journal

A View From the Field

September 24

It was a sort of weird, upside-down day and rather frustrating and I don't have anything to report.

September 23

I was so tired and my knees were so sore that I just couldn't go to bed, so I was sitting and playing games when the lights began blinking and ultimately went out. It takes the generator a minute or two to detect the failure, determine it's not just a glitch, and fire up, so I sat in the dark and growled. It's better since the ovens are turned off, but it means I have to reset the clocks and the weather station (which i haven't done yet).

I don't know how long the power was off, of course, after the generator started up, but it evidently didn't come back until after 6 AM. However, I almost inverted. I finally made myself go to bed and i slept well, with only one wakeup. I got my nine hours, so I was very late getting up.

The first time I was up, briefly, I checked the weather and the internet was working fine, but when I finally got up, it was down. It evidently went down around 1:30 and it didn't come back until after 5 PM. For some reason, there were some circuits down the peninsula that went down after the overnight outage. I still don't understand why PastyNet doesn't have UPS on all their equipment, but considering how may nodes they have in their network, I suppose the cost would be prohibitive. I was only annoyed. I expect a few of my crankier neighbors were more than annoyed.

Anyway, the side effect of that was that Sue had to call me, because her internet was down, too, and she couldn't get the bulletin. That's why I still use POP3 (or whatever they call it) mail. That downloads at least the text and attachments to my computer, so when the connection goes away, I still have the verbiage. I was able to read my morning devotion. Both Pastor and our congregation president also got copies, though, so I think she can get what she needs to print. At least I haven't heard back from her.

Which leads me to ruminate on one of the most annoying things about the companies who make the software I use: they ASSUME that everyone has uninterrupted (and high speed) internet service. Well, in these parts, t'ain't necessarily so. This is only one incidence. Even the solitaire I play on my phone needs a connection and won't work right if it doesn't have it. When one of these outages happens, I wish I could knock their heads together.

Anyway, it was getting dark (it does that so early now!) when I finally got the groceries into the house and put them and all the cat food away. The box from the cat food is still in the house, but it only has trash in it. And I have lots of produce to eat again.

I had to bring the chair into the kitchen because my knees are so sore I can hardly walk. I'll have to do that again tomorrow when the Schwan's order comes.

The weather was clear but cool and it was beginning to cloud up at sunset. The high temperature was 61º and the wind was mostly under 10 mph from the northeast.

While I was sitting in the bathroom, before the power went off, Grayson started singing the mouse song and he came right to me and dropped a mouse at my feet. He was carrying it by its head, poor thing. The mouse was fine and when he dropped it, it immediately ran toward the door. Grayson went after it, but before he could do it any damage, it ran behind the door, where he couldn't get it. Since I haven't seen any mouse remains, I gather that it got away. I keep hoping the ones that get away will run back to their nests and discourage the rest from trying to get into the house, but so far that hasn't happened. At this time of year, they're trying to gather their winter stores and of course, there's kibble in the kitchen. I know they gather it, because I've found pieces in the strangest places, including between the folds of clothes on the counter in the laundry room and on the shelves in my closet. Why they would stash it there, I do not know, and i don't appreciate the mouse pee on my clothes - it's almost impossible to get out. Anyway, that wore Grayson out and he slept for the rest of the night, most of it curled up against my clothes in front of the toilet where I had to move him when I wanted to sit down. When I was bringing in the groceries, he took a look out the door, but then he remembered that when he goes out, I close the door and i may forget where he is. It's not that cold out there yet, but he remembers. Besides, with it so clean out there, there isn't so much to investigate anymore.

So that was my day. In spite of being so late, I actually accomplished something. Not a lot, but something. And I'm going to be late again tonight, but maybe not quite as much.

Now it's a cool, dark night in the field, and I think it's clouding up to rain sometime tomorrow.

September 22 - Autumnal Equinox

I actually did it last night. I was in bed by 11 PM. I slept, but I was up about every two hours, so my rest was interrupted. i think I got up around 9:45 AM and I tried - I really did - to move at a reasonable pace, but it was still almost 1 PM when I left. My knees have been really bad lately and I should have taken some Tylenol, although it doesn't work as well on the arthritis.

I did a lot of damage at Pat's. but it's been a while since I shopped and I had run out of a bunch of stuff. So had they. There were a bunch of things, including Bibb lettuce and lamb chops, that they didn't have and in places the shelves were empty. The cat food situation is dire. It's not only Chewy that is out of a lot of things.

