Field Notes- Wednesday, April 19th. I did not get my Driver's License Renewed.

 I did not have my Birth Certificate.  So they said no license renewal.  (after two hours waiting) Took the expired license away from me. Gave me a paper that says I can drive for two months. Temporarily.

They gave me a form to send to Ohio.  To get a copy of my Birth Certificate. Come back when I have that.

Not until I have that.

So- TWO HOURS and my friend Nancy and I returned home. I was number 17. The Waiting room was full.

We (husband) are going to see if it's in the Safe Deposit Box at the Bank.  If not...then I am sending the paper they gave me to Ohio.  Waiting.

Not that I intend to drive.  Anytime.  Ever.  Again.  Not that I went anywhere when I did drive.  Just into Town and the Grocery. Walked to Library from Grocery Parking Lot.  Hardly ever out of Town- crossing the bridge in the past year.  When you get that "feeling" like its actually not a safe thing for you to drive- that's when you should stop.  76 is a good time to stop.  Sell the car.

But then ... what if you have no kind neighbors and friends or family to take you places?  What do those old people do then....what do I do then?  Janet says I call a Taxi Service for Elderly People.

Gosh...Life?  No Driver's License.  Washing Machine that might expel huge amount of water if turned on. Or might not.......  I really would like to go back a few months to when everything was okay. Nothing to think about or worry about....I could just throw things in the washer and sit down and write in the Pages. 

I had no idea Life was So Good back a few weeks or months ago. Yes, I did know it was good. I was happy.  Well, I need to find some Kleenex-- blow my nose wipe off my cheeks.......

I have books to pick up at Library and a few groceries to get.  I need yogurt- coffee cream.  I need a hug.  I am so very thankful for my neighbor Nancy......quite wonderful to have someone take you to the DMV and sit with you for two hours...and no license renewal.  Sigh.  We had good conversation for two hours.

Her high school grandson is in Europe for Spring Break.  A School Trip.  Rome, Italy today. Still has his suitcase and backpack......iPhone pictures each day. What a Wonderful World.

Field Notes- Tuesday, April 18th. Raining here in Maine- Chill in the Air.

 The Gardener Choosing What To Grow.  Not me.  I tried the Root Crops (beets, carrots, onions) and the little critters ate them from underground.  I won't do that again.

Rain yesterday and today.  Which is fine.  Rain is always needed. Welcome.  But surprised by the Chill. The cold that came with the Rain.  And then there is a complete absence of Sun.  April.

Library was closed for my usual Monday visit so we will go today.  Husband is still eating his breakfast. I had a nice stack of books but didn't get to most of them...had to renew the stack I am keeping until next week.  I don't understand how they didn't get read...... has it been three weeks?

House lights are on, furnace has been running.  Wet brings a more intense chill to the house.

Husband has Chicken Soup. A new batch.  I am thinking I need to put on socks.

Tomorrow Morning- DMV to get my Driver's License renewed.  I have collected all the papers and ID needed.  My Lunch Buddy says I will need to do the Eye Test.  I need the License for ID.  I am not at all sure I will be driving.  My Car is still in need to a new Battery.  And the Inspection Sticker.

I think I need to go back down to my room and get socks.  It's really cold. I already have on a long sleeved thermal and Sweater.  But socks........I need socks.  And a fresh hot cup of sweet tea.  

The few days of sun and warm are past us now.....Maine is known for long, cold, wet Spring. And, if the truth be told......the same in Summer.  I can recall temps of 50 in the summer.

Field Notes- A Very Rainy Somber Monday, April 17th. Reminded of the Boston Marathon Bomber.

 I doubt...going forward..I will ever be the Joanne who posted on this blog last week.  I am in such a different PLACE now and it seems...when I get comfortable with changes- that FATE decides to throw more shit my way.  I really just want to go back to bed and cover my head with my comforter and stay there..forever.

I am guessing that I am depressed? Actually...I am angry.  Really really angry.  Because I am unable to fix any of this.......and now the washing machine.   Sigh.  Too Much.  And I did look forward to the Time doing wash..and writing in the Washing Machine Pages notebooks.  A therapy of sorts.

But Fate has decided to take that from me...like everything else.

I have a few more days of clean underwear before I have to decide how to move forward.  I am guessing I will be traveling to the nearest place with Washing Machines and the need for pockets full of quarters to feed into the machines...... until I decide what to do with the old machine.  If I want a new one.....doors in the bathroom will need to be removed- the toilet will need to be removed (and then replaced)- because that is how they got the machine into the small space it occupies....without the toilet being there....

And who will do this work?  The guys who did the work before are all gone....and finding people to do things in Maine- is not easy.

I really can't deal with it.......I might just sign myself into one of the Senior Living Places........ It's just a very very bad place that I am in right now.......Wednesday, my Lunch Buddy is taking me to the DMV to get my Driver's License Renewed. So I can drive ...... places. I haven't driven the car since August. Last August.

I am tempted to try and get the old machine to do a load of wash.....but what if the water runs out into the bedroom and ruins the hardwood floors?????  My son isn't coming to Maine.  My daughter is too busy working.  It's just me..And I am so so tired......and now the washing machine......the last straw as they say. But then husband did something to the ice maker.... and I had to figure that out. Ice all over the floor.

Like I wrote- it's all too much..... and I am tired.  Even watching TV has become a problem. Everything is breaking down.  Falling apart.  Not working.  Needs repairs.  Overflows...  Has flashing lights.  Needs to be re-booted over and over again.  I am so tired......and my oatmeal has just beeped.....well, the microwave.   Wednesday.  Renewing Driver's License.  Then the car needs a tuneup and a new battery. And the Laundry.  And whatever is wrong with the tv.  I have five books... I can always READ.

Field Notes- Sunday- Clouds in my Coffee. 58 degrees with possibility of Rain.

 Something Jude Hill would make.  

I have made Jude Hill tiny finished one inch squares, with the quarter inch basted down all four sides of each tiny square.  Lovely when it's all done. I like everything she makes. I think I would adore making a Jacket.  What would make it happen is a small group of quilters.  Meeting once a week. I think all my Quilting Friends are dead or moved far away.  I know quite a few are dead. I have their cloth stashes. I even have one friend's sewing machine. Breast Cancer.

Yesterday.......not much happened.  In fact, so little happened, I can barely recall any of it.  Really! I do recall the washing machine....... trying to block that.

Today I am making a fresh pot of Chicken Soup.  Possibly the last of the season.  Chicken Thighs are on sale again for 99 cents a pound.  I could buy more. Could. Would. Should??? Stockpile Frozen Chicken Thighs........yep? I'm thinking it might be okay.

New York Times had Manicotti.  My grocery used to sell sheets of pasta for Manicotti.  I would fill and roll them, bake and eat..  The NYT suggests a box of "Manicotti Shells" (what???).  Tomorrow is Monday so I will look but I don't think I will find. And I am SO NOT getting out the Pasta Machine and making sheets of pasta.  But now I consider it....might work out.

If my son was visiting- we would. For sure.

We would also make Mexican Casserole.  Which I also love to eat. And our own Pot Stickers. And perhaps a Fruit Pie.  We both love Cherry Pie. As soon as the Rhubarb is up in Patty's yard- I will be making a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Perhaps a lost Black Lab will stumble out of the woods?  That happened the last time I made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

He isn't coming to visit. (my son)......I always knew he wouldn't... Daughter has also disappeared.  Working. I'm spending too much time sitting and looking out the window.  My Spring Bulbs are in Full Bloom and it's really so pretty.  The center island bulbs and the front yard ones are a few weeks later..... I have books to read....there is a fabric wanting to be a border for a small patched square.

