journal

A View From the Field

June 20

I was in bed around 11:00 last night. It took me a while to get to sleep; for some reason my feet were bothering me, but maybe it takes a while for the Neurontin to kick in. Once I got to sleep, I did well. I was up around 5:00 and went back to sleep. The next time I woke up, it was because my bladder cramped up. I squinted at the clock and I thought it said 10:45, but it didn't matter. i got up and knitted my row with no problems, and when I looked at the time again, it said 10;05. So I guess it was 8;45 when I got up, but you can't prove it by me.

There was a lot of stuff to read today and I had a nasty accident by not going to the bathroom when I should have. Then I had to do the bulletin. I had some other plans, and when i got up, I felt good enough to do them, but it was too late by the time I did all the other stuff. I just remember that there is a load of bottoms in the washer, but that will just have to wait until tomorrow.

The weather was nice, if cool. The high temperature, 63º, happened at 9:00 AM, and the rest of the day was in the upper 50s. It was mostly clear and there was almost no wind. When I was up around 6:00 or so, it was so beautiful! The harbor was like a sheet of glass, with the mountain reflected in it. I love this time of year, at least when it's like this. And the days are just 3 minutes shy of 16 hours long, which is so lovely. Unfortunately, tomorrow we start down again. I'll miss it.

The guys slept, mostly. They both got some lap time. Louie actually got up on the counter to come over and make Grayson move so he could get his tummy rubbed.

So that was my day, and now I have to go and wash my hair again. I actually thing it was better when I had to do it every night, because there was never any thought about not doing it. I do need to look good tomorrow, though, so I'll go and do it.

Now it's a coolish, calm and partly cloudy evening in the field.

June 19

I got my hair washed and got to bed around 11:30. I slept fairly well but not as well as I might have wished. I woke up about 8:15 and got up, because if I hadn't, heaven knows when I would have awakened again. I knitted my row - it took an hour and a half, without any problems. I discovered that I've been working on the border for two months now and I have another couple of weeks to go. Talk about a big project...

That was all I did. I don't feel particularly tired, but I don't feel particularly good, either, so I sat, except when I had to totter up to the north end to change my incontinent pad. Yesterday I didn't have any problems like that.

When i got to the computer this morning, there were only four unread email messages, and the last one came through around 2:30 this morning. That didn't seem right, so I called PastyNet, and eventually my 60 or more messages came through, but slowly. I don't know what the problem was, but it was annoying. I'd hoped to get the information for the bulletin, but if I do, it will be late.

Oh, yes, and I ordered the router Mike suggested, even though it's backordered. We'll see how that goes. Debbie suggested that I send her the information so she can see if she can get it locally and bring it to me. That would be nice, because otherwise, I doubt I'll have WI-FI when she gets here.

I did have a particularly good dinner, but I think I say that every time I have fresh whitefish. Oh, it's so good!

Debbie just called. She got the package with everything in it, so that's under way, and the way she talked, I don't have to worry too much about feeding her. I hope not. The timing isn't good.

The weather was lovely. The high temperature was 73º and there was no wind. The humidity was as low as 34%, and it was clear nearly all day. There wasn't any wind. The atmosphere isn't particularly transparent, but the moon is a nice little crescent and that sort of washes things out anyway. It was lovely.

The guys slept. Louie was going after Grayson again, and I still don't know why. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't come around, and when I opened the window in the bedroom a bit (I had to close it the other night because even though it was only open about 3" Grayson was harping on the screen) he was in his spot in the window seat. I think he spends a lot of time there. Grayson wanted canned food today and he was a pill about it, but he doesn't get canned food on Tuesday. Sorry. We have so much fun.

So that was my very quiet day, and now I'm on my way up to the north end. I've been thinking about one scene from First for at least three weeks, and I still don't know what happened in that Council chamber. Maybe I'll get it straight eventually.

Now it's a clear, warmish night in the field.

June 18

I was too tired to move, but eventually I did make it into bed, very late. I slept very well, with some strange dreams, and I got up a bit before 9:00. That wasn't nearly enough sleep. I was tired all day and I'm really tired now, but I should take a bath. I sweated so much yesterday that if I wait until Wednesday, my scalp will be a mess again. We'll see how I feel when I get up to the north end. I would love to stay here and listen to the music - there are several things I love coming up, including Mozart's 38th and Schubert's 8th, but they're much later and I know I can't stay awake that long.

Anyway, I knitted a whole row without any problems. It was a knit row and there was a lot of plain knitting in it, but it was nice to be able to knit right along without dropping anything. I lost track of where I was a couple of times, but not more than about 10 stitches ahead. This shawl is going to be enormous. I've said that before, but the true size is beginning to become clear. I wouldn't be surprised if it's 9' on a side. I guess i could block it smaller, but it wouldn't show the pattern nearly as well.

Speaking of blocking, the only thing I did today was to wash two sweaters. One is a heavy cotton cable sweater I've had for years and never washed. I got it from Eddie Bauer, but it's one I wish I'd knitted myself, because it has some really interesting cables in it. It had finally gotten a spot on it that needed washing to get out. The other one was a short-sleeved polo out of a nubby yarn that I made at least 30 years ago and Mary Ann found when we were downstairs. I think it still fits and I've always liked it, but it had a dirt spot on the front and it was clear to me when I looked at it that I'd sweated into it. Even though they both said they were hand washable, I did them in the washer - carefully, of course - and they seem to have come out just fine, although I had to get out my sweater drying racks to dry them flat. I hate that; it's one reason I haven't washed those sweaters very often.

