Friday, March 28, 2014

End of the week

It's a rainy Friday, which is a nice change.  We got 2" of snow in Hawkeye this morning and the roads were a real mess.  Apparently the plow operators are as tired o f plowing as we are of winter driving.  Only it doesn't work that way...  Anyway, I made it to work in an hour (as opposed to my usual 35-40 minute drive).  Slow going but that doesn't matter.

I went shopping at lunch time--I have to work until 5, and wanted to get to P&J's earlier than I would if I shopped after work.  My but there are a lot of old(er) people in the grocery store at noon.  Holy cow.  Lots of electric scooters with reckless drivers.  Oh, Elizabeth, don't complain, that might be you some day.

Big storms predicted for the weekend, which doesn't surprise anyone but is still a disappointment.  I'm longing for warm sunny days.  I guess we're supposed to have 8" (or more) of snow, and it will be heavy wet miserable snow.  I forgot how disagreeable the terrain is in early spring.  It's hard to get up my driveway.  Usually in March we have glare ice on driveways--what Ken used to call "like a glass."  That really sucks.  More than once I've had to have help getting out of my driveway to get to RI for Easter.  Shouldn't happen this year, Easter is so late.  We'll see.

I've been fish sitting for my friend's female betta and I've really enjoyed spending time with her.  She's much more interesting than the sullen goldfish I now have at my desk.  My friend will be back on Monday and I'll have to give up the fish.  I call her Nancy.  I haven't even bothered to name my goldfish, that's how grumpy she is.  I went through a long aquarium phase a few years ago, tried to have a 10-gallon tank, with heater, light, etc.  Fish wouldn't last long, and it was difficult to clean the tank so I quit.  Do I miss it?  Not really.  I did like watching the fish, and having different kinds of fish, but then they'd die and I'd be embarrassed and have to buy more.  Now I'm down to a goldfish at work.  I was going to have a goldfish at home but my house is too cold in the winter--I found that out with 2 guppies in a tank with no heater.  Oops, sorry fish.

I finally got my car fixed.  Really fixed. No, really.  I spent 3 hours at the dealer's yesterday while they took apart the front end & fixed the sensor, put it back together then drove it to make sure it was OK.  Yay, it's fine.  Now I can contemplate trading it in and buying a new car. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Above zero! Double digits!

It was 12 this morning, the first time above zero in 3 days.  or more, who knows.  I lose track.

Sunny weekend--bright, warm spring sun, but cold wind and low temps.  I walked to the mailbox with the dogs, which was nice but chilly.  That was Saturday.  Sunday I did NOT walk the dogs.

I skipped the Coop. Ext. workshop on Saturday, sadly.  It was snowing hard in the morning and it was predicted to be a bad travel day.  After discussing it with Lin I decided to stay home.  I felt bad, really wanted to go, but to Plattsburgh?  On a Saturday?  All day?  In the snow?  Instead I went to the dump in the afternoon.  Always a good trip.  Dump Man doles out dog biscuits so my dogs love a trip to the dump.  Garbage excites them when I get ready for the trip.

Haven't been doing much, just work and home.  I cleaned so well the weekend before that I didn't have much to clean.  Yay.  I read a lot.  Actually turned off the TV, sat in the sunny living room and read books.  I'm now reading Elizabeth Gilbert's latest (she wrote Eat, pray, love) which is very, very good.  It's about (so far) a woman who studies mosses.  This reminds me of my wonderful niece Anna, who is studying a specific type of mushroom.  I finished listening to The invention of wings, by Sue Monk Kidd.  Very, very good story.  Narrated very nicely and a good listen.

It was busy at P&J's on Sunday so I stayed a couple of hours.  Bill, Atkinsons, then Jon & Ann, so it was quite a time.  A lot of socialization for me.  I went home and read. 

There's really no sign of spring in Hawkeye, other than the sun being higher in the sky and warmer.  We got 6" of additional snow last week, a dusting last night, and on it goes.  The chickadees ARE singing their spring song, so I can't really claim the total absence of signs of spring.  I haven't had much variety at the bird feeder this year, mostly blue jays and chickadees with a smattering of finches and an occasional woodpecker.  It's good theater, though.

