Friday, December 21, 2012

Last day

Well, not the last day of civilization, as some think the Mayans predicted, just my last day at work for a week.  Last week I asked where winter was--it's here.  We're supposed to have snow (or maybe rain, no one seems to know really) and it's supposed to be 0 next week--while I'm in RI.  Swell.  This year I'm planning to leave more heat on in more rooms, hoping to prevent the inevitable freezing of pipes.  My New Year surprise has traditionally been returning to frozen pipes and/or pump.  I'll turn the heat on in the cellar to keep the pump warm, and will be more careful about heat.  Last year I didn't leave the heat on in the bedroom and the pipes in the laundry room split massively.  So I learned about THAT part of the house.  The upstairs stays warm, more or less--but there's no heat at the back of the house so the downstairs gets down to mid-40's sometimes.

I spent a day in Tupper Lake this week, which was a nice change.  They're far from us and have a different mindset in terms of being part of the community of libraries in the system.  I cataloged their stuffed animals (as in taxidermy) and a bunch of old photographs.  They have a huge collection of photos, some of which are labeled and some are just mystery groups.  Too bad about the ones that aren't labeled.

I bought a big roast (standing rib) for Christmas dinner at Liza's.  I'm taking this huge winter squash (mystery kind) that they gave me last weekend when I bought my Christmas tree. The woman who gave it to me said the best thing to do with it is to smash it on the floor then cook it like acorn squash.  Mark hates winter squash so I'll have to do better than that for Christmas.  Our tradition is lobsters on Christmas Eve, and roast beef for Christmas.  What will Anna eat?

I got my tree last Saturday and had it up and decorated by that night.  VERY PROUD of myself.  It's a really nice tree, since I bought it rather than cut it on my land.  I couldn't find any likely candidates though I looked all over, so I gave in and bought one.  Boy they're expensive.  Anyway, I cut off the bottom foot or so and it fits perfectly on my dinner table, hitting the ceiling.  I keep forgetting to take pictures of it.  It's a good tree this year and I'm very happy with it.

Dogs are doing well. I put out a bunch of D-Con last night because the mice are really feeling too comfortable in the kitchen and living room.  Am hoping the dogs don't find it, don't think they will because it's in the kitchen drawer and at the back of the counter.  There was a mouse in the living room this morning, very busy running back & forth.  I don't know if it was moving little blue pellets, or what.  Treasure was sitting right there but was staring into space (really) so missed the whole thing.  Not a good mouser, that dog.  Times like that are when I miss my cat.  I thought of getting another one, but determined that I want THAT cat and not another one.  Last year I spent $200 boarding the cat at Christmas, so it will be nice not to have that expense this time.

I pick up Anna in Montreal tomorrow night.  It will be a lot of fun to be with her, and we'll have a good trip to RI on Sunday and a good visit with Liza and Mark.  I communicated with my cousin in Hanover and we made plans for a visit on our way home from RI.  Just a quick visit to say hello.  He's a wonderful person, one of my favorite people and we never see each other.  He said some lovely things at Henry's memorial all those years ago and I think that's the last time I saw him.

I bought the new Barbara Kingsolver book, just because I had the money and felt like reading it at my convenience.  Also bought the Louise Erdrich book, which won the National Book Award.  I tried reading it before but couldn't finish it.  Am hoping this time around it'll be more interesting to me.  Sometimes those award winners just aren't that great.  I taught my book group that lesson the hard way.

Hoping we all enjoy the holiday season--

Friday, December 14, 2012

Where's winter?

I've been writing out my Christmas cards, with little to report for the year.  Mostly I write about the weather--like, when will winter get here?  We have just about no snow and I know it's not too cold because my electric bill was only $250 for the month of November.  I have been good about keeping a hot fire going, more conscientious than in past years, so that no doubt helped keep the cost down.

What I mostly write about are my nieces, of whom I am so very proud.  Anna is getting her doctorate in botany at the Univ. of British Columbia in Vancouver and Jenica is very successful as a library director, considering earning her doctorate as well.  I'd like to say it's in their genes...  Anyway, I'm really pleased and excited for them.  On top of being such great achievers, they're both really nice people and I enjoy being with them.

I'll have a chance to be with Anna during Christmas week--she flies into Montreal next Saturday, and on Sunday we'll drive to Rhode Island together to spend the week with Liza and Mark.  That will be great fun.  Liza, Mark and I have really nice Christmases together, and having Anna will be a bonus.  I usually see one friend during my Christmas break in RI, and expect to see her this year. She was a neighbor for several years when I lived in RI, and we sort of lost touch but re-discovered each other some years ago.  Her sister was murdered and I was totally oblivious to the pain that caused at the time, but realized much later what an awful thing that was (and what a lousy friend I had been during that time).  So Linda & I get together for a lunch/afternoon visit.  Sometimes we go to Newport, sometimes we're on the other side of the bay.

I had a wonderful birthday.  Almost worth turning 60 for.  I won $100 on a gifted lottery scratch ticket, which wasn't even the highlight of my day.  I had many calls, cards, greetings and feel cared about and loved.  How lucky am I?  I'm not thrilled at being my age (but then, who really is?) and take some comfort in the constant "You don't look 60" comments I hear.  But let's face it, 60 is 60.  I'm in good health (mentally and physically) and have a really nice life.  I do worry about my future, and how I'll arrange my life when I get older.  How many years can I continue to carry wood for?  And will I be able to stay on OHR, spending so much time alone?  I know Annie Holt will be spending more time there, but basically my nearest neighbor is half a mile away, and that's not even someone I spend much time with.  Pat & Jim will be there, though they're in their 70's now.  Oh I don't mean to sound dreary, I'm just thinking.

