journal

A View From the Field

February 19

I was so upset last night that I inverted. It was probably just as well that I sat here and read, because I was so upset that I probably wouldn't have slept anyway, but it meant that I got up late and I didn't have a lot of time to do much. So far it was a better day, though.

The task of the day was the bulletins. For the next six weeks, there will be two a week, and then there will be Holy Week. The one for Ash Wednesday was particularly difficult because we wanted it on a half sheet and Pastor spelled out the entire order of service, but I managed to get it on two sides of a half sheet. It took some work, though. The rest shouldn't be so bad.

The other task I set myself was to try to get as much as I could remember of the stuff that got deleted last night back into the story. I know the critical scene is just about the same, because I've been thinking about that so long that I had it memorized, but the action leading up to it is all different, because I was just writing what occurred to me and not paying attention. I guess it's all right - I haven't read it yet - but I know it's not the same. At least it's done and I've saved it for sure, unless the whole file gets deleted (shudder!!). Word says it's saving something every 10 minutes or so, but I have no clue what it is, because every time I really needed a backup, there was none. Of course, last night everything was so screwed up that it panicked me and I now realize there were better ways to have handled my problem. Maybe next time, but every time I've had one of these glitches, it's been different. Well, live and learn.

It was a very cold, windy day in the field and it snowed pretty much all day, until around 6:00 PM. The high temperature was 15º at midnight and it got down to 9º at noon before it recovered a bit - to 14º. The wind has been from the north at around 20 mph with gusts as high as 31 mph. Of course, that puts the wind chill well below 0º. It was mostly dark and dreary.

I didn't see much of the cats. Louie has undoubtedly been hanging out at the north end, where it's warmer, and Grayson has clearly been aware that he did something really bad last night. He did want my dinner, but otherwise, he's been staying out of my way. He tried once to go under the desk, but I screeched at him and he ran away. I understand him well enough to forgive him, so maybe we can get back together tomorrow.

So that was my truncated day. I should wash my hair, but I think I will do it tomorrow, like I have been lately. Now it's a frigid, windy, snowy night in the field and a good one to hunker down and sleep long and hard.

February 18

This has turned out not to be a good day.

I wasn't too late last night, but I just did not want to get up this morning, so it was after noon when i finally got up. So I missed a phone call from my old pastor. Sigh.

I have been thinking about one of the stories I'm working on, and I started writing around 7:00 PM. There was a scene I've been thinking about for some time, but it took a lot of preparation to get to it, so by around midnight, I had written around 4100 words. Good words. I read them over several times and they were good.

In the meantime, I discovered that the inner pot of my rice cooker has been bent out of shape and it won't cook anymore. I dropped it a while ago, and when I went to use it the last time, it didn't fit down in the outside correctly so I couldn't close the lid completely. So today, I decided to take my little mallet and even out the two places I knew were raised. How the bottom got raised by dropping the whole pot, I do not know. Then I went crazy and tried to smooth the entire bottom, and from the looks of it, I pushed it in far enough that it won't make contact with the heating element. I will try (tomorrow!) to fix that, but I think I'm going to have to get a new liner. Not the whole appliance, just the inner pot. I hope I can get one.

So I was writing away when Grayson came in. There is something about him, when he walks under the computer desk, he zaps my keyboard. Unfortunately, when he walked in, I had just highlighted everything I wrote today to see how many words there were, and both the keyboard and the mouse went crazy. Before I could do anything, everything I wrote was deleted - and it's gone. Completely gone. So was a lot of other stuff, and before I finally got it shut down (I thought) I was trying to open document 21!

In the meantime, the keyboard was so screwed up that I couldn't do anything, so I decided to try to reboot to see if I could fix it. It took forever to shut down and forever to come up, and then it tried to start both Windows Mail and Word, and Word was still screwed up. So I clicked "Shut Down" instead of "Restart" and I think I have it back in one piece, but my writing is gone.

Then, right after I started this, Grayson came back and got under the desk and zapped the keyboard again, although not as badly, and I had a horrible time getting out of there. It must have something to do with the static electricity in his coat, but it drives me nutty.

The weather was better ignored. The temperature started at 30º at midnight and it had fallen to 15º at midnight. It was windy; the wind was from the north in the 20-25 mph range, with gusts as high as 37 mph. It was dark and dreary and we had several snow squalls.

