very well. The only problem was that before I woke up at 9:30, I had an extremely weird dream. I have no idea what brought that on. My mother always set the alarm until she got sick, and I always wondered why, but she said she didn't want those dreams she had at the end of the night. I don't know what hers were, but I've always been interested in mine. This one was about somebody who wanted me to move out of this house into a very strange place, so you might be able to guess what's going on in my subconscious. I'm not going. Period.
I knitted. It took me an hour and a half to do eight rows, but among other things, I had missed a cable twist that I had to fix. I'm down to just over 100 stitches, so it will be going increasingly fast, and I only have about 20 rows left to go. Good. This has been interesting, but I'm getting tired of it, like I always do at the end of a project.
Tonight was choir, and I needed to get gas, so I left just after 6:00 - almost in the middle of a thunderstorm. It was wet but it had stopped raining by the time I got away. They were wondering where I was by the time I got to choir, because usually I'm there before 7:00. It was a good practice. Kathleen has had time to go through some of our music, and we will be singing some things not out of the hymnal in the next month or two.
The weather was the kind my joints don't like - humid. The high temperature was 72º, but it went down from there to 57º when the storm went through. but it recovered quickly. It was breezy, and the maximum gusts were around 30 mph, although they didn't report what went on right before the storm. Actually, the storm cells went north and south of us, so all we got was 0.15" of rain in about five minutes. I just looked, and there was a bit of drizzle between 12:00 and 2:00, but I didn't even notice it. It was terminally humid - over 80% all day. Needless to say, it was cloudy and dark and dull.
Actually, I was thinking that my hip is beginning to get better, and it was a good thing, because I followed a RV into Copper Harbor who was going about 30 mph most of the way. I was really sore when I got home, but it's better now, and even then, there wasn't that stabbing pain that I've had lately when I move my foot from the accelerator to the brake. That's a good thing. It will eventually get better. Of course, there's my left shoulder and...
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't because he wanted to claw his way onto my lap and I wasn't having any. They feel this weather as much as I do, but for different reasons.
We're in for some hot weather for the next few days, I'm afraid. Well, I knew it would come. Maybe I can open up the house for a few days...and I have to get that screen on the patio door fixed.
So now it's a yucky night in the field.
July 10 Well, instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour, I went into zombie mode and, since I had to wash my hair, it was extremely late before I finally got to bed. I slept, of course, although I had the usual problem with my left side. I think I got up around 11:30.
I knitted, with some difficulty. This isn't a difficult pattern, but I managed to screw up a couple of the lace panels that I had to fix. Fortunately, there are less than 140 stitches now, so it wasn't that bad. I did have to unknit most of one row, but that was because I forgot that the pattern works on both sides. After that, I buckled down and I worked 8 rows total. I was late eating, too.
I was so late that I didn't do anything much else except to clean up after a very nasty accident and wash what I was wearing. I had a sinus headache for most of the afternoon, probably caused partly by fatigue. I didn't get enough sleep.
The weather was nice but not as sunny as they had been predicting. The high temperature got up to 72º and there was a very light - under 10 mph - wind from the south. While it was extremely humid overnight, the humidity went down to a reasonable number this afternoon. This has been happening lately. The dew point has been almost constant at 55º while the temperature goes up and down. So the warmer it gets the lower the relative humidity, and when it cools down at night, the relative humidity goes back up.
The guys were sleepy. I'm a bit concerned by Grayson. All he wants to do is sleep on me or with me. He slept on the end of the bed after I got up for the first time. I hope he isn't sick, but it's so hard to tell with cats. Louie is all right, although he keeps bugging Grayson, and I wish he wouldn't.
So that was my quiet day. I missed going to church today. At least they had a fairly good day for the picnic.
Now it's a cloudy, coolish night in the field.
July 9 So it was only 12:30 when I got to bed last night. I slept fairly well, although I was wakeful around 3:00, apparently because I was on my left side and that just wasn't right. Later on, I turned onto that side and slept just fine. I got up around 10:30, so I should have had enough sleep, but I'm tired again. I've started taking my new thyroid meds, and I hope that will help.
I didn't do much. I knitted another eight rows, and the shawl is getting smaller all the time. I think I've worked off about half the original stitches, so from now on it should go faster. And I will have an extra ball of yarn. That annoys me, because one ball of knitting worsted won't make much. I also folded the underwear and put it away. The rest of the clothes are in a huge pile, but my underwear needs to be put neatly away. Yes, I know I'm weird.
The Internet was down for a good part of the afternoon, but I didn't do anything anyway. I guess they were still doing repairs at the Mountain Lodge. Once it came up, it was fine, except for another five or ten minute outage. I don't think it's running at the speed I've come to expect, but it's faster than dial up would be.
