Botanical garden

 We went to the U Mich. botanical garden yesterday, on a sunny cool day.  These are orchids, unlike ones I've seen before.  They struck my fancy.

 This is something strange with red flowers

 The blue things hanging from this sausage tree are NOT part of the tree, they are ceramic things hung there for a reason I didn't understand

 They of course had koi.  Mark has a true aversion to koi, though he likes his goldfish.  I learned that koi and goldfish are not even close to being the same thing.  This will be a relief to Mark.  He has goldfish in his pond.

 Outside were a lot of daffodils and grape hyacinths.  It was pretty, yes, and very spring like but the trees still have no leaves

What it looked like inside.  Pretty, very pretty.


This has really be a nice trip and Linda and I have had good visiting and fun together.  Last night we went out for dinner at her favorite restaurant, where the cocktails are huge and delicious.  We ate a lot.  This afternoon we went to her favorite deli, where they don't have cocktails but the sandwiches are huge and we ate a lot.  A LOT.  Now we're resting.

Live from Michigan

I'm in Ann Arbor now, having completed my pilgrimage to Cleveland.  I stopped for 2 nights in Canandaigua en route, then found Cleveland with Judy's help.  Dropped her off and found Mary Frances (my longtime friend from RI) in the lobby of the Cleveland hotel.  We checked in, found safe havens for our cars, and went out to dinner to an OK restaurant described as "the only one within walking distance" of the hotel.  It was loud and pretty mediocre but did just fine for us.

We got up early enough on Tuesday, had breakfast at the hotel and were at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for opening at 10 a.m.  YAY!!! I made it!  I have wanted to be there for many years so this was just so cool and amazing.  MF and I were well matched in our viewing so spent the day together wandering.  There are cool exhibits and even cooler films, videos and kiosks.  It's a great place.  We sang along with Graham Nash, we listened to an alphabet of one-hit wonders, we watched an Elvis film, an American Bandstand film, films of all the inductees, and watched part of the 25th anniversary concert.  The only disappointing part of the entire day was the museum's gift shop.  It's woefully inadequate and full of key chains and refrigerator magnets.  Where are the cool t-shirts?  Oh, there were travel mugs, sure.

We had dinner at a very nice restaurant (Midwestern walleye, yum) and checked out of the hotel on Weds. morning.  I drove on to Ann Arbor, just a few hours away, and am now settled in at Linda's for a nice visit.  We just spent a long time putting together the shoreowners' association's newsletter, 82 copies of which are nestled in their stamped and sealed envelopes, ready to go to the post office.  Whew!  It was great to get that done.  We've had a very nice visit, relatively quiet with lots of sightseeing in Ann Arbor.  Quite a place, this AA.

I start home on Monday, staying for a night between Buffalo and Rochester, about 7 hours from here and halfway home.  I'll be home Tuesday in time to retrieve the retrievers by 6 p.m.  I'm looking forward to seeing them.  I don't miss them too much, I'm distracted by enough things, but I do think of them.  I check my phone often for messages but so far the kennel has had nothing to report (which is GOOD news).

Cleaning and packing

I'm heading out on my pilgrimage tomorrow morning.  Drop the dogs off at the kennel/spa at 8:30, then hit Route 3 and off I go.  First stop is 5-6 hours away, Jim & Judy's house.  The weather is supposed to be grand, sunny and warm.  I have lots of books and music to listen to, and a GPS to entertain me.  I have maps of every state I'm driving to or through.  I have everyone's phone numbers.  I said goodbye to my mother this morning.  Mark sent me a nice card and a lot of money yesterday.  I haven't packed my clothes yet but they're either in the dryer or piled up in the bedroom.  Can I really be this well organized?  Is this what it's like to travel when you're retired and driving?

I saw a woodcock near my driveway yesterday and again this morning.  This is a sure sign of spring.  Jamie used to hunt them but they really taste like worms (well, to be honest, what I imagine worms would taste like) so he stopped shooting them.  They make amazing sounds with their wings when they do their mating routine.  They fly straight up into the sky then plummet to the ground.  It's pretty cool to see.

I had a cowbird at the feeder the other day, that was strange.  I'd say it was a treat but they're not very attractive and all they're known for is laying eggs in other birds' nests so I don't think of them as exciting to see.  I haven't seen one in a long time so I guess it's vaguely exciting.

I found a crocus in bloom this morning.  I have no idea where the rest of my crocuses are, but there's one blooming under the living room windows.  One.  Where are all of my daffodils?  And what about the squill?  Where, huh, where?

It's a beautiful sunny day, temp is 50 so I'll go outside in a little while and clean out the car and feed the birds.  I think I'll take the car to the free car vacuum to try to get at least some of the dog hair out of the seats.  Some, at best.  These dogs are shedding like mad this year.  I need to brush them some time today.  Yesterday at the dump (not my regular dump) the woman fed the dogs biscuits and we talked about dogs.  She has a "mastador," which is a mastiff-Lab mix and sounds like an ugly dog.  Anyway, we talked about shedding dogs and she nodded when I talked about my mess, saying "Oh yes, you're on to me, you get it."  Not sure exactly "on to me" means but we agreed and it was a nice exchange.

I bought brown paint so I can re-paint the trim on the living room windows.  I painted them several years ago but never really liked the color, and it brings out the pinkish hue of the wall paint so I really don't like it.  I painted the living room door gray and it looks just awful against the trim as well as the walls, so I should figure out something to do with that, too.  Boy do I want to paint my living room.  It's a cathedral ceiling, though, and would require scaffolding.  Someday, someday I'll hire someone to do that for me.  Oh there are so many ways to spend money!

Spring thaw

We had more snow, then more snow, but tonight it's raining and raining and the ground is once again bare.  I can't find the daffodils I planted last fall but others are coming up in different places.  At one time I paid close attention to my plantings: I have early-bloomers, mid-season bloomers and late-bloomers.  Now some of them are gone, some seem to have moved, and the ones I planted last fall are who-knows-what.  They were part of a big batch that Linda ordered from Costco.  Let's see how they do.

I went to Plattsburgh yet again today--as a true commitment to spring I had my winter tires removed and put in storage.  I didn't have 4 tires to replace them with so bought new ones.  I love me, there can't possibly be anyone less organized than I am.  Anyway, my car has new shoes and is much quieter without the low-profile tires I use in winter.

I had an OK weekend, met a friend for coffee and long visit on Saturday morning.  It was cold out, with a cold wind and frozen ground.  We had a nice time anyway.  I went to the dump, picked up garbage at the Holts.  I went to their house for dinner Sat. night and had a nice visit with our ex-Congressman and his wife (until I offered my opinion on a friend and associate of his, oops).  The Holts left this morning.  Yesterday I went to P&J's, had a nice visit with Bill.  Jim is not doing well, has had breathing problems more severe than his usual issues and they're working with the doctor to discover what the problem is.  It's very scary, reminds me of my father's final days with congestive heart failure but maybe this is different.

I have no real plans for the rest of the week--lunch on Weds. in Plattsburgh, with a stop at AAA to get a map of Ohio and Michigan (if they have one) for my upcoming trip.  I'm leaving Saturday morning or Canandaigua, where I'll spend 2 nights with friends before moving on to Cleveland to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  I'm sure I've written about this pilgrimage already.  Anyway, I'm meeting my RI friend Mary Frances in Cleveland, where we'll stay for 2 days to see the RRHF, then I'll go north to Ann Arbor to spend time with Linda.  I'm driving, which just makes it more dramatic.  I think I'll stop at a cousin's in the Finger Lakes on the long trip home, but haven't worked out the details of that.  I may end up in a motel for the night instead, weary from visiting with people.  I'm boarding the dogs at the spa, where they thrive.  That's expensive but this is a trip I've wanted to take for a long time so it's worth it.

Nothing much else going on.  I'm working on the newsletter for the Historical Assoc. and will meet with Bill and 2 other trustees some day this week (I guess).  I'll meet with the Director again when I get back from my trip.  By then it will definitely be spring here.  Temps are supposed to be in the 60's this weekend--of course I won't be here for that...

Even MORE spring snow

It snowed quickly and hard last night, we ended up with 4-5 inches of white magic.  not magic, just white.  I was enjoying the bare ground, not always visible in early April, but now I'm looking at a landscape that is more like January.  It's supposed to be 50 and raining today but right now, at almost 7 a.m. it's only 28 and cloudy.  I have to go to the Holts this morning to turn up their heat--they're arriving tonight for the weekend.  It will be nice to be with them, but I sure don't feel like leaving my living room right now, and it's not even that warm here.  Well tough, toots, get off your butt and walk down there.

I've been to Plattsburgh too, too many times lately.  Made 3 trips last week, it will be 4 this week.  Dentist appointment, meeting at the Historical Association followed by lunch with Bill, emergency med. run for Jim, and lunch with Julie today.  It feels like a long drive to me now, which is what is expected when you don't do it 5 times a week, every week the way I did for so many years.

So what do I do besides drive to Plattsburgh?  Not really much, it appears.  I email friends, I read the paper and many magazines, I watch too much television, I let the dogs in an out and in an out and in and out, I clean my house (a little, sometimes, rarely), and suddenly the day has ended.  I agreed to edit the Clinton County Historical Assoc. newsletter so met with the Director there earlier this week.  What exactly this will entail is unclear to me, but I'll have to learn Publisher in order to be of much help, and will have to work there in Plattsburgh because I don't have Publisher here at home.  Oh boy!  More trips to Plattsburgh!

