It IS spring, it really is!

There are just the tiniest leaves on the poplar trees in Hawkeye.  Everyone else has full-blown leaves but I'll settle for ours.  The tamaracks are starting to green up as well and my daffodils are in bloom like crazy.  Primroses are in bloom too but not much else going on.  That's OK, May is a joyous time of daily advances.

I'm still volunteering at the thrift store two days a week and this morning was one of those days.  Wow it was busy.  Wednesday was the same--partly because the regulars in Receiving are out for a couple/few weeks and partly because it's SPRING and the sun is shining so people are cleaning.  Many many shoppers and many many droppers.  I can't do the whole 5 hours the store is open, I do 3 1/2 hours and head out.  I feel guilty leaving but I just can't do that many hours on my feet.  I never had a job that demanded that kind of physical activity, I mostly sat on my butt all my working years. 

I've been walking outside with my gym friend, she lives near here and there are nice walks by her house and by mine.  The lucky dogs get to join us and they run and run and run.  This morning we walked in 31 degrees, up from the 29 it was when I got up.  Another frosty morning predicted for tomorrow.

The sun is warm.  Grass is not green but that's good because I'm not in a mowing mood.  I should be outside cleaning up the yard but I'm sitting in the living room resting.  I usually feel mildly depressed in the spring, always in April.  I forgot to do that this April but yesterday had a very blue day.  I slept and slept, then went to bed and slept some more.  Today I feel much better so maybe it wasn't really depression.  If that's what I want.

I'm off to Rhode Island on Friday for Mark's 60th birthday and a few days with my mother.  Looking forward to that--she says the dogwood is in bloom, some of the rhododendrons are still blooming.  I'll do some plant shopping while I'm there, it's a little early based on weather here.  I did get violas, not my usual pansies, but haven't started laying in supplies for my deck pots yet.  It's too cold!

Big drama, BIG BIG drama

We had a storm here Friday night, a big wind storm.  We even had a tornado watch to match it, which unnerved me a bit.  I grew up in tornado country so that sort of thing frightens me.  The wind lasted all night and sounded like a train coming through, which is what a tornado sounds like (so I've been told).  We didn't have a tornado, thankfully but we had massive trees blow down, lots of lasting power outages and were without phone service for a couple of days.  That meant no Internet.  WHAT????  I'm too dependent on Internet means of communication so it was hard for me and for those who expect to hear from me electronically on a regular basis.  There was no regular basis but by Sunday night all was swell.  Today we're having a gorgeous sunny day with temps in the 50's.  The air is still cool but it's pretty out there.  We have no leaves on trees or bushes yet but the maples are blooming  (ah-choo).  That's great progress.

The biggest progress to report is ICE OUT!  That happened Saturday afternoon, May 5th.  A tad late but not the latest ever.  It went out pretty quickly.  One of my friends at the foot of the lake says that it must have been a violent ice-out because there are ice blocks on his lawn going down to the water.  That's pretty amazing.

I've been busy--that seems to be my normal state these days.  I went to the thrift store to work on Saturday but there was no power so I got the day off.  That was a treat.  I had dinner with friends and watched the Derby, walked the bog with a friend in the morning yesterday--the purple trillium is just coming up there.  We may have a change of season after all.  My daffodils are blooming like champions and look great.  I went pansy shopping with a friend on Saturday, got my annual pot o'pansies planted and on the deck. 

This morning I went to the dump then to Plattsburgh to run some errands.  I should take my mother's package to the post office this afternoon but do I feel like driving even more today?  Unknown.

Snow sucks mud

It's been snowing all afternoon, we have 3-4 inches of heavy stuff right now and they're (of "they") predicting 6" by morning.  Totally unnecessary.  We had rain this morning but then it turned to snow here in Hawkeye.  I went to the laundromat at 7:30 this morning, thinking I'd have the place to myself but noooo, who knew that's when other people do their laundry?  Anyway I did a big wash then came home to snow falling and falling and falling.  There go my crocuses (I have 5) and buried are the daffodils.

The dogs are not doing well--they got into something edible the other night and ate too much of it.  Treasure looks as if she swallowed a balloon.  Bear is better, he was all swoled up yesterday but now seems as normal as he knows how to be.  Treasure is not better and it's scary.  I think I'll call the vet in the morning, of course I'm convinced she has a blockage and will be dead soon.  I haven't let them out loose all day, they are cabled every time they go out so at least they're not getting more of whatever it was they ate.

It looks like an easy week for me--my calendar is almost empty!  Just waiting to be filled with vet visits I'm sure.  Meanwhile I'm going to the gym in the morning with 2 friends, then will hit the dump unless I have to drive to Westport to the vet.  Tuesday is work, Wednesday is thrift store, Thursday is work.  That's it!  I was at the thrift store on Saturday and man oh man was it busy.  Lots of shoppers and droppers, plenty of donations coming in and plenty of shoppers buying treasures.

