by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 364: Eve of the Last Day of 2021 on the Sixth Day of Christmas
Date: Thursday, December 30, 2021
Weather: Overcast, Misty Rain in the Late PM; High Temp 45, Low Temp 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Only one more day in 2021 as this sixth day of Christmas comes to an end. There’s old Irish tradition of opening your door at midnight on the New Year’s Eve to let the old year old and welcome in the new year. I’ve never done that, but I think I will tomorrow night. 2021 has been a tumultuous year for our country and world, so I will gladly usher it out the door and welcome 2022.
I’m continuing my quest to do as little as possible. I continue to work on my puzzle making on a tad of progress. Today I did a wee bit of house cleaning, walked the dog, and started tidying up my photos from 2021. That will continue tomorrow and maybe into the new year. And I had a wonderful phone conversation with my friend Lynne in New Zealand tonight. It was already her New Year’s Eve so we both wished for a happy, healthy 2022. She hopes to come home to Michigan to visit with family this summer and fall and is planning to come spend some time here on Cape Cod with me and my Shadow. The first of many things to look forward to in the new year.
It was almost noon by the time I got around to checking my email. The first one I opened was from Woodwell Climate Research Center and there was a recommendation to watch Earth Emergency, a PBS documentary. For some reason I didn’t receive my December guide from WGBH, so I turned on the TV and gave a voice command for Earth Emergency. It was 12:02 pm when I did this, and it came up that the program was airing on WGHB at 12 noon. I tuned in. Albeit a bit depressing, it is absolutely a “must see.” It airs again at noon on Saturday, January 1 on WGBH. If you don’t get WGBH, check your local PBS station. If at all possible, you should tune in.
Good news—The kittens are back in my good graces. They were not able to breech the new ‘fort’ I built around the hydroponic garden last night. They still won’t let me hold them, but they will let me pet them. I know they miss the Goldpebbles and will be happy when they return on Saturday.
by Judy Handley | Dec 29, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 363: Naughty Kittens on the Fifth Day of Christmas
Date: Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Weather: A Little Rain Overnight, Cloudy; High Temp 42, Low Temp 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My day started with a trip to Heather and Jed’s to feed their pets. Well, the kittens, Leo and Mel were naughty overnight. Yesterday they had toppled the ‘fort’ that Heather and Sam had built to keep them away from the hydroponic indoor garden I got for Heather for Christmas. They had breeched wall of the fort (a laundry basket) and taken out a couple of the seed pods to play with along with the plastic caps that keep the moisture in. When I went in today, I immediately went upstairs to check on the little garden. This time they had totally toppled the entire ‘fort’ and taken out at least half of the seed pods and used them as play toys. They had scattered the parts all over the place. I gathered the parts and put things back together. I found that two of the seed pods are starting to sprout despite the disturbances which is exciting. I went to the basement to get some plastic bins to reinforce the ‘fort’ and when I went tonight to feed, my ‘fort’ was still in place. But since you need to get to the indoor garden to refill the water storage container, I will need to build a surrounding that is not quite so hard for humans to get into, but still sturdy enough to keep kittens out.
For the remainder of the day, I did a good job today of doing almost nothing. I worked on my puzzle, started watching Season 5 of the Outlander, walked with the dog, and did a little cooking. I was supposed to go to a wine group gathering, but I have cancelled all indoor group gatherings for now. It just seems unwise with the Omicron variant out there. I ordered some K95 masks as the health gurus are saying cloth masks do little to protect anyone from Omicron. K95 or surgical masks are necessary now.
by Judy Handley | Dec 28, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 362: Christmas Lights on the Fourth Day of Christmas
Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Weather: Rainy AM, Partly Sunny PM; High Temp 44, Low Temp 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I lived up to my goal of doing absolutely nothing today. I did start working on my second jigsaw puzzle—the one I need to do by the middle of January. The one made up of family photos that I started a couple of days ago is very challenging, so I will let it sit until I finish the one I started today. I had a nice Skype video call with Justin, Ziggy, and Coco where the kids got to show me all the goodies they got for Christmas. And I got a text from Heather saying they had a great day on the slopes, skiing and snowboarding. Tonight, I did take a break from nothing and took my friend Olga to see Christmas light shows set to music at two different homes in town. And I spent the rest of the evening binge watching a TV series. I started watching The Outlanders about a month ago and am now on Season 4. I only have one episode left, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Dec 27, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 361: A Long Walk on the Third Day of Christmas
Date: Monday, December 27, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 34, Low Temp 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Each morning and evening while Heather and Jed are gone, I go to their house to feed Leo and Mel, the kittens, and Zuzu, the guinea pig. And each morning, Leo and Mel, come walking out of the bedroom to meet at their food bowl. This morning they looked like they were marching in step to demand their food.
After they eat, Leo, who is a girl, plays and Mel, the boy, sits serenely in the basket at the top of their climbing toy
. I’m enjoying the time to get to know them a little better. Zuzu is always happy to see lettuce in my hand for him, but there is not a lot of interaction with a guinea pig. I ran a few errands afterwards and didn’t get home until almost noon. As I was parking the car I heard the ding indicating a message on my phone. It was my friend Olga wanting to know if Shadow and I would like to walk in the afternoon. Since that is what I was planning to do after lunch, I wrote back that I would pick her around 2 pm and we would walk the Quashnet River Trail that is close to both of our homes. It is a well-maintained trail and I thought we would walk one mile in and then turn around and come back. But the trail is a loop and the weather was so nice that we decided to do the whole thing. The temperature was actually a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday, but because there was no wind, it felt much warmer. We walked the west side of the trail first which is nice and flat. I had never walked on to the east side of the trail, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It is NOT flat. Olga is eighteen years my senior, but I think she could out walk me any day of the week. The ups and downs on the east trail slowed us down a bit, but we completed 3.18 miles in 1 hour and 18 minutes.
