by Judy Handley | May 17, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 137: Congratulations to Heather MH Handley
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Weather: Windy and Cooler; High 59, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Yesterday I proudly cast my vote for my daughter, Heather MH Handley (the MH stands for Martin Handley) for School Committee. We assumed she would be elected as she was running unopposed for a one-year term. What we didn’t know was that she would get more votes than anyone else on the ballot. She contributes the number of votes to name recognition from her years on local public radio. Jed responded to my question about why they think she got so many votes to the fact that she is just damn good. I go along with both. Congratulations, Heather! Her first School Committee meeting is next Tuesday and then on Thursday she flies to Telluride, Colorado, returning home Monday evening. We all thought the boat was being launched on Tuesday, May 31, at 9 am, just 12 hours after her return. But she realized today that May 31st is on Wednesday. She is thankful for that.
This evening while Sam and Jonah were at soccer practice (car-pooled with a friend), Heather, Jed, and Ollie went to the boat to try and tape off the waterline. Laying a curved line that is not wavy is challenging. They were making progress when I left to come home. I doubt they finished as it was almost dark when I got home. But somehow by Friday morning, the line must be taped off because Heather is taking the day off and hoping to get two coats of barrier paint and one coat of bottom paint on the boat.
I spent most of my day engaged in Encore related activities. I attended the general meeting this morning, preceded and followed by more interviews with Board members. The program at the general meeting was great. It was advertised as a program about good choices for container gardens to be presented by a representative from Cape Abilities. It was really more about Cape Abilities than it was about container gardening, but that was okay because the presenter was so engaging and funny. I have no idea what his name was, but he runs the Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis. The mission of Cape Abilities is to “serve individuals with disabilities on Cape Cod by education, counseling and providing residential, therapeutic, social and employment supports that empower them to achieve meaningful and valued roles in the community.” Much of this is done through the employment of individuals with disabilities at the farm. I am so anxious to visit the farm and learn more about Cape Abilities and buy some of the organic plants they grow and sell.
I had to take Shadow with me this morning as there was a showing here at the cottage. He stayed in the car all morning and into the afternoon. I went out twice to check on him, but he was fine, just sleeping. When I brought him home, I had lunch, answered some emails, and headed back to town to take Ollie to his saxophone lesson. Then to the boat. And finally home. I have had the sniffles today and am hoping it is just a result of the heavy pollen count. But it might be a cold. Bummer. I hope I wake up just fine tomorrow morning.
by Judy Handley | May 16, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 136: Boat, Garden, Voting, Meetings, Wine Group
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 66 Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Heather and Jed went to the boat last night and sent me a report on the results of the teak cleaning. The results were mixed, so I went this morning to see for myself. H & J were right. Some parts were great, others were not. Not sure yet what we can do about that in the little bit of time we have left. But we will figure that out.
After visiting the boat, I went to 225 Lakeside where I will be moving in July. I went to check on the garden and to unpackage the raised beds I had sent there. I then stopped at Heather and Jed’s to pick up laundry, cast my votes in today’s local election on my way home, had lunch at home, walked Shadow, and then went on to Christina Brodie’s for an afternoon of meetings. We finished up at 5 pm and then it was back home to walk Shadow and to pick up my wine and food for my wine group meeting.
Since most members of my wine group go south for the winter months, we have a meeting in January and then not again until May. It was so wonderful to see everyone again tonight after our winter hiatus. Best wine group ever!
by Judy Handley | May 15, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 135: The Problem is Time … Not Enough
Date: Monday, May 15, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 64 Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Time, time, time. In my life, it seems like there is never enough of it! We are down to the line with boat work as the boat goes in the water on Tuesday, May 30th. Or maybe the 31st. Whichever, it is coming soon and Heather leaves town next week and doesn’t return until the night before the boat goes in. So, all of the cleaning and painting has to be done before she leaves town. I was in meetings all day today with just a break for lunch, so there was not enough time to drive to the boat to check to see how the teak looked after yesterday’s cleaning.
