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A View From the Field |
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November, 2020 November 30 I was in bed before 1:00 last night and I slept very well, with no wakeful periods. it was nice not to be in constant pain. I didn't get up until after 11:00, so I should have had enough sleep, but I'm tired again, and it's not because I did anything. The only thing i did was take a bath. I waited a long time to do it, but it was easier than I thought it might be.
It's sad. I used to love to shower, but these days sometimes it's such chore that I postpone it as long as I possibly can. Now the worst chore is getting the towel over and down my back, and I don't know how to fix that.
The weather was dark and dull and windy, but as far as I know, there was no more snow. The high temperature went down from 31º at midnight to 25º now. The wind had veered northeast and gone down from yesterday, but it was still gusting up to 29 mph at times. The lake i still singing nicely.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson got to sit on me twice after I finally got to the office and Louie is still holed up at the north end.
So tomorrow I have to go to town and get a blood test. I'm a little nervous about it, because I only hope it will show that I'm right about the tamoxifen. but I need to do it. While I'm down there, I think I will stop at Pat's and get a few things I need.
Now it's a cold, dark night in the field and I need to go to bed. Oh, yeah, and November is over. Sheesh.
November 29 I had the same problem last night, and I ended up sitting for an hour and a half or more and playing games until my hips stopped being sore. So I was late getting up and I didn't want to move, so I didn't even get dressed. It will save time when I go up to the north end, which will be soon.
I was sitting, doing nothing much, when Mary Ann called. It was so nice to hear her voice and we exchanged news.
The weather was the news. It was sort of warm and rainy this morning, but around noon the wind began to pick up and it started to snow. The sustained winds got to 30 mph with 48 mph gusts, so we are having another November gale. The snow was apparently very wet and sloppy, and by the time it got dark, the front windows were all coated. The high temperature was 40º, but that was early and it's been dropping ever since. Not a nice day.
The guys slept, of course, but when I put down their canned food - one of their favorites - they dug in right away and most of it was gone in a couple of hours. Grayson got to sit on me twice. Louie got some petting while I was talking to Mary Ann, but I couldn't give him my undivided attention.
So that was my day, and I'm just not getting enough sleep. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to make up for it tonight. It's a dark, cold, windy, snowy night in the field. It's winter.
November 28 So this is Saturday. All day yesterday I thought it was Saturday, so today had to be Sunday, right? How to be confused.
I was so late last night again. It was in part because after I brushed my teeth, I had to sit back down and I got sidetracked. I went right to sleep, but after about an hour and a half, i woke up and had to pee and when I went back to bed, my legs were sore and I had a nerve firing on the bottom of my big toe that really hurt, so I finally got up again and sat for well over an hour. After that, I got about 4 hours' good sleep, but it wasn't enough. It's late again now, and I'm tired. Needless to say, I didn't do anything, and the list is getting longer by the day...
The weather was nice. It was almost clear and there was a lot of sunshine. The harbor looked blue for the first time in a long time. The high temperature was 45º am mostly there wasn't much wind. Nice.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for a while and he got some turkey. I didn't know he likes it so well, but he made a pest of himself until I gave him some, very small pieces a few at a time. Louie spent the day up at the north end, as usual.
I have been forgetting to mention that the low water alarm in the septic tank sounded for two weeks straight before I took my last bath, which filled it enough. It didn't start at first because it always takes 12 hours before it begins, but even if I could get downstairs to turn it off, it would keep coming back on until the water level got high enough. What a stupid design. Like, nobody ever pumps out their tank completely? The guy who did the work muttered something about the whole system not being installed correctly, and I guess I'm not surprised. At least the noise has stopped.
Now it's a partly cloudy, not very cold night in the field and I really must go to bed.
November
27
The weather was nondescript again. The high temperature was 37º md there was brisk north wind, with gusts up to 29 mph, although it has died down some now. It was dull and dreary, except for a ray of sunshine around 4:15 PM that didn't last more than about 5 minutes.
The guys slept, i think. I didn't see much of either of them. They not only got their kibble bowls filled, they got one of their most favorite canned foods, too, which is almost all gone. Grayson did come to see what I had for dinner, but he persists in thinking it comes in a bowl, so when I show him my salad bowl, he goes away. What he was smelling doesn't come in a bowl.
So that was my day and now I will just about make it to bed. It's a cold, dark night in the field, but the moon is almost full, so it should be bright.
November 26 - Thanksgiving Day I hope everyone got to have a more or less normal day today, while still protecting yourselves from the virus.
Of course I was late getting to bed and late getting up and I sat and did nothing for a long time. I did get to have my turkey roll and it was good. It sat on "keep warm" for about three hours, so it was a bit overcooked, but it's tasty and very tender, so it was a nice dinner. I was going to roast one of my delicata squashes, but I wanted a salad, and I knew I couldn't eat that, plus potatoes and turkey and still eat squash, so I'll have to have that some other time. There is a recipe I want to try to roast the squash which is supposed to leave it brown and maybe crispy. I think I can do one squash in the stove-top oven (they're small).
The weather was nondescript. It was very dark and dreary. The high temperature was 38º. The wind was almost calm this morning, but it picked up around noon to 28 mph gusts from the northwest. It was quite variable, too, almost calm one minute and blowing the next.
