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A View From the Field |
June, 2017 June 30 So here we are, and half the year is over. Gaak!
I got to bed around 1:00 AM this morning, which is good for a Thursday. I slept well, with the usual wakeups, and I got up at 8:30. Not nearly enough sleep, but I knew if I didn't get up then, I'd never do it, so I did. I knitted my two repeats without any problems, for once.
I wanted an egg salad sandwich for breakfast (well - lazy woman's egg salad, sliced eggs on bread spread with mayo and lettuce) but I didn't have any hard boiled eggs. I've been trying to do that for a week, so while the eggs cooked, I unloaded the dishwasher and began reloading it and I gathered up all the trash that had been accumulating and put it outside. So I accomplished something. The sandwich was good and I have enough eggs for two more. Yum.
The only other task of the day was to go to the post office, where there was some mail, including the bill for my heating system. It's high, but the parts are expensive, especially that pump. Sigh. I will have to pay it off in chunks, I think.
I had a lot of trouble with the computer today, for some reason. Things that shouldn't bother it were making it hang up and I think I had to reboot three times. The camera got screwed up early this morning and smeared out all the early pictures, but believe, me, it looked the same all day: white nothing.
The weather was awful. The highest the temperature got was 55º, and the humidity was essentially 100% all day. The wind got up to 16 mph from the north, but it didn't blow the fog away. It was pea soup all day. This is not what we want for the Fourth of July weekend! I think it will be better for the rest of the holiday, but yuck! I'm glad I'm not stuck in a camper or a tent. IT's nice and warm in here.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson was bugging me all day and I kept having to get him off me so I could do anything. After I got dressed, I didn't see Louie again until late this afternoon, when He got up on the table. He was trying to go after Grayson all day, though. I've diesovered that he is afraid of something being dropped on him, and if I drop something loud on the floor - like a metal crochet hook on the floor of the bathroom - he will run away. Now it's getting to the point where all I have to do is rattle the pencil cup and he stops doing whatever he was doing. I wonder how long that will last.
So that was another quiet day, and now it's a cool, foggy night in the field. I'm going to bed as soon as the Haydn is over.
June 29 Of course I was late again last night. i think it was around 1:30 when I got to bed. I slept well - the temperature in the bedroom is very nice - and I got up around 10:30. That was almost enough sleep. I knitted my two repeats of the edging without very much trouble.
One reason for that is that I was seeing fairly well today. Upon observation, it seems to have something to do with the humidity. IT was dry yesterday (good for my arthritis), so my eyes were dry. Today it was extremely damp (bad for my arthritis) so my eyes were better. Can't win, I guess.
I was late enough that I didn't do much of anything. Mary Ann was down to town, so I could drive down to choir by myself. They are resurfacing about 200 yards at the beginning of Cliff Drive, which was very slippery, and there was an amazing amount of traffic, but otherwise, there was no problem.
The weather was horrible. The high temperature was 59º, but that was between 6:00 and 8:00 AM, and it was only about 50º for the whole afternoon. The humidity was just abiyt `100% all day and it was very foggy. We had 0.35" of rain this morning. It was cloudy, dull and gray all day. Yuck!! I guess I would rather contend with my eyes and not be in pain, but we'll see how I feel after the cataracts are corrected.
Of course, the guys slept. Grayson got to sleep on me for a long time. Louie got a good brushing this morning, which he hated, but he is still shedding copiously.
So that was my day. Bible Study ran long - we got very far off-topic - and I didn't eat dinner until 11:00, so now I want to digest a bit before I crash. It's a cold (about 48º), cloudy, foggy night in the field.
June 28 Instead of going to bed like I said, I began reading again, I so I didn't get to bed until 1:00 AM. The only good thing about that was that I got to reset the clock in the bathroom. So now we're forecast to have thunderstorms nd I suppose that will cause a power glitch and...Grr.
I got up around 9:30, so I didn't get enough sleep again. I knitted, and I did have some trouble, but I got two repeats done. I think a lot of my problems are because I'm having such a problem seeing. My visual acuity has completely gone to pot, and it's frustrating. Well, two more weeks. Sigh.
I didn't have a lot planed for the day and I didn't do much, but today was Social Security day, so I had money briefly and I paid some of my bills. My pension should come in on Friday, so then I can pay the rest of them. Then I'll be poor again, but I will have staved off the creditors for at least a couple of weeks. Now I have two bills outstanding: the drain people and the heating people. I'm not looking forward to the heating bill. That company is excellent, but they're pricey. Sigh.
The weather was warmish but cloudy. There was a bit of sunshine this morning, but it soon went away and most of the day was dull and gray. The high temperature was 69º (much higher than the forecast) around noon. For most of he day there was not much wind, but it shifted around to the south, and that's where the clouds came from. For a while the humidity got under 50%, but it's up now again. Weather radar kept showing light rain, but nothing hit the ground. So it was sort of blah.
The barometer was falling, and the guys told me that. For a while early this morning, I had Louie to my right, between the pillow and the edge fo the bed and Grayson plastered up against my back. They spent the later afternoon asleep on the table again. Grayson still wants to sit on me all the time, so I had to ask him to leave a couple of times.
So that was my quiet aay. It was nice to have it warm in the house again, especially in the bathroom this morning. Now it's a sort of warm, cloudy night in the field and I have to wash my hair.
June 27 I was later than I thought I'd be, but I had to load the dishwasher, so it was 10:30 before I got to bed. I was apparently more tired than I thought, and it was 4 hours before I woke up for the first time. After that, I was a bit more wakeful, but I think I hurt.
I got up around 9:30, I think, and I tried to knit. I only got one repeat done and that with difficulty. I don't know whether I was trying to rush or what, but I had to rip a whole lot and I gave up after one repeat.
I needn't have worried. The heating guys didn't get here until after noon. They were here for a couple of hours, I think. I now have a heating system again, but I'll probably be poor. What they found is that two zone valves had failed, which meant the pump was spinning but not doing anything, until it finally failed, too. And they had to bleed the line to the bathroom. Yikes! I did verify that the line to the water maker is entirely separate, with its own zone valve and pump, so that is why I still had hot water. I guess that means that if I lose the hot water, either those things have failed or there is a more serious problem.
IN the meantime, I didn't do anything but the bulletin. Pastor sent me the information early, so I decided to do it as today. There may be some changes tomorrow, but probably not many.
The weather was nice, and I should have poked my head outside. The high temperature was 73º for a couple of hours this afternoon. There wee light north winds and the humidity was down around 38% for a while. It was partly cloudy. Nice.
The guys thought so. They slept for a while on the table, but they were a bit upset by the people coming in and tromping down to the basement. I'm sure Louie was hiding in a corner down there. I wish he would understand that he is actually safest under the bed in my bathroom.
So that was my day, and I will be going to bed early again. Now it''s a warmish, partly cloudy evening in the field.
June 26 So instead of going to bed early like I said, I fiddled around and went to bed very late. Sigh. I slept well but not nearly long enough.. I got up a bit before 10:00 and knitted my two repeats. I guess that's going to be all I can do. I counted, and there are about 450 stitches in one repeat, so half an hour is about the best I can do. I did have to rip a bit today, but not nearly as much as I did Saturday.
That was all I did. I did put in a call to the heating system repair people. All afternoon yesterday I kept hearing a variable whistle that at first I thought was coming from the hard drive, but eventually I figured out that it was coming from the mechanical room. It was gone this morning. On top of all the alarming noises I heard all winter, that was the final straw. i still seem to have hot water, but I don't know about heat. At least it seems rather cold in the bathroom, So somebody will be out tomorrow to check it out, and I want them to check the whole thing. I'm tired of alarming noises.