Rain melts snow

It's raining HARD and plenty.  We've lost a lot of snow and I can see daffodils brave and hardy in parts of my yard.  Oh boy!  Looks like a good year for blooms.

I'm home from the trip to Potsdam/Canton for an archives-relevant workshop/training session.  It was good but a long day.  We left my house at 7:30 or so, had an easy and uneventful trip going and coming.  It rained all the way home but that was nice, rinsed off my car.  How was the workshop?  It was good but a tad detail-oriented with a lot of attention paid to policies and mission statements.  Someone else took care of those long before I showed up in Keene Valley so I'm lucky.

I got to see my friend at the Network and say farewell to him--he's retiring at the end of this week.  Boy do I like having people I know retire, it's such a gift.

The dogs were (apparently) well-behaved while I was gone, but then I put chairs on the couch to keep them off.  They were happy to have me home, happier to have me feed them.  Now they're dozing.  Me too.

Today would be my brother's 69th birthday.  I can't picture him as a 69-year-old, but I can't picture myself as a 65-year-old, either.  He was a special person.  I miss him, think of him pretty much every day.  A sibling is a special and wonderful treasure.

Mud

We're having an extended mud season this year--it started a few weeks ago but because it was cold and cloudy the mud never had a chance to dry out.  Soooo, my driveway is off-limits for now.  I'm to smart to get stuck in deep mud but too lazy to never drive through the mud.  Deep ruts at the bottom of my driveway but oh well.

I've had good days--last week Annie was here and we went to the gym and had dinners together.  She went back on Saturday.  I've been taking care of a friend's cat while my friend and her husband are out of town.  I had to have help with that last week because their driveway was impassable.  Their house is high on a hill with an incredible view of the bluffs at the foot of the lake, which is really lovely but man the driveway is hell to get up.  Anyway the cat is fine, she's pretty much deaf and blind but otherwise healthy.  I feed her and scratch scratch scratch her until she purrs.

We had book group last night and barely mentioned the book (we had more pressing things to discuss).  We're skipping the month of May, too many conflicts so we'll meet again in June at Linda's camp.  That seems so far away but then I'm reminded that next week is MAY!  The weather has made it hard to believe in the passage of time but we're making progress.  The sun has been out for 2 straight days with more to come (if you want to believe predictors).

Tomorrow is the Archives, we'll do some more scanning.  Wednesday I'm going to a day-long training session in Canton with the woman I work with in the Archives.  It's not training I'm very interested in but it's relevant, about conservation of the collection.  All day???  I promised my co-worker we would go.

I'm sitting on my new couch.  I sleep on my new mattress.  WOW such big changes!

Third winter

I recently saw something called "The 11 Seasons of the Adirondacks," which said that we are currently in Third Winter, just before Mud Season.  We're really having both at the same time.  My driveway is a mud wallow, I'm parking at the end of it and slog through snow-covered mud to get to the car.  Probably my least favorite walking condition is this, mud under snow, which will suck the boots right off your feet--no, really, it does.

I've been doing all right in spite of the weather.  Weather is one of those things you can't change so I try, in my life to not fuss about things I have no control over.  Do I succeed?  Sometimes, sometimes moderately, sometimes better, sometimes worse.  It tends to improve the quality of my life, I think.

I had a good week.  Two trips to Potsdam, that was a big much but both trips were good.  The training session on Tuesday was geekily fun.  REALLY geeky but I got to see a good friend in the process and I learned that I'm doing the work at the Archives in a successful way.  The second trip was on Thursday afternoon to attend the same friend's retirement party.  I went with a friend and we really REALLY screwed up the trip there, taking a "short cut" that added many miles and almost an hour to our trip.  Oh well, we made it and had a nice time at the party.  It reminded us that we have been here for a LONG time and have come in contact with many many people.

I did the gym most mornings.  Well, some mornings at least.  Yesterday we met at the gym and quit after 15 minutes because my friend was sick and neither of us felt like treadmilling so we went to Stewarts for coffee instead.  We did walk at Taylor Pond twice this week so that was good for the dogs and also really nice to be outside even though it was 19 degrees.  Not windy and semi-sunny so a pleasant time.

Today is my friend Annie's 75th birthday.  She's choosing to ignore the number.  Today is the day that Fred always drives down North Shore Lane to his camp, except NOT this year.  Too much snow still and icy roads today.  Our precipitation is something hard to describe--snow, no, not quite.  ice, well maybe.  sleet, yes, probably.  Just a messy combination of all of this.  And it's supposed to get worse and be windy ("damaging" winds, swell, just swell).  I'm hoping to get to Plattsburgh tomorrow, have to pick up meds and am hoping to have lunch with a friend.  Today I'll go visit P&J, I hope, after I go to AuSable to get milk and maybe a bottle for James.  Which is more important, milk to make yogurt for myself or whiskey for Jim?