Other than Grayson and the computer, they both slept, various places, except that he made like a vulture when I was eating. I don't know what I'm going to do with that cat.

So that was a lousy day, and now it's late again, but I'm not through trying to put my computer back together again. It seems obvious that some of the problems Microsoft caused with Windows 7 are already in my system, and I've been reluctant to install the last three updates, for fear I'll make things worse. I have determined that I do not want to go to Office 365, because those programs are stored in the cloud, which means that when my internet connection is down, I can't do any work. And with the way they've screwed up the updates, I'm terrified of Windows 10. So I will stand pat. There are some rumblings that people want to keep Windows 7 alive without Microsoft, so I'll just have to hope and put my trust in Norton.

Now it's a late, cold, dark night in the field.

February 17

I was reading, mostly, last night and I completely lost track of time, so it was very late when I finally got to bed. I got up around 11:00, but I didn't get enough sleep and I don't feel good.

I was playing with the phone when it rang. It does that so seldom that I hardly realized what had happened, but when I tried to answer it, I couldn't hear, so I hung up and it rang again. It was Debbie and she was in a panic. It seems that the clinic had called her because my land line had been busy since last Thursday and they were worried about me. They decided to call her before they called the Sheriff, Debbie is very resourceful, and since she knows my cell number, she called me on it and determined that I'm OK before she called the clinic back.

In the meantime, I was trying to figure out why my land line was showing busy. I tried the phone in the bathroom, which is a cordless one, and yes, indeed there was an open line. I thought it was probably either the phone by my bed or the one in the kitchen, both of which don't sit in their cradles very well. However, when I tried to turn it off, it wouldn't turn. I pushed all the buttons, but it didn't finally turn off until I got it in a dead zone and it lost contact with the answering machine, which is at the other end of the house. Then, a while later, I checked the phone in the bedroom and it was fine. So was the one in the bathroom, so I called the clinic back.

I think they panicked, but I was glad they did. I get so few phone calls anyway that I didn't notice I hadn't gotten any since Thursday, although I was muttering because the clinic hadn't called me back. As Debbie pointed out, it's nice to know the system works well. I was sorry to give her a scare, but I didn't know about it either until she called me.

She called back this evening and we had a nice conversation, although I cut it short because there was something I wanted to listen to on the radio. It seems like she will be coming up on my birthday, although she probably won't be here in time to celebrate it. It will be nice to see her again.

I don't know what the problem with the phone was, but after this, when I turn it off after a call, I'm going to have to check it to make sure it's really off. I don't give very many people my cell number, so my land line has to be available.

So that was the excitement of the day.

I embroidered all the time the talking was going on, so I got four hours in, and I finished the third tier of charts. Now I'm 75% done, more or less, and the next time I embroider, I will start the bottom four charts. That is sort of a hodge-podge of bushes, medallions and letters, and I will have to finish the border all around. It seems I've been working on this thing for a long time, but it's a big project. It still surprises me that I haven't gotten bored with it, but there are enough strange little motifs to make it interesting.

The weather was nondescript. The high temperature was 32º and there was a strong southwest wind that got up to 39 mph gusts this morning. It was cloudy, dull and gray all day, but nothing came down as far as I could see.

The guys slept someplace. Grayson didn't try to sit on me for some reason. Louie got his loving this morning. It still delights me when he curls up at my feet in the bathroom and purrs. I'm not doing anything for him except be there - and he purrs. Grayson will purr when I touch him but he doesn't usually do it otherwise. Grayson did want some of my dinner tonight.

I will probably regret it tomorrow, but I am so tired of fish and chicken that I hauled out a piece of steak tonight and made some of my baby potatoes. It probably wasn't the best steak, because it's been in the freezer for a while, but it tasted fine to me, and I do like those potatoes. So when I get a gout attack and run off at the bottom all day tomorrow, I'll probably regret it all, but it sure was nice for a change.

So now it's a cold, dark night in the field and maybe I can get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour?

February 16

I was too late last night and for no particular reason. I slept well, but I just did not want to get up until I almost had an accident. And then I sat for too long, so I didn't do much of anything. I got my hair washed, and I washed the load of underwear, which is ready for the dryer. While I was in the laundry room, I rustled around a bit and I found the pair of compression hose I had lost. They were with a pair of warm season socks, so they've been buried for a while. I couldn't wash them today, because I didn't want to bleach them, but the next time I do bottoms, I will. It's a good thing. I have two socks that have serious runs in them, so they don't compress as well as they used to, so I need that fourth pair.

