journal

A View From the Field

November 16

I did it again and I'm going to bed - no dinner, no bath, no nothing. I will write tomorrow.

November 15

So I inverted last night, and I was later than I ever have been before. I got up around 3:00 and I had just gotten to the kitchen when the Schwan's guy came with my order. I was surprised, but he decided to try to make it in spite of the snow. There are only two or three inches down on the road, so I guess he thought he could get here. I hope he didn't have any trouble with the hill.

I was so late I didn't do anything but my surfing, and I didn't read all those ad emails i get every day.

The weather was nondescript. The temperature was 30º at 8:00 AM, and it has slid slowly down all day, until now it's 11º. The wind was from the north, and it was gusting up to 33 mph this morning, but it has died down, too, and it has switched around to the southwest, which means it should be much warmer tomorrow. There were a couple of peeks of sunshine today and a little blue sky, and apparently it's almost clear now.

The guys slept, mostly. They were happy when I got up, because all their bowls were nearly empty, and now they're all full. Grayson got to sleep on me for a while, but I have one website that I have to enter my userid and password on every time I want to log in (what a pain!) and I was rubbing up against him too much, so he left. I haven't seen Louie since this morning, but that's normal. The Schwan's guy bends him out of shape.

So that was my day and now maybe I can go to bed at a semi-reasonable hour? We'll see. It's a very cold, possibly clear night in the field.

November 14

I was late last night, for no real reason, and I got up before I really wanted to. It was a quiet day. I got to knit two rows and I made a couple of business phone calls. Mary Ann called, but we didn't get to talk for very long because she had another call. That was it.

The weather was so-so, I guess. The temperature got up to 36º at 9:00 PM (!), although it's dropped back a bit now. The big story was the wind. It was calm or nearly so this morning, but starting about 7:00 PM, it switched to the northwest and north, and for a while there were gusts up to 45 mph and sustained winds of 30 mph. It's beginning to calm down now. Since the wind was from the north, I didn't notice it very much down at the south end of the house. It was cloudy and dull all day.

Louie got some loving this morning and Grayson got to sit on me for a while this afternoon, but I had to do some typing, so he had to go away.

That was all there was. It's a cloudy, windy but not very cold night in the field.

November 13

I don't remember exactly when I got to bed last night, but I think it was probably around 1:30. At any rate, I didn't get up until after 11:00. I had something to eat and looked at some of my email and read my funnies. Then I wrote three checks for outstanding bills and tried to figure out how I was going to buy food, so it was after 2:00 when I finally left.

I stopped at the post office and there was a ton of mail, including three packages, one of which - pills - I didn't expect so soon. The road is still snow covered down to Lac LaBelle Road, but it had stopped snowing by the time I started out. The further south I got, the better it was, and they had salted to just north of Mohawk, so it wasn't nearly as hairy a drive as yesterday.

I shopped and I did a lot of damage, but I didn't get very many discretionary items. I am planning on slow-cooking my turkey roll for Thanksgiving, and I have a recipe that will work really well, but it needs carrots, celery and garlic - which I forgot - and I intend to throw in some potatoes. It will be yummy, and since the recipe is for boneless turkey breasts (which I can't get here), it's been a very long time since I've had it.

Speaking of potatoes, they didn't have the kind I like in small bags, but I found something I've never seen before - baby potatoes, including one bag that had three or four different colors. I think those will be a whole lot of fun to put in my recipe. I recently looked at potatoes, and I knew they have good vitamins in them, but I also discovered that they have fiber. Anything that has fiber is something I want to eat! I'm looking forward to that concoction.

I also got a couple of big pork chops. I eat mostly stuff from Schwan's, and I mostly eat chicken and fish, but I get tired of the same thing all the time, so I need something different. I will slow-cook them with grandma's barbecue sauce, and that turned out lovely the last time I did it. This time, I will have some nice potatoes to go with it. I was going to do that tomorrow, and I may, but I also got a lamb chop, so I have a decision to make.

