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A View From the Field |
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April 2020 April 30 Well, thankfully, April is finally over. I never like this month in the north, but this year was worse than usual.
I almost inverted last night, but I got up around 11:30, so I didn't get nearly enough sleep. I knitted on sock #4 and I'm about two-thirds done with the foot. I was very restrained in how much I played with the phone, so I ate my first meal at a semi-reasonable time, although I indulged in a little bacon, so it took a while to make my breakfast. I didn't do anything else.
The weather was clear and cool. The high temperature was 50º and for most of the day, there was a brisk north wind, enough to make the lake sing. It was clear and lovely all day, but the humidity is higher than i like and the barometer is lower, so I hurt, although my hands weren't quite as sore today. When I went to get dinner, Venus was shining brightly in the northwest, but I didn't see the moon, which is about at first quarter. I assume that means it's right overhead.
The guys slept, but they both got some loving. Grayson slept on my lap for a long time. I had to laugh at him. Yesterday, while I was in the bathroom, I heard him thumping up and down the bedroom and I wondered what he was doing, and when I went to bed last night, there was a big, bilious green toy on the rug beside my bed. I knew he felt good. I wonder where he dug that thing up from. It might even date from Buster's days.
So that was another lost day and now it's a cool, clear night in the field and April is finally over!
April 29 Oh, I got to bed late and I got up late and I didn't do anything. I knitted on sock #3 and I took a bath and cut my finger and toenails. I can go about three weeks before they get too long to be able to type easily. It feels really good to have them short again.
I finally did the system updates (to Office) last night and left the computer booting when I went to bed. I was gratified to see, when I got up, that it had worked. I am getting really gun shy of Windows 10. Every update they've put out in the past year has screwed up some computers, and given my past record, I can almost assure that mine would be one of them.
The weather was not very nice, but it didn't rain. The high temperature was 44º, there wasn't much wind, the humidity was high and the barometer was low. It was cloudy and dark.
The guys slept. They got canned food and they both got some loving. As usual, Grayson wanted my dinner until I let him smell it. I know the aromas smell good, but it's nothing he really wants.
So that's all there is. It's a dark night in the field.
April 28 I wasn't quite as late last night, and I had a nice, long sleep. Once I got up, I knitted on sock #2 and I made good progress. That is the one with the elastic in the yarn and it isn't easy to knit with, but it seems to be coming out all right.
I was late eating again, of course, so I didn't do anything except change the garbage bag in the bathroom.
The weather was yucky. When I was up around 7:00 AM, it was extremely foggy, but by the time I got up for good, the fog had mostly lifted, although it was hazy down the harbor all day, and I think the fog came back after sunset. The high temperature was 45º and there wasn't any wind. It was extremely humid, but my body was telling me that before I checked the numbers. Still is.
The guys were their sleepy selves. When I got back to bed around 7:30 AM, Grayson jumped up on the bed and felt or saw my hand under the covers and started trying to attack it. I wish he'd do that when I feel like playing. So I moved it and he stretched out between me and the west edge of the bed, and he didn't get up until I finished my time in the bathroom. I think he does that every day, but he's behind a mound of covers so I don't usually see him. Louie slept beside me in the bathroom most of the time I was there. They don't love each other, but they do love me.
So that was my day, and now it's a cool, foggy, rainy night in the field. I miss that lovely moon and star.
April 27 Oh, I was very late again, and I don't know why. I got up after noon and I ripped out sock @1 to the heel and knitted a short- row heel. That took quite a while, but now I can start on the foot. Apparently I've never made a pair of socks on #1 needles with a short-row heel, because I don't have any notes, so i'll have to wing it and measure. How long the foot is may depend partly on how much yarn I have, though. I like that yarn and I'm going to like the socks, so I didn't want to abandon them.
Then, of course, I diddled around for a long time. There were several news stories that I wanted to read, among other things. So I was eating breakfast when normal people were eating dinner and I just finished dinner. Sigh.
The weather deteriorated over the day, but they were all wrong about the rain. There was a little sunshine this morning, but it soon clouded over, and while I was knitting, it got really dark, but I don't think anything came down. The high temperature was 49º and there wasn't any wind. I'm sorry that the camera hung up around noon and I didn't notice it, but you didn't miss anything except sunset.
The guys slept. While I was playing, Louie came in and lay down beside me and purred and went to sleep using my foot for a pillow. People who say cats don't like their people are crazy. Grayson sat on my lap twice.
So that was my day, and now that the Beethoven is over, I can go to bed any time. Ha.
April 26 I don't know exactly when i got to bed last night (or this morning) but it was late and I was so tired I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. At least, when I woke up for the first time I was lying on my left side with no recollection of how I got there. I usually start out on my right side. So I slept long and hard and I didn't get up until nearly noon. When I woke up, I had to think a bit before I knew what day it is.
I knitted on sock #4, but not for very long, and then I fiddled around for a very long time before I finally got dressed and ate. I did my surfing, and then instead of doing any of the things I should be doing, I wrote just under 2200 words on one of the unfinished stories. And yes, I did save it before I moved on!
Then I had a nasty accident and had to change what I was wearing, so when I did, I just put on my nightie, so all I have to do is take off my shoes and socks and I'm good to go to bed. That should help.
The weather was pretty nice and I should have stuck my nose out the door, but I didn't. The high temperature was 48º and there was almost no wind. It was clear and lovely all day. When I got up to change my clothes and get my dinner, Venus and the crescent moon were shining in the second floor windows, so bright and beautiful. Tonight, they're at just about the same altitude, over in the northwest. It never ceases to amaze me how brigiht those things are, but it's mostly the dark skies and lack of pollution.
The guys slept, I think, except that Louie was going after Grayson for some reason I don't know. They got canned food but they didn't like it very well. I won't buy any more of that one. Grayson got to sit on my lap a couple of times and Louie got some loving this morning, although he got screeched at and poked at later on.
