by Judy Handley | Mar 21, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 80: Happy Birthday to Ollie
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2021
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 56, Low, 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was Ollie’s 9th birthday and what a beautiful day for an outside birthday party. Last year for his birthday, we all went for a walk in a nearby conservation area. It was the first time I had seen Heather and family for over a week as we were all in lockdown due to the pandemic. But he had a great Zoom call with friends on his way home, driving by the homes of each of his friends so they could give him a birthday wave.
This year was a little better as he had four friends over, all masked, and playing yard games. They played Kubb, which is a Swedish game, and then croquet. They had cupcakes on the deck and played giant Jenga and giant dominoes. Then it was hide ‘n seek, a walk around the boardwalk nature trail in the neighborhood, and finally bocce ball. During the afternoon outside with the boys, Heather and Jed were able to get a little yard work done and I made a quick trip home to get a couple of bean towers so that Heather could plant snap peas in their front yard garden. All of the landscaping on their property is ornamental plants, not vegetables. But little by little I think Heather will find a way to change that.
After Ollie’s friends left, he opened presents from me and from Jed. He had opened presents from Grammy Goldstone and his big present from Heather and Jed in the morning. The big present was a huge, long bean bag seat. It is very versatile. You can lay it out flat and use it like a lounge chair or double it up into a seat with a back. And it is soooo comfortable. I melted right into. Then the problem was getting out of it!
I made another quick trip home to take Shadow for a walk and then went back for dinner. Ollie ‘ordered’ Korean ribs. Jed had never fixed them before, but he gave it a try and they were delicious. Heather stir-fried veggies and made rice to go with the ribs. All yummy. And then we had Boston Creme Cake. It was Heather’s first attempt at making this. She thought she had used too much vanilla and cooked the cake part too long. I disagreed.
I thought it was just perfect and so did Ollie. Before we ate dinner, we went around the table to share one story about Ollie. Heather shared the story of when Granddad and I brought Sam and Jonah to the hospital to first meet Ollie when he was only an hour old. What a beautiful memory that was. We were all totally fascinated by that little creature and still are. Happy Birthday, Ollie!
by Judy Handley | Mar 20, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 79: Welcome Spring
Date: Saturday, March 20, 2021
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 45, Low, 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Welcome, spring. But where are you? It is still too cold for me to feel like wanting to go out and do any outside work. I am sincerely hoping that since March came in like a lion that sometime soon it is going to be warm and sunny so I can say it went out like a lamb. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny with the high temp in the low 50’s. That just might qualify as warm enough.
Since tomorrow is Ollie’s 9th birthday, I am hoping that the weather forecast is correct. He is having a few friends over to play outside, so I am hoping for the sunshine for him. Tonight, the busy Goldstones stopped by for a late pre-birthday artichoke dinner. Jonah had an evening soccer game in Cohasset which is most of the way to Boston. Sam had a scouting day at Camp Greenough in Yarmouth Port which is a 45-minute drive. So, Heather took Jonah to his game and Jed to pick up Sam. Jed dropped Ollie off with me and we watched some episodes of Wild Kratts while waiting for everyone else to arrive for dinner. It was well after 8 pm when everyone arrived for the artichoke dinner. And it was well past bedtime when they left, but we had a nice evening together talking about soccer, scouts, and the upcoming birthday party. Ollie is having a few friends over tomorrow afternoon to play lawn games. When the friends leave, we will have the actual birthday dinner. And today was Grammy Goldstone’s birthday. Happy birthday, Marti.
