by Judy Handley | Oct 8, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 281: Celebrating Autumn with Ollie
Date: Saturday, October 8, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Cool; High 61, Low 42 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
There was a chill in the air today and the leaves are showing their fall colors. So, it was the perfect day to celebrate autumn with Ollie. When I picked him up last night to bring him to the cottage to spend the night, I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. His answer was crepes. I don’t think I have ever made crepes, so I looked up a recipe. It called for milk, which I never have, but I told Ollie I’d run to Family Foods in the morning to get some and attempt making crepes. My attempt went well.
The crepes were delicious, but what wouldn’t be when smothered with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. I had some Reddi Wip in the refrigerator left over from a dessert I made for the Goldpebbles a while back. But Family Foods had heavy cream, so I bought that as well and made fresh whipped cream. Yummy.
Our decadent breakfast gave us the energy we needed for making fall-shaped (pumpkins, apples acorns, and leaves) sugar cookies and pumpkin cookie cut outs,
and for decorating small pumpkins with acrylic markers.
Then we went outside and worked together to do some fall garden clean up and clear the briars and fallen branches from the paths I walk in the woods around the house with Shadow. Ollie cut while I pulled and carried wearing my heavy suede work gloves. Mid-afternoon we went to Heather and Jed’s. Jonah was home from his morning soccer game, but Jed was reffing a couple of local afternoon games. Jonah and Ollie cut the grass and gathered up any leaves that had already fallen. Then we ended the day with a trip to the skate park. The boys haven’t been on their scooters at the skate park for months and they really enjoyed it this afternoon. By the time we got home, Heather and Sam were home from Sam’s regatta. They left at 5 am this morning and both of them were exhausted. Sam’s boat didn’t do as well as he had hoped, but I didn’t get to talk to him about it as he was napping in his room. I’ll have to wait and hear about this when I take him to rowing practice on Monday afternoon.
by Judy Handley | Oct 7, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 280: A Day with Grandkids
Date: Friday, October 7, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm; High 69, Low 47 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today was the first day of a four-day vacation weekend for Falmouth students. I invited the Goldpebbles over to do some paid yardwork and two of them took me up on the offer. Jonah got an invitation to go spend the afternoon with his good friend Joey, so I had only Sam and Ollie. Sam’s job was to pull some aggressive weeds in Shirley’s lawn and then cut the grass. Ollie and I were the trim and clean up team, plus we worked in my gardens getting rid of some monster weeds, taking out some of the tomato cages to store them, and a long laundry list of other chores. At 2:30 pm, I left to take Sam home as he had some things to do at home before he and Jed took off for rowing practice. Ollie stayed at my house and when I returned, we spent another hour outside and then came in to start one of our planned fall arts and crafts projects. We are using acrylic markers to decorate small pumpkins. We barely got started when it was time to go pick up Jonah and then take both boys home to see their mom and have dinner. Heather returned this afternoon from a couple of work days in Boston and she will be gone all day tomorrow with Sam. Ollie is returning to spend the night with me as Heather and Sam leave at 5 am in the morning for a full day regatta in Worcester which is about two hours from here. At 8:30 am, Jed and Jonah head to Harwich for the first game in a tournament this weekend. There are two more games on Sunday and then one on Monday if Jonah’s team makes the finals. Ollie and I will stay here and hold down the home front. We will continue our pumpkin decorating, make some seasonal sugar cookies using our autumn cookie cutters, and finish up one last outdoor project. We should still have some sunshine for our outdoor work, but the temperature is dropping overnight–not getting as warm tomorrow as it was today and yesterday. But as long as the sun shines, I’m fine with that.
by Judy Handley | Oct 6, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 279: Sunshine
Date: Thursday, October 6, 2022
Weather: Sunshine; High 69, Low 55 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Once the sun came out today, I found myself singing a John Denver tune.
