by Judy Handley | Sep 7, 2024 | 2021 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 251: Soccer Saturday, Plus a Covid Vaccine
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2024
Weather: Sunny AM Turning Cloudy Mid-PM; High Temp 72, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview, Falmouth
My morning started out slow and easy and normal. But after my walk with Shadow, I decided that I should look into getting a Covid booster. I saw that I could get one in 10 minutes, so I reserved the appointment and headed out the door. Unfortunately, when I got there I realized the Falmouth CVS has only Pfizer and I am strictly a Moderna ‘user’. The pharmacist told me I could get Moderna at the CVS in Mashpee, so I checked my phone and saw that I could get an appointment in 15 minutes. I reserved that and took off, getting there just in time. Somehow it was almost 11 am by the time I got back in Falmouth, so I headed straight to the high school soccer field to see Sam and Jonah’s game, Falmouth v Nantucket. That one ended in a tie.
And a little later in the afternoon, I went with Heather and Jed to Ollie’s game in Bourne.
No soccer tomorrow. Just a day at home for me.
by Judy Handley | Dec 31, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 365: Final Countdown on the Seventh Day of Christmas
Date: Friday, December 31, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Sunshine in PM; High Temp 45, Low Temp 43 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Tonight is the final countdown to midnight and 2022. Woohoo! So, I am writing this log a little earlier than usual as it will be late when I get home. I am going to my friend Olga’s a little later this evening to make merry and bring in the new year. So let me wish you a Happy New Year a little early. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
This morning I went to Heather’s to do the pet chores. The kittens were especially cute this morning.
That is until I found that they had breached my ‘fort’ and had scattered the parts of the hydroponic grow system once again. They are still cute, but persistent and exasperating. I put the system back together and started to head home. I got no further than the front door, however, as a huge Misfits order arrived. Misfits Markets delivers organic groceries to Heather’s and to my house once a week. I get one small box a week, but Heather’s delivery was huge. One of the two boxes was so heavy I couldn’t carry it. I had to roll it into the house and to the kitchen. The order was not supposed to come until tomorrow when Heather and family will arrive home. But it was here today, and I spent a fair bit of time getting it put away. I then came home to have lunch, work a bit on my puzzle, and then it was off to the Quashnet River Trail with Shadow for a New Year’s Eve walk.
I took time to read the information board about the trail and learned that in the 1800’s, the river was dammed and there was a gristmill at the trail head. It burned in 1894 and the beautiful little trout stream was converted into cranberry bogs. The bogs were flooded with salt water during Hurricane Carol in 1954 and the bogs lay fallow for a number of years. Restoration of the river began in the 1970’s and now we have that beautiful little stream and a wonderful system of trails.
Today, Shadow and I saw three different sets of fishermen, telling us there must be brook trout in the river. It is catch and release only, so unfortunately you can’t catch and cook.
However you decide to celebrate tonight, have fun but be safe. Again, Happy New Year.
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 364: Eve of the Last Day of 2021 on the Sixth Day of Christmas
Date: Thursday, December 30, 2021
Weather: Overcast, Misty Rain in the Late PM; High Temp 45, Low Temp 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Only one more day in 2021 as this sixth day of Christmas comes to an end. There’s old Irish tradition of opening your door at midnight on the New Year’s Eve to let the old year old and welcome in the new year. I’ve never done that, but I think I will tomorrow night. 2021 has been a tumultuous year for our country and world, so I will gladly usher it out the door and welcome 2022.
I’m continuing my quest to do as little as possible. I continue to work on my puzzle making on a tad of progress. Today I did a wee bit of house cleaning, walked the dog, and started tidying up my photos from 2021. That will continue tomorrow and maybe into the new year. And I had a wonderful phone conversation with my friend Lynne in New Zealand tonight. It was already her New Year’s Eve so we both wished for a happy, healthy 2022. She hopes to come home to Michigan to visit with family this summer and fall and is planning to come spend some time here on Cape Cod with me and my Shadow. The first of many things to look forward to in the new year.
It was almost noon by the time I got around to checking my email. The first one I opened was from Woodwell Climate Research Center and there was a recommendation to watch Earth Emergency, a PBS documentary. For some reason I didn’t receive my December guide from WGBH, so I turned on the TV and gave a voice command for Earth Emergency. It was 12:02 pm when I did this, and it came up that the program was airing on WGHB at 12 noon. I tuned in. Albeit a bit depressing, it is absolutely a “must see.” It airs again at noon on Saturday, January 1 on WGBH. If you don’t get WGBH, check your local PBS station. If at all possible, you should tune in.