Still moving toward spring but slowing down

We're stuck in this weather pattern where it's in 30's during the day but down to 11 or 12 at night.  Although we do like to firm up the mud, this is doing little to bring spring.  I recklessly turned off the heat in my cellar hole and bingo! my pump froze this morning.  No harm done and it thawed while I was running errands in town so all was well.  But really???  Is that necessary?

Life goes on in Hawkeye.  Huge wind storm last week caused power outage that lasted almost 2 days while temps were in the teens.  That was nasty.  House was 47 when I got up Thursday morning.  I went to work, convinced as I always am that the power would be back on ANY MINUTE.  Only it wasn't and the house did not warm up during the day.  I lit a fire and got it up to 57 before going to bed on the couch by the wood stove.  What a drag.  Power came back on of course and all was fine.  Just a reminder of how dependent on running water and television I am in my daily life.

My new couch was delivered on Friday after my friend Lin spent hours cleaning my bedroom as a favor so my new mattress would have a good home.  Except there was a problem with the ordering of the mattress, of course so it won't come until this week.  Not to worry, the bedroom is still clean and the couch arrived without incident.  The dogs think it's not as nice as the old couch (yes, I know what they think) because it's higher, cleaner, you don't sink to the floor when you sit on it and it doesn't smell bad.  Aw, too bad. Wait until they find out we're getting a new mattress.  Yikes.

I'm still getting to the gym most mornings, the thrift store on Weds. and Sat. and the Archives on Tuesday and Thursday.  A busy time but not too much.  I've been promoted at the thrift store and am learning to accept the responsibility of receiving and pricing donations.  Yes, there's a philosophy and a method to the madness.  Somewhere between "one less thing to the landfill" and "this could be valuable."  Always "one person's trash..."  Yes, we get a lot of trash, most of which is no ones treasures.

Tomorrow I'm going to Canton to a workshop on metadata for my work in the Archives.  It's about 1 1/2 hours away and the training is 3 hours long.  I have always maintained that meetings or training sessions should last at least as long as it takes to get to them so this session is very satisfying.

Later this week I go to Potsdam to a retirement party for a network director friend.  How do I feel about retirement parties? 

Moving toward spring

What a beautiful day in Hawkeye!   It's cool, 35 but the sun is bright and warm.  Funny when you think about the snow that people like my mother are having today.  We still have 6-10 inches of snow on the ground but days like today have a big impact on that for sure.

Easter was a day all right.  I woke up at 3:30 because the dog barked, then I discovered the power was out so I called the elec. company and went back to bed.  The power had been out on Saturday for a little while too (who knows why) so I wasn't worried.  What an inconvenience, though--no power, no water, no television, no hot coffee (off I went to Redford for that).  Oh suffer suffer.  I went to P&J's and had a nice visit with them in their very cool (as in chilly) living room.  I had a fire in my wood stove so my living room was much warmer.  After that I went out for Easter dinner with friends who live across the lake--they have a generator so it's nothing to them to have the power out.  I really think I need to work with my mother to get her a generator set up like that.  She's interested I know.
The power came back on around 3 p.m. and life was good again.

Today was dump day but I went too early, once I started doing some cleaning I found more dump-worthy stuff but didn't feel like making a second trip today.  Later, baby, later.

I'm still going to the gym most mornings.  This week I'll work in the Archives solo, my assistant is off to Texas this week and next.  Rats, it's school vacation and the 7th graders have been told to visit the Archives to work on their projects.  Oh crumb.  Wednesday is a trip to Burlington with Lin, my annual mammogram and doubtless a trip to Trader Joe's.  I need dog food though so may have to stop in Plattsburgh on the way home.  No planned trips to Plattsburgh this week other than a pass-through on Weds.  Friday my new furniture is due to be delivered and of course I'm worrying about the mud in the driveway.  It's bad, very bad.  Freezes at night but I have 2 spots that are pure wallows between the end of the driveway and the house.  And of course it's supposed to rain, no, snow, no, rain later this week.  Oh drat.

Still not quite spring

We are losing snow, there's no denying that.  I heard a red-winged blackbird (but not at my house) and today I saw a turkey vulture.  and I smelled dead skunk on the way to Plattsburgh.  Signs of spring but the ground is still covered, well covered with snow.  And there's mud in the driveway.  The ground hasn't thawed yet but it's coming along slowly.

Wednesday was my first day in Receiving at the thrift store.  It went well but I asked a lot, lot, lot of questions about what to keep and about pricing.  I think it will be OK and the people are very nice to me.  Do I like it?  Yes, it's a good thing for me to do.

I went to the Archives yesterday and that, too was fine.  Margaret will be gone for the next 2 weeks so I'll be on my own.  That's fine as long as no one comes in asking for help and unfortunately the school kids will be on vacation next week so may come in to work on their projects.  OH NO!!!

