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A View From the Field |
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September, 2016 September 30 Eep! It's really the last day of September! Eep!
I was sort of late last night, but I was in bed before 1:00, which is good for a choir night. I slept very well, with only two wakeups. I got up around 10:00, so I got my 9 hours. I knitted four rows, and I really wanted to do two more, because those are the rows with no beads and they go faster, but it was nearly noon anyway, and after I just sat for a while, I was late eating anyway.
Then the cat got on my lap and I had an accident. That's mostly because I am having a horrible time standing up, and straining to do that only makes things worse. Then I peed on myself late in the afternoon, so I have to wash bottoms tomorrow.
I went to the post office, where there were a couple of bills, but not the one I'm looking for, and no magazines, but election junk and pleas for money. Oh, now it's starting in September. Sigh.
I think my arm is beginning to heal, although flexing it is still sore. It didn't ache as much today.
The weather looked nice, but it was terminally humid. The lowest the humidity got was 80%, and I could tell. The high temperature was 63º, so I was comfortable without a jacket when I went to the post office. There was almost no wind. It started out cloudy this morning, but it soon cleared up, and it was completely clear by sunset.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson wanted to sleep on me, which is why I had the accident. Louie started out on the sofa, but he's been asleep on one of the scratching pads for several hours. He is old enough that he sleeps most of the time, I think.
Oh, yes, the anonymous donor who sends me cash did it again, and I'm grateful. I wish I knew who it was so I could thank them. Keeping things going is a continual struggle.
So now it's a warmish, humid night in the field, and I'm tired again.
September 29 So last night I was late. I have to confess, when I have to wash my hair, I tend to put it off as long as possible (you may have noticed). It's difficult anyway, and with my mangled arm, it was even harder. I finally got to bed around 2:00. I slept well, of course, and I finally got up around noon, so I got my ten hours.
Nancy agrees with me that when I'm healing, all I want to do is sleep, because I'm putting so much energy into healing.
I only knitted two rows, and it took me an hour. I still like it, though, so I will persevere.
Otherwise, I didn't do anything. Choir practice was tonight, so I was off to that. The bumper I put on the bottom of my cane only lasted a couple of weeks - there must be special ones for metal canes - and I was afraid that it was going to slip on the bare floors. The bumpers were all in the car, so when I went out to go to choir, I fixed that.
Choir was good, although Kathleen didn't make it again. We got through everything into the middle of November, but there are two or three pieces we are going to have to work hard on. Everybody was solicitous about my arm, and Nancy (who is a nurse) was surprised that I didn't go to emergency to get it checked out. I don't think it need that, although if it is still sore in a couple of weeks, I may have to. Most of it is just ugly, but my elbow is still very stiff and sore. I was afraid to put heat on it, but I think maybe I will try that tomorrow,
The weather wasn't nearly as nice as they had predicted. The high was only 58º, at midnight and now, and it was cloudy and dull all day, although there was more sunshine in Laurium than there was here. The wind was at or under 10 mph all day, from the east or northeast. The lowest the humidity got was 89%, which is another reason I wasn't very comfortable.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson tried to give up a hairball while I was in the bathroom this morning, and he slept on my lap for a good portion of the day. Louie got his loving in the bathroom this morning.
I discovered when I left tonight that the back door doesn't want to latch unless it's slammed, which is a good reason why it blew open. I've been leaving it locked with the deadbolt when I'm here (which is probably not the smartest thing to do, in case somebody has to come in). I will have to try slamming it from the inside and see if I can get it to latch. It's not much of an issue now, but when it gets colder, it can be. I don't like to let that much cold air into my house.
So that was my quiet day, and maybe I can get to bed not too late tonight. I think the sky has cleared up, and it's a cool night in the field.
September 28 It was around 11:00 again last night, and while I slept well, I was still up about every two hours just to move - and oh, was I stiff! I didn't get up until around 10:00, and while I knitted four rows, it took me two hours. I have about 250 stitches on the needle now, and 40 beads on each right side row, so it's slow going. It sure is pretty, though. I love the color of the yarn, and the beads are just beautiful.
I didn't do much else. I washed dishes overnight, but everything I didn't use today is still in the dishwasher. Today was Social Security Day (finally!!), so I paid a couple of bills, and I did the bulletin, but that was it.
Mostly it was because I'm so stiff. And I thought that maybe I might be able to get rid of the stiffness in my elbow with cold. Well, wrong. Not only was it extremely uncomfortable, my elbow is now stiffer than it was this morning. So tonight I will try hot water and tomorrow I may try some heat. It's very difficult when I can't get my hand close enough to my mouth to take my pills or stretch it out enough to grab something. Most of my arm is black and blue, up to about 4" above my elbow. It's a good thing it's cool enough for me to wear long sleeves with comfort. The back of my hand is all green with blue and purple spots on it, and there are a couple of places that are still very sore to the touch.
The weather is getting better, slowly. There wasn't any more rain, but it was chilly and damp and windy. The high temperature was only 60º, and the humidity was over 70% all day, mostly over 80%. The wind was from the east, mostly, and there were gusts up to 25 mph this morning. The wind is winding down now, but it is still from the east, as that low pressure system moves off toward the ocean. It was cloudy and dull most of the day, with only a little sunshine around noon. The camera hung up around 7:30, so we didn't get to see all of it. At least there wasn't any rain.
I am beginning to go by the furry weather forecasters, and they were sleepy all day. Grayson did get some lap time, but Louie only asked once, and I was busy when he did. When I went to get my dinner, Grayson was playing with some stuff he found on the floor, though, so that tells me things are looking up. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
So that was another quiet day. I' m tired again. It's a problem I've always had: I have trouble acclimating to the change of seasons, and besides, I'm trying to heal my arm. I will be a bit later tonight, though, because there's a Mozart symphony between 10:00 and 11:00 that I want to hear, and then I have to wash my hair - which will be a real problem. I'm not sure how clean I can get it with just one hand. We'll see.
Now it's a cloudy, cold night in the field, but the weather is getting better.
September 27 Well, I was a bit later than I wanted to get to bed last night, but I turned out the light around 11:00, I think. I slept very well, although with the weather as it was, I was up about every two hours to move a bit. I was up around 8:00, but it was dark and dismal and I didn't feel like getting up then, so it was more like 10:30 before I got up for good.
I knitted eight rows, I think, and I finished the third repeat of the first chart. It was a bit longer than usually knit, and my thumb was sore before I quit, but I wanted to get as much done as possible.
So I didn't do much of anything else besides my surfing. For one thing, the weather made it nearly impossible for me to move, and as usually happens when I injure myself, the second day was worse, and my arm hurt. It is also almost completely black. The places where I smashed it aren't too bad, except that the whole back of my hand is sort of green and swollen, but there is a ring of huge black bruises all around my elbow. That's the result of the blood thinner, of course, but it's taken a couple of days for it to develop. My elbow has been very stiff, too, and I had trouble doing things, from blowing my nose to getting up off the pot. Tomorrow should be better.
All this wasn't helped by the weather, which was (and still is) miserable. We had a fine blow overnight, although it didn't peak until between 7:00 and 8:00 this morning, with 31 mph gusts. By that time, the wind had shifted around to the north, which is better for me. By the time I got up for good, things were settling down and the lake wasn't singing quite as loudly. The rest of the day was just cold and damp and miserable. The high temperature was only 58º, and that just happened, and we've had 0.37" of rain since midnight. I think it probably at least drizzled all day, and the lowest humidity was 87%, also now. The barometer is rising, though, so things should be looking up, if I can get through the night.
The guys were sleepy, but Grayson has wanted to sleep on me all day, and he is back now. I don't know if he's worried because I'm not well, or what. Louie only came around once, and I didn't move fast enough, but he did sleep with me all night. He likes it when I sleep on my left side, because then he sleeps on his right side with is back up against mine. When it's warm, that's uncomfortable, because he's hot, but with the temperature going down, it's kind of nice to have that warm pad on my back. When I got up, they were both asleep on the rug in the bathroom, and at one point, I looked over and Louie was lying flat on his back with his front paws curled up on his chest. Not even I can quite relax like that!
So that was a slow day. I think the weather should be a bit better tomorrow, and so will I be. Now it's a dark, cold, damp night in the field, but the blow is over.
September 26 Between all my activity and my arm, I was exhausted last night, and I was in bed before 9:30. I slept very well, although I was up several times, mostly because I was so stiff that I woke up having to move. I got up around 8:30, so I got enough sleep.
I had time to knit four rows before I was off to see Johanna - in the rain. I needed her, and I felt much better after my massage. She put some of her herbal stuff on my bruises, and she worked on my upper arm and shoulder quite a bit, too, and I think it helped, but my elbow is still very stiff, especially if I don't move it very much. It looks very ugly. There are bruises on my hand and for about 6" up my wrist, and some more on the inside of my elbow. I expected that. I jammed it pretty good, and based upon past experience, I expected there would be some damage to the capillaries, because of the blood thinner. Well, it will heal, and I didn't break anything. I got my papers on the way home.