I just had a sneezing fit, so I'm not over that, either, and I still feel lousy.

The weather was nondescript, although we did have a little a little snow around 2:00 PM. The high temperature was only 14º, but it was around 12º for most of the day. There was some wind this morning, which died down in the afternoon, but it was cold outside. it was cloudy and dark and dreary.

The guys slept. They got some of their favorite canned food today, but more like dinner than breakfast. Grayson tried to sit on me just a while ago, but he wasn't around when I could have had him on my lap. Louie had a tummy ache, and I think he gave up a hairball sometime this afternoon. I hope that helped him.

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

February 15

Okay, now I've heard Beethoven's Triple Concerto, so I can go to bed. I was going to try to go to bed early, and clean, but it isn't going to be early and I think I will do the clean thing tomorrow, like I did the last time. It seems easier earlier in the day.

I did get to bed around midnight last night, and I slept well, although I was up several times, and I had to rush a couple of times to get there before I had an accident. Sometimes having those hot flashes wake me up is a good thing.

I got up around 10:00 and I knitted on the new sock. I finished the ribbing and did a row or two on the leg. This yarn is weird. It alternates almost solid stripes of medium blue with a couple of blotches of black with a wide stripe of white, royal blue and black that is all mixed up. I don't yet know what it will finally come out looking like. That's one reason I keep knitting these things - surely I have enough socks! - because I want to see how the pattern will come out. This one doesn't feel as soft as some others I've knitted, but maybe when it's washed and rinsed in fabric softener, it will soften up some. Most of my socks have.

That was about all I did. I ended up spending most of the day in the bathroom. I had to sit down twice before I got dressed, and then after breakfast, when I got to the powder room, I had to sit down three times before I could finally go away. At least I haven't had an accident yet today.

I washed the load of bottoms that has been building up in the washer. All my sweats were dirty, as well as several pairs of jeans and a whole bunch of underpants. I have to wash a load of underwear, too, but I'll do that tomorrow. It's taken me quite a while to get the new bottle of soap into the laundry room. It's a big bottle and it's heavy. I was wondering how I was going to horse it around, but it turns out they'd thought about that and the directions were on the side. You tip it up on one narrow end, where the spigot is, and push a red button and the soap comes out! Wow! From now on, that's what I'm going to buy. It's cheaper by the ounce anyway, but I had always thought it would be too hard to handle that big bottle. it's not so heavy that I can't hoist it into the cupboard, it fits well enough that the doors close, and all I have to do is pull it out about two inches and I can dispense as much soap as I want. I love it when I find something that works so easily.

The weather was about the same. IT started snowing around 9:00 AM and it continued until around 1:30 PM. I don't think there was much accumulation. The temperature has risen all day, to a high of 31º at 10:00 PM. The wind has shifted aroudn to the northwest, and it is gusting up to 35 mph. it was cloudy and dull all day.

It is extremely cold in the great room and the studio. It was around 58º when I got here this afternoon, and even running the space heater on high, it's only gotten to 68º. I may have to break down and call the repair people. I don't know if I can stand this. Cold makes my arthritis much worse. The bathroom has been holding at around 72º (with the thermostat turned up as high as it will go) and it's warm in the bedroom and closet, so at least I can sleep in comfort.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for most of the afternoon and he wanted to come back later, but I said enough, already. I am not his pillow. Louie has been hanging out in the bedroom, where it's warm.

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

February 14

If you celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope you had a nice one. I still think that's another so-called holiday ginned up by the greeting card, candy and flower industries and I've always thought it was sort of dumb. St. Valentine was a martyr and i don't think romantic love had much to do with it.

Anyway, I actually got to bed before 1:00 AM last night and I slept fairly well. It was a bit cool at the north end, because of the temperature and the wind, but I managed to stay fairly warm. I got up around 10:00 and I cast on the new sock and knitted about four rows, I think.