Today was an exciting day, the gym this morning as usual but then I went to Plattsburgh to buy a new couch.  What a good salesman, he took me right to the perfect couch for me, based on what I told him I was looking for.  SOLD!   Then I asked if he sold futons because my futon is 16 years old (I recently discovered) and I sleep in an indentation the shape of my body.  I tried a few mattresses--oh, so different from a futon!  and found one that felt just perfect so I bought it.  A new mattress!  I don't know what the dogs will think, first a new couch then a new bed as well.  They'll deliver the goods next Friday but best of all they're taking the old stuff away.  Far, far away.

Tomorrow I'll meet my friend at the gym at 7:30 then (after coffee) will head to the thrift store for a couple of hours before meeting another friend in Keene for coffee.  more coffee.  Sunday is Easter.  I've been invited to a sunrise service at the top of Whiteface but I think I'll pass on that.  I've also been invited to an Easter dinner across the lake in the afternoon.  That will be nice, it's just 2 couples and me.

Life continues to be good for me.  I'm not antsy about the weather--it's in the 30's these days, above freezing during the day with cool nights.  Very typical.  I'm usually fed up with winter by the end of March but I have a much more benign attitude about it all this year.  A sign of maturity?

Tuesday--is it spring yet?

Temp today was in upper 30's but there wasn't sun.  Some breeze, though, which helps melt the snow.

Yesterday was a Plattsburgh day, doctor's appointment and a couple of errands.  Did go to the gym first, did half an hour on the treadmill.  This morning we went to the gym but only did 15 minutes because my friend had to get to work early.  Oh I'm so happy I don't have a full-time job!  I do have a job, though, and went to the Archives today.  I don't have to be there until 9 and only work until noon so it's barely enough time to get anything done.  We had the 7th-grade class from the school visit.  I am not a good tour guide of the place so I turned them over to my assistant Margaret and she did a wonderful job.  We weren't sure what they wanted to get from the visit, the teacher was a little vague but the kids had a good time looking up photos.  I asked them if they knew what a card catalog was--guess what they said--NO.  They had no idea what it was or how to use it so we set them loose on the ever-important to the Archives card catalog.  It was fine and I laughed at the fact that libraries haven't had card catalogs in the lifetimes of these kids.  I explained it to my mother--she was stunned that the kids didn't know about card catalogs but I reminded her that libraries got rid of catalogs 20 or more years ago.  What a job that was, getting rid of the cards.  We found a company that would recycle our cards and we sold the catalogs themselves for $50 each (my friend bought them and resold them for $200 each to friends).  Oh those were the days...    not.

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the thrift store.  My first official day in Receiving.  I went yesterday to be trained and am still (more?) intimidated.  I'll be fine, I just don't want to make decisions that much.  I can barely make decisions about what to wear.

SUNSHINE

It's a beautiful day, almost spring-like but still 34 degrees.  Supposed to warm up this week, temps in the 40's.  Maybe even some rain at the end of the week.  Pretty exciting.

Had an exciting day yesterday--on my way to the gym at 7 a.m. I came across a dead bobcat in the road, hit by a car but unmarked.  I went on to the gym & asked my friend if she'd seen the cat and she screamed I ALWAYS WANTED A STUFFED BOBCAT so we raced back to the dead animal and put it in her car.  Back to Stewarts to ask the regulars (we knew they would know) where a good taxidermist could be found.  Plenty of "Can I see the bobcat?!!" and suggestions about what to do next, final determination was that she should call DEC (Environmental Conservation) and they would tag the animal for her so she could take it to be stuffed.  Well, almost.  DEC said they couldn't tag the animal because the trapping season ended in February, even though she didn't trap it.  Rules are rules.  The Forest Ranger went to her house and picked up the 1-year-old female absolutely gorgeous specimen, said they would have to send it to Albany for testing but then would donate it to an educational institution.  Which is what my friend runs, so we're hoping they'll return the cat to her.  It is really just a beautiful animal, in perfect condition.  That was just too much excitement for yesterday, all I could do for the rest of the day was head to the dump.  Whew!

Now it's Palm Sunday and that means nothing to me.  I had planned to go to RI for Easter but the decision was made that I'd skip it since I'm going back in May.  It will be the first Easter I've spent by myself--will I care?  Impossible to know.  I'm half-tempted to go to RI anyway but then I think about how much driving that involves and how nice it's supposed to be here so I think I'll stay put.  It will be strange, this much I know.

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment, will take my filthy new car to the car wash and will buy an Easter lily for my friend Patricia.  I ordered one to be sent to my mother, I always take her one.  At noon tomorrow I'm meeting someone at the thrift store because they want me to start working in receiving, where they need more help than the Book Lady I usually work with needs.  Do I want to work in receiving?  Not so much but I do want to be helpful.  Some of the stuff is priced automatically but other stuff has to be priced when it comes in.  OH NO!!!  I don't want any responsibility.  I'll see how it goes tomorrow--the thrift store is only open Weds. and Saturday so we'll have a chance to go over everything easily.

