Danger Will Robinson

It was -8 this morning and everyone is hysterical about the dropping temps tomorrow and tomorrow night.  Lots of publicity for wind chills of -40 to -50.  Well, I don't have much faith in wind chill--all I know is that if it's windy and below zero it feels very cold.  At least we're not supposed to get the blizzard that's expected south and east of here.  It snowed all day but we only ended up with a few inches.

I had an exceptionally lazy day.  Up around 5, warmed up the house, talked to my mother then went to the dump.  Took a long way home just because I like to do that.  Then I settled in for the day and really did practically nothing but watch TV and pet the dogs.  The dogs took off the other day and were gone for 2 1/2 hours.  I was worried but had tracked them down Old Hawkeye Rd past the Holts so at least wasn't worried about cars.  They came home, finally, but poor Tess was really lame for the rest of the day and into the next day.  She's good now but certainly does move more slowly than she used to.  I think about life without her, which will be hard for Treasure and me but I guess his is how I work my way into dog euthanasia.

I have the tail end of my cold now, a nagging cough and congestion.  I went to Saranac Lake and bought good cough med. and more Sudafed so I keep everything under control.  It's just lingering now.  I finished the book I was reading last night.  The author's name is Celeste Ng.  How do you pronounce that?  Ng.  It was a good book but pretty depressing.  Nicely written.  Now I'll start the new Anne Tyler book IN PRINT.  I've been using the 2 Kindles I have--one is an old one, borrowed from a friend, and the other is my new Fire.  It will be strange to handle a book again.  I bought a copy of the book thinking I would read it then send it to my mother, but she needed something to read so I ordered several books for her, including Anne Tyler.  She (like me) has a house full of books but likes to read NEW books.  I'm keeping a list of books to read, or at least read reviews of.  Collection development was one of the favorite tasks of my job so I still have a keen eye on book publishing,  I don't know how long I'll keep this up, but it's fun now.

No big plans or tomorrow or Monday.  I'll see P&J tomorrow and probably not leave the house much on cold, cold Monday.  I feel so very fortunate to be at home during this weather, keeping the house warm and the stove stoked.  I have 2 commitments next week, 1 is volunteering at the county Historical Association and the other is lunch with Barb.  YAY.

I called some friends the other day and found out that one of them was just diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.  That was pretty depressing news and I haven't really taken it all in yet.  Our friend Barb N. is doing better, I hear, which is fantastic news.  I know we need to expect problems and illnesses as we age, but it sure is a drag.

Dogs are just fine and such good companions.  I had a long talk with Annie yesterday.  She & Rush are in Calif. while he accepts his new position at the AAAS, having spent 2 weeks in Yosemite before going to San Jose.  Their lives will change dramatically as they will gradually move to D.C.

Happy Valentine's Day.  Mark sent me a new toy and some candy and my mother sent me a card addressed to ASF Frozen Northland, Snow Country USA.  That address was on the inside, of course--although I sometimes get mail with strange addresses, I don't think that one would have made it to me.  Maybe, though.

Narcissus and geraniums in February are about as close to something spring-like as I can get.

I have a cold and sound like death warmed over.  I finally got some good drugs and can smell again and can almost hear at normal levels.  It's not a bad cold, not one of those that makes you feel really, really awful.  It's more of an inconvenience and how can I complain when I have a wood stove, 2 dogs and all the time in the world to convalesce with?  Ah, life is good.

We celebrated Jim's 80th birthday in good style at Mainely Lobster with a great showing of family members.  The food was great, everyone cheerful, and the roads were slick but passable.

Today we saw the sun for the first time in a while.  It felt warm and very strange.  I went to Plattsburgh to have lunch with my friend Julie and did a little grocery shopping for P&J while I was in town.  Julie was having horrible headaches, had a CAT scan done and it came back abnormal so she saw a neurologist this week.  I was pretty hysterical, having just lost 2 friends to brain cancer in the last few months.  Anyway, she's fine and has no tumor nor is there anything really wrong with her.  That was a huge relief.  She's still at CEF so I counsel her on how to be still at CEF.  The woman they hired after I left is now installed at my old desk and Julie finds this very depressing.  I don't blame her, we were very dependent on each other for humor, sanity, and sage advice.  Well life goes on.

I had a doctor's appointment in Plattsburgh on Monday, did some grocery shopping then.  Yesterday I went to AuSable to mail some things.  Yes, I'm still running the roads.  I have no plans for the rest of the week, or the weekend--so many days with so little to do!  Next week is the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, an annual favorite of mine.  I record the whole thing and wallow in different dog breeds.  I love it.  It must be incredibly boring to the normal human but I love watching dogs being paraded around by odd looking people.

It was -3 this morning, now is 17 and not bad.  Apparently it's supposed to be -15 (or more) soon.  I've used up my Ken wood and am now burning the wood I bought last summer.  It's not as good, of course, but is good wood nevertheless.  It's not in the wood shed so I have to dig it out from under huge piles of snow.  Ah, it's good for me!  I haven't walked the dogs in weeks, haven't done much of anything myself since Duncan & David left last week.  Joe comes soon, which will be a grand and welcome distraction.

The dogs are great.  I shut Treasure's head in the rear window of the car today, which startled and scared both of us.  She's so skittish anyway, it was very dramatic.  They run off once in a while while I'm getting wood but they don't go far or stay away long.  Someone was in the bog the other day so maybe they broke trail and I could walk the dogs in there.  If it ever warmed up I would maybe do that.  Or not.

Sunny February day

 The ice palace in Saranac Lake--not as big as some years but still very, very impressive.

Snowy view of my house on a sunny winter day, pretty but deceptive.  It's cold, only 7 and temps are dropping.  Due to be double digits below zero tonight

View from the south.  NOTE: Icicles are not a badge of honor.  They just mean that I waste a lot of money trying to keep my house warm.

I had a nice morning drive.  I went to Saranac Lake to check out the ice palace, then came home the long way, over Whiteface.  It was really pretty but the dogs got pretty bored.

My friends who were here at their camp left yesterday.  I miss them already--it's nice to have them in the 'hood and I truly enjoy being with them.  They launched a small rocket with a camera attached and showed me the videos of their 2 launches.  It was soooooo nifty.  At one point, as they were getting ready for lift-off Duncan said "Godspeed little rocket."  I laughed hard at that one.

I haven't been doing much.  I cleaned my house (sort of) and yesterday I cooked breakfast for my friends.  We had a good visit and lots of fun, then they left.  Aw.

Monday I stayed home because we had a good storm.  We probably got a foot of snow, light fluffy stuff that wasn't hard to shovel.  I got plowed out around 3 p.m. and had a nice chat with my plowman.  He's sweet and very reliable.  It's so liberating to have a foot of snow plowed from your driveway.

Tuesday I went to Plattsburgh for groceries and to pick up some pictures to send to my mother.  No pictures worth posting here, just pictures of dogs and the car.  I got to have coffee with my friend Julie.  I miss her a lot--we worked together for 28 years and share a similar view of the world and that workplace.

Yesterday after breakfast I went to Wilmington to see Marylou.  She's been out of work for a while due to sciatica but is back working part time now.  It was good to see her and we had a nice visit.  I see that I spend a lot of my time finding people to visit with.  But I am not lonely, I still enjoy being alone.  My dogs are constant companions, and good ones, too.  Life continues to treat me well.

