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A View From the Field |
March, 2018
March 31 - Holy Saturday Wow! March is finally over!
I was later than I wanted to be last night, but I think it was around 12:30 when I got to bed. I slept well, so well, in fact, that I was leaking every time I got up. I got up for good around 9:30 and I knitted. I progress on that.
That was all I did. I don't feel good and the humidity this morning meant that I hurt all over, so I just sat - and leaked some more. I didn't have an accident, but it seems I have either one or the other and sometimes both. It gets old.
I did do a system update, although for some reason, it was only on the desktop. I wasn't sorry to have to reboot the system. For some reason I don't understand, Windows lost track of where my icons should be and every time I played Bookworm, everything got moved around. It was annoying. There are a few icons I use a lot that I need to have in the same places all the time. I think I got those in place, and the rest don't matter, although it looked to me like I lost one a few days ago. I haven't tried Bookworm since, to see if the problem is fixed. I know Windows is an enormous operating system and new people are always working on it, but some of the things that get broken when they do an update really annoy me. Stuff that gets fixed should not cause other things to get broken. Grr.
March went out like a lion, or it started to. The weather services had the timing all off, but around 7:30 this morning it started to snow and it snowed until about 2:30 this afternoon. It was cold enough that the flakes were very small and i don't think more than an inch or two accumulated. Then it cleared up and warmed up and most of what fell is already gone. The high temperature was (is) 25º, but it got down to 11º about 2:00 in the morning. The wind was light overnight, but around 11:00 it began rising and it's now around 22 mph from the north. It does seem like I won't have much trouble getting to church tomorrow.
The guys were sleepy. Louie got to sit on me for a long time this afternoon, and Grayson got some lap time, too. He is now zonked out on the laptop, with his head pillowed on my little blue notebook. Looks like a little angel cat, which he is not.
The barometer was low and the humidity was high until the snow stopped. Now it's gone down to 46%, and I feel better, although I'm remarkably tired and my head hurts.
So now it's a cold, clear evening in the field and I have to get ready for tomorrow under the assumption that I will get out. And March is finally over!
March 30 - Good Friday I got to bed by midnight, which was later than I wanted, but it was fine. I got up around 9:15, so I didn't have time to knit. I managed to get away by 11:30, which was my target, but somewhere south of Delaware, I realized that I hadn't changed my shoes, so while I had a nice church-going outfit on, it was accompanied by bright blue Crocs. Ugh. I'm sure nobody but me noticed, or if they did, they didn't remark on it.
Church was lovely, and it ended with a short form of the Tenebrae service, which I love. The only thing was that the "strepitus" - the loud noise at the end that signifies the closing of the book - was rather anemic. But it was good.
For some reason, I never did get my innards under control. I had to pee before I left, before church and after church, and I just made it home. It may have been partly because I had my lovely tea with milk and honey for breakfast.
After church, I went to Pat's, because, among other things, I had forgotten to get more milk. Of course, I got a bunch of other stuff - too much, but oh, well. I got home right about 4:00 - and sometime north of Kearsarge, I realized that I was supposed to get gas and I forgot. Well, I have enough to get me back to church on Sunday - if I get to go on Sunday - so it's all right, but still. I was forgetting things all day.
The weather was cold. The temperature went down from midnight, and the high during the day was 23º. There was a north wind in the 15 mph range - although it has gone to nothing lately - and when I was putting my groceries in the care, it was cold! It was clear to partly cloudy all day, and the camera caught Venus tonight. I was discombobulated because the last capture was at 9:01, until I finally realized it was only about 9:15. Oh. Anyway, it's another picture to save. Venus is moving up and north, so maybe we'll have her around for most of the spring and summer. So pretty!
The guys slept, I'm sure. Grayson sat on me this morning and he sat on me again while the talking was going on. Louie was mostly absent, but i did see him a couple of times. Of course, he slept with me for a good part of the night.
They still believe we're going to get quite a bit of snow tomorrow, and there is a big blob of it out to our west, probably coming in this direction. In the meantime, there has been quite a snow event in the eastern UP, from Marquette to the Soo, that I'm just as glad missed us. I don't yet know whether I will be going to church on Sunday, although I'll try to slog through. The trouble is, the Road Commission isn't very good about clearing the roads on weekends - I mean, who goes out on weekends? - so Sunday morning could be nasty, even if the snow is over. I'll just have to wait and see how it looks then.
Now, however, it's a clear, very cold night in the field and I'm tired.
March 29 - Maundy Thursday Well, we're marching toward the end of March. Good riddance. March is one of my least favorite months, especially now that I live in the frozen north.
I was ridiculously late getting to bed. I went into zombie mode and I completely lost track of time. Good thing I didn't have to wash my hair. I do tonight, and I have to get to bed at some reasonable hour, because I have to be at church at 12:30 at the latest (if I go - more on that later).
I got up around 10:30, and I was late enough and tired enough that I didn't do anything much all day. I realized that I had messed up the cotton sock, so I attempted to fix it and ended up dropping a lot of stuff, so I'll have to rip out the entire heel and start over from the beginning. I don't know why I'm having such a problem with this pattern. I know how to knit and I know what a heel should look like, but wow! You'd think I learned to knit last week. Maybe I can get it right the third time.
Everybody was wrong about the weather, including Environment Canada, which is usually pretty good, It was cloudy all night and it didn't start to clear up until around 5:00 PM. The high temperature was around 29º for most of the afternoon. There wasn't any precip. I did sort of see Venus as it was getting dark, but then there was a cloud in the way when it was dark enough to see her clearly. I got one glimpse of Mercury a week or two ago, but I haven't seen it since, and I imagine it's gone now. I don't know if I'll be getting to church over the weekend, because the forecasts are more or less dire depending upon who you believe. It seems clear that we'll have significant snow on Saturday, but whether it will stick around for Sunday isn't as clear. I'll try.
I'm fiddling with the start and stop times of the camera. It's getting light so much longer so fast these days that it's hard to stay on top of it. The camera hung up today, but a while ago, I discovered that if I just unplug it and plug it back in, it's fine. There is clearly a data leak in the driver, but since I guess Microsoft doesn't think very many people use their cameras the way I do, they don't think they have to fix little things like that. When I wish I had enough money to say "FIX IT, DAMMIT!"
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for a long time, but I kept having to type, so I don't think he got as much lap time as he wanted. Louie slept with me this morning. I don't mind it, but I wish he wouldn't try to sleep on my head.
So that was my day. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, so getting to bed at a semi-reasonable hour won't be too hard. Or I hope not. Right now, it's a clear, cold night in the field.
March 28 I was in bed by 10:30 last night, and I hope to do the same tonight. Since I don't have to go anyplace until Friday, I'll wait to wash my hair until tomorrow. I slept OK, but I was up a lot. I guess it was the fish again.
I got up around 9:00 and I knitted, of course. I was doing well and I did my six rows in about an hour and a half. Now I have 94 rows left to do. I'm making progress. I'm also getting down toward the end of the second skein, so one of these days, I'll have to wind another one. I still have two left, but it's clear I'll be using at least 5 skeins for the whole project.
When I got to the studio, there was something in the Thursday bulletin that Pastor wanted changed, so I got that out right away, in the hope that Sue would check her email before she went to print it. The stuff for Friday and Sunday came through, too, so as soon as I finished my surfing and the potty run (just made it!) I started on that. As I said in my cover email, I had to get out my shoehorn. Both services have so much stuff in them, and there was so much other information for Sunday (like all the people who bought flowers and the Food Pantry stuff) that I just managed to get Friday on two pages and Sunday on four. I mean, they're FULL! I warned everybody that there wasn't any room to add much, although I did manage to add a name to the prayer list. Neither Friday nor Sunday were normal bulletins, so it took me quite a while to get them done, and I had to make some creative formatting decisions that I don't usually have to worry about. I think they came out all right. If somebody's favorite thingie is on the wrong page, sorry. This only happens once or twice a year.
That took most of the afternoon, so I didn't do much else. I did take a look at that cotton sock I was working on last fall, and I completely screwed up the heel, so I will have to rip back and try it again. I didn't remember where I was when I stopped, and evidently it wasn't where I thought it was. It's not easy, because that yarn splits very easily, and I have a reinforcing thread in the heel, so unknitting is difficult.
The weather was quite spring-like, but that won't last. The high temperature was (and is) 47º. The wind gusted up to 23 mph from the southwest around noon, but it has now just about died down to nothing. It was quite humid overnight, but the dew point stayed around 27º when the temperature went up, so this afternoon, the relative humidity was down in the low 40s. Very nice for me. It was beautifully clear this morning, but the clouds began to move in and by 5:00 it was completely cloudy. I guess the temperature is going to plummet and we may get rain, snow or both for the next four days. Particularly, it's likely to snow on Saturday. All that is putting my plans to be in church in jeopardy. But we'll see. I don't trust any forecasters. I don't plan ahead too much, either.