Not much else going on this week for me.  There's a class coming to the Archives on Tuesday, 7th graders I think.  The teacher doesn't seem to know exactly WHY they're coming but she said she wants them to know what's in the Archives.  Luckily my colleague Margaret will be there, SHE can be the expert.

Weather is supposed to get exciting this week, temps in the 40's and maybe even some rain.  I should walk to camp this afternoon, it's a beautiful day and the dogs would like it.  But no, I doubt I'll do that.  Mostly I'll tidy up the living room and maybe do some work in the bedroom.

I'm a lucky girl.

Spring NOT

Although it was -6 yesterday morning, today it was +3.  Yeah, that's spring all right.  We do have bright warm sunshine with a sun that's remarkably higher in the sky, yeah that's spring for real.  There is just a whole lot of snow here.  Life is good anyway but I got a report from Michigan that crocuses are blooming there, and in RI the daffodils were up and snowdrops were blooming.  Hard to imagine that happening here but then I do have a good imagination...

I've been getting to the gym but with mixed results.  This morning we did an honest 30 minutes, other days we've stopped at 15 minutes for various reasons.  My friend will be out of town tomorrow morning so I'll need to decide whether to go alone or bag it.  Gee, I wonder which I'll do.  Oh I may surprise myself (but I doubt it).

I worked this morning in Keene Valley, that was good.  Lots of scanning old photos with a smattering of being charming to board members and patrons.  My colleague and I have a good time, a very good time together and it's always a treat to see her smile.  She has a great sense of humor (which matches mine nicely).  I've registered for a workshop on metadata in early April to see if I'm entering the metadata I'm entering correctly or not.  Since I've only entered data for 200 images it's a good time to look into this.  The other, really important thing I need to do is write instructions and descriptions for what I'm doing.  When I started there was no one who knew how to scan or what the scanning project was (the previous archivist died suddenly last summer).  Now, swell, there is someone who knows how to do it but once again there is only ONE person with the knowledge.   I'm not irreplaceable, I've proven that, but I do believe in manuals and handbooks.

I hosted book group (The tea girl of Hummingbird Lane)(at least I think that was the title) on Sunday.  We had a good time, one of us had ordered a cake of tea to go with our discussion, I cooked shrimp and broccoli that was supposed to be Chinese-ish (but wasn't, ultimately) and we had a good time.  Lots of food and good conversation (some of it about the book, even).  Next up is a Brunonia Barry book, title of which I can't remember.

I'm not going to RI for Easter this year.  The first time in modern history I won't be spending the holiday weekend with my mother.  or anyone.  How will that be? 

Snow but a winning team

I was in Rhode Island for my mother's birthday last week--she turned 92 on 3/13, and we had a really lovely time together.  We always enjoy being together and I don't know what was so special about this visit but it was just extremely pleasant.  There was BARE GROUND when I got there and stayed that way for the next 3 days.  Day number 4, however, my mother's actual birthday brought a snow storm and power outage.  I was glad to be there when the power went out, that is one of my mother's greatest fears, lack of power.  She has no heat or water without electricity so I sure do understand her fear.  Anyway the power was out for most of the day but came back on in late afternoon so Mark and I could cook her birthday dinner and celebrate.  It was a nice time. 

Before the storm Mark and I took the dogs to the beach and had a really nice walk.  Bear romped in the water and tried (several times) to drink it.  No, Bear, it's salt water everywhere, no matter how far down the beach you go.

My trip coming home was uneventful until I got to Wilmington when the roads turned suspiciously crappy.  There had been a storm here too and we ended up with more than 23" of snow.  What a struggle getting up my stairs and into the house.  Road and driveway had been plowed so that was no problem.  I hate shoveling snow but did shovel a path to the steps and most of the steps.  It snowed some more that night and the next day.  Yesterday and today were beautiful sunny days--warm sun high in the sky but the temperature this morning was -4 and the high was 16.  Not a nice day, really but not the cold winds of previous days.  Another cold night tonight but not sub-zero.

We're trying to get back into our gym routine, both of us had scheduling issues last week but went this morning and are meeting tomorrow morning at 6:30.  I need to get back to regular treadmilling.

I watched the Syracuse basketball game this afternoon--I've enjoyed watching college basketball's March Madness for a long time.  I have 2 good friends who are avid (rabid) SU fans so I'm interested in the games.  What a great game today's game was!   Wow, a real nail-biter but Syracuse won by 3 so all is well.  On they go to the Sweet Sixteen.

I'm back!

Not sure why I haven't been here.  I've been busy but is that an excuse?  Not really.

There have been many visitors to Hawkeye, that's been nice rather un-winterlike.  Some friends with a camp here came up from Albany and we went out for dinner and had a good visit.  Other friends from Scarsdale were here at their house/camp and had other friends and me come for dinner.  The Holts were here and had friends and me come for dinner.  Joe was here for The Burn (we went out for lunch but skipped dinner).  It has been a busy time.  Nice.

