journal

A View From the Field

September 21

I sometimes wonder why I end up being so late. I was very tired and I wanted to go to bed, but instead i just sat and sat. Once I did get to bed, I slept fairly well, although I had a nice night sweat. Just a reminder that I'm not over my thing yet. I got up around 10:30 and I knitted my two rows. These next rows are slow ones, because they all have nupps, and this one was slower still because I had to move all the markers. But then instead of getting dressed, I just sat some more. Sigh. I don't feel very good.

I had a hot flash after I finished eating tonight - another reminder that I'm not well yet. So I'm going to bed as soon as I finish this and I'm not going to do anything. I need to fill the pill dispensers, but I can do that tomorrow. It's a pain anyway, but as I found a couple of months ago, it's even a worse pain not to fill them and have to take a pill out of each bottle every day.

Sometime around 6:00, I wanted to know what the temperature was and I discovered that there was no internet. Oops. I didn't know if it was one of those glitches or something more serious, but when it didn't come up after an hour or so, I realized there was a problem and it wasn't here. Evidently there was a power failure down the peninsula. It came back around 8:30 or so, so I'll be able to post this. Every time something like this happens, I wonder about the guy who was trying to tell me to reset PastyNet's equipment. I hope he's learned to call them first. It didn't bother me much except as an irritant.

The weather wasn't good. The high temperature was 77º and there was a southwest wind with gusts up to 26 mph, which made it nice to have the south window open. However, it has been extremely humid again, which makes it uncomfortable. In the middle afternoon, I started hearing very low rumbling and when I checked radar, there was a line of thunderstorms out in the lake, going just about north from Houghton. It did rain in Houghton, but we never got anything here, and so far, it seems to have dissipated, although checking now, there is another band southwest of here that may or may not ever get here. Let's just say it's unsettled. it got cloudy and dark for a while, but after the storms passed, it got almost clear, although there was a very dark line of clouds in the west at sunset.

The guys slept. Grayson made me laugh. He slept on the tub surround, where he likes to be when I'm in the bathroom, and every so often he would get up and come over to me and grunt a question. When I didn't do anything, he would get back up on the tub and go back to sleep. Louie slept at my feet. Louie slept beside my head for a while last night, but usually they go off someplace when I go to sleep.

So now it's a warmish, unsettled night in the field, and I'm going to bed without a bath, because I'm not going anyplace tomorrow. I can wash my hair then.

September 20

I was late last night. I was reading, but I think I got too tired to move. I know that was the problem when I got up to the north end. Once I got to bed, I slept fairly well, except that I got up around 9:30 or so and decided to go back to bed, and I started coughing. That made it hard to sleep, but I must have because it was a couple of hours before I got up.

I knitted and I finished the first repeat of the body. I thought about doing more, but the next rows have nupps, and it was already late.

I was moving slowly enough that I never made it to the post office. I still don't have my license plate, and I need that, as well as the end-of-month bills.

The weather was the kind I hate - cool and damp. The temperature did get up to 69º, but the humidity was well over 90% all day and the fog kept coming and going. There was almost no wind. I think it was probably mostly clear overhead, but we couldn't see it. I was facing the patio doors late in the afternoon, and the fog plus the late afternoon sun made for some really interesting effects, not all of which the camera caught.

I think the guys slept. They got a little loving, but not much, but mostly they were asleep someplace.

Before I started embroidering, late in the afternoon, I lost the sound on the computer, so I had to reboot it. I often wonder what causes those glitches, but I don't have enough energy to dig into it.

I'm still coughing and blowing, and I don't feel good. Part of that may be lack of sleep, but mostly I think it's because I still have whatever it is. I would like to know why it is that I am more likely to start coughing and blowing when my bladder is getting full,

I embroidered for a couple of hours, and I'm starting the right side of the circle. While I'm sure it's not true of all the motifs, this one looks like it's four-way symmetrical, until you start to work it, and then you discover that at most it's left-right symmetrical and maybe not that, either. I would love to know the order in which the original stitcher worked some of these things. I know it's clear that she worked the big things before the little ones in between, because it's clear that she fudged a lot. And looking at the picture of the original as best I can, there are a number of places already where I wouldn't have charted the motifs the way the author did, but I don't have a clear enough picture to see how it should be. Anyway, it's still a fun thing to stitch.

So that was my quiet, truncated day, and I won't be up too much longer. It's a cool, damp, foggy night in the field.

September 19

I didn't get to bed until about midnight last night, and I'll be a bit later tonight. I slept fairly well, I think. I guess when I can't remember, it must have been good. I got up around 9:30 and I knitted two rows. These rows don't have any nupps, so they go fairly fast, and I should have done the next two as well, but instead I played games until I wore down the battery.

