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.

October Notes- Tuesday the 15th. Sunshine here in Maine. 45 degrees. Again.

 Heather.   Trying to do some housekeeping in the picture files.

I woke up.... made a call to the Oil Company first thing even before breakfast or the paper (on hold for quite a bit of the phone call) regarding Propane for the new- (I am hopeful) generator in January....I now..have a date, a name and a time.....  more than I had the last time.  I'd like to get this show on the road.  Then I had my breakfast and read the paper...got one number on the daily Sudoko.  One.  I try not to use the Sudoko as a guide to how the day will go.  But....one number...pathetic.

I have a book for you- Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford.  Don't all scream at once now- but it's NOT A ROM COM.... A very sweet story of a woman making the best of a raw deal as a teenager.....a woman who likes to bake and fills out an application for Britain Bakes- aka the Great British Baking Show.  I went into this book with a lack of enthusiasm but by the end....gosh.

The Birding Book could have been as good but the author went in for some of the raunchiest sex- I wanted to scrub my eyes..... and it actually ruined the book for me.  Yes....I like romance.  Not this.  Birding with Benefits is not going on my home bookshelf.

I haven't selected a book for today as yet....put extra sugar in my tea...needing a boost.  I am considering a load of laundry...I haven't run out of underwear yet, but the basket is full.

I might sort out the left side of the paperwork dresser drawer (in the dining room)- husband's side...and make use of the entire large wide drawer for "Bookkeeping"- bills, records, taxes etc.....all divided up.  Not one huge pile. Like I have now over on my side.

I haven't started in on the home made onion soup as yet...perhaps today...it feels like a Soup Day. I hope the Sun is shining where you are .....  and now- to make my second cup of hot sweet tea.... and get on with it.

October 14th. A cloudy Morning. 45 degrees- I slept until 10am.

 No notes on the what or where of this image....Others come to the desktop space with notes.

Yesterday (and today)'s book is Birding With Benefits. by Sarah Dubb.  It's been enjoyable up until the last 10 or so pages (I read before bed) sigh  when it sort of went off the rails.....I mean these are both two very shy people....I don't think they would behave as depicted in the last three pages I just was forced to read.  The Benefits segment of the relationship.   Bizarre.

I watched football...son didn't....we made pizza.  It was wonderful.  I am thinking about the first weeks with my son and I making Sunday Pizza....we tried a variety of toppings...now we are sort of in a rut... so, we need more topping to choose from... onion and pepperoni is not enough.  I hadn't purchased a red bell pepper last Friday...we had been adding that.  

I am sitting here typing BEFORE eating breakfast and my Son just mentioned I should eat first and then as I type while my blood pressure will be leveling out (going up)......so a short post so I can eat my breakfast...... perhaps eventually things here will be....as he wants them to be....but I often find the things I do and say..... odd....and I am the one doing and saying.....so I don't know if things can or will improve...

I am singularly complicated......now..where did I leave my socks??????

Another Chilly October Morning- Sunday the 13th. Short Power Outage. Minutes not hours.

 David Hockney Pop Art.

So...the power went out this morning or overnight...we had a great deal of wind.  Son said he was very happy to hear the blower on the heating system making noise.... I slept thru the excitement. Had to reboot the computer....Always fun to see if I remember the log in.....

I read a book yesterday- ...I had thought it was one I had started and not enjoyed but...it was one I had enjoyed reading and I enjoyed it yet again.  What You Save In A Fire.  K. Center. Same author as The Bodyguard and the Rom-Commers.  There are more- Just have to find them.

Today's book is Not The Girl You Marry.  Role swapped How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days. We'll see. I have ten more books so if today's doesn't catch me right away- I'll move on.

Pizza on deck for  Football Sunday.  I watch the games- my Son does not.  I also read while watching the games.  Daughter did laundry and now Son is doing laundry....I have a basket full myself.  Daughter's washer is fixed but now her drains are clogged.  It's a very old house.

Trying to turn over a New Leaf.  Pay bills as they arrive not wait until I have three or four and then write checks.  I liked the old way very very much- this new way seems.... sigh.

The deer have come each evening and eaten parts (foliage) of the Ornamental Planters...Last night my Son reports they finished off the large one.  I am not in the mood today to empty, sift artificial soil, and carry the planters back to the side yard.  I'll think about it tomorrow... (Gone with the Wind)

Wow my neck is feeling chilly....Winter, is coming....sigh. Even with the Sun.