I was sore and tired by the time I finally got the sweaters laid out, but now maybe they'll dry.

i say maybe, because the humidity was awful for most of the day. It was foggy all night and all morning and the humidity was nearly 100%. It went down in the afternoon, to as low as 52%, and while it's gone up a bit now, it's still a whole lot better than it was over the weekend! Once the fog went away, the skies were clear. The high temperature was 66º at 6:00 PM. there wasn't any wind.

I found out more about the storms over the weekend. Both the PastyCam page (http://www.pasty.com/cam/index.html) and The Daily Mining Gazette (http://www.mininggazette.com/) have a whole lot about it, with a lot of stunning pictures. That was a LOT of rain! I think there are still a lot of people down in the Lake Linden - Hubbell area who can't get out of their houses, and even in Houghton there was a lot of damage. On the PastyCam page for today, someone posted a link to a map of Houghton County road closures that gives some idea of just how widespread the damage is. There's even one lake of US-41 going down from Quincy Hill that's closed. I really feel for all those people, and I'm more grateful than ever that I live on a pebble pile in Copper Harbor.

The guys slept, I guess. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't, even though he asked. At the time he came around, I was sitting with nothing over my legs, and I couldn't bear the idea of him jumping up on me and digging his claws into my bare flesh. Poor Louie. He mewed so sadly.

So now I hope to get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour and catch up on my sleep. It's a clear, coolish night in the field.

June 17

Oh, it's late, but i was just too tired to move.

I wasn't too late last night - I got to bed about 9:45 - and I slept fairly well. Around 2:30, I was up for the second time, and it was pouring rain and I could see lots of lightning far away. I was up again around 4:00 and it was totally foggy. The last time I woke up was around 5:45, which annoyed me, but I went back to sleep and the next time I woke up it was around 7:15! Eek!! The radio station I listen to was off air - and it still is - so if the alarm turned it on, I never heard it. I hate to use the beep, but I guess I'll have to.

So I jumped up and rushed around and I left the house just about when I wanted to, although I didn't even get to finish reading my funnies before I went. It had stopped raining by the time I left, and while the roads were wet, I didn't see anything bad on my trip south, until I got to church. Fay met me, because Bill (Mary Ann's husband) had forgotten to unlock the back door.

Then I heard all about it. It was a hairy night in Houghton County. It stormed all night long, and there were places where there was almost 7 inches of rain. They had to call off church at St. John's (the congregation we share Pastor with) because the road was blocked and they couldn't get to the church. Just about everybody had water in their basements. There weren't very many people in church, and we didn't sing because three of our members were absent. Nancy, who is a nurse, got called to duty because two nurses at her facility couldn't get there. Apparently radio was telling everybody to stay home. I didn't see much damage in Laurium or Calumet, but evidently there was a lot in other areas. It's so hilly that water was running anyplace it could. Times when I'm glad I live on a pebble pile in Copper Harbor.

After church, I had to shop, and I did a lot of damage, unfortunately, but it was stuff I needed. I didn't get some things I wanted and I had to tell the checker how to do her job. By the time I got out of there, I was exhausted and sore, but I had to get gas, too.

I got home around 2:30, I think, and after I got the important things in, I had a bit to eat and just sat. I wasn't hungry, so I finally got something to eat around 10:30.

The weather today was nearly as unsettled, but most of it went south of us again. The temperature got as high as 75º and as low as 53º, all this afternoon. It rained overnight, 0.91" worth, and it rained a bit more, 0.11", late in the afternoon. Of course the humidity was over 90% all day. The fog moved in around 2:00, and it came and went for the rest of the afternoon before it finally moved out around 10:00, although the top of the mountain was still covered. There were some interesting views down the harbor. The rain has finally moved off to the southeast and it should be nicer tomorrow. i hope.

The guys slept, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't. They were interested when I went out to get some more stuff in about 10:30. It really interests them when I do something I don't usually do.

So that was my day, and now It's late and I'm tired. It's a cloudy, damp night in the field, but it's not raining anymore.

June 16

I got the dishwasher loaded and started last night and I got to bed a bit before 11:00 and went right to sleep. I was up for the first time between 2:30 and 3:00. I noticed, when I looked out the bathroom window, that it was quite clear, which surprised me, because it wasn't supposed to be. I was sitting and staring at the floor, which is what I usually do, when I saw some flashes of light that had to be lightning, so I looked up, and as I did, a nice, bright meteor flashed across the sky, west to east and parallel to the trees. So pretty! I believe that's the first time I've seen a meteor since I've lived here. If I have seen others, this was the brightest. Of course, I wasn't searching for them and my fields of view are limited inside the house. When I got back to bed, I could see that the lightning was coming from way south of here, maybe south of Houghton. One of the things I love about it here is how big the sky is. I've seen thunderheads that were over Ontonagon. Anyway, I went back to sleep, and the next time I was awake, it had clouded over.

I got up around 8:00 or 8:30 (I don't remember exactly) and I finished row 60. I now have 992 stitches, and it takes forever to do a whole row.

