Daily Notes- Thursday, November 21st- Chilly with a chance for much needed RAIN

 You may have had this one already but the desk top and the computer are acting up...I wrote everything and it wouldn't publish.  So I am trying yet again..

It's dark and chilly here in Maine even if it's not actually cold.

I have a load of wash in the washing machine- unattended...so that's first for me.  You all recall the Washing Machine Pages as I sat there with the machine to make sure it din't off load the water all over my hardwood floors.  I ran down and checked one time so far.... no water... knock wood.

I am reading the second (actually the first book) of Women in STEM.  Science professions. Love Hypothesis.  Second was better... this one drags a bit.

Daughter and I sorted storage tubs of fabric, art supplies and size 14 clothing yesterday.  Took all the unwanted things- more than we kept to Goodwill.  Then we went to the large chair grocery store and got Hot Food Bar and remembered to buy oatmeal.

I looked at all the colored pencils and decided to buy the inexpensive Crayola set.... I just wanted something new not actually something better....we might drive to Portland and the Art Supply Store --they have a large cabinet with single Prismacolor pencils....  I could select only the colors I want...which would be very nice.  Last time I went I bought square drawing and painting papers....still being used and enjoyed.

Son says yes to Thanksgiving Dinner with the Twins and their Parents...happy days.

Wednesday, November 20th. Dark and damp here in Maine but unseasonably warmer than usual. Oh, now there is Sunshine.

My coloring page from yesterday while watching a recorded episode of High Potential (it's quirky and interesting).  Using my set of 49 Prismacolor pencils... I am wanting the larger set of pencils. I can't JUST watch TV...I have to be doing something else..used to be hand sewing but now it's coloring. You asked and I am happy to give my "Prime Readers" samples of my work.

I watched Leonardo on PBS last night.  He was really something.....amazing.  I have it recorded and will watch many times more- the music was...gosh.  So good. I wish we had had something like this to watch  when I was in college studying art....I would have been more scholarly. Instead we had lazy, half asleep professors boring us to death....if they said anything at all. I did get a 4.0 in watercolor. I already knew how to do that.

Ohio University is known to be a Party School.  I just found that out. Explains so much about my four years there.  I had no clue.  One night, recently, when I could NOT fall asleep I rewrote an English Paper...I had actually read the book-by now, not then. It still makes me laugh. That I wrote it in my head before falling asleep. Better 60 years too late than never.

We are going to Staples today to see what they have in the way of colored pencils and I will venture into another Hannaford grocery store and "finally" buy oatmeal... we keep forgetting.  I do much better thru the day when I have oatmeal......a bit off center without it.  I had shredded wheat this morning....... 

Yesterday at the grocery self serve Hot Bar I was asked for assistance with the way it goes...by two women not speaking English as a first language.  I explained how they could put anything in the box- I used my hand s to say "mix" and then pointed to the front of the store to say that is where they pay. One had a very good idea of what I said and told the other in their language...

While we were at home eating my daughter and I wondered why I am always asked for help by foreigners.  We think it's because I look approachable....I once helped a Japanese man...he showed me pictures of the food he wanted on his iPhone and I took him to where that food was shelved.  He bowed and I smiled.

I can admit to feeling very happy that I could help.

Bob and Rowena just came to my door to share words of God's whatever... I said no thank you. They seemed very nice.... I am now imagining my Son coming down stairs if I invited them in.....wow that would have been something.....not that I have anywhere for them to sit...boxes are piled everywhere. Being sorted... We did Quilting Tubs yesterday....oh, my. Letting Go. Hard Work.  I wonder at night, if I will miss any of it....but daughter and son are good- if I hesitate- they keep whatever it was......no questions.

Daily Notes--Tuesday, November 19th. 48 degrees and Sunshine. Highs in the 50's later today.

 I'm going with no image today...the file is almost bare. And what IS there looks like Christmas.

Today I am going out with my new Assistant--(daughter) and we are stopping at the grocery to pick up my prescription and a box of Oatmeal.  My son has retired from the Assistant-ship Position he has held for one year.  I would have to wait till Friday (regular shopping day) to go to the grocery store........with him.

Then she and I are going to shop for colored pencils. A larger set with more variety.

There is somewhere else we are going- oh, Reny's to look at stuff and perhaps buy something. Or not. And possibly a book store-- to just look around..

The Oil Truck arrived and filled the tank in the early part of the afternoon....oil was way less expensive than it was on the previous delivery. I turned the thermostats up to their normal setting...and the house was nice and warm....in about an hour. The Account is now in my name.....I guess I passed the "credit check".   

This "credit check" bothered me- as a widow.  My signature is on all the checks written to pay the household bills and it's been on the checks for over 30 years here in Maine...but suddenly with husband's death- I had to have MY CREDIT verified in order to get Oil Delivered.  What if I hadn't had a generous balance in my Own Checking Account?????? Would oil have been delivered yesterday- would the house be warm this morning?????  The Joint Account means nothing after your husband dies....because my name is the only one on it.........

I think my Bankers thought I was okay and didn't talk to me about this.....I have my own account and checking etc. And I was okay. But the questioning of my resources was a surprise.  A direct hit.

But all is well that ends well.

We might eat lunch at a fast food place....get French Fries.  I'm pretty excited.

I've noticed that no one is commenting any more....is it because I have gotten boring and you stopped reading the Daily Notes?  Or is it because NO ONE is actually reading the notes anymore....sigh. I know the blog posts aren't very interesting...but right now...I'm not doing much more that eating reading and sleeping.  I took a shower today and am still recuperating from it.  I even have on fresh clothing and my red sweater.....I think I combed my hair.  I might have forgotten to moisturize my face.

Monday yet again. November 18th. 40 degrees, cloudy and damp.

No image today.  The desktop of images is bare....

I am awake but haven't had breakfast as yet. No newspaper on Monday. I have a short stack of unfinished sudoko puzzles to "puzzle" over after breakfast.

Yesterday I watched three football games...I actually cheered when Buffalo scored in the last two minutes and made it impossible for Kansas City to win..  Then I watched 60 Minutes for the first time in so many years.... about the DNA from victims of the Trade Center.....they are still trying to identify the remains.

Next up was Tracker....and then it was bedtime.

My book for yesterday was the newest book from Christina Lauren the two friends who write together. The title Tangled Up in You...Has something to do with Disney's Tangled. I know less than nothing about Disney Movies.  Pizza time kept me from the exciting conclusion of the book.  I won't spoil it for any of you that read the books I mention...

My son encouraged me to stop reading and do some coloring on my project to finish the pages my husband left undone.  So I did...my only problem was sharpening the pencils and having the lead break off.  Is it possible for the colored pencils to get too old??????  Brittle Pencil Syndrome.

Well, yesterday's pizza was as wonderful as usual...we subbed mushrooms for the red pepper strips. 

I keep saying I'm going to make a pot of vegetable soup and I don't do it....one of these days I will do it. I used up the last of the oatmeal and forgot to buy an new box.... so Cream of Wheat today.  Which means Stove Top Cooking of my breakfast.  It's more than I want to do but I do love Cream of Wheat spread out on a dinner plate with butter, sugar and cinnamon toppings.  Like my Grandmother made for me.

Grandma didn't "understand" boxed cereal like corn flakes back in the 50's.  1950's.

Today the Oil Truck is supposed to come and deliver oil.....we are almost out. I am worried.
 

Sunday, November 17th. Sunshine here in Maine- 48 degrees supposed to get into the 50's later.

