journal

A View From the Field

October 21

I didn't get to bed early, but I only slept for about 8 hours, so I'm tired now. Maybe tonight.

I didn't do much, but I did call the dentist back, and thank goodness I did! They wanted to ask me the COVID questions, of course, but I discovered that I had the wrong date in my planner. EEK!!! It's not Monday, it's Tuesday. Thank goodness I found out! It does mean I'll be out Tuesday and Wednesday, but maybe that's better. Get everything over with at once then I can go back into self-isolation. When I'm down in Calumet on Wednesday (the podiatrist) I will do some food shopping and that should last me for a few weeks. Social Security aay is late this month.

The Winter Weather Advisory was a dud. They didn't even get more than a dusting of snow in Calumet. Here, we had quite a bit of rain - 0.45" between 8:00 PM last night and noon today, but it was all rain. The high temperature today was 42º. Between noon and 8:00 PM, we had some northwest winds with gusts up to 25 mph, but they've died down now. It was dull and dreary and humid.

The guys slept. Louie has been picking his sleeping spots right where I want to walk, especially at night. Getting out of bed with that big lump right in front of it is hard, especially since I'm not too steady at night anyway. Grayson slept on me twice, and of course caused me to have an accident. I hate to move him when he's so comfortable, but I'm going to have to get firm.

So that was all there was. Now it's a cold, dark night in the field but it's not raining or snowing right now.

October 20

Well, that didn't turn out very good. I was a little earlier getting to bed, but I had a terrible night. In fact, around 6:00 AM, I got up and sat in the bathroom and played games for a couple of hours. After that, I got about three hours' more sleep, but it sure wasn't enough. Sigh. As a result, I didn't do anything today. I don't even remember what I thought I might do, but I didn't.

The lady who told me about the closed gate called today to say that it looks like the gate is open now, which is a real relief. I could just see having to open it in the snow and ending up on my backside.

The weather was marginally better. When I was awake in the night, I saw a few stars in the northwest. They seemed much brighter than they look to be on the map, so I'm not sure what I was seeing. Anyway, the high temperature was 41º and there was almost no wind. The humidity was between 55% and 60%. It was cloudy and dull. We are under a winter storm warning and it has begun to do something - 0.11" of liquid precip in the past two hours. Oh, sigh.

The guys slept. Louie has staked out the rug in the bedroom, which is the warmest room in the house. Grayson slept on me for a while until I had to do something and he was just back, although he didn't sleep this time. He might have, but I had to do this, because I am going to try to get to bed early tonight.

So that was another lost day and now it's a cold, dark night in the field and the rain/snow is starting.

October 19

Well! I actually did something today! Amazing, especially since I was late getting to bed - not as late as the previous two nights - and i got a solid 10 hours of sleep. So I started late, but I got some things done. It helped that my knees weren't quite as bad today.

First, on my way to the south end, I washed a load of underwear. I was running out of panties. That's done now, and the dryer has stopped. Then, after narrowly averting an accident, I loaded up the dishwasher and got the cat food cans out of the sink. The sink is empty right now, and when I looked at it while I was making my dinner, I was a bit disconcerted. It looked so strange. The dishwasher is packed and I don't have everything in it yet, but by morning I will have a whole lot of clean dishes again. I must try to start doing that more frequently so it isn't so overloaded.

What I think I realize is that while I feel OK when I have those weird hours, I am actually very tired and I don't feel like doing anything. Earlier to bed and more sleep is very helpful.

The only problem I have is that for some reason my left ear has been sore after I sleep on it. I can't feel that there is anything there to make it sore, but after a while it hurts at the top. Well, I did manage to get my sleep today and maybe I can do it tonight, too.

The weather was not good. When I went up to the north end last night, I noticed that there was snow on the ground outside the closet window and today, not only was there some snow on the ground, it was on the roof of the garage and the breezeway and on the deck, and none of it melted. I checked the website and so far we've had 3½" of snow. Not nice. The temperature went down overnight, and the high during the day was only 36º. There wasn't much wind, from the west, and the humidity was about steady at 64%. It was cloudy and dark.

The guys slept, I think. Grayson slept on me until I had to shoo him away so I could run to the bathroom. I haven't seen Louie since he clogged up the hallway to the kitchen when I got up.