I got home around 4:30, but I had to come in to pee and I just sat for about three hours before I unloaded the car, and a lot of it is still on the platform. My knees were just too sore. I will get at it tomorrow.

It was a nice, partly cloudy day with lots of sunshine, but the high temperature was only 62º. There wasn't any wind. It's getting dark so early these days, though. and it's only going to get worse.

Grayson still isn't happy, even though he liked his breakfast. He didn't like me going away and he was underfoot all the time I was getting my dinner. When we got to the office, he almost got stepped on and I shouted t him and he squeaked at me.

Oh - the color report. The color is very late this year. Even now there is very little color at all, and most of the woods are still green. IT's even too early to tell whether it will be a gold or a red fall. Maybe it's because it's been so warm. We are still getting a lot of tourists but they seem to be a little more couth than the ones over the summer. I even had the driver of one of those big bus things pull over and let me pass him, even though I wasn't crowding him and I don't think I was acting impatient. People like that are rare around here.

I almost forgot to do the bulletin, so I was very late getting it out. Fortunately, it was an easy one. No shoehorn required this week.

So that was my day and now it's a clear, cool night in the field and i' need to go to bed.

September 21

Aah, late again. I am going to try to break that cycle tonight. Wish me luck.

As a result, I didn't do anything. I brought the box of cat food into the house, but I didn't do anything with it except open one case so that Grayson could have something different for breakfast. He seemed to like it, even though when he was getting it regularly, it wasn't his favorite.

I didn't knit, but I did a few stitches in the new cross stitch. That is going to go very slowly, at least until I get used to working in a frame again. Besides, around the time I want to be stitching, at this time of year the sun is shining right in the patio door and I can't see anything much, thanks to my dry eyes. I read an article on that today, and my problems are the usual ones for everyone with that problem. Oh, and the Sjogren's syndrome, which I also have, disrupts the lubrication of not only eyes, but joints - thus the severity of my arthritis, which has been bothering me a lot lately, especially in my knees.

So I will try to get to bed early tonight so that I can go to town tomorrow and lay in some groceries. It's been a while since my fridge was so empty. I don't think I'll have much trouble getting to sleep, because I'm really tired. if only I can stay off the phone...but I did all the daily puzzles this morning and I think I can forgo the Google stuff for one night...

The weather turned cold overnight. The high temperature was only 61º. For most of the day there was a strong north wind, as high as 30 mph with 40 mph gusts. It's dying down now but it was rather hairy for a while.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see most of it, because the camera hung up overnight. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to totter down to the office the moment I get up just to reset the camera. It doesn't happen very often. I had to reboot last week because Norton installed a new version, and it seems clear that the camera driver didn't install right. That thing is enough to drive me crazy. I hope it's all right now.

Grayson slept for most of the day, but he had an active early morning. I woke up having to pee just as he came down the hallway singing his mouse song and he evidently carried the poor thing around for at least five minutes before he let it go. He scuttled after it a couple of times, but I think it eluded him, because I didn't find any bodies. It's one good thing about having so much stuff in the bedroom and in the hallway - the mice can usually get away. Anyway, he liked his breakfast enough that he ate it before the ants got it and I think he slept for the rest of the day.

So that was all there was and I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight. We'll see how that goes. It's a mostly clear, cool night in the field.

September 20

Almost forgot, but then I looked at the weather history and remembered.

I was late to bed as usual and late to get up. I knitted. I had a horrible time with the first repeat, but the next two went fine. I think it's because I haven't knitted in a couple of days and my fingers forget.

I don't think I did anything, but I don't remember. My cat food order came, so I have to do something about that, probably tomorrow. Ron was kind enough to move it onto the platform for me, but I didn't get it into the house. So Grayson will have a little more of a selection to eat, although I couldn't get any of his favorite flavors.

The weather started out cloudy, cleared up for most of the day and then clouded up around 7:30. The high temperature was 79º, for most of the afternoon and there was a strong wind from the south to southwest, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Around 10:30 PM, Grayson came in and meowed at me, and a few minutes later there was thunder. I think I saw the flash of lightning, too, but it was a long ways away. And then the heavens opened, with accompanied high winds. We had 0.6" of rain in an hour and another 0.11" the next hour and now the wind is blowing hard again. Whether this will last into tomorrow depends upon whose forecast you believe, but they all say the wind is going to shift around to the north and the temperature tomorrow isn't expected to be much above 60º. That's good. These last few days have been unseasonably warm, although not unusual.

Other than warning me about the thunder, Grayson didn't do anything else unusual.

