That's what was on my thermometer this morning, a big old goose egg. Zero, with a wind chill (if you believe in wind chill) of something below zero. The house was cold when I got up at 5 so I turned on every heater I could find and cranked up the stove. Got it up to a respectable 60 before leaving for work. The insulation project was completed on Saturday, and it's definitely made a big difference. How stupid is it to have the thermostat for the electric heater on the floor with the heater? duh. What's the coldest place in a room? Yes, the floor. Next to the thermostat. Well they were cheap and all we could afford, so that's the kind of heater I have. People always ask what I have my thermostat set at--well, there's low, medium & high on the floor unit so who knows what temperature it's set for?
Had a nice weekend. Spent some of Saturday with Lin at a gallery we've visited in the past. I really like the artwork of one of the several artists whose work is there, so I bought some cards and some misc. other things for Christmas. Am I even THINKING about Christmas now? Not really. And it's a month from today.
After shopping we went out for lunch and had a nice pizza and beer together. Then home I went to pay the boys for their insulation work. They of course were thrilled to get checks, and I, of course, overpaid them. But it was great that they did it--what a disagreeable job, crawling around under the house, lying on your back to staple insulation above you. I know, I did it 20 years ago. They reported that there were parts of the house with no insulation at all. I could tell them where those spots were--the back of the house, most notably my bedroom. Now that it's insulated it's much better.
Yesterday was incredibly windy and cold. The house got warm and stayed warm well into the night. I went to P&J's and stayed a while for a very nice visit with them. We appreciate each other a lot in the winter--although there are others in the neighborhood we feel alone.
I had a wonderful visit to the Westport library last week. It's a great place, friendly people, fire in the fireplace, pretty location on the lake. I did my consulting there, then followed the lake up to Essex, cut over to Wadhams (which has some of the most beautiful views in the Adks), then to Lewis and up the Trout Pond Rd. We used to travel that road a lot. It's a pretty area with few homes. From there I followed the river to Keeseville, then went to the Chasm and on to Peru. Whew! It was grand and I really enjoyed it. It only took an extra half hour to get back to Plattsburgh, which impressed me. I like going to the member libraries. We have a great group of directors right now.
Tomorrow I'll leave work at noon, head home and pack for my Weds. trip to RI. There's much ado about a big, terrible storm coming tomorrow & Weds., so I'm trying not to think about driving conditions. I plan to leave Weds. early morning, which I think is when the storm is supposed to be particularly ugly, with sleet and ice. Rain to the south, so I just need to get out of the Adks.
I'll be in RI until Sunday, having a nice visit with Liza and Mark. Jenica & Justin will be there part of the time so it will be very festive. What will we do? Walk the dogs on the beach. Cook Thanksgiving dinner. Eat Thanksgiving dinner. Eat lobsters. Maybe go shopping at some small local shops. That's our usual Thanksgiving activity list. Doubt that it will be very different this year.
We got about 3" of powdery snow Sat. night and I guess we're supposed to get quite a bit more on Weds & Thurs. Well it IS winter, and we have snow in the winter. I don't like snow much, it's hard to deal with and complicates things.
Hope everyone has a good holiday. I'm looking forward to mine.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
November weather--I llike it
I enjoy November, when the weather is variable. We have warm, then we have cold, then it gets warm again. There aren't usually any extremes, making life simpler and more pleasant. We had nice warm weather over the weekend but now it's chilly again in Hawkeye. Due to be in single digits in a couple of days. Yikes. The ground is freezing/frozen. The temperature dropped quickly overnight and I was afraid there would be black ice on the way in this morning, but I had no problems.
Last week was good--I was pleased with my progress on Monday. I had some work meetings, some webinars, and most notably I went to the dentist on Weds. I had planned to have ONE filling replaced, but of course the dentist talked me into doing 2. Ugh. I had such bad childhood dental experiences that I get nervous just having my teeth cleaned, so this was pretty traumatic for me. This dentist is very good, however, about using a lot of novacaine and waiting for it to take effect. So it was painless. Sore for a few days afterward, but all in all not really terribly unpleasant. It took a long time and cost a lot of money but who's surprised at my age to need replacement fillings?
The insulating project at home goes on. Saturday Lin was kind enough to drive me to Plattsburgh so I could buy the 3 more rolls that Ravi said he would need. Only 2 fit in my car at once, so it was great to have her larger vehicle. That's it, I hope, for buying insulation. The living room is noticeably warmer, and now the back of the house is chilly but not truly cold (as it was before). Plastic on the bedroom window has helped.
