by Judy Handley | Jul 2, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 183: For the Love of Fish
Date: Sunday, July 2, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 76, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Yesterday I wrote about the love of turtles because I believe I have turned into one. At least, I am working at the rate of a turtle. Today was all about the love of fish. I found out this morning that Ollie has talked his mom into letting him take my aquarium. Lynda, the friend and woman I rent from, is hesitant about having an aquarium in the house. She has just had all the floors redone and doesn’t want to take the chance of ruining them with an aquarium that might leak at some point. So, I have just left my aquarium at the cottage until I figured out what to do with it. The number of fish left had dwindled to only one as I have not been replacing any since I knew I was going to move. But I didn’t want to flush the one survivor! It was great news to hear that Ollie wants it, so we all went out to pack up a few things and to transfer the aquarium to 43 Grasmere. Ollie has named the lone Tetra Filmore. If Filmore survives the move, he will be getting some new friends.
Sam worked today, but Heather and the boys had an afternoon and evening of parties. Their next door neighbor from their previous house on Vidal was having a 50th birthday party. Happy Birthday, Melissa. Then Ollie has a friend named Reese who was having a party. And at 4 pm, they picked up Sam early from work to go to Sam’s friend Sebastian’s Sweet Sixteen party. Heather left Sam at that party long enough to take Jonah to an overnighter with a friend and bring Ollie here. He was bored with the teenagers. Heather returned to the party and Ollie and I accomplished so much. He helped me put hardware cloth around the small back deck to keep Shadow from escaping. In the evenings, I like to sit out there and not worry that Shadow might wander off. Well, while we were putting up the fencing, my fears materialized. All of sudden, Shadow was gone. We called and called, but he didn’t return. It was still light out, so I got in the car. As I reached the end of the driveway, I saw a couple walking down the sidewalk with a dog that looked like Shadow. It was. They live three houses away and found him in their backyard. He had gotten there by going through the woods behind our houses. The problem is that they live only one house away from a very street in town. My country dog is going to have to learn how to be a city dog and not stray away from home.
Ollie and I finished the deck surround and then went inside and put books on shelves. He was able to put things on the very top shelf in the dining room and it looks great. Later Heather returned to pick up Ollie, but she was going to have to go back and pick up Sam later. Instead of going home, the three of us ended up talking away the rest of the evening. A friend brought Sam home, so at almost 11, Heather and Ollie headed home. Ollie was really tired, but we had a great evening.
by Judy Handley | Jul 1, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 182: For the Love of Turtles
Date: Saturday, July 1, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 76, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Progress today was slow but sure, just like the turtles I love so much. When I lived in New Hampshire, I met a naturalist named David Carroll. David was a swamp walker, and he knew every turtle in that swamp. Through him, I learned to love turtles. And today, I think I turned into one. At least, I certainly moved at their pace.
When I got up this morning, I really didn’t think I was going to be able to do anything today. I have aggravated those herniated disks in my back to the point that I could hardly walk. My back is fine, but it is the pain shooting down into my hips and legs that is the problem. I used a CBD cream that Karen Baranowski gave me yesterday. I waited an hour and was still no better. So, I broke down and took a couple of Ibuprofen. That worked like magic. After a bit I was able to move, slowly, but I could move. I got a few more things put away and then turned to the task of unloading the car that I had packed late yesterday at the cottage. I got a lot of things taken down to the basement and now the car is packed with empty boxes to go the cottage to fill up tomorrow or Monday.
I am going to continue to move like turtle. That means that this move is going to take even longer. But I do have the essentials in place and can start living a normal life style again. I made my first smoothie in three weeks this morning and actually fixed dinner in my kitchen. The basil in my garden is growing like gang busters, so I fixed a big basil, tomato, and fresh mozzarella salad to go with roasted chicken. I feel almost human again!
by Judy Handley | Jun 30, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 181: A Mix of Moving Chores and Camp Oma
Date: Friday, June 30, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 77, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was a mix of moving chores and having fun with Ollie and Jonah. I start each day now putting a few things away and at 10 am I went to Heather’s to pick up Jonah and Ollie. We had planned to drive to Marion to bail out the dinghy since we have had so much rain this week. But the traffic on the Cape today was just crazy. The Fourth of July weekend is a big one for Falmouth, so we decided not to travel across the bridge today. It could take us hours to get home. Instead, we decided to wash cars and then go to the beach in the late afternoon. Washing and cleaning the inside of just my car and new ID.4 took longer than we thought, so we didn’t get the Goldstone’s Honda Civic done. Maybe on Monday. The beach was delightful. The water felt cold at first, but once you were in, it was great. Heather met us at the beach after work, so I left the boys with her and made another trip to the Cottage to load some items from the basement. I didn’t have the energy to unload, so that will happen tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jun 29, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 180: More Trips to the Cottage and Yard Work at Lakeview
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 76, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was a mix of unpacking and putting things away, making more trips to the cottage to pack up more things, and taking time with Ollie and Jonah here at the house on Lakeview doing yard work. They have spent most of their week at home playing soccer on the Xbox, so I really wanted to get them out of the house today. I offered to take them to the beach or to do yardwork. They opted for both. First, yardwork and then a late afternoon trip to the beach where Heather could meet us after work. Ollie brought his little battery-operated John Deere tractor over with its attached wagon, and he had a great time using that to haul the weeds he was pulling to the dumping area. Jonah opted to use the weed eater to trim the yard. His only comment was that this is BIG yard with a lot of trimming because there are so many different garden areas. And he is correct. Lynda cuts the grass, but there is a huge amount of trimming. He then rode his skateboard home and cut the grass in the backyard there. By the time Ollie and I went to pick him up to go to the beach, Heather was home. So, they went to the beach, and I went back to the cottage to bring another load of boxes.