I got some lettuce and romaine, too, for the first time in a while. I may still be sick - I think I am - but my appetite has been recovering, and a salad is a good way to fill up my stomach with not too many calories.

Thanks to some very nice people I got into and out of Pat's with not too much trouble, but I had to get gas. There is a gas station close to Pat's, but I looked at it, and they hadn't cleaned their pump areas very well, so I went down to the one where I get a discount. My first 15 gallons was only about $2.25 a gallon, but of course I needed over 20 gallons. Gas prices are down to about $2.60, though.

My trouble was getting back into the car, but I made it and my left foot only slipped a little bit. I had had a hard time getting my right foot up on the running board at Pat's, but just the little sitting made that easier. However, with all that, it was after 4:00 when I started home.

I was not pleased that my local NPR station was live streaming the hearings, but they got it straightened out by 5:00. I think it was around 5:30 when I got home. There wasn't any traffic, but when the road is snow covered and the oncoming cars' headlights show ice, I moderate my speed.

Then I had to get everything out of the car and onto the platform and I was just about done in by the time I did, and besides, I had wet my pants, so once I got into the house, I went up to the north end with my coat still on and sat. I discovered that it's easier for me to get out of my parka if I'm sitting down, which I will remember for the future. It has to do with the limited motion I have in both shoulders. I sat for quite a while - until I wore down the battery on the phone - before I changed bottoms, and I still had a horrible time moving even a couple of bags and the JD into the house, so I came down to the studio and sat there for a very long time.

I think I'm over it now, or at least I could get up to make some dinner. In spite of all the nice things I have to eat, I just was not hungry, so I had a TV dinner. It was nice to wash it down with JD, though. I can do just fine without it, but I miss it. I don't drink because I like the effects, which I don't, I drink because I like the taste. Yum.

So that was my day. I have no plans to go anywhere for the rest of the week, except up to the end of the road to get my Schwan's order on Friday. My fridge is full, or it will be, and my car is full of gas, so I can go back into hibernation for at least three, probably four, weeks. I would love to get to church, but I'm not going to make any promises, and I still feel pretty lousy. So I will stay home.

The temperature has risen dramatically in the past couple of hours, to 30º. and it's been a couple of weeks since we've been so warm. For most of the day it was down around 20º or so, and there was a little wind. It snowed between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM, but it had stopped by the time I left. The wind was from the southwest and not very strong, so that's one reason it's warmed up, although in the past few hours, it's shifted around to the west.

When I started moving the groceries to the platform, Grayson was inside looking at me, but eventually he went away, I threw my coat on the floor in the bathroom, and the next thing I knew, he was asleep on it, and then Louie came in and he sat down on it, too, with his feet on Grayson's back. I guess it's because it's down filled and it smells like me. When I went to get a few things into the house, it took me so long to walk over the door frame (yes, I almost couldn't climb a half-inch by that time) he bolted out the door. Well, it's been a while since he's done that, so I ignored him. i think I sat about three hours before I went back to the kitchen, and by that time, he was more than ready to come in, but then the little bugger decided he wanted some of my dinner! Sheesh. He didn't get any, so he went away. Louie has taken up his winter location on one of the scratching pads in the great room, and it didn't seem to bother him at all that Grayson was nowhere to be found.

So there it was. It was a more active day than I've had in quite a while. I don't feel quite as bad as I did yesterday, but I don't feel good. While I don't think I could do Pat's again right now, my legs feel better, so I should be able to get to bed. I should wash my hair, but I don't think I'm going to do that. I am not going out tomorrow. Twice in one week is plenty. Now it's a cloudy night in the field, but it's warmer than it's been in over a week.

November 12

Well, I was walking down the hallway last night when I had a nasty accident and I had to take a partial bath before I could go to bed. That's so discouraging. So I wasn't as early as I'd planned. I woke up around 9:15 and had to pee, so I couldn't get back to sleep and I got up.

