You would think March meant spring in Hawkeye if you were here today! Temps in the 50's with bright warm sunshine. Very very nice. No, really, VERY VERY nice. I freed Bear's cable, just enough to let him go to the foot of the steps and step into the snow a little bit so he can sit on the top step (one of his favorite pastimes). Why the cable? Yesterday the only human contact I had was with the 2 men who drove Bear home from who-knows-how far away he had wandered. Bad Bad Bear. I wanted to reward the 2 young men because they went out of their way to find my house and return my dog but all I had to offer them was a $20 bill (too much) and beer. So I opted for the beer, which one of them took with gratitude. Boy was it nice of them to bring my dog home. So Bear's wings have been clipped.
It's been a good month, some snow, some cold, some winter. March is usually an unpleasant experience here but so far (and I know it's early) it's been quite nice. February was a busy social time, there were many visitors to Hawkeye and that kept me busy. Now there is no one here and it's so very quiet. I did have company today, a friend had come to check on his camps and he stopped in for coffee and a visit. That was nice but Bear was obnoxious and adoring, wouldn't leave the poor man alone. My good friends are in Florida for 5 weeks, they're into their 3rd week now I think, and they are my morning walking companions so poor Bear hasn't had much exercise. He misses them (yeah, right)--well I sure miss them anyway and I know he misses our bog walks.
I'm heading to Rhode Island on Wednesday to celebrate my mother's 94th birthday. She is still in great shape, happy with her life and doing very well. I'm looking forward to visiting with her and spending time in RI. I do like that place. I'll be back on Monday, back to my routines. Friends are planning to be here then, they'll stay in their house for a week or so. That means we'll do some walking and/or gym visitations for sure.
The road to my house is a mess, it's icy and slushy and rutted and just bad to drive on. What choice do I have? It's not as bad as it will be I'm sure. We're due to have rain maybe tonight but definitely tomorrow afternoon. Oh that will make a real mess.
Things at the thrift store have been fine--busy with plenty of shoppers but not an overwhelming amount of stuff coming in so receiving has been good. I'm alone in books on Wednesdays, the Book Lady has decided to work only on Saturdays. I've been alone in receiving a few times but as I say it's not been too busy so I've managed.
We got a negative scanner in the Archives--big excitement! We have more than 500 negatives to scan and digitize and have started on that project. We had high hopes for images from the 1890's and early 1900's but oh no, nothing as fascinating as that. So far we've scanned lots of posed portraits from the 1950's and early 60's. Rats. Scanning negatives is soooo much slower than scanning photos so this project will last a long, long time.
Are we worried about COVID-19 here? Not too much right here in Hawkeye (most of my friends are more concerned with stock market trends than the coronavirus, oh dear). I worry about my sister in southern Italy but she is OK. I don't like thinking that I couldn't get to her if there were a crisis and she needed me.
So tomorrow is a work day. Today was a dump day and that was great. I've wrapped my mother's presents and have started packing. I don't usually do much organizing or packing ahead of time, mostly my pattern is to pack the morning I leave but this time I've had good days to get ready.
Temps in the 40's tonight, that's usually when I take the plastic off my bedroom window and open the window but I think I'll wait for that--early March is early.
Monday, March 09, 2020
Sunday, February 09, 2020
We can call THIS winter
What a snow storm we had on Friday! It started with ice on Thursday night, turned to a full day of snow on Friday. We ended up with something between 18 and 24 inches, depending on which method of measuring you used: my plow man said we had 2 feet because his boots are 20 inches tall and the snow was over his boots. OK, that sounds good. Others measured the snow as 18-19 inches, which seems more likely to me but who knows. Either way it was a ton of snow. No, really. The ice didn't help, my car was encased in ice under the snow. Ugh.
Saturday I went to the dump, traveling roads that were slick but not impossible to navigate. What I mostly did all day was clean my house. Friends came for dinner (salmon cooked in a clay cooker along with roasted radishes) and we had a really nice time. It got cold during the afternoon and evening, was down to -5 when they left.