Today I'm having lunch with Julie, which will be tough as she continues to deal with problems.  I can assist by offering support and advice (oh I always have plenty of that) and making her laugh.  Last night I visited with Pat & Jim, who are facing a crisis of their own--Jim is unhealthy and is having trouble breathing.  I made and emergency run to get him some meds last night.  His condition is all to reminiscent of my father's final months, but there is so much more information and so many more treatments now, so Jim will probably outlive us all.

I communicated with my friend Mary Frances yesterday, we're meeting in Cleveland soon--my pilgrimage to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  I guess I take a trip every spring, last year it was to Georgia, which was a real treat.  This year it's to Cleveland and Ann Arbor, again a treat.  Why am I so obsessed with the RRHF?  I don't really know, except listening to music has always been important to me.  I'm lucky to have a life soundtrack consisting of the good music of the 60's and 70's, with gaps in the late 80's and most of the 90's.  I don't like museums much but this one has been summoning me for decades.  And I will be very happy to see Mary Frances, who currently lives in Pittsburgh.  I haven't seen her in a very long time.  We worked together in Providence and were good friends then.  The gallons of Dewars we drank together were legendary.

This week included the anniversary of my brother's death.  Generally death anniversaries don't do much for me--I miss my people every day--but this year, the 13th anniversary, for some reason hit me harder.  My brother was a special person (but then, aren't all dead people "special?"), he was truly capable of great charm and humor and was a good big brother.  A very loving person.  It's too bad he didn't get to know his granddaughter, which is a shame.  He did have a good life, though too short for sure.

Enough about dead and dying people.

Next week I'll have my winter tires switched, a definite sign of spring.  This has to be done before driving to Cleveland, but I'm always hesitant to do it too early.  I think my timing is pretty good this year, having winter tires will be awfully handy today.

And Donald Trump failed in Wisconsin.  My mother conceded that, thankfully, we may not have a President named Trump after all.  She's been very worried about that.  I have more faith in Americans than that--time will tell whether that's misplaced faith or not.  I voted this week, absentee ballot, because I'll be away for the NY primary.  I also was summoned for jury duty but didn't even have to show up.  Ordinarily I'd be happy to serve but the timing was all wrong for me, I am counting, absolutely counting on leaving next Saturday.

The dogs are just fine.  They like snow.  We have a regular visit from a snowshoe hare (we don't have cottontails here, we have giant hares), driving the dogs wild.  The hare is turning brown from its winter white and is a dun color so I'm surprised that Tess can spot it in the brown grass, but every day she explodes when she sees it.  I don't like to have them chase the poor hare, but sometimes I let them out, worrying that they might catch it.  Doubtful, very doubtful.  Anyway it's reassuring to me that Tess' vision is so good.  She's barely deaf, is much like an older person who turns her head and says "Did you say something?"  This is her 13th year and I feel very lucky.  I think this means that Treasure will be 7 this year, but I really should look that up.

Spring snow

It's snowing today but nothing serious.  It was 7 when I got up, now it's up to 20.  I just returned from Plattsburgh, a visit to the dentist.  Just a cleaning but I think I get hysterical even just when the word "dentist" is mentioned.  Anyway all is well, I passed with flying colors.  How great is that?  No problems, no changes.

It was a pretty busy week last week, 3 trips to Plattsburgh.  I went Wednesday to have lunch with Julie and do some shopping.  Poor Julie was not having a good week and was at home so I missed her.  Did get a lot of errands done, though.  Thursday I had a hair appointment, followed by a nice Julie visit at Starbucks.  I can't do much to help her through this very difficult time, but I can listen and offer support and affection.  Affection?  Well, she's not an affectionate person but I offer emotional affection and whatever advice I can come up with.  And I can make her laugh.

Friday I had lunch with Barb, which is always a treat.  We get along well and are evenly matched in many ways.  We compare mother stories and make each other laugh.

Saturday was dump day, after that I didn't feel like doing much so I mostly spent the afternoon on the couch watching PBS cooking shows.  I did some cleaning, did more yesterday because I hosted book group last night.  I made dinner, something that used to be delicious called Mexican lasagna.  I think I didn't cook it long enough because it sure wasn't delicious.  Oh well, we never complain about each other's cooking and never, ever judge each other in any way.  I got rid of a few things, managed to find some giveaways that Lin and Marylou were interested in--maybe I should say WILLING to take.  We had a good time, the 3 of us.  It was peaceful and pleasant and good visiting.  Hard to believe our next meeting will be in May.  That used to seem so far away.

Yesterday I went to P&J's, with much discussion about whether the ice was out or not.  Jim finally went to the foot of the lake and determined with binoculars that NO, the ice is not yet out.  After last night's temps I'm sure it's REALLY not out.  It's still early but the lake is almost all open so it will be an early year for ice-out.  My date is the 20th so I won't win the pool for sure.

I'm starting to get ready for my trip to Cleveland and Ann Arbor, mostly just getting myself psyched for the trip.  I'm driving to Canandaigua on the 16th, spending the night and Sunday with friends there.  Monday my friend Judy and I drive to Cleveland, where I'll meet a friend from the old days of Providence.  We'll stay in a hotel for 2 nights, and spend Tuesday at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  I am so psyched to go there!  I've wanted to do that for a long, long time.  I don't like museums at all, but this one is so very, very wonderful.  On Weds. I'll drive to Ann Arbor for some time with Linda, and will start home on Monday.  I'm spending Mon. night with cousins near Auburn, NY, on one of the Finger Lakes.  I haven't seen them for a few years and they are favorite relatives so that will be nice.

When I boarded the dogs for the RI birthday trip, they spent a week at the kennel and came out in fantastic shape.  They lost weight and were happy and great.  I'm boarding them again, for 10 or 11 days when I leave, and they'll return to the spa/kennel.  They like it there and never seem to mind being there--plus the kennel owners like my dogs so it's an ideal situation.  Expensive, yes, but I feel lucky to have such a good situation nearby.

My kitchen is full of dirty dishes so that's what I'll work on today.  I love this life!

Home again

Home from Rhode Island.  I had a good trip, a nice Easter visit with Liza and Mark.  The trip down was easy and fine.  We didn't do much while I was there, lots of visiting and resting.  Mark was sick with strep and ear infections, I had a cold and was fussing to make sure it didn't turn into an asthma event, and Liza is old.  We did take the dogs to the beach one morning and that was nice.  I took my mother to town a couple of times, our standard routine.  We went grocery shopping one time, she goes once a week so this was her weekly trip.  They know her well at the store and always like seeing me.  My mother has a list of errands every time we go to town: bank, grocery store, post office, drug store, etc.

Easter was good.  Mark cooked an herb-encrusted lamb for us.  I don't really care much for lamb but he does a nice job with it so I take it to them for Easter.  We dyed eggs and had fun with that.

I took videocassettes that I uncovered upstairs in my house.  They were from 1989 and the early 90's, so we watched them.  Lots of fun, plenty of footage of Molly's kids at 2, 3 and 4.  Boy were they cute, cute, cute.  I'm having some of the tapes converted to DVD so I can share them.  There were also some tapes of building the house.  It sure looked big before I filled it with furniture, dogs and junk.  It was interesting identifying the people who helped build it.  I was hoping there would be good footage of the location of the septic tank but no such luck.  I've never had it pumped out and live in fear of an episode.

My trip home was fine but it rained hard through Hartford.  The rest was easy and I made good time.  The house was just fine, still standing and in fine shape.  The TV wasn't working, but that was true when I left.  This morning the Dish man came and discovered a problem with the cable coming in from the dish.  He fixed it but said it will need to be replaced "next time."  He's the same man who came last year and got his van stuck in the mud up to the axles.  This year he had better luck because the mud is a little firmer this morning.  We have snow, a couple of inches that snowed overnight.  I guess the weather here was wonderful over the weekend--it wasn't great in RI but there were daffodils and crocuses in bloom.  We bought pansies, which are now on my deck, covered with snow.

Not much up for this week, lunches in Plattsburgh, a hair appointment in town.  Today I'll go to AuSable for gas and milk.  Sunday I'm hosting book group--the house is still clean from last week's efforts.  Next week I have to call to see if I have jury duty, plus I have an appointment to have my teeth cleaned.  My old dentist had me come once a year because I have such good, clean teeth, but this one wants me there ($$$) every 6 months.  I'm so lucky about my teeth--my mother has great teeth, my father had crappy teeth, and I got the good tooth gene.

The dogs are great.  They like going to my mother's but do get bored.  They only get to go out into the pen unless Mark and/or I take them for a walk.  Mark took Treasure to URI for a walk around campus Easter morning while Tess and I stayed home.  They're happy to be home.  Me too.

Spring at 4 degrees

Cold morning on Sunday, down to 4 from the 9 degrees we had on Saturday morning.  That's really typical for March, and I don't mind much--it freezes the mud so I can drive to the house.  We're having a pretty mild mud season so far.  There wasn't much snow to melt, but plenty of ice.  My sump pump has been working hard, which is music to my ears because that means the water table is high and my well is healthy.  Oh I dream of a drilled well...

