|
A View From the Field |
|
November, 2016 November 30 So November is over. Sigh.
I fiddled around last night, so it was 2:00 when I got to bed and 11:00 when i got up. I will have to try to roll it back tonight. I knitted and I surfed, but the task of the day was the bulletin, and I got that out early, then I had to resend it because I got a late email from somebody who wanted stuff put in it. Sigh. If I ever get everybody to understand what my timetable is, I'll be happy.
That was all I did.
The weather was not nice again. It was so dark I could have used the lights all day, but I guess I've gotten used to working in the dark. The high temperature was 42º, and that was around 1:00, when it started to rain. It's been raining lightly ever since, and so far we've had about a quarter inch. The wind was calm until about 1:00, too, but then it began to rise and now it's blowing at about 20 mph from the east. Nasty.
The guys thought so, too. Just after I went to bed last night, I heard something going on in the kitchen, and when I got there this afternoon, there was a dead mouse. I didn't pick it up right away, and while I was making my dinner, Grayson started playing with it like it was a catnip mouse, so now I don't know where it is. Lesson to me. I'm grateful that he catches the mice, but I wish he would just leave them. Louie slept. I've seen him, but he hasn't asked to sit yet.
So that was another quiet day, and I AM going to get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour tonight. It won't be early, because it's already late, but maybe it will be more reasonable. I have to wash my hair, but I discovered (as if I didn't know) that if I can do that when I'm not so tired, it's easier and I don't have to worry quite as much about falling in the shower.
Now it's a dark, cold, rainy night in the field and November is history.
November 29 So last night it was 1:00. I got up around 10:30, I think, and I knitted. Unfortunately, this part of the shawl is boring, but I just have to forge ahead. The edging will not be boring.
I didn't do anything. I still don't feel good. Late this afternoon, Debbie called, and we talked for almost four hours, but it's been a long time since we talked. She still feels she can unload on me, and I feel the same way, and we both had a lot to talk about. I was nearly inarticulate tonight, for some reason, but then, that happens when my thoughts get away from my mouth.
The weather was blah again. The high temperature was 46º, at around 8:00 this morning, but it was in the 40s until after 3:00 this afternoon, when it went down to around 39º. It rained overnight, sometimes pretty hard, and there was a bit more rain between 6:00 and 7:00 this evening. It was windy overnight, too, but the wind went to nothing during the day. it was dark and cloudy, but not as bad as yesterday.
The guys slept. They both got some lap time, although I had to move Louie because I had to go to the powder room.
So it was another quiet day, and now it's another dark, damp night in the field.
November 28 Up to my old tricks. I didn't get to bed until around midnight, but it was partly because I didn't eat until after 10:00, and I'm doing the same thing tonight. I slept very well, and i got up around 9:30 and knitted.
I didn't do much else. I spent a while tracking down a package - it was at the post office - and I went out to get it and my mail, since I didn't go on Friday. And then I had to read a catalog. Most of the mail is catalogs and pleas for money these days, although there were some things relating to the accident that I need to look at again and the usual bills, of course.
We had a power failure right before 5:00, I think, so I didn't have any Internet for a couple of hours. It was during the talking, so it wasn't vital, but still. The last few power failures we've had, not only do I have to reset the NetGrear thingie, apparently there is at least one relay point that doesn't have a UPS, so I'm down until the power comes back. It wasn't an especially long outage (just a couple of hours), but it's annoying.
It was the kind of day it was better to ignore. The temperature varied between 42º and 44º and it was windy, with gusts from the south that got up to 34 mph right before the power went out. It was extremely dark and dreary all day - I should have turned on the lights when I was knitting - and around 9:00 PM it began to rain lightly. The lowest the humidity got all day was 85%. Yuck!
The guys did what any respectable cat would do on a day like this - they slept - although Grayson wanted to sleep on me, which has its disadvantages, especially since I can't even twitch without him jumping up and leaving.
So that was a very quiet day, and I will be off to the north end soon. Really. It's a dark, windy, rainy night in the field.
November 27 Another night when I'm too tired to even move.
I think it was 10:30 when I got to bed last night. It takes longer than I'm used to to do my thing. I didn't sleep very well. I was up several times, and I finally had to get up around 6:10, because I had to go to the bathroom. The only thing good about that was that I left a bit after 9:00 - much earlier than lately.
I wanted to leave early because we had to practice before church, and the whole peninsula was covered with fog, very dense in spots. It took me nearly an hour to get to Laurium. There wasn't any traffic, but the temperature was only 33º or 34º (according to my car - Bill's car said 32º), and I was afraid that the roads would be slippery. They weren't, but they were wet and I wasn't sure, so I went slowly.
Church was good, and I think we sang pretty well. Afterwards, I had to get gas. Our church services are longer than they used to be, and there was communion this morning. So it was around 1:30 by the time I got home.
It was only foggy in the "upper elevations," particularly between Calumet and Phoenix, but north of there, it was just a little hazy. I had to pass a guy in the fog, but he was only going about 50 mph max, and since there wasn't any traffic at all, there wasn't any reason for him to go so slowly.
I am so tired that anyplace I sat down, I just sat, so I didn't do anything for the rest of the afternoon, except to finish my surfing. I had hoped to eat early and go to bed early, but no such luck.
The weather, as I said, was bad. When I was up in the night, except for the last two times, it was clear and there were stars, although not very bright ones. The original forecast said it was going to be clear today, but it wasn't, even when the fog lifted. It was extremely humid - very bad for my knees - and the temperature has been rising until now it's 44º. There was no wind at all until about 5:00, when it shifted to the south and picked up some, with gusts around 20 mph. I hate this weather, but I'll take it rather than snow.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me a lot, and Louie slept wherever he usually sleeps. I don't blame them.
I still do not feel good.
Now it's a warmish, cloudy, breezy night in the field and I'm going to bed and sleep forever.
November 26 I missed my target, but I made it into bed by 10:45. I slept well, although I was up four times. When I'm not totally exhausted, I seem to have to get up about every 2½ hours. I got up around 9:30, but I'd never know it. I'm tired again already. The Shari Syndrome.
I knitted four rows. I ended up having to redo a whole half of one repeat in order to fix the mistake I made, but it looks fine now, and already it's not so stretched out. It sometimes amazes me how resilient knitting is. You tug it this way and that and run your fingernails over it and pretty soon nobody could ever tell you goofed. Thankfully.
Other than that, I didn't do anything. I do not feel good.
The weather was actually quite warm. The temperature got up to 39º for several hours this afternoon, and there was no wind. It appears there was a little rain overnight, but today, there was even some sunshine occasionally. The camera didn't show it, and it hung up around 4:30, but I got sunned on.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but I ignored Louie when he came by, and he didn't come back.
So that was all there was. Now it's a cloudy (I think), warmish night in the field, and I'm off to the north end to try to get to bed as near to 9:30 as I can.
November 25 I almost pulled an all-nighter again. This has to stop. I got up around 1:00 and knitted six rows. That finishes the first repeat of the leaf motif. It will be getting slower from now on. I am still trying to recover from the stitch I dropped a couple of days ago, but I think I'll be able to do that tomorrow. What a mess!
I was so late that I didn't do anything but my surfing, and most of that was during the talking. So I have nothing to report. I had all kinds of thoughts about what I might do today, but there just wasn't any time.
I AM going to bed as soon as the Beethoven (Triple Concerto) and this is done. I AM.
The weather was blah again. The temperature was nearly steady around 36º all day, and the wind was calm all afternoon. It was dark and cloudy and dreary, but at least it's above freezing and there wasn't much, if any, precip until after 8:00. It never ceases to amaze me that one day we have gale force winds with storm force gusts, and not many days later, we have no wind at all for hours on end. It's one of the many reasons I love this place so much.