The weather was OK, but not as nice as they were predicting yesterday. The high temperature was 67º and the wind was under 10 mph from the north, but it was much more humid than they had predicted - over 75% for most of the day. That's better than yesterday, but my joints were speaking. It was partly cloudy all day - again, they were wrong - but there was a lot of sunshine.
The guys both got some lap time, and Grayson spent a good part of the afternoon on my lap. Louie got some time, too, and he went away of his own accord. He got a combing and brushing, too, which he needed. Unfortunately, where he really needs combing is on his backside, and he tries to attack me if I touch him there. I got a couple of swipes in, though, which was good.
I had another hamburger for dinner - boy, those taste good, even though this one was a bit overcooked. The way I eat them is extremely messy, though, and I got a big dollop of cheese, tomato relish and juice down my front. It was worth it. I can tell when my front is really bad, because Grayson eats off it.
So that was a very quiet day, and I need to go to bed. I'm not going to church tomorrow. It's the picnic, at the Lake Linden park, and I can't handle that. Uneven ground, sun and bugs are just too much for me. So it isn't too important when I get to bed and I don't need to get up early tomorrow, but the way I feel, I need to sleep. Now it's a mostly clear, middling warm evening in the field.
July 8 Late again. I was reading. I was having trouble with my Internet connection, which meant I was fiddling, and I think there was something I wanted to look up. Anyway, once I got to bed, I slept well. I woke up around 10:00 to find Louie plastered to my back and when I looked, Grayson was asleep around my legs. I don't know why; it wasn't that cold or anything.
I knitted eight rows. It was a little long, but I'm getting tired of this project, and it only took me an hour and a half or so. Other than that, I didn't do anything. I went to the post office, where all there was were bills and pleas for money. Sigh.
The weather wasn't the best. The high temperature was only 62º during the day, around 1:00, and then it proceeded to drop to 54º by 3:00 before it recovered a bit. It poured rain overnight - almost 3/4", and between 6:00 and 7:00 we had 0.39" alone. It's been a while since I could hear the rain on the roof. It didn't rain during the day, but the humidity was over 90% all day. It was cloudy and gray and yucky. Incidentally, something during the night caused a problem at the Mountain Lodge and I've had horrible Internet problems all day. They said it was lightning, but I didn't hear or see any lightning that would have called it. Anyway, it wasn't very nice out.
I was creaky, but I'm a bit hopeful that my hip may be finally getting a little better. You wouldn't have thought it if you'd seen me getting into my car at the post office, but that was because there was a car parked right beside me and I couldn't open the door all the way. And then there was the guy in the truck that wouldn't even wait until I pulled out and went zooming around me, up the road to Lake Manganese, while I was right in the middle. Oh, those tourons...
The guys were sleepy all day. They both slept on my lap at various times today, and I had to move both of them before they were ready.
I also had to change everything was wearing after breakfast when I had a nasty accident, and this one I don't think I could have prevented. Sometimes it just happens... So I did a load of wash, too.
Now it's a cool cloudy night in the field, but the sky seems to be lignter over in the west, and they say tomorrow should be better.
July 7 I was late last night. It was 2:00 before I turned out the lights, and I don't remember why, which must mean I went into zombie mode again. I slept well, and I got up around 9:30, which wasn't enough sleep, but oh, well.
I knitted four rows. This part of the shawl is a lot easier than the bottom was, and it's decreasing at a great rate, so I'll be able to make more progress soon. It's an interesting knit, but the yarn isn't very good and the pattern is terribly badly written. I expected more from a magazine I pay a good price for.
That was all I did. I hoped I could do something today, but I just couldn't. Sigh. I had to make some last minute changes to the bulletin - a lady died - and I was able to get that off to Steve fairly fast. Otherwise, nothing. Blah.
The weather was blah, too. The high temperature was 71º, at 11:00 this morning, and then it went down to around 60º for the afternoon, and now it's 56º. There was a bit of wind in the morning, but it has been nearly calm all afternoon - really calm now. It was cloudy but fairly bright all day. Blah.
The guys were sort of blah, too. Grayson got a lot of lap time, and Louie got some, too, although I had to move him before he was ready because I had to type. I had to go up to the north end and change my underwear before dinner, and of course Grayson followed me, and while I was sitting there, he took a dive into the rug I keep there and started chasing his tail. That's hard for him, because his tail is very short for a normal cat, but he caught it a couple of times. He was just trying to be funny. He lies in a pile of old flannel nightgowns outside the door to the studio, and twice I had to throw things at Louie to get him to stop bothering Grayson. A typical day.
