Want some cheese with that whine?

Oh how I wanted to sleep in the boat house last night. It was 60 degrees and wonderful. I had to meet contractors to talk about whether or not camp was going to collapse in a heap during the winter (it truly is not going to), plus I had to make cheesecake for the mo-mos I work with, as we are having our monthly "we so love working together" luncheon today. Plus I had to stay a little late after work working on collecting specs for the new car we're buying for the system, then get the supplies for the cheesecake, then try to get to camp by 5:15 to meet the contractors. But the contractors weren't at camp at 5:15, so I stayed until 5:45, then went home, where they had been waiting for me because Stevie thought I meant my house was falling down (although I KNOW I told him to meet me at camp). This meant the contractor/quote thing took a lot longer and I didn't get home until 7, too late to make a cheesecake and get to the boat house in a reasonable time. So yes, whine whine whine. But: cheesecake turned out well and if that's all I have to complain about what is wrong with me?

I left the door to the outside world from the bedroom propped open but pretendedly blocked off last night so of course Tess escaped. Pushed open the screen door, then blammed! the whole screen insert apart to get back in (door opens out). This dog reminds me of my yellow Lab Emma, 2 dogs ago, who was the most determined dog I've ever known. She used to jump up on the stove to get to the top of the refrigerator, where Jamie stored the bread (so typical of him: at 6'3", only he could reach the bread). Once I came home to a glowing red burner that she had turned on to high in her efforts at pyrootin'. Anyway, Tess is a much, much nicer dog and her hyjinx (what an awful word) are more endearing. But that's what I faced this morning.

And when I got to work I had plenty of time to research, like a real reference librarian, the 3 models of vehicles we're considering purchasing. I collected (too much) information and have passed it along to Julie, who, it turns out, has already made up her mind because we can get the Chevy Equinox locally right away. Well screw me.

Mouse death toll now up to 13 but there are more, as bait continues to be licked clean night after night. I may take the drastic step of getting a cat. Julie, with 9 cats, has one to spare. She's picked one out for me, a good mouser with a nice personality. She's named Dot because she's black with a white spot on her chest, but I've already re-named her Spot. If I decide to go through with this I'll pick her up maybe Friday or this weekend. I have high hopes for this cat--get those mousies, Spot! And grab a few red squirrels while you're at it. Fred says it's really stupid to get a cat in order to have a mouser, but this one comes with a guarantee. Anyway, we'll see.

A friend is doing some work with his backhoe down the road from me and is sick of having to back down my driveway because there's no room to turn around, so today he's starting to move my stone wall over to the edge of the forest. Should be an interesting project. He's been over at least 3 times to talk to me about it, and we went over which bushes I would like to have him leave alone, if possible. I told him to work on it only as long as he's having fun, but no longer. Men like to play with their big noisy toys, which is why he's really doing this. He might also remove some of the inconvenient rocks in my driveway, depends on what he feels like doing. People are funny when they get started on projects, even when they're working at someone else's house. Right now the backhoe is parked at my house.

Next weekend is Columbus Day--I have this weekend to prepare myself for the onslaught. Fred and I shared the last dockside drink of the year at his place earlier this week and we talked about how intense and hectic Col. Day is. Way too many people, way too much activity. Holts, Linda, Bill's place full of people, others you never know will show up until they get here. This weekend two batches of people are coming. The color (of leaves) isn't great this year but so far there are still leaves on most of the trees, so at least visitors won't be disappointed. At this point I don't think I really care.

Tasks for today? Run the last of the reports identifying collection strengths of our member libraries in prep. for work on cooperative collection development project with them. Have to set up program/policy by next year. As if. Continue exploring work from fantastic workshop I went to on Monday. Cool stuff to play with--wow! get to play with stuff online in the name of work! hot damn.

Must get through staff luncheon, however.

Jones Pond

Jones Pond
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here's Jones Pond--I've posted pictures of it before. It's between my house and Paul Smiths College. You get a really nice view of it from the road. My friend Marykay wanted me to paddle the pond with her this summer but I didn't have the energy to do it on the weekend. She went without me and turned it into about a 4 hour trip, paddling through connecting waters to other ponds. I've always wanted to paddle this pond, I've driven by it so many times.

The day was unbelievably bright yesterday--I drove from home to Canton and back for a workshop. Behind the hill in the left of this picture you could see Camels Hump mountain, in Vermont. I've never seen anything even close to that from here. Really spectacular.

I had the last dockside drink of the season with Fred. We sat on the dock until dusk, after watching the golden light on the far shore, then the moon rise and bright moonlight across the water. It was really nice but poor Fred--his uncle had just died and he was very sad. I stayed as long as I could but had to go to Ken's to treat a wound he had on his arm. I wanted to stay with Fred and enjoy more time on the dock.

Jones Pond

Jones Pond
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here's Jones Pond, peeking through the trees along the road. It's really pretty. What a beautiful day it was.

