j1807

A View From the Field

July 2018

July 31

I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night. It was 3:00 before I turned out the light. I slept fine, with one wakeup, until about 8:30, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. I couldn't figure out why until I got to the kitchen and discovered I'd never taken my evening pills. Oh.

I knitted and did my surfing and read all the nice birthday messages - thank you to everyone. I should get on Facebook and thank them, too, but I won't. I don't want anything to do with those people. Anyway, I was so tired by 3:00 that i laid down and took a two-hour nap, which got me through dinner, but I'm really tired again now.

Dinner was great. Johanna is such a wonderful person and we had a lot of laughs - and a couple of tears - together, as well as another excellent meal. We just about closed up the place, and I got to meet Dan, the chef, who is a nice person and not at all what I expected to see. Oh, let's see if I can put in the picture of the two of us.

The weather was pretty nice. It was clear all day, and the high temperature actually got up to 83º briefly, around 5:00. A bit warm, but I'll take it. There was a bit of a breeze earlier in the afternoon, with gusts up to 23 mph from the north. The humidity was around 70% again.

The guys were sleepy, and I think they were a bit confused, because first I went back to bed and then I left for almost 3 hours. Grayson did get some lap time and Louie got petted a couple of times.

So that was a nice, quiet birthday, I'm now officially a year older, and I'm tired. It's a clear or maybe partly cloudy, warm night in the field.

July 30

I wasn't as late as I thought last night. It was about 1:30 when I got to bed, I think. I slept well, and I woke up around 8:45 and decided to get up. That's not enough sleep, but I will make up for it tonight.

I knitted four repeats of the edging, so I am making nice progress, but I have a very long way to go. This is where it gets very boring and I have to exercise my willpower. I would hate to stop now.

I went to the post office, where my driver's license finally came. That was good, because I really didn't want to drive around with an expired license.

Around 4:00 I got a call from the doctor's office. The biopsy report came back and I do in fact have breast cancer - again. I do not believe this has anything to do with the previous one, considering the amount of chemo that I had between 1998 and 2001, but evidently my genes tend to mutate.

The nurse couldn't tell me anything much about what kind it is, but she did say she would talk to the oncologist's office and get me set up with an appointment. I don't know if I will want to work with him or not, but I am not in a position to go back down to Detroit, unfortunately, so I'll hope he sounds all right. I didn't hear back from anybody, so I looked at the online site and discovered that I have an appointment for August 7. It would be nice if they'd told me that, but since it was late in the afternoon, maybe they will call me tomorrow. If not, they will hear from me.

I've been fairly sure that's what it is since I saw the ultrasound, but it's a downer to have it confirmed. Happy Birthday to me.

I decided I'd better call Debbie, but she was busy when I called, so she called me back and we talked for almost 4 hours. That's what friends are for. She will do whatever she can to help me get through this thing.

I am not going to stop fighting until I can't anymore, but I have to face the possibility that this will be fatal. At my age, with my history, it could be. Whatever, I know I am in for the better part of a nasty year.

So there. That's the bad news.

The weather was lovely. It was clear, or nearly so, all day. The high temperature was 73º and there was a little breeze, up to 16 mph from the north. The humidity was a bit higher than I like, 70%, plus or minus, but since it wasn't too hot, it was tolerable. Nice.

The guys were their sleepy selves. Grayson got his lap time this morning, and while I was talking to Debbie, Louie came twice and sat on me for a while. They are so sweet, at least to me.

So that was my not-very-nice day. Until I got the final word, I could at least hope that maybe I was wrong, but now I know I wasn't. So I will soldier on.

It's a warmish night in the field, and Mars, which was there a little while ago, isn't now, so I guess there are some clouds.

July 29

Well, it's late and I just finished eating, so I will be late getting to bed. Sigh.

I made it by 10:00 last night, and I slept well, although I was up a couple of times. I woke up a bit before 6:00, and I had to pee, but I managed to doze until around 6:20, when I had to get up.

I did well and I got away when I wanted to. There were some very slow drivers on the covered road, none of whom were pulling trailers, but I managed to get by them and scare hell out of them. The only ones I couldn't pass were the ones I encountered further south, who were obviously going to church, very sedately and under the speed limit. One of the interesting phenomena I've found in this part of the country is the number of people who really do believe speed limits are meant to be obeyed and very conscientiously keep to them, to the extent that they will put on their brakes if, for example, they get going more than a couple of miles over while going down a hill. I find that laudable but it drives me nutty.

Church was good. We didn't sing, and our usual reader wasn't there (I hope nothing is wrong) so Pastor had to read all the lessons. i was delighted that he read the gradual after the first reading. We'd talked about that, because I'd never been in a church where they used it. It's only four lines, but it ties the lessons together and I like it.

After church, I had to do a little shopping, mostly because I was running out of JD, but also because I suddenly got a yen for some fresh fruit I came home with nectarines and two kinds of plums and a quarter of a watermelon, which I cut into chunks, and I would probably eat right up if my tummy would hold it. I love melon, and watermelon is the only kind we get here that is good.

I had to get gas, too, and I was so slow that I got out of sync with the machine and didn't get to use my discount. I hope it didn't go away, because I should have about 20¢ a gallon now, and that's real money. We'll see.

I got home around 2:00 and I didn't do a useful thing for the rest of the afternoon. Or evening. I just sat and played a game. Sigh.

The weather was very nice. It wasn't too warm; the high temperature was only 71º, and that was at 5:00 PM, but it was sunny and there was a north breeze up to about 17 mph. The humidity got down to 61%, although it's back up now. My kind of weather.

I guess the guys slept. I didn't see much of them. Grayson got some lap time but he went away when I started doing something that made me move around a bit. I found Louie asleep on a towel that had fallen off the dining room table.

So it was a quiet day. Now it's late and I need to go to bed. It's a clear (I think) calm night in the field.

July 28

I turned out the light a bit before 11:30 last night and I slept well, although I was up several times. I woke up around 7:30 and toyed with the idea of getting up but decided against it. I think it was around 9:30 when I finally rolled around Louie and got up.

I knitted three repeats again. I hope I can keep this up, but of course, I don't get to knit on Sundays. I'm finally comfortable enough with the pattern that I only had to back up part of one row today. Oh, I will be glad to get this thing done!

I didn't do a whole lot more, because there is a lot of surfing to do on Saturdays. I've been forgetting to mention that I've been plugging away at the second sock and I only have 10 or 12 rows left to do. Now all I hope is that the balls were really the same size and I can make them both the same length! While I don't like to have lots of yarn left from a project, for the first sock, I think I had about 18" left from the first ball, and that's cutting it a tad finer than I like. Well, soon I'll be done with this pair, which are summer socks, and I can wear them. Speaking of wearing, I hope they wear better than the three pairs i made out of another yarn by the same company - all three have begun go through on the soles. Maybe that's part of the reason they decided to go out fo business. That yarn was meant to be sock yarn, and it was a disaster. Unfortunately, I liked it a lot and I have a lot of it, including enough for a summer sweater. It should work for the sweater, because there isn't as much abrasion, but I have enough yarn for two or three pairs of socks, and I have to decide, eventually, whether to put the work into something I know won't last for more than five years - and while I wear the same pair of socks for a week or so, I never wear the same ones more often than about two months apart. Well, I have another sock in progress, and then I can go back to wool, so I won't have to decide for a while.

The only really constructive thing I did was to fill the pill dispensers. I did the ones at the north end this morning, like I did last month. That seems to work well, because I'm not pressured to get it done so I can go to bed. The ones at the south end were more difficult, because I only have two weeks' worth of my blood thinner and I completely ran out of one of the most useful of my probiotics (I didn't realize that). I had to call the prescription service because there was a strange message and the blood thinner and my new thyroid med were on hold, and I only think that has been resolved. I will check back on Monday. I almost changed providers last fall, and I'm thinking about it again. I will say it straight out - CVS/Caremark has a terrible website and very bad customer service. I've about had it with them.

The weather was nice. It was mostly clear all day, although there are a few clouds in the west now. The high temperature got up to 71º, briefly, and there was a north breeze up to about 14 mph for a while. The humidity was over 70% for most of the day, although it's gone down now to around 63%.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for quite a while, twice, and he got up and went away both times of his own accord. When I went to get my dinner, He and Louie were laid out on the dining table again, where there was some sunshine. I'm still not sure Louie feels very good, but it's hard to say for sure.

So that was a nice, quiet Saturday. I thought I might go to the post office, until I discovered that there has been a bicycling thing going on since yesterday (lucky me, that I decided not to go then), so I will have to go on Monday. I had to renew my driver's license with my car license, and while the car license came last week, the driver's license didn't. I hope the driver's license is at the post office, because I really don't like to drive with an expired license. Now all I have to do is remember to put the sticker on my car before Wednesday.

Now it's a partly cloudy, warmish night in the field, and I'm off to the north end to wash my hair. Church tomorrow.

July 27

I got to bed before midnight. Not much before, but still. Maybe I'm sort of getting back on a human schedule again. I slept very well, with only one wakeup. I got up around 8:30 and the knitting went so well that I did three repeats. I would really like to get this thing done, but even if I can knit fast enough to do one side in two weeks, I still have six weeks left. This sure has been a long project and it's really huge. Now that I have one side off the needle, I can begin to see just how enormous it is, probably close to 100" square. How I will ever block it, I don't know.

I didn't do anything else except load the dishwasher. It's been a long time since it's been that full, and I hope I can get everything in. I got a Schwan's order and had to put that away. I didn't go to the post office, because I was hoping the hospital might call, but they didn't.

The man I met the other day on the road came over with his weed whacker and did a nice job of cutting down the weeds. He seemed concerned that someone might think no one was here and break in. That doesn't worry me much, but it is true, as you know, that I've occasionally had people in my driveway who had no idea anyone was here. Anyway, he said he will be back tomorrow with more string in his weed whacker and maybe his mower. It's so nice to have neighbors like that.