The guys mostly slept. Grayson slept on me for a good part of the talking and he made a nuisance of himself until I gave him a couple of crumbs of turkey, which he ate, amazingly enough. He has been nattering at me because the kind of kibble he really likes is empty, but tomorrow not only will he get his kibble, he'll also get something good out of a can. Louie had to come around while I was cooking - if you can call it that - just to make sure he wasn't missing something, but he's back up at the north end now.
I managed to scrub my potatoes enough to get a very nasty smell and taste off them. It smells - and tastes - like spoiled potato, and it nearly spoiled my dinner the last time I had potatoes. Nothing looks spoiled, but the potatoes are quite dirty and it took some doing to scrub all the dirt and the smell off them. There are things I like a lot about Pat's, but their veggies are not among them. They all look like second quality to me. However, the alternative is to go down to Houghton, so I'll make do. I have a better veggie brush on my list.
Now it's a cool, dark, cloudy night in the field.
November 25 As usual, I was later than i wanted to be last night, and I didn't sleep very well. This was a bit different, though. I think I have a little cold - or my winter virus - and my nose was so stuffed up that I was having a hard time breathing. I went right to sleep, because I was very tired, but after I woke up the first time, I couldn't get my nose unclogged, so I was mostly awake for a couple of hours. Then it miraculously opened up and I went back to sleep. The same thing almost happened the second time I woke up, but that didn't last as long and I was fine by the time I got up for the day. I didn't do anything.
The weather was nondescript. The high temperature was 39º and there wan't any wind. It was dark and dreary.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on my lap for a while after I got to the office and he's asleep on the cart now. Louie only came down to the kitchen to eat breakfast, and then he went back up to tne north end.
So that was it. It's a dark, but not very cold, night in the field.
November 24 I was late again last night, but it didn't matter much except that I got a call from the podiatrist's office that woke me up. I went back to sleep, though, and I think it was after noon before I woke up.
I didn't return that call, but i did call the other two nurses . I haven't heard from the oncologist's office yet, but I think I have the rest o fit under control. I had to say "Wait a minute, that's not what we decided" to the NP, but I explained it to the nurse - the other nurse, not the one who called me before I got home yestarday - and when she checked back with Trish, she agreed, so everything is like it was when I got home yesterday. MY potassium was up a bit, but it's still very low, but I've stopped the tamoxifen and I will have another blood test next Tuesday. and then we'll see whether I'm right ot she is. Stay tuned.
The weather was nondescript. It was dark and dreary, and from the accumulation in the gutter between the garage and the breezeway and the pictures from the camera. it appears there was some light snow all day. The high temperature was 36º and there were strong southwest winds, with gusts up to 33 mph after 11:00 AM. It was quite humid.
The guys slept and I didn't see much of them. Grayson was around, but he didn't try to sit on my lap. I don't know wny, but I gave up trying to understand cats a long time ago.
So it was a nice, quiet day and I'm mre than ready for bed. It's a cold, dark night in the field.
November 23 I made it into bed by 11:30 last night - only a little while after I wanted to be - and I slept well. I got up around 9:00 and i got my surfing done before I left. I stopped at the post office, where there was a lot of mail, a lot of it junk, and a whole bunch of pills.
The trip to Laurium was slow. While the road in the Harbor wasn't bad, from the Mountain Lodge to Central, it was horrible. After that, they had salted, which helped. I wonder if there's some county official who is living at Gratiot Lake.
Anyway, I got to the hospital in time to get my blood test and then I had a long conversation with Trish (she's my health provider). I thought we had a plan of action, but when I got home, there was a message from them that I will have to return tomorrow. I don't know why, but my potassium is still quite low and they seem more worried about that than i am. I am going to stop taking tamoxifen, because I think that has something to do with all this problem I'm having, but i have to talk to Oncology about taking some different hormone therapy. It's going to take some doing to try to figure out what's going on.
I didn't leave the hospital until almost 4:30 and I had to get gas, so it was 5:30 before I got home. I had some coupons, so my gas cost me $1.889, which was really nice, even though I didn't need the whole 15 gallons. I'll take any break I can get, including 30¢ a gallon off.
I had to follow a sand truck all the way from Delaware. It wasn't doing anything bur scraping the road a bit - it wasn't laying any sand - but it had enough lights on it that I could tell there was ice on the road. Ugly. I did slip once or twice, but not badly. It was just a long, slow trip both ways.
the weather was very wintry, even though the snow happened overnight. The temperature was still 36º at midnight, but it went down from there, and it's 25º now. it was in the middle 20s all day, but fortunately for me while I was pumping gas, the wind went down to almost nothing, too. It was about as dark and dreary as I've seen since last winter.
As far as I know, the guys slept while I was gone. Sometime during the night, I had just gotten back into bed when Grayson decided to mix it up with Louie, who evidently bit him hard, at least from the noise. Then, not very long afterward, Grayson caught, or almost caught a mouse. It was evidently quite a robust one, because he caught it twice, and since I didn't find any bodies, I guess it got away. i hope it made it.
So that was my day. Tomorrow I may know more about my health - or maybe not. For now I will go to bed early and try to get up early enough to call all those people on a phone I can hear. When I got home, I accidentally deleted the phone message from Schwan's that wanted me to call back about the stuff I want to send back, but if it really interests them, they can call me back. I doubt they will.
Now it's a very cold, dark, cloudy night in the field.
November 22 I feel much better today, even though I didn't get all that much sleep. Now I see that my reaction to the flu shot wasn't just the pain in my shoulder - I had flu-like symptoms, too. It's been so long since I've had any reaction to a flu shot that I didn't realize it. Well, I'll report it tomorrow. MY shoulder is still stiff.