By this morning it was -21--wow that was a surprise to me! My house was chilly (58) but not miserable and warmed up with the sun. We had a gorgeous sunny morning and I went to the gym with friends, came back to their house for coffee and a nice visit.
I made cake for book group tonight, a bourbon apple cake. Whatever possesses me to try these things? The cake is good but the bourbon flavor is really strong.
Tonight I'll cook a pork tenderloin with roasted carrots. It can't really be called a book "group," in the winter it's just a trio. Meanwhile I need to come up with something for us to read for the next month. It's not as if I don't have enough books, I just have to pick one.
My mother's friend emptied her wall-sized bookcase and estimated the total number of books at 1500. Oh dear, this made me wonder just how many books I have--4 bookcases full, so at least a few hundred. Why, oh why?
Saturday I went to the dump, traveling roads that were slick but not impossible to navigate. What I mostly did all day was clean my house. Friends came for dinner (salmon cooked in a clay cooker along with roasted radishes) and we had a really nice time. It got cold during the afternoon and evening, was down to -5 when they left.
By this morning it was -21--wow that was a surprise to me! My house was chilly (58) but not miserable and warmed up with the sun. We had a gorgeous sunny morning and I went to the gym with friends, came back to their house for coffee and a nice visit.
I made cake for book group tonight, a bourbon apple cake. Whatever possesses me to try these things? The cake is good but the bourbon flavor is really strong.
Tonight I'll cook a pork tenderloin with roasted carrots. It can't really be called a book "group," in the winter it's just a trio. Meanwhile I need to come up with something for us to read for the next month. It's not as if I don't have enough books, I just have to pick one.
My mother's friend emptied her wall-sized bookcase and estimated the total number of books at 1500. Oh dear, this made me wonder just how many books I have--4 bookcases full, so at least a few hundred. Why, oh why?
Wednesday, February 05, 2020
Beautiful day
It's 21 degrees with bright, warm sunshine--my very favorite kind of winter day. I wish I were brave enough to go down to the lake alone but the last time I did that I fell through the ice. Yikes, luckily it was close to shore but it sure was scary. It cured me of solo trips on the ice, that's for sure.
We've been having a spell of pretty nice weather but haven't seen much of the sun.
I went snowshoeing the other day with friends. We were going to go to camp and check on the boat house but I knew I wouldn't make it up the hill to come home so I stopped at the gate and came home while they went down to the lake (with Bear). They said it was beautiful and the ice was fine.
Work is going well. We're taking a break from scanning to add bibliographic records to the data base, which is what I did for so many decades when I worked. It's funny to be doing that work again and it's even funnier what comes back to me about manipulating the data. Am I pleased about this? Not particularly.
I've been working at the thrift store but today it was pretty slow so I didn't stay long. Saturday it was really really busy with shoppers but we had enough people working and there wasn't that much in receiving, it moved at a nice pace.
I've been walking the bog some mornings with friends, when we don't walk the bog we go to the gym. One would hope this would lead to weight loss (not) and improved lung function (not) so it's all sort of discouraging. I see my doctor later this month and was hoping to proudly announce my weight loss but alas and alack that doesn't not seem to be going to happen. Oh well.
We've been having a spell of pretty nice weather but haven't seen much of the sun.
I went snowshoeing the other day with friends. We were going to go to camp and check on the boat house but I knew I wouldn't make it up the hill to come home so I stopped at the gate and came home while they went down to the lake (with Bear). They said it was beautiful and the ice was fine.
Work is going well. We're taking a break from scanning to add bibliographic records to the data base, which is what I did for so many decades when I worked. It's funny to be doing that work again and it's even funnier what comes back to me about manipulating the data. Am I pleased about this? Not particularly.
I've been working at the thrift store but today it was pretty slow so I didn't stay long. Saturday it was really really busy with shoppers but we had enough people working and there wasn't that much in receiving, it moved at a nice pace.
I've been walking the bog some mornings with friends, when we don't walk the bog we go to the gym. One would hope this would lead to weight loss (not) and improved lung function (not) so it's all sort of discouraging. I see my doctor later this month and was hoping to proudly announce my weight loss but alas and alack that doesn't not seem to be going to happen. Oh well.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Still winter, but barely
It's in the 20's these days, sometimes creeping up to the 30's. What's up with that? Where's our sub-zero? our teens? our single digits? It's very unnerving. And makes me nervous about February...