That was about all I did. I need to wash dishes but I'll just have to see how I feel when I get out to the kitchen, whether it's tonight or tomorrow night.
The weather was horrible, even more so than yesterday. When I got up, it was sunny, and in fact, the sun was shining in my eyes when I started to knit. A while later, it was cloudy and dark and before I got up to get dressed, it was pouring rain. Wow! What a change! Unfortunately, the camera hung up and we didn't get pictures. Anyway, the rest of the day was dismal, even though we only got 0.23" of rain altogether. The high temperature during the day was only 56º, briefly. The wind was from the west, and it is gusting up to 29 mph now. It's supposed to get even stronger.
Of course, that meant that about 5:00 we had a power failure, that lasted a couple of hours. That may have been a good thing for me. The camera hung up overnight, and it didn't get reset until almost noon. When the power went down, the computer rebooted (after the generator cut in - it takes about a minute) and I hope everything will be all right now.
I don't know what got into Grayson, but he got on my nerves today. He was running around and getting into things, and at one point, he jumped over my cane (I think he hit it) and rushed into the studio. So I wouldn't let him sit on me. Louie only tried once, but he knows he will get to sleep with me tonight. Grayson did eventually calm down, and he got a piece of my steak, so I guess we've mended our fences.
So that was my day. We are in for another day of rain, which I'm not looking forward to, but then perhaps it will be a bit less humid for a while and give my arm a chance to heal. It's been particularly hard for me to get out of a chair or off the pot. Now it's a dark, windy, probably rainy night in the field, and I'll be off to the north end soon.
September 25 Oof! What a day!
It started out all right. I got to bed just about when I wanted to last night, and I slept fairly well, although around 4:00 I had a very vivid dream that I've been chewing on ever since. Dreams are usually just a number of connected scenes, and the background and what happens after that isn't clear. I'm still mulling that one over.
The only mishap overnight is that I had turned out the light and Louie was in bed beside me when I realized that I hadn't set the alarm, and when I looked at it - with some difficulty; Louie is a big cat - I realized it had never been reset after the last power failures. So I had to do that, and because of the weirdness of my clock/radio/phone, I hit the hour button by mistake and had to reset that, too. After that I went to sleep.
When the alarm went off, I did not want to get up. I never have, at 6:30. Or even 7:00. But I did. I had to sit up and reach over the cat to turn off the alarm, and it didn't turn off the way it usually does, so I'm not sure what that is all about.
So I got up, and I had to spend a long time in the bathroom before I got my breakfast, and even so, when it was time to go up to the north end, I didn't quite make it. My gut is weird.
I did what I had to, and I got away only five minutes or so later than I wanted to. I thoughtfully packed my rain jacket, just because I thought there might be some rain before I got home. Some rain! Ha!
Church was good, in part because when I sat down for the first time, my ears cleared out and I could hear John fairly well, although he wasn't mumbling quite as much this morning. There were a few more of us there today, and I think the choir sang well, although Kathleen wasn't there to lead us. What a horrible job she has!
Then things began to fall apart.
Before church, Barbara had to tell me that she has found moths in her shawls and ask me what I did about mine. Cedar and plastic bags is my recipe. But then I looked down at my shawl - was wearing the gray Shetland scarf - and I discovered a big hole in it! Aarrgghh!! I think it can be mended fairly easily, but - aarrgghh!!
It was pouring rain when we got out of church. I had my rain jacket, but I parked under the eaves of the church and by the time I got into my car, my slacks were drenched. When I got to Pat's, I had to wait a few minutes to get out because it was pouring, but I move so slow that I missed the letup and got wet then, too. I have to do something about that rain jacket. The hood is so big that when I put it on, it comes down to my nose, which makes it very hard to see. Anything.
I managed to get what I needed at Pat's without blowing up my checking account, so that was good, although it looks like all I got was lettuce, bread, eggs and OJ. Oh, and a lamb chop, and they had flat iron steak today. No whitefish, though. I'm glad I grabbed that big package the last time, and I should have gotten both of them. i will be mostly eating out of the freezer for the next couple of weeks. I did get the bleach I forgot the last time, and when I opened the back of the car, the rest of the laundry stuff I got is still there - and it still is.
Loading the car in the rain was yucky, to say the least, and I was thoroughly damp by the time I got into the car, with more difficulty than usual, since I forgot to pull up the jacket and sat on it, and it stuck to the seat.
Then it was off to the gas station. That turned out all right, because I had earned a 25¢ a gallon discount on the first 15 gallons. I'll take that!
Driving home wasn't too bad, although I did run across a couple of drivers who thought it was glare ice and not light rain. Then it happened.
I stopped at the paper box to get my papers, and when I drove up to it, somehow my foot got on the accelerator and not the brake. That happens occasionally because of the neuropathy in my feet, but this is only the second time it has caused me a problem. So instead of stopping, I speeded up. I had my arm out the window, and first my hand caught the paper box, then it got crunched between the car, the rear view mirror and the gate post (that damn gate should never have been put there at all). I think it pushed my arm back against the car and crunched my elbow, too, but I'm not sure about what messed up my elbow. When I finally got my foot on the right pedal, I had to stop, because my hand was so sore I couldn't stand it, and I had to sit there for five minutes or so before the pain died down enough for me to drive the rest of the way to the house. The papers are still in the box, and will be until tomorrow.
After I drove into the garage, I had to sit some more before the pain subsided enough for me to move. Then, of course, I had to get the groceries out of the car. So I opened the door to the breezeway and walked down to the house with my purse and stuff - and then I discovered that the door to the house was open! Egad! Louie was sitting in the house, looking out with interest, so I had to go up the steps and close the door. All I can figure is that I didn't latch it carefully when I left and a wind gust blew it open.
Getting the stuff out of the car and onto the platform wasn't easy, but it seems like carrying things isn't as painful as some other things, although I can't completely unbend my elbow. Then I went in and sat in the powder room...for two hours. I haven't been able to fully inspect my elbow, but I have some wonderful bruises on my hand and lower arm, as well as some lacerations where my watch got caught on the gatepost. I should ice that, but I was so cold I didn't even want to think about ice. What is going to be hard is that I can't completely bend my elbow, either, like to blow my nose (or floss my teeth, I discovered after dinner). I'm pretty sure I didn't break anything, but I may have strained or sprained my elbow. I will talk about it with Johanna tomorrow. I do not want to go down to the hospital and get my elbow x-rayed.
So I hurt. I hurt when I'm not doing anything, and it's amazing how much I do that requires flexing my elbow. Some things are fine, like carrying my food tray, but other things are nearly impossible without excruciating pain. I guess it's a good thing it's my left arm.
Eventually, I got the food put away and made dinner, but that was hard, too, because the weather did a number on my back and it hurts, too. I started this early, because I'm going to bed early. For sure.
The weather was nasty. The only thing I can say good about it is that it was fairly warm. The high temperature was (and is) 64º. The wind is from the south, with gusts up to 31 mph, which means that Calumet/Laurium got the rain before we did, and they had more than we did. We've had 0.23" and it didn't start until noon. it started in Laurium around 11:00, I think. The humidity is now 93% and the barometer is dropping, which is not good for my joints. Sigh.
Grayson went to sleep on my lap after breakfast this morning, and I had to shoo him away so I could write my offering check. When I got home and found the door open, I don't know where he was, but Louie had clearly been out in the breezeway and trying to chew on a plastic bag when I got there. Then, when I was finally bringing in the last bag of food, Grayson jumped over me and got out. So I ignored him. When I got the food in, I had to go and sit down because of my back, and it was a while before I got back into the kitchen. When I did, he was sitting at the door, but ignored him again until I had everything put away. Then I let him in. Then he was going to be all lovey-dovey and sit on me, but I was eating my dinner. He did get to sit a bit, but I shooed him away again to start writing this epistle. Now he is trying to make up to me again.
So that was my pretty nasty day. I hurt, more when I try to do anything, although typing isn't too bad. I'm sure I'll have some problems finding the right place to sleep tonight. Well, I can chew on that dream. Now it's a rainy, dark, damp night in the field, and I'm tired. Yuck.
September 24 I diddled around last night, so I was late getting to bed. I slept well, but I got up around 9:30, just because I want to sleep tonight, so I was tired all day. I pulled up the comforter a couple of nights ago, and that was my problem; even though I didn't feel cold, evidently I was. I've had no problems sleeping for the past two nights.
I knitted six rows again, but the last right side row has no beads, so it goes faster. The only thing is, i have around 190 stitches on the needle now, so anything takes quite a while. I actually think I'm going slower with the metal needle (in spite of what they say) because it's so slippery I have to be very careful not to drop things. Well, maybe I can get a pair of wooden needles before I finish this thing. It is pretty, and except for the needles, I'm enjoying the process.