I don't remember exactly what held me up, except for struggling into my parka, but I was too late to stop at the post office. Then, when I got to the hospital, there were no parking places so I had to make my own right at the back of the lot.

They don't clear their parking lot very well, so I was having a horrible time walking when a nice lady who was waiting in front of the clinic asked if I needed help. Just having her arm to lean on the other side was about all I needed to get inside, but then I decided I'd better take the offer of a wheelchair. I still hate to do that, because I am ambulatory, mostly, but it works better sometimes, especially when I'm almost late.

Of course, the PA was late, too. And when the nurse took my temperature, it was high enough (99.8º) that we decided it couldn't be all the clothes I was wearing and all my exertions, so I didn't get my flu shot. It was a good explanation for why I feel so cruddy and headachy. So I'm still sick - or maybe sick again, I can't tell.

The PA is a very nice person and we had a good conversation - much better than five minutes with a doctor who isn't much interested. They want to see me in three months. Hopefully, I'll be over whatever I have by that time.

Oh, yes, when I checked in, the receptionist asked to see my Medicare card - why I do not know. She said it was because they want a copy every year - why I don't know; it never changes - but I've been there at least three or four times already this year and nobody ever asked for it before. Anyway, when I reached in my pocket for my wallet - my wallet wasn't there! I immediately knew what happened: when I dropped my pants in the powder room, everything in my right pocket fell out, but I forgot to check my left pocket, too. So I knew my wallet was on the floor in the powder room - which it was - but that meant I couldn't go shopping or get gas, because I didn't have any money or credit cards or anything. So I came home, and it was probably just as well, since I don't feel good and my knees are bad today. I do have to go tomorrow, though, because I've run out of OJ and I'm getting low on a bunch of other things. I haven't had any JD since last Friday.

IT was not a happy trip. It snowed off and on both ways, quite heavily on the way down. That was weird: when I passed the M26 intersection, the sun was shining, and by the time I got to where Cliff Drive branches off, about a mile further south, it was snowing so hard I couldn't see very well. That's lake effect for you. The road was snow covered all the way to Calumet and it was a bit slick, although it was so cold it wasn't too bad. I know I had to pass a slow guy and I slithered a bit. The high temperature here was 22º, and there was enough snow to register for several hours in the afternoon. It only got to 17º in Calumet. The one good thing was that the wind has shifted around to the south and it's very light or calm, so the wind chills aren't sub-zero anymore. There were a few peeks of sunshine in between the snow bands, but mostly it was dark and gray. I guess it's supposed to be partly cloudy tonight, but so far I haven't seen a moon.

I enjoy the parts of the month when the moon is between first quarter and last quarter, because most of the time, even when it's cloudy, it's light, and I can see the cats better. Grayson wanted to sleep on me all day, and he got to when I got home, at least for a while, but I wanted to embroider and I can't do that with him on my lap. He thought he wanted some of my dinner, too, but I know better. I haven't seen Louie, but he hangs out at the north end.

So that was my day. I'm annoyed that I have to go back to Calumet tomorrow, but maybe I'll feel better and maybe the weather will be a bit better. This time, I'll be sure I know I have my wallet. Makes me a bit envious of those places in the far east where you can do everything through your phone. I had my phone.

Now it's a cold night in the field, but I don't know whether it's cloudy or not.

November 11

Another lost day. I don't remember quite why I was late last night, but I was. I slept well, with only one wakeup. I knitted two rows on the shawl and I now have enough of the first repeat to see that I misunderstood what the pattern was supposed to be. It's not looking too bad.

That was all I did except to embroider for a while. Debbie called, and it sounds like they are having more snow than we are, although the higher elevations have had a lot more than we have - 20" at Delaware so far this month.

