Home alone

The Big Visit has ended.  Ted arrived Monday afternoon and left this afternoon.  Not an extended visit, just long enough to re-connect and re-affirm our close friendship.  We were close in college and lived together with another friend after we graduated.  We talked a lot about our friend Sally, who was my roommate all though college.  She died when she was in law school in the 70's and both Ted an I took her death very hard.  It would be so much fun to share our lives with her now, but oh well.

We spent hours talking, just talking.  Yesterday we went to Lake Placid (what else are you going to do?) and walked up and down Main St.  I was very nice and went into the bookstore to say hello to my former mother-in-law (and cousin's wife).  I introduced her to Ted so I'm sure it's all over the family now that I have a man friend (who s not Bill or Fred).  Big whoop.

We sat on the boat house porch for a long time when we got back from Placid, watching 4 loons and 3 kayakers.  The lake was extremely quiet and lovely.  Ted loves it here, which shouldn't surprise me, it's a wonderful place.  This morning he said he'd like to go back to Placid, so we did.  We found a coffee bar with a nice balcony overlooking Mirror Lake--we sat there yesterday and again today, it was lovely.

Ted's wife died when their children were about 10 and 12, so he talked a lot about losing her, raising the kids (who have both graduated from college and are gainfully employed), what life is like when you lose someone like that.  It was very sweet and nice, lots of fruitful conversations.

So now what?  After he left I went to the dump (what am I going to do with all the food I bought to feed him that we didn't eat?), took a shower, called my mother, and will go to Linda's to give her a full report soon.  Then tomorrow will come and my life will return to what passes for normal.  What is that?

Beautiful day

It's a beautiful August day, clear, sunny, slightly cool and breezy.  These are the days I remember from childhood--we'd climb a mountain, or the bluffs, or something, and it would be hot, very hot so we would be eager to get back to camp.  Rush back, put on our bathing suits and the dock would be windy and cool and the water cold.  What a disappointment!   Lately the water has been much warmer than I remember it, now merely refreshing, not chilling.

I've had some really wonderful dock days with Linda, boy we have fun together.  We watch boaters and people on jet-skis with our binoculars, we talk to the neighbors, we laugh (a lot) and we swim.  She has the best water toys, a noodle is one of our favorites.

I've just about finished with the cleaning project.  Or maybe I've just given up.  I vacuumed and swept the downstairs to death, now just have the upstairs bedroom to vacuum.  And empty the wastebaskets.  The dogs got all excited when I pulled out the contractor-sized garbage bag: garbage bags mean a trip to the dump and a trip to the dump means TREATS from Dump Bob.  Sorry, ladies, the dump isn't open until Weds., I'm just getting ready for company.

I hosted book group last night on the boat house porch, all went well.  I made lasagna rolls from a recipe we shared 25 years ago at work.  We actually did discuss the book, though briefly of course.  We had a nice time and the loon showed up, just for effect.

I have to do the dishes from last night, I brought them home.  Not a big deal, just something I put off, doing dishes.  Have to take a shower.  Again, not a big deal, just something I put off.  Too busy watching morning news shows right now to interrupt myself.  But my company will be here in 3 hours so I have to at least think about getting these things done.

What am I going to do to entertain my company (let's call him Ted, that's his name)?  Such a good question.  Lake Placid?  Whiteface? The bluffs?  Boat ride? Cocktails on the boat house porch?  Maybe even a trip to the vet, as Tess is not doing well with her ragweed allergy at all.  How long do I wait before taking her in?  She's taking all the meds that have been prescribed but she's just not right, poor dear.

I'm feeling pretty lucky, and looking forward to seeing my friend.