 Baked Potatoes...One of my Favorite Foods.  I don't eat them often enough. I ought to have a special day of the week for baked potatoes....... those are bacon bits on the right top side of the potato. Yum.

Football Pizza today.  I have plans to watch a few of the many games... record Tracker at 9pm.

I'm reading the newest Christina Lauren book- Tangled Up in You.  Not sure where it's going....100 pages in.  There is a Road Trip.  Husband and I made many of those (road trips) visiting friends in other states.....I do NOT miss them....the only conversation revolved around where and when to stop and eat.  When I say my husband rarely spoke to me....I MEAN it.

My Atomic Clock circled around to get to what it thought was the correct time.....Weird. According to the computer, it's still wrong. ....over a minute slow.  Needs a new Battery....I've had it a long time...husband messed with the prior wall clock and we had to buy a new one....he did that in the last year of his life.. before he was too bad to do anything---screwed around with anything mechanical and messed it up.... it's why I hardly ever left the house.  I needed things like my cell phone, refrigerator and the computer to work.

Okay enough of that....instead of "just" (I do not like that word) reading all the time....yesterday evening I colored one of the designs my husband left unfinished.  I also watched the PBS Cooking Shows in the afternoon.  Some variety to my Life.  Sharpening the pencils was difficult as the lead kept snapping off....inexpensive pencils....

That's it for today....I'll admit to being sad and slightly depressed today..... it's okay.....I need to find something good to look forward to.......but nothing has come to mind as yet....

A Very Cloudy Saturday in Maine. November 16th

 We might have had this before....seems like my picture file is mostly Christmas....how that happened is always a mystery and it's not even Thanksgiving.  The"Feeds" coming in with images must already be doing Christmas.   

I just ran out to the ice cold garage to visit the Oil Tank Gauge....looks like we will make it to Monday. I get hyper nervous when things get too close to the zero line ...of anything.  Even milk in the fridge. My mother did not manage the groceries and we often went to school with no money and no lunch.  And no breakfast.   So...I was trained early on to worry. About everything.

Today seems like we won't be having ANY sunshine.  "Oh, seconds before I hit publish- The SUN comes out"

I have one portion of oatmeal left. I thought I had more in the box...I did not...I do have cold cereal (shredded wheat) and I have a box of Cream of Wheat if I want to cook my breakfast cereal.  Poor planning.  I could also make pancakes.  But I won't.

I may or may not finish the book I am reading...

Move on to the next book.  I have to think about my sock basket....sort out the ones I like for Winter. I have to get my thermal shirts arranged in a stack...find out which corduroy pants fit.  See if I can find a new sweater to wear...the red and gray are getting thin.......There was one I tossed into the closet- need to see if it fits.  I like them loose.   I think it's time to start wearing the grey cashmere with so many elbow patches.  It's actually my favorite sweater....has been for almost 20 years. It has a collar that warms my neck.  60% of the sweater is patches held together with sock yarn quilting.  When i go out in public I wear a coat so no one sees it.  But I think mending is "IN" right now...or was last time I noticed it.

Friday, November 15th. 56 degrees and sunshine.

 This has the title of Christmas Hotel.

Well, my sunporch has been reorganized, cleaned and scrubbed and is now looking very inviting. The garage is in progress with several of the really large garbage bags full....the poison stuff (Round Up- etc) is waiting till Spring when the Town Collects Hazardous Waste.

I called the Oil company...they were NEVER coming...when I ordered the Propane Tanks for the "still not here" Generator- they cancelled my Oil Account (never told me)....so my Boiler that heats water and the house wasn't going to have any oil.....We had a chat that wasn't going anywhere and I actually started crying....I'm really stressed out....and hung up....I might have said something else....which I regret.

She called back and said the "opinions expressed" were NOT her own but were "the way the company was run"NOW-   I waited.....she then said my account was back to Automatic Delivery and Oil would be delivered on Monday... Prior to me being rude.....I wasn't getting anything.  I said Thank You Very Sincerely.  And resumed crying.

Then we went to the Grocery Store.  I wanted crackers but didn't get any.  Because I have crackers. I was reminded that I had crackers. I did buy a small container at the Hot Bar...Fried Food. I will reheat in the Toaster Oven later and enjoy the Deep Fried Goodness of Fried Food.  I might make a small serving of slaw to go with it-- with one of my Soup Cabbages (getting OLD in the Crisper Drawer).

I have been asked to actually "get out of bed" when I wake up instead of laying around awake for a few hours.  I'll give it a try.  I think.....I'm sure....I am depressed.  Total lack of interest in almost everything except the book a day and I am real close to being done with that as well.  Getting really really picky about what I finish reading.  I start them all....but finishing isn't 100% a sure thing anymore. 

When we lived in Germany I actually didn't get out of bed until it was almost time for the kids to get home from school.  Super Depressed......then American Women's Club People started arriving one at a time and honking their car horns till I appeared...and then took me places. Volunteered me for stuff. I stopped sleeping.  I had so many jobs..

Bones and that other show I was watching Missing Without a Trace....I'm done with them. I lack interest in Law and Order....I know...it was a real standard show for me and the Dog.  That leaves Hallmark and I gotta say...I lack interest. Totally.  I often turn to the Weather Channel.....And of course the Sports Talk Show.  Which my daughter got to see and listen to while she ate lunch yesterday.  I told her it "takes up space" in my day.  Sad but true.

So, I cried on the phone and now I'll get oil for the Winter....geeez..what a Life.

Good Morning From Maine......40 degrees, sunshine

 Delicious  Pie.  Next time my daughter and I go out- we'll be looking for one of these. Or the next time my son and I bake... We'll make a Pumpkin Pie at the end of the month.

The house feels really cold, a draft on my leg while sitting here... not the usual. Just checked the temperature- normal.....so it's me...the sun is shining on the back of the house- lots of windows so it warms up the kitchen dining room really well.  The front of the house is usually more chilled. No sun. It's where I am sitting.

My daughter has emptied and cleared out the Sunporch (warm side of the house)...can see the floor.  It's dirty.  The cupboard in there is now holding my vases etc.  In case I buy flowers. She moved the standing shelf over to the window facing the new generator pad- still no generator.  I now have a larger view of the back deck and lawn.  We are going to add a Wicker Chair.... for when I sit out there... to put on my boots or just look at the yard.

She has now gone to her house as the Chimney Doctor is coming to measure for her new chimney liner which she needs before she can get a new furnace....hers has outlived it's Purposeful Life. She dropped off a letter this morning at his place of work.....he had not returned any of her phone calls.  He called.

So she is feeling pretty good about getting things going...

There is a cold draft in here.... I can feel it on my leg....temp of the furnace is as usual...but it's in the 41 outside.  And she has been in an out the front and back door since she got here- letting in lots of cold air.

I slept well.  I've eaten breakfast and read the paper....I haven't gotten to the point of using a fat black Sharpie to color over faces of Political People as yet.....any day now...I'll begin. And enjoy every moment.

I think today might be a good day to chop vegetables and make SOUP.  I have promised myself soup for weeks now...but haven't been motivated to actually make it.  Today might be the DAY.  

My book is Crusie's Bet Me... another Life Long Favorite.  Almost to the end....sigh. I'll need to dig deep in the bookcase to find something delightful......for today.

Daily Notes on Wednesday the 13th of November. In the 40's but Sunshine.

 Marcella Hazans Bolognese.....

Well, fewer and fewer people are reading these words (that I write) and I wonder...should I just stop.????

Yesterday Daughter was working in the garage- we found 6 unopened large gallon sized bottles of Round Up. Husband must have forgotten he already bought some....bought more.....never used any of it..