I had a busy weekend, starting with a trip to Plattsburgh on Friday.  I needed lots of groceries and had lunch with Julie.  Saturday I spent the day cleaning and cooking, a special pork dinner for Fred and Bill.  Linda left me a local pork roast with strict instructions to cook it for them, so that I did.  I made a cheesecake, made applesauce, cooked sauerkraut all day, and cleaned cleaned cleaned.  I even polished some of my silver, which I enjoy doing almost as much as I enjoy cleaning the toilet.  Lots of scrubbing on that silver because I never polish it.  But boy oh boy does it look nice now!  So shiny.

Anyway, I finally got the pork tender enough and got the food ready, table set, and Bill came sans Fred.  Fred was sick and couldn't make it.  Boy did he miss a good meal.  Anyway Bill suggested we take the meal to Pat & Jim's, so we packed it all up and had dinner with them.  That was nice but they didn't eat as much as I'd hoped so I have too many leftovers.  The dogs will get most of the mashed potatoes and gravy.  There's still some pork left but that may go to the dogs.  I gave Lin most of the cheesecake.  There are odds & ends of things that I can take to Rhode Island when I go there on Weds. for Easter.

I was supposed to host book group Sunday night but that was cancelled, too, so I have the food I was going to cook for that.  I can freeze most of it.  I did made a delicious brussels sprouts slaw that I'll eat.

I went to the movies with Lin & Ralph on Sunday, we saw Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, which we all enjoyed.  Tina Fey did a great job, and it was good to be reminded of the scary mess that is Afghanistan.  Still.

Today I'm hoping I'll sort through the huge plastic bin of videocassettes I have upstairs.  I'd like to see if there are any worth converting to DVD.  I should have taken some to RI when everyone was there but just didn't get to it.  Maybe I can preview these with my mother, who has a VHS player in her TV.  I sure don't have one, I don't even have a DVD player anymore.

Tuesday I have to go to Plattsburgh; lunch with Julie and a zillion errands.  Many stops to make.  I'm going back to RI on Weds., will be there until Monday.  Have to buy lamb and an Easter lily before I go.  Have to pick up prints of last week's celebration.  Have to get drugs.  Have to find brush killer for Mark, who wants to eliminate the bittersweet that's taking over the dog pen at my mother's. 

I'm up in the night because I woke up and thought it was Tuesday, my friend Doug's birthday, and I wanted to send an early birthday greeting.  It wasn't until I started writing the email that I realized it is NOT Tuesday, it is only Monday.  It's so easy to lose track of days and dates.  I have a wall calendar which I write things on but that doesn't help if you don't know what day it is.  I'm such a print-oriented person and I need a visual image to reinforce things in my feeble mind.

Dogs are fine (speaking of feeble-minded).  Tess groans a lot when she doesn't like what I'm doing (like writing things with my computer) but she is in great shape for a nearly 13-year-old Lab.  What a sweetie.  While I was at the movies yesterday the dogs finished off the bag of potatoes and found something in a box that I still can't identify from the shreds of box and powdered something on the living room floor.  Oh what dears they are.   Well they are, really.

Family time

Here's my family, all except for one.

We had a grand 90th birthday celebration with my mother.  It lasted for days, which made it extra special.  The actual birthday was nice, our fancy breakfast (bagels + lox)(a LOT of lox) and a nice day together, with dinner in a good restaurant. 

I got to RI on Weds., had an easy trip down.  I dropped the dogs off at the kennel in the morning and went on from there.  They like their kennel, are never unhappy to be left there, and aren't especially excited to see me when I pick them up.

Quiet Thursday and Friday, went to town both days with my mother.  She likes to go to town pretty much every day when I'm there, hit the bank and pretty much the same stores each time.  I like her town, Wakefield, it's got a lot of crazy drivers, a combination of very old and very young.  It's not far from the Univ. of RI so there are a lot of college kids, but the population is aging so there are many, many "older" drivers.

Jenica and her family came on Friday and I cooked massive numbers of perch for dinner.  They were ice fish and I bought way too many pounds but we all had enough with a lot left over.  That was nice.  We struggled to stay awake to greet Molly and her family late that night.  Late is a relative term because our usual bedtime is around 8:00 and this was more like 10 or so.  But we made it!  Molly, Paolo and Anna arrived safely and happily.  It was really nice to see them and be together.  Anna and I slept on the front porch, which isn't insulated and is all windows so it was chilly some nights but I like sleeping there, it's like being outside, sort of.  I got to spend a lot of time visiting with Anna, who is an absolute peach.  She's getting her doctorate in botany at UBC in Vancouver and is a very special person.

Molly & Paolo stayed in their motel so they had lots of time to relax and rest.  It was odd to be at Liza's house without the dogs but it was also very peaceful.  VERY peaceful.  We had 2-yr-old Gwyn to keep us entertained and awake.  She's special, too--I have amazing nieces and a grand-niece.  Jenica and I got to talk libraries a little bit (but never enough) and spent some good time together.  The weather sort of sucked, rainy mostly so there were no beach walks.  We did see the water, though, when we went to get the lobsters and clams for Sat. night's dinner.  Delicious lobsters, good clams and mussels.  Mark was a huge help to me cooking 8 lobsters, 8 pounds of clams and 4 pounds of lobsters.  All went well, yay.

We did have some nice weather on Sunday so everyone spent time outside in the backyard.  There's a big exercise ball in the yard, which Mark calls yard art.  When Mark & I were sitting in the living room we saw the ball go flying and Mark said "THEY'RE PLAYING WITH THE YARD ART!" which made me laugh heartily.  We laughed a lot during the week, pretty standard for family visits.

Monday Jenica and her family left (sad day) and we rested.  Tuesday Molly and her family left (another sad day) and we rested some more.  We had a quiet evening Tuesday, our usual dinner-then-Jeopardy time, the 3 of us.

I came home yesterday, left around 9 and had an easy trip.  No traffic and easy driving.  Do I prefer driving without the dogs in the car?  Hard to say, but I could have the music loud without worrying about their delicate ears.  I picked them up last night.  Yes, they're happy to be home.  Right now they're snoring, Treasure in the chair and Tess on the couch.  I woke at 1:00, after sleeping for a few hours.  Now I think I'll get back to bed for a few more hours.

I love being with my family.  Boy was it nice to be together, I think the world of them all.

Mud!

There's mud on OHR!  The ground, where it's bare anyway is thawing.  There's still snow covering the ground in most of Hawkeye, especially around my house, but the road is bare and slushy with mud.  Very exciting.  The ice on the lake was only 11 inches thick when Joe measured it earlier, so I'm thinking we'll have an early ice-out.  The weather for the next several days is supposed to be definite thawing weather.  I'll be in Rhode Island for the next week--leaving tomorrow morning--but predictions for the weather here look fine, just fine.  I usually worry about frozen pipes when I go away in March, but aside from some snow there doesn't seem to be much for me to worry about.  It's 41 right now and lovely.

I went to Plattsburgh today, just ran some errands.  It was a quick & efficient trip, but I foolishly forgot it was Tuesday and went to the Redford dump.  It's not open on Tuesdays, duh, so I had to go to the "big" dump with my garbage.  Boy did I feel dumb.  No harm done but the dogs didn't get the biscuits they've come to welcome when I pack up the garbage and head to the dump.

I leave for my mother's house tomorrow morning.  I'll drop the dogs off at the kennel at 8:30 and head out from there.  The kennel is not at all on the way but it's a good kennel and they like my dogs so there I go.  I won't worry (much) about them, they've been there several times and don't seem to mind when I drop them off, and they're never terribly enthusiastic to see me when I pick them up.  The last time they were there the owner told me that they'd figured out how to use the dog door so went in and out of the run all the time.  Let's see if they remember that.

I actually started packing today, very strange for me.  My usual routine is to pack in the morning just before I leave.  This time I have a lot of things to take along that I don't usually have, so I'm getting organized and piling things up.  I'm taking 5 pounds of Lake Champlain perch, which I bought a while ago and have frozen.  I'm thinking we'll have that for dinner on Friday night and am taking an electric frying pan for cooking.  Hopefully there will be enough for another serving on Monday so my sister and her family can enjoy them too.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to the next week.  I'll see my sister, her husband and daughter, a big treat.  They are among my favorite people.  Jenica will be there, along with her family, and it will be a great time I'm sure. 

Still February in March

It was -7 yesterday morning, -2 today.  I hate to complain, but this is getting a bit tiresome.  Right now it's sunny an 26, which seems appropriate.  Those morning temps do NOT seem appropriate, but then I remind myself that this is what March is like, so buck up, sweetie.  And so I do.  Buck up.

I had massive technology problems this week.  First one wasn't a problem, I installed a new receiver for my satellite dish (maybe I already reported this)(I think I did).  Anyway that went well and now I have very few recorded programs to watch.  That is OK, I have Roku, Netflix, and HBO and so many other things to watch.