In the paper, a family looking for their Wife/Mother find her pocket book in the mud but not her......she was swept away in the hurricane flooding.  Heartbreaking.

Another Saturday Morning.... October 12th. Sunshine and 59 degrees. Left over hurricane wind in Maine.

 I selected this image, blind from the desktop, not knowing what would show up.....

I finished watching all the recorded PBS  Van der Valk series in my TiVo file.  Another two episode one will record this Sunday and next.   I am going to move onto another recorded series. I think a dark Police Procedural...if and when I recall the name I will let you know.  

I believe I had three meals yesterday- well, I ate three times.  Nothing was on a plate or in a bowl. I didn't sit at the table for any but breakfast which was actually in a bowl- Shredded wheat biscuits and milk. Took me a minute to recall the bowl, milk and table.   

I have some dumpling like things in the freezer I need to crisp up in the frying pan- now that I have a working stove....I have suggested Chinese takeout but...nothing happened.

Very slow start today.....I am sorting thru lots of emotions....like waves of memories and stuff...like the junk that washes on to the shore out of the ocean.   One book was great, the seocnd- 10 pages in I said- stop-- and then I went to bed-  today I will select something else and I may just watch the Saturday Cooking Show on PBS.  I have recorded old vintage Julia Child Baking Shows.... and like I said I need to clear out the TiVo recordings.  Before I buy a new one.

Windy today.  Things blowing around out there.  Really strong wind.

Daily Notes- on a Sunshiny October Friday....grass has been mowed- hope some of the acorns got sucked into the mower.

 Buck Bank Hill by Andrew Gifford- Coming out of a Shadow Images.

Reading the morning paper.....Living thru the Republican spin on FEMA.  Smoke, Shadows and Lies. Someone named Margery was quoted as saying the hurricane never happened. Next up- the Earth is flat and we might slide off the edges........ send money......  

Reading Katherine Center's The Bodyguard.  I might just start over and read it twice.  Then read the next book- the Rom-Commers yet again.  Two of last week's picks are going back unread- first 20 pages- no go. I will also check the shelves to see if there are others....she has written quite a few books.

Groceries and Library today.  Big Excitement.

I haven't cooked or baked anything....I have eaten almost everything in the fridge that was mine... The cough syrup has helped tremendously to stop the dry cough..... my hands keep typing couch.  Not cough.

So...Life goes on.  No to the propane people showing up. sigh. I need to call on Monday.

My tea is warm not hot so I'd best take my vitamins....before I forget.  90% of my morning pills are vitamins... plus my tiny statin and a Tylenol.  I doubt the statin even registers......the Tylenol...not sure it has any affect on the old thigh bone and joints..which ache most days now that I am officially OLD. I walk like I need a support system to make sure I don't fall down.  My thigh bone injury predates my Son by 7 months. and here we are together... my painful unstable thigh bone and my middle aged son.

For years and years I identified the injury as my hip...it was ALWAYS my thigh bone. My new- really abrupt doctor corrected me on my first actual visit.  Showed me the X-Ray... went back to typing and we didn't say anything else to each other....until the nurses came to give me shots and take me down to the lab..for bloodwork....then I went home.

Yep...I have to finally admit to Old Age.  Plan out the movements of getting into and out of my very tall poster bed without face planting.  I usually just fold and roll. Hope my feet touch first not my face.

That's it for today....I have on a linen shirt (over a long sleeved thermal) not the usual sweater and I am feeling a chill.  The wool sweater belonged to my husband and he never wore it...his other sweaters are cotton....useless. Going to Goodwill.

A sunny Thursday in October....50 degrees.

 New artist. Andrew Grifford Coming Out of a Shadow.  A series I will have here.

So..I got a call at around 3 pm from my Master Gardener Classmate.....a lecture at the library on drying food for storage.... dehydrating. 6 pm.  We sliced apples while listening to the speaker.  There was a raffle of sorts for the big dehydrator...my Classmate- a very charming woman- won... Neither of us could lift the thing. Let alone carry to the car....

The largest takeaway here.....she invited me and I said yes.  I can't believe it either.

I haven't turned on the TV as yet to see what happened in Florida.  The newspaper is here but would not have overnight news.  

Son is feeling cold and wants more heat.