Book group is Sunday at my house.  Mostly what I have to do to prepare is clean up the tiny pieces of paper that Treasure has shredded an left all over the floor.  I shouldn't mind her paper fetish, it beats worse things.  Tiresome, yes, and I have to tuck papers away (which is probably a good thing) but she doesn't get into kitchen things and both dogs refuse to go upstairs so that's a safe place.  They both look at me, wide-eyed, in the morning when I go to work.  Well hell, is this not a standard routine (is that redundant?) these days?  Does Treasure realize that she no longer spends her days in a cage?  I can actually move the cage out of the living room, which will be grand.

I took my car to the dealer to be fixed AGAIN.  Yes, they fixed something, but there's something else that needs fixing.  The part was ordered and I'm waiting to hear from them so I can use more vacation time waiting there.  And a new car woos me.

Springtime in Plattsburgh

A view from the mouth of the Saranac River, looking at Mt. Mansfield in Vermont.  The lake is frozen over, which hasn't happened in a while.  No sign of thawing, either.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Arrival of spring

That's just a joke, really, the arrival of spring.  It was -16 on Monday morning, -6 yesterday, and 8 today.  We got about 4" of fresh powder Saturday night.  I punched through the snow on my way to the bird feeder on Sunday and the snow was up to mid-thigh.  And I wasn't yet touching bare ground.  I'm not one to bitch & moan (though there may be those who disagree with that...) but this is getting a bit tiresome.  Most people around here are disgusted and dreary about the weather and lack of anything resembling spring.  I'm tired of winter, yes, but still not as frustrated and yearning for a new season as I often am by now.

Friends had a problem with their septic system yesterday because their leach field is frozen, which caused a back up in the septic tank.  Yikes, this is something they've feared all winter, because we had sub-zero weather long before we had a decent snow cover.  Oh how we take a flushing toilet for granted.  My leach field is always plowed over because it's where I park my car.  This should make it more vulnerable to freezing--and indeed it may be frozen--but I've never had septic problems.  I think about it often because I've never had my tank pumped out, but it's a 1500 gallon tank and I live alone so I lull myself into a false sense of security.  Oh how I hope I don't have septic problems--I do not know exactly where the septic tank is.  And the ground is frozen right now.

Ah, that was a cheerful subject.  More cheer--the dogs disappeared for 4 hours the other night, which of course upset me.  They were at the neighbors' house, a mile away, and having a great time.  They must have covered a lot of ground because I saw fresh prints going toward Silver Lake Camp that evening, during one of my forays into finding them.  All of which were unsuccessful.  I just waited and they came home eventually and boy were they exhausted.

Tomorrow I take my car to the dealer for what had better be the last chapter of this ridiculous deer impact episode.  I'm fed up with the whole thing.  But I still like my car.  But I think I want a new one.  But now is not the best time to be buying one.  But the dealer in Burlington keeps sending me good offers on a new car.  but but but.

I had friends come for cocktails Sat. eve, which meant I spent the entire day cleaning.  My routine is to clean, rest, clean, rest, clean, rest, etc.  That makes for a long day of cleaning.  I did go to the dump, and to town to buy wine, but other than that I worked hard to make the house presentable.  What I discovered is that my house is very dirty in places and needs a thorough cleaning.  Like, with cleaners and water.  The living room floor needs to be repainted but boy oh boy is that a chore.  Lin helped me do that a long time ago.  We took all the furniture out to the deck and it started to rain.  Lightly, but rain.  I put two coats on the floor and now there are places where the paint is worn off.  Is this something I consider a priority?  No, not really.  The refrigerator needs cleaning inside and out.  The kitchen floor needs attention.  The bedroom floor is a mess because it's maple that wasn't kiln-dried and it was never treated with anything much so it's totally stained and ugly.  There's the floor I should paint.  But that's a problem because the bed is there to stay.  It's a queen-size bed that Jamie built and it's heavy and impossible to move.  It needs to be taken apart for that, and Lin & I struggled to put it back together after moving it from the master bedroom.  Oh how I do go on.  ANYWAY, it was a nice visit with friends Sat. night.