I did nothing, and in fact, I didn't get dressed. I did take a bath so I would be clean for tomorrow, but that was all, and I did it really late. Anyway, I'm clean.
The weather was nondescript. The high temperature was 39º and there wasn't any wind. It was very humid, though, and it was cloudy. Blah.
The guys are so patient with me. They slept all day, even though most of their kibble bowls were empty and Sunday is a day when they get canned food. They really chowed down on the canned food, though. I was surprised to see Grayson come back for a second helping. He got to sleep on my lap for a while and he is not asleep on the cart. I can only stand to be as quiet as he wants for a while before I get twitchy, which he hates. I'm sure Louie is up at the north end again.
So that was my lost day and now it's a warmish cloudy night in the field and I need to get to bed shortly.
November 21 I didn't make it into bed until around 2:00 AM, but I didn't get up until noon, so I got enough sleep, and I didn't feel bad when I got up. I do now, but I've gotten to expect that. I didn't do anything.
The weather was sort of nondescript. The high temperature was only 34º and there wasn't any wind. It's very humid, which I guess is why I hurt so bad. It was cloudy until around 5:00 PM, when it cleared up. The crescent moon was shining in the south windows. The days are just about 9 hours long now, unfortunately.
The guys shept. Grayson got to sleep on me for quite a while and he keeps trying to get at the things I have on my food tray, none of which he can have. Louie spent most of the day at the north end, of course.
That was it, and now it's a clear (I think), cold night in the field.
November 20 i was stupidly late last night, but i slept well until the last three hours or so. Then my shoulder got so sore I couldn't sleep on it, but I finally got some more sleep on my back. I don't like to sleep on my back because it frequently makes it hurt, but it seemed all right this morning. I am going to have to take some more Tylenol about 6 hours after I go to bed.
I tracked down my shipment. For some reason it got to the post office. I will get it Monday. It was too nasty to go out today. I didn't do anything else.
The weather was lousy. We had some rain this morning, but by noon it had turned to snow, and there was an accumulation of a couple of inches. We got a ray of sunshine at 4:40 PM, but it didn't last long. The high temperature was 38º, and there was a strong, north wind with gusts up to 39 mph. It was a bit less humid than yesterday, which was good for my joints.
The guys slept and Grayson got a lot of lap time. I haven't seen Louie since breakfast, but it's more comfortable at the north end
I do not feel good. I can't tell if I'm fighting my winter virus or it's my potassium or both. I feel a bit better than yesterday, which is hopeful. I am very tired and headachy and I'm not hungry. For the second day in a row, I only ate half my dinner. I wanted a salad, and it filled me up so much I couldn't eat more than half of my dinner. I guess I'll be eating leftovers tomorrow.
So now it's a cold, dark night in the field and it's time to go to bed.
November 19 I didn't get to bed until after 11:30 last night, and it will be even later tonight. I slept fairly well, except that my right shoulder was sore, but there was a spam call right about 9:30, so I decided to get up. I shouldn't have. I knitted for a change and while the talking was going on, I embroidered. I am getting sooo close to the end of that project! Wow, will I be glad!
At some point, it occurred to me that my right shoulder was where I got my flu shot. It's been so long since I had a reaction that it didn't occur to me last night. I forgot to tell them about it when I talked to them today, but maybe I'll remember on Monday.
I have to eat more potassium today and tomorrow and get everything checked again on Monday, and when I laid my catch-22 on the nurse, she immediately said I need to talk to Trish. Yes! I most certainly do! So I will be going down to the clinic on Monday. In the meantime, I feel lousy and I have a very sore shoulder. I hope we can begin to get this straightened out, although I understand that we may be fiddling around for a while before it gets resolved - if it does.
Oh, yes, and I can't find the package UPS says they delivered on the 6th. I need to ask Ron if it's there, but I doubt it is, and in that case I will be talking to Amazon - and maybe the 3rd party seller - tomorrow. It's a bunch of acetaminophen and i'm getting low.
The weather was actually not bad. The high temperature was 49º. There was some wind, around 15 mph from the north or northwest, but sometimes it was blowing and sometimes it was calm. It was more cloudy than they were predicting, but there was some clear sky at sunsest and I could see the crescent moon a bit after it got dark.
Grayson is all right, or I think he is. He got to sleep on my lap a couple of times this afternoon, so he was happy, although he thougjt he wanted some of my dinner. Louie is still up at the north end.
So that was my day. I hope I get over this sore arm tomorrow. It really cramps my style not to be able to lift either arm without extreme pain. As for the rest of it, I will follow instructions and see what happens on Monday.
Now it's a partly cloudy, relativey warm night in the field and I need to go to bed.
November 18 I was so tired last night that I was in bed by 10;30. I slept, but it was sort of strange. It didn't seem like I was sleeping hard, but time passed. I had set the alarm, but my internal alarm clock woke me up about five minutes before it went off.
I was late getting away, but that usually happens. I got my blood work and I had my conversation with oncology. I don't have to see them again for six months, which is nice. Evidently my blood work wasn't so good, but I decided not to look at it until tomorrow. My potassium was way down again, which no doubt is part fo the reason i felt so lousy when I got up.
Then it was off to Pat's, where I was quite modest - or without the JD I was quite modest. I think it was about 4:30 when I got home, and I just sat for quite a while before I brought the cold stuff in. I am excited - Bird's Eye has a microwaveable bag of creamed spinach! I love creamed spinach, so I am going to be very interested to see what this tastes like. I also found a couple other interesting frozen things, so I will be able to eat something different for a while.