Day before yesterday my Internet connection quit.  We have no choice in carriers or ISP here, it's Frontier all the way.  How can that be OK?  Anyway, Frontier is notoriously crappy in so many ways.  I called tech support and got a horse's ass of a man who finally decided he didn't want to deal with me so he told me there was an outage in my area and hung up.  I waited 4 hours and called again, got a wonderful woman who identified the problem (which was NOT an outage in the area: "No, I don't see any report of an outage").  She arranged for a technician to come on Friday.  He came and did some work even though I wasn't there--maybe there was a problem with the outside connection.  He left me a nice note and a new modem.  I installed the new modem...almost.  It worked when the computer was hard-wired to the modem, but the wireless didn't connect.  OMG I talked to the worst ever techie woman, who made me feel feeble and deaf.  Finally, after an hour we got it all set but boy if they ask me how Anne-Marie is as a customer service rep they will get an earful.  Now I know what it's like to be deaf and try to talk on the phone. I kept asking her to speak into the mouthpiece, which she would do.  once.  Oh well, all in the past now.  But wait, my printer doesn't work with the new modem so I have to uninstall and reinstall that.  It turns out that it takes a long time to uninstall something. 

What did I want to print?  The manual for my new Garmin toy.  I decided I would like to have a Garmin for my April trip.  It's a nifty but noisy toy but I don't know how to use it.  I got it hooked up to the car, to the computer, and it seems to be OK but I haven't tried it since I downloaded the stuff from online.  I feel like a feeble fool who lives in the '90's and is just learning DOS.  Well, hell, if it were all about DOS I'd do just fine.

Other than struggle with toys I haven't been up to much.  I worried that, without hearing from me for 2 days some people would worry if I were OK.  No, they weren't concerned.  Hmmm.  I do have a deal with Linda that, if she doesn't receive any email from me for a few days she is to worry.  And call me.  And call Pat.  I used to be covered that way when I worked--if I didn't show up at work by 10 they would call the state troopers to check on me.  Except that the time I didn't show up because I had a doctor's appointment they didn't remember that I had the appointment, then they did but they felt they had to call the doctor's office to make sure I showed up for the appointment.  Oh no, not too embarrassing.

I had lunch with Barb on Friday and that was really nice.  I delivered the baskets I made for her 2 new grandchildren's Easter.  The baskets turned out well, as I know I have reported.  It was good to get them out of my house, that's certain.

Today I went to AuSable to pay with my Garmin and get money from that bank.  I'm still wrangling with bank accounts in retirement.  I hate to switch everything over from the Plattsburgh bank I've been doing business with for 30 years, even though people assure me that the bank won't care that I've been sending money through them all those decades, loyalty apparently doesn't count for much in finance.  We all know how complicated it is to change banks.  I got as far as opening 2 accounts in the AuSable bank, which is also in Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.  A better bet for me but as I say, I hate to switch everything over.  Especially since I just proved that I can barely manage a modem.

I went to Lake Placid the other day, needed to UPS something and it's the closest place for that.  Of course I saw someone who knew me--my ex-husband's old girlfriend.  UGH.  I would have ignored her but she said hello to me and asked what I was doing there.  "You don't live here, do you?"  Well pardon me for not knowing there's a residency requirement to do business in that town.  I said hello and pretty much left it at that.  She probably wanted to talk about what a toad Jamie is but I don't.

The dogs have been fine except for throwing hair all over the house.  The bedspread is covered with fur and the floors in all rooms have big bundles of hair.  STOP IT.  They're shedding because of the change in daylight.  I'll be in RI when we switch to Daylight Saving next weekend.  Then it will be even darker when I get up, but light later, which matters not to me much at all.

I'm slowly getting organized for my RI trip.  I leave Weds., will drop the dogs off at the kennel at 8 so can't leave any earlier than that.  Should be an easy trip, I think it's supposed to rain.  That will rinse off my extremely dirty car.  Oh boy!  I can use my Garmin!  It will be like having someone else in the car!

February-March-February

My fear in February was that we were having March's weather that month and would be having February's weather in March.  So far I was right.  Today was icy, with a strong, cold wind.  The trees were twirling and rocking like crazy and the car was coated in ice.  I did go to Plattsburgh in spite of the dozens of closings--nearly all schools in the area were closed today.  On my trip the roads were just fine, and I finally did get the ice off the windshield, but that took a lot of scraping and a very long time.  I had lunch with Julie, our usual Wednesday Japanese lunch.  Always a treat.  I didn't do much else in Plattsburgh, just a couple of errands, then I came straight home.  The sun had been bright and the house was warm but now I'll have to work on it to keep it that way.

We were supposed to (supposed to? well, it was predicted) have a big storm last night, with heavy snow and lots of ice.  They delivered the ice but there was only a dusting of snow.  That's just fine with me.  It turns out that I don't need 3 feet of snow to be sick of snow by March 2nd.  I'm tired of winter, I think.  Everyone says that's not possible, we haven't had winter weather.  Well...we haven't had spring weather, either.  But we will, I'm sure we will.  Eventually.  Some day.  Not tonight, it's already dropped from 27 to 9, and should go well below zero tonight.  -10 in Saranac Lake, so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw that.  The nails in the deck are popping like crazy.

Tomorrow I may go to Lake Placid.  I have to return the broken satellite dish receiver that's been replaced with a new one, which I successfully installed.  Color-coded cables, 2 sets of instructions, pretty much idiot-proof installation.  I lost all of my recordings, which truly is no great tragedy.  I spent a lot of time surfing through my recordings in search of something worth watching.  Now I get to start all over again, but I'm having trouble remembering what I like to watch, on what channel, at what time.  Well.  If that's my greatest issue today I think my life must be pretty fine.

What have I been doing for the last few days?  Hard to remember.  I know I went to Plattsburgh on Monday, I had a doctor's appointment at 8 a.m.  That went well.  I get to stop taking one of the zillion meds I take for various issues.  Yay!  I'm healed!  Not exactly, but I'm in better shape.  And I'm happy.  After seeing the doctor I did some grocery shopping, then bought an electric frying pan (those are not easy to find) to take to Rhode Island next week so I can cook the perch fillets I'm taking there.  I bought 5 pounds of perch when Joe was here, envisioning a delicious meal with my family in RI. 

Yesterday I went to AuSable, had a couple of things to get and take care of there.  Mostly what I do is stoke the stove, try not to eat much, wait on the dogs (I live to serve) and watch too much television.  I am pedaling every day and I do like my little exercise bicycle, which is near enough to the TV so time passes easily when I'm pedaling

The dogs are just fine.  Tess likes the new seat bottom in the car and has left an amazing amount of brown hair on it.  Both dogs are shedding, the days are growing longer and animals molt and shed based on the amount of daylight.  I brushed them today and should repeat that every day.  I'm going to RI next week and they will be boarded for a week so the shedding will at least take place somewhere that is not my living room or bed.

Pretty day but cold wind

It's up to 28 today but boy does it feel colder.  There's an icy wind, with bright sunshine.  Almost my favorite winter weather, I love the calm, clear, sunny days when it's in the 20's and there's a blue, blue sky.  Not today.  I think it's supposed to snow this afternoon.  That would be OK, we don't have much snow on the ground.  It rained hard the other day, then it froze so there's not much snow but there's thick ice.  So far I've only fallen twice this winter, didn't get hurt either time, luckily.

I spent yesterday in Burlington.  I took the car to the dealer to have the passenger seat sensor replaced (warranty work)--they had to put in a new seat bottom so it's very spiffy and nice now.  They also vacuumed the car (how embarrassing--dog hair city) so it is way cool.  I'll buy a cover for the passenger seat--Tess digs into the seat bottom in her quest for comfort when I'm not in the car.

It was a long day yesterday--I spent hours in Barnes & Noble, then went to a fancy store & cafe for lunch, then looked at the lake and Adks, then finally returned to the dealer.  At least I had a loaner car so could go places, they had said it would take all day.  I went back to the dealer at 2:30 and the car had been ready for some time.  I had given them my new mobile phone number, and they called, but the call didn't come to me and my mailbox is full.  I can't figure this out and should have gone to the Verizon store that I drove past at least twice during my time-killing travels.  Oh well.

There's not a lot going on with me these days.  Lunches with friends, doctors' appointments.  I have an 8:00 appointment in Plattsburgh Monday morning (why do I schedule these things for early in the morning?  I suppose it's so I won't have to wait, but geez, I have to be out of the house early for them).  I think that's it for next week, except for lunch with Julie on Weds., oh and wait lunch with Barb on Friday.  That will be nice.

Quiet life

Not a whole lot going on these days.  Lots of ice on driveways, in yards, on some roads.  I've fallen twice at P&J's, my feet went right out from under me.  Once I smacked my head fairly hard, boy did that hurt.  I just fell the other day but Gentleman Joe helped me get up and into my car.  Man that hillside is slick, I park in their driveway now.

Sunday was P&J day, I visited with them, with Bill and Joe for a while, having a nice time.  I didn't do much else that day, but I guess I can say that for most of my recent days.  Yesterday I went to Saranac Lake to the eye doctor (optometrist? ophthalmologist? I don't know which she is).  I have dry macular degeneration, which I already knew.  It's slightly worse than it was 1 1/2 years ago, and there's calcium buildup somewhere in my eye but I can't remember what she said.  Anyway, there are vitamins to take which may halt the progression and in the meantime my vision hasn't deteriorated and my prescription doesn't need to be changed.  I thought that was pretty impressive.  Did not get new glasses.  I get my glasses online, where they are cheap but don't last very long but are much more fun to buy.  If I had a good picture I could load it to the site and try on the frames, but that doesn't happen so I just guess, with some success.  Some.

