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A View From the Field |
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April 21 Ugh, what a night!
I turned out the light around 11:00, but I hurt, so it took me some time to fall asleep. Sometime later, I got up to pee and I turned over onto my left side. It felt all right at the time, but evidently I wasn't in the right position, because when I woke up around 1:30 or so, my shoulder was so sore it made me cry out loud. I was up and down for over half an hour, and I tried the heating pad, which didn't do any good, before it finally started to subside. After that, I was fine and I slept well, but wow! I have no idea what brought that on. It wasn't the humidity, which was under 40% and I don't think it was the pressure, which is high, so it makes no sense at all. All I know is it was excruciating. Today it feels fine, and I will just have to try to be more careful tonight.
I got up around 9:30 and I knitted 5 sides, I think. Maybe 6. While I was in the powder room after breakfast, I knitted on the summer sock, but I haven't gotten back to where I was when I ripped it out. I like it much better on the larger needles. All I have to do is remember to knit the ribbing rather tightly.
That was about all I did. I am still looking for the cross stitch project I lost, so I looked into a couple of file boxes this afternoon. It isn't there, but I did find some other stuff including enough black evenweave fabric to use for some of the charts I have in the queue. It's not linen, and I may have to work it in a frame, but I didn't get enough black linen for everything and I didn't want to buy more, so I'm happy that I found this. I think it's 28 count, which means the projects will be bigger than I'd planned, but they will be easier to stitch, too. Only I want that kit I lost! Grr.
The weather was just about the same as it's been for the past few days. It was clear overnight and all day. When I was up with my shoulder, I noticed that there was a lovely little crescent moon going down over the lighthouse. Even as small as it is, it was so bright! I just discovered that I had to reset the end points of the camera. The sun is rising before 7:00 now and setting close to 9:00. Yea!! Anyway, it was clear all day. The high temperature was 46º and there was no wind. The humidity went up to 60% after the wind went calm, and that doesn't bode well for my joints, but we'll see.
The guys were sleepy, and they just love the warmth and the sunshine. It's 79º in the studio right now. Grayson got some lap time, but I didn't see much of Louie. He did sleep on the couch for a while this afternoon.
So that was my day. This morning was the first time in several months that I didn't have to put on a jacket and wrap myself up in my robe to sit in the bathroom and knit. I won't say it's warm in there, but at least it's tolerable again. We still have lots of snow and we still have lots of ice on the harbor, in spite of the sunshine. I think it's because the water is so cold. That's keeping the temperature down here, too. Well, spring will come.
Now it's a clear, calm and quite warm evening in the field.
April 20 So I was late again, but I slept very well. I was awake around 5:00, and i noticed that the northern part of the sky was light enough that it looked like dawn was rising. Well, it wasn't - we had an unscheduled run of northern lights, and we may get more tonight. It wasn't moving or anything, but the whole northern part of the horizon and up toward zenith was light. I guess some people in Canada saw an impressive display.
It did have an impact here in the field: my atomic clock has been saying it was 4/28 all day. The time is right, but the date is all wrong. The first year or two that I lived here was during a solar max, and it played havoc with the clock all summer long. It only syncs up with Denver during the night, and since there are hills full of iron and copper between me and Denver, sometimes if there is solar activity, part of the transmission gets garbled. April 28 isn't even a Friday, so I knew it was wrong and I used other sources to tell time all day.
I got up around 10:00 and I only knitted a row or maybe a little more. I could do two rows when they were mostly plain knitting, but now they're mostly pattern and it goes slower. So far, I'm doing all right without the markers and soon I'll have the pattern defined well enough that it shouldn't be a problem.
I didn't do much else. I went to the post office and I got my Schwan's order. I've been ordering from Schwan's a lot lately, because they've had some very nice sales, but the freezer is getting packed, so I'll have to stop all that. I think I'm good for at least a month, but we'll see if they have any more sales.
Oh, I did have to reboot the computer. As I was finishing my surfing, IE hung up and I couldn't restart it, so I started a reboot and went to the bathroom. It's fine now, thankfully. I did not want to have to do a system restore! It's been a long time since I've had a glitch like that, but maybe it means they've put a new crew on maintaining Windows 7. I hope we're not in for another round of every update causing more problems.
The road is a mess, and there's a lot of water on it, because the snowbanks are high - about 6' down in the culverts. i met Walt on my way home and it's so nice to have him smoothing out the ruts! If it stays this warm, most of the snow on the road will melt, but then Lake Lily will become part of Copper Harbor for a while, like it did last year. The north side of the big hill is still snow covered and slippery, but it doesn't get any sun on it, and it will have to be warmer before it begins to melt seriously. Getting up the hill at this time of year is a task for 4WD for sure.
The weather was nice again. The high temperature was 44º briefly, and it was around 42º for the entire afternoon. There was almost no wind. There were a few high clouds during the day, and there are a few clouds now, but nothing interfered with the sunshine. The temperature got up to 78º here in the studio. If it keeps doing that, I may have to take off my sweats.
The guys slept. While I was knitting this morning, I had one between my feet and one beside my legs. Grayson started it, like he usually does, but I guess Louie didn't see any reason why he shouldn't be close to me, too. And there are people who think cats don't like their people!
So it was another very quiet day. I have a splitting headache, so I'm hoping to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It's a warmish, calm, almost clear night in the field. I guess spring is coming after all.
April 19 It's Debbie's birthday, which I almost forgot.
I was late last night. I was reading and then I had to wash my hair. i slept fairly well, and I got up around 10:30. I knitted two rows, but it took two hours, so I guess I won't be doing that very often unless i start getting up very early.