The only task I had to do today was to fill the pill dispensers, and I did that early, so now all I have to do is get my hair washed and get to bed early. Maybe I can almost do that.
The weather was nice. The high temperature was 64º, and there was a south breeze that occasionally gusted up to around 20 mph. It was partly cloudy to clear all day, and it's clear right now. I just took a picture to save, of the sun setting right in the notch below the top of Brockway - the equinox location. It won't be there long, and pretty soon it will be out of view from the camera - to the south. Sigh. Anyway, I don't think anybody can complain about our weather so far this autumn. I've been snowed on twice on September 22. It supposed to be nasty for the next three days, with rain every day and temperatures around 60º. but hey, we need the moisture. The barometer is dropping. At least it's not 40º with snow.
The guys mostly slept. They are very attuned to the barometer, and I could tell, even without my joints, that it was dropping. Louie got some lap time, but Grayson didn't until just now, and it was probably my fault. I had to fill the kibble bowls this morning, so I gave them a can of wet food. I was opening the can to put it in the bowls when I stepped on Grayson. I had no idea he was under my feet, which he usually doesn't do, and I stepped on his paws twice. I hope it wasn't very hard, and I don't think I did him any damage, but he yelled. I was so sorry. He didn't make up to me until just now, and I guess I can understand that. Poor kitty. Well, he should know better, and I don't think he'll do that again. I must get some more of that kind of canned food, since they both seem to like it.
So that was a quiet day, and i think I'll sleep well tonight. It's a warmish (for the season), clear night in the field.
September 23 Oh, yeah, it's journal time.
I got to bed around 1:00, which is pretty good for a choir night. I slept well, and long, and it was 10:30 or so before I got up. I knitted six rows, but I won't be able to do that again, because I have close to 200 stitches already. It certainly is a pretty thing, although I have some concern about what will be the upper edge, which seems rather tight. Well, we'll see how that goes. I can't make it any looser.
There were several things I wanted to do today, and I managed to do them. I went to the post office, where there were the usual bills, and I had to stop at the store, because I was totally out of JD. I got some trash bags, too, in the hope that I can actually begin to fill them.
When I looked at the driveway this morning, it seemed to me that the bag that got dragged out there was actually office trash, not kitchen trash, and it seems I was right. I can only suspect that there was a candy box in that bag. So when I got back from the post office, I went out, with some difficulty, and picked up what I could. Unfortunately, there were a lot of Styrofoam peanuts in the bag, and they are all over. No way could I ever pick them all up. I also got a whole bunch of brown packing paper, which is what both Amazon and WalMart are using to fill boxes these days. Several weeks ago, there was an avalanche out there and I hooked two 10 foot pieces of paper on the car bumper and dragged them outside. Since I was there, and I had a bag to fill, I got all that picked up, too. There were some pieces of plastic and deflated air bags that I couldn't get, but I got most everything else.
Then I got out the WD-40 and sprayed the wheels on the garage door. That didn't turn out very well, unfortunately. It doesn't squeak anymore, but it still won't go down of its own accord. That was a disappointment. I'll try again on Sunday, but it seems like I will have to get a repairman out here if I want to close my garage door from the outside. Oh, sigh. There was a lot of rust, though, and that may be the problem. Otherwise, I will just have to leave it open, or go in and close it with the switch and leave via the breezeway, which, at the speed I move, will probably take ten minutes or more.
It was a nice day, if cool. The high temperature was only 62º, but when I was out, it didn't seem that cool. Or maybe I'm just used to cool weather. It was rather humid, but that didn't seem to bother me quite as much as sometimes, so now I wonder if maybe it's a combination of humidity and barometric pressure. Who knows? I will have to try to pay more attention to the pressure. The wind was under 10 mph all day. It was partly cloudy, but there was a lot of sunshine. Last night, there were a few stars when I was up, but it wasn't very good seeing.
The guys slept. They both got some lap time, and Grayson got a lot of lap time. I think they both feel pretty good. Maybe I should try to correlate how my joints feel to how they feel. Grayson was beating up on the rug in the bathroom this morning, and a couple of times, Louie went up in the loft and hollered. I still don't know what that's all about. Buster used to do it, too.
So that was my day. I ate whitefish out of the freezer tonight. It was good, although it's not quite as good as fresh. It is nice to know I have a stash of the good stuff, though. I won't get any more Schwan's stuff for another couple of weeks, so I'm drawing down my stash. I do have to shop on Sunday, because I'm running out of OJ and lettuce, and there's the issue of the bleach, which I completely forgot I was out of, but I hope to be very moderate. This hitting the end of the money is stressful.
On that topic, I just had to pay my internet bill for the year, so small donations would be appreciated. Just the internet access and web hosting costs me around $40 a month, not to mention the heat and electricity to keep the computer running 24x7. It's a labor of love, but love doesn't pay the bills.
Now it's a cloudy, cool night in the field.
September 22 - Autumn Equinox So I fiddled around in the studio, and when I went up to the north end, I spent a long time staring at the floor. I had to wash my hair, so it was ridiculously late when I finally got to bed. I slept fairly well, although I was rather wakeful for the last couple of hours, and I got up around 11:00, I think. I think I was cold, so tonight I will pull up the comforter and snuggle in.
I knitted and I completed the second repeat of the first chart - 165 stitches. As usually happens, I'm gaining speed as I continue to knit. I had been wondering what it would be like to knit lace on metal needles, and now I know. I don't like it. The needles are so slippery that I end up clutching my yarn and stitches a lot. It's doable, but it's not as comfortable as using wood needles.
Otherwise, I was so late that I didn't do anything else. I had to change my jeans when I had a near-accident. I need to eat more rice, I guess.
Tonight was the first Thursday choir, and Kathleen didn't make it. She has a terrible job, where she is on call a good portion of the time. It might have some perks, because she doesn't have to be in the office very often, but she frequently gets called out on Sunday morning or in the evening. And from what she has said, it doesn't pay all that much. It has something to do with mental health, I think.
Anyway, Nancy filled in, and we did all right with her. She would rather not be director, though, because she is our only alto, and she would rather sing. We'll cope, one way or another. And we have some good stuff to sing.
The nice thing is that we are starting at 7:00, so I am getting home a lot earlier than I was on Mondays. It was still dark, but I won't be so late getting to bed - or I hope not.
However, Ii have a task for tomorrow. I have had to leave the garage door open, because it will only go down if I hold down the switch in the garage. I need to grease the wheels, and I've been postponing that. So tonight when I got home, some critter had dragged a bag of trash out into the driveway and tore it open. Ugh. So tomorrow, not only do I need to work on the garage door, I have a bag of trash I have to pick up. Sigh. I guess I've dodged a bullet all summer. Oh, sigh.
It was a cool, cloudy day, mostly. The high temperature was only 63º, and most of the day was dark and dismal. Late in the day, when I was driving down to Laurium, there was some clearing and some sunshine, but it didn't last long. There wasn't much, if any, wind. It was quite humid, but somehow the humidity didn't bother me quite as much today, for some mysterious reason. I still haven't figured that out.
The guys were mostly sleepy, and I didn't see much of them. I wonder what they were doing when the critter came around.
So now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field, and I'm tired. I didn't get enough sleep last night and I need more.
September 21 I was late again, but oh, well. I did sleep well, but I didn't get up until after 11:00. I knitted six rows, I think, but that made me even later, so my day has been quite truncated.
The only task for the day was the bulletin, and I gpt that done, but I discovered that I completely screwed up the list of lessons for last week. Somehow, I got this week's lessons. Fortunately, Ted didn't need my list. I hope nobody noticed, but I doubt very may people actually look at those things. I think I have it right for this week, and I got it off to Steve this afternoon. I do the best I can, but I have the feeling I don't have it completely under control, which bothers the type A part of my personality.
The weather was so-so. Our warm weather has deserted us, possibly until next spring. The high temperature was at midnight, and it went down very slowly from 66º then to 62º now. The humidity is trending up, too, and now it's 83%. Well, it was nice while it lasted. There wasn't much wind. The skies were clear for a while this morning, but they got steadily more cloudy as the day went on, and I guess there might be some rain tomorrow.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson didn't get any lap time until late in the day, because he went away before I finished my breakfast. Louie actually came and sat on me for a while, but he got messed up in the keyboard and I had to make him leave. He is so huge that when he sprawls out, he is sitting on the keys, which makes it hard for me to do anything much at all.
Now it's a coolish, cloudy night in the field and it's hair night.
September 20 As usual, I sat and stared at the floor for entirely too long, but I did manage to get to bed around midnight. I slept fairly well, although I had a wakeful period in the middle of the night when I turned onto my left side before I should have. I got up around 8:30, and I knitted for over two hours. I did ten rows, but I'm going to have to cut back. I'm adding three stitches on every row, and it's getting wide, even though it's not very long. Adding those little beads is really slow.
I didn't do very much. I had one of the worst accidents I've had in a long time, so I had stuff to wash, which will go in the dryer before I go to bed. It took me some time to clean up after that. I had a couple of phone calls to make, and I did that.