The guys were sleepy, too. Grayson finally got some lap time late in the day, but Louie is still asleep. Good choice, Lulu.
So it was a dull, nothing kind of day, and it's a dark, dull, night in the field.
November 24 - Thanksgiving Day I wasn't early last night. It was about 1:00 when I got to bed. To make up for it, I didn't get up until about 11:30 (I think). I knitted two rows because I was so late, but it's coming along. This part of the shawl is an easy pattern that's easy to get the rhythm.
I forgot to mention that yesterday on the return row of the second two, I dropped a stitch. What a mess! I got it back together, or mostly so, but as usual when I have to fix mistakes, it pulled part of the pattern out of true, and there are some big holes. I hope that when I block it, the holes will get smaller, but right now It doesn't look good. I had to do a little more repair work, but I think it's right now.
That was all I did besides my surfing. I did cook a bit, though, and I am pleased to report that the last power glitch we had fixed the oven problem. No more error codes and the keypad works just fine. If I could get downstairs, I could have power failed it a long time ago, but I can't. At least it's fixed and I don't have to contemplate oven repairs (the face plate and control are very expensive).
I cooked a turkey roll I got from Schwan's and it was OK. If I'd been able to go to Pat's on Sunday, I would have gotten a half turkey (what a great idea!), but I couldn't have kept it in the fridge for a week. I didn't eat until after 11:00, and it was cold. It was also tough, but it isn't extremely dry, so I guess It's OK. I didn't try to make gravy, but I did keep the juice in case I feel like it.
Frankly, I don't feel good. I guess It's the Shari Syndrome - feel bad, runny nose, night sweats, not hungry, and so forth. I was hoping to be able to get a flu shot, but I don't like to do that when there's something else wrong with me. The not hungry part is great. I forgot to weigh myself this morning, but from the fit of my black pants, I can tell I've lost probably 10 pounds. Any weight I can lose is good. From that point of view, this is good, but I absolutely hate feeling so cruddy and having to sleep 11 hours a night...and I'm really tired again.
The weather was blah. The temperature was nearly steady, going from 35º to 39º, and there was no wind. Some kind of precip came down until around 9:00 this morning. I assume it was rain or drizzle, because of the temperature. It was dark and dreary and blah.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time this afternoon, and when I finally went to the powder room, he and Louie were both in the pink chair, curled up in the same direction, with Grayson in front of Louie. You'd think they like each other. Unfortunately, they don't, or at least they don't like each other very well.
So that was my quiet day. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, doing it the way you like best. I did. Now it's a cool, dark night in the field.
November 23 So I pulled an all-nighter last night. I fiddled around at the computer entirely too long, and then I had to wash my hair, so it was a bit after 6:00 when I finally got to bed. I got up around 1:30 and knitted four rows, and then I did my surfing.
I was aiming to leave the house by 5:30, and I should have, but of course I was late, so I was late getting to church, and I had to park in a non-parking place by the door. Somebody objected (although she just emailed me and apologized - just as nice as her husband!), but I've gotten used to things like that. No way could I walk on that parking lot!
Oh, it was just like cozying under the comforter. Pastor is going to be wonderful, and our most vocal critic agreed with me. We had communion, and we used the old service (yea!!) and his sermon was a great one, He certainly has started out on the right foot with most of us.
The only thing that was sad is that the attendance wasn't great, even though it was a joint service. I think the weather was to blame.
The snow apparently started around 8:00 this morning, and while there wasn't a lot of accumulation, it was enough to make the roads slick. It didn't help that the temperature was steady at about 34º, which is about the worst case. I had to go slowly, and if I had any ideas of going faster, there was a guy who had just been towed out of a ditch on the way down and another one, going in the other direction, on the way back. There is a curve just before Central and Gratiot Lake Road that is apparently deceptive. The sheriff and the tow truck were on site on the way down, but it looked like the cars were waiting on the way back. I slowed down, so it took me close to an hour to get home. At least there was no wind, and very little new snow, but then, it looked to me like a lot of what was coming down was rain. Of course it was dark and dismal. I was still glad I made it to church.
The guys slept. They know what to do in weather like this. Louie slept with me overnight, but Grayson didn't get his loving. He did get bacon, so I guess that sort of helped.
When I got home, I discovered that evidently I had pulled an orange bag out of the garage when I left. I left it there - it was too dark and slippery to try to haul it inside. I will have to try to be more careful about getting as close to the left side of the doorframe as I can.
So now it's a dark, cold (but not too cold) and messy night in the field, and since I didn't get enough sleep last night, I will have to try to get up to the north end soon.
Oh yes, and my sinus troubles have had one good side effect: when I put on my black pants tonight, I was able to button the waistband, for the first time since I got those pants! I have not been hungry and my stomach has been sort of upset, so I haven't been eating a lot. Evidently it shows. At least I have one pair of pants that fits!
November 22 So I was late again last night, and I don't remember why. I got up around 11:30, and I knitted. It's taking me about half an hour to do two rows now, so pretty soon I'll have to do fewer in each session.
The task of the day was the bulletin, and it was a near disaster. Actually, doing it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. I got the inside pages the way I wanted them, and I didn't have any problem with the outside pages (it's a half-sheet, four page booklet). But then...Sometimes Word mystifies me. I sent off to Steve and Pastor, and a few minutes later, I got a reply from Pastor saying he was sure I would change the outside front page. What? I did that. When I looked at it, I said a few bad words. Somehow, the outside pages were the old ones, from the bulletin I was working from. So I did it over, and I made a few mistakes, so I had to send it to them again. Aarrgghh!! I have no idea where those pages went. I know I changed them, and I'm sure I saved the file before I closed it. Oh, well. It just took me a lot more time than I'd anticipated. I like the way it turned out, and so does Pastor, so that's all that matters. I just remembered I left out the choir anthem, but oh, well. I won't send another copy to Steve.
That took me most of the afternoon, after I finished my surfing. Unfortunately, I also managed to lose all the changes I'd made to the story I'm reading, so I've started it again from the beginning. Between the weirdness of Word and my fast fingers, sometimes things like that happen.
The weather wasn't too bad. The high temperature was 32º, briefly, and it was around 30º for most of the afternoon. It was partly cloudy, although it was clouding up at sunset. There wasn't any wind. Not at all bad. As the week has progressed, the big storm we were supposed to have tomorrow has turned into a couple of inches of slushy snow (or maybe rain), with temps in the upper 30s. I suppose those guys want to be sure not to miss a serious weather event, but most of the time they grossly overestimate what's going to happen. I hope they're right. I want to get to church tomorrow night.
The guys slept. They both got a little lap time, but they both wanted to sit on me while I was hassling the bulletin, so they didn't get to.
So that was a quiet day. I'm a bit concerned by all the mistakes I've made on the last two bulletins, but maybe I can do better next week. Now I'm tired, and I have to wash my hair so that I'm presentable tomorrow. It's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
November 21 I was so tired I couldn't move, so I was much later than I should have been. I slept very well, although I was up several times, and I got up around 11:30. I knitted, and I got to the chart that will be repeated five times, so I'm making good progress. I have 185 stitches now, and by the time I'm through with this chart, I'll have something like 385.
I was so late that I didn't do anything much but my surfing.
The weather was cold but partly cloudy and pretty. There was quite a lot of sunshine. The temperature was nearly steady at 30º, and while it was windy overnight, it was quite calm today. I guess some more snow or maybe rain is coming, but today was nice.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but I was doing something when Louie came by, so he didn't get any.