It snowed all day, and sometimes it looked like it was snowing hard, but except between 4:00 and 6:00 PM, it didn't register at the weather station. It was cold. The high temperature was 22º and the wind was from the north between 15 and 25 mph with gusts as high as 36 mph, which has put the wind chill down around 5º, It was dark and dull all day.

The temperature in the studio was 62º when I got here with my breakfast, so the first thing I did was break out the space heater. It's quite warm now, but I know it will be cold again in the morning. I think possibly it has something to do with all the stuff on the floor. Not enough of the floor is clear to heat the air.

The guys slept, although Grayson was being bad all day. He did get to sleep on me for a good part of the afternoon, but then he was doing things he shouldn't, including pushing my cane onto the floor, which startled me into wetting my pants. Then he thought he wanted some of my dinner, which he did not, so he didn't get any. I've thought he wasn't feeling so good for the past couple of days, so I guess he's gotten over whatever his problem was. Probably it was a hairball.

Tomorrow I have to go to Calumet, unless we're having a blizzard. I have an appointment at the clinic and I have to shop. I'm not looking forward to it. I do not feel good and I have no energy at all, so all I want to do is sit and read or embroider or knit.

So now it's a cold, dark, snowy night in the field and I'm off to bed.

November 10

I didn't get my hair washed in time to go to bed early enough to get up at 6:00 AM, so I didn't go until late and I didn't get up until around 11:30. I was just as glad I didn't go. I have felt lousy all day, with a sinus headache and a drippy nose. I knitted two rows with not too much trouble, so I hope I'm getting the hang of it, but they took me an hour and a half, so it's slow going. I've now done half of the first repeat - there are nine or ten, I think. I hope to build up some speed as I go along. Usually I do. I didn't do anything else except read.

The weather was cold and windy. The temperature dropped from 34º at midnight down to 21º before it bounced back a degree or two, and the wind has been from the north in the 15-20 mph range with gusts up to 30º. That puts the wind chill down well below 10º. There were a few snow flurries all afternoon, but most of them didn't register in the rain gauge until recently. It still makes me chuckle when I can't see town and nothing is coming down here.

The guys slept, of course. I haven't seen Louie, but Grayson spent most of the afternoon asleep on my lap.

So it was quiet again. Now it's a very cold, windy, snowy night in the field. There is a Brahms motet playing, and when that ends, I will go to bed. Really.

November 9

Well, I blew my schedule last night, so it was 11:30 before I got up. I only knitted two rows, but those purl rows are still bothering me. That made me late enough that I couldn't write my checks and get to the post office before it closed, so I stayed home and did nothing. I'm still dragging my tail behind me.

The weather wasn't very good. The high temperature was 35º and there was a north wind around 15 mph. It snowed a little early this morning and it's been doing it again, but the dire prediction of freezing drizzle didn't happen, I think. It was dark and dismal.

So the guys slept. Grayson slept on me for most of the afternoon. I don't know where Louie was, but he came through the great room around the time it got dark and hollered at us for a bit.

Speaking of dark, days are just about 9½ hours long now, and the sun sets around 5:30. Of course, it's getting dark for a good hour before then and it takes an hour or more to lighten up in the morning. It would be better if it weren't cloudy, but still, the days are very short. And it's clear that nobody around here will be looking at the transit of Mercury on Monday.

I haven't decided whether or not to go to church tomorrow, but I'm inclined not. I will go up to the north end early and see if I can get to bed, but if I was going to get enough sleep, I'd be in bed already. Six o'clock comes awfully early.

It's a dark, cloudy, cold and snowy night in the field.

November 8

I came pretty close to my target last night, but I won't do as well tonight, I'm afraid. I got up around 9:30 and I knitted four rows. The knitting went much better today, so even though I haven't gotten even half of the first repeat done, I'm beginning to get into it. Then I sort of fiddled around until it was getting too late to go out, and while I was eating my breakfast, I got a couple of emails that ended up with spending over an hour on the phone - in three or four calls - with the clinic. Sheesh.