I didn't do anything much else. I knitted a few rows on the summer sock and I like it much better on the bigger needles. It always interests me. Size 1 needles are 2.25 mm in diameter and size 2s are 2.75 mm, but it makes a real difference in the fabric when I knit with them. In bigger needles, of course, it doesn't make so much of a difference, but in the small ones, it sure does.
While the talking was going on, I embroidered, and I'm getting closer to abandoning that project. That hay will be the undoing of me, and I don't like it that well anyway. Especially if I can find the thing I was looking for and didn't find, I probably will, but I haven't done that yet.
The weather was remarkable, considering how it was a couple of days ago. The high temperature was 42º and it was beautifully sunny and clear all day. It was a bit breezy, with north winds up to 16 mph. With all that sunshine for the past couple of days, the 2' drift in front of the great room patio door is almost completely gone. The next week looks to be warm and sunny, so we should lose a whole lot of our snow and a lot of the ice on the harbor. Good riddance.
The guys were sleepy, of course. I didn't see Louie after I got up and Grayson only got a little lap time, because I had to type.
The typing was because apparently a local TV station used a picture from my webcam this morning - it was pretty - and I don't recall ever giving them permission to do that. I haven't heard back from them. I almost always give permission to do that, but I like to be asked first. It's only polite, but then, our world has gotten a whole lot less polite in recent years.
So that was my day, and it's early enough now that maybe I can get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It's a clear, warmish night in the field, and spring will come!
April 18 It was about midnight when I got to bed again. That would have been all right, except that I didn't sleep very well for some reason. I got up about 9:00.
I knitted two rows, because they were easy ones, but now they get harder, so I doubt I'll be able to do more than a row and a half at most. The border is just a riff on the center, so I have most of it in my fingers already and I don't anticipate it being hard, except that I will have to remove my sanity markers pretty soon or else I'll be moving markers around on every row and that bugs me.
I got the bulletin out early, but it wasn't hard, and I had some conversation with the rest of the choir. We aren't having practice tomorrow because both of our accompanists are gone, but we will sing on Sunday and Pastor has some recorded accompaniment for the service.
I need to get back into my schedule again. In the middle of the night, I couldn't remember if today was Tuesday or Wednesday, and I don't like to get confused like that. It's Wednesday. All day and half the night.
While the talking was going on, I finished the ribbing on the summer sock and started the leg, so that's coming along.
The weather has finally gotten rather spring-like. it was cloudy all night, but the clouds went away by 9:00 and the afternoon was so clear and blue! The sun is setting over the lighthouse now. and even if we missed the conjunction last night, the camera caught both Venus and the moon, and it's so pretty! The high temperature officially was 36º, which is still 7º under our average, but it's better than it was. The wind has finally calmed down and shifted back to the north. It's still a bit humid, though, but maybe that will go away in the next day or so. They don't think we will get anything from that storm that's out in the middle of the country, and I'm just as happy for that. It got much warmer here, at least at the temperature sensor, and the temperature in the studio got up over 76º and just stayed there. It's even warm in the bathroom! Lovely sun, to give me all that free heat!
The guys slept, of course. Grayson got some lap time, but I was busy when Louie came around.
So it was another quiet day, but that's fine with me. Now it's a clear warmish night in the field, and I have to wash my hair, whether or not I'm going out tomorrow.
April 17 Well, I missed my target bedtime by a couple of hours, but it was much earlier than the night before, so I'll have to keep working on it. I slept fairly well, with the usual wakeups, and I got up a bit before 10:00.
I knitted two whole rows of the border. I don't know if I'll be able to continue to do that, because one of them was just plain purl stitch. Maybe tomorrow, but once I get into the pattern, I'll probably be down to one row and when the increases start to pile up, I doubt I'll even be able to do that. I have time, usually, but if I knit too long, my hands and wrists start to get sore.
And then, while I was in the powder room after breakfast, I decided I didn't like the way the summer sock looked. Well - it looked fine, but it was much too thick for a summer sock, so I tore out all 5" I had done and I've started it again on #2 needles. I know I said that seemed too mushy, but I think it was because my ribbing was too loose. I'm trying to tighten up the ribbing without ruining my tension on my other projects. We'll see how it goes. The other socks I've knit in this yarn have all been on #2s, and they're fine.
That was all I did. I didn't get much done on the sock because it's boring, but I'll keep at it while the talking is going on.
It's finally stopped snowing. That happened around 8:30 this morning, and Delaware had another 8" from yesterday morning to this morning. That means they had 22" for the whole storm. I think we probably got just about as much. At least there is at least that much on my deck in front of the patio doors to the great room, and with the wind from the east, there wasn't much drifting there. I have a big drift in front of the studio, though. The temperature has risen to 34º, and it's supposed to be even warmer for the next few days, which should mean the snow will be going away soon. It's one thing that's different from December. Oh, and Keweenaw has now officially had 300" of snow for the season so far. That's about 25" more than last year. It was still windy today, with winds from the northeast gusting as high as 35 mph, but it's dying down now, to around 17 mph. There was even a glimmer of sunshine around sunset, although it didn't last long, and it's cloudy enough that we won't be seeing the conjunction of Venus and the moon, unfortunately. I certainly hope this is the last gasp of winter! It's seemed so long this year.
The guys slept. They both got some lap time, and Louie got brushed again. I got a handful of fur out of him last night and another handful today, but as long as I brush him, fur comes out. I think they were a bit disappointed that they didn't get any canned food today, but tomorrow they will and they hadn't eaten everything I gave them yesterday.
So that was my day. My problem last night was all the lovely music, but tonight. while it's nice, after the Dvorak finishes, there isn't anything else compelling enough to keep me up. I'm determined to get this thing under control, but it may take a while.
Now it's a comparatively warmish, cloudy night in the field, and it's not that I don't feel like going to bed.