So the memory loss goes further back...he wasn't shopping the last few years (because he got lost driving). We have to wait for Spring when the Town Hazardous Waste Department Opens.  Drop off all the dangerous products he had on the garage shelving. Quite a bit.

Daughter kept asking if I wanted any of it....I never used pesticides.....there are better natural ways to discourage pests from your gardens......I taught classes about those ways.  Little did I know my husband was...well, it's past now. He's gone.

Yesterday daughter drove me to the Greenhouse where I worked.....I wanted Paperwhite bulbs to set on stones in a glass jar.... watch them grow and make little white flowers... we got very lucky...almost everyone I had worked with was working.....I got to visit and chat and get hugged. One of the young guys was making hot chocolate for everyone....I always get sad when I visit and see all my old friends...and recall the happy days of working there....have tears in my eyes typing this.

We stopped at the bookstore and I found 8 books and a 2025 wall calendar....so a good time.

When we got home my daughter alphabetized by bookcase. It was interesting to watch her method. She just put the books in piles on the floor by alphabet and then into the bookcase...easy.  I'm not sure I would have thought of that....perhaps years ago but not now.

Well, that's it for now...I enjoyed seeing my old co-workers and getting hugged and hugging them...it was a VERY GOOD DAY....now to see if the crack in the big glass jar leaks water........yes, it has a crack.

Another Tuesday- the Sun is shining.and it's 50 degrees here in Maine.

Okay....I had some difficulty getting here today....I worked in a greenhouse that looked like this for Ten Years. I was rather frustrated with my fellow employees for quite awhile and they felt the same about me. Eventually...it all settled down.  I was a hard worker...I did the heavy lifting....rarely complained  

In that environment.....that's important.  Doing the heavy lifting. I went home caked in dirt every single day. 

Daughter (personal assistant) has started in on the garage today.  The Sun is out but is not all that warm.

We are making another trip to Goodwill today....and then the Greenhouse to buy Paperwhite bulbs.... I want to start some for winter... in a glass vase. A large rectangular glass vase.  Like the old days. Something familiar that I lost contact with years ago......I went looking for it- my husband had a habit of keeping his own things and throwing mine away.  Now we are packing up his things.

That says something about our relationship doesn't it. It might tell you everything you need to know. 

(I found the rectangular glass container on the Sunporch Shelving.)

There is a vast empty place in my Life Trajectory.  Retiring from the Greenhouse left an open spot that I didn't even try to fill.  And then husband filled it with his needs. And now.......I need to fill it with my own wants and needs.  Perhaps for the first time.....I won't be doing things for someone else.

Just back from the garage: daughter is cleaning out the POISON Shelving...my husband loved Round Up even after it was pointed out to him that Round Up causes cancer in humans and animals- like our DOGS. Maybe 6 large containers of it....unopened thankfully.  We did break a very large glass item that was scheduled -years ago- to be a very nice Terrarium for me. Or Dish Garden.  Neither is of interest to me at my age.

The Sun was out and it was warmish but now it's cloudy and there is a chill.  

We are going out later....daughter and I.....and we will stop at a bookstore.  I need a wall calendar for 2025. Something pretty...

 

Daily Notes for Monday, November 11th. Sunshine and 55 degrees. Rain last night.

 Image of someone's dog.  If it's yours let me know and I will identify it as yours.  He has his toys. My big Lab had a large collection of toys...some of them are in my closet- I see them when I go looking for something. Mostly rabbits and squirrels.  His favorites. Heavily mended. I pat them just before closing the door.

It's sunny but chilly and I am guessing it rained overnight.  Daughter is coming over to help load up the Goodwill things and take them to the donation site.  I might or might NOT go with her.  I am being encouraged to get out more.  Do things. She said they have "books".......I would go but I get tired fast and there is no where to sit down at Goodwill (and she likes to browse).  One of the reasons I don't take a walk...starting out I am fine but what if I am not....on the way back? No where to sit.

I am trying to think of something to say when they ask me if there is something I want to do. Or someplace I want to go.........husband and I went no where in the last years of his Life, other than doctor appointments.  I had him remain in the car for Library and Grocery.  Easier than trying to find him. 

Yesterday I moved a few things after my Son vacuumed....and accidentally found the box containing the pieces of a quilt I was making...the one I may have written about...I found it.  Not sure I like it as much as I thought I did........laughing....absence does make the heart grow fonder. (is that spelled right).

Yesterday's pizza was quite the best one yet....I say that every Sunday.

No newspaper today....I realized the daily pills I take are either vitamins or a Tylenol.  Only one is a prescription..the smallest size of a Statin.   So...no Medical Conditions.  Just OLD.

A newspaper cartoon " in order to be happy you need three things.......Something to do...something to love ...and something to hope for."

November 10th...sunshine and 47 degrees

 The only words traveling with this image - "albert2"

Here in Maine we hardly see anything like this. 

Well, until Football Time I have the choice of........reading, sitting, vacuuming.... and at 4 pm- PIZZA

I've eaten breakfast, read the paper and filled in TWO boxes on the Sunday Sudoko.  No Formula One Racing today.  Just Football.  Sigh.

We noticed a small black mouse near the wall behind the tv yesterday...Our attempt to catch him didn't work...so he's still in the house....he/she didn't look real healthy. But could still outrun us.

Son put the driveway edge marking sticks out.....so the plow guy knows where the driveway is.  It curves so it's not the standard straight to the garage type. I am not sure I will be allowed to shovel the sidewalks- my usual participation in Winter Snow Shoveling.  I also used to shovel the plow mess left at the end of the driveway.  I scooped and shoved it across the road into my neighbor's lawn/ditch.  New neighbors now. Might not like it.  Old neighbor was fine with it.

My daughter came over yesterday and gave me an armload of short sleeved white cotton tee shirts .. brand new...she said she was working on "not hoarding" stuff....I am guessing stuff she bought and then never wore....I can understand that feeling.  But I like the white short sleeved tees...the ones I have now have gotten really old and look old.....so fresh white ones---I'm Very Happy I Could Help Her With This New Start. 

Getting rid of things is really difficult for us....we get attached and don't let go...case in point my red cardigan that is more Patch than Original Sweater.  I try NOT to wear it outside the house. In Case People think I am homeless.  Well, that's it for today....Football and Pizza and then trying to record or watch Tracker this evening.  With football running late- everything after is also late....

Saturday, November 9th. Sunshine and 42 degrees here in Maine. Farewell to 60 degrees

 This is titled Wild Raspberry Leaves. (I don't get it)-- I had to stop typing and turn up the furnace temp.

I've eaten my oatmeal and read the paper and gotten four numbers in the Daily Sudoko puzzle in the newspaper.  We are moving toward ranked choice in one election spot.  There are times when I think the sides here are not that close but then we go to ranked choice and it seems like we are evenly divided.

I am reading an old favorite- Jennifer Crusie's Fast Women.  Perry Mason meets that HBO series of office men.  I can't recall the name. (Mad Men)  The women are getting ready to rescue the "Little Faking Dog". This book never lets me down. I gave up on the other book.  

I had by Chunky Potato Soup yesterday.  Salty.  I used to loved salty things...now, I don't.

Dentist next month- one of my molars feels funny.  I think when we get old our teeth get old and give up.

The spray my hairdresser sold me...is working.  I spray and comb and ZERO POOF. Hair stays nice: as flat as I want it.  I don't like looking like an old woman with a big white cotton ball on her head.  Sigh, because I lost patience with the long wild curly mess which needed only a rubber band. Now POOF.

Because I went to the library yesterday- TODAY they notified me that books I ordered have arrived.

