happy holidays

 This is what they spend a lot of time doing at my mother's house.  It's very dull compared to life here at 58OHR, where they can run free.  Their "running" is limited to a small pen.  Sometimes Mark and I take them for walks on the beach or at the park, but that didn't happen this time.  Awww, too bad Ladies.

Mark decorating the tree.  As always, he put at least a thousand white lights on the tree.  It's pretty and bright.  I didn't help decorate it, I do my tree and that's it.

I had a good Christmas, my trip there was easy and uneventful.  My days there were quiet and very nice.  I spent time with my mother, who is 90 and seems old, older than at Thanksgiving.  We ran errands before Christmas, did some Christmas shopping and got groceries.  All very nice.

The weather was grand, warm with some slight rain.  Christmas Day was lovely, we opened presents then had our traditional bagels and lox breakfast (courtesy of Mark).  Yum that was tasty, as always.  Oh, and did I mention that Christmas Eve we had lobsters, clams and mussels?  Yes, Liza and I went to Champlin's for delicious fare.  I cooked the dinner, that's easy, and we had a nice dinner.  Christmas dinner was a delicious roast of beef that Mark cooked, so very tender and flavorful.

Was there more to Christmas than the food?  Yes of course.  Big excitement was at the bird feeder in the back yard: there was a falcon there who snatched first a blue jay, which it pounded into the ground before I scared it away (then it flew into the woods with the blue jay in its talons), then it snatched a cardinal the next day.  Yikes, very dramatic.  Liza wasn't pleased and doesn't want that bird at her feeder, eating the songbirds she likes to watch.  She has a ton of titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, with a smattering of cardinals and towhees and an occasional woodpecker.  Very nice collection.

I came home yesterday, leaving RI in the morning and making a stop in Hanover, NH to see a favorite cousin.  I only visited with them for a couple of hours, but it was enough to make my ride home a long and dark one.  Dark when I got home as well, because there was no power in my house.  HORRORS!   The house was cold, 33, my house plants had frozen and there was ice in the dogs' water bowl.  Holy crap.  I called the power company and that worked out well but it took the poor man hours to find my house (you can't very well say "look for the light in the woods").  We discovered the problem, a meter that was separated from it's housing because it had been hit by falling ice and snow from the roof.  Rats!  He fixed it quickly and easily, but that was only step 1.

The floor behind the washing machine was wet, which means the pipes there burst.   I always (ALWAYS) turn off the pump and water heater when I go away, so at least there was no massive water leakage.  I have yet to uncover the splits in the pipes, I'm saving that for the plumber who will hopefully arrive tomorrow morning to mend the several-times-mended pipes.  I wrapped the pipes in insulation but there was no heat for 4 days, as near as I can figure, so the whole house got cold, very cold.

I got water from the Holts today (Annie called from Costa Rica in response to my email to her--they wanted me to move into their house.  No, that might make too much sense for me), and the house is now too warm.  It's not cold out, temp is 29, and we're not having the tons of snowfall that was predicted.  We only got a couple of inches here though I suppose we may get more overnight.  This huge storm has left us pretty much unaffected.  That's a relief.  I always used to say I preferred cold to snow, snow was so complicated to deal with.  Now however, I say PLEASE, no cold, no sub-zero, just give us snow to insulate the well and the septic system.  We have neither right now, just a few inches of snow on the ground.  There was about a foot of snow when I left last week but it rained here, then got cold so there's very slippery ice under the snow.  Slicker than snot, as they say (they?  who says that?).

Tomorrow I'll go to Plattsburgh in the afternoon, time to get some supplies.  I think I have to throw out most of what is in my fridge and some of what is in my freezer.  Oh life is never simple here, is it.

Visitors

There were 5 of these at the feeder last week, before I left for Rhode Island.  They drove the dogs nuts, while the dogs watched from the living room.  I wouldn't let the dogs out to chase the turkeys, making Treasure sing songs I never realized she knew.  Wow did she make some amazing noises.

Where did I go?

This year's Christmas tree, a tabletop tree as usual.  This one was hand-picked and cut fresh for me by Lin and Ralph.  I'm lucky, very lucky to have good friends.  At the foot of the tree is my Labrador creche.

I like this art shot--it's the reflection of my tree in the living room window at dusk.  Pretty, I thought.

I haven't been anywhere, just been busy I guess.  I've been working on Christmas--knitting some things, buying (too many) things, wrapping and packing packages, writing Christmas cards, celebrating a birthday and visiting with friends.  All of the above.  I'm having a good time with Christmas this year, though I admit I've spent too much money.  Oh well.

I'm going to Rhode Island on the 20th (Tuesday), staying until the 28th (Weds.).  Should be nice.  I won't worry about my house freezing, the weather here is predicted to be warm and pleasant.  Yesterday was neither, it was -13 in the morning, got up to 7 during the day.  My house was pretty warm and my pipes did NOT freeze.  Both of those were achievements I was proud of.  I've sprayed insulating foam around the kitchen window that doesn't close.  Boy do I hate working with that stuff, I'm no good at it and it's messy, very messy.  I made a bigger hole in the laundry room wall where the pipes come in and wrapped the pipes that always freeze and sometimes burst.  I moved the washing machine away from the wall to let the warm air circulate to the pipes.  Oh poop, it's only taken me 20 years to figure this out. 