We had a good Plattsburgh run on Sat., eating lunch at the new-to-us 5 Guys. It's all about meat. I ate what they call a regular burger, which is 2 patties, so I felt sated and sluggish all afternoon. And as if I should eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Which I did, that night. I also made cheesecake that night, with gluten-free crust, for book group on Sunday. The crust was OK but sort of gloppy--I used gluten-free shortbread cookies, mashed up, with melted butter added to them. The extra butter sure made things greasy, but it did turn out well.
Sunday we had our Book Group Thanksgiving at M'lou's. Very nice. Very good food, but too much of it! I ate a whole lot. Ugh. Boy was it all good, though. And we had a nice time, visiting and talking (a little) about the book (Sisterland). Next month's book is Susan Vreeland, The forest lover. I don't know if it's any good, but she's a good writer so at least it should be well-written.
Yesterday I had my annual eye exam in Saranac Lake. A lot of driving--to Platts. by 8, then to Saranac Lake, then back to Platts., then home the same way at 4. My eyes are fine except for an issue with the replacement lens in my left eye--I had cataract surgery a long time ago and he said that, when you have cataracts removed at a younger age this often happens. It gets cloudy at the back of the lens. This is just starting with me but has gotten worse in the last year so may need to be fixed (lasered). It's an easy fix, he assured me. And I trust him. Mostly now it's just a blur issue, nothing too serious. After my pupils were dilated and the solution was wearing off, one pupil was way bigger than the other, which made me a little nauseous but mostly just looked very, very strange. All is back to normal now.
This weekend Lin & I are planning to go to an open house at a gallery we visited a while ago. I like the artwork of one of the artists, and we both need to do a little Christmas shopping. Wow I need to get into Christmas mode!
Next week is Thanksgiving, and I'm off to RI on Weds. Looking forward to that. Later this week I go to Westport for the afternoon, to do some consulting on their Adirondack collection. That's a nice trip--great library, wonderful director, and I like looking at Adirondack collections. And on Friday I get paid. Yay.
Last week was good--I was pleased with my progress on Monday. I had some work meetings, some webinars, and most notably I went to the dentist on Weds. I had planned to have ONE filling replaced, but of course the dentist talked me into doing 2. Ugh. I had such bad childhood dental experiences that I get nervous just having my teeth cleaned, so this was pretty traumatic for me. This dentist is very good, however, about using a lot of novacaine and waiting for it to take effect. So it was painless. Sore for a few days afterward, but all in all not really terribly unpleasant. It took a long time and cost a lot of money but who's surprised at my age to need replacement fillings?
The insulating project at home goes on. Saturday Lin was kind enough to drive me to Plattsburgh so I could buy the 3 more rolls that Ravi said he would need. Only 2 fit in my car at once, so it was great to have her larger vehicle. That's it, I hope, for buying insulation. The living room is noticeably warmer, and now the back of the house is chilly but not truly cold (as it was before). Plastic on the bedroom window has helped.
We had a good Plattsburgh run on Sat., eating lunch at the new-to-us 5 Guys. It's all about meat. I ate what they call a regular burger, which is 2 patties, so I felt sated and sluggish all afternoon. And as if I should eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Which I did, that night. I also made cheesecake that night, with gluten-free crust, for book group on Sunday. The crust was OK but sort of gloppy--I used gluten-free shortbread cookies, mashed up, with melted butter added to them. The extra butter sure made things greasy, but it did turn out well.
Sunday we had our Book Group Thanksgiving at M'lou's. Very nice. Very good food, but too much of it! I ate a whole lot. Ugh. Boy was it all good, though. And we had a nice time, visiting and talking (a little) about the book (Sisterland). Next month's book is Susan Vreeland, The forest lover. I don't know if it's any good, but she's a good writer so at least it should be well-written.
Yesterday I had my annual eye exam in Saranac Lake. A lot of driving--to Platts. by 8, then to Saranac Lake, then back to Platts., then home the same way at 4. My eyes are fine except for an issue with the replacement lens in my left eye--I had cataract surgery a long time ago and he said that, when you have cataracts removed at a younger age this often happens. It gets cloudy at the back of the lens. This is just starting with me but has gotten worse in the last year so may need to be fixed (lasered). It's an easy fix, he assured me. And I trust him. Mostly now it's just a blur issue, nothing too serious. After my pupils were dilated and the solution was wearing off, one pupil was way bigger than the other, which made me a little nauseous but mostly just looked very, very strange. All is back to normal now.
This weekend Lin & I are planning to go to an open house at a gallery we visited a while ago. I like the artwork of one of the artists, and we both need to do a little Christmas shopping. Wow I need to get into Christmas mode!