Last night I had dinner with the Holts, a nice evening.  It was very slick walking down but coming home was better, with the combination of bright moonlight and a flashlight.  We had a lot of fun together, as we always do, lots of laughter.  I had a beautiful walk home, a bit chilly at 7 degrees, but brilliant moonlight and moonshadow.  Love that.

Today I had coffee with Joe, P&J before going to Plattsburgh for a haircut, just my regular (hairdresser: "It's already short enough") trim. Joe left today, sad departure but I'll see him again in May.  I ran a few errands, came home to find my satellite dish receiver was not working.  I messed with it for an hour, called Dish and finally got to speak to an "advanced" technician, who could actually figure out what the problem was.  I need a new receiver.  But, wait, I unplugged it and plugged it back in just ONE MORE TIME, and bingo! it works again.  They've shipped the replacement receiver so I'll have to decide whether to install it when it comes.  If I do that I lose all of my recorded programs.  Is that a bad thing?  Yes and no.  I would hate to lose the 85 episodes of The Larry Sanders Show, but it would be good to have a more reliable receiver.  This one has been a problem before.  Oh the complexities of life in Hawkeye.

Tomorrow it's back to Plattsburgh for lunch with Julie and getting a few groceries.  We're under a winter storm watch, sleet and freezing rain and snow are expected in the morning.  I tend to be pretty calm about these things, always have been relatively calm even when I was commuting.  You have to drive when you have to drive, or you stay home.  It's really that simple.

The dogs are great.  They walk themselves every morning when I come back from getting the newspaper, don't stay out long and come home exhausted.  Tess will be 13 this year but is in very good shape.  She gets her anti-inflammatory med every day and has lots of energy.  Her ACL doesn't seem to be a problem as long as we keep to the routine. So she & I take our meds in the morning.  She gets hers with peanut butter, I get mine with water.

Rainy burn

It rained all day--rain, not snow.  It was in the 30's, still is at this hour.  The burn started this morning before I got there at 10, was huge flames and a conflagration.  By the time I got there the burn pile was almost half gone.  Still plenty of flame, and very hot.  I stayed for 2 hours, standing in the rain, but got chilled so went home.  I was so chilled I couldn't get warm for a long time, finally ended up taking a nap on the couch, which did the trick.  Now the living room is 73 and I'm more than comfortable.

I watched a PBS show with Carole King and James Taylor singing songs from the 70's.  Boy did I find that depressing!  Sad songs, beautiful melodies, but they reminded me of sad times.  I thought I enjoyed the 70's but I think maybe I didn't.  I was in college until 1974 and lived with the same roommate all 4 years.  Our relationship got very complicated when another person put herself between us and our friendship ended up being tenuous at best.  This hurt me terribly but I moved on.  My former roommate died when she was in law school, and I have always regretted my failure to renew our friendship.  Of course I didn't know she was going to die, and when she did I was very involved in my life and relationships in Rhode Island.  Anyway, we listened endlessly to James Taylor and Carole King--along with lots of other music, of course.  She liked Jackson Browne, and I found him incredibly depressing in his early years (when his wife killed herself--well, who would expect him to make cheerful music then?).  I had kept in touch with a few college friends over the years, now I'm in daily contact with one (email) and off-and-on communication with another (she lives in Hawaii.  Why haven't I ever visited her?).  That seems sort of sad to me, that was 4 whole years of my life and I only have 2 people to show for it.  As I say, I thought I was happy and having a great time, but maybe that's not really the truth.  I did enjoy college, loved learning so much and had friends.  I just left it all behind, carelessly, I think, when I moved to RI for graduate school and the beginning of my career.  I made life-long friends in RI, people I'm in touch with and visit with.  I had a rich social life there and have good feelings about the 9 years I lived there.  Does everyone have sad feelings about college?

Cold but warming

Yesterday morning it was -2, today it was -3 (which was warmer than I expected).  Now it's 17 and warming, supposedly to 30 today.  Very strange.  It's the weekend of The Burn, so Joe is here, staying at Pat & Jim's.  Tomorrow morning they'll set the brush pile on fire and we'll have a nice time watching it burn.  I'll make brownies, Joe has hot dogs, and we have maple brandy.  All very nice.  I can't ever stay as long as the men do, sometimes it's too cold and sometimes I just have to get home.  It burns all day and into the night, sometimes still going Sunday morning.  My mother found some pictures of a Burn that I sent you one year--she said she looked at the pictures and tried to figure out what party that was, finally saw a picture of the fire and figured it out.  Maybe I don't need to send her pictures this year...

It's been a good week, as all weeks are in my retirement.  I had frozen but never burst pipes so that was all fine.  It was cold, yes, cold, but now it's warmer with bright, warm sunshine.  I got the house in good shape for company but Annie and Rush had to go to visit a sick relative in Syracuse so they're not here yet.  I'm not sure when they'll arrive, but they won't stay at my house at all, so now I have a clean shower and living room and what good does that do me?  I do think it's funny how I never clean just for myself, I always need an excuse of company.  NO, it does NOT mean I don't think I'm worthy of a clean house--it just means I'm lazy and apparently don't mind dust and dog hair and wood chips all over the house.

I had lunch with a friend yesterday in Plattsburgh, that was nice.  I went to Plattsburgh twice this week, needed prescription filled and had errands to do.  Today I'm going back, lunch at the seafood restaurant with friends, which will be really nice and fun.  I think I'm all set for groceries, should be after 3 trips to stores.  I went to the dump on Wednesday, then to AuSable and in the afternoon I went to get eggs from my friend in Wilmington.  She won't take money for her delicious fresh eggs, she says I have to give her something in trade.  The pressure's on.  I can't just clean my house and find something miscellaneous to give her, I have to come up with something worthwhile.  A basket?  I found one that I never use, a nice swing handled cat's head basket but it's flawed so I can't pass it on.  I'll think of something, maybe even make a new basket, that would be fun.  Would it?  Well, yes, I seem to be finding it fun to make baskets again.  I don't have my book of patterns, which makes it a lot harder because I have to recreate the patterns I've always used.  Should have taken better care of my book.

Not much else going on, but I think there's plenty for the weekend.  Sunday is book group.  We're reading The Martian, which I'm enjoying but it sure does have a lot of science and detail in it.  I keep picturing Matt Damon as the astronaut on Mars, which isn't bad.  I should try to find something for us to read next month.  I'm reading The girl who saved the King of Sweden, by Jonasson, which I'm enjoying more than The Martian, but I'll finish Mars by Sunday.

Dogs are just fine.  I let them take themselves for a walk every morning when we get home from getting the paper.  They didn't go far when it was -17, but today they were gone for an hour or so.  I know not where they go, I've only ever tracked them down the hill or out to the bog parking lot.  Sometimes they cut through the woods, sometimes they stay on the road.  What would I do if I didn't have dogs to wonder about?

Wow

We had a rude arrival of REAL winter weather: it was -17, -26, and -18 the last 3 days.  Yes, I had frozen pipes but this year, as a special treat no pipes burst.  Yay, that was impressive.  The laundry room pipes froze, as usual, but the hot water pipes also froze (for a change of pace).  I heated and heated the laundry room and finally, after 2 days I had success and they thawed.  Here in the North Country we call that "unthawing" your pipes.  No one seems to understand what unthawing would really mean.  Like, my pipes were unthawed until I heated them.  well duh.  We all say things that don't make sense.

I'm watching the Westminster Dog Show, one of my favorite-ever events.  I recorded it last night after I went to bed.  Just watched a shar-pei from Foster, RI.  I skipped the Toy Group, I don't care much for those breeds.  That's the luxury of watching a recording.  Now we're into the Non-Sporting Group, which is sort of all the left over breeds that don't fit in any of the other 6 groups.

Aside from keeping warm I haven't been up to much.  Stoking the stove, pacing around the house, that's about all I've done lately.  I did clean my refrigerator, washed the shelves and everything, because my friend Annie might be staying here tomorrow night.  She's coming north from DC and will either stay at her house (if she comes Thursday) or my house (if she comes Weds.)(she has company staying at her house here).  It's great to have an excuse to do some serious cleaning.  Why don't I do that for myself?  It's NOT because I don't think I deserve a clean house, let's not read too  much into this.  It's simply because I'm lazy and don't like to dust, sweep, vacuum, clean my shower or clear the dinner table.  I will do all those things today and tomorrow.

The weather made a quick transition from yesterday's -18 to 28 degrees today, with sleet and snow but nothing serious.  I already drove out to get the paper and the roads are fine.  We got a few inches of new snow, now covered with a crispy crunch.  The dogs went out and I saw them actually playing with each other.  Must be Tess is feeling pretty great, she usually tucks herself in the woods when Treasure starts running around.  Today they were chasing each other, aw, how cute.  They were fine in the cold weather, only when it was -26 did they feel they couldn't stay out more than a few minutes.  Yesterday's sub-zero didn't phase them.

I went to Plattsburgh yesterday, had some errands, it was great because there was no traffic and there were no people in the stores.  I do love being retired.  I can clean what I want to during daylight hours.  It's sure easier to dust when it's light out, isn't it?