I have gone into winter mode. The door to the bedroom is nearly shut, to keep the heat in. The temperature in the office has finally gotten to 64º and tomorrow I must get the space heater hooked up. I hate to do that, because it makes my electric bill so big, but on the other hand, my hands hurt when they get cold. Especially this afternoon, when the first thing I did while loading the dishwasher was to run water down my sleeve. It's drying out now, but it took a long time and it made me even colder. I just have to have patience with the repair people, although if I haven't heard from them in a couple of weeks, I will have to call again. It's supposed to get a bit warmer for the rest of the week.

Oh, and there's a winter weather advisory out for Houghton and Calumet. We're not getting that here, but there may be some more snow tomorrow and tomorrow night. I still think it's too early. I spent a little time setting up this year's spreadsheet and correcting last year's numbers. The final number for last year was 280.1", which is a bit more than average but not exceptional. Let's hope this year is about the same.

Now it's a cold, dark night in the field and it's time for bed, especially with what's playing on the radio right now.

October 18

Another lost day. i inverted last night, got up very late and washed my hair. That was all. Over two days, I've had one breakfast and one dinner. Maybe tomorrow? I feel tired enough that I hope to get to bed tonight.

The weather was not good, but better than yesterday. The temperature hung in at or slightly below 40º, with a high of 42º. There was a bit of wind, mostly from the north, with gusts as high as 30 mph for a bit. It was a lot less humid than yesterday, although my knees didn't think so. It was mostly cloudy, but we had maybe 15 minutes of sunshine in the middle of the afternoon. It just started raining lightly.

The guys slept, I guess, although they are both a bit put out that I haven't had time to give them the love they want. I was sitting in the bathroom in the middle of the night when Grayson started meowing loudly, and then he walked in with a mouse in his mouth, which he dropped. The mouse ran in circles for a moment before it headed out the door. I heard some scuffling, but I haven't found a body, so I guess it got away. It was another field mouse. I hope it went back to its nest and warned everyone not to try to come in here. I don't know how smart mice are, but eventually this will stop.

So that's all there is. It's another cold, dark night in the field.

October 17

Total lost day. Nothing to report.

The weather was just awful, and one reason I didn't do anything was that I was having trouble moving. The high temperature was 42º. There wasn't much wind, from the southwest. It started raining or something around 1:00 PM and by the time it stopped, around 8:00 PM, we had had 0.6". Of course the humidity was around 90%. I was having trouble walking until I walked a bit, sat down for a long time and walked again. The usual.

The guys slept. Grayson had made a nice nest for himself on top of the wormy sweater in my closet, and I was curious about why he was in the bathroom with me until I got to the closet and discovered Louie there. Darn. I hoped Grayson could have at least one spot of his own. Well, he got to sit on me, which Louie doesn't do anymore.

That was it. Now it's a horrible cold, dark, damp night in the field. Yuck.

October 16

Oopsie. I was trying to get to bed a bit earlier tonight, so I almost forgot.

It was about the same time last night as it has been lately, and i slept well. I didn't do anything much when I got up, because I had the thought that I might go to the post office, but then I decided not. It was nasty out, so I stayed home.

However, I did call the heating people and got on their list and they recommended another septic pumper. However, he is in Atlantic Mine, which is southwest of Houghton, and I'm not sure whether he will come up this far. I want to talk to Ron about it, and if he thinks it might be OK, I will call them on Monday. I still haven't decided whether to do it this fall or wait until spring. It might depend upon how much he charges. I'm hoping that if he comes up here and does two of us, it might be a little cheaper. We'll see.

The weather was just about everything. When I went into the bathroom, there were big flakes of snow coming down and I looked up a few minutes later to see lots of little flakes. Nothing stuck, because it wasn't freezing, but still. And then fifteen minutes later, the sun was out! Sheesh. The high temperature was 43º and except during that snow squall, there wasn't much wind. There was an hour or so of sunshine and then it got cloudy again. The humidity ranged from 50% to 80% and back down again - I don't know why that was. My knees have been telling me that.

The guys were sleepy, of course. I don't know where Louie is. When I went up to the north end to change my bottoms because Grayson caused me to have another accident, this one pretty bad, he wasn't there, although he may have been in the closet or in the laundry room. When I got back to the office, Grayson came and went to sleep on my lap again. Evidently, I'm a nice warm pillow in this weather. I like it, too. it's cold in here and he is a nice place to warm up my hands.

So that was another quiet day and I am going to bed earlier tonight. It's a cold, cloudy, dark night in the field.