I haven't been doing anything startling or exciting. I went to the dump yesterday, stopping at the grocery store on my way home. The roads were slick and crappy--we had some heavy snow with some icy stuff the night before. I whacked away at the crud that had built up on my deck stairs, got them down to bare wood. I have to keep at that or they get like a bobsled run and I slide right down them.
Today is a work day. I think we'll scan images today, we've done nearly all of the 6000 photographs in the collection but we skipped 300 images of houses in Keene Valley. Big yawn but good to get done. We laugh a lot when we scan so that will be good. I have to stop on my way home to renew my gym membership in AuSable. That's the extent of my plans for the day.
I'm trying to be productive and get a little better organized--yesterday I cleared off my kitchen counter. Wow! space in the kitchen! Of course I haven't found homes for the things that were on the counter, little bowls and dishes I rarely use. I did pack up a box of bottles and empty sippy cups that were taking up valuable real estate on the floor, but all I did with them was put them in the mud room. With a lot of other "useful but not right now" stuff. Note to self: if you ever built another house make sure you include lots of closets and storage space.
The week looks pretty easy--I do have to go to Plattsburgh tomorrow, car appointment in the morning. No thrift store for me (if you leave out the "t" it becomes "thrift sore," maybe that's too close to reality) but I'll go on Saturday. The woman who is in books says she's not working Wednesdays any more after tomorrow so I'll be doing books one day a week I guess. Which do I prefer: receiving or books? I think it depends on who's working in receiving. And I'll say no more about that.
I haven't been doing anything startling or exciting. I went to the dump yesterday, stopping at the grocery store on my way home. The roads were slick and crappy--we had some heavy snow with some icy stuff the night before. I whacked away at the crud that had built up on my deck stairs, got them down to bare wood. I have to keep at that or they get like a bobsled run and I slide right down them.
Today is a work day. I think we'll scan images today, we've done nearly all of the 6000 photographs in the collection but we skipped 300 images of houses in Keene Valley. Big yawn but good to get done. We laugh a lot when we scan so that will be good. I have to stop on my way home to renew my gym membership in AuSable. That's the extent of my plans for the day.
I'm trying to be productive and get a little better organized--yesterday I cleared off my kitchen counter. Wow! space in the kitchen! Of course I haven't found homes for the things that were on the counter, little bowls and dishes I rarely use. I did pack up a box of bottles and empty sippy cups that were taking up valuable real estate on the floor, but all I did with them was put them in the mud room. With a lot of other "useful but not right now" stuff. Note to self: if you ever built another house make sure you include lots of closets and storage space.
The week looks pretty easy--I do have to go to Plattsburgh tomorrow, car appointment in the morning. No thrift store for me (if you leave out the "t" it becomes "thrift sore," maybe that's too close to reality) but I'll go on Saturday. The woman who is in books says she's not working Wednesdays any more after tomorrow so I'll be doing books one day a week I guess. Which do I prefer: receiving or books? I think it depends on who's working in receiving. And I'll say no more about that.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Gone too long
I just haven't been in the mood to blog, I guess. It's not been terribly busy but we did have lots of snow last weekend, we ended up with about a foot from 2 different storms. Right now it's snowing and 30 degrees, predictions are mixed--maybe snow, maybe sleet, maybe rain, maybe ice. I think we'll end up with a few inches by morning.
Last weekend was busy, friends were in the neighborhood and at my house. Good friends came to their camp below my house, I love seeing them and got to spend 2 evenings with them. They make me laugh and laugh. Other friends were here, they spent one night in their camp then spent Sunday night with me. That was nice and sure was good for my house: I cleaned and cleaned. I need to do more organizing and decluttering for sure. I think the dogs brush each other during the nights while I sleep then empty the brush on the living room rug. There is SO MUCH dog hair!
I've been working at the Archives and the thrift store, as usual. Both are going well. The thrift store has been busy, especially today when there were tons of shoppers. Not too many dropping off so that made my morning easier.
