Thursday, March 26, 2015
Georgia!
Home again
I made it! Had a great trip, wonderful visit and made it home on Monday night. I got there just fine and Joe was waiting at the airport, the Jose Laundry Taxi Service just for me. We did a lot of fun things and saw a lot of interesting and beautiful sights. I like southern Georgia a lot. The weather was grand, sure beats the snow we're having now. I got home to -2 degrees and icy conditions, which then warmed up and got slushy. Now we're having some snow and it's due to be cold.
What did we do? What did we see? Where did we go? Oh so many answers! We toured the island, we saw reproductions of the Nina and Pinta, we went to Savannah for the day, we went to Jekyl island and saw turtles and we went to wonderful beaches. Joe & Martha are the ultimate hosts and treated me royally. We ate out several times, excellent Southern food, and Joe cooked his excellent shrimp--not to mention breakfast every morning. Oh how spoiled was I?
Rough trip home, exacerbated by the cough/cold I came down with. That turned into an asthma event so yesterday I went to the doctor for steroids and cough med. Better today but have a way to go before I stop hacking and suffering. Yes, I suffer. The dogs fared well at the kennel. She really likes them and always compliments me, saying they're good and happy dogs. Yes, I think that's pretty fair. They're exhausted now. They took a long stroll/run this morning but came back in an hour or so.
When I got home disaster struck and I couldn't find my remote control. You can't change the channel with a satellite dish unless you have a remote, so I was stuck watching something someone else picked out. That, of course, was no good. I got a universal remote, got it almost all set so am happily settled on my couch with my snoring dogs. Oh I'm so addicted to television!
Next week I go to RI to spend Easter with my mother and Mark, leaving Thursday and coming back Tuesday. No plans after that except for doctor's appointment and book group. Then we'll be cruising alone toward spring, one can hope.
What did we do? What did we see? Where did we go? Oh so many answers! We toured the island, we saw reproductions of the Nina and Pinta, we went to Savannah for the day, we went to Jekyl island and saw turtles and we went to wonderful beaches. Joe & Martha are the ultimate hosts and treated me royally. We ate out several times, excellent Southern food, and Joe cooked his excellent shrimp--not to mention breakfast every morning. Oh how spoiled was I?
Rough trip home, exacerbated by the cough/cold I came down with. That turned into an asthma event so yesterday I went to the doctor for steroids and cough med. Better today but have a way to go before I stop hacking and suffering. Yes, I suffer. The dogs fared well at the kennel. She really likes them and always compliments me, saying they're good and happy dogs. Yes, I think that's pretty fair. They're exhausted now. They took a long stroll/run this morning but came back in an hour or so.
When I got home disaster struck and I couldn't find my remote control. You can't change the channel with a satellite dish unless you have a remote, so I was stuck watching something someone else picked out. That, of course, was no good. I got a universal remote, got it almost all set so am happily settled on my couch with my snoring dogs. Oh I'm so addicted to television!
Next week I go to RI to spend Easter with my mother and Mark, leaving Thursday and coming back Tuesday. No plans after that except for doctor's appointment and book group. Then we'll be cruising alone toward spring, one can hope.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Airport waiting
I'm at the Burlington airport now, waiting for time to pass until my newly-assigned plane leaves. My flight was changed from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. so I have plenty of time to do...what? Well, I've played with my Kindle, I've had a cup of coffee, I've checked on Barnes & Noble, which doesn't open until 9 (too late). Now I'm at the Information Desk using the free connection. How safe is this? Probably not very.
I went to RI last week and had a great visit with my mother and Mark. The weather was pretty crummy but it was nice to be there. They have about as much snow as I do at home so that was a drag. The dogs could walk on top of the snow, which meant they could easily have jumped out of the pen but they're too stoopid to know how to do that.
We didn't go to the beach--Mark had a nasty cold so we just stayed in and read a lot. Very peaceful and nice. On Liza's birthday we didn't go out to eat but instead had an "everyone's favorite food" meal. I cooked delicious shrimp scampi, Mark cooked a steak, and I had my lobster the next night. Lobster is definitely my favorite food.
On Sunday we went out for breakfast then tried to go shopping in the town where I used to live, but the stores there don't open until noon so that was a bust. We drove around looking at the water instead, which Liza liked. Up to a point.
Today I'm on my way to Georgia to see Joe and Martha for 5 days. It will be grand to be with them, and I'm very curious about the weather and landscape there. Couldn't be more different than what is going on here. Still have snow, temps in single digits in the morning (well, maybe not today, I think it was 11) and "warming" to the 30's and maybe 40's while I'm gone.
The dogs are at the kennel. This is a small place near where I live. The owners have 22 sled dogs (Siberian huskies), really beautiful dogs. They were getting ready to go sledding when I dropped off the dogs yesterday morning. The dogs marched right into the building as if they wanted to be there. Well, who knows what dogs want or think, maybe they think of kenneling as a big adventure.