That was about all I did. I finally went out to the garage and got my package, which was buried in a snowbank. I'm afraid the ink may have frozen, but I'm letting it thaw out completely before I check it. I also discovered that my snow shovel has disappeared. I'm assuming Walter inadvertently put it in his truck when he was clearing out my driveway, but I need it. There is a bout a 12" drift in front of the garage that needs to be knocked down. Besides, it's my shovel, and it wasn't cheap.

Tomorrow I will have to wash a very large load of bottoms, so I finally got the laundry soap into the house, altnogh not into the laundry room yet. I had to buy a very large bottle of soap the last time, and I've been avoiding trying to use it, because it's heavy, but now I have to. At worst, I can pour some of it into the old bottles, although I'd rather not do that. Every time I have to pour soap of any kind from one bottle to another, I make a mess.

The weather was bifurcated. It was cold and snowy until around noon, and then it cleared up completely and warmed up a little. The high temperature got to 20º late in the day, and the wind has shifted around to the southwest, although it's now gusting up to 38 mph. It was nice to see the sunshine and blue skies this afternoon. I guess the snow may be back for the weekend, but at least we've had a few hours.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me all during the talking, unfortunately, so I didn't get to do anything. When I was up at the north end, Louie was laid out on the floor in the bedroom, which is the warmer spot in this weather. He got some good canned food this morning, so he was happy.

So now it's a clear, cold night in the field, and I'll be off to the north end soon.

February 13

I inverted last night, for various reasons, but mostly I was reading and I wanted to finish that story. I managed to get around seven hours' sleep, but I'm tired and I don't expect to be that late tonight. Besides, I haven't decided what to read next, and if I start writing on the story I've been thinking about, I'll never get to sleep.

I didn't do much. i finished the crazy sock, so now I have a new pair of light-weight wool socks to wear when the weather warms a bit. I took my bath in the middle of the afternoon, which turned out to be a good thing. I'm stronger and my joints aren't as sore early in the day as they are at night.

I decided to bail out of the appointment I had tomorrow. It was just a check-in, and it's not going to be nice out. Besides, my head still hurts and I'm still dripping, so better I stay home. Of course, the airheads in the oncology department haven't called me back, so now I will have to beat on them to get a rescheduled appointment, but I more or less expected that.

The weather was snowy and frigid. The "high" temperature for the day was 7º and it has been snowing lightly all day. The wind has shifted to the north and it has moderated some, but the gusts have been as high as 25 mph. The snow was clearly lake effect and it came in bands, so we had a few peeks of sunshine in between showers.

The guys slept, of course. Louie got his loving this morning, although I think he was confused when I took my shower. Grayson got to sleep on me while the talking was going on, which I wish he wouldn't, since I would like to either embroider or cast on a new sock, but oh, well. He also thought he wanted some of my dinner, which he did not get. I only make enough for me, but I've offered him enough of those things to know he wouldn't eat them anyway. So he made like a vulture all the time I was eating, which I find annoying. It was nice to have him on my lap, though. The temperature here was 60º when I got here, and it has only now gotten up to 68º, so it was nice to have a warm cat to bury my fingers in.

So that was another quiet day and now it's a frigid, snowy night in the field. And I'm going to bed. Really. Even though they are going to play Sibelius.

February 12

Late, as usual, but I got enough sleep, and the rest of day was lost. I am still sick. Earlier I didn't feel so bad, but then I started sneezing, and now I feel lousy again. I'm toying with the idea of canceling my appointment with the oncology department on Friday. I just do not feel good at all. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

The weather isn't helping. It has been snowing lightly all day. The temperature got up to 30º this morning, but then it began to drop, and at midnight it was 6º. The wind has been strong from the northeast, with gusts up to 40 mph, so the wind chill is now -15º. It's cold outside.

The guys were sleepy. Grayson got to sleep on me for quite a while, but when he tried to come back up on the counter, he had a problem and all I heard was a crash - I don't know what he pulled on the floor, but I doubt I'll be very happy with it. Louie actually came down to be closer to me, but he took up residence under a chair on top of a wad of tissue paper. I suppose being under something concentrates the heat a little more.

So that's all there is, and now it's a frigid (!), snowy night in the field.

February 11

Almost forgot again.

I was late last night. i am going to have to stop reading that Google Discover stuff or I won't do anything else. I did get nearly 10 hours' sleep, which was good, but it meant I got up late, and then there was Google again... I must stop that.