The weather wasn't very nice. The high temperature was only 62º, and it was cloudy and dull. There was a tiny bit of rain around 10:00. There was a wind from the north, up to 15 mph with 22 mph gusts. I still have the back windows open, so it was cool in here, and it was one of those humid days where I felt cold all day, at least until I finished my dinner.

The guys were sleepy. They both got some lap time. Grayson slept on my lap for a long time, and then he got back on about the time the talking started, so I couldn't embroider, like I'd planned. I got a phone call, and the next thing I found was Louie on my lap. That was a surprise. but he didn't stay long.

So that was my day, and now I think I'm going to try to go to bed even earlier than last night, although I do want to wait until my dinner digests a bit. It's a cool, cloudy yucky night in the field.

July 26

I was late last night. I spent a long time sitting in the bathroom, staring at the floor, and then I had to wash my hair. I didn't sleep particularly well. I think, actually, that I should have pulled up the comforter, and I will do that tonight. My feet and legs felt cold all night. I got up around 10:30.

I knitted two repeats, and I could have done another one, because it only took me about an hour, but I decided to get up instead. Not that I did anything with my time, because I didn't, except to pay a couple of bills.

There wasn't any choir tonight, but there was Bible Study, so we went to that. It was a good class. We are studying the one-chapter books of the Bible, and tonight we started on 2 John and 3 John. We tend to neglect these short books, but there is good stuff in all of them. I got home about 10:00.

I had eaten something before I left, and I was glad I had. I had another small meal and my JD - and my pills, and I won't be up long, although there is some sort of nice stuff on the radio.

The weather wasn't nearly as nice as it has been. There was a bit of sunshine this morning, but for most of the day it was cloudy and dull. The high temperature was 67º, and the humidity was over 75% all day. Oh, my joints! There wasn't much wind. It was misting when we left Copper Harbor, and we got a little rain both going and coming back. There was more rain in Laurium. Not very nice.

The guys were themselves. Louie settled down behind my legs this morning after the last time I got up, and when I had to go up to the north end to change my bottoms late in the afternoon, he was still in bed (he did get up for a while) with his paw over his eyes. He did get some loving before I left the bathroom this morning, though. Grayson got his lap time, although I had to shoo him off before I started this, because he wanted to sit again.

So that was my day, and it was nice to have a pretty normal one for a change. Now it's a cloudy, cool night in the field, and of course it's cloudy, because this is the night of the conjunction of Mars and the moon, and Mars is at its closest to Earth in the past 15 years. I remember the last time, because I almost got a telescope to see it. I didn't, and considering the state of my eyes, it's probably just as well.

July 25

I don't know where the time went, but it was 11:30 again before I turned out the light. I slept well, with the usual wakeups, and I got up around 9:30. Stress makes me sick, and I felt much better today.

Not that I did anything much with it. I knitted the corner and one repeat on the second side, but it took me a long time. I don't like the way the join in the corner works, but I hope it will be better when it's blocked, or I can move the stitches around. And I started the last ball of yarn. I was able to join at the inside edge of the edging, so I didn't have to splice - yea!! Of course, I'll have to figure out how to work in the ends of the yarn so they're not too visible, but I hate that splicing. I hope I have enough yarn, but I think I will. There are 437 yards in a ball, and that's a lot of yarn.

Otherwise, I got the bulletin done. It was a bit confusing, because last week's, with the one service and all, was enough different that I had to go back two weeks for a template. I hope I did it all right. I did not like having to write that the next week is in August! I determined that my Social Security had in fact been deposited and paid a couple of critical bills. I'm still juggling two checking accounts, but maybe this next month I can get that fixed. Time passed too quickly for me to do it this month.

The weather was nice, but not as nice as yesterday. The high temperature was 76º, around 7:00, I think, and there was a little breeze, up to 17 mph from the north, for most of the day. It was partly to mostly cloudy. There are some rain showers down around Houghton now, but nothing here yet - maybe not at all.

The guys were sleepy. Louie slept with me for part of the night, and he had just settled in down by my knees when I got up. I think he's feeling better, although I'm still watching him. He is eating, which is a good sign. Grayson got his lap time.

About the time I was going to get my dinner, Mary Ann called, because she thought my biopsy was today, and we had a nice conversation. She was excited because she has been able to get pictures of all the stages of a monarch butterfly's life on the milkweed she grows in her garden. I'd be excited, too.

So that was my day, and now it's a warm, cloudy night in the field and I have to wash my hair again...

July 24

So I got to bed about 11:30 and I slept well, with three wakeups, until 9:45 or so. Louie slept with me for part of the night, and he seemed all right today, so I don't know what his problem was.

I got up a little later than I planned, so I didn't knit, and I was a bit later than I wanted to be in leaving the house. I turned out of the driveway and a couple hundred yards down the road, I discovered a pickup truck with a full-sized flatbed trailer behind it, and a whole bunch of guys. One of them came down to talk to me, and it turned out to be my neighbor two houses south, whom I've never met. Evidently a bunch of his friends were staging an ORV ride, and it was going to take a while for them to get that trailer back down the road. So he offered to let me drive through his property. Fortunately, he has a drive with two exits. But that took time. Then I got behind some sort of slow drivers on the covered road, so I was flying after I passed them.

I got to the hospital just about when they said, but then I waited, and then I waited in the imaging waiting room and again after they got me prepped...that's why they call us patients, right?

This biopsy was a bit newer and more extensive than the last one I had, and while they did numb part of my breast, the needle they inserted went right through the tumor and out the back, where it was not numb. Ouch. Double ouch. Triple ouch!! Oh, and four times ouch, because that was how many samples he took. I finally do not have a sore breast anymore, but it is tender, and I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep on that side tonight.

I got home about 3:00, and i didn't do much, although I did embroider while the talking was going on. I've been meaning to do that for some time, but I kept getting sidetracked, so today, I decided I was doing it regardless. It's a slow process, because the thread count is so high, but so far it's an enjoyable thing. If I get bored with it, I have a whole bunch of other things I can work on.

The weather today was glorious. It was clear and blue - not like overnight, when it was cloudy - and the high temperature here was 79º. There was a nice breeze from the northwest, with gusts up to 23 mph. That wasn't so high, so I was surprised to see whitecaps on the lake as well as the harbor when I came down the hill into town. The humidity got down to 39% for a couple of hours. Now that's what I call weather!

The guys were themselves again. When I got my dinner, they were laid out on the dining table. Louie got his loving this morning, and Grayson got to sit on me for a while this afternoon. I will be watching Louie carefully, but whatever his problem was yesterday, he seems to be over it. Thankfully.

So that was my day, and now that is over with. I'm tired again. Even though I got enough sleep, the stress left me feeling lousy, so as soon as the Beethoven 8th finishes, I will be tottering up to the north end and sacking out.

It's a warm, clear, breezy evening in the field.

July 23

Today was not a good day.

I didn't get to bed early. I lost track of time, and it was a bit after midnight when I turned out the light. I immediately had to yell because there was scuffling and Grayson was making little hurt noises. Then they both went thundering down the hallway.

I got up around 8:30, I think, and Louie wasn't there to greet me and get his pet. I knitted the last two repeats on the first side - I will do the corner tomorrow, I think - and he still didn't come. So I got dressed and opened a can of cat food and still no Louie. I went searching for him and he was on the pillow in the window seat, and he did not look happy. I petted him, but he didn't purr and he only rubbed his neck on my hand a little bit. Oh, no! I have a sick cat!

So i got my breakfast and changed my underwear for the first time, and i noticed he had turned over and was asleep.

I went off to my massage - fortunately, it was a bit later than scheduled, or I would have been late - and stopped at the post office. Johanna has been dealing with what one must when she has a 4½ year old son and a 12 week old puppy and we had a lot of good laughs, which made the massage all the better. Then I had a horrible time getting up after lying on my stomach - mostly, I was stuck to the sheets, I think - and i must have looked ridiculous, so we had a good laugh over that, too. It's amazing what a good laugh can do for one.

When I got home, Louie had gone someplace, I don't know where, so I went about my business, although I didn't do much of anything - which reminds me, I have to pay a bill.

Around the time I was thinking about dinner, I turned around, and there he was. His eyes looked better and he was moving, although he acted like he was spooked or he thought I might grab him and cart him away, poor guy. He did eat a little, too, but I'm still concerned. I will just have to watch him while I'm home and hope for the best.

While the talking was going on, I finally did the system updates on both computers.

The weather was rather nice. The high temperature was 68º, but the humidity was high - over 75%. There wasn't any wind. It was clear for most of the day, but the clouds began to form after about 7:00 PM and it's cloudy now.

Grayson was acting worried and spooked all day, too. His way out was to want to sleep on my lap, and he did get a lot of lap time. I do not know what might have spooked them.

So that was my day. Not a good one. I'm very tired and headachy, and I'm sure it's mostly stress. So I will go and take my bath, so I'm clean for the tech to put all that nasty glop all over me, and then I am going to bed and sleep hard and long. The Lord is in charge of all this, and He won't let it turn out badly.

It's a cool, cloudy evening in the field.

July 22

So not only wasn't I early last night, I was way late. I just did not want to do my hair, as usual. I slept for six hours without waking up, and I think I only did because I was sore from lying in one position. I went back to bed, but I didn't sleep much. That was my left side, and I frequently have trouble getting to sleep on that side unless I'm very tired. i got up around 11:30. Not enough sleep, but it was all right.

I knitted, and I have only two more repeats to do on the first side before I do the corner. That will put the corner on Tuesday, but whether I do it depends upon when I get to bed tomorrow night. I have to be at the hospital by 12:45. The only thing I notice is that now that most of one side is free of the needle, it's even harder to get it all on my lap. This thing is humungous, and it wouldn't surprise me if it turns out to be 100" square when (or if!) it's blocked.