Onchiota

Onchiota
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is a really queer building in Onchiota, a queer settlement. It's pronounced On-shy-yo-ta. There's an Indian musem there that school kids take field trips all the way from Plattsburgh to visit, but the museum closes at the end of the summer. There are only a few dozen (at most) people who live there, and I don't even know if this is a functioning store. There's a state campsite nearby so it may be an actual store. There's nothing else there, but an old sawmill a bit down the road. Most people seem to know where "Onchi" is, though.

Alder Brook

Alder Brook
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is a spot that's been photographed many times by members of my family over the years. Sometimes it's the view of the actual brook, sometimes this marshy mess. It's about 6 miles from my road and the area as well as the body of water are called Alder Brook. I had thought of calling my basketmaking business Alder Brook Baskets, but then I thought--what if we don't end up living at Silver Lake, how can I explain the name? So I picked something benign, Woods Run, which is totally non-geographical and is a logging term for whatever kind of wood that comes out of the woods, whatever mixture of trees you can cut.

Home

Home
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

My address. Got these tiles in Italy and did a very poor job of mounting them on the side of the house. I would do a much better job now--I cracked the 2 outer tiles and put ugly pieces of wood holding the whole thing together. Sometimes I contemplate taking it all down & starting over but I worry that the numbers will fall apart in my hands. It's something to think about anyway, when there's just a little bit of room in my brain. Like in the wee hours of the morning while Tess is staring at me, boring holes in my head with her eyes, trying to get me to sit up and start the day.

Perch weed

Perch weed
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here are the geraniums I took from Fred at the end of last year's growing season. They wintered over in my house and had beautiful blooms this year. The perch is the sole survivor (no pun intended) of a really nice piece of artwork that Jamie's brother (Nip the artist) made from pine. It was 3 or 4 yellow perch sticking up dowels from a wooden base. I really loved it but a friends puppy chewed most of the fish. I don't know what to do with this lonely fish. He's really beautiful.

why DO they cross the road?

why DO they cross the road?
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

These are wild turkeys. We have a pretty large population in the North Country, and lots of them around my house. I saw one just the other day in my driveway. This is a brood and a mom. There were 12 "little" ones--not very little at all. They were all a-twitter because I was trying to take their picture, and they kept running back & forth across the road. Honestly, some birds are really dumb. Turkeys are rumored to be so stupid that they'll drown in a rainstorm if they turn their heads toward the sky and open their mouths. I've heard that from lots of people, but why would a bird do that?

where's waldo?

where's waldo?
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Find the bird here. Not easy, but there's a turkey in the middle of the picture. They were pretty shy that night, but this morning they stood casually on either side of the road when I drove by. Funny birds, and not very attractive, really. Just nice to have around.

barcoding fools

barcoding fools
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is what I did yesterday--added holdings to the data base at the Wilmington library. That's Tracey, who would be furious if she knew I had posted her picture in my blog. We took the laptops, used the wireless network and added holdings for stuff that didn't have smart barcodes (wasn't already in the data base). We do that for libraries after we've made one pass with the smart bars. We have a good time when we do it and everyone always comments on how well we work together and how much we laugh. It's always nice to get out together so we can be reminded that it's possible to enjoy the company of one's colleagues. We go out for lunch, too. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny and warm day but it was freezing in the library (hence my sweatshirt). Plus the toilet didn't work so we had to either wait until noon or use the bathroom next door at the Chamber of Commerce. I went there from home so only worked 9-3, which means I'll make up the time today and tomorrow to avoid using what little time I still have. The Wilmington library is one of our smallest librarires--this is half of the library's non-fiction. I often see someone I know when we go to our southern libraries, and yesterday I saw someone I knew from my basketmaking days. She makes bug hats--they're like fisherman hats covered with netting that you drop down to cover your face & neck with to keep away black flies. It was nice to see her and we agreed it was REALLY time for Ladies' Night, which we haven't had in a long, long time.

wood I?

wood I?
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Now here's something to emulate: Ken's wood supply. I've never known anyone who stacked their wood as well and in such an organized way as this. The middle pile is pine, though, which can only really work to keep the house warm in fall and spring. Ken can stack wood quickly and efficiently. The wood on the right he bought last year and is just about perfect for burning. On the left he bought in the spring and SHOULD be ok, but we'll find out because I bought mine at the same time. That's his wood shop in the background--the former chicken coop. This is just behind his house.

joyous autumn

joyous autumn
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is sedum--Autum Joy. It's incredibly common here, probably is most places as well. It's about the only thing besides mums that blooms right now. It's a succulent perennial, which seems a contradition in terms but mine is only 2 years old and is doing really well. It should open a little bit more.

amazing cosmos

amazing cosmos
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

I'm really proud of these cosmos. I grew them from seed and they're a new strain, double blossoms. The should have bloomed about 6 weeks ago, and would have if I'd put them in the ground instead of containers. The price of slothiness. Anyway, they're really pretty right now and I'm lucky I didn't get hit with all the frosts that other places have had recently.

color already

color already
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This maple looks pretty sparsely populated by leaves. We had some windy rain the other day and we lost a lot of leaves. My driveway is carpeted by maple leaves and looks very pretty (for October).