The guys slept. Grayson slept at my feet, on the robe, while I was knitting, and he got some lap time, too. I haven't seen Louie for a while. I noticed that Grayson's cute little feet are beginning to spread out a bit. His feet have always been round rather than pointy (like Louie's are), but they look a bit wider than they did. It happens to all of us eventually. I guess that he is about 8 years old, which means he's getting into middle age, so I suppose he is spreading out. Hard to believe he's that old.
So that was my day, and as I mentioned, I'm planning to get to bed early (for me) again. I still don't feel good. Now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field, and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
March 27 I was late again. I read and played games, and then I had to wash my hair. I thought I was going to choir practice tonight and I wanted to look decent. I slept fairly well, but it was clear the first time I was up in the night that I have a cold - or I hope it's just a cold. I had a scratchy throat and a headache. i finally got up around 10:30, and from the way I felt when I got up, I knew I wouldn't be going out today.
So I knitted, and when I told Mary Ann my problem, she agreed that I should stay home. When I finally got to the studio, it turns out that Kathleen decided to cancel it anyway, so I was home free. I might add that I've just started sneezing. Ugh.
So I didn't do anything. I haven't gotten the information for the bulletins for Friday and Sunday yet. I suppose Pastor will send it to me tonight, but he has Bible Study at St. John's tonight, so if I do get it it will be late and I AM going to bed early. It's the only way to handle these things. I did send out the bulletin for Thursday, because Sue wants to print it tomorrow, but mostly I'm on hold. I could work on Sunday's, but not tonight.
The weather was another reason I didn't want to go out. It was doing something when I went to bed - I couldn't see any lights down the harbor - and when I got up, I realized that we'd had a couple of inches of snow. It must have been very wet, sloppy snow, because by the time I got to the studio it was melting and it was dripping all over. Probably the roads would just have been wet, but I didn't want to take any chances.
The temperature was above freezing all day, and it spiked up to 39º. It was breezy, with gusts up to 26 mph from the north in the early afternoon. It was cloudy for most of the day, but around 7:00 the clouds went away and it was clear at sunset. There may be stars, but the moon is close to full, so it won't be easy to see them.
The guys slept. Grayson got to sit on me once, but not for very long. Louie did his thing when I went to bed. He got up on the bed and settled down on the pillow and almost on my head. I had to move a bit to keep from getting his fur in my face. When he does that, he settles down and purrs until I fall asleep. I think that's nice, although I wish he wouldn't try to sit on my head.
So it was another very quiet day, and I don't feel good. I should know I wouldn't get through the winter without at least two colds (the other one was in December, I think) and I only hope this one isn't too bad. Now it's a clear, rather warm night in the field.
March 26 I ate my weird dinner very late last night, and afterwards, I was so tired I just couldn't move, so it was some ridiculous hour this morning when I finally got to bed. I slept all right - not great - and I got up around 10:30 and knitted.
That was all I did, really. I forgot I was supposed to do Thursday's bulletin today. I knitted and played games and played games and knitted and had an accident and there are four pairs of bottoms in the washer that need to be dried and I knitted and played games and...
The weather was blah, too. The temperature has been 38º for the past few hours, and it was breezy, with gusts up to 28 mph from the south. It was cloudy. Blah. I guess we're supposed to get some sort of precip tonight, which may be rain or snow or sleet or some combination. Blah. My only concern is that the road is getting icy and will probably be very slippery.
The guys slept. Grayson kept coming back to sit on me, even though every time I had to type, he moved. I don't know where Louie was, but it's probably in the bedroom. He claimed the rug beside my bed a long time ago.
So it was a nothing day (YES, I'm going to use that phrase), and now it's a warmish, cloudy night in the field.
March 25 - Palm Sunday Oh, yeah. Journal.
I was a little later getting to bed than I wanted to last night, but it wasn't much past 10:00. I slept well, although I was up several times. I woke up around 6:15, after another strange dream - which I've forgotten, and it's probably a good thing - so I got up.
That put me enough ahead that I left around 9:10. The roads were good - and empty - so I got to church before 10:00. I got to have a cookie! The Sunday School hosts what they call a "Social" on the last Sunday of every month, where they serve coffee and baked goods. A lot of the stuff looked good, but I was restrained.
Church was good. We sang pretty well, I think, and Pastor had a good sermon.
I went off to Pat's afterwards. I have gotten on a celery kick lately. I don't know why, but a couple of months ago, I began to crave celery, and it hasn't gone away. I ate up all I bought the last time I shopped and I wanted more. I was running low on JD, too. I was very restrained and the only thing I bought that I didn't really need was a big jar of pickles.
By the way, celery is very good for you, they've decided. I remember way back when, when they said you shouldn't eat celery if you were on a sodium restricted diet (which they prescribed a whole lot more than they do now) because it has a certain amount of sodium in it. Now they've discovered that it is chock-full of wonderful vitamins and other stuff and nobody worries about the sodium anymore. That is just one of a large number of reasons why I just laugh at all the diet and nutrition websites there are out there. Every other week, they completely change what's "good" for you.
I got home around 1:30 or so and it was 2:30 or later when I had some lunch. That cascaded. When I should have made some dinner, I wasn't hungry yet, and then after it got dark, I had to pee so bad I didn't want to move, and then I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat. i really didn't want to get up, because I knew I'd leak all over, which I did when I finally decided I had to move. I had kind of a weird bunch of stuff and my nice chop and my nice fish will be for tomorrow and Tuesday. Better I eat that good stuff when I'm hungry and I have time to cook it properly.
I read and knitted and played games. Nothing serious. I read off the end of the Trine stories, and it felt like I could have written a bit, but I didn't feel up to it. I nearly fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon when it was hot in here.
The weather wasn't bad. The high temperature was 35º, but it was breezy - gusts up to 39 mph from the south - and the wind was sharp when I was out in Pat's parking lot. It was partly cloudy, with lots of cirrus clouds, but there was some sunshine. Oh, winter isn't over yet.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but it was one of those days when every time he got on my lap something came up where I had to type, so he finally gave up. Louie came around once, but he didn't seem to want to jump on me, and I was just as glad. The scratches on my thighs are just healing up.
So it was another quiet day, and now it's a windy, cloudy night in the field.
March 24 Reading again, and playing games. Sigh. I slept well, and I got up around 11:30. I didn't have much planned and I didn't do much. There's a lot of stuff to read on Saturdays, and when I finished that, I read the story and knitted.
I wanted to print a note card to thank the person who sent me money, and I discovered, much to my horror, that somehow I never moved those files when I got the new computer. I didn't know it was that long ago when I last printed note cards! Fortunately, I still have the Travel Disk, where I used to back up my files on the old computer, and it is still readable, even though it's in an old format. So I hooked it up and got the files off it. I don't know how I managed to not move those files, because I did move all the other ones. However, every so often, things do get lost, and that was a long time ago. I'm only glad I could recover them fairly easily. The new printer seems to make the pictures a bit redder than I remember those pictures, and while one card was fine, the other one had very faint vertical lines every inch or so, which I don't understand. Oh, yes, and this printer is crazy. The first thing it did was tell me I had a paper jam (which I didn't) and then, when I thought I was ready to print, it decided to do its maintenance. Talk about bass-ack-ward! Sheesh.
The weather is beginning to change, slowly. The high temperature was 28º and the wind is shifting toward the south, with gusts as high as 24 mph. It started out lovely and clear, but around noon there was a band of clouds in the west and now there are high clouds that are dimming the sunshine. It looks likely that there will be rain and/or snow for most of the next week...of course, because I have to go to church several times. Sigh.
The guys slept. Grayson didn't get as much time on my lap as he wanted, but he won't sit when I'm knitting, so that's his problem. Louie is wherever Louie spends his days.
That was it. Nothing. Now it's a cold, partly cloudy evening in the field.
March 23 Of course I was late last night. I was reading again. I slept well and I got up around 11:00. I knitted without any problems. I didn't finish my breakfast before I had an accident and had to change my bottoms, again. I've decided it has to be cyclic, and I really should start noting those things on a calendar so I can prove it, but I hate to get any more involved with my gut than I am already.
I went to the post office, where my needles came, as well as some other stuff I was looking for and a nice donation, for which I thank the donor. It appears that I might get through until next Wednesday without completely running out of money, but I didn't manage to put any away for the fall. Something always comes up to prevent me from doing that, it seems.
I knitted on both socks a bit and while the talking was going on I worked a bit on the stocking. For something as fussy as it is, I'm finding all that hay extremely boring, and I still have the part on the bottom of the manger as well as the floor to do. Before I do the floor, I do have two sheep and two cats to do, as well as various parts of the background. I am making progress, but it's oh, so slow! I figured I might as well embroider, since Grayson was asleep in the ugly chair and I couldn't sit there.