Still Saturday April 15th

The Washing Machine didn't stop on the rinse fill.  And even my sitting right there didn't help much (but better than not being able to shut it off right away).  I mopped up what spilled and got most of the water out of the machine before turning it back on so it could Drain and Spin.  Which it did.

The floor drain is in the wrong spot.  The water drained left along the shower wall...and then under the sink cabinets.  Not even close to the floor drain.  My slippers and socks are wet.

We stayed here too long......we've piled crap up everywhere.  If the house had been smaller-- we would have had to let stuff go.  If the toilet wasn't right in front of the washing machine- we could get a new one in here.  As it is.....the toilet will need to come out......gosh....what an f-ing mess.

Field Notes- Saturday, April 15th. Breakfast. Bill Paying. Sunshine. 61 degrees.

 My Grandmother grew roses like this.....her "secret" for growing roses was cow manure.  Lots of it. In fact, her secret for all of the gardens ...manure.

I gave up on roses.  No matter how I tried to protect them...the deer who wander into my yard (at night) love to eat roses..... this Spring- when someone strong volunteers to help in the garden (it could happen) The roses will become food for the compost bins.

About my (rash isn't a perfect term) it's more a series of red welts and bubbles filled with air.  The bubbles are empty.  Just air inside. They ITCH. I have looked on the internet but find nothing like this.  I had it once before- in Winter (we had a Christmas Tree) and the air bubbles were larger, extremely itchy, empty and darker.  Hot Water and Calamine Lotion and by morning..nothing to see.  What is happening now.... not as itchy, more welts and some bubbles.  After the really hot shower and calamine lotion they are gone.  Until bedtime. Same as the others two Decembers ago....nothing to see in the morning.  A lack of evidence. To show a doctor. Other than an iPhone photo.

Mystified.  This morning..red patches, fewer bubbles and not AS itchy.

Like the last time......no strange foods, clothing, new detergents......it came and it went.  This time it's staying longer. Whatever is getting it going....is still present.

Bills...writing checks.  Not the most fun but gotta do it.

I haven't been reading.  I need to get back into it.  I also need to put on socks.  Even though wool socks itch.  And I only have Smart Wool socks.  

Are you all enjoying the Justice Thomas Soap Opera?????  Just proves that no matter how you try to keep something a secret- it still manages to surface....perhaps at the very Best of Times?

Field Notes- Sunshine and 76 outside. Cool in the house. I woke up, showered, dressed and fell asleep on the couch.

 My Daffodils out behind the house- Huge and very very amazing looking.  Fully in Blossom.

I woke with a whole body rash. Again. Very hot shower then Calamine Lotion.  Clothes- then breakfast and newspaper and finally asleep on couch.  I am going to eliminate flour  (wheat) from my diet.  Rice. I will be eating rice today and if we go out- I'll buy bananas.

To say, I feel lousy, is an understatement. Even though the red rash and hives are non existent right now  (I can see faint shadows of where they were early this morning.... I still feel tired.  I haven't a clue what set this rash into a circular crap shoot......but even my socks itch.

I poured drain cleaner (unclogger) down my bathroom sink drain and waited 15 minutes and then poured boiling hot water down the drain.  No clog this morning.  No idea why that drain would clog.

I actually have no idea about anything today.  Back to the couch.. closing my eyes.

A shame to be missing out on the very first 76 degree day of Spring in Maine.

Field Notes: SIXTY SEVEN DEGREES. Got my haircut short.....Summer hair I can wet with the garden hose.

 I didn't buy any Petunias but I did buy Fruit Spikes for the Peach Trees.  I will pound them into the ground around the circumference of the mulched area.  Feed the Roots.  I have two leftover from last year and will pound them into the ground by the Damson Plum.  Which flowers but hasn't made fruit since it's first year.  I should walk around the neighborhood to see if anyone has a Plum tree and will share a branch.  Cross Pollination.

Everything seemed too expensive at the greenhouse.  I looked at Citrus but they always die.  I looked at Orchids-- but they tend to get bugs. And it's too early for Geraniums--but they looked very nice.

I got my hair cut very short.  So I can run the garden hose over it when I get hot.

We didn't go to the Library.  We did go to the grocery store.  I got two more Noosa yogurts. Husband needed Orange Juice.  He stopped off in Town at the Hearing Aid place- the un-repaired hearing aid wasn't working just right.  They cleaned it for him.  He says he cleans them--but then can't recall when.

I went to the grocery yesterday to buy a new vitamin specifically for EYE Health.  It's very large and blue. I was worried I would not be able to swallow it- but it was fine.  I also visited the Baby Aisle and got some Eczema cream.   And it worked.  I still get the rash overnight but the new cream won the Rash Battle...which is terrific.

In an offer of such Grace and Kindness- my Lunch Buddy is taking me to the Motor Vehicle Place next week so I can re-new my Driver's License.  It could take hours....... Next adventure is having the car inspected for a CURRENT Sticker.  I have always had it insured.   The Driver's License as ID. The car in working order in case of emergencies.  And I need the kick in the pants for driving again......

Field Notes- Wednesday, April 12th. Supposedly in the 60's but I still feel cold. Mild Sun.

 A simple (ly) beautiful kitchen.  Shaker.

Two loads of laundry done and I actually cleaned the bathroom floor and under the bed etc etc. 

My skin condition has been going back and forth.  Wake up with the rash.......or go to bed with the rash, or just have the rash all day.  I don't see a connection to anything I wear, I eat, I do...... 

It's a Great Mystery.  Cause it never lasts all day. It disappears. The Come and Go Rash.

So I washed the bedsheets because  waking up all red, and rash-y is not a great way to start the day. But I have been waking up like this........I decided the sheets might have some contamination. So washed. I bought a different Aveeno face wash and Aveeno body wash.  Put fresh sheets on the bed.

I also looked at things in the Baby Section.  Lots of rash products.  Baby's must be covered in rashes according to the number of products.   

I also bought Eye Vitamins.  Two weird elements.  Because my eyes  deserve the Very Best. Care. So now I will have three pills every morning.  Not two.  And am probably more like all the others my age.

My hair is enjoying the frequent (boiling hot) showers.  Hair is soft and shiny.  Tomorrow I get a haircut.

Grocery Store on a not Monday visit. Felt different.  And because of the Time- lots of people from businesses and the college (center of Town) were choosing lunch items.

I feel like I am "becoming a delicate flower" of old womanhood.  Three morning pills.  Wow.

Filed Notes- Tuesday, April 11th. Clouds in my Coffee. Still, no breeze, no blue sky. But Daffodils have all opened. Glorious.

 Garden is on my mind.    Driver's License renewal is on my mind as Nancy just got hers renewed..  We could have gone together.  

This itchy rash I have is on my mind. How much I enjoy having lunch with my Lunch Buddy (Nancy).......

We got to Do the credit cards the old school way.  Paper.  Carbon paper. Pens that don't write on either very well.

Nancy had Fish and I had Eggplant.

I wore a scarf- my sweater is itchy--I brought one for her.  And it was the colors she absolutely likes. I have a basket full of pretty scarves.

We got a late start....there was a mentally unstable guy in the store where she was shopping... TJMaxx. The employees were carefully encouraging customers into the back stock room waiting for the Police to arrive. So it took awhile to handle all that and then get the customers out if they wanted out-- they did.

Wow......could have been really bad....

