by Judy Handley | Jul 13, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 194: Zero Sunshine
Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Weather: Overcast and Misty . . . again; High Temp 70, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
There was not a speck of summer sunshine today. It was another relatively cool, overcast, and misty day. And try as I might, these days without sunshine are getting me down. We might get some sunshine tomorrow mid-afternoon and Thursday and Friday look promising. So, I’ll hold on a little longer and then celebrate the sun.
I started my day with a chiropractor appointment. So far, so good. I’ve been graduated to appointments every eight weeks. I think my morning stretches, daily walking with Shadow, and riding my exercise bike 30 minutes every day is helping keep my back aligned, so I’ll keep up with those activities.
The Goldpebbles and I decided on a movie afternoon and watched The Avengers. This is a 2012 Marvel Comics superhero film. We spent our afternoon watching Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye defeating an unprecedented threat to Earth. And I spent part of that time defeating an unprecedent threat to the fish in my aquarium. I lost a couple of fish recently and yesterday we bought three new ones to replace the old. When we arrived here for lunch today, we found one of the fish we bought yesterday had died and the others seemed to be gasping for air. Sam did some quick research and we discovered that the pH in my aquarium was super low which had caused the ammonium levels to sky rocket. I cleaned and did a 50 per cent water change as I watched The Avengers and the fish seemed to stabilize. I have to repeat this tomorrow and then start using a pH regulator and hope we save the fish.
In talking to Jed today, I found out that Heather is not in NYC to attend a Board meeting as I wrote last night. She is there for a workshop of some sort. She is staying in an Airbnb in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn in what is evidently quite a cool bachelor’s pad and taking the employee’s ferry out to Governors Island for the workshop. She will return home tomorrow night. And at some point today, Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco were also in New York City long enough to change planes from London home to Puerto Rico. Here’s hoping they had or are still having a safe trip home.
by Judy Handley | Jul 12, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 193: Dining-in at the Woodin’s
Date: Monday, July 12, 2021
Weather: Overcast with Periods of Rain and Mist; High Temp 75, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Dinner tonight was at Bruce and Jane Woodin’s with my Dining-in Group. Four years ago on Monday, July 17, 2017, I attended my first dinner with this group and it was also at Bruce and Jane’s. Since that time the four couples in the group plus myself have all gotten to be very good friends. Since our last gathering, we lost one member, Bill Frieswyk, when cancer took his life. So now we are three couples plus two singles.
The food tonight was spectacular. We had grilled grass-fed beef steaks and roasted potatoes, compliments of Bruce and Jane. The steak was grilled to perfection and was delicious. Peter Baranowski made one of his specialties, a Caesar salad with fresh greens he picked this morning at Coonamessett Farm and his homemade croutons. And we ended with a fresh fruit salad that I contributed. We did get to eat on the deck, but we weren’t sure that was going to happen until the last minute. Thanks, Bruce and Jane, for hosting such a wonderful dinner.
The weather today was overcast with periods of rain and mist. I’m beginning to feel like I live in the Pacific Northwest prior to climate change. It has been cloudy, misty, rainy, and cool for much of the summer so far. I’ll bet the people of the Northwest are missing this kind of weather since they keep getting unprecedented heat waves. But I’ve never liked cool, rainy weather. I’m ready for moderately hot and sunny days.
Jed’s mother, Marti, left for Maine this morning and Jed took Ollie to Boston for a Lyme disease follow-up appointment with his Rheumatologist at Children’s Hospital. I did not get a chance to find out the results, but hopefully all is well. Heather had an all-day meeting and then left for New York City where she will spend the night, attend a Board meeting tomorrow, and then head back home. With all of this activity, Sam, Jonah, and I decided to have an absolutely do-nothing day. I am proud to report that we were successful and all three of us felt well-rested and happy at the end of the day. Depending on the weather, we might have a repeat tomorrow!
by Judy Handley | Jul 11, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 192: Euro 2020 and Virgin Galactic
Date: Sunday, July 11, 2021
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High Temp 76, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
What people in the United States call soccer is called football in much of the rest of the world. So the UEFA, the Union of European Football Association, is the European governing body of soccer. They host a European Championship each year commonly referred to as the Euro and the final game of Euro 2020 was today. Yes, I know it is 2021, but because there was no tournament last year due to Covid the championship was played this year. I’ve been following the games along with the Goldpebbles but had only watched one semi-final game that was won by England. This was the first time England has ever made the Euro championship games. In fact, they haven’t won a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup. Today they played Italy in the final. The last time Italy won the Euro was in 1968, so both teams really wanted this championship. But I wanted England to win.
So, after an early afternoon walk around the reclaimed cranberry bogs on John Parker Road with the Goldstones and Marti, I went home to watch the soccer game with Shadow. I tried to watch and do other things, but I just couldn’t. So, basically Shadow and I sat on the sofa for three straight hours which is rare occurrence. England scored right in the beginning of the game, and they held the lead until late in the game when Italy scored. The tied 1-1 game went into overtime. No one scored. Then it went to a penalty shootout and Italy won. You could see the heartbreak on the player’s faces, but they are a young team and I’ll just have to hope they make the finals next year and win the championship.
I felt so guilty for sitting and watching the game that I hustled afterwards to take down the wooden shelves in the living room that I use for starting plants in the springtime. I took them down to the basement and reassembled them. I want to start some cool weather crops now, but I am going to try doing that in the basement. The grow lights are quite bright in the front window and have to be on 14-16 hours a day. I worry about keeping my 102 year-old neighbor, Doris, awake at night since her bedroom faces by front window, so I’m going to give the basement a try.