April 16 It's still snowing. The winter storm advisory has changed to a winter weather advisory, and it's not snowing quite as hard as it was yesterday, but it hasn't let up all day.
It was some ridiculous hour when I got to bed again. I am going to have to try - again - to take myself in hand and stop all this nonsense. It's not like I have to turn this stuff in to the library and I might not finish it before I do.
Anyway, I got up around 11:30, and I finished the center of the shawl and picked up the first row of the border...760 stitches. From now on, I'll be doing well if I knit one row a day. The nice thing is that all the counts came out right and I didn't have to fudge anything.
I was so late that I didn't do anything else, and I was still doing my surfing when the talking started. That's all right, as long as I get it done by 4:30, because they replay the first half-hour of ATC at 6:00, so I can hear whatever I missed.
It's still snowing. Delaware had 14" over the weekend, and I'm sure we had just as much, if not more. It snowed all day, although not quite as hard. The temperature was just about steady at about 26º. The wind has shifted from the east to the northeast, and the highest gusts were 33 mph, at 2:00 - down a bit from yesterday but still strong. It was surprisingly bright this morning, but it got dull and gray later in the day. And I still can't see down the harbor. April? It looks and feels more like December to me!
The guys thought so, too. Louie wanted me to stop knitting before I did, but once I gave him some canned food, he was fine. Grayson spent as much of the afternoon on my lap as I'd let him.
So I am hibernating again. Somebody cleared my driveway, but I don't see any reason to go anywhere while this is going on.
And I am going to take myself in hand and go to bed at a semi-reasonable hour tonight. I still don't feel good, for one thing, and this is getting ridiculous. Eventually the snow will go away (really!) and I would like to be able to enjoy the mornings.
Now it's a cold, snowy night in the field.
April 15 Geez, is April half over already? Is it really April? Certainly doesn't look like it from where I sit.
I was ridiculously late last night. Since I'd decided not to go out today, I was in no hurry to go to bed, but I was reading and then I was playing games, and time just passed. I slept well, of course, since I was totally exhausted when I finally turned out the light, and I got up around 11:30. I knitted, and I forget how many rows, but I think I can probably finish the center and maybe even set up the border tomorrow. It will be nice to work on a slightly different pattern for a change, and it will be more of a challenge, too, since half the rows will be purled and they all have pattern in them.
That was all I did, besides my surfing. I still don't feel good. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading. I had been going to reread First and possibly make some major changes to it, but then I thought again and decided not now, so I've started Special Forces, which is one of my favorites.
I had some e-conversation with a lady from church, and I read, and I didn't eat dinner until 10:00. I only did it then because I felt I had to, and while I enjoyed it - shrimp, yum - I wasn't really hungry at all. That's a good indication that I really am sick.
The real story was the weather. The snow didn't start here until sometime after 11:30 AM, but once it did, wow! When I went to get my dinner, it looked to me like we've had at least 6" of heavy, wet snow, and it very well may be more, because it's been extremely windy. The high so far is 41 mph gusts from the east, but it's been in the 20-40 mph range all day. And it's snowed. And snowed. And snowed. The temperature has been just about steady around 25º. It was a good day to hibernate.
We did. Grayson wanted to sit or sleep on me all afternoon, and he did get some lap time. I heard Louie complaining a couple of times, but he didn't come around.
So that was it. By the time it got dark, the tree branch was hanging low over the patio door and the door itself was almost covered by snowballs, which is how I know the snow is so wet. With the wind as strong as it is, it's hard to tell just how much snow we've had, but in places where the wind hasn't bothered it much, it's over the bottom board of the deck railing, which indicates at least 6". It just keeps coming. So it's a dark, windy, snowy night in the field and I'll be off to bed real soon. Really.
April 14 I made it into bed by 1:00 this morning, which is earlier than I've been all week. I slept fairly well, although I was up several times and I hurt. I got up around 10:00.
I knitted, but only four rows, because I thought I had to be at church at 2:00. There was a phone call around 8;30 that I didn't answer - I never do when I'm in bed, because I don't have caller ID on that phone - that was from Deanna asking to change our meeting time to 2:30. That was fine with me. I got to do my surfing and I stopped at the post office on my way.
We did our thing - it doesn't take long with two of us working together - and I was home by 4:00. I won't go tomorrow. The snow is coming (really!) and it should be heavy, so I will just ignore the whole thing except to wash my hair, which I would have to do anyway.
The weather today was very cold and windy. The temperature has finally risen to 28º, but it was around 24º for most of the day, and with the wind in the 18-30 mph range from the east, that means the wind chill was down around 10º. We don't expect that in the middle of April. It was nasty. The snow is on its way and getting closer every hour. The strong east wind - the gusts got as high as 36 mph - pushed all the ice in front of my house about half a mile down the harbor, so I see open water for the first time in four or five months. See? Spring will come. It was cloudy and dull all day.
On my way home, I met my neighbor with the plow, who had been smoothing out the road - it was very badly rutted - and he assured me that he is here for the weekend to try to handle the new snow. It's so nice to have other people living out here! Ron hasn't had to be out on the tractor very much at all this winter.
The guys slept. They both wanted to sit on me, but Grayson got there first, and he didn't want to leave. I don't know why.
So it was another very quiet day, even though I had to drive, and now it's a very cold, windy evening in the field and likely to get colder, windier and snowy overnight. Right now, however, it's just cold and windy and cloudy.
April 13 Ugh. I almost forgot to go to bed.
I've been reading Osara and I finally decided I was tired of fighting MS Word and I need to split it into parts. I actually did the splitting a long time ago, but I left it as one humungous file, and Word can't handle all the overrides I have to make to their stupid misunderstandings of grammar. I had gotten the file down to under 398,000 words (barely) but it didn't matter. I found that out when I had to close the file when I rebooted after I did the system update. So I split it into three files and then I discovered some more shortcomings of Word. Page numbers are not dynamic, and grammar overrides and formatting don't carry over when you copy part of a document to another file. Ugh!