At 5:30 pm, I drove straight from my last meeting to pick up Jonah and Sam to take them to Harwich for soccer practice. Heather and Jed were headed to the boat when I arrived. So, when I returned with the boys at 9 pm, I got the full report from Heather. The teak results were mixed. It was obvious that where we were able to really scrub with the brushes we had, it looks good. But in the corners and other hard to reach areas, it needs a little touch up. I wish there was time to do another full cleaning, but there just isn’t. I will see what I can do to spot clean and hope that does the trick. We used Oxy Clean dissolved in warm water as our cleaning solution rather than harsher chemicals due to Jed’s allergies. You just put a cup of Oxy in a gallon of warm water in a garden sprayer and spray away. Then scrub. Spray some more and rinse, rinse, rinse. The Oxy seemed to work great, at least where we agitated the surface adequately. In my research, I read that oxygenated bleach is a good teak cleaner. When I asked Heather if she knew what oxygenated bleach was, she immediately replied, “Oxy Clean.” Who knew? Certainly not me. Technically it is a natural plant derivative product called sodium percarbonate.
Tomorrow and Wednesday are days as busy as today, and Thursday is only a little better. I think I might have time to breathe on Friday. In the meanwhile, can someone lend me some time?
by Judy Handley | May 14, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 134: Happy Mother’s Day
Date: Sunday, May 14, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 61 Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers I know, especially to Heather and Jo, the mothers of my grandchildren. I hope all of you had a wonderful day. For Heather and me this was not your typical Mother’s Day. It was our choice to work all day on the boat and to ban Jed and the boys from coming. We knew we needed to work as fast as possible to reach our goal for the day. Jed was on kid transport today, so all Heather and I had to think about was getting the last bits of the teak sanded, getting all of the teak cleaned which is an involved process, and then get the top sides of the boat cleaned. I honestly didn’t think it was possible, but we did it! To me that felt like the best Mother’s Day gift ever.
Heather and I left the boat a little before 6:30 pm, and then the whole family met at Shipwrecked on Falmouth Heights Beach for dinner at 8 pm. I just spent the last hour talking to Justin. So, my Mother’s Day is complete, and now it is time to get to bed as I have meetings tomorrow starting at 9 am.
by Judy Handley | May 13, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 133: Boat Work, Kanegsberg’s Visit, and Soccer
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Warm; High 763 Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a full day of sanding on the boat, greeting good friends, Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, who drove down from Dedham to help out with some boat work, and then taking Ollie to his soccer game which was won 12-4. Thank you, thank you, Alan and Helaine, for your help. Alan worked some sort of magic that got the autopilot working. Fantastic.
After the soccer game that was in West Wareham, the boys were jubilant. Ollie and I celebrated by stopping at Somerset Creamery for our first ice cream cone of the season. Shadow was alone for ten hours today and I felt terrible. He did fine, but there is going to be another week of intense boat work mixed with Encore meetings. Christina Brodie and I are the Co-Presidents Elect and we have time set aside on the first three days of the week to meet with other Board members. So Shadow will have some more long days. I thought ahead, however, and have someone from Upper Cape Pet Services to walk with him on those days when I am away all day.
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and Heather and I have decided that what we want for Mother’s Day is the whole day to work on the boat with no interruptions. Jed will stay home with the boys and do any driving to soccer games while I sand and Heather finishes preparing the bottom of the boat for its first base coat. We hit a snag today because the existing waterline just didn’t seem right. Ollie and I stopped at Home Depot on our way home and bought a laser line level to help with that issue tomorrow.
So far, the weather has been cooperating. Heather only has next weekend here before she goes to Colorado on a work-related trip. She will be gone all of the next weekend, Memorial Day Weekend. The boat goes in the water on May 29, so that is the reason for the push to get everything done this week.
by Judy Handley | May 12, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 132: More Boat Work, Computer Set-up, an Encore Meeting
Date: Friday, May 12, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Warm; High 76, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I’m starting feel like a broken record. My days are filled with boat work, computer set-up, and meetings associated with Encore. I intended to spend 2 hours sanding the teak this morning, but that got reduced to an hour and a half. I had to stop at 10:30 am to get to an Encore organizational meeting. That lasted until 12:30 and I had to then hurry home to meet with Art Gilbert for an hour or two to get my computer into working order. It should have been simple, but it was not. At 5:30 we were still at it. At that point, I made a decision about how I wanted to transfer files. It wasn’t the perfect decision, but it was one I could live with. We set it up and left the computers doing their thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Art Gilbert. He refused to let me compensate him. What a wonderful gift he shares with friends helping them with their computer issues. I am deeply grateful.
I left immediately, made a stop at the hardware store just minutes before they closed, and then went to the boat and sanded until 7:30. I treated myself to sushi for dinner and am now shutting down and heading to bed. It is going to be a full weekend of more boat work so I am going to need all the energy I can muster.