In Maine Harris got 52% and Trump 45%.  So I am feeling better about the election in Maine. We did OUR part....others did not.

Okay, today..what am I doing today?  There are some Saturday Cooking Shows I like to watch (even though I no longer cook)... I have my book to read....I already made my bed......I could drag out the Central Vac......floors are dusty. Not enough in the laundry basket for a load of wash....I could always peel and chop and make a pot of Vegetable Soup with Beans.....I could also pan fry some frozen dumplings and eat those.  Son is taking his morning shower...so I can't run water and wash my breakfast bowl.  I think I will go find my red sweater and put it on.....a bit chilly in the house (temp is set at 64).  Why we have sweaters.

My library didn't have the Deaver book that the TV show series Tracker is based on..so I ordered it from another library.  I had also ordered- (when the show first aired)- the book another TV series was based on...(it's no longer on tv). I can't recall the lead character's name...but in the books he was  six foot four and could lift a car....the actor they hired was five foot seven (on a good day) and had trouble opening doors..and he wore the same brown suit in every single episode.  Karen Slaughter was the author. I felt at the time...she must have been embarrassed by the choice of actor for tv.

Son bought postage stamps yesterday......and then some group wanting me to send them money sent me address labels...so now my Bill Paying will be energized by fresh new colorful stamps and address labels.

Not that paying bills and writing checks is my FAVORITE THING.....it is NOT.

Daily Notes for November the 8th.

I'm tired of trying to get this edge over to the left.  Somedays it's just not worth the effort.

I asked a question (son) and I guess I had forgotten I had already asked... now I have "memory loss".

I think it's easier to deal with older people if you just put them in a "category".

Not my best day...I am actually quite tired.  My sleep was okay but I woke up feeling like I wanted to sleep longer...so I might start going to bed earlier.  See if that helps.  I did select a large number of books for the week, mostly ones I have read before and enjoyed..  I ran out yesterday...I had read everything I had checked out... a few I ordered haven't arrived as yet.  But I'll have a head start next Friday.

The New Books shelving was pretty bare.  So I wandered the stacks and.....found an entire bag full of books for the week. I plan to do a bit of appliqué as well this week...Pretend the dog is sleeping next to me (Law and Order?)

I continue to NOT watch or listen to any news...this morning I didn't read any of it in the newspaper. I went directly to the tv listings and the Sudoko (did not do well).

That's it for today...excuse the borders.

I have to go "eat something" --obviously I am starving to death.

 

Daily Notes- Thursday, November 7th. Seriously considering a move to Canada.

 This is what I think America looks like.  

So....I am sitting here wondering if my neighbors on the street where I live- voted for him. If they did, can I still live here.  I know Maine runs Republican...always has. And not the Margaret Chase Smith kind of Republican.  The other kind.  He lied to them last time...he didn't make America great...he made us a JOKE.  A very very bad joke.  And now he can fill the rest of his bathrooms with top secret documents...

My oatmeal is getting cold.  While I sit here with you. Tears in my eyes.

I mended the collar of one of my son's fancy outdoor jackets yesterday.  Very enjoyable process. Took my mind off things. I need to find something for today...to keep me occupied.  I've run out of books. Library visit tomorrow.

He suggested I ACTUALLY learn how to play bridge...so I would be asked to sit in when I enter one of the Senior Living Spaces.  I try and understand the Bridge bidding thing in the daily newspaper.  I think it's similar to bidding in Poker.  Lies, clues and fakery.

I said I would rather move to Canada.  He said I would like it...he lived there for a few years and really liked it..reminded him of our six years living in Europe.  I could do that also- Europe.

Well, my blood sugar is low and I need to eat my oatmeal (reheat it first) and read everything BUT the first section of the paper and try the Sudoko....take my vitamins.......reheat my tea or better yet- make some instant coffee......I moved things around in the sewing room yesterday....not that anyone would notice any difference.  And I plugged in the iron and ironed something..I also did laundry and changed the sheets on my bed......I might vacuum today.   I have a can of Campbell's Chunky Soup for later.

Wednesday, November 6th. Day of Infamy.

I have nothing to say here...absolutely nothing.  Well, I do wonder what is wrong with the people.

November 5th Notes- Haircut...57 degrees and cloudy.

 Something dark and mysterious.  Like Voting. I will worry all day and into the night... they say they might not know until morning.

I got up and stripped my bed and need to get the sheets in the washer....then make the bed with fresh sheets.  I had an appointment to get my hair cut.  Less poofy....

I now own "product" which will keep my hair "less" poofy.

We already voted.  I already voted.  He did not.

It's dismal outside.  I have on Winter Clothing..already. But my neck is chilly.  I think at my age I am having trouble keeping myself WARM.  Up to temp.  I seem to be running cold. I think a scarf around my neck would be a good idea........

I had one of the jars of my homemade FAKE ONION SOUP yesterday- my own creation.....it's salty and I did not add salt..  I think next bowl I will add some cooked pasta to it...perhaps soak up some of the salty.

I am enjoying Tracker....based on a Deaver book....I'll look for it..on line- my library HAD all the Deaver books (once upon a time) but might have tossed them all.  I'll look elsewhere.  They have the actor (good looking by my standards) walk in a straight line in every episode (at some point) wearing jeans and a white short sleeved tee shirt. He walks and walks....so we have enough time to look at him.  The point of the show, I am guessing. At the end he sits next to his Airstream and drinks beer out of the bottle.  Every week.  Count on it. I just finished reading the Lost Husband... there was one of that with the Goat Farmer. Walking around...and he had an Airstream....but that was the last five pages of the book.

Well, My neck is cold-- I need my black scarf......see you tomorrow.

Monday, November 4th. 37 degrees. Cloudy with a chance of Winter.

 Julian Yuslin-- Fibonacci-Blue Circles. I'd like to try this with hand applicated circles on a base fabric. Perhaps fabric circles from the Dye Deck of Deb Lacativa.  In Georgia.  And her divine thread. Which I hoard......rather than use...I know....I should use it. But it's so delightful to touch and sort and tuck away. Like treasure.  Yes...Treasure.

I can see frost on things outside the windows.  I turned up the furnace.  My Son says it's going to be in the 70's again in a day or two.  Crazy weather.  But anything other than snow and ice is WELCOME.

I watched nearly every televised football game yesterday plus the Formula One Race in the RAIN. Very Sporty New Joanne.  The Viking game was brutal, I think....I looked away a lot.

We also made a very very nice Sunday Football Pizza yesterday and it was delicious......best one yet. We both agreed on that.  I finished a book...The Lost Husband. Katherine Center.  One of her earliest books. Rom-Comers is her newest and is very good.  I have enjoyed all her books- some more than others.

I haven't selected a book for today as yet...Library or Book case... I am slightly more in the mood for bookcase today.  An old friend......read many times is always comforting.

Well, I'm hungry and I need to get my oatmeal in the microwave.....make some tea.  It's Monday so no newspaper......an unfinished sudoko from last week- several actually.  I need to turn on a few lights. I remembered to put on my socks......Hair cut tomorrow -- last cut lasted only 4 out of the six weeks so she needs to make it shorter tomorrow.  I already voted and am sick of the commercials on tv.  Of the pockmarked orange face.... want some lies with that????

Sunday, November 3rd. Frost over night and 32 degrees in Coastal Maine.

 Well, Frost and wool socks....must be getting close to Winter.

Son made meatloaf yesterday....the Joy of Cooking recipe.   Very delicious. He also roasted green beans.

I slept well.  I have on a wool sweater and wool socks.

