2023 Life Logs, Day 172: Happy Summer and Happy Birthday to Jo
Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny: High 69, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today is summer solstice, the longest day of the year. I love summer and I love long summer days, but it makes me sad that they just get shorter from here on until the winter solstice in December. But I shall not dwell on that. This first day of summer is also my daughter-in-law’s birthday. Happy birthday, Jo! I hope it was a good one.

I continued the moving process, but if I were being graded, I would give myself a C-. I have procrastinated and not really packed up things in the basement. I keep working at a snail’s pace, but I am making some progress. I actually got the first piece of furniture moved today, plus the living room area rug. I needed the end table for the lamp to sit on. There are no overhead lights, so I need to get a few more lights moved tomorrow. I am trying to do what the mover suggested and get as much of the small stuff out of here before Saturday. Then whatever we can’t get moved on Saturday in the 6 hours allotted, I’ll simply have to do later.

Heather sent a great photo of them at Niagara Falls today. She shared it through Google Photos, but after seeing it initially, I have no idea how to find it again. I’ll have to share that once I can find it!

2023 Life Logs, Day 171: Moving Chairs and Small Stuff
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny: High 69, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Taking the advice of the mover, I spent today slowly moving chairs and some lighter weight boxes. I don’t feel like I got much done, but it did feel good to move a few things. The highlight of the day was when I walked into the house on Lakeview. On Sunday when I was last in the house, the flooring folks said they had finished the job, but they really left things a bit of a mess. Lynda called them with the message that they would not be paid until everything was done. So today when I walked in, everything looked sparkly clean and wonderful. It was like a magical fairy had come in and waved her magic wand. Lynda was that magical fairy, along with the flooring guys. She got them there on Monday and except for the glass stove front they broke and one of the folding doors in the bedroom that they also broke, everything else looked perfect. A new stove is arriving next Wednesday, and I told Lynda not to worry about the closet door right now. We’ll deal with that later. So, the move goes on.

2023 Life Logs, Day 170: Nightmares Can Be a Good Thing
Date: Monday, June 19, 2023
Weather: Cloudy Until Late Date: High 68, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

In the middle of last night, I woke up from nightmares about moving. How was I going to drive the U-Haul truck and pick up the men I was going to hire to help with the move all at the same time? How were two men, not experienced movers, just guys that need work, plus Heather, Sam, Jonah, Ollie, and I really going to move everything in this cottage in one afternoon? Jonah’s overnight birthday party doesn’t end until 11 am on Saturday, so before that, it would just be me and these two guys that I don’t know doing what I tell them to do. Heather and I talked last night and convinced ourselves that we could do this on this coming Saturday. But my worrisome nightmares defied that. When I got up this morning. I Googled “moving companies in Falmouth MA.” I looked at the whole list and called the one closest to here. A man answered the phone and asked when I wanted to move. I said sometime between now and July 1. He said the only date in that time period that he had available was this coming Saturday. Bingo! I told the guy my sad story and he said he would come over and assess the job. When he arrived, we went through everything to be moved. He explained to me that I live in a small house, but I have a lot of stuff, especially the 45 boxes of books. He estimated that it would take 6 hours to move everything, but the cost for that was more than I can afford to pay. He went through things I can do between now and Saturday to cut the time and costs, and he said that if my daughter and grandsons could help on the receiving end by carrying the boxes, we might be able to do it in a shorter period of time for a price that was acceptable to me. So, the U-Haul self-moving contract has been cancelled and Rich Moving and Storage will do the job. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.

Shadow and I had to be out of the house by noon today for a showing. I took Shadow to Heather and Jed’s to spend the afternoon in the red room and I headed across the bridge to Marion to pick up the Goldstones, minus Sam, who was working today. The Goldstones headed to Quissett late morning for a renaming ceremony for Eider, now officially Ardenna, and then sailing/motoring her to her summer mooring in Wings Cove in Marion on the other side of Buzzards Bay. I drove over early in case there was a back up of traffic at the bridge and their sail took longer than they expected. But I found a lovely spot on a point near Wings Cove so I could watch for Ardenna’s arrival.</aWe didn’t get back to Quissett Harbor until almost 5 pm, but I really did have a lovely, much needed, afternoon by the water. We all reconvened back at Heather and Jed’s were I picked up Shadow and watched as Ollie demonstrated his climbing abilities on the newly installed obstacle course in the front yard. Then I said my farewells as the Goldstones were headed to Albany, New York tonight. They are spending the rest of this week on a mini family vacation that includes a day at Niagara Falls and will return on Friday in time for Jonah’s birthday party on Friday night. Then on Saturday Jed leaves for Denmark and the BIG MOVE will happen here.