We didn’t set any speed records, but we had a great walk. And Shadow was a very happy doggie.
by Judy Handley | Dec 26, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 360: On the Second Day of Christmas
Date: Sunday, December 26, 2021
Weather: Overcast, Windy, Cold; High Temp 37, Low Temp 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
On the second day of Christmas, I did what I had planned. Almost nothing. I started a new jigsaw puzzle that I got for Christmas from Heather. It is a 1,000 piece puzzle made from family photos, mostly of my five grandchildren, but also of Heather, Jed, Justin, and Jo. I have another puzzle that I need to complete by January 16th before my next Dining-in Group gathering, but I just really wanted to start the family puzzle today. And so, I did. I’m thinking of working on both puzzles at the same time, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
It felt colder out today that the thermometer indicated because of the wind. Right now it is 3 degrees F outside, but it feels like 24 degrees. I walked with Shadow, but it was the kind of windy winter weather that makes your face feel icy cold. Not an altogether delightful walk, but not really miserable. I also made a trip to Williams Sonoma in Mashpee. The one thing that both Heather and I forgot to buy for Christmas was Christmas crackers. Christmas dinner was just not the same without popping the crackers and getting our paper crowns and little ‘gifts’. I went today to buy some for next year thinking they would be on sale. They were. But there was only one package of twelve. When I go into town to feed the Goldstone kittens and Zuzu the guinea pig tomorrow morning, I will stop in a few other shops and pick more up if they have them. That way we will have a supply and not have another Christmas dinner without Christmas crackers.
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I ended my day by watching my very favorite Christmas movie, White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. I love it because it is just such a good story, plus the Haines sisters remind me so much of my two older sisters. My oldest sister, Margie, was married when I was born, so old enough to be my mother. But she was a glamorous woman who loved nothing better than wearing satin dresses and dancing on table tops. The youngest Haines sister, Judy, reminds me of her. My other sister Patsy was five years younger than Margie. Her 1952 high school graduation picture has always reminded me of Rosemary Clooney with her blonde pageboy. Patsy was not a party girl. She was the level-headed one like Betty Haines in White Christmas. So, watching White Christmas always brings a flood of wonderful memories.
by Judy Handley | Dec 25, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 359: Christmas Day
Date: Saturday, December 25, 2021
Weather: Rain All Day; High Temp 35, Low Temp 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a wonderful Christmas Day from beginning to end. When I arrived at Heather and Jed’s at 7:45 am, Sam was standing just outside the front door yelling, “She’s here, she’s here!” Even an almost 15-year-old still can’t wait to open presents. The boys had gotten up early and discovered their gift from Santa, dove into their stockings, and were waiting for me to open presents. So, we went right to it. Santa gave the boys a blacksmith’s hammer and blacksmithing classes.
Evidently Santa knows that all three boys have always been fascinated by the blacksmith at the County Fair and this past summer they experimented with a makeshift forge in the backyard. Next summer they will get some proper training for their interest thanks to Santa.
The highlights of the present opening frenzy were many. 
Jed got an array of garden gnomes to add to his indoor stuffed collection. Ollie attended pottery making classes last summer and gave each of us one of his beautiful bowls.
Heather was over the moon with hers as Ollie had added raised lettering to spell her name on the outside and added a handle making it a mug for her morning tea.
The boys were very excited about the soccer jerseys Jed gave them
and I was super excited with the afghan lap blanket Heather knitted for me. It is beautiful.
Sam was excited as Heather with the hydroponic grow kit I gave Heather. And I was truly amazed at the gift I got from Sam. He made a beautiful wooden steak knife holder for me in his wood class at school.
He also worked with Jed to make a Little Free Library for Heather. It is not quite done, but will be soon. My main gift to the boys was a Burton snowboard backpack for each of them that will hold their snowboard boots, helmet, googles, gloves, and few other accessories. And if you need to, you can even strap your snowboard on as Sam demonstrated this morning.
Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco gave me an absolutely gorgeous white marble and walnut mortar and pestle.
It was a big Christmas and there was so much more, We made sure that we gave thanks at dinner tonight for everyone’s generosity.
Heather made her annual monkey bread to snack on while opening presents and after all the presents were opened, we had a Skype video call with Justin. Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Puerto Rico. I hope to talk to them again tomorrow to learn more about what they got for Christmas. We then had Jed’s special gravlax on bagels for lunch and took a break for the afternoon. I went home to walk in the rain with Shadow and spend time with him. The boys got him a special water mug from the Wired Puppy coffee shop in Provincetown we visited over Thanksgiving weekend and he loves it! I returned to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. Jed roasted a duck which was so good. And Ollie made this year’s chocolate Yule Log with a little instruction from Heather. So beautiful and so delicious.
When I left to come home, the Goldstones were scurrying about getting packed for their trip to Maine tomorrow. They will spend time with Grammy Marti and Uncle Toby who is visiting from Oregon, go snowboarding and skiing for a couple of days, and then return to Grammy Marti’s for New Year’s Eve before returning home. I plan to give myself a Christmas present of doing absolutely nothing for the next week. I am calling it a planning week for 2022 and am officially on vacation starting right now! However you chose to celebrate the holiday season, I do hope it was joyful. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
