2023 Life Logs, Day 245: Dinner on Ardenna
Date: Friday, September 1, 2023
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 71, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

At the end of this gorgeous day, I had dinner on Ardenna in Quissett Harbor with the Goldstones. Heather, Jed, and Ollie took off this morning for Wings Cove in Marion where Ardenna is moored and sailed her across Buzzards Bay. I took Sam and Jonah school shopping, got lunch for them at Le Bon Jour, and then took them to soccer practice at the high school. While they were at practice, I baked the challah that Heather had made for tonight’s dinner and made fried green tomatoes to take as an addition to the dinner. The boys practice from 2 pm to 4:30 pm, but today they didn’t get dismissed until 4:45. We then headed to Quissett where Ardenna was waiting for us on the dock. We had a carload of sleeping bags and food to load onto the boat and then we were going to a mooring to have dinner. But there was a problem with the water system, and we waited on the dock while Jed drove to West Marine for a needed part. It was almost sunset by the time we were on a mooring in the inner harbor where we had dinner in the cockpit. Today was beautiful as was this evening, but it was a bit nippy. But I was fine in a cotton shirt so it was not cool enough to be uncomfortable.

After dinner, Sam and I headed home as he has a soccer tournament tomorrow. The rest of the gang will head to Martha’s Vineyard when the tide is right tomorrow late morning. Tomorrow evening, I will take Sam to Woods Hole to catch a ferry to MV where he will meet up with the rest of the family until Monday morning. Then I will pick up Sam and Jonah in Woods Hole as they have soccer practice on Labor Day afternoon. Heather, Jed, and Ollie will sail the boat back to Marion and the next morning will be the first day of school. This summer has slipped by way too fast!

2023 Life Logs, Day 244: Ollie’s Newest Passion
Date: Thursday, August 31, 2023
Weather: Sunny, but Cooler; High 70, Low 55 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Today was all about Ollie’s newest passion, horse-back riding. He took lessons last week while I was in North Carolina and has evidently fallen in love with it. He even enjoys mucking out the stalls. He is thinking he will not play soccer this fall. Instead, he would like to go to the stables twice a week to ride. Today he found out that if he helps clean the stalls after he rides, he can get a 50 per cent discount. This means he can afford to do this on two days after school instead of just one. And he can ride the school bus to the farm, so that is a plus as well. Maybe this Goldpebble is going to be a farmer. He has always loved his little John Deere tractors and he looks right at home with the rake and wheelbarrow at the stables. Today he rode Margo, and he was right at home with her as well.

Last night I found out that my nephew’s mother-in-law passed away. I am so glad I was able to visit with her on Sunday before I left North Carolina. I send my love to Tommy and Marilou, and to her husband Bob. And the update on my sister is that she does have a hairline fracture in the left wrist. Thankfully, she doesn’t have to wear a cast, just a Velcro splint.

2023 Life Logs, Day 243: Wine Group Gathering Under a Blue Moon
Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Periods of Misty Rain; High 79, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

Maybe it was that full moon, but as today progressed it got crazier and crazier. It started out okay. Around noon, I went to Heather and Jed’s to check in with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie and to take Ollie to Walmart and Staples to buy school supplies. That ended up to be just a trip to Walmart where I also picked up lunch for all three boys at Subway. That’s all we had the time to do because I needed to get lunch back to Same and Jonah and then take them to soccer practice at the high school. I delivered them and came back to get Ollie. We were going to my house, and I was going to fix an appetizer for my wine group while he played. Again, plans changed. Ollie’s friend Simon, who lives in the neighborhood, stopped by to play for a few minutes. Heather was working at home, so I left them and went to the grocery store to buy what I needed to fix an Argentinian appetizer to take to my 5 pm wine group gathering.

When I got back from the store, Simon announced that he could play longer, so I took Simon and Ollie home with me and they played while I made chimichurri, Argentina’s favorite sauce made of fresh parsley and oregano, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. It is made like pesto. The boys picked parsley and oregano for me while I grilled tenderloin steak. I sliced the steak very thin, put little pieces on toasted bread, and added the chimichurri on top of that. While the boys were picking parsley, they also found arm loads of big cucumbers I had somehow missed seeing in the garden. They thought picking the cucumbers was great fun. All of this took until almost 5 o’clock, so off we went. I delivered Ollie and Simon at Heather and Jed’s and thought I was on my way. But as I walked out of the house, I was greeted by two big dogs that decided they wanted to go to wine group with me. There are never dogs running loose in that neighborhood, but these guys were enjoying their freedom and jumped all over my white pants. Then, when I tried to get in the car, they jumped in the front seat. I finally got them out, and I got in and called Heather to warn her about the dogs. Then I set off for wine group.