That was almost all I did. I got the wash done - the last load is in the dryer now, and it should be done. Oh, and I've had a washbasket of fleece in the laundry room since April. One reason I didn't put it away is because it's so hard to get the basket out of the laundry and across the bedroom to the window seat, where all that stuff lives. Well, I finally remembered that back when I moved in here, I bought an authentic mover's dolly, which I haven't used for a while. So I put the basket on it and wheeled it into the bedroom. It rolls impressively well. The basket doesn't fit it very well, which was a problem, but it was so much better than trying to move it without. So now the only pile in the laundry is the one with all the other clean clothes in it, and I will have to get to that. There will be a basket full of underwear, too, but that one is a bit more manageable. I have an idea of how to fix the dolly so stuff won't tip on it, too.

I made rice tonight, but not as much as I have been lately. Not that it isn't still good, but it would be better if I did it more often.

The weather was cool but mostly sunny, which I was glad to see, for the picnic. The high temperature was 66º, which I suspect it is now, and there was almost no wind, although it did get up to 12 mph from the northeast. The humidity did get up to 70%, but mostly it was lower than that. It was cloudy early in the morning, but the afternoon was sunny.

I don't know what the trouble with the guys was, but they seemed a little edgy. Grayson got some lap time but not as much as he would have liked. He was sleeping with me when I woke up the first time, but when I started thrashing around to turn over, he left. I wish he wouldn't do that. Louie got his loving this morning, and after they got their breakfast - one of their faves - he went away to sleep.

So that was it. I was sorry not to go to church, but I just can't handle that picnic. Tomorrow I have a massage at noon, which I need, and Tuesday is the biopsy at 1:00 PM. Then maybe I can relax for a while, although I've already told Mary Ann that I think I'll be going to Bible Study on Thursday - no choir.

The good thing about the week is that on Wednesday I will have money again, so I'll be able to get my new pills. I'm anxious to see what the increased does of thyroid meds does for me. Now I can go to bed. It's a mostly clear, cool evening in the field and I need sleep.

July 21

I don't know how I managed to be so late last night, but time just slipped by on me and it was 2:00 before I turned out the light. I slept well, with only one wakeup, and I got up around 10:30, I think?

I knitted my two repeats much faster than yesterday. Now I have only six (or is it four? I forget) more to go on the first side. I've been counting each repeat as I do it, and I think I'm going to dispense with that. I have the border marked off properly now, so all I have to do is be sure I end four repeats where the marker is and i should be fine. Doing the corner will be interesting, because I discovered that the designer expected us to sew the miter together, and there is no way I am going to do that! I do not sew knitting if there is any conceivable way to avoid it. I think I can figure out how to do this. There is another pattern in the same book that I'd like to make, but after all the weirdness in the first two, I really wonder whether I'm brave enough to try a third one.

I didn't do anything much else. Today was supposed to be washday, and I did do one load, of bottoms, which is now in the dryer, but I forgot about it. I'd planned to do the whites tomorrow anyway, so I'll just have to do two loads. Otherwise, I just sat and played games.

There's no doubt that the mammogram thing has put me into a depression, but things like that always do. I just have to go with it until it's over. Hopefully, it won't be more than a week or so.

The weather didn't help. It was a dark, dismal day, but the only rain was a tiny bit between 9:00 and 10:00. When I got up, there was a ship out in the lake sounding its foghorn, so I guess it was foggy out there. Looking at the pictures, it was foggy in the harbor, too, but it went away by 12:30. The high temperature was only 62º, and for most of the day, it was in the upper 50s. There was almost no wind, and the humidity just lately got down to 81%. Not my favorite kind of weather.

The guys were a bit stirred up today for some reason. Grayson wanted to sit on me, but he wanted to clutch me, and that hurts, and then he wanted to sit on me when I was doing other things. Louie wanted to sit on me, too, so badly that he got up on the counter to get to my lap, but he didn't want to settle down, so I had to make him leave. I guess my day away from them upset them even more than I thought it did. They'll be upset this week, too, because I have a massage on Monday and the biopsy on Tuesday. They get it into their heads that I'm never going anyplace except out on Thursday evening and Sunday morning.

So tomorrow will discombobulate them, too, because I'm staying home. The picnic doesn't interest me at all, nor does holding church outdoors.

So that was another quiet day, and now I'm off to the north end. I want to try to get back on the early schedule again, and besides, I'm tired.

It's a cool (or maybe cold), cloudy night in the field.

July 20

Of course I was late last night - I always am on Thursdays. It was 2:30 before I finally got to bed. i slept well, but I was awakened around 10:45 by the stupid mail-order prescription service, and when they put me on hold, I hung up on them. I can't pay them until next week anyway.

So I got up and knitted two repeats and now I have only six more to go on the first side. Oh, this is a long, slow project!

I didn't do much else. I did call the mortgage company and ascertained that sending them the form by USPS would be fine, and I had a much better experience than the last time I called them. Otherwise, I mostly sat.

The weather was cool and nondescript. The temperature was nearly steady, with a high of 71º. There was no wind. It was cloudy and dull, but even though radar showed rain, it never got to the ground. Blah.

the guys were mostly sleepy. Grayson was rather rambunctious today, and he didn't want to sleep quietly on my lap, so when he started whipping his tail around, especially near my ear, I chased him away. I don't know what his problem is. Louie got his loving this morning, like he usually does and after he chowed down on his breakfast, I didn't see much of him.

So that was a very quiet day. I didn't go to the post office because I will be out to see Johanna on Monday and I can go then. I'm tired. They claim you can't make up for sleep you've lost, but at least I can try to get enough sleep so I don't keep running a deficit.

Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field, and I think it will be a good night to sleep long and hard under the comforter.

July 19

I was in bed by a little after 11:00 last night, and I slept well. I guess it has to do with being able to discipline my mind and leave the future to the Lord.

I was up several times, which was surprising, considering how few fluids I got yesterday. I habitually limit my fluid intake when I know I'll be out of the house for any length of time, and I didn't make up for that after I got home.

i got up at around 7:45 and I knitted my two repeats of the shawl edging, rather slowly. Sometimes I can knit lace rather quickly, but this wasn't one of those times. Besides, I woke up with a sinus headache.

I didn't have much I wanted to do today, so I didn't. There was choir and Bible Study tonight. When I went out to leave, there was an envelope on the floor in the breezeway, from UPS. I didn't think that was good, and when I opened it, it was the mortgage company saying that I hadn't sent them my certificate of occupancy. I think I did that, but clearly they didn't receive it. My problem is, the return envelope is from UPS, and since the UPS office is 50 miles away, there is no way I can use it unless UPS comes back to get it. I will call them tomorrow and try to resolve the issue. If it's not one damn thing it's another...

Choir and Bible Study were good. We practiced with the remnants of the St. John's choir. St. John's is celebrating their 125th anniversary in August, and since they don't have much of a choir anymore, they asked us to join them. We also practiced something for Sunday. Sunday is the picnic, so I won't be going (uneven ground, sun, and bugs are a few reasons, plus that I don't feel comfortable at those mass events). It's just as well, because they are going to sing "How Great Thou Art" and that is one of my funeral hymns - I can't sing it. It always makes me wish. Same goes for the anniversary. After the service, they are going to have a catered picnic outdoors, and it's another mass event...

Anyway, I got home around 9:45.

The weather turned out not bad. The high temperature was 80º, but there was a bit of wind, from the southwest, and the humidity was in the 50s. It was mostly clear until around 5:30, when the clouds moved in. There might be some rain, but the maximum probability is around 40%, so I doubt it will happen. Nice, if a bit warm.

The guys were glad to have me home most of the day. Poor Grayson never got all the lap time he wanted, because every time he settled down and went to sleep, the phone rang, and he always moves when that happens. Louie slept with me last night, and around 4:00 AM, I woke up to find him plastered up against my back. That's nice in the winter - we keep each other warm - but not so comfortable in the summertime.

The calls were two 'Incoming calls," one "unknown name/number" and one from Mary Ann. I don't answer the "incoming" and "unknown" ones, and I don't know why anybody would. If you do, don't. They are always some kind of solicitation, and with the election looming, we're all going to get a lot of those. In fact, I don't answer any calls from numbers and/or names I don't recognize. If they want to leave me a message, fine, because then I have the option of returning their call or not. Caller ID is the best telephone thing that ever happened to me, because 90% of the calls I get are spam.

So that was my day and I need to go to bed, but they've just started playing Dvorak's 7th, so now I have to decide whether or not to listen to it.

It's a mostly cloudy, warm night in the field.

July 18

I didn't get to bed until around 10:30 last night, so I'm tired now. I didn't sleep all that well, as is usual when I have something unusual scheduled. I got up when the alarm went off, and I got away early enough that I got to the hospital by 9:30.

That was just as well, although I did spend a lot of time sitting around. I asked if maybe my bone density test could be rescheduled to before I saw the doctor, and they rearranged my schedule so that it was. So i had my mammogram, my bone density test and my echocardiogram all before noon. Then I got pushed over to the doctor's office and sat until 1:00. I was pushed because I requested a wheelchair. I wish I didn't need to do that, but I know those people are on a tight schedule and I walk very slowly. They can wheel me around much faster than I could ever walk.

I saw the doctor, and a lot of my test results had already come in. My blood work was good, and I do not have osteoporosis. The doctor didn't know where that ever came from. in fact, my bone density is extremely good. So there.

The mammogram was another thing, though. They sent me back to radiology for more views and I had an ultrasound. There is something there - I could see it myself on the ultrasound - and I'm going back on Tuesday for a biopsy of two spots. Oh, sigh. I don't think it's anything serious, but I hate this.

The echocardiogram results haven't come in yet, of course, but just looking at the EKGs on the screen, I could tell there's been a change, and not a good one, in my heart function. Well, I never thought it wouldn't get worse. There is too much heart trouble in my family. I'll be interested to find out what the report says.

Oh, yes, and my thyroid function has declined a lot. That may be why I've been so tired and why my hair has been such a mess. So I'll be taking a larger dose of the thyroid med, and we'll see how that works.