Otherwise, I didn't do much except the bulletin, but that usually isn't much of a job anymore. There were four people to add to the prayer list, but this time of year is hard on us old people, especially if we have any serious health problems. I hope I can get to church on Sunday - it's my favorite service and I really want to go, but we'll see how it goes.

The weather is beginning to change. It was partly sunny for most of the day and the high temperature was 32º, but the wind was strong, with gusts up to 32 mph from the northwest overnight. The snow is now supposed to start tomorrow, not tonight, but it's still gusty out there.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for a long time and Louie is up at the north end.

So there isn't much to report and now it's apparently a partly cloudy, cold, windy night in the field.

February 10

So I was late again last night. I think it was because i was reading. Tonight is going to be different. Really. I'm tired and I'm sick. I really do have another sinus thing. It's not as bad as the one last fall, but It's enough to make me feel lousy.

I managed to get dressed and eat before I ran off to the post office with my taxes, and I stopped at the store, because my extension cords came. I got a few things to eat, too. I'm going to try to go to town tomorrow, but there is some suggestion that it might snow, so we'll see how that goes. If I feel like I do today, I won't go. I can't wait until Friday for financial reasons, so we'll see how it goes.

Debbie called tonight and we called until my phone battery died. This is the land line, and I think the battery is going. It used to last longer, although we talked for over 2 hours, like we always do. She is going to get an orphaned kitty, and she sent me a picture on my cell phone of a beautiful gray cat. I love gray cats. And white cats. And calico cats...But my two first cats were gray, so I have a special feeling for them.

The weather was actually rather nice for this time of year. The high temperature was 32º and there was almost no wind. It was cloudy this morning, but it began to clear up around 1:00 PM and there was a lot of sunshine until late in the day. The humidity actually got down under 60%, too, so I don't hurt as much.

The guys slept. Grayson didn't get any lap time because I was busy when he came around. He could have sat on me all the time I was talking to Debbie, but he wasn't around then. Louie is up at the north end, of course.

I have a thing I want to share with you. I really want to publish some of my stories - all of them if I can - but I don't take rejection well, so I've given up the idea of trying to place them with a literary agent. The alternative is to self-publish, and I think I've found a reputable company to do that. The thing is, I don't have the money to do it - or anything else - so I'm thinking of trying to raise it from one of the money-raising websites. I don't know if it will work, and I have some research to do, but I'd like to try. I think - without having costed it out - that it would probably take at least $5000 and maybe more, but the company would take care of placing my books with the big online sellers, for starters. I think I have some ideas that other science fiction writers don't and I think I write fairly well. We'll see what happens.

So now it's a cold, dark night in the field and I'll be off to bed as soon as the Mendelssohn is over. Really.

February 9

Oh, I was ridiculously late last night. I don't know why I do that, but I was reading again. Tonight will be earlier.

I didn't get up until noon and instead of knitting, I filled the north end pill dispensers, and then I read some stuff on my phone. Google has this thing they call Discover that has links to articles they think might interest me. I can't get them to stop showing stuff about sports (I used to be interested in sports - 40 years ago - but no more), but there have been some interesting things lately, including a warning that Microsoft screwed up Windows 7, I suspect on the last update they put out, which I haven't installed yet. And every time they put out updates to Windows 10, they screw something up there, too. Makes me wish I could use Linux.

Anyway, I was late eating, but I got all that done and I did my surfing, and then I filled the pill dispensers at the south end, which I didn't last month. It's so much easier if all I have to do is pour out the right handful of pills. So I'm set for the next four weeks. Besides, the pill bottles have been on top of the printer and I need to be able to get to that.

The weather was totally nondescript. The temperature was steady at 24º and there was almost no wind. The humidity was around 75%, which is lower than it has been lately, so I didn't hurt quite as much. It was very dark and dreary, and there seemed to be some haze down the harbor at times, but I don't think there was any snow here.

The guys slept. They were very patient with me. They had eaten every last crumb out of their dishes, but they didn't fuss very much and they seemed happy when I filled all the bowls. I'm getting down to the end of the kibble bags, so I will have to do something about that next month. Louie was trying to eat a plastic bag when I got to the kitchen, but I wonder if that wasn't just to tell me how hungry he was. Grayson didn't get to sit on me until just a little while ago, because I was doing other things.