I no sooner got to the location of the wine group when I received a call from my sister’s doctor. It was actually a nurse who had visited Patsy and decided she needed to have x-rays tomorrow of her wrist and hip which are both very bruised from her fall on Monday. For this she needed to go to the office, so I arranged for Brian Thompson to take her and got back to the business of tasting wine.

Our focus tonight was wines from South America. Marian and Richard, the hosts, had a big of map of South America so we could pinpoint the location of our individual wines. That was an added dimension to our usual tastings and very informative. We started our gathering inside as it was misting rain, but then the sun came out and we carried everything outside. It was a beautiful evening and another great gathering with this fun-loving group.

2023 Life Logs, Day 242: A Day of Firsts
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Rain; High 73, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

First soccer scrimmage for Jonah on the Falmouth High JV soccer team, first soccer scrimmage for Sam on the Falmouth High School soccer team, and Ollie’s first time to ride in the front seat of my car. That was the day of firsts. Ollie tells me he can now ride shot gun and he is loving it. Sam and Jonah are in their second week of soccer practice before school starts next Tuesday. That was the fun part of my day. Unfortunately, much of the day was spent dealing with my sister. When she went to bed after midnight last night, she fell. The assisted living facility is calling it a non-injury fall as nothing is broken and she didn’t hit her head. But she caught herself with her left hand and the thumb, index finger, and the pad on her hand are all very swollen and bruised. Her doctor will come check things out tomorrow, so hopefully the initial diagnosis is correct. But I was shocked that the med techs at the assisted living facility are not allowed to put ice on her hand. Brian Thompson had to go buy an ice pack and she has to put it on herself. The med techs can do any medical interventions without the direction of an outside physician. Hopefully her situation will be better by tomorrow.

2023 Life Logs, Day 241: Good to Be Back Home
Date: Monday, August 28, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 72, Low 63 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

I’ve never thought of myself as a home-body and that term certainly doesn’t describe a person who took off and sailed around the world. But more than ever, I now love getting home after a trip. Maybe it is that I just miss my Shadow and my grandkids. Just being around them brightens my life every day. Whatever, I am just so happy to be home and walk around the yard with Shadow and check on my gardens. Of course, there is much more to do than that. In my new role as co-president of Encore, there are always lots of emails to answer and I have not responded to any emails for a week now. I didn’t get through all of those today, but I will get started. Heather is in Boston today, so this afternoon I took Jonah and Sam to soccer practice at 2 pm and brought Ollie home with me. He dedicated his afternoon to climbing a very tall holly tree in front of my house, clipping branches as he went to clear a path. Sometimes I could not even see him and that prompted a game of Where’s Ollie? He would start shaking the branches around him and I could pinpoint his location.

I got home at 1:30 this morning and just couldn’t go to sleep. So, I read until 3 am and slept in until 9:00. Then I rushed to get dressed and go get Shadow. He was happy to see me and absolutely disregarded any commands to stop jumping on me or to sit. Evidently, he has been behaving for the Goldstones in my absence and Jed and Ollie were a bit shocked that he would not obey them. They were saying the same words I usually say when they come here to visit and Shadow refuses to stop jumping on them. I guess it is just whomever walks in the door anywhere that excites him. We came home and walked around the yard and then he came in and is as calm as always when he is at home with me. Jumping or not, I was happy to be reunited with him. This evening I took him with me to Heather and Jed’s for dinner and he was a bit more well behaved than normal.

After a fabulous dinner of grilled salmon, potatoes, and salad out on the deck. It is much cooler here than in North Carolina. The daily low there is the high temperature for the day here. But sitting out on the deck for dinner was delightful, not too cool. After dinner we went into the living room where I hooked by computer to their television to show them the photos of Jessica’s wedding. That prompted memories of Heather and Jed’s wedding. They have their 20th anniversary a week from tomorrow, so they dug out their wedding album to share with the boys. They were married at Spruce Point in Boothbay, Maine, which is right on the water. Mark and I sailed Windbird up and delivered the bride and groom to the gorgeous wedding destination. All of my family, Mark’s family, and Jed’s family were there. Last night we came across a couple of photos of Jessica, the most recent bride, at Heather’s wedding dancing with her father just as she did last Friday night at her own wedding. The years certainly do pass quickly.