Found a good home for the many Christmas Cactus. Most in bud but two in bloom.  The Library Plant Swap.  I will not be bringing any plants home.  And I might include the stands that the plants are situated on.  Not depressed......just moving on.  I have to remind myself to water them.  The plants are not a high priority.

Nothing much...other than the Friday visit to the Library for books...is a high priority for me. Oh, and the November 5th hair cut.....shorter....it's gotten very wild and poofy and I actually despise POOF.

Well, I have breakfast cereal (hot oatmeal) and the newspaper and then coffee or tea and my little dish of vitamins.  That's the only kind of pill I am taking......vitamins.  So...not a medical emergency if I forget.

Watched Tracker episodes  (mostly repeats) last evening.......can't figure out what's happening on regular ABC,CBS and NBC  these days.....programs switching times, days, repeating episodes  etc....Today is Football and Pizza.  That hasn't changed.......

Saturday, November 2nd. Sun is shining and it's back in the 40's (47)

 A photo by Annie Bank.

So.....the unseasonably warm weather has passed us by.....But 40's in November??? I'll take it. I have my winter sweater on.

The reason for the sweater is that....I am always cold.  No matter what the temperature outside or inside...I am cold. My hands have always been cold since birth...and they are still cold in old age.

Took a long survey from my bank this morning..... they had been sending them for the past few weeks and I had been ignoring them.....this morning I felt like answering.

My son is making meatloaf today- He has the Joy of Cooking book out- 4 inches thick.  Lots of Joy. I don't recall using a recipe for meatloaf........well, that's me not him.   He also preheats the oven. Again, that's him and not me.  

I made him very happy yesterday and had leftover Chinese food for lunch... Like, I actually ATE lunch.

Cold hands.  Lack of appetite.  Fatigue.  The lack of appetite leads to being dizzy from lack of food. I can't do much about the hands.....but I did eat yesterday and will be having a nice bowl of hot oatmeal after I hit send.  I checked the furnace...it's the temp I usually am comfortable and warm with...so it's me. Being cold.

Not much more to write...I enjoyed the final book of three on the Merry Meet Cute series by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone.....It's a Christmas Holiday series....three disreputable members of a rock band....and the women they meet in Christmas Notch while making dirty movies for the Hope Channel--- think Hallmark gone crazy......after dark.   I have said this before....it would work.

November Notes- Sunshine and 75 degrees here in Maine. Outrageous Weather. I don't mind at all.

 The photo deck is nearly empty. I think this one has been here before. Didn't get deleted.  I emptied the trash and deleted files yesterday.  Computer Housekeeping.

So...I voted yesterday...and while waiting for my son to come pick me up (he had gone to lunch), I watched people coming and going...I also watched the Election Workers empty the outside Ballot Box... It was PACKED FULL.  No one had set fire to the contents.  Which is a thing these days. Guess which candidate is being supported with burned ballots?????  Worried Much?

No Trick or Treaters...zero..so all the candy is mine. Twix.  Very delicious. New to me.

I have two items in the fridge I have been told are mine to eat....so I will be eating them. He's right to make that a priority.....I am not eating enough food.  I think it's because we don't eat at the same time....He eats on his schedule which isn't mine and I actually have no schedule. Zero Schedule. Winging it.

I am not the only one forgetting....he forgot we made Thanksgiving Dinner last year. We did and had leftovers for several days- and it was quite wonderful.  I personally don't recall making pie.  He can look up the posts for that week. to check that I am right.

Okay- I have lunch to eat (Chinese Leftovers).....then books or sports talk show....I am not watching Bones.  I am not watching Law and Order. I am not really watching much Hallmark.  I am watching recorded stuff off the Tivo from Public TV.  Series I recorded. Right now I am waiting for Complete Sherlock Holmes to begin and all of the Wolf Hall episodes before watching any. I finished Van derValk. I was looking for the books- but my library has ZERO.

I watched all the Tracker I had recorded.  And they changed the date and time for the show so that makes things more difficult....usually after a football game which runs late.

Happy Halloween- 54 and Sunshine here in Maine.

Okay it wants to open in the middle today....I tried more than a few times to get it to the left but why bother.  Halloween tonight and just a few kids and mostly teens will be out and about.

Okay, now it's where it should be.   Yesterday was hard day for all of us. But we got thru it. 

Don't have much to write...I am running out of verbal ammo.  Nothing happening....nothing to write about.  I might stop here and just put only wool socks and then go make a bowl of cereal and read the newspaper.

Might come back or not...not much to say... Happy Halloween. 

 

A Chilly Wet October 30th here in Maine.

 I have a few more of these Holiday Images...But this one seemed happy.

It's raining....the Propane Tanks showed up yesterday, late afternoon.  So that's taken care of.

I got out of bed late...I felt dizzy even while in bed so I thought I would just stay there and see if things worked out.. after an hour or so..I got up and dressed and mentioned to Son I was dizzy.  He brought me a glass of water. When I finished it...he refilled it. I drank that water also.  I feel much better.

I had oatmeal and very (extra) sweet tea....(which has gone cold), I had to answer some emails. I have my small dish of pills here by my left elbow.  Mostly vitamins.  Actually...only vitamins.  

Well, my intention is to reheat my sweet tea and sit on the couch with the next book of the day.  Seating  Arrangements was not hilarious like the jacket implied.......so not hilarious. Tedious.

I am looking for something that will make me laugh today.....it's been a rough year but tomorrow is the first day of a new year......less sad I hope.  Give your loved ones a hug today......

Still October-- Tuesday the 29th. 49 degrees and Sun and Clouds.

 This one is kinda cute.  Kinda and Wanna have been included in general language..  "Wanna grab a bite?"

I see it all the time in the new books I am reading.... this little cat IS cute.

I went to bed early I think and got up very very late.  Not that I was tired (well, who knows anymore what "tired" looks like when one does nothing but sit all day) but I did sleep.  I feel rested. Which is a WIN at my age.

I finished one book and tried out another ...which I had read before and did not like. I didn't like it this time either. I haven't selected a book for today as yet.  I have three books in a Christmas series I could read or ........so anyway.  I'll read something.

The grass got mowed.  

Propane Tanks are supposed to arrive today.  Please everyone reading this cross your fingers and hope it happens.

My horoscope says "change becomes you as you embrace new beginnings.  don't hold back"....well, okay.

I feel like I should be "doing something" not just reading and watching sports on tv.  (no Hallmark these days)...I was tempted (ever so slightly) to drag out the hose for the central vac and vacuum......I did not. I have three bananas getting all brown spotted so I might need to speed up my banana eating.  I don't like banana bread...... I might need to eat two today???????  So that's what's on my mind. Not much.

Still wearing 25 cent pants....I might change the tile of this blog to Twenty Five Cent Pants.

Sunshine and 40 degrees here in Maine--Monday, October 28th

 I have collected a number of Halloween images on the desk top so will use them up this week.  I think these are cookies.....?

I have switched "seasonally" to hot microwave oatmeal for breakfast.... sticking with hot tea as beverage. I might move on to instant coffee eventually. I will have shredded wheat biscuits if I get bored.

The new people across the road work fast....they are having their generator installed today.  Mine...well, propane tanks are supposed to arrive Wednesday.  Supposed to.... they got the generator a few days after the tanks....fingers crossed over here.

My grass was being mowed and then the guy stopped and didn't do the back yard.....ah, he changed over to the wider mower......for the backyard.  He finished and still quite a lot of leaves on the grass. What did I do last year?  I don't recall even having a moment to think about the grass and leaves last year. Hospice.