We have at least a foot of snow right now but I'm not sure there's much more than that on the ground. Unusual for the end of January. I've been walking the bog in the morning with friends--the snow is loose so it's harder, like walking in deep sand. I have cleats on my boots, which helps.
The dogs are both well. They have been good about sticking around but of course they're NOT allowed out together unless I'm walking with them, and even then Treasure is on a leash on the way home. Bear doesn't seem to go far, wouldn't it be great if he kept that up this summer! but I doubt that will be.
Winter has been pretty easy so far. It was below zero last weekend but this week was a warm week, temps in high 20's and low 30's. Very strange.
Last weekend was busy, friends were in the neighborhood and at my house. Good friends came to their camp below my house, I love seeing them and got to spend 2 evenings with them. They make me laugh and laugh. Other friends were here, they spent one night in their camp then spent Sunday night with me. That was nice and sure was good for my house: I cleaned and cleaned. I need to do more organizing and decluttering for sure. I think the dogs brush each other during the nights while I sleep then empty the brush on the living room rug. There is SO MUCH dog hair!
I've been working at the Archives and the thrift store, as usual. Both are going well. The thrift store has been busy, especially today when there were tons of shoppers. Not too many dropping off so that made my morning easier.
We have at least a foot of snow right now but I'm not sure there's much more than that on the ground. Unusual for the end of January. I've been walking the bog in the morning with friends--the snow is loose so it's harder, like walking in deep sand. I have cleats on my boots, which helps.
The dogs are both well. They have been good about sticking around but of course they're NOT allowed out together unless I'm walking with them, and even then Treasure is on a leash on the way home. Bear doesn't seem to go far, wouldn't it be great if he kept that up this summer! but I doubt that will be.
Winter has been pretty easy so far. It was below zero last weekend but this week was a warm week, temps in high 20's and low 30's. Very strange.
Friday, January 10, 2020
Good week--so far
I've had a good week, the thrift store was busy but there were too many volunteers working so it was all fine. I didn't work hard or stay long. Work on Thursday was fine, we're doing massive data entry with a collection of older, rare books we have in the Archives. Mostly my assistant will be doing the data entry, I showed her how to do it and she took right off with that.
Today was a busy day for me--walked the bog in the morning with friends then went to Plattsburgh for the pool-ercise class for fat old ladies. I of course fit right in. The class lasts an hour, that's a long time to be bouncing in the crowded shallow end of the pool. I came home and did some clearing, got the snow off the steps and made a good path on the deck.
The big news here is FEAR: they're predicting an ice storm for Saturday night and Sunday. This really scares me, the ice storm we had in '98 was just awful for me. No power for 2 weeks, temps below zero, no water for 3 weeks, pipes froze, dogs got cold, house was miserable. Hopefully this won't be a repeat, warmer temps are predicted at least. Still, it makes me very, very nervous. I have a Coleman lantern for night time and a Coleman cook stove. I have access to my friends' house down the hill, they have a generator so if there's serious trouble for a long time I may be able to go there. I do sound hysterical, don't I. Maybe it won't be that bad but they're predicting 1/2 an inch to an inch of ice. Man that's nasty.
Enough about that! Tomorrow it will rain a lot. Temp right now is 37. I'll decide in the morning if I want to work at the thrift store tomorrow. Right now I'm feeling...not so much.
Today was a busy day for me--walked the bog in the morning with friends then went to Plattsburgh for the pool-ercise class for fat old ladies. I of course fit right in. The class lasts an hour, that's a long time to be bouncing in the crowded shallow end of the pool. I came home and did some clearing, got the snow off the steps and made a good path on the deck.
The big news here is FEAR: they're predicting an ice storm for Saturday night and Sunday. This really scares me, the ice storm we had in '98 was just awful for me. No power for 2 weeks, temps below zero, no water for 3 weeks, pipes froze, dogs got cold, house was miserable. Hopefully this won't be a repeat, warmer temps are predicted at least. Still, it makes me very, very nervous. I have a Coleman lantern for night time and a Coleman cook stove. I have access to my friends' house down the hill, they have a generator so if there's serious trouble for a long time I may be able to go there. I do sound hysterical, don't I. Maybe it won't be that bad but they're predicting 1/2 an inch to an inch of ice. Man that's nasty.
