by Judy Handley | Apr 18, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 108: The Joy of Dirt
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2019
Weather: Overcast, Misty Turning to Rain in PM; High 60, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My early morning PT appointment ended up to be not so early. I arrived at 8:30 am as I have for the past few weeks to find out that today’s appointment was at 10:30 am. If I had checked my calendar, I would have known that. But I was on automatic. I spent the time between doing a little garden shopping for Heather. Waquoit Feed and Seed is on my to and from PT, so I picked up a couple of dozen asparagus rootings and checked out another nursery on the way to see if they had strawberry plants. Too early for those, but they will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. After my PT session, I headed to Heather’s and found everyone outside working in the mist. Grammy Marti was fully dressed for the weather and was busy pruning bushes. Jed was pruning the big bushes with the electric trimmer and Heather was assembling the fir st of the raised beds. The boys were raking up the trimmings and Ollie was delivering that to the compost pile using his little tractor and wagon. I pitched in by digging up some irises from one area to another and then removing the sod to form a new herb garden. As I delivered the irises to the new area, Marti took over and replanted them. Heather got the first raised bed assembled
and Jed worked with her to bring wheel barrows of dirt from the driveway to dump in the new bed. Jonah and Sam left with a neighbor to go to a special activity and Ollie took advantage of their absence to play in the new dirt Jed had delivered to the boys’ digging area. He dug holes and laid in the dirt, poured dirt over his head . . . the joy of dirt.
While he was doing that, Heather put together another raised bed and Jed started filling that with dirt. Nine yards of garden soil had been delivered a few days ago and that huge pile in the driveway was the source of all this joyful dirt. Teamwork was the name of the game today and despite the uncooperative weather, lots of yard work was completed. I escaped during all of this and headed downtown to get a dump permit for Heather and Jed’s van and to do some shopping for the Easter Bunny. I was pleased that I was able to do some digging using my new knee, but I didn’t want to overdo it. So, volunteering for the trip into town was the perfect activity for me. Tomorrow’s plan is to do some basement clean-out and take the unwanted things to the dump—thus the reason for the trip into town to get the permit. When I returned from my downtown trip, it was seriously raining. But Marti was still pruning, Ollie was still rejoicing in the digging area, and Heather and Jed were will working to fill the second raised bed with dirt.
They were all soaking wet. I said my farewells and headed north to Mashpee to complete the shopping. Things we need for tomorrow night’s Seder were not available in Falmouth, but I did find them in Mashpee. Due to a Stop n’ Shop strike, we now have only one grocery store in Falmouth and it does not have all the things we need. So food shopping has become quite a time consuming experience. Mashpee has two grocery stores, but one is a Shop ‘n Shop, so the one grocery store in each town is always super crowded . . . especially with the holiday shopping. I got home around 6:30, fixed dinner, and settled in to watch the news of the day while completing my coffee table puzzle. Hurray! No more puzzles until winter approaches.