During the talking, I began on one of the coral rose pictures. These are done on 18 count aida, and I have to work them in a frame, because the fabric is too stiff to bend well enough to stitch in hand, and besides, they use two strands of floss, which is a bit chunky and getting the stitches even isn't easy. I have a bud and a little green stuff done, but it's not unusual for the first session to be long. I have to get the first stitches in the right place on the fabric, which involves a lot of counting and fiddling. It will go faster from now on. Besides, I only worked on it for an hour and a half or so.

Now it's a cloudy, windy, rainy night in the field and I must go to bed.

September 19

So instead of being early, I was late. I didn't sleep badly, but it was after noon when I got up. I had to fill the pill dispensers and then I had to take my bath, which, of course, I didn't want to, so I sat for quite a while. I called Mary Ann on the way to the kitchen to get something light to eat. I decided that today I was going to eat more than one meal.

I had finished filling the south end pill dispensers when Mary Ann called back and she came right out and in five or ten minutes, she had me back in business. When I looked at the bulb that fell out of the light fixture, the end was missing, and it was still in the socket, so she got that out for me, too. Now all I have to do is find a replacement bulb. She called it a globe, so at least I have something to search for. I wonder how the end got separated from the globe anyway - I don't think anybody has ever tried to tighten it until it started blinking.

Anyway, we talked for a while and she left and I went back to my surfing. I was thinking about dinner when Debbie called. SHe hasn't called in over a month, I think, but it was because she has been very busy at work, including a rush trip to California. So we talked for 2½ hours and I think we got caught up.

The weather was amazing. The high temperature was 81º - I thought we were over that - and there was a brisk southwest wind with gusts up to 25 mph. There were a few high, wispy clouds, but it was nearly clear and there was a lot of sunshine. It was very hot in the house, but I didn't want to open anything but the south window because it's supposed to cool off again tomorrow and i'd just have to shut everything again anyway. I guess I opened the bathroom window, just to air things out. with the wind blowing on me, it wasn't bad in the office.

I think Grayson was hot, and I don't know where he spent most of the day. He got most of his canned food before the ants moved in. He wanted some of everything I ate, but he didn't get any.

After several nearly bug-free weeks, I have both ants and fruit flies again. I thought those traps were supposed to last longer than that, but I have the fruit fly trap right next to my tea mug and the flies much prefer it. And Grayson hasn't gotten all of his canned food several days this week because the ants are back. Sigh. The ants probably won't go until it gets cold. I will have to get the trash out of the kitchen and hope that helps with the flies, and I guess I will have to change out all my bug traps.

So that was my day and now the moon and Jupiter are shining brightly in the south, although the moon is quite high in the sky. It's a clear, warmish night in the field.

September 18

I slept well and for a long time, but I just haven't felt very good today, for some reason, so I didn't do anything.

I have been having a problem with one of the lights in the powder room, so when I went in there tonight, i decided to try to fix it. Well. The bulb was loose, and since I can't get both hands over my head, I was trying to screw it in (it's a hanging lamp) with one hand when I shorted it out - and blew a circuit breaker. Oh, sigh. So tomorrow I will have to call Mary Ann and see if she can run out here and reset it for me. The trouble is, it's not just the powder room. It's the two hallways, back to my bedroom door, and - AND!! - the garage. So I can't get the car out. the weird thing is, the socket where the router extender is plugged in is fine, and so is everything in the laundry room Really weird, but I've never quite figured out how electricians and plumbers decide how to put things together.

The weather was cool but nice. It was mostly sunny and the high temperature was 68º. There wasn't much wind.

Grayson mostly slept, although I don't know where.

So that was all there was and as soon as the Beethoven is over, I will be tottering up to the north end. I may or may not take a bath tonight. It's a clear, cool night in the field. The moon hasn't come into sight yet, but I can see Jupiter even with the lights on.

September 17

I was a little earlier getting to bed, but then my feet were so cold that I couldn't get to sleep, and just about the time I put on my socks, the lightning and thunder started. We haven't had this good a storm in a long time, although most of it was out over the lake. The lightning and thunder were continuous (I'm not exaggerating) for at least 45 minutes and there was one explosion right over the harbor - about a mile away from here - that looked and sounded like a bomb going off. It was so bright it seared right through my eyelids and I had my back to the windows. After the rain started and the lightning moved off to the east, I finally got to sleep, but it was awfully late.