Today was a warmer day, getting warmer tonight.  It's up to 23 right now and is supposed to be warmer and rainy later on Sunday, then it's supposed to freeze and go below zero again overnight.  Very confusing.  Ice is not my friend.

I had a really nice birthday this year, maybe too much attention.  I went to Pat & Jim's for a birthday visit & drink on the 12th, went to lunch with them the next day.  I had lunch with Barb the following day and lunch with Julie the day after that.  Boy that's a lot of lunch, isn't it?  But these are wonderful people, my friends, and I always enjoy being with them.  Too many presents, though.  I feel very well celebrated.

My roof is leaking tonight--this happens every winter.  I get ice under the metal plates on the roof in a couple of spots, then it melts inside the roof and drip drip drips in the living room.  Annoying, very annoying, and the cathedral ceiling in the living room is permanently stained from this.  It's very unattractive and I don't even want to know what it looks like under the wood paneling.  Oh my house, it's such a house.

I had dinner with Annie on Thursday night and again tonight.  She's been here since Weds., is going back to DC tomorrow.  They're going to Costa Rica for Christmas, that sounds  nice.  All of the kids and grandchildren will be there.

The dogs are doing well.  Tess continues to be old but seems OK.  They thought it was pretty darn cold yesterday and it was hard for them to have all 4 paws on the ground at the same time.  They didn't stay out long.  Neither did I.

Christmas is coming.  I like Christmas.

Winter Saturday

It's winter all of a sudden.  Temp this morning was 12 and it was cold, a very cold wind.  We have probably 8 or 9 inches of snow on the ground and this morning there was a thin layer of ice on the lake.  I went to the new post of our regular dump man (who was bumped from his post by someone with seniority).  It's too far to go every week but I wanted to make him feel welcomed to his new home and wanted to say hello.  He did like it that I went, and gave the dogs double biscuits and came out to talk to them.  I think I'll have to go to one of the dumps that's a lot closer, where I don't know the people and they probably don't give dogs biscuits.  Well...life is full of changes and sometimes change is good.

I have my wonderful Christmas tree up, decorated, and pretty.  Ralph picked it out and he did a good job, it just fits on the table without hitting the ceiling.  It has too many ornaments on it but it looks darn fine.

I had a good week but it was pretty quiet.  Lunch with Fred on Tuesday, followed by coffee with Bill when he joined us.  Lunch with Julie on Thursday, and finished up almost completely my Christmas shopping.  Yesterday I went to Burlington for my annual mammogram.  Lin went along but I don't think it was as much fun as she'd hoped--I was tired and didn't feel like playing.  We went to the clinic, that didn't take long, then we went to Trader Joe's, then to lunch and then I felt like coming home.  Awww, no fun!  We stopped at one store in Plattsburgh then I took Lin home, came home myself and lay down.  I don't nap well so I dozed a bit but didn't sleep soundly.  I used to take naps on weekends, before I retired.  Not every weekend but once in a while.  Now I rarely nap.  Once in a while I'll lie down in the afternoon but I don't usually get to sleep.

I slept so very well last night!  It was grand.  The dogs always wake me during the night but last night I didn't really wake up and had no trouble getting back to sleep.  I dreamed that my parents were hosting 4 people from the Navy so we were cleaning the house like mad.  Why the Navy?  Why my parents?  I mentioned it to my mother on the phone this morning and she said she didn't know anyone in the Navy.  My father was in the Army.  Oh well, if I spent much time trying to figure out my dreams I could tie my brain in knots.

Tomorrow I'll go to Pat & Jim's around noon, it will be nice to see them.  They're doing pretty well these days.  Monday night the 3 of us are going out for dinner because I'll be 64.  SIXTY-FOUR!  Who knew we would ever reach these milestones?  I'm lucky, very lucky, to have the life I do at 64.  Today is a good day, I had fun with my dogs, I fed the birds and watched them a while.  I'll finish knitting something for my mother and maybe wrap some presents or finish Christmas cards.  Or maybe I won't.  I love this life.

Snowy Monday

We lost our pre-Thanksgiving snow, it was a nice respite but now we're having new snow.  So far we've got about 5" of fluffy stuff, very pretty.  Yes, I can call it pretty--that won't happen in February, when I'll say "We've seen ENOUGH of this."  It was cold last night, 15 degrees here, and I've accepted winter as the next season.  Good for me!  I'm all in favor of accepting the inevitable.

We had book group last night but oops, we forgot to talk about the book.  Well that's not quite true, we did acknowledge that there was a book, but Marylou forgot what it was about, Lin hated it and I liked it a lot but couldn't remember why.  We use the books as an excuse to get together for dinner and conversation and good friendship.  We had a great tour of M'lou's new house, which is absolutely wonderful.  I'm jealous, oh yes I am, of a single-floor living space that's not cluttered and full.

