Back to winter

Yesterday it was 60 in Hawkeye, this morning it's 24.  We had sunshine yesterday, then pouring rain with thunder, then finally at least 3 inches of heavy snow.  VERY heavy snow.  Trees are drooping, branches and boughs breaking off.  The snow on my car this morning was like concrete because it all started as ice then was covered with heavy snow, which all froze.  It took a while to uncover the car but I managed fine and got to the gym this morning, spent 40 minutes on the treadmill and had a good visit with my friend.

It's been a bush weekend.  This was the weekend of The Burn.  Joe arrived on Thursday, as did the Holts and their company.  Friday was lunch in Plattsburgh with P&J, Joe and Bill--always a treat.  Friday night was dinner with the Holts--again always a treat.  Yesterday I went to AuSable in the morning for book group groceries for tonight, then I went to the burn.  It was pretty, as it always is, something hypnotic about a big fire, right?  This year the ground was pretty much bare and it was warm, very warm.  It wasn't until late afternoon that the rain started.  What a downpour!  Just amazing for the end of February.  I went to the Holts for dinner, walked down in my mud boots as it started to snow then came home with wet feet because the snow was so much deeper, and had to duck under many drooping boughs along the road.  Dramatic and beautiful effect.

This morning I met my friend at the gym--we'd skipped yesterday so had much to catch up on.  I think tomorrow we'll meet at my house in the afternoon and do some walking around here before having dinner with Annie and her company.  Tonight is book group and I've been trying to come up with a book that's available cheaply or widely at libraries.  I think I may have found one, The flood girls, by Richard Fifield (who was born in 1975, yikes, oh my big yikes).  We'll see how that goes over.  Book group is at Marylou's new house, which is very exciting and wonderful.

Boy my woods look like and Ideals magazine.  Does anyone else remember Ideals?  No, probably not.

It's great to have March arrive but this weather has us all confused.  It was so much like April last week, just wonderful spring-like conditions but the cruelty of weather reality wasn't far away.  Here we are, back in winter but with knowing that spring will indeed arrive.  Wow.

 The Burn

Working the burn

Spring? No, it can't be

It sure feels like spring out there but we have weeks and weeks to go before it could really be spring.  Temps have been in the high 30's and well into the 40's and the sun is warm, much warmer.  I leave for the gym in the morning around 6 and it's getting LIGHT out these days.  I get to see the earliest sign of a sunrise as I pass by Taylor Pond.  It's great.

Yes I'm still hitting the gym in the mornings.  It's going well, not so much in terms of how much weight I'm losing but I have a good time visiting with my friend while we treadmill together.  I'm increasing my speed (marginally) and the incline (again marginally) and I can feel a difference in the "workout" I'm getting.  If it weren't an overused term I'd label it a "so-called workout."  I did figure out how to adjust the tension on the rowing machine so maybe I'll branch out and include that.  Tomorrow we're hitting the pavement with plans to walk outside around AuSable for a change.

I had lunch in Elizabethtown yesterday.  That was a long drive but it was nice to see a different friend.  Tomorrow I'm having lunch in Plattsburgh--I have some errands that can't be done in E'town and was all set to attend to them yesterday, since we were originally scheduled to eat in Plattsburgh but oops, my friend had a meeting in Willsboro so we ate nearer there in E'town.  So I still have some big city errands to take care of. 

I had a good weekend but didn't do much.  I gymmed both days.  Saturday morning was dump time.  Sunday I cleaned some of the house because friends were coming from Albany.  They did come, did some hiking then went to their camp down the road.  Then they stopped by my house (without coming in--what??? you mean I cleaned the house and only I will appreciate that?) and we went to the pizza place in AuSable for dinner and a nice visit.  I managed to stay within my WW points that day even with my personal pizza.

Monday I ended up in Lake Placid at the laundromat (too much driving!).  I had bedding to wash and needed a few groceries so off I went.  It was more crowded than I like but still no lines, no waiting at the 'mat.  I'm getting to be a real pro at commercial laundry-ing.  Needless to say Donny hasn't come back to fix the electrical panel and that's OK.  No big deal.

This will be a busy weekend, it's the weekend of The Burn.  Joe arrives tomorrow.  The Holts arrive tomorrow.  Friday is lunch in Plattsburgh.  Saturday is the burning of the brush pile.  It's supposed to rain and be very warm for that.  Rain, not snow.  Warm, warm days but then it's supposed to cool off but only into the 30's.  I'm waiting for the return of winter, I know it's coming.

