Better

I slept for over 7 hours last night, still woke up at 5:30 which is worlds better than midnight to 4:30, took a cat nap this afternoon, and feel almost human.  I'll try for 6:30 next.  Yeah, as if I have any control over how long I sleep.

I went to the doc this morning and got a clean bill of health so I can go off to tromp around Yellowstone with a clear mind and healthy body.


Then I went out to the Y to work on the machines for an hour.  I love those, I don't know why, but it makes me feel good to work out on them.


The coleus pots in front of the house are looking just gorgeous--purple & velvety, or pink, maroon & lime, or all lime--they love to grow in those old plastic cauldron pots.






 

Dad's rose has a few buds on it.  One of the buds seems to have a resident Japanese Beetle chomping away at the petals but the one a foot away is unmolested.  Let's hope it stays that way.







 
Speaking of Dad, his old work boots have taken up their usual station on the edge of the porch and are filled with hen and chicks.  They don't grow much but they're not dead and I like the way they look.

The only real work I did today was to get the ladder hooks installed on the garage wall and get my bike hung up out of the way but accessible to me. (this is not to say that I'll go for a bike ride anytime soon, especially before my trip, but it's ready if the spirit moves me)  When I first hung it, the 2 x 4 looked like it was pulling away from the wall so I got a hammer and my socket wrench and got to work securing it.  Well, this was obviously a Hank job because the bolt wasn't tightening and it took me a minute to see that I had to take it out because Dad had put the bolt over a nail and the nail was preventing the bolt from moving.  So I unscrewed it all the way, took it out, hammered the nails in as tightly as I could, and then replaced the bolt.  Much better.  Much more secure.



I finally finished the July Seaman's Cowl in the doc's waiting room, then I got to work on the Cholo sock cuff.  I bought this rainbow yarn at Stix, the yarn shop in Bozeman, MT about five years ago so I thought it was time to knit with it, since I'll be back in Bozeman in 2 weeks.  It's pretty, the yarn I mean.

09 August--Barbara Malcolm, Horizon.

September

             I was finally joining the computer age.  Aaron promised me that the system he was bringing was simple and easy to use.  To be honest, I was more excited to see David and Elizabeth.  Even though they only lived a hundred miles away, they had their busy lives and I had mine; we didn't get together as often as any of us would like.  I had asked Abel to help me set up the old crib in the back bedroom upstairs and I made sure to check with Sara so I had the right diapers and baby food on hand.

I loved watching David being a big brother.  He vacillated between being protective of Elizabeth's crawling explorations and annoyance with how interested in his stuff she was.  I remembered Aaron complaining about Matt always being in his private things, and reminded him that he'd done the same to Sam.  It was comforting that some things didn't change.

By the time they arrived on Friday evening, the baby was cranky, Sara was exhausted, and David was full of energy after being cooped up in the car for a couple hours. Aaron carried in carton after carton marked “Handle With Care” and big arrows with “UP” printed in huge letters on all sides.  He had reminded me that I’d need a phone hook-up if I wanted to get online so my original plan of hiding the computer in one of the upstairs bedrooms wouldn’t work.  The only other place in the house with room for a computer that already had a phone line was my bedroom.  I had looked at the commercial computer desks at the Wal-Mart in Simpson but decided they were just too ugly for words.  I hadn’t spent all those days redoing the house to put in a desk made of particleboard and wood-grained shelf paper.  I found the perfect table and wooden two-drawer filing cabinet at a thrift shop and asked Clara’s son Kevin, who was a carpenter, to make some shelves for the wall above the desk.

After supper, Aaron and David started setting up my system.  Elizabeth crawled into the bedroom too and had a field day with the cartons as they were emptied.  Big brother David was careful to keep the plastic bags and Styrofoam out of the baby’s reach.  I peeked in to see what was happening and was amazed at the amount of packing material heaped on the bed.

“How are things going, boys?”

Aaron waved a shooing hand and said, “It’s going to be a little while, Mom.  We’ve got most of the hardware hooked up; next we install the software and make sure it runs.  You did get an internet account set up, right?”

I assured him that I had followed his instructions to the letter and that all the information was in the manila envelope on the top shelf.

Sara was eager to see my latest paintings and was satisfactorily impressed; she made all the right noises to make the artist feel flattered.  She’d brought me a few more of her painting books.  Her exact words were, “Gail, these are the most advanced technique books in my painting library. You’re so far and away better than I ever got, maybe you’ll find some little something in one of them that you can use.”

I knew that by then I had borrowed most, if not all, of the books she’d collected over the years.  I tried to give back some of them but she refused saying, “Let’s consider them a ninety-nine year loan.  Taking care of two active kids, the house, Aaron, and my job is much more tiring than I ever imagined.  With the way I feel right now, I’ll just reclaim them when I retire.”

To tell the truth, I was happy to have her entire library.  I spent most evenings sitting in the living room with a glass of wine, poring over painting books.  It made me feel virtuous when people brought up something they’d seen on TV.  “I hardly ever watch anymore,” I said, “I’m too busy.

Every year this purple chrysanthemum tries to bloom in the summer and every year I cut it back.  Tomorrow is mum-cutting-back day.  It'll regroup and grow back to bloom in autumn when it's supposed to bloom like any self-respecting flower of its type.

I don't have anything on my calendar tomorrow.  I'm torn between finishing the weeding and planting or sitting downstairs sewing or starting to pack.  Time will tell.
--Barbara