Good intentions

Well, I have the best intentions about this blog.  I want to post more often but it just doesn't seem to be happening.  Yes, I'm busy, and I'm not spending much time at home, but it doesn't take long to write something (if anyone's out there reading this).

I've had a busy week, a hot and muggy week.  Sunday was all about food--an extravaganza of food for Bill's contribution to Sunday dinners.  A catered affair with many things.  That lasted for most of the afternoon, and at 6 we had book group with a bit more food (delicious) and a nice time.  We talked about the book (!) and visited.  Did we like The orchardist?  Yes, for the most part.  I thought it was very well written but we all had issues with some of the plot twists.

I spent a hot Tuesday morning in Plattsburgh--doctor's appointment and haircut.  Going to town in this weather makes me feel sooooo fortunate to have my home where it is. Oh yes.  I've spent most of my time on the boat house porch this week, with an occasional spell of dock time and swimming.  There's a cousin in camp with her friends, all of whom are very nice.  I keep to myself mostly and it all seems to work well. 

Wednesday I had a hot dock day, then went to Linda's for a farewell visit with MaryKay and Sheila.  We ended up at the Beach House for burger dinners and a good time.

Yesterday was another dock day--there's really not much else you feel like doing in this weather.  I went to the dump with Annie, then had a good visit with her.  I'll see her for dinner tonight.  Last night was dinner with my cousin and her friends on the porch at main camp, where there was an occasional breeze.

What's up for today?  Not much.  I think I'll have to go to a store for bread, maybe I'll go to the post office in AuSable to say hello to my friends there.  I haven't seen them since Duncan put up my mailbox and I resumed home delivery.

The dogs seem fine with sleeping in the boat house, splitting days between my house and camp.  They got new collars this week, probably the most exciting thing to happen to them for a while.  Aside from some porcupine quills in Treasure's chin.

I'm so very happy these days, truly enjoying retirement.  I've wanted to spend a summer home/at camp/with friends for so many years and I'm wallowing in this.  It is so wonderful.

Summer: full speed ahead

Went paddling with my friends Julie and Karen last week.  It was the first time I'd been in my kayak this year, and the first time ever I'd taken it away from Silver Lake.  We went to a shallow, calm dammed up part of the AuSable River and had an incredibly peaceful and leisurely time.  It was lovely, and I realized that part of what was so nice about it was being somewhere that wasn't Silver Lake.  Oh what a traitor, but the variety was special and good.  I may go paddling with Linda's company from Ohio, down a section of the Saranac River.  Better hurry up and do it, they're not here forever.

Last week was busy--summer busy.  Lots of dinners with friends, all very nice visits.  How did I spend my days?  It was hot and humid and I didn't do much.  I stayed at the boat house a few times, have slept there for the last 3 nights because night temps were too high at home.  I was there this afternoon when a big thunderstorm came through, which is a grand thing to watch from the boat house porch.

I've been reading a lot--there's not much else to do in the boat house if you don't want to swim or paddle.  I read The orphan master's son, which won a Pulitzer Prize.  Yes, it was good, but did it stay with me the way some really great books do?  I don't think so but time will tell.  It's a novel about life in North Korea, so you can tell it's a real pick-me-up.  Well it was good.

Yesterday my cousin John (my only cousin on my mother's side), his wife and a former Hawkeye Trail camper came for the afternoon.  The camper (Josh) was interested in seeing how the camp looks these days so we walked around the buildings and he really, really enjoyed it.  Listening to his stories was funny because I could follow along, having been listening to camp stories for the last 20 or so years.  After the tour we had lunch on the boat house porch, they swam, then they climbed Silver Lake Mtn.--the boys did--while Annie (wife) and I visited and had a nice time.  It was good and I'm glad they came.  Funny I wasn't nervous or hyper about their coming, I just felt fine about having company.  Is this retirement?  Maturity?  Old age?

I got to spend a lot of time with Duncan and Sue while they were here, which was a real treat.  They'll be back at the end of August and will stay at least through September.  Yay!

I've been in touch with a second cousin, one of my favorite people.  We were close friends as kids and now he's in California trying to figure out what he wants to do and where he wants to do it.  He's a peach but has heart problems so has, I think, a very different feeling about life than I do.  We enjoy our emails, comparing lives and interpreting the past together.  I watched the lunar landing with him all those years ago.

I now have 8 healthy, active guppies.  They're very pretty, all males.  The man I got them from, who posted on FreeCycle, was very intense about these fish and the water they would be moving to.  I didn't scream at him "THEY'RE JUST GUPPIES!" and was very respectful of his wishes.  Until I got in the car to come home.  Anyway they seem pretty hardy and are fun to watch.

The dogs are fine.  Tess rarely limps but she sure does like to walk slowly, very slowly when we come home from walking to the mailbox.  Yes, thanks to Duncan I now have a mailbox by the road and get my mail delivered daily.  This was a big deal for me.  I appreciate his help sooooo much, hating as I do to ask for or receive help.  Some things I sure can't do on my own, though, and this was something I wanted desperately to have done.

This week is a quiet week.  Spent a short time with Linda at her campfire last evening, then home for dinner.  Tonight I'll stop by Pat & Jim's for a short visit then will eat at home.  Tomorrow I'm having dinner with friends who are up for 2 weeks, along with Pat.  Thursday Jim & Judy return so maybe I'll see them then, or else for sure later on.  Sunday is busy with Bill's version of our Sunday dinners, followed by book group in the evening.  Well I guess that doesn't sound too quiet, but it does leave me with a lot of time to do things like mow the lawn and get my house in order.  I have 2 closets upstairs and haven't looked in them for years so I'm hoping to empty at least one of them.  I know the dress I wore at my wedding is in one of the--a size 2 from Talbot's, and that can be tossed.

It's summer and it's great.  I love this life.  This thing called retirement is exceptional.

Dog day of July

It's hot today, and was hot yesterday.  There's a cool breeze, every once in a while.  The sun's out right now but it's supposed to rain hard this afternoon.  I have a friend coming for lunch, or after lunch, or sometime today.  I cleaned the living room (YAY) but it was more work than I was interested in doing so there's still dog hair on the floor and dust on some surfaces.  It's endless, this housekeeping thing.