The weather was a bit nicer than yesterday. At least it was warmer. We had 0.28" of rain between 4;00 AM and 10:00 AM, but then it began to clear up, and the afternoon was sunny. The high temperature was 61º, just a bit ago, and teh humidity has finally gone down to about 60% . I can handle that. The wind was from the north, and it got a bit breezy late in the afternoon, with gusts up to 28 mph. So far this month has been much cooler than average, but John Dee says we may be getting out of that pattern. It would be nice if it was more like average, which should be up around 68º by this time.
The guys were sleepy, and hey reeally enjoyed the sun. They spent the afternoon laid out on the table, basking. Grayson kept wanting to sit on me, and he did get a lot of lap time, but after a while I decided he'd had enough. It's really hard to type when he's on my lap.
So it was a nice, quiet day. I ate very early, and I will be in bed much earlier than last night. I want to get the dishwasher ready and I think I will take a bath, but we'll see about that. I can forgo it if necessary.
Now it's a clear, rather warmish night in he field.
June 25 I didn't get to bed until about 10:00 last night and I was up several times. I woke up after it was light to hear a strange noise, and when I looked at the clock, it was 7:07 and the noise was because the radio station was off-air. Oops. I don't like to use the alarm-alarm, because it is such a horrible noise, but if this happens very many more times, I'll have to. At least i wasn't too late! There are times when I wouldn't have awakened until after 8:00, and then I wouldn't have been able to get to church. There is no possible way I could get out of here in an hour and a quarter!
So I got up. Then I discovered that we had had one of those partial power glitches and the clock in the bathroom was blinking again. Grr. Besides several trips to the bathroom, I managed to get out right about when I wanted to. I was a bit later than I hoped because I ran across a bunch of stupidly slow drivers, but I wasn't late enough to give up my parking spot.
Church was good, and I think we sang well. Pastor's sermon was built around the presentation of the Augsburg Confession in 1530. It was (and is) a statement of Lutheran faith, and we still adhere to ht in its original, unaltered text. Jan has been playing some neat postludes lately, and it still strikes me what a lovely organ we have. It's a small one - two manuals and pedal - but it sounds great.
I had to run by the post office on my way home, but that doesn't take long. I didn't do anything for the afternoon and I nearly fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon. i did get the dishwasher partly ready to run and I think I will do that tonight. I'm not running out of anything, but it's not over-full either.
The weather wasn't very nice. There was thick fog overnight - I couldn't see the lighthouse - which went away shortly before 6:00 AM, but it came back around 7:00 and didn't leave until 1:30 PM. It was cold and damp. The high temperature was only 53º and for a while there was a bit of north wind. Not nice. Makes me very creaky.
Makes the guys sleepy, too. Grayson wanted to sit on me but he didn't want to sleep, and I finally had to shoo him away because he wsa stomping on me. Louie slept, too, sometimes on the dining room table ans soemtimes someplace else. Good idea..
So it was a very quiet Sunday, I am having an increasingly hard time seeing, especially to read. And it's still over two weeks until my first eye gets done. This is actually worse than the original cataracts because it has gotten so bad do fast. I hope I can hold out. A magnifying glass helps some, but I either need big type or very bright light, and even then it's difficult. I need to see!!
Now it's a cold, damp night in the field and I'm going to bed. Really.
June 24 I got to bed around 12:30 again, and I slept well, with fewer aches and pains. I don't know about tonight. I got up around 9:30, I think and I kntted two repeats. I still hope can do more, but that took me about two hours, I think. I'm beginning to get more comfortable with the pattern, but I did have to fiddle a bit.
There were three tasks of the day, but I didn't start them until around 3:30 and they turned out to be more strenuous than I expected. I wanted to get the shutters up, I wanted to get the geraniums out on the deck and water them, and I wanted to retrieve the outdoor temperature sensor, which went dead during the winter.
Getting the great room door open was a pain, as usual, but it was easier after I remembered that I put down the brace bar. It's still altogether too hard to open that door! I got the geraniums and the watering can outside and then I went down the deck and pulled up the shutters. Most of them went up easily, but I wonder if hey need oiling or something. So now I have light in the kitchen and the hallway, and I can sit in the closet and look outside. All good.
Then I filled the watering can - it's awfully heavy when it's full - from the hose bib on the deck. Having that hose bib there is just great, even though I haven't used it much. I took the pot of geraniums down to the end of the deck and then...
I braced my cane against the railing while I put the pot down in its saucer. and somehow, I don't know how, it dislodged and the next thing I knew it was 10' down on the ground. Oh, no!! Oh, sigh.
So I inched my way down the deck with the help of the railing - it's loose in some places - and managed, very slowly, to get down the stairs. They seem pretty solid, but I have a nice thimbleberry patch growing under and through them, so finding the steps, particularly the last one, wasn't easy. One thing - on my way down, I looked across the pond (which has a lovely crop of green stuff on its surface) and there was what I think is a Siberian iris. At one time, I planted Siberian iris there, but this is the first time I've seen one. It's a lovely shade of blue, too., so I hope it can survive. The poppy is gone,I think. I think the knapweed poisoned it.
Anyway, I made it down to the ground and shuffled across to the cake. It's nice that the ground is so flattened there. Then I noticed something purple inside the stone wall that protects my white pine (the bird feeder tree), and there was a lovely purple flower that I have no clue what it is. The leaves are very fine, almost like rosemary, and there are these beautiful five-petaled purple flowers a about 1¼" in diameter. I wished I had my camera. Do I dare try to get down the steps again while it's blooming?
Anyway, then I had to get back up the steps. The aternative was to walk all the way around the house and come in the breezeway, and I didn't think I could manage that. it wasn't easy, but I made it up to the landing. There are two steps off the deck onto a landing and then the steps go parallel to the house. I got up the first one, but then I had to go across the steps (about 6') to the other side so I would have something to hang onto. I put my cane carefully against the railing (memo to self: don't EVER do that again!!!) and of course it slid through, but fortunately only onto the railing of the couple of steps that go north. Whoo! That last step was extremely hard, because there wasn't much to pull myself up on and besides, my legs were tired, but eventually I made it.
Then I had to go back to the geraniums and water them and get the temperature sensor and walk back and haul the door open. Grayson was rather interested in some of what I was doing, but not everything. Louie was interested in the open door, but I managed to shoo both of them away.
I was amazed to find all that didn't take more than about half an hour. It seemed like forever.
I went back to the studio and sat down and drank water. I changed the batteries in the weather station and the sensor, and they are now sitting on the printer. The sensor hooked up right away, and just now, I got a time. I assume that overnight it will sync up with the time signal and I'll be back in business. It will be nice to have an outdoor temperature sensor again. What's happening here isn't always what's happening at the NWS weather station at the waste plant.
The weather wasn't so nice, actually. The high temperature was only 57º, right when I was outside. There was a bit of north wind, up to 14 mph. It was mostly cloudy all day There was a bit of fog between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning, and it rolled in again around 5:30 and it's still foggy now. Needless to say, it was very humid.
The guys were sleepy. They were both asleep on the navy blue chair when I started wandering around in the great room. I picked up a few things and moved a few other things around, and I don't know whether they approved of that. Grayson was curious about what I was doing outside, but he didn't stay by the door for long. He got a tiny piece of chicken for dinner tonight, which he seemed to enjoy, but I often think that's just because he wants to know I'll give him something.
So I exerted myself a bit today and I'm tired. I am pleased to report that so far there are no blisters on the black fly bites I got Friday, and if I was going to get any, they should have developed by now. Not to say the bites don't itch like crazy, but that should only last for another day or so. I checked the cladding on my doors and windows while I was out, anywhere the sun shines on it for any length of time, it's faded to gray. So I guess Ineed to talk to the window company. I don't know if the lifetime warranty applies to the cladding or not. I need them to do something about the great room door anyway, both to make it open easier and to get the screen back where it belongs. And I think that one or maybe both of the transom windows over that door have broke seals. Oh, yes, and then there's the issue of the studio door, which won't stay closed. Sigh. It's always something.