I got screwed up in Explorer, which did not seem to be able to find the new files I'd made until I closed them in Word, so I was left scrambling around trying to find where my files had gone. i fixed part one, but then I just wanted to read, so part three is only partly fixed and part two is still a mess. Oh, yes, and in order to get the formatting corrected, I had to zap all my chapter headings. Getting everything back together is going to take time.
Hey, Word has been around for over 30 years, I think. Why in the world does it still have so much wrong with it? Sheesh. I've heard about several other programs supposedly tailored for creative writers, but I'm suspicious that their formats are proprietary and not generally useful. If I ever try to sell any of my work, I do NOT intend to print hard copy, and I want my files to be easily readable.
Anyway, it was a ridiculous hour before I finally got to bed. Of course, I slept well, but I didn't get up until noon and I knitted. I finished the twelfth repeat, which means I only have 16 more rows to do, and three of those are plain knitting. So in a couple more days, I should be able to start the border. Which reminds me, I think I want to make some further changes to that border.
Anyway, I was so late that i didn't do much else.
The weather was so-so. The high temperature was 34º, in the early afternoon, but then the wind started to rise and it cooled down. The wind is now up to 20 mph with 28 mph gusts from the northeast, which is curious, because our winter storm is coming up from the southwest. I guess tomorrow is supposed to be all right, but we are under a winter storm watch from Saturday night through Monday morning. Hey, this is the middle of April, people! Sheesh. It was cloudy all day.
The guys slept. Louie finally wanted to sleep with me just about the time I got up, and Grayson slept between my feet while I knitted. He has a hairball that did not come up when he coughed. I think Louie probably has one, too, because he is very grumpy. It was Grayson's day to sleep on my lap, which he did for most of the time I was doing my surfing. They got canned fish for breakfast, and most of it is gone. They're good Keweenaw cats - they like fish, although they're not keen on salmon.
So that was my day. My sinuses weren't quite as bad today as they were yesterday, but my eyes are watering again now. My nose is still running and I feel bad. If the weather is all right tomorrow, I will go down to church to help Deanna get ready for Sunday, but if the forecast stays the same, I doubt I'll be going on Sunday.
Now it's a cloudy, windy night in the field and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
April 12 I wasn't quite as late last night, but I wasn't as early as I'd hoped. I slept fairly well, and I got up around 9:30, I think. I knitted and now I only have 25 more rows to go on the center. I'll be glad to be done and go on to the next part. I wish I could have knitted yesterday, but the timing was bad.
That was all I did, although I will get the dishwasher ready to run tonight. I don't feel good. Mary Ann didn't want to go to choir - she had been down there for most of the day anyway - and I just didn't feel good enough to go. My sinuses are so clogged that my eyes have been watering all day. I knitted on the sock enough to finish the gusset and start the foot while I was reading before the talking started.
Oh, I did do a system update on both computers. That's not a big thing, but it was something.
When I got up, it was snowing. It apparently started around 7:30 this morning, and it didn't stop until around 3:00, after which it cleared up almost completely. I don't think we got much accumulation, but it was wet and heavy, because the temperature was over freezing. Mary Ann said the road was all right when they came home, but I guess it was ugly when they went down. The high temperature was 38º, but that was later this afternoon when it cleared up. There was no wind. This is getting tiresome. Before today, we'd already gotten as much snow as we did all last winter - 276" - and we're not done yet, if the forecast is right. Geez.
The guys were sleepy. When I got up, Louie was curled up in the window seat. Later on, he got to sit on my lap for a long time and I was able to brush a handful of hair out of him. They are shedding like mad. I think Grayson got some lap time, too, but I don't remember. He did sleep at my feet while I was knitting. He likes to sleep on the fleece robe I put over my legs.
So it was another nothing day and now it's a warmish night in the field. I think it's clear. And the snow is still coming.
April 11 So I was late again, and I got up around 10:30, so I didn't get enough sleep. Instead of knitting, I got dressed and ate right away and did the bulletin as soon as I did some of my surfing. I missed knitting, but I had my sock with me and I wanted to get the bulletin out as early as possible in case there were changes.
I left around 1:30. It was an easy ride, because there was almost no traffic, but it's 50 miles, so it took a while. They didn't find anything wrong with my teeth, which was nice.
When I got to Bambu, they were closed. Evidently they had some kind of ice damage. I couldn't read the whole hand-lettered sign, but I only hope it will be open the next time I'm in Houghton. I miss my Chinese fix. Well, I sort of got it - I came home and had beef and broccoli, which is all right, but it's not house lo mein.
The weather was nice. The high was 39º, briefly, and it was breezy here. Of course it was warmer in town, but I think it was less windy. It got cloudy for an hour or two in the middle of the afternoon before it cleared up a bit. It was clouding up again at sunset. The picture from the camera was neat, with the sun showing just over the end of Lighthouse Point but covered by the clouds enough that it wasn't overly bright. They keep pushing back the snow, but it's supposed to snow tomorrow and then again over the weekend, so I guess this was my one trip to town for the week. I hope not, but we'll see. We are going to get it, I guess, but it's still up in the air exactly when.
Grayson didn't want me to leave and he was very glad to see me come home and very frustrated because I had other things to do, like eat, and he couldn't sit on my lap. Louie just slept. He doesn't seem to be as concerned about people leaving home in the middle of the day.
So that was my day, and I'm exhausted. As soon as the Mozart finishes, I'm off to the north end, for sure. It's a warmish, partly cloudy evening in the field.