The weather was OK. The high temperature was 43º, and it was actually a couple of degrees cooler in town. There were high clouds, but a little sunshine. The wind shifted around to the southwest and it began to rise around 8:00 AM. By the time I got home, the gusts were up to 46 mph, and then by 7:00 PM, it went calm. Weird. From the Mountain Lodge to Calumet there was snow on the ground, a couple of inches in Calumet. That's a problem for me, because they do a terrible job of clearing parking lots around here and from now on I will need someone to wedge their foot against my foot in order for me to get into my car.
The guys are all right, I think. i was worried about Grayson, because when I left, he was lying in the great room and he didn't even get up, but he was playing with the rug this morning and he seems all right now. He just got off my lap, so he got a nice love-in. I haven't seen Louie since breakfast.
So that was my day and I hope to have another early night. It's a cloudy, dark night in the field, but it's not too cold.
November 17 I was in bed before midnight last night, and I slept OK. I was up around 10:00 and decided that wasn't enough - I had been wakeful in the middle of the night - so I went back to bed for a while. That was all I did, except to call the clinic and ask a couple of questions. There were things I should have done, but oh, wel
We are still having a November gale, although the wind is finally dying down. Early this morning, the gusts got up to 35 mph, but they are only 25 mph now. The high temperature was only 30º. There wasn't any precip, but it was dark and dull and gray all day.
The guys slept. Louie got a little pet, and so did Grayson, but he didn't get to sleep on my lap. Their kibble bowls were empty this morning, and when I filled them, they were happy.
And that's all there is. I need to go to bed early and get up early tomorrow, because I have to be at the clinic at 12;30. Now it's a cold, dark, windy night in the field.
November 16 Of course, I was later than I wanted to be. I slept well for about six hours, and then my hips got so sore that I couldn't sleep anymore, so I didn't get enough and I'm very tired now. I didn't want to take any Tylenol on an empty stomach, but if this happens again, I will. I need my 10 hours!
i washed my hair and slathered on a couple of kinds of conditioners, and we'll see how that works. I DO have curly hair, it's just that the frizz had overtaken it.
The bulletin information for next week and the Sunday after came in last night, so I worked on that. I got the ones for next week out, but the one for the First Sunday in Advent is that weird Divine Service 5, so i decided postpone that one. Besides, I was afraid I'd confuse everyone if I sent out two Sunday bulletins at once. Well, that's over with.
I wanted to get it done today, because I have to go to town on Wednesday. I wish I didn't, because that message I got "Stay safe, stay home" resonates, but I need to talk to the oncology department about my kidneys.
The weather is beginning to calm down, but it's still blowing hard and besides, it was cold. The temperature during the day was right around freezing and the wind is still from the north. At 9"00, it was 29 mph with gusts to 40 mph. That's better than the 53 mph gusts we had overnight, but not a lot. it was extremely dark and dreary.
The guys responded by sleeping, of course. When I came out of the bathroom, Grayson was asleep on top of one of the reading pillows, where he often sleeps, and Louie was under the bed. Under the bed makes sense, since it undoubtedly concentrates the heat from the floor. Grayson go to sleep on me, but I had to move him, because when I wanted to start typing, he didn't want to move. I hope he's all right. He acts funny sometimes.
So that was my day and now it's a cold, windy night in the field and as soon as the Beethoven (the 6th, my second or third fave) is over, I will be gone. I will. I'm so tired I couldn't even eat all my dinner.
November 15 Well, I didn't. In fact, I almost inverted. So I got up late and just sat for too long, so I don't have much to report. i did get the rest of the pill dispensers filled.
The story is the weather. We're having a wonderful November gale. Fortunately it hasn't been too cold, but oh, my, that wind! It shifted to the north around 8:00 AM and picked up. The highest was 38 mph sustained with 52 mph gusts, between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. It's dying down a bit now. The high temperature was this morning, 42º, and it's gone down slowly since then. Starting at about 8:00 PM last night, we had just about an inch of rain, but there hasn't been any more since 6:00 PM. Of course, it was very dark and dreary, and I couldn't see the mountain all day.
The guys slept. Grayson didn't get his lap sit because I was doing pill dispensers, and he finally left in disgust. They got canned food today and they both sat right down and ate it.
So that was all there is. I should go to bed, and I will try to, but they're playing Beethoven's Third, and I'll listen to that any time I can. We'll see what happens when it's over.
It's a dark, cold, windy night in the field.
November 14 Sorry, I forgot to upload this last night. You can read it tonight. I was late. I was so tired it was too much trouble to move. So I got up late and didn't do anything much. I did get the north end pill dispensers filled, but I will have to do the south end tomorrow. I'm going to try to get to bed again.
The weather was, um, blustery. The high temperature was 43º. The wind was from the south or southwest and so far the highest gusts were 45 mph. I guess it's going to be worse overnight. Of course, while the wind was that strong, we had several power glitches, but the generator isn't running, so the only casualties are the clocks and the ovens, which are beeping again. It started raining around 8:00 PM. As best I could tell, it was cloudy and dreary.
The guys slept, mostly in the bathroom with me, although Grayson just went away after his lap sit.
So that was all there was - nothing. Now it's a dark, windy night in the field. They're playing Sibelius, and when that is over, I will go to bed. I will.