So it was another extremely quiet day and now I'm tired again, so maybe I can go to bed? It's a clear, dark night in the field, but I think it's the last clear one for a while.
April 25 Wow, what a useless day! The only thing I did was take a bath, and it is nice to be clean. Oh, and I knitted a bit on sock #3. That was all.
The weather was not quite as warm as yesterday. The high temperature was 44º and it was nearly steady, and there was almost no wind. It was clear all day, and the camera caught the moon and Venus in the twilight. I didn't - they're up in the northwest and I would have had to go up to the bedroom to see it. The pictures were pretty, though.
The guys slept. I think Grayson had a tummy ache, but they were both happy because I hauled two more bags of kibble into the house and filled the bowls, including one that had been empty for a couple of weeks. I think somebody ate some of that, too. And Louie sat down and ate a different kind than I thought he would. That's why I give them a smorgasbord - I never know what they might want to eat next and they're so spoiled that they will not eat something they don't want. Well, food is a big part of their day, so I guess I can coddle them.
And that was it. It's a cool, dark night in the field.
April 24 Why was I late last night? I don't remember now, but I was. I think it must have been 11:30 when I got up, although that's not what I read on the clock. The way my bedside clock is placed, the light from the windows shines on it and I have a hard time reading it. I thought there were digital clocks that got brighter or dimmer depending up on the light in the room, but I don't have any.
So I got up and knitted on sock #2 and I made some progress on the foot. I was late enough that I had to rush to get to the post office and the store, but I made it. I've been amazed by how little mail I'm getting these days, not that I mind very much. When I got home, I made rice and then I made barley and quinoa together, so now I have a big bowl full of high-fiber stuff to eat for the next week. Unfortunately, I used all my multicolor quinoa, so what I have now looks rather anemic, but it tastes good and once the bowl is empty enough that I can really mix it up, it will be even better.
The governor has extended the stay-at-home order until May 15, which I guess doesn't surprise me very much, and she has also ruled that everyone has to wear a mask when they're out, so I guess I'll have to buckle down and make my masks. Before I can do that, I have some surfaces to clean off, and maybe I can do that over the weekend. I'm not going to be going out much, but I don't want to be breaking the law when I do.
i have appointments on May 26 and 27, and now I'm wondering if I'll get to have them. One is with the oncology department, but they will draw blood before it, and there are some electrolytes and other things I'm watching. The other one is with my eye doctor, and I've had it for a year, so i hope it doesn't get canceled. I'm not having any particular problems with my eyes, but with my cornea problems and my Sjogren's disease, they need to be checked every year. Besides, I'm old.
The weather was lovely. I should have spent more time outside. The high temperature was 51º and there was very little wind. It was clear all day, and when it began to get dark, the camera picked up a teensy little moon and Venus in the northwest, so pretty! I didn't get to see them straight on. I hurt all over today, and my hips were bothering me for a while, but I think that's because the humidity wasn't all that low and the barometer wasn't that high.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on my lap for a long time and when I went out to fiddle with my rice, he and Louie were both asleep on the couch, which was partly in the sun.
Apparently my email problems aren't all over with. I tried to send to another person tonight and it bounced, but I forwarded it to Charlie and we'll see where that goes. It's annoying.
So that was my day. I should be going to bed, but they are playing Brahms' First and that is one of my more favorite pieces. It's a clear, cool night in the field.
April 23 The problem tonight was that I was reading and I couldn't decide what I wanted for dinner. I've eaten all the interesting things and I'm back to the stuff out of the freezer. So I'm late.
I was late last night, too, but that was because when I got up to the north end I had some really severe abdominal cramps that lasted over an hour, by which time I was fiddling with the phone again. I slept fairly well, although I was up several times. I got up around 10:00, which was too early, but I knew that if I went back to bed then, I wouldn't get up until after noon and I didn't want that. I managed to eat breakfast before the talking started for once.
This morning, I knitted on sock #1 and I've decided to put it aside until I've done the other ones. There isn't enough yarn to finish the one I'm working on, so I'm going to have to rip and I hate to do that. It's too bad, because I like the sock and it would be a useful transitional pair. Well, I have three others to work on, so I have time to think about it.
The weather was nice. The high temperature was 42º and there wasn't much wind. The humidity was quite low for most of the day, but the barometer is still low, so I hurt. It was mostly clear. Right after sunset, it looked to me like there was some light fog on the harbor, which meant there were a couple of really lovely pictures from the camera. Oh, and it was clear last night, too, but i wasn't awake long enough to see if I could see any meteors.
The guys slept. Louie got a lot of love this morning and Grayson slept on my lap for a long time this afternoon. They're happy when mom is around all the time.
So that was my day, and now it's a clear (I think) dark night in the field.
April 22 Well, see, Google put out a sweet little game for Earth Day that involved bees and flowers and it was addictive. So I was fairly late again last night. And I got up around 10:00, and I didn't get enough sleep. I knitted on sock #4 and made some good progress. I like the yarn - it's easy to work with - but I don't like the color pattern very well. They will be useful, though, since they're quite dark. I'll probably wear them a lot.
That was about all I did. Oh, I took a bath, so now I'm clean again. It makes me sad that it's so hard to shower, because i actually like baths. And of course, something that used to take me 10 minutes now takes 20, but then, everything is like that these days.
The weather was rather nice. The high temperature was 36º and the wind had died down to almost nothing by midnight. It was partly to mostly cloudy for most of the day, but it cleared up by sunset
The guys slept, of course, although Grayson has been being a pill again. The bowl with his favorite kibble in it is empty already and he keeps telling me he wants more, even though there are two other bowls that are full. What a snot. Louie slept, although I was surprised to find him asleep on the dining room table. It was sort of in the sun, when the sun was out, and he was quite comfortable.
So that was my quiet day. It was Social Security day, so I can admire my bank balance for a day or two. I didn't get my $1200. I won't believe I'm getting that until I see it in my account. They've screwed me too many times.