I'm still going to the gym most mornings followed by coffee at Stewarts.  Yes, we're regulars there and see other regulars regularly.  It's a regular thing.

I'm still working in Keene Valley at the Archives.  Scanning photos and entering metadata about the images.  The other woman who works in the Archives makes me laugh, and I make her laugh and we have a good time working together.  The work sometimes gets a little monotonous but it's only 3 hours twice a week and I am very enthusiastic about the project and about the Archives in general so all is good.

I haven't spent much time at the thrift store, other things have been taking my time.  Doctor's appointment (I'm healthy), trip to Burlington to buy a new car (2018 Subaru Crosstrek), trips to Plattsburgh to get the car inspected and registered and next a trip to RI for my mother's 92nd birthday.  I leave tomorrow morning, return on Wednesday.

We've been hit by both nor'easters but nothing overly dramatic.  We got snow last weekend and more snow last night and all day today.  It's hard to believe we had bare ground recently, there's at least a foot of snow on the ground now and it's still snowing.  No power issues here but my poor mother lost power for more than 2 days--which is a long time for someone her age with electric heat.  My sump pump is running often so I know winter is moving along and the ground is thawing.

Dogs are fine, they think the new car is hard to jump into but don't really seem to care much about it otherwise.  I like it a lot but it doesn't have snow tires and that makes me nervous so I drive slowly.  It had a "break-in period" of the first 1000 miles.  I knocked that off, no problem.  It doesn't have a CD player and I've almost figured out how to load music from my phone.  I have a lot of CDs so getting this set would be way cool.  I've got music loaded to my computer.  I've almost got the music loaded to my phone.  What comes next?  Hello YouTube...

Birthday Eve for my sister

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday.  How did we get to be so old????  She'll be 67, entering the time of year when she's 2 years ahead of me.  This morning my friend asked me how old my brother would be if he were still alive.  Wow I had to stop and count on my fingers.  He was born in 1949 so wouldn't he just be pushing 70!  He was 54 when he died.  And we miss him every single day, as my mother and I agreed on the phone this morning.  We had a long, long conversation, very nice and interesting. 

We went to the gym most days this week, missed a couple but mostly we were there at 6:30 or 7.  Tomorrow is a late day, we're meeting at 7:30.  Tomorrow is also The Burn--all summer neighbors and friends take brush and wood scraps to the site and in February Joe flies up from his winter home in Georgia and lights the fire.  Last year they burned a boat, this year I don't think there's anything as dramatic.  I have plenty of brush to contribute but no way to get it up there.

Sunday my gym friend and I are meeting other friends in Plattsburgh to walk before having breakfast together.  Monday I have a hair appointment and lunch in Plattsburgh then dinner with friends.  So many of my socializations are food-centered!  Better than alcohol that's for sure but not so easy for me to control how and what I eat.  I'm trying to take control of my food intake, I only eat for 6-hour periods during the day (that made my doctor smile/almost laugh--his advice was "Get back on Weight Watchers," which is sound advice for sure).  Mostly it just means I eat less.  It's a slow process, losing weight at 65.

What the...?

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything.  Oops.  It's true I had a busy week last week but not THAT busy.  Keene Valley two mornings, did more work on data entry for posting to the website.  I was there again this morning but had too many problems to get much done.  Rats.

I cooked dinner for friends one night, that was fine and the house was clean (enough).  Lots of visits with the neighbors, lots of gym time followed by coffee at Stewarts.

The weather has been variable.  It's been zero, it's been 50.  Right now we're having heavy fog because it's 52 and the snow is far from gone.  Supposed to be even warmer tomorrow.  That would be good except all that's happening in my driveway is that more and more ice is being exposed.  Man it's slippery.

I went to Potsdam on the weekend, visited my niece and celebrated her daughter's 4th birthday at a party.  What a wonderful person the little darling is.  She's very polite and considerate, listens to what adults say to her (more important than listening, she HEARS and takes it all in).  She was thrilled to have lit candles on her cupcakes and cake, what joy I saw.  It was a nice evening.

But wait, there's more: yesterday I went to Burlington and bought a new car.  It's a Crosstrek (Subaru), which is just a fancified Impreza.  I traded in my 2014 Impreza (on a bad deal)(but what the heck) and got a good deal on the new car.  Am I thrilled?  No, not thrilled but happy with the new car.  It's familiar enough for me to be very comfortable driving it but different enough for me to be pleased with the purchase.  It's an elevated Impreza so is nothing fancy.  The dogs haven't been in it yet, I have some covering of upholstery to do before that happens much.  I miss the snow tires my Impreza had but will wait until fall to buy those for this car.

Tomorrow is Wednesday.  I'm meeting my friend at the gym at 7 but have no plans beyond that (and the coffee that follows).  Will I get to the thrift store?  Anybody's guess.

More Snow?