I finally got to see the new Washington Commander's quarterback (Maine is not in their tv section) - just the final 2 minutes of the game and the astonishing Hail Mary pass he threw into the end zone from the other end zone.  And his guy caught it. Wow.  And won the game.  The Talking Heads went wild.  I have my Sports Talk Show dialed up so I can listen to their comments even thought  the Patriots will never play the Commanders. The Commanders have a chance to play in the Super Bowl, perhaps....we do NOT.

My Book from yesterday (continuing into today) is This Bird Has Flown.  Susanna Hoffs.  I've read it before.  Very British.  Rock Star... I've chatted about it before...also having a CuppaWhilst I read.

THE COUGH is going around in Maine.....more and more are coughing....So I will be using the mask on the Friday Grocery and Library visits and hand sanitizer. Is the cough the respiratory thing we need shots for?????  RSV. Old People. I don't know....Football Pizza was excellent yesterday.....lots of toppings.  Well, I need to take my handful of pills and get started on doing "not much of anything" for another day.

I have two pint jars of "fake" onion soup in the fridge to heat and eat.....Life Is good.

Sunday, October 27th..Chill in the Air 46 degrees and sunshine.

 October....leaves falling in the breeze, things rotting on the ground..acorns.  At least they have pretty colors.

I watched Hallmark yesterday.  I think, I know, I am past the Hallmark stage of my old age.... Recently an article on the actual front page of the newspaper I get here in Maine, someone hiring actors for the Hallmark Movies thinks the "regular" actors and actresses (for the past 10 to 20 years???) are getting a bit OLD.  And this person wants to stop having them IN the movies. Fire them.  Retire them.... WOW. Even the woman with the curling iron making everyone's hair into 80's sausage rolls????? Oh, MY!!!

In solidarity, I watched a Hallmark "thriller" (I typed that while laughing) about a jewel heist and the FBI and a School Librarian.  OMG......give me a golden oldie rather than this new crap.

I went back to reading my old rock star in London book-- This Bird Has Flown.  Watching Tracker episodes for a few hours was WAY more exciting than Hallmark ever was... Tracker is better than anything on tv right now and it's not even that great. 

Son ordered Chinese for us yesterday and I enjoyed my Crab Rangoon very very much.  I also had the stir fried green beans, rice and chicken. No Fortune Cookie.  My favorite part. They don't "do cookies" anymore  Damn...

Today is Football Pizza.  Patriots and Jets at 1pm (two dud teams- what injury will Rogers get today???). Buffalo and Seattle at 4 pm  (I favor Buffalo).  Kansas City and Vegas at 4:25pm (no favorite here) and finally Dallas at San Fran as the night game (no favorite).  The 4 pm games look to be of the most interest to us...and at the same time....And at the time we make and eat pizza so.....good times.

I slept well last night but woke up crying.....not sure why.  I'm fine now...except for the Sudoko...I was stumped for awhile and then got a few numbers and then nothing....... I put it on top of the pile of unfinished puzzles. (after awhile I put the all the unfinished puzzles in the recycling bin).

Still October.....the 26th, sunshine and 48 degrees. Wool socks on my feet.

 Using  my Halloween images....

Fall Cleanup hasn't happened on my lawn (or my friend's lawn) and the grass didn't get cut Thursday or Friday. Unhappy campers here on my street.

We all have oak trees dumping leaves and acorns.

48 degrees......sliding into Winter.   I bought Halloween Candy for Trick or Treaters.....any leftovers will be mine.  Last year I think 6 showed up. Mostly over 3 feet tall.  I was thinking of begging my Son to bring the Spooky House down from the Attic- to put on the porch.....but....it's an old house I made out of cardboard so I'm not sure it could weather the trip down the stairs.....it's a damn fine cardboard Spooky House....

I made "fake" Onion Soup yesterday to eat in the coming week... I have the soup in two pint canning jars in the fridge.....We might be ordering Chinese today which would be quite wonderful.

I watched 6 recorded episodes of Tracker yesterday evening.  His sister is a college professor and his brother seems to do something dangerous.  Adding more and more family as the episodes go on. Not sure this is a great idea. I preferred him as a man of mystery........

Well, that's about it....I am going to heat water for my tea and have a bowl of mini Shredded Wheat Biscuits and lactate free milk....read the newspaper....well, not ALL of the articles....just the ones I like. Then I will see how many squares I can fill on the Daily Sudoko.  And then read my horoscope for the day.  I will also watch the birds eating seeds out of the feeders on the front porch.   I will try and remember to watch PBS Cooking Shows.....Always entertaining.  I never cook anything they make.

Another Sunshiny October Day. The Peony Bed is being cut back and weeded. I can see soil.

 Not sure where this came from.  Andrew Gifford I think as some of his work is titled Coming Out of the Shadows.    Looks like the beds in my yard BEFORE Megan weeds them.

So, We've been to the Library and the Grocery Store.  I'm editing myself here. I wanted to vote.  I didn't.

I got some good books...I hope..... at the Library. One never knows from the covers.  But I'm into the end of the alphabet rows..so seeing different things....also seeing lots of empty shelving.

Yesterday's book was one of my all time favorites.  I have it in Trade Paper on the bookshelf but like to read it in hardback once a year.  Nora Goes Off Script. I also have Charm City Rocks because I'm in that sort of opposites attract mood.  I might read Mr Wrong Number this week.  Been awhile.  All have an opposites attract vibe.  Soulmate Equation was also read last week.

The Sports Talk show has been BORING....and I AM still working on emptying the TiVo......watched a Jane Austen movie and then deleted it.  Not much else as I was reading.

At the Grocery I selected a small cabbage, some carrots etc and my son said- you bought the same items last week and never used them...he checks the fridge and pantry before we shop- which is SUCH A GREAT IDEA- that I NEVER think about.... checking the fridge......if I checked the freezer I would recall wanting ice cream....but I didn't and didn't.  I did get CANDY.  Dark Chocolate.  Very healthy item.  (look it up) I did check the fridge to see if I need milk....I did.  For cereal... Spoon sized shredded wheat.  I was reminded  I had mentioned eating oatmeal....so..that needs milk as well...so ......no harm, no foul.

Thursday, October 24th. Sunshine and 61 degrees here in Maine.

 Orange marigolds today....found on one of the sites that sends things to me all the time....thank goodness. I haven't pulled my socks on as yet-  New neighbors got Propane Tanks delivered to THEIR house yesterday so I go on the phone and asked where my tanks were.....I had a work order...So next week.

Going so SLOW......and the good Fall Weather here in Maine won't hold for much longer.

I have a post it note stuck on the edge of the desktop monitor... Bank Scams.  A list of four common ones to watch out for.  

My "no fresh air in the house" cough is back...

My Gardener cleared out another bed and used the fencing from that bed to protect the three new plants from deer eating their leaves overnight.  The lawn is full of acorns...I thought deer liked acorns.

Today I need to sew a button onto the waist of the pants I had on yesterday....today I have a looser pair of  the same pants on... I had to sort thru the closet to find this pair.....they are all the same color, style and size  from LLBean....but NONE of them fit the same.... Some waists are wide-- some are narrow.  Some pant legs are long and wide and some short and narrow. All of them were purchased and returned to the store as defective....and sold to me for 25 cents each in the employee store.  The waistbands on a few have many tucks in them ...others have a V-slice cut in the waistband and extra fabric inserted.  Some are too short and some are too long. Some are both--one leg too long and one too short.  I fix them as best as I can.  Wear them...25 cents.  I tried buying them new...but after trying on so many pants in the dressing room...I gave up...none of them were comfortable.  I got a few of the ones in the closet from Goodwill.