Went to bed with my hive/rash.  Woke up without it.   Took two regular blue Benadryl-- not the generic pink ones.  They seemed to work better.  I go to sleep with clear-rash free skin and wake up all red, puffy and with red circles. Empty. Red Circles. Very itchy.

Strange....very very strange.

Two loads of washing.  Only half a page written.  I have no thoughts.  

Field Notes- Monday, April 10th. Sunshine. Not feeling well.

 I woke.  Not feeling well.  Itchy. Hives.  Benedryl.  Hot Shower.  Calamine Lotion.  Then back to bed, hopeful that the next time I woke...would be better.  

An allergic reaction to something.  I am thinking the Lo Mein as it was new to me.  Still feeling weird.

Husband wanted to set up the Peony support rings. (I didn't know but saw him there when I woke)  Stood on all the tiny red Peony growing points. There will be no peonies....he has crushed them all.  I asked Why......there is never an answer to my Why questions.  Executive function no longer working.  

There is nothing I can do to fix.....them. Him.

That bed will look so EMPTY in the months ahead.

Tears....for the Peonies.  For me.  I will remember this loss for years of Springs to come. They won't ever come up again. I think this is true. How can they if the growing tip is crushed.

I have lived here 31 years and the Peonies almost all of that Time.

Field Notes- Easter Sunday- April 9th. Sunshine, but chilly inside the House. Bunny skipped our house.

 Well, here it is Easter.  Seems early this year.  Chilly inside the house.  My hands are cold.

The Daffodils out back are opening- it all looks very pretty this morning. The neighbor across the street was all excited about having family here for Easter but they all seem to have gone to visit her ex-husband about 30 minutes to our south.  That happens every time the family comes to visit. They sleep over and then race over to Dad's house.  He married the "other woman".

So she is across the street.....alone. She should have gone on vacation. A resort.

Husband finished a difficult puzzle yesterday and has opened a new (to him- its a Library loaner) puzzle and is sorting pieces looking for the "edges".  It makes him crazy when I walk over look at the pieces and then pick up an piece and put it in place.  And then walk away.  Our visual acuity.  Very different.

I did not read yesterday.  I Fringed.  Hard to know who is in which "reality".  Season Three.

I made Pizza for dinner yesterday and today I will be setting a fresh pot of Chicken Soup onto the burner. I forgot to drizzle my half of the pizza with Ranch Dressing..... sad face....and I have the remainder of the Lo Mein to finish today...happy face...  So much for Easter Dinner.  Daughter stopped working at the Candy Factory early...so no Easter Candy for the Old Folks.

A headline in the paper..."Has America Lost It's Way?"  Yes.  A thousand times ...Yes. We are at the "lowest common denominator" period...... no one is going High. Reminded of Obama telling us to "go high when they go low"   Remember that?  Or was that Mrs. Obama??? I am so very tired of all the "going Low".......

Field Notes- Saturday, April 8th. Cooler but Still Sunny. Good Friday.

 Watched Contact last night.  I wasn't going to...but I do like the movie.

I finally dug into the Lo Mein and wow...it was so much better- they used Chinese fat noodles.  And the cabbage and carrots I pan fried and added sent it over the top....... I have the second half for today. the "they" I refer to are the new owners, I think.   I also had the Lactate Free Strawberry Cheesecake "ice cream" for dessert.

I recorded the fourth Season of Fringe for this weekend's binge.

I filled the two Birdbaths with clean water.  None of the birds are taking a bath yet--mostly they are having a drink and then back to the bird feeders for more seeds.

I have a book ready to be read.......I have reserved a few more by the same author....of the Bromance Book Club...

I have started every sentence with I.

Now I am going to stop and read or do a lot of wash.  Would be nice to take a nap.

Field Notes- Sunshine and nearly 60 today...... no coats. Taxes.

 Taxes.  The Bankers were HERE.  Toured the property.  Chatted.  We signed.  They carried the returns off to write checks and mail.  Asked if I minded?  No!!!!!  I gave them my favorite pens.......G2 Bold.  They liked them...very much.  The Trust Office will be getting new pens. G2 Bold.

Tax Season is over.......what a relief. and no Post Office.

Chinese Take Out yesterday worked out GREAT ( G didn't get lost going or returning).......I made it thru the Crab Rangoon and the Pot Stickers. But never even opened the container of Vegetable Lo Mein.  No Fortune Cookies.  I felt a great sense of loss. I liked those little cookies. We ate while watching BattleBots. Yes....we did watch that. I actually enjoyed watching BattleBots.  Angry Machines. Had Tangerines.

When we lived in the suburbs of Chicago and the children were in elementary school-- we had Chinese at a little place and got tangerines with the fortune cookies...... both children loved the soap dispenser in the rest rooms....spent additional time there.  

Now it's only Take Out- no indoor seating or eating.. COVID changes everything eventually.

I read a book.  About a Men's Romance Book Club.  It's a series by  Lyssa Kay Adams.  Undercover Bromance.  Not the first of the Rom Com books to have this in the subject matter. I could look it up...see what the percentage of Rom Com readers are male etc..... but I won't.

Today's book?  I think Maggie Finds Her Muse.  Paris.  

Lunch buddy Lunch on Tuesday.   Now- Another cup of tea and a shortbread cookie.  

Field Notes- Thursday, April 6th. Clouds, 39 degrees.......

 The price of this coat and others is in the four digits-  Yep.   I saw a pair of $900 shoes. Loafers. They looked like Loafers.......any Loafers.  Well, Navy Blue Loafers. 

What I actually would like to KNOW--who is buying and wearing this "fashion"????? Let me know-if you know who is wearing it...

Clouds in My Coffee again today.   sigh.  House Lights on at 9 am.  I have no lights on here in the room I am in...and it's dark.  Waiting to see what happens- rain or snow or nothing. Or Both.

We are ordering Chinese Food Today.  Hot and Sour Soup for husband.  He likes the big container so two days of soup.  And he likes the Fried Rice.  Well, He Did.  Who knows what he will like when we order. I have No Idea what I will order. Zero. Idea.  It's been so long that I have forgotten what I usually get. I did  like Orange Beef.  But not anymore. I think I like Lo Mein.  But I usually have to add stuff to it. At home.  Like fried carrot strips. We'll see what happens. I should ask daughter what she orders.  But she is at work.

My Lunch buddy says we'll meet next Tuesday.  For Lunch.  Her husband has just finished their tax returns. He does them by hand with pencils .  Doesn't trust computers or any sort of thing that isn't a pencil. I think he's 80 plus years old.. Been working on them for weeks.  A Lawyer (retired).

Banker is bringing ours tomorrow. I think he will be talking about Quarterly Payments. We don't have offsetting something or other.   

As long as I am not doing the taxes.....I'm fine with "whatever" something........  

Just finished a favorite book.  Might just turn back to the first page and read it again.  It would be an amazing movie.  Lucy Checks In.  Ernst.  Love after 50.

And that's it for today...Thursday, April 6th.  The daffodils out back are budded and will open in a few days.  The crocuses are falling over....having done their Early Spring job..... we still have unmelted snow from weeks ago. It IS and it ISN'T Spring.  Why does Winter linger so long and Spring arrives so SLOW and departs so quickly???

Field Notes- Wednesday, April 5th. Almost noon. Just finished my breakfast. I am sleeping late this month.

 Expecting snow today.    It seems like we are always expecting snow.  I am tired of it.

 My old friend Allie hasn't started her seeds as yet but she is having to do her seed starting on the dining room table this year and not in the basement.  Her sister's furniture is in the basement.  They are living together now.  I put my order in........I am so lucky to have such lovely people in my Life.