Oh, they just announced that one of the breeds to watch is the shiba inu.  I came close to buying a shiba several years ago, I saw one on the ferry one night and was really taken by it.  My then-kennel woman said they weren't good pets, were like miniature akitas.  Then I met my Lab breeder, who was also breeding shibas and she said they made great pets.  I chose to believe neither of them and stuck with Labs.  With no regrets.

I may spend the entire day without seeing another person.  Annie just called to check in, but I haven't talked to anyone else yet today.  I don't have plans to go anywhere or see anyone.  Do I mind?  NO!  I used to spend entire Saturdays without talking to another soul and always felt that was a special treat.  I don't think it's so much a treat any more, I just don't worry about myself much.  I leave that to other people.

Balmy

Positively balmy at -11 right now.  The high today was -6, it was -11 when I got up.  This is what we do for fun in Hawkeye winters, measure how cold it is every few hours. 

I went to the dump this morning, cleaned out the refrigerator and tossed a lot of stuff.  Old apples, old carrots, mystery stuff.  Now I have to wash the shelves, which are sticky from an exploding cider jug.

I've had an otherwise quiet day, hauling in firewood, dozing, pedaling and petting the dogs.  Oh, I took a shower and did some laundry to make sure the pipes hadn't frozen.  All is fine so far.  Predictions are for -20 or more tonight, with a wind chill so cold it can't even be measured.  I mean, really, they're predicting a wind chill of -50.  The coldest I remember living here is -40 and that only happened once.  We used to have -30 or -40 every once in a while but that sure doesn't happen any more.  You don't really expect your car to be happy when it's that cold.  When it gets to -20 I lose the programming on my car radio.  I always have a newish car so my cars will start (I hope) no matter how cold it gets.

Squeaky snow is what we have now--we all recognize that sound.  I didn't spend much time outside today but the tires sure make squeaks.  The dogs have been well behaved all day.  They took themselves for a walk but weren't gone long this morning.  Treasure doesn't like weather this cold (now it's -12) but Tess is oblivious.  Me?  I can be outside for a little while before I realize how miserable it really is. When we lived in Illinois it would be miserably cold with a biting wind.  I was a patrol girl in elementary school--we wore white belts, stood on corners and stopped traffic to help kids cross the street.  Each of us had an assigned corner and I shared mine with my good friend Kathy.  We had a lot of fun but took ourselves pretty seriously.  Back then girls wore skirts and snow pants in really cold weather.  When it was below zero we'd get hot chocolate delivered by room mothers.  Boy do I sound old.  Well, hell, I AM old.  But I was a proud patrol girl.

Icy ice palace

That's sand on the ground, not bare dirt
The ice palace in Saranac Lake is a bit smaller this year.  There wasn't enough ice until shortly before the beginning of their Winter Carnival so they put it up in a hurry.  They did a grand job. 

Temp right now is -2, due to drop throughout the night.  The high today was 16, tomorrow's high in single digits and on Saturday the high will be below zero.  Welcome February: it's about time.  I'm so happy we're having this weather now, which gives me hope that winter will be when it's supposed to be and not in March (when I'll be in RI).

I haven't been doing much.  Pedaling my new exercise bicycle, only 20 minutes a day but I'll increase that soon enough. 

I went to Plattsburgh twice this week, lunch there both days.  Today I went to AuSable but just to meet a friend who is borrowing my sewing machine.  I know, it's a surprise that I would have a sewing machine.  I learned how to sew in junior high school, when the entire class had to make a jumper from the same pattern.  We had to actually wear the jumper to school once, too and man was that ever awful.  The teacher measured the hemline to make sure it wasn't too short.  I understand the value of learning how to use a pattern, and how to make clothes, but surely there could have been a different approach.  We had one semester of sewing and one semester of cooking.  In cooking I learned a lot, but that included how to file my finger nails.  I guess these teachers felt they had a captive audience and it was their one chance to turn us into young ladies.  We were not ladies by a long shot.

It will be too cold this weekend and I'll worry about the dogs.  I'll also worry about frozen pipes.  Which will concern me more?  Probably the dogs, I have a great fear that they will wander off into the woods and decide it's too cold to have all 4 paws on the ground at once and I'll never find them.  They don't really spend much time outside when it's below zero, but sometimes they stop in their tracks and refuse to take another step.  Why is sitting down better than walking?  Tess does this more than Treasure--she'll just sit down and wait.  Wait for what?

Primary night

I'm watching the news, all about the NH primary election.  We in the North Country like to take ownership of the NH primary because we're nearby.  We also own Bernie Sanders because he's from Vermont.  Tom Brokaw just asked "What does an uncle have to do with the campaign?" when Trump boasted that he has an uncle who's an important professor at MIT.  Give me a break.

I've had a quiet couple of days, even though of course I ran the roads.  Yesterday I went to Saranac Lake to see the ice palace.  I saw it, wasn't terribly impressed and felt bad about that.  They didn't have much time to built it this year because the ice wasn't thick enough.  It's not as tall as it usually is but is magic nevertheless.  I also bought birdseed, where I met a 4-month old puppy named Winter who was cute enough to die for.  Wow was that a sweet pup.  Shepherd mix with something, maybe Lab maybe Rottie.  Sweet, oh so sweet.  But no, I don't want a puppy.  Oh yes, I do, but no I don't.

Today I went to Plattsburgh, had lunch with Julie and another woman.  We went back to the Thai restaurant, where Julie & I used to go every week, until the Japanese restaurant opened.  They were happy to see us and said to come back soon.  The food in both restaurants is good, it's just that the Japanese restaurant is closer to CEF so takes less of Julie's lunch hour.  So tomorrow Julie & I will have lunch again, probably Japanese.  I just realized that I wrote an entire paragraph about the restaurants we have lunch at.  Forgive me.

It's snowing a bit, nothing serious but maybe a couple of inches.  We got about an inch last night, fluffy stuff.  It's 20 right now, was colder this morning and up to 30 during the day.  The subzeros are on the way, will be here by the weekend.  The high on Saturday is predicted to be 7.  Yikes.  I'm so lucky to be at home all the time to keep the stove going.  What a wonderful difference it makes in my life.  The house is always warm.  When I worked it would get down to the low 50's and once in a while the 40's in the living room because I couldn't keep the fire going.  Now it gets too hot too often, such a nice change.  I still have plenty of firewood, nicely stacked by the Holts.

I talked to my mother this morning, wanted to find out how much snow they got in southern RI.  About 5 inches, she thought.  She's getting excited about coming events in March.  My sister, her husband and daughter are going to be in RI to celebrate Liza's 90th birthday (I probably already reported this but wow is it exciting).  I hope it warms up enough for Molly & Paolo, who sure aren't used to cold weather.  I won't go to RI until the week before they arrive, am skipping travel in February.  March is a RI month: a week for Liza's birthday, then a few days for Easter at the end of the month.  April is ROCK AND ROLL. 

Last night I dreamed that I was building a telephone out of sticks and moss so I could call my brother and ask him to bring me my camera.  Well yes, I can't build a phone, and yes, my brother is dead.  I often dream about him and he's always happy.  Sometimes we know he's going to die but we laugh and are cheerful.  I like those dreams of a happy brother.

Not much going on, really.  There are no tracks going down the road past my driveway.  There were 2 bog cars today.  There was a flock of turkeys in the road, which was exciting for the dogs.  I let them loose when I got home and they took off, but not heading toward the turkeys.  Oh I would like to know where they go sometimes (the dogs, not the turkeys).  They take off every morning, running down the driveway, tails a-wagging, and I follow their tracks until they go into the woods.

No big plans for the rest of the week.  I have 2 baskets to stain but was waiting to have enough newspapers to cover the floor.  I think I have nearly enough now.  I bought 2 small books of basket patterns because I lost the notebook that had all of my patterns in it.  Boy does that suck, that was a crucial tool for me.  Now I have to measure and count every time I make a different basket.  Will I make more baskets?  Yes, I will, but what for?  I guess I'll give them away.  I enjoyed making the 2 I just made and that was sort of a surprise.  Maybe enough time has passed since my basket making burnout at the turn of the century.  That would be OK.

Gray Sunday

Up early today, can't say I've made good use of my time.  I visited with the neighbors for a couple of hours, had a nice time with P&J + Bill.  All are well, Jim is 81 today.  Whew.  We celebrated last night with dinner at Plattsburgh's seafood restaurant.  It was a nice party, 11 of us and very festive.

I went to Burlington on Friday with Lin.  Back to the dealer where I bought my car for some basic servicing ($114) and identification of the sensor problem with the passenger side airbag (it's a sensor problem, duh).  I'll have to go back to have a new sensor installed, of course they had to order one. 

We had a good day but waited a long time for the car.  They have a nice enough waiting area with wifi but I can only read and entertain Lin for so long.  After that we were both really, really hungry and it was 3:00.  We went to The Shanty and had some clams, very tasty.  It was late--Lin likes to get home to Ralph pretty early, as a rule--but we made time for a quick stop at Trader Joe's.  Then we came home.  Uneventful ferry rides.  The lake is open this year, no ice in the ferry lane or even nearby.

Yesterday I had a really nice time with a friend at a coffee place in Keene.  We met, talked for 2 hours, then went home.  We covered plenty of things, as one would hope in 2 hours.  I came home and did what?  Boy I've not been very productive lately.  I did go to the dump, then I drove our team to dinner in Plattsburgh.