I have a short, loose pair on today.  I mended the front with white thread (I don't know when)....I was too lazy to change over to brown thread.  And really...who cares what an old woman wears??????

We are invisible.

I thought I had socks on....where did I leave them??????? Well, Breakfast and the latest news await me..alongside my daily vitamins... The team I watched playing football was the RAVENS....I keep saying Saints...not them...Ravens.

Everything seems to be renting for the monthly price of $5,500 here in Maine.  Large or small.  Ordinary or Assisted Living. And I am wearing 25 cent pants. And no socks.  

A Very Chilly Start to October 23rd. 99% humidity. Cloudy and Gray.

Green Beans, Green Olives and possibly the usual addition of "chicken"..........I think  they might be selling the pan and not the food in the pan. Staub.

I spent yesterday evening watching a few of my TiVo collection of Christmas Movies.  And then deleting them. Trying to empty the TiVo.  As long as I do not change channels with the remote---the images on screen do not waver and bleed into each other.  It's not easy "getting old" even for the TiVo.

My Lunch buddy recalls trying to get propane tanks delivered by Downeast (our local business) and how they NEVER (her capitalization) return calls.........she said one day they came home to find two empty tanks (500 liters each) in the backyard.....no explanation.  Just tossed into the yard.  She also has had the people answering the phone ask what it's like it Maine....Does it snow all year?????? (they don't actually ask that).

It just seems like it snows all year.

I have on a thermal shirt, a cotton shirt and a wool sweater.....wool socks, slippers and corduroy pants. My hands are freezing.  I need to turn on the lights....it's not even noon.  Monday it was really warm and the Sun was shining. Temps in the house are 65 degrees.  I never go higher...it's why we have wool sweaters and socks.  Heating oil is obscenely expensive.

Well, I need to make another cup of tea?????  I have two days until grocery shopping and two bananas....worked out perfectly.  I'm back to taking the cough and cold capsules.... red and green. I am not enchanted with the book I am reading so I think I will stop......move on to something else. It sounded promising...a woman who writes rom com movies and a Family Law Lawyer she dated in high school who still loves her.. I even skipped ahead 100 pages....still nothing happening.

The place I thought I might want to live..... Botany Bay Condos are selling for 945K.  No services included.  Assisted Living 2 bed 2 bath are $5500 a month down the road. I think that is the going rate everywhere for a two bedroom here in my Town.  The Assistance cost is extra.  Maine has the oldest population of any state in the Union.

 

Chilly 66 degrees......Sunshine Tuesday, October 22nd.

 Autumn.   The sun is shining.  The Ornamental Planters have been taken care of.  The non organic soil has been sifted and stored in the 30 gallon garbage cans.   The garbage and re-cycling went out (to the street) and was picked up by the garbage truck.

I have a large load of laundry in the machine which is now in the dryer.  I am being productive.  I also cleared my section of the table of all the stuff I no longer need to have on the table.  I found a very interesting paper (for a talk I gave) on the reason for heavily embroidered silk and ribbon quilts......if any one out there is interested....I will send the many pages of it to you.  I think, at the time, it could have been a published article.  The Industrial Revolution. Chemical dyes for cloth etc. 

I have no plans for today- the shower and the load in the washer might have been all I can do today- in an hour or so- I will fold and put away the clothing.  Be done for the day...I am walking like a 90 year old this morning. The bones and joints are showing their age.  I may need a walker in the next few years.

I watched the football last night.  Monday Night Football.  Tampa and the Saints.  

I took a cough and cold capsule....slept well and no coughing.  Just the one.  A full serving is two. I took them last year at this time as well.  The dry house air I think.......no fever, no congestion etc. Just the cough.

The half a snack bag of leftover Potato Chips is calling my name.....I am resisting.  Resistance is Futile.

I cleared MY one foot by one foot section of the dining room table.  Stuff I didn't need... there is still stuff (paper) there...but I might need some of it.  I am doing a great job of mailing off bills the day after they arrive.....a New Leaf that I am turning.  I emptied the paper shredder one day late....the garbage guys collect shredded paper.  Next week.......they get shredded paper- it just needs to be in a clear plastic bag. 

I have stopped collecting things for the compost bins....it was time to stop.

Well, I library books to order... see you tomorrow...

Cold but Sunny October Monday Morning. The 21st.

 Adobe Stock image.  I did my face like this one October and went to work....everyone was dressing for Halloween.  A customer said I was very disturbing and she was leaving the store.  And me.

Early call into the Oil /Propane Company....see if the platform and tanks can be scheduled. Spoke to a lovely woman working from HOME.....she was going to TRY and contact the local office 15 minutes from my house........isn't that a sign of the times???? I had called the local number and no one local answered the phone.  But a woman living "somewhere" did answer.

Well, my Gardener and I emptied the ornamental summer planters and sifted the roots out of the soil-less mix.  then we moved the planters to the backyard spot where they overwinter.  

Then we went to LUNCH.  Yep. I said YES when asked to go somewhere.  And I saw her new one bedroom apartment.  Same as what my cross the street neighbor is living in.  It's small. but clean and very sharp and no mice.  So...excellent .

After we went to lunch.  Sat in the Sun.  So... a very very delightful surprise that I enjoyed.

A Very Good Day....

October Notes- Sunday the 20th. Sunshine and 43 degrees

 Apple Crisp and Vanilla ice cream.

Don't have either of these in the fridge or freezer.  Pizza and Football later today......no dessert.

I forgot socks.  Need to go dig out a pair, make breakfast and read the newspaper.  Get going. Just got an email from my brother- he and his wife just back from 10 days in Iceland.  Said it was beautiful.

We both think we might enjoy a trip on one of those expensive boats.  I'd pack a suitcase full of books. He'd take a few naps each day. He was always wanting a nap even in his teens.

Oh, I just noticed I have socks over to my left on the desk top..... always notice my thick peasant ankles when I put on my socks. DNA that came over on the boat with my grandmother in the late 1800's.

So..football.  Will most likely be boring.

Reading one of my all time favorite books- Soulmate Equation.  Christina Lauren.   Library copy even though there is one in my bookcase.  I really have to work on that bookcase....alphabetize it. My son can't believe it isn't in ABC order.....after almost 10 years working at the Library.  I can't either.

Well,  I might need to start wearing my winter shawl.  My neck is feeling chilled.

My son believes that all the things I put in the Goodwill Box are "trash" and not good stuff.  But I found so many treasures at Goodwill over the years...things I still use and wear and love.  My coffee cups...for one.  The little dishes I put my daily pills into.......the pants I am wearing....the sweater I am wearing. I would be happy to buy things- new- but shopping here in Maine is not great.  Locally the only place to buy clothing is Walmart or. LLBEAN. Perhaps if they send me a catalog....I can buy something new?

Emptying the TiVo- watched Pride and Prejudice... Entertainment Channel (does it still exist???).  I had to fast forward thru a TON of cell phone commercials and the Kardashians.  That dates it, doesn't it.  I have one or two more renditions of Pride and Prejudice on the TiVo....to watch.

I watch and delete....I might not watch the Hallmark Christmas Movies as they usually repeat them starting in the next few weeks.  Anyway- I would like to get from 47% to 20% in the TiVo in the next week to 10 days.  I need to call and buy a new TiVo.  Son will find and buy the new tv and sound bar.

Everything that is Old is New again.

Saturday, October 19th. We must have had a power failure overnight.