Anyway, with all the extra tests, and that I had to get gas, it was 4:30 before I got home, and I'm exhausted. I will be going to bed soon and I expect to sleep long and hard.

One more comment. I wish more than I can say that people would consider other people where they are going when they decide to wear perfume. While I was waiting for my blood draw - and having a hypoglycemic attack - there was at least one woman in the waiting area who was wearing so much perfume that it actually contributed to my nausea. Gack! Fortunately, I didn't have to endure it too long, but really....

It was too beautiful a day to spend in the hospital. It was cool when I left this morning - about 57º here, but it was 51º in Laurium - so I had to wear a jacket that I didn't need by the time I got there. The high temperature here was 73º, higher there, of course, but not a whole lot. There wasn't much wind. It was clear and sunny and blue and so lovely! The humidity was lower than yesterday, too. There were a few high clouds when I came home, but not many and they just made the sky look bluer, and of course the lake was cobalt.

I guess the guys must have slept. Grayson wasn't happy when I left and he let me know when I came back so late, but hey, stuff happens. I haven't seen Louie since this morning.

I took my lunch with me to the hospital, and I was so glad that I did! I was able to stop the hypoglycemic thing as soon as I had something and drank some OJ, although my nice sandwich fell apart and was a real mess. It still tasted good. I was hungry again when I got home, so I had a few shrimp and some nuts and that helped until I got my dinner. My body is like a cat: it doesn't like changes to its habits.

So now it's a warmish, clear night in the field and I need to go to bed.

July 17

I think this will be short. I have to take a bath tonight (to see the doctor, etc. tomorrow) and I will have to leave close to 8:30 in order to get to the hospital in time to get my blood drawn before my first test.

It was about 11:00 when I got to bed last night, and I slept well, in part because it was so nice and cool that I could cuddle down under the comforter and make my own climate. I was up a couple of times, and I got up around 7:30, I think (I don't remember now).

I got right at the sock and turned the heel and knitted more than half of the heel itself. I only had to backtrack once or twice, so I guess I learned something with the first sock. I'll have plenty of time to work on it tomorrow, and I could even finish it. That would be nice. It's been an interesting project, but I'm ready to go back to the cream and orange one. it sounds horrible when I say it that way, doesn't it? It's actually cream and various shades of coral stripes, with very pale stripes of blue and tan. I like it better than I thought I would. And I've decided on the yarn to redo the fruit salad socks. It won't be as pretty, because it's off-white with blue flecks in it, but maybe it won't fall to pieces, either.

I didn't do much of anything else. I got the stuff for the bulletin early, so I immediately sat down and did the first draft of that. I was very grateful that Pastor sent it to me as early as he did, because otherwise, it would have been tomorrow night before I could do it, and that's cutting the deadlines a bit short.

Oh, did I say that I will be at the hospital all day? My last appointment is at 2:00.

The weather was much, much cooler than it's been lately. It was nice, for a change, but I was cold. The high temperature was only 65º, and there was a north wind in the 10-15 mph range. It was partly cloudy, with a lot of sunshine, but the lowest the humidity got was 63%, which is not the best. It's supposed to get really cold tonight - maybe down around 50º - but by Thursday it will be warming up again. I would like it better if we could have the hot weather in the middle of the week and the cool weather on the weekend...

The guys were their sleepy selves. Grayson sat on my lap a lot, and Louie even got to sit and get petted, although I had to lift him onto my lap. That's always a problem. He's so heavy and he's so slippery that I'm sure I clutch him hard enough to hurt. He was a happy fellow once he was on my lap, though, and he even got brushed without complaining.

So it was a quiet day, and now I must run off to the north end. I'll be missing a whole lot of lovely music, but I won't get enough sleep anyway.

It's a cool, partly cloudy evening in the field.

July 16

By the time I got up to the north end, I was so tired that I was afraid to get in the shower, so I went to bed unwashed, at about 2:30. I slept very well, in part because I was so tired and in part because the weather got better overnight. It cooled down and the humidity dropped considerably. I got up around 9:30, which isn't a lot of sleep for me, so I'm tired now again, but I was only up once and for only a short time, so it was quality sleep.

I knitted two repeats, with some difficulty, but for some reason I wasn't paying attention. I guess it was because i had some tasks to do today, not because I was thinking about anything in particular.

My yearly physical is Wednesday, so I wanted to prepare for that. The major task was to complete the questionnaire they sent me to prepare for my bone density test. I find it very intrusive and very redundant, and I told them so, both on the phone and on the form. They have all the medical history in their computers, and I should not have to give it to them again, and then they asked all sorts of detailed questions about what I eat - most of which are impossible to answer accurately. I am not pleased, but I want to make sure Medicare will pay for it, so I did some of it. I also printed out a copy of my Health Power of Attorney to give to them. It's not quite like an advance directive, but it has all that information in it and they need a copy. Since I was late getting to the computer and doing my surfing, it was almost time for the talking when I was through. I still have to make up my list of topics to discuss with the doctor, but I can do that tomorrow, as well as prepare a lunch - I have to fast until the blood work is done. I sure am glad this thing only happens once a year.

The weather almost made up for yesterday. The temperature got up to 78º at the weather station, although it never got over 74º here, in part because there was a strong north wind, with gusts as high as 33 mph. The high temperature was actually around noon, and it was cooler this afternoon. The nicest thing about it was that the humidity was down below 50% all day. If it's that dry, I can tolerate even warmer temperatures. it was clear until around 3:00, when a few little clouds appeared, which will probably go away after sunset. It was really nice. I could take a lot of this. I did have to go back to my short-sleeved tee and long pants, but that's all right. I can stand it.

The guys were sleepy. When I went into the hallway to go to bed last night (or this morning), Grayson was sitting at the door looking sad. He can look so winsome, the little snot. He came right in. If past performance means anything, he won't try to get out again for a while. This morning, he slept on the bathroom floor until the sun moved to the tub surround, and then he slept there. Louie got some more brushing, including on his tummy, but he really doesn't like it and I had to dodge his claws. He has a hard time, because he likes the attention, but he doesn't like to be brushed. So he lies and purrs and tries to bat me with his feet. I got a lot of fur out of him, though. Grayson got some lap time, until I had to start filling out my questionnaire, so he knows he's back in my good graces.

So that was a quiet day, just the way I like them. I wanted to see if I could get the heel turned on the sock, but I misplaced it - I found it later someplace I shouldn't have put it - so I didn't get that done. Maybe I can do it tomorrow, and I think I'll take it with me tonight and do that rather than the shawl. After the trouble I had with the first sock, I don't want to try to do the heel shaping while I'm waiting at the hospital. If I can get the shaping done, I can do the back of the heel and start the leg anytime. Some things I can do without much thought, but this is a new way to work, so I can't do that yet.

I wore my Fruit Salad socks yesterday, and I love them, but the feet are wearing thin (a problem with the yarn I didn't realize at the time), so I will have to retire them soon. They are toe-up socks, too, but I don't like the instep and heel shaping on them. I think I will have to make a new pair using some of the new yarn I got from the same company (different fibers and different colors), the shaping from the pair I'm finishing up now and the pattern from the Fruit Salad socks. Oh, I'll never run out of projects!

Now it's a clear, cool night in the field, and I was going to toddle up to the north end and get to bed really early, but they just started playing Beethoven's Fifth, and you know I have to listen to that!

July 15

Oh, so that was yesterday. One of my most loyal followers just pointed out that I'm late tonight. Yup, sure am. Happy 90th, Phil! Would I was in half as good shape as you are.

I was in bed by 9:30 last night. I moved fast and didn't dawdle, so I made it. I slept well, too, but with several wakeups and the alarm had to wake me, although by that time I wasn't in a deep sleep.

I didn't mess around in the morning, either, and I left the house around 9:00. It was just as well, because they were beginning to close the road for the bicycle race and I got behind some extremely slow drivers again. I got to church before 10:00, but several of my friends were there already.

It was a good service, but it was hot. It was only about 71º when I left the harbor, but I think it was over 80º when I got to Laurium. They had all the windows open and all the fans running, but it was still hot, especially when we sang.

After church, I had to shop. I had to. I was running out of important things like eggs and OJ, but I did a lot more damage than that, even though I tried to be careful. I have to say that a good night's sleep was a big help, and I wasn't nearly as tired as I have been when I got the stuff into the breezeway. Of course, I only put away the really important things, like the frozen stuff and the meat, and then I sat down - and forgot about everything else. So...at around 10:30 tonight, I was bringing the rest of it into the house and putting it away. I have to say there were only three or four items that didn't go in the fridge and it was all food. I will eat well.

While I was unloading, I managed to skin the back of my right hand, which I only discovered when I saw blood running over it, and now I have an ugly looking thing right over a vein. I don't know how I do these things.

Anyway, when Phil emailed me, I was sitting with a bowl of cold cooked shrimp and a bowl of protein blend veggies and nibbling. I'm not hungry. I ate some deli salads when I got home, but this weather makes me not hungry, and sometimes I eat strangely. There is enough left of both that I will be able to nibble on the shrimp and have the veggies for dinner tomorrow with my lamb chop. The cocktail sauce I bought is yucky - tastes like plain ketchup to me, even though it claims it has horseradish in it. And only one recipe I looked at uses Chili Sauce, which is how my family always made it. Of course, that was 50 or 60 years ago.

After I sat down, I paid a couple of bills, including an overdue one, and tried to renew my car and driver's licenses. Every time I tried using the link they suggested, I got an error message saying I was signed in someplace else, so finally I gave up. Just before I ate, I tried again, by a different path, and this time it worked. Geez. I am getting a very poor impression of the state of Information Technology these days.