Next week is Thanksgiving, and I'm off to RI on Weds. Looking forward to that. Later this week I go to Westport for the afternoon, to do some consulting on their Adirondack collection. That's a nice trip--great library, wonderful director, and I like looking at Adirondack collections. And on Friday I get paid. Yay.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Cold morning
It's not really that cold (27) but it's damp and snowy so feels chilly. I've got a good fire going, the house is comfortable (thought not truly warm) and I have the day off. I have a long list of tasks to accomplish today but so far all I've done is read the paper and watch TV. And eat. The dogs are eager to go out but I'm keeping them in for now because a friend is hunting on my land and I don't want the dogs to bother him. They've had plenty of entertainment this morning.
It's supposed to warm up today (40's) so hopefully I'll finish up the winter prep tasks outdoors. The deck needs attention, flower pots need to be emptied, though probably will need to have the soil thawed first. I MUST put the lawn mower away in the shed. I've put that off other years until there's real snow--it's sooo hard to push a lawn mower through the snow! You'd think a girl would learn in 20 years to get these things done before November.
Had a good week, work was fine. I saw Pat & Jim twice, well three times if you count yesterday. They're fine and Pat is feeling much better. I had dinner with the Holts and Bill on Sat., which was very nice. Holts were here for the weekend and very generously took my 7 bags of old insulation to the dump in their truck for me.
I bought a new computer on Sat. Wow what a difference. I gave my old laptop to Lin and am trying to get used to this new HP with a totally different keyboard. I have good Internet access but also have Windows 8, which is incredibly frustrating. Rush, Annie & I tried to do some simple things with it yesterday but didn't have much luck. Wow, Bill Gates, even a nuclear physicist finds it frustrating.
Busy week ahead, plenty of training and a few meetings. Also, ugh, an appointment to have a filling replaced. We had terrible childhood dental experiences (lots of drilling for cavities without novacaine, which seems unimaginable today) so I'm always fretful when going to the dentist. This dentist is good about making sure the novacaine is effective before proceeding, and I've had OK experiences in he past. Wow! It doesn't hurt! Let's see if my good luck continues.
Not really much going on in Hawkeye. Only one other person on the road now and he comes and goes. No bog walkers but there were 4 cars at the Silver Lake Mtn trailhead yesterday. It wasn't really a pleasant day but did almost get to 40. Supposed to do that again today but we've got a way to go. I still have to make one more trip to the boat house to retrieve things. The lock on the gate was frozen last weekend so I waited until it thawed, unlocked it in prep of my yet-to-happen visit. Maybe today. I hope. Let's finish at least ONE thing today!
It's supposed to warm up today (40's) so hopefully I'll finish up the winter prep tasks outdoors. The deck needs attention, flower pots need to be emptied, though probably will need to have the soil thawed first. I MUST put the lawn mower away in the shed. I've put that off other years until there's real snow--it's sooo hard to push a lawn mower through the snow! You'd think a girl would learn in 20 years to get these things done before November.
Had a good week, work was fine. I saw Pat & Jim twice, well three times if you count yesterday. They're fine and Pat is feeling much better. I had dinner with the Holts and Bill on Sat., which was very nice. Holts were here for the weekend and very generously took my 7 bags of old insulation to the dump in their truck for me.
I bought a new computer on Sat. Wow what a difference. I gave my old laptop to Lin and am trying to get used to this new HP with a totally different keyboard. I have good Internet access but also have Windows 8, which is incredibly frustrating. Rush, Annie & I tried to do some simple things with it yesterday but didn't have much luck. Wow, Bill Gates, even a nuclear physicist finds it frustrating.
Busy week ahead, plenty of training and a few meetings. Also, ugh, an appointment to have a filling replaced. We had terrible childhood dental experiences (lots of drilling for cavities without novacaine, which seems unimaginable today) so I'm always fretful when going to the dentist. This dentist is good about making sure the novacaine is effective before proceeding, and I've had OK experiences in he past. Wow! It doesn't hurt! Let's see if my good luck continues.
Not really much going on in Hawkeye. Only one other person on the road now and he comes and goes. No bog walkers but there were 4 cars at the Silver Lake Mtn trailhead yesterday. It wasn't really a pleasant day but did almost get to 40. Supposed to do that again today but we've got a way to go. I still have to make one more trip to the boat house to retrieve things. The lock on the gate was frozen last weekend so I waited until it thawed, unlocked it in prep of my yet-to-happen visit. Maybe today. I hope. Let's finish at least ONE thing today!
Monday, November 04, 2013
Getting colder
This was what it looked like at the boat house yesterday morning--very, very pretty. Reports of 2 loons still at the lake, in winter plumage. Isn't it time for them to leave?
Saturday, November 02, 2013
At home
Very exciting thing happened today--my phone company contractor finally came and installed high-speed Internet at my house. This is great but boy will take some getting used to. I tried using the email address for my Frontier account, but because I never took Jamie's name off the account the "from" says James Rogers. Yikes. Luckily I only send 2 messages that way before it was pointed out to me. This computer is slow and pretty old, so I'm thinking of buying a new one. They're so much cheaper than they were, it's just very tempting.
