by Judy Handley | Aug 31, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 243: Boat Trip to Chappaquiddick
Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High Temp 83, Low Temp 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Neighbors Andrew and Lara invited the Goldpebbles and me for a boat adventure across the Sound today.
We went to Chappaquiddick and beached the boat so the kids could play on the beach and in the water. If squeals of joy are any indication that they were having a good time, I would definitely say they did. We ate a picnic lunch on the boat, up anchored, did a boat tour of the Edgartown Harbor, and then ‘flew’ back across the Sound to the Eel River and beached the boat on Washburn Island. Just as we came in, the ice cream boat appeared, so the kids had ice cream and did some exploration on the island. When they got back in the water to get onboard the boat, they spotted a big red-striped jellyfish with red stripes radiating from the center. We Googled it and think it was a type of sea-nettle (Chrysaora melanaster) whose sting can be quite painful.
If anyone reading this knows for sure what it was, let me know. Then it was home and time to get Jonah home for soccer practice. Sam sprained his ankle yesterday and did not go to practice today. Hopefully he will be back at it tomorrow.
Rainy weather is headed our way tomorrow. I have my dining-in group coming late tomorrow afternoon and am hoping the rain will hold off. But there is a 100 percent chance of rain midnight and on into Thursday. Then the weather improves again. Hopefully we will have a nice Labor Day Weekend.
by Judy Handley | Aug 30, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 242: Sandwich Glass Factory AM; Fun at 43 Grasmere PM
Date: Monday, August 30, 2021
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 82, Low Temp 68 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The Goldpebbles requested that we visit the Sandwich Glass Museum before the end of summer vacation, so we did that this morning. There were previous summers where I felt I was almost forcing them to go there, but now they have become very interested in the art of glass blowing. We arrived just in time for the first glass blowing demonstration of the day. Two years ago when we visited, we saw the same glass blower, but all he could do was blow round glass balls. He has improved and can now make all sorts of things. First, he made a cat and then he moved on to make a fancy little vase. The whole demonstration kept the attention of all of us.
Then we visited a special exhibit of what I would call a psychedelic lighted glass sculptures with names like Magic Garden, Sea Horse, and People. Then we toured the various rooms with glass displays. Ollie was mesmerized by the blown glass marble run and all the boys loved a display of big bowls. One of them looked like it was made of sea weed instead of glass.
We returned to my house to have lunch and pick up Charlie and Lena from next door. The boys had invited them to their house for the afternoon to play soccer in the backyard and have fun on the trampoline. Lena gave a real chuckle a few times during the afternoon when she would come to sit with me because “the boys are being wild as boys just do.”
A great big thank you to Peter and Karen Baranowski for loaning me a car for the next day or two while my car is in the shop to have the brakes checked. When I drove home from Heather and Jed’s at the end of the day, Karen met me at Sullivan Tire where I dropped off my car. Lena, Charlie, and I transferred to her car, took her home, and then returned my house. It is wonderful to have good friends who have your back.
by Judy Handley | Aug 29, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 241: Sunday Fun
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2021
Weather: Overcast; High Temp 73, Low Temp 69 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My new summer ‘almost’ next door neighbors are Andrew and Lara. They have three children. Lena is Ollie’s age, Charlie is Jonah’s age, and Lily is just a few months older than Sam. The kids love to play together, so this afternoon Ollie and Jonah came over to play with Lena and Charlie while Lara and Lily went to Woods Hole to meet with Jed while he fed the fish they use for research purposes. He then gave them an overview of the research done by his lab. Lily hopes to become a scientist some day and really appreciated the time Jed spent with her. Then while I was out taking Shadow for a late day walk and wondering what I was going to fix for dinner, Andrew called and invited me to dinner at their house. We ended up talking way too long but what a fun way to begin this last week of summer vacation.
by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 240: What a Difference 20 Degrees Make
Date: Saturday, August 28, 2021
Weather: Partly Sunny, Windy, Felt Cool; High Temp 73, Low Temp 60 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Yesterday it was in the nineties. Today the high was almost 20 degrees cooler and the wind was coming from the north. A high of 73 should not feel cool, but after the past few days, it did. I spent my day getting the lawn furniture out of the basement and back in the yard. I put it away to get ready for Henri, but I am hosting my dining-in group this Wednesday and needed the tables and chairs back in the yard. I also did some shopping for a few things I need for the dinner. I found compostable and biodegradable plates made of palm leaves that have fallen and are collected, dried, cleaned, and pressed to make a plate and salad bowls. Since we are eating outside, I decided to go with plates that can be composted instead of carried back inside to be washed.