Maybe tomorrow I can get the temperature sensor back outside, but I was just too tired today.
So now it's a cool, foggy evening in the field and I'm on my way to the north end to get ready for tomorrow.
June 23 I made it into bed by about 12:30, which is pretty good for a Thursday. I slept fairly well, although I woke up a couple of times so sore I couldn't move without pain, and this morning, I just had to turn over onto my back and twitch for a while to get the pain to go away. I got up around 9:30,I think, although that wasn't enough sleep.
The knitting went better today - at last I've got the pattern nailed down - but I only got two repeats done. I hope it will go faster as I go along, or this will take forever. I can't start the next project anyway ,because I haven't wound the yarn yet. I've tried to knit directly from the skein (some people call it a hank), and while it works, it doesn't work very well.
The only task of the day was to go to the post office. I did that, and I stopped WjDDDD at the store and got bags. Unfortunately, I still make trash. I've moved the geraniums to the platform in the breezeway, and I need to get them outside. They are very dry, and where the sun didn't hit them, the leaves have bleached. I didn't do that today. Maybe tomorrow.
While I was out in the garage, I got three black fly bites on my hands, so now I'll be able to test my theory that I've gotten used to them. Stay tuned.
The weather was rather nice. The temperature was 66º all afternoon and the humidity got down to almost 50%, so it was nice. It was swindy, with north winds up to 28 mph from the north and gusts pusts up to 33 mph. We had some nice whitecaps on the harbor. It was mostly clear all afternoon, although there are a few clouds in the west now. I could take lots of this.
The guys slept, I think. Louie got some love this morning and Grayson got to sit on me several times during the day. they got some food they liked this morning, so they're y happy.
So it was another quiet day in the field. There was a lovely donation from a friend who grew up in the area, for which I thank him. However, there were also a fist full of bills. It never ends, it seems.
Now it's a warmish, nearly clear evening in the field, and as soon as the Schubert is over, I'll be tottering up to the north end.
June 22 I was a bit late last night, but not a lot. I slept very well, and I got up at about 10:45. I got right at the knitting, but I only did one repeat. I had trouble with the pattern - usual for a new one - and I had to rip a lot. It isn't a hard pattern, it will just take me a day or so to get into it. I'm sure I will, and by the time I've repeated it 40 times, I'll wonder why it seemed so hard. I did have to tweak at a bit, but only to move a decrease. I think I'm going to like it.
That was about all I did today, other than my surfing. It was nice and do mostly nothing. I did manage to print the instructions for my next project, as well as the revised chart for this one, but only by hand-feeding each page. That's not an acceptable way to operate, so a new printer is on top of the must-by-soon list. I haven't decided which one quite yet.
There was choir and Bible Study tonight, and I had to get gas - I keep forgetting how much gas it takes to get to Houghton and back. Choir was good, and so was Bible Study, but I'm having an increasingly hard time reading even regular sized text. I'm so sorry it is taking so long for me to get my eyes fixed. but that's what happens when your doctor is the only one in the area.
I got home around 9:30, which is early, and i ate around 10;00.
The weather was sort of nondescript. The high did get to 73º but not until 8:00 this evening, while we were gone. It got to about 75º in town. It was quite humid all day, and there was 0.05 of rain between 2:00 and 5:00 this morning. Couldn't probe that by me. There wasn't much wind. It was moslty cloudy but bright, although it seemed to be clearing by the time it got dark. Meh. Warm. bit meh.
The guys were sleepy, and Grayson wasn't quite as clingy today. I don't know what his problem was - if he does.
So it was another quiet day, and I'm very grateful for the time off. Now it's a warmish, partly cloudy night in the field and I guess I'll stay up to hear the rest of the Brahms.
June 21 - Summer Solstice I was a blt later than I wanted to be, as usual, last night, but I sampled a new stream from YourClassical.com and heard some of my favorite music - Schubert, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. I finally had to turn it off in the middle of the Mozart (Symphonia Concertante in the version with winds) and go to bed. Too bad - I don't hear that version very often.
I got up around 8:30 or so anyway and got right at my knitting, but I didn't get far. Yes, indeed, I screwed up the chart, which I discovered on the second pattern row. Sigh. So I finally unknitted it all and this afternoon, I modified the chart and now I think it's right - we'll see tomorrow. Charting lace is deceptively easy, but each row has to fit into the row before it with the right number of stitches, and especially when one is making points, like I am now, and the stitch count is changing, it can be a challenge to count right. I'll try the new chart tomorrow and hope it's right. I did a lot of counting and I think it's OK now. Printing it was a challenge, but I've found a way to hand-feed the sheets that does work, if I'm fast enough. I don't think I could print more than one or two pages at a time, though. I guess it will do until after I have money again.
The task of the day was to get the bulletin out, and by 1:30 I still hadn't heard from Pastor, so I did everything I could without the order of service, and when he wrote me back, finally, had to do was plug in the readings,the hymns and the sermon title. I should do that more often. Not much changes from week to week exept the calendar, the duty roster and the order of service, and I can do most of it without the order of service. Anyway, it got out.
I thought about getting the shutters up and the pot of geraniums outside,, but I didn't get to that.
The weathe wa srather nice, I think. The high temperature was 60º. It was clear early in the day, but it began to cloud up around 5:00 PM and it's very cloudy now. There was a little wind - up to 14 mph from the north - around noon, but it soon died down. It's still humid, but not too bad so far. I guess there are some more showers on the way, but we just have to deal with that. Of course, they'll be tomorrow when we have to go to town. Sigh.
The guys were sleepy, of course. Grayson wanted to sit on me, and I had to keep moving him when I wanted to type or get up. They were stomping around this morning, while the barometer was fairly high.
I ate late, as usual, but I have to wash my hair tonight. I didn't do that on Monday, and I''m going to have to try not to skip a day. I feel so much better when I - and my scalp - am clean. Now it's a warmish, cloudy night in the field and I'm off to the north end pretty soon.
June 20 I was too late last night, but I just didn't want to go to bed, I guess. I got up around 9:00 anyway. So tonight I'll be a little earlier.
I knitted the last two rows of the body of the shawl, and I'm ready to start the edging. I did two charts: one with a rose in the middle of each repeat and one with the leaf stitch. The leaf stitch one was the one I was having trouble with, but I got at it in my charting software this afternoon, and I think I have it right. I'm confident enough to start knitting it tomorrow. If it doesn't work, I can always rip and use the other one, which I know is right.
THe other task of the day was to fiddle with the printer. I managed to print the two charts, but it's effectively dead. It won't feed paper. I did everything I could find to try to fix it, and the only way I can get it to work is to manually push the paper up into the back, and that isn't a good solution. I don't know if I can print the chart for the next project that way, but I have a way to go before I have to do that. So I guess that once I have my credit cards funded again, I have to get a new printer. I have my eye on two of them, both of which are about $100. All I have to decide is whether I want a regular all-in-one or one that is optimized to print photos. I do occasionally print photos, and I had a couple of sets of note cards with photos on them, so I have to make a decision. Both of the ones I'm looking at are fairly highly rated (over 4.0) on Amazon, so I just have to decide which one will work better for me. I'm sticking with HP for the time being, this one to the contrary, because my other HP printes were pretty good ones. I have a couple of weeks to think about it.
The weather was so-so again. The high temperature was 63º. It was extremely humid between 9:00 AM and noon,, and apparently we had a little shower that I missed (0.1" of rain). Then the humidity went down and the temperature went up, although it's still more humid than I like. There was a little wind from the north in the middle of the afternoon, but now it's gone calm again. It began to clear up a bit around 3:00, but it got cloudy again around sunset. Meh.