April 10 Of course I was late last night. I just didn't feel like moving. Once I got to bed, I slept well, and I got up around 11:00. I knitted and I'm so looking forward to the end of this part of the shawl. I have less than 30 rows to go before I start the border. Another couple of days should do it.
The dentist called me early this morning, before I got up and determined how I felt, but they called back and I guess I committed to going to Houghton tomorrow. My appointment isn't until 3:00, so I won't have to change my schedule a whole lot. The only problem I see is that I haven't gotten the bulletin information yet, but I'll do what I can. It may snow overnight tonight, but tomorrow is supposed to be all right.
I didn't do much, but I was late. I had decided to abandon the stocking and work on another embroidery project, but I can't find it. I was sure it was in the cabinet, but I've gone through all the kits I have there at least three times and the one I'm looking for - which I started at least 20 years ago - isn't there. Where it is, I do not know. I was disappointed, especially since I thought I'd seen it more than once. So while the talking was going on, I went back to hay, but I didn't do much, because I had to stop all that and pee and after that, I made my dinner.
The weather wasn't bad. The high temperature was 35º for most of the afternoon. There was a bit of wind around 4:00, up to 22 mph from the north, but it has died down now. The morning was gloriously clear, but by noon the clouds were beginning to move in, and it was cloudy at sunset. There may be a bit of snow overnight, but tomorrow is supposed to be OK. Whether the rest of the week will be snowy or just cloudy depends upon whose forecast you believe, so I can't tell yet whether we'll get to church on Thursday and I'll be able to get back on Saturday and Sunday. Stay loose...
The guys slept. Louie had a coughing spell this morning, but I couldn't see that anything came up. Grayson got to sit on me a lot, but not as much as he wanted. I think they're a bit confused. When it's sunny and warm in here, they don't understand why it's not warm outside, too. And they are both shedding horribly. That has to be a function of the amount of light, because it hasn't been that warm in here.
So that was another quiet day. Tomorrow I will try to get the bulletin together before I leave for town - which will have to be around 1:30 - and at least I should get some Chinese comfort food out of it. Now as soon as I publish this and the Beethoven is over, I'll go up to the north end and wash my hair.
It's a cloudy, warmish night in the field, but not nearly as warm as it should be.
April 9 Ugh. Apparently, I've come down with whatever I was fighting. My throat is sore and my head aches and I feel lousy. Ugh.
I made it into bed around 12:30, and I was only that late because I was so tired I didn't want to move. I slept well, and I got up around 10:00, feeling just about as bad as I did when I went to bed. Ugh.
I knitted, and while the talking was going on, I embroidered for a while. I turned the heel on the wool sock and started the gusset, but it's going slowly because I dropped a stitch and after I fixed that, I couldn't count for a while. I think it's all right now. My head hurts.
The weather was rather nice, actually. It was clear enough overnight that the temperature dropped to 12º briefly, but it rose quickly to 30º once the sun came up, and it has now risen to 35º. There was a bit of wind - 17 mph - around 5:00 PM, but otherwise it was quiet and it has now dropped to almost nothing. It was partly cloudy this morning, but the afternoon has been clear and beautiful.
The guys slept. They were happy, because they got canned food again today. I was thinking, though. They've always said that cats eat in "mousefuls" - the equivalent of a mouse - at one time. Grayson does. Louie, however, eats in "ratfuls." He was a little dubious when I put the bowls down, but he came back and chowed down a while later and ate about a quarter of a can. No wonder he's so fat. He's sweet, though. He slept with me for a good part of the night last night. He jumps up on the bed, tries to sit on part of the pillow and starts purring. Grayson, of course, will frequently start to purr the moment I touch him. We have a real love fest around here.
So that was a very quiet day. I have a dentist appointment on Wednesday, and it now looks like the weather will be OK, but I'm not sure I want to go if I'm sick. I guess I'll just have to see how I feel tomorrow when they call me. Rescheduling may be a problem, but I don't want to spread my germs around, and I really don't want to have to drive 100 miles when I'm sick. Those are some of the problems with living in paradise, but fortunately they don't happen very often.
So now it's a warmish, clear evening in the field and I'll be tottering up to the north end as soon as the Beethoven ends.
Wow! I just looked at the camera, and the sun set over the end of Lighthouse Point! Pretty soon it'll be setting north of the picture frame! Spring will come!
April 8 I got to bed just a bit past 9:30 last night, which was surprising. I didn't sleep all that well, I guess. I was up any number of times and I hurt. I was up around 5:45, so I wasn't sleeping deeply when the alarm went off. Sigh. I got up anyway, and since it was clear and sunny, I did my thing and I left a bit after 9:00.
The one good thing about this weather is that after I got out of Woodland Road, everything else was fairly clear. There were some patches down by Lake Medora where the snow had drifted over the road and I had to slow down, but the rest of the drive was good.
Church was good, too. I was glad to be there and the choir sang a hymn so I could sing with them.
I discovered yesterday that I had run out of fabric softener. I thought I bought some several weeks ago, but evidently i just looked at it, under the assumption that I didn't need it yet, but I used the last of what I had yesterday, and since at any moment I may have to wash bottoms, I decided I'd better get some more. As usual, that turned into a whole lot more than I expected, but there were some other things I'd forgotten about, too. I got a lamb chop, but I forgot to look for whitefish. That's all right - I have lots in the freezer.
Then i had to get gas, and I didn't forget this time. I decided to give the station associated with Pat's one more try, and this time I pushed the buttons in a different order, and voila! I got my discount! It was 45¢ gallon, which was worth fighting for. Of course, I had to fill my tank in two parts, because the discount only applies to 15 gallons, and I needed over 19, but hey. For that kind of discount, I'll do it. Oh, and I had to chase my receipt across the parking lot, and finally someone who was getting gas at the next pump noticed what I was doing and got it for me. I keep my receipts, because I still try to keep track of my usage. Anyway, I have gas again.