2023 Life Logs, Day 240: New Hill to Mooresville to Huntersville and Home
Date: Sunday, August 27, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Late Day Thunderstorm; High 97, Low 76 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA

The party is over. This morning I packed up my sister, myself, and my niece Janet while Rex, Diana, Rachel, and her two children, Kit and Emma, got ready to drive home to West Virginia. Diana and Rex got the left-over food packed up and we all pitched in to follow the Airbnb directions for checking out. Because this was such a huge home, it was a bigger job than usual, but we were all on the road by 11 am. Janet was picked up by a friend who was driving her back to Nashville, and Patsy and I headed back to Terra Bella in Mooresville, the assisted living facility where she lives. I got her unpacked and settled in just as her home helper who spends four hours with her every afternoon and early evening arrived.

The helper today was Renee. I met her last Wednesday for the first time, and she is a perfect fit for my sister. She replaced a woman named Edie who we all loved, and thought could never be replaced. Edie is my age, but Renee is half that and looks like a teenager. She is soft spoken, caring, and yet firm in getting my sister to walk about with her and go to dinner everyday even though my sister is always resistant. She hates the food at Terra Bella and thinks having breakfast and lunch is enough. But because she is diabetic, going without food from noon until the next morning is just not acceptable. I am so grateful the agency was able to find a young woman that is working out great. And that made saying farewell to my sister a little easier. The three of us sat together and looked at the photos and videos from the wedding before I left. Patsy really enjoyed reliving the wedding evening where she danced the night away and Renee enjoyed seeing photos of members of Patsy’s family and learning a little more about them.

I lingered a little too long at my sister’s and then had to rush to drive south about 20 minutes to my nephew’s home in Huntersville. It is on the way to the airport, and I had a cooler full of food that Rex could not take home that I wanted to give to Tommy and Marilou. I also wanted to say hello to Ginny and Bob, Marilou’s parents who now live with Tommy and Marilou. Ginny and Bob are both in their nineties and have medical issues and can no longer live alone. Marilou’s mother’s health has declined rapidly in the past few weeks, so much so that Marilou could not leave them to go to the wedding. Marilou had hosted a shower for the bride, went with her to pick out her wedding dress, and both of her daughters were in the wedding. It was really too bad that she could not come to enjoy the affair. She had already seen photos on Facebook posted by Rachel, but she and Ginny and Bob also enjoyed looking at my photos. But as we were looking at the photos, the sky outside suddenly turned black, and the trees were more than swaying in the wind. That was my cue to bid farewell and get to the airport ASAP.

As I drove to the airport, there were sprinkles and lots of thunder and shockingly bright lightning. As I arrived in the Rental Car Return garage, the rain started pouring down, but I did not have to walk outside in it to get to the Terminal. My flight was scheduled for 8 pm, so I arrived two hours early. What I had forgotten was that at 6 pm, only one security check-in is open and it is at the opposite end of the airport from where I needed to check in. I don’t know how far it is, but when I checked-in, the young woman took one look at me and asked I wanted assistance getting to the security check-in and then the 25-minute walk from there to the gate for my departing flight. I did this walk in April when I was there. I knew I could do it, so I reluctantly declined the wheelchair. I didn’t get to my departing gate until 7:15 pm, and I walked that entire time. Next time I might take wheelchair assistance! The 8 pm flight was delayed by 15 minutes and there were a few bumpy moments as we flew through the storm, but otherwise, my return home went smoothly, and I slept the whole way. I caught the 11 pm bus to Braintree (which didn’t arrive until 11:20) where my car was parked, walked with my luggage and backpack to the far end of the parking lot, and drove home arriving here at 1:30 pm. Considering some of the horror stories I have heard about flight delays this summer, I was thankful for the smooth trip, both going down and coming back. Thank you, Spirit Airlines. I give them an A+ for this trip.

2023 Life Logs, Day 239: A Family Celebration for My Sister Patsy
Date: Saturday, August 26, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 97, Low 76 degrees F
Location: At Home in a Tuscan Villa Airbnb, New Hill, NC

There are two sets of cousins here for the wedding. There are the children of my brothers and sisters who have always been very close and have always referred to themselves as ‘the cousins’. But now their children have taken over the title. So, in my family, when we refer to the cousins, we must identify which set we are talking about. I will refer to them as the older cousins and the younger cousins here. On Saturday morning, the bride, who is one of the younger cousins, and her new husband arranged a mid-morning golf outing for the older and the younger cousins. It was sunny and in the mid-90’s. They didn’t get back to our Airbnb until late afternoon and were exhausted. But they still had the energy to celebrate Patsy’s 90th birthday.