Making progress, taking breaks

My cleaning work is coming along.  If only I'd learn to do this OFTEN, it wouldn't be such a chore.  I finished the upstairs bathroom, which included cleaning the shower and washing the floor.  I got started on the downstairs bathroom and dusted/swept the stairs.  Boy that doesn't sound like much, but I'm closing in on the end of my list.  Tonight I'll finish with the downstairs bathroom.  I think I'll have to wash the upstairs floor--it's rough pine boards and I don't think sweeping or Swiffering will get rid of the dust.  There's a clean path from the top of the stairs to the bathroom, duh, but the floor will look good when I finish.  I have vacuuming to do and, worst of all, mowing the lawn.  I did some path clearing at the foot of the deck stairs, which is a huge improvement.  Now I must mow mow mow.  But not NOW, it's too hot.

I took a break this afternoon and spent 2 1/2 hours with Linda on her dock.  It was glorious, warm sun and cool water, lots of swimming.  Oh so pleasant.

I went to the dump and to AuSable this morning, always feels good to get rid of things.  I had coffee with Fred and Linda, looking from F's porch to a calm and gorgeous lake.  Ahhhhhh, this is a nice time of year.

Different camera, same dog

I bought a new camera today, but not the one I thought I was getting--duh.  I'm the worst consumer.  I just pointed at the box and said "that's the one I want," without checking it out.  Oh well, it's a Coolpix, just a different one from the one I meant to buy.  It's waterproof and so is a little bigger than what I wanted, but who knows, I may use it underwater some time.  Oh wait, I just realized I can use it when I'm in the water and want to shoot pictures of the dogs (or people) on the dock.  OK, now I feel better.

Anyway, this is Treasure, taken by my new Nikon.  She looks the same as she did with the old cameras.

I had a busy day but not busy in the way I should have been.  I went to Plattsburgh, ran a lot of errands (including the purchase of the camera), bought produce at a farm stand, had lunch with Julie, baked the dogs in a hot car, then came home.  I went to some friends' camp to drop off some books and they were sitting on their dock with other friends.  A party!  It was nice, all of the people there are leaving tomorrow, some will return for Columbus Day but others will be gone for the next year.  Hard to believe we're flying into September already.  I need to have my stovepipe cleaned, I'll be burning wood within the month I bet.

I've been cleaning and sorting all week, have been able to cross off a lot of things on my list, though there are still quite a few left.  I leave the most disagreeable jobs for last.  That's dumb.  I still have to mow and weed whack, and clean the bathrooms and shower.  I can re-write my list many times, but those will still be on it.  Finish cleaning the kitchen, vacuum, clean the upstairs hallway, vacuum the extra bedroom, oh it could go on forever.  I did clean my bedroom and the laundry room and got a good start on the living room.  I suppose if I dusted regularly dusting wouldn't be such a chore, right?  When we were kids we had assigned cleaning jobs every weekend.  My usual job was to empty and wash the ashtrays--both parents smoked and it sure felt as if no one else ever emptied the ashtrays, lots of butts every weekend.  Anyway, we dusted often so you'd think that would be part of my cleaning routine.  But no, it turns out I don't have a cleaning routine.  I clean when someone is coming to visit.  One might conclude I don't feel that I'm worthy of having a clean house just for me, but that isn't true, it's just that I don't like to clean.  Really don't like to.

Tomorrow morning will be coffee with Fred and Linda, then I really need to make myself finish my house.  I have a good dump load--going there will distract me.  I should buy cold cuts, so a trip to the store in Redford may be called for (though maybe I'll save that for Sunday).  I have to have to have to get this house in order.

Boat ride

 Went on a wonderful boat ride last night with friends: here is the boat house, looking quite imposing and sturdy.

And here's our shore front--the small cabin on the water is the one communal sleeping cabin.  There are 6 sleeping cabins, one for each of the 5 Rogers families, and Dockside, the one pictured here.

It was a great boat ride, we went around the whole lake and were reminded how lucky we are to have so much "forever wild" state land at Silver Lake.

