It's 7 degrees and windy right now (right now is 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday). We had an extremely windy day Monday with lots of threats of power outages but nothing like that happened in Hawkeye. Wow were we lucky. There was a tree down across the hardtop but someone got to it before I did and moved it out of the road.
I spent several hours with my cousin (on my mother's side), who came from his Vermont home for a visit. He's a very nice, gentle man who's had a complicated life. His brother died of cancer before he was 30, then John got cancer twice not many years after his brother died. He's now nearly 60 and worries a lot about his future. His lungs and heart have been damaged by the radiation treatments he had many years ago but he works hard at staying healthy. We don't have a lot in common but he likes to keep in touch, my sister, mother and I are the only members of the family he has left (his parents died within the last few years). He's married and has 2 nice sons so his life is good but he's anxious and I feel for him. Anyway we had a good visit and he skied down to camp and across the lake and enjoyed that a lot. I declined the offer of a snowshoe outing with him--I think he probably had more fun taking off on his own.
After he left I went to Plattsburgh for groceries, I needed more than the small store in AuSable has to offer. Isn't it a wonderful feeling to have enough money to shop for just about anything you want to buy? Food, glorious food.
I have a cold, this seems grossly unfair because I already had one cold this winter. It's not a bad cold and I'm not suffering, just all plugged up. Given the health scares and states of some of my friends and relatives I feel pretty darn lucky. and healthy.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Where have I been?
Oh nowhere special, just been busy and apparently not in the mood to communicate. I got behind in my journal, too. I'm usual very conscientious about writing in my journal every evening but last week I fell behind and had to go back to recreate events of a couple of days. Oh the shame!
Life goes on at its usual pace in Hawkeye. I did get to the gym pretty much every day last week, we were on a real streak. One morning we walked the bog here but the snow was a little deep for that and we sort of struggled. The next day my friend brought snowshoes and we went down toward camp. I wanted to go out on the lake but didn't have my inhaler (duh)(oh I hate being invalid-ish) so we didn't go--the hill coming home would be tough indeed.
This was the weekend of The Burn and that went well. It was trickier than usual, getting the blaze going but the Miracle Workers managed a good enough fire. It was, as always good to see people and visit. I had dinners with friends and that was nice too but I gained a pound this week. Any connection? Oh I hate to think so.
Tomorrow may bring a visit from the only surviving relative on my mother's side, my cousin who lives in Vermont. He's undecided about coming but seems to want to visit. Maybe we'll go down to the lake, there was a good snowmobile track that would be easy walking. Except that it rained hard today so I don't know what kind of shape the track is in.
My friend lent me a pair of snowshoes so now I'm enthused about trekking. Only in the neighborhood for now but I do have a friend who would like to explore other paths. We'll see.
It's 40 degrees right now, yikes. It's supposed to get very windy, it's calm right now. Wind is not my friend, I always worry about trees coming down on the driveway, the car, the road, anything. And of course my favorite: power outage. I try hard to live by my motto of not worrying about things I can't control. I sure can't control the weather. I've done what I can to keep my house warm but I am dependent on electricity for water and cooking.
My week looks pretty quiet, work Tuesday and Thursday. Thrift store on Wednesday. A trip to Burlington on Friday for the dermatologist. Do I want to go alone or should I be generous and tell my friend who likes to accompany me across the lake so she could go too? I'm undecided. But will probably tell her.
Right now I'm watching a video of a Queen concert. Wasn't Freddy Mercury just amazing though.
Life goes on at its usual pace in Hawkeye. I did get to the gym pretty much every day last week, we were on a real streak. One morning we walked the bog here but the snow was a little deep for that and we sort of struggled. The next day my friend brought snowshoes and we went down toward camp. I wanted to go out on the lake but didn't have my inhaler (duh)(oh I hate being invalid-ish) so we didn't go--the hill coming home would be tough indeed.
This was the weekend of The Burn and that went well. It was trickier than usual, getting the blaze going but the Miracle Workers managed a good enough fire. It was, as always good to see people and visit. I had dinners with friends and that was nice too but I gained a pound this week. Any connection? Oh I hate to think so.
Tomorrow may bring a visit from the only surviving relative on my mother's side, my cousin who lives in Vermont. He's undecided about coming but seems to want to visit. Maybe we'll go down to the lake, there was a good snowmobile track that would be easy walking. Except that it rained hard today so I don't know what kind of shape the track is in.