It was a busy week, now is quieter I think.  Thursday Linda & I went to Platts. to run errands and have some fun.  Thursday night I had dinner with Annie Holt, always a treat.  Her brother + cousin plus wives were there and it was a nice occasion.

Friday morning I had coffee with Fred and Linda on Fred's porch, looking out at the lake.  It was cold, well, cool, not cold, and the no-see-ums were out but that didn't stop us and we went out to breakfast after visiting a while.

Friday Jenica came with her family and summer visitors, staying in the boat house for the night. We visited and had dinner at Hot Dog Man.  Food there is not good except for the ice cream but it was a simple solution to eating something, and we got to sit in the shade at a picnic table.  Very nice.  Gwyn is very cute and reminds me a lot of Jenica at that age, walking around and interested in so many things.

Saturday morning was coffee with Fred yet again, after which was the annual family meeting.  A lot of cousins in attendance, 4 generations represented.  It was peaceful, which it mostly is these years.  We made no major decisions, really, and determined that things at camp are pretty much OK except for the roof and the post supporting the porch.  Those things need attention.  One cousin brought his tractor from Syracuse and, with others did a huge amount of work on the road to camp.  It had washed out in a lot of places so this was a great thing to have done.  Road is now in good shape.  I'd love to have the tractor make a visit to my driveway but I don't like to ask.

Lunch after the meeting with lots of visiting, then rest time and I came home.  Linda had a nice 4th of July party, lots of good food and company.  Holly and Chris are here and I really like being with them.  I didn't stay long--was tired from the family time.

Sunday morning we had Holly join us at Fred's, which was nice.  We couldn't stay long because it was the morning of the road clean-up that the shoreowners' association does each year.  I got teamed with Fred and we had a good time and collected enough garbage to make it worth doing.  After the clean-up came the meeting and that was fine and didn't last long.

I stopped at Joe & Martha's, came home and got a call from Duncan.  It was the women's WORLD CUP and he & Sue were going to watch it at Linda's so I joined them.  That was great fun, with of course a great outcome.

Yesterday I had a really nice time with Duncan and Sue on their porch.  We visited a long time, which was really nice.  It was a beautiful morning, sunny and peaceful.  I went to Plattsburgh after that, had to pick up some things.  Nothing much of interest there.  I picked up prints of pictures I took of the cousins, none were noteworthy, really, but I'll send a bunch to my mother (labeled).  I had a quiet night, sitting in the house sweating and cleaning the living room.  Early to bed, slept very well in spite of the heat and humidity.

Tomorrow is Erdvilas' 70th birthday and Linda is having a party.  It will be nice, with a campfire and delicious food.  Good company.  Thursday Jenica & Justin arrive, here for the weekend with Justin's family at camp.  Hoping for good weather.

Things are good.  I am happy and rested after taking a bit of a break from family and friends.  This morning I cleaned and lunch is ready for my company (if she finds the house OK).  No plans for tonight so maybe I'll just relax.  The dogs went for a long walk just now and only Treasure came home.  I'm expecting a phone call from someone, telling me where she is.  Or maybe I'll get lucky and she'll find her own way home.  A girl can hope.

One more post in June

I was reminded by someone tonight that it's been a long time since I posted anything (she sent me an email saying "Are you still alive?").  Well that's true, and it's not because I've been too busy.  I fill the days but always have extra time.

I went to RI, came home last week.  I went down on Thursday and came home Monday, had a really nice time with lots of good visiting.  On Friday I drove Liza to town to take care of a bunch of errands.  Saturday we went to Champlin's to get lobsters and clams, then sat on the beach there for a while, very nice.  We went out for lunch then sat THERE on a bench looking at the boats for a while, also very nice.  Sunday was a quiet day, we just spent time together.  Mark & I walked the dogs on the URI campus in the morning.  It's become a beautiful campus, doesn't look much the way it did when I was there.  Lots of trees and lawns and new buildings.

The postmistress came to see me on Friday afternoon--we scoped out a new spot for my mailbox, out on the hardtop.  My friend Duncan is going to help me put it up, maybe tomorrow or Weds.  Meanwhile I still go to town for my mail.  How embarrassing is it to have the sort and hold your mail when all it is is junk mail?  Very embarrassing.  They're very nice at the post office but I bet they wonder just exactly WHEN I'll have a mailbox again.  Soon, folks, soon.

Northern NY has sure been in the news for the last 3 weeks.  What drama!  I wasn't afraid that the inmates would come here--they wouldn't want to head this way, in the opposite direction from Canada.  We've been entertained daily by CNN and local reports.  Now we just need to find out how it all happened.  Everyone here is relieved, now we can get on with our lives.

We had a big storm last week, very heavy wind and hard rain.  The lake level has risen, by one account it's risen 18" in the last month.  That sure seems like a lot but my dock is under water right now, and Linda's dock came apart and the frame is at water level.  Someone usually takes apart the beaver dams at the foot of the lake but that hasn't happened yet this year.  That would make a huge difference.

I went to Plattsburgh today, had lunch with Julie, a nice visit.  I bought too many things at Target and have to return some of them so will return to town on Weds. and have lunch with Barb then.  Thai today, Greek on Weds.  I picked up Duncan Sunday morning and we went to Plattsburgh for brunch, but the restaurant was closed so we ended up at Gus', with Bill and Fred.  It was nice but no fancy brunch.

I bought more flowers on Sat., the nursery is having a big sale before they dump everything.  I have to make up at least one more planter, will take that to the boat house.  I brought back some plants from RI--physostegia, gooseneck loosestrife and a rose bush.  The rose bush was part of a bush we took from the house I lived in more than 30 years ago in RI.  I had a big one here but it has pretty much died, crowded by blackberry bushes.  I'm hoping this new bush will like it here as much as the old one did before the blackberries came along.  It's a tea rose, smells fantastic.

Tomorrow I go to Westport for Tess' medicine ($75 a month if I buy it at the vet's--I need to start buying it online), plus I need to get heartworm meds and flea repellent for both dogs.  That will cost a LOT of money.  The mosquitoes are pretty bad so I don't mind getting the heartworm med.