Patsy’s birthday was in July, but no family members were around to celebrate. The celebration happened this evening. It was a small group of us as most of the younger cousins left this morning, but it was just the right size to have an informal celebration around the fabulous and huge round dining table in our Tuscan villa. My guess is that it was 10 feet across. No matter how I contorted my body, I certainly could not come close to reaching the middle. But you didn’t need to as the center 6-8 foot in diameter part of the table was a huge lazy Susan. Everyone who saw the table wanted one like it, just not quite as big as most dining rooms would not be big enough to accommodate it. My nephew Tommy grilled the burgers, Diana cooked half-runner green beans on our 12-burner kitchen stove, and I purchased potato salad and all the fixings to go with the burgers. I also purchased a birthday cake at Whole Foods. Buying most of the food pre-made gave us more time to visit. Since we see each other so seldom, visiting was the priority.

We ate early as Josh and Jessica, the bride and groom, were headed off for a few days of quiet at a resort in Virginia. But Jessica stayed long enough for her and her brother Jacob, Patsy’s only grandchildren, to bring the birthday cake to the table and sing Happy Birthday to their grandmother. Then we all went outside where Jacob did a short but very impressive gymnastic routine. He is now 30, but when he was younger, he was a gymnast. He had not done the double ‘no hands’ front flips for years, but he did them with ease and brought great joy to his grandmother. After Jessica and Josh and Jacob and his friend Max left, the rest of us then sat in the living room visiting the night away. Tommy spent the night as he was getting up in the wee hours and heading home. It was a lovely evening and one that my sister truly enjoyed.

2023 Life Logs, Day 238: The Wedding Day
Date: Friday, August 25, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 97, Low 74 degrees F
Location: At Home in a Tuscan Villa Airbnb, New Hill, NC

Today was the big wedding day for Jessica, my grandniece and my sister Patsy’s only granddaughter. It was a hot day, but not as hot as previously forecast. And as the wedding time of 5 pm approached, the clouds took over. This helped considerably since it was an outside ceremony and everyone but the bride and the wedding party was dressed in black.

My day started with the visit of good friend, Patsy Decker who lives in nearby Chapel Hill. We walked and talked, checked out the fire pit and the chicken coop, took a walk, and then drove about 20 minutes to the nearest Whole Foods to buy a cake and more food for my sister’s 90th birthday celebration tomorrow. When we returned, we fixed ourselves a salad topped with salmon for lunch and then Patsy headed home. It was great to see her.

I needed to take my sister and my niece (Patsy’s daughter Janet) to the wedding venue, The Bradford, for pre-ceremony photos at 4 pm. We had a little time after our late lunch and then started getting ready. We put on make-up which none of the three of us ever wears. But Patsy had a full supply with her, so we did it and I was amazed at the difference it made in my sister’s appearance. She looked vibrant and younger than her 90 years. The three of us were wearing long pants suits or a one-piece jump suit in my case and before I got in the car, I was perspiring profusely. I hate car air conditioning blowing in my face, but I put it on full force and off we went. We only had to drive three miles, but then we waited and waited. Finally, we were told the immediately family photos would be taken after the ceremony, so we waited some more for the ceremony to start. We were waiting in an air-conditioned room, but it was too cold for my sister. I had to keep taking her outside in the heat to warm up. Then as more and more family arrived, she was distracted with the visiting and forgot about being cold. Since Patsy and I are the only members of our family still kicking, it was our nieces and nephews and their children that we were greeting. My brother Dickie had two sons, Tommy and Todd. They were both there with their families. Tommy’s two daughters were in the wedding party, plus his three sons and significant other for one daughter were there. Tommy’s brother Todd came from Atlanta with his wife Shelly and their four children. One daughter, Ashlyn, just graduated from high school, and her older sister Kaelin is in her early twenties. The two boys, Kyler and Easton are much younger and did not seem enamored with the idea of being dressed in a shirt and tie and long pants.. My oldest sister Margie’s son Rex was there with his wife Diana, daughter Rachel, and Rachel’s children, Emma and Kit. Brian and Judy Thompson arrived with Rex and family. And then there was Patsy’s grandson Jacob and his friend Max.