My friend lent me a pair of snowshoes so now I'm enthused about trekking. Only in the neighborhood for now but I do have a friend who would like to explore other paths. We'll see.
It's 40 degrees right now, yikes. It's supposed to get very windy, it's calm right now. Wind is not my friend, I always worry about trees coming down on the driveway, the car, the road, anything. And of course my favorite: power outage. I try hard to live by my motto of not worrying about things I can't control. I sure can't control the weather. I've done what I can to keep my house warm but I am dependent on electricity for water and cooking.
My week looks pretty quiet, work Tuesday and Thursday. Thrift store on Wednesday. A trip to Burlington on Friday for the dermatologist. Do I want to go alone or should I be generous and tell my friend who likes to accompany me across the lake so she could go too? I'm undecided. But will probably tell her.
Right now I'm watching a video of a Queen concert. Wasn't Freddy Mercury just amazing though.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Cold, warm, cold, rain, snow
We had a lot of snow this week, got about 8 or so inches on Tuesday night into Wednesday. Lots of cancellations and travel warnings but everything was fine with me. I got plowed out Weds. morning around 8, went to the thrift store after that. Boy was it slow--more workers than shoppers and hardly any droppers. That was fine but I got bored and left earlier than usual. Did I make productive use of my time? Heck no. I've had a lazy and unproductive week. Did go to work both Tuesday and Thursday, OK, that was productive. Went to the gym twice, am planning to go again tomorrow before heading to the thrift store.
Meanwhile I had my annual physical this morning. No surprises, nothing to report. I am in good health. Do have some follow-ups but nothing dramatic. Boy am I lucky!
Book group is Sunday. We're reading a book that no one likes. I'm not totally in the "doesn't like" category but it's not drawing me in. I'd better find something better to offer for next month!
Friends stopped by this afternoon, they were here to check on their camp. Their report: big snow and ice on their porch roof, they're nervous about that but can't do anything.
Life is good. It would be better if I slogged through the snow to feed the birds. The dogs have made a narrow, very narrow path to the feeder but I punch through the snow when I walk on it. Poor birds.
Meanwhile I had my annual physical this morning. No surprises, nothing to report. I am in good health. Do have some follow-ups but nothing dramatic. Boy am I lucky!
Book group is Sunday. We're reading a book that no one likes. I'm not totally in the "doesn't like" category but it's not drawing me in. I'd better find something better to offer for next month!
Friends stopped by this afternoon, they were here to check on their camp. Their report: big snow and ice on their porch roof, they're nervous about that but can't do anything.
Life is good. It would be better if I slogged through the snow to feed the birds. The dogs have made a narrow, very narrow path to the feeder but I punch through the snow when I walk on it. Poor birds.
Thursday, February 07, 2019
First the cold, then the rain, then ICE
We had about a quarter of an inch of ice on everything this morning. What a mess! I decided, like a fool to go to work this morning. The deck and steps were bad enough but I had to crawl on hands & knees to get from the steps to the car. Car was encased in ice but that was OK because I have a remote starter thank you Mark. The trip to Keene Valley was fine but I opted to take the interstate because the road in Upper Jay is close to being flooded over due to a huge ice jam. The roads were just fine but that is a long, long way to get to work. I came home the regular way, through Keene and Upper Jay--the ice jam is still most impressive and right up to the road. I heard that it breached the road last night. Yikes.
I've had a good enough week, not much of interest or excitement. I skipped the thrift store on Saturday, just went to the dump. Boy did that feel good. I spent Monday morning in Plattsburgh, had the car serviced and inspected then got groceries and came home. Tuesday and Weds. I went to the gym, that felt good. Quiet days otherwise. I went to the thrift store yesterday--there were more volunteers working than there were shoppers. Yikes. I was a packer because there were enough people in receiving and nothing coming in. The usual packer wasn't there--she's incredibly possessive about her post so I was lucky. It's funny how some people there are really really territorial. I'm totally not, think of myself as a floater, I just work where I'm needed. Books, receiving, packing. I refuse to learn the cash register, which would really please them. NO I do not want responsibility.