Last week I watched some episodes of both Homeland and The Americans.  It was good to see them, Homeland is far too graphically violent for me and The Americans is entertaining but kind of monotonous.  Good acting in both, and good entertainment.  This afternoon I think I'll watch The Newsroom, with Jeff Daniels.  I saw much of the series when it was on but missed the early episodes.

I'm reading the new Chris Bohjalian book, which is good and moving right along.  It's an unpleasant story but reads well, as most of his books do.  I've put aside The Martian, our book group book, and will pick that up soon enough.  I have 2 weeks before we meet again.

My big achievement for the week was assembling the inexpensive and simple exercise bicycle I bought.  Wow is it nice!  I'm only pedaling 20 minutes a day, will increase that next week.  It's in the middle of the living room and that's fine as long as no one else comes to my house.  It's pretty portable and light so I can move it if I ever have company.  Which I will soon enough, I have a pork shoulder roast that Linda left with me to cook for Bill and Fred.  That will happen sometime soon.

The dogs are great.  They take themselves for a walk most mornings when I get back from getting the paper, don't generally stay away long and get a treat when they come home.  What that means is that Tess wants to go outside 50 times a day so she can come back and have a treat.  Sorry, missy, it doesn't work that way.  I think what I'm really teaching them is to run away so they'll get a reward.

This week looks pretty good.  The weather is supposed to be more like winter.  That's a relief to me.  I fear that, since February has been more like March so far, then March will be February and that will be a drag.  It's supposed to snow this week, then get below zero and be appropriate weather.  That will be fine.

Joe comes for The Burn soon, then it will be March and my mother will be 90.  She doesn't want to be 90 but does want to see her family, who are gathering to celebrate with her.  That will be nice.

Feeling blue?

New color, no significance, just something different to look at.  I'm not one for fancifying or making use of everything that's available, I just like to write.  Especially about myself, apparently.

I put together my new inexpensive exercise bicycle and pedaled for 10 minutes.  Boy do I feel self-righteous.  It's my goal to lower my cholesterol levels and exercise, sadly, is the key to that.  Diet, too, but that won't do it unless I add moving around.  I was hoping to get into the habit of walking to the mailbox every day but no, it's oh-so-easy to drive instead.  Bad girl.  The disadvantage of the bike, of course, is that the dogs get no exercise on it.  They exercised themselves this morning by chasing a flock of turkeys.  That went well until the turkeys discovered they had wings and could fly.  Dogs came home without even a feather.

Warm weather

It's still warm here, 33 right now.  That's down from our overnight temps, but still too warm for this time of year.  It rained and rained yesterday, melting snow and revealing the thick ice underneath.  That is SO typical of March.  Are we really just a month ahead in weather?  I wish I could stop fixating on the weather, but that's what we do (especially in the winter) here in Hawkeye.  We can't fuss about each other, there aren't enough of us, so we study the weather.

Duncan and David reported that there was open water along the shore--not open water on top of ice, but free and open water.  That is very strange.  Someone told me that the ice on a nearby lake was 13" thick, so he thought our ice was probably 10" or so.   Wrong, I guess.

They're leaving today, the end of Winterfest or  Extremefest, their annual winter visit.  I had such a great time with them this year.  I spent a lot of time with them, many meals and lots of laughter.  They are very dear.  Would they like being called "dear?"

Yesterday I was in Plattsburgh for lunch with a friend.  She's having a troubling time so I hoped I could lend her some strength through my support.  There's not a lot you can do sometimes to help people, but she likes having me to talk to and knowing that I really do listen to her and offer soothing comments.  Anyway, it was a quick trip to town in the rain.  Lunch was good.  Today I'll go to AuSable to pick up a package at the post office.  The mail carrier usually delivers packages to my door but I'm sure she didn't want to deal with the icy slope that is my driveway, so today I travel to the Forks.  That's fine with me, as everyone knows I love to run the roads.

Tomorrow I'm taking the car to Burlington for work at the dealer there.  That's where I bought it, and I have confidence in the work they do so off I go.  Lin may go with me, I'm not sure what we'll do while we're there but I bet it will involve a meal.  I started listening to a book, something I haven't done since I retired.  I chose The little Paris bookstore, or some variation of that.  It's OK, too soon to tell, really.  I've been listening to Darius Rucker CD's, I watched a concert of his on VH1 and liked his music.  He switched to country music a long time ago and some of his songs are a bit too country, and they mostly all deal with lost love.  I like them anyway.

I'm watching young girls pick up toys on the Today Show.  I'm not sure what they're supposed to learn by picking up as many toys as they can in 30 seconds, and I'm really not sure why I'm watching this.  I watch too much TV, pretending to keep up with American culture and news.  Really I'm wasting an inordinate amount of time.   I started watching Homeland the other night but wow is it brutal and violent, so I doubt I'll keep up with that.  Prior to that I was watching The Americans, mostly because of Keri Russell.  It, too, is good, but maybe a bit monotonous.  What to watch, what to watch.  How about turning it off?  OH NO.  That won't happen.

 We're having a big celebration in March for my mother's 90th birthday.  My sister, her husband and daughter are coming to America and that's really exciting.  Jenica and her family will be there, and a cousin from California is pretending he'll be there too (I seriously doubt he'll make it).  My mother is freaking out and had refused to plan for it but is now much more excited and planning where we'll all sleep.  Maybe she has figured out that it's next month.  I have the same problem of realizing that March is a month away.  Yikes, can this really have been winter?

The dogs are fine.  Tess is old, 12, and is not the same dog she used to be.  The thing about old dogs is that they are so different from the younger dogs we used to have.  Their behavior changes, their personality is different, and of course their bodies are problematic.  Tess is not exactly grumpy, but she really does want things her way.  She moans and groans a lot and snores very loudly.  She's insistent when she decides she wants something or wants something to happen.  I find it very sweet but it sometimes is truly annoying.  She sleeps a lot and can't run very fast but gives it her best effort when she & Treasure take off down the driveway.

I'm happy.  I like my life.  I'll be more productive one of these days.

Confusion

I just had a moment of total confusion about what day it is.  Is it Monday or Tuesday?  There's no way of knowing unless I reconstruct yesterday.  I don't really enjoy this aspect of retirement, especially since I'm used to leading a very strictly scheduled life.

OK, I've got it.  Yesterday I went to the Blue Heron for breakfast with Duncan and David.  While we were chatting the power went out so cooking French toast was not possible.  We sat in front of the fireplace for a long time, visiting and solving the world's problems.  The power finally came back on and breakfast went ahead.  David made delicious French toast and we had a grand time.  More conversation after breakfast, and after many hours of being there I came home.  What a good time I had.

The weekend was pretty quiet except for dinners with the Blue Herons.  John was here until Sat. afternoon, so I had dinner with the 3 of them Friday night, and Saturday night I had dinner with Bill and the Herons.  Lots of laughter and conversation, a lovely evening.  Tonight I'm having dinner down there.  Duncan and David are undecided about their departure date, it will be either tomorrow or Thursday.  The weather tomorrow is supposed to be basically dismal but warm.  Rain, maybe snow but probably rain because it's supposed to be in the 40's.  Today is gray and cool, temp is 33 but it feels colder because of the dampness.

I went to AuSable this morning, mailed some things and got a few groceries.  I'm taking dessert to dinner so I'll make brownies and I bought ice cream.  The trip to town was quick and uneventful.  I skipped the bank.  I had a check from Jim that I'd left in the car: Treasure ate it so I'll have to report that to Jim, how embarrassing.

I'm watching Groundhog Day.  It's not as good if you turn it on halfway through, but I adore Bill Murray.  I've done 3 things today but will go to the Holts this afternoon to make sure their generator shut off when the power came back on.  And I'll water Annie's  African violet.  I had a long talk with her on the phone this morning, we've been out of touch for a while.  She and Rush are just fine and she's adjusting to life in DC.

Dogs are fine, they take themselves for a walk pretty much every morning when I get back from getting the paper.  I guess it's OK for now--there's no one in the neighborhood and no traffic.  I'm lazy and like to have them exercise themselves. 

Not much else going on.  I still feel very insecure about winter.  Is this all there is to it?  I just have the feeling that winter is coming and will be hard and long once it arrives.  I should be thinking that every warmer day is one less frigid day, but I guess my glass is half empty about the weather.  Oh dear, must work on that.

Friday snow

It's snowing today, on and off according to the experts.  A minute ago it was a heavy and dense snow, now it's just a flutter.  The trees are outlined in white and are very pretty.  It's warm, 31, and I have a good fire going so all is well on the homefront.  The dogs have already walked themselves this morning and are now exhausted and waiting for our trip to Plattsburgh.

I have a few errands to run, and lunch with Barb.  We'll meet at the Greek restaurant, our usual spot.  With Julie, on Wednesdays I eat Japanese food at OUR usual spot.  Nice to have these 2 restaurants in close proximity to where my friends work.

