2019 Life Logs, Day 45: Happy Valentine’s Day
2019 Life Logs, Day 45: Happy Valentine’s Day
Date: Thursday, February 14, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 42, Low 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Here’s hoping you had a very Happy Valentine’s Day. I started my day by attending a Newcomer’s General Meeting. The program today addressed end-of-life issues that are so confusing and so important for all of us to understand. In addition to a very interesting program, it was great to see other friends. When I got out of the meeting, I saw that Justin had called me, so when I got home I returned the call. He had some business-related questions and when those were answered, he shared that he had to run as he and Jo had a mid-afternoon ‘date’ on the beach with another couple. Jo’s parents are visiting and they offered to kidsit while Justin and Jo enjoyed a special Valentine’s Day time together. Then I spent part of my afternoon preparing food for tonight’s dinner at the Goldstones. Heather and Jonah came up with the idea of having chocolate fondue for dessert for a Valentine’s Day dinner, and then Jonah suggested we have cheese fondue as the main dinner.
So, we had a fondue feast.
I offered to prepare the fruits, veggies, and meat, and get all of the ingredients together for chocolate and cheese fondue. Heather baked bread and cake for dipping in the chocolate, so when I arrived we just had to mix the ingredients, first for the cheese fondue feast, and then for the chocolate fondue feast. We had a rainbow of vegetables, with meat and bread for dipping in the cheese fondue. And then another rainbow of fruit for dipping in the chocolate.
It was a delicious way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. And after eating all of the chocolate, the boys had added energy and put on a bit of a play starring Ollie as King. He loves playing that role! 
and it always brings great joy to children. But on the other hand, the icy conditions caused by that beautiful blanket of white cause all sorts of problems. Knowing it was coming this afternoon, the Falmouth schools decided to follow the Early Release schedule today to avoid the risk of accidents if they released at the normal time during the snow fall. It was a perfect call as the first snow flake fell just as I was walking with Jonah and Ollie to my car to take them home at 12:40 pm. It didn’t take long for the ground to be covered and by 1:30 there was enough snow to get the boys outside to do some sledding. Of course, sledding somehow turned into a snowball fight and then tears because snowballs ended up being thrown into faces where they are never to be thrown. And then everyone was cold and wet and no longer enamored by the white stuff and they headed next door to play inside. Heather was home sick this afternoon and trying to get some work required reading done, but once the boys were next door, she fell asleep. When Jed got home she was still asleep and I do hope the rest helps her fight off this cold. By the time Jed got home, the snow was turning to icy rain. Jed cleaned the snow off my car and I headed home before the roads got any worse. Once home, I shoveled the front steps, a path to the car, and the entrance to Shirley’s home. I didn’t shovel her whole drive way as it is supposed to warm up overnight and melt the snow. But in case that doesn’t happen, there is enough shoveled to get into and out of the two houses safely.
Then, tonight, I enjoyed a wonderful Skype video call with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, Coco, and Jo’s parents who are taking a break from England’s gray winter skies to enjoy sunny Puerto Rico. I have only met Jo’s parents once, but we keep in touch via email and Skype video calls from time to time when they are visiting Justin and Jo or when Justin and Jo are in England visiting them. I got to see Ziggy’s aquariums, the part of his room that he uses as his inventor’s workshop, and I got see one of his inventions in action. Coco had been playing a game with her Grandma that teaches about flower families and she delighted in reading the various flower families to me. I also enjoyed seeing how they have rearranged rooms. What was the guest room is now Ziggy’s room and workshop. Ziggy and Coco’s bedroom is now the guest room and the playroom is now Coco’s room. So much changes in a year and since I didn’t get to go to Puerto Rico this winter, I hope we can have more of these Skype video calls to help me keep in touch. Otherwise, my day was just more of the same. I spent almost two hours at the gym this morning and spent my afternoon cooking and working on updating computer files. Jed and Jonah stopped by on their way home from Jonah’s guitar lesson and got the cross braces properly installed on the back of my new ‘greenhouse’ shelves. Thank you, Jed! Tomorrow I will get the plant lights installed on those shelves and continue working on computer file updates. So, more of the same, except we are expecting snow instead of sunshine. We haven’t seen much of the white stuff this winter, so we’ll see if it really materializes or manages to elude us once again. Tuesday is my day to pick Jonah and Ollie up after school, so we might be playing in the snow after school.
I purchased on Friday that will turn my living room windows into a greenhouse for growing the seedlings for this summer’s gardens—mine and Heather’s. Just thinking about gardening and summer brought warmth and the bright sunshine coming in the window added to the illusion. The shelves are simple and will hold 16 to 20 seed starting trays, more than we will need. I will add some additional grow lights, but I can’t afford the real deal from Home Depot. I stopped by Job Lot on my way to the gym this morning and found that they have the same LED shop lights I purchased last year. They cost $15 for a 4-foot light, versus $40 for a 2-foot grow light at Home Depot. Much more affordable, and with the sun that comes through the front windows, I think they will do. It is too early to start most things, but for now I am going to experiment with growing trays of arugula, not to transplant, but to cut straight from the growing trays into my salad bowl. I wanted to get this all set up before my knee surgery so that it will be easy to start the seeds when the time comes. I need a little help from Jed to get the cross braces on the shelves. Then I’ll get the lights installed and be ready to grow.