October 15

Late but not too late and I should have had enough sleep, but it doesn't feel like it now. I knitted four rows and washed my hair and didn't get caught in the game trap too badly.

That took long enough that I didn't have time to do much else, but I tried to call the septic pumping people and got the same recording Ron heard. They said it was a temporary thing, so now I'm torn between getting somebody else (who will be very expensive) and waiting until April and hoping to get the guy I want. I will try to talk to Ron tomorrow and see how he feels about it. The trouble is, the other guy is from a family I don't want to give my money to if I can avoid it. I must call the heating company.

The weather was not quite as miserable as yesterday, but it sure wasn't good. The temperature dropped from 48º at midnight to 35º now, and for most of the day it was blowing, with gusts up to 44 mph from the north this morning. It's calmed down now. It was very humid and there was a bit of rain, but not much. There was also an outage at the weather station, so I'm not sure about the rain. It was dark and dreary all and there is snow in the forecast for the next few days. Oh, sigh.

The guys slept, of course. Grayson took his afternoon siesta on my lap, of course, and he thought he wanted my dinner, but I offered him a few crumbs and he didn't eat them. I guess things smell good to him but he doesn't like the taste. Oh, I did. I haven't seen Louie lately, but he sleeps almost all the time anyway.

So that was another day and now it's a cold, dark night in the field.

October 14

Late again, although not quite as last as the night before. That was a good thing, because I was sitting in the bathroom and knitting when I got a call from the electrician saying he wanted to service my generator. Well, sure, I was wondering about that, after our power outages, but it was raining hard.

I had finished breakfast when he came and the wet didn't bother him very much. He did a much more thorough job than I've had before, even going downstairs and checking the switch and causing a power failure to test it. I also ask him to help me with the GFCI, but when he checked the panel and then the outlets, it's fine now. Geez, I don't know what was going on now, but weird things like that happen in my house. He also heard the ovens beeping. He's the first person other than me who's heard it. He did determine that the GFCI in the kitchen is in fact dead, which I was sure about. Then we had a nice conversation. He is quite young, and he became an electrician before he decided he wanted to go to Tech and become a EE. With the current state of affairs, he's had to modify his plans somewhat, but he has a good trade and he expects to be a master electrician about the time he gets his B.S. Very nice guy. I hope he comes back next year. It's always so nice to meet people who know what they want to do with themselves.

The weather was extremely miserable; It started raining around noon and so far we've had 0.84". I think it's stopped now, at least for a while. The high temperature was only 50º, so I'm glad I wasn't out in it. My joints were crying anyway Of course it was very dark and dreary.

The guys did what they always do when the weather is this bad. They didn't even follow me to the kitchen, even when I opened a can, but they did eventually come and eat. OF course, Grayson was right there to greet the electrician, and when we opened the door to the basement, there was Louie sitting on the first step down. He's too timid to come out, but he wants to know what's going on. Of course, he ran away when he realized that the guy was going downstairs. He always makes me laugh when he does that. Sometimes, if it's someone whose voice he sort of recognizes, he'll sit at the top, with his head just inside the door so he can see and he can't be seen. After the electrician left, Grayson went to sleep on my lap for his afternoon siesta. That's nice, except that I can't embroider or do much else except read or play games when he's there.

So that was my day. I'm glad to get the generator servicing done. This company seems much better run than the one that installed the thing (and has since gone out of business), and it's very nice to know that I can count on them to come every year. I need that generator.

Now it's a cold, dark, damp night in the field and I'm tired.

October 13

Oh, it was another late night and lost day. I get caught in the game trap and time just passes.

There was one weird thing. When I went into the bathroom after I got up for good, the clock was off and so was the charging pad for the cordless phone. That was weird, I thought, but I sort of ignored it, especially when I found that the lights worked. I didn't think about that GFCI until later, and when I went back to check it out, it had indeed tripped. So I reset it, and the clock and the phone charger came back on right away. What's nice is that the clock was correct, or as correct as it ever is. It usually gains about a minute when it's on battery backup.

However, the outlet cluster where the GFCI is does not work. That's where I had my nightlight plugged in, so I moved it, but now the other outlet cluster is full, so I've had to move the cell phone charger back to the office. All i can figure is that the GFCI is dead, and maybe that was what caused the problem of this morning. I have a replacement, which I got for the dead one in the kitchen, but I've never changed one of those. I will have to look at it. I don't want to have to go downstairs and trip the circuit breaker if I can avoid it. I've changed regular outlets without doing that, but I don' t know about the grounding kind. How annoying! I really need that outlet cluster. Not only is my nightlight usually plugged in there, it's where I plug in my curling iron when I use it. Grr. I guess, though, based upon my experience here, that those things fail a lot more often than a regular outlet.