I was about to get dressed when Mary Ann called and we had a rather long conversation. I had to tell her about my problems and her husband has been having some bad reactions to some meds he was taking. At least they have wheels again.

Thursday is one day when there's a lot of stuff to read, and there was a last minute change to the bulletin - fortunately, only a deletion. While the talking was going on, I embroidered some more. I'm working on the first panel of the second tier of the chart. This one is a big (80 stitches or more) circle with stylized flowers. I have the whole left side done now and I'm working on the flower on the bottom, which goes over to the next tier. Then there's the center flower and the ones on the right side. It still surprises me that this thing is holding my attention, but it is.

The weather was rather nice, although the temperature was sort of weird. The high, 73º, was between 9:00 and 10:00 AM, and then it cooled off into the lower 60s, although it must have spiked up and down a bit. There was a very light wind from the north, which no doubt had quite an effect on the temperature. It was horribly humid - it's 90% now. The skies were partly to mostly cloudy.

The guys were their sleepy selves. Grayson got some lap time. When I came back from the kitchen with my dinner, Louie was in the pink chair. I don't know why he chooses between the pink chair and the navy chair.

So it was a very quiet day again and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field.

September 18

I got to bed around 11;00 last night and I slept fairly well, I would say. I was up several times, but I've been drinking a lot of water. The cough drops worked and I didn't cough too much.

The plan was, I would get up at a reasonable hour - I think it was about 9:30 when I did - knit my two rows, take my bath, eat, and do the bulletin. Hah. i was about halfway through the second row of knitting when the electrician called to tell me he was in Mohawk and he was on his way to check out the generator. Sigh.

So I brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes and had a fast breakfast. I was almost done when he got here. Not only did he find a loose wire in the transfer switch and fix that, he power failed the house twice to check it, and then he did the yearly maintenance on the generator, so it was a good visit. We think everything is fine now, although the battery is getting old. Hopefully that will last until next year. Of course, all the power fails screwed up the computer, so I had to do a chkdsk, which took some time.

After he left, I went back up to the north end, cleaned up after an accident and finished knitting my row.

Then finally - finally!!! - I got my bath. I sat down for most of it, which worked all right, but I think it took me almost 45 minutes, and I'm not sure I got all the grease out of my hair. It feels so good to not be hot and sticky!

After that, I started a wash load of bottoms and came down here and did the bulletin. I found I didn't have some important information, which my editor generously provided, and I missed a few things, but it didn't take long to do. Just because it's the church's 140th anniversary doesn't mean there are any unusual things about the bulletin. I looked for possible graphics for the cover and found a wasteland. There is so much stuff out on Google that it always disappoints me when I can't find something I'm looking for.

The weather has turned summery. The high temperature was 78º for most of the afternoon and there was a wind from the southwest that gusted up to 26 mph. it was quite humid, though, which I could tell just by how long it took me to dry off after my bath. It was partly to mostly cloudy. Tonight I reset the end points of the camera. We're down to 12½ hour days now, and I don't see keeping all those pictures of nothing.

I didn't see much of the cats again. They were around when I got up, and they got some canned food for breakfast, which they liked, but then Louie went away when the electrician came and I had to shoo Grayson away because he wanted to sit on me when I had to do the bulletin. I kept hearing somebody scratching on the furniture, but I don't know who or where it was.

So that was my day. I think things are finally getting back to normal. I'm still sick. I feel lousy and I'm still coughing and blowing, but at least early in the day I'm a bit stronger than I was. Now it's just a matter of time and getting enough sleep. I don't think this is a normal cold, but I don't know what it is. I don't usually run high fevers with a cold and I don't usually lose my appetite for two weeks in a row. I'm eating a little more now, but not a lot, yet. Now as soon as the Bizet Symphony finishes, I can go to bed and sleep hard and long.

It's a warm, cloudy night in the field. There may or may not be some thunderstorms later on.

September 17

Well, maybe things are settling down. I'm still sick and I don't feel any better.

It didn't help that i had a terrible night. I went right to sleep, but when I woke up, I was so deeply asleep and so stiff that I didn't quite make it to the bathroom, so I was changing my underwear in the middle of the night. When I got back to bed, I coughed for the rest of the night. i guess that was partly my fault, but I had been having so much problem with the cough drops causing me to cough more that I didn't want to chance it.

I got up at 8:00 and got dressed, but I had finished eating before the heating guy got here at 9:30. I wish I'd known. He fixed the hot water problem and replaced the expansion tank, so I guess the heating system is back in shape, but I have mess in the basement, and since I can't go down there, I don't know what it is yet. I do have hot water again.