There's usually a time in winter where it snows every day, just an inch or two (or three).  Apparently that time is now.  We got 3 inches last night, nice fluffy stuff, and it's snowing again.  How much will we get?  Who knows, 6 inches?   7 inches?   4 inches?  My mother always asks me how much snow we have on the ground.  It's impossible to tell but there's at least a foot and probably closer to a foot & a half or something.  Does it matter?

I've been busy, not extra-busy but keeping busy.  This morning I went to the gym then to coffee, then to the thrift store for a couple of hours, then had lunch at the diner in Upper Jay with friends.  Then I came home, lay down and dozed.  Whew that was a lot.  My horoscope said something about being charming.  I was charming.

So now it's night time and I was watching the Olympics, men's single luge but the locals weren't doing too well.  I like watching the downhill skiing, not much else.  I know everyone loves the figure skating but that just doesn't do much for me.  Well call me a bitch.

Tomorrow I have to clean clean clean and cook.  I'm having friends come for dinner (I resist the urge to say "I'm having friends for dinner" because, well really, just because).  The dinner is no big deal but the cleaning is daunting.  Always.  I never clean the whole house, just the places people will see (and even those only get a cursory treatment).  Vacuuming is almost my least-favorite thing.  Topped by cleaning the bathroom.

The dogs are doing well.  They were alone in the house for a long time today but did nothing wrong.  They nag and nag at me when I come home, first for food then for ATTENTION.  They are very dear and are both good dogs.  Although somebody threw up on the bed the other night (it wasn't me) and of course Bear has a tendency to eat whatever he finds appealing.

Not too much going on this week, a doctor's appointment and lunch with a friend.  Of course there will be gymming and coffee at Stewart's, plus the Archives (I got a raise!) but I guess I'll have to skip the thrift store on Weds. because that's the doctor time.

Snow, lots of it

The predictors couldn't decide how much snow we would get today and into tonight.  I think they finally settled on 8-14 inches.   I love these spreads--like, do we get to choose something between 8 and 14?   I choose 8 1/2.  No, wait, that's about what we have right now and it's still snowing. 

It's a powdery snow, not bad for moving around but I'll do no moving of it until tomorrow morning.  or maybe afternoon.  but not tonight.  My plow man just came so I can get out.  They've been plowing OHR off and on for much of the day.  I don't need to go anywhere until tomorrow morning, it's a Keene Valley day tomorrow.  Today was supposed to be a thrift store day but that didn't work out (to my embarrassment, because I haven't been there for 2 weeks).  I went to Plattsburgh early to have blood drawn but there was a 1-hour wait because of a computer problem so I went for groceries (NOT to Hannaford...).  That was fine but I ran into Mr. Smith and he wanted to have coffee.  We had an extra-nice visit but that put me way behind.  I finished shopping and went back to the blood place.  No problem there but it took a little too long, long enough for Bear to eat: 2 chunks of cheese, 1 bag of frozen broccoli and some deli turkey.  Thankfully he didn't find the chicken and grapes (more likely he ran out of time).  He stared at me all the way home--why?  Because I interrupted him?  Because he knew he was a BAD dog (not)?  Anyway so far no ill effects of his marauding.  I have a cover I can put back in the car to cover what's in the back, I just don't like to have the bar there but it's either that or never take Bear grocery shopping again.

I went to see the neighbors today, it's Jim's 83rd birthday.  We had a nice visit and they are just fine.  We'll celebrate his birthday on Friday over lunch in Plattsburgh.

Now I'm home, in for the night.  It's very pretty outside and has warmed up to 17 (from 2 this morning, no wonder I was cold).  The birds need to be fed but will have to wait.  The dogs wanted to see the plow man but I wouldn't let them get plowed.

Tomorrow is a scanning day in Keene Valley.  We've scanned 514 images so far and it's time for me to figure out how to get them to the network in Canton so they can be posted on the NY State website.  I'll contact the people at the network for instructions and hope all images are in the right format and with the right amount of description.  Perhaps I could have done that BEFORE there were 514 images to deal with but noooooo, that's not my style.

Of COURSE it's cold: it's February

It was nice early this morning, temps in the 20's, almost 30 but now it's 11 and not nice.  It was a beautiful day if you looked out the window, not so nice to be out in it.  There's a very cold and "brisk" wind.  Even Dump Bob commented on it.  So did the man at Stewart's.  And the woman who sold me coffee this morning.  I guess we're all in agreement, then: it's cold and it's winter.

I've just been doing my usual things, working in Keene Valley (we've scanned more than 500 images), it's time for me to figure out how to dump the scanned images on a drive and ship them out to be posted.  I've skipped the thrift store 3 times, that's not good.  One day I just didn't feel like going and then it felt like a holiday not to go, another time I had to take the car to be fixed from being fixed and on Saturday I had coffee with a friend instead.  Wednesday I will return and decorate the Holiday Loft for Easter.