I haven't made soup as yet.  I was reading a book- The Marrying Game by Kate Saunders.  Sort of Pride and Prejudice.  I think I wrote Little Women yesterday- I was wrong.  Actually very modern take on Pride and Prejudice.  I have a few others in my bookcase... I tend to collect them.  There is a series about a family of decendents of a Raja that I love reading and re- reading..... I should do that again.  I had read the Marrying Kind before....years ago I think but recalled some of it towards the end.

While at the Library I returned books and picked up two reserves that had arrived...

I ate the cut off ends of the apples my Master Gardener Classmate was cutting into slices.  I was nervous the entire time she had a knife in hand.  She's a nurse so would be expert at blood stoppage. And the knife wasn't sharp enough to cut smoothly.  I seemed like the only one not wearing yoga clothing..even the men.  Which of these people doesn't belong here........ Also I hadn't brought a sports water bottle with me.   I always feel so very strange. Here.  There.  Like a visitor from another World. Even Here.

October 9th- a Wednesday. Sunshine and 45 degrees outside.

 Overnight Oats.   Never, never have tried this (and don't plan to).  But I have lots of jars just like these.

The Angry Soccer Guy book- Well, Sunshine Met Grumpy ended and then there were a few pages after to tell what happened one year later.  An odd ending, not great but still fine.  This author seems to have written other books so today I will go hunting in the Maine Cat. I wonder about the missing year.

I turned up the heat to 65 (from the overnight 62).....my cough seems much "less" and I feel fine- the blue syrup does the job.  My Landscaper worked on pressure washing the sidewalks and then weeded the left side bed....not much left there as it has turned out all the "green" stuff is weeds not actual "plants"....and it rained so the fertilizer the Tru Green guy sprinkled has now been activated... quite a turn around.

Trees being taken down across from me-number 11.  My landscaper walked over to talk to My tree guy...said lots of trees....he is also set to work next door...more trees.

My lawn is covered in acorns...and I am worried about people I know (and love) in Florida..... Tampa Bay.  They also have a home in North Carolina....sigh.

I have not chosen a book for today as yet.  I have quite a few on the shelf.  Waiting.

I need to put on my socks....ankles are chilly.

Not sure about breakfast cereal.....cold or hot... one banana left and three pears.  Enough ham and cheese for a roll up today and tomorrow?  Maybe only today.  I might have to invent something for Thursday. There is always peanut butter or just butter.  New supplies on Friday Grocery Day.

I had the Progresso Split Pea Soup yesterday for mid-day meal....the peas were sort of crunchy.  I am NOT trying any more Progresso Soup....I will have to actually make soup.   Like two Winters ago when I made soup quite often.  Today I might actually try a can of the Wendy's chili my daughter bought me...She bought a lot of it....I don't know....I just don't know. It might be good.

That's it for here...I need to put on my socks as my ankles are cold....the Sun is shining...I have to decide on Halloween Candy...something I like...since we get maybe three trick or treaters on this street. No longer teen agers living here and stopping by.  I have to choose a book for today.  Mystery or Romance.

Daily Notes- on October 8th. Sunshine here in Maine. Rained most of yesterday.

 Onion soup- still on my mind.

Yesterday and today's book... "when Grumpy met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein.  Retired British Soccer Star needs a ghost writer for his autobiography.  He's really really angry...she is, as he says, "dressed like a large (plus sized) cupcake".  I am less than half way in...they argue about every single thing. Loving every minute of it.  She signed him up for online shopping..Amazon I think...he didn't have a TV. Or anything else in his huge empty house. He seems to be following her around....... he is famous as a foul mouthed angry soccer star who doesn't talk very much. Other than the swearing. Very inventive swearing. And according to the ghost writer- makes a fine cuppa tea.

I have every item for the Onion Soup... in the pantry..... that could even possibly be used to make "Onion Soup" out on the counter. Ready to Rock and Roll as they say.  Not ever sure who "they is"......but we'll just roll with it.  Quote marks because it would be imposter onion soup at best or worst.

The internet says I should do the sliced onions in the oven with butter until deeply brown....then proceed with broth etc.  I also have Lipton Onion Soup Mix... as to wine....I believe there is a bottle someone gave me...somewhere... a nice white....I only buy myself red.  I successfully baked a cake so browning onions in the oven should do okay unless I walk away land leave the stove untended..  You'll get an update tomorrow...I might have NOT made soup.

One thing you can depend on- I am unreliable...100%.