The weather was clear again, but there were more aerosols. The high temperature was 28º, and there was an east wind up to about 15 mph. I thought it had gotten more humid, but it hadn't, so what caused me to hurt so much I don't know. Anyway, there was a cloud or two in the west around sunset, but Venus was still there. I forgot I wanted to see if I could see Mercury again. Maybe tomorrow.
The guys were sleepy. They love the sunshine and it was warmer inside than it has been. Grayson finally got some lap time after dinner, but I haven't seen Louie since this morning.
So that was it. I am still reading, but maybe - just maybe - I can tear myself away and get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour. It's already too late to be really reasonable. And they're playing Mozart.
It's a clear, cold night in the field.
March 22 I was reading and then I was playing games and then I read some more and I finished Trine 12. When I went up to the north end, I had to wash my hair, so I was ridiculously late getting to bed. I slept OK, not great, and I got up around 12:15, having had a dream about Champine.
Of course, that house is reamed into my unconscious, but I haven't dreamed about it for a long time. Actually, I haven't been dreaming a lot for a long time. On the one hand, I'm glad to be dreaming again, but I thought I was over Champine. This one was interesting because Grayson was there, and of course, when I sold that house and moved here for good, Grayson wasn't anywhere near born. The other thing was that there was a stray dog involved and Grayson, inside the house, was presenting his side to the dog, with his back and his tail arched. I've had a lot of cats, but I didn't know I had their habits that deeply imbedded in my unconscious. That's one reason I enjoy dreaming: it's amazing what I learn about myself.
I'm still sorry I had to sell Champine. After all, I was not quite 8 years old when we moved there, and no matter where I lived after that, except for my little house on Hillcrest, it was home. Only when it came down to one house or the other, I knew I had to be here, and I haven't changed my mind. One reason I have so much stuff is that I have a very hard time letting go of anything related to my past. It's far better that it be somebody's home rather than sit empty, because I knew before I sold it that I would never live there again. Now, of course, I couldn't live there, because of all the stairs. Dreams are funny. And interesting.
Anyway, I knitted and I did my surfing, but I didn't have much time to do anything else. I ran out of excuses not to go to choir, and besides, I knew I would have to go tonight if I wanted to sing next week.
So about 4:00, I stood up to go and start getting ready to go - and I had an accident. I had been moving around and bending over before that, which no doubt had something to do with it, but it came on so suddenly that I'm not sure what the trouble was. So I had to change my bottoms before I could leave. i picked up Mary Ann and we went off.
Choir was good. Stuart is recovering from surgery and Shannon is on vacation, so there aren't very may of us, but we did OK. We will have to practice next week, though, because the things for Good Friday and Easter are a sort of difficult, Good Friday especially, but I think we'll be OK.
We stayed for Bible class, and I am so sorry we missed so much. The class is studying the Augsburg Confession and it's Apology, which are the foundations of our Synod's beliefs, and I wish I could have been there for the whole discussion. It appears that we missed 7 weeks. Anyway, it was a good class. I got home around 9:30.
The weather was rather nice. The high temperature was 31º and there wasn't much wind. It was clear and blue all day. It's been very dry for the past week or two, which is surprising, but it's nice to see the sun. Whether we'll have some precip in the next two weeks, and what it will be, depends upon which weather forecast you believe. At this point, I don't trust any of them. The camera caught Venus tonight again, but evidently, if Mercury is still in the sky, it's not bright enough to register. The moon has to be someplace up there, too, but I didn't notice it.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but I didn't see much of Louie except when I got home.
So that was a rather truncated day, and I hope not to be as late tonight, but I do want to read a bit longer. It's a clear, cold night in the field.
March 21 Well, late again, but not excessively so. I was reading and Trine 11 is an interesting story. Then I opened the next one and I had to tear myself away. Hopefully, I won't be so late tonight, because I have to wash my hair.
I knitted before breakfast. It takes me an hour or so to work out the kinks in the morning, so I sit and knit. I didn't do a whole lot more.
I decided I didn't like how the cream sock looked, so I ripped it out and restarted it on a #2 needle, but when I looked at that, it was much too mushy, so I restarted it on a #1, and while the talking was going on, I finished the ribbing. I discovered that the yarn has been discontinued, so I guess I have to treasure what I have. I have another ball in a different colorway that will also make a good pair of summer socks. After dinner, I read for a while and worked on the wool sock. I do like that yarn!
The weather was OK. It was cloudy in the morning, cleared up for most of the afternoon and got cloudy again around sunset, although they say it will clear up again later. The high temperature was 30º and the wind was under 10 mph, from the east. The humidity was low for most of the day, which is no doubt why I didn't hurt too much. I'm just noticing, though, that it's been very dry for over a week. The last measurable snow was on the 14th, and according to the longest term forecast that I can find (from Accuweather, which isn't) no more is likely until sometime the week after Easter. This is pretty weird, but then, our weather has been getting steadily weirder over the past years. And it could change. I don't put much faith in forecasts for more than a day or two ahead.
The guys were sleepy, of course. Grayson got off the ugly chair in time for me to sit in it and knit during the talking, but then he came back and went to sleep on the footstool. i don't know why he won't sit on me when I'm sitting there, but he won't. When I went out to get my dinner, Louie was asleep on the dining room table, in the sun. Being Louie, he was still there after the sun went away. I appreciate Louie. He is very energy-efficient, just like I am.
So it was another very quiet day and now it's a cool, cloudy (at least for a while) night in the field.
March 20 - Spring Equinox i finished the toe of the sock except to graft the ends together last night, but then I was reading and it was 11:30 before I got to bed. That was all right. I slept well and I got up around 9:30 feeling better than I did yesterday. I won't say I feel good, but better.
I finished the eighth repeat on the shawl. Now I have 136 rows left to do. It's going to be a really big thing. While I was in the powder room after breakfast, I grafted the toe of the sock and worked in the yarn ends, so now I have another pair of socks to wear. I like this pair better than the last ones, although I have to say, the blue pair is one of the best fitting pairs I've ever knit. I wish it was easier to get them uniform, but every yarn is different, and sometimes It's not easy to get the gauges right. The new pair is much too long in the leg. They were knit from the top down, though, so changing that is nearly impossible without raveling the whole sock. I must try to pay more attention to lengths. I think the feet will be OK, because I checked that. Well, when I knit from the toe up, the foot tends to be too long, and when I knit from the top down, the leg is too long. I guess I should try to figure out a way to start in the middle. Heh.
I got the information for Sunday and did the bulletin. i think it's right. There wasn't any information about next week, though, so it probably means I'll be scrambling next week to get things out in time for Sue to print.
I actually cast on both new pairs of socks. I wanted to see what they look like. I didn't knit enough to see what the cream pair will look like - cream and orange with apparently a little bit of blue - and when I started the other pair, I said "ah!!" and that's the pair I'll be working on. The color is weird - sort of a reddish purple and gray (not what that colorway is supposed to look like at all!!) but it is the softest yarn I've used that isn't alpaca and knitting with it is a delight. They will probably always be dress socks, because they are very lightweight, and they are 100% wool - no synthetic - which means they won't wear as well, even though I will reinforce the heels. Oh, but that yarn! I just want to snuggle in it. I have a lovely sweater pattern that uses it, and I've sort of decided what color to make it, but it will cost me around $120 to make, so I'll have to put that in the queue.
The weather was nondescript. There was a little sunshine but mostly it was cloudy. The high temperature was 24º, briefly, and there was no wind. So much for the first day of spring. The equinox is just an arbitrary date anyway. In parts of the northern hemisphere, it's been spring for several weeks, and in other places, like here, it will be quite a while before we see it. I noticed that we had measurable snow on May 2 last year, and sometimes it's been even later. Mary Ann talks about the year one of her kids was born, when there was a blizzard on May 11. At least we know we're going in the right direction, and the sun set in the notch on Brockway tonight. Or I think it did. it was cloudy enough that it wasn't obvious. I think one reason I felt better today is that it was marginally less humid. I seem to be OK up to about 60% relative humidity, and after that, I'm a basket case.
The guys slept. Grayson got a little lap time, until I had to run to the powder room, and after that I was knitting. I don't think he was happy. Louie slept with me for a good part of the night but he was on the rug one time when I got up, and from the noise, I guess I almost stepped on him. Remember, I have no feeling in the skin on my feet, so I could pull his fur without knowing it. I think if I stepped on his foot or his tail I would know, but he didn't yell loudly enough that I think I did that. They don't understand that I can't see very well in the dark, and I am not going to start turning on lights when I get up. Never have, never will. If I can't see it by the nightlight in the bathroom, I can't see it.
So that was my day. I discovered That I can knit ribbing by feel, although it's slow, so I will do that and read a bit longer before I call it a night. It's a cold, cloudy night in the field.