My friends "The Boys" are here for a few days.  These are the men who own one of the camps below my house.  They come every winter to be in Hawkeye for Extremefest.  They ski, hike, climb mountains and feed me dinners.  I'll see them tonight, talked to them on the phone last night.  They've all arrived, from California, Boston and Minneapolis.  I love visiting with them, they always make me laugh.  They've been friends since childhood and remind me of my brother and his childhood friends, when they used to get together and giggle a lot.  Our house was a gathering place for Henry and his friends through high school and college so I vicariously enjoyed their brotherhood.  I had my own group of friends, and we giggled a lot too but there's something very dear about men and their very close friends.  Women, yes, we always have close friends.  Men, maybe not so much all the time.  Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

I've been mildly productive this week.  I did tidy up the living room, though maybe to the untrained eye this would not show.  I finished cleaning the laundry room, the final cleansing involving removal of cobwebs and HUGE amounts of dog hair in clumps invisible to the naked eye on the black vinyl floor.  The vinyl tiles are peeling off because of the several floods I've had when the pipes there freeze.  I've solved the freezing problem (I hope) by wrapping the pipes and moving the washing machine so warm air can actually get to the pipes.  I feel as if I've outsmarted cold air.

I'm working on losing weight, in my own way.  I keep a food journal and count calories.  Sometimes this is really discouraging and some days I do quite well.  My plan was to lose a pound a week.  I've lost 2 pounds since my last visit to the doctor, but that was probably because the nurse had me take my shoes off this time.  harumpf.  I did order a foldable exercise bicycle, which was on sale and supposedly easy to assemble.  I would prefer a treadmill but don't have a good place to put it, it's too expensive, and how would I get it in the house?  I did really well when I was doing Weight Watchers and walking on the treadmill every day--I lost 28 pounds.  I found the 28 pounds, plus a few more, so I'm not doing well.  Wish me luck.

Not much going on this weekend except for The Boys.  I'll go to the big dump today on my way to Plattsburgh to drop off clothing and towels to be recycled.  I'll go to MY dump tomorrow to recycle and get rid of trash.  Why don't I do all of it today?  Such a good question.  I suppose it's just because I like to have something to do every day, and Saturday my "thing to do" is usually going to the dump to see Dump Bob and get biscuits for the dogs.  I have some glass gallon jars to recycle.  I used to dye my baskets with special powdered dye that I mixed up in these jars, but now I don't dye them, I stain them instead so I don't need the 8 jars I have.  I'll keep some because why wouldn't I?  They must be useful for something.  A terrarium.  Mixing up a big batch of something.  Who knows.

I was in Plattsburgh on Wednesday for lunch with Julie.  While we were eating lunch she watched a policeman put a ticket on my windshield.  Really?  A parking ticket in Plattsburgh?  By a policeman, not a meter maid?  I was parked more than 12 inches from the curb, which cost me $15 for the ticket.  Honestly, I thought it was really funny (when I wasn't irritated).  I've been teased a lot for it and everyone agrees I should practice my parallel parking of the Subaru.

Dogs are sleeping, I'm dressed and ready for town, will leave soon.  It IS a winter wonderland out there.

Rain in January

We've already had our January thaw so what's with today's rain?  All that will happen is that it will all freeze overnight and it will be hell freezing over.  I don't get frustrated (much) by weather, though, because there's nothing we can do about it.  Now that I don't have to drive to Plattsburgh every morning it seems like a less significant part of life.  It's really a BIG part of life here in Hawkeye, our activities are often determined by weather, but it has less of an impact on my daily doings than it used to. 

I'm trying to stay home more, resist the urge to run the roads.  Saturday was a bad day, I went to the dump, came home, went to Wilmington to drop off stuff at the thrift store, then came home.  Why not combine the 2?  What was I thinking?  Sunday I went only to P&J's, but yesterday I went to Plattsburgh for a doctor's appointment.  Not a good time, my cholesterol is too high in spite of the statin I take.  He's giving me 3 months to work on this before taking another approach.  EXERCISE would make a difference, but who wants that?  Anyway, I think my eating habits during the weeks leading up to last week's blood work were quite cholesterol-inducing so maybe I can be more careful.  Yes, that's what I'll do.  When it comes to this, genetics are not my friend.  When it comes to my teeth, genetics are my best friend.  One parent had lousy teeth, one has great teeth, so at least I can be thankful for that heritage.  And that is a big deal to me.

I'm slacking off on my 3-things-a-day plan and need to get back into that.  I cleaned out a bureau in the master bedroom and today I'll put the sheets I only use in summer in that bureau (what's the difference between a dresser and a bureau?).  That will made a big difference in the laundry "room," which is just the hallway between the bathroom and bedroom downstairs.  It looks like hell right now and I'm always trying to figure out how to improve on that.  I love the way my mind works: slowly.  It came to me this morning that I have a place to put the linens that fill the shelf there, a place out of sight.  duh.

I'll make 3 trips to Plattsburgh this week, which is too many.  One to the doctor, one for lunch with Julie and one for lunch with Barb.  The lunches are necessary, I feel.  The doctor was just thrown in to make me feel bad about myself.  I don't mind going to Plattsburgh but I realize it's not the most constructive use of my time.  And I spend less money when I stay home.

Lin and I went to the movies on Thursday, we saw Joy then went out for dinner.  A nice time, and a good film.  Not a great film, but very good.  Nicely done by Jennifer Lawrence, that's for sure.

The dogs are just fine.  Tess seems to be on a roll about going out and coming in and going out and coming in.  I live to serve.  Both dogs like to stand on the deck and bark endlessly.  Oh how lucky I am to have no neighbors, this is great entertainment for the dogs.

I really need to make an effort to walk more.  My walk to camp last week was fantastic and beautiful, my walk to the mailbox was a bit cold, and that's all I've done.  Today I'll walk to the mailbox, oh yes I will.

I'm reading The Martian for book group, and am enjoying it.  Too much science in it, really, for me, but it's a well-written account.  Of course I get to picture Matt Damon when I read it and that only improves my reaction to the book.

I chatted on Facebook with a high-school friend.  We're friends on Goodreads and recommend books to each other successfully.  It was nice to communicate with her, like an abbreviated phone call.  I saw this woman at our 40th high school reunion but didn't really visit with her then.  I wish I had, but probably not enough to go to another reunion.  ugh.

The Chair

 The Chair: it's the best, most desired, favorite and ONLY place a dog can really be comfortable at 58OHR.

Sometimes you have to share, but sometimes you have it all to yourself: VICTORY.

Special time

One of my favorite things ever is being outside on a still, sunny, clear winter day when the temperature is around 20.  Lucky me!  Yesterday and today are days like that.  Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind.  It's just beautiful.  Yesterday I walked to camp, without the dogs, without a sound, without any tracks on the road or on the lake.  How lucky am I?  I didn't take the dogs because I don't know how thick the ice is, and neither do they.  I had a dog long ago who wouldn't walk on thin ice, but these 2 are so foolish and naive that they wouldn't think about thickness of ice, they would just think of a huge open space where you could run and run and run.  So they stayed home.

I've had a good week, pretty busy for an old retired woman.  I went to Plattsburgh on Tuesday, did y blood work, had a haircut, got some groceries.  I noticed when I left home that my mailbox had been blasted again by a plow.  The arm was snapped, same as the last time.  I stopped at the Highway Dept. in Plattsburgh (it's the County that plows the hardtop, where my mailbox lives) and reported it.  By that night the post was repaired, mailbox back up and there's now a big neon flag on top of the box.  YAY!  Nicely done, County workers.

I went to Pat & Jim's on Tuesday, had a good visit with them.

Wednesday I was back in Plattsburgh having lunch with Julie.  We always have a good time together, an we always eat the same Japanese food at the same Japanese restaurant.  We've switched from the Thai restaurant uptown to the Japanese restaurant downtown.  We're pretty boring when it comes to lunches.

Yesterday Lin called in the morning.  She's taking 2 days off from work this week to get some stuff done around the house.  She wanted to see Joy, and have dinner in Plattsburgh, so I picked her up and away we went.  The movie was good (but long) and Jennifer Lawrence was really great.  We had an OK dinner, cheap because it was early at Texas Roadhouse.  OK, we went there, we don't need to go back. It's loud there, and very dark.  Too much noise and bustle for me.

Today I have a list of tasks: sort picture frames to find ones that Lin might want, cut the dogs' nails, call Subaru to make an appointment for early Feb., move the dog cage that I haven't used in more than a year, and deliver egg cartons to Marylou in Wilmington.  Moving the dog cage is the biggest challenge.  It involves finding homes for the things I've been storing on top of it.  Then, of course, what do I do with the space it will leave?  Oh, not to worry I'm sure I can find SOMETHING to put there.

I got an email from Joe announcing the date of The Burn in February.  That's one of the main events of the winter, for sure, and it's nice to have that to look forward to.  Seeing Joe, not necessarily The Burn, although that's always fun, too.

I'll go for another walk today, it's just too pretty not to.  Right now the dogs are sound asleep in the sun in the living room.  They're exhausted why?  They've been outside at least 5 times, they rode with me to get the newspaper, they've had their peanut butter and meds, have had treats, have eaten their breakfasts, had some "bed time" when we roll around on the couch and play mean viscious fighting dogs.

Life is good, very good.

Gorgeous winter day

 The road to camp, pristine and without a single footprint.  Wow, a rare sight

 There were animal tracks on the road by my house.  This was the best, rarest: a pine marten.  The space between pawprints is too long for a weasel, not far enough for a fisher, so pine marten it is.

 My tracks, going home, with a happy squirrel along side.

 Little snow hats on my monarda stalks.  Look so cute.