I am in something of a Sad Space right now.....realizing I am old.  Realizing HOW OLD..  Time is running out. In that context even the promise of Onion Soup does nothing to cheer me up. Hardly anything is cheering me up.....Even my TiVo is close to it's Use By expiration date.  As am I.  Might have 8 more years.  Match my dad. Who lived longest so far. In my genetic family.

I think I slept well last night.....no coughing until morning.....The blue cough syrup works wonders. The garbage truck has come and gone..... Tuesday's high point unless the Propane People show up.  Getting a whole house generator is a slow as molasses enterprise.  Propane comes first. 

My front sidewalks and porch are being bleached and power washed.....I found my husband's power washer (now that I know what one looks like) in the back shed......Never been used?  There are some other things in the shed as well....I don't know what they are. Yet.  We had generator gas that she is using. Left over generator gas with Stabelizer.

Well, that's it for today- I managed to write an essay it looks like....

what would it be like to just sit here for a hour a day and just type......whatever comes to mind...and then at the end of the month read it all...it would sort of be like this........

Monday Post- October 7th. Raining here in Maine...all day.

 Not that we are eating anything like this....but not a bad idea.  Been awhile since we had Chinese.

Slow wake up for the internet here...could be the rain... any thing can interfere with transmission lines these days.

I am sitting here in the half light, I didn't turn on the lamp behind me...with my lukewarm breakfast tea and my small dish of Daily Vitamins.  Which I just swallowed.   I am also sneezing.  House Air. Dry.

The newly weeded bed in front of the porch is filling with rain water.  My son and daughter took the window AC units out....daughter came to do laundry and have Sunday Pizza with us.  Family. Nice to have them both here. And the pizza was perfect, yet again.

I am coughing....congestion.(not as much as yesterday)  Productive coughing which is always better than non-productive.  I had this last Winter and perhaps the Winter before as well......indoor dry air.  I need to ask my Son to go get me some cough medicine and/or cough and cold capsules.....I used the capsules last year at this time... but it's raining. I would also like him to pick up my library books.....it's a long ways to next Friday...but it's raining.  Time on the couch sneezing and coughing- best to just sit and read.  I used to use the time to hand sew....but that was long ago, it seems.  Dog and I watched Law and Order.  I miss him today.

I managed to work my way thru another 3 or 4 hours of PBS Amsterdam crime drama.  Emptying the TiVo one day at a time.  I missed most of the football games.  I checked in later in the day... not a great year for football. Washington...I would watch those games but not here in Maine.  Perhaps if the scores are always 30 something to almost nothing...we'll see some of them here in Maine??? Don't count on it. We sure aren't watching the Patriots.  They should just stop playing and try again next year. Team traded away any players that had monetary value in the off season it seems.  I see them doing a great job on other teams.

That's about it for today...I am thinking-- considering---trying to make some onion soup for today...I have dry onion soup mix and a basket of nice onions....Not the right cheese or bread for croutons.  I just feel like Onion Soup...Very comforting.  I will ask the internet for help with a recipe.

 

October Days- No sunshine as yet and 52 degrees and cloudy here in Maine.

 The tree across the street has colored and is dropping leaves... my trees are still green and dropping acorns.  No idea as yet if it is a mast year- the amount to acorns foretells the winter here in Maine. The guy with my leaf and acorn blower has not come by and taken care of things....I think he is having a bad year or he is waiting for the majority of stuff to land on the lawn before coming by.  Most likely waiting.

I am about to switch from Bran Flakes to hot oatmeal for breakfast....  depending on the temperature outdoors.  I also might go further and have Cream of Wheat.....my actual favorite cold weather cereal topped with butter, sugar and cinnamon like my grandmother fixed it for me as a single digit small child.

The things we hold dear in our hearts....

I have a new book to read.  I have a lap sized down comforter to keep me warm as I read.  I have on smart wool socks.....and a very nice cashmere men's sweater (Goodwill).   Football later in the day- I lose track of the when of the games.  I (for sure) will ignore the Patriots game.  They have lost most of the offensive line to injury. Any quarterback they find to play- will get slaughtered.  And yes, I have been watching the Sports Show..... it is very very bad.  Hockey seems like a possibility but they are having Goalie contract issues.  Boston Teams are not in a happy place this year.

The light here in Maine is not conducive to taking pictures of mended sweaters but I promise to get that done. Once the Sun returns...I love my mended sweaters...one has, possibly, more mending than original sweater at this point.