So that was a very quiet day, and I am planning to get to bed much earlier tonight. Wish me luck. It's a cold, dark night in the field.

February 8

Oops, forgot. Sorry. I hope eventually I can get the laptop running again and get some remote desktop software again so I can do things like the journal when I'm up at the north end. In the summer, I can come back down here, but it's too cold at this end of the house to go wandering around with no clothes on. Besides, I was late.

So I was late getting up and late eating and I'm late now, much too late to go to church tomorrow, unfortunately. I don't feel good, either. I've got my virus again and frankly, I feel lousy.

The only thing I did yesterday was get my Schwan's order. The driver was so early, I was still sitting in the bathroom in my nightie when he called. It seems like I can go from nightie to washed and dressed in 20 minutes, which is pretty good, I think.

Oh, and I called to raid the IRA so I can pay my taxes, and I think finally they have everything the way I want it. It only took six weeks...

Today I did even less, but i was late getting up. I knitted three rows on the shawl yesterday and three more today, and I am now officially halfway through the center part. I hope the second half doesn't take as long as this has.

The weather has been nondescript, mostly. We had light lake effect snow for most of the afternoon yesterday, but there was even some sunshine today. Yesterday's high was officially 24º, but that was around midnight and the temperature fell off all day, to a low of 12º between 2:00 and 6:00 AM today. Yesterday the wind was mostly from the northeast, with gusts up to 28 mph, but today it had shifted around to the southwest, although it was mostly calm. Yesterday was dark and cloudy, but there was some sunshine between noon and 2:00 PM before it clouded up again. The moon is full and it's so bright it looks almost like dawn is breaking.

The guys slept. Nothing to report there, except that it appears that Grayson went off with the pieces of toast I had left from my breakfast. At least they're gone, and I can't find them. There also appears to be a mouse tail on the floor in the kitchen, but I'm not about to pick it up and inspect it. I find one of those every so often...

So that's been a very quiet two days and now it's a cloudy night in the field but it's not very dark with that lovely moon up above the clouds.

February 6

I was a bit later last night - half an hour or so - but I slept well. I didn't get up until around 11:30, I think, because I spent almost an hour around 9:00 dribbling off and reading Google headlines. I find them addictive, although most of them are dumb. Even though they know my address, they don't keep changes I make and when I log into my account (which I rarely do, because I don't trust Google) I don't get those nice things they call "cards." I don't know why.

Anyway, I knitted four rows and then I played Solitaire before I washed my face and brushed my teeth, and then I had to sit down again to dribble off some more. The jolt I got from all my probiotics and the psyllium seems to have worn off. Or maybe it's cyclic, which I've always suspected.

Anyway, I was so late that I didn't do much but my surfing. I did get to embroider for about an hour on a smaller circle, but I didn't make a lot of progress. Slowly, I'm closing in on the last page of the third row of charts. I'm still finding this an interesting project, mostly because it's sometimes difficult to see how to stitch it while using the least amount of thread.

The other thing I did was to finally sort out all the mail that had piled up on the computer desk. I didn't do a lot but sort, but I think I have the tax stuff together and the credit card and utility bills separated. I needed to find my tax bill, because it's due on the 14th, and I had to do some figuring to decide how much I have to withdraw from my IRA to pay it. It's a lot. There's not a lot in my IRA. I'm trusting the Lord will provide for the future. Anyway, I will get that underway tomorrow.

The weather was nondescript and there was even a couple peeks of sunshine around noon, but around 4:00 PM we had a period of light snow that lasted almost until dark. It didn't snow hard, and there didn't seem to be much accumulation, but there will probably be more tonight and tomorrow. The high temperature was 33º and around 3:00 PM, the wind shifted around to the east and there were gusts up to 25 mph. As the day wore on, it got very dark and dreary.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for a little while, but I had to run up to the north end and when I finally got back to the studio, I wanted to knit, so he didn't get to come back. I am not his pillow, and I still haven't convinced him of that. Louie slept up at the north end. When I got up, he was lying in the doorway to the bathroom, half in and half out. I haven't figured out how they decide where to sleep next. I know they sleep on the floor in the bedroom because it's warm, but they also like the rugs in the bathroom.