After he left, I sat in the bathroom for a while and played solitaire, but my eyes kept dropping closed, so I finally ate a cough drop and went back to bed. I think I slept for a couple of hours. i could have slept longer, but I needed to turn over and I started coughing again, so I got up. I'm still tired and I'll be going to bed as soon as I finish this. No bath. My plan is to do that during the day tomorrow, so I don't have to worry about being too late and getting twisted around again. Besides, it may take all afternoon.

The weather today wasn't too bad. It was cloudy all day and the high temperature was 79º, but that was while I was asleep and it was going down by the time I got up. There was a moderate breeze from the southwest. The humidity was down for a while, but it's back up now and boy, can I tell.

The guys are still confused about what's going on. Grayson got to sleep on me after breakfast. Louie wanted more love than he got, but he kept going after Grayson and that made me mad.

So it wasn't a bad day, and now all I have to do is wait for the electric company. Remember that? I'm not home free yet. It's a cloudy, humid, warmish night in the field.

September 16

As I was saying last night, if it's not one damn thing...

I got to bed around 11;00 last night, and that was nice. I am still waking up about every two hours, coughing, but I got up around 8:30. I had expected to hear from the heating people early, and when I hadn't by 9:30, I called them, and it seems like they wanted to make sure I was awake. So I washed and I was very surprised to find that I had hot water. Where did that come from?

I was making my breakfast when the guy came, and the problem was plain to see: one of the heating hoses had ruptured. I thought that might be the problem. However when he looked around in the machine room, he discovered that the expansion tank was full. It's been a long time since that's happened, but I think I've had four or five of those, mostly in the years right after I moved in. So he needed to come back.

He sure did. After he left, I tried to run hot water to wash my hands...and no water came out. None. So I called the heating people, and the guy I talked to said it was probably a valve he had left shut off. Well, that would be all right, if I could go downstairs. And even if I could, I can't work over my head anymore.

Well, since they don't want to make two more trips up here, they want to replace the expansion tank at the same time, so they won't be here until tomorrow. Early, too - probably 8:30 or 9:00, although if that happens, I'll be surprised. And I have no hot water...no water in the hot taps.

Sheesh. It's been ten days since I've been able to take a bath. It will take me a week to get clean.

The weather was sort of nice. The high temperature was 70º, and it was so hot in here that I opened the south window and the window in the powder room. That helped a lot. There were light winds from the west or southwest. It was extremely humid again. I think I'm going to refer to this summer as the humid summer. It was very foggy this morning and partly cloudy for the rest of the day, although there were dark clouds looming in the west at sunset. I did a lot of sweating again today, but I'm still not well.

The guys were mostly absent. Louie was going to run into the basement until the heating guy opened the door, and then he beat it into the bedroom. Grayson waited until the guy was gone and then he went to sleep on my lap. He is interested in the people who come here, but if they don't respond to him, he's learned to leave them alone.

So that was my day. I still don't feel at all good, although I'm finally getting a little more hungry. That's not translating into being able to eat a lot, though. I won't say I'm recovered until I can eat my usual portions.

Now it's a cloudy and possibly stormy night in the field and I need to go to bed so I can get up tomorrow.

September 15

If it's not one damn thing it's another...

I inverted last night, so it was late in the day when I got up. I would like to have slept longer, because I didn't sleep well, but every time I started to settle down, I started coughing. I finally decided not to fight it.

I knitted one row - the return row. These two rows have the most nupps, two for every repeat, so it's slow going. The next two have only one nupp per repeat and then there are four rows with no nupps. Those will go fast. I'm decreasing off one stitch repeat for every row repeat, so pretty soon, I should be able to do more than two rows.

When I went to wash my face, I discovered I apparently don't have any hot water, but I didn't think a lot about it at the time. It has seemed quite warm in the south part of the house for the past couple of days, though. So I got something to eat - overcooked my eggs - and called the heating company and left a message that I didn't think I had an emergency and I went on my way.

I started reading again, so I was rather late going to get some dinner. I had to detour because I had an accident, and when I came back to the kitchen, I noticed that hot air seemed to be coming out of the cat hole in the basement door. When I opened it - oh, no! - I could hear rushing water and I could tell without turning on the lights that there is water on the floor. So I called again, but the guy on duty was on his way to bed and he wouldn't come out tonight. So no one will come until tomorrow. I shudder to think what the basement looks like, with all those boxes down there... I have no idea what happened, but I suspect a heating pipe ruptured. We'll see.