I got the full list of tomato seeds being started.  The lovely golden yellow one with the rosy blush.  So pretty. Delicious. Sun Gold and Snow White.  Cherry tomatoes I adore.  I used to grow so many plants that I could fill cookie trays with cherry tomatoes- added olive oil and roasted them and then into containers and into the freezer. Recently I thawed out one container (there were two) and made my favorite pasta dish.  The pectin made the sauce so creamy and luxurious.

I am so grateful for Allie and her annual tomato seed starting.  It's the only seed she starts or plants. She loves eating fat slices in a tomato sandwich as much as I do. Southern Style.

When I get my hair cut next week- we'll drive further up the road to where I used to work and buy composted seaweed to put in the Future Tomato Bed.  Where the hard black tomatoes grew last summer. I need to add nutrients to the soil.  I am also going to see what they have.......perhaps a few herbs. For the back deck.  In one of the grow boxes.  It's still too early for the containers.  But I will make a list for my daughter for when she and her employer go plant shopping up north.

Just thinking about planting and such......makes Spring seem more plausible.  Less distant. Less likely to SNOW.  There are no birds flying about......so..snow.

Field Notes- Tuesday, April 4th. Clouds in my Coffee and a hint of Rain in my future.

 I like the idea of this wool jacket but- wearing it?   I wonder how many they will sell and how many will be returned????

Well, husband went for a hair cut and then was missing for an additional hour and if my hair wasn't already white- it would be now.   I was thinking he was lost..... I looked outside and there he was in the back garden poking around........I'll go with him next time.

Emails with our son about an odd "emergency" alert from Apple.  He says it happens- delete it. So I did.

I watched a bit of the Police Circus in New York City.  Also very disturbed that Andrea Mitchell gave MTG air space on 60 Minutes.  I stopped watching 60 Minutes years ago and never watch anything with Mitchell.  I have two nice books to read....... I did watch the helicopter follow the motorcade yesterday as the Clowns returned to NYC.

I had a good shopping list yesterday but.......I still don't have anything to eat. Well, I have oatmeal and pancake mix.  So I had pancakes for supper.  Not the most nutritious meal.....while reading a book with lovely French Food.  And a Lovely Man.  Both the books I got yesterday have short men...and both live in France. And the American women are in their 40's.  Not the madcap romcoms I usually read.

How lovely to take the dog for a walk each evening and sit in an outdoor cafe drinking wine and talking. Perhaps....it's not too late for any of us???

Field Notes- Monday, April 3rd. Sunshine and mid forties today. Seems warmer.

 I am reminded of the days when we folded, rolled and Kondo'ed the stuff we put into our dresser drawers. I did roll my underwear.  It was nice to look at when I open the drawer.  Now I fold it into a square and  stand them up on edge...that's as far as I go.  I skip the roll. What about you?

I had one comment in the last whatever number of posts.....so either I am stupefyingly boring or...well, that would be why.  I am tempted to stop posting but...actually, I write these damned things for myself....for someplace to express thoughts etc.  I know that you read these posts.  There just is nothing to say, is there.

I stayed up past bedtime to finish that book......to find out the who and what of the people being murdered. I was going to say.....something but who knows...one of you might read that author.....  The next book should wrap up a crime that occurred years ago- in book terms.  I recall the three men.  All policemen.  Two of them got shot pretty seriously.  One paralyzed from the neck down.  One dead.  The dead guy has left something behind that gets the other two arrested.....well, not the paralyzed one.....but it looks bad. I'll have to wait a year or two to find out.

Gordon and Rose.  I want to find out what happens there.

Fringe has moved past interesting and gory to just plain confusing.  Who is in one timeline and who is in the other world?????  Plus one episode was in the 40's.  I was lost the entire evening.  I guessed that the people who died in the one timeline and were alive again were in the "other" place...but why was Peter? I am guessing I missed an episode or two. Who knew that having a ball point pen meant you were from another reality????

Field Notes- Sunday April 2nd. Sunshine. Rained yesterday and overnight.

 Bonsai type sticks to hold and support vegetables in the garden.   I have used this type of support system in the garden for years and years.  A stick or branch and some string.

The dark blue crocuses are fully blooming.  The daffodils are heavily budded but no flowers have opened as yet.  The tiny miniature yellow daffodils are just leafing out.  No hyacinths as yet.

I am near the end of the Jussi-Adler Olsen book.  We know who the bad person is.  Carl does not. This book was heavier on the actual murder mystery than usual and not on the quirky police personnel. I think perhaps because they were taking Covid lockdown seriously......not everyone did.  In books.

So....husband is sorting  "new" puzzle pieces.  It isn't a new puzzle.  But it is something to do.  He's now doing one per day so I am having to recycle them...more often than I usually do.  This one has larger pieces so it should go quickly but there will to be the usual- "pieces are missing" complaints.

My day long marathon of TiVo'ed episodes of Fringe finally got to the two worlds colliding yesterday.  The Peter from the "other" reality is now in the one we think is real. And perhaps we'll find out about Peter.  Since there IS a grave with his name on it.  I recall watching episodes each week....but seeing them back to back is better for cognitive recall.  And the ending will certainly be a surprise. I think I missed it first time around.

I made pizza yesterday.  I had onion and bell peppers on my side.  He had onion and pepperoni. We both had lots of cheese.  I had a bottle of lemonade with mine.  From a day I had company sitting on the porch and she didn't want a beverage.  I need to buy a large bottle of wine. Tomorrow on Grocery Day.

I need to email Allie to find out if she is growing tomato seedlings.  Put in my order.  I want more of the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes.  I used one of the frozen blocks of roasted Sun Gold tomatoes (frozen) and really enjoyed eating the resulting pasta.  Lots of Pectin.

Field Notes- Saturday, April First. Happy Fool's Day. It's raining...Will be raining all day, I think.

 I have a few shrubby trees that might benefit from this type of "pruning".  

It's 11:35.  I didn't sleep well.  Things from my Past were bothering me.  There is nothing I can do about these bothersome things/events.  Nothing.  I have forgiven them.  But.........some injuries never really heal.

I did two loads of Washing Machine Pages yesterday but ran out of things to write well before the second load was in the dryer- so I did something I rarely, if ever, do... I walked away.  Then came back. I folded the first dry load and then came back later to fold the second.

I made another pot of chicken soup for husband.  He worked on the puzzle I got for him from the most recent Library visit.  I wish we had more of them but 300 piece puzzles are in short supply and the 500 and 1000 piece ones are way way too confusing.  I didn't type difficult.  Because it's more that they confuse him.

I think these massive Library puzzles with tiny pieces might be "gifts" that older people get from friends and family. And then they get donated to the Library Puzzle Collection.  My neighbor gets lots of catalogs during holiday times and is often away and I collect her mail.  She is okay with me looking at the many catalogs she gets.  Some had puzzles.  But all were in the 500 to 1000 piece size.   I have no problem buying puzzles for him....as he does them over and over again-  forgetting is sometimes a good thing......but circulating only 5 or 6 puzzles- he does recall them... and NOW he doesn't read books.

So...finding him "things to do" is getting more difficult.  He seems to be less interested in his coloring books right now....but still enjoys his word search puzzles.  When I ask how things are going....he mentions being confused and not "understanding" things.  I think that is what happened with reading. 

So he is aware of what is happening. Not for long and not always...but I need to be careful how I phrase questions now......not to make him feel "less" as this loss continues and builds.  Erodes????

