by Judy Handley | Sep 27, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 270: Flooring, Biking, and Exploring
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2020
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 76, Low 66 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
It was another lovely fall day. I spent a leisurely morning at home and took the opportunity to the environment. It was hair washing morning, so I used a new shampoo and conditioner that Heather gave me the other day. I made the switch from Pantene 2 in 1 about two years ago, and at the time I was convinced that nothing could replace it. I started using Lush which is a bar type shampoo and conditioner. I have found a combination that really works for me but the bars are soft and don’t last very long. Heather and family used to use Lush but have recently switched to HiBAR.
This product is a hard bar, feeling like a bar of soap, and comes packed in paper. It is advertised as having “no soap, sulfates, parabens, phthalate or silicones . . . just beautiful hair.” And the company is proud to say that it is totally plastic-free hair care. I was leery, but I have to say that when I got out of the shower and started combing out my long hair, it was tangle-free. I’ll make a final determination after seeing how my hair feels tomorrow and the next day. But this product looks promising.
I told the Goldstones last night that I would check-in around lunch time today to see how I could be of help. It was another day of laying wood flooring. Heather lays the flooring and Jed cuts the boards. This morning the boys helped by running boards up and down the stairs and by also helping Heather lay the flooring. When I arrived they had stopped for lunch and were all proud to announce that they were half-way there. Ollie and Jonah were ready for a break, so I took them to Trotting Park to ride their bikes on the trails through the woods. We were only in the woods for about an hour, but the boys had a good time. When I brought them home, Jonah and Ollie decided they wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon at home helping with the flooring. Ollie has taken a particular interest and demonstrated for me just how it is done. I was very impressed with his expertise. I then took Sam to a mid-afternoon Boy Scout leadership planning meeting and I headed home to pick up Shadow. We went for an explore that actually took us on a complete circumnavigation of Falmouth. We drove from my house in East Falmouth back into town and then on down to Woods Hole. Then we drove back north through West Falmouth on our way to North Falmouth to walk the trails in the Wings Pond area. Robert’s mother, Grace, took Robert and Sam there on Friday and the photos she took and Sam’s raving about the walk were so inviting that I really wanted to go explore. The paths run through the cranberry bogs and then on into the surrounding woods. Shadow and I certainly didn’t explore the whole area, but it was a delightful place to walk together. The edges of the paths are lined with lots of poison ivy which adds a lot of fall color to the landscape. The poison ivy leaves range from a deep burgundy to red to orange and bright yellow. Something that causes people so much trouble shouldn’t be so beautiful! We then drove eastward to Mashpee where I picked up a few items at Rory’s Market. And then headed home, arriving just in time to sit down by the dock and watch the sun go down behind the trees. I threw tennis balls for Shadow to retrieve and when he got tired, he just laid down in the grass beside me watching the sun go down behind the marsh. The view is so peaceful. It was a lovely way to end a lovely day.
by Judy Handley | Sep 26, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 269: September Saturday
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2020
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 72, Low 63 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I’m having difficulty believing that September is coming to a close. But today was such a perfect September Saturday that I finally began to believe that summer is gone and fall is here. It was mostly sunny, warm without any wind, the plants in the garden are dying off, and the vines in the woods have turned a bright red and orange. It looks and feels like fall. I spent a lazy morning with Shadow, sleeping in longer than we should have, and a little before noon, I headed to the Goldstones. They were hoping to begin the flooring project in Jonah and Ollie’s bedroom today, but they were getting a slow start as well. The boys were off on their bikes with a neighboring family and had gone to the middle school to play tennis. Heather and Jed were struggling with a couple of spots on the sub-flooring that were uneven and needed sanding. I arrived just in time to put a laundry in for me and run to the hardware store for them to pick up some course sanding discs to make the sanding job quicker.
Once the boys got home, from their biking and tennis outing, Sam and Ollie decided that they would like to take their bikes to a track where we go to the skatepark. There are woodland dirt bike trails and they wanted to give that a try. Sam decided to stay home as his bike is more like a racing bike and would not withstand the woodland trails. He stayed home to help with in the beginning stages of the flooring while Ollie, Jonah, and I took off and had a fun time. I took my chair and my book and followed them into the woods so I could watch. The sun was shining through the trees and it was a delightful place to spend part of the afternoon. When we got home, Heather and Jed had really gotten into gear with the flooring and the boys pitched in to help. The work will Heather and Jed have worked out the kinks and things are moving along, it will be easier for all three boys to help out tomorrow.
I had invited the Goldstones over to my house for dinner tonight, so when I left to go fix dinner, Jonah and Ollie decided to come with me. We left Sam behind to the be helper. Each floorboard that needs to be cut is carried down the stairs and out to the driveway where Jed has the saws ready to do the cutting. Then the board needs to be run back upstairs. This is what Sam was doing while Jonah, Ollie, and I went home to play with Shadow and get dinner ready. I think tonight was our final hamburger cookout with corn-on-the-cob for this season. The fresh corn bin at the grocery store has been replaced by small squashes. Plus, there is the fact that it is just too dark to cook out. I guess it is time to start thinking about squash and pumpkins and other fall delights.
by Judy Handley | Sep 25, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 268: Kiss the Ground
Date: Friday, September 25, 2020
Weather: BEAUTIFUL DAY; High 76, Low 58 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Tonight I watched a movie on Netflix called ‘Kiss the Ground’. In just an hour and 24 minutes this documentary makes the case that we can “balance the climate, replenish the water supply, keep species off the extinction list, and better feed the world” by regenerating the Earth’s soils. If only all of that could really happen in less than 90 minutes. The film simply outlines how, using existing solutions, we could not just halt climate change, but also reverse some of its effects. It is definitely worth a watch. The focus is on regenerative agriculture. And if you don’t know what that means, then you really do need to watch the film! It is a story of hope in this very dark time.