Today was washday, and the last load is in the washer, ready to go into the dryer. That was all I felt like doing. My laundry sorter has a lid on it that had one of the hinges come loose a very long time ago. The other hinge came apart today, so now the lid is loose and it's a pain. I need to get some slightly longer screws and some good glue and see if I can get it back together. It won't be easy with one person, but I'm going to try. That lid, when it's down, is one of the more convenient spots in my closet.

The weather was very unsettled. Sometimes it was extremely dark and sometimes the sun almost came out. Sometimes there was wind and sometimes there wasn't any. The temperature has finally gotten up to 78º. It was 77º at noon, but then it dropped back. In the middle of the afternoon, there was one very loud crack of thunder over the harbor, but we only got 0.1" of rain. Of course, it was extremely humid, although now it's less so than it was for a while. I hurt, especially my back.

The guys slept. Grayson wanted to sleep on me until I finally told him "no," and then Louie came and asked to sit. I told him "no" too, but that was because I was doing my dinner and the wash. I don't know why they get so clingy sometimes.

So that was a quiet day, and now it's time to totter up to the north end, put the last load in the dryer and get ready for tomorrow. it's a warm, cloudy night in the field.

June 15

Well, today was a quiet day, thankfully.

I got to bed by 10:00, but I had a hard time falling asleep, because both my shoulders were so sore I couldn't sleep. Once the Tylenol kicked in, it was better. I got up around 9-something (what, I don't remember, if I noticed).

I got right at the knitting and I did get it put back together, but it took me over 3 hours. after I got the openwork part straight, I kept dropping stitches on the plain part. When knitting lace, the counts have to be right or the rows of the pattern will never fit together. That glitch was at the end of the first side, though, so I have three more sides to go. It's so frustrating when something like that happens! It doesn't look very good, either, because some of the holes have gotten enlarged, but I hope that as I knit over them and then block the whole shawl, it will be better.

I had planned to try to get to the post office with Debbie's package when it opened, but as it turned out, I got there just before the mail was delivered. At least it got out today.

When I got home, I unpacked the boxes I got last week and, as much as I could, got the contents packed away. i didn't get it all done, because the box with the dry cat food in it was full of packing paper - probably 15 or 20 yards - and my back just couldn't take that long bending over. It was easier for my Schwan's guy to get in, though. I'm tired again.

The weather was not nearly as nice as yesterday. Oh, and I discovered that the camera hung up early yesterday afternoon, when I don't know, because it had scrolled off the bottom. Compared to that, it was ugly. The high temperature was 62º, but that was at 8:00 this morning, and it went up and down all day. There was some wind this morning, with gusts up to 40 mph from the west around noon. around noon. Then it went calm and now it's beginning to pick up again. While I was knitting and not paying attention, we had 0.12" of rain, but it was over 3 hours, so it wasn't enough to wet the ground under the trees. The humidity was low overnight (so why were my shoulders so stiff?) but it's been over 80% all afternoon.

We have just about reached the longest days of the year. It's 15h56m today. That means the sun rises before 6:00 AM and sets at 9:50 PM. I love the long days even if it's harder to see the stars when there are any.

The guys slept. While I was knitting, Louie came in and sat down beside my feet and purred for at least five minutes. Grayson got some lap time, although not as long as he wanted. They got some canned food they like today and I unboxed a whole bunch of their favorites. They will eat most of anything I give them, but there are some things they like more than others. They especially like the combination of gravy and cheese. The one they got Wednesday, with turkey and cheese in gravy, is their most favorite, but they like the others, too. Well, there's a lot of that out in the breezeway.

So that was another quiet day. I really need to run the dishwasher tonight, and I really need to get to bed, too.

Now it's a cloudy, cool night in the field.

June 14

Funny, none of the talking mentioned that today is flag day. I suppose it's because politics is o polarized and the flag is such an object of contention.

I was really ridiculously late getting to bed last night. I think it was because I had to wash my hair and that's such a chore that I didn't want to. Of course, it's easier when I'm not tired, but i keep forgetting that. I will be earlier tonight. I'm exhausted.

I'm exhausted because I got up around 10:45. I tried to knit, but I dropped something and after fiddling with it for an hour, I just put it down. It was in the openwork section of a purl row and before I could rescue it, it had raveled down five or six rows, and when I tried to knit it up again, I ended up with way too many stitches. I will work on it tomorrow.

I was so late that I didn't even read my funnies - I just remembered that. The task of the day was the signing party and that went off without a hitch. I will go back to the post office tomorrow with a package for Debbie with everything she needs (I hope!!) to empty my safe deposit box and close it.

The weather was glorious, although it had a rough start. It was around 50º until noon, and then it went up to 71º in two hours. The high was 76º. It's gone down below 70º lately, but it was lovely. There wasn't much wind untl lately, when there have been some gusts up to 17 mph. It was clear and blue all day. I could take lots of this!

They still say there's going to be rain and thunder, but they keep pushing it back.

The guys were sleepy, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but not as much as he might have wished, because I had other things to do. Louie was in his window seat when I went up to the north end.

There was something else I was going to write about, but I'm so tired i can't remember it.

Now it's a lovely, warm, clear evening in the field.

June 13

Oh, I was ridiculously late last night and for no real reason. I slept well, though, and I got up around 9:00. That was much earlier than I should have, so I'm very tired now, so I'll be trying to do better tonight.