And that was all there was. Now it's a cloudy, cold night in the field.
November 20 For various reasons, I was later than I should have been last night - 10:45. I slept well, except that I was up four times. I got up when the alarm went off, although I would rather have kept on sleeping. I timed things pretty well, and I even sat for a few minutes before I started to leave the house. I got to the bottom of the steps into the breezeway when I suddenly realized I had a problem, so I climbed back up into the house and into the powder room. As a result of that, I didn't leave the house until 10:25. I would have been late in any case, but the road was horrible down to Phoenix - or I thought it was, I'm not sure. So I didn't get to church until 10:20, and by that time my parking place was taken. I started to park three cars down, but when I looked out the door, I realized I wasn't going to get out of the car there, so I parked in a non-parking place right beside the door, and a very nice lady walked with me to the door, just to make sure I made it.
Church was nice, but it was a lay service. After church, I realized that our new pastor was at the back of the church, so I got to meet him and talk to him and listen to him talking to other people. He is a nice man.
I had planned to spend the whole afternoon there, and I'd brought my knitting, so I settled down to knit. By the time Stuart and Nancy came back with goodies and to carve the hams, I was getting pretty hungry, and they were kind enough to give me several slices of ham - it was delicious, and it gave me enough energy to get through the installation service.
That was very nice. There were, I think, 10 pastors. The district president didn't make it, but all the pastors in the circuit made it. It was amusing - they began to arrive around 2:40, and I started seeing all these guys coming through the basement carrying garment bags. I don't know where they hung out before the service, but that was the last I saw of them until the processional.
That was amusing, too. About 10 minutes before 4:00, our pastor and his son made a quick trip into the sacristy, and when they came out, the young man was wearing a robe, and he served as crucifer. I'd wondered about that, because the only young man we have in that age group is Riley, and I don't even know if he was there.
It was an impressive service, although the sermon caused a lot of laughter, as the preacher had pictures of things like pasties, Stormy Kromers, Yooper Scoopers and other very local items. The installation itself was impressive. Pastor had to make some promises and we, as the congregations, had to make some promises, then all the other pastors put their hand on his head and said a few encouraging words, mostly from scripture. Them they all put their hands on his shoulders and there was a prayer. At the end, he ended the service with the benediction.
The church was nearly full, and everybody sang impressively loudly. A couple of people I expected to see apparently didn't make it, but almost all the people from St. John's seem to have. The choir sang pretty well, even though there were a couple of people who hadn't practiced with us. So it was a wonderful celebration. I'm already talking to Pastor about the bulletins.
There was a potluck afterwards (of course - you can't get Lutherans at a celebratory service without having a potluck afterwards!). I didn't stay. I'm not comfortable at things like that, but mostly, I discovered that I was very tired by the end of the service and I was slightly queasy. Besides, it was nearly dark, and I hoped to make it home before it got completely dark. I didn't, and there was more traffic on the covered road than I anticipated, but I made it in one piece. It was slow, but I was all right. I"ve been zoning out ever since and I just finished eating something.
The weather was cold. The temperature here was nearly steady around 26º, although it was warming slightly at midnight. It was more like 22º in Laurium and most of the way down. It was fairly windy overnight - gusts up to 33 mph - but except for a little while this afternoon when it was gusty, it wasn't windy at all today, and the lake is quiet. It was dark and dull all day. There were a few rays of sunshine in Laurium while I was waiting. I don't know if there was any clearing here, because the camera hung up around 11:00. Drat.
I assume the cats slept. They both got some lap time after I got home, but I owed them that because I was gone so long.
So that was my day. When I got home, I put on my nightie and robe, so all I have to do is wash and I can go to bed. I need to do that. I should have gone several hours ago, but I was so tired I just didn't want to move.
Now it's a dark, cold night in the field.
November 19 The power was out until sometime after 1;30, but it bounced at least twice during the night. The computer came up fine, but of course the Netgear didn't. And when I got to the studio, I forgot to upload the journal until I read a nice email from a reader. Thank you, Terrie, for jogging my memory!
I got up around 10:00, and I knitted for quite a while. I got through with the first chart and I'm almost through the transition charts to the body of the shawl. It's going to be a pretty thing, but I now have about 80 rows of leaves to do. That's a simple pattern, and it should go fairly fast, but there will be a lot of stitches by the time I get done. The edging has even more (over 650 on the last row), so that will take some time. It's the edging that makes the piece, though, so I'll just endure and expect not to be able to do even one row when I get to that part.
I didn't do much of anything today. I filled the pill dispensers at the south end and I filled the cat food kibble bowls. It seems like I should have done something else, but I can't think of what it was.
Our gale is officially over, although we are still having gale force gusts. The power was out to the weather station from 7:00 last night till 6:00 this morning, so we may not have the true statistics, but at 1:00 this afternoon, we had 41 mph sustained winds with 59 mph gusts. That, friends is a genuine gale, and it lasted from about 8:00 this morning until 2:00 this afternoon. I only wish we had statistics from overnight, because it was pretty hairy. It's down to 30 mph winds with 43 mph gusts now. Good for me, the wind has been all from the north, although it was really battering the roof during the night. When the power went off last night, the temperature was 44º, and when it came on this morning, it was 30º. it's down to 27º now. With all the wind, the wind chill was down around 10º or below, so I was happy not to have to go out. it was dark and dreary and it did snow, although it didn't start until early this morning and I don't think we got over an inch altogether. So as usual, the weather forecasts were ridiculously overblown. They canceled the winter storm and wind warnings sometime in the middle of the afternoon. It was kind of fun, actually. The lake was roaring, and it still is, although it's not as loud as it was earlier, and even the camera caught the line of breakers across the gap. It's been several years since we've had a genuine gale, so it was fun to have one. I noticed that there weren't very many ships on the lake and they were all hugging the north shore, except for one odd guy who was right out in the middle. I thought that was dumb.
The guys slept. They both got a lot of lap time. Louie, especially, spent a long time, probably an hour, on my lap getting his tummy rubbed. Actually, it's not a tummy rub. Both of them like to be rubbed over their ribs and up under their front legs. I guess I'm pretty good at that.
So that was my quiet day. All the noise was outside. Now it's a cold, windy, noisy night in the field.
November 18 This probably won't get published tonight, but I want to write it anyway. We had a power failure right around 5:30, and not only did it take my house with it, it took down some things downstream. I thought most of those relays had UPS backup, but evidently not. It was a messy drop, and the computer insisted doing a CHKDSK before I could reboot, but there were no casualties.
I was relatively late getting to bed last night, but I don't remember exactly when. I slept well, and i didn't get up until 11:00 or so. I knitted six rows again. This is a fairy easy pattern, after dealing with all those beads, but I did screw up one repeat. The repeats in this part of the pattern are so long (40 stitches) that by the time I get to the end of the third one, I'm losing concentration. I have only four more rows to go on this graph, though, and then there are a bunch of rows in the good old leaf pattern, which is a whole lot easier. It's a nice pattern, and it will be a pretty shawl.
I got to the post office, where there were a lot of bills, of course, and the pleas for money are beginning.
When I got home, I immediately went out on the deck and pulled down the shutters. They are saying we'll have significant snow overnight, and I wanted to batten down the hatches before that. I discovered that somebody (ahem!) tried to get out of the porch at another screen, so I guess I'm going to have to rethink opening it up in the summer. I would really love to get it rescreened and change the bottom. The bottom board is only a 2x2, and that isn't enough room to adequately anchor the screening. It needs at least 4" at the bottom. However, there's the money issue...