It's another one of those things where the nurse says they sent the prescription to the online service and the online service says they never got it. That service is completely out of control and probably won't ever get any better. I believe the nurse. Oh, yes, and then they called me about my appointment with the nurse practitioner, because they had some kind of mistake there, too and could I come in three days earlier? Sure, if I make it at all. It's on January 6, and who knows what the weather will be? I'm just as glad to have it as soon as possible - that's a long time anyway.

By that time, I couldn't get to the post office before it closed, and my main reason for going was to send some payments, which I didn't get written, and get my packages, which means I had to be there while it was open. Tomorrow. I need JD, too.

While the talking was going on, I embroidered. I'm starting to work on a large circle with lots of solid areas, so it's taking a while to show much progress.

The weather was nondescript, for a change, and while there was apparently some snow overnight, I don't think there was any today. The high temperature was only 27º, but for a change there was almost no wind. It's still cloudy and dark.

The guys slept. When I finally got back to the studio after cleaning up - I was waiting for a phone call that never happened - Grayson came and went to sleep on my lap for quite a while. I think Louie is someplace up at the north end, but I haven't seen him.

So one more very quiet day. I don't feel very good again. I have a headache now. It's a dark, cloudy, cold night in the field.

November 7

Missed my target again, but I'm getting better. Maybe tonight. I slept well, with only two wakeups, and i got up around 9:45, I think.

I seem to be doing a lot of ripping lately. I knitted four rows, but I had a terrible time with the last one. This pattern has lace on both sides, but it's on a plain knitting ground, so the even rows are purled. I should be able to do those, after doing the borders on my two Shetland shawls, but it's hard. I think part of it is working close to the provisional cast on, which I do over another needle and which makes it stiff. It's also certainly getting used to a new pattern, even though this one is pretty easy. I've done a lot of ripping.

I've been ripping the cross stitch, too. A few days ago, I got a section about 1" x 2" done and realized I had placed it one stitch over from where it should be. Since it's a spot sampler, it shouldn't make that much difference, but if I'd left it, I would have run into other parts of the pattern, so I ripped. I did the same thing tonight, but before I'd done very much. I get used to checking and rechecking and re-rechecking. I'm making progress. I finished the lower half of a strange little motif that started in the first row of pages. It has four birds, but it also has some really odd stuff I don't know what it is. There were a couple of very small things and now I'm ready to start the next huge circle. This one is about 75 stitches in diameter, with lots of flowers, but the center is almost solid stitching. Fortunately, I have another skein of thread and I should get my new thread in a few days. This thing still interests me.

The weather was cold and windy - 30º and 20 mph winds from the north - and it dribbled snow all day, although until recently, there wasn't enough to register in the rain gauge. It was dark and dismal.

The guys slept. Louie got a good loving this morning and Grayson slept on my lap all the time i was doing my surfing. They know what this weather is good for.

So there. Another quiet day is over and it's a cold, dark and probably snowy night in the field.

November 6

I didn't manage to make the schedule I've set for myself, but I did get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour. I slept all right - I've done better - and I got up around 9:30.

I immediately started the new shawl and I got it cast on, but I only managed to do two rows. I don't know why; it's not that hard, but I was having counting trouble this morning, and I ended up working at it for over two hours, so I didn't eat my first meal before noon anyway. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

The information for the bulletin came in after I went up to the north end last night, so as soon as I finished my surfing, I got right at that. It was an easy one. Oh, how I'd like to get to church on Sunday! It's my favorite order of service and I've been away too long. It depends upon the weather and if I can get to bed early enough, so we'll see.

There was choir tonight, but the weather forecasts were dire enough that I decided to stay home. Maybe I was right; it's been snowing down there, but lightly enough that it didn't register in the rain gauges. We had a few flakes here, too, but nothing much.