by Judy Handley | Apr 17, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 107: A Day of Sunshine
Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Breezy; High 58, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I spent my day enjoying the sunshine as it looks like the next four days are going to be mostly cloudy with rain. Yes, April showers bring May flowers, but I struggle with the rainy days. I LOVE sunshine. I spent my morning in attending a Newcomers ‘For Your Health’ presentation. The topic was ‘Detox Your Life’. It was a good presentation, but a little depressing. There are toxins everywhere—in our food, in our cleaning projects, in our personal care products, in our furniture, in our water, and on and on. After the presentation, I felt pretty good as I have already gotten many of these toxins out of my life. But there is more to do. I came home to have lunch, took a nice long walk along the beach, and planted a few things in my raised beds. I also prepared the indoor growing trays for planting more seedlings. I spent way too much of my evening working on the jigsaw puzzle on my coffee table. I am making progress,
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by Judy Handley | Apr 16, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 106: A Little Easter Fun
Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny, A Little Windy; High 57, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a mostly sunny day, warm enough, but with a breeze that I found a little cool. Heather had to work today, but when I sent a text asking if there was anything I could do to help out with the boys, she texted back that Ollie really wanted to decorate Easter Eggs. Since it was on the cool side, it was a perfect day for me to go the Goldstones and stay inside to organize the Easter egg decoration activities for Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, as well as Molly and Joey from next door. Ollie and Jonah are still young enough to be enthusiastic about decorating eggs. Sam, on the other hand, is old enough to say he didn’t want to, but when the time came, he jumped right in. When I first arrived, Sam and Jed were deep into putting together a beautiful new Weber grill that they bought yesterday. I boiled the eggs while the other kids played inside. Then it was then time for lunch. I fixed lunch for the kids, and after they ate, I covered the table and set up the dye cups and other decorating options. I then went home to eat my lunch and returned mid-afternoon to help with the Egg dying. I also pitched by doing a little laundry and toy clean up. Tomorrow the Goldstones go to Boston to pick up Jed’s mom at the airport and then they will spend the afternoon at the Museum of Science. I am staying home to attend a Newcomers group called For Your Health. This is a group that just started meeting in January. Due to various appointments and my knee surgery, this will be the first meeting for me. I’m looking forward to meeting with a group of people interested in learning more about healthy living habits. The weather is supposed to be beautiful again tomorrow, so maybe after the meeting I’ll get a few things planted in my raised beds. Then on Thursday, rain or shine, Heather and Jed have declared a day of yard work at their house and Grammy Marti and I will both pitch in.
by Judy Handley | Apr 15, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 105: More Organization at the Goldstones
Date: Monday, April 15, 2019
Weather: Stormy Early, Mostly Overcast with Drizzle PM; High 57, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What a stormy early morning we had. I had an 8:30 am physical therapist appointment, so I had to go out when the wind was blowing and the rain was pouring. There was even rolling thunder. And, of course, there was no place to park close to the entrance when I got there, so I had to walk a ways in the pouring rain. I came home after the session to finish my breakfast and then I headed to Heather and Jed’s to help Heather with her project for the day. She brought boxes and boxes containing years of Sam, Jonah, and Ollie’s school/art work. Every year since Mark and I ‘landed’ in Falmouth, Heather and I have talked about organizing the boxes that mounted with each additional year. Today was the day and we got the job done. Well, almost done. We sorted, recycling those things that didn’t need to be kept. We ended up with a pile of art work and a pile of writing for each boy. The writing will be kept, but the art work will be photographed and then recycled. After four hours of this, we were both getting worn down. About that time, I came across half a cardboard egg carton that had been made to look like a ship. It was flying flags and I said I thought I had found the Mayflower. When I looked more closely, there was a figurehead . . . and it was turkey. I think because we were so tired, Heather and I both started laughing uncontrollably. It wasn’t THAT funny, but I’m sure you have experienced moments like that. I will never, ever look at a picture of the Mayflower again without seeing that turkey figurehead. Heather had to take Jonah to guitar lessons at 4 pm, so we stopped for today. We actually got Ollie’s art work photographed and will have to do Jonah’s and Sam’s on another day. But in two days, we have tackled the two tedious basement organization jobs that have been put off for too long. I call that a WIN. I had all kinds of plans for things to do when I got home, but I actually sat down and started working on my latest puzzle and kept going until it was almost dark. It was then that I turned on the TV to check the news from the day. That’s when I found out about the fire in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. What a tragic disaster, but the good news is that the responders got the fire under control and have announced that they think the integrity of the stone structure will hold, that history will be rebuilt and preserved.
by Judy Handley | Apr 14, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 104: Warm, Sunny Surprise
Date: Sunday, April 14, 2019
Weather: Beautiful AM, Turning Overcast with Rain; High 63, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This morning and into the early afternoon we had a warm, sunny surprise. It was sunny and in the 60’s. It was the warmest day we have had this spring, but unfortunately, it didn’t last. By mid-afternoon the clouds had taken over and then the drizzly rain started. But at least we had a beautiful start to the day. It was wonderful. I enjoyed a slow start to my day and then headed over to Heather and Jed’s to haul a couple of my things out of their basement. When I arrived I was greeted by the boys telling me that momma was in the backyard and that they were preparing a surprise lunch. I could come inside, but not into the kitchen and I was invited for the surprise lunch as well. Jed had to go to work for part of the day, so he was not at home to enjoy the lunch. At some point the boys realized they had to walk to the corner store to buy bread for the sandwiches. Once they got home and Heather and I were on the deck, our waiters gave us some choices for lunch. We put in our orders and lunch was served.