When I went around to the back door to take my jacket off, there was my Schwan's guy, waiting patiently for me, so I now have something to eat for Thanksgiving.
There is another problem, and I'm going to have to do something about it next spring. The screen door on the patio door is partly out of its track (those screens are junk!) and while I can make it move from the outside, I can't make it move when I'm inside. And add to that, the vinyl cladding on the doors has faded from black to very light gray. That's clearly a defect, since none of the windows has faded. The door itself is practically impossible to move, at least for an old weak lady. Add to that, one of the transom windows over the door has a broken seal. I didn't do anything about it this summer because I wanted to check the door in the studio and I never got around to it. So I go into winter with the screen halfway between the two halves of the door. At least the door shut solidly, which is more than I can say about the one in the studio. I need to get over there and close the door and brace it and hope that keeps it from leaking, but that means cleaning up the avalanche, and well...
I can't be too specific about the weather because I don't have any Internet access. I think the temperature was steady at about 42º all day. The wind has been rising, and the lake is now singing tenor, down from alto overnight. The wind is apparently from the north or northeast, so I don't hear much of it. It was dull and gray all day, and not long after I came in from the deck (I was actually putting my Schwan's stuff in the freezer) it started to rain. I felt lucky that it didn't start when I was outside! So it was nasty, and it's likely to get even nastier overnight.
The guys did their usual thing. Grayson didn't get to sleep on me until after the talking started, but then he did until I coughed. Louie slept on his scratching pad all day. They know what to do in weather like this!
So that was my day. I feel good that I actually got something accomplished, and the house is now as ready for winter as I can get it, except to get the generator serviced. It seems to be working fine, but it does need its oil changed and all that. The tractor is now at the regular service place. The cheap way of fixing it didn't pan out, so we'll have to pay. At least we know a way to get it transported that's cheaper.
Now it's a windy, rainy, cold night in the field and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
November 17 I fooled around long enough that I knew I was going to be late, but when I got up to the north end, I remembered that I had to wash my hair - duh! So I ended up being very late.
I got up around 11:30, I think, and I knitted. I'm still so close to the beginning of the lavender shawl that I was able to do six rows in a reasonable length of time. That won't last much longer, of course, but I've been working on an area where the stitch count is constant. It's starting to increase again now.
I am happy to report that the crescent shawl is just as pretty as I'd hoped it would be. The beads are lovely, glowing rather than glittering, and not in too much contrast to the yarn. I like it. It's still pinned out, because I want it to be very dry before I unpin it, but I can do that tomorrow.
I was late enough that that was about all I did. I sent the Thanksgiving Eve bulletin to Steve twice today. When I got to the north end last night, I realized there was a better way to lay it out than I'd done, so I did that and sent it to him, but when I looked at the choir piece, I realized that I had the name wrong, so I had to send it again. I hope he cuts me some slack. Sometimes I'm more with it than other times.
I went down to town early tonight and picked up a few things I needed at Pat's. I was very moderate, but I got something for dinner tonight and a lamb chop, but otherwise, it was just stuff I needed. I'm sure I forgot something. I debated getting a veggie tray for the potluck, but one problem with them is that there needs to be some kind of tongs or picks or something to pick the things up, and I didn't have time to see if I have anything like that. Well - I know I do, but anything like that I have would be silver, and even at church, I'm not going to use anything like that. I'll try to remember to check sometime over the next couple of days, and if I can find something, I'll have time to go back to Pat's on Sunday. I will be down there for the duration when I go down on Sunday, so I'll have at least three hours to kill.
The weather today was blah. The high temperature was 53º, at noon, and it went down a bit from there. It was rather windy overnight, but there was almost no wind today until late. when it went up to 15 mph from the east. It was cloudy and dull all day. My trip home was interesting, because there was patchy fog, some of it rather thick, almost all the way. My back was bothering me today, and it made sense, because it was very humid.
It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but then the rain is supposed to turn to snow overnight, with extremely high winds. At least it should be over by Sunday, but it's supposed to be cold, so the roads may be nasty on Sunday morning. Well, we've had a long run of warm weather, so I guess we can't complain. Well, we can, but we shouldn't. I've been thinking all week about the years when I was commuting to Detroit and got caught in blizzards around Veteran's Day. At least this isn't likely to be like that. I love the high winds, even though they often mean power outages. And if I can manage it - and it doesn't rain too hard - I should pull down the shutters tomorrow, so I'm all battened down for the winter. We'll see about that.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got to sleep on my lap for a long time this afternoon, and he got a few pieces of bacon for breakfast, which he just about inhaled. Oh, I thought he might like bacon. Louie slept someplace; I didn't see him.
So now it's a dark, coolish night in the field, and I need to go to bed. We'll see about that, too.
November 16 I was middlin' late last night, but I got sidetracked. I slept well, although I was up several times, and I got up around 10:30.
I immediately got at the shawl and got it bound off and the strings worked in. Then I did two rows on the lavender one, where I discovered that I'd made a mistake the last time I knit on it, so it took me a while even though there aren't many stitches. On my way to the kitchen, I stopped in the laundry room and put the shawl to soak. Then I procrastinated (of course - it's my nature!) and I had to turn on the kitchen lights and the lights in the glass cabinet in order to finish laying it out to block. I have to say, blocking a crescent shawl is the pits, and it's another good reason not to knit them. I don't like the shape anyway, since it's more like a scarf unless you're under 5' tall. I didn't get a good look at what the finished product will look like, but I think it's going to be pretty. I'm just smitten by those "silver lined white opal aurora borealis matte" beads, and there are more than 3000 in this project. So that is done and I can do without any more beads for a while.
That was my day, mostly. I was going to cook tonight but when it came down to it, I didn't feel like it, so I put the pork chops back in the freezer - they weren't very thawed anyway.
I don't feel very good. It feels like the Shari syndrome, and I'd think it was except that I think I actually still have the sinus thing.
I forgot about the bulletin until late, but I not only got the one for Sunday done, I also did one for Thanksgiving Eve and I just sent them off to Steve. I'm not sure how things will work out in the new regime, but I will apparently still be doing bulletins. At least it's something I can do at home even if I get snowed in. Sunday will be an exciting day, but I will have to spend the entire afternoon in Laurium, because coming home after church just doesn't make any sense. It would be nice if I could find somebody to go out to lunch with, but I'll take my knitting anyway.
The weather today was rather nondescript. There was a moon last night, and when I got up, it was still shining high in the blue sky. It was cloudy in the early morning, then it cleared up until around 2:30, when it got cloudy again. The high temperature was 49º - not nearly as warm as they were predicting yesterday - and there wasn't any wind. They are saying we could have snow on Saturday, but how much depends upon who you believe. It should be over by Sunday, but the roads could be iffy, and it will be windy. We'll see.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me and he wanted to sit on me more than I had time for. Louie slept for most of the day on his scratching pad (where I've never seen him scratch), but late in the day he moved over to the pink chair.
So that was my quiet day, and now it's a coolish, cloudy night in the field, and I'm afraid our lovely autumn weather may be gone after tomorrow. Sigh.
November 15 Middle of November already! Geez!
I got to bed not long after 11:00 last night, and I slept well, although I was up several times. I didn't get up until around 10:30, so I got caught up on my sleep.
I knitted, and the scarf is almost finished. All I have left to do is the bind-off - 489 stitches. It certainly is a pretty thing. I hope to get it blocked right away and wear it to the installation on Sunday, although I'm having trouble getting an outfit together. Things like that don't bother some people, but they do me. My mother taught me to always be well put together, but since I've been living up here, I haven't had to worry too much about that. Now, not only don't I have the money to buy clothes, current fashions, especially those I can get online, don't turn me on at all - except for what I can't afford. Well, I'll just have to see what I can do. The scarf is pale blue, which narrows my options a lot.