It's a cool, clear night in the field.
April 21 Late again, of course. I slept well and I got up around 10:30, so I'm not quite sure why I didn't eat breakfast until after 4:00 PM, but that happens. i knew I'd be sort of late, because I did the gusset on sock #3. i think that is my favorite of the four I'm working on now, and it seems sure that I'll have enough yarn. Then, of course, I got caught in the Google thing and Solitaire...
Anyway, I was so late that I didn't do anything again.
The weather was clear and cold and very windy. The high temperature was only 32º. The wind peaked this morning with gusts of 49 mph. Oh my, the lake was howling! There were some clouds in the morning, but it cleared up in the afternoon and it was completely clear at sunset. So pretty! The wind has died down now, too, but it was a fun storm.
The guys slept and I didn't see much of them.
So I have nothing to report. My email to Pastor is broken again, but PastyNet knows about it and they think it will be fixed by tomorrow. I got a nice email from Pastor, but I couldn't reply to it. I don't know if he'd go to those lengths, but I don't want the sheriff coming around to do a wellness check...I'm here and I'm well.
Now it's a clear, cold night in the field and I would like to go to bed. Maybe I even will.
April 20 I was a bit earlier last night, by a couple of hours. I slept well, although I was up several times. I think it was around 10:30 when I got up. I knitted on sock #2 and I made some progress on the foot. I was still knitting when Debbie called me back and we had a nice, long conversation, which meant it was a ridiculous hour again when I ate my breakfast, so I'll be late tonight, too. That's in part because the next hour of music is really nice, though, including Mozart for clarinet and Palestrina. Yum.
I was so late that I didn't do anything but my surfing. The story of my life.
The weather was kind of weird. It's been very windy, and the last hour, the gusts were up to 41 mph. The high temperature was 45º, although it's dropped off very quickly. It started out very cloudy, then it cleared up around 3:00 PM, which was nice, and then around 6:30 PM, we had a fast rain shower before it began to clear up again. Now the wind is strong and the lake is roaring.
the guys slept. They don't mind if i spend all day in the bathroom.
So that was my day. and now it's a cold, dark, windy night in the field.
April 19 It turned out even later than I thought. I was all ready to turn out the light when I had to go back into the bathroom for a while. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep, and I didn't get enough sleep, but oh, well.
I knitted on sock #1 and I finished the gusset. I'm a bit concerned, though, because it looks like I could run out of yarn. If I do, I will have to rip back to before the heel and do a short row heel, which takes less yarn. I hope I don't have to do that, and I would have thought 218 yards would be enough for a sock even for me, but we'll see what happens.
Other than that, I did nothing. I was late eating again and I just finished my dinner. Today was Debbie's birthday, but she was doing something, and while I called her, she was busy and she didn't call back.
The weather was weird. We had about an inch of snow overnight and some more this morning, but it's all melted now. The high temperature was only 31º. It was very cloudy and dull this morning, and only partly sunny this afternoon - all the weather services screwed up.
By the way, I'm sorry the camera was scrambled this morning. I knew about it when I got up briefly around 8:30, but I just did not feel like tottering all the way down here and pulling the plug. So when I finally got here and checked it, it was fine again. I don't recall that ever happening before, but I'm not going to complain.
The guys slept and I didn't see much of them.
So that was it and now it's late again, but not quite as late as last night. It's a dark, cold night in the field and I really must go to bed.
April 18 Oh, it's too late. I didn't do anything and my schedule got ridiculously skewed, even though I got up at reasonable time.
I did do the heel on sock #4, but otherwise, I read and listened to music.
The weather wasn't very nice. The temperature got up to 57º (!) around 2:00 PM, but then it started to rain and blow, with gusts up to 36 mph from the northwest. It was dull and gray all day.
The guys slept. They don't care how weird my hours are.
And that's all there was. It's a cool, dark night in the field.
April 17 So last night, I got to bed at a semi-reasonable hour and I slept well, with the usual wakeups. When I was up in the night, there were stars, but I couldn't figure out what I was seeing in the northwest. I was awake around 8:30, but that seemed a bit early, so I didn't get up for good until 10:30 or so.
Today's sock was the heel on sock #3, the white one. I got it done, but it took a couple of hours - there are a lot of stitches on #1 needles. It turned out well, even though the reinforcing thread I wanted to use fell out of my knitting bag last night. I actually think the off-white is a better match than the white was, but since it's a heel, it doesn't matter much as long as it's not black - or red.
I had to rush a bit, but I got off to the post office and the store. I needed a few things at the store, but they had taken in a couple of packages for me that I wanted to get. I got there at a bad time and had to wait a while. I I got the car unloaded and then I had to rush back to the paved road to get my Schwan's order, which I had to put away when I got back. While I had the chair in the kitchen, I tried to get the trash and the recyclables a bit under control. So it was a busy afternoon and I didn't get to do all my surfing until after the talking started.
I had my second rather weird dinner in a row, and I fear my convection oven is finally actually dying. At least, my fish didn't cook very well. I must check the oven temp again. Well, maybe after next week I can get a new one. Since my big ovens don't work, I can't do without that thing. Of course, when I checked, the price had increased by $35 since I checked it last. It's a new model and they claim it has new features, but I couldn't see them. Oh, well. Marketing. I need the thing.
The weather was rather nice. The temperature actually got up to 42º after I was out, and while it was breezy - gusts up to 31 mph - in mid-afternoon, the wind has died down now. It was clear and sunny all day.
The guys slept. Grayson didn't get to sit on me, but he only pushed it once, and i was about to get up and go away. I haven't seen Louie since breakfast, but I could tell that he ate. Grayson, the snot, was picking up kibble off the floor by the bags. He wants the seafood kind and he has all sorts of ways to tell me that.