Cold enough

It was -11 this morning, is now up to 6 (probably the high for the day).  I'm looking for a friend on Facebook, my former sister-in-law, but am having no luck.  I'm also watching Martha Stewart, who always makes me laugh.  She's adding honey to whatever it is she's cooking--"Greek honey is the best but I'm using MY honey."  Oh Martha honey, what a joke you are.  I did get the best ever pumpkin pie recipe from her, though--the secret ingredient is 1/8 tsp of chili powder.  That makes it.

I ended up in Platts. yesterday, running errands.  It was snowy and the roads were a bit slick but it was an easy trip.  Too many stops--pharmacy didn't have my happy pills so I had to go to another one at the opposite end of town.  Then back to town to pick up things like prints to send to my mother, money, and I can't remember what else.  It was all fine.  Now it's the weekend and the only difference that makes for me is that a) it's a Dump Day, b) daytime TV is totally different, c) I talk to my mother in the morning.  I feel incredibly lucky to have my life right now.  I spend a lot of time pointing that out to the dogs.  People ask how the dogs react to having me home and I think the only thing they notice is that they have no privacy and no time in the house when I'm not here.  Aw shucks.  Tess tried to do one of her "I'm such a bad dog" tricks RIGHT in front of me this morning and all I did was laugh.
My friends are here, at their camp below my house.  They come every January.  I truly enjoy being with them.  They remind me of my brother and his lifetime friends in Rockford (when they all got along)--these 3 have been friends since childhood and love being together.  We're planning to go out for breakfast tomorrow, yay.  I love going out for breakfast.

No big plans for the next week.  Have to return to Platts. to get more prints and hit the pharmacy for a new inhaler.  Next weekend Jim turns 80 and we'll take him out to dinner in Plattsburgh.  Next Sunday I may head to Potsdam to see my great niece (and her daughter, ha ha ha).

What do I do all day every day?  Not much.  I try to do one constructive domestic task each day and have met with some success at doing that.  I read books.  I have a long list of projects but most of them will need warmer weather.  Or maybe that's just an excuse.  Anyway I'm outrageously happy.

Winter pics

 I have a friend who calls my car the Road Warrior.  I DID take it to the car wash a little while ago but that's sort of a waste of money this time of year.

 Two dogs in a car, waiting patiently.

This is how they build the ice palace--this is the men cutting the ice blocks from Lake Flower.  It's really amazing to watch.  They use big saws to cut the blocks.  Wow.

Trip to Saranac Lake

Progress so far--looks great.

Warmer Friday

It's warmed up to 25 today but there's no sun and a cold wind so it feels pretty crappy.  I just walked to the mailbox, which I'm hoping to make a daily habit.  The dogs are getting used to the walk and always check out the bog on the way to the mailbox, so I walk most of the way without them, talking to myself.  "Am I doing this for my health?  Where ARE you?  Actually, I AM doing it for my health"  It's all good.

I need to develop organizational skills for my errands and chores.  Yesterday I went to Saranac Lake to the bank, to the post office and I tried to send a UPS package with no luck.  When I got home I figured out that I needed a bunch of groceries, so this morning I went to Plattsburgh.  I thought the whole point of retiring was to NOT go to Platts.?  So far I go twice a week--poor planning.

It's very quiet in the 'hood right now.  There is somebody down the road, probably Dennis at Silver Lake Camp.  The plow man plows just about every day--we get an inch or so of fluffy stuff just about daily.  When he gets bored with plowing he sands the road.

It was an uneventful week for me, and I got a few things done at home.  Tuesday I had lunch with my friend Barb, always a pleasure.  I was hoping to meet Julie this morning but she had a meeting.  Instead we mad plans for lunch next week.  Monday I'm meeting my friend in Keene Valley for a walk and maybe lunch, depending on the weather.

Dogs are fine, I am fine, life is still good.

Christmas is over

I took the Christmas tree down this morning--I'd kept it up for book group, which was scheduled for yesterday.  I really enjoy having a tree, even if I'm the only one who ever sees it.  I'm happy to have the dinner table back to being a table, and pleased to put away the Christmas stuff.  Let's get on with winter...

It's very pretty here right now, we had some heavy snow last night and more today, so the trees are coated with white.  Nice.  Temp is 30 and due to drop to single digits tonight.  Ah, it was nice while it lasted, and I don't mind single digits.  It's the -20 that I mind most.

Tonight I'm taking dinner to Pat & Jim--I have a chicken to roast so will cook it here and take it to them.  I bought it for book group, but we cancelled last night so what to do with a 5-lb chicken?  Share it, of course.  I had a nice time yesterday at P&J's, good visits with Bill and the Atkinsons.  Everyone is fine, feeling pretty good for January.  Things are moving ahead--we started the ice-out pool.  Duncan & David come at the end of the month, Joe comes in Feb. for The Burn, and in March I hope to get to RI (if not in Feb.) then I go to Georgia.  Time goes by soooo fast.

I'm enjoying being at home, not sick of anything yet.  This morning I drove to Redford for milk, gas and coffee.  Tomorrow I go to Plattsburgh to have car work done and maybe have lunch with a friend.  Friday I went to Platts. and had lunch with a friend from work.  I did go inside and visit a bit with a couple of people but that's not really something I like doing--I've always said, once you're gone you're gone.

The house is warm, too warm but I'm keeping a good fire going.  I still have a lot of wood--more than 8 cords.  I'm burning old wood from Ken's, which is fantastic and dry.  Now I'm mixing it with this year's wood, which is not as dry but still burns well.

So what do I do in retirement?  A little of this and a little of that.  Too much TV, still, but mostly I just have it on instead of NPR, which is what many of my friends listen to.  Noise, just noise.  I'm taking Joe's advice to heart--little things become bigger things in the context of the day, and that works really well for me.  I write letters, clean a bit, do chores, talk to the dogs, and read at night.  I get the paper every day but it doesn't entertain me for long.

Am I still glad I chose to retire?  Yes, more than ever.

Week 2

Wow it's been almost a month since I left work.  I miss nothing about it, really.  I'm having lunch with a work friend tomorrow and I'm sure she'll fill me in on what's up.  Apparently they've found a librarian to replace me.  This should be good.
It's been cold, was -13 yesterday morning but is now 21.  It was sunny this morning but is now a bit cloudy.  I should walk down to Holts to water Annie's African violets but will I?
I haven't been doing much but seem to have ways of filling my days.  I went to Saranac Lake on Monday, which was good.  Had to pick up my glasses and run a few errands.  I picked up my goldfish, who is now safely installed in the living room.  So far he hasn't frozen and seems to be just fine.
The dogs keep me entertained and busy--they stare at me when they want to go out (every 20 minutes) and eat (every half hour).  They are good companions and don't seem to notice that I don't go to work every day.
I'm adjusting to my new status and am doing well.  I should be more productive but I do get something done each day.  Yesterday I took a big bag to the dump and I have another one loading up to go on Saturday.  I'm slowly, very slowly cleaning the living room in prep. for book group onn Sunday.  I've been reading a bit, nothing really of note but enough to make me feel as if I'm using my brain.  I still watch too much TV.
I'll run errands tomorrow and will feel productive, trying not to spend much money.  I am worried about money, haven't got a check yet.  Social Sec will kick in in February, I think the pension won't come until then, either.  Makes me nervous.
I made dog reservations at the kennel for my Georgia trip in March.  That was a good thing to get done.  I'm supposed to go to the dentist in Pbg on Monday but I think I'll cancel and reschedule.  Next Weds. I go to Burlington to the car dealer to have the oil changed and tires rotated.  That should be a nice trip.
Things are good.  I'm happy, very happy to be at home.  I just had my driveway plowed and as I pulled in today I thought there's nothing like a freshly-plowed driveway.  I'm a girl who's easy to please.