Otherwise, I didn't do much of anything.
The weather was not very nice. It was cloudy all night, but it was amazing how much light that big, bright moon shed. The high temperature today was 46º, and it was right around 45º all afternoon. There wasn't any wind. It rained lightly from around 2:00 until 6:00, and we got around 0.09". It was dark and dull and blah.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for quite a while. Louie wanted to do that, too, so he went behind the monitor and slept there until we all got up.
So that was a quiet day, and now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field.
November 14 I was late last night, of course, but I slept well and I mostly caught up on my sleep. I was up several times, and I know I'm not well yet, because I had a serious night sweat. Oh, and I'm not hungry. Both of those things are good signs that all is not well with my bod.
I got up so late that I didn't have time to knit, because I had to go to the post office. My pills were delivered and since I was running out of them, I needed to get them.
I washed the clothes I had on yesterday afternoon. I sat so long that I messed everything up, but there was a pair of sweat pants and a shirt that I want to be able to wear, so I washed them. The load of underwear that was in the dryer is now in a wash basket, and maybe tomorrow I can get it put away.
I forgot to mention that when I got home from church yesterday, the septic alarm had stopped. So it seems like if we can endure until the tank gets water in it, the alarm will eventually stop.
And today on my way home from the post office, I nearly ran over a young deer on our road. This time, I know what happened - I just did not move my foot far enough to the left. I never thought I'd have to relearn how to drive at my age, but clearly I do. I'll be working on that. Certainly part of my problem is that there isn't enough leg room for arthritic legs in my car, and another problem is that all my pants are a bit tighter than they should be. Anyway, at least I'm beginning to figure out what my problems are.
The weather turned cloudy and cool overnight, and while I saw the super moon around 4:00 (a couple of hours before its closest approach). I won't get to see it tonight. The high temperature was at midnight again, and it was steady at 45º all day. The wind was from the east, and for most of the day it was around 10 mph. It was cloudy and dull and uninspiring. Blah.
The guys slept. Grayson wanted to sleep on me all day, but if I twitch, he will go away, and I get twitchy if I sit for too long without moving. Louie was in my bed, around my knees, when I got up, and I think he probably spent most of the day there, although he had to come and see what I was doing when I put the clothes in the dryer.
So it was a quiet day, and maybe tomorrow I can knit? Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
November 13 I made it into bed by 10:00 last night, which is only half an hour after I should have. I slept well, except that I was up three times and I woke up a couple of minutes before the alarm went off, so I turned it off and got up. I got out the door pretty much when I wanted to, too, so I got to church when I wanted to.
It was a nice service, with communion again. We said good-bye to our interim pastor. When he first came to us, I was dubious, but I think he was just nervous, and as he has gotten to know us, he calmed down, and it's been so good to have him. We could see why the churches he retired from were so sorry to see him go.
I had to talk to Steve about some questions I have about producing the bulletins for Thanksgiving week, and he will try to pass them by our new pastor. And our organist, who had hip surgery on Wednesday, was there! She is using a walker, but she seems to be doing just fine, and she can actually walk. I was impressed. I have heard some horror stories recently, about orthopedic surgery done here, but at least Jan's came out well.
I had to get gas. I used a whole lot last week. It's a good thing the price is relatively low - $2.199 - because I'm running out of money again. I got home around 2:00, I think, and I didn't do anything for the rest of the afternoon. i almost fell asleep, though.
The weather was nice, and amazing for the middle of November in the Keweenaw. The high temperature got up to 59º, but that was at 9:00 tonight, after it dipped from 56º at 3:00 to 46º at 6:00. Weird. It was beautifully clear all day, and until about 7:00, there was hardly any wind. It's blowing again now, though, with gusts up to 30 mph. When I think of the years when I started for Detroit in a blizzard right around this time of year...
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got a lot of lap time, and he wanted my dinner, which he didn't get. I don't know where Louie was for most of the day.
I have been forgetting to mention that the lighthouse has been out for at least two weeks. Probably a part broke and it's taking time go get a replacement. I'm sure they want to fix it soon, because there are a lot of ships out on the lake, no doubt taking advantage of the amazing weather. I miss it, too. I'm used to seeing it shining in my windows when I'm in bed at night.
Well, for the past several days, it's been the super moon shining in my windows. It is actually full around 6:00 tomorrow morning, and I hope I'll wake up to see it. I know last night, it was wonderfully big and bright when it was setting over Porter Island.
So now it's a clear, warm, windy night in the field and it's time to go to bed!
November 12 I was stupidly late again last night, but I slept well, and I got up before noon. I knitted, and now I only have 2 rows of pattern plus the bind-off to do. The last row of pattern will be slow, because it has 117 beads in it - three per repeat. The original pattern only had one, but I've been editing it, and it will look better the way I'm doing it. It turns out, I should have put more beads in the edging, but I'm certainly not going to rip back all 12 rows to do that!
I forgot to mention last night that I finally - finally!!! - washed dishes. I was running out of things to put food on, so it was critical. I had fiddled around with the dishwasher when the drain clogged, so it was good that I waited to see what would happen, because I had in fact canceled the load, and I was able to reset it and get a good wash overnight. Everything was nice and clean this morning.
I was about to walk out of the kitchen with my breakfast when I heard some funny noises, and when I got to the studio, I discovered that we had had a power glitch. It was a messy one. Of course, the router didn't reboot, and neither did the computer. I got that dreaded "Windows could not start" screen, and then after waiting 10 minutes or more, it said it could not do a fix. Nonsense. I don't think I've ever had it actually work right. The computer seems to be fine, as far as I can tell. Grr...
The other fallout was mixed. The fridge is fine, and the power down (plus the one we had a day or so ago) appears to have fixed the stupid error in the ovens that was causing them to beep about every two or three minutes. On the other hand, it did NOT turn off the septic alarm, so it's still sounding. I think I would rather have had the reverse, frankly, although I'm glad to know there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my ovens. I haven't reset the clock, though, so I'm not sure about that.
The weather today was warm (for November), sunny, and windy. The high temperature was 60º for most of teh afternoon. I should have stuck my nose outside. There was a strong northwest wind, with gusts up to 33 mph, although it's beginning to die down now. The humidity was down to 25% for most of the afternoon...ah, autumn! It was mostly clear, although there were some clouds earlier in the day, and there may be more now, because I couldn't see Venus when I went to get my dinner, and she should have been over the Mountain Lodge.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't. Grayson was a happy camper, because he got canned food - tuna - for breakfast. He loves that and Louie doesn't seem to care for it. Louie seems to only like the kinds with gravy, and I think he only eats the gravy and leaves the meat for Grayson. But then, he was older when I got him, and he had evidently only eaten dry food before then. Some cats, like Grayson, decide canned food is much better, but Louie seems to be one of those who get hooked on one variety of one kind of food and seldom eat anything else. I like Grayson's attitude better. He'll try anything once or twice.
So that was a very quiet Saturday, and now I have to go up to the north end and move fast, because I have to get up early tomorrow.
It's a warm, windy and, I think, clear night in the field.
November 11 It was an altogether quieter day today, which was nice. I got to bed around 12:30 last night and I got up around 10:45 this morning. I was knitting, which was also nice, when the adjuster called from the Gaslilte. Apparently I wasn't clear on my schedule and he had come before I was awake. Sorry.
So I hurried up and got dressed and he came and looked at the car. There is a bit more damage than I thought, but only another plastic part. He went off and I finished the two rows I was working on. Only four more rows plus the bind-off to go! I started a new hank of beads, though. That means there are over 3,000 beads in this thing. It's so pretty!