This Saturday is the Rogers family meeting and cousins are starting to arrive.  I haven't been to camp since last week (these are not my favorite cousins) but will probably go down later this week to say hello.  Too many people there for me, and one of them makes a huge fuss about keeping my dogs out of main camp.  So much for "we all need to get along."  I just avoid them.

The dogs are doing well.  Tess limps sometimes but I took her down to Duncan's the other day and she was fine.  I walked her on a leash, that's what I do with her now.  She can almost run but not really--she tries sometimes, then sort of shrugs and starts walking instead.

There was a moose sighting between here and Saranac Lake--Linda saw one coming home one night at dusk.  It ran across the road in front of her on the Alder Brook Road.  Very exciting.  We saw a blackburnian warbler at her camp the other day, a very pretty bird and fun to see.  Mostly we have goldfinches and purple finches, with an occasional nuthatch.  Linda had a cedar waxwing in her trees recently and today she saw a catbird.  That's rare here.  The robin who nests in my upstairs window has hatched 4 young ones and I can hear the peep peep peep when she shows up to feed them.  Very noisy.

The sun is supposed to shine tomorrow morning so maybe I'll mow the lawn.  Maybe.

Even more rain

We have had some good days but we have had a huge amount of rain.  The lake is very high--maybe it's time to tear apart the beaver dam at the foot of the lake.

It's been a busy time but far from hectic.  We've had a few group dinners, culminating in today's Thanksgiving dinner at J&M's.  Joe fried a turkey, which was delicious.  Everyone brought something and because there were a lot of people there sure was a lot of food.  Yum.  We had sauerkraut, furnished by Linda as part of a Baltimore tradition.  It's very good with turkey.

We had book group at Linda's and that was good.  Everyone liked the book and we're reading The orchardist next.  I started it and really like it.  Good story, great characters.  I took it to Linda's dock yesterday afternoon but we just sat there and I didn't read a sentence.  We like to sit on her dock with binoculars and keep track of what's going on around the lake.  So watch out, anyone at the foot of the lake, we can see you.

I've stayed in the boat house a few nights.  When it's in the 50's I usually stay at home.  I like being at home, I like being in the boat house.  Oh what a lucky girl!

Lin & I opened main camp on Thursday.  It was a lot of work, more maybe than other years because of the influx of furniture.  We found places for things, vacuumed, washed, arranged, and it's ready to go.  Most people are coming 4th of July weekend so I hope the pine pollen won't be too bad.  It's supposed to rain this week, which should help wash it out of the trees.

This week I'm taking the car in for an oil change and will hopefully have lunch with Julie afterward.  That's Tuesday.  Thursday I'm going to RI, after coffee in the morning with the Nadals.  I'm staying in RI until Monday, not planning anything specific for the visit, it's just time to be there.

The mailbox saga continues, and I continue to go to town for my mail a few times a week.  Big sigh.  The postmistress is hot to have my mailbox returned to it's rightful place but it's a big fight.  I said I'd move my mailbox but she said "No, don't do that, we're winning."  OK, I won't do anything but keep driving 15 miles to get my mail.

Oh, has anyone heard about the escaped inmates near here?  Ha!  They won't come to Hawkeye but they're about 20 miles away, or so people seem to think.  I woke last night, convinced they were coming to my house but of course I talked myself out of that quickly--they wouldn't walk down a dirt road looking for a place to hide.  I don't know if they're still in the area but it would be nice if they were caught.  900 law enforcement officials is a lot of people for this area.  Lots of roadblocks but nothing very close.

Weather has been OK but as I said, lots of rain.  Yesterday and today I spent some time reading on the deck and the black flies weren't bad--there was a breeze yesterday and that kept them away.  I mowed the lawn this morning and the deer flies were worse than the black flies.  Nothing unbearable and nothing like it used to be.  Tonight I'll sleep in the boat house, it's pretty hot and humid here at home.

Dogs are doing well.  Tess limps sometimes, and she doesn't really run, she sort of hops with her hind legs.  She snores a lot, and Treasure has started snoring too.  Do I snore? 

Rain, rain and more rain

I know we needed rain, but if we could just have a brief break I could walk (instead of drive) to camp to fill the hummingbird feeder at the boat house.  Although I suppose I could wear a raincoat.  I'll look into that.

I got the boat house opened and ready for occupants.  There are still things in need of attention, mostly things we need to dispose of but that can wait until I have help.  Lin is going to open main camp with me so maybe when that happens we can deal with some of the boat house stuff.

I had a nice week, no complaints.  Lots of social contact even though we haven't had the official arrival of summer yet.  I did travel a bit more than maybe I should have, but I got things accomplished.  I only went to Plattsburgh once, on Friday, when I had lunch with Barb and ran many errands.  That's the way to do it, save your errands up.  It was very hot during the week so I stayed in the boat house two nights, very pleasant.  Always a nice breeze so it was good sleeping weather.

I got all of my flower plants put in containers.  I think I bought too many plants because I think I have too many containers.  I took 2 to the boat house and have a deckfull here at home.  They're all getting a good soaking, that's for sure.

I spent one day traveling to Westport, needed to get more of Tess' meds.  They're expensive at $5 per pill, though she only takes half a pill a day.  The vet's assistant suggested I look online, which is a good plan.  The med. is just an anti-inflammatory and it seems to be working well.  Tess limps sometimes, and definitely doesn't rely on her bad leg, but she's game and happy.

It got very cold yesterday, the temp was 45 when I got up, and it wasn't much warmer today.  I had a fire in the wood stove and now the house is too hot.  I've been doing a few things in the kitchen--cleaned out old pots & pans & lids that I don't use, washed the windows, made iced tea.  I have a long list of things to get done in the house and should be focusing on what's listed instead of making up new chores just because I don't feel like cleaning out the closets upstairs.

I called my insurance agent today, prompted by a note from someone at the agency.  Embarrassing enough, I still have my ex-husband's name on the homeowner's insurance policy.  This is bad, very bad and I'm having that changed.  I have to go to the office, though, with a full folder of documents.  She just said to bring anything that would be relevant or prove he's no longer involved.  I have the deed in my name, our divorce decree, tax receipts, 1040, mortgage papers.  I couldn't think of anything else and I really don't believe it should be so complicated.  The agent said it's much harder to take someone's name off a policy than it is to add one.  Well hell, am I the first person to get divorced?  I'm hoping this won't be as complicated as she made it sound.