So now I can blog at home. Hmmmm. Not sure what this will mean. More blogging? I have to switch my email accounts all over the place. My main (new) personal email address is labrdors at gmail.com--but I'll still use my cefls address, of course, since it's my work address.
It's a rainy day, not really very cold but feels cool and damp so I built a fire. The phone guy admired my stove and told me a little history of the company. He also told me where to get good, cheap firewood, from a place that makes pallets, but you need a truck to pick up the loads. So I'll probably just stick with what I do.
I went to the dump this morning but haven't done much else besides play with the Internet. I'm trying to get this computer set up with the most current versions of things but it's so slow that it takes a long time.
Busy week at work. Monday I went to an arts program in Peru at night, getting lost in the dark on the way there. I had to laugh at myself--I certainly know how to get there from here, and used to live in Peru, but I missed my turn in the dark in Peasleeville and away I went, off into the deep darkness. It was all fine, I figured out where I was and got to the library on time.
Tuesday I had dinner with Annie and a friend (at Annie's). That was nice. A dark walk home, and it was cold--down to 18. Cold days at the beginning of the week, warm days at the end.
Weds. I spent the day in Malone, where I did 2 Power Point presentations. I only prepared one, someone else did the other (the GOOD one). Mine was boring, about cataloging rules. It was short, only about 9 slides, and they were all text. Anyway, it was over when it was over. That night I met Bill & Fred for dinner in Saranac. We were supposed to be taking Pat out for her birthday dinner but she didn't feel up to it so we went without her,. never ones to miss an opportunity for dining out. It was nice to be with the 2 of them.
Friday was a staff luncheon and I cooked a cheesecake Thursday night. I used a smaller pan so it was thicker and thus not quite cooked as well as it usually is, but people ate it anyway. After work I went grocery shopping then stopped at P&J's, then came home. whew.
Last weekend I imposed on Lin to drive me to Plattsburgh to buy rolls of insulation that don't fit in my car. We did some other shopping, had our usual fun, then she delivered the insulation to my house. Very nice of her. I'm having the son of a friend--who mows my lawn--and a friend of his put the insulation under the house. I don't think I have enough to do the whole house but it's a good start. They got started on Monday and plan to work tomorrow and Monday. Jamie & I did it 20 years ago but I just didn't feel like doing it this year, and had some cash to pay for it.
Not much going on in Hawkeye. My friends hunted on my land last weekend, and may return tomorrow. They found buck rub on a tree so were pretty excited. Goodness knows we have enough deer...
So now I can blog at home. Hmmmm. Not sure what this will mean. More blogging? I have to switch my email accounts all over the place. My main (new) personal email address is labrdors at gmail.com--but I'll still use my cefls address, of course, since it's my work address.
It's a rainy day, not really very cold but feels cool and damp so I built a fire. The phone guy admired my stove and told me a little history of the company. He also told me where to get good, cheap firewood, from a place that makes pallets, but you need a truck to pick up the loads. So I'll probably just stick with what I do.
I went to the dump this morning but haven't done much else besides play with the Internet. I'm trying to get this computer set up with the most current versions of things but it's so slow that it takes a long time.
Busy week at work. Monday I went to an arts program in Peru at night, getting lost in the dark on the way there. I had to laugh at myself--I certainly know how to get there from here, and used to live in Peru, but I missed my turn in the dark in Peasleeville and away I went, off into the deep darkness. It was all fine, I figured out where I was and got to the library on time.
Tuesday I had dinner with Annie and a friend (at Annie's). That was nice. A dark walk home, and it was cold--down to 18. Cold days at the beginning of the week, warm days at the end.
Weds. I spent the day in Malone, where I did 2 Power Point presentations. I only prepared one, someone else did the other (the GOOD one). Mine was boring, about cataloging rules. It was short, only about 9 slides, and they were all text. Anyway, it was over when it was over. That night I met Bill & Fred for dinner in Saranac. We were supposed to be taking Pat out for her birthday dinner but she didn't feel up to it so we went without her,. never ones to miss an opportunity for dining out. It was nice to be with the 2 of them.
Friday was a staff luncheon and I cooked a cheesecake Thursday night. I used a smaller pan so it was thicker and thus not quite cooked as well as it usually is, but people ate it anyway. After work I went grocery shopping then stopped at P&J's, then came home. whew.
Last weekend I imposed on Lin to drive me to Plattsburgh to buy rolls of insulation that don't fit in my car. We did some other shopping, had our usual fun, then she delivered the insulation to my house. Very nice of her. I'm having the son of a friend--who mows my lawn--and a friend of his put the insulation under the house. I don't think I have enough to do the whole house but it's a good start. They got started on Monday and plan to work tomorrow and Monday. Jamie & I did it 20 years ago but I just didn't feel like doing it this year, and had some cash to pay for it.