So it was another very quiet day. While the talking was going on, I embroidered a bit, but not a lot. I am working on a humungous flower tree and it's pretty boring. I've enjoyed this project, but now that I'm nearing the end, it's getting boring. Well, I will persist, and I will finish it.
Now it's a clear, dark night in the field.
April 16 Oh, I had a horrible night last night. I was sort of late, and I don't think I ever got into a deep sleep. When I sort of fell asleep, I dreamed about dreaming. Weird.
Anyway, I got up before noon - I don't remember quite when - and I did the heel on sock #2. That was a short row heel, so it didn't take nearly as long as a flap heel. Now I'm ready to start the foot. Short row heels don't have a gusset, but there are more rows in the foot - how many, I don't know yet, because that yarn is one of the ones with a weird row gauge.
I was late enough that I didn't do anything much else. I did roast one of my beets tonight. I mentioned that I was suspicious because it was so big, but it turned out to be very nice and sweet. I didn't cook it right, though, but I'm trying something I've never done before. Oh, and the recipes I read said it would be easy to remove the skin once the beets were done. Hah. I will probably have to use a peeler. I was surprised by how good this one was, though. It wasn't nearly as strong as some of the small ones I used to get from the organic farm. Of course, I just one beet will be at least four meals... Fortunately, beets keep. Oh, and I took a picture of it, but it's on the phone.
The weather was pretty nice. When I was up in the night, there were stars and it was nearly clear all day. The high temperature was 37º. It was quite windy this morning, with gusts up to 36 mph from the northwest, but the wind has died down now.
The guys did their thing. Louie got his loving when I got up, and Grayson slept on my lap for a long time during the talking. He has been rustling around like he feels pretty good.
So that was my day, and now I'm really tired, so I need to go to bed. It's a clear, cold night in the field.
April 15 I'm sorry. I just plain forgot about the journal last night. Nothing happened yesterday anyway except that Debbie called'
I was just about as late both nights. Maybe I can do a bit better tonight, but I will be late, because I just finished eating. I didn't have a very good night last night and I was up earlier than I wanted to be, but oh, well. It's possible the problem is in part that the temperature in the bedroom is a bit warm, but I'm reluctant to turn down the heat yet, because I have a hard time regulating it.
I knitted both days. Yesterday I got sock #4 ready for the heel and today I did the heel on sock #1. That meant I knitted for a very long time. it's a flap heel and there are a lot of stitches in those. It's all ready to do the gusset, though, so I've made progress.
Then I fiddled around until I was so late that I actually started my dinner before I ate breakfast. The turkey breast was defrosted in the fridge and I didn't want it to sit there any longer, and it took me a while to get everything together. I browned the meat before I put it in the slow cooker, and I'm glad I did. It has a very nice flavor. Then I had to prepare potatoes, onions and carrots. The potatoes only needed to be scrubbed and cut up and the onions only needed to be peeled and cut up, but I had to peel the carrots. When I saw how enormous those carrots are, I was very suspicious, but it turns out they are very tender and sweet. I hope the same is true of the beets.
I do think, though, that the next time I do this thing, I will just cook the meat by itself. The first time I did it, I did that, and it was much juicier and tenderer. I can do something else with veggies.
The weather yesterday was mixed. The high temperature was only 30º and there were some gusty northwest winds, up to 37 mph. It snowed off and on almost all day, and it was clearly lake effect, because one minute it would be snowing hard and the next the sun was almost out. It began to clear up around sunset, but it was cloudy overnight. Today was much better. It was cloudy in the morning, but it cleared up as the day went along. The high temperature was only 32º and there was a strong north wind with gusts up to 28 mph. It isn't spring yet...
The guys slept. They both got some loving both days and Grayson got to sleep on my lap.
i will try not to miss a day again. I need to get the laptop running again - if possible - and get some remote desktop software so when I do that again, I can sit at the north end and at least do a bit of a journal. Maybe next month.
Now it's a clear, cold night in the field and I will try to be a little earlier to bed.
April 13 Oh, I backslid last night. I wasn't ridiculously late, but I was later than I wanted to be. Everything was late yesterday, and I'm going to be a bit late tonight, too.
I slept well. I knitted on sock #1 and got it to the beginning of fhe heel, but that was in part because the row gauge is off on that yarn, too. Tomorrow I will have to work on sock #4. I admit, it's my least favorite of the four, but I need to get the leg done so I can keep the four of them sort of on track.
i was so late that I didn't do anything else besides my surfing. I am happy to report that my email problem seems to be solved. As I suspected, it was an error in some software on PastyNet, but since the code was syntactically correct, it took them some time to find it. I'm glad. Once we can stop self-isolating again, I'm going to need to email those people.
The weather wasn't nearly as bad as they predicted. It was very windy, with gusts up to 48 mph, mostly from the north, and it snowed lightly until around 7:00 PM, but I don't think we had more than 3" or 4" total. It was very wet and heavy, though, which meant for part of the morning, it was hardly possible to see out the studio windows. The high temperature was 33º. It was cloudy, but it was surprisingly bright.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson got some lap time and Louie got some loving after i got up.
So that's all I have to report, and now it's a cold, cloudy night in the field and I'm tired again.
April 12 - Easter Christ is risen! Hallelujah! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
So it's Easter, and once again I didn't go to church, this time because there was no church. Sigh.
I am happy to report that even last night, when I got to bed, my hips weren't nearly as sore as they had been and today they aren't bothering me at all, which is a relief. My knees and my ankles are still bad, but at least I can sit and lie down in comfort.
My hours were about the same as they have been for the past couple of nights, which is good. It's already too late now, but oh, well. I'll go as soon as I can.
I knitted on both socks #2 and #3 and both of them are now ready for the heels. I had to go back to sock #2 because when I measured it, the leg wasn't long enough. That yarn is weird. The stitch gauge was what I usually get on #2 needles, but the row gauge is more like what I get on #1s. Well, I do think I have enough yarn, but I will have to measure the foot very carefully to make sure it's long enough.