So I didn't get up until after noon and I didn't do anything much. I did finish the second little cross stitch thing and I looked over the other things i had lined up. I haven't decided what to do next, but it will probably be three little (4" x 6") pictures of coral roses. They are on 18 count fabric, so there is a lot of detail in them, but I will probably have to work them in a frame. Then there are the two Redouté rose pictures and the black cat, although the instructions for that are so terrible I'm not sure i want to get into it. Decisions, decisions... There are some other kits and charts, too. I like to have a piece of cross stitch going, because I get the itch to stitch with a needle and fabric.

After the storms moved through, the weather calmed down a lot, although it was still cloudy until around 3 PM and there was a rather strong northwest wind with gusts up to 31 mph. The temperature fell slowly overnight and for most of the day. It was around 66º for most of the afternoon. We got about 0.76" of rain, most of it between 5 and 6 AM. Even though I would rather have been asleep, I do love lightning at night. This was amazing, because it never let up for the better part of an hour, even before it was close enough to hear the thunder. And then there was that bomb bursting in air...

Grayson isn't afraid of thunder and lightning, thankfully, but he doesn't like the noise and he told me about it. Otherwise, he slept. We were both disappointed because his canned food got full of ants before he could eat it all, but the ant traps got pushed off into a corner a while ago. So I moved them back and we'll hope that helps.

So that's all there was and now it's a coolish, clear night in the field and the moon is shining brightly in the south windows.

September 16

So not only did I not go to bed early, I almost inverted. Sheesh. I slept well, of course. I had already decided not to try to go to town today, so it was all right.

There were some more changes to the bulletin and I embroidered. I now have one rather small leaf and the border (one stitch wide) to do and this little thing will be done. It's pretty, but not as pretty as the other one. They make a nice pair. Then I have to decide what to do next. I have two large and three small pictures of roses and one cat to choose among. We'll see. I might just set up all of them and see how it feels.

The weather was mixed. It was cloudy in the morning and just after I finally got up, we had a short, heavy shower - and then the sun came out! Or at least that's how I remember it, although neither the NWS website or my pictures look exactly like that. Anyway, the late afternoon was clear, although it's been windy all day. There was an ominous line of clouds on the horizon at sunset, though, and there has been some thunder lately, although I don't think there has been any rain yet. The high temperature was 74º and there has been a 15 mph wind from the southwest, with gusts as high as 36 mph. The rain is an a rather narrow band of clouds running from southwest to northeast, and behind it is clear skies for the weekend.

Grayson did his thing. He didn't get any cuddling today.

So that's all there was and now it's a sort of warmish, windy night in the field and there may be more rain.

September 15

Sheesh, September is half over already!

The plan was to go to town and shop, but I stayed up too late and didn't get enough sleep, partly because the phone rang twice around noon and I had come to to hear it. One of the calls, I learned later, was from the contractor, but I don't answer the phone when I'm in bed except under special circumstances when I'm expecting a call. Oh, well. He'll try again.

Anyway, I was late and I felt lousy, so I stayed home and got the bulletin done and out. I still feel lousy, so I am going to try to take a bath and get to bed early so maybe, just maybe, I can get to town tomorrow. It's not critical, but I don't want to go on Friday or Monday (too busy on Friday and shelves aren't stocked on Monday), so my next opportunity would be next Tuesday. We'll see how it goes.

The weather was nice, which it isn't going to be tomorrow. The high temperature was 69º and there was a north breeze, in the 10-15 mph range, for most of the day. It was mostly clear until around 5 PM when the clouds started to move in. It was cloudy at sunset and the moon, which is trying to shine in the south windows, is playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. I guess there may be some rain tomorrow. Hmm, maybe I'll stay home?

Grayson only got a little cuddling after I got up and he mostly slept. He keeps following me around, I guess to see if I'm doing anything interesting. And he's usually sleeping not far from where I am. I don't know where he goes at night, but I guess he does some prowling to see if he can find a mouse or two to play with.

I am happy to report that I think my shingles are at last beginning to heal up. I have not been in nearly as much pain and I've gotten the Tylenol down to twice a day. it's not over yet, but it's slowly getting better. Whew!

So now it's a partly cloudy night in the field and as soon as I finish my drink - and the Mozart - I'll be toddling up to the north end.

September 14

Still late. I slept well, although I got a spam call at about 10:30 AM that I was unconsciously waiting for, but then I went back to sleep for another couple of hours. I didn't knit, but I should have.

The only thing I did was to make a list of the things I think need to be done to the house. I haven't heard from the contractor yet, but I think I'm ready for him if I do. I wish I knew his email address - I'd just send him everything I have. I sometimes wish there was a central directory of email addresses, like there was when I first joined MSN. That's problematical, though, and we have enough trouble with spam already.