This morning I drove to get the paper, then had a hankering for a Maplefield's cup of coffee, so I drove 10 miles to get one.  I visited with a man I used to see every day there, when I was on my way to work.  He's retired and spends early mornings at a table there.  Everyone knows him, he's a retired Forest Ranger, and is pleasant.  He laughed--hard--when he saw me there, joining in the routine.  I won't make that a habit, but it was nice and the coffee was good.

Big news in dogs is that Treasure decided she likes being wet.  She has always avoided the water, although I know she can swim (I made her do that once).  Last week during the heat she walked right into the water and splashed around for a pretty long time, got out, got back in, etc.  My sister has spent a huge amount of time trying to convince Treasure that getting wet is a good thing, all to no avail until it was Treasure's idea.

Not much going on this week.  Tomorrow I think I'll go to town and maybe have lunch with a friend, will visit the insurance agent.  Friday night I'm having dinner with friends here at the lake.  The weather is supposed to be nice starting on Weds. and I hope to mow my lawn then.  Grass is long and the driveway needs mowing.

Last year's robin is back and has built a nest in the same bathroom window as she did last year.  I assume it's the same one, but who knows, really.  She hates it when I take a shower.  Too bad.

Memorial Day weekend

It was a busy week, some travel and lots of visiting.  Summer people are arriving--the first have been Linda +Erdvilas and Joe + Martha.  I went to Plattsburgh on Tuesday, got a haircut and ran a couple of errands.  Wednesday morning I took the dogs to the kennel in Vermontville in the morning, then met Julie at her house in the afternoon and we drove to Alexandria Bay for a network annual meeting.  It was a long trip, though really only 3 1/2 hours.  Nice drive along the St. Lawrence River, with huge ships going by.  We spent the night, had fun together, and went to the meeting in the morning.  The speaker was young and super-enthusiastic about the violation of our privacy on the Internet.  Hello?  Is someone out there that I don't want reading this? 

Today we had our first Sunday dinner.  Linda cooked a huge, 13-lb ham with asparagus and scalloped potatoes.  yum.  Nice crowd, good food, very wonderful.

I've been buying flowers and am pretty much ready to plant my containers as well as plant at the cemetery.  I bought some tomato and cucumber plants and will try YET AGAIN to grow them.  I haven't had much luck in years but love to hit my head with a hammer and continue to try.  I had a great gift certificate at an expensive garden center and have spent nearly all of that.  I have great looking plants this year, very exciting.  The black flies have been bad but it's been windy lately so they're not too annoying.  That will doubtless change this week, when temps are supposed to be in the 80s and it's supposed to be humid.  UGH.  I need to get the boat house open so I can stay down there when it's hot and humid at night.

We had a killing frost the other morning, temp was 27.  I brought all my preciouses inside and the living room was lovely, filled with flowers.  I lost nothing and all are now outside for good.

The dogs are fine.  They do well at the kennel and the kennel people love them because they're so sweet and well behaved.  I guess that means they don't bark or make a fuss.  She told me they learned how to use the doggie door so spent a lot of time sitting in the sun in the run.  Great entertainment for them, I'm sure.  These kennel people have more than 20 Siberian huskies so my dogs had plenty of company.  Tess still limps but not all the time.  I need to get her some more meds, will have to go to Westport for that or order it online.

This week looks pretty quiet.  Need to do lots of planting.  I just talked to the Nadals and Judy told me there's a special and rare orchid that should be in bloom right about now, near their camp.  I'll have to trundle on down there to see if I can find it.

Life continues to be great.  It's green, so very, very green here and is just lovely.

Too hot

It's in the 80's today and that's just too hot.  The leaves are coming out really fast--this is what I don't like about spring, sometimes, it just happens in one week.  The trillium are up and blooming, violets (tiny white ones), Canada mayflower, trout lilies all making an appearance as of my walking today.  I walked to the Holts, then to camp.  Someone has been there, the gate was unlocked, but it must have been someone in the family.  Water's not in yet, nothing done about opening it.

I went to Plattsburgh twice this week, once for my Weds. gig, then again today to get a few supplies.  I was looking for potting soil with nothing added to it and man is that hard to find.  I found some that doesn't have fertilizer added, at least.  I'm hoping to have better luck with cucumbers and tomatoes this year and my thinking is that the fertilizer in the potting soil I always used was a problem.  Let's see if I'm right.  I haven't bought many plants yet, just what I got on Sunday plus a couple of six packs of alyssum that looked and smelled so good and was so cheap I couldn't resist.

It was a quiet week but I was busy around the house.  I cleaned a lot, which is what I've wanted to do for a long time.  My cousin may be coming to stay with me, or she may stay at camp--she was vague so I cleaned the upstairs bedroom, hall and bathroom just in case.  My but it looks better!  I need to attack the master bedroom, which is so full of stuff that you can barely open the door.  What is in there I don't really know but there's a lot of it, whatever it is.  I cleaned my shower!  Wow that was a job that I should do more often.

The dogs are OK but Tess is still limping.  She's getting used to the "walks" we take around the driveway.  She tried to run away one time but stopped before getting far, I guess she realized she can't run anymore.  She sort of hops with her hind legs, it looks a little sad but she seems cheerful enough.

I got 2 more guppies.  This is big news for me.  I had 2 and one died, and the remaining male looked lonely so I got him some male pals.  He picked at them a bit at first but now I see they're all getting along and seem to be friends.  Or at least not enemies.

Earlier this week there were only miniscule leaves on the poplars (the first to make an appearance) but after 2 days of 80 degree weather we have leaves on several kinds of trees.  Soon the leaves will be fully out and it will seem SO loud.  I've been sitting on the deck every morning for a bit, reading in the sun, and it's so still and quiet I love it.

Friends are coming this weekend, to their house, so I'll see them.  No summer people are here yet and no one is due for another 2 weeks.  I like walking around the 'hood this time of year, when it's pleasant and quiet and there's no traffic.  Won't be like that for long.

