Unseasonably Warm

We've had several unseasonably cold days since Thanksgiving. Yesterday was unseasonably warm--a welcome change. Temperatures flirted with 60 degrees. 

I took Jace to the Wilton branch of the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT)--the east side of Route 7. We walked from the parking lot on Autumn Ridge Road to the current end of the trail on Skunk Lane.

We live about two blocks from part of the NRVT here in Norwalk. We walk part of the trail several times each week. But I wanted to give Jace a special walk for a change.  It's been a long time, and it's always good for him to see a new place (or a place he hasn't been for a while) and enjoy new scents. 

We both enjoyed our walk. 

A Thankful Thursday Post

I am thankful for the following:

Jeff saw a new acupuncturist who is part of his neurology group. She ordered X-rays for his back (which he had today) and more physical therapy--schedule to be determined. 

Beautiful weather. Jace and I went to three "destination" walks this week (i.e. not around our neighborhood) Taylor Farm, the Norwalk River Valley Trail, and Winslow Park. 

Jeff and I celebrated our 36th anniversary.

Even though I didn't feel well yesterday and worried about a colitis setback, I feel good today.

I'm getting excited about our move out of Connecticut. We still have a lot of work to do before that happens, but I feel that we're on our way. 

The Mets are playing great baseball. Tonight they beat the Phillies 10-6.They had a 2-run lead at the end of the first. Every time the Phillies scored, the Mets responded. The Mets are currently in the second wild-card position. They have the toughest remaining schedule of all the contenders, but as I said, they're playing great baseball. I believe again.

Thursday Thoughts

Had a frustrating medical morning involving tests and a hearing aid evaluation. I naively thought I could just drop off specimens for lab work, but got stuck waiting for about 15 minutes which made me late for the evaluation. I was told I should have made an appointment. In hindsight, I should have rescheduled the evaluation, but I had already rescheduled it twice. I felt obligated to go when they said it was okay. Today, I got a short version of the evaluation and have to go back again anyway. Sigh.

It's hot. At least it's not 100 degrees, just the 90s. Mornings are okay, with temperatures in the 70s. Midday and evening walks have been tough. The last two days we've driven to Mathews Park and walked from there on the NRVT to Oyster Shell Park. I can't imagine walking up hospital hill in this weather. Besides the high temperature, the air quality has been bad.

I'm packing a lot of things for our New Jersey vacation. We'll be away for a week, and we're driving. I prefer to be prepared. Once we made our final decision of where to stay, I was psyched. We'll be in two different towns. In one town, we'll be visiting with family. In another, it will be the three of us.

Looking forward to a vacation; it's been a long time. 

Happy Pi Day

In honor of all things pi, I picked up a pizza pie at Letizia's for dinner. It was another beautiful day, and Jace and I had walked the Norwalk River Valley Trail in Wilton. 

Thursday Thoughts

I recently mentioned that I've been experimenting with the timing and frequency of Jace's walks. Today we drove down to the newish Norwalk River Valley Trail parking lot on Riverside Avenue and walked from there. We could have walked from home, but the last leg coming up Maple Street is tough. I didn't want to deal with Jace needing a rest there. 

I won't go back there anytime soon. I took a dozen ticks off Jace--some on site and some later at home. Yes, I can try to keep him out of plants along the path, but that goes against all his instincts. I'm better off selecting another route. Hmm, I haven't noticed the same tick problem on other parts of the trail. 

I feel guilty complaining about three weeks of high humidity in this crazy weather summer, when others are dealing with much worse. But it's exhausting. I'm trying to strategically cook things to avoid heating up the kitchen more; it never really cools down in the summer. 

I've been waking up in the early morning hours--it can be tough to get back to sleep until it's magically 6:30 AM (time of the alarm.) Why do I still set an alarm? Hopefully, I can sleep through the night tonight.

I often have song lyrics running through my head. Recently, it's been this song since I watched  Monterey Pop. It's a beautiful song and the harmonies are fantastic. I had forgotten how good the Mamas and the Papas were.

Monday Morning Musings

After a lethargic week (maybe more) I feel as if I've finally accomplished something yesterday. I finished a book Tracks Across America  The Story of the American Railroad 1825-1900 by Leonard Everett Fisher. I've had it from the library since February. 

It doesn't even mention the Housatonic Railroad, but I found the chapter, "The First Railroads" relevant to Merwinsville. The last chapter was helpful for figuring the timeline of later railroad innovations and inventions.

The book is due at the library today. I had planned to finish the book over the weekend even before I realized that. I need to get back to more relevant research. 

I cleaned yesterday--the kitchen and the half bath.  It's sad that I have to note that here, but I've been in deep cleaning procrastination for a few weeks now. 

It was a beautiful weekend. Jace and I took several walks including a walk to Union Park where there was a celebration of sorts for the extension of the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT.)

I went to the Westport Library book sale and bought five books.

1. Henry VIII and His Court by Neville Williams

    I read this book or at least parts of it in high school and based my term paper on Anne Boleyn

    largely on it.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

    I mainly want to read this because Desmond Hall used it as an example in his seminar.

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    I never read this classic and want to remedy that.

4. Votes for Women by Winifred Conkling

    A history of the Suffragist movement written for young readers--it should be a quick read.