It was a cool day in the Keweenaw. The high temperature was only 63º and early in the day, the wind got up to 31 mph with 39 mph gusts from the north. It died down after that, though. That was when it was still raining. It started raining around 3 AM and it didn't stop until around 11 AM. Altogether we got 0.82", officially. Around 7:15, we had a short shower that never registered at the weather station, but oh, well. It did register on my windows, and the 7:17 PM picture shows it coming down the harbor.

Grayson slept, of course. He was wandering around the bathroom, rubbing his chops on whatever he could find, so I picked him up, which I rarely do. He was very happy about it, and he would have stayed longer except that I had to get up. I must try that again. Buster and DC didn't like to be picked up, and I couldn't lift Louie, so I got out of the habit. Most cats like to be cuddled and Grayson seems to. We'll see what happens.

So that was my day. I didn't do much, but I think I'm ready if the contractor comes back, and that's a good thing. I didn't go upstairs to look at the floors more closely, but I did look at all the floors downstairs. I know things looked bad when the water was still on the floors, but with a few exceptions, now they don't look nearly as bad as the kitchen does. So we'll see what happens.

When I looked out the windows, the just-more-than half full moon was shining in so I guess it is clearing up. It's a cool, at least partly clear night in the field.

September 13

Late again. I slept well and i knitted well. I still hurt, and I have some suspicion that the shingles have spread to the left side of my back.

I was all ready for the contractor - he left a message saying he would be here today, but of course, he didn't come. I'm not quite as concerned about it since I discovered that the check is good for a year, but still... Where I come from, if somebody says they will be here on a certain day, they either come or call - or both. Anyway, I had time to look over what the adjuster wrote, and it's a fairy tale. He left out a bunch of things - like the whole lavatory and the repair of the plumbing that caused the problem(!) - and he put in a bunch of things that never did need to be done - like three coats of paint on all the walls on both floors from the back of the kitchen north. So I guess we're mostly on our own and I'll just hope that the contractor will have more clout than the adjuster. I always knew he was an asshole.

I only hope that what needs to be done will be covered by the money I have, even though it's all different. And I hope I don't have any trouble with HUD. We shall see.

While the talking was going on, I actually embroidered for a while, although I had a hard time figuring out where I left off, because it took me some time to figure out what color(s) thread I had in my needle. I got it, finally, and I finished almost all the greens, so now I can work on the last flower. This thing is only 3½" square, but it has 19 colors, two of which are blended. That was my problem - I was using a blended color when I stopped, and it took me a while to figure out where I was and what colors I was using.

I'm near enough to the end of both the knitting and the embroidery that I'm considering my next projects. Oh, and I never have found my socks. That black hole is very contrary.

The weather was cool again but sunny for most of the day. There were some stars last night, but the skies weren't very transparent. I did manage to see Polaris and the two stars at the end of the Little Dipper. The high temperature today was 67º and the wind was variable and under 10 mph. Late in the afternoon, the clouds moved in, and there is probably going to be some rain overnight and tomorrow.

Grayson mostly slept, although he was a little more active than usual. A couple of times, he came into the office and mewed, which is unusual for him, and I was in the lav before I got my dinner and he came bombing out from the north end, running hard. He doesn't do that very often, and I wonder why he did it tonight. He also wanted some of my dinner, but he didn't get any. I'm sure he would rather get his canned food at the same time every day, but then, I'd like my food then, too. When you live with me, you get potluck.

So that was another nearly lost day, but I obviously felt better than I did over the weekend. Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field and I'll be going to bed soon.

September 12

Ditto yesterday. Still having problems sleeping well and my chest hurts. It seems to me that it's taking a very long time to get over my shingles.

The weather was cool. The high temperature was only 63º and for most of the day there was a moderate north wind, in the 15 mph range. It started out cloudy, but it cleared up after noon, and when I went through the great room with my dinner the almost-half moon was shining brightly in the southwest. Maybe there will be a star tonight.

Grayson mostly slept, although he started complaining after I sat too long.

Actually, I did a thing or two. Yesterday, I had such a terrible time knitting that I only did one repeat - about twice - so today I did the other two plus three more with almost no problems. That puts me a quarter of the way across the end. And I took a shower.

Now it's a clear, cool night in the field and I'm going back to bed.

September 11 - Remember

I was late, slept late, didn't do anything.