I've been to the gym almost every day with my friend though we did skip a couple of days last week because of her schedule (heaven forbid I go without Carol!).  This morning I was up before 5, which is way too early to meet her at 6:15.  My poor car was bumped hard by a deer who ran alongside of me just outside of Black Brook in the dark this morning.  Luckily I wasn't going fast, the roads are pretty slick these days.  Neither deer nor car was injured.  I think.

I had lunch with a good friend (do I have any friends who AREN'T good ones?  I don't think so) in Plattsburgh today, she retired last week so we could spend as much time together as we could stand.  She's only 55 but has 5 grandchildren.  Yikes.

Got some errands taken care of but didn't leave enough time before lunch for groceries and sure didn't feel like doing that after lunch.  Hit the dump, liquor store, gas station, bank and drug store, oh, yeah, got eggs at the Farmhouse too.  Most of those errands weren't for me (like, do I buy chewing tobacco and cheap whiskey for MYSELF?  I think not).  I can't believe I used to go to Plattsburgh often, now it seems far far away.  I'll go again on Friday though to celebrate Jim B.'s 83rd birthday at the lobster restaurant.

We had some snow last night, probably 4 inches and I guess we're getting more in a couple of days.  SO much that they can't even predict how much it will be.  And a cold night tonight.  Yes, that is winter isn't it.  My summer friends all tell me this is God's country, which of course it is for most of the year.  January and February not so much.

I'm feeding the birds but have a limited selection of visitors this year.  Many many blue jays, some chickadees and some juncos.  Where are the woodpeckers?  I put out suet but only the blue jays are enjoying it.  And hogging it.  There are a lot of grouse around in the woods, and turkeys along the road but that's about it for birds.

Life continues to entertain and please me.  I'm lucky.

Oh dear, too long

What happened?   Well I am busy but shouldn't be too busy to write a few words now and then.  Anyway I'm back.  It's a cold, miserably cold day.  Temp is 1 but there's a huge wind so we're having wind chills (if you believe in them) in the teens below zero.  And due to drop to sub-zero temps tonight.  My house is warm, my fire is hot and I'm just fine.

I went to the laundromat this morning, washed bedding that was covered with dog hair.  It will be hairless for about 2 hours until tonight.  Treasure is shedding, Bear holding on to his hair.  I've been cutting Bear's nails but have to do it one at a time and quickly.  I don't know the story of his past, I don't know if someone tortured him by cutting his nails, but he sure acts like a big big baby when I cut a nail.  And they need to be cut.  He gets a treat for every nail I cut--to this Treasure says she has to have ALL of her nails cut to earn a treat so what's up with this? 

I had a car-centered week.  Took my car to the Platts. Sube dealer on Monday for oil change, tire rotation and to have the broken rear wiper fixed.   All went well until I drove the car on Tuesday when the lug nuts on one wheel were loose.  Man what a horrible noise and what a terrifying thing!   I was very very upset.  Stopped at Fred Drake's in AuSable and he was a real peach and helped me right out.  Yes, he said, that front wheel is very very loose, shaking his head.  Today I took him some brownies because he wouldn't let me pay him on Tuesday.  He said to call any time for anything and he'd help.  HOW WONDERFUL!!!   Weds. I went back to the dealer (after telling them I would never never go back--they wooed me with promises of checking all wheels).  They really couldn't find a reason for the loose lug nuts except for dealer error so they fixed my rear wiper for free (worth nearly $400 and interpreted by me as an admission of guilt).  OK, I did all right but it sure was a lucky thing that wheel didn't fall off.  I had ambivalent feelings about that dealer anyway, I usually go to the Burlington dealer (where I bought the car).  So I guess I'll keep doing that.

Aside from that I've had a quiet time.  Thrift store, Archives, gym.  All good.  No gym today or tomorrow, my friend has conflicts.  Heaven forbid I go by myself, that wouldn't be fair to her!  Tomorrow I'm going to Keene for coffee with my friend who still works at the library system.  We see each other pretty much every week but don't talk about her work much, I think maybe she knows I'm not really that interested in what's happening where I no longer work.

We had an actual patron at the Archives this week.  Not my favorite part of the job but the woman who works with me is a gem and she helped.  It was a request for an image we had already scanned so I found it and printed out a good (surprisingly good) copy for the patron, who left with a smile on her face.  Margaret (my "assistant") found additional information for her and boy did we look good!

It snows often, typical for winter but only a couple of inches at a time.  It's just miserable cold today mostly due to the wind.  Temp is 0 and dropping, will be well below zero tonight.  I feel lucky to have a warm living room with a good stove and plenty of firewood.  I have the best ever kindling, a friend's cousin is a woodworker and gives us kiln-dried pieces of kindling that lights like magic.

Will I watch the Super Bowl?  Probably.  I don't care what people say, I LIKE Tom Brady.  I do not like the violence of football but enjoy watching it anyway.