Home for goood

I know, it's been a long time.  I'm adjusting to my new life but it's pretty strange.  I went to RI for 2 weeks and had a good (but maybe too long) visit there.  My mother is fine but is old and doesn't like that.  She & Mark like having me there, and I enjoy being there but I think one week is probably long enough unless there's something like going to to be beach to keep us busy.  Anyway it was a fine trip and my house survived just fine.  That was a big relief, I worried about frozen pipes of course.  Nothing happened.  It got down to -5 while I was gone but the house was 42 at its coldest.  whew.

I've only been home this week, just 3 days until today and I'm having a hard time adjusting to it.  I'm really happy to be home to keep the stove stoked and the house warm, and to keep the dogs entertained but I'm having trouble finding things to do.  It was -20 this morning and the house was freezing, so was the pump.  I got everything set, though, went out & got wood, stoked the stove and now it's toasty and all is well.  I spent one day in Plattsburgh--doctor's appointment and errands, but I got tired of being there before finishing all of my errands so will return tomorrow.  Have to pick up a prescription and still haven't retrieved my goldfish from work.  I don't feel like going there but maybe will tomorrow.  It's a very, very strange sensation to be at home every day.  There's not much to do.  I need to get a lot of cleaning done and hopefully will feel motivated to do that one of these days.  Book group is here on the 18th.  I still have my Christmas tree up but am pretty tired of it.  Will keep it up until after the 18th I guess.

I saw P&J last night and on Sunday, but other than that have been mostly quiet & alone.  I've had phone calls, and have talked to my mother (she worries about me when it's this cold).  I welcome the conversations.  Am I lonely?  Not at all.  I think I'm just worried about my inactivity.  I'll get used to this home life and will perk up I'm sure.  I lie in bed at night and marvel at the fact that I don't work anymore.  Did I do the right thing?  I have no doubt that it was a good thing but I know I was unprepared for the magnitude of the change in my life.  duh.  It's all fine and so am I.  I'm happy, just adjusting.

This is what happened last week.  There was more but this was the first round--about a foot on Tuesday night, then close to another foot Weds.  It's pretty, and as always muffles the noise so it's still and quiet.  The dogs like the snow--Tess is adept at making very good dog snow angels and Treasure eats the snow.  The driveway was plowed twice (we call that a $100 storm) and I actually shoveled a path to the deck stairs.  Oh I'm getting good at this "owning a house" thing.

It's my last week at work, down to the last few days.  I still have plenty to do and have yet to finish cleaning up around my desk.  WHAT AM I WAITING FOR???  I have a lot of files that might be of value to someone.  I keep weeding them, throwing out more each time I go through them.  Mostly I have a lot of discarded books that at one point I thought I would want.  I go through them, too, and throw out a few each time.

Lots of meetings this last week--what ARE they going to do when I'm gone?  I have no strong feelings about who will do my work or how well/whether it will get done.  It's up to someone else now, I've given it my best 30 years.

I have lists of things to get done before leaving for RI on Sunday.  This morning I came to town extra-early so I could get my blood done.  Sure, good idea, except I brought the wrong paperwork so it was for naught.  It's not a big deal for me to get here early, nor is it a big deal to have the blood drawn.  It IS a big deal to have the lab orders, though.  duh.

So far I've had 2 farewell lunches with friends.  Tomorrow night is our union Christmas party.  Thursday I have birthday lunch with Barb, Friday is dinner with Bill & Fred, Sat. is dinner with the Holts, then Sunday at last I'm on the road.  I can stay in RI for a long time, if I want to.  I'm thinking of 2 weeks but if it gets too cold here I'll hustle on home to protect my house.  It got down to 39 in the living room over Thanksgiving, when the outdoor temp was 4, so I'm wary of cold weather.  I shut off the pump (learned that lesson the hard way) and hot water heater, but just about every year there's some problem while I'm in RI at Christmas.

The dogs are great.  Tess is really slowing down but can still wag her tail in a circle.  Treasure is very needy so the two of them really like it when I'm home.  Last week I only worked 2 days--I took one day off to have my new electric stove delivered, we were closed one day, I had a doctor's appointment in Saranac Lake another day, so it was a good week for the dogs.

Last Sunday I went to Saratoga to the calling hours of a friend.  It was a good trip, easy drive down and back, but I didn't stay long at the funeral home, nor did I stick around for the funeral.  I knew that, if I'd gone to the funeral I would have cried a lot, probably loudly, so I skipped that.  She was a wonderful woman, a couple of years younger than I am.

I have lists and lists of things I need to buy or do before leaving for RI.  Yesterday I had 4 stops in town before I left for home, tonight I think I'll have 3 or 4.  I have to get a new tag for Tess' collar, thank you--she lost hers and I hate to take her to RI without any identification because she always seems to get away at least once per visit.  At Thanksgiving she & Treasure took off into the woods and I had to track them down.  Scary.

I'll be in an Internet-free zone in RI but will take my laptop and go either to Mark's work place or to Java Madness, where the deck overlooks the marina, and will check my email and the weather here.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

She's up!  She's pretty!  That's my version of a creche on the table--3 Lab ornaments, 1 sheep ornament and a tiny hunter.  I bought the tree on Saturday, cut it down to table-top size, put it up and decorated it on Sunday.  Is it straight?  Not quite, it leans forward a bit, but it's a nice tree.

Back in the saddle

Thanksgiving was only a week ago and yet it is a world away.  I had a grand trip, easy driving and good visiting with Liza and Mark.  The weather was OK, some cold days and a couple of warm ones.  Mark & I took the dogs to the beach, I took Liza to the beach, and for a change of scene Mark & I walked the dogs all over the Univ. of RI campus, which is near where he works.  That was a real treat.  Campus was deserted and I got completely disoriented because there are so many new buildings added since I was there in the 70's.  It's really most impressive now.  And pretty.

We went to the annual art sale that we always hit, and it was as much fun as we expected.  A lot of pottery--Liza bought me a great bowl for my birthday and I bought myself another great bowl because I liked it.  We picked up odds & ends, as we always do.

Liza & I went shopping a few times.  Since she doesn't drive anymore she's dependent on Mark and feels bad asking him to take her places, plus she needed to get him some Christmas presents, so we had fun driving around and seeing the sights.  She likes to go to the grocery store--they all know her there and she picks up a few things each time she goes.  Like, she needed Kleenex so we went there and she bought ONE box, not 2 or even 3, just one.  So when she runs out again she'll need to go right back for more.  I found it all entertaining and was happy to be there.

Thanksgiving itself was fine.  We had our usual food--turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash and a zillion lima beans.  All delicious.  I made 2 pumpkin pies, one from fresh pumpkin that I got from Linda and another using canned pumpkin.  News flash: there's no real difference in taste between the two.  And 2 pies is a lot for 3 people to eat.  They were both good.  I use an old Martha Stewart recipe that includes 1/4 tsp of chili powder and that makes a difference.  yum.

