by Judy Handley | Sep 8, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 251: Queen Elizabeth, the End of an Era
Date: Thursday, September 8, 2022
Weather: Cloudy, Clearing Late Day; High 72, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
When I heard this afternoon that Queen Elizabeth had died, I suddenly realized that I thought of her as more than a Queen. She had somehow managed, at least in my view, to become a dignified mother figure for the entire world. With her death, an era has ended. But what a run she had.
My day was filled with the first Newcomers general meeting of the year, canning tomato sauce,
and taking Sam to rowing which is almost a five-hour affair. I left my house just after 3 pm to go pick him up and it was almost 8 pm by the time I got home. The drive alone is about an hour each way and then Sam rows for two hours.
But I made good use of the time. I took Shadow with me so we could walk. Plus, I took my computer and was able to get a lot of work done. But the real treat in doing this is the time I get to spend talking with Sam. I get to experience a very happy teenager at the end of the two hours of rowing. That alone makes the drive worth it.
I canned 17 pints of marinara sauce today and that brings me to the end of an era as well . . . no more tomato processing until next summer!
by Judy Handley | Sep 7, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 250: Dining In at the White’s
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Weather: Overcast with Misty Rain; High 69, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My dining-in group met at Olivia and Terry White’s this evening. It was a cool, misty day, so getting together with friends was definitely the highlight of my day. Dinner was great, but we were all oohs and aahs over the appetizer Midge Frieswyk brought. It was a fresh heirloom tomato pie with a ricotta and parmesan cheese base in a homemade ‘melt in your mouth’ tart topped with fresh basil.
So yummy. On the other end of dinner, I brought dessert and it was a total flop. I made a peach crisp, something I have never made before, and it was almost too sweet to eat. Way, way, way too much sugar which totally smothered the taste of the wonderful peaches. Live and learn.
by Judy Handley | Sep 6, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 249: Happy 19th Anniversary to Heather and Jed
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Weather: Cool and Rainy All Day; High 67, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a rainy, first day of the school year. Despite getting to bed late after their three day sail from Kittery, Maine to Buzzards Bay, the boys looked happy this morning. Sam is a sophomore in high school,
Jonah is in eighth grade,
and Ollie is in fifth grade.
Now let’s back up a few years, prior to the Goldpebbles. Nineteen years ago today, it was a beautiful sunny day in Boothbay, Maine where Heather and Jed were married by the ocean.
Even the cake had a nautical theme and Windbird was in the background watching the event.
It was such a fabulous day. Happy anniversary, Heather and Jed.
I had a bit of trouble focusing today. There were so many things to do, and I couldn’t figure out where to start. But it was the first day that my sister was going to have a companion with her, so I focused on my new role as my sister’s health care proxy. I am changing her primary care physician and needed to fill out paperwork to get records transferred and fill out forms about her health for the initial appointment with the new physician. I can do a lot from here, but it is becoming evident that I am going to have to make another trip to North Carolina in the next few weeks. For now, however, I am putting that on the back burner.
Speaking of the back burner, marinara sauce is on the stove burbling away tonight. And this afternoon, Shadow and I took our first walk together in a week. Last week, Lynne took him on all but one of his walks to give my back a rest. My herniated discs in my lower back are not healing as quickly this time as they did when I initially ruptured them in the spring of 2020. But I am not going to give up. In the meantime, there is a lot of low-level pain and walking long distances is challenging. But as today proved, if I can push through the first 15 to twenty minutes, the last half of the walk is not so painful. Right now, it is time to end this writing to get on my exercise bike and pedal away while icing my back. That feels so good.
by Judy Handley | Sep 5, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 248: The Goldstones and Eider Made It Home
Date: Monday, September 5, 2022
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 70, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Heather and Jed have been through the Cape Cod Canal before, but late this afternoon they came through aboard Eider (soon to be Ardenna) with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie.
I was so excited for them that I had to drive up to get photos as they approached and went under the Bourne Bridge.