I watched four two hour episodes of Van derValt  (spelling might be off) on Masterpiece yesterday. My Tivo is going to be upgraded soon and I will lose what I have recorded... so I am watching them one more time...and also the new season which has just begun.  I visited Amsterdam once, I believe....with my husband when he was working there...early in his European travel career.  I recall standing on the beach looking at the vast ocean as the waves hit the shore and the clouds swirled overhead..  It was my very first European trip...

My daughter should be coming over to do laundry.  We are having pizza for sure...I can count on that.

So...Bran Flakes, Shredded Wheat OR Oatmeal......big decisions.

October Notes- Saturday the 5th. Quiet here in Maine. Clouds and 66 degrees

 Sourdough Bagels.

I was considering buying bagels yesterday when we visited the grocery store.  But I wanted this kind of bagel and not the soft ones the grocery bakery makes and sells.  I wanted the New York Style Bagels I used to get in Florida at this one grocery store.  My Southern friend- visiting- said they were so hard you could break your tooth on them.  Yes.....the way bagels should be.

When I started typing there was no sunshine outside my windows and now- it's everywhere.

I'm dressed for cold weather but- I may have to take the sweater off if it warms up.

My Library email says two more books have arrived for me.  Always the day after my weekly visit. I am reading a book I found a few years ago- perhaps not that long- Crashing the A-List by Summer Heacock.  I recalled all the plot details but not the title or author.  A good book.  I have to check to see if she wrote anything else.  Finding Romance while cleaning out storage lockers.

I have bite sized Shredded Wheat for my breakfast also my very large cup of tea.  With plenty of sugar.  The sun is getting brighter and brighter....going to be a lovely day here in Maine.  I might actually have to remove my sweater.

We got bumped up in the Generator line up....some things are going to be happening...Propane comes first. and then the Electrician doing a new Main Box and then the generator hook up.  January is when they say we will have a working generator. And the lights and heat will stay on...... no matter what. A few houses to go and then the entire street will have whole house generators.  I think only three of us.

Well, I have shredded wheat to eat and the newspaper to read...and perhaps one load of laundry to get going.  I am trying to eat at least two meals a day...plus a snack...I tend to forget to eat...My meals aren't actually meals- more like a Flour Tortilla wrapped around Swiss and Ham.  Or Yogurt and Bran Buds. Or a Banana and some walnuts. 

I wanted a Big Salad...but never actually buy the lettuce.  I do have Bananas and Pears for Fruit. And I have everything needed to make a Pot of Vegetable Soup.....sort of feeling "normal" at the almost one year as a widow marker.  Time went really slow and really fast at the same time.  

October Notes- Friday the 4th. Dismal Day with Dampness.

No idea what this is but I would guess powdered pigment for cloth.  I liked the arrangement and the colors on the mat gray black surface.

I have to eat and then be ready for Library- which doesn't open until 10.  Then grocery.

Generator People called.  We are being moved from March to January.  So I had phone calls to make and Propane to order etc.  He had employees needing work.

Lunch was out by the OCEAN.  So gorgeous on the coast yesterday.  We drove past all the old candy colored cottages on the winding roads, up and down over hills.......Maine as it should be.  As far as one could see- water.

I had French Onion Soup and regaled my neighbor with the saga of the refrigerator. Then I had ice cream with hot fudge sauce.  Lovely afternoon.  Got home to the Generator calls.

The skeleton I mentioned (in yesterday's post) is on the front door- daughter read the post and went shopping.  Plastic not paper but...that's a good thing as I can have it more than the once of paper.  Son says it makes an amusing rattle when the door is opened and shut.  Another good thing.

As for the mended sweaters- no time right now to get images but in the next day or so- I will take photos of the mending...and the yarn used is from Paula in Colorado...the endings of yarn used by her to knit socks. Actual socks.....  The Joy of knowing all of you from these meager little posts.....Friendship, scented shampoo, Jean's needles for the machine so I can mend pants, book recommendations, purple fabric I didn't have in my own fabric collection, hand dyed fabric off the Dye Deck in Georgia.....and so many more that will come to mind as I eat my breakfast and leave the house for Library and Grocery.

So many of you out there......taking care of me.  Thank you for being my Friends.

 

October News- Thursday the 3rd. 54 degrees and 99% humidity. Zero Sunshine.

 I selected a random image-  The Pile for Goodwill.  Pants, puzzles etc.  4 boxes.