Not much going on in Hawkeye. My friends hunted on my land last weekend, and may return tomorrow. They found buck rub on a tree so were pretty excited. Goodness knows we have enough deer...
Friday, October 25, 2013
Snowy morn
My sister is famous (in our family) for the first line of a poem she wrote in grade school--"It snowed last night for the first time this year." Well, today's the day that happened. We had barely a dusting, but it felt and looked cold. It was 30, which will feel warm soon enough.
I'm having good luck with my new stove but still struggle to keep a fire going all day. I got it right last night & there were good coals this morning, but that's the first time for that. I'm using an infrared heater at the back of the house (thanks to Barb for her input on that)--it's working out very well and gets the living room and bathroom toasty. I have a good feeling about being warm this winter.
Toward that end I'm planning to have someone put insulation under the floor, in the crawl space. I've got someone lined up, he's the son of a friend--I figure, if I could do it (20 years ago) anyone can. I need to go to Lowes and talk to the fools there about what kind of insulation to get, and then figure out how much I'll need. All too complicated and nothing that I want to deal with, but it should make a (nominal) difference.
I was supposed to have high-speed Internet installed this week, and took an afternoon off to meet the techie from Frontier, my local-yokel phone company. Well that was swell, except that "Doug" called to say he couldn't come that day after all. I tell so many of my details to so many people that I had to explain the whole thing to friends afterward--I don't know if I talk so much because I'm nervous, or because my mother used to make us "SAY SOMETHING NICE" at the dinner table every night, or I genuinely want to share details of my life with people. Probably living alone has something to do with it. Anyway, "Doug" will come next Saturday morning to do the installation. I'm the neighborhood guinea pig. We've all been waiting for years for Frontier to come through with something like this, but the summer people who are interested in it have all left, so I'll be the first in our group to try it out. I'm not optimistic, but it would be nice to have something better than dial access at home.
I've been out and about for work a bit lately, and have to do 2 presentations in Malone next week. Yesterday I was in Saranac Lake for a good workshop on appraising things for historical value. NOT monetary value, but for their appropriateness for archival collections. OK, so it sounds pretty boring, but it was good.
What's up for the weekend? Not much. A dump run, no doubt. Oh, and CLOSING THE BOAT HOUSE. I've been walking down there and taking care of things bit by bit, but need to drive there to collect bedding, towels, etc., and take the furniture off the porch. It's not a complicated or involved process, and I always put it off until it's too cold to be pleasant. I have sort of a head start this year, and there's not much else to do there.
The foliage is gone, except for the tamararcks, which are golden and lush. I have a pet tamarack tree near the house--it just appeared one year and is now quite tall and pretty. It got bent over one year because of snow and I tied it to another tree to straighten it out. That worked well and it's now at least 25' high and fairly straight. There was a row of huge tamaracks along the road on my property, but when they widened the road so the plow could fit (for me, only for me) they cut them down. I was distressed, but it was one of those life lessons, when you have to accept things that have happened. What's done is done. The trees were grand, but the plow's arrival after snowfalls is even better.
Dogs are fine. They seem to have more energy these days, maybe because it's colder. I gave a friend permission to take his son hunting on my land on Sat. He wants to teach his son, who's 14, how to sit still and wait for the deer to appear. I said there sure are plenty of deer on my land. They can't shoot anything right now, it's muzzle-loader season, but they'll be entertained I'm sure.
The neighborhood is quiet. If I got lonely, I'd be lonely right now at home. I don't get lonely, though, and don't get afraid, either. Someone drove into my driveway the other night, probably looking for a good place to jack deer, and that made me a bit nervous but truly I rarely worry about invaders. Life is peaceful and I'm happy.
I'm having good luck with my new stove but still struggle to keep a fire going all day. I got it right last night & there were good coals this morning, but that's the first time for that. I'm using an infrared heater at the back of the house (thanks to Barb for her input on that)--it's working out very well and gets the living room and bathroom toasty. I have a good feeling about being warm this winter.
Toward that end I'm planning to have someone put insulation under the floor, in the crawl space. I've got someone lined up, he's the son of a friend--I figure, if I could do it (20 years ago) anyone can. I need to go to Lowes and talk to the fools there about what kind of insulation to get, and then figure out how much I'll need. All too complicated and nothing that I want to deal with, but it should make a (nominal) difference.
