by Judy Handley | Jul 4, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 185: Fabulous Falmouth 4th Fireworks
Date: Monday, July 4, 2022
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 80, Low 64 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Falmouth’s 4th of July fireworks tonight were fabulous.
Near the end, things got a bit frenzied and some of the fireworks went off at barge level making us wonder whether things had gotten out of control.
If not, then it was just spectacular. But if so, hopefully everyone on the barge was okay and there was no damage. Either way, it was great to have fireworks again after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. Heather and family, plus myself, had front row seats on Bristol Beach which is right next to Falmouth Heights Beach, but much less crowded.
I made one tactical error, however. Jed biked and I took everyone else in my car and parked too close to the beach. It was great getting there but getting out was a traffic nightmare. Next time I will definitely park much further away and either walk in and out a mile or so each way to avoid a traffic jam like tonight. Or better yet, bike from Heather and Jed’s. Jed had no problem and got home quickly and safely. Live and learn.
by Judy Handley | Jul 3, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 184: Did Nothing Until 5pm
Date: Sunday, July 3, 2022
Weather: Cloudy AM, Sunshine Mid-Afternoon; High 78, Low 61 degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Success! I managed to do nothing until 5 pm. I did stop at the Baranowski’s on my way home after dropping Sam at work. I got see their son David and his family and Shadow got to meet their dog, Duke, a Berniedoodle puppy. He will be one in September but is three times the size of Shadow.
Then I did nothing until I picked Sam up after work and drove him to Gillette Stadium where he met up with Heather, Jed, Jonah, and Ollie who drove from Maine for a Revs soccer game.
They sent a text after the game saying they had a great time and even got to watch a fireworks display after the game.
Thankfully, Heather is feeling much better.
After dropping Sam off, I drove back to Bruce and Jane Woodin’s as a late arrival to a wonderful dinner party with other friends from our dining-in group.
When I arrived, everyone was just finishing up dinner on Bruce and Jane’s deck. The deck looks great with all of Jane’s summer flowers. They saved food for me, but Bruce insisted on fixing a fresh burger. That seemed like a lot of trouble to me, but it was delicious, as was his strawberry sheet cake with strawberries for the red, blueberries for the blue, and whipped cream for the white.
Before we left, Bruce introduced us to his newest ‘pet’—a one-year old horseshoe crab. So tiny and so cute.
Using a special microscope attached to a monitor, we were able to watch Spike eat his dinner. Thank you, Bruce and Jane, for a lovely evening.
by Judy Handley | Jul 2, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 183: Not a ‘Do Nothing’ Day As Planned
Date: Saturday, July 2, 2022
Weather: Rain Early, Then Mostly Cloudy with a Few Raindrops; High 74, Low 66 degrees
Location: At Home with Sam, Falmouth, MA
Today was supposed to be the day when I was going to do nothing. That didn’t happen. I took Sam to work in his mom’s car, came back and had Sullivan Tire call a Lyft ride for me to come pick up my car, drove Shadow home to get his breakfast, and drove back into town for an 11 am program at the Museums on the Green called Celebrating Independence! with introductions by my dear friend Olivia White.
I was ten minutes late, but at least I made it. Afterwards Bruce and Jane Woodin invited me out to brunch
and when I got home, I took Shadow for a walk. As we walked past my neighbor Andrew’s yard that the Goldpebbles mow, I noticed it was looking a little shaggy even though Sam cut it less than two weeks ago, but it definitely needed a trim. So, I decided to mow part of it since there are no boys here to do it. It didn’t take long and I did then come inside to do nothing. The problem was that it was almost time to go pick Sam up from work. Maybe tomorrow will be a ‘do nothing’ day.
By the time I have gotten around to writing my logs the last few days, I have been too tired to think straight and have left out some very important details. Here they are:
The most exciting news is that on Thursday, Heather and Jed heard from the owner of Eider, the Cape Dory 36 they have been trying to purchase. He agreed to reduce the asking price to cover the cost of some of the issues found during the survey and sea trials. As of Thursday, they were scrambling to set a new closing date. Soon they will be Eider’s owners and we will have a sailboat in the family again!!! Congratulations, H&J.
More good news is that Heather is feeling a little better and her fever has subsided. The bad news is that results of blood test to determine if she has a tick-borne disease came back and revealed that she has Borrelia miyamotoi. This tick-borne disease infects humans through the bite of one of several species of hard-shell lxode ticks. These are the same critters that spread Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that causes Lyme disease. So related, but not the same as Lyme. Borrelia miyamotoi infections have been successfully treated with a two-to-four-week course of doxycycline, so hopefully this will do the trick.
by Judy Handley | Jul 1, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 182: Tire Surprise
Date: Friday, July 1, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 80, Low 69 degrees
Location: At Home with Sam, Falmouth, MA
Tonight, Shadow and I are spending the night at Heather and Jed’s with Sam as everyone else is in Maine. Sam returned from Maine this afternoon to go to the birthday party of a friend he has known since they both entered this world in 2007. I picked him up at the bus station late this afternoon, took him home to get dressed, and then took him to Sebastian’s party. Shadow and I went home for dinner and watched another movie! This is a record for me—three movies in two days. I changed gears tonight and watched Downton Abbey: A New Era. Just as the movie ended, I got a message from Sam that it was time to pick him up. We then went to his house to spend the night, as in the morning I need to take him to work here in town and it seemed silly to fight the July 4th weekend traffic from my house into town in the morning.