I got home on Monday, around 2 in the afternoon.  It sure is nice to be at home during the day!  I'm looking forward to retirement, which is only 2 weeks away.  Yay!  Work is funny, I don't have that much to do in the way of tasks but I'm swamped with assignments and cleaning.

Yesterday I spent the day in Crown Point, barcoding their collection.  That was nice but frustrating--because it takes so long to get there (1 1/2 hours) we don't have many hours to actually do the work there.  It's going to take a wicked long time to get that collection done, but I'll be long gone by then.

I talked to a friend this morning and found out that my good friend from the past, Brook, has died.  She had brain cancer and was in a hospice facility so it wasn't a great shock but it's very sad.  When I first came here Brook & I were very close and spent a lot of time together.  We lived near each other and had dinners together often.  Her boyfriend and Jamie were friends, and Dan worked at our sawmill for a while.  Oh those were fun times and I'm very sad.  I'll go to the calling hours in Saratoga on Sunday.

Dogs are fine.  They like being at Liza's but are confined to a pen when they're outside.  They own the couch while we're there.  Mark & I take them for long walks when he doesn't have to be at work but other than that the only exercise they get is getting in & out of the car.  But they sleep a lot.  It's very peaceful.

 The mother at the beach on a calm but cold day

 Thanksgiving morning at the town beach--really high surf and a lot of gulls.  Very dramatic

Rainy Sunday

Well thank goodness it's warmed up--most of the snow is gone and I'm hoping that tomorrow's high temps and expected rain will get rid of the rest of it.  November to April is a long time to have snow on the ground.
Had a good weekend but not an especially productive one.  Last night I went to the Whallonsburg Grange hall with Lin & Ralph for dinner and a showing of Jay Craven's film Where the Rivers Flow North.  I'd seen the movie before but didn't remember that much of it.  It was excellent but the director couldn't stop talking so we didn't get out of there until 10, with an hour drive home to L&R's and another half hour home for me.  I didn't get home until midnight.  Late, late, late for someone who famously goes to bed around 8.  It was fun and we agreed that, though we were glad to have gone we sure wouldn't do it again.

This morning I took the dogs to get the paper at P&J's and when I got home they took off.  What a couple of turds.  They were gone for more than 2 hours before I left for my noontime visit with P&J & Bill.  I worried but hoped for the best, and sure enough when I got home at 1 they were waiting for me at home.  They've been sacked out ever since then and poor Tess is very sore and moving slowly.  I gave her an aspirin which helped a bit.  Mostly she's just lying next to the wood stove.

Last week was pretty quiet.  I spent a lot of time clearing out papers and books at work and finally got 2 file cabinets and a file drawer in my desk emptied.  YAY.  Now I just need to get to the 3 huge piles of papers and the bookshelf full of stuff and then I'll be all set.  I bought the goldfish a new bowl.  I think the director will take him after I leave.  I can't bring him home then because I'll be in RI for 2 weeks and the house will be too cold (in the 40's no doubt).  I killed off a couple of guppies that way.  This fish cost a whopping 17cents so it's no great loss but he's sort of a nice fish.  I think I'll get another one when I get back in Jan.  My days of having a big aquarium with a heater and  light are long gone.  Boy did I spend a fortune on that set up and the fish.  Which all died.

I'm only working tomorrow then am off for the rest of the week.  Heading to RI on Tuesday, avoiding the predicted miserable storm for Weds.  Whew.  I'm looking forward to going, it's always nice.  We'll have a nice peaceful Thanksgiving, just the 3 of us for dinner.  We do like to do it up big.

People are still asking me how many days until retirement--I don't know.  I'll be back at work on Dec. 2nd so I guess after that there will be 17 days.  Yikes I just zoomed in on the text and now it's HUGE.  I like my laptop but am not totally used to using it yet.

All is well. Happy Thanksgiving to all--

Ahhhh, much better picture of the November mtn.  This was yesterday, Veterans Day, when the temp was in the 50's and it was sunny and wonderful.  This is a slightly different view, it's from the HTC boat house instead of our boat house.  Beautiful from any site.
I had a grand time yesterday, day off.  Finished outdoor chores, walked to the HTC boat house to take pictures of the new roof for Duncan & JK, enjoyed the whole thing.  The dogs took off but weren't gone long.  I cabled Tess for most of the day so I could leave the door open.  How nice!  Two chickadees flew into the house but I managed to herd them out the window upstairs.  They really are sweet birds, let me get so close to them.  I started feeding the birds again over the weekend and within an hour there were chickadees, blue jays and a woodpecker at the feeder.  Hungry little boogers they all are.
It's colder today but nothing like what's happening in the Midwest.  Boy do I feel sorry for those people!  We have no snow and it's not likely we'll have any anytime soon.  It will be chilly but in the 30's, which I never really think is cause to complain.

November mtn.

It's not really monocromatic, there is green there.  It's as cold as it looks

Cold weekend

Well, can't really call it cold because it was above freezing, but it was cloudy, windy and in the 30's both days.  I spent a lot of time yesterday driving, which seems to be turning into my favorite weekend activity.  I drove to the farmstand with great apples and got some great apples, then I drove to the farmstand with good cider and bought some good cider.  The dogs are always eager to go in the car but unless I drive very slowly with the windows down they don't seem to do much.  Treasure sleeps and Tess stands between the front seats and looks out the windshield.  I have no idea how much she sees but she does respond to things like turkeys and squirrels.

I had dinner with Annie and her brother + his wife last night.  It was a cold walk down, which made me feel woefully inadequate to deal with impending winter.  Get use to it, Toots, it's here to stay.  Anyway it was a nice evening and pleasant walk home in the dark.

Today I did a few chores, went to P&J's for a nice visit, then walked to camp with the dogs to shut off the power there.  Of course they didn't come home with me, they ran off.  Treasure soon returned but Tess found a huge crowd at the bog and spent an hour or so with them.  Right now she's on the deck barking non-stop at what?  The dark I guess.  It's high entertainment for her.

This week looks good--until Weds. night.  I have Tuesday off and it's supposed to be 50 so I'll finish up my outdoor chores, then plan to go to Pat's & help her take in her garden stuff.  I have some more flower pots to empty and bring inside and have to put away my chair--the last vestige of summer.  I started feeding the birds today, filled the bird feeder this afternoon and within an hour there were chickadees, blue jays and woodpeckers hanging out there.  That was nice.

It's due to be much colder at the end of the week.  My stove is behaving well but I'm eager to have the stovepipe cleaned on Thursday afternoon.  The house is warm right now without the heat, just the stove going.

All is well in Hawkeye.  The lake looks cold and unforgiving.  There's snow on Catamount, on Duncan and Whiteface plus of course the High Peaks.  

The last bit of color in Hawkeye--I took this picture over the weekend.  Yes, we had snow, but no, it wasn't much and it's gone now.
The dogs don't care for setting the clocks back because it's nearly dark when I get home so they think I'm late.  They don't seem to notice how light it is when we get up.  Dumb dogs.

Nice stove

Cold and wet outside but my living room is warm.  Boy I do like my new stove, but it smokes right now.  I'm having stovepipe cleaned next week and sure hope that will take care of it.  Once I get the fire going it's great but it's hard to get it going and it smokes like a chimney in the house.  It's ticking away merrily now and that's what counts.

Went to the dump today, then took a nice long drive with the dogs.  This seems to be my big entertainment.  I had to buy more apples because the dogs ate the ones I got last week while I was at P&J's last night.  Rat pigs.

