Good weekend
Yes it was. It was hot, but I have a haven to escape to. Friday night I stopped at Ken's after physical therapy. PT was harder than usual, she had me on some elliptical-type machine that was a killer. The rest of the stuff is getting easier and she increased everything. I went grocery shopping and spent way too much money. Bill's friends stopped Ken's house en route to Bill's camp for dinner to celebrate a birthday (annual event there). I went home and was just eating dinner at around 7:45 when Bill called, insistent that I join them down the hill. OK, I went. It was nice but two of them are having big crises in their lives so they were in strange moods, having spent 1.5 hours discussing this. I stayed a until 10 and went home. I had planned to stay in the boat house but it was too cold that night.

Saturday was warm, bordering on hot. I got up early and planted almost 190 flower plants (I counted the 6-packs afterwards). I filled all the containers I'm going to and I didn't do as many as I do some years, but I felt great about the number I did. And really relieved to have them all with their roots in pots at last. I still haven't dug in the gardens, this is a huge task which I hope to start on tomorrow (plan to take the day off). After that I went to Lake Placid and bought my kayak, all by myself brave woman. I'd been checking them out online a lot Friday afternoon and had made some calls about what was available in LP and Saranac Lake. Read reviews written by kayak owners online and had decided on what I wanted so it wasn't hard. Had been quoted a price on the phone that was $30 less than what they were willing to sell it to me for (which he said was still $40 less than list but who believes that) so he threw in the roof straps and foam blocks that go on the car roof for free. Big whoop. Then he strapped it to the roof and pronounced it secure ("Shouldn't I tie the bow and stern?" No, you don't need to when it's this tight). Well, guess what happened not even 3 miles from Placid? One of the foam blocks came loose and the whole boat shifted on the roof, all the way over to the other side. Boy did the motorcyclist behind me brake and back way off. I found a place to pull over and tied the bow & stern with the rope I had taken along to be safe. Sometimes men can be very funny.

I picked up the dogs, packed stuff for the night and next morning and moved into the boat house. What a wonderful night--except for the bugs. I sat on the porch and enjoyed it immensely. The punkies were miserable (no, I was miserable, they were happy, the bloodthirsty little devils). I finally went to bed and tried to read under the covers but my flashlight wasn't bright enough. I turned out the light (which is what attracts them) and lay in the dark trying to go to sleep for half an hour or so, finally succeeding. Up at 7 on Sunday to sit on the porch and drink coffee, enjoying peace and quiet. Really, really nice. The dogs love times like that, I leave the door open and they swim, run in the woods, come in, go out, come in, etc. the whole time. They had barked up a storm at about 10 Sat. night, and when I looked out the door I saw a blinking light up by main camp. No one there, though, and the light--I guess--was a firefly. No other explanation that I could figure out. No one around for half a mile and it was pitch black.

Went to Sunday dinner and ate the hugest, most disgusting but delicious steak Bill cooked on the grill for Father's Day. Then back to the boat house because it was 87 and humid. Spent the afternoon there, even swam. The Holts were in camp and Rush said the water was 65 degrees but it didn't feel that warm to me. Bill came down late afternoon and we sat on the porch together, reading magazines in what Lin calls "companionable silence." Very nice. I went to the Holts' for dinner and we sat on the second floor of their new house--no walls so we sat on the edge and dangled our feet, drinking beer. Really great. There's a hawk's nest not far from the house, about 20' higher in the crotch of a tree and Mama Hawk stared at us the entire time we were there. We had pancakes for supper because Annie knew I'd eaten a huge lunch.

Back to the boat house for the night, more punkies. Up at 5 to see the last of the sunrise, back to sleep then up at 6:45 just in time to leave for the house, drop off the dogs, make lunch and get to work 5 minutes late. Very satisfying weekend.

Long meeting yesterday with member library directors. Trying to get them to think of what their patrons will want during the next 5 years so we can write our Long Range Plan for the Division of Library Development (our bosses in Albany). Turns out they are incapable of thinking in terms of their patrons, they can only really think in terms of what they want. It was really frustrating for me to listen to them prattle on and on about themselves. The other consultants, our director and I kept saying, "But wouldn't your patrons want..." in attempts to get them on track, but it was hard.

And today I will catalog Die Hard with a Vengeance, widescreen edition, yet another video version of Snow White, and Baboons, Butterflies and Me. After I have my 3rd cup of coffee. It's a beautiful day today, we had a massive front come through yesterday that took the heat and humidity with it when it moved out.