March 19 So I turned out the light at 9:00 last night, and while I was up several times, I slept well. I got up around 8:30, so I should have had enough sleep, but I felt lousy all day and I have a headache. Tonight, I will probably be a bit later, but hopefully not much.
I knitted, and tomorrow I will finish the 8th repeat. All my appointments for my physical, which is in July, are made. I'll have to get there around 9:30, which is a little early, but I think I'll be able to make it, and it means I won't have to fast so long after I'm up. That was all I did, except to start the toe of the sock. Maybe I can finish it tonight.
The weather was cold. The high temperature was only 25º, but there was almost no wind. It was partly cloudy for most of the day, but around noon it clouded up, and I thought I saw something outside. When I looked, there were little snowflakes coming down! Nobody saw that coming. It didn't last long and it cleared up a lot afterwards, and it's clear now. Made me laugh. Tomorrow is the start of astronomical spring. Hah. Not here, for sure!
The guys were sleepy. They got a favorite canned food for breakfast, which is almost all gone. Louie spent part of the afternoon on the dining room table in the sun. Grayson kept wanting to sit on me, but I was doing other things. I guess it was a bit cool to sleep in the ugly chair, so he curled up in the flannel nighties outside the studio door. I won't ever be able to move those things.
So that was it. Nothing much to report. Now it's a clear, cold night in the field and likely to get colder, but there may be some stars.
March 18 Ugh. Even though I got to bed just about when I wanted to and I slept well, I'm so tired that I almost fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon. So I'm going to crash.
I got away before 9:15, which is my aim, and I got to church a bit before 10:00, which is also my aim. I would like to have been earlier, but I had too much stuff to do and I kept having to go back to the bathroom.
The roads were a bit damp when I went down, but they were dry by the time I got home, so driving was fast and safe.
I was glad I got there when I did, because the choir practiced. Mary Ann wasn't there, one of our sopranos is in California for two weeks, and our bass had surgery on Monday (don't ask - it was something you don't ever want to happen to you), so we were a small group, but we apparently sounded pretty good. We just sang a hymn, but we sing them in parts - as many parts as we have available - and I think we enhance the service.
It was great to be there again. The liturgy was my favorite, Pastor's sermon was a good one and of course there was communion.
Then I had to get gas. I decided not to go to the place where I have the reward points, because it turns out I would have to go into the store to redeem them and I didn't want to do that. I got home around 1:00, tired and hungry.
I've known for a long time that when I'm tired, I want to eat a whole lot more than I do when I'm well-rested. So I was hungry and I ate. I had a good dinner, too.
In between, I finished my surfing, read, knitted the sock, petted the cat and almost fell asleep. If I'd been able to sit in the ugly chair, I might have slept there, but Grayson was already there, so I didn't. I made rice, which I still have to put away, but it was a very quiet afternoon.
The weather was OK. The high temperature during the day was 34º and it was partly cloudy. The wind was at or under 10 mph from the east. Not bad at all.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson wanted to sleep on me, but he wouldn't when I was knitting, so I think he spent most of the afternoon in the ugly chair. I don't know where Louie is.
So I am going to bed. Really. I'm not even going to read anymore. I don't know why I'm so tired today, but I was so achy that I had to take some extra Tylenol, and maybe that's part of it. Fighting my body is exhausting. I should have gotten enough sleep last night, but of course, I was sound asleep when the alarm went off, and that never helps, nor does driving 75 miles. It's about time I reset the timer anyway.
Now it's a cool, partly cloudy evening in the field and the sun is going to go down right about where it will on Tuesday. Spring is coming.
March 17 So here we are at another trumped-up holiday. While I understand that Irish people celebrate, the rest of it is stupid. Oh, and I've been told my little bit of Irish ancestry was Orangemen.
I was later than I wanted to be, of course, but it was a more reasonable hour than lately. I slept well, and I got up around 8:30. I didn't want to, but I knew if I went back to bed, it would be 11:00 or so before I got up and then I'd have a hard time sleeping tonight. No problem with that. I'm very tired and I don't feel good.
I knitted. The first two rows were hard - I kept dropping stitches - but after that, it went well. I progress. I spent the afternoon reading - again - and knitting on the sock. I now have only two more rows to do on the gusset and I can start the foot. I can see the end! Not that I don't like these socks; I do. It's just that I have so much other yarn that I like that I like that I want to be done with this pair. Eventually I will get back to the summer socks, which I also like, but they have a pattern in them, so I can't knit and read. Possibly at one time, I could knit patterns and read, although I can't remember if i could, but I can't now.
The weather was very spring-like. Just now, the temperature has risen to 42º. They claim that the relative humidity has gone down to 21%, but I don't believe that. It was so humid earlier that I've hurt all day. There wasn't any wind. It was clear overnight but not very transparent, and it was clear today until a little after 11:00, when the clouds started to move in, and it's been mostly cloudy for the rest of the afternoon. There wasn't any wind to speak of.
I had to go out briefly. I looked out late this afternoon and discovered that my snow shovel - the new expensive one - had fallen out of the snowbank and right in front of the garage. That's how I broke the old one last year, and I didn't want to break this one. At $30 a pop, I can't afford that. So I went out and moved it to a place where I hope it will be safe and still be outside if the guys need to use it. It was nice, even though it wasn't quite as warm as it is now.
It's very warm in here. It's 74º here, which is a bit warm to be wearing sweats. I love the free heat, but I wish it was a bit easier to control. Maybe it will be a reasonable temperature in the bathroom tonight.
The guys mostly slept, but they were both frustrated, because I was knitting and they couldn't sit on me. Grayson was lying on the laptop just now, but his head was in front of the icons on the screen and I couldn't move among them the way I wanted, so I had to shoo him away. Sorry, guy. He could sleep on my lap when I'm knitting, but he won't.
So it was another day of the kind I like, and now it's a warm, cloudy night in the field. It's early enough that maybe - just maybe - I can get to bed when i need to.
March 16 OK, tonight I must try hard to take myself in hand and get to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm tired enough that I should be able to sleep. Last night I was reading again and time just slipped by. Sigh.
I got up around 11:00, I think, and I knitted. I had a couple of dropped stitches, but mostly it went very well. I still have 140 rows to go, but I'm making progress.
I finally got to the post office, and I had a ton of mail, including a whole lot more reading material to add to the 4' pile in the powder room, and a bunch of bills that I had to pay, so I did that. While the talking was going on, I sat in the ugly chair and did the heel of the sock, although I haven't picked up for the gusset yet. Ooh, goodie! I'm getting closer to starting a different sock! I think I'll do the gray and magenta one, because the cream and orange one is a summer sock, and I've already got one of those started.
By the way, that gray and magenta colorway seems to have been a mistake. It has a color name that is still in use by the company, which doesn't look anything like my ball. It's supposed to be magenta, white and teal. No wonder I got it cheap. When Craftsy was first starting out, they were buying up odd lots and discontinued yarns from the major suppliers and selling them very cheaply. That's why I spent over $1000 on yarn one year, when I really shouldn't have. That's what I've been going through in the bags lately and finding all sorts of gems I'd forgotten about - it was 8 or 10 years ago.
Among the mail was a letter from the health department informing me that I have until June 1 to have maintenance done on my septic field. Eek!! Fortunately, they included a list of contractors who have done that work before, and one if them is the one who will be working on my heating system! Yea! I called them right away, to get on their spring list, and the owner is a really nice person. His only request was that I call the health department and try to get any documentation they have about my system. So I did, and the woman I talked to there was very nice, too, and very accommodating. She said she will send me what they have, and she also said that she will put a note in my file that I may not be able to get the work done by June 1. Depending upon the weather for the next six weeks or so, there could still be quite a bit of snow in my yard on May 1, in which case, they can't work on the drain field. She said they had to pick a date, but I don't think they had to make it so early. My contractor said a lot of his out-of-town customers are panicking. I can see why.
The weather was lovely. The high temperature was only 34º, and there was a bit of wind - up to 15 mph from the north - but there was sunshine all day and the humidity was down around 50% or lower, much lower than it's been in months. No wonder I felt much better today! Eleanor was right. After dark, I peered out into the west and found Venus, and I think I saw Mercury above it. Mercury is too dim to show on the camera, but the picture I saved did have Capella in it. Not surprising, since it's one of the brightest stars. There were a few little clouds in the west, but I doubt they'll stay around. I should see stars tonight, and maybe even northern lights.
The guys got fish with gravy for breakfast, which made them happy. Louie went his way, but Grayson wanted to sit on me, and since I was knitting when I was in the ugly chair, he sat on the footstool and eventually went to sleep there. We were both happy, with the sun shining on us.
So that was another very quiet day. I'd like to knit, but I have to pick up the sides of the gusset, and I'd rather read tonight. Maybe I can get to bed at a reasonable hour, although it won't be early, since they're playing BIzet's Symphony right now, and I love that.
It's a clear, cool night in the field.