I am going to lunch today and am reassessing my clothing choices....54 degrees - I think long pants? Socks?  Sweater?   It might warm up a bit in 3 hours.....or not.  I sort of like what I picked out and am wearing but......might need warmer clothing.... Soon I will be bundling up for Winter.

I need to turn on the houselights..very dark in here.

Yes, I need a sweater and socks and long pants.... my ankles are Cold. Can't wear the lovely red shirt.

Yesterday was nothing much to talk about.  I read my book.  Had a HOT Lunch.  (actually remembered to eat lunch), continued reading my book, Son went out for lunch, came back and I told him a bird had smacked into the window and was dead (unwelcome news).  I also inhaled water and that was unpleasant and is still causing me to cough.  Breathing was a bit of a problem for a few minutes.  Close call? No. Scared me more than anything as I was home alone.

Okay..... on with today- I might change out the Shredded Wheat for a bowl of hot oatmeal.  Change out the pants for corduroy and wool socks....change out the red shirt for something warmer or add a long sleeve thermal shirt under it.  Only ONE sweater is okay to wear out of the house minus a coat.  All the rest are heavily mended.......okay for at home but not public.  

Finding and buying a good sweater is difficult.  Most of the cashmere being sold is thin and has an odd odor.  I don't like either of those things.  My sweaters are heavily mended and ancient.  So thicker and softer and no odor.  The two I have came from a nice shop selling previously owned items. Decades Ago.

All my husband's sweaters were cotton or acrylic......and I don't like any of them.  My favorite sweater is 50% patches....well loved and worn....so breakfast and then out to lunch and then home again to finish my book and begin another.....  and perhaps turn UP the furnace.

Tomorrow is grocery and library day. No one cares what I wear to those two places.  My hair is nice.

October Notes- Wednesday the 2nd. Chilly- Sweater and Thermal Shirt.

 Everyone is getting into the Halloween Spirit... a touch early (Love the Spider)   BUT I just changed clothing and NOW have on a thermal shirt, wool socks and wool sweater.  Second cup of hot tea as well.  I thinking a generous bag of KitKat in case anyone tricks or treats this year.  I like them.  Or Snickers. I would like a life sized cardboard skeleton for the front door- black and white.... reusable.

Wrote a check for the Water Bill.  I am trying to return to my former "Life as a Prompt Bill Payer". I had to check twice to make sure I had the date right for the check......I think this is something that happens when we don't have a daily, weekly, monthly schedule.  Too Loose.  I don't like saying "what day is it".

Noticing the motor sound of the fridge........ louder than usual.  Not really--I am just aware of it more than usual. Could be because the freezer is empty.

Also considering options for lunch today here at home....some leftovers.....a can of soup.....grilled  cheese sandwich.  Extra Pickles. Three choices....

My Gardener was here yesterday and power washed- as much as she was able- the sidewalks and porch- ran out of gasoline.  We have a better set of coverings for the new Hydrangea ...the Deer....have decided to eat their leaves.  TruGreen also arrived and the new hire- very dedicated to doing a perfect job--- explained his day to me...in detail ..to let me know why he was so late...since I didn't know he was coming- hardly could say he was "late".  He asked me to lightly water and I said "no".  So he said okay it will just take longer to green up......it's October....not much of a greening up happening.  I am anticipating snow.  Which we take care of the fertilizer.

Tomorrow lunch with my friend.. she has spent the last weeks filling out college financial aid packages for the colleges her grandson is interested in.   She did this as a profession years ago at a private school where she worked.  But the times and the COST has changed so very much.

That's it for here- I am thinking of coloring another circle.....mandala.  I am also considering the down knee warmer and a book.....or perhaps the knee warmer and a nap.  All excellent choices on a cold day in Maine.

I may raise the temp on the thermostat......it's cold in here.  It's actually "old" in here....

October. Already.....

 I am not quite prepared for October- other than having on warmer clothing and socks.  Today is my second haircut at the new place... I am asking that she remove all the curls.  I prefer a plainer head of hair.

The pictures from the Carolinas.....OMG.  I was having a sort of Mind Fart, I guess, and missed all of this misery until yesterday afternoon.  Watching it on the Weather Channel was horrifying.

I could not insert an image.  The slow breakdown of the systems here continues.

Yesterday the Fridge got worked on.  Water is now shut off to the fridge.  The computer system in the door was partially disabled.  No ice and no water going forward.  Of course neither the manufacturer of the repair person had "'ever seen anything like this".   

Now my hair cut.