I talked to two members of the dining-in group this morning, and both were celebrating wedding anniversaries. Today was the 50th wedding anniversary for Karen and Peter Baranowski and yesterday was the 55th anniversary for Olivia and Terry White. Happy anniversary to good friends!
When I got home this evening from my shopping trip, I had a wonderful Skype video call with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco. I got to see Ziggy and Coco’s bedrooms that have been recently updated and they look great. Yesterday was the end of their first week of school and I got to hear all about that. They are in a school called Arts and Beyond that has grown along with Ziggy. His class is the oldest and this is the first year they have had a seventh grade. The school plans to add eighth grade next year and then Ziggy will have to find a new school for high school. He has been spending time doing animation using his iPad and adding to his repertoire on a keyboard he was given by a friend last spring. He is also continuing to write programming for games. He is one busy twelve-year-old. Coco keeps busy, but much of her time is spent socializing. She seems much more interested in friends than in school, but says she loves school because it is fun. She gets to see friends! Jo has taken a part-time position teaching English at Arts and Beyond and is enjoying that. Things are going well on Finca Maravilla.
by Judy Handley | Aug 27, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 239: Finally, Too Hot for Me
Date: Friday, August 27, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Hot; High Temp 91, Low Temp 66 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The high temperature in the past few days has been in the upper 80’s with high humidity and lots of people were complaining. But not me. I love hot. But today was a different story. I assumed the high today was the same as in the past two days, but my body reacted differently. I took Shadow for a walk at high noon and when I got home my clothes were soaking wet from sweat and I was so exhausted that I really couldn’t do anything but sit outside in the shade and eat watermelon and drink water. I finally gained enough energy to eat lunch, but that didn’t do it. I just wanted to take a nap, but it was almost time to go pick up the boys. Jonah had a school open house this afternoon making today’s pick-up time 2 pm instead of noon. By the time I got to Heather and Jed’s I was feeling better and their air-conditioned house felt so good. But I continued to move in a slower gear for the rest of the afternoon. Thankfully all I had to do was sit in the shade and watch the boys having fun in the water on the Maui mat with neighbor kids, Charlie and Lena.
At the end of the day, we met Heather and Jed at the beach and getting into the water finally did it for me. I was back to normal. As I do every evening, I check the daily high and low temperature when I start of write this log. It was just now that I discovered it was in the 90’s today. Those extra few degrees hotter must have been just a little too much for me. It is currently down to 75 degrees and that is supposed to be the high for tomorrow. Whew! We are going to get a break from the heat. But if the temperature rises again, I will check the temp before going on a mid-day walk.
by Judy Handley | Aug 25, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 237: Beach Day with a Surprise Ending
Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 88, Low Temp 69 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a hot, sunny day today with a high temperature of 88. This morning Ollie and I went to the Falmouth Arts Center weaving open house and then went to pick Sam up from soccer practice 30 minutes early. The coach decided it was just too hot to continue practice. Tomorrow is supposed to be about the same, so he might need to be picked up early again. Because of the heat, it seemed like a good afternoon to spend time in the water, so we went to Menauhant Beach. We had to leave to take Sam to do yardwork for friend Olga Mitchell, but then Ollie, Jonah, and I returned to the beach before ending the day at my house. I left Ollie and Jonah to take showers while I went back to pick up Sam and then took all three boys home. Just as I was getting ready to leave to take them home, I got a call from Midge Frieswyk. She had an extra ticket for a Jamaica Night dinner at Coonamessett Farm and wanted to know if I could join her. And I did. The dinner was great and Midge and I had a lovely evening together. Thank you, Midge.
We went to Chappaquiddick and beached the boat so the kids could play on the beach and in the water. If squeals of joy are any indication that they were having a good time, I would definitely say they did. We ate a picnic lunch on the boat, up anchored, did a boat tour of the Edgartown Harbor, and then ‘flew’ back across the Sound to the Eel River and beached the boat on Washburn Island. Just as we came in, the ice cream boat appeared, so the kids had ice cream and did some exploration on the island. When they got back in the water to get onboard the boat, they spotted a big red-striped jellyfish with red stripes radiating from the center. We Googled it and think it was a type of sea-nettle (Chrysaora melanaster) whose sting can be quite painful.
If anyone reading this knows for sure what it was, let me know. Then it was home and time to get Jonah home for soccer practice. Sam sprained his ankle yesterday and did not go to practice today. Hopefully he will be back at it tomorrow.