The weather wasn't good. The humidity was astronomical again - the lowest it got was 84% - and the high temperature was 63º. It was cloudy and dull and we had a bit of rain in the late afternoon. Not very nice.

The cats slept, as far as I know. Grayson got some lap time and he actually got a lot of petting. I didn't see much of Louie. I wonder if they've known what's going on downstairs. They would think I knew about it, too, which of course I didn't. I worry about them getting to the litter trays, such as they are, because that water is hot. I can tell, just by sticking my nose in the door from the basement.

So altogether it was not a good day, and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field and I need to go to bed so I can get up when the heating people get here tomorrow.

September 14

Went to bed late, got up late, knitted a bit and read a bit. I still don't feel good, and I'm still coughing and blowing, although now it's thick, yellow glop.

The weather was cool, although it did finally get up to 61º. The wind was from the northwest, gusting up to 33 mph, although by late afternoon it had died down and shifted to the west. It started out cloudy, cleared up after 1:00 PM, and then got cloudy again around sunset. There was a bit of rain around midnight, but I don't know how much because the weather station appears to be down again. The camera did capture four shots of the setting moon this morning.

The guys slept. I haven't seen Louie since this morning. He is sleeping someplace new, where I can't see him. Grayson was around, though and he got a little lap time.

It was not a good day. I kept dropping things. When I went to take my dinner out of the microwave, I didn't get a good grip on the plate and it spilled hot juice all over my left arm and scalded it. I think it's all right, but I was more annoyed because that stuff should not have so much juice - it makes it soggy.

So maybe now I'll go to bed. It's a dark, cloudy night in the field.

September 13

I woke up around 10:00, and I might have gone back to sleep, except that the smoke detector went off again. I can tune out the chirps, but I can't tune out when that thing goes off. So I got up and I knitted a row and a half - It was the first row with nupps in it, and after half of the purl row, I'd had enough for the day. I struggled into a fleece jacket and by the time I got to the kitchen, I was sweating profusely. So I'm not well yet.

I opened the fridge and noticed that there were no lights - or on the door, or on the microwave...or anyplace in the house. The generator was working, but no electricity was getting into the house. Geez - what's that? So I did some of my surfing on the phone, which was here all night for a software update, and I called the electric company. I don't remember exactly what order things happened, but i got a call from Mike, who said part of the access point was down and he would be here in an hour. Then the power came back up, thankfully, and I got a call from the electric company asking if they could schedule somebody for next week to come out and see what's wrong with the generator. I said sure, because the power was back on. Then Mike came and discovered that one piece of equipment hadn't been plugged into the UPS. He did it, so it's his error. Anyway, that fixed the access point problem. Before he left, he removed and disabled the smoke detector. Whew!

I know I will have to replace that, and probably the one in the bedroom, too, but not this month.

All that took most of the afternoon, and before I came back into the studio, I got myself some toast and cheese. I'm still not very hungry, although I was feeling it. I was going to have my Friday fish, but I had what was left from last night, and I didn't eat all of that. Maybe I can begin to get back to something like a normal schedule tomorrow. I've been coughing more today, as well as blowing. The coughing makes my head hurt. I still feel lousy, but I got at least 10 hours of sleep last night, which has to have helped.

The weather was variable. We had 1.73" of rain between 11:00 last night and 11:00 this morning, and we got more that wasn't recorded before the weather station came back up at 3:00 PM. In between there was actually a bit of sunshine. The high temperature was 68º. That was undoubtedly what contributed to my sweating. I had to put some clothes on before Mike got here. I hope my nightie is dry.

The guys did not like the smoke alarm, and when Mike came, Louie went into the basement and Grayson went right up to him to get petted. I'm sorry Louie went away. Mike has cats, and he likes cats, and if I remember correctly, he even has a dog, so Louie should like him a lot. He's just too timid.

So that was my day, and now i need to go to bed. I'm still sick and the only thing I can do to help it is sleep. I'm not going anywhere this weekend, and that should help. Tomorrow I really have to shower. Now it's a coolish, cloudy and possibly rainy night in the field. We won't see the Harvest moon tonight, although it will light the clouds.

September 12

I'm still sick, but I'm making progress. I was late getting to bed, mostly because I was too sick to move. I slept hard, with one wakeup, and I got up around 10:30 - or I tried to. I had a terrible time getting out of bed and standing up. Finally I made it, and I moved to the bathroom. I felt so awful that I took my temperature and it was 102.4º. It's been a while since I've had a fever like that. No wonder I felt bad.