Around 4:30 or 5:00 AM, a line of thunderstorms went by out in the lake, with 0.3" of rain. There was some thunder, and I suppose, lightning, but my eyes were closed. It did cause a power glitch, which I don't understand, since the storms weren't very close by, but the wired clocks all reset, as did the microwave, the counter-top oven and the fridge. I have no clue why that happened.

I knitted, but my lack of sleep showed. I dropped something in the middle of some openwork and it must have taken me half an hour to get it all back together. I hate it when I do that, but it does make me more careful. At least it was only one repeat and about 14 stitches, but it had raveled back four or five rows before I could catch it.

The task of the day was the Sunday bulletin, and I got that out rather quickly. There was one change, because I'm not sure whether the choir will be able to sing the hymn Pastor suggested, but I don't think there are any other changes.

I got the final copies of all the legal documents I will be signing tomorrow, but I haven't looked at them yet.

The weather was nice. The forecast had changed overnight and the one for the next couple of days changed during the day. It was mostly sunny and the high was 75º, briefly around 6:00. It's been in the 70s since about 3:00 PM and the dew point has been going down, so now the humidity is down around 30%. So nice for me! There has been a rather brisk wind from the north all day, with gusts as high as 30 mph. There are a few clouds in the sky now, but they will probably go away after dark, like they usually do. Nice. Well, except that if I was outside, the bugs found it nice, too. I try to stay inside at this time of year.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me as much as I'd let him. I think Louie spent most of the day in the window seat, which seems to be his sleeping place of choice.

So that was my day. I did finally clear out the trash that had accumulated around my chair in the studio. I try to put it in a grocery bag, but Louie likes to chew on those and I think Grayson roots through the trash to see if there's anything - like crackers or ice cream - that he likes, so eventually there seems to be trash all over the floor. It's much nicer now.

Now it's a nearly clear, warm, breezy night in the field.

June 12

It was almost 11:00 when I got to bed last night. I slept well, although I did wake up at least once with a night sweat. That might have been because Louie was plastered up against my back and he's hot, but I don't know. I was up around 7:00 AM and that seemed too early, so I went back to sleep and i had a really vivid, interesting dream right before I woke up at 9:00. I was so deeply asleep, though, that when I came to, I felt almost paralyzed and it took me a while to get my body awake. But then I started thinking about the dream and I went back to sleep for another hour before I finally got up. I don't have nearly as many dreams that I'm aware of as Ii used to when I was younger, and I miss that. Some of my dreams were bad, but most of them were interesting. There was even one that turned out to be the jumping off place for one of my stories - Osara. While the story takes place after the dream left off, I referred to the events in it.

I know my mother didn't like to dream for some reason, but I've always enjoyed it because so many of them were so interesting, including the many recurring ones that I had for years. The last one of those was about the morphing of this house, and since I've lived here full-time, I don't have that one anymore either.

Anyway, I got up around 10:00 and I knitted my row without any trouble. That was row 58, so I have 14 more to do before I start the edging. I thought the white Shetland shawl was a big project, but this one is even bigger and will take longer to finish.

That was about all I did except to get the last details (I hope!) of the legal documents nailed down. While the talking was going on, I worked away at the sampler. I'm working on the big alphabet and it's finicky enough that it's going very slowly. I'm working on "O" now. It's an amusing thing in one way; after "V", it turns south and the rest of the letters go down the right side. I suppose that's because of the width of the original fabric, but the stitcher could just as well have stopped after "V." In my case, it defines the location of the border, but it's going to take a few more sessions to get there. Then I can start working on the motifs in earnest, and that will be more interesting.

The weather was sort of nondescript. It was cloudy all day. The high temperature was 71º, but that was between 10:00 AM and noon, and after that it went down, first to 57º, then it recovered to 69º, and then it went down again. Now it's 54º. There was a little southwest wind until 2:00, and it's been calm ever since. The humidity wasn't bad until the wind died, but it's been a bit hazy or foggy down the harbor ever since, and the humidity is up over 80% now. There are little ripples on the harbor now, so I guess there is a very light wind.

THe guys slept, I think. Grayson had to wait to get his lap time, but he finally got it. He's sitting on the floor behind me now. Louie went wherever Louie goes to sleep and I haven't seen him since breakfast.

So that's all there was, and I'll be trudging up to the north end soon. It's a coolish, calm, cloudy night in the field.

June 11

So I was late again last night. Since I ate dinner so late, it was nearly midnight when I turned out the light. I slept very well, with only two wakeups. I got up around 9:00, although I would rather have gone back to sleep, and I didn't knit.

I got to my massage to find Johanna outside playing with her new puppy - a female Belgian Malinois, just like her beloved Eos, who died last year. This one is Raya (or Raia, I'm not sure how she spells it), and she is only 8 weeks old. She is adorable, and it's easy to tell already that she's very smart. About the time I left, she had finally run down, so she curled up and went to sleep right at Johanna's feet. I could go for a dog like that, but since they are a working breed, they need lots of exercise, preferably with their person. Not for me. I'll make do with cats.

Anyway, that tired me out enough that I didn't do much of anything for the rest of the afternoon. I read some more legal documents and had some e-conversation with the lawyer, and we are set to have our signing party on Thursday. I did work on the sampler for a while when the talking was on, but not as long as I wanted to.