March 15 Well, I was a bit earlier this morning, but not a lot. I had to wash my hair and cut my fingernails. I was reading, and I like these stories. They're all about novella size, I think, which is hard, because as I finish one, I want to start the next one. I slept well, of course, but not nearly long enough, and I got up around noon.
When Mary Ann called, it was snowing, and we didn't know whether it would continue or not, so we decided not to go to church. It turns out that we could have, but I'm just as glad that we didn't. I'm exhausted and I will try as hard as I can not to be late tonight. It would have been hard for me to drive home.
I was so late that I didn't do anything but my surfing. I knitted while the talking was on - the sun was out by that time - and I have only about 6 rows left before I start the heel. I did order more #1 needles, so in a week or so I'll have enough to start all the other socks.
The weather started out cloudy, windy and cold. It snowed lightly off and on for most of the day. Around 5:30, the clouds began to break up and it's fairly clear now, although there was one in front of Venus when it was dark enough to see much. The camera did catch one view of her, right under a cloud. The high temperature for the day was at midnight; it went down to about 19º for most of the afternoon, and it hit 21º briefly around 6:00 PM. It's been windy, with gusts during the day as high as 29 mph, mostly from the north. Tomorrow should be better, although we might see a northern light or two tonight.
The guys slept. Grayson kept trying to sit on me, until I finally had to tell him no, and he curled up on the flannel outside the studio door. Louie tried to rout him out of there, but he mewed and I chased Louie away. Louie spent part of the night on the rug, but I don't know where he went after that. It's much easier for me to get out of bed when he isn't there.
So that was a nearly useless day, and I'm very tired. It's a partly (or mostly?) clear, very cold night in the field.
March 14 I almost pulled an all-nighter again last night. This time, I was mostly reading. I'm reading the Trine stories again, and I think they're pretty good, so I just sat until I could barely see. I got up around noon, which wasn't nearly enough sleep, but I wanted to get to bed sometime tonight.
I finished the seventh repeat on the shawl with very little trouble, so I'm slowly getting there.
I was so late that I didn't do much, but I did do the bulletins. I hope they're all right, because it was quite late when I sent them out. There were some system updates and I got them installed on both computers. While that was going on and the talking was going on, I embroidered a little bit, but it was too sunny to do much. Between last night and today, I've gotten 50 out of 70 rows knitted on the leg of the second sock, so it's coming well.
Doing the second sock is always boring, even though with hand-dyed yarns they never look exactly alike. On this one, the light stripes are much wider than they are on the first one. That sort of behavior apparently annoys some knitters, but I find it fun. I have so many pairs of socks that are the same colors but don't look alike, just because of the way the skeins were dyed. They're never boring. It's just that I want to start one (or maybe both?) of the other yarns I picked out, and I can't. I actually do have another 32" #1 needle, but it has wooden tips, and after I broke one by keeping it in my bag, I don't use it for things like socks that I may be carrying around with me. i need to get some more needles.
The weather turned out to be very nice. I think it was probably cloudy overnight and this morning, but by the time I got up, it was beautifully clear, and it didn't start to cloud up until around 6:00 PM. In the meantime the temperature in the studio got up to 74º with no help from the space heater or even the heating system. I love that free heat! The high temperature outside was 34º, briefly around noon, but it was freezing or above all afternoon. There was a bit of a breeze, with winds up to around 20 mph from the north. Where those forecast southwest winds went, I don't know. However, at least some of the forecasters are saying there is going to be some snow tomorrow. We'll see, but if it's going to snow during the week, of course it will be on Thursday.
The guys slept, I guess. Grayson got a bit of lap time, but I was too busy to let him sleep on me all afternoon. I didn't see Louie until right before I made my dinner. He likes to sleep on the rug beside my bed. The floor in there is usually warm, and the rug concentrates the heat, and it's softer than bare floor.
So that was my very quiet day, and now it's late again and I have to wash my hair. It's a cloudy (I think) cool night in the field.
March 13 I was later than I hoped last night, of course, but I slept very well, and it was 9:45 before I got up.
I knitted six rows, which means that, if I can do another six tomorrow, I will finish the seventh repeat. Oh, I'm making progress. However, when I begin on the border - not for a while; there are still 5½ repeats to go - I start with 760 stitches and end up with 1,040, which means I'll be lucky to do one round a day, and since half the rounds are purled, which I do more slowly, I have a long way to go. It's a pretty thing, but not, I must confess, as pretty as the first Shetland shawl I did. This one is just a technical challenge. I will finish it. I will.
I didn't do much else besides my surfing, again. I finally remembered to call to make my appointment for my yearly physical, in the middle of July. My doctor is chief of staff at the hospital, so he's a very busy man, and last year, I waited too long, which is why I'm now seeing him in July rather than May. Medicare will only pay for the physical if it's at least a year from the last one, and they're sticklers for the date. I haven't heard about my tests yet, but at least the doctor is set up.
Today the talking craft was cross stitch, and I made a little progress. I'm still working on hay, which is long streamers of five different colors of yellow. It goes slowly. I've been knitting during the talking lately, and my hands were feeling it, so I decided to do something else today. I couldn't embroider as long as I wanted to, because it cleared up late in the afternoon and the sun was shining in my eyes.
The weather was mixed. It was cloudy and cold all day, and it snowed more or less all morning. The high temperature was at midnight, and it was around 20º all day. There was a bit of wind overnight, but it was very light during the day. Around 6:00 PM EDT it started to clear up, and it was completely clear by sunset. When I finally went to get my dinner, Venus was twinkling in the west. Mercury is supposed to be there, too, but couldn't see it. Maybe we'll have another clear evening before the 20th.
The guys did their thing. Louie tried to jump onto my lap to sit, but he scratched me so badly I had to get him to leave. As he gets older he is having a harder and harder time jumping up on things. I know his problem. Grayson wanted to sit on me all day, and I just had to shoo him away again. I simply cannot type - or do anything else - with him on my lap. That's the idea, of course, but I do occasionally need to something else.
So it was another nice, quiet day, and now it's a clear (I think) very cold night in the field. Oh, and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
March 12 Sorry about the confusion about my weekend. I guess I wasn't clear enough that I was on Altar Duty. And the server where my website is housed crashed and was down for quite a while. It was up when I got to the studio, but I was late.
I was later getting to bed than I wanted, too. Somehow, I managed to waste most of an hour and a half from the time I went north. I don't know how. Anyway, once I got to bed, I slept very well. I started out with the heat wrap on my shoulder, because it was still sore, but after I woke up for the first time (over 3 hours) in a sweat, I turned it off, and it's been fine. I'm back to the usual left shoulder–right hip and knees thing, but that's mostly tolerable except when I'm getting up from sitting down. It's a relief. That shoulder was really bad.
I got to bed around 11:30 and I got up for good around 9:30 this morning, so I should have had enough sleep. I knitted four rows. I was knitting slow today, for some reason, but I'm now at the part of the pattern where every other row is mostly knit, so the next few rows will go faster.
I did my surfing, which took a while, because I had two days' worth of comics to read from one of my sites. They got screwed up with the time change and put last week's comics out yesterday. Why does that continue to happen after all these years of computers and DST? I like to read my funnies. They always leave me feeling good.
That was about all I did, except that I called the mortgage company and determined that they agree that I have house insurance. That's a relief. I also talked to a supervisor and really unloaded on him about that woman I (tried to) talked to last week, who made me so angry that I finally hung up on her. I also complained about how little the customer service reps know and how much they can't explain what the problem is. Then I was asked to reply to a survey. Ha. I unloaded on it, too. I doubt it will make any difference, but I felt they should know that their customer service is terrible.
That was all I did, except that I finally got the pill dispensers filled, and I checked in with my online pharmacy to make sure I'll be getting my refills.
While the talking was going on, I sat in the ugly chair for a while and finished the ribbing on the second sock, so now I can knit for 70 rows without being able to see much. I dug out the two other balls of yarn I had my eye on. One is wool, and while it has colors that make me wonder why I got it (gray and either purple or maybe dark magenta), it's made by a company whose yarn I want to try working with. The other is a more or less summer blend of yarn in cream and orange (me? orange??) that will make nice summer socks. They both work on #1 needles, so I won't be able to start them until I'm through with this pair, but I wanted to get the yarn ready. Both of them are single balls, but I decided after working on the navy blue socks that I don't need to worry about running out of yarn, so I don't have to do them toe-up, and both of them look like yarns I will be able to work a normal heel in, although I'll see how they look when I start working on them. So I won't run out of socks to knit.
The weather was almost amusing. It had stopped snowing when I went up to the north end last night, and the first time I got up, there were stars. Then, when I got up for good this morning, it was snowing rather hard, but that didn't last too long. There was another snow shower around 11:30, and by sunset, there was apparently even some clear sky. Love it. The high temperature happened in the middle of the night (33º) and the high during the day was 30º. There was some wind, as high as almost 20 mph from the north, but it had died down by sunset. I guess the reason I feel better today is that while it was humid (between 70% and 75%) it wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday.