No big plans for the weekend.  My dump run, of course, and maybe Lin & I will get some plants.  I may open the boat house because it's supposed to be too warm for the next several days.  Will I sleep down there?  Doubtful, I really like being in my house when the weather's like this.  It's like my reward for winter.  I wondered if I'd still feel this way when I retired and yes, I do.  I'm lucky to have a choice, that's for sure.

Pansies at the plant place.  Lin said "Look at all those smiling faces!"

Violas at the plant place--all so tiny and cute and colorful

Group photo of pansies at Lamoy's

Let's have spring after all

The ice went out last week, on the 30th, and my daffodils are starting to bloom.  Crocuses have gone by, squill is blooming.  I put out the hummingbird feeder, just in case, though it's probably too early.  Ralph saw a h'bird at their house in Peaseleeville today, though, so I might have been OK putting it out.  I keep looking at the feeder expectantly.

I had a good week last week (every week is a good week).  I did go to Plattsburgh twice, but that's not so bad.  I took the dogs to the vet: Treasure for her check-up and shots (she's a tad overweight but doesn't have heartworms or Lyme disease) and Tess to have her liver checked to see if the anti-inflammatory med is hurting her liver (it's not).  Whew, that should do it for a while (a girl can dream).

I took my lawn mower in for a tune-up and they finished it in less than a week so I picked it up on Friday.  YAY.  Now all I need is a lawn to mow--the grass is brown still and the yard is full of molehills so I've got a bit to wait yet.

I had a late breakfast with a good friend on Friday (delicious French toast) at the diner in Wilmington, and we had a very nice visit after eating.  Oh I do have some good friends.

Not much going on this week (yeah, right).  Weds. is my Plattsburgh day, and I think I'll go there again on Friday to pick up some food for a cousin who may be staying at my house next weekend.  I'm hoping to have lunch with Bill that day, too.

Just got a call from Duncan, who had a great trip to New Orleans and is now gearing up for a gig with his band next weekend.  Very exciting.

The weather is just grand and is supposed to be good all week.  Of course that means we need some rain.  Fire danger is high, it's very dry right now.  It may rain next weekend, which would be good.

I went to Lamoy's with Lin this afternoon and restrained myself from buying much.  I did get some pale yellow violas that were cute beyond description, and a couple of geraniums which may go to the cemetery or may stay on my deck.  There's plenty of time to decide that, we still may have a frost.  We don't generally plant much outside until Memorial Day.  Violas are tough, though.  Geraniums are not so I'll bring them in if it gets cold.

Warm sun, cool breezes, can't complain.

Snow? Really? Is that necessary?

There was snow on the ground (and on the pansies) this morning, and now it's snowing hard again.  It's been raining for days and is supposed to continue to rain on & off for a zillion more days.  This weather sucks.  It was 30 this morning and I've had a fire going for the last 3 days.  Am I tired of stoking the wood stove?  Why, yes, yes I am.  The wood is all out and uncovered, so it's just getting wet every day, which makes it even more fun to carry in and try to burn.

I haven't been doing much (seems as if that's all I say).  I have been cleaning bit by bit, in prep for Sunday's book group.  We postponed the meeting and it seems as if we haven't been together for a long time--which is because we haven't.  Tonight I'm going with Marylou to a function honoring a friend of ours.  You're supposed to wear a hat.  Ugh.  I'll take my baseball cap and hope there are enough people without hats so I won't feel funny not wearing it.

It was a pretty quiet week.  I did my stint at the Historical Museum yesterday--it takes a lot longer to scan big photos so it was a slow day.  After that I had lunch with Julie.  We always have good visits.  So good that I'm going with her to Blue Mtn. Lake this weekend.  She has to go to an event there because they funded something for CEF.  We always have good road trips so I'm going along for the ride.  And maybe free food when we get there.

Tess is doing pretty well.  Her leg seems stronger but I'm having trouble keeping her quiet.  She ran off this morning, pausing to look back at me before disappearing down the driveway.  Does she know she's supposed to take it easy?  The vet told me to walk her on a leash, just to go to the bathroom, then she's to be back in the house.  Well I try, but meet with limited success.  She doesn't limp as much as she did before and seems to tolerate the anti-inflammatory drug well.  She doesn't like to eat peanut butter from me because I used to swipe the pb on the roof of her mouth.  Now she very delicately takes the wad of pb with her pill buried in it.  She doesn't trust me.  Treasure, on the other hand, seems to love having a big wad of peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth.  Well, it's food and she loves food.

I got a call from friends who are getting a puppy from my breeder.  They put a deposit on the pup, the litter is due in 2 weeks I think.  They visited with the breeder and were impressed with the dogs.  They reported that she has a 9-wk old female black Lab and a 6-yr old female black Lab.  Oh I want them both, but mostly I want the older dog.  I resist, however, having maintained for a while that I will not have 3 dogs again.  My friends want a male so didn't take either.  Strong wills, they must have, to resist a 9-wk old puppy.

Both dogs go to the vet next week.  Treasure needs to have her liver functions checked (for $65) and Treasure needs shots and an exam (for how much?  how many hundreds?).

I'm reading a Fay Weldon book about an older woman who moves into an assisted living place in southern Rhode Island.  There's not a whole lot about RI in it, but there are references to places near where my mother lives.  I told my mother I'd be visiting her in June, when black flies are bad here.  I'll skip a visit in May, that's one of my favorite months here.  If we ever get to May and it stops raining and snowing.

I had a conversation with a semi-retired friend recently about what to do in retirement.  He said he made a list of things he wanted to do when he stopped working full-time.  Oh, I did that! I said with glee.  I have things like clean closets, throw out old clothes, clean the master bedroom on my list.  He gave me a funny look and said the his list included going to Italy, taking a course and learning how to SCUBA dive.  Oh my we're very different people, aren't we.

Holy Moles

Although this may look like lots of piles of poop, it's actually mole hills in my yard.  I always have some, but this seems to be a banner year.  I took this picture today (snow is nearly gone) and it gives me the willies thinking about how many moles there are under the lawn.  YUCK.