The weather was all right. It was clear this morning, but there were some clouds this afternoon. The high temperature was 70º and there was a north wind that for a couple of hours was gusting up to 30 mph. It's died down now. It was a little less humid today.

Grayson slept.

And that's all there was and it's a cool, dark night in the field.

September 10

As usual, I was later than I wanted to be, but not as late as lately. I slept well, at least until after about 7 AM. I didn't get up until almost 11 AM, though, so I didn't knit and I didn't do much except get dressed, but I was late anyway.

I had to go to the post office and I needed a few things at the store, but on my way to the bathroom, I had an accident, so I was late leaving. I got my stuff, but I was so late that I met the contractor going out as I was coming in to our road, so he didn't get the documents. I hadn't printed them anyway.

They are printed now, so if he comes on Monday, I will be ready for him. Just looking at the adjuster's report, though, I can see I'm going to have to call HUD, because he has stuff in there that doesn't need to be done and would probably cost twice as much as the money I have to work with. I will look it all over a bit more carefully this weekend. Knowing things are underway, even if slowly, has calmed me down a lot, though.

The weather was rather nice, and the weather station seems to be working again. It was partly cloudy and the high temperature was 72º - my kind of weather. There wasn't much wind and it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be from the northeast or the southwest. The humidity wasn't good, but it wasn't horrible.

Grayson did his usual thing, although he has wanted to camp out under my chair tonight.

So that's all there was and now it's a cool, dark night in the field.

September 9

Ugh, I was so late last night. I wanted to take a bath, which I did, but then instead of going right to bed, I got caught in the game trap. Then, after the first three hours or so, I didn't sleep well for the rest of the night. I don't know why. My shingles hurt and I had a nasty nerve in my thigh that kept firing (a problem I've had since I was a kid).

Anyway, I got up around 10:30, but there was that game trap again. I was sitting in my nightie when there was a phone call. I've been having trouble with my cordless phone for a while now. I think it's probably just that it's so old, but anyway, I did manage to see who it was from - a neighbor, I thought - so I answered it and got to the bedroom and the corded phone...and I discovered it was the contractor I was working with who went AWOL a while ago. Wow!!

So I threw on some clothes and fed the cat and he appeared and we had a nice conversation. He wants to see what the adjuster's report said, which the adjuster told me not to show him, but I don't know how the contractor can figure out what needs to be done unless he sees what the adjuster saw. That adjuster is an type A asshole anyway. So the contractor will stop back tomorrow and I will give him what I have.

I had some thought about going to town today, and I'm certainly glad I didn't. I have some mail to drop off at the post office - and it has to be here, because one of the things is my taxes, which don't have to go through the central office. And I'm running out of JD (and Crown Royal, which I finally found) and cat food. However, that isn't critical and the contractor is. I think I will still have to call HUD again, because we both have questions, but at least we'll be getting started! Maybe it will make my shingles go away, too.

whew.

The NWS station went down yesterday afternoon and didn't come back up again until 3 PM today. Let's hope it's all right now. The high temperature was evidently 68º and there was a little north wind, in the 15 mph range, which has now gone calm. It was cloudy this morning, but it cleared up until around sunset. No wonder it was so hot in here. I have the south window open again.

Grayson didn't do anything startling.

So that was my day, and I'm tired. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night. However, I think i will sleep well tonight, now that I know there is some movement on the repair front. It's a real relief. Maybe the second half of the year will be better than the first half?

Now it's a cool, calm night in the field and as usual, I missed seeing the moon and Venus in the west just after sunset...oh, well.

September 8

I wasn't nearly as late last night, but not as early as I wanted to be. I slept well and for 10 hours - with only two wakeups. It hasn't helped much. It still amazes me what a toll pain can take on your body.

I knitted, but only three repeats. That takes the better part of an hour and a half, and it's long enough. It helps that one of the needles is the one that is holding the stitches on the end, and that point is very sharp. Sharp points help a whole lot when knitting lace.

The weather has calmed down, finally. And the weather station is sort of operational again, although it isn't reporting every hour. It didn't come up until 2 PM, though, so it missed reporting the strongest winds. The high temperature it reported was 63º and the highest wind gusts werer 36 mph from the north. I know it was stronger yesterday when it was from the northwest. It was mostly cloudy and dull.

Grayson spent some time on my lap and I actually moved around without having him leave. He wanted my dinner, and you can't imagine how sadly he looks at me when he's begging. Sorry, guy. There wasn't enough for both of us.

So that's all there is. Now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field, and the wind has died down.