The weather turned out very nice. The high temperature was 76º, briefly, but it was in the middle 70s all afternoon. It was a bit breezy, but that was all right. It was partly cloudy, sometimes more cloudy than others. What was really nice is that when it got so warm, the humidity actually got down to 27%. Oh, my joints felt so much better. Not perfect, but much better. Unfortunately, that's probably the end of it for the next week, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
The guys slept. Nobody got any lap time. Grayson wanted to sit on me just about the time I had my accident, and he didn't come back, except when I was doing something else important. Louie got some loving in the morning, but I wanted to knit.
I have been forgetting: autumn arrives Thursday. The first color started to show around the end of August, a bit later than usual, and every time I go down US-41 there is a little more, but not much. I think it's going to be late this year, but it might be a pretty fall when it does come. Most of the flowers are gone, although I have a few hardy coreopsis that are still blooming, and some of the tansy is still yellow. That is an ugly plant, even more when its flowers turn brown. The asters and goldenrod came and went really fast this year.
So that was about it. Now it's a sort of clear, sort of warm night in the field, but the humidity is building...
September 19 I was so sore and so tired last night that I just sat, so I was very late getting to bed - around 2:00, I think. I fell asleep on my back before I finished my prayers. I woke up around 3:30, and the clocks were blinking. Oh, darn (well, I was a bit more forceful than that). I had to get up anyway, so I got the calculator-clock and reset the clock by my bed and went back to sleep. I woke up again around 6:00, I think, and the clock was blinking again. Grr... So I set the clock again and when I woke up at 8:30, everything was fine, but I wasn't, so I went back to bed and I didn't get up until around 11:00.
I knitted, and I finished the first repeat, 24 rows. This is a very slow project, because getting the beads on the stitches isn't easy. The crochet hook I have to use is so small that it's hard to snag the whole piece of yarn, and then I have to pull it through the bead and knit it. However, the project is shaping up very nicely, and I'm going to like it, in spite of it being on #5 needles.
One of my problems has been that the charts in the magazine are so small that I have to magnify them to see them, and I don't have a good line magnifier. So later this afternoon, I went out to the magazine's website, and lo and behold, there were corrections to two of the charts, which I downloaded and printed. The charts are much bigger. So then I was left with only the chart I'm working on, so I unlimbered my computer skills. I scanned the three charts, cut out the first one, put it on a Word page, and enlarged it as much as possible. Whew! What a convoluted process, but now I can read my charts without so much problem, and that will be very nice. I have three pages of charts that I have to take with me when I go up to the north end, but I'm looking forward to my knit session tomorrow. Oh, yes, and the printer was working today, so I took advantage and printed the instructions for the other project in the queue, the Shetland Garden shawl. Now I'm ready for that one, too. The only one left is the Shetland square shawl that I just got the yarn for, and I have to chart the edging for that before I copy the other charts and instructions.
There was something business-related that I was supposed to do today, but that didn't happen. Tomorrow, i hope.
The weather turned out nice, although it was iffy this morning, cloudy and very damp. We had 0.15" of rain overnight, and when I was up at 8:30, there were still drops on the windows. However, around 1:30 the skies cleared, the dew point took a dive as the temperature rose, and everything got much better. The high temperature was 73º, and the dew point has gone down to below 45º, which left us with humidities around 40%. I can live with that, for sure. It was quite windy, though, with northwest winds gusting up to 30 mph. How I hope it stays like this for a few days! I feel much better already, and I'm still recovering from the weekend.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but not a lot, his choice. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, but he slept with me all night.
I cooked tonight, barbecued pork chops, which turned out pretty good, and they are so big it looks like I'll get two more meals out of them.
I feel so much better now that choir isn't on Mondays! That was disrupting the entire course of my week. Now it's back on Thursday, where it belongs.
Now it's a clear, breezy night in the field, and it's time for bed, if I can get myself up to go after the Sibelius finishes.
September 18 I actually made it into bed by 10:00 last night, and I slept well, except after I was up around 4:30, when I only dozed. I did not want to get up when the alarm went off, but that's normal, and I'm sure I wouldn't have been dozing if I hadn't known I had to get up. I am not, never have been, and never will be a morning person. Period.
However, I got myself up, and I actually got out of the house before 9:15. I was greeting today, and that meant I had to be at church at 10:00. I made it, although I could have been later, for all the people who were there. I'm afraid people don't like our lay preacher very much. I think he's just fine, for what he does, and he had a nice sermon, most of which I could actually understand for a change. Partly it was because he was speaking a bit more clearly, but my ears were working more properly this morning. We sang pretty well, although our director wasn't there; she is on call sometimes, and she had a call right before they were going to leave for church. I think she has something to do with mental health.
I didn't stop in the restroom before I started home, and that was a big mistake that I won't make again. At least today, I didn't have anything else I needed to do, so I came back home. My finances are in such a shambles that I can't buy anything much until a week from Wednesday, although I will have to do some food shopping and get gas next Sunday. I hope the TP will last until then.
The weather was variable and mostly cloudy. There were a few sprinkles on my way south, and the roads were wet, but that was mostly because the humidity was over 90%. The high temperature for the day was 70º, so it was pleasant, and there wasn't any wind. Oh, my joints! I could hardly move.
The guys didn't move much either. They both got some lap time, but otherwise they slept in various places.
I could have done that, too, so instead, I finished the green sock! Wow! Now I have another pair of spring and fall socks, which is good. I've only been working on this pair for about four years. Maybe the next pair, which is wool with a navy blue background (that I originally thought was black) and red, yellow and green (I think) stripes. The yarn is infused with aloe and jojoba, so it should be nice to work with. I can't believe i really finished those green socks! Well, they're actually two shades of green and two shades of gray, sort of in spirals, like all Tofuties are. I can't believe I finally finished those socks!
Oh yes, and I did the monthly system updates on both computers, so that's done. What I don't understand is that they put out a warning when there are only updates I didn't want to do, but when the real stuff comes out, I don't get any messages at all. Weird. But then, MS is.
So that was my day, and now it's a sort of warmish, humid and cloudy night in the field.
September 17 Same as the night before. I went up to the north end at a reasonable hour, but then I decided to start the beaded scarf. That wasn't as easy as I'd hoped, because the only #5 needle tips I have are metal, and they're a lot more slippery than the wooden ones. I persevered, though, and I got the set-up rows done, but I was later getting to bed than I wanted to be.
I slept well, although I think I slept the first part of the night on my back because my joints were so sore. i had both cats in bed with me for most of the night, which is often problematical when I have to get up. Louie sleeps on the right side (seen when lying down), usually up by my head, although a couple of times lately, he's moved down by my feet. Grayson sleeps on the left side, down between my knees and my feet. I don't move much at all when I'm asleep, so it's not a problem until I wake up, when I may roll over on a cat or kick one or find it nearly impossible to get up.
Anyway, I got up around 8:30, because I had to, and if I'd gone back to sleep, I'd never get to sleep tonight. I did the first 24 or so rows of the scarf. The beads are rather muted, but the effect is nice, and there are a ton of them on every right side row. It took me some time to figure out how to get them onto the stitch, because the holes are so small that I have to use a very small crochet hook, which sometimes only catches part of the yarn, but I'm getting the hang of it, and I'm going to try some bigger hooks. I found, with the wine shawl from last year, that frequently it's possible to use a bigger hook. If a bead doesn't fit, just use another one. Anyway, I love the color of the yarn, and the beads look very good with it, so I'll persevere. It's just going to be slow. I was afraid the #5 needle would be too big, and the holes are large, but I think it will look all right in this case. When I begin on the Shetland Garden shawl, though, I don't know. We'll see. I have two more projects in the queue after the two I've started. Oh, how I love to knit lace!
That was about all I did. I washed dishes overnight, but I didn't do anything about unloading the dishwasher.
The weather was so-so. it was mostly cloudy all day. The high temperature was 69º. briefly, and there wasn't much wind. It was ridiculously humid overnight, and the humidity was over 80% all day. Oh, my joints!
The guys slept all day. Grayson got some lap time, but he wanted more when I sat down with my dinner, but I had to shoo him away, because I needed to write this thing.
So that was a quiet day, and now it's a mostly cloudy, relatively warm night in the field, and the wind is picking up.
September 16 I actually went up to the north end at a reasonable hour last night, but I guess I spent a long time staring at the floor or trying hard to go to sleep right there, so it was 11:30 before I finally got to bed. I slept well, though, with only a couple of wakeups, and I got up around 9:00.
Sounds good, right? Then I started knitting, and three hours later, I finally got dressed. So I was late anyway. Then I had and accident and had to change my undies before I went off to the post office.
My beads came, as well as the yarn for another project, so now I can put aside the lavender shawl and start on the pale blue one. The beads are as pretty as I thought they'd be, so it will be a pretty thing. They're not pale blue, but they will go well with blue - clear, silver lined, matte iris. Very pretty. I love transparent matte iris beads in all colors, but they're not very common. The yarn is for a Shetland shawl that's in the queue. It's pretty too, mostly alpaca, and off-white.