The weather was, frankly, miserable. The high temperature finally got up to 86º. That may not sound all that hot, but the humidity was over 60%, which means it was very sticky and extremely uncomfortable. It started out clear and sunny, but as the day went on it got steadily more cloudy. Of course - there was a lovely conjunction of Venus and the moon tonight, so of course it was too cloudy to see it. It never fails. There was almost no wind. There has been a low bank of fog out in the lake for the past few days, and I can hear foghorns now. I am not comfortable, and I am so sticky and icky that I think I will have to take a shower, late as it is. I don't want to go to bed like this. You know, if I was in less pain from my arthritis (or my Sjogren's Syndrome), I think I wouldn't dislike this weather so much, but I'm not, and in fact, when it's really humid, I seem to hurt worse no matter what the rest of the weather.

The guys slept, I think. Grayson got some time on my lap, and he left of his own accord. However, while I was bringing in the last of the groceries, he ran out into the breezeway. He is still there, and we'll see if he's ready to come in when I go toward the north end. He can stay out all night, for all I care. I don't know if Louie knows he's out or not. He is a little snot.

So that was my day. I do think I'll have to take a quick shower, although it takes a while to finish, because I wash my hair. I am so sticky all over I can hardly stand to touch myself, and even if I dry out, the stickiness won't go away.

So it's a warm (although it's cooling down), humid summer night in the field. I don't like it.

July 14

This is Bastille Day. Not that it's other than a French holiday, but my first six or seven years were spent with Aunt Louise living in the flat next door, and Aunt Louise was French. She immigrated sometime in the 1920s or 30s, but even though she lived to be close to 90 years old (I think) she never lost her French accent or her ability as a cook. We all loved her. I've had some contact with her daughter, but not for a couple of years. Madeleine is at least 10 years older than I am, and I don't know if she's still alive. She has a lot of the same health issues I do.

Anyway, I don't know what happened to me last night. I got to bed about midnight and I went right to sleep. I woke up around 3:15 to move and again around 4:15 to pee, but then I simply couldn't go back to sleep. I hurt all over and my feet were cold. Have I mentioned that I can't sleep when my feet are cold? Because of the neuropathy, sometimes they feel cold when they aren't, but when I felt them they were cool. It was probably mostly that I hurt. My knees were all right but all my other bad joints hurt. I think it may have had something to do with the high humidity, but it's been high before and I haven't had this problem.

I fought it for as long as I could, but around 6:30, I just had to get up. Lying in bed was too painful. So I knitted almost three repeats of the edging (two plus the partial one I started yesterday), and still I was eating my breakfast before 9:00.

I did my surfing, and along about 10:30, I couldn't keep my eyes open. So I tottered up to the north end, visited the bathroom and went back to bed. I won't say I slept deeply, but I apparently did sleep and I got up around 1:00. I had to turn over once, and it's much harder when I have clothes on.

Then I had to find a box to put the router in, which I did. I broke down the little box it was in and I have no clue where that is, but I hadn't done anything with the bigger box which was full of air pockets, so I decided to use that. Well. I started to gather up the pieces to put them in the box, and when I pulled on the part of the cord between the router and the transformer brick - it wasn't attached! Oh no! Oh, how lovely! So I plugged it altogether again and it came up immediately and it works fine. I really am getting old, to have forgotten to check that part of the connections. It annoys me, because I must have kicked the plug out of the transformer, which means it isn't a secure plug and it could happen again, but at least the next time, I know where to look.

So then I had to call Amazon and tell them to abort the return/refund. That was easy enough that I suspect they have such problems a lot. Note to call centers, though: even though the nice woman who answered my call spoke nearly perfect American English. when she pronounced my name in a certain way, with a certain kind of "a" I knew immediately that I was talking to India. Sorry, folks, I have a litmus test name and I can smoke you out every time. I felt for her, on the night shift. And she processed my request with no problems at all. There was a follow-up email, though, that was not nearly such perfect English. Aha - gotcha!

I played a little online game for the rest of the aftermoon and I do not feel good now, although all I have to do is wash my hair and crash.

I think some of my problems are due to the weather. We are having a summer this summer. The high temperature, 75º, actually occurred overnight, and it was around 70º, plus or minus a few degrees, all day. The problem is the humidity, which has been around 80% all day, and that makes it miserable in the extreme, especially since there has been almost no wind and it is now calm. It was clear for most of the day, and while there are now a few little high clouds, I imagine they will go away once the sun sets, like they did last night. Frankly, I do not like this weather.

The guys don't either, I think, but they were a bit disoriented by my nonstandard day. When I woke up to turn over halfway through my nap, Grayson was curled up in the comforter, but probably I thrashed around too much for him and he wasn't there when I got up. I found Louie sound asleep on the kitty condo, which is under one of the open windows in the great room (yes! I have the windows in the great room open!). Grayson got a little petting, but it's too hot to cuddle.

So that was my weird day. I made it even weirder by having a hamburger for dinner - my usual Thursday dinner. I didn't feel like having beans and rice tonight - too hot.

Now, while the temperature isn't very hot, the humidity makes it feel like it is and it's a nearly clear, calm evening in the field.

July 13

I wasn't early last night, but I was earlier than I have been and it was pretty good for a Thursday. I think it was about 12:30 when I turned out the light, and I had no problems getting to sleep. I got up around 9:30 and I knitted. I did a little more than two repeats, but I was knitting very slowly. And when I did the last row of the second repeat, I forgot myself and just kept on for three more rows...oops. Maybe tomorrow I can do the rest of that repeat and two more and get back on track. I like to do a whole repeat, just for sanity's sake.

And I can see already that I'm going to have to cut my fingernails tomorrow after my bath. I'm typing with my nails, and that doesn't work very well.

I didn't do anything much except go to the post office, where there was a whole lot of stuff, including bills, of course. My property tax bill was among them, and now I have to figure out how to pay that by mid-September and the long-term care insurance by mid-October. It looks like I'll have to raid the IRA again, and I hate to do that, but the money has to come from somewhere. Sigh.

I was doing my thing late this afternoon when I wanted to refresh the camera page - I keep that open all the time so I can check that it's updating properly - and when I did, I got a message "you are not connected to a network!" Oh, dear. When I looked at the router, there were no lights on it, and unplugging and plugging it in again had no effect. Well, it was worth a try, because it was so cheap, but now I have to try to find the box it came in (which I mistakenly broke down) and pack it up to send back to Amazon. I like it, so I guess I will just get a new one - or its newer version. About twice the price, but maybe a new one will work for a while.

The weather was humid and not too warm. The high temperature was 77º, but very briefly, late this afternoon. The humidity was mostly over 70%, which means it was sticky. There wasn't much wind, from the north, and it's now gone calm. Not my favorite kind of weather, but oh, well. It was cloudy all day, but as the sun set, it began to clear up, or I think it did.

The guys slept. They both got brushed this morning, and Louie watched Grayson get his. I hope it makes him think it might be a good idea to cooperate, instead of trying to bite me. Grayson didn't come to sit on me, though, and I can only guess it was because it was very warm in the studio. I should have opened the patio door and I didn't.

So that was a quiet day, and I'm tired again, or maybe still. Now it's a warmish, humid night in the field.

July 12

Well, not only was I not earlier, I pulled an all-nighter - a real all-nighter. I don't know why. I was reading for part of the time, but for the rest of it, I was just sitting and playing games. I even turned off the music. And then, of course, I had to get the dishwasher ready to run and wash my hair. It was well after sunrise when I finally got to bed. I had a hard time falling asleep and getting back to sleep. I was awake when Mary Ann called, but then, I usually am when the phone rings. Then I went back to sleep and I didn't get up until 3:15PM. Eek! That gave me an hour and a quarter to get ready to go. Eek!

I made it, and I ate breakfast and read my devotion and my funnies, too. I didn't read all the ad emails I got, and when I got home tonight, I deleted them all without looking at them. I pretty much know what they're going to say and I only look at them to see if there's anything different.

Choir went well and Bible Study was interesting, too, although I had to call out one of the people twice because he doesn't know half of what he thinks he does about history. Not that I know that much (my grandfather the history professor, after all, died when I was about a year old) but I sure do know more than he does.

I got home around 9:40 and had something to eat and deleted all the email. Of course, it's late now, but I will be getting to bed earlier tonight. Really.

The weather turned out better than they forecast, at least later in the day. It rained for most of the night, and we ended up with about two-thirds of an inch, most of it between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM. However, down by Houghton, I understand they had three inches or more, and the road from Lake Linden to Hancock (M-26) is apparently closed again for water over the road. They are really getting hammered this summer. The high temperature was 77º, at 4:00 PM. It was warmer in Laurium and it was uncomfortable in church until the guys opened all the windows and turned on all the fans. There was a strong southwest wind, with gusts up to 35 mph this morning, but it's gone almost calm now. It was cloudy all day.

The guys slept. They slept with me for most of the day, with Grayson down around my knees and Louie up by my head. They don't exactly know what to make of these weird hours I sometimes keep.

So that was it, and even though I slept for most of the day, I didn't get enough sleep, so I'll try to make up for it. It's a warm, cloudy, calm night in the field.

July 11

OK, so tonight I'm going to be a bit earlier. It was 2:30 before I got to bed. I slept well, and I got up a bit before 11:00, so I should have had enough sleep. I'm tired again now, but that's been happening lately. After I get feeling like this, it doesn't seem to matter when I go to bed, at least until the next morning.

I knitted two repeats with no problems, but it took a while. The task of the day was the bulletin, but I forgot to take my knitting when I went to to the powder room, so I picked up a magazine, and it was almost 5:00 when I finally got back to the studio. Oops. Fortunately, there wasn't much to the bulletin - things are quieter in the summer - and I got it out. I haven't heard back from anybody, but I think it's all right. I got the flower schedule right this time, anyway.

The weather started out partly cloudy and just got duller as the day went on. The high temperature was 75º, but it was around noon, and then it fell off, and it's 64º now. There was a bit of a breeze from the southwest, which means I finally had to close the south window. The humidity was good, but it's on the rise again now, and I guess we may be in for some rain overnight and tomorrow.