I pulled up the kitchen rug today which was on my list of MUST DO'S.  It stinks because Tess peed on it a bunch of times and it can't be cleaned so out it goes.  The kitchen floor is red oak on the diagonal but the wood is in terrible shape and needs to be sanded and treated, plus there are huge gaps between boards.  Almost all of the wood in this house (and there's a lot of it) came from our sawmill so was air-dried not kiln dried.  This means the boards expand and contract all the time and there are big gaps in nearly every room.  The maple in the bedroom is a mess and I'd like too paint the floor but can't figure out what to do with the bed.  Well that's a big project.  I painted the living room floor many years ago with Lin's help.  It should be painted again but boy that was something, to move all the living room furniture onto the deck and hope it didn't rain.

I'm excited about having time to do work on the house in January.  I have to be back here around the 6th so will start my retired life then.  I'm going to RI for Thanksgiving, leaving Tuesday and returning Sunday/  I retire on Dec. 19 and will go to RI after that for Christmas.  Christmas will be here before I know it so I should be making baskets instead of writing this.

We have book group Thanksgiving this month but I don't know when that is so I need to call M'lou to get details.  We have grand Thanksgivings together.  We've been a group for more than 10 years.

It's pretty dark now, at 6:00, which will be 5:00 tomorrow.  It was pitch black at 6 this morning and I'm looking forward to having more light in the morning.  Doesn't bother me to have it be dark earlier at night, I prefer good morning light.

Pretty as a picture on 10/28/2014

I had a day off yesterday and it was grand, just grand.  I finished all the closing camp chores then wen to the dump and took a long way home.  A LOOOOONG way home.  I drove slowly so the dogs could stick their heads out the windows and enjoy the trip as much as I did.  They were exhausted when we got home.
This is what the lake looks like these days--no color but pretty anyway.

Sisters.  They like being together.  They share the chair a lot of the time, even when they don't need to stay warm because it's winter.  We had a good weekend but I wasn't terribly productive.  Spent too much time on the couch, reading and watching TV.  What did I watch?  I can't really remember except I watched PBS cooking shows on Saturday.  And the movie Rush on Sunday, which is about grand prix auto racing.  I had a friend in college who was a huge fan of racing so I got interested in it.  Once we went to Lime Rock in Conn. to watch Paul Newman race.  That was fun.

And they like being with me.  This couch isn't as wide as my old couch was but we manage to fit like peas in a pod.  They take turns being "in front."  Sometimes they just lie on top of each other.  They're good girls, that's for sure.

Friday post

It's payday Friday so everyone is in a pretty good mood.  I'd be in a better mood if I didn't have to make mortgage, car and insurance payments all at once, but that's life as an adult, isn't it.

It's rainy and cool but not yet cold here, so is just fine.  I haven't been having fires--mostly because the stove is misbehaving and needs a cleaner stovepipe (I have an appointment next month for that).  House is cool but not bad and the dogs tend to lie on top of me in the evening on the couch so that sure keeps me warm.

I just had a long meeting with my colleagues about what will happen to the work I do here, who will do what and what won't be done.  It's still amazing to me that I'm leaving.  I'm excited and really looking forward to retirement but it's unbelievable that I will no longer be an employee of CEFLS after Dec. 19.  Mostly I feel that can't come soon enough but then I have my moments of "What will I be if I'm not a librarian?"  Pretty much in the mornings, getting ready for work I know that I'm totally ready to stay home.  How do I feel when I get to work?  Mostly I look forward to have a desk that's cleared off and having found someone else to do my job.

Tonight I'm going to hear a live band, which I probably haven't done since going to concerts many years ago.  More than 10 years, I think, I think the last one I went to was a Jackson Browne concert in Burlington with my friends when they were newly pregnant with their now-11 year old son.  Yikes.  What have I been doing for entertainment?  Anyway, in this band is the son of friends, who is coming from Brooklyn to play at a venue here.  A small venue in Upper Jay.  We'll go out for dinner first, and it occurs to me that the friends will want to stay until the bitter end of the performance, way past my bedtime no doubt.  Well, I said I'd go and I am looking forward to being with the friends.  I'm sure the band is good so that will be nice.  I have no idea what kind of music they play.

It's been a quiet week for me.  I had a consultant visit on Tuesday, to the AuSable Forks library and that went well.  There's a new director, a retired school librarian I've known for more than 20 years so that made it nice.  I like going into that library because it's full of Rogers Company things.  We talked about what library I'll "join" when I retire.  It probably won't be that one...for a number of reasons.  I've already had offers to volunteer at 3 libraries and that makes me feel well-liked and appreciated.  Will I do that?  maybe, maybe.

Dogs are fine.  I didn't walk them as much this week as I wanted to because I got home late a few times.  We walk to the mailbox and they run, run, run, especially Treasure.  Tess has that old dog run but Treasure has a fluid, maxed-out running style.  She's beautiful.

No big plans for the weekend.  I need to buy a new rug for the kitchen so may come back to town tomorrow.  or not.  Do I get bored on weekends?  Sometimes, but there is always something to do at home.  I have yet to empty the fridge at camp so hope to get that taken care of this weekend.  I'll need to do that before going to the dump.  Not much else going on.

There is still a lot of color in the mountains, plenty of birch, beech, aspen and soon tamarack.  It's very, very pretty.  This was the view on my way home from yesterday's dog walk to the mailbox.

The mountain, looking across the road by my driveway.  I love this time of year.

I DID IT!!!

Well I suppose I could rescind it, but this morning I turned in my notice that December 19 will be my last day of work here at CEFLS.  It's amazing to think about.  After 30 years of driving 1 1/2 hours every day I'll be a retired homebody.

Of course everyone asks "What will you do?"  The appropriate answer, of course, is WHATEVER I WANT TO.  I'll go to RI for Christmas and stay a while.  Some suggest I shut down my house and spend the winter in RI but I won't do that this year.  Maybe another time, if I feel my mother needs that.

December is an odd time to retire, but it works out for my 30 years of service with the retirement system and my 62nd birthday.  It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, mostly because of the money, but once I filled out the paperwork I felt relieved and free.  Now that I've made it official I feel even better.  Do I have regrets?  Not a bit.  Yet.

Who, me?

Every once in a while I take an online personality/career/dog breed test, usually from Facebook.  This is risky and I don't do it often.  I did it today (why?) to find out what adjective describes me.  What did I get?

You are:

Intriguing

You have a unique and extremely fascinating approach to life. You are curious, brilliant, and firmly authentic. You are genuinely admired by people, yet you never get caught up in all the praise. Most importantly though, you know how to be yourself at all times and never need to apologize. You're loved for who you are.

Wood and more wood.  The shed isn't quite full and there are 2 huge stacks outside.  Thank you Bill, and thank you PINS.

Treasure isn't very good at having her picture taken but she finally stood still long enough for this one.

Busy busy busy but slowing down

Boy was Columbus Day weekend a busy time.  It always is, and probably it wasn't as busy as it is some years but maybe I'm just getting older...

There was lousy weather on Saturday and I didn't do much during the day, just a dump run and chores.  It was a beautiful drive because there's still quite a bit of color in the mountains.  Mostly yellows and orange-y colors but still enough to make you sigh.  I had a nice breakfast at Big Daddy's (hey, should we write up BD's for TripAdvisor?) with Linda, Fred and Bill.  Seriously, the food wasn't bad.