Sunshine here but a dark image for the post.   I haven't added socks to my daily clothing so am feeling a bit of a chill on my ankles.  I watched the Boston Sports Show for an hour or two... they were playing the audio of London interviews with Patriots players...it was funny.  Certainly NOT speaking the same language.

The Generator People were here...did I tell you yesterday?  Three, maybe four guys in black tee shirts and silver chains. It was warm yesterday and they were busy digging a trench for the power hookup to the house.  We also discussed shrubs that may or may not enjoy the hot gas discharge from the generator.  They said they could dig them out...for me.  I said I'd wait to see what my Gardener thought.  I wondered what they would think of her.

She's going to be here next week to help empty the summer containers with me.

I need to hype myself up for phone calls to the Oil Company on Monday about them getting the tanks here---ASAP so the generator can be hooked up before the first seasonal outage......it's only a matter of time.  The Winter Report so far looks hideous.....Lots of rain turning to ice....which brings down power lines all day and all night..

I have gotten my TiVo down from 78% capacity to 47%.  I am watching stuff and deleting stuff.  Getting prepared for buying a new TiVo and starting over.....I will also be getting a new TV (my son promised me one).   I am having to reboot at least once a day....so  I am actually "out living" everything in my house.  I think Hallmark will show all the Christmas Movies I like in the next few months... so I can start in on deleting them.... I do want to watch Little Women and Pride and Prejudice (several variations of both are recorded) from PBS and movies.  I also have the Beatles movie.  I also have a very dark series I recorded-  Three Billboards something... I know I want to watch that (again)... Van Der Valk has two new episodes on PBS.

Book reading during the day and movies in the evening.  I need socks. And breakfast.  Son is worried I am running out of money-  I am actually running out of short term memory as I now have four new containers of deodorant.  And I wanted toothpaste...which I finally bought yesterday.

I still haven't made the Onion Soup but I think- it's Saturday and tv is lame...so I think I will actually peel and slice onions and get them in the oven to brown.  After that it's just liquids etc and I have soup for the weekend.  It's never that difficult...it's the getting GOING that never happens.  

When I opened the new to me Trade Paperback of Jane Eyre- I actually opened it to the page I read when she gave me the book...months ago...a page and words I just did not find interesting..boring. No wonder I forgot it on the shelf.
 

Just before midnight.

 Daughter was right- Jane Eyre was in the bookcase and I found it after quite a search at almost midnight.

October 18th. Sunshine here in Maine and 50 degrees

So here we are in the midst of October....  all the moving parts of the whole house generator- coming together. They should start work Monday.  The Oil Company signed off on the location.  We could have a working generator by January.  

I read April Lindner's modern take on Jane Eyre again.  Straight thru.  I would love to read the original but the only copies of that book I can find have the tiniest of type.  My eyes can't manage that.  This author's hype (in the jacker notes) of the original really makes me want to read it.

Library and grocery store today.  We not longer do a meal plan for the week- so buying groceries is a bit confusing.  I keep thinking I will be making SOUP but never actually make soup.  We did much better in November and December of last year...or not...I wasn't eating then so perhaps I don't recall it....I do recall the holiday meals of Thanksgiving and Christmas...mostly because it had been a few years since I made those holiday meals....my husband rarely ate anything I cooked.  He liked prepared grocery store meals... the same one everyday with the occasional home made grilled cheese sandwich.

The not making soup thing is being to worry me...I like having soup in the fridge.  An Easy Meal.

I dragged the tall rolling cart with eight of the nine drawers intact out into the living room where I am most of the time..... I rolled embroidery floss onto clothes pins while watching something on tv.  I like the clothes pin thing instead of tangling the thread up loose.  I rolled up 7 or 8 colors watching first season episodes of Bones. I might look for drawer nine later today.

Off we go to the grocery and library......whoop!!!! there we go.

 

October 17th- Waiting for the Oil company......to arrive. Killing Frost Last Night.

 Colorful Foliage- any that was here in my yard is now frozen, brown and dead.  We are waiting for the Oil Guy to show up and look at the area where the new Propane Tanks will be installed-- by them... the Generator people are getting nervous- the cold weather is going to keep them from their January install date if things don't get rolling here.  Meaning the cement pads.

Oil Guy is here.....

My Gardener will come back next week and we'll both work on moving and emptying the Summer Ornamental Planters.  She moved into her new efficiency apartment (tiny) and is happy to not have mice ..which was the situation in the farmhouse she was renting.  She was pleased to have only moved what she needed and got rid of everything else.  My cross the street neighbor was trying to do that...and she has a one bedroom in the same building.  Very popular new building.  My son was also interested in living there.  I have investigated and looked at pictures....I would NOT like living there.  With a view of a airport runway.

Oil Guy arrived and the location is fine with him....then I called the Generator People and then they called me back and now....things are rolling along.  We expect more phone calls.... the Oil Guy knows the company doing the generator so...that's good.

Now cement pads and a new secondary power box.....so the Electric Company is next up. As the Generator Guy said- I have guys that need work..now.  Perfect timing.

I have an experiment in the fridge...Overnight Oats.  Half cup each of yogurt (vanilla Noosa), milk and oats.....in a pint canning jar....  Long ago I used to make a layered bowl to take to work...Bran Buds, Yogurt and fruit.  I fixed it in the morning and ate it for lunch.  I may or may not like the oats... and then...will sub in the Bran Buds.  Which I know I really like.  I didn't stir it....might be that I was supposed to.  

I had a nice long hot shower this morning....my hair enjoyed it very much.  I shampooed twice. With Shampoo my friend Connie sent me.  I think I forgot to condition......pretty sure I forgot.

October Notes- Wednesday the 16th. The sun is shining and it's 50 degrees.

 Lucy Levenson- folk artist.

I swept the wood floors...getting dusty around here....Son searched the Attic but we can't find a quilt in the making that is lost.  It was where I left it before all the clearing and moving of things in the Attic. Now, it's gone.

I had announcements from the Library as to books getting close to their due dates....I also got a very expensive looking- wonderful blue envelope asking me to give the Library...money. Not just once but an Annual Pledge.   I would...but they have stopped buying books (that I read) and have emptied the shelving of books (I would like to read again) rather than keep them full and most of what I read is coming from two other Libraries...so if I give out Library money- it will be to those Libraries not my own.  I would say, over 60% of what I read comes from interlibrary loans.  It may even be a higher percentage as the fiction shelving is almost as bare as the non fiction shelving. What exactly is a Library if it contains no books????

I think more and more people are reading on hand held tablets.  I'll only do that if I am unable to physically hold a book....and even then...might just prefer listening to a book being read to me. Audio.

I sliced one of my fingers on the edge of a bill envelope as I was opening it... just a paper cut but it is bothering me as I type...rather annoying.  Bills arrived yesterday and I wrote checks today...I am trying to foster a new bill paying habit....in and immediately... out...not waiting around.

I am reading a new to me Linda Howard.  I read it years ago but have forgotten who done it. The bridezilla was stabbed with kabob sticks.  Metal ones.  I can't recall the real name.

I have a sink full of dishes to wash...my Son leaves them for me.. Yesterday he took a broom and whisked all the Spider Webs off the surface of the house outside...... Quite a few. Nasty work. Washing dishes is nicer. For me.

My Gardner has not returned. She still has tools here but they might be my husband's...there was no goodbye so I am perplexed. Perhaps that is the way things happen these days???? We still had work to do.

I typed something and deleted it...I hope you know these notes are heavily redacted.

My Gardener called just after I pressed publish...she has moved into her new apartment and loves it...She will see me next week.   We'll do the planters together.  She sounded really happy.