I didn't do anything else, but I'm going to try to get the dishes washed tonight. I'm running out of bowls again, although this week I hardly used any plates. Strange.
The weather was not the kind I like. The high temperature was 68º, briefly, but the humidity was over 90% all day. Oh, yuck! There was a bit of wind around noon, but it was nearly calm for the rest of the day. We had 0.57" of rain between 7:00 AM and 11:00 AM. There was actually a few more drops while I was going to the post office, but not enough to register in the rain gauge. It was cloudy and dull all day. The camera hung up around 11:00, but you didn't miss anything.
The guys slept. Grayson didn't get any lap time until late this afternoon because I had to rush to the bathroom. Louie got his lovin' this morning while I was in the bathroom.
I must say that even though I should have had enough sleep, I nearly fell asleep sitting up while I was finishing last few rows that I knit this morning, but at that point, if I'd gone back to bed, I never would have gotten to the post office. It was that kind of day. Still is.
So that's it. Now it's a dark, damp night in the field.
September 15 Can you believe the date?
Late again, but at least this time I went to bed with clean hair and a clean me. I think it was about 11:30 when I got up, and I knitted. It's getting more interesting now, so I did six or eight rows, I'm not sure which, and I'm halfway up the second chart. It's going to be a pretty thing, but if the beads come on Friday, I'll put it aside for a while. Those beads have me rarin' to go. I hope they come. I just checked, and they're in Calumet. Yea!
Otherwise, I didn't do anything. Well - one thing. I hadn't ground up my last load of bones good enough, so the disposall hung up and I had to use the tool to unjam it. That meant I had to sit down, and for all that, the minute I started moving the tool around, it unjammed, and everything was all right, but I had to stand up before I could check that. It's little things like that that one doesn't think about when one thinks about getting old and crippled. Anyway, it's working fine now, so it was worth it.
The weather was nice, although I didn't go out. The high temperature was 69º, and there was almost no wind. It was clear until around 7:00, when the clouds began to come up on the west. There were some interesting clouds late in the day, and I'm sorry I didn't look at them myself. The camera has problems when the sun is in the middle of the frame, which it is now.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie slept all day in the navy chair. Grayson apparently feels good, and he wanted to wrestle with Louie, but Louie gets wild and he's too rough. Then Grayson jumps up on the counter in the bathroom and that's that. I doubt Louie was ever much of a jumper, and now he's so fat he even has a hard time jumping up into the bed (which is pretty high, I must admit). I got so used to Buster, who was an acrobat, that I forget that most cats aren't that athletic. Grayson is better, but he doesn't do things like teeter on the railing around the loft.
So that was my quiet day, and it's not very late yet. The playlist for the radio isn't inspiring, so maybe I will get to bed at a more reasonable hour tonight? We'll see.
Now it's a relatively warm, probably partly cloudy night in the field. There's a nearly full moon up there someplace, but I haven't seen it yet.
September 14 So I did it again. I just did not want to get up, let alone do what I was supposed to. So I sat until a ridiculous hour again. I got up around 10:30, and I knitted for a while. It's already getting long enough that I can't do very many rows, and this is only the beginning. I think there will be almost 500 stitches before I'm through. I like the yarn and I like the pattern, so it's not so bad, but I will have to pace myself. Working with the small needles is a great help, I find, but they still make my hands hurt if I knit for too long.
The only useful thing I did was to go to the post office and pay my taxes. Fortunately, Ron can postmark the envelope and put it right in the township's box, because I discovered they were due today. I thought it was tomorrow, like it usually is. None of the packages I really want was there yet, but they should be by Friday.
I did move some money around, and I did the bulletin. That was all.
The weather was nondescript. The high temperature was only 63º, but there wasn't much wind. It was cloudy for most of the day, although it cleared up at sunset and there is a lovely nearly-full moon now.
The camera hung up again, but just about the time I was checking it. I had to shut down a lot of the programs I have open in order to get it back up, so I really need to reboot. Maybe tomorrow? Anyway, the sun is getting pretty near the due west point it will reach on the equinox. Oh, sigh. Days are only about 12½ hours long now. Ron was talking about sending the tractor off to get it spiffed up. Oh, sigh.
The guys were sleepy. They both got some lap time, but Louie wasn't satisfied with what I was doing for him, so he didn't stay long.
So that was it. Now it's a clear, cold night in the field.
September 13 Well, I was stupidly late. I just sat for a long time, and then I had to fill the kibble bowls. When I got to the north end I just sat. I didn't get nearly enough sleep, and it showed today. I got up around 10:30 anyway, because I wanted to knit, and I did, for quite a while.
I finished the first chart. That one goes from 22 stitches to 101 stitches in 20 rows, so it sort of blossoms. The next chart settles down a bit, but now I'm knitting over 100 stitches, and I seem to have lost my rhythm on the purl side, so it's slow. It's going to be a pretty thing, though. Well, I won't knit anything that isn't pretty.
I had some possible things to do today, but I was so late I didn't do anything. I have confirmed that when I'm tired, it's even harder for me to get up and walk, and I was having a hard time today.
That's only partly because I didn't get enough sleep. It wasn't a nice day. There wasn't any rain, but it was cool. The high temperature was only 63º during the day and the humidity was over 70%. There wasn't a lot of wind, although we did have 20 mph gusts for a while, from the northeast. It was cloudy all day, and I hunkered down.
I have to apologize for the picture of the office that got out into the Internet this morning. I didn't turn the lights on until after the camera shut down last night, and I was not still in the office at 6:30 this morning! What apparently happened is that the camera hung up overnight, and the last thing it saw was the office after I turned the lights on. So I guess I will be leaving them off for a while longer. It was so nice to see what I was eating, but I don't like the world to see what a disaster my studio is. This has happened before, and I'm not sure what causes it. There were another couple of glitches today, so I may have to reboot sometime in the next couple of days.
The guys hunkered down, too. Louie sleeps with me at night and Grayson sleeps on me, as much as I'll let him, during the day.
So now I'm tired and it's hair night, so maybe I can get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour. I have a couple of must-dos tomorrow, including a trip to the post office, so I'll have to get up at a reasonable hour. I have two times when the knitting calls loudly: when I'm starting a new project, like now, and when I'm finishing up a project. In between, I can keep it under control a bit better. I was working on that sock this afternoon, too. I'm down to the toe, and I want to get it done!
Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
September 12 I was late again, of course. I just seemed too tired to move, so I didn't. I slept well. When I was awake in the night, the northern sky was almost as clear as the night before, although I couldn't see the fourth corner of the Little Dipper. It was a little later than the night before, too, so Altair had set and Orion was too far up in the sky. At this time of year, the west is pretty dull anyway, and you have to see the entire eastern side of the sky to see the winter constellations rising in the east.
I got up around 11:00. I had been up earlier, much too early to get up, and I was so comfortable that I really didn't want to get up when I did, but my bladder called.
I started a new shawl, but I had a hard time with it and I didn't get too far. This one is called Fiori di sole, and I will probably just refer to it as Fiori. It's pretty, but when I get my beads, I will set it aside for the beaded scarf. In he meantime, I have something to work on. Getting back to my favorite lace weight yarn was hard, but it's much less hard on my hands, so I will persevere. Tomorrow I should make more progress. Fiori di sole translates as "Sunflowers," but the yarn I'm using is pale lavender (yellow is a color I would never even consider using).
I made something I got from Schwan's for breakfast, and it took a long time, so I didn't have much time to do anything, and I didn't. That was because I started for town a bit after 4:00. Last night, when I was going up to the north end, my cane slipped on the tile in the bathroom, and when I looked at it, the bumper on the end had worn through. Since I didn't want it to slip again and send me on my nose, I decided I'd better replace it as soon as possible, and since I was going down to choir anyway, I went early, since Ace is only open until 5:30. A nice man not only found my bumpers, he took the old one off (it was glued, for heaven's sake!) and put the new one on. Now I have three more, so I should be set for a while.
I also got a spring for the door from the porch to the deck. A long time ago, I thought I could pull down the shutter without unhooking the spring, and I couldn't, so the spring has been a mess ever since. I finally remembered that I wanted to replace it, and it's cheap enough. Now I only have to put it on the door.
I was looking for some kind of bumper that I could put on the inside door handle in the closet, which hits the mirror behind it. They didn't have anything like that, so I guess I will just have to crochet one. For that purpose, crochet, with a small hook, should work better than knitting, since it will be thicker. I have a design in mind, and a bit of the cotton yarn I was using for washcloths, so I will have to try it. I'm so afraid I'll hit the door a bit hard and break the mirror! I should have had them put the mirror on the door, but oh, well.
While I was waiting, I finished the foot and started the toe of the sock I've been working on forever. Oh, i will be so glad to be done with those socks! I think I've been working on them for about four years, and it's time for something new.