September 7

Did it again. This has got to stop.

I got up around 10 AM, though, and I knitted for a long time. I did five repeats and while I had a bit of trouble, it wasn't too bad. I didn't drop anything serious. I am now at the corner and I have done half of the edging. I'm getting really tired of this thing, but I don't want to abandon it now, so I'll press on. Only 160 repeats to go...

I can't say much about the weather, because the NWS station went down around 10 AM. Looking at Houghton it appears that the high temperature was around 69º and the wind has been from the west, with gusts up to 40 mph. I don't know how well that translates to down here. it was mostly cloudy and we had a bit of rain around 5 PM.

Grayson slept, although he made me mad this morning. I was petting him and he suddenly swiped me with his paddy paw. He drew a bit of blood, but it didn't bleed long enough to keep me from knitting. He isn't supposed to do that and I batted him. We made up later, but not right away. I think he knew he did something bad.

So that was it. Now it's a cool, cloudy, windy night in the field and there will probably be some more rain.

September 6 - Labor Day

Well, it was another lost day, which I didn't intend, but oh, well. I was a little earlier to bed last night, and I slept well. I turned up the heat a bit in the bedroom and bathroom and I think that helped. As i get older, I need to be warmer in order to get to sleep. It didn't hurt that I was really tired, either.

And today I did nothing. Well, I knitted, and it looks like tomorrow I will finish the side, so I will be half done. IT appears that all my calculations were right, too, and I will come out with just about the right number of stitches to attach to. The original pattern, which was a bad one, didn't do anything like that, and attaching the edging would have been haphazard at best. So while I used the stitch patterns and the basic number of stitches and rows, I had to recalculate everything else in order to come out right. It looks like I came pretty close.

The weather was OK, I guess. The high temperature was 66º and there was a north wind in the 10 to 15 mph range, although lately it's switched around to southwest. It was mostly cloudy, with only a few peeks of sunshine. The camera got screwed up, but fortunately, I was here by the time it did and we only lost an hour. This time the picture broke up, but it was hung, too. I've known for as long as I've had cameras that the driver has a data leak, and since I don't have to reboot very often, it shows up every so often. It is probably time to check the connection to the extension cord, too.

Grayson mostly slept.

So now the summer is over. Astronomically notwithstanding, Labor Day has always been the end of summer in these parts. It should be cooler, but the weather will also be more unstable. And the trees will be beginning to turn soon, if they haven't started already. Sigh. Days are down to just about 13 hours now and soon there will be more night than day. It happens every year.

So that was it, and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.

September 5

I was late to bed, late to get up and I didn't do anything except take a bath.

The weather was quite autumnal. The high temperature was 66º and there was a brisk north wind with gusts up to 30 mph. The day started out clear, but by mid afternoon it clouded up. I don't know where the rain went, but it certainly didn't rain here.

Grayson got a bit put out with me because I sat for so long, but he likes his canned food. It's the last of that flavor and it's out of stock, so we'll be cycling between four kinds for a while. I still have a problem understanding why there are still so many supply chain problems.

So that's all and I'm going back to bed. It's probably cloudy and a cool night in the field.

September 4

Late again, for no real reason. I slept well and i think I got my nine hours.

I only knitted two repeats - without problems - because Mary Ann called and we talked for an hour. So now somebody knows about my shingles. I haven't told Debbie yet. I didn't do anything else because I had to get dressed and have something to eat. I don't know why I was so hungry today. Usually it doesn't bother me.

The weather was unsettled. We had at least two periods of showers, on early in the morning, the other in mid-afternoon. They didn't last long and we only got 0.09" of rain, even though both times it rained hard for a minute or two. And after the second shower, the skies cleared and they were mostly clear at sunset. The high temperature was 68º and there was a moderate north wind, around 15 mph for most of the day.

Grayson slept on my lap for a while this afternoon and he is always somewhere around me. Late in the afternoon, we started hearing something strange on the deck and he went over to the door and I turned around. This is the second day we've heard this. The pine tree by the end of the deck set cones this year - for the first time in several years - and evidently there has been a squirrelly squirrel up in the top of the tree throwing cones onto the deck. I don't know if they're smart enough to know what they're doing, but it would be easier for them to eat the seeds out of the cones if they were on the deck. Anyway, it interested both of us, although Grayson got bored with it before I did, probably because he couldn't see the squirrel. At least this year, it seems like they've waited until the cones are ripe. In past years, they've sometimes picked all of them while they're still green and they can't get the seeds out.