I spent the earlier part of my day driving in and out of town and fighting that traffic. I had to drive to town this morning to feed the kittens and guinea pig at Heather and Jed’s. While in town, I decided to go to the library book sale. I didn’t buy anything as it was overwhelming. Just too many books. I walked back to my car to go home, and it was then I realized that my front passenger side tire was almost flat again. Two weekends ago, the same thing happened with the same tire. Unknowingly, two weeks ago I had driven on it while it was flat and damaged the tire. It had to be replaced. Why was this happening again? I drove to Sullivan Tire to announce that my tire was cursed, and they agreed. Unfortunately, they were slammed at the time and couldn’t take a look until later in the afternoon. I decided to have them fill the tire with air so I could drive home, get Shadow, and figure out how I was going to pick up Sam without a car. I sent a text to Heather to ask if I could use her car. The last I had heard, it needed brake work and could only be driven for short distances. I hadn’t even noticed that it wasn’t in the driveway when I was there this morning. The good news was that the brake problem had been solved and it was at Sullivan Tire ready to be picked up. So, I once again braved the traffic to drive into town, leave my car at Sullivan’s. and pick up Heather’s car. I had to drive home again as I had not eaten lunch and I needed to get Shadow. Then it was back to town again to pick up Sam.
Basically, I spent my day driving to town and back in horrendous holiday weekend traffic. My car is ready to pick up, so tomorrow I will take Sam to work, pick up my car, and see if I can figure out a way to leave Heather’s car here at her house. Evidently the tire problem was sensor related. I will have to figure out what that means tomorrow. Right now, I feel brain dead. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will solve that problem.
by Judy Handley | Jun 30, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 181: Gardening, Gardening, Then Movie Night
Date: Thursday, June 30, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 80, Low 63 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I gardened here and gardened there today. I did some planting and worked on my drip irrigation system here at home, went to Olga’s to check on the tomatoes I have planted there, and while there, I extended her existing drip irrigation to a raised bed where we planted cucumbers and squash. Then I returned home and planted the last of the tomatoes. By the time I came inside it was 5:30 pm and I decided to watch a movie. I really want to go see the new Top Gun: Maverick, but I wanted to watch the original Top Gun first. So, I decided tonight was the night. I loved Top Gun in the 1980’s and I think I enjoyed it even more tonight. That prompted me to watch yet another movie that I loved from that era, The Right Stuff. I enjoyed it but it was very different from the way I remembered it. For one thing, I didn’t realize it was so long—almost three hours, but again, I enjoyed every minute. Now I just have to find a time to go to the theater to see Maverick.
Heather and family arrived in Maine by noon today. I hope this wonderful weather continues so they can enjoy their long weekend there. I saw on Facebook that Justin and family arrived in England to spend a month there with Jo’s family. So I guess I am holding down the fort here at home.
by Judy Handley | Jun 29, 2022 | 2022 Life Logs |
2022 Life Logs, Day 180: Yard Work
Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Weather: Sunny; High 77, Low 61 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was another beautiful day–not too hot, not too cool, just right. I spent the entire day doing yard work in my yard and in Shirley’s yard. Ollie got part of her lawn mowed after school yesterday, but I had to finish it today. I love mowing, but my oh my, my body is letting me know that I am not as young as I used to be. I finished the day doing some repairs to my drip irrigation system. I have to complete that in the morning. And I went to buy a bolt cutter so I could shorten some of my tomato cages for those tomatoes that I planted in big, felt growing bags. They are growing and have baby tomatoes, so it was definitely time to get the cages in place.
Today was the last day of school, and tomorrow morning Heather, Jed, Ollie, and Jonah head to Maine for a few days. They return on Sunday evening to attend a Boston Revs soccer game at Gillette Stadium and to celebrate the 4th at home. Heather is really not feeling good. Over the weekend, she had a fever and chills, body aches, and headaches. She has tested for Covid multiple times and that does not appear to be the problem. She is waiting for blood work to determine if she possibly has a tick related disease. She is feeling a little better today, but something is definitely not right.
Near the end, things got a bit frenzied and some of the fireworks went off at barge level making us wonder whether things had gotten out of control.
If not, then it was just spectacular. But if so, hopefully everyone on the barge was okay and there was no damage. Either way, it was great to have fireworks again after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. Heather and family, plus myself, had front row seats on Bristol Beach which is right next to Falmouth Heights Beach, but much less crowded.
I made one tactical error, however. Jed biked and I took everyone else in my car and parked too close to the beach. It was great getting there but getting out was a traffic nightmare. Next time I will definitely park much further away and either walk in and out a mile or so each way to avoid a traffic jam like tonight. Or better yet, bike from Heather and Jed’s. Jed had no problem and got home quickly and safely. Live and learn. 