“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high”
Glorious sunshine after days of rainy, overcast weather was most welcomed today. Unfortunately, my nephew Tommy was off the Cape before the sun came out. He was on the Cape for five days and never saw the sunshine. Tommy and I got up early and took Shadow for a walk around the neighborhood. Then Tommy said farewell to the cottage and to Shadow
and we drove into Falmouth for a quick tour of Heather and Jed’s home and then on to Betsy’s Diner for breakfast. Betsy’s is a retro 1950’s diner in downtown Falmouth. Elvis was blaring on the sound system and Tommy had the Elvis omelet, while I had the Spin City. Great fun and “service with a smile” as advertised. Tommy then headed to Providence for his flight home and I returned home to spend time trying to catch up on life. Then at 3 pm, I headed back to town to pick up Sam and take him to rowing in Harwich.
Heather was in Boston today and will return home tomorrow. Jed had a ‘Meet the Teacher’ night at the high school tonight, so when Sam and I got home at 7:45 pm, Jonah was busy fixing Mac and Cheese for dinner. I stayed until Jed returned home and came home to have an artichoke for dinner.
Tomorrow is the beginning of a four-day weekend for Falmouth students. I will pick up the boys at noon and they will spend the afternoon with me doing yard work and fall craft and cooking projects. Life is definitely back to normal.
by Judy Handley | Oct 5, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 278: Great Visit with My Nephew
Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Weather: Overcast, Misty Rain, PM Thunderstorms; High 60, Low 57 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
My nephew arrived around 5:30 this evening and we had a great evening visiting. I invited the Goldstones over for dinner, so we visited while we ate. Tommy arrived on Cape Cod on Sunday for a conference, and he has not seen the sunshine since arriving. The conference was at the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club, right on the water in Harwich. Despite the weather, it was a successful conference and he even managed to play 18 holes of golf. We are going to get up early and go to Betsy’s Diner for breakfast before he drives from here to Providence to fly home to Charlotte. Most of my family lives too far away for frequent visits, so it was great that Tommy could take time to visit before heading home.
by Judy Handley | Oct 4, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 277: Hurray–Negative Covid Test
Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 60, Low 57 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
This morning I tested negative for Covid.
Today was day 13, but I haven’t tested since day 9, so it took me somewhere between 10 and 12 days. I was so happy, as my nephew Tommy from North Carolina is coming tomorrow evening for a one-night visit. Now we won’t have to be masked! I am baking lasagna right now for dinner tomorrow night. Heather, Jed, and boys will stop by at different times to visit with Tommy and have lasagna on their way to (in Jonah’s case) or from (in Sam’s case) soccer and rowing practice. I feel like I am back in the land of the living.
by Judy Handley | Oct 3, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 276: Depressing Weather
Date: Monday, October 3, 2022
Weather: Overcast and Windy; High 54, Low 52 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, Falmouth, MA
The past two days have been cool, totally overcast, and windy. Not one little ray of sunshine. And it looks like the next two days will be more of the same with rain added to make it even more dreary. I think I am feeling a little better each day, but it is hard to tell as this kind of weather is certainly not my cup of tea. It makes me want to curl up in a ball and hide until the sun comes out. I got a little house cleaning done today and then took Sam to rowing practice. He has another regatta this coming Saturday, but it looks like practice tomorrow and Wednesday could be cancelled due to rain. Maybe it won’t be as rainy as forecast.
The crepes were delicious, but what wouldn’t be when smothered with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. I had some Reddi Wip in the refrigerator left over from a dessert I made for the Goldpebbles a while back. But Family Foods had heavy cream, so I bought that as well and made fresh whipped cream. Yummy.
and for decorating small pumpkins with acrylic markers.
Then we went outside and worked together to do some fall garden clean up and clear the briars and fallen branches from the paths I walk in the woods around the house with Shadow. Ollie cut while I pulled and carried wearing my heavy suede work gloves. Mid-afternoon we went to Heather and Jed’s. Jonah was home from his morning soccer game, but Jed was reffing a couple of local afternoon games. Jonah and Ollie cut the grass and gathered up any leaves that had already fallen. Then we ended the day with a trip to the skate park. The boys haven’t been on their scooters at the skate park for months and they really enjoyed it this afternoon. By the time we got home, Heather and Sam were home from Sam’s regatta. They left at 5 am this morning and both of them were exhausted. Sam’s boat didn’t do as well as he had hoped, but I didn’t get to talk to him about it as he was napping in his room. I’ll have to wait and hear about this when I take him to rowing practice on Monday afternoon.