I've registered for a Cooperative Extension workshop on garden design that's this Saturday.  Lasts all day, which doesn't thrill me, but it sounds good.  I would like to resurrect my gardens and maybe this will inspire me.  Plus they're going to cover container gardening, which is pretty much all I do now.  I used to have 4 definite gardens but grass and weeds and blackberry bushes have taken over.  I used to grow vegetables but got tired of doing that because the dogs always ate whatever I grew before I could harvest it.  They even dug up carrots.  Each year I say I will NOT try to grow cucumbers and tomatoes in containers, but each year I'm wooed by the cute little seedlings and try again.  With no real luck.

Tonight we're supposed to have snow, sleet, freezing rain and misery.  Spring?  What's that?

Friday, March 14, 2014

Snowy day

It doesn't feel like Friday because we were closed yesterday so I got to spend the day at home.  We had a big storm (I love the drama people assign to these events: it was the 12th biggest storm Burlington has ever seen.  Really?  We're counting all the way to 12?  Doesn't really seem worth mentioning).  We closed early on Weds. and I had a pretty crappy ride home, though I've certainly driven through worse.  Yesterday the storm continued and we ended up with more than a foot of snow, on top of the 2 feet we already had.  It's so typical of March that I can't understand the hysteria surrounding the storm.  We ALWAYS have many feet of snow in March.  It ALWAYS melts, eventually.  It was cold this morning, but again, it's ALWAYS cold in March.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be 40, which will be pleasant, then back to the teens after that, then warmer after that.  Typical March weather.

I took my car to the dealer this week.  OMG it's still not fixed completely.  They had it all day but ran into some problems and had to order another part that won't be in until next week.  All because of a very small deer.  Honestly.  This is a big drag and makes me want to buy a new car.  But then I drive this one and think how much I do like it.  Oh life is full of complex things.

I had a really nice weekend last weekend.  Roger & Monica Gray were here and we went to their friends' house in Redford for dinner Sat. night.  These people are wicked cool and I think we'll be good friends.  They have 3 rescue horses, a blue heeler dog, chickens and a bunch of cats.  Their view is spectacular, Lyon Mountain in all its glory, turning different colors, just very pretty.  He's interested in taking down the cabin on my land, which is falling down gradually and needs to be dealt with.  I told him he could have it.  I hope no one else wants it...if anyone wants to build something on my land, we can still do that.  This cabin is shot, though, beyond repair.

What's up for this weekend?  Not much.  Dump run.  Grocery shopping tonight.  I need to make some Easter baskets and hope to start on them.  Let's be smart for once, and not wait until the week before Easter.

It was my mother's 88th birthday yesterday.  Double 8's.  Amazing.  And in 2 years she'll be a 90-year-old.  She's doing really well, started driving again this week, to book group, so feels a bit more independent.  Mark has been taking her to the grocery store every Saturday morning, which is fine with him, but she doesn't like to have people do things for her.  Gee, does that sound familiar?  I hate to have people help me, which is not a good trait for someone who lives the way I do.  I often need help.

Dogs are fine.  They were gone for a long time Weds. evening and haven't been allowed out together since then.  They're both loose in the house when I'm not home, and that seems to be OK.  Treasure gets bored and needs something to demolish.  One day it was a plastic bag of aquarium gravel, which she spread all over the chair and floor in the living room.  Boy isn't that stuff fun to vacuum up.

Work is fine.  I was supposed to go to Wadhams this week but that got cancelled.  Next week I go to the AuSable library, which is always nice.  We had a staff luncheon this week, with the theme of green food for St. Pat's Day.  Someone made green scalloped potatoes that really looked goofy.  I made broccoli quiche.  That's as green as I was willing to get.