The outside ceremony was beautiful, but thankfully short. We then went inside for a cocktail hour before dinner while all the photos were being taken. I convinced Patsy to try a glass of champagne, but she quickly opted for red wine. She doesn’t remember ever having champagne and won’t try it again! After photos and cocktails, we were all seated and the wedding party made their entry. We had the first dance where Jessica and Josh danced to Can’t Help Falling in Love from the Elvis album, Blue Hawaii, and sung tonight by Todd’s daughter Kaelin. Then Jessica danced with her dad. The dances were followed by dinner and then the party started. Jessica likes to party hardy and she and Josh kept the whole place hopping. My sister used to love to dance, and once she got on the dance floor, she didn’t want to leave. She danced with Jacob, Max, and Jessica to We Are Family, with Tommy to Take Me Home, Country Roads, and then with grandnephew Cory to a younger generation to song I am not familiar with.

2023 Life Logs, Day 237: Mooresville to New Hill, NC
Date: Thursday, August 24, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 95, Low 73 degrees F
Location: At Home in a Tuscan Villa AirBnb, New Hill, NC

What a day! I went to pick up my niece this morning and had to help her get packed for our trip. Then we went to get my sister from her assisted living facility and did all of the things necessary to check her out for the weekend. Then we drove two plus hours to New Hill. There is no town. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. That just means it is a twenty minute drive in any direction to get to ‘civilization’—food and fuel. And further is you want a grocery store. It is a lovely area, but it is remote.

I took my sister to the wedding rehearsal at 1 pm. Afterwards we drove to a town called Pittsboro to find a little diner to have lunch. Then we drove back New Hill to check into our Tuscan Villa. It is down a long gravel road, again in the middle of nowhere, but only three miles from tomorrow’s wedding site. It is HUGE and lovely, but there has been no time to explore. Maybe tomorrow. But the wedding is at 5:30 and family has to arrive at 4 pm for photos. So it might be Saturday before we get to explore. And I should mention that it is HOT here. In mid-90’s today and hotter tomorrow. Great weather for an outdoor black-tie wedding where everyone is requested to wear black! But the reception is inside. So, all should be well.

2023 Life Logs, Day 236: Whirlwind Day in Mooresville, NC
Date: Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 85, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lake Norman with Brian & Judy Thompson

Well, I made it to North Carolina last night. My Spirit flight from Boston was full and loaded early, so I arrived at the Charlotte airport before 8 pm. I picked up my Budget rental car and headed north to Mooresville. I am staying with family friends, Brian and Judy Thompon at their lovely home on Lake Norman and was greeted by them and my niece Janet. She is here from Nashville and is staying with her brother-in-law, Bill, but Brian picked her up so we could visit on my arrival. I always love arriving at Brian and Judy’s. It is the best home away from home one could ask for and I truly appreciate their hospitality.

Today was a whirlwind. I had a very long list of things I needed to accomplish for my sister which required an insane amount of driving to and fro. Before the craziness began, I had her open two 90th birthday gifts I transported here from our niece Candy in Massachusetts. The gifts were two light weight sweaters which my sister wants to wear this weekend. Seeing as how she wears a winter jacket over all of her clothes all summer, it will be a nice break for her to wear just a lightweight sweater since the temperature is going to be in the high nineties for the next three days. But today we got a break. The temp was in the 80’s and there was a nice breeze. But as I said, that ends tomorrow as the temp rises.

I didn’t get everything done today, but at 8:30 pm I looked and the clock and told her I had to go get something to eat for dinner before all the restaurants closed. I ordered a grilled salmon salad from Fresh Chef, picked it up on the way back to Brian and Judy’s, and ate while we visited. They had just returned home on their pontoon boat from a trip around the lake to a waterside restaurant where they had dinner. I was invited but just couldn’t take the time. Maybe the next time I am here I can do that.

Tomorrow morning early, I leave her to take my niece Janet and my sister to the Raleigh area where the wedding will take place on Friday evening. My sister needs to be there by 1 pm for the rehearsal and then at 6 pm she goes to the rehearsal dinner. In between, we will check into our AirBnb and hopefully have an hour or so “smell the roses” before other family members arrive and things get really crazy.

I heard from Heather last night that Shadow ate a whole cucumber off the vine on the deck just prior to dinner and then ate his whole dinner. For a picky eater that a quite a beginning. I know he is having a ball with the Goldpebbles, but I sure miss my little guy. I really appreciate that Heather and Jed were willing to take him considering what a busy week they have scheduled. Thank you, thank you to all the Goldstones.