Sunday was a gorgeous, sunny and warm day.  Really a banner day.  I came to Plattsburgh with Linda to check out the Clinton Co. Historical Assoc.'s art and book sale.  We didn't stay long, saw some people we knew, and took a scenic ride home.  The mountains were still pretty.

Sunday afternoon we celebrated Michael & Stephanie's wedding anniversary in the afternoon.  It was a nice crowd and we had a very pleasant time.  The view from their camp was great, a glassy lake with colors on the far shore reflected nicely.  Tess had taken off to walk the bog with strangers so wasn't home when I left, but when I got home she sure was barking to be let in, and was very happy to see me.  Does she connect the fact that no one lets her in with my appearance in the woods?  Doubtful.  Who knows, maybe dogs think we can be in two places at one time.

Sunday night was pie and coffee at the Holt's with the same crowd.  And we didn't even run out of things to talk about.  Good pie, nice people.

Monday was another beautiful day.  I spent an hour and a half on Linda's dock with her.  Boy did we have a nice time.  It was incredibly silent and calm, a glassy lake again.  Wow it was grand.  We just stared at the view and visited.  Then we got to work, clearing things off the dock.  Took a break to have lunch with Bill and friends at M'side, then back to close Linda's Upper Camp.  That wasn't bad, involves many plastic bags but easily done.

Monday night I had dinner at the Holt's with Donny & Cindy Roberts, neighbors.  Donny is my plowman and a great resource and asset to the neighborhood.  We had a good time talking about the neighborhood.  I think we covered just about everyone.

Back to work yesterday, then to Linda's for dinner last night.  She had planned to leave today but Erdvilas wasn't up to it so they're leaving tomorrow instead.  We always celebrate their last night here with dinner & bubbly, so last night we had dinner (no bubbly, saving that for tonight) courtesy of Brian.  Delicious bagels, lox, etc.  Very festive and fun.  Linda was sitting at the campfire when I arrived so I joined her and we watched Channel Chipmunk.  2 very animated 'munks fighting with each other and running madly under our chairs and around our feet.  Sort of creepy but cute and entertaining.

Today is another warm day.  I guess it's supposed to rain hard tomorrow but will still be warm until the weekend.  High in the 40's on Sunday with a chance of snow.  I've been using my stove but it smokes something fierce so I have a call in to the chimney cleaner.  Creosote in the elbow, I think.  Not a big deal but hard to get a fire going.

Work is work.  Not much going on, just cataloging and weeding.  People are quiet and not complaining.  Me too.  or neither.

I love pumpkins.  These are at a great farm stand in Peru.  They go on for miles and miles and are just beautiful.  I always buy pumpkins for people and give them away.

I missed the blood moon this morning--not just because I was asleep but also because it was cloudy and raining.  I slept with the bedroom window open last night so I could hear the rain.  It doesn't make as much noise anymore, now that we've lost so many leaves.  We have a lot of bare trees.  People coming this weekend might be a bit disappointed--we peaked more than a week ago and we're on the downward slope now.  At least the weather's supposed to be good until Monday, then we're due for rain.  We had the most perfect day on Sunday--sunny and 50's.  Boy was it grand.

Not much going on (yet).  Linda is still here but leaves next week.  She's the last of the summer residents so our "real life" begins then.  I didn't see Pat & Jim for quite a while, other things were happening, but had a really nice visit with them and Bill on Sunday.  That was Bill's birthday.  Linda hosted a wonderful birthday party for him Friday night with delicious food the name of which eludes me.  A German dish with pork products slow-cooked on a bed of sauerkraut.  Yum.

Sunday was book group and we had a lively discussion about You before me.  Probably the most we've talked about a book in quite a while.  Marylou came up with a great postcard game, providing the postcards.  We addressed 5 to ourselves, then took one from each person to send at some point in the future.  I like that.  Nice to send people mail.  I still enjoy the written word and write letters fairly often.  Well, weekly to my mother, less often to friends.  I like the immediacy of email for sure but I enjoy writing longer missives than are practical emails.

Dogs are behaving fairly well but they both seem to like to pee on the floor.  Tess has her favorite spot in front of the fridge (on the rug, which must now be replaced) and Treasure likes to pee in front of the bathroom door, on the vinyl floor.  WHAT'S UP WITH THIS????

I've been trying to walk them daily, to the mailbox & back, which is nearly a mile.  They love to run run run and really enjoy the walks.  Do I enjoy the walks?  Not really but I'm trying to establish a pattern and stick to it.

My relatives wanted to come to camp and start closing up tomorrow but another cousin and his wife were planning to come, so who knows how that will go.  I left a message with the closers, will email the visitors, and it's really not up to me to tell anyone much of anything.

My mother's been nagging me about getting a shingles shot--she loves to quote the TV and tells me weekly that 1 out of 3 Americans will get shingles.  But she can't remember if I had chicken pox.  So I'll get a shot I suppose.  And I need a flu shot as well.  I just need to be poked full of holes.

Work is fine.  The director is out for 3 weeks so we take turns being in charge.  It's very funny to see what issues people bring to the person in charge.  Should I do this?  Should I not do that?  I guess sometimes we all need help making decisions...

Scary stuff

"The new Living Planet Index report from the World Wildlife Fund opens with a jaw-dropping statistic: we've killed roughly half of the world's non-human vertebrate animal population since 1970."

I keep hearing about different species that are endangered, being poached, losing their habitat, etc. and it doesn't totally register until you see something like this.  I remember 1970 very clearly and it doesn't seem so long ago.  I think about the future of the planet but have a different perspective on it than someone who has children does.  Do I think about future generations?  Not so much, I'm more grounded in the here and now (after all, it's all about ME).  Do I worry about the future of the planet?  Yes, but I'm convinced there won't be much of a future for the planet--what we're doing is negligible to stop the damage, and the U.S. only constitutes a small fraction of the world's population.

Pretty gloomy for a Wednesday.  It's rainy and foggy and very pretty in Hawkeye.  I like fog and I miss the fog we always had in southern New England.  It's rarer here and is seasonal, happens in the fall and spring when the temperatures of the ground and air differ more.

Well well well soon we'll be a majority...

"The proportion of Americans who live alone has grown steadily since the 1920s, increasing from roughly 5 percent then to 27 percent in 2013, according to the latest Current Population Survey from the Census Bureau."

This is from today's Washington Post.  How do I feel about living alone?  Anyone who knows me knows I really enjoy it.  I sometimes say "I couldn't share my house with anyone again," but I don't truly feel this way.  I have an entire upstairs that could be used by someone--there are 2 bedrooms, a living room and bathroom there.  I use one bedroom for a storage unit but the other is a fine room with a great view of the woods.  

What do I like about living alone?  What DON'T I like?  I like the peace of being the only one in the house.  I like the silence and I like to make loud noises when I play with the dogs, with no one to complain or care.  That might be different if I had neighbors.  I like being able to get up any time during the night and turn on the lights, bring the house to life if I want to.  The dogs and I often enjoy 3 a.m. living room time.  I like deciding what to do and when to do it with only myself to consult.  I miss having someone to do things with when there are things I'd like company to share with.  This happens a lot less than it used to.  I don't like the mess I make in my daily living.  Well, I guess I don't mind the mess so much but I sure hate cleaning the house.  I never realized how bad I'd become at that until I started living alone again in the North Country--there is constant clutter and dust in my living room.  My bedroom is a real mess.  There's no incentive for me to clean.  No, wait, that doesn't mean that I don't think I'm worthy of a clean house.  Not at all.  Apparently I just don't mind wallowing in my chaotic home.