I've been working on my house, just cleaning cleaning cleaning and trying to reach some kind of peace with the place.  It's overwhelming and I can't keep up with it, but I do like living here.  I have a college friend coming next week, the reason for my frenzy.  Tomorrow I'll go to Plattsburgh for groceries, lunch with Julie and errands.  Today I'll go to AuSable Forks to mail a letter to my mother and buy some wine and the very nice local liquor store there.  And I'll clean my 2 bathrooms, oh yes I will.  Oh how I hate cleaning bathrooms!

BEACH TIME!  That would be me, in the foreground, and Mark dozing next to me.  We had a good time in RI, some excellent beaching.  The water was crystal clear, which is necessary for me to truly enjoy water.  I'm totally spoiled by sping-fed Silver Lake, where the water is clear down to 15 feet or more.

I went to my mother's on Monday the 15th, stayed until Sunday the 21st.  The traffic on the trip down was just awful, so much traffic, and I was very dozey so I stopped a few times and it took longer to get there.  Ugh.  I've learned that maybe August is not the best time to travel from one vacation spot to another.  My trip home was better but I came through VT and NH, around Boston.  It was an easy trip home, less traffic and I made good time.  I stopped at the NH Liquor Store, which I loved.  I like poking around liquor stores, a funny entertainment.  I got some excellent bourbon, a nice herbal vermouth for Erdvilas, a nice gin for Erdvilas, some whiskey for Jim Brousseau, some special gin for Fred--maybe that's it, I can't remember.  I didn't allow myself to wander through the wine section, way too tempting.  Anyway I spent plenty of money but loved it.

So I got home Sunday night, had a peaceful re-entry into Hawkeye Life.  It was very hot and humid in RI, too humid.  It has cleared here and cooled way off.  It was in the high 40's yesterday morning, 50's this morning, and in the 70's yesterday and today.  Yesterday I went to Plattsburgh, got my errands done and had a nice lunch with Barb.  Well, maybe the lunch wasn't so nice, the restaurant was packed and noisy and it took too long for our food to arrive.  But we enjoyed being together, which is really the point (except that we were both really hungry and got tired of waiting).

I went to Linda's for cocktails, tasting the bourbon I bought (which is delicious).  After drinks we went to Wilmington for ice cream with Fred, always a nice treat (both the ice cream and time spent with Fred).

I had trouble getting to sleep last night, then was up during the night and slept soundly on the couch this morning.  Yikes, Fred called at 8 and I was sleeping soundly on the couch.  I dreamed I was in the Miss America pageant.  Is this the new version of my anxiety dream?  Geez I hope not.  Anyway, Fred wanted to go to the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, so that's how we spent our day.  It was a fantastic August day, clear, sunny and warm.  The Wild Center was grand but Fred had limited mobility so that was a bit worrisome.  I walked the new trail there that's above the trees, very fancy and special..  It was great, good mountain views in the distance.

I just got home from Joe & Martha's, had a nice visit with them and their grandson.  Now I'm cooking some local corn for dinner.  I have a lot of housework to do, both inside and outdoors.  My college friend is coming next week and I really can't present my house in its current condition.  Oh my oh my there is a lot to do!  I'm hoping we'll be able to sleep at camp but I need to get the house in better shape.  I got a bit of a start this afternoon.  Tomorrow is a boat ride with friends and dinner with Linda & Erdvilas.  But FIRST:  study the list I've made of chores and get some of them done.

My dollies

They're cute, they're dear, and they're mine.

Away we go

Leaving for Rhode Island in the morning.  I can't believe how well organized and nearly packed I am for this trip.  I never have this much ready before mornings.  Maybe that's because I opted to stay home today and tonight, tired of the social life that has consumed me for the past weeks.

We had a meeting of the shoreowners' association this afternoon.  That went well.  I've been president twice, now I'm a member of whatever "board" there is.  We have by-laws but don't seem to be paying much attention to term limits.  The woman who is president is great and no one else wants to do it so we're letting it go.  Anyway the meeting was fine.  The Town Supervisor was there and spoke well.  He's a big improvement over his predecessor, I feel good about out town government (except for the one councilman I truly can't stand).