The problem has been the wind and the temperature. The high temperature here was 30º, but the wind has been from the northwest to north with gusts up to 36 mph, which puts the wind chill well under 20º Like I said last night, it's winter here, snow or no. It was dull and gray almost all day, with the exception of a very short ray of sunshine this morning and some crepuscular rays late in the afternoon. Not very inspiring weather at all.

The guys reacted to it by sleeping. Grayson got to sleep on me for quite a while, until I had to type. I haven't seen Louie, but it's a lot warmer up in the north end. Grayson wanted my lasagna tonight, but Garfield notwithstanding, lasagna isn't good for cats. I'm not sure about tomatoes, but my understanding is that onions and garlic are toxic.

So there went another very quiet day, just the way I like them, and tonight I might almost make it into bed by midnight. It's a dark, cold and probably snowy night in the field.

November 5

Oops, almost forgot. Tonight I might get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour! I certainly didn't last night, but my hair is clean and that's nice.

I had been thinking about that shawl I started, and the more I looked at it, the less I liked it, so this morning, I ripped it all out. I have several other patterns I want to do, and I think I will do this yarn in a rectangular Shetland style shawl. It's too wide to be a stole - it's 38" x 70" if I get the right gauge, although the gauge they quote is so weird, I doubt I will. It's one of those things that starts out "cast on 219 stitches..." so I will do it tomorrow.

I think possibly my problem with the round one is that the yarn is wrong for the pattern, and at some point I may try it again with a bit thicker yarn and see how it goes. When I looked at what I'd knit, it was really ugly and I didn't see any reason to keep working on something I disliked so much. Thicker yarn won't solve that problem, but it may help.

I had some thought of possibly going down to town today and doing some shopping, but I was brushing my teeth when I looked in the mirror and it was snowing, and snowing rather hard, so I decided not. I didn't get enough sleep and I didn't feel good anyway. So about the time I started for the kitchen, the sun came out! Geez. Well, that's lake effect. It seems like it's been snowing quite a lot down in Calumet anyway, so I'm glad I decided to stay home. Probably will tomorrow, too, because they are under a Winter Weather Advisory until tomorrow afternoon and I don't want to get involved with that. Well, I told Nancy it was weather permitting...

It's snowed a bit here, too, but not 2" - 4" like they're predicting for Calumet. In fact, I was talking to Debbie, and I looked out and I couldn't see town, so we got ours. Not much, if any, stuck, though.

The high temperature during the day was 30º. It was warmer overnight - up to 36º or so - but today it was just about steady. There was a strong northwest wind with gusts up to 33 mph. Except for that one ray of sunshine, it was cloudy and dark.

They've already had a little over 6" of snow up at Delaware, and they reported about an inch last month, so no, we did not get through October with no snow. Delaware is up in the "higher elevations," although not as high as Calumet, so they get more snow than we do down in the tropics. That great big heat sink out there usually keeps us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Of course, when it does slam us, it's usually really bad, but most of the time, we get off a bit lighter than further down the peninsula.

The guys slept. Louie got some loving and Grayson got to sleep on me for a while, although I had some typing to do, so he probably didn't get all he wanted.

So it was a quiet day, and now it's a dark, cold and probably snowy night in the field. It may be autumn where you are, but it's winter in the Keweenaw.

November 4

Reading again and fooling around, but every time I started to get up to brush my teeth, I started dribbling off again. So I was late. I wasn't in bed for very long, but I think I slept for almost six consecutive hours - almost unheard of.

So I got up and knitted. I had a few more glitches, and I moved the work from a 32" needle and magic loop to a 24" needle. It's a bit tight, but I think it will be easier to keep things under control that way. It was either 24" or 40" and I hate those long needles. So far it looks like when I've screwed something up, I've been able to recover. It would be better if I didn't screw up.