Field Notes- Friday, March 31st. Sunshine with Possible Rain. Washing Machine Pages.

 My Picture File is blah, would never want open shelving.

So.....yesterday we (husband driving and me hoping for the best), went into Town- so much in Town traffic for a VERY Petite Sized Town- to pick up his repaired hearing aid.  Then.....no home.

Oh, I did stop at the Library to drop off a book I wasn't going to read and pick up two more.

I didn't read yesterday.  I usually do......but I didn't even though I want to know what happens to the guy trapped in the cement room....in Copenhagen.  One in a short (right now) list of horrible deaths.  One of them made me close my eyes while reading the words.........  in case you are wondering......this was my USUAL reading material for years and years....I NEVER, at that point in Time--read a Romance Novel. NEVER.  I did in the years before.  But not then.  Just creepy and very savage murder mysteries.

I can't watch a brutal murder on tv...ever.  I can read about it.

So.we got in the car, drove into Town traffic- why our Town has so much drive thru traffic is beyond me. There is a highway.  Use it.  We found parking.  Shutter.  We parked. We lived to tell the tale.

MSNBC was watched until midnight.  Stephanie Ruhle.  Her show was very very good.  One commentator was sitting alone at midnight in her vast empty blue and white kitchen. And I finally hit the jackpot and got Mary Trump.  Donald's cousin.  Been wanting to know what she thought.

I cleaned (dusted) part of my bedroom floor- need to get under the bed......scrubbed the toilet and now going back down the hall to do a load of washing machine pages.....I am out of underwear. Husband is asleep on the sunporch with a word search book open and a pen in his hand....... he has a new puzzle on the table.  

Field Notes- Thursday. March 30th. Sunshine but not Warm.

 We might have seen this image before.  And What happened to yesterday's picture??? I want a Black and White Kitchen. Someday.

Well, I am reading my Covid 19 murder mystery and the police (in Denmark) are trying to find a way to work and also be safe.  Which is not easy.  Right now a man is inside a room with no exits, a pail of water, no food......not looking like he's going to get out.  

We got a call this morning that the Hearing Aid was ready for pickup.  So...faster than I thought.  It was expensive. But both are now under warranty so repairs next time will be covered.  The drive set my teeth on edge. I did get to laugh as the Eye Glass Guy (while Gary was getting Hearing aids sorted) was teasing me for being "opinionated" about which new frames looked good on a male customer.  He got the "good" ones.  They matched his hair....... still makes me laugh. Actually, they made the dark hair look "more" and the gray look "less".  

My red frames....make the white look whiter???????  I am laughing.  they actually make my eyes look DARKER.

I also stopped in the Library to return a book I wasn't interested in reading and to check out another one. I also got another puzzle for husband.  He's finishing them pretty quickly this week. I got a book for myself.

I just cooked pasta to go along with husband's last Chicken Parm meal.  Tomorrow I will make a second pot of Chicken Soup for this week. Boil soup noodles.  I am trying to find something else he might be  "encouraged" to eat.....so far, I am not finding anything.  Or more likely, something that does not involve pasta.  Perhaps I can encourage him to try a sandwich?

Do something to make yourself or someone else laugh today........the news of the World is sad enough today.

I am thinking of a salad for myself.  Maybe.

Field Notes- Wednesday, March 29th. Sunshine. Still patches of Snow.

 I pasted something over the artist's name for this (on the desk calendar).  I need to do better.

I paid bills.  Post Office picked them up.  Today I am going to the Town Office to pay Property Tax Bills. Ours and Daughter's.   She is finishing up her last week at the Candy Factory and then will be working on Landscaping.  There is a chance she and George will be driving down to Trader Joes.  His car wouldn't make it.  So they are going in her car.

I watched some news.  I started reading a book.  I read it once before and don't think it will hold my attention but...who knows.  The most recent Will Trent book is waiting for me at the Library.  I did watch last night's episode of Will Trent.  Will and the little boy......it was very much like the books.  The woman on the show- the one Will is involved with- is Angie.  It was interesting to see Faith, her mom and Amanda.  They got those character's right.  In the books, Will would NEVER wear a brown three piece suit. Just so you know.

In the book I just finished which went back and forth from Jeffery to Will, the author had her final say on Jeffery.......listed all the women he had slept with while cheating on his wife Sara.  I am guessing the author wants to be done with that story line. Me, too.

We are getting ready to go....husband is waiting by the door.  

Field Notes. Tuesday, March 28th. Clouds, grey sky. Warm.

 Ceramic Pans.  I have one large one.  Food slides around on the surface.  I read the info and it likes medium heat but high heat will damage the surface.  I think I knew that but forgot it.  I make pancakes in it.  Which is one of it's highlighted purposes. They slide around on the surface but get a nice surface browning. I had pancakes for supper.  Yesterday.

I used the same photo twice.  Two days in a a row on my posts.  Wow.

We are having more and more outbursts of....I am not sure what...I guess the "knowing" mistakes are being made (usually with iPhone calls) is bothering him.......he has started asking for the "real phone" meaning the house land line.  Just tried calling about his hearing aid in for repairs.  Going to be a Bad Day.

I paid bills today.  He gave me the wrong date.  I asked what is the date today and he gave me last week off his iPhone.  Now...that iPhone knows what day it is........Even my crappy iPhone knows what day it is.

I think we have transitioned from not having a clue what is going on to being angry about what is going on. I knew that was coming.  He has a vile temper.  

The shooting yesterday.  Deep in Republican Territory.  Why do they need to shoot Innocent Children and Old People????  Why two assault  rifles.  Why two?  Tell me.

I took a long hot shower yesterday afternoon.  I always forget in the morning.  I am too tired at night.

Field Notes- March 27th. the sun is shining but other than that...A Totally Crap Day.

 I WAS planning to buy a bouquet of fresh flowers at the grocery store.  BUT the flowers are next to the Pharmacy Pick Up.  My new inhaler prescription- for generic- had a $178 co-pay.  I gave the inhalers back.  Usually the REAL INHALERS have a $40 (each) co-pay.  sigh.  We drove home and put the groceries away and after trying--in vain--to call the doctor's office----to change back to Advair and not the generic- we went back and I waited the 30 to 40 minutes while they re-energized the prescription.   And I paid.

I was"this" close to stopping using an inhaler.  But when I was waiting in the car, I was having trouble breathing.  And, now that it's WARM, I am feeling terrible.  My clothing was too warm.  I had to sit with my head down at the Library so I didn't faint.  And...yes, I had used the inhaler I had at home just a few hours earlier.  I was just afraid of fainting and falling on the floor.

Husband was sitting on the SunPorch just now and eating the two "big" tangerines I got him.  Actually a bag of them.  I have apples. He likes tangerines. I stopped buying bananas as they give me acid reflux.

The grocery was full of people.  I got everything on the list.....parchment paper was next to the light bulbs. Why it isn't in with baking is beyond me..........it's used to line baking sheets and pans and I bake bread and pizza on it- helps to get the baked goods off the Pizza stone in a very hot oven.  Light Bulbs.

So...a bad start to warmer weather.  All the snow on the house roof has melted.  Still patches on the grass. I didn't buy any Easter Candy.  Not sure there is any that I like.......

Well, I have another 30 to 40 minutes to finish the final Will Trent book.  There should be a new one- I might go look on line.  I got three books at the library.  And then..like I mentioned, I didn't feel like looking anymore..... I am going to take off this sweater and put on a cotton work shirt.  Or not.