So now it's a cloudy, coolish night in the field, and I'm late as usual.
July 6 i was much too late last night. It was 1:30 before I turned out the light. I keep forgetting that I move so slowly that everything takes twice as long as I think it will. I had to take a bath, and I did feel much better for it. I've been sweating lately.
I was so late that I even set the alarm for 9:30, but I woke up about 9:15 anyway. It wasn't nearly enough sleep, but I can make up for it tonight. I got up and I actually moved fairly fast, so I was only a couple of minutes late for my massage. Oh my, did I need that! I was just as stiff as a board. When I lay down on the massage bed, it actually took me five minutes or more for my back muscles to relax enough. Johanna is really good at that, and when she was through, I felt much better. She tried to do something for my hip, but that didn't work. However, she got my back and shoulders back into shape again, and I felt much better when I got home.
I didn't do anything much but pet cats for the rest of the day. I was too tired.
One
reason I was so stiff was the weather. There were stars, at least in the north,
when I was up around 3:30, but when I got up, the fog had moved in and it stayed
all day. The humidity was over 90% all day, and sometimes it was 100%. Yuck. It
was cool, too. The high temperature, 64º, was overnight, and during the day the
highest it got was 62º. The fog rolled in around 9:30, and it didn't roll back
out until after 9:00 PM. Oh, my achin' back! The guys slept, although they both got some lap time, and Grayson got a lot. He also caught a mouse someplace in the house right after I got home, and he brought it to me in the powder room. I don't think it was dead, so I wrapped it in a piece of toilet paper and threw it out in the breezeway. I don't know if it survived, but I figured it should have a chance. It was a field mouse - the ones with the white undersides - and it wasn't much more than an inch long. I don't want them in my house, but they are so cute! Grayson didn't know what I did with it, so he kept going back into the powder room to search for it.
So that was another day, and I'm exhausted, so I will be going up to the north end very soon. It's turned into a cool, nearly clear night in the field, but there's more fog to come.
July 5 The fireworks were great. It seems like the best place for me to watch them is in my bedroom - or actually, on the deck outside my bedroom, if I could stand the bugs. The only trouble with watching them from inside is the crossbar in the windows, so I had to hunch down a bit. It was worth it, and the weather was just about perfect for fireworks: fairly warm (around 68º) and humid and no wind at all. There weren't as many new things this year, but there were almost no duds and lots of the huge, beautiful ones that go off way high in the sky. It was lovely.
When I was up during the night, there were stars, but there were clouds by the time I got up.
I got up around 10:30, and I knitted two rows. I'm starting the upper half of the shawl, which is a pattern that is worked on both sides of the fabric, but it's an easy one, so I was able to do four rows. It's decreasing at a faster rate now, so pretty soon I'll be doing six or eight rows in an hour. It's an interesting knit, but at this point, I'm getting rather bored with it. I will finish it, because I don't like having massive numbers of UFOs around (UnFinished Objects). There are enough of those already.
Otherwise, I almost finished the wash. The last load of clothes is in the washer and I will start drying them before I go to bed. I have some other things I want to wash, but this is most of it. There may be another load of clothes, because I am still hassling the yellow marks, rust marks and something I got on my top at the doctor's office that looks like it might be ink. We'll see how things look tonight.
The weather today was a bit cooler than yesterday. The high temperature, 70º. actually happened around 4:00AM, and the high during the day was 69º (now), but it went up and down. There wasn't much wind, but it was more or less cloudy all day. When it clouded up, the temperature went down. It was humid; the lowest the humidity was is now, 70%, and it was worse earlier. I could tell.
The guys slept mostly. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't. i think Grayson has a hairball.
So it was another quiet day, and I'm off to the north end soon. It's a warmish, cloudy, humid night in the field.
July 4 - Independence Day Well, I had plans, but I'm so off schedule that it isn't likely to happen.
I was all set to turn out the light at 10:30 last night when I had to go back into the bathroom, and it was 11:00 before I finally got to bed. I slept very well, but I was up several times. I was up around 8:30, and that seemed too early, so I went back to sleep, and it was 11:30 before I finally got up.
I knitted four rows, but they were all slow rows - bobbles or the new braid stitch - so I didn't get dressed and eat until after 2:00. Then there was all the surfing and the talking and... It's 10:30 and I just finished my dinner. That was a good one, though - a cheeseburger on a focaccia roll with American Spoon Foods tomato and onion relish. They don't make that one anymore, and I'm getting down to the end of it, unfortunately. It's been so long since I could eat much beef that I'd forgotten how much I like burgers, at least the ones I make at home from ground round. Yum.