The guys slept, mostly. Grayson wasn't quite as clingy as yesterday, but he did sleep on the footstool when I was sitting in the ugly chair. He thought he wanted some of my lamb chop, but I know better, and he didn't get any. Louie wanted to sit on me when I was on the phone, which I couldn't do, and I haven't seen him since. He mostly gets his loving in the bathroom anyway. They got canned food this morning, with lots of gravy, which they liked.
So that was another very quiet day. Now I have to decide whether to wash my hair again, but probably I won't. It looked like a bush when I got up this morning, so I think it can go for another couple of days. Now it's a cold, cloudy night in the field and there will probably be some more snow.
March 11 My internet connection to my website is down, so I doubt this will get posted tonight. Sorry.
i managed to make it into bed by 9:30 EDT, but I had a horrible night. My right shoulder (not to mention my left shoulder and my right hip) was so sore that I couldn't sleep. I fired up the heat wrap, and that helped, but even so, I was up about every hour and a half. And, of course, I was asleep when the alarm went off this morning. Ugh!
I promised Deanna, though, so I got up and did my thing, and I was really efficient for a change. Even though I did my surfing and set the calculator clock and three watches, I got away shortly after 9:00. The only thing I forgot was to put my offering envelope in my hymnal, which means it's still in my checkbook. Oh, well, next week will do.
I was early enough that I got behind Mary Ann and Bill. That meant we went much slower than I usually drive. Bill was a long-haul truck driver, and he is more law-abiding than I am. He is a truck driver I would have been delighted to be behind on the Interstate - very law abiding and very courteous. We got to church before 10:00 anyway, which was all I wanted.
It was so great to be in church! I got to sing with the choir, and we sounded really good. Pastor's sermon was good, as usual, and of course there was communion. We had to clean up afterwards, of course, so it was around 2:00 when I got home.
I was so sore and so tired that I didn't do anything. Well - not completely. I brought a couple of bags of stuff in from the breezeway, including a small jar of Nutella. Have you tasted it? If you haven't, don't. It is so extremely yummy, you will be tempted to eat the whole jar. It's hazelnut butter with cocoa in it, and it is a real chocolate fix. Oh, my. Oh, oh, my.
So I sat and read and knitted. I finished the first black purl sock. I only had to do the toe, which was only 22 rows, successively smaller, so it went fast. I managed to read for a while while I was knitting it, but then I had to graft the toe. And I cast on the second sock, but i only knit one row. I can't read while I'm doing ribbing. I think I could once, but I can't do it anymore, so it will have to wait until tomorrow when the talking starts.
It was a beautiful night, with beautiful stars all night long and it was a beautiful day, too, at least until around 4:00 PM. Then the clouds moved in, and a while ago when I was adjusting the start and stop times for the camera, I discovered that around 7:30 PM EDT it started to snow! Whoa! I missed that. but it was predicted. The only thing about the clear skies is that it was frigid this morning. The low was 8º, and when I started south, when I got into the interior, it got down to 5º, and Deanna said that on their way in, when they went through a low spot, it went down to -6º Once the sun came up, though, it warmed up very fast, and it was 32º by the time I left church. The high here was 34º, briefly. There wasn't any wind except for briefly around 4:00 when it got up to 17 mph. It was so lovely to see those clear skies, but I knew it couldn't last.
The guys didn't want me to go away, and Grayson wanted to sit on me all afternoon, although I wouldn't let him. Louie spent the day wherever Louie does, but he came out and talked a bit early in the evening before he went away again. Grayson was on his good behavior, and he didn't try to get out into the breezeway. He sits behind the door and looks through the glass to see what I'm doing.
So that was it. I was hoping I could see why I was so sore by looking at the weather history, but I'm not sure. It was extremely humid overnight, and that may have been the reason. However, it's just been in the past two or three hours that I've felt a bit better - I hope it lasts overnight! - so I'm not sure what caused it. I only hope it doesn't happen again!
Now it's a cold, snowy night in the field, and I need to go to bed!
March 10 I was in bed by 10:30 last night, and I slept well for about three hours. When I woke up for the first time, it felt like somebody had stabbed me in the breast, and it was so sore that I was wakeful and uncomfortable for at least four hours. It was better after that, but not great. I got up about 9:00. My breast is still sore.
I knitted four rows. I didn't do more because I had things to do before I left. That ended up including changing my panties. Grayson was partly responsible for that, but it was also because I wanted to finish my surfing before I went to the powder room. I should know better.
I got away around 12:15, and much to my delight, the roads were clear and dry all the way to Calumet - even better than they were on the way home, curiously. I did my shopping, and I think I got everything I needed, plus a lot more, of course. I got the last three loaves of bread, which made me glad I didn't shop tomorrow.
Then it was off to church, which rarely takes more than half an hour. I think I got home around 3:30, but then I had all that stuff to get out of the car. Most of it is still in the breezeway, but that's a refrigerator at this time of year, so it's safe, and I put the important stuff away.
The trip home was good, but it had warmed up enough that the snowmelt was dripping across the road and it may be a bit slippery tomorrow.
Then I sat down, and I didn't want to get up. I didn't feel very good this morning, and after all that, I could hardly move. I'm trying to get an early start, because of the time change. I've said it before: I cannot express how I hate Daylight Savings Time. It is the stupidest idea anybody ever had. My body never goes on it, and as a result, Sundays will be excruciating until November.
The weather was good. It was partly cloudy all day. It was fairly clear here, but it was cloudy in Calumet, for a change. The high temperature here was 30º, and it was a couple of degrees warmer in Calumet, although not while I was there. There wasn't any wind. I noticed that the sun is setting in the notch between Brockway and the West Bluff, so it's moving slow fast, and it's now setting in the middle of the camera picture. Spring will come.
The guys didn't want me to go away, and Grayson slept on me as much as he could. He also had some idea of maybe going out into the breezeway, but if I use my cane as a goad, I can sometimes keep him away. Louie came around when I got home, but he didn't stay.
So that was my day, and now I have to try to get to bed as soon as possible. I forgot about the pill dispensers, so I'll just have to do that tomorrow. I don't have time tonight. Now it's a clear, warmish night in the field.
March 9 Crash time. I didn't go to bed until a ridiculous hour this morning, again. Sigh. i slept well, of course - I had a headache, I was so tired - and I got up around 11:00.
I only knitted four rows, because I couldn't keep my concentration - or something - and I screwed things up and had to fiddle around to get them right. Then, after I ate, I sat with a cat on my lap until I had a nasty accident and had to change my bottoms. That happened late enough that I didn't get to the post office.
While I was sitting at the north end, I decided to try on the sock, and I discovered that it was at least 3" too long, so while I was waiting for my Schwan's order, I unraveled it, and when the talking started, I got it back on the needles. I still had an extra stitch, but where the 3 extra ones I had yesterday came from, I do not know. I think I have one more plain row before I start the toe. What I've found is that while the stitch gauge is usually the same for any yarn on the same size needles, the row gauge can vary a whole lot, or maybe I'm knitting more loosely than I used to. Anyway, I'm going to have to be much more careful from now on. I'm also going to have to create a new sock pattern with a much larger leg. I'll do that for the next pair I start. The other one from this yarn will (of course!) be knit the same way as the one I'm finishing now.
The weather was boring. They were all wrong about the cloud cover - it was cloudy and dull all day, which was not what they were predicting. The high temperature was 28º for most of the afternoon. The wind got to 15 mph from the north around 11:00, but then it died down to nothing now. Blah.
The guys are still acting funny. Grayson wants to sleep on me all the time, and while I was knitting on the shawl, he was curled up on the robe and Louie was sitting beside my legs. Then late this afternoon, Louie started crying about something. I don't know what their problem is. Louie did play with his rope for a few minutes this morning. They got something they like for breakfast this morning, and I'm happy to report that the new bag of kibble seems to be going over very well. I was a bit concerned, because the last small bag of it i got was apparently not good, and I hoped the 13 lb. bag I got would be better. I think it is.
So it was another very quiet day, and I am going to crash. I'm starting to read the Trine stories again, and while I like them, they aren't as compelling as the other ones, to keep me awake.
It's a cold, cloudy night in the field.
March 8 I was surprisingly efficient last night. I got the dishwasher ready to run and washed my hair, and I turned out the light around 12:30.
It still makes me sad that I find showering such a chore anymore. Back in the old days, when I bathed and washed my hair every night, I so enjoyed my baths! I still enjoy being in the shower, but with my bad joints, it's not easy or very comfortable. And I have to be sure I'm hanging onto something all the time. I try to enjoy it as much as possible, and I know that taking a tepid shower when it's hot in the summer (if it's ever hot in the summer again) is a real joy.
