My sister is famous (in our family) for the first line of a poem she wrote in grade school--"It snowed last night for the first time this year." Well, today's the day that happened. We had barely a dusting, but it felt and looked cold. It was 30, which will feel warm soon enough.
I'm having good luck with my new stove but still struggle to keep a fire going all day. I got it right last night & there were good coals this morning, but that's the first time for that. I'm using an infrared heater at the back of the house (thanks to Barb for her input on that)--it's working out very well and gets the living room and bathroom toasty. I have a good feeling about being warm this winter.
Toward that end I'm planning to have someone put insulation under the floor, in the crawl space. I've got someone lined up, he's the son of a friend--I figure, if I could do it (20 years ago) anyone can. I need to go to Lowes and talk to the fools there about what kind of insulation to get, and then figure out how much I'll need. All too complicated and nothing that I want to deal with, but it should make a (nominal) difference.
I was supposed to have high-speed Internet installed this week, and took an afternoon off to meet the techie from Frontier, my local-yokel phone company. Well that was swell, except that "Doug" called to say he couldn't come that day after all. I tell so many of my details to so many people that I had to explain the whole thing to friends afterward--I don't know if I talk so much because I'm nervous, or because my mother used to make us "SAY SOMETHING NICE" at the dinner table every night, or I genuinely want to share details of my life with people. Probably living alone has something to do with it. Anyway, "Doug" will come next Saturday morning to do the installation. I'm the neighborhood guinea pig. We've all been waiting for years for Frontier to come through with something like this, but the summer people who are interested in it have all left, so I'll be the first in our group to try it out. I'm not optimistic, but it would be nice to have something better than dial access at home.
I've been out and about for work a bit lately, and have to do 2 presentations in Malone next week. Yesterday I was in Saranac Lake for a good workshop on appraising things for historical value. NOT monetary value, but for their appropriateness for archival collections. OK, so it sounds pretty boring, but it was good.
What's up for the weekend? Not much. A dump run, no doubt. Oh, and CLOSING THE BOAT HOUSE. I've been walking down there and taking care of things bit by bit, but need to drive there to collect bedding, towels, etc., and take the furniture off the porch. It's not a complicated or involved process, and I always put it off until it's too cold to be pleasant. I have sort of a head start this year, and there's not much else to do there.
The foliage is gone, except for the tamararcks, which are golden and lush. I have a pet tamarack tree near the house--it just appeared one year and is now quite tall and pretty. It got bent over one year because of snow and I tied it to another tree to straighten it out. That worked well and it's now at least 25' high and fairly straight. There was a row of huge tamaracks along the road on my property, but when they widened the road so the plow could fit (for me, only for me) they cut them down. I was distressed, but it was one of those life lessons, when you have to accept things that have happened. What's done is done. The trees were grand, but the plow's arrival after snowfalls is even better.
Dogs are fine. They seem to have more energy these days, maybe because it's colder. I gave a friend permission to take his son hunting on my land on Sat. He wants to teach his son, who's 14, how to sit still and wait for the deer to appear. I said there sure are plenty of deer on my land. They can't shoot anything right now, it's muzzle-loader season, but they'll be entertained I'm sure.
The neighborhood is quiet. If I got lonely, I'd be lonely right now at home. I don't get lonely, though, and don't get afraid, either. Someone drove into my driveway the other night, probably looking for a good place to jack deer, and that made me a bit nervous but truly I rarely worry about invaders. Life is peaceful and I'm happy.
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