November 13 I was in bed before 11:00, but I had a bad night, and I didn't realize why until I looked at my evening pill dispenser tonight. Yup, I didn't take my evening pills. Fortunately, that's not a problem with the blood thinner, but I didn't get my gabapentin. No wonder I was restless and all the rest of it. Anyway, I didn't get to sleep well until after about 6:00 this morning, so even though I was in bed for close to 11 hours, I'm really tired now.
I had several phone calls on my to-do list today, and i got them done. I raided the piggy bank. At 2:00 AM or so this morning, I was looking at my bank balance, and when I did, the hair rose up on my head. I had hoped to make it through, but with the septic cleaning and all, I just couldn't. So by Tuesday or so I should have enough to cover my bills.
Then I called Schwan's and chewed them out and, of course, got excuses. They are apparently going to call me back next week, and I expect to chew them out, too. While I was doing all that, my order arrived, unfortunately. I'd hoped to catch the driver and ask him to put the box on the platform, since it was much too heavy for me to lift, even if I could use both hands. So I took a couple of bags and unloaded it in the breezeway. While I was stashing it away, I chipped the ice out of the bottom of the freezer. Last year, the leak stopped around this time, but it doesn't look like it's going to do that this year. What a pain.
Oh, yes, and this morning, I got that nasty message from AT&T saying I still had an outstanding balance. Well, sure, I figured that, but not only had I never gotten a message from them saying my bill was ready, I have it set up so that the bill also goes to the bank, and that never happened. So I called them and got no satisfaction there, either. Except that I finally stopped my AT&T long distance service, which has gone up to $12 a month. I haven't been using it. I've been making long distance and toll calls on my cell phone. I'm hoping I can continue to do that. Since everything south of Calumet is a toll call, I use that a lot.
I hate telephones anyway.
It was a dark and dismal day. The weather station was down all night, but the temperature dropped from 35º at 7:00 AM to 27º now. For most of the day the wind was from the north with gusts up to 25 mph, but lately it's switched around to the southwest. I guess that's why it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow. It was very cloudy and dark.
The guys slept. Grayson did finally get to sleep on me for a while. I haven't seen Louie, but so far I haven't had to go up to the north end.
So that was it, and now it's time to totter up to the north end and try to get a better night's sleep. It's a cold, dark night in the field.
November 12 I got the dates wrong. This is Thursday, November 12. Between Beethoven and reading, I inverted, and I only got about 6 hours' sleep, so I'm going to be way early tonight. I can barely keep my eyes open.
The weather was nondescript again. The high temperature was 41º and there wasn't much wind. It was dark and dull and dreary and between 6:00 and 7:00 PM, there was a little rain.
The guys slept. Grayson got to sleep on me after I ate, and Louie is camped out in the north end.
So that's all, and I'm going to bed. Really. It's a cold, dark night in the field.
November 11 I was late last night and I'm going to be later tonight. Tonight I can blame it on Beethoven, or at least yourclassical.org. They have turned their "Favorites" stream into wall-to-wall Beethoven and I couldn't resist. I even got to hear half of Symphony #3, which is too long for the radio stream. I couldn't hear most of it because I was having an accident, but I got to hear the first two movements. It's one of my favorites and I haven't heard it for a long time. Bliss.
This morning, I knitted and took my time about getting dressed, because I didn't have anything scheduled for the day. The only thing that happened was that I got a shipping confirmation for my Schwan's order - and it will be delivered Friday, not tomorrow like they said. Now I am angry. I got an email with a 15% off offer on Tuesday, but when I tried to update my order, it wouldn't let me. In my opinion, they either should have let me update the order or delivered it tomorrow. i will be calling them tomorrow, because I've learned not to call nights or on weekends. Grr.
Oh, I finally washed my load of polar fleece. It's still in the washer, but I will dry it either tonight or tomorrow. And I was wrong about the septic alarm. It's been going off for the past two days, at least, and I don't think the cats will go downstairs. I need to wash dishes (no, I didn't do that) and more clothes, and hopefully that will put enough water into it to stop the alarm. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'll do, because I can't go down there, at least until someone is here to backstop me.
The weather was nondescript. The wind peaked between 3:00 and 4:00 AM, with gusts up to 41 mph from the north, but it died down after that and shifted around to the west. The high temperature was 36º and it is still very humid. It was cloudy and dull all day.
The guys slept. They were upset this morning because all their bowls were empty, but not only did they get kibble, they got canned food and that made them happy. Louie was up at the north emd. bit Grayson was with me and he got to sleep on my lap for a while.
So that was it, and now it's really late, but oh, that Beethoven...I assume they'll be running this stream until December 16, but they keep playing things I want to hear...
It's a cold, dark night in the field.
November 10 Oh, I was late again, but I only got about 8 hours' sleep. I keep hoping that will get me to bed earlier, but so far it hasn't happened. Maybe tonight.
The task of the day was the bulletin, and I did that. I really need to wash dishes, but that didn't happen. I wasn't quite as creaky today as I've been lately, so maybe tomorrow I can do dishes. Of course, it's going to rain and/or snow, so it may be worse.
The weather today wasn't very good either. The rain stopped by 1:00 AM. The temperature then was 65º, but it went down from there and it was only in the middle 30s during the day. The wind was from the north for most of the day, around 15 mph, but lately it has shifted around to the east. That usually has dire consequences during the wintertime. Even though it didn't rain, it was very dull and dreary and the humidity was high.