I started weaving baskets for Christmas presents (swell, now I've ruined the surprise)--spent hours last weekend trying to figure out a pattern that used to come easily to me.  I've already accepted the fact that I can't shape baskets anymore, but to have so much trouble with a simple pattern was really depressing.  I finally mastered it but made too many mistakes in the final product to do anything with it but burn it.  Then I made some baskets that I KNEW I could make.  Do I enjoy making them as much as I used to?  I don't think so, but maybe it will come back to me.  I'm not sure why I soured on basketmaking.  I was working full time and weaving in every spare moment, which was tiring and less fun than doing it just when I wanted to.  I had a good business with lots of wholesale customers.  I'm amazed at how many baskets I made and how easy it was for me to weave.  Yes, I still enjoy the process of seeing something evolve as I weave--but my level of skill is not what it used to be and that's frustrating.

This weekend I hope to get a Christmas tree & put it up.  A tabletop tree again--that seems to work really well and is easy for me to handle alone.  I think I'll buy one; I've been scouting on my land and don't see anything that's big enough yet small enough to cut down.  So I'll buy a bigger one and cut it in half.  Or something.  I like having a tree--partly because I love to display my collection of ornaments, and partly because I like the sparkly lights in my house.  White lights or colored?  I like colored on the indoor tree but have white lights on an outdoor tree.  Some years no one but me sees my tree, which doesn't bother me.  This year I'll share the tree with Anna.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12/12/12 Happy birthday to me

Well I had to take a picture on my birthday. This is a view from the road to Wilmington. Fred & I always joke because a few times I drove on this road with friends who said "OH!! What a beautiful view!" So now every time I see this view I smile.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

A week later and a week to go

Yes, I've got exactly one more week to enjoy my 50's.  On 12-12-12 I turn 60, which is pretty dramatic for me.  I have enough "older" friends to know that 60 is not a big deal, but I can't believe how old I am!  How did this happen?  I noticed that an award show on TV was celebrating its 40th year.  Yegads I remember 40 years ago quite clearly.

Speaking of television, I'm having trouble with my Dish receiver, which means I stare at a blank screen on the TV waiting for something to happen.  I get a warning message, I get "Starting up" but the 3 lights on the receiver are not lit.  So I'll have to call customer service.  I just went through this and the problem was diagnosed as a bad power strip, so I plugged it into the wall.  Now I'm having the same problem.  I'll have to go through the diagnostics with Technician #1, who will be about 15 years old, will mumble and be hard to hear, and won't want to pass me along to anyone who really knows how to solve problems.  Oh what I'll do for television!  I stared at the screen for quite a while this morning at 6 a.m. (wistfully).  I got up at 2 and dozed off & on on the couch until the TV quit.  I'm hooked on Jump Start videos on VH1 Classic.

I had my blood work done this morning, plus stopped at the bank and Starbucks and still was early to work.  Oh it pays to leave the house at 6:30.  I have an appointment with my doctor Friday afternoon and am desperately trying to lose a few pounds before then.  So far=1 pound lost this week.  I'm supposed to be treadmilling and/or walking regularly too keep my cholesterol levels down. And up.  Good & bad.  Anyway, I walked the bog with the dogs over the weekend but found that to be pretty dull.  There was 6" of snow.  The dogs loved it.  Me?  Not so much.

We had all that snow, then we had rain and warm weather and now we have no snow.  Which is OK--there's plenty of time for snow.  It was down to 1 at my house one morning, indoor temp was 51 another evening.  That's what happens when you let the fire go out and don't turn the heat on.  Now the heat is on low in the living room only and it's OK.  But then, it was 50 yesterday.

I've been feeding the birds but so far I only have chickadees.  In the summer Linda and I sit under her feeders and watch Channel Chickadee.  They are cute little things, and they're quite tame.  They nag when I don't fill an empty feeder.  I had one in my house last month--a warm day when I left the door open.  I often have hummingbirds in the house in the summer, but this was a first.  I finally convinced it to get low enough so I could throw a dish towel over it & set it free.  They are tiny things.  I also have blue jays, which, if you look at them objectively are quite pretty.  They're too annoying to be really pretty, though.

The dogs are doing well.  They still seem to be visiting Dead Deer Alley and I have to retrieve them pretty much daily.  This morning they were gone for a long time so I honked the horn.  That sometimes work, and today was one of those times!  Yay for Tess, who came running up the driveway.  Treasure has yet to learn about the call of the honking horn=dog biscuit.  She came soon after.  I don't like it when they get separated, probably because of the trapping incident.  WHY DON'T I KEEP BETTER TRACK OF THEM???  Because I'm lazy.  And I like to have them entertain themselves without me.  But now that I have no TV maybe that will change.  It's dark when I leave in the morning, and dark when I get home, but I could at least entertain them in the living room.

I've been doing some Christmas shopping but must admit that I'm not inspired this year.  Maybe because I don't have "the perfect gift" for Mark or my mother.  Just odds & ends of things.  A Coleman lantern for Liza for when her power goes out.  Clothes.  I still haven't got the Italy stuff yet; looks as if those presents will be late this year.  Like that's any different.

Tomorrow I'm going on a tour of a library in Montreal.  My director's idea.  I don't really know why we're going but it will be nice to see another library.  Friday I have a meeting in the morning.  Today?  Not much going on.  I really, really need to clean my desk but cannot bring myself to start.  Where do I start?  That's the problem.  I shuffle papers around and look at the books needing my attention every day or so, then put everything back.  rats.