by Judy Handley | Sep 3, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 247: A Weekend of Beautiful Days and Sunsets
Date: Sunday, September 3, 2023
Weather: Yet Another Beautiful Day; High 76, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
It has been a weekend of beautiful days and sunsets. Heather, Jed, and the boys have spent the weekend sailing Ardenna across Buzzards Bay from Marion to Quissett Harbor to Vineyard Haven and this afternoon to Great Harbor in Woods Hole.
I met them in Quissett Harbor on Friday evening for the first beautiful sunset and then this evening in Woods Hole.
Sam’s friend Robert joined them last night in Vineyard Haven, spent the night aboard, and sailed with them to Woods Hole and we all enjoyed the sunset together.
“Believe me my friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” So says Ratty to Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel ‘The Wind in the Willows’. And so says me.
by Judy Handley | Sep 2, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 246: Another Beautiful Day
Date: Saturday, September 2, 2023
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; High 70, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
I got up at 5:45 am to go take Sam to Falmouth High School. He was meeting up with his soccer team to take a school bus to Nauset for a soccer tournament. I then came home and went back to bed for too long, got up and sat on the front deck with Shadow for a bit, went for a walk with Shadow, went to the store, made zucchini bread, and suddenly it was time to go back to pick up Sam. I took him home to shower and pack to go to the Vineyard to meet up with his parents and I went to a gathering of friends on Midge Frieswyk’s front deck. I then came back to pick up Sam to take him to the ferry in Woods Hole. By 7 pm, he was in a dinghy with his brothers and his friend Robert whose parents have a family home on the Vineyard.
And I was back home with Shadow having dinner. That’s what I did on this beautiful Cape Cod day. I’m hoping for another tomorrow so I can do some gardening.
by Judy Handley | Sep 1, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 245: Dinner on Ardenna
Date: Friday, September 1, 2023
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 71, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
At the end of this gorgeous day, I had dinner on Ardenna in Quissett Harbor with the Goldstones. Heather, Jed, and Ollie took off this morning for Wings Cove in Marion where Ardenna is moored and sailed her across Buzzards Bay. I took Sam and Jonah school shopping, got lunch for them at Le Bon Jour, and then took them to soccer practice at the high school. While they were at practice, I baked the challah that Heather had made for tonight’s dinner and made fried green tomatoes to take as an addition to the dinner. The boys practice from 2 pm to 4:30 pm, but today they didn’t get dismissed until 4:45. We then headed to Quissett where Ardenna was waiting for us on the dock. We had a carload of sleeping bags and food to load onto the boat and then we were going to a mooring to have dinner. But there was a problem with the water system, and we waited on the dock while Jed drove to West Marine for a needed part. It was almost sunset by the time we were on a mooring in the inner harbor where we had dinner in the cockpit.
Today was beautiful as was this evening, but it was a bit nippy.
But I was fine in a cotton shirt so it was not cool enough to be uncomfortable.
After dinner, Sam and I headed home as he has a soccer tournament tomorrow. The rest of the gang will head to Martha’s Vineyard when the tide is right tomorrow late morning. Tomorrow evening, I will take Sam to Woods Hole to catch a ferry to MV where he will meet up with the rest of the family until Monday morning. Then I will pick up Sam and Jonah in Woods Hole as they have soccer practice on Labor Day afternoon. Heather, Jed, and Ollie will sail the boat back to Marion and the next morning will be the first day of school. This summer has slipped by way too fast!
by Judy Handley | Aug 31, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 244: Ollie’s Newest Passion
Date: Thursday, August 31, 2023
Weather: Sunny, but Cooler; High 70, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was all about Ollie’s newest passion, horse-back riding. He took lessons last week while I was in North Carolina and has evidently fallen in love with it. He even enjoys mucking out the stalls.
He is thinking he will not play soccer this fall. Instead, he would like to go to the stables twice a week to ride. Today he found out that if he helps clean the stalls after he rides, he can get a 50 per cent discount. This means he can afford to do this on two days after school instead of just one. And he can ride the school bus to the farm, so that is a plus as well. Maybe this Goldpebble is going to be a farmer. He has always loved his little John Deere tractors and he looks right at home with the rake and wheelbarrow at the stables. Today he rode Margo, and he was right at home with her as well.