I don't seem to have many reasons for not liking my solitary lifestyle.  It's very busy at times, when visitors to the neighborhood are around.  Right now it's hectic but in a matter of weeks it will quiet down incredibly.  Do I look forward to that?  In a way, but I'll miss the people whose company I'm currently enjoying.

I had company for dinner last week and the dogs behaved well but after dinner received a lot of attention from my guests.  They lapped it right up but were exhausted the next day.  I guess they'd never be able to keep up with my social calendar during these busy times.

Two view of the most-photographed mountain.  Bottom one is from Linda's dock, taken on Sunday.  I like the clouds.  Top one is taken from our boathouse, same day.  I went down there to get my bathing suit so I could SWIM at Linda's.  I wouldn't call it swimming, really--more like a quick dip.  It was a beautiful day but the water was a tad cold.

The view out my front door on Saturday.  Wow was it grand.

Random fall color.  Boy it's pretty this year.  There are rumors that peak color is this weekend.  I don't know, we still need some yellows to go with the blazing reds and oranges.  It really is a banner year for color, and the weather has been wonderful--warm days and cool nights.  Foggy mornings with sunny clear afternoons, great dock days for people who don't have to work...

It's busy in the neighborhood these days, everyone trying to get our final visits and events in.  Last week I had dinner at Linda's Friday night, fed Duncan & Sue at my house on Sat. night, and had brunch with Linda & Erd., Sue and Duncan at Duncan & Sue's Sunday morning.  Very busy and wonderful.  Last night Duncan & Sue fed us delicious Greek food, sitting on the screened in porch.  Very nice.  Tonight it's dinner with the Holts (and Duncan & Sue + Bill).  Tomorrow is another brunch, then the cider pressing at Lin & Ralph's.  I bought a bushel of "utility" apples for my contribution--we call them drops, not utility apples, but I think they're the same.  Should be fine anyway.

I got a Facebook note from a college friend.  I saw him a couple of years ago, met him and his son in Keene Valley when they were looking at colleges.  Ted and I were good friends in college and lived together the year after I graduated, when I was a secretary.  There were 3 of us in the house and things got complicated--not because of the 3 of us, but because other people interfered.  But that's history, and Ted is a nice man.  He wants to come visit in late October, and that doesn't freak me out.  Yet?  Or maybe I'm just more relaxed about having company.  The upstairs is presentable, the bedroom there is in good shape.  Bathroom needs to be cleaned, but that's doable.  So there you go.  Come on along, Ted.

Dogs are doing well.  They were BAD DOGS on Monday.  I put the baby gate up to keep Tess inside while Treasure was out and I was in the shower, forgetting that Tess is not intimidated by a baby gate.  She crashed through it and she & Treasure took off.  I searched and searched but couldn't find them.  I had to be at a meeting in Champlain that morning, so I left them out with the front door open.  I did that another time with Tess and it worked out fine.  As it did this time.  They sure were happy to see me, though.  Treasure ripped up some papers and chewed on the handle of a favorite basket (BAD,BAD Dog).  She spends her days in a cage because she apparently gets bored, or frustrated, or whatever, and always finds something to rip up if she's loose.  Tess seems to sleep most of the day, unless I leave the garbage unlocked.  Last week she got into that and spread it all across the kitchen floor, as if she were searching for a diamond earring or something.

It's a banner year for mice and they're all coming to my house.  Well, no, Linda has a lot of them too.  So far I've killed 19--my record is 21 and after that I got a cat.  No cat now.  I'll just keep slaughtering the little buggers.

I had a nice trip to Lake Placid last week.  There's a new director, replacing the wonderful woman who was there but died recently.  She was a hard act to follow so I did a lot of reassuring the new director--mostly it was a cheerleading visit but the trip was nice.  Sunny with color just coming along.

Hard to believe that next week will bring October.  I have a meeting with the NY State Retirement rep, let's see where that goes.

I need to mow my lawn and get rid of the dead plants in pots on my deck.  And at lest think about closing the boat house.  I've been walking the dogs when I get home, sometimes to the mailbox and sometimes to camp.  They sure do like that.

I drove to Canton earlier this week and here's what I saw along the way--

September

We're well into September now and the leaves are starting to show it.  There are some reds and yellows, and all of the green leaves look a little faded.  This morning I paused to let a deer family of 3 cross the road--Dad was a spikehorn buck, Mom a nice doe and Baby was not too small but probably this year's.  We have a ton of turkeys these days, both adult and juvenile.  I was getting the paper yesterday and there was a huge flock of fledglings with a few adults in Jim & Pat's yard.  I had the dogs with me and boy were they excited.  I had to sit in the car for a while until the turkeys moved into the woods, which took a while.

My biggest news is that I bought a new car Labor Day weekend.  Lin went with me to Burlington, where I drove a Subaru Impreza and liked it enough to buy it that day.  It's all-wheel drive, which is something I've certainly longed for, but I had to buy the Sport package to get cruise control (a cruel trick on Subaru's part).  So I have heated seats, fog lights, roof rails, heated rear view mirrors (this is a true bonus) and other things that matter less.  It's a hatchback, another things I've longed for.  Am I happy with it?  Yes.  There are some things I miss about the Honda but this is a good choice and a nice car.  Do the dogs care?  Not a bit except that when Tess sits in the front passenger seat the alarm goes off continuously and annoys both her and me.  So she doesn't get to sit there.  I've had the car 2 weeks and it's got 850 miles on it.  Most of that is driving to and from work but I have taken a couple of long leisurely drives after going to the dump.  It's just a nice car to tour in.

I've made an appointment with the NY State Retirement rep for early October.  This is a big deal and I'm pretty nervous about it.  Excited, yes, but also nervous.  Getting down to the wire now.

There are still summer people in Hawkeye but Joe & Martha leave soon (Oct. 1) and Linda won't be far behind.  Duncan and Sue are here for the month which is a real treat.  Sue hosted book group last night (which was very generous of her, I thought).  We had plenty of food and a nice selection of things.  We actually talked about the book a bit (Amy Tan's The valley of amazement).  Not much, but a bit.  Next meeting is in October and we'll celebrate Christmas then so Linda can be part of the group.

I'm using the Kindle that Betty Rine loaned me and to my surprise I really enjoy it.  The combination of a Kindle and wireless Internet at home make it very, very easy to buy books.  I've bought a few but am trying to concentrate on PRINT books for a while since I have a huge collection of unread books in the house.  The Kindle is lovely for reading in bed and on the boat house porch.

I haven't been to the boat house for a while and need to get down there to start closing it up.  No one has been in camp for a while and I don't expect anyone to come this fall except for my cousins who will stay in their camp across the lake and take out the docks.  It's too cold for me to stay there these days, it was 34 Sat. morning and about that today.  It's sunny and nice but cool.  I do like September weather.

Not much else going on.  The mice are trying to take over my kitchen.  I've killed 17 so far and am sure there are many left.  Should I get a cat?  I ask myself that every time I set or empty the traps.  No, I don't want to have a cat.  I wouldn't mind having one, but it's another animal to care for and board when I go away.  I should just keep pet mice instead.