The weather was sort of nondescript. It was cloudy and dull in the morning and we had 0.04" of rain between noon and 2:00 PM, but after that, the wind shifted to the northwest and began to blow hard. By 3:30, it was clearing up and it was mostly clear at sunset. the high temperature was 55º and the wind gusted up to 36 mph for an hour or so. The humidity dropped, too.

The guys were sleepy, of course. Louie got quite a bit of loving this morning and Grayson slept on my lap for most of the talking. Sometime I'd like to embroider a bit.

So that was my day. I got an email from Ron about several things, but he said that the power outage we had yesterday was because a wire came down on Woodland Road and he discovered it when he went out to go to the dumpster. Oh. No wonder it took so long to get fixed.

Now it's a clear (I think) dark night in the field.

October 12 - Columbus Day

Lost day again. I didn't get to bed nearly as early as I planned, but I wasn't cold and I slept well. I think it was around 1:30 when I got up. I was hearing things outside, rumbling and shushing, and when I looked out, it was a heavy rain and a few rumbles of thunder out over the lake. So I took my time, but eventually I got dressed and actually ate breakfast. That was all I did, except for my surfing.

We had had a power failure during the night, and I was listening to ATC with a cat on my lap when I heard some odd noises and the next thing I knew, the generator came on. This is getting old, but maybe the weather has calmed down a bit and it won't happen again. With the UPS and no lights on, I didn't know what had happened until the generator started up, and I missed the shutdown, too, but that's not as unusual. There is usually a thud when it shuts down, but I was listening to the radio then.

I don't have complete weather data, because the power outage was at least 4 hours. It was extremely dark and dismal until right at sunset. The high temperature was 57º, and there was a strong south wind (no doubt why we had the power outages) with gusts that got up to 39 mph in the morning. The rain started a bit after 1:00 PM and we had 0.69" in two hours. The wind had shifted west before the power went down (the weather station doesn't have a UPS) and by the next report, 4 hours later, it was from the northwest with gusts up to 25 mph, before it died down completely. The weather is always unsettled and interesting at this time of year. My joints did not find it interesting.

Neither did the cats. They slept. Grayson slept on me for a very long time, causing me to have an accident, because he just did not want to move. I haven't seen Louie. I don't know where he was when I went up to the north end to change my underwear. It was that kind of day.

So that was it I think it's cleared up some, but it's a cool dork night in the field.

October 11

Well, that was a lost day. Wow.

I got to bed before 1:00 AM, I think, and I slept much better than the night before. I was up three times, but I wasn't cold, so I went right back to sleep. I got up around 11:00 and I knitted without too much trouble, although I didn't try to fix the repeat I screwed up. It doesn't look too bad. Then I fell into the game trap. I've had the charger for the phone up at the north end lately, which means I can use the phone as long as I want to. Too long, usually. So it was a one-meal day.

The weather was nice, or at least it looked nice. The high temperature was 55º, and there was a strong wind from the south with gusts up to 33 mph. It's died down now. It was fairly humid, though, so I was limping around. It was cloudy in the morning, but clear or almost clear in the afternoon and it was nice to see all the lovely sunshine.

the guys were sleepy, but after a while they started talking a bit, especially when I started rustling around to take my bath and things. When I got to the kitchen, I discovered it was because they had eaten everything in sight. So I filled the kibble bowls and the canned food bowls and I think they are happier now. I've noticed that they seem to prefer whatever variety of kibble is newest. I suppose it gets tasting old after a while. So I ordered some small bags (which was about all I could afford), and when they come, I will keep track of how long it takes to use them, and then I think I will be putting the order on automatic. It's so much easier to do that when I can, and some of the varieties get a discount, too. We'll see how it works out.

So that was a lost day. I was reading after dinner when all of a sudden the lights started bouncing and then the generator came on. Thank heaven for the UPS! The generator is still on. I suppose all the wind we've had lately caused a tree to come down, especially since this wind is in the opposite direction from what blew a day or so ago.

Now it's a clear (I think) dark night in the field.