September 11 - Remember Well, I wasn't early and I didn't sleep well. I was zoning out all over the place, and once I finally got to bed - around 10:30, which is late for a Saturday - I didn't sleep well. I kept waking up so sore I could hardly move - or maybe so stiff I could hardly move without it hurting. And of course, I had to get up around 5:45. Sigh. I did go back to bed, and I was about to get into a deep sleep when the alarm went off.
When I was up during the night, it was clearer than I've seen it in a long time. I could trace out the bowl of the Little Dipper, and one of those stars - it was in and out - is sixth magnitude. There was a lot of stuff that I couldn't figure out, and it seems it was the stars of Draco, which I've never been able to completely identify. Around 3:30, when I was up, I looked at the little sliver of sky between the top of the garage and the top of the window, and there were three bright stars in a row right there. There's only one thing that could be: Orion, rising in the east. The belt was all I could see, but it was pretty. Over in the west, it wasn't as clear, for some reason, and Altair was blinking in and out in a way I've never seen before, It sure was a pretty sky.
I got up at 6:30, of course, and I tried to move as fast as I could. It was hard because I had an accident - not a bad one - and I had to change my underwear. For some time now, I've been putting on my underpants and my compression stockings when I get up early like that, and It's a good thing. A pain, but a good thing. It confines the accidents to the pants and it confines my ankles and feet so I can get into my shoes.
I actually got away almost when I wanted to - just about 9:15. There were a couple of very slow drivers I had to pass, and I got to church just before 10:00...where I discovered that we were not greeting today. Deanna is as confused as I am, but she has a better excuse: she has two little boys under the age of 3.
Anyway, it was nice to sit quietly, because I was extremely creaky, and sitting quietly is the only way I can be comfortable. Church was good, with communion, and our interim pastor had the best sermon he's preached since he's been helping out.
Of course, we had to clean up afterwards, but that isn't very hard.
Then I had to get gas. With four trips down to town last week, I was getting low. That's about all I can get and be sure of not running out. It's back down to $2.299 now.
I got home around 1:30, and I changed my clothes, got something (not very good) to eat and spent the rest of the afternoon doing not much. I nearly fell asleep with the cat on my lap, When he left, I wound 8 balls of lace-weight yarn. When I looked at that yarn yesterday, I realized I'd forgotten one of the patterns. That one is actually for heavier yarn, and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about it, since I don't like lace-weight yarn on #5 needles, but the ones I had intended to do first are all right. Size 4s are a bit large, but they seem to work all right. That's what I used for the beaded shawl last year. I guess what I will do is start the lavender one and when the beads come, I'll do that one and leave the lavender one. I don't like to do that, but I've done it before, and I'm really anxious to work with those beads! They are smaller than the ones on the last shawl, but there are a whole lot more of them. It's a shape I don't like, but it will work for something that will be more like a large necklace than a shawl. I hope the beads come soon. In the meantime, I am going to have to see if I can enlarge the graphs, which are extremely small and hard to read.
The weather turned out all right, but not as nice as they predicted. The high temperature was 72º, and the humidity actually got down below 50% briefly. No wonder I felt better. The thing is, the dew point has been about steady around 50º, but as the temperature goes up and down, the relative humidity goes up and down, and when it's up, I hurt. There wasn't much wind - mostly under 10 mph - from the west. It was partly to mostly cloudy all day and cloudy at sunset, but now the gibbous moon is shining in the south windows, so it's at least partly clear.
I didn't see Louie, but Grayson spent a good portion of the afternoon on my lap. He seems to be all right, so I guess he's just trying to tell me he doesn't like me going away so much. Too bad. I need a life, too, little as it is.
So that was my quiet day, and now it's a sort of warm, breezy, at least partly clear night in the field. I'm tired.
September 10 This is early, but I seem to have been early all day.
I wasn't particularly early last night, except that it was earlier than I've been all week. I didn't sleep as well as I hoped, but I think that was because of the humidity. I kept waking up because I was so sore. It should be better tonight, or at least I hope so.
I got up around 9:30, and I finished the purple shawl! Yea!! Yea!! It is all ready to be blocked. Well, we know about that. I have been looking at yarn and feeling it all day, to try to decide what to do next. I may start the lavender one, or I may just wait until my beads arrive and work on that sock I've been knitting for three years. We'll see. At least I'll be winding a bunch of yarn tomorrow or Monday. I found yarn for another shawl that I"d forgotten about, and that one has Shetland designs in it, and besides, it's sort of aqua yarn, two things in its favor. I still want to do the beaded one first, so we'll see. That one will probably be pale blue with some of the prettiest beads I could find - clear, silver lined, matte iris. I don't have them yet, but I know I'll love them.
I had to meet Deanna at church at 4:00, so I started out around 3:00 so I wouldn't be late. Turns out she was, but oh, well. I was surprised by the number of cars and RVs going toward Copper Harbor. I thought this was the quiet weekend, and tomorrow is 9/11. Getting things ready for church isn't really that much of a problem, although it's a little worse when there's communion, and it only took us a little over half an hour. It helps when there are two of us. She did the things that meant going up and down the steps, and I did most of the rest, except that I let her fill the communion cups again. Next time it will be my turn.
The weather was, um, variable. It started raining around 5:00 AM and it rained rather steadily and rather hard until noon, for a total of 0.66". Then the wind picked up, from the northeast, while the clouds began to go away. The winds have been as high as 31 mph gusts, and the lake is singing. It didn't get sunny until after 5:30 PM, but now it is almost completely clear. I notice that the sun is right over the other end of the harbor, so it's moving south at a great rate. It's still sort of humid - 67% - but it's so much lower than it has been for the past few days that I feel much better already. Now if it will only get low enough that the towels will dry...The high temperature during the day was only 62º, which meant I was cold all morning and for the first time this season, I had to wear a jacket when I went out. And it's supposed to go down below 60º overnight. Sigh. However, it is supposed to get up to 73º or so tomorrow, so it's not over yet.
The guys have been sleepy. Grayson wanted to sleep on me all day. I don't know where Louie was earlier, but when I went to get my dinner, he was in the navy chair, on his back and bent in the middle around a corner, with his paws up underneath his chin. Cutest thing.
Now it's a clear, cool evening in the field and I'm off to the north end to try to get to bed early. I have to greet tomorrow, as well as clean up after communion.
September 9 Oof! There was just another power glitch, which I suspect only hit the east side of the house again. The Netgear box didn't come up at all until I reset it and when the computer rebooted, Windows Explorer didn't come up right, so I had to reboot again. Neither Win 7 nor Norton expect you to ever have to reboot, and it takes them forever. That's the third reboot today, because Norton downloaded some kind of software update that needed a reboot. I can do without that. I called Charlie and pointed out to him that I really need a UPS, if I'm going to support his gear, and I can't afford one. We'll see where that goes.
Anyway, I think we're back together now, except that, of course, I'll have to reset some clocks. I need to get some service on my generator, and when I do, I'll have to talk to the electricians about this power problem I seem to have.
I was a bit earlier than usual last night, but not a lot, because I stared at the floor for entirely too long. I slept very well, with two wakeups, and I got up around 11:00, so I got enough sleep. It was very clear when I was up during the night, but it had clouded up by morning. Evidently, I missed some northern lights last week, so I've been looking when I was up, but there weren't any last night.
I knitted four whole repeats, and now I have only two more, plus the end 8 rows, to do and the yarn ends to weave in and I will be done with this project! Yea!!! I succumbed and ordered both the yarn for one project and the beads for another, so now I have three projects in line again. I do have some yarn to wind, but I can do that either tomorrow or Sunday.
Tomorrow I have to go down to church to get it ready for Sunday, but that's late in the afternoon, and Sunday, I have to clean up after communion and get gas (four trips down this week!), so I don't know how much time I'll have, but I need a project to start right away, so I'll find time to wind.
I actually started trying to get the trash in the kitchen bagged up. I didn't get far, but I have a little more room on the counter than I did, and I have another full bag, this one tied, so I can't overload it. I did that while my dinner was cooking, and if I can do that again for several days, maybe I can get a little closer to a kitchen. The broom is in the kitchen now, too, so that will help.
The weather wasn't any help. The high temperature was 74º, briefly at 2:00, but except for right then, the humidity was over 70% all day, so I was hurting. It was partly to mostly cloudy all day, so the harbor was gray, but there was a little sunshine. If I hadn't been sore, it would have been a nice day.
The guys flummoxed me last night. They didn't come up to the north end when I did, and I was wondering where they were. It seems like they were sleeping together in the navy chair, and they didn't move until I went looking for them. They slept most of the day today, too, although Grayson got a lot of lap time. He needs more than Louie does, apparently. Louie got some yesterday, but he didn't ask today.
So that was my day. I'm not sure why, but every day this week, I've thought it was a day later, so I keep thinking today is Saturday. No, no, Shari! It's Friday, all day and half the night. Tomorrow is Saturday. Maybe eventually I'll stop being confused, but I'm not hopeful.