I went to RI last week and had a great visit with my mother and Mark. The weather was pretty crummy but it was nice to be there. They have about as much snow as I do at home so that was a drag. The dogs could walk on top of the snow, which meant they could easily have jumped out of the pen but they're too stoopid to know how to do that.
We didn't go to the beach--Mark had a nasty cold so we just stayed in and read a lot. Very peaceful and nice. On Liza's birthday we didn't go out to eat but instead had an "everyone's favorite food" meal. I cooked delicious shrimp scampi, Mark cooked a steak, and I had my lobster the next night. Lobster is definitely my favorite food.
On Sunday we went out for breakfast then tried to go shopping in the town where I used to live, but the stores there don't open until noon so that was a bust. We drove around looking at the water instead, which Liza liked. Up to a point.
Today I'm on my way to Georgia to see Joe and Martha for 5 days. It will be grand to be with them, and I'm very curious about the weather and landscape there. Couldn't be more different than what is going on here. Still have snow, temps in single digits in the morning (well, maybe not today, I think it was 11) and "warming" to the 30's and maybe 40's while I'm gone.
The dogs are at the kennel. This is a small place near where I live. The owners have 22 sled dogs (Siberian huskies), really beautiful dogs. They were getting ready to go sledding when I dropped off the dogs yesterday morning. The dogs marched right into the building as if they wanted to be there. Well, who knows what dogs want or think, maybe they think of kenneling as a big adventure.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
I'm heading to Rhode Island tomorrow morning--my mother turns 89 on Friday so I'm spending a few days with her. Travel should be effortless, clear weather and no real traffic on a Thursday. I'm coming back on Monday. It was funny today, I thought about scheduling the trip--I can go any day and stay as long as I want. Of course there are complications--Weds. is my day to volunteer at the Historical Association, and I usually have lunch with Julie after that. Next week I'm going to Georgia to see Joe & Martha, so I wanted to come back early enough to get organized for that. Monday night is a St. Patrick's Day dinner at J&P's with Bill & Fred. I furnished the food but knew it would be hard and complicated for me to cook it all (and besides, it's doubtful that Jim would come to my house) so I asked if Pat would do it. It expanded into a larger crowd but should be a lot of fun. Corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, etc. Yum.
I haven't been doing much (seems I always start that way). Friday I had lunch with friend, one of 3 lunch dates last week. It was a very quiet weekend--pretty much all I did was go to the dump on Sat. and go to J&P's on Sunday. No, I didn't accomplish much around the house, either. Monday I went to Plattsburgh hoping to take care of everything I needed to before my trip, but of course I needed to do more today. It's very strange to be making this trip without having it be a vacation from something--I'm used to being excited about having days off when I go to RI, but now it's just a change of scene and a chance to visit with Liza and Mark.
Our weather is just grand, moving right along toward spring. Old Hawkeye Rd is muddy and getting muddier as the ground thaws. I don't always drive to the house, the driveway is full of heavily rutted snow. I did come tonight, though, so I can pack the car tomorrow morning. I've been well organized on that front, packing things bit by bit so there's not that much left to pack. It's supposed to be in the 20's tomorrow, so at least I won't feel cheated out of a spring day.
What will my time in RI be like? Lots of visiting, relaxing, doing any errands that might be helpful to my mother. There's a wonderful restaurant at an inn near her that's one of my all-time favorites It's expensive but really nice, so I'm hoping maybe we'll go there to celebrate Liza's birthday. I take the dogs and they get pretty bored. Mark likes to go to the beach with them so we'll doubtless do that. Lobsters? Maybe. Flounder? Most likely. All in all a nice quiet time.
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
Early morning musings
Sometimes, if you go to bed early enough you get enough sleep so that when you get up at 2:00 a.m. you feel refreshed and energetic. That happens to me sometimes, though not as often as it used to. If you don't have to go to work it doesn't matter much what hours you keep (though my doctor told me to sleep at night because he has too many patients who stay up all night and sleep during the day--I try to do what my doctor suggests). I've been getting up at 6 or 6:30 every morning and enjoying the time. The dogs are interested in eating and going outside, then they collapse and snore. I love the way they're in a big hurry to get up so they can go back to sleep. Right now they're both snoring here in the living room with me. Very peaceful sound.
I haven't been doing much (it seems that's pretty much all I say these days). I volunteer at the Historical Society for a couple of hours on Wednesday mornings, and that's going pretty well except I made a bunch of mistakes last week and am hoping no one will have noticed that by this week.
Today I'm going to Plattsburgh. I have a hair appointment, then lunch with Barb, then a bunch of errands. I need some groceries--I seem to need groceries every week but am spending less than I used to. I guess it's a frame of mind when you live far from decent stores that, when you're in the vicinity of decent stores you buy things. Stocking up. I also need birdseed and a few other non-grocery things. I've cut way back on the number of trips. I'm down to 2 days a week in Plattsburgh, mostly for banking, groceries, lunch with friends.