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

February 5

For the first time in a long time, I got to bed just after 1:00 AM. I'd like to do that again, but I'm thinking about washing my hair - time to get back on schedule - and I don't know. It was nice. I got up around 10:30. I knitted two rows, with difficulty. Sometimes I have an easier time starting out than others, and I've made a lot of mistakes in this one. I think it's because the yarn is so dark that I can't see the stitches, except by looking through them to the white page behind, and that doesn't always work. Oh, well, Nobody but me will ever know.

I also knitted on the sock a bit, when I had to go up to the north end, and I only have 12 more rows to go on the foot before I start the toe. It's taken me a very long time to do these socks. They're on #1 needles (2.25mm) and there are a lot of stitches. My next socks will be on #2s (2.75mm). That doesn't sound like a lot of difference, but it makes a big difference in the knitting. I think there's a ball of blue, white and black yarn on the floor that will work.

That was all I did, because I was later than I intended to be.

The weather was lovely, for a change. The clouds went away by 9:00 AM, and the rest of the day was clear and blue. It was so nice to see all that clear, blue sky! The high temperature was (is) 36º, which was quite a change, since at 8:00 AM, it was 15º. There was a moderate wind this morning that started out from the west, but it died down to nearly nothing by tonight.

The sun has moved back north enough to shine in the front windows, which means that for the next few months, I'm going to have a hard time working on my cross stitch during the talking. It's just barely there now, and as long as it's cloudy I'm fine, but I hope there will be more clear weather. Not for the next few days, though. They're predicting snow from tonight through Friday.

The guys were sleepy, of course, and Grayson didn't try very hard to sit on me, so when I had to jump up and run away, he just thumped on the floor. While I was embroidering, he did urp on the floor under the computer desk - why there, I don't know - and he made like a vulture while I was eating, but he didn't try to sit on me again. I haven't seen Louie lately.

So that was my quiet day and now it's a clear (so far) cold night in the field.

February 4

I just about inverted last night, but that was because I finally took my bath and that always takes a while, plus the dribbling before and after. I slept well, but not nearly long enough. I am going to try - again - to get my schedule under control, and it ought to be easy, because I'm really tired. We'll see how it goes. They're playing Tchaikovsky.

I knitted a couple of rows on the shawl, and I should have done a couple more, but I just fooled around. instead. And I didn't do much but my surfing when I got to the studio I couldn't embroider, because I had a cat asleep on my lap all during the talking.

One weird thing happened. Apparently someone has gotten both my land line phone number and my cell number, because I got two calls on my cell phone this evening that said they are from my land line - and I wasn't anywhere near the phone, let alone calling my cell phone. Things like this really annoy me, and I must try to remember to check my land line bill next month to see if I got charged for them. Since I got the smartphone and it works here, I've been doing all my long-distance (and toll) calling from it, since I don't have to pay extra. Not that I use the phone for anything very much. Mostly all I get are wrong numbers or scam calls and occasionally I do a bit of texting. It's convenient to use for two factor authentication, because frequently when the place that wants to use it sends an email, it can take hours - as many as 3 or 4 - to get to me. So I've been spoofed again. It's weird.

The weather has turned cold. The temperature was nearly steady all day, at 18º. and there was a strong north wind, with gusts up to 35 mph. It was mostly cloudy, although the sun peeked through a couple of times early in the afternoon. The humidity has been down a bit, too, which was nice.

The guys slept, I guess. Grayson slept on me all through the talking, and I haven't seen Louie since I had to go up to the north end after breakfast.

Now it's a dark, cloudy night in the field, but the temperature is going up a bit.

February 3

So far, I seem to be on track to get to bed at a more reasonable hour tonight. It was not reasonable last night. I inverted. When I got up to the north end, late as usual, every time I thought I might be able to get up and do something, I dribbled off some more. I was late anyway, but by the time it finally stopped, it was morning already. Sigh.

So I was late getting up. Then I discovered that someone from the company that holds my IRA had called me on my cell phone (!). I don't even know how they got that number; I don't remember ever telling them. And it seemed there was some problem with the second form I sent them. After I ate, I called them, and I ended up on hold for ah hour and a half! They had an excuse - one of their call centers was shut today because of the weather - but still. And it seems I just neglected to check one box... Thankfully, the guy I talked to was able to do that for me, but still. This has not made me feel any better about those people. Well, there's not much left in my IRA anyway, so I won't have to worry about them for very much longer.