The guys were mostly sleepy. When I got up, they were both laid out in the bathroom, where the heat had come on and the floor was warm. They got some canned food today, but they don't like it very well. Well, they're going to have to eat it, because I have a whole case. Grayson got a lot of lap time and he wanted even more, but by the time he came back the third time, I was in the middle of the printer, so he got shooed away. Louie got his loving this morning and I suppose he will get more tonight.
So that was another very quiet day, and It was so nice. I'm tired of flying up and down the peninsula and a couple of weeks off will feel good.
Now it's a cloudy, coolish night in the field and there's nothing on the radio to keep me from bed.
June 19 Last night, I was in bed by 10:00 and I slept as well as I have in a long time, with only two wakeups. I got up around 8:00, I think, and I knitted my two rows. I'm still hassling with what kind of edging to put on it. The one I wanted to use doesn't work, So I'll have to find another one soon. I could just put the sawtooth one I used on another shawl, but I don't like to introduce a completely different pattern into a piece that already has enough different ones. Maybe i can use the sawtooth and put a daisy or a rose in the middle of each. We'll see.
After that, I folded all the underwear, plus a whole lot of tops, and put them all away...and it was still only 10:30!
I had gotten another email from WU, so that was my afternoon's work, plus getting the laptop up to date. That was interesting, because when I started, the WU login was working fine, but after I did the Norton file scan, it wasn't. Anyway, I found a way to get things straight for WU, but I'm afraid it's going to cause problems for all the other websites that were keeping my login data, since I had to delete it all. How those things are related is beyond me. I have the paranoid suspicion that Microsoft is screwing around with Windows 7 and Internet Explorer to try to force people off them. The way they've behaved lately, I wouldn't put it past them. Or maybe Norton is doing that for the same reason. Just my suspicious little mind.
The weather was nondescript. The temperature actually got up to 62º, around 6:00, but in two hours it has fallen back to 53º. There wasn't much wind. It was very humid for most of the day. It was cloudy this morning, cleared up around 3:00 and got cloudy again by 7:30.
The guys were sleepy for most of the day, although they were a bit feisty while I was doing my things in the bathroom. I think it was because their food bowls needed refilling - or they thought they did. I think Grayson is behind the monitor right now, but I can't be sure without standing up.
So it was a nice, quiet day, and I enjoyed it. It's so nice to know I don't have to get dressed and go out someplace! And I don't need to until Thursday! Whee!
Now it's a coolish, cloudy night in the field and I'll soon be off to bed again.
June 18 Uff. I'm tired again. I actually made it into bed by 9:00 last night. I was a bit wakeful in the middle fo the night - a rather interesting dream - but I was ready to get up at 6:30, so I did. That put me ahead, and I was apparently moving at warp speed, because I left the house before 9:15.
That was a good thing, because it rained all the way to Laurium and sometimes it was foggy, too. The nice thing was that there wasn't any traffic.
it was a nice church service. The choir sang well for a change and pastor's sermon was a good one. There weren't a lot of people there, which was too bad, but it meant we got out at a reasonable time.
It rained all the way home, too, but now that I have brakes and my tires are still in good condition, it wasn't too bad, except that I got behind a guy who insisted on going under 35 mph the whole way on the covered road. Geez, it wasn't glare ice!! When he turned right in Copper Harbor, I passed him, double yellow line notwithstanding. He may have been wandering around, but I wanted to get home!
I did nothing for the rest of the day. Well, not quite nothing. I am just finishing up the software updates on the laptop (which i forgot to dd). Otherwise, I just sat, and even with all the sleep I got last night, I almost felll asleep this afternoon. Sigh. Tonight I will do dishes. I'm almost out of bowls, but it's time anyway.
The weathe was miserable, frankly - cold and wet. The temperature has finally gotten up to 58º, and teh humidity has been nearly 100% all day. It was dark and gloomy and yucky. The wind has finally gotten up to 14 mph, but for most of the day it was just about calm. Yuck.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me as much as I'd let him, and then he went behind the computer screen for a while. Louie was someplace else, I don't know where, although they both came to about the time I got my dinner.
So it was another quiet day and I'm looking forward to a week when I don't need to do anything out of the house until Thursday. It will be nice for a change. Maybe I can get the shawl done and start on the edging. And maybe I can play around with the printer again. I think I'm resigned to having to get a new one, but I won't be able to do that for a couple of weeks. There are a few good candidates for around $100. Makes me angry to have to do that, but this unit has been a lemon from almost the beginning.
So now it's a cool, cloudy, humid night in the field and the bed will feel good.
June 17 I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I was in bed by 10;30. I slept well until the middle of the night, when I had several hours of wakefulness which i didn't understand until I got to the studio this morning and discovered that I'd taken the wrong pills last night. The dispensers are pink and blue, and you'd think I could tell the difference between them, as well as the difference in the pills inside, but evidently not when I'm so tired. So it was a slow day and I expect to be in bed early tonight.
I got up a bit before 10:00 and for once, I had time to knit! I now have four more rows to do before I have to attack the edging, and i need to begin to work on a chart fot that. I think I know what I want to do, but it won't be fun without a printer. There are several motifs in the body of the shawl that I could use as the basis for the edging, but I think I will try to use the leaf motif. I need to get busy with my pencil and graph paper and see what I can come up with.
I did accomplish the task of the day: I did the rest of the wash. The last load is still in the washer, but at least it's all done. I hope not to wait six weeks to wash again. I had three humungous loads, and in the summertime, I use even more clothes than I do in wihter. At least I have underwear again, and by tomorrow I will have all sorts of stuff to wear.
When I got to the studio the computer it (or maybe the website I was trying to view) was screwedu up and there had been no updates to the camera again. I think it's back together, for a while, anyway, but I'm getting really concerned. I do not want to have to buy a new desktop!! Especially since it will be a Windows 10 desktop, ahd i don't want that. I also wonder if maybe my problems are because Microsoft is screwing around with Windows 7 to try to get people off it. But then, sometimes I get a bit paranoid, especially with big corporations like Microsoft or Amazon who want to take over the world.
The weather turned cool. The high temperature during the day was only 62º. By the way, i always phrase it that way because frequently the "high" for the day is around midnight or 1:00 AM, and I don't count those readings since most sane people are in bed at that hour. Anyway, while the camera wasn't working there was a lot of fog, which cleared up by the time I got the computer back together. it was very foggy this morning, and the humidity was high all day (oh, my achin' back!). There was a bit of wind, up to 13 mph, around 1;00 and then it went calm again, but the skies cleared up and it was lovely and blue for the rest of the afternoon. There are a few clouds in the sky now, but the sun is still bright. I could do with a little less humidity.
The guys slept, mostly. Somebody, I think Grayson, was coughing for a while. A hairball, no doubt. He got some lap time, and Louie got some loving, but not a whole lot. Grayson was wielding his claws, for some reason, and I don't like that, so he couldnt' sit on me as much as he wanted to.
So it was a quiet day. I am still very tired, and I have been having trouble seeing all day, so that has limited what I could do. Hopefully, a good night's sleep will solve that problem Now it's a partly cloudy, cool, calm night int he field and I'm outa here!
June 16 Ugh. I didn't get enough sleep last night. I think it was around 11:30 when I finally got to bed - after all, I didn't begin eating dinner until 10:00 - and I didn't sleep well. I'm not quite sure why, but it was probably a combination of it being warm in the bedroom and my thinking about today.
I got up at 8:00 anyway, and I got out by a bit after 9:30. I don't know what I was thinking when I made the appointment for 11:00, but maybe it was good that I did, even though I had to wait during their lunch hour.