I'm having serious septic problems, a first for this house. Something is frozen, either the pipe to the tank or the leach field, so I have very limited facilities. My shower doesn't drain into the tank so that's fine. I have easy access to the Holts' house so it's pretty much just and inconvenience. I don't know exactly where my septic tank is, and it would require a backhoe to get to it right now so I'm just living with it. Does this make any sense? Not really, but I think I'm just happy to have running water so I can deal with anything else.
I'm off to RI next week for my mother's 89th birthday and flushable toilet. This week I'm not doing much, lunch in Pbg with friends twice, hair appointment, and my weekly volunteering at the Historical Association. I do enjoy my work there but last week I made a bunch of mistakes and didn't have time to correct them all. Rats. I'm not sure what I'll be doing this week--I finished scanning the photos in one cabinet and maybe there are more. They seem to be happy with my work but that's just because they haven't discovered my mistakes.
I've been spending time with the Brousseaus because their son Jon was diagnosed with leukemia last week. Very scary and sad. He was in the hospital in Burlington last week but is home now with oral chemo. The doctors were encouraged by early results of the chemo so we're all hopeful.
I play with my Kindle Fire a lot. Cheap e-books are a treat so I'm building quite a library. I read The girl on the train, which has been touted as the new Gone girl. It's well written and a good read. Not so much like Gone girl but similar. I can't say I've come across any great literature lately but I'm reading every night.
Dogs are fine, I am fine, life is good. It's now 5 degrees outside, but that's PLUS five. It was -7 on Sunday morning but has warmed up since then and there's no sub-zero in the forecast.. Zero, yes, but not sub-zero. It was almost 20 on Sunday and in the 20's yesterday so there's hope. The snowbanks along the road are starting to get granular, which is a sign of late, late winter. Frost heaves are not as bad this year, which seems strange considering the harshness of the season.
I have plenty of birds at my feeder, but not a wide variety, just chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches and blue jays. The chickadees are very dear and greet me when I fill the feeder. They've started singing their spring song, one of the earliest signs of a change of season. It's coming, it's coming.
I haven't been doing much (it seems that's pretty much all I say these days). I volunteer at the Historical Society for a couple of hours on Wednesday mornings, and that's going pretty well except I made a bunch of mistakes last week and am hoping no one will have noticed that by this week.
Today I'm going to Plattsburgh. I have a hair appointment, then lunch with Barb, then a bunch of errands. I need some groceries--I seem to need groceries every week but am spending less than I used to. I guess it's a frame of mind when you live far from decent stores that, when you're in the vicinity of decent stores you buy things. Stocking up. I also need birdseed and a few other non-grocery things. I've cut way back on the number of trips. I'm down to 2 days a week in Plattsburgh, mostly for banking, groceries, lunch with friends.
I'm having serious septic problems, a first for this house. Something is frozen, either the pipe to the tank or the leach field, so I have very limited facilities. My shower doesn't drain into the tank so that's fine. I have easy access to the Holts' house so it's pretty much just and inconvenience. I don't know exactly where my septic tank is, and it would require a backhoe to get to it right now so I'm just living with it. Does this make any sense? Not really, but I think I'm just happy to have running water so I can deal with anything else.
I'm off to RI next week for my mother's 89th birthday and flushable toilet. This week I'm not doing much, lunch in Pbg with friends twice, hair appointment, and my weekly volunteering at the Historical Association. I do enjoy my work there but last week I made a bunch of mistakes and didn't have time to correct them all. Rats. I'm not sure what I'll be doing this week--I finished scanning the photos in one cabinet and maybe there are more. They seem to be happy with my work but that's just because they haven't discovered my mistakes.
I've been spending time with the Brousseaus because their son Jon was diagnosed with leukemia last week. Very scary and sad. He was in the hospital in Burlington last week but is home now with oral chemo. The doctors were encouraged by early results of the chemo so we're all hopeful.
I play with my Kindle Fire a lot. Cheap e-books are a treat so I'm building quite a library. I read The girl on the train, which has been touted as the new Gone girl. It's well written and a good read. Not so much like Gone girl but similar. I can't say I've come across any great literature lately but I'm reading every night.
Dogs are fine, I am fine, life is good. It's now 5 degrees outside, but that's PLUS five. It was -7 on Sunday morning but has warmed up since then and there's no sub-zero in the forecast.. Zero, yes, but not sub-zero. It was almost 20 on Sunday and in the 20's yesterday so there's hope. The snowbanks along the road are starting to get granular, which is a sign of late, late winter. Frost heaves are not as bad this year, which seems strange considering the harshness of the season.
I have plenty of birds at my feeder, but not a wide variety, just chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches and blue jays. The chickadees are very dear and greet me when I fill the feeder. They've started singing their spring song, one of the earliest signs of a change of season. It's coming, it's coming.
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