Last night I found out that my nephew’s mother-in-law passed away. I am so glad I was able to visit with her on Sunday before I left North Carolina. I send my love to Tommy and Marilou, and to her husband Bob. And the update on my sister is that she does have a hairline fracture in the left wrist. Thankfully, she doesn’t have to wear a cast, just a Velcro splint.
by Judy Handley | Aug 30, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 243: Wine Group Gathering Under a Blue Moon
Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Periods of Misty Rain; High 79, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Maybe it was that full moon, but as today progressed it got crazier and crazier. It started out okay. Around noon, I went to Heather and Jed’s to check in with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie and to take Ollie to Walmart and Staples to buy school supplies. That ended up to be just a trip to Walmart where I also picked up lunch for all three boys at Subway. That’s all we had the time to do because I needed to get lunch back to Same and Jonah and then take them to soccer practice at the high school. I delivered them and came back to get Ollie. We were going to my house, and I was going to fix an appetizer for my wine group while he played. Again, plans changed. Ollie’s friend Simon, who lives in the neighborhood, stopped by to play for a few minutes. Heather was working at home, so I left them and went to the grocery store to buy what I needed to fix an Argentinian appetizer to take to my 5 pm wine group gathering.
When I got back from the store, Simon announced that he could play longer, so I took Simon and Ollie home with me and they played while I made chimichurri, Argentina’s favorite sauce made of fresh parsley and oregano, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. It is made like pesto. The boys picked parsley and oregano for me while I grilled tenderloin steak. I sliced the steak very thin, put little pieces on toasted bread, and added the chimichurri on top of that. While the boys were picking parsley, they also found arm loads of big cucumbers I had somehow missed seeing in the garden. They thought picking the cucumbers was great fun.
All of this took until almost 5 o’clock, so off we went. I delivered Ollie and Simon at Heather and Jed’s and thought I was on my way. But as I walked out of the house, I was greeted by two big dogs that decided they wanted to go to wine group with me. There are never dogs running loose in that neighborhood, but these guys were enjoying their freedom and jumped all over my white pants. Then, when I tried to get in the car, they jumped in the front seat. I finally got them out, and I got in and called Heather to warn her about the dogs. Then I set off for wine group.
I no sooner got to the location of the wine group when I received a call from my sister’s doctor. It was actually a nurse who had visited Patsy and decided she needed to have x-rays tomorrow of her wrist and hip which are both very bruised from her fall on Monday. For this she needed to go to the office, so I arranged for Brian Thompson to take her and got back to the business of tasting wine.
Our focus tonight was wines from South America.
Marian and Richard, the hosts, had a big of map of South America so we could pinpoint the location of our individual wines.
That was an added dimension to our usual tastings and very informative. We started our gathering inside as it was misting rain, but then the sun came out and we carried everything outside. It was a beautiful evening and another great gathering with this fun-loving group.
by Judy Handley | Aug 29, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 242: A Day of Firsts
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Rain; High 73, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
First soccer scrimmage for Jonah on the Falmouth High JV soccer team,
first soccer scrimmage for Sam on the Falmouth High School soccer team,
and Ollie’s first time to ride in the front seat of my car.
That was the day of firsts. Ollie tells me he can now ride shot gun and he is loving it. Sam and Jonah are in their second week of soccer practice before school starts next Tuesday. That was the fun part of my day. Unfortunately, much of the day was spent dealing with my sister. When she went to bed after midnight last night, she fell. The assisted living facility is calling it a non-injury fall as nothing is broken and she didn’t hit her head. But she caught herself with her left hand and the thumb, index finger, and the pad on her hand are all very swollen and bruised. Her doctor will come check things out tomorrow, so hopefully the initial diagnosis is correct. But I was shocked that the med techs at the assisted living facility are not allowed to put ice on her hand. Brian Thompson had to go buy an ice pack and she has to put it on herself. The med techs can do any medical interventions without the direction of an outside physician. Hopefully her situation will be better by tomorrow.
I met them in Quissett Harbor on Friday evening for the first beautiful sunset and then this evening in Woods Hole.
Sam’s friend Robert joined them last night in Vineyard Haven, spent the night aboard, and sailed with them to Woods Hole and we all enjoyed the sunset together.
“Believe me my friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” So says Ratty to Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel ‘The Wind in the Willows’. And so says me.