I was supposed to have high-speed Internet installed this week, and took an afternoon off to meet the techie from Frontier, my local-yokel phone company. Well that was swell, except that "Doug" called to say he couldn't come that day after all. I tell so many of my details to so many people that I had to explain the whole thing to friends afterward--I don't know if I talk so much because I'm nervous, or because my mother used to make us "SAY SOMETHING NICE" at the dinner table every night, or I genuinely want to share details of my life with people. Probably living alone has something to do with it. Anyway, "Doug" will come next Saturday morning to do the installation. I'm the neighborhood guinea pig. We've all been waiting for years for Frontier to come through with something like this, but the summer people who are interested in it have all left, so I'll be the first in our group to try it out. I'm not optimistic, but it would be nice to have something better than dial access at home.
I've been out and about for work a bit lately, and have to do 2 presentations in Malone next week. Yesterday I was in Saranac Lake for a good workshop on appraising things for historical value. NOT monetary value, but for their appropriateness for archival collections. OK, so it sounds pretty boring, but it was good.
What's up for the weekend? Not much. A dump run, no doubt. Oh, and CLOSING THE BOAT HOUSE. I've been walking down there and taking care of things bit by bit, but need to drive there to collect bedding, towels, etc., and take the furniture off the porch. It's not a complicated or involved process, and I always put it off until it's too cold to be pleasant. I have sort of a head start this year, and there's not much else to do there.
The foliage is gone, except for the tamararcks, which are golden and lush. I have a pet tamarack tree near the house--it just appeared one year and is now quite tall and pretty. It got bent over one year because of snow and I tied it to another tree to straighten it out. That worked well and it's now at least 25' high and fairly straight. There was a row of huge tamaracks along the road on my property, but when they widened the road so the plow could fit (for me, only for me) they cut them down. I was distressed, but it was one of those life lessons, when you have to accept things that have happened. What's done is done. The trees were grand, but the plow's arrival after snowfalls is even better.
Dogs are fine. They seem to have more energy these days, maybe because it's colder. I gave a friend permission to take his son hunting on my land on Sat. He wants to teach his son, who's 14, how to sit still and wait for the deer to appear. I said there sure are plenty of deer on my land. They can't shoot anything right now, it's muzzle-loader season, but they'll be entertained I'm sure.
The neighborhood is quiet. If I got lonely, I'd be lonely right now at home. I don't get lonely, though, and don't get afraid, either. Someone drove into my driveway the other night, probably looking for a good place to jack deer, and that made me a bit nervous but truly I rarely worry about invaders. Life is peaceful and I'm happy.
Last of the color near Paul Smiths
Saw this on the way to Potsdam last week--the tamaracks are at peak, then it's all brown & gray until spring. Oh, and white.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
And the season comes to an end...
We had a great Columbus Day weekend--the weather couldn't have been better. Sunny and warm, with just enough color left in the woods to impress us. It wasn't as busy as some C.D. weekends have been, which was sort of nice. I didn't get to see all of the visitors but I did get some things done at home, and I had a WONDERFUL few hours reading on the boat house porch on Sunday. Wow was that nice.
I only saw the Neels briefly, which was too bad--they're wonderful people. I did see the Holts, who are also wonderful people. I had dinner with them on Sunday night. Poor Rush is totally frustrated by what's happening in Washington. Very disheartening. Annie had a great trip to Spain and is getting ready for retirement.
I walked the bog after the hordes of bog walkers left, on Monday. It was cloudy and drizzling but lovely. There was an unbelievable number of visitors to the bog over the weekend, which I guess is good. Hard for me to be enthusiastic about day trippers like that. Tess was good and stayed home, but she was tethered part of the time.
Saturday Jenica & Justin came with their dog Malcolm. He's huge and a sweetie. My dogs thought he was pretty imposing but also thought maybe he'd want to play with them. A bit of confusion on how to do that.
We went to Lin & Ralph's for the cider pressing. I had picked a ton of wild apples from my trees, which pleased Ralph (wild apples make the best cider). We stayed for a while and took home some cider. J & J wanted to see what Malcolm would do in the water so we walked to camp. What did he do? Walked right in, lay down, sat down, wallowed, swam--had a great time. After that we sat on the porch and visited for a while, which was pretty and nice. What great weather. They went home and I did...NOTHING. A quiet Sat. night.
Sunday I "helped" Rush & Annie take out their dock--barely did anything, but got to see people there. Another beautiful day. I ended up on the boat house porch in the afternoon, reading Border songs, which is a nice book. Well written. Boy do I like sitting on the porch there, the only person in the world.
I saw my cousins on Sunday--they came to camp looking for me. They're wonderful, have a camp on the other side of the lake but take good care of camp and me anyway. They always make an effort to visit with me when they're here, which is flattering. I really enjoy seeing them. I remember them as toddlers, which makes me feel very old--they're married with children of their own (well, as opposed to what? children of someone else?) now. They have nice wives and sweet children.