October 10

Ugh. It was one of those nights. I got to bed at a reasonable hour (for me) but I was having hot flashes about every hour and a half all night long, which woke me up and meant I had to go sit for a while until I cooled off, so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, even though I didn't get up until after 11:00. I knitted for a change, although I screwed up one repeat. That was all I did. There were a few stars early in the morning, though.

The weather wasn't very good. The temperature did get up to 50º briefly, but it was in the middle 40s for most of the afternoon and there was a brisk north wind that got up to 39 mph gusts early in the morning. It was cloudy and dull all day long, although there was a pretty sunset that I only caught a bit of on the camera. Neither the camera or the iPhone has the proper sensitivity to get things like that and my camera is broken.

The guys slept. Louie got some loving this morning and Grayson slept on my lap this afternoon.

So it was another lost day. At least I tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour and I'll try to do the same tonight. I am still a little reluctant to go out to church. COVID is spreading in the UP now, for one thing. The actual numbers are small but the rate is very high. And even though my gut has been behaving itself for the past two or three days, I don't trust it. It's cyclic, I think, but I never know when it will betray me again. So I stay home. The week after next, I have two appointments I have to keep, but until then, I think I will self-isolate. I've been cold all day, so it will feel good to hunker down under the comforter.

It's another cold, dark night in the field and I'm tired.

October 9

Well. a more or less normal day for a change! I think it was around 1:30 AM when I got to bed and i got up at 11:30, so I got enough sleep. I did not get caught in the game trap, in part because the router extender went out to lunch again. It's been a while since it did that, but it happens occasionally.

I got to have two meals and I have JD again! Oh, joy! I did just fine without it, but I like it, so it's nice to have it again. I had the orange meal for dinner - salmon, sweet potato and salad with French blue cheese dressing. That's what I usually have on Fridays.

I got a letter from Schwan's today confirming that I will be getting my food via UPS, but I won't be able to test how it works until the end of the month. Things are tight this month. I went to the store, for my JD and a few other things, and I went to the post office, where I had a nice conversation with Ron. I forgot that I have to call the place I get my probiotics, because they say one thing was delivered and it sure wasn't delivered here! I checked all the doors and no package.

The weather was wonderful. It wasn't completely clear, but there was a whole lot of sunshine, especially late in the day. The high temperature was 74º (!) and there wasn't much wind. The humidity was low, too, which I appreciate. Between 7:00 and 8:00 AM this morning, we had a nice thunderstorm, and about 0.14" of rain fell, most of it in about 10 minutes, I think.

The guys slept, of course. Grayson spent part of the late afternoon on me, just enough so that I couldn't embroider. I suppose Louie is up at the north end.

It was nice to have a more normal day and now I hope to have a normal night, too. It's a warm, dark night in the field.

October 8

I really inverted last night, but I was reading and I didn't want to stop until I finished that story. So I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, but I got up and took a bath and I think I'll be much earlier tonight. I was writing and I don't know exactly what comes next, so I might as well not push it.

The weather was nice looking anyway. The high temperature was only 54º and there was a little north wind around noon, with gusts up to 29 mph, but the wind died down in the afternoon It was mostly to completely clear, with lots of sunshine and blue skies.

The guys mostly slept, but they got some loving. When I went to get dressed, Louie was sleeping in the closet on my clothes and he didn't want to give them to me. I leave my sweats on the floor both because I get dressed sitting down and because in the wintertime, the warm floor warms them up and they feel so cozy when I put them on. Grayson sat on me for a while, but he heard something and went away. He just came in meowing, but I don't know why.

So now I think I will actually try to go to bed at reasonable hour and see how that works. It's a clear (I think) dark night in the field.

October 7

I didn't invert last night, but i was very late getting to bed and when I finally did get up, I got caught in the game trap, so it was another lost day.

I was sitting in the bathroom sometime in the course of the night when Grayson suddenly started meowing loudly, and then he came into the bathroom with something in his mouth. Oh, no - another mouse! We've had a few of those lately. He dropped it, and then he batted it around for a while, and Louie went over and sniffed it and pushed it out from behind the scale. It looked dead. I looked up sometime later to see the thing running around in the bathroom and it looked all right. Boy, they are tough! It ran out into the hallway and I lost track of it. I'm not fast enough to chase it anyway.

Then this afternoon, when I went into the closet to get dressed, and I turned on the light, what should come out of from under the shelves - pretty close to where Grayson has been sleeping - was a mouse! I don't know if it was the same one or not. He went after it, but it scuttled behind the door and then out into the hall, where there are things to get behind. I heard some scuffling, but when I went down to the kitchen, there weren't any bodies, so I guess it got away.