The weather was lovely, just what I wish the whole summer would be like. The high temperature was 74º for a couple of hours this afternoon, and there was a nice breeze from the south, with gusts up to 22 mph. It was clear until around 6:00 when the clouds began to move in, and we might have some rain overnight or tomorrow. But oh, it was nice! i had the window open, although not as early as I should have, and it was lovely. Now it's cooling down, though, so I'll have to close it soon, Would anyway, because I don't want to leave it open overnight in case a certain cat would want to get out.

That certain cat got some lap time, but not as much as he wanted, because I didn't have time before I went out. The other one slept someplace and I didn't see him until I had to go up to the north end to the bathroom (don't ask).

So that was another quiet day and now it's a warmish cloudy night in the field.

June 10

I didn't get to bed until 10:00 last night, but i did sleep well. I woke up at 6:00 and after trying to doze until the alarm went off, I finally got up around 6:15. One of my funnies pages was down, but I was still later than I expected to be. i got away a little after 9:00, and i did get to church before 10:00. There were lots of cars going north, but I missed all the ones going south, so I made good time.

Church was good, with another excellent sermon. Afterwards, Pastor had some information to give me so I had to wait until he was through talking to everyone else before I left. I still got home just a bit after 1:00.

After I cleaned myself up - I peed my pants again - and changed my clothes and had some lunch, I didn't do anything much but read. I'm tired. I think I will sleep well again tonight.

I had to make rice, and I didn't feel like moving so it was late when I did, so I ate late, and I still have to put the rest of the rice away, so it was a quiet day.

The weather was lovely. When I left town, it was 75º, and when I got home, it was 73º here. It went up and down after that, and at 8:00, it was 50º for some reason I don't understand. There was almost no wind all day and this end of the harbor was like glass. There weren't any clouds, either, so it was clear and blue all day. So pretty! The humidity was low for most of the afternoon, too.

I don't know what got into Grayson today. After I ate breakfast, he came and sat on my lap and started kneading anyplace he could sink a claw. Since I only had my nightgown on, that hurt, and I finally shouted at him and booted him off my lap when he sank a claw into my real nipple. THAT hurt! He was wandering around getting into things all day. He pushed the loose blocking tiles on the floor again and he was scratching on them until I removed them. Then late today he got on my lap again, but he wanted to stand with his rear end toward me, which I don't like, and besides, I can't read when the cat is in front of the computer screen. Louie got some lap time, too, and he was much better behaved. He got petted and rubbed until he decided it was time to leave.

So it was a quiet afternoon. I was tired, but not so tired that I nodded off, and now I will be tottering up to the north end to go to bed soon. I must say that I was not nearly so sore today, and my right knee, which is the one I bend when I go up and down stairs, isn't as sore as it was earlier in the week. so I guess I'm finally getting over my exertions in the basement. I need to do something about the stuff in the breezeway and I need to start on the kitchen, which is gross. The lawyer wants a piece of paper I don't think I have. I see Johanna tomorrow. All the usual junk. I like it much better when there isn't anything I have to do.

Now it's a cool, clear, lovely evening in the field.

June 9

I was late again, but it was partly because I was running off at the bottom and I continued to do that all night. It was after 11:30 when I got to bed. I didn't sleep well, and I don't know why. I was up any number of times, and I woke up sweaty every time, but with toes that felt cold and were actually warm. I finally did get to sleep after around 5:00 AM, and I got up around 9;00.

I knitted my row, and that was all I did. I just didn't feel like doing anything.

The weather was nondescript. It was mostly cloudy all day. The temperature spiked up to 73º around 3:00 PM, but it was mostly in the 60s and it went up and down. There wasn't much wind, and it was from the south. Lately the temperature has gone down and the humidity has gone up, but for most of the day, the humidity was under 50%, which is nice.

The guys both got some lap time. Grayson slept on me until I had to go to the powder room, and later in the afternoon, Louie came in and mewed at me until I gave him a lap to claw his way up on. He got a bit of a tummy rub. Last night after I went to bed, he got up on the bed and tried to lie down on my head, so I kept moving away from him and eventually we came to a truce. I don't think that kept me awake, but it didn't help me get to sleep.

So now it's a coolish, cloudy evening in the field and I have to go to bed right now!

June 8

I was later than I wanted to be last night, and it was about 10:45 when I got to bed. I slept fairly well, and I didn't get up until about 9:00, so I guess I got enough sleep. Need more now.

I knitted, and I spliced in a new ball of yarn without much trouble, but it was on a purl row, which is a lot of plain knitting. That thing is getting really big!

I didn't do anything again except go to the post office. I'd been wondering why I didn't get any checks on my new account, and when I called to find out, I discovered that I'd misread something on the website when I was opening it and I never ordered any. So I did that. The new ones are a bit different from the old ones and are supposed to be even safer, so I guess that's good. At least I found out where to get the whole account number, so I can begin the process of changing the electronic credits and debits over. Ugh. I'm not looking forward to that!