What? More snow?

It just snowed and snowed.  We have at least 2 feet on the ground now and the snow is white.  So very white.  We had sunshine today for the first time in well, I don't know how long but it sure felt like a week or so.  Anyway it snowed 2 more inches of fluff last night after Donny plowed.  His plowing is getting more and more cursory, I think maybe he's tired of it.  I no longer move my car so he can do the whole parking area by the house, I think maybe I'm tired of it.  There is still a large space, parking for 3 or 4 so it's fine.

Yesterday I met Carol at the gym (I actually got there first, a first) and we had a good time.  No one else there, not Dave who is often there before we are.  We talk around him mostly, sometimes we include him in the conversation but he's not really that interested in what we're talking about.  Besides, he thinks the media is being so very unfair to Mr. Trump. 

Carol is using the elliptical and she makes it look almost appealing so I may move on to that soon.  I'm only using the treadmill, with a few minutes on the rowing machine these days but I'm actually starting to want more.  Wow, cannot believe I'm feeling that.

Yesterday I took my laundry to Lake Placid, there's a nice laundromat there.  After that I went to see the ice palace in Saranac Lake but I'm so spoiled that I only like going there if no one else is around. Yesterday there was a busload of schoolchildren from Westport running around screaming and having totally too much fun so I didn't even get out of the car.  I'll either go next week or not again who knows.  It's supposed to be very warm with temps in the 40's and that will bring a rapid end to the ice palace.  It's not as big this year, they only had 6 days to build it.  It's impressive as always, just not THAT impressive.

Today was a slower day, I did go to AuSable but that was in the morning and I skipped the gym (no Carol today, she's on the road).  I actually deposited money in my savings account there (this is a new trend) and picked up some things for Jim (including a birthday bottle from Joe) and got yet a few more groceries.  Stopped at P&J's on the way home but didn't stay long.  Came home, did a little shoveling and brought in firewood.  Then what?  Not much.  I did fill out the form I need to submit for a discount on my school taxes, now I just have to take that and some other paperwork to Town Hall.  Can't do that until Monday.

It was a truly beautiful day though a bit chilly.  That surprised me because it was in the 20's with such bright sun and that's usually my favorite kind of winter day.  I always brag about the "crystal clear winter days in the 20's with warm sunshine."  That's what it was but maybe I'm getting older because it didn't feel as wonderful as I expected.  rats.

Snowy time

We had our big storm this week, it snowed Sunday night and Monday.  We ended up with at least a foot of snow, probably more but I didn't measure it.  Donny plowed twice.  Nothing much went on on Monday, places were closed.  I did go to the convenience store for deli turkey (boy is that low in points).  Mostly I stoked the stove and hung out inside but I did visit with P&J.

Tuesday was a busy day.  Met Carol at the gym at 6:30, had a good time there.  Went to Plattsburgh in the morning for a hair cut.  Ran some errands including groceries and bank, then had lunch with Julie.  Since we'd just seen each other on Saturday we didn't have a huge volume of talking but we did have some important things to share.  She's off to Florida for a few days (if she actually did go, of course she was having doubts) so I won't be having coffee in Keene this weekend.

Today I met Carol at the gym early (6:00 instead of 6:30).  That went well, as it always does.  I came home, called my mother who is blue very blue because it's WINTER.  She gets that way every winter but snaps out of it in March.  March isn't far away.  Wow, only 2 weeks!

I came home from the gym and watched the rest of the Westminster show.  I wasn't as interested in it this year, there just weren't the stunning dogs that I'm used to watching.  I wasn't impressed by the German shepherd but then no one asked me about Best in Show.  None of the dogs I picked even won their groups.

I went back to AuSable to take care of some things (bank, grocery store and paid my gym membership).  Stopped at the town hall but couldn't be helped by the secretary there.  Got a phone number of the person who can help me, though so I'll follow up with that.

Now I'm spending the afternoon being quiet and stoking the stove.  Not much going on.  It's snowing again/still.  We'll get 3 inches.  or maybe 5 inches.  but could be 8 inches.  I used to be more fixated on weather forecasts but retirement sure does bring a shift in what concerns me.