I know where they're getting in - there is a hole at the top of the basement wall - and I have had mouse poop in my kitchen dishpan that I keep under the sink, so that's how they're getting into the house. I wish they wouldn't come in, but if I do, I wish the cats would just dispatch them and be done with it. I can flush a dead one down the toilet, but if it's alive, I have to figure out a place to let tit out. Since I can't open the sliding door in the grerat room, that's usually into the breezeway. Ah, the joys of country living! These were field mice, too, not the house mice we had earlier.

The weather was much cooler than yesterday. The high temperature was 54º and there were light winds from the north except for a couple of hours this afternoon when it gusted up to 26 mph. The day started out cloudy, but after about 2:00 it cleared up and it was nice and clear at sunset. The humidity was a bit higher than I like.

OTher than their exertions over the mouse (mice?) the guys slept. They did get some canned dinner, which they liked. Grayson slept on my lap for a while after I ate.

I seem to be getting used to this one-meal-a-day routine, which is not good, and I will try some more to get my schedule back under control. I've been waffling about going down to Calumet and shopping. There are things I need, but I don't have enough money this month to do that and pay all my bills, so I'm conflicted. I will probably stay home. It's time to wash my hair, but I'll probably do that tomorrow. I feel like I want to go back to bed, which is a good thing.

Now it's a dark, clear (I think) night in the field.

October 6

So I inverted again. I really must stop this.

I actually did a few things after I finally got to the office, though. I paid a couple of bills, and I did the bulletin. So It wasn't a completely lost day.

The weather was nice, and I'm sorry I wasn't out in it. The high temperature was 66º and there wasn't much wind. The humidity was low - around 40% - until 4:00 PM, when it started to rain and it's been raining on and off ever since. I think there was a rumble of thunder, too, but I was listening to music, so I'm not sure. It was mostly cloudy all day, but it was quite bright until the rain moved in. The camera caught some dramatic shots of clouds late in the day.

The guys slept. They can't figure out my odd schedule. Grayson was wandering around me and purring and I discovered the reason was that they had eaten most of their kibble and he wanted more. Little snot. The bowls weren't completely empty. The bags of kibble are nearly empty, though, so I'm going to have to lay in some fresh.

So that was it, and it's a dark and rainy night in the field.

October 5

If you looked for this earlier, I forgot.

Today would be my father's 108th birthday.

Nothing happened.

The weather was rather nice, I think, at least until late in the day. The high temperature was 63º. Before about 2:00 PM there was a strong southwest wind with gusts up to 35 mph, but then it dropped to almost nothing and the sun came out for a while. By 7:00 PM it was cloudy again, and between 10:00 and 11:00 we had a little bit of rain.

The guys mostly slept. Louie barfed on the rug in the bathroom, which between us is getting really gross. Grayson slept on me for a while and he actually got to lick my dinner dish tonight. I suspect that what he smells and wants is probably butter, and tonight it was mixed with chicken juice, so he thought it was OK. Some of my other cats have loved butter, and I used to put the empty butter dish on the floor for them to lick before I washed it. Now that I'm washing dishes again, I must try that and see what they do.

So now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field and it's much too late, so off I go.

October 4

Same thing happened that happened Wednesday and Thursday, so I don't have anything to report.

The weather was just about the same, too, only marginally warmer. The high temperature was 50º, there wasn't much wind and it was humid. It was cloudy for most of the day, but it did clear up a bit at sunset, and the sun is setting south of the top of the mountain now. Sigh.

The guys slept. Louie now has some of my poop on his hip (I'll spare you the details) and the way he operates I haven't been able to wash it off. Grayson had a coughing fit. The usual.

Now it's another cold dark night in the field and I'll be off to bed soon.

October 3

Late as usual. I got up around noon and I was starting to knit when Mary Ann called me back and we had a nice conversation. It sounds like Bill is doing some better and they are going to church tomorrow. I thought I might, too, but everything was too late today, so I won't.

I was late enough that I didn't do anything else. I was reading and listening to nice music when all of a sudden it stopped and my wi-fi was down for an hour and a half. Obviously some piece of equipment failed. They are usually pretty good about getting those things fixed, but they cover a very wide area and not many people on staff. It was late enough in the evening - and a weekend - so it wasn't disastrous. I was disappointed because there were a couple of things I would like to have heard, but I discovered that I had downloaded an MP3 of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, which is one of my all-time favorites, so I played that, as well as some Schubert songs. Then I had an accident, so I'm sitting here with nothing on below my waist for the second night in a row.