2023 Life Logs, Day 169: Happy Father’s Day
Date: Sunday, June 18, 2023
Weather: A Little Misty and Cloudy: High 71, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Happy Father’s Day to all of you fathers out there, especially to my two favorite fathers of my grandchildren—Justin and Jed. I didn’t get to see or talk to my son Justin today, but I know he was having a special day with his family. Heather and I spent Mother’s Day working on the boat, so in that same spirit, today she and Jed spent the day working on cleaning out and organizing the garage. The job could not be completed in one day, but at least it is underway. There are different ways of celebrating, so however you celebrated your Father’s Day, I hope you enjoyed it.

Last night, Lynda Onthank, the friend who will be my new landlord, emailed asking if I knew anyone who she could hire to help her move boxes out of her basement and a few boxes still in the dining room and kitchen. I offered to help and bring Ollie and Jonah with me. We thought it would take only an hour, but it was a two-hour job. Lynda was delighted to have the help and she was more than generous in compensating Ollie and Jonah. They are good workers and did a great job. And it was good training for my move next Saturday.

I ordered sushi and invited Heather and family over for a Father’s Day dinner. It was our last supper together here at the cottage as Jed leaves for Denmark on Saturday. By the time he gets back, I will be moved into the house on Lakeview. It was a bittersweet moment for me. I am really going to miss living here. But onward to new horizons.

2023 Life Logs, Day 168: Moving Slowing
Date: Saturday, June 17, 2023
Weather: Rainy Day: High 76, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

A little progress was made today, but I spent too much time feeling overwhelmed and not enough working. I did get 9 plastic bins moved out of my basement and into the basement at Lakeview. I loaded them in my car here and Ollie, Jonah, and Heather helped get them unloaded on the other end. I also got a few more boxes packed, but there is so much more to do. I just have to learn to focus on one box at a time and not worry about how much more has to be done.

Despite the rain, Heather, Jed, Ollie, and Jonah went to a Boston Revs soccer game tonight. They didn’t look totally miserable in the photo they sent! Lynda sent photos showing that the floors in the new house are now completed. They look great, so on Monday or Tuesday I can begin moving a few things in preparation for the big move on Saturday. I would like to move my hanging clothes and all of the food in my panty to the pantry there. Most everything else can wait until Saturday. U-Haul contacted me this morning to let me know that the largest truck I can rent here in Falmouth will be 15 feet long, not 20, but I think that will be fine. So far, so good. The move is underway.

2023 Life Logs, Day 167: A Lot of Planning, Very Little Doing
Date: Friday, June 16, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Rain on the Way: High 76, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Somehow a day planned to get an enormous amount of work done turned into a day of thinking and planning with very little doing. I did talk to my friend Detta who wants to come down to help with the move and Heather and I talked for more than hour this evening about plans for the next two weeks. Their family life is accelerating, not slowing down. Today was the last day of school for the boys. Monday is a holiday and Tuesday is the actual last half day of school. But they decided as a family to skip that last half day and leave on Monday evening for a three-day family vacation in New York. They will drive to Albany on Monday evening after Sam gets off work. Tuesday will be a visit to Corning Glass with a glass blowing component. Wednesday will be a tour of Niagara Falls, including a Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Wind tour with a tour company. Thursday is the Erie Canal and on to Lenox, Massachusetts for a tour of the glass factory and an evening performance of public radio’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” at Tanglewood. Friday morning the Goldstones return home and begin the celebration of Jonah’s 14th birthday that afternoon. Then Jed leaves for Denmark on Saturday and I have reserved a U-Haul truck to do the BIG move. Heather and Sam are both available that day and I am going to hire a friend of Sam’s and two other guys recommended at the U-Haul dealer. Hopefully we can get all of the big items moved. I plan to stay here for a few more days and move some of the smaller things little by little. But we shall see how all of these plans play out.

I spent the morning on my computer changing my address with the bank and credit card companies. I will have more places to contact, but I made a start. Then I mowed the grass here for the last time so I could return the lawn mower to Heather and Jed and got the cottage ready for an afternoon showing. After lunch, Shadow and I left for the afternoon. I did not get as far as I had hoped with the drip irrigation system in the new gardens. I had to stop and go to the hardware store for more parts. Then I stopped by 4:30 to head to the U-Haul place before they closed. I rented a truck for next Saturday and arranged for helpers. It wasn’t the day I hoped to have, but still it was a fairly productive day.

Once I got home this evening, Shadow and I headed down to the water to play our evening game of fetch. The Gravina’s, who live in New Hampshire but have a summer home two houses away, were in their backyard and we got a chance to visit. I was so sad to hear that their beloved Black Lab, Remmie, had to be put down last week. But even with the sad news, it was great visiting with them. It left me a bit sad, however, as it reminded me of how much I am going to miss living here. But life goes on. By this time next year, hopefully I will have met new neighbors and love living in town.