Field Notes- Sunday March 26th. Snow Yesterday..but warmer today so it's melting. Clouds.

 I am feeling like it might actually be SPRING someday SOON. Love the Tulips.

Still mostly grey outdoors but the purple/blue crocuses out back are looking quite lovely.  I am tempted to cut some for inside the house....but..they belong outside.  The Daffodils are swelling and will produce the white variety my brother in law Roger sent as a welcome to your new house gift years and years ago.   1991.

The bulbs multiply and I used to dig them up (and divide) and then plant the bulbs all around the property.   So.. Roger's Daffodils are everywhere.  Which means I will NEVER forget him or the sweet, kindness of him. Twenty has become Two Hundred and then more.

I watched the Fringe episodes I recorded last week and today I am watching the episodes I recorded yesterday.  And today I will record episodes for next Saturday. 

I made a Pot of Chicken Soup for husband yesterday afternoon.  He enjoyed it.  Tomorrow is Grocery Shopping and Library.  Balls of frozen Pizza Dough are on Sale.  We enjoyed the Pizza we had for lunch last week...so I'll buy more..... I have been eating my side of the pie with just cheese and onion.  The Pepperoni was causing acid reflux.  Or it could have been the pizza crust...... I could get Gluten Free...but then I wouldn't want pizza anymore.  I am wondering what else I could add to my side.......

Husband worked on the puzzle..pieces are missing. I need to get a ladder and check the top of the bookcase. We didn't put the pieces into a plastic bag the last time.....my error.

Field Notes- Overcast...no rain yesterday. Snow Today? 36 degrees. Slight ray of sunshine.

 Wow.  Chili with Toppings.  I am ALWAYS an Admirer of TOPPINGS.

I just never have the topping ingredients here in the fridge.  Red onion, jalapeño, avocado, yellow cheese. Sour cream.  sigh.  Perhaps someone will ring the doorbell and hand me a bowl of chili??? Not. So NOT.

I have one or two more servings of the Cherry Tomato Pasta.  It's very good. After it's done I have Romaine Lettuce with toppings of Pulled Pork, Cheese and Sour Cream. I actually thought it would be WARM this week.  I was WRONG.

I am struggling with the 2020 Silent Wife. By Karen Slaughter.  I can't figure out who the Silent Wife is. Things are not going well with Will and Sara.  And we keep drifting back into Time to when Jeffery wasn't dead.  I recall the mailbox blowing up (a pipe bomb) and Jeffery getting the full blast.  Now we are rewriting history with him getting a bullet to the forehead?  Come on......I don't like this.

I put the book before Silent Wife on the return pile after only 20 or so pages.   Now this.

Hallmark had sort of a good movie yesterday- a series of weddings every weekend.. same two people invited to each of them.  But not good enough to keep me... and MSNBC lost me..and there was ZERO Law and Order.  So...I went up into the Attic.  Found two nice enough sweaters for husband to wear. and found myself an adorable brown Teddy Bear. By Gund.  He can sit up by himself.  He's right over there on the top of the printer lid.  Looking like he wants a hug.

Hope the Teddy likes Fringe.  It's on this weekend....all day.

Field Notes- Friday. March 24th. Overcast, Clouds A chance of What????

 Little weedy things coming up in this file photo.  Also the daffodils are "budding"in my own weedy patch.  I have quite a few purple blue crocuses.  No photo as I can't get close to them- there is a fence to keep deer from eating them..and it also keeps me out.  This photo is from a gardening site. It was in the photo file.  Which is getting thin.

Work continues on the puzzle.  Not me.  Husband.

I need to turn on lights.  I started the very last of the Will Trent Books.  A Prison Riot.  A case that turns back on the early books.  Sara'a first husband, Lena etc.  I don't like Sara with the first husband.  Lena. We seem to be full circle and back to where we started- erasing any progress we might have made.. Perhaps that's what the author wanted???? Why?

It's the last book.  I stopped reading the second to last book after less than 100 pages.  This one might have the same fate.  Why.  When the others were so good.....? did the publisher force her to write more??? I have a suspicion that the way back parts were written and tossed and now shuffled into a last book. I will give the book another hour and then put it on the return pile.  I am not a fan of Jeffery.

My desk top calendar is a riot of pasted newspaper headlines and images.  Even some cartoons.  I like it.

 (A) Murdock is being investigated about the murder of a friend of his when they were young. The surviving son.  Great family.

I did make my pasta yesterday and had a bowl while watching MSNBC.  All the regulars are off on Spring Break.  So I moved on the Law and Order : Criminal Intent.  Yesterday was BORING.....

Field Notes- Thursday March 23rd. Dark, Clouds.....good chance for Rain.

 Western Honey Bee.

Battlebots.  On tv today.  Husband watches while doing word search puzzles.  I watched last week and it was awesome.  I might check in on the Bots again today. Engineers At Play. Sort of Wack A Mole with engines and wheels and controllers. Oh, and the big sharp AX.  Chopping the other Bot. And they let Girl Engineers play.

We also have a new puzzle on the puzzle table.  We've done it before.  It's a hard one. I walk over and do a few pieces...not too many..

Not much to read in the Morning Newspaper.  How can MSNBC and FOX fill WHOLE DAYS with news and the newspaper find little to nothing "new" to report.  I am guessing the key word here is "new."

I am finding MSNBC to be getting repetitive.  I think it used to be called "flogging a dead horse". All the regulars seem to have taken a Spring Break Vacation. I spent most of MSNBC wishing someone, during the breaks, would fix that one guy's hair.  A section was sticking out.  It was ALL I could look at.

I think I am "recovered" from Tuesday.....the key to this, going forward, is letting go of what I cannot ever change or improve.  Just accept.  Just accept.  Just accept.

I am NOT good at that......but I am going to be learning how to be good at it.

I am going to make a nice supper for myself today....I had planned to do that yesterday but ..it didn't happen.  Today it will. It's also going to RAIN today. So...a nice hot supper.......pasta.  Made with a thawed container of tomatoes I grew, harvested, roasted and packed into a freezer container......it will be good. Lots of pectin.  That's it for today......

Field Notes- Sunshine with a Chance of Clouds, Rain and Snow. Everything Bagel.

 Yesterday........it was like a slow motion movie.  

Everything I thought....isn't.  Everything I thought mattered... doesn't.

It all changed as we were driving thru Town on the way to the Pulmonary doctor's office.  A 45 minute harrowing drive (for me) west......and husband says- I don't know how to get there...

As in.....he had no memory of how to get there.  Even thought he got there just fine six months ago.

And just like that.........my new reality hit me....HARD.   Yes, I could have driven.......but I have never driven the Button Car (has no key)....it's too large....I can hardly see over the dash....etc.  And I haven't driven a car (mine is on a Battery charging 24/7) since that day in the Summer.  And best of all-- my license hasn't been renewed..... my intention was to stop driving. Forever.

So, I did know, in basic terms where we were going.  I got us there. He drove. I gave directions. The appointment was mine.  The doctor is retiring.  We aren't going back.  I got my inhaler situation clarified and simplified. Prescriptions ordered......

But the Us that arrived...is not the Us that got up, dressed and had breakfast yesterday.  That Us is gone.

Forever.  That is all the past....this is now..the NOW.

I will continue to have him drive me to the Library and Grocery Store just 10 minutes from the house.  Until...I get my driver's license renewed.  Until I get my car in working order.  I don't think I am capable of driving the Button Car. I can drive SIMPLE......I cannot drive COMPLEX.   All the bells and whistles. I cannot even turn off the radio.