Heather was so impressed with the sandwiches that she declared she no longer needs to pack lunches. The boys can do it for themselves! Well, that was not a particularly popular idea, but it is great to know that they can if need be. After lunch, Heather and the boys had to go to a Scout commitment and I headed home, but I invited Heather to drop the boys off to kayak later in the afternoon and I invited them all to come to dinner. I headed to the store to get a couple of things I needed which turned into a longer ordeal than I planned on. The grocery store where I shop is on strike, so I went to the only other grocery store in town. It was jam-packed with people and didn’t have everything I needed for dinner, so I had to drive north to Mashpee to a grocery store there. They still didn’t have exactly what I wanted, but at least they had a substitute. I got home, put groceries away, they arrived, but they were determined to get out in the kayaks.
Jonah didn’t stay out long, but Sam and Ollie stayed out for almost two hours. I split my time between the dock and the kitchen. When it started drizzling, I spent more time in the kitchen, but the Sam and Ollie weren’t phased. It was almost 5 pm when I went down to the dock to tell them it was time to head in for dinner. By this time, it was raining a little more seriously and two very wet little boys eventually came inside. They stripped their wet clothing and headed directly to the shower. They were still in the shower when Heather and Jed arrived, but we finally coaxed them out in time for dinner. I love days like today. Nothing was planned. It just evolved. And it evolved into a very relaxed, fun day for all.
by Judy Handley | Apr 13, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 103: Rainy Day Activities
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2019
Weather: Overcast with All Day Drizzle; High 54, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Every night I check the weather and every day for the past four, the forecast for this coming week has gotten cloudier and rainier. At this point, there is no sunshine in the forecast. A lot of parents with kids on spring vacation are going to have to come up with lots of rainy day activities. I had talked with Heather and Jed ahead of time and offered my services for some of their spring cleaning and organization activities . . . and some gardening as well. Soccer games were cancelled for today, so this afternoon I attacked the mountain of hand-me-down kids’ clothing that is stored in the basement. There are the hand-me-downs from one brother to another and hand-me-downs from friends in sizes 6, 7, 8, 10, 10-12, 12-14. Lots of clothes! I took them out the bins that have gotten jumbled with sizes over the past couple of years and after five hours, they were all back in bins labeled by size and type of clothing. One job checked off the To Do List. Heather and Jed worked on basement reorganization and planning for the many gardening projects that are part of what will be a multi-year reorganization of how the various spaces in their yard will be used. I think the impetus for the reorganization is to make space for playing soccer in the backyard instead of in the front as it becomes barren by the end of summer no matter how hard Jed works in keeping the grass growing. The problem being that the only really flat area in the backyard is currently the vegetable garden. So slowly, the vegetable garden will be moved to deep beds in other parts of the yard and eventually the vegetable garden will become a soccer playing area. Yesterday 9 yards of garden soil was delivered and is sitting in the drive-way. Some of that will go into new deep beds and some will go into the boys’ dirt digging area. It is getting a facelift with new borders to hold the dirt in. Rain or shine, the Goldpebbles find things to do in that dirt digging area. And what else do they find to do on a rainy Saturday? A friend in Woods Hole called and invited them to come play soccer in the mud.
Perfect! Ollie is still not feeling 100 per cent, so he stayed home with me while I continued sorting and he played with Joey next door. Jed took Jonah and Sam to Woods Hole to play in the mud and Heather went to a late afternoon yoga class. It will be interesting to see what other rainy day activities they come up with this week.