The guys slept. Grayson got to sleep on me and I think Louie hung out at the north end, although when I was up there, I didn't see him.
So it was another nothing day and now it's a cold, dark night in the field.
November 9 Of course I was late again, but not excessively so. I slept so hard that I woke up leaking twice, fortunately not too badly. I finally got up around noon and of course I fiddled around for quite a while, but I did finally get my bath. I also knitted for a while and finished the second motif in the second repeat of the second end. Lots of twos. I have just over half of that repeat to go and then I can start on the edging.
I tried a new conditioner on my hair and I think I may be getting control of my frizz. Some time ago, my hair got very frizzy and dry feeling, but for so long (like, 60 years) my hair and scalp have been very oily, so I had a hard time realizing what the problem is. My scalp is still oily, which is a problem, but I decided to try some new conditioner, if I can keep it away from my scalp. My hair seems better, but we'll see how it is tomorrow and how long before I look like an oil pot got dumped on my head.
That was all I did, but I'm clean now and my bottom is healing up. I hope I can get the hair thing under control, because I need to bathe every couple of days. The stuff that comes out of me is so corrosive that after a few days, the skin on my bottom starts to break down and it hurts. I don't like to try to use Calmoseptine on it unless it's very clean, which means washing with soap and water. I wish mightily that I had investigated combination toilet/bidets when I was building, but I didn't and I couldn't possibly afford one now.
The weather was all right until around 8:00 PM, when it started to rain. The high temperature was 66º again, and I'm afraid this was our last warm day. The wind was from the southwest with gusts up to 26 mph until 8:00 PM when it switched north, also quite gusty. It was partly cloudy all day, but there was some sunshine this afternoon. We've had 0.16" of rain in the past two hours. Sigh,
The guys did their thing. The last time I went back to bed, Louie got on the bed and settled down to take a bath, and when I finally got up, he was lying crosswise down by my feet, so comfy, although he was not pleased when I kicked him and threw the covers over him. A while later, he came into the bathroom to be with me and gave up a large hairball right on the rug. Ugh. Grayson got some lap time tonight after i ate.
So it was another strange day and I didn't get nearly as much done as I'd hoped. The dishes are all still in the sink. I tried to place a Schwan's order and I can't do it online. It won't take IE or Firefox (! even though they say they support it) and with Brave, when I get to the first checkout page, all the "Continue" buttons are shaded out and won't work. I decided to wait until tomorrow so I can call them during the day when there may be some useful support. Nights and weekends are not the time to call customer support for any site. It's a big order, too. I'm running out of lots of things.
Now it's a cold, rainy, windy night in the field and maybe, just maybe, I can get to bed at a sort of reasonable hour.
November 8 It was another weird day. I got to bed very late, but not like the day before. Of course, I slept hard. After I was up for the second time, I had a bit of a problem getting back to sleep, and then I started hearing something that sounded suspiciously like a big diesel truck, but it sort of went away. I was just about to settle down when there was a knock at the door!
So I got up and tottered down the hallway without my cane and in my nightie and bare feet, and there was the septic guy! Egad!! He wanted to come in and check the pipe to the hose bib because no water was coming out of it. He didn't find anything wrong, and he went back outside, so I quick threw on some clothes and when I checked again, he was busily pumping out the tank and his hose was there, so the water started running. I guess there must have been some air in the line. I also asked him to check the dryer vent.
Anyway, it takes a while to pump out my tank - it's 1500 gallons - so I decided to forge ahead and start making some breakfast. I had to stop a couple of times and sit because I was very creaky. I did take my morning pills, but I didn't wash my face or my teeth and i never brushed my hair. My plan had been to sleep for a reasonable time, then take a bath. Well, that never happened.
I didn't get my breakfast before the guy left. He likes to be paid immediately, so I had to write him a check. It was more than I hoped, but a lot less than the other guy. He said that the dryer vent was plugged, and I assume he cleaned it out - we'll see the next time I dry clothes - and he said he's going to retire. I can't blame him. He looks to be in his sixties now and that is a very strenuous job. Just hoisting the lids on the access holes is hard enough.
Whew. After breakfast, I almost fell asleep, but I decided to stay up so that i can get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour tonight. It won't be early, because I decided I needed to make rice and cook and that took time, but I don't have anything on tomorrow so I can sleep to my heart's content.
The weather was nice again. The high temperature was 66º and there wasn't any wind. It was clear to partly cloudy all day.
The guys were asleep when the septic guy came. Louie disappeared when the guy knocked, but Grayson wandered around, wondering what was going on. They got their very favorite canned food today and I was surprised to see how many times Grayson went back to the dishes while I was doing my breakfast. And by late afternoon, it was all gone, so Louie must have eaten the rest of it when he came back out of the basement.
So that was my day. Now I'm strapped for cash again, but the septic tank is good to go for another three years. I had it clog up once and I don't want that to ever happen again. It's a relief not to have to worry about that for a while. Septic systems are a pain, but when I consider the problems I had with the sewer system on Champine, I guess there's no getting away from effluent problems. The joys of the happy homeowner.
Now it's a warmish, dark night in the field and there just might be a star.
November 7 So I inverted big-time and did nothing once I finally got up, so I have nothing to report.
The weather was cloudy, but not too dark. The high temperature was 64º and there wasn't much wind. However, when the wind went calm, the temperature immediately dropped off into the 50s - it's all that cold water. It was quite humid.
The guys slept.