While I was sitting in the bathroom, the smoke detector, which has been chirping for over a week, suddenly sounded off. I let it go, because I wasn't sure I could get it down, and after half an hour or more - I didn't time it - it stopped for about 15 minutes. Then it started again, and that happened three more times. I tried to get it down with my long-reach pole, but I couldn't get a grasp on it, so I left it. Some time later, it stopped again, and it's been quiet since around 2:00 PM. I hope it stays that way. I seem to have misplaced the rest of the ends for the pole, and I'll have to find those and probably move my chair down into the hallway. I need to get that thing down and get the battery out of it.

I felt so awful that I didn't eat anything, and I didn't drink anything, either, until around 8:30 PM. Then I had a small meal and a big glass of water. The last time I checked, while I was still sitting here and before I ate, my temperature was down to 100.4º, so I guess I'm getting over it. I'm not dripping anymore, thankfully. I blow or cough occasionally. I thought this was just a cold, but I don't usually run a fever with a cold. Whatever it is, it's miserable and I'm not over it yet. I still feel lousy.

Oh, by the way, I'm sorry about the camera. I realized it had screwed up when I got up, but then in the press of the smoke detector, I forgot about it. I think it's all right now.

The weather was nondescript again, but it was a little warmer than yesterday. The high temperature was 57º and there was a bit of south wind, gusting up to 24 mph. It was cloudy and dull all day.

The guys know there's something wrong with mommy, but they don't know what. They got some petting and Grayson got to sleep on my lap for a while. Tomorrow I am going to have to fill kibble bowls, whether or not I feel better.

So that was another quiet day and tonight I'm going to bed early, or at least earlier than I have been lately, It's a dark, cloudy night in the field.

September 11 – Remember

Oh, I am so sick! I didn't want to move last night, so i was ridiculously late, and I didn't sleep at all well. I was - and I still am - cold. I put on my sweats this morning. I felt so horrible I didn't want to move, and not long after I got back from the powder room, I started coughing - with results you may guess, especially since I was just too tired to move. I'm sort of cleaned up now, though I'm a bit concerned about the night. I'm thinking about wearing my fleece robe over my nightie, but we'll see how that goes. I just took my temperature a while ago, and I'm running just over 2º of fever, so no wonder I feel so lousy. I hope I can sleep.

The weather was not good again. The temperature was just about steady at 53º and there wasn't a lot of wind. The humidity is finally going down a bit, but it was very high all day, which didn't help my joints at all. It was cloudy and dark and yucky.

The guys thought so, too, and they slept. Grayson got some lap time until I had to do something and made him leave. I think Louie spent the day in the bathroom, until I had to go up there to change my bottoms. They know what to do in weather like this.

So that's it, and I feel just awful. It's a dark, cloudy night in the field and I sure hope I can sleep.

September 10

So I was ridiculously late I was late enough getting up that I didn't knit. And when I got up, I had a sore throat. I still do, and my nose is running, so I guess I have a real cold, not just my personal virus. I don't feel good. I will wash my hair tonight, just so I can go to choir practice if I feel OK tomorrow, but I doubt I'll be going. I must have picked this up on Sunday. I keep forgetting that when I blow my nose with a wet Kleenex, any germs on my hands are likely to be transferred to my nose.

Debbie called again and this time I was in a position to answer the phone, so we had a nice conversation, not excessively long.

The weather was lousy again. The final rain total overnight was 0.76". It didn't rain during the day, but it has apparently started again in the past hour. It was very foggy between noon and 6:00 PM. The high temperature was 68º, around noon, but then it fell off rapidly and now it's 54º. There wasn't much wind. The humidity has been over 90% all day and over 95% all afternoon. Of course, it was cloudy and dull.

As far as I know, the guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but I was doing things, so he couldn't sit on me as much as he wanted. Besides, I was blowing my nose, and he didn't like that. I haven't seen Louie in a while.

So that was another quiet day. I added something to the bulletin and sent it out, but that was all I did. I really do not feel very good. I hope this doesn't last long. It's a dark, cloudy, rainy night in the field.

September 9

Oh it's stupidly late and I have to go to bed.

I was late last night, too, but I got up around 9:30 and I finished Chart 4, which was all knitting or purling. I will start the body of the shawl tomorrow. I paid a few bills, and I went to the post office. It had been longer than I remembered since I'd been there, and I had a ton of mail, including issues of all my magazines. There were a few more bills, too, including one that's been outstanding since sometime last year. People around here are sometimes casual about things like that. It's only too bad that now I don't have any money to pay them.