That was about all I did, though. I remembered that today is Veteran's Day and there was no point in going to the post office, because it was closed. I have pills coming, and I want to give them as long to arrive as I can. I might go tomorrow, but more likely I will wait until Monday, which is the last day I have pills for. This one is the blood thinner, so it's important.
I washed the last load of clothes - the whites - but I haven't put them in the dryer yet. The septic alarm is still going off. SIgh.
It was a noisy night. The wind was from the north, and between midnight and 2:00 AM, the gusts were 38 mph. They began to die down after that, but it was still windy this morning. It was cold. The high temperature was at midnight and it went down from there, to around 40º, but after 5:00 PM it started dropping fast, and it has now hit 32º, for the first time this fall, I think. The wind has dropped to nothing. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer again, though. It was clear overnight, as best I could tell, but it was cloudy when I got up. I don't know exactly when it began to clear up because the camera hung up again, And I don't know why it didn't show dark at 6:30, because it was. It was clear then, though, and when I finally went to get my dinner, the moon was shining high in the sky.
Speaking of that moon, the full moon on Sunday is a "super moon," or in this case, a super-duper moon. It will be closer to earth than any full moon has been since 1968, so it should be really big and bright. Hopefully, it will be clear, so I can see it in all its glory.
The guys slept, mostly. They both got quite a lot of lap time.
So that was a quiet day and the first normal one since Monday. Now it's a cold, clear night in the field, and I need to go to bed.
November 10 I was ridiculously late last night - hair night, you know. I slept better than I thought I would. When I was up around 6:00, the sky was very clear and Cassiopeia was setting in the north - it's circumpolar. There was a bright star above the garage roof which seems to have been Arcturus. When I got back to bed, I could see the Pleiades, and I really should have looked further south, because Orion was over in the south, but I didn't.
I had intended to sleep in and call Johanna when I got up, but I got a phone call at 9:45 about the router. We had a power glitch around 2:00 this morning (not more than a couple of seconds) and of course the router didn't reboot properly. Then, about 10:15, I got another call, from the adjuster for the insurance company, and I gave up. I came right down to the studio and reset the router, but then I did my surfing, so it was 3:00 before I ate my first meal of the day. Not what I wanted to do, but oh, well. Then, of course, I had an accident and had to change my underwear. Sigh.
I postponed my massage. My back is feeling better, and I don't want to risk infecting Johanna or her son. Besides, I just didn't feel like going today. We'll see how I'm doing next week.
Tonight was choir. It was good. Nancy led us for most of the time, but Kathleen did make it, and we practiced for Sunday as well as for the installation and Thanksgiving Eve. It was good to have her again. Nancy is doing really well, but she's not the pianist Kathleen is, and we need an accompaniment to sing adequately. It was a long rehearsal, though, and I didn't get home until nearly 10:00.
Then i had the rest of my lo mein from Tuesday, and it was just the comfort food I needed.
When I went back to the powder room after breakfast (and to clean up after my accident), the septic alarm was sounding. I ran water until I left, and it's still sounding. I guess it has to be turned off manually, and I just do not want to try to climb downstairs to do it. The only trouble with that is that it's apparently bothering Louie, and I don't know if he will go downstairs while it's sounding. I have to admit, it's loud when you're right by it. That thing really annoys me, especially since it shouldn't be happening at all. How annoying. Fortunately, from most of the places I spend any time, I can't hear it (of course, I'm pretty deaf), but still.
It was a beautiful day. The high temperature was 59º for most of the afternoon, and the humidity was around 50%, which means I wasn't nearly as sore as I was yesterday. it was windy, too, with gusts up to 34 mph, from the north. It was clear almost all day, and it was beautiful when I was driving down to Laurium, with the gibbous moon in the east and Venus in the south. It was clouding up when I came home, and it was cooling off, too, but it was still lovely.
The guys were sort of upset for most of the day, and it guess it was the septic alarm. Grayson got a lot of lap time, but Louie only came to see me when I was up in the bathroom changing my underwear. I know they don't like to go downstairs when that alarm is sounding, but I can't help them much.
I will run water as much as I can, and I have another load of clothes to do. The nice thing about running water is that it has cleared up completely, and it isn't brown anymore. So i guess if the brown begins to get to me, all I have to do is run the cold water for three or four hours and it will clear up.
So that was my day, and tonight I hope to sleep long and hard. The adjuster will be here tomorrow afternoon, but that shouldn't bother me very much. Now it's a clouding, cooling night in the field.
November 9 I was later getting to bed than I planned, but I was reading one of the better stories, and I felt the need to just tune out for a while. I think it was about 12:30 when I turned out the light. I looked at the election reports around 11:30 and that didn't help much, either. I was only up once, and I got up around 9:00, since I didn't know when the septic guy would get here. I didn't knit, either.
It turned out that it didn't matter, because it was the middle of the afternoon before he came. He did a nice job, including cleaning the filter, and his charges were very reasonable, which I remembered from the last time he did it. He apparently has the contract with the state to clean the outhouses, and I imagine that gives him a good income. I was a bit worried when he went right past my house the first time, but he was on his way to the lighthouse, where there is a really nice outhouse. He stopped here on his way back.
I actually did two loads of clothes, The second one is in the washer now, and I will put it in the dryer when I go up to the north end. I still have one more load to do - the white stuff - but by the end of the week, I should have clean clothes again. I started the wash this morning because I thought I was fresh out of bottoms, which turned out not to be true, but I am running out of mid-season socks and compression stockings.
Otherwise, I did nothing. I am still recovering, mentally, from yesterday, and from the way I felt today, it seems clear that I'm still sick.
The weather was nice again. It was clear for most of the day, and the high temperature was 55º for most of the afternoon. There wasn't much wind. The humidity has been going down all day, and now it's only 39%. No wonder I'm not so sore! I didn't go out, but I should have.
The guys mostly slept, but they both got lap time, and while I was doing wash, Louie was wandering around under my feet talking to me. I don't know what his problem was.
So that was my day, and now it's a clear, warm and dry evening in the field.
November 8 This was a day I should better have stayed in bed. I didn't sleep well for some reason, so even though I was fairly late getting to bed, I got up around 9:00, I think. I knitted a little bit, but not even one whole row.
I was getting ready to leave when I had a small accident, but I had to change my underwear before I could go. I made it in time, and I voted on my way out of town. Even though I stayed and talked to the ladies, I actually made it to the dealership on time, which amazed me. There wasn't any traffic, though, and that helped.
They took their good old time about changing my oil, but that got done, and I decided to stop at Bambu (of course) for a good dinner. It was, but I wasn't very hungry, so I brought home enough for another whole meal. And then...
I was coming to a stop at the first light in Calumet, or so I thought, when my foot apparently slipped off the brake pedal onto the gas pedal and not only did I hit the guy in front of me, I crunched him between me and the guy in front of him. Oh, sigh. Then it turned out that he is a very nice young man who is a member of our church, and his mother sings in the choir! Oh, sigh.
Eventually the state police showed up (a much nicer man than I would have thought) and we all pulled out of traffic. The first guy's truck is fine, and mine has only some minor damage to the hood and that panel down at the bottom under the bumper, but Riley's cute, nearly new little thing is mangled. It's still drivable, but it's mangled.
I got a ticket, of course, and I don't yet know how much it will be, and I have to report to the insurance agent tomorrow, as well as call the county (Houghton) to find out about the ticket.
I was thoroughly shook up, I can tell you, and it took quite a while for my heart to go back where it belonged. I'm OK now, but I'm exhausted, even more than I would normally be. So I'm going to be going to bed soon.