Other than that, I didn't do anything much. It seems like PastyNet is still working on my email problem, and I determined today that it's not just the one address, it's every address at that domain name. They seem as flummoxed by it as I am, but it's their problem.
The weather was the calm before the storm. The temperature was 44º at midnight and it is now 33º. There wasn't very much wind, but just wait. It started snowing around 7:00 PM and the wind has been rising since around 8:00 PM. It looked to me like we may have had an inch or two so far. Oh, sigh. At this time of year, I always hope we've seen all of it we're going to see, but usually I'm disappointed.
The guys slept. I didn't see much of them, but Grayson slept on my lap for a while.
So that was a very quiet Easter Sunday, and now it's a snowy, windy night in the field.
April 11 - Holy Saturday It was a repeat of the night before. I was a bit later getting to bed (about 15 minutes), and I had some trouble getting to sleep. My hips are so sore I can't stand, sit or lie down without pain. Eventually I guess the Tylenol cut in, so I got to sleep, but I had the same wakeful period in the middle of the night, and a lot of it was because of the pain.
We'll see what happens tonight. I am not going to go back to inverting just so I'm tired enough that I can sleep through anything. I need to get this thing under control. For me, maybe this time of enforced self-isolation is a good thing. I don't have to worry about getting up at 6:00 for a while.
I took a bath before I had breakfast, and I'm glad I did, because I will be able to crash as soon as I get up to the north end. Boy, am I getting old! I took some Tylenol with my other pills (it wasn't morning) but it has worn off and i hurt.
I did the usual stuff, and I spent the later part of the day looking at the last three days' worth of videos from church. There was even a short, lovely one for today that I really appreciated. Oh, and I tried to email Pastor again and my problem with his email address isn't fixed yet. I have an email into Charlie, and I will try it again on Tuesday. If it doesn't work, I'll call Pastor on the (gasp!) telephone. I won't bother him on Monday - that's his day off.
I do not like video anything. i never have. Movies give me a headache and TV is the pits, and video streaming is as bad as movies. For one thing, I don't know what to do with my hands. Bah! Audio is fine, but I hate video.
I mostly just listened to church because there was about a 1-2 second delay between the audio and the video, so Pastor's mouth was still moving after he had stopped talking. I am still having a hard time understanding him when he's at St. Paul's, because the reverb is so great in the empty church. They moved the camera, and that helped, but not a whole lot. Maundy Thursday was from St. John's, which is a much smaller space with mostly wood inside and I could understand him a whole lot better. I would never have thought there would be so much reverb in St. Paul's, because it isn't very big, but it has a very high ceiling and most of it is plaster. No wonder the choir sounds so good. The space magnifies our sound.
The weather was transitional. The morning was clear, but it began to cloud up by noon and the afternoon was dull and gray. The high temperature was 51º. and it was about steady all afternoon. The wind started out from the southwest, but around noon it shifted to the northwest and picked up enough for the lake to start singing quietly - about 20 mph gusts. It is now from the north at around 10 mph. The Winter Storm Advisory has turned into a warning and is now in effect from 5:00 PM tomorrow until 2:00 AM on Tuesday, so whatever it is, it's likely to be short and acute. Well, we've had blizzards in April before now.
The guys slept. Louie got his loving this morning, and Grayson slept on my lap all the time I was streaming church.
So it was another very quiet day, like they all are. I like them that way. The barometer is dropping, and I wonder if maybe that's why I hurt so bad.
It's a warmish, dark night in the field and I need to go to bed.
April 10 - Good Friday i only missed my target bedtime by about 15 minutes and I went right to sleep. I woke up about two hours later and when I got back in bed, I had close to two hours of discomfort. I was having nearly continuous hot flashes and my right hip was so sore that I couldn't lie on my left side. After I got up again, I did a bit better. I was awake at 8:30 and I decided I hadn't had enough sleep, so I went back to bed for another two hours. That was better, but I still felt like I hadn't had any sleep when I got up. I don't know what the problem is now.
I knitted on sock #2 and I finished the leg. The next time I work on it, I will do the heel. I like the yarn and the colors, but working with a yarn with elastic in it is difficult.
I didn't do much else. I went to the post office and the store, because I had quite a list for the store, but what I got isn't exactly what I was counting on. Staci has potatoes and yams, but the carrots and beets look like they were deer feed. I'll make do, though, and I think I know how to cook the beets. I hope they're sweet. One of the beets is bigger than the head of cabbage. Anyway, I'm set for a while, although she didn't have any big bottles of JD, so I will have to go back next week.
One of my problems today has been that both my hips are so sore I can't sit comfortably and I have a hard time walking. I do not know what brought that on - the humidity is quite low. Anyway, I haven't been comfortable all day.
The weather wasn't too bad. It wasn't completely clear but there was a lot of sunshine. The high temperature was 37º and the wind was from the north, but it died down over the day until now it's nearly calm. However, there is this big bump of purple on the WU graph and almost two days highlighted yellow on the NWS site. It is supposed to start snowing Sunday night and continue through sometime on Tuesday.
The guys slept, of course. They both got some loving and Grayson finally got to sleep on my lap for a while after I got home. I think he was on the bed when I started thrashing around, too, because I heard a very loud thump! after I finally turned over. I don't know why he would leave. The bed doesn't move and I wasn't anywhere near where he was sleeping, but he obviously didn't like all that thrashing. He is a funny little cat. We ate a bit earlier than usual today, and they thought that was nice.
Oh, yes, I washed a load of white stuff, which I will have to put in the dryer when I go up to the north end.
I checked the church's website and both last night's and today's services are out there, so I will have something to look at tomorrow. I think someone other than me noticed that it was hard to hear with the camera in the back and it looked like they moved it down onto the floor today.
I think I'll do that soon. I'm in one of those bored periods that I get occasionally, so I might as well sleep and hope that lying down will help my hips.