While the talking was going on, I bound off the toe-up sock I've been working on for so long. I'm disappointed, because I didn't have enough yarn to make the leg as long as I'd like it to be, but it's a summer sock, so it's not so important. I cast on the second sock, but I only did a couple of rows. Then I went back to the sampler, and I got most of one alphabet done. Well - it was all of the alphabet, but right following it is the name of the maker (I think), and I started a bit of that, too. I can see to do the stitching on the 40-count linen, most of the time, but today my eyes were gluey, which made it more difficult. I got quite a bit done, though. Under that alphabet is another bigger and more ornate one, and I'll be working on that as soon as I finish "BECKE," which is the name. The original was worked from 1814 to 1816, but I don't think (I hope) it will take me two years, even only working on it two or three hours a day, unless I abandon it for some reason. So far, it's been interesting enough that I don't think I'll do that, but we'll see. Right now, working all cross stitch all in one color appeals to me.

The weather was very nice. It was clear all day, except that there were those high aerosols that kept the sky from being really blue (the camera hung up, too) and late in the day, there were some high clouds. The high temperature was 73º and after about 9:00 AM there was almost no wind. The humidity was low, too, which was nice.

The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't come around. I went up to the north end late today, and he was laid out in the window seat, although he moved when I came. They got canned fish for breakfast today, so they were happy.

So that was another quiet day, and now it's a partly cloudy, warmish night in the field.

June 7

Well, I was right about being late. It was 11:45 when I turned out the light. I slept fairly well, I guess, although I was up several times and I didn't sleep as deeply as I'd hoped. I got up about 8:00. It was another case where I knew if I went back to bed, either I wouldn't sleep at all or I wouldn't get up until late.

I knitted another row, and I'm going to have to splice in a new ball of yarn tomorrow. I hope I can remember to take it up to the north end with me tonight. I dropped a couple of stitches and I only hope I got everything back together right, but it seems to look OK, so I won't worry about it.

That was all I did. I had some ideas, but I never got around to them. I worked on the sampler while the talking was going on, and while it's hard on my eyes, I'm enjoying it so far. I only wish I could see what the back side looks like, because it's not easy to figure out how the stitcher got from one motif to another. I think I'm going to try to do the top border and the alphabets, though, so I can start working right to left. I frequently do that so that when I hold the fabric scrunched up in my hand it doesn't scrunch up what I've already stitched.

The weather was nice. It was clear all day, although there were high, thin clouds that left the sky almost white but didn't interfere very much with the sunshine. The temperature has finally risen to 58º. There wasn't much wind and it's been calm for the past several hours, leaving our end of the harbor like a mirror. I love it when it gets that way.

The guys were their sleepy selves. They both got some lap time, so they're happy. I had to lift Louie onto my lap, which left him sitting on my lap with his front paws on my shoulder for a while. It doesn't seem to bother him to be picked up, but he's so heavy, I have a terrible time, especially since I don't want to put my hand on his rear because he doesn't clean himself. He seemed happy and he got some good loving.

So that was another quiet day. It felt funny not to go to choir and Bible Study because there wasn't any, but it was nice to have a real dinner at a reasonable hour.

Now it's a partly clear, sort of warmish evening in the field, and tonight I will be in bed at a semi-reasonable hour.

June 6

Ooh, I'm going to be late tonight! I just got off one of those two-hour conversations with Debbie and I have to wash my hair. Ooh. But she's coming, and she's not staying here, so it will be all right.

I was in bed by 9:30 last night again, but I didn't sleep very well. I think it might have been because I went to bed before the Neurontin took effect, because my toes felt cold even when they were warm, and I was twitchy. Finally I did get to sleep, and I did pretty well, but I got up around 7:00. I had to pee, and I knew that if I went back to bed, I'd be late, so I got up and knitted. Now I'm really tired.

I didn't do very much today, but I think I signed off on all the estate documents I've gotten so far. I'm not really clear on that, but I haven't heard back from the lawyer. Now I'm just waiting on the stuff for the trust. He determined that I do have to have the trust, because my house is in it, so it will have to be updated. It may be that he's just now reading through it - it's long - to see what he has to put in the amendment.

The weather was warmer than it has been lately, but it was cloudy during the day. The high temperature was 62º, a couple of times - it was going up and down all afternoon, from 50º at 4:00 PM to 62º at 8:00 PM. It was breezy at times, with gusts up to 21 mph mostly from the southwest. I think it's cleared up now, and it's supposed to be clear overnight.

The guys slept. Grayson got a lot of lap time, and even Louie got some. Louie got a good brushing while he was sitting on me, but I think I could brush him forever and I would still get more loose hair out. They got something they liked for breakfast, but they ate it all, and when I went out to get my dinner, Grayson had to tell me his kibble bowls were nearly empty. Little snot.

So that was my day, and now I am going to totter up to the north end and get clean before I crash. I'm really tired. It's a clear, cool night in the field.

June 5

So I got to bed around 9:30 last night, and I got up around 8:00. It seems to be a pattern, which means that if I followed it on weekends, I'd have to get to bed by 8:00 PM on Saturday. That would mean I'd have to start my bath about 6:30...and you see where that leads.

I knitted, and boy, did I add a lot of extra yarn-overs on the previous row! I know why, but it was annoying. 960 stitches and counting. At least it's easy just to drop the extra stitches.

There were two tasks of the day, but there was a lot of stuff to read, so it was afternoon before I got to them. First of all was the bulletin for Sunday, and that wasn't too hard, although I had to gather a lot of stuff together, including something Pastor told me that I hadn't written down. I got that off and I think it looks good.