I am now much poorer, but I have working brakes again. It seems that the calipers on both left side brakes had failed, scoring the rotors, of course. So I needed new rotors and new calipers. They did their best, I think. They just replaced the calipers and pads that had failed (I now am the proud owner of pads for the other calipers, which I don't know what to do with). They had to bleed and refill the brake lines and there was probably four hours of labor. The brakes that failed were on the left side - apparently that's a common thing around here, where most of the salt accumulates in the centers of the roads - but they checked and cleaned the other side, too. So I am almost $900 poorer...but the brakes work, and they don't grind anymore. I even think the ABS sensor in the wheel bearing is working better. It was a much calmer drive home. I got here not long after 4:00.
I read a bit - my eyes weren't too bad today - and knitted a bit while I waited.
The weather was so good it would have been better to be outside. It was clear and blue all day. The temperature got up to 78º here, but just recently. It was around 72º for most of the day. That's close to an ideal temperature, as far as I'm concerned. It got up to 80º in Houghton, but only briefly. It wasn't too humid, and here was almost no wind for most fo he day. The only problem is, the lovely sunshine made it horribly hot in the car and in the house. I opened the south window and turned on the ceiling fan in the studio and that helped a bit, but I'm still hot. I'll take it, though.
I think the guys just slept. After I got home, they were both laid out on the floor, mostly where I might step on them.
So that was my day. I'm glad to get the car fixed but sorry it cost so much. There goes half of my September property taxes. Fortunately, I have a few months to try to recoup.
They had a couple of Corvettes in the showroom. I still love those things, even though the new ones are much bigger than mine were. However, it was clear that even if I could get into one, I could never get out, because the seat is so close to the ground. Oh, yes, and the going price is $80,000 to $120,000. Yikes! My first one (a 1964) was $4,500. Anyway, it was nice to look at one and remember my lost youth.
Now it's a calm, warm and almost clear evening in the field and I'm exhausted.
June 15 Sigh, I just did not want to go to bed last night, for some reason not known to me. Since I had to wash my hair (yes, I did) that meant it was very late when I got to bed and very late when I got up. However, I got to knit this morning!! Wow! Two whole rows!! I'm getting there - only six more rows to go before I do the edging.
That edging is possibly going to be a problem, since my printer isn't working, but Mary Ann said she can print PDF files, so that may be the answer. I asked her because I need to print a return label for the scale and I need to do it soon - Amazon only accepts returns for 30 days.
Anyway, the task of the day was to do some wash, and a least I managed to get the underwear done. I have two huge loads to go, but at least I have something to wear on my bottom.
There was choir and Bible Study tonight, so we went down and discovered that they had changed the start time to 6:30. So we sat. Mary Ann read and I knitted until somebody else arrived. It was all right. Jan was practicing the organ, so we had some nice music to listen to.
Bible Study was nice, too, but late, as usual, so I just finished eating - at 10:45. That's going to be a problem, because I have to be at the dealership at 11:00. I don't know what I was thinking when I made the appointment, but I certainly forgot I would be so late tonight. Sigh. My mind...
The weather was kind of fun. It was a beautifully clear morning, and i briefly thought about pulling up the shutters, but the wash was more critical. Then, around 2:30, the Weather Underground began to show a severe thunderstorm warning. It was still clear here, though, so I checked on the airport, and it was raining hard there. Well. Then a huge cloud mass began to loom up in the west, and shortly after 3:00, the heavens opened, with accompanying thunder and lightning. It rained hard for maybe 10 minutes, and then the whole mess went off to the east. It didn't ever clear up completely, but that was all the rain. The high temperature was 75º. right before the storm moved through - it was 62º right after, although it recovered a bit. There wasn't much wind except right during the storm. It was extremely humid all day. There was a whole lot of fog early in the morning, and then it moved back in for a while around 12:30.
The guys didn't like the thunder. Louie, of course, went downstairs. Grayson wanted to be with me, wherever I was, but I could tell the thunder made him nervous. And then I went away. He is happier now, Ithink.
So that was another day, and I need to get to bed now. It's a mostly cloudy, rather warm, humid night in the field.
June 14 It was about 11:30 when I turned out the light, but then I had a sort of allergy attack - mostly coughing and blowing - so it was probably an hour before I finally got to sleep. What brought that on, I don't know, but it is summer. I was up several times, too, probably because of the fish. I finally got up around 8:30. I didn't want to, but I didn't want to be late for my massage. So I didn't knit again.
I got to Johanna's in time and I had just begun to undress when all of a sudden, the lamp began blinking and the music stopped. I didn't pay much attention, but when she came in, she said we had a power failure. That was unfortunate, because she couldn't raise her massage table, so she did most of my massage while kneeling on the floor - not good for her knees until she got a pillow. She gave me a good massage anyway, and I feel much better and I expect to feel even better tomorrow. I stopped at the post office, and by the time I got home, the power was back on, which was good, because Johanna had two more clients right after me, and I'm sure she didn't want to be on her knees any more.
I came home, and all I did was the bulletin, which I guess is all right after three tries.
The weather wasn't the best. We had some violent thunderstorms between 6:00 and 9:00 this morning, with 0.23" of rain and some nice thunder, although most of it was out over the lake. It was mostly cloudy and very windy for the rest of the day, with south winds gusting up to 34 mph. Curiously, the highest gusts were with the storms, and it wasn't that violent when we lost power. The humidity was over 80% all day, which is no doubt why I still feel creaky.
The guys slept. Grayson finally got to sleep on me for a while, although he spent a good amount of time behind the computer screen. I don't know where Louie was for most of the day; I didn't see him until dinnertime.
The computer was hung when I got here this morning, and then I did the monthly system updates, so I had to reboot twice today. I didn't do anything more with the printer. I hope I can get it running, because I have some things I need to print soon. However, I can't buy anything more for the next two weeks, so I'll just have to see what happens.
Now it's a cloudy, humid night in the field, and I have to wash my hair. Again.
June 13 I was a little late getting to bed last night, what with the bath and all, and I didn't get up until around 9:30. I was too late to knit.
I managed to get out of the house nearly when I wanted to, even though I had an accident and had to change my underwear. The underwear situation is getting critical and I'm going to have to wash soon. Anyway, I was glad I was as early as I was, because I had a horrible time finding the place I was going They are doing all sorts of road work in Hancock, which makes it slow there. Google maps was at least half a mile off - and on the wrong side of the cross street, so I spent some time going around in circles before I found the eye clinic.
As I suspected, this was just an evaluation. They did the usual stuff, and then the doctor spent a lot of time shining a very bright light into my eyes. She will be fine. I still can't get used to them asking me if I want the procedure. Doctor, if I didn't, I wouldn't be here. The problem is, she is the only ophthalmologist in the area, so scheduling gets stretched out. They will do one eye on July 14 and the other on August 2. So I have to put up tiw this for another couple of months.
I was early enough that it was too early to eat, so I came home. Driving wasn't much fun, but the drops they are using now don't last as long as they used to and I didn't have to wear my sunglasses in the house when I got back.
The weather was nice. The high temperature here was 69º - much higher than the forecast - and I think it was in the low 70s in Houghton. It was partly cloudy while I was out, but later in the day a line of thunderstorms came through Houghton and Calumet. We didn't get any rain, but I was glad I was home by that time. It was quite windy, especially on my way home, and during the time the storm front came through, there were evidently gusts up to 38 mph, although I didn't notice them. It wasn't very humid, especially since it didn't rain here.
Grayson still wants to sit on me all the time, and when I shooed him off my lap, he went to sleep on the desk. Louie wanted to chase him off that, but I chased Louie instead. I'm sure they just slept while I was gone.
So that was my day. I'm glad to get things scheduled, but sorry it's going to take so long to get my eyes fixed. I am having a hard time reading or doing most of the other things I usually do, and I want to get on with it.