Most Sunday mornings, I try to watch Meet the Press. When I tuned in late this morning, I found that NBC was covering billionaire Richard Branson’s flight into space aboard a Virgin Galactic test flight. Part of me feels like the money that is going into this project could be better spent, but another part of me believes the investment in the future is a good thing. Either way, I was impressed with today’s successful flight. Galactic looks like an airplane and takes off on a runway hanging between two other planes. When they got to a set altitude, Galactic was released and continued on into space. On the return, the wings were feathered until time for landing back on the runway. Today’s flight went without a hitch and was impressive to watch. If you have a quarter of million dollars hanging around, the plan is that you, too, can buy a ticket to space and back. If you have that kind of money, I hope you find a more benevolent way to spend it.
by Judy Handley | Jul 10, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 191: Margie’s Marinade
Date: Saturday, July 10, 2021
Weather: Overcast, Some Rain, Clearing Late Day; High Temp 73, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I would imagine most families have favorite recipes that are passed down from one generation to another. There are certainly a few of those in my family, but my very favorite is Margie’s Marinade. My oldest sister Margie was married by the time I was born and by the time I was a teenager, she had a tradition of hosting her boat club at her home every summer for a luau. I was always invited to help serve the food. The main menu attraction was beef shish kebobs made with her special marinade. I invited the Goldstones and Jed’s mother Marti who is visiting over for dinner, and I decided to have shish kebobs. I had beef and chicken along with baby potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and peppers. And, of course, everything was marinated in Margie’s Marinade. Margie is no longer with us, but her memory lives on through that marinade. And everyone seemed to really enjoy dinner tonight. It cleared up enough that we were able to eat outside and then we were invited over to the new neighbors, the Dearman’s, for after dinner drinks. Heather and Jed and Lara and Andrew seemed to hit it off, and their only child that is home right now, Lena, entertained Marti and I while Sam and Ollie went kayaking. As the last light of day lingered, Lena was invited to played soccer with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie and Marti and I had a chance to sit and talk.
My only living sibling is my sister Patsy and today was her 88th birthday. Happy Birthday, Patsy!
by Judy Handley | Jul 9, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 190: Stormy Day, Lovely Evening
Date: Friday, July 9, 2021
Weather: Tropical Storm Elsa, Rain & Wind; High Temp 75, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The remnants of Tropical Storm Elsa passed through today bringing rain and lots of wind. But by mid-afternoon the sun decided to try to peak through the clouds and we had a lovely evening. Jed’s mother, Marti, arrived at the Goldstones this morning just before the high winds hit. I was invited over for a sushi dinner and evening of the visiting. Because of Covid, Marti did not visit last summer, so this was her first time to see Heather and Jed’s new home. We had a wonderful evening of catching up and the whole gang will come here tomorrow afternoon for some boating fun followed by a cook-out.
by Judy Handley | Jul 8, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 189: Cloudy Day Fun
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021
Weather: Cloudy with Misty Rain; High Temp 75, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Arcade games, bumper boats, mini golf, lunch on a new-to-us-beach, ice cream at Somerset Creamery, and a new-to-us table shuffleboard in my basement. What a day!
In anticipation of tomorrow’s arrival of tropical storm Elsa, and weather permitting, the arrival of Grammy Goldstone, we went a little crazy and did all of our favorite cloudy day activities all in one day. Sam, Jonah, and I picked Ollie up from his pottery camp which just happens to be right next door to Cataumet Mini Golf. And Cataumet Mini Golf happens to have a little arcade and bumper boats. We picked up Ollie, moved from one parking lot to another, and ended up in the arcade because it was totally empty. So, the boys played a couple of games and then it was on the bumper boats that they enjoy so much. We had agreed to do this much and then take a break for lunch before coming back for a game of mini golf. I was supposed to pack a picnic lunch, but I didn’t get that done. So, we went to a market to get lunch and headed a further north to a little beach on Buzzards Bay that Karen Baranowski introduced me to a couple of summers ago. The boys loved it and Sam decided he wanted to bring the Opti here to sail. 
Then it was back to play mini golf and to have a second bumper boat ride before going to the nearby Somerset Creamery for ice cream. The boys LOVE our local Smitty’s ice cream, but Somerset was a definite hit with all of them, possibly rating higher than Smitty’s—really creamy. Then to top off our afternoon, we headed to Karen and Peter Baranowski’s where Jed met us to pick up a table shuffleboard game that Peter wanted out of his basement. The Goldpebbles wanted it but their basement is just too full right now. So, I said I would take to my newly cleaned out basement for fun on rainy days. The table is 9 feet long by almost 3 feet wide and weighs over 300 pounds. Peter had taken the legs off and had everything packed and ready to move. Thankfully, he helped us get it in the van and followed us to my house to carry it into the basement and reassemble it. Thank you, Peter! I immediately decided that I liked the game as you really have to practice restraint to get the pucks to go just where you want them. Games that teach restraint seem like a good thing for all of us.
In anticipation of tomorrow’s arrival of tropical storm Elsa, and weather permitting, the arrival of Grammy Goldstone, we went a little crazy and did all of our favorite cloudy day activities all in one day. Sam, Jonah, and I picked Ollie up from his pottery camp which just happens to be right next door to Cataumet Mini Golf. And Cataumet Mini Golf happens to have a little arcade and bumper boats. We picked up Ollie, moved from one parking lot to another, and ended up in the arcade because it was totally empty. So, the boys played a couple of games and then it was on the bumper boats that they enjoy so much. We had agreed to do this much and then take a break for lunch before coming back for a game of mini golf. I was supposed to pack a picnic lunch, but I didn’t get that done. So, we went to a market to get lunch and headed a further north to a little beach on Buzzards Bay that Karen Baranowski introduced me to a couple of summers ago. The boys loved it and Sam decided he wanted to bring the Opti here to sail. 