Anyway, I had a bit of a problem getting to sleep, but once I got up and took care of that, I slept well. For once, I fell asleep the first time on my left side, and the only bad part was that my right shoulder was so sore when I woke up that I think it's what woke me up, and it took me a few minutes to work it back into place. After that, everything was fine. I got up around 9:30. A much nicer time to get up.
I knitted my six rows, without too much trouble and I've now started on the second half of the center. It's going to take me a very long time to finish this thing, but I knew that when I started it.
I didn't do a whole lot more. I had some ideas, but it took me long enough to do my surfing that I didn't have time for what I wanted to do. We didn't go to church. Mary Ann and Bill had been down there yesterday and she reported that the road were horrible. Evidently, with the sun we've had, and the snow we've had, there are a lot of places where it's extremely slippery. We agreed we didn't need that. So we stayed home. I probably would have anyway, because I still don't feel good, and I would like to get to bed at a reasonable hour again tonight.
I did knit on the sock a bit, and I'm getting toward the toe. And while the talking was going, because the sun was shining in I couldn't embroider on the stocking, so I worked on one of my Hardanger bookmarks. A lot of Hardanger is counted satin stitch, which is probably my all-time favorite stitch, so it was nice. I didn't get anywhere near the cutting and needleweaving, but I'm making progress. I don't care for the thread. It's linen and it isn't very uniform, which isn't the best thing to use for satin stitch, but it's a very pretty shade of blue, so I can work with it. We'll see when it's time to do the cutting, but so far, it's a fun project. This is the fifth of 12 projects I got a long time ago. Each one has a different pattern and a different thread, and since all of them are small, they're sort of fun to do and a great way to practice the technique. I also have a set of 12 greeting cards with Hardanger inserts, but while those are even prettier, they're not nearly as useful, so I don't know if I'll ever finish them.
The weather was nondescript. It didn't snow any more, but it was cloudy until around 4:30 this afternoon. The high temperature was 27º, and the wind was from the north around 15 mph until just recently, when it went calm. Blah.
The guys slept, but Grayson wanted to sleep on me, and at least twice I had to get him to move. He was the other reason why I didn't work on the stocking. i don't know what his problem is. I hope he's not sick.
So that was my day, another day when I didn't have to change out of my sweats. Now it's a partly cloudy, cold night in the field. Maybe a star or two?
March 7 I wasn't as early as I hoped last night, but it was a semi-reasonable hour. I slept well, with only a couple of wakeups. I was up around 9:00, but I felt so lousy I decided to go back to bed, but then my insurance agent called me around 9:15 and after I finished talking to her, I decided I might as well get up. I knitted, and I finished the 6th repeat, so I'm now half done with the center.
I didn't do much else, of course, after my surfing. Walter came around to do the driveway, and when he saw the piece of weather stripping around the garage door that has come loose, he came back and nailed it down. I went out to say hi, and thanks, and I pointed out to him that the sensor on that side of the garage tends to get covered up. I've misplaced the box cutter I keep in the breezeway (again - there are at least three of them someplace under the piles) and he opened the box with the cat food in it for me. I guess I waited long enough; when I filled the bowl with that kind of kibble, the next thing I knew they were both trying to eat out of it at the same time. And they got canned food for breakfast, too. Sometimes I wish I could be my cats. And as I mentioned before, different batches are better or worse. Hopefully, this is a good batch, because I have 13 lbs of it.
I put in an order for the other varieties they like, as well as a small bag of a kind I haven't seen at Pat's. I've been sitting on my money since last week, just enjoying the feeling of having a few dollars for a change.
It's snowing again. It snowed pretty much all night and all day. We didn't get as much as Delaware did - they got 8" overnight - but we had 4" or 5" and that was by mid-afternoon. It was cold for most of the day, but the temperature has finally risen to 26º. The wind has been from the north to northeast, and it's now around 21 mph. Of course it was dark and dreary all day.
Other than eating, the guys slept. They both got a little lap time, although Louie left after I started combing him. He really does not like that, but he really needs it, and he will from now on, when he starts to shed in earnest. While I was knitting, Grayson curled up on the outside of the robe, and when I was ready to move, he was not, and In fact, I had to put on my undies and get up with him sitting there, between my feet. He looked so comfy, I was sorry to have to disturb him, but I was ready to move.
So it was another very quiet day. Right now, they're playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor on an actual organ (although it's by Virgil Fox, who isn't my favorite) and when that's over, I hope I'll be strong enough to totter up to the north end and wash my hair. After I get the dishwasher ready, of course.
It's a cold, snowy night in the field. Winter's not over yet.
March 6 Oh, it was another ridiculously late night. I was reading again, and then a wily game caught me. I slept well, though, with a couple of wakeups. There was another - a spam phone call - around 11:30, but I ignored that - I don't answer the phone when I can't see the caller ID, and the phone by my bed doesn't have that - and it was 12:30 before I got up. I knitted, with only a little difficulty.
I was so late that I didn't do much, except that i had another frustrating conversation with the mortgage company. I now think I know what the problem is, and they left a phone message on my insurance agent's voice mail, but the so-called customer service rep was horrible and I think it took about 10 minutes of her saying "I'm trying to explain" and then not explaining anything before I began to get the idea, and I had to call the insurance agency and speak with someone before I finally now think I have it straight. We'll see. I'll give them until Friday. It's extremely frustrating.
Anyway, that was all I did. i knitted so much yesterday that my hands still hurt, so I didn't do as much today, although I'm coming along on the foot of the sock. And I'm coming along on the shawl, too, but that's going to take longer. I'll be finishing up the 6th repeat tomorrow, which will put me close to halfway done with the center. It looks extremely long and not square, but I can't spread it out laterally, and I have faith that one stitch equals two rows in garter stitch. It's going to be a nice thing, although not as pretty as the other one. This is more of an intellectual exercise, since I've had to make so many changes to the pattern. I made some more this afternoon. There was a mistake in the chart for the center (which I was able to ignore, but I want it to be right when I save the whole pattern) and I've been looking at the border and I discovered something I didn't like about the way the motifs were placed, so I fixed that, too.
The weather was better off ignored. It was cloudy and dull all day. The temperature went down slowly from 30º at midnight to 22º now. The wind was from the east, and it was gusty all day, up to 28 mph. In the middle of the afternoon, it started to snow, and it was still snowing when it got dark. So winter isn't over yet.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me as much as he could. He wants something other than the bowl of kibble he has, but he'll just have to wait until tomorrow. Louie was around, but he didn't ask to sit on me today.
So it was a very quiet day. Late in the afternoon, the bulletin information came through, so after I ate, I did that. It takes a little longer now, because there are two bulletins a week, but only until the end of the month. I sent it out a while ago.
Now it's a dark cold, snowy night in the field, and I need to go to bed...maybe tonight I can.
March 5 Zombie mode again. I was reading, and then I started playing games, and it was a ridiculous hour before i got to bed. I slept well for the first four hours, but then I had an hour or so when I couldn't get back into a deep sleep before I finally got another couple of hours. Not nearly enough. It seems to have something to do with lying on my left side, but it doesn't happen all the time, so I'm not sure what the problem is.
Anyway, I got up around 11:00 and knitted my six rows, so I was late getting to the studio and I didn't do anything much but my surfing. When the talking started, I moved over into the ugly chair, although I had to move a cat to do it (sorry, Grayson!). Eventually, I had to move, because the sun was in my eyes, but before the talking was over, I had done the heel of the sock and started the gusset. I'm working on that now. Socks are fairly small projects, but I'd forgotten how fast they go when I work on them regularly. That's good, because I have my eye on at least four more pairs I'd like to do. One is the summer sock I started last year and stopped when it got cold, but there is a wool sock and several more pairs of summer socks. Unfortunately, most of them are on #1 needles, which do take longer to do, but now that i know I can still knit and read, I should be able to get them done. I haven't finished very may pairs of socks in the past few years, and I'm getting tired of the ones I have, not to mention the ones that are out of the yarn that is shredding. What a nice excuse!
The weather was rather nice. The high temperature was only 32º and there was a stiff wind from the south, with gusts up to 25 mph, but it was clear to partly cloudy all day, so there was a lot of sunshine. With the temperature getting a bit warmer, I have to pay attention to the humidity again, and today it was good - below 60% all day and sometimes below 50%. Nice.
The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but as I mentioned, when I wanted to sit in the ugly chair, he was curled up there so comfy, and I had to move him. He was not pleased, and he came back a couple of times to see if I was going to move. I invited him onto my lap, but he wouldn't come. Louie spent part of the afternoon on one of the scratching pads in the great room, which is a spot he likes when it's warmer. Grayson is definitely starting to shed, so I guess spring is going to come.
