by Judy Handley | Jun 24, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 175: Skate Park and Water Work & Play
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 79, Low 66 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a cloudy day with some patches of sunshine, but because of the weather, the Goldpebbles weren’t interested in going to the beach. But they did want to return to the Skate Park. Heather was hosting a webinar from home this afternoon, so we decided that we would leave her in peace for the whole afternoon. The plan was to go to the Skate Park and then head to my house where Ollie would have his 3:45 pm violin lesson on Skype. We went to the Skate Park, but by 2:45 pm everyone was ready to leave. We then headed to my house.
Sam was interested in making some money by cleaning out the roof gutter on the front side of the cottage, so we launched into that project. The hose attachment that the Baranowski’s loaned me for gutter cleaning looks like a very long, extendable cane. You put the curved part in the gutter and turn on the water full blast. Sam was super excited about having a water battle using the attachment after we finished our job. It wasn’t much of a battle as a regular hose with a spray attachment was absolutely no challenge. But all three boys enjoyed seeing just how far they could shoot a stream of water with the attachment. Best water gun ever.
by Judy Handley | Jun 23, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 174: Free and Easy Day
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 80, Low 67 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a free and easy day. The Goldpebbles were busy with various activities this afternoon, so I stayed home and just watched the day roll by. I did wash and wax my car and I vacuumed out the inside. Peter and Karen Baranowski came by to drop off groceries for the aunties and Karen invited me to come to her house around 4 pm to check out all of their new landscaping. I love one of their new trees called a Harry Lauder Red Walking Stick. It has fabulous dark red leaves and a trunk and branches that twist and turn like a corkscrew. It is interesting in the summer with the leaves on, but I can’t wait to see it in the winter with no leaves.
The new landscaping all looks great, but the highlight of the visit was sitting with Karen on the their porch and watching the amazing array of bird life at the feeders—woodpeckers, downy and red-headed; finches—yellow and purple, red-winged blackbirds, chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves, juncos, a Baltimore oriole I missed, but Karen saw, and the most beautiful little hummingbirds. With rabbits hopping along under the trees surrounding one of the feeders, it looked like a scene from a Beatrix Potter book. My only regret was that I didn’t have my camera with me. I took a few photos with my phone, but it is not great at distances. With or without photos, it was a delightful time.
by Judy Handley | Jun 22, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 173: Gardening and Skate Park
Date: Monday, June 22, 2020
Weather: Foggy Morning, Partly Cloudy Afternoon; High 74, Low 63 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was another foggy morning, but the fog didn’t clear by noon as it has on most days recently. The overcast skies persisted into the afternoon.
Eventually we got a little sunshine, but it just didn’t feel like a beach day. So, after lunch, I persuaded the Goldpebbles to go to the Skate Park for an hour or so. We made a stop at the downtown skateboard shop on the way and I bought a trick skateboard to add to our repertoire of skate park equipment. Sam has a long skateboard, but that is not what is needed at the Skate Park. The new board ended up to be a great addition to the two scooters that we have. Both scooters are old and need to be replaced, but for today, at least, each of the boys had something to ride on. We basically had the whole park to ourselves and we all enjoyed our little outing. Sam used the new skateboard most of the time while Ollie and Jonah used the scooters. Fun time.
I came home to do a little cooking and finish a gardening project I began this morning. I restrung the bean tower that will serve as a trellis for the vining luffa sponge plants, put it in an area I cleared in Shirley’s landscaped area next door, and planted the seedlings I started inside in early May. Hopefully the plants will like the sunny spot and I will get lots of luffa sponges in the fall. These can be used as you would use any sponge. So, if I get a good crop it will be fun to experiment with different ways of using them.
by Judy Handley | Jun 21, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 172: Happy Father’s Day and Happy Birthday to Jo
Date: Sunday, June 21, 2020
Weather: Overcast Early, Then Sunny; High 80, Low 63 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Here’s hoping all of you fathers out there had a wonderful Father’s Day. And a very special Happy Father’s Day to the fathers of my grandchildren, Justin and Jed. I know Justin spent his day at the beach where Jo tried out her new paddleboard birthday gift from Justin. And I know Jed spent his afternoon at the beach because I was with him. We had a great time and I’m hoping that Justin, Jo, and kids also had a great day. Happy Birthday, Jo.
This morning I delivered the strawberry-rhubarb pie that I made for Jed for Father’s Day. Jed is still recovering from the biking accident he had recently, so he was the only Goldstone that did not participate in the 5k run for the Falmouth Education Association this morning. This fundraiser is usually a run on the waterfront and through the adjoining neighborhoods in Falmouth Heights. But because of the coronavirus, the run was done informally in various neighborhoods and parts of town. Heather and boys ran and biked in their neighborhood. I arrived shortly after the end of the race and was convinced by Sam that I needed to join in for a family afternoon at the beach. They had decided to go to Quissett so I could bring Shadow, so I headed back home to get things ready for the afternoon.