The guys were sleepy, of course. When I finished knitting, Louie was curled up at my feet and Grayson was fast asleep, pillowed in the covers on my bed. Louie got a good brushing, but I think I could brush him forever and I'd still get fur out, and he doesn't like it, particularly when I brush over his knots. Grayson got some lap time while I was doing my surfing.

So it was another quiet day and I must go to bed now. I have to wash my hair and I have to get the dishwasher ready to run - they're both way overdue - but then I will crash.

It's a cloudy night in the field.

July 10

So I'm late again. I pulled an all-nighter last night. I was reading and listening to a lot of really good music, but all night long I had such cramps and gas that I doubt I could have slept anyway, and I was so late because even when I got to the north end and started passing the gas, it took an hour before I felt good enough to go to bed. I got up around noon and knitted one repeat of the edging.

I was so late that I didn't do anything. I was about to get my dinner when Debbie called and we had another 2-hour conversation - you'd never have known we saw each other just last week. She likes it here better than I thought she would and she thought the fireworks were nice. I may see her again next year, but we'll see about that.

So I was late eating dinner, and then there was the music. I'm listening to Brahms' First now. It's been a long time since I've heard that, and I like it. Then I will go to bed and sleep long and hard. Oh, I did almost forget to write, but obviously, I remembered.

The weather was cooler today. The high temperature was only 70º, but there was no wind all day. It was cloudy when I went to bed, but by the time I got up, it had cleared up and the afternoon was nearly all clear. It was quite humid, though.

The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but I didn't see a lot of Louie, although when I went to get my dinner, while I was in the powder room, he came and yelled at me, for what I don't know. Maybe it was just that things were different today and he doesn't like that. Tough.

So that was all there was, and I think it's clear tonight, although we seem to be in for some rain for the next couple of days.

July 9

It was about 10:30 before I managed to get into bed, but I slept very well...and slept...and slept...and I didn't get up until 9:45 this morning. The only sad thing was that I got up feeling just about as bad as I did when I went to bed. I got over that eventually, though, and I think it had something to do with allergies and stuff like that.

I knitted, with difficulty. Actually, I knitted two repeats without any problem, but then I violated my first rule of edgings - NEVER, NEVER put your knitting down when the edging is on two needles!!! - and I ended up having to unknit the whole second repeat and do it over. I hope I won't do that again, at least with this project! I should know better - I do know better - but I wasn't thinking. I could have done two more repeats in the time it took me to unknit and reknit that repeat.

That was about all I did. There is a lot of surfing to do on Mondays. I was thinking about going to the post office, because I have a package there, but first I forgot and didn't get dressed in the right clothes, and then I forgot about it altogether until it was too late. I have clothes I only wear around the house and wouldn't consider being seen in anyplace else. Don't you? Today it was a sleeveless top and my bag-tied-in-the-middle pants, which are too ratty and too short to be seen in. I have never been able to stand pants that show my ankles - "high water pants," my mother used to call them. But these are so comfortable, I wear them all summer, to the extent that they're wearing out. They're very light-weight denim, to, so they're almost as cool as shorts. I don't remember if I brought any light-weight denim fabric with me, but I think I can find some, and one of these days, I will have to make myself another pair. They're very loose, which means they're very comfortable, and they stay up with a drawstring at the waist. Thus "bag-tied-in-the-middle."

The weather was nice. It was rainy all night, I discovered, but except for a downpour just as i was about to turn out the light, which prompted me to close the windows, it was light rain. The clouds went away to the east by about 9:30 this morning, and the rest of the day was lovely, if humid. The high temperature was only 69º, but the humidity was over 70% all day. That's no doubt why my back was so sore, after I screwed it up while I was unknitting. The wind was from the north, as high as 15 mph, but of course, I didn't feel that here in the studio. It was clear and blue.

The guys were their sleepy selves. I didn't see much of Louie, except when he came and tried to attack Grayson. Grayson got a long time to sleep on my lap, and he left of his own accord.

So that was my day, and now it's a nearly calm, clear evening in the field and I need to wash my hair.

July 8

I tried hard, but it was 10:00 when I got to bed. I did not sleep well. It may have been because of the breeze in the bedroom or it might have been something else. I was up several times and I don't think i got into a deep sleep very much. My first problem was that my left shoulder was so sore I couldn't sleep on my right side. If that sounds odd, think about it, and I think you'll see my problem. After I spent some time on my left side, it was better, so that wasn't my problem for the rest of the night.

I woke up around 5:30, and I tried hard to go back to sleep, but I couldn't, so I got up about 6:15. That gave me a lot of time, which was good.

I have two necklaces with blue and some white beads (one of them has lots of lapis chips) that have silver, or I thought they were silver, beads which had tarnished badly. I tried to use my sunshine cloth and my other cloth on them but they were very dull. I decided I wanted to wear the one with the blue and white beads to church today, so I started for the north end early and tried using Tarnex on them. It helped. but not very much, and I noticed when I looked at them that the silver is wearing off, leaving copper or brass underneath. The necklaces came from the Smithsonian, so I'm a bit annoyed. Anyway, I got the blue and white one cleaned up enough to wear, but it took a while.

Then, much to my horror, my curling iron refused to turn on! Oh, no!! I don't curl my hair all the time, but I do it on Sundays so I don't go to church with a frizzy bush instead of hair. I have a curling brush, much smaller in diameter, and it helped, but I really need that iron!

Anyway, I still got away shortly after 9:00 and I got to church before 10:00. That was despite the two guys towing ORVs at 30-35 mph that I passed and another guy with no excuses going 30-35 mph on the covered road. At least they all realized I was going to pass them and slowed down. Now, why didn't they just pull over and let me pass? Who knows. Oh, well, that's tourist season in the Keweenaw.

Church was nice, and the choir sang quite well, I think. I had to stay after for altar duty, and then I had to get gas, so I didn't get home until after 1:00. I was thinking about doing some shopping, and I probably should have (although I can get all the really critical things at the store), but I was so hot and my knees were so sore that I came right home.

I mean to tell you, it was hot. Pastor didn't even wear his robe. By the time I got through helping Deanna with altar duty, I was as wet as I was when I stepped out of the shower last night, except that I was wearing clothes, which were also all wet. We have so little hot weather here (and the church is so small and poor) that very few people and no churches have air conditioning. So when it is hot, we all suffer.

When I got home, it was cool here, because for a while we had a nice northwest wind, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Of course, then it went calm, and the wind has been going up and down and all around all afternoon, and the temperature has been going up and down, too. The high was 87º, apparently between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM, before the wind shifted to the southwest for a while. It's gone calm again. This is definitely unsettled weather. There have been thunderstorms off to our west all day, but they went north of us. A bit ago, we had about 2 minutes of rain, but no thunder or anything. We may still get it, but it's not a sure thing by any means. I think I will close the south window, just for safety's sake. So I was alternately a bit cool, very hot, and comfortable, depending. I'm wearing shorts and a sleeveless Tee.

The guys were sleepy and grumpy. Grayson gave up a hairball, which may be why he was grumpy, but Louie doesn't have any excuse except the heat. I think the heat bothers him as much as it does me. And no doubt Grayson was grumpy because it was too hot to sit on my lap.

I didn't do anything this afternoon. I was very tired and headachy and I almost fell asleep a couple of times, so I just sat. I made rice tonight, so I have to put that away, but I think the dishes will have to wait until tomorrow.

Oh, I did do one thing. I had been working on a sock out of a beautiful, soft wool. it was just going to be an ordinary sock. But then I realized that I have 440 yards of yarn, which is enough for a shoulder shawl, which would be a much nicer thing to do with this lovely wool. So while I was reading this afternoon, I unraveled the whole thing (I was about 4" from the end of the toe) and put the yarn away. I have two shawls in progress, so I have time to think about what to do with this yarn, but it is not going to be socks.

So that was my day, and I'm almost asleep as I sit, so I'll be off to the north end as soon as I publish this. It's a cloudy, unsettled but warm night in the field.

July 7

I just don't seem to be able to get on an early schedule. It was late again when I got to bed, and I had some trouble falling asleep. I don't know why I'm having that problem, and I hope it goes away soon. I was up twice and I got up around 10:30.

I knitted my two repeats. I'm getting a little faster; it only took me half an hour to do each repeat, and If I'd been earlier, i would have tried to do another one. Eventually, I hope to get it down to 20 minutes or so, but we'll see about that. Otherwise it will be Labor Day before I finish this thing, and I'm getting tired of it. However, it's lace, and it's blue, so I'll slog on.

I didn't do anything else. Grayson slept on me for a long time while I was doing my surfing and then I just sat for a long time. Finally I turned around and worked on the sampler for a couple of hours, but that's slow going, too, mostly because the linen is so fine. I'm making progress, doing some small motifs that are under the alphabets and the dates. Evidently Fraulein Becke started it in 1814 and finished it in 1816. The original, which is pictured, has a lot of places where the stitches have worn away, so i hope the person who did the interpretation had access to the original and could see where the stitches had been. Whatever, it's an interesting thing, and so far it's fun to do. I don't think I have enough thread by half, but I'll just have to see what happens. I notice that this thread now has dye lots, but if there is a difference in any more thread I get, well, it's a sampler, and many of them have that problem. Fun stuff.

The weather at the east end of Copper Harbor was close to perfect. The high temperature was 82º, but there was a nice breeze, up to about 10 mph, all day, and the highest the humidity got was 60%, so it was very comfortable. At least I was comfortable. If I'd tried to do anything strenuous, it might have been unpleasant, but I didn't. It was nearly or completely clear all day, too. I'm sorry that the camera hung up last evening, but it does that every so often, and I frequently forget to check it except in the morning. Sorry.

The guys were sleepy. After Grayson got off my lap - I think he was probably hot - he slept first on the dining room table and then on the floor behind my back. Louie came out once, but then he went away again. Maybe Grayson told him it was too hot to sit on mom.

I do not feel good. Even though I think I got enough sleep, I have been sleepy and headachy all day, and before dinner, when my sugar was low, I felt really bad. That's the downside of this lovely weather; I'm just not used to any heat and my poor old bod doesn't react well. Sleep will help, but I doubt I'll get caught up until Monday.