I didn't get home until almost 3:00, and then I had to unload the car and put the frozen stuff away. By the time I finished that, I was exhausted. There is still a lot of stuff out in the breezeway, but it's safe out there, with the temperature the way it is.
I went off to church bundled up for the Antarctic, because at 8:00 AM, the temperature plummeted to 15º. Or at least, that was the official low. It wasn't that cold here. It went back up quickly, and the high this afternoon was 29º. The wind has died down to under 10 mph. It was clear and beautiful all day, and when I came down the hill into Copper Harbor, the open lake was cobalt blue. i don't think I've ever seen it bluer. So pretty! Toward sunset, it began to cloud up, and the camera pictures looked like it was a bit foggy, although I have to confess that i was reading and I didn't even turn around to check it out.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got quite a bit of lap time after I got home, although not as much as he wanted, and when I went up to the north end to change my clothes and pee, they both came out to see what was going on.
I don't know how they'll feel this week, because I have a dentist appointment on Wednesday. Earlier, it looked like I might not be able to make it, but now it seems like the snow won't be moving in until Wednesday night - and of course, Thursday - so I may be able to get down to Houghton. I hope so, because my hygienist is usually booked, and I might have to just miss a whole appointment. If I do go, I will be stopping at Bambu. It's time for a Chinese food fix.
The end of the week still looks very dire. I'm on Altar Duty next weekend, but I warned Deanna today that if it's bad, she shouldn't count on me. I'll do what I can, but I'm not going out in snow, sleet or freezing rain. No way. Not any more. It's one of the perks of being more than 75 years old.
So that was it. I don't feel good. I would be tired anyway, but I still have whatever I've had for the past two or three weeks, and I feel lousy. Now it's time to totter up to the north end and crash. It's a partly cloudy (I think), cold night in the field.
April 7 Well, I did make it into bed by midnight. so I guess that's good. I didn't sleep very well for some reason. I had a hard time getting to sleep and I was up several times during the night. I don't know why. I got up around 9:00 and I knitted, of course.
There were several tasks I had to do today. It was washday - I'm running out of underwear - and it was time to fill the pill dispensers. The load of white stuff is in the dryer and the pill dispensers at the south end are full, although that discombobulated me. I discovered I was running out of one of my probiotics, and I was sure I got it in my last shipment. Well. So I logged into the website where I get those things and after some fiddling around - and selecting the wrong one to send right away - I discovered that the ones I'm low or out of were shipped Thursday and should be here on Monday. Oh. That's what happens when you take as many pills as I do. I also discovered why the prescription service looked so weird - two prescriptions are ready to be refilled. I have enough for this month, but I might as well get them while I have a little money.
I still haven't found the fabric softener I was sure I got, so since I ran out today, I will have to stop at Pat's tomorrow. Or maybe I just looked at it and decided I didn't need it? I don't remember. I hate to think I'm getting confused, but sometimes it feels that way.
The weather was sunny but cold again. The high temperature was (is) 26º and the wind has been strong all day, although the highest winds were last night. The gusts today were as high as 32 mph from the north. it wasn't completely clear. There are puffy white clouds, but it was mostly sunny and pretty. I might mention that the temperature for the past week has been around 10º or more lower than the average for this time of year. I guess it's supposed to warm up a bit toward the end of the week, but then we could be in for a nasty couple of days of rain and/or snow and/or sleet. I hope not - I'm on Altar Duty next week - but we'll see.
Ron tells me the road survived in good shape overnight, so the wind must have shifted just enough that it stopped blowing the snow into it. Good news.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me as much as he could, although when I twitched he ran away. I don't know why he does that. I'm not a lump and I do move every so often. Louie is wherever Louie sleeps during the day. It has been cold at the north end all day, what with the wind from the north, so I don't think he was there.
So that was my day. Now I have to fill the north end pill dispensers and take my bath and try to get to bed early. I don't think there is anything that should keep me from church tomorrow. Or I hope not. I was not pleased that I didn't make it for Easter.
It's a cold, mostly sunny evening in the field.
April 6 I wasn't any earlier last night, but I slept a lot longer, and I slept well. I was really tired when I finally got to bed, so it wasn't surprising that I slept. I didn't get up until sometime after 11:00, although I don't remember quite when. I knitted and I finished the 11th repeat! Wow! Only 46 more rows! Then, of course, I have to start the border, and that's going to take a long time, but since every row (of 71) is different, it will be slow but maybe not as boring.
I was late enough that I didn't do much. I knitted on the heel flap of the wool sock. I got my mail, which was quite underwhelming, except that my pills came. Along with that, I got four different mail messages from the pharmacy service. Now, why the heck they didn't email me, I do not know, and I will follow up on that (as well as their claim that I didn't have automatic refills on them). I guess I should have taken the guy's recommendation that I change suppliers. I've had nothing but trouble with these guys. Well, maybe I'll do that.
While I was at the post office, the Schwan's guy called, so I had to go back out to the paved road. Every time I went, I ran across (and almost into) Dave on the tractor. It got almost funny. But now I'm well-supplied with good food for a while.
The weather was more like January than April. This winter is going to go down as the cold winter, for sure. The high temperature was in the middle of the night, and the low, 21º was at 1:00 PM. It's risen again to 25º. The real problem was the wind. It was from the north and gusting to as much as 39 mph, so when I went out, the wind chill was about 3º. We had a couple of inches of snow this morning, but we had a lot of sunshine this afternoon. It had clouded over again by sunset, and I guess we're in for more snow tonight and tomorrow. Dave was out in the low spot, because it was blowing so hard that it was nearly a white-out, but between the snow fencing and the banks that are already there, it wasn't too bad. The county cut back the banks a couple of weeks ago, but they're still about 6' high. Not as bad as last year, and between Dave, Tom and Walter (tractor and two plow trucks) the road is about half again as wide as it was then. It's so nice to have other people living out here!