I then drove to Marion to meet them when they arrived there. They are using the mooring of a work colleague of Heather’s and about 40 minutes after I got to the location they arrived. They were glad to be home, finally, with Eider, and they had a wonderful long weekend as a family getting her here. We picked up Cambodian take-out on the way home and by the time we finished dinner, it was well after 9 pm. Tomorrow is the first day of school, so it was definitely time for the boys to get to bed. But what a wonderful adventure they all had. I think they will all have sweet dreams tonight.
by Judy Handley | Sep 4, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 247: Empty Nest
Date: Sunday, September 4, 2022
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 80, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
After five days of having guests, this morning Kevin and Claire left for New Jersey and Lynne left for New York.
With the Goldstones away, that left just me and my Shadow. The next was empty. I went to Heather and Jed’s to do a laundry and feed their cats and guinea pig and then ran a couple of errands. Somehow, I managed to be gone for more than two hours and returned home with another 30 pounds of tomatoes to process. Then I spent the next two hours on Skype with Justin, Ziggy, and Coco. I talked with the kids about their school year and then Justin and I tried to solve all the world’s problems. It was wonderful to see Ziggy and Coco and spend the time discussing life with Justin. The rest of the day was spent making another trip into town to do some food shopping and then home to start the tomato process. I heard from Heather that they made their destination for tonight. They had to motor most of the way, but they did get to sail the last two hours. When she sent the text, they were moored in Scituate and headed to shore for ice cream. Tomorrow they head through the Cape Cod Canal and on to their mooring in Marion. And now I am going to sign off and go straight to bed because all of sudden I can hardly keep my eyes open. Goodnight world.
by Judy Handley | Sep 3, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 246: Love at First Sight
Date: Saturday, September 3, 2022
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; High 74, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Early this morning, I drove with the Goldstones to Kittery, Maine to meet the newest member of our family—their sailboat named Eider (although I hear she might soon be renamed Ardenna).
After we arrived and got down on the dinghy dock, I asked Jed which boat in the mooring field was theirs. He pointed her out and it was love at first sight for me. She looked so beautiful at anchor.
Then when I got out on the boat to take a closer look, I was even more impressed. I got a bit emotional when I stepped aboard and walked to the bow. Eider reminded me of a combination of our 35-foot Dickerson, Skybreaker, and our 42-foot Tayana, Windbird. It felt so incredibly good to have a boat in the family again and Heather looked so happy.
Eider is a 39-year-old boat that needs a few cosmetic upgrades, but otherwise is really in good shape. Ollie has spent time sailing on Eider, so he has favorite things to do like hanging from the jib boom like a koala.
They all had a nice sail for one day in Maine, but this is the first time they will be spending nights aboard. Eider (Ardenna) sleeps six so I can’t wait to spend the night. But until that happens, I am super excited about our plans for next Sunday, September 11. It is the day we celebrate Mark’s life each year, and this year I have been invited to sail across Buzzards Bay on Eider for the first time. We will sail to Kingman Marine to have lunch at the Chart Room and then sail back to the mooring in Marion. Mark will definitely be with us in spirit.
Heather and family made it to Rockport, Massachusetts tonight and are headed for Scituate tomorrow. Today was a beautiful day, but the winds were against them. They finally gave up and turned on the motor as an assist. It looks like the same might happen tomorrow and then on Monday when they go through the Cape Cod Canal, the winds with be with them, but it is supposed to rain. Not perfect weather for their first three-day passage together as a family, but here’s hoping they find a way to enjoy it. I loved the photo Heather sent me of Sam today.
He sure looked like he was enjoying life.
and taking Sam to rowing which is almost a five-hour affair. I left my house just after 3 pm to go pick him up and it was almost 8 pm by the time I got home. The drive alone is about an hour each way and then Sam rows for two hours.
But I made good use of the time. I took Shadow with me so we could walk. Plus, I took my computer and was able to get a lot of work done. But the real treat in doing this is the time I get to spend talking with Sam. I get to experience a very happy teenager at the end of the two hours of rowing. That alone makes the drive worth it.