Time for a break
Loaded 1896 records for downloadable audio books last week and have been cleaning them up bit by bit this week. Sometimes it puts me right to sleep, other times I get into it. This morning I did it for a couple of hours before my head hit my desk and I sat up with a post-it note stuck to my forehead.

Life has settled down a whole lot for me. Only Fred and one couple left in the neighborhood right now, until Columbus Day. So quiet, nice to have my life back. All I've done this week is go home and watch mindless CSI and Law & Order and Daily Show. Last night I stopped at Ken's for a quick visit. He was really happy to see me and we had a good time. Tues night I met Fred in town for dinner at the so-so Italian restaurant, then we tried to go to the meeting between the Town Board and the Planning Board. Stood in the rain for 25 minutes but no one came so we figured either the meeting had been canceled or they'd held it somewhere else so we wouldn't go. Either way they really need to let the public know.

Mouse trapline is pretty effective these days. So far I've eliminated 8 from my home, but there are more. They're pretty good at licking the peanut butter off the spring without getting whacked. I nail one every other day or so. Victory this morning. I have 2 favorite spots, stupid mice. Sound too gory? Think what it's like for me. Sometimes I hear the WHACK! while I'm watching tv.

Not much going on in life these days. Need to make appointments for eyes, breasts and cervix. Will get to it, probably in that order.

Flowers look like hell on the deck right now so I'll probably empty the pots soon. They just look really skanky so I'll buy a few chrysanthemums for color and call it quits. Have a few perennials to plant but must pull up weeds to make room. Am also planning to move lilies around so I can have someone with a backhoe move my rock wall to the edge of the yard, making it easier for the plowman. Projects and more projects. Not something I'm good at working on. I did start cutting up my lumber for kindling, though. Joe showed me how to use my *wonderful* cordless circular saw so I've been slowly cutting up my lumber pile for this year's kindling pile. It's lots of fun but I can only do a few boards at a time because my arm gets tired--the saw is heavier than I thought and I don't want to make any mistakes. I'm fairly confident but am very careful. Now I have 2 saws to use, very exciting. The reciprocating saw is electric so I have to use lots of extension cords, but it's' good for cutting down small trees. Must address the issue of slightly larger trees, since I've let too many of them grow too big. Ken bought a small brush hog yesterday. That would be really useful but I can't imaging borrowing it from him--his brand new toy. Besides it's probably too heavy. It's like a weed whacker with a saw on the end. way cool.

Back to my precious data base.

BFF

trails end 008
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Linda, my Best Friend Forever.

ignoring me

trails end 010
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is Bill sitting at Linda's dinner table. The lake is about 5 feet from the windo, with a cedar tree between the table and the lake. It's a wonderful place, Linda's camp. It's called Trail's End because it's at the end of the road.

Grumpy pug

trails end 013
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is Amber. She looks really cross. Probably is cross because she doesn't want her picture taken, she wants to be on my lap. ALL the time.

old man in a chair

trails end 009
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

pugging for the camera

trails end 019
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Yes, that's me with 2 pugs. Lilly and Buffy, I think. Amber got disgusted and is on the other side of the couch. There is a series of shots of me with various looks on my face. I like having the pugs on my lap, they really are friendly dogs but they're very needy and have to be held all the time. And Amber takes the longest ever time to find the perfect spot to pee outside (not so long inside, though). I'd never have the patience to deal with that. My dogs pee at the foot of the steps and that's it: DONE!

trails end 015

trails end 015
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

I'm pretty sure this is Lily. She finally figured out you can get warm if you sit in front of the fire (took her long enough). It was cold the last day Linda was there, after 2 really warm day. I slept in the boat house Thurs. and Friday nights, really warm, then Sat. night it got incredibly cold. Now I'm not sure I'll be back down there for anything other than clean up. Docks are out, next thing is to nag Dennis to get the water out before it freezes. No small task.

9/12/07

sept color 002
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is the forest at the edge of my back yard at 7:00 this morning. Lots of color coming fast. The soft maples are turning/have turned red and orange. It's early, probably because we've had so little rain. My well reflects the lack of rain too, it's really low. I'm good at conserving water but geez, what does the future hold?

OHR

sept color 001
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

And this is looking up Old Hawkeye Road from my driveway. Yikes! Won't be long before everything will be full of color, then trees will be naked!

DIV id=testResultInfo>

Your Score: The Seventh Doctor

You scored 46% intelligence, 26% compassion, 25% sense of humor, and 25% weirdness!

You're a well-rounded "multi-purpose" kind of Time Lord. You enjoy a laugh every now and then, but you know when to stop fooling around and become indignant, devious, compassionate, or just downright unpredictable at the appropriate times. Your turn-ons include question marks, trilled rrrr's, and people who enjoy a good doff of the hat every now and then. Your turn-offs include burnt toast, train stations, unrequited love, and metallo-organic creatures who like to plunder Earth in search of powerful, ancient artifacts that will give them dominion over the cosmos. This happens more often than one might think.

Link: The Which Doctor Who Are You? Test written by TottersLane on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

So which would I rather be: intelligent or compassionate? Considering the fact that I have no insight or context for the questions...