Now it's a warmish, cloudy night in the field, and I'm off to bed. I'm tired.
June 12 As usual, I was a bit later than I wanted to get to bed. I slept well, although I was up several times. I woke up around 9:00, but I didn't feel like getting up, and it was after 10:00 by the time I finally did. I knitted two rows, which is going to be about all I can handle now. I don't like the way the place where I had to fix things looks, but at least the stitches are right, even though the holes are too big.
I did my surfing. I promised myself i would not wash clothes until I fixed the laundry sorter, but the underwear situation is getting serious, so even though it was late, I got at that around 3:30. There were several hoard parts. A couple of the bolts were hard to screw in. either because the bolts were defective or because the holes were defective, but eventually I got the bottom part together. The other hard part was lifting the upper part and getting it into the bottom part. I can't really raise my arms above my shoulders, and even then, it hurts. Besides, I cleaned out the casters and it was rolling around while I was trying to put it together. I finally got the whole thing done, but I haven't sorted the laundry into it yet. It will be three full loads, I'm sure. that pile was over 3' high. However, it's nice to have the sorter back together at last. It's such a nice thing.
After that, I just sat and listened to the talking.
Tomorrow will be busier. I have my appointment with the ophthalmologist, so I'll have to be out of here shortly after noon. I'm afraid it will just be an evaluation, but I can hope.
Oh, and I made an appointment to get my brakes replaced on Friday. I haven't mentioned that, I think, but for a month or more, my front brakes have been grinding. I didn't realize how loud it was until I had the windows open yesterday, and it's clear I have to do something. Sigh. Where I will get the money is debatable, but I'll figure it out. THe wheel bearing will just have to wait; it's not a safety problem, just a problem with the ABS and an annoyance. The brakes will be expensive enough.
The weather was nice. The temperature spiked up to 68º at 1:00 PM, but for the rest of the day, it was around 60º. It was clear and blue until around 8:30 PM, when a cloud bank came over. The wind was at or under 10 mph all day. Nice. I wish I could have gotten out to pull up the shutters, but after hassling the laundry sorter, I hurt too much.
The guys slept, mostly. Grayson was adamant that he was going to sleep on me, until I finally had to shoo him away. I don't know what his problem is. Somebody knocked on the door in the middle of the afternoon - somebody soliciting, amazingly enough - and that chased Louie downstairs, but he came up eventually.
The next tasks are the laundry, the shutters, and the toilet seat in the powder room. We'll see when I get those things done.
So that was another quiet day, but at least I got something done! Now it's a cloudy. calm evening in the field, and I have to get ready for tomorrow.
June 11 I was a bit later getting to bed than i wanted to be last night, but when I got to the bathroom, it was close to 9:00 and I wanted to get the clock set, finally. I did that, but it seems to take about 45 minutes for me to shower and do most of what I usually do afterwards. I slept fairly well, but for some reason, I was up a lot. As usual, I didn't want to get up when the alarm went off, but I did.
I got to church almost when I wanted to, too. Church was good, although we screwed up the end of our anthem. It was a long service. Besides communion, we always say the Athanasian creed on Holy Trinity Sunday, and it's two pages long, and we sang the Te Deum for an offertory, and that's long, too. I think the creed sort of makes its point with a sledge hammer, but I love the Te Deum.
After church, I had to do a bit of shopping. The bread situation was getting critical, among other things. I was able to get one loaf of the bread I like, but I really am going to have to call and talk to management. For some reason, either they or the vendor are just ignoring how much of which variety of bread people are buying, but in fact, they have not had a very good selection for the past six weeks. I wonder why.
Then it was home and put away I had another picnic, with deli salads and I picked away at them all afternoon. Otherwise, I did nothing, but time just passed, and I was shocked to find it was 10:00 and I hadn't taken my evening pills. So I'll be late tonight, too. Sigh.
The weather was unsettled. There was a little sunshine in the morning, but it soon clouded up. It wasn't as warm as yesterday. The high during the day here was only 68º, and it was in the low 70s in town. I guess it got into the 90s in Laurium yesterday. Anyway, there were thunderstorms on all sides of us, but all we got was 0.2" of rain, between 2;00 and 4:00. IT was dark and gloomy all day, though, but we did have an interesting sunset, which leads me to believe it's clearing out over the lake. there wasn't any wind except during the rain.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson wanted to sleep on me and he was not happy when I shooed him away. I think Louie was sleeping, too, but I don't know where.
So that was a typical Sunday, and now it's late, and it's a cloudy, calm night in the field.
June 10 I read until I couldn't see last night, which meant I was much too late. I slept fairly well, except that my left hip was extremely sore, for some reason. It was very humid overnight, and maybe that's the reason.
I got up around 8:00 - much too early - and after a lot of fiddling around, I managed to get my mistake put back together properly and finish the row. I didn't realize how close to the beginning I was, so it took me some time to knit (or purl, actually) the row. That was the last row of the repeat, so on Monday I can begin the last 10 rows of the pattern. Now I have to seriously consider what I want to do for an edging. I think I know, but I want to look at my books before I decide.
Besides, I still can't print anything. I'm at the point where the next step is to clean the rollers on the printer, and I haven't gotten around to that yet.
I didn't do much else. The drain guy came and my drain is now running very nicely again and I will do what I can to keep it open. He had some sad news. The guy who owned the company died about a month ago, apparently rather suddenly. His wife is trying to keep the company going, and I hope she can, because they are the only people in the Copper Country that do that kind of work. I was sad to hear about it. Randy was a very nice man and he was a big help to me when I had all that trouble with the septic system. They were always on duty and they do good work. Fingers crossed.
nearly fell asleep while I was waiting for them. Or maybe I did fall asleep, I'm not sure. Not nearly enough sleep last night. I expect to sleep very well tonight.
After he left, I finally started writing. I've been wanting to get the next episode out of my head, and I did that, although it only amounted to 1300 words. Now maybe I can continue thinking about where we go from here. I have a general arc of the story, but I don't have the details yet. It was good to write, and I was a little surprised that I got everything done with so few words. I must read it over - maybe tomorrow - and see if I missed something.
IThe weather was very summery, except that the temperature was up and down all day and there wasn't much reason for it. The high was (is) 88º (!!) at 8:00. I have the house mostly closed up, so I haven't felt it. However, it was up to 84º, down to 62º and then up to 88º the next hour. There was quite a wind, with gusts up to 31 mph from the southwest before it switched around to the north. There were some ferocious thunderstorms over Isle Royale, but I doubt they'll get here. The NWS is putting out all sorts of dire warnings, but I have yet to see anything come of them. Maybe later, but maybe not, too.
The guys slept. Grayson wanted to sleep on me, until I finally told him to go away. I can't type with him on my lap. Louie got his loving this morning, and he slept on the dining table for most of the afternoon.
So that was another quiet day, and now it's a parlty cloudy, breezy evening in the field. The weather is a bit unsettled, though, and we could have thunder or wind or both overnight.
June 9 I was a bit later last night than I thought I would be, but I was still in bed before 11:00. I slept well, so well, in fact, that I got up around 8:00. I started to knit. Sigh. On the return row, I dropped something and after fiddling with it for about an hour and a half, I finally just put it down. I know what I have to do to get it back together, but for some reason, I just couldn't make it work. Maybe tomorrow.
I called the drain people and they won't be here until tomorrow, but I got all the trash off the counters and out into the breezeway. The toilet seat riser is now in the powder room, and all I have to do is install it - after I clean up the seat.
And I went to the post office, where there were mostly bills and a lovely gift from a reader.