Today was spent editing instead of writing. Since my ‘first reader’ is ready for more chapters, I wanted to make sure they were ready for her. I wrote them, but then did not even go back and proofread. Sure enough, there were loads of things that needed tidied up. I only got through two chapters, but I sent those along. Monday I will proof one more chapter and complete writing another. The writing project is going along nicely.
by Judy Handley | Mar 19, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 78: Feedback
Date: Friday, March 19, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy; High 40, Low, 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
If you regularly read this log, you know that I am working on writing a book about Windbird’s travels around the world. I am currently finishing up Chapter 12, but still have miles to go. I have a friend that was in the memoir writing class I took last spring that spurred me write this book. That friend has offered to the ‘first reader’ and give me feedback. I got her feedback on the first eight chapters today and I was delighted with the detail of her editing and her encouraging comments. Now I want to write even faster! But I do not think that is possible, so I just need to keep plodding along. I read a quote today that shook me a bit. It said, “Get out of your story and into your life.” That reminded me of something my high school principal said. It was something along the lines of, “If you are talking today about what you did yesterday, then you aren’t doing enough today.” I really want to write this book, but I promise to keep living today. That is not easy because I get so engrossed in the writing. But reminders like these will keep me straight.
Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Yippee! Now the weather just needs to feel like spring.
by Judy Handley | Mar 18, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 77: Rainy Day
Date: Thursday, March 18, 2021
Weather: Overcast with Rain All Day; High 46, Low, 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The rain started this morning, and it has not stopped. Shadow and I made it through a half mile morning walk without getting too wet, but late this afternoon when we did the other half of our daily mile, we both came home soaked to the bone despite our rain coats.
I kept my promise to myself today and did not start writing this morning until I did three things on my ‘to do’ list. One of those things was starting seedlings indoors to get ready for summer gardening. I started San Marzano tomato plants to day and will do more indoor planting on Saturday, the first day of spring. But I chose not to sweep the cottage floors. I will do that tomorrow morning while Shadow is at the groomers. He hates the vacuum, so I decided to give him a break. My writing today was about exploring the islands in the Marquesas in search of ancient maraes (me’aes) and tikis (ti’is) and being introduced to Polynesian music and dance. The maraes are stone platforms that were once used as a meeting place and where human sacrifices were made. The tikis were stone figures of all sizes. The largest we saw was Takaii at 8 feet. I would love to finish the chapter on the Marquesas tomorrow, but I have only written about three of the five islands we visited. So Saturday is probably more realistic for going on to the next chapter about the Society Islands in French Polynesia—Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, and Bora Bora.
This evening I got a Message on Facebook that Coco was inviting me to talk on Messenger Kids. We talked via video on our phones and she taught me how to ‘effects’ to make very funny faces. Coco loves jokes and riddles and is quite the little character.
by Judy Handley | Mar 17, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 76: Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Still Cold; High 33, Low, 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
According to my DNA story on Ancestry, I am only 5 percent Irish, but I am 39 percent Scottish, 3 percent Wales, and 37 percent English and Northwestern European. Close to Ireland! But Mark’s father’s family was from Ireland, so my children must have a much greater percent of Irish blood. For years, Mark always had some good piece of luck on St. Patrick’s Day and today I benefited from that luck. My Covid test came back much sooner than expected and it was Negative. And any cold symptoms had gone away. I couldn’t imagine how I could have gotten Covid or a cold, but it was a great relief to get the good news.
I started my day watching a Dutch violinist and an Irish musician playing The Irish Washerwoman on fiddle on YouTube. It was fabulous and I immediately fell in love with the music of John Sheahan and Andrew Rieu. And then I watched Andrew Rieu on fiddle and Florian Silbereisen, a German singer, on the accordion playing the same song. If any Irish blood courses through your veins, Google The Irish Washerwoman and watch the artists playing the song. Even if you have no Irish ancestors, you’ll love the music.
I promised myself that I was going to attend to some things on my ‘to do’ list today instead of writing. But I didn’t. I wrote the day away once more. The weather was warmer, so I did have a nice long walk with Shadow before I started writing. And I did pick Ollie up after school and took Jonah to the skatepark. But then I came home and wrote until 8 pm. Tomorrow morning, I won’t allow myself to turn on my computer until I have done at least three things on my ‘to do’ list.