Now it's a cloudy, coolish night in the field.
September 8 I was late again last night, but not quite as late as the night before. I slept very well, in spite of the humidity, and I got up around 10:30. I knitted. I had a bit of trouble starting off, but after that, I made good progress, and now I only have six repeats to go! That means I should finish this thing on Saturday. Yea! I still haven't decided what to do next, but it will probably be the thing I have the yarn for that doesn't require beads, even though I haven't wound the yarn yet. I don't like to be without a hard project.
That was about all I had time for. I was getting ready to go to town and sort of rustling around and I had an accident that meant I had to change my bottoms - and my overshirt - so I was late getting to church. I keep forgetting that when these people say 4:00, they really mean 3:30. Anyway, we all rustled through the boxes of songs and we now have everything through Thanksgiving Eve, which is very nice to know. We know what we'll be singing and we have time to practice the things that we don't know well. I got home around 5:30.
The weather is still quite humid, although less so than yesterday. The high temperature was 70º for a couple of hours this afternoon. It rained a bit from midnight until around 9:00 AM - 0.09" - but then the wind started to blow and slowly the clouds moved off to the east and the dew point went down to around 55º. That still means the relative humidity was over 60%, but it was enough lower that I felt much better today. And the sunshine was welcome.
The guys slept, and I didn't see much of them.
So that was my day, and now it's a clear (I think), coolish night in the field. This is early, but I have to stay up at least another hour because they're doing one of my most favorite Mozart piano concerti.
September 7 Okay, I think I have the dates straight now. Thanks, Rose, for pointing out my goofs! I tend to lose track of the date and day anyway.
I wasn't any earlier to bed last night, but I slept well, but the fish meant I was up several times. I got up around 11:30, I think, (or was at 10:30?) and I knitted three repeats. I have only 9 more to go, so sometime in the next week, I will finish this project. It's been a fun knit, but on toward the end of the edging, it gets old.
I was so late that I didn't do anything but the bulletin, and I didn't get that off to Steve until around 5:00. It's sort of a chore, but somebody has to do it, and he is doing enough already. Maybe this week, I got everything right, but we'll see. I'm glad I have him to proofread it for me.
I had intended to wash dishes today, but I was so late that I will have to do it tonight. The dishwasher is pretty nearly ready to go, and it's stuffed, as usual. Tonight. And I have to wash my hair tonight, too, no matter what the time.
The weather was not nice. The high temperature during the day was only 67º and the humidity was over 85% all day. It was dark and cloudy and we had a little bit of rain after about 5:00 PM. Not my favorite kind of weather!
The guys were sleepy, too. Grayson spent a long time on my lap - and I nearly had another accident - and later he kept coming up and stomping on me for some reason. This morning, though, when I was washing my face, he found the cat toy on the back of the bedroom door, and he played with it for a bit. it's been there forever, and this is the first time he's paid any attention to it. I think Louie spent most of the day on the box below the window to the porch.
So that was another lost day, and now it's a cool, foggy night in the field.
September 6 Of course I was late again, as is usual on choir nights. By the time I decided I'd better go to bed before I fell asleep where I was, there was thunder rumbling in the distance. I had left Louie alone, and when I went out to the kitchen, he was sitting right in front of the door, looking serious and meowing, but I had to give him a little nudge (poost, as my grandpa used to say) to get him to come in. Snot. When I turned out the lights, there was lightning all around, but mostly to the south. I was nearly asleep when there was a crack right over the harbor that woke me up. I don't think the guys liked the thunder and lightning very much, but I do, except when it wakes me up. There was only the one bolt, and it didn't rain very much then.
I slept very well, considering how humid it was. I got up around 10:30, and I didn't knit, because I knew if I did I'd be late for my massage. That turned out nice, although with the humidity as high as it is, it didn't do me as much good as it might have.
I was tired when I got home, as usual, so I didn't do anything but my surfing for the rest of the afternoon. I had my nice fish for dinner tonight, and it was good, but there were consequences. When I dropped the pieces into the hot olive oil, it splashed onto my second and third fingers, and now I have a very sore third finger, even though I iced it right away. I suppose I will have a blister, too. I will have to be more careful.
The lowest the humidity got all day was 71%, briefly. It was worse for most of the day. We had a total of 0.38" of rain, but most of it was between 5:00 and 6:00 this morning. The high temperature was 77º, at 5:00 PM. It was cloudy until around 3:30, when it began to clear up, and it seems to have been clear at sunset. None of that was supposed to happen, so I'm not sure what the skies are like now. It's still warm and humid, although it's supposed to be cooler tomorrow. The forecasts haven't been very accurate lately, so I don't know for sure.
The guys slept today. Grayson got some quality lap time, but I had to move him so that I wouldn't have an accident. Louie seems much chastised by his time out in the breezeway. NO, I will NOT stand by the door and try to coax him in! i thought he knew that. I think it was the thunder that finally convinced him to come in. When I got up this morning, there was a dead mouse in the hallway in front of the door to the laundry room. Good for them, and at least they leave the carcasses where I'll see them and dispose of them, even though it isn't my favorite job before breakfast.
So that was my quiet day, and I think I'll be on my way to the north end soon. I'm hot and sticky and I need to take a bath and cool down. Now it's a warm, humid night in the field, and I'll be interested to see if it's still clear out.
September 5 - Labor Day Of course I was later than I wanted to be last night. I was just too tired to move, I guess. Once I got to bed, I slept very well, and I got up around 10:30. I had actually awakened about an hour earlier, but I just didn't want to get up, so I dozed until it became obvious that if I didn't get up, I would make a mess in my bed.
I knitted, with some difficulty, but I kept at it until I had three repeats done. Now I only have 12 more to go, so I can see the end of the project, and I'm still wondering what I will do next. I like to knit in the morning, because in general, it doesn't require me to see quite as acutely as cross stitching would. So we'll see.
I did do something today. Not much, but something. I did the last load of clothes, and it should be done drying when I go up to the north end. It would be dried now, except that I never leave the dryer running when I'm not here, and there was choir practice tonight.
I also had a yucky accident, but that's not so unusual.
Choir was good, and a small group of us will be meeting on Thursday afternoon to begin to plan out our songs for the next two or three months. That's not as easy as it sounds, because we would like to try to sing things that tie in with the lessons of the day. We'll see how it comes out. All of us have different things we like.
I updated Norton on the laptop, in case I take it with me on Thursday, and I nearly got in a mess. Something, I think Explorer, hung up, and it became clear that the update wouldn't complete, so I rebooted. I hate to do that, especially with Norton, because several times I've had it not start. It didn't this time, either, but once I started it manually, it seemed to be working fine, and the rest of the things it did went well, although I stopped the disk optimization, since I don't think I need that. I hate this software stuff that has a mind of its own. It might have been all right anyway. I keep forgetting that the laptop cpu is a lot slower than the one in the desktop, and when one does a cold boot, it takes forever for everything to start properly on either computer. I know they didn't pay any attention to that because they don't think it will be necessary to reboot very often, but I don't think there is any excuse for it. One reason I am sticking to Windows 7 is that I'm sure the later versions are even more bloated than it is, and it's bad. Someone has even suggested that an independent source might take over the maintenance of Windows 7 for those of us who will not ever "upgrade." Now I hear there are a couple of new cpus that will only be supported by Windows 10, but all that means is that I'll be using the same hardware for a long time. Since I used the last hardware for 12 years or so, I guess that won't bother me. End of rant for the evening. Should I still be alive and using a computer in 10 years, I'll face that problem when I have it.
The weather was more summery than the summer was. It was raining hard when I got up, but it only lasted half an hour or so - 0.22". It's not that we didn't need the rain, but it has been extremely humid all day. The high temperature was 80º, briefly, but it was in the upper 70s all afternoon. I have not been doing well. It cleared up after the rain, sort of, but it was a bit cloudy at sunset. I could see the little sliver of moon when I left Laurium, but it was behind a cloud when I got home.
The guys slept, I guess. When I got home tonight, I had to go back out into the breezeway to turn out the lights, and Louie slipped out. He's still there. I hope he will come in when I go up to the north end, because if he doesn't, he's out for the night. I guess he figured, since Grayson got out, it was his turn. I think it's mostly the mice that fascinate them, but for Louie, it's probably all the plastic bags, too. Grayson is in, and he has not exhibited any interest in going out since he got his kibble bowls filled. What snots!
I was fiddling with the stuff in the sink when I stuck my hand down toward the disposall and hit the top of a cat food can and cut a slice in the pad of my right index finger. I had a terrible time getting it to stop bleeding, and in fact, when I changed the bandage this afternoon it was still seeping a bit. Besides, it hurts. It's not a good thing to slice the pad of the index finger on your dominant hand. Fortunately, I type with the tips of my fingers, and I can still knit, but still, it's hard.