I had a busy (for me) week, lots of traveling.  I went to Plattsburgh Tuesday morning for a hair cut, then on to Westport in the afternoon to the vet with Tess.  She has a torn ACL, which explains her limping routine.  This is common in Labs and not the first time I've dealt with it--she's the 3rd dog I've had with this.  Vet says she's too old for surgery (yay--I just heard of someone's Lab with the same thing, repaired surgically for $1100) so instead we have anti-inflammatory drug and "take it easy."  Tess doesn't like to take pills and doesn't know what "easy" is.  I've taken to walking her on a leash, which seems very strange to both of us but is necessary--she ran off twice on Weds.so is now grounded.  She's not really much better but it's only been a couple of days.

Weds. I went to the doctor for the swell diagnosis that I'm fat.  Great.  Big surprise.  I'm working with my doctor on a weight-loss plan.  Let's see how this goes.  No butter, no sugar, skim milk, vegetables and meat.  Yes, I can eat my quinoa and farro but I need to eat more meat and fewer carbs.  OK, OK, I'll give it my best.  After the appointment I went grocery shopping then met a friend at Starbucks.  Where I had a sugary chai.

Thursday it was back to Plattsburgh for lunch with good friend Barb.  We laughed a lot and had good food.  I ran errands in the morning, including a trip into CEF to pay a bill and say hello to too many people.  It really means nothing to me to be back there but I can't say I enjoy it much.

Today I stayed home.  It was cold this morning but the sun finally came out in the afternoon and it warmed up a bit.  I transplanted some house plants, watched the finches at my feeder, counted my crocuses, and put away the last of my winter coats and boots.  I did see P&J this afternoon for a bit and had a good visit with them.

Tomorrow is dump day, and maybe a Potsdam day--we'll see.  I bought a cordless weed whacker and cannot wait to use it.  Well, wait I will have to because there's no grass tall enough to mow yet.  Oh I love cordless power things.  Must get myself a cordless saw.  A second one--I have a circular saw, which I rarely use.

Now that the snow is pretty much gone I need to retrieve my lawn mower and take it to Wilmington for a tune-up.  It surprises me that I'm even thinking about doing that in April instead of late May.  Great, as long as I do more than just think about it.  I'm parking at the end of the driveway because of the mud.  We're having a very mild mud season so far but it's supposed to rain a lot next week so I may be premature in declaring it mild.  The ice isn't near going out yet though there is a bit of open water along the shore in places.

I have to clean the house for next week's book group.  This will be a good thing.  Apparently I'm one of those people who doesn't think she deserves a clean house and only cleans when other people are coming over.  I've done a bit of sorting and throwing things out but the clutter in my living room is phenomenal.  I did plant my pansies in a pot on the deck, which doesn't really count as cleaning but it is an achievement.

The dogs are well, except for Tess' knee.  They don't ever get to go out together any more because the run off (Tess hops more than runs, but boy that girl can move).  We walk to the car every morning to get the paper.  They go with me almost every time I ride in the car.  Most dogs always want to go for a ride in the car even though they mostly just sit in the car, staring out the window and sleeping.  My dogs are no exceptions.

Spring may come yet

We got 4" of heavy wet snow last night.  Some of it has melted, and temps are due to rise way up high to melt the rest of it.  I had a good trip to RI for Easter, with good visits and delicious food.  I was sick, still suffering from my respiratory illness, but am nearly back to normal now.  The dogs had a good time but didn't get to go for a beach walk--Tess is lame and it was too windy when Mark took Treasure to the beach to check it out.  She felt pretty special to be riding in HIS car but agreed with him that conditions at the beach were hostile.

My trips there and back were fine, I sure do like traveling on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Not much traffic except for trucks and they tend to be well behaved.  We all spent time reading, though I read nothing notable for sure.  Liza and I ran some errands--dump, library, birthday shopping for Mark, grocery store, post office.  There sure is a lot of traffic in Wakefield.  The dogs had a grand time and sure do love Liza's couch.  We had fun dying eggs and sharing the cooking of Easter dinner.  It was all very restful and nice.

There was snow in RI when I got there but none when I left.  What did I come home to?  Plenty of snow still on the ground--no bare ground in my yard, some mud but still snow in the driveway.  Cold nights, snow, now warming.  I may sleep with the bedroom window open tonight, always a highlight of my spring.  It's supposed to rain.  Yay!  I bought some pansies in RI but they got hit pretty hard by frost when I brought them home.  Oops.  There weren't many pansies to be found yet.

I spent yesterday in Plattsburgh, did my volunteer stint, went grocery shopping and had lunch with a friend.  I have to return tomorrow morning to have blood drawn.  Poor planning, I should have done that yesterday.  I don't have much else to do in town.  DON'T spend money, is something.

I had a quiet day today, really did very little.  I went to Pat & Jim's this afternoon and visited with them a bit.  We caught up with each other's news (of which there was little).  Nothing happened in the 'hood while I was gone (or since I've returned).  Life is quiet, peaceful, and good.

Little Rhody Easter

 We still haven't mastered dying eggs but we're making progress.  We couldn't get all the colors to work right, and Mark's rubber bands almost made stripes, but we had fun trying.

 It was a day at the beach.  Liza and Mark at the town beach, checking out the new location of the pavilion.  Oh won't the others be surprised when they see it!

Easter dinner table, flowers by Mark.  He cooked a delicious pork loin with maple glaze.  Yum.

Georgia!

 Cap'n Joe of the Pinta (reproduction)

The Pinta (reproduction)

 Spanish moss!  I saw Spanish moss!

 Miss Martha and her chubby friend from the North

Palm trees!  I saw palm trees!

Home again

I made it!  Had a great trip, wonderful visit and made it home on Monday night.  I got there just fine and Joe was waiting at the airport, the Jose Laundry Taxi Service just for me.   We did a lot of fun things and saw a lot of interesting and beautiful sights.  I like southern Georgia a lot.  The weather was grand, sure beats the snow we're having now.  I got home to -2 degrees and icy conditions, which then warmed up and got slushy.  Now we're having some snow and it's due to be cold.

What did we do?  What did we see?  Where did we go?  Oh so many answers!  We toured the island, we saw reproductions of the Nina and Pinta, we went to Savannah for the day, we went to Jekyl island and saw turtles and we went to wonderful beaches.  Joe & Martha are the ultimate hosts and treated me royally.  We ate out several times, excellent Southern food, and Joe cooked his excellent shrimp--not to mention breakfast every morning.  Oh how spoiled was I?