Tomorrow I think I'll go to Saranac Lake to see the ice palace then maybe hit a laundromat in Lake Placid.  I don't have a dryer but will at some point, Donny told me he's got my panel and will be by one night this week.  as if.

Valentine's Day view from my living room.

Ccccccold morning

It's not really THAT cold, but the house is not warm because it's so windy.  Temp this morning was -2, now it's up to 1.  I wasn't conscientious about the fire so the living room got down to 57 and is slow to respond to the hot fire I now have.  I'd forgotten what it's like to wear warm clothes, I've been relaxing in t-shirts and bare feet for too long.  Not today.

It was a good week.  I had a successful time at the doctor's, my cholesterol and glucose levels have improved since my last visit--thank you, treadmill and Weight Watchers.  The doctor was thrilled--we all love positive reinforcement, don't we? so I liked seeing him.

I went to the gym on Weds. morning and again on Thursday, met Carol there and had a good time.  yes, a good time.  I don't overdo it for sure but I get enough exercise at my pace.  I've increased the incline instead of speed.  I don't want to risk having an asthma attack so I just plod along like a workhorse.  It works.

Last night I had dinner with the Ruders and Carol and it was a lot of fun.  A cold night but their house is warm.  They're good friends and I didn't eat too much (but maybe drank a glass too many of the great wine)(and the Manhattan didn't help but boy was it delicious).

Today I'm going to the movies with Lin & Ralph, we're going to Lion after lunch in Plattsburgh.  Should be fun.

I need to get to the dump one of these days but it doesn't seem to work out.  "My" dump is only open until noon tomorrow and I'm meeting Julie at 10 in Keene so that won't work.  Hmmm   Maybe I'll g on Monday instead, that's the next time my dump is open.  Must be I don't have a lot to report if doing to the dump is what I write about.

Oops

So much for my efforts at posting often.  I keep thinking I have nothing to report but then time goes by and I see from my calendar that there are things I could write about.

Last week was pretty busy, too many (3) trips to Plattsburgh.  Gym at 6:30 Monday morning then a trip to Platts. to have blood drawn.  Gym at 6:30 Tuesday then a trip to Platts. for lunch with Barb.  Quiet day Weds., did some sorting of Conversationists' papers.  50 years worth of correspondence, news items and newsletters.  Eye appointment in Plattsburgh Thursday, just a follow-up to my lasering last month.  Dinner at the Holts following cocktails with Duncan, David and John.  That was a treat, all of it.  Gym Friday morning and coffee with Annie.  Coffee in Keene with Julie for 2 hours Sat. morning.  Dinner with D, D and JK at the Blue Heron always a treat.  Visits with the 3 of them various times.  They are SO CUTE!  Right now I'm waiting for D&D (JK went back to Calif. yesterday) to come to wash their dishes and visit.

Rush chopped a hole in the ice so we know it's about a foot thick so far.  David and John went out onto the lake and took some beautiful pictures.  The men climbed Silver Lake Mtn with resulting gorgeous images.  I don't have any interest in climbing anything in the winter (or, apparently in the summer).  The report that it's beautiful in the woods and at the tops of these mountains but the climb is tricky and icy in spots.  No, thank you, not for me.

I watched the first half of the Super Bowl but stupidly went to bed after halftime because how could New England win at that point?  Guess I missed the best of the game but it doesn't really matter much to me. 

Went to the gym this morning around 7, one other person there so we chatted and I stayed 40 minutes, egged on by his presence.  I'll take inspiration in any form.  Then I went to Redford to buy Jim B's birthday present (chewing tobaccy).  I do enjoy driving, listening to music.  My current music crush is Eric Clapton (making a repeat appearance).  Lots of his music.  He is great.

This week has some busy times and some quiet times.  Tomorrow is Jim's birthday (82) and I'll visit with them.  Wednesday is gym, doctor, lunch (Julie).  Thursday is quiet.  Friday may be movies with Lin (Lion).  I have a wall calendar and love to see things written on it.  That's a throwback to my working days, when I kept 3 calendars.

We've been having snow every night, got about 2" of powder last night.  Very pretty.  There's more than a foot on the ground now, temps are OK.  7 this morning, now up to 17.  I guess we'll have a storm later this week--snow tomorrow and warmer temps on Weds. with maybe some rain.  ugh.  rain.