So that was my day, and now it's a cloudy, warm, humid night in the field.
September 4 So of course I didn't get to bed as early as I wanted to, but it was around 10:15 or so. I slept well, although I was up several times. Unfortunately, I was up around 5:30, I think, and I was just getting back into a deep sleep when the alarm went off.
I thought I was doing well, but it was still late when I left. There were the usual slow drivers, but I wasn't too late getting to church. It was nice. There was communion this morning, and Pastor Neider gave us some good advice about courting our prospective pastor. It turns out, he was here briefly yesterday, to look things over and talk to some of the elders. That sounds like he is at least willing to consider our call very seriously. We're all praying.
After church, I had to shop. I didn't want to. It was humid, and I was moving very slowly, but there were some things I needed (like bread) that I can't get at the Gaslite. I considered it, but I decided to get it done. It will be better when it gets cold. I can come down early before choir, do my shopping, and safely leave everything in the car. I did that a lot last winter. Anyway, I got what I needed. For once, they had whitefish! Now I will have a lovely dinner on Tuesday and there will be another filet in the freezer. Yum! My order seemed to be mostly lettuce and bread, actually. I did get some cat food. It's rather expensive at Pat's, but I needed a few things.
I didn't get home until around 2:00, and it was 3:00 before I ate something, so I didn't eat much dinner. I was late partly because I had to get gas, and it looks like I will be getting it again next week. The choir is going to form a committee to pick our songs, and I want to be part of that. And Deanna and I are on altar duty next week, so I will have to go down for that, too. Both of those things are important, so I will just have to cope. At least the price of gas is down to $2.359.
It was a beautiful day, weatherwise. The high temperature was 76º, briefly, and it was 75º for a good portion of the afternoon, with a little breeze from the southwest. The dew point stayed around 57º or so, so as it got warmer, the relative humidity went down to a tolerable level. The problem is, it started out high, so between that and all the walking and standing up and sitting down, I was moving slow. I sat and enjoyed the breeze for the rest of the afternoon.
The guys mostly slept. They were upset, because their bowls were empty, but there is easily a bowlful of kibble on the floor in the corner where I feed them and where it overflowed when I set it down. But would they eat it? Of course not. Grayson ate some of his favorites, but not the big pile. Louie apparently wouldn't eat it off the floor at all. When I was bringing in the groceries, I went back out to get the bags of cat food I bought and Grayson jumped out. So I brought in the bags and I showed them to him, and wonder of wonders, he came right in! I'm sure he can either understand what I say or read my mind, it's just that he ignores me most times. This time he didn't, and when I put the bowls down, he sat down and ate right away. Louie didn't, but he had eaten the handle off a plastic bag, so he probably wasn't very hungry. I know, plastic bags aren't good for him, but I can't get him to stop eating them.
So now I'm going to be late getting to bed again, but I don't have anything to do tomorrow anyway. It's cooling down nicely and it will be a nice night to sleep, but there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow and that means humidity. Oh, well.
Now it's a cloudy, warmish night in the field and I'll be off to the north end shortly. Reallly.
September 3 It was another stupidly late night, but I got up around 10:00. I figured that will help me sleep better tonight, but we'll see. I knitted three repeats of the edging, so I'm making progress - slowly, but progress.
Today was washday, or part of washday. I washed one load a day or two ago, and I got one more done today. Now all that's left is the white stuff. I would rather do that when the water has run out, so it's clearer, but I diddled around too long, so it won't get done until tomorrow or Monday.
The weather was rather nice, although I didn't take advantage of it. This weekend is the Trails Club bike thingie, and even if I wanted to go out, there are too many bicyclists around to be safe. The high temperature got up to 72º, briefly, but it was over 70º all afternoon. The humidity was under 60% for most of the afternoon, too, which left me wondering why I am so creaky, but I think it's that I didn't get enough sleep. There wasn't much, if any, wind. It isn't completely clear. There is a high haze of clouds overhead that sort of muted the sunshine and turned the lake gray, but there was some sunshine.
The sun isn't rising until 7:15 or so now, and now I'll be having an even harder time getting up on Sundays, because I absolutely hate getting up before it's light out. It's setting before 8:30, too, so there is about 13¼ hours of day. Oh, sigh. I wish we could go back to standard time now, instead of having to wait until it doesn't matter. (Insert rant about DST - you know how I feel about that).
The guys slept. Louie slept on his chair for most of the day, and Grayson slept on his pile of old flannel nightgowns outside the studio door when he wasn't sleeping on my lap. I won't ever be able to move those nightgowns. Fortunately, they're too frayed to ever wear again.
Oh, yes, and apropos the discussion I had with my neighbor about people on the road: late this afternoon, a motorcycle came down the road, and an hour or so it came back. And he thinks all the people ignoring the "private" signs are my friends! Grr. No friend of mine rides a motorcycle, at least not on our road.
I forgot to mention that MS bit me again. A week or two ago, I wrote (not very well) a scene in the story I'm mostly working on. We had two power glitches at various times after I wrote it, and each time, Word said "autosaved." Well. I went back to read through the story again, because I wasn't very happy about that scene...and it wasn't there. I even went back over the backups, to see if I could recover it, but that was an exercise in futility, because I didn't know which of the umpteen intermediate files I might have to restore. So the scene I wrote - and I know I wrote it - is gone, and I will have to write it over again. Probably that's not a bad thing, but I had been thinking about what happens after it, and now I have to go back and revisit it. So much for autosave, backup, and all that stuff. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I could recover an entire file (I've lost those too, occasionally), but not intermediate ones. So if I add several thousand words to a file, now I have to remember to specifically, manually save it, just to make sure it's really there.
Oh, I so need a UPS! I'm trying to get Charlie to give me one, because one of his pieces of equipment doesn't react well to power glitches, but heaven knows when (or if) that will ever happen. In the meantime, I guess I will have to be more diligent in saving my files. At least this time, what got lost was something I wasn't happy with anyway, but that doesn't always happen.
So it was another quiet day, but at least I got some of the wash done. Now it's a sort of warm, sort of sunny evening in the field, and I'm off to the north end soon, in the hope that I can get enough sleep.
September 2 Well, it was another late night and another useless day. I have clean hair, but I didn't get enough sleep, so I was moving slow and sitting and staring at something a lot. I knitted two repeats of the edging, and I went to the post office. I paid a couple of bills. And that was it. Sigh. If only all those fruit flies would pick up the trash and move it to a bag...
The weather was nice. It was clear overnight, although I didn't get to see it, and it was clear and blue all day. The high temperature was 70º, briefly, and the wind was under 10 mph all day. The humidity was around 60%, which is about as high as I can tolerate. Nice. Pretty. The sun set over Hunter's point, on its way to the notch in the mountain, and it's moving fast now.
The guys slept. Before I got up, somebody, apparently Grayson, had a coughing fit and left stuff all over the house. Yuck. He got a lot of lap time, Grayson slept on the navy blue chair until the sun started shining on him, then he went someplace else, I have no idea where. He sleeps even more than Grayson does anyway, but he's older than Grayson is.
So that was my day. Now it's a clear, sort of warm night in the field. Maybe I will get to see some of the stars tonight.
September 1 Oh, what a shock it is to write that date!
My schedule has been getting out of control again, and I must do as much as I can to get it back under control. I was ridiculously late last night again, just because I sat and stared at the floor for a very long time. I wasn't even extremely tired, until i finally got to bed. Oh, sigh. Maybe I can do better today.
I didn't get up until around noon, although I read the clock wrong, so I don't know exactly when it was. I only knitted two repeats, but I only have 20 more to go, so I'm making progress. My worst problems now are how to keep that big thing on my lap and how to manipulate two balls of yarn. Sometimes things drop on the floor and sometimes the yarns get twisted up.
I did have several goals today, but I didn't achieve all of them. I began my wash, because all of my summer indoor bottoms were dirty, so I washed a load. I wanted to get some things off the kitchen counters, but that didn't happen. I did begin to load the dishwasher, but that was because I had to empty the sink. I have been trying for several weeks to cook a shrimp casserole from my mother's recipe box. I did that, although I didn't cook the onions long enough and I didn't leave the casserole in the oven long enough. That's all right; it will warm up better. It is good, but it has so much cheese (as well as mushroom soup) in it that it's quite rich. Anyway, it tasted good to me, and I have at least two more meals, maybe three. I would freeze some, but I'm not sure how it would freeze, and besides, I don't have any room in the freezer.
So it wasn't a completely lost day.
The weather was cool but nice. It was clear during the night, but by sunrise it had clouded up, and the clouds lasted until around 1:00, when they all rolled away and it was clear for the rest of the afternoon. The high temperature was only 63º, and now that it has gotten dark, it has dropped precipitously to 53º. There wasn't much wind. There should be some nice stars tonight. I admit, I didn't stick my nose outside.
The guys were sleepy, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but not Louie.
Now it's a clear, cool night in the field.
Last updated 10/01/16 07:50 PM
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