Rough trip home, exacerbated by the cough/cold I came down with.  That turned into an asthma event so yesterday I went to the doctor for steroids and cough med.  Better today but have a way to go before I stop hacking and suffering.  Yes, I suffer.  The dogs fared well at the kennel.  She really likes them and always compliments me, saying they're good and happy dogs.  Yes, I think that's pretty fair.  They're exhausted now.  They took a long stroll/run this morning but came back in an hour or so.

When I got home disaster struck and I couldn't find my remote control.  You can't change the channel with a satellite dish unless you have a remote, so I was stuck watching something someone else picked out.  That, of course, was no good.  I got a universal remote, got it almost all set so am happily settled on my couch with my snoring dogs.  Oh I'm so addicted to television!

Next week I go to RI to spend Easter with my mother and Mark, leaving Thursday and coming back Tuesday.  No plans after that except for doctor's appointment and book group.  Then we'll be cruising alone toward spring, one can hope.

Airport waiting

I'm at the Burlington airport now, waiting for time to pass until my newly-assigned plane leaves.  My flight was changed from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. so I have plenty of time to do...what?  Well, I've played with my Kindle, I've had a cup of coffee, I've checked on Barnes & Noble, which doesn't open until 9 (too late).  Now I'm at the Information Desk using the free connection.  How safe is this?  Probably not very.

I went to RI last week and had a great visit with my mother and Mark.  The weather was pretty crummy but it was nice to be there.  They have about as much snow as I do at home so that was a drag.  The dogs could walk on top of the snow, which meant they could easily have jumped out of the pen but they're too stoopid to know how to do that.

We didn't go to the beach--Mark had a nasty cold so we just stayed in and read a lot.  Very peaceful and nice.  On Liza's birthday we didn't go out to eat but instead had an "everyone's favorite food" meal.  I cooked delicious shrimp scampi, Mark cooked a steak, and I had my lobster the next night.  Lobster is definitely my favorite food.

On Sunday we went out for breakfast then tried to go shopping in the town where I used to live, but the stores there don't open until noon so that was a bust.  We drove around looking at the water instead, which Liza liked.  Up to a point.

Today I'm on my way to Georgia to see Joe and Martha for 5 days.  It will be grand to be with them, and I'm very curious about the weather and landscape there.  Couldn't be more different than what is going on here.  Still have snow, temps in single digits in the morning (well, maybe not today, I think it was 11) and "warming" to the 30's and maybe 40's while I'm gone.

The dogs are at the kennel.  This is a small place near where I live.  The owners have 22 sled dogs (Siberian huskies), really beautiful dogs.  They were getting ready to go sledding when I dropped off the dogs yesterday morning.  The dogs marched right into the building as if they wanted to be there.  Well, who knows what dogs want or think, maybe they think of kenneling as a big adventure.

Just a pretty view of Asgaard Farm, taken last Friday on my way to Keene Valley to have lunch with a friend.  It was a sunny day, fairly warm with the slightest hint of early, early spring.  Now we're into just early spring, with snow melting and bright sunshine.  I guess it's to be short-lived, though, with temps in the 20's tomorrow and snow predicted for the weekend.

I'm heading to Rhode Island tomorrow morning--my mother turns 89 on Friday so I'm spending a few days with her.  Travel should be effortless, clear weather and no real traffic on a Thursday.  I'm coming back on Monday.  It was funny today, I thought about scheduling the trip--I can go any day and stay as long as I want.  Of course there are complications--Weds. is my day to volunteer at the Historical Association, and I usually have lunch with Julie after that.  Next week I'm going to Georgia to see Joe & Martha, so I wanted to come back early enough to get organized for that.  Monday night is a St. Patrick's Day dinner at J&P's with Bill & Fred.  I furnished the food but knew it would be hard and complicated for me to cook it all (and besides, it's doubtful that Jim would come to my house) so I asked if Pat would do it.  It expanded into a larger crowd but should be a lot of fun.  Corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, etc.  Yum.

I haven't been doing much (seems I always start that way).  Friday I had lunch with  friend, one of 3 lunch dates last week.  It was a very quiet weekend--pretty much all I did was go to the dump on Sat. and go to J&P's on Sunday.  No, I didn't accomplish much around the house, either.  Monday I went to Plattsburgh hoping to take care of everything I needed to before my trip, but of course I needed to do more today.  It's very strange to be making this trip without having it be a vacation from something--I'm used to being excited about having days off when I go to RI, but now it's just a change of scene and a chance to visit with Liza and Mark.

Our weather is just grand, moving right along toward spring.  Old Hawkeye Rd is muddy and getting muddier as the ground thaws.  I don't always drive to the house, the driveway is full of heavily rutted snow.  I did come tonight, though, so I can pack the car tomorrow morning.  I've been well organized on that front, packing things bit by bit so there's not that much left to pack.  It's supposed to be in the 20's tomorrow, so at least I won't feel cheated out of a spring day.

What will my time in RI be like?  Lots of visiting, relaxing, doing any errands that might be helpful to my mother.  There's a wonderful restaurant at an inn near her that's one of my all-time favorites  It's expensive but really nice, so I'm hoping maybe we'll go there to celebrate Liza's birthday.  I take the dogs and they get pretty bored.  Mark likes to go to the beach with them so we'll doubtless do that. Lobsters?  Maybe.  Flounder?  Most likely.  All in all a nice quiet time.

Early morning musings

Sometimes, if you go to bed early enough you get enough sleep so that when you get up at 2:00 a.m. you feel refreshed and energetic.  That happens to me sometimes, though not as often as it used to.  If you don't have to go to work it doesn't matter much what hours you keep (though my doctor told me to sleep at night because he has too many patients who stay up all night and sleep during the day--I try to do what my doctor suggests).  I've been getting up at 6 or 6:30 every morning and enjoying the time.  The dogs are interested in eating and going outside, then they collapse and snore.  I love the way they're in a big hurry to get up so they can go back to sleep.  Right now they're both snoring here in the living room with me.  Very peaceful sound.