While I was waiting and after I got done, I put together the bulletin. Pastor very kindly sent the information last night, so we're early this week. And as far as I know now, only late-breaking news would make me have to do any changes.

In the course of doing that, i discovered a strange problem with Google. Some time ago, I found a black-and-white graphic of St. Paul's shield. I have to use black-and-white images, because we don't have a color printer. I would like to have put it on the back page of the bulletin, but I didn't want to do that unless I could also put St. John's shield there, too. St. John's (our sister congregation) is very touchy about being the smaller church. Well, as far as I was able to discover, there is no image on the internet of St. John's shield (whatever that is). There's all sorts of stuff about St. John and all sorts of stuff about shields, but nothing even relevant came up when I put the two together. Weird. I've gone on some searches that weren't very useful, but this is the first one that came up with nothing. I may bang away at it some more, but it doesn't seem like I'll find anything.

The weather was nondescript again. The high temperature was 34º, but that was this morning, and it's been dropping very slowly all day. There was a moderate north wind, with gusts up to 29 mph. It wasn't quite as humid today, so my joints felt better. It was mostly cloudy all day, although we had a rather nice red and gray sunset which, unfortunately, the camera didn't do it justice. It was gone before I could take any other pictures of it, but it was nice to look at. The camera is good in high-light conditions, but I guess it must determine its shutter speed by averaging, so things like a nice red and gray sunset gets washed out.

The guys slept, mostly. Grayson came and sat on me just as I was about to get up and go to the powder room, so of course I had an accident, the first in several days. Louie was still up in the bathroom when I got there, but he wasn't asleep.

So that was my quiet and truncated day, and it's a cold (and getting colder), dark night in the field.

February 2

Today is 02/02/2020 - the first palindromic date in 909 years (that one would apparently have been 11/11/1111, if anybody was noticing). Kind of neat. They didn't say when the next one will be, but they obviously don't happen often. Oh - I guess 12/02/2021 is one, too, but then it may be a long time before the next one. I love these little numerology tidbits.

i was so late and so tired that I didn't wash my hair last night, so I guess I have to do it tonight. The way my schedule is now, it would be better if I could take my bath during the day, but I just cannot get used to doing that. I've always taken my bath before I went to bed - for nearly 60 years - and it's hard to change a habit of that long standing.

Anyway, It was snowing when I finally got to bed, so there was no question that I wasn't going anywhere today. The camera never woke up this morning, for some reason, but it evidently snowed or sleeted or something almost all day, and it didn't stop until around 5:00 PM. It was horribly humid, too, and I had a lot of trouble with my joints. The high temperature was 36º and there was a strong north wind, with gusts up to 38 mph, It was very dark and dreary.

The guys slept. They got their favorite canned food today, so they were happy, and i filled the kibble bowls, too. Grayson sat on me for a long time, although he didn't really sleep. I think Louie is up at the north end, as usual.

I seem to have the Shari Syndrome again. I was sneezing last night, and I have a headache, a scratchy throat and a runny nose, as well as a sort of rocky tummy - the classic symptoms. I wish I knew how this thing works, but it seems to come and go all winter long. It's something I've had for most of my adult life, and it got old a long time ago. So I don't feel good. I need to get to bed a lot earlier than I will be tonight, so I can sleep for ten hours or more...

Now it's a cold (but not very cold) dark night in the field and I must go to bed.'

February 1

So I inverted last night and I'm probably going to do the same tonight. The weather isn't supposed to be good, so I have an excuse.

I didn't do anything much today except read.

The weather was sort of nondescript again. The high temperature was 34º, and during the day, there was a strong northwest wind, with gusts up to 35 mph. It was partly to mostly cloudy. There was a little sunshine, and the camera caught a few patches of blue sky, but mostly it was dull and gray, as usual. I really wish we'd have a clear night, just so I could see Betelgeuse.

Well, we've made it through January, so we're halfway through winter - or I hope so! Our days are now a bit more then 9½ hours long - we've gained an hour - and officially, we've had 215" of snow so far. The warm days have exceeded the cold days by a lot so far this winter.

The guys slept, of course. Grayson got to sleep on me for a while and I think Louie is up at the north end, although I did surprise him in the kitchen, eating kibble.

So it was another nothing day, and it's a cold, dark night in the field.

Last updated 02/20/20 01:08 AM