Lin & Ralph cut Christmas trees yesterday and Ralph picked out a perfect one for me.  I do table-top trees now, I got tired of rearranging furniture and having trees that were only 2/3's decorated because I couldn't reach the top.  I like my trees, and I truly enjoy seeing the ornaments I've collected, plus I really like seeing the bright lights at that end of the room.  I use small colored lights, I switched years ago from white lights to these.  My mother's tree is white lights only and is always beautiful, but I like the colors in my house.  ANYWAY, right now the tree is outside, waiting for me to take action.  I'll get the decorations out this week and put the tree up. 

I have no plans for today, what a cool thing.  I think I'll go into AuSable to mail some stuff and buy stamps.  I've started on my Christmas cards (wow!  that's early!) and am having a good time writing notes in them.  I sometimes wonder why this is so important to me, but I think it's having the opportunity to be in touch with so many friends and relatives at one time that I appreciate.  Why do I only do this at Christmas?  Well I suppose everyone would think it pretty strange if I started sending cards at other times, but wouldn't that be good?   I write to my mother fairly often, and to some other friends from time to time.  I like writing letters.

The dogs have just taken off in the deep snow because Treasure alerted Tess to LOOK OUTSIDE!!!  there's something there I'm sure!   I have no idea what she thinks she saw, I couldn't see a hare or deer or anything but birds at the feeder but I don't question her judgment about bogey-things out there.  It's bright and beautiful.

I'm watching a TV show about a woman who has endometriosis.  Wow, I do remember those days.  This woman has no insurance so can't afford the surgery that will cure it.  I took so many drugs for so many years--all kinds of hormones, not too many painkillers.  My final solution was of course hysterectomy, after 2 previous surgeries.  The freedom from pain and worry about what was happening to my body was fantastic, but the tragedy of infertility was devastating.  Wait, how did we get from Christmas cards to devastation???   I'm just happy that is part of my past, though the lack of my own children in my life is a sadness I always have with me.  What did all of this mean in my life?  I am the person I am, living the life I do because of the things that happened to me along the way.  This was a big one but as I say it's in the past and I suppose I appreciate good health and lack of chronic pain because of it.

So anyway, today is a GOOD day.  I can think about my past with regret, always some regret, but I also know that I have led a good life and have a good future to look forward to.  Even if I AM turning another year older soon.  Oh how I hate birthdays!  I'm always the one to say "it beats the alternative," but boy do I mind getting older.  Stop that, it's what happens, if you're lucky.

Long time gone

Well we had Thanksgiving, then I came home, then I just never got around to this.  Today I'm catching up on things.  I've already been to Plattsbugh, got meds, bought a few groceries, picked up some Thanksgiving prints (none worth posting here), ran a couple of errands and did NOT get a Christmas tree.  It's early to have one.  I always used to have one up by my birthday but that's not been so true in recent years.  They're for sale everywhere, so tempting.

Thanksgiving was nice.  The trip to RI was easy and uneventful.  The visit was grand.  The turkey was moist and tender.  Jenica and Gwyn came for the weekend and we had a very nice time.  Gwyn is cute, clever and wonderful and she was so lovely to me and to my mother (her great-grandmother).  She was a little less wonderful to Mark but had warmed to him by the time she left.  She's a very sweet almost-3-year-old.  And of course Jenica and I had a nice visit.  It's fun to talk library trends with her, we've always shared that.

I haven't really done much since I got home one Monday.  There was still about 5" of snow when I got here but now there are only the piles left behind by the plow.  Bare ground, how grand in December.  It's been rainy and is predicted to be rainy for the next few days, maybe some snow mixed in.  One of the salespeople I spoke with this morning said that her holly bush has a very short sprout this year, which means we'll have a mild winter.  Oh if that were only true.

Big crisis yesterday when I went to the Holts to do laundry--their generator was running!  OH NO!  Dial 911!   No, it turned out there was an actual power outage (tree down) past my house and the generator was behaving as it should have.  Crisis averted, after several calls to Annie in Minn. and lots of fretting on my part.  So today I'll return to their house and finish the laundry.

I had lunch with Julie Weds., made plans to meet what may be my new cat.  She's a used cat, they have 5 and need to find homes for some so I've agreed to take one.  Maybe.  Perhaps.

It's good to be home.  My drive home seemed endless even though it was sunny, there wasn't much traffic, and it was just fine.  I conclude that I'm tired of that trip, mostly just the trip home.  Going there is a pleasure and I look forward to being with Liza and Mark.  Well, I look forward to being home, too, so what's the big deal?  I can't explain it.  But I'm going back in 2 1/2 weeks so I'd better buck up and deal with it.

The dogs are fine.  Tess decided to throw up on the bed in the middle of the night but that was just something she did.  She's fine today, is sleeping soundly and snoring in our new chair.  Treasure is convinced it's time for lunch.  She's almost right.  I fed the birds, why didn't I feed the dogs?