Then there were my estate documents. I read them all, although down in the middle of the will, my eyes started to glaze over. Somebody ought to make a law that all legal documents have to be simple and readable. There were a couple of changes I had to make, but nothing major, and I got the next drafts back this afternoon. It's going to cost me a bit more than I'd hoped, mostly because of the trust, but I think I can manage it. It will be good to get that all settled again.

The weather was nice. It was cloudy all night. I was surprised when I woke up the first time at 11:15 and the northwestern horizon was still bright, but that's June in Keweenaw. By sunrise it was clear (sorry, the camera hung up again) and it was mostly clear all day. There were a few clouds as the day wore on, but there's still mostly sunshine. The high temperature was 52º, just a while ago. It was breezy this morning, but now it's gone mostly calm. It's still more humid than I like it - around 70% - but it's better than it was.

The guys were sleepy, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but not as much as he wanted. The first time he got on my lap, after I came back from the bathroom, Louie came, too, and mewed at us, but I can only hold one cat at a time, and my lap was taken.

So that was my day, and I expect to be in bed just as early tonight. I'm getting my dining hour under control, although not completely yet, and I feel like I need to get in bed soon. I hate that feeling, but I do find that if I give in to it, I have much more energy early in the day, so I'll keep at it.

Now it's a cool, calm and nearly clear evening in the field.

June 4

I ended up in bed by 9:00 again last night. I was really tired, and I mostly slept well. i was up several times, and it was a very noisy night, because the wind rose to 43 mph gusts from the north, and they were battering the north side of the bedroom. Didn't keep me awake, though.

Since I went to bed so early, I got up around 7:30, but it's taking me an hour and a half to do even the easiest row on the shawl, so I didn't get moving fast. And I didn't do anything with all my time. Sigh. After I finished my surfing, I read and while the talking was going on, I worked on the monochrome sampler. I guess that's the best way to describe it. It's called Vierlande, which I think may be Dutch, but that's hard to keep writing. I'm just working on the border, because I haven't been working on it for long, but pretty soon I'll be able to start on part of the alphabets and the first motif, which is a tree with flowers on it. Don't bother to Google it, unless you just want to see the style - the one I'm doing is from a magazine and it doesn't look like any of the pictures. I like this one, because it has a border all the way around it. I have another chart, for one called Celle, that I've had for at least 30 years, and I might try that one sometime, too. Doing something in all one color can be boring, but it can also be relaxing, especially when there are all those interesting motifs to do. We'll see how it goes.

The weather was quite unsettled, but it was pretty. The wind was strong, as I said, but after about 9:00 AM it began to die down, and now it's down to 9 mph. It was mostly cloudy until around 10:00, when it cleared up, and then it got cloudy again after 6:30, although that seems to be going away again. The high temperature was 56º, briefly at about 6:00 PM, but it's already dropped to 47º. It was a pretty day, with lots of sunshine and blue skies and blue waters that were covered with little whitecaps for most of the afternoon. I haven't been able to figure out when the whitecaps are big and obvious and when they're little. Today they were little, but there were a lot of them.

The guys slept. Louie was so sound asleep on the rug by my bed when I got up this morning that I wondered if he was still alive, but when i started rustling around after I finished knitting, he came in and got petted. Grayson was bored. He didn't want to sleep and I was busy, so he kept coming and going and asking to have his back scratched. He got some lap time, too, but Louie didn't because Grayson was on my lap when he came around.

So that was a quiet day, and now they're playing Brahms, so I have to wait until that's over before I go up to the north end. I don't feel very good, so I want to sleep some more. I got the first drafts of my estate documents this afternoon, and I haven't looked at most of them. I found a couple of typos, including one that said "I want to be discontinued..." Well... My new lawyer doesn't have a secretary, so I can see how some typos can creep in, but that one made me chuckle. It had to do with when I want treatment to be discontinued, and that's the result, but legally, I don't suppose you should say so.

Now it's a cool, mostly clear evening in the field.

June 3

I don't know quite how I managed it, but I turned out the light at 9:00 last night. I slept fairly well, although I was up several times and I had some trouble with cramps. I woke up before the alarm went off because I had to pee, and I finally had to get up.

I was running quite early today, and I got to church well before 10:00. It was nice; I got to talk to some people and I got to sit quietly and listen to the organ. The service was good, and Pastor's sermon was about people who have excuses for not coming to church and why they're wrong-headed. It was amusing because Mary Ann and Bill weren't there, although they had a legitimate excuse.

Afterwards, I had a nice conversation with Pastor about the problems I'm wrestling with in putting together my medical power of attorney and advanced directive. He sent me some things that have been really helpful.

It was another day when I didn't have to do anything else in town, so I got home not long after 1:00. I had some lunch - a weird one - and didn't do anything else but read for the rest of the afternoon, except when I was sending emails around with the stuff from Pastor. My powers of attorney are coming along.

Getting up earlier than I'm used to plus the long ride to and from Laurium, plus church, always leaves me exhausted, so I'm writing this early and I expect to be in bed early.

The weather hasn't been helpful. It was so nasty this morning that I took Tylenol when I got up. The low temperature was 43º and the high was 53º. It rained almost all night - 0.43" worth - and it started raining again shortly after I got home, but there hasn't been much until lately. There wasn't any wind for most of the afternoon. The humidity has been over 90% for most of the day, which is no doubt why I don't feel very good. Yuck.