I finished listening to Martin Fletcher's Jacob's oath, a Holocaust story, which was good.  Now I'm listening to our book group book, The invention of wings and am enjoying it a lot.  Very good.  I started reading Anna Quindlen's latest.  It's sort of reminiscent of Barbara Kingsolver.  But I'm not well into it yet.

I watched a great Dan Rather interview of Crosby, Stills & Nash last night.  Wow was that cool.  They are all 70+ but still have good voices and had a lot to say.  Stephen Stills is deaf in one ear, always has been.  Their music meant a lot to me--"the sound of a generation."  They got a bit fussed up about things but their harmonies are wonderful.  What?  Television worth watching?

It's going to take a long time for the snow to melt

Piles of new snow, with the car for scale. We had a big storm--maybe not as big as everyone feared it would be, but a respectable storm. I spent the day at home yesterday, enjoying the peace and beauty of it. Wow it really is pretty. Why am I not as sick of winter as everyone else is? Some years I crave bare ground, but this year I seem to be patient. Except I AM tired of the cold.

View out the living room window 3/13

It's beautiful, that's for sure. We had a couple of feet of snow before, now the new snow is about knee-deep.

Tess is old and has a white muzzle

I was trying to get a picture of Tess' white muzzle. She wasn't very cooperative but at least this time she didn't get up and walk away. She just kept putting her head down, facing away from the camera.

Maybe if she closes her eyes I'll stop taking her picture

Yes, she truly does not like the camera.

She doesn't much like having her picture taken, either

Here's Blackie (Treasure) allowing me to take her picture. I was trying to show how high the piles of snow on the deck are. She wouldn't cooperate.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Just a pretty scene on an early spring day.  If you can count this as spring.  We're supposed to get 14" of snow on Weds.  But it's WARMER.
This one's for Mrs. N.  What a nice walk it was yesterday.  Here's the Owl, waiting for summer.

 
Treasure doesn't really enjoy riding in the car.

Good weekend--could spring be coming?

We had bright, warm sunshine on the weekend, with the sun high in the sky.  That was different!  Yesterday was a spectacular day, though a bit cold (in the teens, maybe up to 20).  Saturday was warm.  I drove around both days, enjoying the book I'm listening to (Jacob's oath, by Martin Fletcher) and having a nice time with the dogs.  We went to the dump on Sat., then to Marylou's to drop off the book group book.  Yesterday I drove to the hardware store to get birdseed and suet.  The snow was bright.  I walked to the Holts yesterday afternoon to pick up some things for them.  Very, very nice walk.  The dogs stayed with me until we almost got home, then they trotted down the hill.  Nothing I offered was better than a visit to the neighbors (who aren't there).

Saturday night I had dinner with some really nice people, friends of Roger & Monica Gray's.  They live in Redford in a wonderful house with a great view of Lyon Mountain.  They have horses, chickens, a great blue heeler dog, and lots of cats.  Their house looks out over the horse pasture--better than television!  It was a very nice evening, I really enjoyed meeting the people.

Went to P&J's yesterday and heard very disturbing news from Boston.  There's too much bad news these days.  I'll worry about Mrs. N but will think good, positive thoughts and send her strength.

Not a whole lot going this week, but it looks as if I'll FINALLY get my car fixed tomorrow.  YAY.  Not happy with the way the insurance adjuster handled this whole thing, but I won't have to pay for tomorrow's work.  I'll need to get a ride to & from work, but that shouldn't be a problem.  They say it will take 5-6 hours to fix.

I'm supposed to go to the Wadhams library for a consultant visit on Weds. but that might be cancelled--they came here last week and I think we covered all we needed to.

My mother's birthday is Thursday (as is Mrs. N's)--she's turning double 8's.  Did she ever think she'd be 88?  No, she didn't.  Amazing to think of.  My father would be 102 this year, and Ken would have been 100 last week.  We celebrated Ken's birthday yesterday with delicious donuts and yum-yums.

Lin reports the birth of a second lamb.  They named the first one Gwenyth.  Awwwww.