Good news—The kittens are back in my good graces. They were not able to breech the new ‘fort’ I built around the hydroponic garden last night. They still won’t let me hold them, but they will let me pet them. I know they miss the Goldpebbles and will be happy when they return on Saturday.
by Judy Handley | Dec 29, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 363: Naughty Kittens on the Fifth Day of Christmas
Date: Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Weather: A Little Rain Overnight, Cloudy; High Temp 42, Low Temp 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My day started with a trip to Heather and Jed’s to feed their pets. Well, the kittens, Leo and Mel were naughty overnight. Yesterday they had toppled the ‘fort’ that Heather and Sam had built to keep them away from the hydroponic indoor garden I got for Heather for Christmas. They had breeched wall of the fort (a laundry basket) and taken out a couple of the seed pods to play with along with the plastic caps that keep the moisture in. When I went in today, I immediately went upstairs to check on the little garden. This time they had totally toppled the entire ‘fort’ and taken out at least half of the seed pods and used them as play toys. They had scattered the parts all over the place. I gathered the parts and put things back together. I found that two of the seed pods are starting to sprout despite the disturbances which is exciting. I went to the basement to get some plastic bins to reinforce the ‘fort’ and when I went tonight to feed, my ‘fort’ was still in place. But since you need to get to the indoor garden to refill the water storage container, I will need to build a surrounding that is not quite so hard for humans to get into, but still sturdy enough to keep kittens out.
For the remainder of the day, I did a good job today of doing almost nothing. I worked on my puzzle, started watching Season 5 of the Outlander, walked with the dog, and did a little cooking. I was supposed to go to a wine group gathering, but I have cancelled all indoor group gatherings for now. It just seems unwise with the Omicron variant out there. I ordered some K95 masks as the health gurus are saying cloth masks do little to protect anyone from Omicron. K95 or surgical masks are necessary now.
by Judy Handley | Dec 28, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 362: Christmas Lights on the Fourth Day of Christmas
Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Weather: Rainy AM, Partly Sunny PM; High Temp 44, Low Temp 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I lived up to my goal of doing absolutely nothing today. I did start working on my second jigsaw puzzle—the one I need to do by the middle of January. The one made up of family photos that I started a couple of days ago is very challenging, so I will let it sit until I finish the one I started today. I had a nice Skype video call with Justin, Ziggy, and Coco where the kids got to show me all the goodies they got for Christmas. And I got a text from Heather saying they had a great day on the slopes, skiing and snowboarding. Tonight, I did take a break from nothing and took my friend Olga to see Christmas light shows set to music at two different homes in town. And I spent the rest of the evening binge watching a TV series. I started watching The Outlanders about a month ago and am now on Season 4. I only have one episode left, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Dec 27, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 361: A Long Walk on the Third Day of Christmas
Date: Monday, December 27, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 34, Low Temp 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Each morning and evening while Heather and Jed are gone, I go to their house to feed Leo and Mel, the kittens, and Zuzu, the guinea pig. And each morning, Leo and Mel, come walking out of the bedroom to meet at their food bowl. This morning they looked like they were marching in step to demand their food.
After they eat, Leo, who is a girl, plays and Mel, the boy, sits serenely in the basket at the top of their climbing toy
. I’m enjoying the time to get to know them a little better. Zuzu is always happy to see lettuce in my hand for him, but there is not a lot of interaction with a guinea pig. I ran a few errands afterwards and didn’t get home until almost noon. As I was parking the car I heard the ding indicating a message on my phone. It was my friend Olga wanting to know if Shadow and I would like to walk in the afternoon. Since that is what I was planning to do after lunch, I wrote back that I would pick her around 2 pm and we would walk the Quashnet River Trail that is close to both of our homes. It is a well-maintained trail and I thought we would walk one mile in and then turn around and come back. But the trail is a loop and the weather was so nice that we decided to do the whole thing. The temperature was actually a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday, but because there was no wind, it felt much warmer. We walked the west side of the trail first which is nice and flat. I had never walked on to the east side of the trail, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It is NOT flat. Olga is eighteen years my senior, but I think she could out walk me any day of the week. The ups and downs on the east trail slowed us down a bit, but we completed 3.18 miles in 1 hour and 18 minutes.
We didn’t set any speed records, but we had a great walk. And Shadow was a very happy doggie.