Now it's a cool, dark night in the field and maybe I can get to bed?
November 6 Up to my old tricks. I wasn't horribly late, but later than I should have been. It was a so-so night. I was awake for about an hour around 6:00 AM because I had an ache in my left leg. Eventually, by sitting for half an hour or so, I managed to get it enough under control that I was able to get back to sleep. I didn't o anything. I didn't feel like it.
The weather was nice again, although the temperature was weird. It got up to 70º around noon, but by 2:00 it had dropped back to 62º and it was in the middle 50s for the rest of the afternoon. I think it was because the wind shifted around to the north and then went calm. At the airport, it was in the 70s all afternoon, with a high of 76º. Weird what a difference 40 miles can make, but then, that's the lake. It was cloudy this morning, clered up for a while, then got cloudy again until sunset, when it was clear again. There wasn't any reporting yesterday and last night from the NWS because the phone line at Marquette went down (!!). I was happy to see that evidently the weather stations saved all that data and uploaded it when the line was fixed. That happened sometime this morning when I wasn't looking.
The guys slept. Grayson got to sit on me for the first time in a couple of days, which was nice for both of us. Louie is up at the north end. I don't even know if he knows he got canned food today.
i had noticed a problem with my local NPR station - the hourly news summary at 6:00 PM wasn't airing, leaving us with 5 minutes of dead air. So after the third day of it, I finally complained, and I got chewed out because I didn't report it sooner. Geez, already! Surely I'm not the only person in the Keweenaw who listens to the talking? If you want me to be a monitor, pay me.
So that was my day and now it's a clear relatively warm (for this time of year) night in the field.
November 5 I got to bed a little after midnight last night, but it took me two hours to get to sleep. I'm not completely sure what the problem was, but for one thing, my feet were bothering me a lot. They felt cold, even though they were warm. and they were tingly. Finally, after I got up and sat for a while, I got to sleep, and after that i slept fairly well, but even though I didn't get up until after 11:00, I didn't feel like I had enough sleep. Still don't.
I was planning to go and get my blood test, but the strangest thing happened. While I was making my breakfast, I got two phone calls. I don't answer the phone in the kitchen usually, because it doesn't have caller ID. The first one rang six times, which is when the answering machine comes on. The second one only rang five times. When I got to the office, there was a message. When I listened to it, it said "One. Stay safe and stay home." It seemed clear that it was one of those robocalls that starts talking right when the phone answers, but that meant I couldn't hear the entire message. The number was an 800 number (833 to be precise), but when I tried to find out what it was, there was no record of any such number.
However, it rather unnerved me, and upon consideration, I decided to take the advice. Of course, I didn't want to go at all, but that sounded to me like a message. So I went to the post office, where the pills I was looking for arrived. When i got back, I opened the box that came yesterday that had the things I was immediatly interested in (the other two were Kleenex and baby wipes). I am pleased to say that so far, the two things I was most interested in have turned out just fine. I got two chargers for the cell phone, both with 5' cords. the one I tried here works fine, so I presume the other one will, too. I don't know why Apple only gives Ior gave) only 3' cords with their chargers. There aren't many places where that's useful, especially if you want to use your phone while it's plugged in. The other thing was two LED flashlights, for about what I paid for the old one I have left. These are very nice and very bright, which is a good thing. One will stay here and the other one will stay in the bathroom. Oh, and I learned the hard way not to look at that LED. Wow, is it bright! They've improved LEDs a whole lot since the last one I bought - but I guess that was back in 2007 or so.
The weather was nice but cold. The temperature rose to 65º around midnight and then started to drop. It was around 50º all day. There was a north wind around 15 mph. It was cloudy this morning, then it cleared up until around 3:00 PM, when it clouded up again. The humidity was rather high. We haven't had a reading since 7:00 PM for some reason, but that happens every so often. Tomorrow is supposed to be almost hot.
The guys slept. For some reason, Grayson didn't even try to sit on me. I guess Louie is up at the north end. When Debbie was here, she put a rather small box (about 10" x 12") on the dining table and Grayson has appropriated it. He has been sleeping there while I'm making my breakfast. It's probably quite comfy. The sides are high enough that he can lean his head on them and with the sunshine we've been having, the sun has been shining on the box. It is just about big enough for him. The funny thing is, one time, I found Louie in it - and Louie is almost as twice as big as Grayson. That was cute.
So that was my day. I have more or less decided to abort the blood test. I will be at the hospital on the 18th to see Oncology and they take the same tests. I don't really want to have surgery on my feet in the wintertime anyway. And maybe if I keep hydrating, my kidney problem will resolve. I hope so.
Now it's a cold, cloudy night in the field and as soon as the Schubert ends, I will be going up to the north end.
November 4 I did it again, and I was even later. Then, after I got up for the first time, I had a very bad hour before I could get back to sleep. So I was very late getting up and even though I didn't fool around, it was too late by the time I was finished with breakfast. Sigh. Maybe I just don't want to go and get that blood test.
I did do something, though. I got ground beef when I shopped and it needed to be processed, and besides, I needed something to eat for dinner. There isn't enough room on the counters to work, and besides, I would have been standing up, so I brought the chair into the kitchen, moved my food tray and used the cart to make patties. Unfortunately, I also dripped onto a clean pair of jeans, so I won't be able to wear those tomorrow. Anyway, the meat is in the freezer and I had a fresh hamburger for dinner - on an onion roll. I didn't think Pat's was selling onion rolls anymore, but it seems like it's more that they sell out so fast sometimes there aren't any. I got the last bag when I shopped. They need to go in the freezer, too, but I think I'd like to split them before I put them away. Fresh hamburger with cheese on an onion roll is a very satisfying dinner.