2023 Life Logs, Day 166: Meetings and Appointments
Date: Thursday, June 15, 2023
Weather: Mostly Sunny: High 71, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This was a day of meetings and appointments, one after another. I did get to spend an hour with Shadow at lunchtime, but then didn’t get home until 6 pm. Tomorrow I will check to see if the flooring in the house on Lakeview is completed. If so, I’ll plan to start slowly moving things that way. But tomorrow afternoon I plan to try and get the drip irrigation system set up in the garden there.

I don’t think I ever wrote an update on my computer issues. I bought the new computer and immediately started uploading files to ‘the cloud’. No matter what I tried in doing that, the new computer just didn’t work and the upload was so slow that I was only halfway through in two full weeks. I finally paused the syncing of files and the computer has been fine since. Until last night. All of a sudden, my Outlook stopped working as my email manager. I will work on that this weekend. Always something.

2023 Life Logs, Day 165: Encore Annual Installation & Luncheon
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Weather: Sunny: High 74, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This year’s installation of new Encore officers took place during a luncheon at the Poppy Tent today. The Poppy Tent is a lovely seaside setting. I arrived for the Board meeting preceding the luncheon and then attended the luncheon as one of those being “installed” as an officer for next year. Christina Brodie and I will be taking the reigns from Ellen Albanese and Gerry Ryan as Co-Presidents. We presented Ellen and Gerry with gifts from the past presidents before them who could not attend today, repeated the pledge of office with all new Board members, and then enjoyed a delightful lunch with nearly a hundred fellow Encore members.

Lynda Onthank, the friend that I will be renting from when I move, attended the luncheon as a new Encore member. She handed me her phone with photos of the work being done today on my future abode. What a gift! She moved out yesterday, and by noon today, she had been sent photos from the contractor showing all of the old flooring removed in most of the house and the wood floor in the living room already sanded and ready to be finished. I could hardly believe it. Then after the luncheon, I met Lynda at the new house to see the progress firsthand. One last coat of varnish has to applied on the living room floor and the flooring in the bedroom needs to be laid. Then it is done! I have not been able to set a moving date as we had no idea how long the flooring would take. Now we know. The entire job should be done tomorrow and then I can start to slowly move things in. Lynda and I also made some decisions about the drip irrigation system in the vegetable garden. I hope to get that done over the weekend and start moving small things during next week. The big move with furniture will happen the following week and then I will be a resident of 225 Lakeview Avenue.

2023 Life Logs, Day 164: Book Club and VOW Presentation
Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny: High 72, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

This morning I attended a monthly book club meeting and then came home to prepare for a Voyage of Windbird presentation in Chatham at the Atwood Museum. I’ve said it many times, but I’ll say it again. I love to give the Voyage of Windbird presentation because each time I give it, I get to relive the trip of a life time. The Atwood Museum in Chatham has a summer series called Tuesday Talks. The room holds about 40 people and this evening almost every seat was filled. The attendees were a great audience and I truly enjoyed sharing my story of sailing around the world with them.

2023 Life Logs, Day 163: Taking Care of Business Day
Date: Monday, June 12, 2023
Weather: Sunny and Warm: High 73, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Working on the drip irrigation system in the garden at the new house, figuring out what I can buy for my sister to wear to her granddaughter’s wedding, dealing with Xfinity about my upcoming move, talking with my sister’s afternoon helper about a downturn in my sister’s mental condition, taking Sam to rowing practice. It was quite a variety of things, but I think I will sleep better tonight knowing I dealt with these things. I have decided to a custom-sized dress for my sister and am hoping I can get someone to go do the necessary measurements. I should have done this to begin with. I love hindsight. I have been having nightmares about not getting the drip irrigation system installed in the new raised bed gardens at the new house. I met the monster face to face today and got quite a bit done. I spent a great deal of time on the phone trying to make sure I will have wifi and cable here until July 1 and also have it at the new house starting on June 24. I was talking to someone in Japan about this and we had some language issues. But I think we got the job done. It is doubtful that I the new house will be ready for me to move into until July 1, but I want to have things set up in case it is ready sooner. Tomorrow is when Lynda moves everything out of the house and at 9 am on Wednesday morning, the new flooring project begins. I am hoping it will be done quickly so I can start moving things in a little at a time. And at 3 pm, I drove Sam to Harwich for his rowing practice today instead of tomorrow when I usually do the driving. Tomorrow, I give a Voyage of Windbird presentation in Chatham, just next door to Harwich. The timing is such that I could have taken Sam to practice, but I would not have been able to pick Sam up right after his practice. He has a Boy Scout Court of Honor tomorrow evening and decided to switch his rowing practice to today so he will be on time for the Court of Honor.

That was it for today. Tomorrow I will prepare for the presentation, attend my monthly Book Club, and then head to the Outer Cape.