I had morning coffee with the Nadals, sitting by the lake in the sun--oh so very nice. They packed up, closed their camp and might come this winter.
Monday was a holiday, YAY so I did a few things at home. Had intended to close the boat house but I think it's just too warm for that. Wouldn't be closing time unless I have to wear a jacket. I managed to put plastic on 2 windows a the back of the house downstairs. My big effort at energy conservation. One year I did all the windows on the first floor, including the big living room windows. Not this year, but I do hope to do more--the kitchen window is broken and leaks, and the bathroom window doesn't quite close all the way, so those are contenders.
New stove is great. I conferred with Annie about fires and how to make the most of the stove--their stove is the same model but a bit older and, of course, not cobalt blue. I'm still figuring out this stove's burning habits. It's very different from my old stove, which I suppose is the point.
Today I have a webinar in the morning and will visit the AuSable Forks library in the afternoon. They have some things they think are archival and want my help to identify and classify them. Tomorrow I head to Canton for a meeting with people I like to see. Should be a pretty drive, too. Maybe I can stop at the farm stand in Nicholville. To get what?
Linda leaves tomorrow. Joe & Martha leave next week. And that's it for the 2013 season.
I only saw the Neels briefly, which was too bad--they're wonderful people. I did see the Holts, who are also wonderful people. I had dinner with them on Sunday night. Poor Rush is totally frustrated by what's happening in Washington. Very disheartening. Annie had a great trip to Spain and is getting ready for retirement.
I walked the bog after the hordes of bog walkers left, on Monday. It was cloudy and drizzling but lovely. There was an unbelievable number of visitors to the bog over the weekend, which I guess is good. Hard for me to be enthusiastic about day trippers like that. Tess was good and stayed home, but she was tethered part of the time.
Saturday Jenica & Justin came with their dog Malcolm. He's huge and a sweetie. My dogs thought he was pretty imposing but also thought maybe he'd want to play with them. A bit of confusion on how to do that.
We went to Lin & Ralph's for the cider pressing. I had picked a ton of wild apples from my trees, which pleased Ralph (wild apples make the best cider). We stayed for a while and took home some cider. J & J wanted to see what Malcolm would do in the water so we walked to camp. What did he do? Walked right in, lay down, sat down, wallowed, swam--had a great time. After that we sat on the porch and visited for a while, which was pretty and nice. What great weather. They went home and I did...NOTHING. A quiet Sat. night.
Sunday I "helped" Rush & Annie take out their dock--barely did anything, but got to see people there. Another beautiful day. I ended up on the boat house porch in the afternoon, reading Border songs, which is a nice book. Well written. Boy do I like sitting on the porch there, the only person in the world.
I saw my cousins on Sunday--they came to camp looking for me. They're wonderful, have a camp on the other side of the lake but take good care of camp and me anyway. They always make an effort to visit with me when they're here, which is flattering. I really enjoy seeing them. I remember them as toddlers, which makes me feel very old--they're married with children of their own (well, as opposed to what? children of someone else?) now. They have nice wives and sweet children.
I had morning coffee with the Nadals, sitting by the lake in the sun--oh so very nice. They packed up, closed their camp and might come this winter.
Monday was a holiday, YAY so I did a few things at home. Had intended to close the boat house but I think it's just too warm for that. Wouldn't be closing time unless I have to wear a jacket. I managed to put plastic on 2 windows a the back of the house downstairs. My big effort at energy conservation. One year I did all the windows on the first floor, including the big living room windows. Not this year, but I do hope to do more--the kitchen window is broken and leaks, and the bathroom window doesn't quite close all the way, so those are contenders.
New stove is great. I conferred with Annie about fires and how to make the most of the stove--their stove is the same model but a bit older and, of course, not cobalt blue. I'm still figuring out this stove's burning habits. It's very different from my old stove, which I suppose is the point.
Today I have a webinar in the morning and will visit the AuSable Forks library in the afternoon. They have some things they think are archival and want my help to identify and classify them. Tomorrow I head to Canton for a meeting with people I like to see. Should be a pretty drive, too. Maybe I can stop at the farm stand in Nicholville. To get what?
Linda leaves tomorrow. Joe & Martha leave next week. And that's it for the 2013 season.
Who's a pretty boy? Malcolm, of course!
That's Jenica & Justin's dog. He's very nice. Wallows in the water like a hippo.
008
Pretty view from the boat house deck. The leaves in the foreground belong to an oak tree that my father grew from an acorn he brought from RI. It got too big and my mother cut it down, but it refuses to die. Does this mean something?
009
Always a nice view--from the boat house porch. I didn't have a party there this Columbus Day. Just didn't seem to have the time.
