TheCapeBlog

I’ve been suffering since the tree walk; won’t do that again.

Bitter cold yesterday morning but warmed up nicely. Snow last night, a dusting, already melted.

Our next door neighbor invited me to tour her house. I was told ours was similar so hoped to get an idea of what our original layout was. Of course, I’m inept with third dimensional visualization but think half of our living room used to be their dining room.

I think the kitchen is pretty much the same. They have a room to the right off the kitchen which is probably similar to our pantry. They have a dining room to the left, which is nice. Their living room, which faces our house, is an add-on.

Ron stained the railing yesterday and did a good job, although this morning he pointed out a problem which he’d missed.

Having found his missing wallet, he’s off to do errands.

I managed to find a plumber to troubleshoot our shower problem. He made a great deal of sense on the phone. I sent him several photos.

The J’s will be here on Friday to paint. My leg is better today and I don’t want to mess it up again.

Made an appointment for physical therapy next month. The orthopedics office sent a referral immediately.

I thought yesterday was Sunday so changed the sheets and showed up at Tourists for a Tree Walk. Yesterday was Saturday but the walk was today. Perfect weather and it was a mile or less but I am very sore tonight.

Loaded five adoption standup routine links to Bastard Nation’s FB page. A couple of people have actually liked them.

“When you grow up as an adoptee, you have no genetic mirror of who you are. So you create a false sense of self. You try to fit and blend in with a family who doesn’t look like you, who does not act like you, but yet you feel obliged to be like in some way.” 

Liz Harvie, author, Unspoken

https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/39893/pdf/

Nice Saturday afternoon.

I’d attended a CompSci lecture on LLMs on Friday evening, so it was easy to park. Ron drove me to a follow-on by the same visiting professor on Saturday. Afterwards, we went to Spoon for frozen yogurt and almond croissants.

I’ve been nervous about running out of oil. Left a message for Preite and found they’d switched tanks by the time we got home. Outstanding!

At some point, I cleared leaves off the deck with the blower – much better than attempting to sweep.

I’d baked a lemon poppyseed loaf earlier in the week and made a pot of lentil curry soup.

Decorated a Pepperidge Farm chocolate cake to celebrate the little boys’ good reports from school.

Ordered burlap and stakes from Tractor Supply to protect the bushes back and front.

In a lot of shoulder pain earlier this week. Felt like I’d been stretched on the rack. Ron thinks it was from moving the credenza in the living room.

Williams College students continue to amaze me with their kindness. Same with the facilities: meticulous, first rate. It’s like living in a dream.

Pro-choice referenda passed overwhelmingly across the country this past Tuesday. So, of course, the right wing misogynists are plotting to overturn them.

Meanwhile, the new House speaker has posted a Christian nationalist flag outside his office.

I was dreading running out of oil over the weekend, but the furnace kept going. Now that the work week has started we’ll have a better chance of getting someone here to switch to the new tank. It looks like something we’d be able to do ourselves, actually.

We changed the sheets. I picked up rubber gloves and rags at Carr’s, lunches at the Senior Center, groceries at Stop & Shop. We had vegetables with cheese and avocado on wheat sub rolls for lunch.

Checked the furnace air filters, they look okay.

Ron’s been in tough shape today. Cutting back on his pain meds has caught up with him, so he went back on his regular dose.

According to the map of our neighborhood, the woods behind our house are part of a 3-acre property with a May Street address.

The experts wanted to demolish it so we could have a code-compliant stairway and possibly save on labor costs as an additional benefit.

I figured having storage and possibly a guest room was more important.

This weekend I’ve been sanding the big baseboard. For some reason, James caulked it, which is going to make painting a little tricky.

I think I’ve got covering the cost of the new oil tank figured out.

Feeling guilty about not going out at all today.

Yesterday we got to the transfer station to dump the compost just as the train smashboards were closing. We were able to drive on around 2:57, but the attendant was locking the gate. Mercifully, he let us through.

After wandering around South Williamstown, we stopped at the A-Frame bakery for cheesecake (Ron) and crumb cakes (both of us).

I’ve been curious about the so-called beach at Margaret Lindley park across the street from the bakery, but the “beach” is only a very small, shallow cement bowl. The park itself looks nice, though.

Well, there had to be at least one way Mashpee has it over Williamstown.

I’ve done a little organizing in the living room. Ron is figuring out where to hang a couple of his decorative items.

View of the mountains and sky today is especially nice now that the leaves are down.

My left shoulder is hurting. Ron suggested it’s because of the work we did yesterday, in particular moving the hutch back in place.

Painted the two formerly unfinished pieces of baseboard; hallway is done.

The thing about cooking is the mess it creates, even with the use of a dishwasher. I hate it.

Ron’s medical person refilled his prescription but only for nine days. He is not happy. I called a couple of other providers, but they are not taking new patients.

On the plus side, I finished painting the living room front windows and trim. It’s good to have it done.

Went to the food pantry in North Adams but seeing the enormous line of cars, thought better of it. Stopped by the Food Project for a tomato soup and salad lunch and filled a bag with bread, rolls and bagels. Did a shop at Stop & Shop for cheese, “used” produce, eggs, relish and peanut butter.

Read a summary of the last two chapters of “Little Bird”. Relieved to learn that the mother Bezhig seeks is her real mother, not the self-centered adoptoraptor who vehemently denies the truth of Bezhig’s upbringing and kidnapping.

The writer and producer have depicted the trauma lived by many adopted people with uncanny accuracy. Bezhig is a heroic figure with a universal story that rings true for adopted people of all backgrounds.

It snowed all morning, stopped before noon, and warmer weather tomorrow.

Sleet this afternoon but didn’t last long.

After multiple cancellations, Ron kept his appointment with his medical provider.

Quiet Halloween, no visitors except for the boys next door and their Dad. Ron and I devoured a bag of candy in lieu of supper.

It occurred to me that our window treatments are done!

I made progress priming and painting the front windows and trim in the living room. The ledge, which is a feature I really like, is so badly stained, even a couple of coats of Zinsser didn’t fully cover it.

Ron is trying to put back the railing, which he took off for no good reason. Its absence has been a safety hazard.

Spoke with three HVAC companies yesterday about installing a new return and heat pumps. We’ll see who actually gives us a proposal.

Started putting together the shelves and crashed them after doing something really dumb.

Painted more baseboard in the living room.

Ron put up the curtain rod brackets so he now has curtains in his “office”. They actually look surprisingly good with the green rug.

We attended a fine recitation of ghost stories at the Senior Center, preceded by a pizza lunch. Sat with two women who’d come from New Jersey just to attend the performance!

I just realized that I don’t have to pick up produce this week; winter CSA is every other week. Thankful; my legs hurt today.