I spent the rest of my day again driving to Chelmsford to visit with my niece who is the last stages of pancreatic cancer and then having lunch with her mother Sue who is visiting from Florida. I think Sue and I both really enjoyed our time together and then I headed home. As I did on Monday when I went to visit, I stopped at Costco and IKEA on my way home. I took Shadow with me today and took him for walks at the various stops. 
The leaves are changing colors much earlier this year, so each of those stops gave me a chance to soak in the beauty. But when we got home, we both crashed—thus watching the movie mentioned above.
by Judy Handley | Sep 24, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 267: Very Satisfying Day
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2020
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 76, Low 59 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
When one of my grandsons, Jonah, does something that makes him feel victorious, he loves to say, “That was SO satisfying.” I didn’t do anything that made me feel victorious today, but I did feel satisfied. I rearranged some furniture and created an office deck for myself in the bedroom that Ollie claims as his. I simply took out the puppy playpen that Shadow never used and moved in the antique treadle Singer sewing machine from the living room. It was a good move. The top of the sewing machine will serve as my desk and the living room looks so much bigger without that one piece of furniture. I also got a start on reorganizing the basement. So satisfying!
Tomorrow morning, Shadow and I get up early to take Sam to Robert’s house for school and then we are going to drive north to Chelmsford to again visit briefly with my niece Lynn. I won’t stay long, so I can leave Shadow in the car. But I just want to drive up and see her as often as I can.
by Judy Handley | Sep 23, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 266: A Day in the Life
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Weather: SUNSHINE and Warmth; High 72, Low 59 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
After a summer filled with daily activity with the Goldpebbles, it is always a slow and lonely process for me to get back to ‘normal’ life. So today was just a day in the life, slowly moving myself back into normalcy. I make a good start on one of my goals—house cleaning–by reorganizing my ‘pantry’, an IKEA storage unit the size of a wardrobe in one of my bedrooms. It is the smallest bedroom that Ollie has claimed as his and my goal for tomorrow is to reorganize that whole room. To back up a bit, I got up early and went to take Sam to his friend Robert’s house for the school day and then came home. I had a long conversation with my niece Jennifer, took a shower, and took Shadow for a long walk. I then worked on the pantry reorganization, ate lunch, and decided that I just had to get outside in the sunshine. Since I didn’t get to bed until 1 am and got up at 7 am, I decided to take a nap in the sunshine. Halfway through my allowed naptime, my friend Karen Baranowski appeared. We sat in the sunshine and had a long conversation about the state of this country. So many things are happening every day that it is hard to keep track of and none of it is uplifting, but it was wonderful to spend some time with Karen. The rest of the day was spent making a trip into town to run some errands and check in with the Goldstones. My bike touring friends, Mike and Linda Stuart who are now residents of Lakewood, Colorado, called to catch me up on their daily activities. Like me, Linda is determined to live without products that come in plastic containers. She is so far ahead of me, but we compared shampoo, conditioners, dish soap, and laundry detergent. Once I test out some of her recommendations, I will pass those long to you.
Tomorrow will be more of the same—cleaning and working outside in the sunshine. At least I hope there will be sunshine.
by Judy Handley | Sep 22, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 265: Welcome Autumn 2020
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Weather: Overcast and Windy, Still Cool; High 62, Low 53 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Welcome Autumn. The first day of fall here was an overcast, windy one. It was windy enough last night and today to fill my front steps with little branches of green oak leaves and acorns blown from the trees. We have had wind from the north for a few days and it has felt chilly. But the wind is switching back to the south and it is forecast to be 10 degrees warmer tomorrow with some sunshine. I look forward to that and will celebrate the coming of fall once I see the sun!
I did not drive back to Chelmsford today to pick up my niece’s kitty. She has decided to stay in her apartment and pay for round the clock nurses instead of going to the Hospice House for now. She really doesn’t want to part with her kitty, so I hope this works out for her. She will move to the Hospice House when the present situation becomes untenable. We will just have to see how this goes, day by day. And last night I got bad news about another niece who was hospitalized and was found to have a huge mass on her left kidney. She is back home but will have to return soon to have the kidney removed. This niece, Jennifer, is the daughter of my sister Patsy who lives in the Nashville area. Patsy is 87 and has hardly been out of her house since March because of Covid, but now she really wants to go see Jennifer who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is so hard to sit here and watch these devastating health issues play out with ones that I love so much. But travel is just not wise, so I fear I will have to sit and watch from afar, sending my love and most positive thoughts.
The second day of remote schooling was exhausting for everyone. Hopefully it will get easier. Both Sam and Jonah have to ‘change’ online classes every 55 minutes or so. Sam has 5 minutes between Zoom classes, but there is absolutely no time between Jonah’s classes and he has to get out of one Zoom class and find the link and get on to the next one. This takes a minute or two, so he is late to the next class. He so desperately wants to do a good job, so he is very frustrated with being late. Heather and Jed are not always available to help as they are also on Zoom calls. Hopefully someone will realize that these kids in the middle grades need a little time to switch gears. I pitched in this morning by picking Sam up and taking him to his friend’s house for day of classes. At least the two of them can support each other and so far they seem happy with the arrangement. I will start my day tomorrow by picking Sam up at 7:45 and taking him to Robert’s house. Today when I got home I did some cooking. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get that much needed house cleaning done.