The weather was pretty nice for the Fourth around here. The high temperature got up to 75º, briefly, around 7:00. It was in the low 70s for most of the day, and there was very little wind. It was a bit humid, which my joints told me. However, it was mostly cloudy all day, which was too bad.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but I was doing something when Louie came around, so he didn't get any.
My plan was to take a bath and then sit on the bed to watch the fireworks, but since it's 10:45 already, that isn't going to happen. I didn't get a path to the ugly chair, but I think I will have nearly as good a view from my bed. So I will go and sit there and eat my ice cream cone and say "Ooh!" and "Aah!" and enjoy the show. Of course, it isn't as good as it would be from right down in town, but if you think I'm going to get into that mess, think again! Fireworks are so much fun. It's strange to see them from here, though, because the light happens a couple of seconds before the noise, since I'm at least a mile and a half from where they set them off. It's a bit disconcerting, to say the least.
Well, I have to move if I'm going to get ready to watch the show. It's a warm, cloudy night in the field, but a lovely Fourth of July in comparison to some I've seen since i've lived here...
July 3 I sure was right about not being able to post yesterday's entry. In fact, it was after 4:00 this afternoon when I finally was able to connect to the Internet and upload it. It seems that there was a power glitch yesterday afternoon that fried a major router, and it was sometime this afternoon before they were able to get the new one installed and configured. So not only did I not have Internet last night, I didn't have it this morning, either, which disrupted my usual Sunday routine more than you'd believe.
Finally, I had to power fail my local router before I was able to connect. It's been fine ever since, thankfully, but I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on what I missed. I can't tell you the number of times last night and today when I had a thought that meant I needed to access the Internet. Oh, how we get used to these modern conveniences!
Partly as a result of that and partly just because, I didn't make it into bed until 11:30 last night, and oh, how I did not want to get up this morning! I did, though, and even though I had all sorts of time, I was late getting away. Well, that was in part because I have misplaced my white jeans, and the other two pairs of white pants I have just do not fit at all. I need the ones I got the material for! I also need to find my white jeans, and soon.
Church was good, with communion again, but it's the last time for a couple of weeks. There were more people there than I would have expected.
I didn't have much trouble going down, but coming back, I got behind a guy on the covered road who was going 35 mph on the straights and putting on his brakes for every dip, hollow and curve - aaahhhh!! I finally passed him, even though we're not supposed to do that on the covered road. There are a few places where there is enough room to see the road ahead, even though there is a double yellow line. He slowed down as I passed him, too. Ah, the tourist season!
Speaking of that, I got an email from the friends I expected to see this week. They have had to cancel their trip because of a family emergency. I'm sorry not to see them, but I'm even sorrier because of what they're facing. I may just have to go to Harbor Haus on my own.
I was so tired when I got home that I could have gone to sleep, but instead I checked the Internet and eventually almost fell asleep in my chair. I'm not sure how I was sitting, but when I finally twitched, the little fingers on both hands were tingly. So I guess I was pinching both nerves. I'm so tired that I will be going up to the north end as soon as I finish this. And I didn't get the wash done. Tomorrow, for sure. I also have to clear a path to the ugly chair (finally!) so that I can watch the fireworks tomorrow. Not tonight, though.
The weather was nice. The high temperature yesterday was 69º, and there was a 15 mph wind from the north for most of the day. Today, the high temperature was (or is) 72º. The wind was up to 15 mph from the north earlier, but now it's gone calm, as it frequently does in the summertime. It was less humid today, and in fact, the dew point has gone down now, which I and my joints appreciate. It was clear and blue all day long.
The guys were sleepy. When I got home, Louie was fast asleep in the middle of my bed, and Grayson had been sleeping in the loft, because I heard him come down the stairs. He makes me laugh when he does that, because he can sneak around so quietly that even Louie can't hear him. But when he wants to make noise, boy, can he stomp, especially on the stairs. They both got some lap time, although Louie didn't stay long.
My neighbors to the south, who usually come up from Chicago for the Fourth, haven't come this year. I hope they aren't having a crisis, but it's sort of nice for us. They always bring fireworks when they come, and even though the guys aren't as scared as some of my other furry friends have been, they don't like all that noise. Neither do I. Tonight, since the wind is nearly calm, it's absolutely quiet around here. That's so nice. The harbor is like a mirror. Aaaaahhhh...Copper Harbor summer!
Now it's a warmish, calm night in the field, and I'm off to bed.
July 2 Well, this probably won't get uploaded tonight, because there are some power outages in the Keweenaw (not here) that are interfering with the relays, and given UPPCO's track record, I doubt they'll be fixed by the time I have to go up to the north end. It's annoying. I will hope I have a connection in the morning and hope I remember to do the upload then.