The weather was nondescript again. The temperature got up to 64º for most of the afternoon, evidently. The wind was from the south and it was very light for most of the day, except between 5:00 and 8:00 PM when there were gusts up to 21 mph. It was mostly cloudy. I was surprised to see that it started raining around 9:00 PM and we've had 0.74" so far. No wonder it's so dark. I'm sorry about the camera, but I didn't check it until late in the day.

The guys slept. Grayson wanted to sleep on me, but I had to make him go away and stay away so I could pay bills and go out. Louie is asleep somewhere, which is his usual state. He was going after Grayson this morning.

So that's all there is. It's a dark, rainy night in the field and I really do have to go to bed tonight.

September 8

I made it into bed close to 9:30, amazingly enough, I slept weird. I was asleep long enough, but it mostly wasn't a deep sleep and I had lots of strange dreams. It's been a long time since I've had very many dreams, and I'm not used to it.

I got up when the alarm went off and I moved fast enough that I got away just about when I wanted to. Traffic was light enough that we got to church about 9:50. I still haven't determined why sometimes it takes 40 minutes and sometimes it takes 55.

Church was good and the choir sang well for a change. I was getting tired by the end, with all the standing and sitting. It would have been all right except that I had to stop in the restroom and I had a terrible time getting up. The way I have to do it on a regular toilet means my arms and legs get sort of tangled up and I can't put my legs where they need to be to lift me. I did finally make it, but it took a while.

Then we went to Pat's and I did more damage than I hoped, even though I only got what I needed. Food prices sure aren't staying steady. I was fine all the way around the store, but then I had to stand in line while the person in front of me did something odd that took a long time - and my left knee gave out. I barely made it to the car. I packed my stuff away and sat for a while before I decided I'd better go back into the store and make sure Mary Ann wasn't in there waiting for me. It turned out she wasn't - she got a whole lot more than I did. So we packed up and came home, although we got behind a nice Sunday driver on the covered road, who was going 30 mph...ugh. I finally passed him. Even though there are double yellow lines the whole way, there are several places where it's quite safe to pass.

I got home around 3:00 and after I got the stuff out of the car, I made it to the powder room and that was all. I just sat in zombie mode for the rest of the afternoon. The cats kept coming by to see if I was OK. I finally did make it up, changed my clothes, and brought the cold stuff into the house. It was cool enough in the breezeway that I think everything is OK.

Part of my trouble was that I knew I would have a problem getting out of my clothes, after the problem I had getting into them. It was cool enough that I wanted to wear one of my corduroy jackets with a shirt underneath it. Both my shoulders are stiff enough that getting into and out of a garment that isn't stretchy is difficult. I did manage it, both ways, but it was hard. Probably it was good exercise for my shoulders. I cheated, though - I put the shirt inside the jacket before I got into them, so I would only have to do it once, and I got out of it the same way. Where there's a will...

Then when the weekly backup kicked off, something happened to the disc and it went into a loop that I could not get it out of no matter what I tried. I finally ended up having to manually turn the CPU off. Gack. I think everything is OK now, though, and there just won't be a backup this week. I didn't change very many things, There is clearly a bug in the error handling in the optical disc driver. I'm not surprised - error handling is always the hardest part of any program and no program of more than two lines is ever completely debugged.

The weather was cool but mostly sunny. The high temperature was 58º, but it was nearly steady all day. There wasn't much wind and the humidity wasn't too bad. There is a nice, just-more-than-half moon shining in the south windows.

The guys didn't like it when I went away, and as I mentioned, they kept coming into the powder room to see if I was OK. They are funny little critters.

So that was my Sunday. Most of it was nice. Now it's a clear (so far), cool night in the field and I'm going to bed.

September 7

I was later than I wanted to be last night, but not nearly as late as the nights before. I slept very well, and I got up around 10:30. I knitted my two rows and fooled around for a while, but not as long as sometimes.

That was in part because Pastor asked me to do the bulletin this weekend so he can see it before he leaves on vacation, so I did that, although it was later than I wanted it to be, because there was a lot of stuff to read today. That was about all I did.

The weather was nondescript. I was sitting in the bathroom last night when I started hearing something hitting the siding outside the window. It took me a while to realize it was raining, and evidently the wind was from the north and pushing the drops onto the side of the house. We got 0.14" in an hour, but then it apparently cleared up, because when I was up the the first time, there were stars. Not very bright ones, but stars. It was cloudy again this morning and it stayed that way all day. The high temperature was 59º and that was early this morning. It was between 55º and 58º all day. The wind was in the 15 mph range from the northwest. Blah.