I have joked this week that I am doing this move with one leg and half a back. And that is not much of an exaggeration. Carrying so many boxes has really aggravated my herniated disks to the point that walking is really painful. I tried to get in to see my chiropractor today, but he had no openings. So I just have to keep going until next week. My right knee, the one that needs to be replaced, is also suffering from carrying boxes. I don’t put much in each box, but still they are too heavy. Walking is difficult, sitting is difficult, and standing hurts. So I am going to bed and hope that works! But I should add, that even though the moving process is so painful in many different ways, I am loving the new house and yard. I had a wonderful five years in the cottage, but I think I am going to like it here just as much, maybe even more. I love being in town and being only a minute away from Heather and family. I can already see how much time I am going to gain by not having to drive in and out of town multiple times on most days.
by Judy Handley | Jun 28, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 179: More Progress Before Detta Headed Home
Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Weather: Another Overnight Storm, Partly Cloudy with Some Rain; High 75, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
We had another rain storm during the night, but we only got about half the amount of rain. Then it was a fast-paced day. Detta and I started the day at the cottage getting most everything out of the refrigerator and packing a few more kitchen items. Detta needed to start her drive back to New Hampshire by 1 pm at the latest and we wanted to make a trip to Woods Hole before she left. Today is her son-in-law’s birthday and she wanted to get him couple of Woods Hole Oceanographic t-shirts. So we brought the things we could to the new house and put those things in the freezer and refrigerator that were crucial. We left the rest in a cooler and made the trip to Woods Hole. We found just what she wanted at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Discovery Center gift shop and had a little birthday lunch celebration for Detta at the Quicks Hole Taqueria. Detta’s birthday was in the beginning of June, so it was a bit belated, but fun. We both a lobster taco and then were on our way. Detta dropped me off before 1 pm. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful friend and I really, really appreciated the help.
I got the refrigerator things put away and then got ready for a 3:30 pm Public Policy meeting. This was a planning meeting for next year and it went even better than the best that we thought we could hope for. I think everyone left the meeting excited about the upcoming year.
Once home, I played ball with Shadow, put a few more books on the shelf, had dinner, and crashed. I talked to my sister and had a wonderfully long conversation with my friend Lynne Kirwin. She hopes to come visit during the third week of July. Looking forward to it.
by Judy Handley | Jun 27, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 178: Detta Comes to the Rescue
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2023
Weather: Storm Overnight, Rainy; High 77, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
During the night, we had quite a storm with lots of rain, thunder, and lightning. But by 9:45 am when my friend Detta arrived, the rain was off and on and not a downpour. I thought we were going to Debbie Lane to move the food in the refrigerator and freezer, but Detta insisted on doing more. In addition, I had a medical appointment mid-day, and I was also on Camp Oma duty. So, there were lots of things to fit into the day. The Goldpebbles were going to be on their own today, but I had told Heather I would make sure they ate lunch. They do fine on their own, but they forget to eat! So, after my appointment, I offered to drop the boys off at Shipwrecked so they could have lunch while Detta and I did another run back to Debbie Lane. They decided they wanted to help us move the boxes from the cottage, so they did Le Bon Jour take out. It worked out great. Having more people to pack and load boxes was so helpful and we made a lot of progress.
Heather had a School Committee meeting this evening, so I had the boys over for take-out. They chose Indian. I picked Jonah and Ollie up and Sam was going to stop as he biked home from an after work hours summer meeting. It was after 7:30 pm when Detta and I picked up the take-out. When we drove in the drive-way, Sam was just arriving and Heather was just getting out of her car. Her meeting was an amazingly short one, so she joined us for dinner as well. It was the first dinner in my new abode and we all enjoyed the wonderful space in the dining room. Dining at the cottage was always a crowded affair, but here it is fabulous. I wish I had taken a photo to share. Next time.