Dogs are behaving fairly well.  They disappeared for 3 hours on Saturday, and the other night they ended up at P&J's on their own.  THAT was not good.  Treasure has been sick for a week or so but now seems better.  She ate enough rice to feed a family of 4 for a year, but it seems to have cleared up whatever intestinal issues she was having.  Tess is just great.

I don't much like the time change--it was nice and light in the morning when I got up, now it's pitch black.  Do I like having an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day?  Not particularly.

Thursday, March 06, 2014

-19 this morning

The Saranac River on my way to work this morning.  At least I have nice things to see when it's this cold.  It's supposed to be cold and cold for a while still.  I've always thought March was awful, but now everyone else is complaining about it, too.

Monday, March 03, 2014

New day

Bright sunshine but very cold this morning.  I was up during the night, woke at 2:00 and could not, not, not get back to sleep.  So I got up, made some Minute Rice for my sick dog, read, dozed, suffered.  Fed her the rice, which she ate heartily (which is a good sign).  So far so good with the rice but I can't be at home with her today to find out if that'll do it.  Meanwhile, at 3 a.m. I used my handy Internet connection to research obstructions of dog's stomachs.  Did I learn anything new?  No, it was all as I figured.  I just don't know if she ate a sock, which would certainly explain the throwing up, or she has something else going on.  Oh how do people deal with sick children?

Taking my car to the dealer this afternoon.  I've been grinding my brakes for at least a week so need to have that taken care of.  Let's hope I haven't done any permanent damage by driving it, but I couldn't take it in last week.  I'll ask about my harness/insurance claim while I'm there.  Oh this poor car.

Staff meeting this morning.  Staff training tomorrow morning (on violence in the workplace, attendance is mandatory).  Big meeting with correctional facility librarians on Friday.  I'm supposed to work with them on how to do readers advisory work.  HAH!  That won't be well received.  You'd think, with a captive audience of inmates, they'd be interested in steering them into different directions, but they just request the same things over and over, from facility to facility.  How do inmates hear about these books?  I've no idea but the titles seldom change from year to year or facility to facility.

Saranac River at -8


Sunday, March 02, 2014

Temps are falling

Nice weekend, not very cold, but now it's 3 degrees and we're due for sub-zero temps tonight.  On it goes, winter.  Last week was a long week with lots of grumpy people who are sick of winter.  This week doesn't look to be much different--out great hope for a warmer March seems to be a pipe dream at this point.  I don't like March, it's the cruelest month for sure.  We have snow, cold, a day or two when it's vaguely reminiscent of spring, then more cold and snow.  I don't think we'll have an early spring this year, and for sure, with 36" of ice on the lake we won't see open water for a long time.

We had book group tonight, very nice.  We read Where'd you go, Bernadette, and had a nice and (for us) long discussion about the book.  We liked it.

Yesterday I watched Dallas Buyers Club, which is an amazing film.  I really liked it, it's very powerful and well done.  Some amazing acting.  Now I'm watching the Oscars.  Well, they're on but I'm not really paying attention.  The house is warm, the fire is hot, the dogs are snoring.  All is right with the world.

Went to P&J's today, had a nice visit with Bill there.  Came home, made brownies for book group, read a little of this & that, watched too much tv.  Yesterday I went to the dump--took a huge bag of garbage, which was, as always, very satisfying.  I'm getting good at filling those big contractor's garbage bags.

Not much else going on.  Off to work tomorrow, beginning of what promises to be a busy week.  Well, sort of busy.  A couple of important meetings, lunch with a friend, more cleaning around my desk.  I threw out 6 years worth of magazines last week and now just need to address the piles of books that I thought (at one point) worth keeping.  Back to weeding the collection, I think.  That will feel good.

Dogs are fine.  Treasure had a huge lump on her chest but it's much smaller now.  I think it was a hematoma after all, which is a relief.  She's having some digestive issues with lots of vomiting, worrying me.  I bought cheap dog biscuits and wonder if that's the problem.  There's much fuss about poisonous dog food on the market lately so I'm thinking about that.  I haven't changed their food but these are different biscuits.  I'm rambling.