Since on Sunday I forgot to check the flower calendar, I had planned to stop at church for a few minutes to do that tonight, so I can do the bulletin tomorrow. By the time I got there, it was getting dark, but I had planned ahead for that with a small flashlight. I had to stop in the restroom, too.
I made it home with no further disasters. Somehow, when everything went sliding off the passenger seat, my dinner ended up right-side up, so it didn't leak all over everything. There is a bunch of junk mail I will have to retrieve, but that's about all.
The only problem with the end of daylight savings time is that the sun now sets at 5:23 PM, and it only rises at 7:46 AM, which is just over 9½ hours in a day. So I'll be doing a lot of driving in the dark for the next few months.
Oh, and the camera quit at around 4:00 this afternoon. It was a nice picture, but it must have been a nice sunset, too, and we missed it.
It wasn't very warm. The maximum temperature for the day was at midnight and it went down all night long before it settled down at around 47º after sunrise. It was very windy overnight, with maximum gusts of 38 mph at 11:00 this morning. It was cloudy until around 3:00 here (it cleared up earlier in Houghton), when it cleared up rather quickly and the wind dropped to nothing. When I drove in the driveway, the moon was shining in the south, Venus was shining brightly over the Mountain Lodge, and on my way north, I could see Vega twinkling in the north.
I'm sure the guys slept. Grayson is afraid I won't ever feed him again, but there's plenty for them to eat overnight, most of it on the floor.
The septic tank guy called right before I got home to say he will be here tomorrow, but he didn't say when, so I have to be available for that. Sigh. There goes my budget again.
Now it's a cold, clear night in the field, and I need to sleep, or something.
November 7 What a ridiculous night. I was so tired I didn't want to move, so it was a ridiculous hour before I went up to the north end, and then I almost fell asleep on the pot. Needless to say, I slept very well. I don't think I was awake for a minute when I finally got into bed, and I was only up once. I got up around 10:30, and I knitted. It took me two hours to do two rows, so I'm going to have to reschedule my knitting time.
I did manage to do a couple of things, and I will be going down to Houghton tomorrow to get my oil changed. I will try to vote before I go, just in case. I'm afraid it will take me a while to mark my ballot, but I don't want to risk being so late that the polls are closed. I haven't decided whether to stop at Bambu or not, but I probably will. I got some whitefish yesterday, but it will keep until Wednesday.
The weather was warm but cloudy. The high temperature was 64º, and the humidity got down to a very reasonable 31% for a while this afternoon. It wasn't enough to make me feel much better, but it was nice. It was a bit breezy at times, with gusts up to 28 mph. I didn't stick my head outside, and I should have, because it's supposed to be cold tomorrow.
The guys were sleepy, but they both got some lap time, and Grayson is sitting on the laptop with his back to me now.
So that was a quiet day, and now I have to go to bed so that I can get out of here at a reasonable time tomorrow. It's a cloudy, warmish night in the field.
November 6 So last night I was early and tonight I'm late, but that's mostly because I'm too tired to move.
Even though I had an extra hour last night, I was still late getting to bed, and I was grateful I didn't have to get up so early. I didn't do any surfing except for my funnies, and I moved at a fairly good pace, and i got out of the house at a reasonable hour, so I got to church before 10:00. I couldn't help Deanna greet very much because we had to practice. Or I should say, Kathleen wanted to practice with us. We knew what we were doing, but she hadn't practiced with us.
Church was nice. Pastor Neider has a white stole that his wife embroidered in cross stitch on very small fabric that is just beautiful. His sermon was a good one. He is so energized about sharing the Gospel that it's a delight to hear him, and my hearing wasn't too bad today.
I was pretty stiff and sore at the beginning and after standing so long, then having to get up and down so much plus having to stand while we cleaned up after communion, I was almost too stiff to move, but I had to do some shopping. I managed, but it was 3:30 before I got home.
Then I sat down in front of the computer, and along about 11:30, when I decided I'd better get up, I had another nasty, messy accident. Oh, sigh. I was just too tired and sore to move, so i just sat for far too long. Sigh. And when I do move, I'm taking about 6" steps.
The weather was amazing again. When I left Calumet, after getting gas (oh, yeah, I had to get gas, too), the temperature there was 68º! Hey, that's summer temps! It didn't get that warm here, but it got up to 64º while I was down the peninsula. It was around 59º when I got home, which was really nice. There was almost no wind. It was beautifully clear all day. It was really warm in the house, but I can handle that. It just cuts down on the boiler, I think I am still fiddling with the camera start and stop times, but that should shake out tomorrow.
I think the guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, and Louie got a little, but he snuck up on me and jumped on my lap, which made me shout, and he ran away. He needs to know that's not acceptable. When I went up to the north end to clean up, he was asleep in the bathroom.
So that was my day, and I'm tired, but who knows when I'll finally get to bed?
It's a clear, warmish night in the field.
November 5 Well, tonight I'm really early, but that's all right.
I got to bed around midnight last night, and I slept very well, in spite of having sore shoulders. I didn't have a night sweat for the first time in a while, which is a good milestone. I didn't get up until around 10:45, so I should have had enough sleep, but it didn't feel like it. When I was up in the night, there were stars, but I can't say they were very bright ones.
I knitted, without much trouble, but these rows are pretty easy. There are only two beads in each repeat, but I now have 465 stitches, and that makes it long...very long. Now I only have 8 rows left, so I can see the end, but the next few days will try my patience.
I was so late that I didn't even have time to do most of my surfing before I had to leave. I stopped at the post office, where there was a bill I'd been looking for and some more reading material. Then I was off to church. We had to change the paraments and set up for communion, but it only took us about 45 minutes. I feel bad about having to let Deanna do all the going up and down stairs, but I can't...particularly today, I couldn't. I did what I could. I don't know how long I'll be able to do this, but I will try to continue until it's obvious that I'm not helping.
I had been thinking about stopping at Pat's and doing some shopping, but while I was sitting in the restroom, I decided I just couldn't, so I came home. I can do it tomorrow. I sat down in the powder room to look at my mail, and I almost couldn't get up. So while I'm recovering, my nose is still running, and I feel pretty feeble. This too will pass, but it will take a while. At least my temperature is normal!
Today was supposed to be washday, but that's obviously going to be postponed. I have underwear, so it's not critical. I can do it tomorrow and/or Monday.
The weather has continued to be amazingly nice, although it was much more humid today. The high temperature was 55º, and there was almost no wind for most of the day. It was more humid, though, with the minimum humidity only 67%, and that briefly. It was nearly clear, but there were a few clouds in the sky when I was going to and fro and at sunset. The sun is nearly out of the camera picture, too. I've missed Venus and Mars again, I think, but I saw the crescent moon before it went behind the tree. Tomorrow is supposed to be quite a bit warmer and still sunny. We can hope. Everybody is enjoying it. I met my dentist's assistant and two of her friends at the Community Center. They were up to bike the trails, and they were wearing shorts. That doesn't happen too often around here on November 5! We'll all take it, for sure!
The guys slept, I think. Grayson is frustrated because he hasn't had time to sit on me as much as he wanted to, and in fact I nearly clobbered him one while he was trying to get onto the counter and I was trying to leave the studio. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, but he got his loving then.
It seems that Deanna is a Vet Tech, although with two kids under 3, she isn't working right now. She works for the vet who helped me with Buster, and I know they are nice people. By the way, she has the same problems with daycare that people in the big cities have: it turns out that she would have to pay a daycare provider more than she would be taking in if she worked. So this is a universal problem that should be addressed...but with things political the way they are, it probably won't be.