So that was a very quiet day. Having the windows open lets me hear all the cars going up and down the road, including, I think, a lot that shouldn't be here at all. Yesterday somebody actually stopped at the house and got out and when I asked them what they wanted, they said they were looking for someone I've never heard of. That always makes me suspicious. We have had some turnover out here, but that name didn't register. And people with the gall to actually drive into someone's backyard and look around always annoy me. That is not polite and you shouldn't do it. If you don't know someone's address, you shouldn't be poking around the whole township looking for them. But then, we've turned into a morbidly impolite society anyway. It's one reason I hang out far away from almost everybody and why I don't like strangers driving into my driveway.

Now it's a warm, breezy, clear evening in the field and I'm off to the north end. Now.

July 6

I was late again last night, of course - I usually am on Thursdays - and for some reason I didn't sleep very well. It might have been the temperature, which cooled down a whole lot and left me with a problem with my covers. I think I got up around 10:30 or so.

I knitted two repeats, and then I decided I'd better do some counting, just to make sure I would come out right at the end of the side. Well. Somehow, I was three stitches short, which just won't do. I think I see what happened - at the end of the last three rows of the border, it seems like I missed three yarn-overs. It doesn't surprise me. That was the last side (the border works counterclockwise, like all knitting in the round, whereas the edging is working clockwise - most disorienting!), and I was really hurrying to get done with it. Well, some of the missed stitches were right at the end of the row, which is where I started, and I am not going to rip out everything I've done in the last couple of weeks! So I will have to fudge. Fortunately, I've only worked off 91 stitches, so I have plenty of room to add a stitch here and there, and I'm sure nobody will notice. And when I get to the other three sides, believe me, I'm going to count before I start knitting. I should know better anyway.

That was about all I did. I didn't go to the post office, since I was there on Monday, and I didn't check my outstanding orders until after it was closed and I found that one thing I ordered had come via USPS and came on Tuesday. Grr. That big a package should have been sent either UPS or FedEx. Fortunately, it's nothing I need immediately (it's body soap), so I can wait until next week to get it. I'm sorry to leave it for Ron to trip over, but if it really bothers him, he knows where I live.

The weather was nice, but a lot cooler and less humid than it has been. The temperature has finally gotten up to 68º, but it was in the low 60s for most of the day. There was a bit of a breeze from the north - up to 14 mph - which didn't bother me, since I closed all those windows last night. It was clear and blue all day, and the humidity has been down around 50%. I can take this.

The guys slept. Grayson was in bed with me when I got up, and he got a lot of lap time. Louie ate his breakfast and went back up to the north end and I haven't seen him since. My sleeping beauty.

I don't feel very good - not enough sleep, I'm sure - so I'll be trying to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It's better since I ate, but most of it is that I'm very tired. This happens a lot.

Now it's a clear, lovely evening in the field and there may be stars tonight.

July 5

Oh. For some reason, I thought I'd already written this, but some other things came along, and I didn't.

I took my bath and dozed for about 45 minutes before the fireworks started. I missed the first bit because they didn't wait after the first rocket before they started setting off the other ones. It was a nice show, and I hope Debbie enjoyed it. There were a lot of multiple things that would put three or four rockets in the air at the same time. I'm sure they were aimed to show best down in the harbor, but they were nice here, too. There were also a couple of things that exploded right on the ground with an enormous boom that left me wondering if they'd injured anybody. We don't think they did, but I have to believe they were misfires. The whole show was just about half an hour long, and the finale was very nice. I think the cats spent the entire time in the basement. Too much noise.

There was also a little show in my backyard. When I sat up to look at the fireworks, I immediately started seeing little sparks of light around in the yard - fireflies! Yes, for once, it was warm enough (over 70º) that the fireflies were out! It's been years since I've seen them. I watched them a bit later from the bathroom, too. I love fireflies!

I didn't sleep very well, actually. Maybe it was the excitement over the show and maybe it was because the temperature outside kept going up and down and sometimes I was hot and sometimes I was cold. My feet were cold, too, and that always keep me awake. Well - more accurately, my feet felt cold. I don't know why that was.

There was also at least one black fly in my bedroom, and I now have several new bites, including one on the arch in my left foot that has been driving me nutty. I don't know where they came from, but they are sometimes small enough to get through the screen, and I opened another window (the only one I could manage) in the window seat yesterday. So I itch, but so far I don't have any blisters.

I was up several times, and I finally got up around 10:30 and I knitted two more repeats of the edging. I hope eventually to get up to three repeats, but so far, I haven't been able to do that.

Tonight were choir and Bible Study, and both were nice. As frequently happens, we got talking to Pastor afterwards, so it was after 10:00 when I got home. I'm tired.

The weather was really lovely today. It was a lot cooler. The high temperature was 74º, and that was at noon. It was a lot less humid, too, mostly 50% or less. There was a brisk north to northwest wind, with gusts up to 33 mph, so there were whitecaps on the harbor. There were a few clouds this morning, but it was clear and blue all afternoon. Nice. My kind of weather.

The guys were glad to get things back to normal. Grayson got a lot of lap time, but I didn't see much of Louie after this morning. He did come around when I came home tonight, but not for long. He sleeps a lot.

So now things are back to usual for the rest of the summer, thankfully. There are a lot of people in town today, many more than there were on Tuesday, and Mary Ann said the crowd wasn't very good for yesterday. That's too bad, but having the holiday on Wednesday is always a problem. I think that a lot of people came in yesterday and will spend the rest of the week, rather than coming in last Saturday and leaving today. Well, we who live here will just have to cope. I do get a bit annoyed when people start standing out in the middle fo the road so cars can't get around them, but then, they're tourons, and since they pay for us to have a town here, we just have to deal with it.

Now it's a clear (I think), dark night in the field, and it's going to be a nice cool night to sleep. Aaahhhh....

July 4 - Independence Day

I'm writing this early, so I won't be able to report on the fireworks until tomorrow.

I'm also writing this early because I'm exhausted and I have to wash my hair. The exhaustion isn't because of how little I slept or how much I did - neither of which is true - but because of the heat. It was the hottest day we've had in Copper Harbor in a couple of years - or at least the hottest it's been out here at the east end - and I found it exhausting.

i got to bed around 12:30, I think, and I got up around 10:30, so I should have had enough sleep. I knitted two more repeats of the edging - slowly.

There were several things I had on my to-do list (which is fictitious - I've never been able to keep a to-do list). I think I did all of them. First of all, I had to check with my bank. I still had a bill on my desk, and that usually means I hadn't paid it yet, so I got all ready to pay it, and then I looked at the paper and discovered that I paid it back on June 29. I don't know why I didn't put it aside.

Then there was the phone bill. I recently signed up for ebills for my phones, and this is the first month it's been in force. After looking at everything, I don't quite see what good it is, but oh, well. It will mean less paper. I've had an an online account for my land line for a long time, but since I never used it, I wasn't sure it actually worked and I needed to change the password to something more secure.

First, I discovered that they finally fixed the reason I didn't go with ebills a long time ago. When I first signed up, all I could get was the first page of the bill, which did not include my long-distance service, so I couldn't use it to see what long distance and toll calls I'd made. Since practically every phone call I make is at least a toll call, I like to see the list. Now not only can I see all the parts of my bill, I could see the printed bill if I wanted to (a pdf). So now I'm OK with that.

Then I started trying to change my password. After several abortive tries, I discovered that the only special characters they allow in passwords are dash and underscore. Can you believe that? In this day and age? Also, after the first time I tried to enter a password, I could never display what I'd typed in clear text, which meant I had to try the entire exercise about six times before it took. Sheesh.

Fortunately, they had a survey for me to fill out, and I let them have it, and in the comments area I pointed out that my new password would have been much more secure if they permitted all special characters, and also that they need to permit the password to be displayed at any time. Sheesh.

Well, after that was done, I attacked the bulletin for Sunday. That turned out pretty easy, and I got it out in about an hour. Pastor has looked at it, but evidently nobody else had. In the course of that, Deanna called to say she would do the setup for Sunday, since she doesn't know when they will be getting back into town. That's fine with me. I do need to do a little shopping, but Sunday will be OK for that, and it will save me a trip to town.

I'd been expecting to see Debbie one last time, and she finally turned up around 4:30, but we had another long, lovely conversation. They are leaving in the morning, and we were glad to see that the weather is supposed to be much better than we originally thought. It was a lovely visit, and her son even suggested coming back next year! Wow.

The whole issue was the weather. The high temperature for the day was 86º at 2:00 PM, although it only got to 84º out here. It didn't get under 80º until around 5:00, and it was miserable. There wasn't much breeze at all, although it's picking up a bit now. I was sweating profusely. The only thing that saved us is that it wasn't too humid until the temperature started to drop. It was fairly cloudy, too, and I don't know what might have happened if it had been clear. A band of thunderstorms did go through, but way south of here. For a while, radar said it was raining lightly, but it never hit the ground, although the humidity did go up. It was the kind of day I don't like. Yuck.

In fact, I don't like it so much that I was feeling rather queasy for part of the afternoon. I drank water and did other things, and I made it through, but I didn't feel so good for a while.

The guys apparently didn't feel so good either. Grayson wanted to be with us, but he didn't want to sit on anybody, and for a while when it was the hottest, he kept coming around and mewing at me. I wish I could turn it down, too, guy. Louie came out enough to sit at the foot of the stairway, but when Debbie went upstairs to use the bathroom (the only really clean toilet in the house) he went away again. I'm sure he was uncomfortable, too, at his weight. We don't like this weather - any of us.

So that was my day, and the heat has made me extremely tired. So i will be going up to the north end and taking my bath soon and hope that will make me feel a bit more comfortable. I do expect to watch the fireworks, though.

Now it's a hot, sticky night in the field. Yuck.