Louie was going after Grayson again this morning. I wish I knew why he does that, and I wish he would stop, but he's too old and I don't know how to make him stop it anyway. Grayson spent most of the afternoon on my lap, while i did my surfing, and he wanted to come back when I was doing the bulletin, but I wouldn't let him. It's hard to type with a cat on my lap.

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

September 6

Late, late, late! Sigh. So I didn't do anything except knit a couple of rows on the shawl.

The weather was so-so. It was cloudy for most of the day, although it cleared up around sunset and I saw the half moon in the south windows. The temperature got to 66º briefly, but there wasn't much wind and it was very humid. Not my favorite weather.

The guys slept. They got some lap time, although Louie has been going after Grayson so much I'm not pleased with him. Grayson got some lap time, but not much, because I had to jump up and run.

So nothing to report. I'm going to bed tonight. Really, It's apparently a clear, cool night in the field.

September 5

Oh, I was late, of course. I always am when I have to take a shower. I slept well, though, and I got up around 11:00, so I got enough sleep for most people. I finished the row of knots in the shawl and the return row, but I didn't do any more. I have 8 rows left in this chart and they're all plain knitting.

I was late enough that I didn't do anything else. We went to choir and Bible Study tonight, and I was glad we did. We're not singing anything out of the hymnal for the next few weeks, and particularly on Sunday, we're singing something I had to practice. Bible Study was good, too - it was all about righteousness, based on the story of the Good Samaritan. We had a good discussion.

The only problem we ran into is that they are repaving US-41 from Lac Labelle Road to Copper Harbor, and they held us up for at least 10 minutes. The lower part of the road is done, and it certainly is nice and smooth. Coming home in the dark and the rain wasn't fun, though, because they have only small marks to show the center line and no lines on the outside edges, and we got behind some people who were having a worse time than I was. Driving at night isn't easy for me. I was about to say "anymore" but I've had the glare problem all my life. It's just that up here, since it's so dark and there is so little traffic, it's worse - especially since there are a lot of people who don't bother to turn down their bright lights when they meet an oncoming car. I rely on those white stripes at the edge of the road - and they're not there right now. Yikes.

The weather wasn't very good, and I felt it. It was cloudy and gray all day, but the temperature got up to 70º, apparently early in the afternoon. There was almost no wind, and the humidity rose all day until around 5;00 it started raining lightly. We've had 0.07" so far. i could tell. I didn't feel too bad when we went down to Laurium, but when we left, I hurt all over.

Louie has a scratch on his pretty pink nose, and I'm not surprised. He's been going after Grayson often lately, and apparently Grayson finally had enough. I think it probably happened last night. Grayson just wanted to sit on me again today. I wonder what their problem is. They don't act sick or anything.

So that was another quiet day. It felt good to sing again, and I was in relatively good voice for a change. Now it's a dark, rainy night in the field and I need to go to bed.

September 4

Late as usual, but I slept well, with not too many wakeups. I got up a bit after 9:30 and I knitted 2½ rows. The last row is the one with all the knot stitches, and it goes very slowly as well as hurting my hands. I'll finish it tomorrow and the rest of the chart goes fast, although there are 5 rows of purl stitches in a row - backward garter stitch.

I didn't do much. I was later than I would have believed, so the only thing I did was to get the bulletin done, and I almost forgot that. I really don't feel all that good, so I did nothing. I didn't even embroider. I did finish washing a small load of bottoms, which should be dry by now. Both pairs of stone colored pants had spots on them, and I want to be able to wear them for a while longer, so i had to wash them.

The weather was probably nice, but cool. The high temperature was only 63º and there was a north wind in the 15 mph range for most of the day. The humidity has gone down, finally. It was clear or nearly clear all day, although there were a few clouds late in the afternoon. It looked to be clear at sunset, but I haven't seen the moon yet.

The guys slept, and Grayson didn't get any lap time, because I was busy. I had to go up to the north end before dinner and I had to move Louie who was in his favorite spot in front of the sink in the bathroom. So he left and once he was out in the bedroom, he started talking loudly and a lot. I don't know what his problem was, but it was funny.

I have to wash my hair tonight, but not until after the Beethoven is done.

So it was another very quiet day, and now it's a cool, clear night in the field.

September 3

Of course I was later than I wanted to be last night. I was reading and I wanted to stop at a reasonable spot. I didn't sleep very well. I was up several times and I had a wakeful period in the middle of the night. I had a couple of night sweats, too, and although they weren't too bad, they kept me awake.

I got up around 9:30 and I knitted four rows, but they were garter stitch, except for the center back part, so they went as fast as possible for that many stitches. Of course, then I fooled around, so it was late when I ate my first meal. I hesitate to call it "breakfast" when I eat it at 3:00 in the afternoon, even though I'm breaking my fast.