So it's a partly cloudy, cool night in the field, but the moon is still quite bright, so that's nice.
April 9 - Maundy Thursday Oh, I did it again. This has got to stop, and I will stop it. I was reading some research this morning that said that having circadian rhythms different from light-dark rhythms is bad for you. I suspected as much. So I am going to try really, really hard to take myself in hand and haul myself back onto a human schedule.
The first time I got up, after sleeping for about 4 hours, I checked the camera and discovered that the picture was scrambled again, so I trudged down to the computer and reset it. Then I went back to bed and back to sleep without any problem.
I started out to knit on the shawl, but that didn't turn me on, so I worked on sock #1 instead. For some reason, I was behind on that sock anyway, but I caught up and now I have only about 26 rows left on the leg. That's the reason I would rather knit with #2 needles, but it seems like I have a lot of yarn that works on #1s.
Charlie may have found my problem with emailing Pastor, but I haven't heard back from him yet so I don't know. Anyway, before I went back to bed, I started a reboot, because there have been some really weird problems since my fast fingers caused me to download something I did not want. The worst problem didn't go away, unfortunately. And when I started both IE and Firefox, that same problem had caused the home page for both to get changed to Yahoo! Oh, how I hate it when that happens! I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have anything to do with Yahoo. NEVER. NEVER! It raises my blood pressure amazingly and causes me to say very unladylike words. I don't have this problem very often, thankfully, but it meant that I had to fumble around before I got everything more or less back to normal. Now, if I could only figure out what's causing that IE shortcut to show up on my taskbar intermittently, I would be very happy.
Anyway, that was about all I did other than my surfing.
The weather was nondescript. The snow they were predicting never materialized, but it was dull and gray for most of the day. Right at sunset, there was a dark cloud in the south and it was clear in the north, so I may see a star or two tonight. The high temperature was only 36º and there was a strong wind from the north, which has now shifted northeast, and the latest reading is 28 mph with 38 mph gusts. The lake i singing and I should have turned on the space heater.
The guys slept, but they both got a lot of loving for a change. Louie got his in the bathroom, as usual, and Grayson spent most of the talking on my lap, a lot of it asleep. He got up and left and came right back and cuddled down again for another sleep. They were happy because I finally filled the bowls with their favorite kibble.
So that was my day and the bedtime alarm just went off. I have an hour to get to bed, so I will go. It's a dark, windy night in the field.
April 8 I was middling late last night and I slept well. I got up at what I thought was a reasonable hour, but somehow time passed - I was knitting on sock #4 - and I didn't eat my first meal until after the talking started. I don't know what happened. So I'm late.
I had forgotten that I had a phone call yesterday morning before I got up, and when I listened to the message they left, my dentist appointment for next week has indeed been canceled. No surprise there; I had already written it off. I haven't decided yet whether to reschedule or just go without. It's my six-month checkup with the hygienist and I don't suppose there's any reason why I can't skip one time. If that's the worst thing that happens to me during this crazy time, I guess I can't complain.
Anyway, I was so late that I didn't do much. I did finally call the company that holds the registration for my web domain name and got that figured out. I could just go online and renew it, but I had gotten several emails that said "call and we can save you money" which was all I needed. I had a very nice conversation with a gentleman in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and yes, indeed he did save me a whole lot of money, so it was worth my time. It's now good for another five years.
The email situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Everybody else can send emails to Pastor but me, and when I tried to reply to Jon Hopper's suggestion, it won't accept that either. I'm certainly glad this is happening while there aren't any bulletins to do. Maybe by the time there are, it will be resolved.
The weather was OK, not great. The high temperature was 51º and the wind was strong, with gusts up to 40 mph late in the day. It was very foggy early in the morning, but then it more or less cleared up, although it wasn't completely clear until around sunset.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson made me laugh again. When I finally went out to the kitchen to make my dinner, he ran upstairs and began bombing around in the loft, pounding on the floor until I yelled at him. He is so funny. I haven't seen Louie since I got dressed, but he hangs out at the north end unless there's food anyway.
So that's about all I know. There is a Haydn symphony playing now, and then I will try to get to bed at an even more reasonable hour. We'll see how that goes. It's a clear (I think) cool night in the field.
April 7 I was hoping to get to bed earlier last night, but I had an accident on my way up to the north end and I kept dribbling. Every time I thought it would stop, it started again. Then I didn't sleep very well. I felt like I didn't evre get into a really deep sleep.
I finally got up around 11:30 and knitted on sock #3. I think this is my favorite of the four. It's the white one and it seems so cheerful and summery. I was still dribbling.
I put a load of bottoms in to soak and I will wash them tomorrow, along with four pairs of compression hose and a couple pairs of socks. It gets old.
I was so late that I didn't do much of anything besides my surfing. I was thinking about dinner when Mary Ann called and we had a nice conversation. My conversations are pretty much limited to 116 minutes these days, because the batteries in the phone die after that. The last time I talked to Debbie, it put the base unit on speaker, so that one was longer.
Anyway, Mary Ann and Bill are coping, although Bill isn't doing very well. Nobody seems to be able to diagnose what is wrong with him but it's not pleasant and since he is an active type who wasn't ever sick when he was younger, he has a hard time coping. And Mary Ann has to try to cope with that. Our congregation's president and his wife came up last Sunday to leave us with the bulletin inserts. which I thought was extremely kind of him. And the strange little man who drives Mary Ann and Bill crazy doesn't believe we are in a pandemic, which is another good reason I didn't go to church. Everyone else was keeping their distances the last time there was church, except for Gary, who not only cuddled up to Bill, he made some snide comments to the ladies who sit behind us. I don't know about some people, but nobody can figure Gary out. He lives in his own little universe.
The weather was nasty, the way it frequently ls in the early spring: cloudy, showery and raw. The high temperature was 42º, and there was a south wind with gusts up to 32 mph, but between 6:00 and 7:00 PM, it went calm and it now from the north with gusts up to 24 mph. We had 0.13" of rain after 7:00 AM, so it didn't rain hard, just intermittently. Yuck.