July 3

Late again - even later than the night before - but I was clean when I did. I slept well, although I think I was up twice. I got up around 10:30 and knitted two repeats. It was slow, because it's been so long since I got to knit that I almost had to learn the pattern all over again.

Debbie and Dave got here before I'd finished eating breakfast and they did several things for me, including getting the great room patio door screen back into its track at last. I think it's mostly a matter of strong fingers, which mine aren't. They also pulled up the shutter I forgot about - the one I look out of when I'm sitting in the closet.

Then Dave went off to do his thing and Debbie got down a box of stuff that has been hidden for quite a while and I went through it before she put it back, and she lowered the closet rod I hang my robes on. It was so high I couldn't reach it anymore so once I took down a robe I couldn't put it back. I haven't looked at it yet, but she can reach it, so I'm sure I can. She hauled out all the trash and recyclables.

Oh, yes, and she signed the things she had to sign and I scanned them, so they are safely in the computer now. I will ship them off to the attorney tonight. So that exercise is done and I paid him, so now I'm poor but square with the world.

Tonight we went to Harbor Haus and I'm pleased to report that it's just as good as ever, and I have enough leftovers for another meal. Yum. They both had shrimp dishes, and i wish I could have had them, too, especially the one Debbie had.

It was a hot day for Copper Harbor. The temperature got up to 81º at 7:00 PM, and it was in the upper 70s all afternoon. The only thing that saved it is that the humidity has been reasonable. There was almost no wind. It was partly to mostly cloudy all day, which was a shame, but it's too much to ask for more than one day like yesterday in a row.

The guys mostly slept, I think, although Grayson was around a lot because unusual things were going on. Louie came out a couple of times, but he wasn't sure about all that rustling around. Debbie found, which I've suspected for a long time, that when Louie goes through the door to the basement, he doesn't actually go downstairs. He sits one step below the top of the stairs, so he can be hidden and still hear everything that's going on. I wish he was less timid, but he's too old to change much now.

So that was my day. I did get to do my surfing, eventually, but not much else except business.

I must report that I was looking at the stuff in the box and I found a wristwatch and a bracelet that I don't recall ever having seen before. The bracelet is, unfortunately, too small for me, but the watch fits me just fine. Now I need another size of battery. The other strange thing I found was in a bunch of old watches, there was my father's (or was it my grandfather's? I don't know for sure) Omega watch - and it was running! All I can figure is that it's a self-winding watch and moving it around wound it up a bit. Sometimes I think it's a shame that we've gone away from old-fashioned watches that needed to be wound up. Some of my female ancestors fob watches are circa 1900, and they still run just fine. Although how the Omega got running, I do not know. Have I said that there are gremlins in this house?

Now it's a still, warm evening in the field and I am going to bed. Soon. Really.

July 2

Well, I didn't go to bed until 1:30 this morning, but the first time I woke up was about 6:00 and the second time was 10:45. EEK!! I had a massage at noon! EEK!!

I toyed with the idea of not getting my massage, but I really needed it, so I put myself in the highest gear I'm capable of these days, and I made it almost on time, having dressed and eaten breakfast and visited the bathroom briefly. I had just gotten completely undressed when I had to visit the bathroom again, but fortunately, there was nobody in the house (Johanna was doing something outside) and after I wrapped myself up in a blanket, I was able to get to the bathroom and back before anything bad happened. Whew! Now you see why I don't usually go out in the morning.

I do feel much better for my massage and I think I'm standing up a bit more, so it was worth it. On my way home, I stopped at the post office, both to mail some things and pick up my mail, and except for tomorrow night, when we'll be dining at Harbor Haus, I'm going to stay here. There are many too many people in town! It's awful.

When I got home, there was a package in the breezeway, and not only had my router arrived, so had most everything else I'd ordered. I guess Amazon decided it was worth it to put everything in one box. The other stuff was just health products, but they are things I needed.

So after I made my dinner reservations, I immediately got at the router. After several strange problems cleared up, I finally got to a pastynet logon screen - and it wouldn't work. So i gave up and called them, but nobody called me back, so I just called them again and Charlie fixed it. It seems like, since I have a weird hookup with them, they have to authorize my router. Once that was done, everything seems just fine. Whew! I ws afraid I'd have to send it back, and the old one keeps going in and out. There are some more things I need to try, including putting it up on a shelf and seeing if it will reach to the other end of the house, but I do have WIFI again, which is all I wanted.

This is a refurbished router, which makes me a bit suspicious, but it works, and the only thing that seems to be missing is the stand. I can lean it up against the side of the shelf I will put it on, but it would be better to have a stand.

I spent a long time untangling the cords under the desk. The printer had even come unplugged! It's not good, but it's better now. I would like to find something permanent that I could attach to the plug ends of the cords to label them, so I know what's what under there. And, of course, while I'm not looking, all the cords braid themselves. into knots...

Summer has arrived. It was cool this morning, but the time I got home, it was 80º officially and the high for the day was 82º. This is when I love living here; the breeze was from the north to northwest, mostly, so it never got over 76º here. I opened the patio door, and that kept it almost comfortable in here, except when I was working on something. It was clear and sunny almost all day, and it was so beautiful. Now it's gone almost calm, as the sun sets, and I love that about summer.

The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but I haven't seen much of Louie.

So that was my day. While the talking was going on, I embroidered for the first time in a while, and I finished the big alphabet and started working on the motifs. I just did a couple of little ones, but I think this is going to be fun. I've never really enjoyed cross stitching alphabets anyway.

Now it's a partly cloudy, calm, warm night in the field and I have to take a bath. Really, I do.

July 1

My goodness, I hate to write that date! We were so long getting to summer, I hate to see it go by so fast, but that's the way things go these days.

I made it into bed by about 9:30, as I wanted to, and I slept well. I actually woke up before the alarm went off, but I didn't look at the time and I was trying to go back to sleep when it was time to get up. I did, and I managed to get away at a reasonable hour, so that I got to church a bit before 10:00.

It was touch and go for a while there, though, because I came up behind two cars on the covered road that were doing 30 (!!!) mph and wouldn't pull over, and then a while further down the road, I ran across a guy who was going 5 - 10 mph under the speed limit where we usually go 5 - 10 mph over. The first two were clearly tourons, but I think the other one was just an old local. They changed the speed limits in some of those places 20 years ago and there are still some people who don't know that. i managed to lap a bunch of slow drivers by taking Cliff Drive. It's still awful, but it's a lot better than it was when I took it for the first time this spring.

I got home around 1:00, and since I hadn't heard from Debbie, I changed my clothes and had some lunch. She finally showed up around 3:00. It was foggy when I got home, and she decided she didn't want to try to find my road (which is difficult to find anyway) in the fog.

We had a nice conversation and she likes my house a lot. She wanted to go out on the deck and take pictures, so I went out with her, and it is nice out there, if you're moving around. While I was there, I rolled up the shutters from the porch, so I can now see out, even if I can't open any windows or doors.

She left me with four new bras, a new prosthesis, four loaves of bread and two pairs of crocks. Wow! What a windfall!

Oh, yes, and all the stuff out of my safe deposit box. Except for my social security card (which I haven't found yet) and the title to my car, I haven't figured out why the rest of the stuff was there. It includes my grandfather Siess's baptismal record and his confirmation certificate and several pictures of my father on my mother's birthday in 1983, which is six days before he died. Debbie remarked how much I look like him, and I know that - it was obvious back in 2001 when I lost my hair. I could have been his twin. When I was younger, I looked more like my mother, but as I've aged, I've looked more and more like my father. That's not all bad; he was a pretty good-looking guy. Only he had blond, curly hair and I don't - not blond and not curly.

I need to go through everything more carefully, but most of it isn't vital. If I can find the key to my safe, I will see if her son can haul it upstairs, so I can use it. I haven't noticed the safe key lately, but maybe that's because I wasn't looking for it. Most of the stuff can get filed in one of the files in the basement, where the similar stuff from my dad's side of the family is. I have my great-grandfather Garwick's naturalization certificate (or is it great-great-grandfather? I'm not sure right now). None of this stuff is of any use to anybody but me, but it's fun to look at.

Grandpa Siess's baptismal certificate is one I'm only guessing at, on a fast reading, because it's all in German. I will look at it again and probably lean on Google to translate it. His family emigrated to Detroit probably around 1890 or so, and he was the only child born in this country.

The weather was still unsettled, although we didn't get any rain until around 7:30,when we got a fast 0.05". Then it cleared up, and then the fog moved back in. The fog going in and out fascinated Debbie. It still fascinates me, as you know. The high temperature was 74º, at 6;00, but it was up and down all day. There wasn't much wind until just recently, when there have been gusts up to 23 mph from the west. I think it was cloudy above the fog, but it was hard to tell. It seems like this is typical weather for June, but I hope it's over now. They keep changing their minds about Wednesday and Thursday, so we'll see how that turns out. I think the fireworks are safe, though.

The guys weren't ready to eat when I got up this morning, but they did good on their breakfast while I was away. Grayson came right out to greet and meet Debbie and try to get her to pet him. We had been sitting and talking for quite a while when Louie finally came up from downstairs and came to meet her, but he was more interested in the open patio door. Grayson was excited. He almost got out into the breezeway, he almost got into the upstairs and he almost got out onto the deck. Those are all places he'd like to be able to go and I won't let him. The upstairs is the most innocuous, but if I let them get into the bedrooms, they would soon be covered with fur, and I don't want that.

Debbie took some towels upstairs and got the blinds in the back bedroom closed. I think they'd been open for several years, since the last time somebody stayed there, and I was a bit annoyed that she didn't close them when she left. The sun is so strong, even through my R-7 windows, that the covers on the bed would rot away.

So it was a nice day, and Debbie will be here until Wednesday, although I don't think I'll see so much of her, because there are things she wants to do and see while she's here. We will get our business transacted, and we will go out to dinner. I expect we'll have some more time to talk, too.

Now it's a warmish, breezy and foggy night in the field. And July has come. Sigh.

Last updated 08/01/19 10:22 PM