The stuff I got from Amazon came today, but I haven't done anything about it yet. The Kleenex and the baby wipes can stay out in the breezeway, but there is a small box of other stuff I need to bring in - odds and ends I needed.
The weather was so nice I was sorry I didn't get out into it. The high temperature was 58º and there was almost no wind. It was clear and blue all day. So nice. We should get a few more days of this, but not many, and then it will be back into the 30s and rain and/or snow. That's the trouble with this time of year.
The guys slept. Grayson did finally get to sleep on my lap for a while, but not as long as he would have liked. I haven't seen Louie lately. Grayson actually begged for some ground beef, but when I gave him a piece that fell on the floor, he wasn't interested. I think he only wants to know I will give him some. He is a strange little cat, but considering that he was a stray, I think he turned out pretty good. Louie isn't interested in people food at all, although one time when he could still get on the desk, he ate something off my plate that Grayson wouldn't. I don't want to get him started. I know what a pain DC and Buster were. Buster especially - he couldn't eat beef but he loved it, and when I got fresh whitefish, I had to get enough for him to have a whole helping. This is better.
So that was my day, and it's still quite early so I think maybe I can get myself on some kind of human schedule. i should wash my hair toniight, but I probably won't.
It's a clear, dark night in the field.
November 3 Oh, I fooled around and I was late getting to bed, so I was late getting up and then I fooled around some more. I waited too long to go to the bathroom after breakfast, so I had an accident, and by the time I cleaned up after that, it was too late to go to town. So I didn't. Tomorrow, maybe.
The weather was lovely, and I'm sorry I wasn't out in it. The high temperature was 59º. In the morning, there was a strong southwest wind, with gusts up to 28 mph, but it died down in the afternoon. It wasn't quite ad cloud-free and they predicted, but there was lots of sunshine. Well, tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be about the same, so I have time to enjoy it.
The guys slept. I had to shoo Grayson away both times when he tried to sit on me, because I had to move. I'm sure Louie is up at the north end.
So that's all. Now it's maybe clear, dark night in the field.
November 2 I got to bed around 12:30 last night, but I'm going to be later tonight - since it's almost 12;30. I slept very well and I got up around 10:30. The wind was blowing and I just decided I didn't want to drive in it, so I stayed home. Of course, I was late eating breakfast and doing my surfing, and I was just about to go to the kitchen when Debbie called. We had a nice conversation. Her news was good, even though mine wasn't. Fortunately, she had something to do. so it was one of our shorter conversations.
Then I rolled myself out to the kitchen in my chair and assembled my tools. I decided this time I was going to wear gloves while I did the chipping, and I was glad I did. The door was open enough that some of the ice had melted (!) but where it hadn't, it was an inch and a half or more thick, so I had some pounding to do. It's fine now, the door closes, and I think it's getting cold in there again. I'm afraid it didn't do the food any good, and I should have done it over the weekend, but oh, well.
The weather wasn't too bad, if you ignored the wind. The high temperature was 48º. The wind was from the northwest and this morning it gusted as high as 44 mph, and 32 mph in the afternoon. It was partly cloudy in the early afternoon, but not as clear as they had been saying.
The guys slept, of course. Grayson was - and is - with me. I'm sure Louie is up at the north end.
So it was another quiet day and now I must go to bed, because I do want to go down to town tomorrow, but now I have to wait until the Mozart is over.
It's a cloudy, dark night in the field.
November 1 Of course I was late again and since I got 10 hours' sleep I got up very late. I was up several times, and I checked the weather every time. I also had to set the clock every time, because we had several power glitches. I took my bath, but that's about all I did. I washed my socks and a sweatshirt, and I will dry that overnight. The door on the freezer won't close all the way, so I have to do something about that, but I don't think it will be tonight.
The weather...ah, the weather! As i mentioned last night, the wind was rising when I wrote and it continued to rise all night. The final numbers were a max 47 mph sustained and max gusts of 69 mph, but not in the same hour. The max sustained was between 9:00 and 10:00 AM, but the max gusts were between 8:00 and 9:00. It was hairy. Even though the wind was from the north, where I'm sort of sheltered, it sounded like they were swinging a wrecking ball at the side of the house. The only good thing was that we had almost no snow, and the lowest the temperature got was 31º. Of course, that put the wind chill down around 15º, but can you imagine what it would be like in January? Brr! The temperature only got up to 33º during the day, so it was still cold outside. The wind is beginning to die down now, although I guess it will be windy tomorrow, too. It's quite humid, so it must be raw and unpleasant outside. It was cloudy until about 2:30 PM, but then the clouds started to break up a bit and there was a little sunshine and it was quite clear by sunset.
Sunset is only at 5:35 PM now, and sunrise is at about 7:35, so our days are only about 10 hours long now and still getting shorter at about 3 minutes a day. This is a dark time of year and it will be February before it begins to get noticeably lighter.
The guys slept, although they did come out to eat when I filled the kibble bowls and gave them some canned food. They still haven't figured out my schedule. Neither have I.
So that was all there was. Now it's a cold, windy night in the field, but it's not completely cloudy.
Last updated 12/01/20 10:11 PM Copyright S. I. Smith, 2000-2020
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