Oh, and the new scale reads almost 10 pounds heavier than the old one. That's a disappointment, but what I really got it for is to check that I don't start gaining back what I lost. I'll have to wait until I see the doctor to find out which scale is right. The old one used to be right, so I wonder about the new one. I think it's wrong, but I can compensate.
The weather was cool but nice. The temperature finally spiked up to 67º,at 6:00, but for most of the day, it was in the middle 50s. There wasn't any wind. It was very humid overnight, but it has now gone down to under 40%. Nice for me, but my back still hurts. It was mostly clear, with only a few clouds, all day, until recently. Nice. With no wind, upper 50s felt quite comfortable, with a long-sleeved tee on.
The guys mostly slept. Grayson was upstairs, for some reason, but every time I went into the powder room he had to get up and come downstairs - with much thumping - to see what I was doing. Louie got his loving this morning, and I haven't seen him lately.
So that was another quiet day, and I want to get to bed fairly early tonight so I can work on the knitting before the drain guys get here.
Now it's a warmish, partly cloudy night in the field.
June 8 I was ridiculously late last night. I was reading again and then I had to wash my hair - yes, I did. I got up around 11;00, I think, and I knitted four rows. I'm going to have to cut back on that. These rows are easy ones, and it still took me two hours.
I didn't do much else; there wasn't time. My toilet seat riser came, and I unpacked that as well as the pills that came earlier this week. Along with the toilet seat, I got a new scale. My old scale is my mother's, with a dial, and I can't read it. Besides, the platform is so narrow I can just barely stand on it. Long time ago, I lost all the cartilage in half of my right knee, which causes it to jut out, and since I carry a good portion of my weight between my waist and my knees, I can't get my thighs together enough to put that foot on the scale. The new one has a wide platform. I had to choose between a wide platform and huge numbers, but I decided it was better to be able to stand on the scale. The numbers on this one aren't that small. I will unbox it tonight and try it tomorrow and hope it works the way I want it to. Even in the box, I can tell that it will be wide enough.
I will try to get the seat installed tomorrow, too. I was having a horrible time getting up in the powder room today. After some thought, I realized that the problem I'm having with the one in the bathroom isn't completely the riser; the toilet seat, which is one I picked up at WalMart a long time ago for the basement, has a very small hole. I will have to get another one, but in the meantime, this one will have to do.
So that was all that happened today.
In spite of the drain being clogged, I washed dishes overnight, and I'm happy to say that the sink didn't overflow. I could tell that there had been water in it, but the drain is still running enough that it worked. I'm being very careful of what I put down it until I can get the drain guys out - I forgot to call them today. They told me about coffee grounds, but they didn't tell me about eggshells. Evidently they are just as bad. I never had any trouble with my drains in the other houses, but they went right down to the sewer. This one crosses the whole width of the house before it goes out to the septic tank, and that makes a difference. I sort of wonder if the slant is enough, but I haven't been downstairs to try to check that. If it's not one damn thing it's another. Sigh.
The weather was partly cloudy. The high temperature was 68º, but that was between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM, and then it dropped down to around 55º, where it was all afternoon. The wind was calm all day.
The guys slept. Louie wanted to be scratched long before I was through knitting, so he sat around me and purred, even though I didn't touch him for quite a while. Eventually he went to sleep on the rug at the other end of the bathroom, but every time I moved, he had to look up hopefully. He did get his love-in and he also got brushed.
Sp that was it, and I'm going to crash. It's a mostly cloudy, calm night in the field, so we won't see much of the full moon.
June 7 I think I got to bed before midnight last night, but i didn't notice. I slept fairly well, although i was a bit wakeful in the middle of the night. I think it was the temperature in the room. I didn't get up until about 10:00 this morning, and I knitted four rows. I'm going to have to stop that; it took me nearly 3 hours. The next rows are easier ones, but still, there are so many stitches that it just takes a long time. I have never been a fast knitter anyway.
That made me late, but the most important task of the day was the bulletin, and I got that out. I hope it's all right.
I didn't do much else, except that I have to wash dishes tonight, as well as my hair. Washing the dishes might be exciting; my kitchen drain is nearly plugged up again. A week or so ago I read something that may be an answer to why it is plugged up now; I understand that besides coffee grounds, you should never put eggshells down a drain. So I will have to get the drain guys out here again, and I won't put any more eggshells down my drain and see if that works. If it doesn't, I might have to have the pipe replaced, which I do NOT want to do! We'll see what happens.
It was another beautiful day. The temperature actually got to 73º. It was clear and blue all day, and the humidity was under 50% for most of the day. There was almost no wind. It was lovely. I should have stuck my nose outside, but I was busy. It got very hot in here (I didn't look at the temperature) and it would have been nice to open a window, but I didn't get around to that.
The guys slept.
I finally put the new printer cartridges in the printer today, but it still isn't feeding paper. I'm at the point where I guess I have to clean the rollers, but I didn't feel up to that, so I just left the instructions running. Maybe tomorrow? This printer has been the worst I have ever had. I guess it's just a lemon, and I'm sorry I have to hassle it instead of getting a new one. I have too many other things on my must-have list. Sigh.
Sp tjat was my quiet day, and besides washing the dishes, I have to wash my hair. That won't be too bad; I'm all sweaty and hot anyway. Now it's a clear, calm night in the field.
June 6 I knew there was something special about June 6, but I had to Google it to find out that it was D-Day. I like to keep track of these things, since they influenced so much of my early life.
I don't know exactly when I got to bed last night - i didn't look at the clock. I think it was before midnight. I slept very well with only two wakeups. I got up around 9:30, I think. I knitted without any problems, but slowly. That sort of ended any idea I might have had of doing anything else.
I must say that the the toilet seat riser is a success, even with the problem I have wiping myself. It is so easy to get up from it! Keeping anything on my lap without it sliding is a problem, but I figured it would be. I put my feet on a rolled up bathmat this morning, and that helped. The new seat (which I had had for a while and not used) is quite comfortable, too, and that's a plus. One thing I like about this riser is that I could use my own seat, so if I have a comfortable one, I don't need to give it up.
Choir was tonight, and hopefully, this will be the last time it will be on Tuesday. It's too far from Sunday, and besides, if it's on Thursday, we can go to Bible Study. I'm not going to make another trip down there. It was a short practice, but we got the things for the next couple of weeks done, and that's about all we need.
The weather was lovely again. It was clear and blue all day, and on the way home, we saw the moon up in the east, even though the sun hadn't set yet. The high temperature here was only 59º. The lake is keeping us cool' it was over 70º in Laurium. The humidity was a bit higher than yesterday but still under 70%. There was no wind. It was delightful.
The guys were their sleepy selves.
So that was another quiet day and now it's a calm, clear night in the field.
June 5 I was a bit later than I wanted to be last night, but not much after midnight. I slept very well, and I got up around 8:30. I could have slept longer, and I guess I should have, because I actually fell asleep for a few seconds this afternoon. Sigh. I'm old.
I knitted four rows on the shawl, so I'm still making progress.
I didn't do much, because I had a really ugly accident, but I finally got the toilet seat riser installed!! Not only is the seat higher, it's a new seat and it doesn't have a crack in it. Whee!! It's not a complete success. Because of the arms, it's hard to wipe myself off as well as I should, and that may e a problem, but It's very comfortable, and it isn't high enough that I can't put something, like a lap desk or a drawing board, on my alp.
Removing the old seat and installing the new one was not exactly easy, though. I had to stop after I got the old seat off and rest my back, which was horribly sore. The long bolts that came with the riser are metal, and I wasn't too clear where the washer should be - I put them right over the wing nuts - and getting everything properly lined up was hard. I will be interested to see if this one stays tightly bolted down. I'm a bit nervous about using metal bolts on the ceramic toilet, but maybe they will work better.