That was all I did, except to call the clinic. My primary care physician is leaving or gone and I do need someone. It turns out it will be a nurse practitioner, at least for the next year. That's one problem with health care up here I hadn't thought about. I've met her, and she's good, so maybe it will be a while before I get into a mess again. Oh, and the oncologist is gone and there is only a physician's assistant now. That's all right - all I need is somebody to check in with and refill my prescriptions, at least so far. I've heard a lot lately about the problems with rural health care, and now I'm getting to see it first hand. Of course, they can always send me to Wausau, but that's a long drive from here. We'll see how it all works out. It isn't going to get me to move.

I was knitting when we heard some strange noises and they refilled my propane tanks. That's good. I doubt they were as empty as the company thought, but it's time for my fall fill. I've been wondering when they were going to do it. So that was one phone call I didn't have to make.

I was going to call Schwan's about the bones in my salmon (again!) but I've lost them, so there wasn't much use in that. I don't know why they have such quality problems with one of their most expensive items.

The weather was nicer than they said it would be. The temperature was about 43º all day with not much wind until late, when there were gusts as high as 32 mph. It was clear or nearly clear until around 3:30, when some clouds loomed up in the west and it got cloudy and dull. The humidity was rather low until around 7:00 PM, when it started to rain, and we've had 0.07" so far. Better than snow, although there is snow in the forecast, depending upon whose forecast you believe. I was planning to shop for food tomorrow and go to choir on Wednesday, but we'll see what happens with all that.

The guys slept. Grayson got to sleep on me a lot and he wanted some of my dinner - didn't get any.

So it was another very quiet day, but except for a bit of leakage when I had a sneezing fit, I managed to keep my elimination under control, which was a relief. Now it's a cloudy, rainy (I guess) night in the field.

November 3

i think I was reading last night, and I wanted to finish the story. I wasn't as late as sometimes, but I wasn't early, either. I slept well, with only two wakeups. Sometime I hope to get back to church.

I knitted and I made some progress. I mentioned that there seemed to be some big holes at one side of the magic loop and when I looked at them, I discovered that I'd dropped a stitch right at the end of a row. I was NOT going to rip again, so I fudged it. There are now a couple of new ends to work in, but I think it looks all right. Since it's not more than 3" from the center, I doubt anybody will ever notice if it isn't right. All that took quite a while, so I was very late eating and I didn't do anything else.

The weather was cold and dark. The temperature was about steady at 36º and there wasn't much wind. It wasn't quite as humid as it was yesterday and my joints were thankful. It was very cloudy and dull, and now that we're off DST, the sun sets around 5:30. Days are under 10 hours long. There is still an hour and a half to go, so the slide will be slowing down from now on, but they're still getting shorter at over 3 minutes a day. There was a bit of snow on the ground and in the valleys of the roof when I got up this morning. Sigh.

The guys slept. They got some loving and Grayson got to sit on me for a while.

So there goes another very slow, quiet day and I'm tired again.

I would say it's a dark, cloudy night in the field, and it may be, but a couple of hours ago, I looked out the south windows and there was the fat crescent moon shining at me.

November 2

I still don't have my hours under control, although I was a bit earlier last night. I had an on and off night, for some reason. It was a night when I couldn't get to sleep on my right side but I could on the left, at least for the first part of the night.

I got up around 10:30 and I got right at the new shawl. After trying to un-knit some more and making a mess of it - I simply could not see what I was doing - I finally gave up and ripped the whole thing out and started over. I got back to where I was when I realized I'd dropped something, and this time I didn't, although there is one place where the yarn-overs got much too big. Sometime I may try to even them out a bit. I've been using the magic loop, which is part of the reason for the big holes, so I hunted up a couple of very small circular needles and I'll try those. They're metal needles, though, and I find it hard to knit lace on metal. We'll see how it goes.

That took a very long time, actually, and I was so late that I only had one real meal today, plus a snack. I like to eat something with my evening pills so they don't upset my tummy.

I won't be going to church tomorrow. It's already too late to get to bed. No way can I get up and go out with five or six hours' sleep. Even with the time change, I need more sleep than that.