The guys were sleepy. Grayson didn't get to sit on me until after I put my Schwan's stuff away, but then he didn't want to stay off me. He slept behind my knees for a while last night, too, while Louie was up by my head. I haven't seen much of Louie today, but that's normal.
So it was another quiet day. Now it's a frigid, windy, cloudy night in the field and I'm getting tired of white.
April 5 Well, I wasn't as late as I've been lately, but it was 1:00 when I turned out the light. I had to take a bath, of course, and that takes time. I slept fairly well, although the second time I woke up, I had been sleeping on my left side and my shoulders were so sore I yelled. I don't know why; the humidity wasn't bad, but wow! I had to sit for a while before my joints got back in place. After that it was better, and I got up around 9:30 after only one more wakeup.
I knitted, of course, and I'm making progress. At least I can see the end of this part of the shawl. Only 52 more rows, I think.
I didn't do anything else. We didn't go to church. We decided the weather was too iffy, and frankly, by the time I would have left, I felt bad enough that I was glad I decided not to go. I finally started the heel of the wool sock, so I'm progressing on that. Otherwise, I just sat. I had a cat on my lap and after he left I just zoned out while the talking was going on, so I didn't embroider. Blah.
The weather wasn't as bad as they predicted, but the forecasts may have been more accurate than they have been lately. When I got up and while I was talking to Mary Ann, we had several lake effect showers, but that was the end of it, and there was some sunshine this afternoon. I guess tonight and for the next 48 hours it's not going to be as nice. The high temperature was 30º and it was breezy this afternoon, with winds up to 25 mph from the north. I noticed that the sun is shining over the west end of Porter's Island now, so it is hurrying north. Our day is just over 13 hours long now.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got his lap time, but Louie didn't come around. He got some love before I got out of the bathroom.
So it was a very quiet day and I don't feel good at all, so I think I am going to try to get to bed quite early tonight. It's a problem, because I just finished eating around 9:30. I couldn't decide what I wanted. I didn't want a hamburger, and I was thinking about soup and a sandwich, but when I got out into the kitchen, I changed my mind and I had shrimp scampi on rice. It's as fast to prepare as a burger, and oh, it's so good! Now I have to make rice tomorrow, but that's not so much of a problem with my rice cooker. I only have to plan ahead enough to give it time. Brown rice takes 45 minutes or more to cook. Oh, and I have to wash the bowl I keep my cooked rice in. I ate my dinner out of it tonight.
So that was my quiet day, and my head hurts. It's a cloudy, cold night in the field, and the snow is coming...the snow is still coming. I'm getting very tired of white.
April 4 I did it again. I wasn't quite as late, but it was a ridiculous hour when I finally got to bed. I got up around 11:00, I think, I knitted, and I had to splice in a new ball of yarn. It sometimes frustrates me. Alpaca doesn't split-splice very well - it doesn't felt very much - and of course I never run out of yarn at the end of a row. It will look all right, though, and now I can finish the center and start the border.
I didn't do anything much else. I washed dishes overnight, so sometime I will have to put them away. i did finally start the trash bag, just because the stove was overflowing, but I didn't do very much. While the talking was going on, I embroidered. I'm working left to right now, and again i have three needles in the work and I'm using them alternately. If I ever finish this thing, the next project is a sampler all in one color, and I think it will be nice to work with one thread and one needle. I still have an area about 3" x 2" of hay to do, and then I can start on lambs and the manger. That will be easier, but there is another big area of hay at the bottom of the stocking that I'm not looking forward to.
I almost finished the leg of the latest sock, speaking of socks. It's such fine yarn that it's taking a lot of rows. Then I have to do the heel and the gusset, which are picky enough that I can't read while I'm doing them. I have a couple of summer socks started, too - one is that one I need to rip out the heel of - and it may end up that I don't finish the wool socks until fall. We'll see. It's such nice yarn that I love knitting with it, though.
The weather was cold and sunny. The high temperature was 26º, and it was breezy, with north winds gusting as high as 26 mph. The humidity was delightfully low - under 40% for part of the afternoon. It really makes a difference. It was cloudy at sunrise, but by 10:00 the clouds were going away and the afternoon was quite clear, at least until around 8:00, when the wind started to veer toward the west and some clouds started to appear. The next couple of days are supposed to be snowy. Geez, I'm tired of white! I don't like brown, either, but I never get tired of green.
The guys were sleepy. Grayson got some lap time, but Louie didn't ask.
So now I have to wash my hair and try to get enough sleep for a change. It's a partly cloudy, cold night in the field and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...
April 3 Oh, I was ridiculously late again, and for no real reason, as usual, except that I apparently didn't want to move. I slept once I finally got to bed, and I got up around 11:30 - not nearly enough sleep, but oh, well. I knitted, and I was surprised that I didn't have more trouble than I did. I screwed up one repeat of one row, which is pretty good. I'm almost at the end of the second skein of yarn, so either tomorrow or Thursday I will have to splice. I hate doing that, but it's the only way, when I'm knitting lace.
I didn't do much. I was late enough that there wasn't a lot of time. I have almost finished the leg of the latest sock, but that yarn is so fine that it takes a lot of rows to make 8". Maybe tomorrow. I've been knitting on it in the powder room. While the talking was going on, after the cat moved, I embroidered. I am still doing hay, but I got to a part where I had to stop going right to left and start going in the other direction from the other side. I just started that. The point is to mostly sew into holes with nothing else or at most one other thread in them, which means mostly top to bottom. If I could make myself use a frame it wouldn't matter as much, but I just don't want to do that. At least I'm making progress, slowly.