I was late getting to bed (so what else is new?) and late getting up, and then I knitted. It was frustrating, because I had to unknit several times, and I still screwed something up, so that I had 38 stitches in one section and 41 stitches in another, where there were supposed to be 40. I didn't discover that until I started doing the bobbles, and no way was I going to unknit that much! That horizontal stitch means I can't even unravel down to fix the stitch I dropped.
So I was very late getting dressed. I started a wash load of bottoms before I had breakfast, but it is just in the dryer now, so the rest of the wash will have to be done tomorrow or later.
There were a lot of emails I wanted to follow up on, as there always are on Saturday, and I was just about to start reading my funnies when the Internet went away. After fiddling for a while, I called PastyNet, and the problem isn't me or my power - it's someplace downstream. I think it was about 4:00 when it happened, and the norm is for UPPCO outages to take at least 4 hours to fix, Darn.
As a result, I won't be ale to fully report on the weather, because I don't have any old pages to refer to. I think the temperature probably got to 70º or so, and there was a light breeze from the north or northwest. It wasn't humid. There were some high clouds while I was knitting, but they went away by noon and the afternoon was beautifully clear and blue. The next couple of days are supposed to be nice, too, and it will be nice to have a Fourth of July weekend that isn't cold, rainy or foggy!
The guys were sleepy. They both got some lap time and Grayson got a potato chip. He is interested in people food, although he doesn't like it much, but Louie isn't at all interested. I guess that's a good thing. I know the last few years I had Buster, I was having to buy enough whitefish so we could both have a helping, and I had to give him some of every meat I ate. Not that it's bad for them, but it's annoying.
So that's about all I know. I still have to fill the pill dispensers, but I need to get up to the north end, fill those pill dispensers, too, take my bath and get to bed as early as possible. It's a clear, warmish evening in the field - so pretty!
July 1 Wow, do I hate to write that date! The year is half over already, and I don't have any idea where it went. Sigh.
It ended up being about 2:00 when I got to bed again, and I don't know quite why, which I guess means I went into zombie mode again. I had a hard time getting to sleep because I was sore all over, and when I woke up and wanted to turn over, I couldn't sleep on my left side at all, at least the first time. The humidity was almost 100% all night, and my body knew it. I finally got up around 10:30, I think.
I knitted, and I finished the first section of the shawl. I started the dividing band, just because I wanted to see how the stitch worked up. So now I know a new stitch. It's kind of neat. It looks like one row of knit stitches done sideways - just exactly how the row that picked up stitches along the bottom band looks. That is one reason I'm doing this thing, to learn a couple of new things. I don't like knitting with knitting worsted on #9 needles, but the piece is interesting. Tomorrow I will at least start on the bobble row. Like I've said, it's an interesting thing.
Otherwise, I was late enough that I didn't do a lot. I went to the post office, where my new pills came, as well as a couple of bills and a couple new things to read. I got my Schwan's order and just managed to get it into the freezer. Now I have all sorts of things to eat. Tonight, I had real fish for a change - whitefish that I got yesterday. And I've nearly OD'd on strawberries. I had to wash them, because they were so sandy I had grit in my teeth. I have a little indigestion, too, but it's been a while since I've eaten any fresh fruit other than bananas. These strawberries are huge, and I don't think they're quite as tasty as the little ones, but they are absolutely perfect in shape and dark, dark red in color. Yum.
The weather was lovely. When I turned out the light last night, there were stars for a change, but I didn't spend any time trying to figure out which ones - I think Jupiter and Leo. The high temperature today was 71º, briefly, although it wsas over 70º for several hours. While it was horribly humid overnight, the humidity has now gone down to around 40%. I can handle that, although I'm still recovering. There was a brisk north wind, with gusts up to 28 mph. It was clear and blue all day, although there were a few clouds at sunset, which I presume have all gone away. It was lovely.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time and caused me to have another accident. I have an enormous wash to do tomorrow and probably Sunday and Monday, too. Louie hasn't been around. When I went out to the post office, I found both of them asleep in the pale blue chair. Or at least Louie was asleep and Grayson was clinging to the edge of the seat. I should have taken a picture.
When I was at the post office, I ran into Red Twarzik, whom I haven't seen in ages. She is so nice. Their son, George, is one of the new owners of Harbor Haus. Well, I guess the whole family owns the place. With Ken and Red looking over things, I'm sure it will stay just as good as ever.
Now it's a warmish, breezy night in the field. And it's July. Sigh.
Last updated 08/01/16 11:13 PM |