The weather today was unpleasant and wintry. When I got up, there was snow on the garage roof and even some on the ground, and when I checked the camera page - which I do every morning on my phone, just to make sure it's working - there was a cloud down the harbor. Not very long after that, there was hard stuff hitting the windowsills and then large flakes of real snow started coming down. Ugh. None of it stuck and the stuff on the roof melted, but there were several times later in the day when there were more clouds. One of them apparently dropped some snow right on town - i couldn't see the mountain, but I could see Hunter's Point and Porter's island. It was dull and gray for most of the day. I just discovered that the NWS doesn't have any data for most of today, which is weird, since I was seeing good readings all day long. The high temperature was probably around 38º, and there was a strong north wind, with gusts up to 33 mph.

The guys slept, of course. Louie slept beside me all the time I was knitting, and he was purring most of the time. I like hearing that. However, he still has it in for Grayson, and Grayson has a few new puncture marks on his back. Louie never learned how to fight, I think, so he tries to bite Grayson's back. Grayson got to sleep on me for quite a while until I had to make a fast dash for the powder room (I made it).

This weather has left me hurting nearly all over and another reason I won't be going out tomorrow is that I am having a terrible time getting out of chairs again. There are even places, like my hands and feet, that don't usually hurt that do now.

So it was a very quiet, truncated day and now it's a cold, dark, windy night in the field and there are snowflakes around...

November 1

Oh my, how I hate to write that. It's hard to believe this year is almost over.

I was earlier last night than I have been, although it was later than I wanted. I keep hoping I can get my hours under control, but it seems very hard. Anyway, I had a hard time getting to sleep, but I think it was because the Neurontin hadn't kicked in. My feet were twitchy and they felt cold, even though when I felt them with my hand, they were very warm. After I got up the first time, though, I was fine and I slept well for the rest of the night.

I tried to knit, and I thought I was making good progress, but I looked back at what I knitted yesterday and discovered that I had dropped a stitch. There is a "knit three together" that I've been having a hard time with, and I missed one stitch, which raveled and now i have a mess. So I started trying to un-knit and that turned into more than I bargained for, so I finally left it.

It made me late enough that I went off to the post office before I ate, and then the Schwan's guy came before I'd finished my tea...and I had just sat down to reorganize the freezer to try to fit in everything I bought when I had an urge and I had an accident - not a bad one - before I could get to the bathroom. Geez. Anyway, eventually I got everything packed into the freezer. I had ordered a bunch of stuff that comes in boxes I can't take it out of, so I had some work to do. I got everything in, finally. There have been so many times lately when I wasn't hungry until late and then I wanted something fast that I got some TV dinner type things.

Then I made rice, but I've been having a problem with it beginning to go bad before I ate it, so I made less than before. I know it will work better, even though I have to try to remember to make more when I run out. I still take a lot of probiotics and psyllium, but the only thing that seems to keep my gut under control is rice. It gets pretty boring, and I don't eat it every day, but I'm always sorry when I don't. That was the trouble today, I'm sure. I had burritos for dinner last night.

The weather is cloudy and cold. They were predicting possible rain and snow, but we didn't have any of that here. The temperature finally got up to 40º briefly; it was in the upper 30s for most of the day. There wasn't much wind, although what there was came from the southwest, which is undoubtedly why it was a bit warmer. I was wondering why I was so sore all over today, and now I see the reason - the humidity was over 85% all day. Oh, I hurt!

The guys slept, of course. Grayson got some lap time, although I had to move him when I had to do some typing. Louie was asleep in the bathroom this morning and Grayson came in and started trying to nip at his elbows, and then after it got dark, I heard snarling and howling behind me and Louie was trying to go after Grayson. I had to put a stop to all of it. I wish they liked each other better.

So now it's a bit late and it's a cold, cloudy night in the field. I'm off to the north end soon. And it's November.

Sigh.

Last updated 11/16/19 08:16 PM