Anyway, I did the whole thing bare from the waist down, and when I finally sat down on it, I said "Aaaahh!!". I'll figure out the problems, and it wasn't too hard to get up. I won't say it's easy, because getting from sitting down to standing up is never easy for me, but this is going to make it so much better. I just ordered the other one. It should come on Thursday.
I'm hoping that having them will enable my left shoulder to heal up. It's better since I saw Johanna, but it still hurts when I have to lever myself off the pot. I'm hoping this will solve that problem. And standing from a seat that's at least 3" higher makes a whole lot of difference. I knew it would, and I'm sorry I couldn't have gotten them last winter when it was really hard.
The humidity was nearly 100% overnight, which is no doubt part of the reason I was having trouble moving. After 9:00 this morning, the dew point stayed about steady or dropped, while the temperature rose, which means the relative humidity dropped to reasonable levels, and it's now under 60%, which I can handle. I guess it was warmer in town, but the high temperature here was only 59º. I read John Dee's blog posts, and we might as well be living on the other side of the world. There wasn't any wind. It was extemely foggy until around 9:30 this morning, after which it cleared up and it was so beautiful and blue all afternoon.
The guys were very interested in what I was doing. And Grayson got up on the box I keep under the window to the porch and looked longingly outside. Maybe I can get the shutters up in the next couple of days. I don't think he understands that it isn't nearly as warm outside as it is inside.
I'm hoping to be able to get the laundry sorter put together tomorrow. I wanted to do it today, but all that bending over just did me in, so I couldn't. I need to wash - I'm running out of underwear - but I'd like to postpone that until Wednesday.
So that was my day, and I'm tired. It's a beautifully clear, calm, warmish night in the field. We will see stars tonight, but the moon is nearly full, so they won't be too bright.
June 4 I made it into bed not long after 9:30 last night, and I slept fairly well, although I was awake for a while in the night with a very sore right foot. It wasn't like a gout attack, so I guess it's arthritis. I think it's better today, so what the problem was then isn't clear. I got up at 7:00, as usual, and I got out of the house just about the time I expected to, with no particular problems, except that for some reason I had trouble curling one side of my hair. I couldn't get the curling iron in right.
Church was nice, although the choir didn't do so well. We were missing one of our two men and one of the women started singing verse 4 rather than verse 3, but oh, well. We tried.
Afterwards, I had to get gas so that I wouldn't run out in the middle of the week, but then I came right home. I am still tired. I was invited out to dinner tonight - at Harbor Haus - and that was nice, too. It was a friend from Dallas who is a Tech grad and comes up here every year or so for some of the summer activities they have. I haven't seen him in several years, and it was good to do so again. We had a lovely dinner. It's still as good as it ever was. They are branching out a bit, with some new things on the menu, but they haven't taken anything off, which is good. And I have enough for another meal.
The weather was rather cool and foggy. The high temperature was 59º, between 6:00 and 8:00 this evening. It was very humid, over 60%, and there wasn't any wind. The fog came and went all day. When it went, there was some sunshine, but then it would roll back in aain and it got dull and gray. Not so nice.
he guys did their thing. Grayson was not pleased when I went away, but he was happier when I came back fairly early. I think Louie slept all day, but he usually does that.
So it was a quiet day, but a nice one, and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
June 3 Oh, I did it again, and I was even later. I finally got up around 12:30, and I knitted two rows and had a phone call, and that meant that I was too late to start the wash today. I have filled the pill dispensers here, and I will do the ones at the north end when I get there.
So i have nothing to report, except that the computer hung up between 5:15 and 5:30 this morning, when I was nowhere near it. I'm concerned. I do not want to have to get a new computer right now. And around 1:00 this afternoon, I think , we had a power glitch that reset everything but the computer. In a way, I wish it had hit the computer, because I had to reboot it anyway. So there are two sides to a UPS.
The weather wasn't as nice as it was yesterday. The high temperature was 64º. There was some wind this morning, with gusts up to 32 mph (couldn't prove it by me), but it died down this afternoon. I think it was mostly clear this morning, too, but the clouds moved in and the afternoon was dull and cloudy. The humidity was very low until lately, but it's still under 60%. The thunderstorms they were predicting haven't turned up yet, and while radar was showing rain a while ago, it never hit the ground. Sort of a blah day.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me as much as I'd let him, but his pointy little feet were gouging my leg, so he had to move. Louie just slept. They both sleep a lot, but Louie sleeps more than Grayson does.
So that was it, and now I have to go up to the north end and fill pill dispensers. I'm tired. I've had two days without enough sleep, so I should do good tonight. It's a cloudy, breezy night in the field and it might thunder. June 2 I started reading last night, and I wanted to finish, then there was the next episode, and I got to bed at a ridiculous hour this morning. I'm well on the way to doing the same tonight, but maybe I can take myself in hand. I got up around 10:30, and I knitted. I started the repeat of the rose trellis pattern, but I only did two rows, so I don't know how hard it is going to be to do the edges. I think I can manage it without a chart, but we'll see.
That was about all I did. I went to the post office, where my pills came, in time to refill the pill dispensers tomorrow. I was so late that there wasn't time to do anything else.
The weather was wonderful. The high temperature was 68º for the first time this year, for about four hours this afternoon. It was so nice to run out without having to struggle into a jacket! I wish it was like this for the whole summer. I'm afraid it won't last, though. There wasn't much wind until lately, and it was partly cloudy all day, at least until sunset. It seems to have cleared up lately. The humidity was very low until atter dark, but even now it's only 58%. I wish it would stay like that, but we're in for some rain over the weekend.
The guys were sleepy, and Grayson wasn't quite as clingy today. He got some lap time and Louie got his loving this morning.
So it was another very quiet day, and now it's a clear (I think) rather warm evening in the field.
June 1 Sheesh! June already1
I was late getting to bed last night. I zoned out when I got to the bathroom and I had to wash my hair. That took a while. I slept well, and I think I got up around 10:30. I knitted, and I have only two more rows to go before I start to wing it. I think I can do it, but we'll see how it goes. I figured out what I have to do with the sanity markers, so that will help.
I didn't do anything. I was late enough that I didn't finish my surfing until around the time the talking started, so nothing. I decided not to go to Bible Study tonight. I don't feel that good, and Mary Ann couldn't go, so I stayed home. So I'll be a bit earlier tonight.
The weather was nicer than yesterday, although I didn't go out. It was cloudy this morning, but it cleared up a lot after noon and the afternoon was nice and sunny. The high temperature was 57º, the humidity was mostly under 70% and whlle there was a bit of wind before noon, it died down this afternoon. Nice. I should have gone out and opened the shutters, but I didn't.
I was sitting in the bathroom last night when I heard some scuffling about and both cats ran in, and I noticed that Grayson had feet sticking out of his mouth - live feet. He dropped the mouse, who immediately ran behind the toilet, where I keep all my stuff. So i started moving things, and when I got to the back, the mouse ran under the shelves I have in front of the toilet. There's something under there, too, so I moved that and the mouse ran out. It banged up against the shower door frame, but that didn't seem to faze it, and before the guys could react, it ran down the bathroom, under the door and out into the hallway. I think, from where they were looking, that it ran behind the bedroom door and from there it was only a short run to get behind the boxes in the hallway. The dummies kept looking at spots where it had been, so I'm sure it got away. I think it was a field mouse, so I'm glad they didn't catch it. They are so cute. I don't want them in my house, but they are cute. After I turned out the light, I heard some more scuffling, but there were no bodies around, so whatever that was they didn't catch it. Well, it's that time of year. They were very sleepy today, and Grayson wanted to sleep on me all day, which does get old after a while. So they are not as good mousers as I hoped they were, but oh, well. At least they get some of them.
So that was my quiet day, and I'm off to the north end. It's a clear, calm night in the field.
Last updated 04/01/18 10:47 PM |