The weather was blah. The high temperature was 27º, but it got down to 17º around 8:00 AM. It was cloudy and gray and when I got up, there were some little snowflakes coming down. We can't do without our daily snow shower. The wind was nearly calm this morning, but it is now up to around 15 mph from the northeast. At least it got less humid overnight. When I went to bed, both my shoulders were so sore I had a hard time going to sleep before the Tylenol kicked in. I am getting really tired of this. It's April. Spring should be coming.
The guys slept. Grayson got a lot of lap time, but Louie didn't come around. I guess he figured he got his yesterday.
So that was it. I got the bulletin information just a little while ago, so that will be my task for tomorrow. Now the Beethoven is over and it's a cold, cloudy night in the field. Maybe I can not stay up all night?
April 2 I went into zombie mode again, and it was some ridiculous hour when I finally got to bed. I think it was around noon when I got up, and I knitted, so I had a very truncated day and I didn't do anything.
Except that I watched the weather. When I got up, lazy snowflakes were drifting down and that went on for most of the afternoon. It finally stopped around 5:30, but it was cloudy and dull all day. The high temperature was 28º, but that was around 5:00 AM, and it went down slowly, until it's now 22º. There was not very much wind, which means it was warmer in here. It was the sort of blah winter day we've had a lot of, but now that it's April, I hoped it might be over. According to the county, we had 3" of snow on Saturday and another 3" yesterday, for a total of 273" so far for the season. I guess that's about right, although they usually get more at Delaware than we do here. It was only enough to make traveling iffy.
The guys slept. Louie got some lap time this afternoon, but Grayson didn't, because he kept coming around when I was doing something else.
So that was a nothing day (and I AM going to write that from now on, in spite of whoever it was who didn't like it a couple of years ago). I should wash my hair, but I'm not going to. I'm going to read a bit longer and then I'm going to bed. Really.
It's a dark, cloudy, cold night in the field. This is April?
April 1 - The Resurrection of Our Lord I had bad feelings about Easter being so early and they turned out to be right.
I made it into bed by 9:30 or a little later, much to my surprise. I didn't sleep very well. I was up a lot and I was twitchy in the middle of the night. I actually think it was because I was cold, even though I didn't realize it then. It's not supposed to be 18º at the end of March.
I got up when the alarm went off, although I was asleep when It did, and when I looked outside it looked good, so I got up and ate my breakfast and read my devotion and my funnies. And when I turned around to look out, there was a horrible black cloud over the mountain, and while I was looking, everything went away. Snow. Wind. Lake effect. Yuck.
Well, I decided to see what happened. After all, it could just be a one-off and I wanted to go to church. When I looked outside after washing my face, it had cleared up, so I curled my hair, and in the six or seven minutes it took to do that, the next band of lake effect came through. Soooo...I made an executive decision, put my nightie back on and went back to bed. I got up again around 10:30 and I knitted. I have now finished the 12th repeat and I have only 76 more rows to go on the center of the shawl. Did i mention that this is a big project? It's going to be humungous. I'd say I have at least two more months of work to do on it.
I don't know how slippery it was, but the lake effect bands didn't stop coming through until around 4:00 this afternoon...and then it cleared up, and it was clear and lovely at sunset. I was so disappointed, but as you know, I made a promise last fall that if I couldn't see the mountain, I was not going out. So I couldn't, and I didn't. Besides, it was very cold and windy.
I spent the afternoon embroidering, and I guess I can say I made good progress. I am still doing hay, and it is soooo boring and there's a lot of it. I would like to do something else, but I'm about 2/3 of the way done, so now I need to finish this thing.
It was getting dark and I was thinking about dinner when Debbie called, and we had nice conversation. She called because she is thinking about finally coming up to see the harbor and me this summer and she wanted me to know so we can get some business taken care of. She is my executor, and there are things she needs to know. I'm actually delighted. I need to get the safe deposit box I have down there cleaned out, and I wasn't sure how to do that, and I would really love to have her at least see the house once before she has to break it up. It will either be the end of June or over Labor Day, and she isn't sure which yet. Now all I have to do is get the house back in some kind of shape so someone can see it and begin to work on the things she needs to know. Ugh.
The weather, as I've said, was wintry and very cold. The temperature did finally get up to 27º, but not until around 7:00 tonight, after the wind started to die down. It was from the north (although it has now shifted to the west) with gusts as high as 32 mph. It was typical lake effect snow, coming through in bands, and there was even a peek or two of sunshine in between bands. Now it is lovely and clear - or it was the last time I could see anything - and the wind has died down.
The guys slept someplace, I don't know where. Grayson slept on me while I was doing my surfing, but then he went away and I started embroidering. He slept under the east windows for a while, but I suspect it was a bit chilly there. I don't know where Louie was, but at least twice he came through the studio, I guess looking for Grayson.
Much as I wish I could have gone to church, it was probably better that I didn't. I do not feel good, and when I went back to bed, I took a sore throat lozenge because my throat was scratchy. It still is. So better I stay home and not spread my germs around. I'll be later tonight than I was last, but I expect to sleep long and hard, and if I feel cold, I will put on my parka. It has been so comfortable in the bedroom lately that it never occurred to me, but temps under 20º with wind chills between 0º and 5º means it was chilly in the bedroom and even colder in the bathroom, especially with the wind from the north. Duh.
Now it's a clear, cold night in the field, but the next snow event isn't due until Tuesday. Oh, I don't care if it's April - winter isn't over in the frozen north!
Last updated 04/21/18 08:01 PM
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