Enough about that! Tomorrow it will rain a lot. Temp right now is 37. I'll decide in the morning if I want to work at the thrift store tomorrow. Right now I'm feeling...not so much.
Tuesday, January 07, 2020
either do it or don't
If I'm going to have this blog I should POST something, right? It seems I start getting fairly conscientious about posting, then I get interrupted by an event or trip or something in my life and I never return. And so once again I return.
December went by in a flash. The weather was tolerable the friends were around and good, the dogs didn't run off (much), I was busy but hardly overwhelmed. Christmas came and was very nice. I went to RI, of course, and my mother was and still is well. We had a quiet visit although there were stoppers-by and a few events. I saw a good friend from the old days when I lived there. We had a good visit with my cousin and his family. It didn't snow. The ground was bare. We had lobsters. Mark and I gave my mother a new Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner, which she has actually used since I was there. That's pretty impressive, that she's used it without any help, it's a pretty dramatic thing, a big change. She's not usually enthusiastic about change but who could hate a cordless vacuum cleaner? Any she continues to be well and happy.
I went to the gym regularly last month and even did some aqua-size in the pool in Plattsburgh. That wasn't quite a passing fancy but I haven't been again lately. I'll go back, but when?
It was 8 degrees this morning, though now in the middle of the night it's 23. We had a spell of warm weather that melted our snow and are slowly rebuilding a base. We got about 4 inches today, very fluffy stuff. The ice on the lake was thick but a friend recently put her foot right through the ice near shore so perhaps there has been meltage. Supposed to be zero later this week but there's a bit on sno-sulation keeping it from getting thick.
Work is good, we've scanned all of the processed photos, 6000 or more and now I need to decide what we'll do next. We're waiting for the report from our Assessment visit, I'm seriously hoping that will guide us to the next thing.
I was absent from the thrift store for a couple of weeks but dared show up on Saturday. It was busy with shoppers but we have an intensive triage routine that has kept donations down. Much less rejecting going on in receiving.
Life is good. It's a quiet time, not much activity in the woods here though friends are coming next week (!) to stay in their camp for a few days. GOOD friends I look forward to being with. Nice, very nice.
December went by in a flash. The weather was tolerable the friends were around and good, the dogs didn't run off (much), I was busy but hardly overwhelmed. Christmas came and was very nice. I went to RI, of course, and my mother was and still is well. We had a quiet visit although there were stoppers-by and a few events. I saw a good friend from the old days when I lived there. We had a good visit with my cousin and his family. It didn't snow. The ground was bare. We had lobsters. Mark and I gave my mother a new Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner, which she has actually used since I was there. That's pretty impressive, that she's used it without any help, it's a pretty dramatic thing, a big change. She's not usually enthusiastic about change but who could hate a cordless vacuum cleaner? Any she continues to be well and happy.
I went to the gym regularly last month and even did some aqua-size in the pool in Plattsburgh. That wasn't quite a passing fancy but I haven't been again lately. I'll go back, but when?
It was 8 degrees this morning, though now in the middle of the night it's 23. We had a spell of warm weather that melted our snow and are slowly rebuilding a base. We got about 4 inches today, very fluffy stuff. The ice on the lake was thick but a friend recently put her foot right through the ice near shore so perhaps there has been meltage. Supposed to be zero later this week but there's a bit on sno-sulation keeping it from getting thick.
Work is good, we've scanned all of the processed photos, 6000 or more and now I need to decide what we'll do next. We're waiting for the report from our Assessment visit, I'm seriously hoping that will guide us to the next thing.
I was absent from the thrift store for a couple of weeks but dared show up on Saturday. It was busy with shoppers but we have an intensive triage routine that has kept donations down. Much less rejecting going on in receiving.
Life is good. It's a quiet time, not much activity in the woods here though friends are coming next week (!) to stay in their camp for a few days. GOOD friends I look forward to being with. Nice, very nice.
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