I had to go to the boat house to change the bed there and dreaded going down.  I've been lucky this week, no one was in camp since Monday, but now my ex-husband and his wife are there with friends.  Oh how I wanted to avoid going there, but I needed some things from the boat house, needed to feed the hummingbirds, and wanted to change the bed.  YAY!  I did it.  Everyone was on the dock and my dogs surprised me by staying at my side the whole time.  This is all very silly and childish.  There was a time when I wanted to talk with Jamie, be friendly (I thought).  Now I don't.  I just don't.  We have single-sentence conversations when we're face to face, as we were at the family meeting last weekend. 

So why am I going to RI at the peak of my social season in Hawkeye?  Probably BECAUSE it's the peak of my season.  There are  3 sets of people here for the week, all of whom like to get together (and drink) so it will be a busy time here.  I'm going to see my mother, of course, but I think part of the appeal of this trip is the escape from Hawkeye.  Staying with Liza is always relaxing, and I can feel that I'm doing something to improve the quality of her life.  We have very nice conversations and visits, I drive her everywhere she wants to go (this time she wants to go to the town beach, that's an easy one) and I like being there.  It's hard on my dogs because they have to stay in the pen at her house, no running free.  Sometimes Mark and I take them or early morning walks but that's harder to do in the summer because of the tourists.  No beach walks.  We can go to the wonderful park but they have to be on leashes there because they've turned into very BAD DOGS and wander.

So we'll have beach time, lobster time, we'll go to our favorite breakfast restaurant on the shore--for lunch this time.  I'll get some good coffee beans for Linda.  Liza will ask me 5 times if I want anything from her house and we'll make each other laugh.  Mark is on vacation and hopes to paint his apartment so I may help him with that.  or not.  Anyway, it will be a good trip.

This is what I look like when surround by cousins, cousins' children and cousins' grandchildren.  "Whaaaa?"  We had our family meeting and it all went well.  Very harmonius, no discord, some actual decisions made.  15 minutes of business and 45 minutes of conversation, not bad, not bad at all.  I had some nice visits with people, I was the only rep. from my family there but that turned out not to matter much as no major issues were brought up.  Whew.

That was last weekend.  The week before was full of social things, lots of dinner, coffee in the mornings with friends, dinners with friends, a doctor's appointment thrown in, helping a friend with a broken-down car, just "stuff" going on.  A busy time.

Just a view of the mountain on a day with nice clouds.  I've had some very nice dock time, just me and my dogs, and several nights of having camp to myself.  I sleep well in the boat house, especially when it's as hot as it's been.  Always cooler at the lake.  Tonight I'm home, once again camp is full of other people and a) I don't want to intrude, and b) I like to be alone in camp.  It's been very busy.

The dogs are just fine.  Right now they're outside breathing cooler air.  I was at Linda's tonight for Moroccan dinner, delicious, celebrating Joe's birthday.  For his REAL birthday we went on a cruise out of Burlington on Lake Champlain, which was way cool.  That was a lot of fun.  It was a hot day but we sat in the bow where there was a grand breeze.  I really enjoyed the day.  Since then it's been too hot to enjoy much.  Yesterday I spent the entire day at camp (I promised the dogs I'd spend the day with them), sitting on the dock for a while until the biting flies just were too much to bear, then I sat on the boat house porch and swam once in a while to cool off.  It was 96 in Plattsburgh, probably merely 90 here in Hawkeye.  Today felt worse, it was more humid.  I just felt that, if I did go swimming I would never be dry because of the humidity.  Anyway I got the boat house in pretty good shape, and emptied the camp fridge as I promised I would.  Tomorrow I go to the dump with at least 20 1-gallon water jugs from camp and a friend's recyclables, camp garbage, boat house garbage, my garbage.  Yikes.  First is coffee with friends and a field trip to a marvelous bakery in Keeseville.

Monday I'm going to RI for the week.  Mark is on vacation so we'll either paint his apartment or just go to the beach.  Anyway I'll see my mother and we'll enjoy being together.