I was up during the night on Sat. and watched FarmAid.  Oh my but those men have aged.  John Mellencamp was OK but looks hard rode and his voice isn't what it used to be.  He's near & dear to my heart as a favorite of my father's and Jenica's.  I saw him live in Montreal once and it was a great show.  Anyway, he's still alive and kicking.  Neil Young was up next and he was good but rambled on and on about corporations and their evil ways.  His voice has held up.  Next was Willie Nelson who is OMG so very old.  He barely sings, just sort of recites the words.

Having lunch with my friend Barb today which will be a treat.  We'll go to the Greek restaurant downtown.  Yum.

Just a memory now

Back to life in Hawkeye and all settled in.  Last week was a rough one at work--I had such a truly wonderful vacation that it was hard to be back.  Ah, life is rough when you complain about what a great vacation you had.  We all really enjoyed being together.  We went to the beach nearly every day.  The ocean was cold but refreshing.  The water was mostly clear but there were a couple of days plagued by jellyfish hatches.  I don't know if it was eggs or jellyfish but there were billions of them in the water.  This happened another time but then it was much, much worse.  They're hard little things under water--Jenica said it was like swimming with ice cubes, which would be fine if you could forget that they're LIVE ORGANISMS.  We swam (briefly) in them and that was only twice.  The rest of the time we had good beach conditions.

We spent the first week with Jenica, Justin, Gwyn and Malcolm the GIANT DOG, all fitting comfortably in Liza's house.  She was nervous about everyone's comfort but it worked out well.  We had lunch at our favorite lunch place (Champlin's) and breakfast at Jim's Dock, spent a lot of time visiting and playing with the baby, and read a lot.  Very peaceful.

The second week was peaceful, too--much beaching and more reading.  We all read our books--I like lying on the futon on the front porch, where it's very comfortable and the dogs join me.  I also like sitting on the deck looking out at Liza's very green yard that's full of flowers.  It was good to read, I haven't been reading much lately so I wanted to get back in the habit.  I slept in the screened-in gazebo in the woods, a favorite place of mine.  I've wanted something like that at my house but don't suppose that will happen, and besides I have camp if I want to sleep in a screened-in place.

The dogs were good.  They didn't get much exercise, only one walk in the park.  They use the small pen attached to my mother's house and don't seem to mind much.  Maybe they know how lucky they are to get taken along...

The first weekend in August we had our annual family meeting.  It went well, without much discussion of anything.  What's new?  There's no money.  People don't do enough work at camp.  blah blah blah.  Always the same, always true.

Sunday of that weekend Molly cooked Sunday dinner for my friends.  I helped but she did most of it.  It was my turn for potluck and I asked her to do it for me.  It was delicious, of course.  After that we collapsed and packed for the trip to RI, leaving Monday after I went to the dentist to have my permanent retainer repaired AGAIN.  Easy trip.

When I got back last Saturday I settled in and unpacked, then visited with neighbors.  Everyone did just fine without me (no surprise) but all were happy to see me.  Sunday was Pat's potluck of meatloaf, which was delicious and filling.  Sunday night Linda hosted book group.  There were only 3 of us there but we had an excellent time sitting at her camp fire.

On Thursday night we had a wine tasting, conducted by Erdvilas and hosted by Joe with food by Bill's favorite chef.  Very fancy, very nice.

What's up at my house?  Not much.  Lots and lots of mice.  It's tempting to get another cat, but I don't think I'll do that.  I don't need another animal, and I sure don't need to worry about what will eat my cat.  I just set traps every night.  I've killed 8 since my return.  The year I got my cat I killed 21 before surrendering to the idea of having a cat.  Bet I have that many now, too, there just seems to be an endless parade of them.

Treasure picking up some food prep tips from Mark.  I couldn't get a good picture of her because her tail was blurry in every shot.  She wags her tail a lot.

Tess guarding Puppy and Teddy.  She's very gentle with them and carries them around proudly.  She has to keep them away from Treasure, who will pull the stuffing right out of them.

Watching over Puppy and Teddy is exhausting.

Our favorite spot for breakfast (on the right).  Good food and ambiance is excellent.

Ladies at the beach.  Liza went on our last day--there was a cool breeze (too cool) so we didn't stay long.

Justin testing the water with his daughter.  She thought the water was just fine.

Oh she's a cutie, all right.  She looks like a doll in this picture, but she's real.

I'm not in this one--couldn't get my camera to work because I was too stoopid to figure it out.  Anyway, this is the group from Week 1.

Off and running

My sister Molly took this picture as we were driving to RI.  The dogs are always interested in what's happening in the front seat.  They were very well behaved on the whole trip and visit with my mother and family.  I'll post pictures soon.

Heading out soon

It's my last day at work for 2 weeks--I'm off to Rhode Island next week with my sister for a nice long visit.  She's been here all week and we've had a very, very nice time together.  I hear plenty of people say "Oh I wish I could spend time like that with MY sister," and I want to tell them it's a question of arranging it, and it can happen.  Of course, my sister does the arranging part, flying to America and taking the train up here, but we both want it to happen.

I've been staying at the boat house all week with Molly (and the dogs), and it's been grand.  I worked this week but did take Weds. off and we had a good day.  We went to the dump then on to Pbg to get supplies for Sunday dinner.  We're cooking for 12 and it will be at J&M's house because our camp will be full.  Molly is wonderful at planning and executing things like this--thank goodness she's here or I would be struggling.  We've split the cooking this week, eating at the boat house on the porch.  Molly has done a ton of work, cleaning and arranging and painting there.  It looks really nice and is organized at last.

We have our annual family meeting tomorrow and it looks as if there will be a good crowd.  Some years we have a lot of people, other years not so many.  It's nice that Molly will be here for it.  Jenica et al. will come.  Many cousins will be there as well.

Work is fine.  I finished weeding the adult fiction, having handled each of our 8,000 books.  The stacks look good and I'm proud of the achievement.  Now I have to finish the non-fiction.  Yikes.  This will be my legacy--neat stacks.

Treasure is fine and pretty much back to normal.  She still coughs a bit now & then but certainly has enough energy.  Tess is doing well, too.  Molly & I were trying to scan something at my house the other day and having no luck getting it to work.  We kept hearing a sound that was promising, sounding like something being scanned.  Oh how hopeful we were, until Molly realized that it was Tess snoring and not the scanner.  How many advanced degrees does it take to make a mistake like that?  Very funny.

Bill hosted Sunday dinner last week, providing a huge Thanksgiving meal.  There were a lot of people there, at least 13 or 15, and there was plenty of food.  Molly & I left a little early because we were having problems with the pump at camp and people were due to arrive soon.  Finally got the water situation worked out and all seems to be just fine now.

I finished the book group book (Orphan train) and enjoyed it.  It's very good, but probably not excellent.  Better than Bees, that's for sure.  It's so interesting to ponder the things our country thought of doing in it's history--shipping orphans out to the Midwest on trains and doling them out like prizes to people who didn't have to prove they'd provide good homes.  Now I'm reading another Jonathan Tropper book.  He's always entertaining but this book is a bit gloomier than some of the others.

My Midwestern friends are gathering this weekend and I'm not there.  They returned to Lake Geneva and have a good crowd.  They've been posting pictures on Facebook so I get to enjoy the reunion from afar.

I'm looking forward to my RI trip, much of my family will be there at the same time (minus Molly's children and husband).  My mother is pretty tense about it, I think, but it will all work out.