I had hours to chat with the cashier and she wanted to hear the story of my life so I spilled my guts. That certainly entertained both of us. I talked at length about my poor father's life after being black-listed in the 50's and the impossibility of his getting a job for the many years of our youth. I realized that, in spite of the awful situation my mother never let us feel the desperation that she and my father felt. I wasn't really aware of the fact that he couldn't get work, I just knew it was awful that he changed jobs every year and we had to move. Well it is what it is and I told my mother all of this on the phone this morning and that pleased her. She doesn't much remember too many details of my childhood, just the facts and that's fine with me. She gets confused about the chronology but she's usually willing to be corrected, or she asks for details. She's amazing.
Now I'm home, nestled on the couch with the dogs and in for the night. I bought an air fryer and will cook some crispy chicken breast (zero points) for dinner. Last night I cooked zucchini and that turned out well but wasn't exactly inspired. Lucky thing I live alone.
I've had a good enough week, not much of interest or excitement. I skipped the thrift store on Saturday, just went to the dump. Boy did that feel good. I spent Monday morning in Plattsburgh, had the car serviced and inspected then got groceries and came home. Tuesday and Weds. I went to the gym, that felt good. Quiet days otherwise. I went to the thrift store yesterday--there were more volunteers working than there were shoppers. Yikes. I was a packer because there were enough people in receiving and nothing coming in. The usual packer wasn't there--she's incredibly possessive about her post so I was lucky. It's funny how some people there are really really territorial. I'm totally not, think of myself as a floater, I just work where I'm needed. Books, receiving, packing. I refuse to learn the cash register, which would really please them. NO I do not want responsibility.
I had hours to chat with the cashier and she wanted to hear the story of my life so I spilled my guts. That certainly entertained both of us. I talked at length about my poor father's life after being black-listed in the 50's and the impossibility of his getting a job for the many years of our youth. I realized that, in spite of the awful situation my mother never let us feel the desperation that she and my father felt. I wasn't really aware of the fact that he couldn't get work, I just knew it was awful that he changed jobs every year and we had to move. Well it is what it is and I told my mother all of this on the phone this morning and that pleased her. She doesn't much remember too many details of my childhood, just the facts and that's fine with me. She gets confused about the chronology but she's usually willing to be corrected, or she asks for details. She's amazing.
Now I'm home, nestled on the couch with the dogs and in for the night. I bought an air fryer and will cook some crispy chicken breast (zero points) for dinner. Last night I cooked zucchini and that turned out well but wasn't exactly inspired. Lucky thing I live alone.
Friday, February 01, 2019
Still winter
-5 this morning and the house is chilly. Can't light a fire in the stove until later this morning, the stovepipe/stove cleaners are coming in 2 1/2 hours so I sit in front of an electric heater while the living room is 55. Waiting for a friend who is coming for coffee in a little while.
Life is good! I worked 2 mornings this week, scanning and sending images to the grant coordinator of an oral history project. She was thrilled with the images we sent, which is so rewarding. YES! The work we've been doing is appreciated and useful. That's very rewarding.
I volunteered at the thrift store on Weds. morning, that was fine. I was a bagger then worked with books (weeded the fiction while the woman who is in charge of books was not there)(sneaky). It was a pretty slow day, not many shoppers and not many droppers. It had been busier on Saturday, maybe people had cabin fever but it was too cold on Weds. to venture out.
It's been a cold week but not as cold as it is elsewhere. I haven't been doing much, just stoking the stove, feeding the birds, doing laundry and dishes. Boy this makes my life sound pretty boring! but it's not really, I'm happy.
Life is good! I worked 2 mornings this week, scanning and sending images to the grant coordinator of an oral history project. She was thrilled with the images we sent, which is so rewarding. YES! The work we've been doing is appreciated and useful. That's very rewarding.
I volunteered at the thrift store on Weds. morning, that was fine. I was a bagger then worked with books (weeded the fiction while the woman who is in charge of books was not there)(sneaky). It was a pretty slow day, not many shoppers and not many droppers. It had been busier on Saturday, maybe people had cabin fever but it was too cold on Weds. to venture out.
It's been a cold week but not as cold as it is elsewhere. I haven't been doing much, just stoking the stove, feeding the birds, doing laundry and dishes. Boy this makes my life sound pretty boring! but it's not really, I'm happy.
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