The weather was yucky again. The high temperature was 45º and there wasn't much wind, but after 3:00 PM, there was some light rain which may still be going on. It was dark and dreary and humid. Mary Ann said they had to go down to Calumet on Thursday and when they got to the top of the hill, by the Mountain Lodge, the road was covered with snow. It's high enough there that it snows there first anyway. I still say it's too early.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for quite a while, although I wonder how he did, because my gut was growling and he had his head right on it, but it didn't seem to bother him. I assume Louie is up at the north end where it's warmer.

So another very quiet day has slipped by and now it's a dark, cold and possibly rainy night in the field.

October 2

Oops, almost forgot again.

I think it was about 1:30 when I got to bed last night. I had a little trouble getting to sleep, but once I did, I did good, and I got up around 11:00, I think. I don't remember. I finished the first repeat on the second end of the shawl, so I am making progress. Of course, after I do the second repeat, I have to go all the way around with the edging...

The JD didn't come in, so I didn't have a drink tonight. I don't need it, but I like it. Maybe tomorrow. I did get my coated potassium, which I won't use for another couple of weeks, and my absentee ballot came, too. Along with bills, of course...

Then the Schwan's guy came with my little order and informed me that this was the last time they would deliver via truck. If I want Schwan's stuff from now on, it will come via UPS. On the one hand, I can order when I need it and get it in two days - if the UPS truck can get down the road - but on the other hand, it will be a lot less convenient, especially in the winter and when the gate is closed and UPS won't come down the road. I am very disappointed, but I don't see not getting it anymore. I just don't want to cook anymore and in the winter, I don't get down to Calumet to shop anyway. What a pain.

Oh, I did do one thing. While I was waiting for the Schwan's guy, I loaded the dishwasher and I just started it. Finally. I've been washing my plate and bowl for a week or more, just like I did for the past couple of years. It's much more convenient to have clean dishes. I didn't get all the cat food cans out of the sink, but I will do that, maybe tomorrow. So it wasn't a completely lost day.

The weather was bad again. The high temperature was only 45º, and there was 0.04" of rain between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning. The wind was mostly from the north, around 15 mph, although it dropped and sort of wavered around before picking up again from the northeast. It was cloudy and dull. Yuck.

The guys did what any self-respecting cat would do in this weather. Grayson slept on me for quite a while and I guess Louie hung out in the bathroom. They got canned food this morning and I guess it was something they liked, because most of it is gone.

So that was my day. I won't say much about the two accidents, the second of which was really bad. It's a cold, dark, cloudy night in the field - of course, because there is a conjunction of the moon and Mars that I would have been able to see out the south windows.

October 1

I was in bed before midnight last night, but I didn't notice the time. I went right to sleep, but I woke up a couple of hours later just as something nasty came out of my bottom. This is the second time I've had an accident while I was asleep, and I don't like it one bit. Anyway, I had to change my underwear and clean myself up before I could go back to sleep. I was up several more times, but not for such a nasty reason, and I think I got up around 11:30. So I caught up on my sleep, I felt much better and my schedule is more or less back where it should be. I'll be a little late tonight, but not too bad.

I knitted, but I didn't do much else. I didn't even play games very much. The insurance agency called and of course there isn't anything they can do to decrease my premiums. I didn't think they could. The only suggestion they had was to increase the deductible, but I can't even pay what I have now. Then Debbie called, and we had a nice conversation, but the battery in my cordless phone is dying again - this has happened before - so we only talked for an hour and a half. It was good to hear from her.

I had the thought of going down to Calumet and shopping and getting gas, but the weather was so nasty I decided to hibernate. The temperature dropped from 50º at midnight to 43º now, and it was in the middle 40s for most of the day. There was a strong north wind with gusts up to 32 mph, which put the wind chill down in the middle 30s. It was cloudy and dull all day and there was a bit of rain before I got up this morning. There is possible snow in the forecast for the next couple of days, although I don't think we'll get any here. I think it's a bit early for that.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on my lap while I was talking to Debbie. I haven't seen Louie lately, but he has several places to keep warm.

So it was another quiet day. Now it's a cold, cloudy, windy night in the field. And it's October. Sigh.

Last updated 10/21/20 11:20 PM