I haven't been doing much (it seems that's pretty much all I say these days).  I volunteer at the Historical Society for a couple of hours on Wednesday mornings, and that's going pretty well except I made a bunch of mistakes last week and am hoping no one will have noticed that by this week.

Today I'm going to Plattsburgh.  I have a hair appointment, then lunch with Barb, then a bunch of errands.  I need some groceries--I seem to need groceries every week but am spending less than I used to.  I guess it's a frame of mind when you live far from decent stores that, when you're in the vicinity of decent stores you buy things.  Stocking up.  I also need birdseed and a few other non-grocery things.  I've cut way back on the number of trips.  I'm down to 2 days a week in Plattsburgh, mostly for banking, groceries, lunch with friends.

I'm having serious septic problems, a first for this house.  Something is frozen, either the pipe to the tank or the leach field, so I have very limited facilities.  My shower doesn't drain into the tank so that's fine.  I have easy access to the Holts' house so it's pretty much just and inconvenience.  I don't know exactly where my septic tank is, and it would require a backhoe to get to it right now so I'm just living with it.  Does this make any sense?  Not really, but I think I'm just happy to have running water so I can deal with anything else.

I'm off to RI next week for my mother's 89th birthday and flushable toilet.  This week I'm not doing much, lunch in Pbg with friends twice, hair appointment, and my weekly volunteering at the Historical Association.  I do enjoy my work there but last week I made a bunch of mistakes and didn't have time to correct them all.  Rats.  I'm not sure what I'll be doing this week--I finished scanning the photos in one cabinet and maybe there are more.  They seem to be happy with my work but that's just because they haven't discovered my mistakes.

I've been spending time with the Brousseaus because their son Jon was diagnosed with leukemia last week.  Very scary and sad.  He was in the hospital in Burlington last week but is home now with oral chemo.  The doctors were encouraged by early results of the chemo so we're all hopeful.

I play with my Kindle Fire a lot.  Cheap e-books are a treat so I'm building quite a library.  I read The girl on the train, which has been touted as the new Gone girl.  It's well written and a good read.  Not so much like Gone girl but similar.  I can't say I've come across any great literature lately but I'm reading every night.

Dogs are fine, I am fine, life is good.  It's now 5 degrees outside, but that's PLUS five.  It was -7 on Sunday morning but has warmed up since then and there's no sub-zero in the forecast..  Zero, yes, but not sub-zero.  It was almost 20 on Sunday and in the 20's yesterday so there's hope.  The snowbanks along the road are starting to get granular, which is a sign of late, late winter.  Frost heaves are not as bad this year, which seems strange considering the harshness of the season.

I have plenty of birds at my feeder, but not a wide variety, just chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches and blue jays.  The chickadees are very dear and greet me when I fill the feeder.  They've started singing their spring song, one of the earliest signs of a change of season.  It's coming, it's coming.

Oh no not again

It's -8 right now and due to be -200 or so by morning.  Well, it IS winter in Hawkeye, isn't it?

I've been fairly busy recently.  Last week I volunteered at the Clinton Co. Historical Assoc., just for 2 hours on Weds.  The project I'm working on is scanning old photographs and writing descriptions of them in a spreadsheet.  It was more complicated than I'd hoped (I think what I really wanted to volunteer doing was stuffing envelopes, or something mindless like that) but I got into it, of course, and enjoyed myself.  I'm going back this Weds.

After being at the Hist. Assoc. I was to meet my friend for lunch at the Thai restaurant.  So there I went and sat and waited and waited.  She, it turned out had gone to the Thai restaurant that's UPTOWN, while I of course was at the one DOWNTOWN.  She waited, I waited, she worried, I worried, then all was well.  We're having lunch again this Weds. TOGETHER.

Friday I had lunch with Barb, which was really nice.  I like hearing about her family, especially since I knew her before her son was born, and his girlfriend is now pregnant.  WHAT????  My little Andrew, going to be a father?  Oh my.

On Saturday we had the Big  Burn of this year's brush pile behind Ken's house.  Everyone takes their brush, branches, etc. to the pile all summer, and in Feb. Joe comes from Georgia and the pile is lit.  It took a while to get it really going but once it started, it was as impressive as always.  A smaller pile this year than some years, but a nice day and good company.  I went with the Holts but we didn't stay until the bitter end, we left before the hot dogs were cooked.  The snow is deep but it's still powdery so at least I could walk up the hill to the fire.  I had my doubts...

Saturday night I had dinner with the Holts, always a treat.  Rush has started his new job in DC and they're working on the logistics of that.  Right now Annie is still in NJ but she'll be in DC with Rush soon.  It will be great having them there to visit, but it puts them farther away from Hawkeye.

My frozen pipes were finally fixed on Thursday.  The pipe behind the washing machine split on Sunday/Monday and I finally got someone to fix it for me on Thursday.  I had the Holts' house for water and shower and wash so it wasn't as disastrous as it might have been.  I got good advice on how to keep it from happening again, so now I have the doors of the bathroom vanity open and the heat on in the bathroom.  I'll check on it before going to bed, and if I wake during the night I'll make sure it's OK.  Whew!

Joe measured the thickness of the ice while he was here, and this year it's 28" thick.  A perfectly respectable number!  We have had consistent subzero temps so it's not surprising that the ice would be a bit thicker than some years.  It's hard to comprehend what it will take to melt all that ice.  I haven't been out on the lake yet--my unsuccessful trip 2 years ago has made me a bit nervous.  I did go out on it last year and managed not to fall through.

The dogs are doing well in this weather.  They don't mind going out until it gets to -20 or so, then they have trouble keeping all 4 feet on the ground at once.  Sometimes Tess stands in the driveway and barks at me, but I just tell her to hustle on inside.  I'm not totally tired of the weather yet, probably because I'm home every day to keep the house warm.  It was so awful when I was working and came home to a cold house, leaving a cold house in the morning to go to work.  Now I keep a good fire going all day and it's lovely.

I'm not as productive as I hope to be but I think I'm just getting used to this new life.  I do some cleaning, I cook a bit, I read, I watch too much TV and I get to be with my dogs.  It's all grand, just grand.