So the guys slept. They both got a little loving, but Grayson didn't get to sleep on my lap. When I came back to the computer after my trip to the powder room, they were both curled up in the scratching box. I think Louie would prefer not to have Grayson around, but he does tolerate it.
So that was another quiet day. It was nice to have a phone conversarion, at least. Now it's a cool, dark night in the field.
April 6 I thought I was beginning to get my schedule under control. Hah! I inverted last night. I got up to the north end late anyway, but then I went into zombie mode and time just passed. I hope to do better tonight, but I'm getting a late start.
Before I went to bed, I played the video of the church service, but it was frustrating. The camera is up in the balcony at St. Paul's and with nobody else in the church, there is enough reverb that I had a hard time understanding what Pastor was saying. I've been trying to email him to tell him, but every time I do, I get an error message that the server is not available. I don't know what that's about, so I called PastyNet to ask them, but I haven't heard back.
I knitted on sock #2 and got a lot done. This is the blue and green one and I finally got to the pattern repeat. It's a long one, but now I see how it works. I like most of the colors and knitting on #2 needles goes fast, but the yarn is difficult. I don't know if it's the elastic or something else, but I'm having a hard time keeping the tension as loose as I'd like it.
While the talking was going on, I embroidered a bit. I finished a little circular motif and took the first few stitches in a very large tree - the last one, I think. I'm making progress and I keep reminding myself that there are only three more pages to go.
The weather was nondescript. It was cloudy and gray. The temperature got up to 50º and there was almost no wind. All the snow we had overnight Friday is gone, along with a lot more, so that's moving along nicely.
I think the guys were sleepy. I didn't see much of Louie and Grayson didn't hang around long enough to sit on my lap. He is being a pill again. He doesn't like the varieties of kibble that are down very much, so I caught him over by the bag of the kind he likes. Well, if he'll eat some of what's on the floor over there, it doesn't bother me.
So that was my day. I think I may have heard the woodpecker again, but he wasn't as close as before, so it was hard to tell. So now it's a warmish, dark night in the field and I still haven't seen Venus and the Pleiades.
April 5 - Palm Sunday It felt sadder than usual not to go to church today. I'm not much into palm fronds, but I love the music.
I went down the rabbit hole again last night, so It was very late when I finally got to bed and I didn't get my full complement of sleep. I don't remember now when I got up, but it was somewhere around 11:00 or so, I think. I knitted on sock #1, the one with the bamboo in the yarn. I think bamboo was another fad fiber--it's actually rayon made from bamboo--but I like it. It's extremely soft and it has a sort of cool feel to it. I think I've read that it absorbs perspiration well and it's antibacterial. Anyway, I set my 40-row marker. I usually put a marker after 40 rows to make it easier to count. I have another 36 rows to go on that leg.
That was about all I did besides my surfing. I did get the south end pill dispensers filled, finally. There were still some internet problems and I've been having some weird problems with my router. I wrote another 1400 words tonight, on top of the 5500 I wrote yesterday, and I ended that day in the story. It was a rather busy day for my characters.
The weather was clear in the morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon. The temperature got up to 44º and there was almost no wind. Most, if not all, of the snow we got yesterday is gone again. I hope this is the end of it. We could have another blizzard - we have before - but it's been such a warm winter that I doubt it could happen.
The guys slept. They got a little loving but Grayson didn't get to sleep on my lap. Our schedules didn't mesh today. I think Louie is sleeping up at the north end, as usual.
So that was all there was. I must track down whether Pastor posted a service for today, but I can do that tomorrow. Now it's a partly cloudy, cool night in the field.
April 4 Again I was a bit later than i wanted to be, but I had my second accident of the day on my way up to the north end, and then I started dribbling off. Once I got to bed, I slept well, with two wakeups - it seems like my bladder will only hold about 3½ hours' worth.
When I got up, I knitted two rows on the shawl, read a few things, filled the pill dispensers and finally took a bath. So now, at least, I can go right to bed...or as nearly right to bed as ever when I go up to the north end. I didn't fill the south end pill dispensers, but they're not quite as critical as the ones at the north end. I can do that tomorrow.
There was some trouble with my internet connection today, which made me power fail the router, the extender and my phone...and then it turned out that it was a PastyNet problem. They were transferring over to a new fiber connection down in Kearsarge, which meant that I had no connectivity for most of the afternoon. So...I played a couple of the CDs I found the other day, both Schubert, and I wrote. I've been thinking about a particular scene for several weeks now and I finally had the time to write it. I'm not sure I got it right, but at least it's in the computer...or it will be when I save the file!
The weather started out bad. It rained between 11:00 PM last night until 6:00 AM this morning and then it apparently snowed about an inch. So it was cloudy and dull this morning, but it cleared up by 4:00 PM this afternoon and it was quite clear at sunset. The temperature finally got up to 33º, but for most of the day it was under freezing and there was a brisk wind out of the north with gusts up to 32 mph.
The guys slept. I didn't see much of Louie and Grayson didn't get any lap time, in part because I was doing other things.
So that was another very quiet day and now it's a cold night in the field but it's not very dark because the moon is shining up there.
April 3 There are a couple of things I've forgotten to mention the past couple of days, although I think I've forgotten one of them again. Wednesday night - or early Thursday morning, I guess - i was sitting in the bathroom when all of a sudden I heard howling and yelping outside. I think it was back behind the garage, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. I was hearing something that sounded like growling, too, but that could have been because Grayson was lying in front of the door to the porch. Or maybe it was the bear? Anyway, it raised up the hair on my head. I hate coyotes. There was just that one episode, though, and it's only the second time I've heard them so close to the house. However, I know they're there and I will try my best to keep the cats inside. I don't think either of them understand about coyotes.