So that was another quiet day, and I keep hoping I can get to bed earlier sometime. Now it's a partly cloudy, cool night in the field, but the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
March 4 I was so slow that it was nearly 11:30 when I got to bed last night, and I knew I wouldn't be going to church this morning. I was awake around 6:30, but I felt so bad, I went back to bed, and it was 10:30 before I finally got up.
I knitted for quite a while, and I only did six rows, but I had to splice in a new ball of yarn. It's coming along. My splicing wasn't the best, but since it was close to one side, I don't think it will be noticed.
I didn't do anything else. I read and knitted on the sock until I started the heel, which I can't knit while I read, so I put it aside (I'll do it during the talking) and I knitted on the black sweater for a while. That didn't go really well, because I forgot how I was marking the plain rows and I had to unknit most of one sleeve (it's a raglan, and I'm working on the yoke). Once I did that, I made good progress, until I decided to stop, with the idea of getting some dinner. That didn't work, and I just finished eating (at 11:00). I do keep some strange hours these days.
The weather was all right. The high temperature was 35º for most of the afternoon. The wind was from the south, but it was under 10 mph. It was cloudy and dull for most of the day. Blah.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me until I had to move. He just doesn't understand that I can't just sit there and not move at all or I begin to hurt. He and Louie got into it in the middle of the night when I was awake and again this morning. I don't know what the issues were. They were both a bit fractious this morning, and it was because they didn't have anything to eat. I filled two of the kibble bowls and gave them some canned food, and that seemed to be what they wanted. I need to get the big bag of kibble in now, because they've eaten the rest of what I had in the house.
So it was a very quiet day. I don't feel good. My head is stuffed up and I hurt enough that I had to take Tylenol this morning. Maybe getting more sleep will help. I hope so. Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.
March 3 Oh, I wasn't nearly as early getting to bed as i wanted to be, but I was reading, and you know how that goes, especially when it's one of my more favorite stories. I slept well, and for a long time, though, so I felt better today. Not great, but better.
I knitted my six rows, although I got a bit tangled up a couple of times, so I was late enough getting to the south end that I didn't have a lot of time to do much more than my surfing. What time I did have, I spent reading again, and I just finished that story. While I was reading, I was knitting on the black purl sock, and I think I have about 5" of it done. Socks only take a very long time to knit when I don't knit on them very much. If I hadn't been reading, I might have considered embroidering, but it was sunny, and for a good part of the late afternoon, there was too much sun to sit facing the front windows.
The weather was nice again. The high temperature was 39º, briefly, and it was several degrees warmer than the forecast. There wasn't much wind. It was clear and blue until late in the afternoon, when the clouds began to move in, including some of the nicest mackerel clouds I've seen in a while. Or at least the pictures were nice. All the weather forecasts I look at differ as to whether there will be snow or not tomorrow, but it's likely to be cloudy.
The guys mostly slept, but for some reason Grayson wanted to sleep on me, and when I decided I'd had enough, he sat down on the embroidery, which, fortunately, I had folded inside out. Then he got up on the table and started scratching on the blocking pads, and when I shouted at him, he sat there looking snotty and flopping his tail. Sometimes he is a real snot. Louie gets a little put out occasionally, but not like that.
So it was a very quiet day, and while I will try to get to bed early and set the alarm, if I don't feel any better than I do today, I'm not going out tomorrow.
Now it's a partly cloudy, warmish night in the field.
March 2 So I forgot to go to bed last night. Once I did, I went right to sleep for about 4 hours, but then I never did get back into a deep sleep, and I gave up around 11:00. I knitted my six rows, and that was the end of the fifth repeat. So now I've done 153 rows, and I only have 225 left to go. This is a BIG project! I expect it will take at least 4 months to finish, maybe more.
I was so late that I didn't do much but my surfing, but while the talking was going on I sat in the ugly chair with the sun in my eyes and finished the sock. I couldn't finish it last night, because I discovered that while I can do plain knitting while I read, I can't do ribbing anymore (if i ever could). If I keep doing this, I may be able to practice enough to do it again.
Last night, I went back to the black purl sock, and about the time I realized I really must go to bed, the tip broke off the needle I was using. I knew it was going to go. It was the #1 needle I'd used on the Tofutsies socks that took me so long to do (the turquoise pair), and when I'd stuffed it into my tote, I bent the cable right at the end of the tip. I'd noticed for quite a while that I was having a problem getting over that bend. It was getting much harder, and it felt like the cable was splitting, so I expected it to go. It was ugly, though. The tips on the #1 needles are quite short, and there are 36 stitches on each side, so i dropped some stuff, and I had to put a stopper at each end of the needle tip. When I went up to the north end (at a ridiculous hour this morning), I got out my other #1 metal-tipped needle and transferred to it. It took a while.
While the talking was going on this afternoon, I finished the ribbing on the other sock and worked in the ends, so now I have a new pair of socks to wear. They're all right - better than some others I've knitted, but not my favorites. After I did that, I went back to the black purl sock. When I broke the needle and transferred the stitches, my tension tightened up a lot, but now it's better again. I'm making progress, but socks on #1 needles take a long time to knit. Unfortunately, I have two or three other yarns I really want to knit into socks (not that I really need any more!) and they all work on #1s.
When I started the socks I just finished, I broke one of my rules - usually i won't be working on more than one project on any given size of needle. But I wanted to see what these socks would look like, and the other sock on #2s I was working on is a summer sock. I will be going back to that, but for the time being, I'll work on the wool. I'd love to see what some of those other yarns will look like, but now I only have one #1 long needle (will get more), so I can't.
The weather was rather nice, at least from in here. The high temperature was 32º. and there was almost no wind. It was cloudy overnight, but the clouds went away by around 9:30 this morning, and it was clear and sunny for the rest of the day. Nice.
The guys were mostly sleepy. Grayson slept on me until I moved to the ugly chair, but I didn't see much of Louie except when I went to get my (rather early) dinner and he was eating the last of his breakfast.
So that was a quiet, truncated day. I had a horrible accident and had to change all my clothes except for my bra. They're all in the washer now, and I'll put them to dry when I go up to the north end. I didn't get enough sleep by half, so as soon as the Beethoven is over, I will be going up to the north end (in spite of that I'm reading Special Forces again) and crash.
Now it's a clear, cool night in the field
March 1 I was late again last night, but not as late as the night before. i was reading and knitting, mostly, and time just passed, and then I had to take my bath. It's nice that it isn't as cold out now as it was, so it's not quite so cold in the bathroom. Not that it's as warm as I'd like it, but it's not frigid, either. Frigid being relative, depending upon how many clothes I have on at the moment. Being bare makes it necessary to have it warmer.
While I was getting ready to take my bath, I happened to look in the mirror, and I was shocked by how tired I looked. Everything was sagging. I need to get more sleep. I didn't get enough last night. I got up around 11:00 and I knitted six rows without much problem except after I got calls from both Mary Ann and Ron. I decided I didn't want to go tonight. Ron wanted to be sure I knew Walter would be clearing out my driveway, but we had a nice conversation. The only problem was, when I hung up with him, I'd forgotten what I was knitting. It took a bunch of stitches before I got back into the swing of it. This part of the pattern isn't very hard anyway.
I was so late that I didn't do very much at all. It turned out that Walter had not done the driveway in the morning, and in fact, he didn't finish until after 5:00 this afternoon. He did the whole thing with his little snow blower, and he had to go and get gas in the middle. So I couldn't have gone to church anyway. And about 4:30 (after I would have checked my email for the last time), Kathleen called off choir anyway. So my ESP was working well today.
I didn't realize, when I talked to Ron, just how bad my driveway was, and i was sorry I don't have a working camera right now (the batteries are dead). It was up over Walter's head, and he's taller than Ron. That was on the east-west part of the driveway, and there was another 3' drift in front of the front door. WOW! Anyway, I can get out now, thanks to him. The tractor is still down, but they have the parts and they only need to be installed.
I went out to say thanks, and I'm glad I did. I hadn't been able to get the door to go down automatically since the snow, and I didn't know why. Now I do. There is a sensor at the far side of the door, as well as one on the near side, and the far side one was completely buried. I got out one of my little shovels and cleared everything away, and now it's fine again. So now I know something else about my house that I didn't know before.
It was a sort of partly to mostly cloudy day, cooler than it's been. The high temperature was only 28º, and it was raw and not very nice when I was out. The wind was under 10 mph all day, which was the only reason it was as good as it was. There was some sunshine, including when I should have been sitting in the ugly chair, but for the most part, it was cloudy. Apparently the clouds went away after it got dark, because I could see moonshine when I went to get my dinner.
The guys slept. I think Louie probably spent part of the afternoon downstairs, after Walter came. Grayson got to sleep on my lap for a long time, until Walter showed up. They were happy because they had canned food for breakfast again.
So it was a very quiet day. Now I intend to read and knit for a little while and try to get more sleep tonight. It's a clear or partly cloudy, cool night in the field. And it's March. We're making progress.
Last updated 05/01/18 09:31 PM |