While the some of the talking was going on, I embroidered, and I finished the top tier of charts. I thought i had done all the urns of flowers, but then I discovered that there's another one in the second tier. Ugh. I will start the second tier tomorrow, or the next time I embroider.

The weather was lousy, and it was one reason I didn't do anything. it apparently started raining lightly around 3:00 AM, and it didn't completely stop until around 6:00 PM. The total was 0.52". The heaviest rain was between 11:00 and noon, when we had a bit of a thunder shower, but certainly not a storm. The high temperature finally got to 62º, but it was in the upper 50s for most of the day, and it is still extremely humid. The wind has shifted around to the north or northeast, and it has been gusting as high as 33 mph. The NWS has been warning us not to go swimming, because the waves are likely to be high. Hah. It was cloudy and dull all day.

The guys were very sleepy, and Grayson has been very clingy. I still don't know why. I finally had to move him because I had to go potty, He got back on me, but then I had to get up again and when I came back, I turned around to the desk to embroider, so he couldn't sit on me. He was sleeping on the desk until they played a Mozart Flute Concerto, when he got up and went thump! on the floor. I guess that flute was too screechy for him, even though I liked it.

It's also because the radio is behaving itself these days, and it's a bit loud. There is at least one short in it (it has to be 35 years old) and sometimes it gets very quiet, or one of the speakers cuts out - or both. I deal with it because I like the sound it gives better than my other radios.

So that was my quiet day and now it's a cool, cloudy night in the field, but at least it isn't raining anymore.

September 2 - Labor Day

I made it into bed by 11:00 last night, and I slept well, although I was up a number of times. I got up around 9:30, I think. I knitted four rows on the shawl and I finished the third chart. The fourth chart is a repeat of the second, but with fewer stitches, and it's almost all plain knitting, except for that row of knot stitches. It shouldn't take long. Following that is the body of the shawl, and that will take a while, because there are a whole lot of nupps, but it gets smaller as it goes up, which will help.

I didn't do very much else except read and embroider, but I did chip the ice out of the freezer. It had gotten thick enough again that it was keeping the door from closing completely. Oh, and somebody had pulled a bunch of stuff out of a bag of recyclables and I tidied that up and tied the bags, so he won't be able to do it again. I don't know what gets into him sometimes.

The weather wasn't very good. The high temperature was 60º, but that was overnight, and the temperature went down steadily all day, until now it's 46º. That's the first time in several months it's been so cold here. It was cloudy and dull in the morning, and it looked almost like it might rain. It cleared up for a while in the afternoon before it clouded up again, although the camera caught the little moon in a couple of shots. The resolution isn't fine enough to show the crescent, but there was a little yellow light peeking through the branches of the pine.

The guys slept. They both got some loving and Grayson slept on my lap for a long time until I finally had to get up. I don't know why they are so clingy lately, unless they really can remember that it was around this time last year when I went away and came back sick.

So now it's a cold, dark night in the field and I need to go to bed.

September 1

Ugh. I was up at least five times last night and mostly my gut woke me up. That hasn't happened before, and I'm not quite sure why it did.

Anyway, I got up when the alarm went off, and I actually managed to leave when I wanted to, right about 9:00. I picked up Mary Ann and we went off to church. It was nice. For once, the whole choir was there and I think we sounded good. The only problem I had was that I was having an increasingly hard time standing up. I think it was the humidity. And when I stopped in the restroom afterwards, I almost couldn't get up.

Mary Ann had noticed a truck for sale on the way down, so we stopped and she got the information (but not all of it) and took some pictures on the way home. They need wheels, and quickly.

I got home around 1:00 and I was so tired I didn't do anything for the rest of the afternoon except read. I'm doing this early (for me) and I am going right to bed afterwards. I almost fell asleep a couple of times this afternoon, but I was sitting in my chair and I woke up when my head drooped.

The weather probably had most to do with how I felt. The high temperature was 70º and the humidity was close to 70%. There wasn't any wind. It was mostly cloudy all day, but there wasn't any rain, or at least there hasn't been any yet.

The guys were sleepy. They both got some loving when I got home and Grayson got to sleep on my lap for a while, but he wanted to lean on my arm, which hurt, so I moved around enough that he finally left. The way they're acting, I wonder if they remember last year and are fearful that it will happen again. It hardly seems possible, but you never know. I'm not planning to have any more surgery or be sick this year.

So that was my day, and now it's a warmish, cloudy night in the field. Oh, I'm tired!

Last updated 09/21/19 09:33 PM