Do I feel OLD? Yes. All 76 years of it.  Do I feel overwhelmed?  Totally. Do I want to just crawl back into bed and sleep for a few months?  Yes.  Deep Depression sounds like a Holiday right now.....

I made pizza when we got home.  He started a new puzzle..... I sat and stared at the wall. Then Law and Order. I was way past even being able to read a book.

Fate is pretty decent....it gave me a woman at the grocery store on Monday. I knew her and her husband when I worked at the greenhouse.  He also lost his memory and was in a place with diapers etc.  He passed awhile ago. She is doing fine, alone....we normally wouldn't have stopped to talk ....but we did on Monday. Before I knew.. for sure.

Fate wanted me to SEE the other side of this........the After.  Which is going to be okay.

Field Notes- Tuesday March 21st. Overcast, Gray Day. Doctor's appointment. Long Drive. Sun!!!!

 Meatballs.  I used to do this on the "regular" when on the Elimination Diet.  No Carbs.  So I made Meatballs in Marinara and and tucked them into storage containers (one meal's worth) and into the fridge and freezer they went.  A massive tray of meatballs.  This image reminded me of that period in my Life. Minus the cheese. Minus breadcrumbs.  Minus anything tasty other than the Marinara..

I was having lots of problems.  Rashes.  Weakness.  No one knew what was causing it.  I think it was STRESS.   That is sort of a silent killer.....all on it's own.  I was trying to recover from a month of Steroids.  Which decimate you....... they decided to do the steroids first.  Then tried to reassemble my internal organs to working order....... months....just months.  

One meal in the early days was a Chicken Bone Broth with ginger and other alliums.  Rice Noodles. The only baked good I had to eat were Banana muffins made with rice flour and zero sugar.  Texture of SAND.  But I was so HAPPY to have even that.  Banana Sand Muffins.  Rice Noodles are very Slippery.

I recall a raw Beet Smoothie.  Vita Mix.  Zucchini Noodles.   Left to dry until chewy.

The rash was near my eyes.  We were trying to stop it from actually getting into my eyes.

I was working two jobs for no good reason other than getting to shop in the LLBEAN Employee store and buy pants and stuff for less than two dollars each.  Sometimes for 25 cents.  

But I still wear all the stuff I bought.  But would never go back...Never.  And my eyes survived.

I am thinking about LLBean today because the guy who pruned my Peach Trees last year and weeded the fenced garden.....has gotten me a sage green flannel LLBean king sized duvet cover.  $2.  For my bed next Winter.   Pretty Sweet.  I'll have the devil of a time washing it.  My washer is on the small side.  I will need to go to the local Washing Machine Place.  Hang out there.  Eight Dollars in quarters for the big machine.  But....is that place even in business any more??????????  I washed my couch slipcovers there when I was slipcovering couches......  WAS.

Field Notes- Monday, March 20th. sunshine and mild temps....Grass.........

 Paper collage Raymond Saa. (I think)

Library....returning a large pile of books but not checking any out.....I didn't really look.

Grocery Store.  People with loaded carts and only two registers open plus the 14 item one.  A long wait. Chicken thighs- 99 cents.  Milk in short supply.  People on their knees trying to reach the cartons way way back in the cooler.  Me.  I reached as far I as could and did manage to make contact with a quart of the Lactate free milk I use with my morning oatmeal.  There was another...but I was thinking someone else might also need it.......  I had to select a different brand of coffee creamer.  Sigh.  But..it will be okay.

A number of people were getting the oat milk.  I have wondered about it- if I would like it.

I got bagels (three different varieties) for husband but decided to skip getting any bread for myself- acid reflux with wheat.  I have two choices for my own food today.   Chicken with Romaine or Pulled Pork with Romaine.  I just had a big spoonful of peanut butter.  There is always steamed rice.

I am back to Law and Order and MSNBC.   Fringe is only on weekends.  Headline News Channel but looking at the list of programs today...none of them have anything to do with Headline News. Weird.

I do need to do a load of wash- I am running out of underwear.  Got to have clean underwear.

Husband finished his latest puzzle- it had large pieces and took only hours instead of days. He sat down on the couch and fell asleep.  That's it for today.  We have groceries- perhaps not enough......but it will be okay.  Doctor's appointment tomorrow- one of us.  We don't know who.  I sort of think it's me.  Lung doctor and it never amounts to anything........ I do need a refill of a prescription.

Well,  that's it from Maine.  I'm now heading for the Washing Machine.

Field Notes- Sunday March 19th. Sunshine. Warm. Streets, Sidewalks and Drive are Clear and Dry.

 I had to go walking on the soggy back lawn to get this photo for you.   This area is close by the Septic System.  Warm.

So...something very very weird happened yesterday while I was going thru the cable tv stations to find something to watch.  I found a weird station.  Call letters but no name.  And it is showing Fringe.  In fact, one of the first episodes.   I remember watching this show.  It was on a station we didn't get but somehow...I don't remember, we watched it......and now...again.  A strange to me station and we get it.  It's a weekend thing.  I watched.  Then I cleaned out a bunch of stuff from the TiVo so I would have room to set it to record Fringe.  I'm not sure how long it will "appear" in the tv log but....however long..I will watch and record.  It's kind of wonderful.  In a creepy way.

I had no idea the bald headed guy was in the very first episodes.  And I had forgotten about people's heads exploding brain and blood all over..... it's pretty strange. I remember so much of it....

And if THAT isn't weird.  I think I mentioned, here, a woman walking past the house pointing at our roof. Where an animal had walked from a top corner in a straight diagonal to the opposite lower corner.  Well, she also took a picture... and she finally decided to come knock on the door and ask about it.

I told her it happens every Winter and some times it's a larger animal. This year a smaller one.  Squirrel we think.  One year, we were pretty positive a deer had walked across.  Raccoons used to be in the yard on the regular back in the day.  Also, huge male deer.  HUGE.  With antlers as wide as he was tall.  This house has always been.....rather "special" if that is a good word for it.

She plans to send her photo to a local news station.  G and I didn't try and stop her. We refused to give her our names. But I think it's easy enough to find on her own.

I also made another pot of Chicken Soup.  And today in the grocery ads I see Chicken thighs are 99 cents again.  I plan on getting TWO packages.  Stocking up the freezer.  I need all the pieces and parts for Chicken Soup.....onions, carrots, celery and noodles.  The Pantry shelves, Fridge and Freezer have gone bare. This is what happens, I guess, when one cooks........ ?????

That's it for today.....I might be making Basketball Pizza today.  And NOT watching a game. I watched a local girls high school game and the amount of unsportsmanlike conduct was enough to put me off basketball forever.

Field Notes- Saturday, March 18th- No Suns, Cold in the House. 43 degrees.

 Incident.  Don't know if that's the artist name or title of the work.  I would call it Boxed Universe.

My desk top calendar is almost full and it's only the 18th. I had quite a few large images to paste down this month.  And images of Chairs.  From magazines I got in the Free Magazine area @ the Library.  I cut them up for images.  It's more interesting visually if the monthly page has a "theme".

I have so many index cards to my left here on the desk.  I write stuff down on them and then secure the stack with a rubber band.  Months or weeks later I shuffle thru them and run the ones I will never read again thru the shredder.  I make a lot of shredded paper.  I used to shred the daily newspaper- Good DRY compost material.

The Compost Bins are my Enduring Passion from my Master Gardener Classes and my job at the Greenhouse.  It was my favorite class to teach.  My second favorite was Seed Starting. Third was Pruning.