Monday, October 07, 2013
Come and gone
I think our color peaked last week. We've lost a LOT of leaves in the past few days, and a windy day like today won't help. There's still color, but it's not that great. Or maybe it will be for people who haven't been here yet. Big crowd will come this weekend for Columbus Day.
I had a good weekend, enjoyed myself and was mildly productive. Thursday night I had dinner with Linda & Erd. + friends, Friday night Bill had a catered dinner at his camp that was WONDERFUL. He had a cook from his favorite restaurant come and cook a fantastic meal for us. Only problem was that Bill suffers from portion control issues and the servings were HUGE. Sat. Linda cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for Bill's birthday (same people as Friday night). That was delicious but a lot of food. Last night was book group at Linda's & she served another delicious meal. Yikes. I told Linda she wouldn't need to see me tonight but she invited me to stop for dinner so maybe I'll do that. They'll be leaving next week.
I picked a lot of wild apples by my driveway on Sat., which was fun. It was a really warm day, though cloudy, and I managed to pick 2 small bags. My friend is having a cider pressing this Saturday and they always like to have wild apples to add to the mix. There are still many, many apples on the trees--too high for me to reach so I'll whack them with a spade or something. The dogs wait patiently under the tree to be hit on the head with yummy apples. The apples are huge and wonderful this year, which is very different from last year's crop.
Book group was nice. We finished Isabel Allende and have selected our next book. We'll meet at Marylou's house and have Thanksgiving dinner. Her husband cooks a spectacular turkey with stuffing.
Yesterday I went to a yard sale with friends--the brother and sister-in-law of one of my friends are selling everything and moving to their place in Florida, so we picked over a lot of stuff at the end of the sale. I got a nifty blender for $5--I've been wanting a blender so this was perfect.
I stopped at the AuSable Forks library on Friday to pick up my keys. They were lost in a box of archival things that I delivered to the library earlier. I thought I was very clever to figure out that that's where the keys were. I hate losing keys.
Thursday night I'm having a friend come for dinner--I'm not sure he's ever been in my house and his wife isn't coming with him this week so I thought it would be nice to cook for him. What I'll cook is still a mystery. At least the house is moderately clean so that won't be a problem.
Raining hard right now, just as predicted. It's amazingly warm these days, and warm sunny days are predicted for the rest of the week. Yowie.
I had a good weekend, enjoyed myself and was mildly productive. Thursday night I had dinner with Linda & Erd. + friends, Friday night Bill had a catered dinner at his camp that was WONDERFUL. He had a cook from his favorite restaurant come and cook a fantastic meal for us. Only problem was that Bill suffers from portion control issues and the servings were HUGE. Sat. Linda cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for Bill's birthday (same people as Friday night). That was delicious but a lot of food. Last night was book group at Linda's & she served another delicious meal. Yikes. I told Linda she wouldn't need to see me tonight but she invited me to stop for dinner so maybe I'll do that. They'll be leaving next week.
I picked a lot of wild apples by my driveway on Sat., which was fun. It was a really warm day, though cloudy, and I managed to pick 2 small bags. My friend is having a cider pressing this Saturday and they always like to have wild apples to add to the mix. There are still many, many apples on the trees--too high for me to reach so I'll whack them with a spade or something. The dogs wait patiently under the tree to be hit on the head with yummy apples. The apples are huge and wonderful this year, which is very different from last year's crop.
Book group was nice. We finished Isabel Allende and have selected our next book. We'll meet at Marylou's house and have Thanksgiving dinner. Her husband cooks a spectacular turkey with stuffing.
Yesterday I went to a yard sale with friends--the brother and sister-in-law of one of my friends are selling everything and moving to their place in Florida, so we picked over a lot of stuff at the end of the sale. I got a nifty blender for $5--I've been wanting a blender so this was perfect.
I stopped at the AuSable Forks library on Friday to pick up my keys. They were lost in a box of archival things that I delivered to the library earlier. I thought I was very clever to figure out that that's where the keys were. I hate losing keys.
Thursday night I'm having a friend come for dinner--I'm not sure he's ever been in my house and his wife isn't coming with him this week so I thought it would be nice to cook for him. What I'll cook is still a mystery. At least the house is moderately clean so that won't be a problem.
Raining hard right now, just as predicted. It's amazingly warm these days, and warm sunny days are predicted for the rest of the week. Yowie.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Looking across Chapel Pond
I drove to Albany & back yesterday so I got to see lots and lots of good color in the mountains. I think it might be peak in the mtns, though in other places there's still a lot of green. It was really pretty, though, driving through Keene and Keene Valley, and then on to Silver Lake. Where it's especially pretty.
Just about peak color from the Keene cemetery
I like this cemetery--it's almost as nice as the cemetery my family "uses." The view from this one is sure way better than the view from ours, though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)