So that was my truncated day, and I'm looking forward to an extra hour of sleep in the morning! It's a fairly warm, clear night in the field.
November 4 Somehow I managed to lose a couple of hours last night, and then I sat and pondered some things that happened yesterday, so I almost pulled an all-nighter. I didn't get up until around 1:00, and I knitted. The border rows are pretty easy, but there are an awful lot of stitches, so it took me 2 hours to do two rows. There are only 10 rows left, though, so I will plug away at it.
I was so late that I didn't do anything. In fact, I was on my way to the bathroom when the Schwan's guy came, and right after I came inside, everything let loose in a really messy accident. So I had to clean up myself, my bottoms and the floor. Since I'm still not completely well and I'm not hungry, so I'm not eating my usual diet, I wasn't surprised, but it always depresses me when I have that kind of accident. Oh, sigh.
The weather was so remarkable for November that I was sorry I didn't get a chance to get out into it. It's supposed to be about the same tomorrow, though, so I will get to enjoy it. The high temperature was 62º, and it was over 60º for about six hours this afternoon. The skies were beautifully clear, although I noticed one small cirrus cloud that sailed past. The humidity got down to 44%, and it was lovely. Unfortunately, I'm still not well, so it didn't make as much of a difference as it should have. It was getting a bit breezy at sunset, with gusts up to 26 mph from the north. It was lovely, more like I would have expected in Detroit than here at this time of year. I'll take all of it I can get, and I think most everybody else will, too. It was clear at sunset, too, but I didn't get to see Venus. I did see the thin crescent moon setting over the Mountain Lodge, and it was lovely.
The guys slept, mostly around me. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie got his loving after I stopped knitting.
So that was a very truncated day, and I am not going to be up that late tonight! Now it's a clear, warmish night in the field.
November 3 So as usual when I had to wash my hair, I procrastinated until it was ridiculously late, and then a lady from church called me around 11:30, so I didn't get nearly enough sleep. I knitted the return row from the row I did yesterday, and I had made enough mistakes that it took me a while.
About the time I got to bed this morning, I realized that I'd forgotten about the bulletin, so as soon as I had something to eat, I got right at that, and hopefully, I got it together all right. I was so sorry about it - Steve is going to be out of town over the weekend, and I'm sure he was annoyed, but he's a nice guy.
Then there was choir. Nancy, Barbara and I got there early and we finished cataloging all the music. I have to send Nancy the file I made, and she will get them together and sorted properly. We have a lot of music, and a lot of nice music, some of which we've never sung. It will be good to have a master list. We didn't have either a director or an accompanist tonight, so Nancy filled in, and I think we have things mostly under control. Our organist is having hip surgery on Wednesday, so I'm not sure how that will work out, although Kathleen will be able to play for most of the month.
When I got home, I wanted to bring the laptop back to the studio, and of course I had to sit down after that - it's heavy - and so it was late when I ate, and it will be even later when I get to bed.
The weather was cloudy and breezy. The high temperature was 48º, and that was at 1:00 AM, and it went down slowly from there. It was in the low 40s for most of the day. The wind got up to 18 mph, from the east. It was sort of blah.
The guys were blah, too. They slept.
So that was it. I don't feel very good, but it's much better than it was yesterday, so I guess that's progress. When I have one of these things, it affects my gut as well, so I've been a bit uncomfortable all day, and when I sat down at church to start cataloging, my esophagus went into spasms, which is uncomfortable, to say the least, but that happens. I hope tomorrow will be better.
Now it's a cold, cloudy night in the field, and I'm tired.
November 2 It's been an interesting day. I was in bed by 10:30 and I fell asleep like somebody had hit me over the head. However, the second time I woke up, I was so cold I was shivering, so I put on my polar fleece robe. That helped. I think I was up one more time, and I finally got up for good around 11:00.
I felt horrible, and when I took my temperature, I knew why - it was 102º! Yikes! I tried to knit, and I did get one row done, although there is at least one error that I know about, and it took me two hours. So tomorrow I get to do the boring row (purled), but that will end chart 2. So I have only 13 more rows to do, and all of the right side ones have only one or two beads in every repeat, so it should go faster. It should also go faster when my temperature is lower!
It was 102.2º when I finished knitting, but then I got really, really hot and sweaty, which lasted for at least a couple of hours, and when I took it again, it was down to 98.9º. That's still elevated for me, but it's not too bad and I feel much better. My nose is still runny and I have sort of a sinus headache, but I feel much better. I'm still not used to that; for most of my adult life, the highest my temperature ever got was about 99º, even when my appendix burst. Having my temperature go up and down like a yo-yo is a new thing for me, and I'm not sure I like it.
I wasn't too much aware of anything there for a while, but I did make some phone calls. I discovered one reason why nobody has serviced my generator: the firm that installed it has gone out of business. I'm trying to get someone to do that and also someone to pump my septic tank. I decided that, since it's been a bit over 3 years since it was last done, I don't want to wait until next spring and hope it holds up over the winter. Once burned...
I think it was a rather nice day. When I was up in the night, there were some stars, although they weren't very bright. The temperature got up to 54º, and there wasn't much wind. It was cloudy in the morning and at sunset, but there was some blue sky in between.
The guys slept. Grayson is such a sweetie. He wanted to be around me - or on me - all day. Louie isn't as sensitive to me, but Grayson knows when I'm sad or sick or something.
So that was my day, and now I need to take a bath, both to get rid of all the sweat and to get my hair clean. I think the lighthouse light is out, but I'll have to check that when I get up to the north end. It's a relatively warm, cloudy night in the field.
November 1 - All Saint's Day I'm starting this while my dinner cooks, because I won't be up very long tonight.
I was late last night, stupidly late. About 9:30 this morning, the drain guy called to say that his man was on his way, so I got up, brushed my hair, and put on some clothes. By 11:00, I had a running drain and a new disposal. I'm not completely pleased with the disposal. It's an off-brand, and it's much smaller than the old one, but at least i works and it doesn't leak, so that's good.
After the guy left, I put my nightie back on and went back to bed, and I think it was something like 3:30 when I got up again. So it was a sort of topsy-turvy day.
I'm sick. I have the Copper Country sinus infection again. When I got up, I took my temperature, and it was 99.3º. Since my normal rest temperature is between 96.8º and 97.6º, that's a significant temperature. So I feel lousy, my head aches, and I'm dripping. I'm also having a hard time moving. Sigh. Maybe I can get it out of my system now and go to church on Christmas Eve for a change, Good Lord willing.
So it wasn't much of a day. I have to pay a couple of bills, after I eat something, and then I can go to bed and sleep long and hard. Okay, I didn't eat much, but I ate something. Now I can go to bed as soon as I finish this and Beethoven's Sixth (one of my all-time favorites) is over.
The weather was actually rather nice. The high temperature was 55º, and it was over 50º until around 4:00. It was very windy, especially in the afternoon. The gusts peaked at 36 mph from the northwest. It cleared up for a while around noon, and when I went back to bed, there were lovely whitecaps on the blue harbor. The clouds moved back in later, and the wind began to die down. It was cloudy at sunset. I wish I could have stuck my nose outside, but I was more interested in covering it up in bed. The humidity was down, too, at least for a while, but my trouble moving has more to do with my sickness.
The guys slept, in the bathroom when I was in bed and in the great room when I was in the studio. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't. I will have to try to pet him tonight before I crash.
So that was my day, and now my head is extremely sore, so I really must go to bed, as soon as the Beethoven is over. It's a cloudy, warmish night in the field. Last updated 12/01/16 11:30 PM
|