Oh, I remembered what else I wanted to say. I finally got my money out of PayPal, and my account with them seems to be all right now. Not that I intend to do any more business with them than I have to or suggest that anybody else does either. I will continue to keep my account open for donations. Thanks to everyone.
I was late last night, for all the usual reasons. I slept well, with two wakeups, and after I got up for real, I knitted on sock #4, the one with the two-row color changes. It's actually less than two rows and it's not consistent, so i went through a section where the repeats were 1½ rows. Nobody will ever notice.
I had to go out today to get my Schwan's order, which is probably good, since I actually have to start the car. The road is messy, especially on the north-facing hills, but the snow pack is beginning to break up even there, so pretty soon it will be clear and Schwan's can come to me, as well as UPS.
That was about all I did, although I did embroider a bit during the talking. There were several very small motifs that I got done and the next time I embroider, I'll be working on one that is maybe 2" in diameter. I'm getting to the end and I admit I'm finally getting tired of this thing. It's really big, and even though the motifs are mostly all different, stitching with only one color does get boring after a while.
The weather started out clear and clouded up late in the day. We're in for some snow/rain/sleet overnight, so it's not over yet. the high temperature was 51º and there was a rather brisk wind from the south, with gusts up in the low 20s.
The guys slept. Louie got some loving this morning and Grayson slept on my lap for a while before he left for the pink chair. When I came out of the kitchen after putting my food away, Louie was sitting on the table in the sunshine and Grayson was asleep in the pink chair. They may not always be right with me, but they're usually not far away.
Now, what was that other thing I was thinking about...oh, my mind. It's a warmish, dark night in the field and we won't get to see Venus tonight, either.
April 2 A few more April Fool's items appeared today, but every one that I read was more whimsical than nasty. There was one about the whale migration in the Great Lakes that tickled me. I wonder if whales could live in fresh water.
I was a bit later than I wanted to be last night, but I got to bed at a sort of reasonable hour, and I slept well, with two wakeups. Of course, getting to bed later meant I got up later, but that was all right.
I knitted on sock #3, the white one, and my nice vertical stripes have now disintegrated into spirals, as I knew they would. They are still going to be nice summer socks. I ended up knitting for a long time and I made good progress.
I was very late eating anyway, because I had to sit back down after I washed my face, but at least so far, I haven't had any more accidents in the past couple of days. That is always a relief.
I was so late that i didn't do much of anything except my surfing, and I knitted through the talking. I didn't feel like embroidering and the more rows I can do in the rotation, the faster the sock will go.
The weather was rather nice. The high temperature was 42º and there was almost no wind. It wasn't as clear as it was yesterday and it began to cloud up seriously around sunset.
The sun set exactly when the camera took a picture, which was neat. it's setting over Porter's Island now, and it's amazing how fast it's moving north. Days are getting longer at 3¼ minutes a day, which comes out to almost 23 minutes a week. I know it's beginning to get a bit light around 5:30 AM. The only thing i really, really don't like about winter is that it's so dark all the time. It would be different if it was dark and clear. so we could see the stars, but it isn't like that around here. Of course, by the way, it's going to be cloudy for the next few days, so I won't be able to see Venus sailing right through the Pleiades. Of course.
The guys were sleepy, but they both got some loving, and Grayson got to sleep on my lap for quite a while before I had to move him. They like all the sunshine.
Oh, yes, I did the census thing tonight. I keep hoping that some year, I might get the long form again, but I didn't this time, and it was easy to fill out and the website worked just fine and had a very clean design. So I'm legal.
Now it's a sort of warmish night in the field, and I must go to bed.
April 1 I was SO glad almost nobody, even very few of my funnies, tried to play April Fool's jokes today. I've always hated that, I think because most of the so-called jokes are actually very cruel attacks on someone vulnerable. It was a great relief. Of course, APOD did have a cute one, but I can't deny that potato and that asteroid look a whole lot alike... if you don't see the one for April 1, you can find it if you click on the "Archive" link at the bottom of the page.
I was later than I wanted to be last night, but I got caught in the Google Discover trap again. I slept well, with only one wakeup, and I got up around 10:30, but I felt lousy when I got up and I still do. It feels strange not to have to rustle around and get bulletins out.
I knitted on sock #2, and i knitted longer than I expected, because it looks sort of like the stripes are random. Of course, I'll have to do a whole lot more than I have, because it could be that it's just one of those long-repeat patterns like my crazy sweat socks. Anyway, after the third blue stripe followed by a narrow green stripe, I gave up. The yarn isn't the easiest to knit with, because of that elastic. It's hard to find the right tension. I do like the colors, though. If it's more blue than green (which it looks like right now), it won't bother me.
The weather was nice. It was cloudy this morning, but it began to clear up around noon and the afternoon was lovely. No more pretty pictures, though. The best sunsets happen when there are some clouds. The high temperature was 40º and there was no wind. It was very humid, though - over 80% - and we had some slight fog. The harbor was like a mirror this evening, which I love to see.
The guys slept. They didn't get much loving, for various reasons. Grayson had a little upset this morning, but he seems all right now.
I keep forgetting to mention that for two or three weeks, when I'm sitting in the bathroom in the morning, I've been hearing the pileated woodpecker drumming. So spring will come! I always love to hear that sound. He's saying, "Here i am! Spring is here!" I think they mate for life, but that doesn't prevent him from courting her (or her courting him) every year.
I also noticed, when I was talking to Debbie last night, that the flower buds are beginning to swell on the birches. Around this time of year, the twigs begin to look all bumpy, and in a very few weeks, there will be catkins hanging all over them.
Of course, all the snow isn't gone. You can get in my breezeway again, but the piles where they plowed my driveway are still deep and there's a rim of ice all around the harbor, but the sun is so warm that eventually it will go away.
Now it's a clear, dark night in the field and I AM going to bed.
Last updated 05/01/20 10:37 PM Copyright S. I. Smith, 2000-2020
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