The guys slept. Grayson wanted to sleep on me, but after he'd been on my lap for an hour or so, I shooed him away and I wouldn't let him come back. I need to be able to move around more than I can with him sitting on me.

So that was a quiet day. Now it's a cold, rainy, yucky night in the field, and I need to go to bed soon.

June 2

I didn't check when I got to bed last night, but I think it was about 10:30. I slept fairly well - it was cool in the bedroom, so I could make my own atmosphere under the covers - but it was humid and I hurt. Besides, I had fish for dinner so I was up any number of times.

I got up at 8:00 exactly (!) and I knitted the next round with no problems, but it's long enough that it took me an hour and a half.

That was just about all I did. I got out into the breezeway and unpacked my probiotics and broke down some boxes. I had to go back because one of the bottles they said was in the package wasn't. And getting up the steps was excruciating. My knees hurt. The reason I had to do that was that I had to refill the pill dispensers. The ones at the south end are done, and I will be going up to the north end shortly and doing the other ones. I should have gotten the dishwasher ready to run, but I didn't, so I'll have to do that tomorrow.

By dinner time, I was not feeling good again, so I hope I can get to bed very early tonight.

The weather was cool and pretty. It was in the low 50s most of the day, but now it's up to 60º - everybody was wrong again! The day started out clear, but it was partly cloudy for the rest of the day. This is the kind of weather when the camera doesn't give a good picture of conditions at all. There was a lot of sunshine and there still is, whatever the camera says. The wind was from the south to southeast and there were gusts up to 23 mph. The dew point has been just about steady around 32º, so as the temperature rose, the humidity has gone down. It's under 40% now. So why do I have a sinus headache?

The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but not nearly as much as he wanted, because I got tired of having him in the way. When I came back to the studio with my dinner, both of them were soaking up the rays under the dining room table. The sun is so far north now that it shines under the table in the evening.

Speaking of that, our days are 15h 43m long now, and they will get about 15 minutes longer in the next three weeks. It's lovely to get up when it's light out, but not so lovely to be going to bed while the sun is still up.

They were saying there might be northern lights tonight, but the moon is just past full and it's up all night, so it's unlikely that we could see them unless they were more than spectacular. Oh, well. The sun keeps having those weird coronal holes, so eventually I'll get to see something.

So that was a very quiet day. I had hoped to do some work on my German sampler, but that didn't happen. This one is all black on sort of copper colored fabric, but it's an interesting thing and I've been wanting to do one of these. Of course, the fabric is 40 count, so I have to use my magnifier, but I haven't had much trouble seeing or getting the stitches right.

Now it's a coolish, breezy and mostly clear evening in the field.

June 1

Well, I didn't get into bed until after midnight last night and I didn't sleep very well. It was probably in part because I knew I had to get up early and get going today, but it was also because it was so cold and humid that I hurt. All over.

I did get up at 7:30, when the alarm went off, and I managed to do most of my surfing and change my bottoms before I left. Yes, I'm obviously in the runny part of the cycle again. The more I observe this thing I have, the more I see that it is cyclic. I get about three weeks of relief and then I have about three weeks of running, accidents, and messes. This was too bad, too, because the jeans I was wearing were about my most comfortable pair and the ones I had to put on weren't quite as nice.

Anyway, I left about when I wanted to and I got to Calumet just about in time for my appointment. I had to put money in a parking meter! I think that's the first time I've done that in 10 years! I could have parked for free behind the building, but then I would have had to walk all the way around it to get in, because the back entrance has stairs.

Anyway, I think the lawyer will be able to help me get my estate planning under control again, and sometime next week, I hope, I'll have a document Debbie can use to get into my safe deposit box. I will also get the rest of my estate documents corrected - they still say I live on Champine - and that will be good.

I stopped at the post office on my way home, and the checks for my new account didn't come! How they expect someone to freeze their old account when they don't have any checks or even the account number for the new one, I do not know. Anyway, I got home around 2:00, after having a nice conversation with the woman who directs the tourist information area.

The weather was, frankly, miserable. There wasn't any measurable precip, but all the way down to Calumet and most of the way back, I kept running through areas of mist or drizzle. The temperature here didn't make it up to 46º until 6:00 PM, and it was around 40º all the time I was out. It was cloudy and dull all day, except for a very small period around 7:00 when there was a brief break in the clouds. Hey, this is JUNE, people! There was about a 15 mph wind from the northeast this morning, which has now died down to nothing. It's still very humid, but it was under 70% after about 3:00 PM. As my Schwan's guy said, we had summer last week, and now this is fall. It sure felt like about two months ago. My only consolation is that it keeps the bugs down and maybe freezes them.

The guys were their sleepy selves. Grayson wanted to sit on me a whole lot more than I wanted him to, and he got a good tummy rub after I got home. Louie was fine until the Schwan's guy got here, when he went downstairs for a while. Poor Louie.

So that was my day. I didn't get done the things I like to do, but I did take care of some important business, and that's good. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, the lawyer will be up here and we will meet in the community center, along with two people who know me (Ron and, I think, Mary Ann) and we will sign and witness the documents that need to be signed and witnessed. That makes me feel better. The only other thing on my list is to see if I can get a replacement certificate for my burial plots, and I will try to get that done next week or so.

Now it's another cold, damp, cloudy night in the field. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, so I'll be off to the north end real soon.

Oh, and it's June. Geez.

Last updated 06/20/18 10:03 PM