The Greenhouse no longer has classes.  The Three Years (going on Four) of COVID taught the owners that the classes were NOT necessary to the business or it's profits......People came to the classes because they were LONELY and liked FREE coffee and cookies. They rarely bought anything. Sort of a Gardening AA Meeting. I was also pretty entertaining and made them laugh.

Sigh.  I had imagined teaching classes well into my 80's. Like Ed.  He was old and crazy and would walk up to me- in front of a class and just start "shooting the breeze" oblivious to the class sitting in rows behind him.  I wanted to be "Ed" in my 80's.... 

I tried very hard to eat enough food yesterday.  The fridge is pretty close to being EMPTY.  I am making another pot of Chicken Soup today.....husband said yes.  I have hardly anything made for myself.  Still some Baked Beans left- I could have that with Kraft Mac and Cheese. No Grilled Cheese.  I am OUT of Bread.  I do have all the Vegetables for Soup. This SHOULD be the month I eat soup. But...No.

I also have Yogurt, Bran Buds and Fresh Red Raspberries.  But that is COLD FOOD. Well, that's enough of whatever this Post is........March.  Not my Best Month.

Field Nores- Short Post. Cloudy with a chance of Sun.

 I feel like getting outside when the snow finally melts and picking up some sticks in the yard.  Letting them dry and then painting them to make a nice Bouquet.   I see the vase is a canning jar.

Lunch yesterday was quite wonderful, We covered quite a few topics.  The pittance of skilled people to replace my friend's leaking water heater........the major company providing that service to us for over 30 years was sold to a company in Pennsylvania.  And all the  repair people...well, there aren't any.......

I wonder who is actually fulfilling our annual service contracts???

I got up very late and took a shower......I am now very light headed and dizzy.  usually this means my blood sugar is off and I should eat something.  I just finished my oatmeal and have a half cup of coffee to finish.  I'm going to sit on the couch and rest.....until the spinning stops.

Sorry this post for today is so short.......

Field Notes- Thursday, March 16th- I have on unmended pants and a never before worn LLBean Stripe top.

 Girard.

Sunshine off the snow is blinding.  Nothing happened yesterday. No Wind. No Rain.  No Ice. Just a big Weather Nothing.   Thank you Weather TV Broadcasting.  Power outages.  Nearby. Still.  37 degrees.

I checked the last 10 minutes of my recording of Never Been Kissed.  The end recorded. I then watched something else.  I can't remember what.  And finished reading Helen Hunting's newest book Make a Wish. which has nothing to do with Making a Wish and was tedious.......for a supposed Rom-Com. I liked most of her earlier books...... I'm not sure the guy in this romance was worth the Time or Trouble. And so much glitter.

And now....oddly enough...I want to look in the TiVo Movies I have stored and see if I have While You Were Sleeping.  It wasn't in the Christmas line up in December on cable.  Too Old.   I am just "feeling" like I want to watch it... after Make a Wish.

Oh...I remember what I watched......Will Trent.  And someone talked about the woman that Will wants to sleep with- and her name (in the tv series) is Angie.  If you have read the books- you know who Angie is and WHAT she is....... so, I am even less interested in the tv show. Now. I do like the guy (Will) though ....

So....I am going to Lunch Buddy Lunch today.  We are very excited.  To be getting out of our houses.

I am also "turning over a New Leaf" so to speak and have on UNMENDED clothing.  A new pair of black (for me years ago) cord pants and a LLBean black and white stripe half zip cotton pullover.  No mending.  I do have un-mended clothing.  I just like the old stuff better.  The pants I have been wearing, in the house, are so thin in the backside that all the corduroy has rubbed off.  Smooth and thin.  Just aching to shred.

It doesn't matter at home.....but going out I should wear pants with still viable corduroy on the backside.

I am wearing things that were always a bit too tight to be comfortable.  Now they are loose.  Either I am losing weight (not eating much).....or  "something" else is happening......but I feel good....so I am not too concerned..  I am not liking this cotton top at all.  No matter how cute it is.  My neck and back feel cold.

Field Notes- Wednesday, March 15th. It SNOWED. And now we clean it up!!!

 It SNOWED.  I am so over this Winter Business.  Grumpy Face!!!!

In other news- I wanted to watch a 1999 movie Never Been Kissed on the E channel so I had to ferret my way into the TiVo and find the channel section and then find the channel and then click it "Live" so I could set and record this movie.  

In doing so, I have used up most of the Brain Capacity and Nervous Energy I started the day with........not all that much.

If you don't recall this movie- an adult newspaper reporter goes undercover as a student in high school. An adult woman who dresses like an idiot. Drew Barrimore.(excuse spelling)  Who can just rattle off poetry in her English Class...stunning her teacher....and here is what I like about this movie.....here is the teacher- a guy-- now very very interested in the new student and finding this interest to be SO VERY WRONG. Because Student /Teacher...etc.

I enjoyed this movie very much but the ending was cut off- as it is so very often on recordings. anyway.  I am hoping it isn't cut off today.  And seeing what is being offered going forward of E!- I will more than likely go back into Channels and delete it after I have a recording of this movie. Or I will just watch it live.  GACK.  Watching all the commercials might kill me.  Another movie today..Easy A.

The BIG STORM continues but not right here...not right now..... as with all Weather Channel reporting. And it's actually been around 40 degrees during the entire snow storm....weird. Storm Food Yesterday was Chicken Soup for Him and Fake Saucepan Baked Beans and Grilled Cheese Sandwich for ME. YUM.

Tomorrow is Lunch Buddy Lunch.  Eggplant Parm and WINE.

Field Notes- Tuesday, March 14th. Clouds, Wet Snow, 40 degrees. Snow melts as it hits the ground.

 This is how I feel most days. 

The wet snow is falling but melting on contact with the ground.   Birds are hanging out in the trees near the feeder. Ice in the birdbaths is partially melted.  So they are getting a drink but no one is taking a bath.

I need to turn on the lights.

The book I am reading is not really holding my attention.  It needed at least two more revisions. It's about two child tv stars all grown up and just admitting they like each other enough to perhaps kiss???  It was on the "new" shelf- Built to Last by Erin Hahn.  It would be a popular Hallmark Movie.  The plot lines would slot nicely with the commercial breaks.  There's been one guilty kiss.

Nora Goes off Script- or what ever it was called- was about a woman who wrote for the Hallmark Channel. She went thru the sequence of events that are the building blocks of a Hallmark movie. This book "Built to Last" has all of that...... A Hallmark Script is like one of those word puzzles where you fit words into the open spaces.  A job. A guy. A girl.  A problem.  An event.  A misunderstanding. etc etc.

News bulletin.  I stopped watching Hallmark after the Christmas Movies were finished. Yep. Cold Turkey.

Oddly enough, I don't miss it at all.  I also stopped watching the Sports Talk Shows.  They stopped being fun and they didn't do the Christmas Carols thing...which I loved.  So..I quit them. Next thing to let go of will be Law and Order.  Then what????  Well, I have Whole bunch of PBS mystery series stock piled in the TiVo Little Women and some others.  British stuff.  I should get one of the services that just do British series.  Watch them.  Or go back to Netflix.....they always had dark, non English speaking murders happening.  It's been awhile since I watched episode after episode after episode..............

Or I'll just read...I have SEVEN books on the pile..... and we'll be "at home" until the storm passes.

Husband has a fresh pot of Chicken Soup and four Chicken Parm Dinners.  Plenty of noodles. A new puzzle.  Let it Snow..........