It was a beautiful and very warm afternoon with lots of people on the beaches. Unfortunately, when the Goldstones arrived at Quissett there was no place to park. They called me and told me to stay put. They were going to check out Menauhant and let me know if we could meet there. But that was also a no go because there was no place to park. The backup to the backup was my suggestion to try Callie’s Beach off a dirt road in Mashpee. This beach is on Waquoit Bay. I was introduced to it by Karen and Peter Baranowski and on weekdays there are usually very few people there. It was a little crowded on one end of the beach today, but on far end, there were only a couple of other families. I was able to take Shadow with me to this beach and we had a lovely afternoon. It is very shallow, so the boys could walk and snorkel far out into the bay. The boys were able to get Shadow to come out into the water a little ways with them, but he always headed back to shore to bury himself in the sand. I’m beginning to think he didn’t get the water gene. The boys and Jed and also launched into building sandcastles all along the water’s edge.
Before I left for the afternoon at the beach, I delivered a strawberry-rhubarb pie to the aunties next door and I got Shirley’s permission to plant my luffa sponge plants in her landscaped garden which gets full sun all day. I have no place in my yard that gets full sun, so I am very excited about getting Shirley’s permission to plant on her side of the driveway. I’m hoping to get that planting job done tomorrow. This evening when I got home from the beach, I gave Shadow a much needed bath to get rid of all that sand and then I headed down to the dock with him so he could dry off in the sunshine.
It was after 6 pm and at that time of day, the only sunny spot is down by the water. I love sitting on the dock in the sun, so we enjoyed almost an hour of drying time. Then it was back to The Cottage so I could bake a strawberry-rhubarb pie for myself. I watched a Masterpiece Theatre double-header and just had my first piece of that pie. It did not disappoint. But what was disappointing was that I had to spend part of the evening trying to deal with a computer issue. Something is blocking my email from coming into my Outlook account. I can get email on my phone but can’t get into it on the computer. Unfortunately, I will have to continue with that issue tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jun 21, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 171: First Day of Summer Strawberries
Date: Saturday, June 20, 2020
Weather: Sunny; High 79, Low 62 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
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My first official day of summer celebration was to go pick-your-own strawberries. Sam, Ollie, and Jonah went with me and we picked eight quarts. I thought it was fairly easy picking, but after about six quarts, they were tired. They found it hard to believe that some people have to do this all day, every day as a job. Sam doesn’t eat strawberries and won’t even touch them, so I sent him through the rows to scout out the best places to pick. But halfway through our picking time, he tried touching a strawberry and found it wasn’t as repulsive as he thought. So even he pitched in and helped pick. I sent them home with six of the quart baskets and I kept two and turned them into strawberry rhubarb pies—one for Jed for Father’s Day and one for me. If the Goldstones haven’t eaten all of the other six baskets by tomorrow morning, I think I’ll go get another one and make a pie for the aunties next door. In my opinion, strawberry rhubarb pie is simply one of the tastiest foods in the whole world.
Summer solstice came a day earlier than usual since 2020 is a leap year. Usually summer solstice falls on Jo’s birthday which is tomorrow. And tomorrow is also Father’s Day. So this is a bit of a festive weekend.
by Judy Handley | Jun 19, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 170: Drip Irrigation System; Afternoon at Menauhant Beach
Date: Friday, June 19, 2020
Weather: Foggy AM, Sunny PM; High 78, Low 62 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
During a foggy early morning, I continued the work of expanding the drip irrigation system that I have set up in my three raised beds to a fourth bed and beyond. Days ago, Jed and Jonah helped me clear a wooded area. I have now planted tomatoes and squash there and this morning I extended the drip irrigation system to cover this area. I didn’t quite finish the job but will continue tomorrow. And I don’t have all the bits and pieces that I need to do the job as I would like, so I have ordered the parts and will add those later. The good thing is that I can use the drip irrigation as is until I get the additional parts. I love having the watering system on a timer and not having to worry about getting the hose out everyday to water. It saves time and saves water. Definitely a win, win situation.
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Later in the afternoon, I went to Heather and Jed’s to do a laundry and then take the Goldpebbles to Menauhant Beach for a couple of hours. The boys seemed to really enjoy the afternoon. They skipped rocks on the water and then treaded water. Jonah treaded water for 15 minutes and then Sam had to do the same. At one point, Jonah sat down and scooted his way down to the water. It looked like track a sea turtle would make coming ashore to lay eggs. But to Jonah it looked like a water slide and he and Ollie worked all afternoon to try and find ways to get water to slide down rather than just sink in the sand. They added rocks. When that didn’t work, they embedded a boogie board in the track and that did shed water. Sam didn’t join in with the water slide project. Instead, he spent a lot of time reading on the beach. Jonah’s comment was, “That’s what teenagers do.”
I took the boys home and had dinner with them. They wanted me to stay and watch an episode of Our Planet with them, but I really needed to get home to spend some time with Shadow. But when I got home, I signed up for a free month of Netflix and watched the same episode of Our Planet that the Goldstones were watching. It was about endangered forest wildlife.
04 Dare, Dare, Double Dare–Take My Photo