So that's all and now it's a cool, possibly clear night in the field and I have to go to bed.

September 3

I guess it was around 1:30 when I got to bed. I slept well - no hot flashes or cold feet - and i got up around 9 AM, That was a bit earlier than I wanted, but I had to pee, so...

I knitted, but with considerable difficulty. I did my three repeats, but it turned into four or five, because I lost track of which row I was doing and then dropped a bunch of stitches, so i had to rip back one whole repeat in order to get reoriented. You know, I got all the way across the top without all the trouble I've had with this side. Maybe it's because I know the pattern by heart now and I think I can lose my concentration and still do it. Hah.

The weather was nondescript and sort of yucky, although it hasn't rained yet. The high temperature was 74º, but it was quite humid. There wasn't much wind, if any. It was cloudy all day, although it lightened up a bit between 1 PM and 3:30.

Grayson sat on my lap briefly, but mostly he slept outside the door to the office, like he usually does. He likes the fish he gets on Friday, and he wanted some of mine, too, although he didn't get any. It's marinated and I'm afraid something in the marinade may not be good for him. I'm trying to keep better track of him, because the other morning, when he got up, I discovered a lidocaine patch that had been under him. I don't know how it got there, but the sticky side (which wasn't very sticky anymore) was out, so he probably tried to get by the wastebasket in the bathroom. It doesn't seem to have done him any harm, but they warn not to dispose of those things where kids or pets might find them. I've stopped using them anyway.

Ron brought the mail, so I have things to read and bills to pay. I did some of that tonight.

So now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field and maybe I can get to bed even earlier tonight.

September 2

I was a little earlier to bed and I slept well. I got up a bit after 9 AM and I immediately got at the shawl. It turned out I only had to rip back about four repeats - mostly what I did yesterday - and I got the first three done with no problems, but then I had to undo the fourth before I could get it right. That was the one with the new ball of yarn added in, which made it harder. And apparently three repeats are as many as I can handle in one session. I must just be more careful not to drop anything.

That was all I did.

The weather was about the same as yesterday, except that by 2 PM the clouds were beginning to roll in and it got cloudy and dull by 4 PM. The high temperature was 73º and there was no wind. For a while the humidity got under 45%, but it's up again. There could be some rain tomorrow.

Grayson mostly slept. He slept on me for quite a while this afternoon, This time, his head was on my left arm, which is much more comfortable for me. He was rather put out , because he emptied his kibble bowls last night and he wanted more, even though there was a lot on the floor. I filled them and he was happier.

I think slowly my shingles are beginning to heal. I still have pain, but Tylenol helps that and my back itches, which I can't do anything about, but the pain isn't as bad as it was. However, I'm afraid it will be a slow slog to get it completely over with. The stuff the NP gave me, which was very expensive, hasn't done anything, so I stopped using it and it doesn't make any difference. I still don't feel good.

So now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field and I can go to bed any time.

September 1

So summer is over. Maybe it isn't where you are, but it is here. We may get some more hot weather, but the weather will be unsettled and there will probably be more rain and wind, like there has been for the past week or so.

It was another lost day. I fell into the game trap last night, so I was late getting to bed and I got up around 10 AM anyway. I tried to knit, but somehow I managed to drop the stitch that attaches the edging to the body of the shawl and before I had it back together, I had pulled out at least five or six repeats. Sigh. I did finish the repeat where I got things back together, so I can start fresh tomorrow. I hate it when that happens, but after fiddling for a while, I realized there wasn't any way I was going to figure out how to reattach the edging. Ripping back lace is always a problem, especially in such dark yarn, when I really can't see what I'm doing. I'm surprised it didn't take me longer to get things right.

The information for the bulletin came after I went up to the north end - Pastor was late last night - so I didn't get at that until late this afternoon. Yesterday, I got everything else ready so all I had to do was put in the service information. There was one thing i missed and one thing I didn't know about, but it was easy. Not like last week, when I had to use my shoehorn to get the bare minimum information in. I didn't like Divine Service Five anyway and now that I'm doing the bulletins I really don't like it. The others are easier and I have a template that I can use.

The weather was cool again. The high temperature was 70º and there was almost no wind. It's still humid, although it did get below 60% for a few hours this afternoon. It was clear and blue all day.

Grayson didn't do anything remarkable. He wanted some of my dinner, but he didn't get any.

So that was my lost day and now i want to take a bath, but we'll see how far that goes. It's a clear, cool night int he field. And it's September. Wow.

Last updated 09/25/21 03:37 AM