5. bad cat by Jim Edgar

    This is a book of funny photos and captions. I picked it up for my brother.

Shockingly, we have no medical appointments this week--a good reason to accomplish more (writing, cleaning, exercising, etc.)  

Cinco de Mayo and Lola's Birthday

It's been a week of medical appointments. This is more Jeff's story than mine, and I'm not comfortable writing more about it. To add to the fun, we were both possibly exposed to Covid last Saturday. We haven't had any fever and tested negative twice. Our doctor recommended we wear masks for a few more days. I would hate to be the cause of some kind of breakout.

I'm not worried about getting sick as much as I'm annoyed by inconvenience. There are several things that I would like to do this weekend, and the weather will be beautiful. But I want to be cautious. There's an outdoor dog-friendly event for the new part of the NRVT, two arts shows/sales, a dog event, the Westport Library book sale.

I made margaritas tonight in honor of Cinco de Mayo and Lola's designated birthday. 

A Picture Post

Spring has really sprung over the last two weeks. Here are a few photos from my walks with Jace. Our walks have been a pleasure lately. I took more pictures, but they just weren't very good.

 

We had an unusually warm week with temperature flirting with 90 degrees. I took Jace to Sherwood Island three times. It was odd to see many people on the beach in April, even a few in the water. Alas, Sherwood Island is now closed to dogs until October. At least, we still have two weeks to go to Cove Island Park in Stamford. 

Years ago, a house on Stevens Street had an owl figure in its yard. It's long gone, but I've seen owls on other neighborhood properties recently.

Walking on the newest Norwalk portion of the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) I was impressed with some of the graffiti. 

On the same walk, we saw the sign commemorating the Hill Sisters, Norwalk suffragists. 

Finally, here's a photo from February 28 after a snowstorm. 

I especially liked the use of holly leaves as the eyes: it gave the snowperson a Lamb Chop vibe.  

Another Week Passes

Today's dreary, rainy Saturday reminded me of Lousy Smarch Weather. At least Jace and I had two beautiful walking days this week: we returned to Cranbury Park and walked the latest portions of the Norwalk River Valley Trail in Norwalk.

My thoughts this week have been focused on Kindred and Vanderpump Rules. Sorry Octavia Butler to include both in the same sentence. I am a Gemini--my twins are Castor and Pollux: maybe I have both a high and low brow approach to entertainment.

I finished Kindred earlier this week and wrote a post about it. I keep thinking about the book.

Then there's Vanderpump Rules. Bravo has devoted about half of its airtime to the show, and I've watched many hours of the marathons (while doing laundry or cleaning.) I'm not usually a big fan of the reunion shows, but I wouldn't miss this year's. 

There will be a few posts on these topics to come. 

The Week That Was

We had our first (and I hope last) Nor'easter on Tuesday. We got off lightly with barely an inch of snow. It was still disruptive because arrival time and date predictions kept changing. Original prediction was Monday, then moved to Tuesday. Monday afternoon is my normal shopping time--after my writing class and a midday walk with Jace. Of course, with a storm coming, it was crazy.

I'm not sure when the rain started: it turned to snow here around 10:30 - 11 Tuesday morning. I had just finished with the New Canaan Nature Center birds when snow really got going. I spent the afternoon with tax documents. I had already put most of them in a folder, but needed to print some off the Internet. The next day I had a doctor's appointment--I will need to go on cholesterol meds. Later I did a final review of the tax documents and made copies of things I hadn't downloaded. Thursday I took the paperwork to the accountant up in Danbury. I took Jace with me: on the way home we walked for an hour on the Norwalk Valley Trail in Wilton. 

I talked about my Friday here. I finally got myself to the gym Saturday and Sunday. The Nor'easter threw me off (no pun intended) schedule, but I should be able to work around things like that. 

Now it's Sunday night, and I wish I had planned better for the upcoming week. At least I have plans for tomorrow: writing class and food shopping are my priorities. I'd like to get an early start. 

Another Photo Post

I have several photographs on my phone that I haven't shared yet. 

Here we go.

Lola is on one of her last outings to Taylor Farm.

Lola and I saw this deer on our last visit to NRVT. 

Lilies of the Valley down the street from us.

This dog caught my eye at the Westport Fine Arts Festival. I heard a couple call him Maximus. I asked if he was the same Maximus from the Stamford Loft Artists group who ran for President? Yes, it was him. I think I have a post that mentioned him. Hope to edit that later. 

Yesterday I said hello to two neighborhood friends I haven't seen in a while. 

I love Dylan.

Here is Dylan with his younger brother Jack.

Jack howls

Welcome March

I've been thinking of ways to describe the last week in February: mercurial, interesting, ricochet. I'll start with the weather. On Wednesday, Lola and I walked on the NRVT and it was 70 degrees. Then temperatures plummeted. Two days later, we dealt with icy rain and snow. 

My mood was as changeable as the weather. I am struggling to accomplish---well anything. I keep up with the day-to-day things that I have to do like cooking, dishes, laundry, and Lola. Beyond that, it's not so easy. Then I get frustrated with myself for my lack of accomplishments and my choices. For example, I had planned to get all our income tax documents together last weekend. (Friday was the first day one document was available.) I completely forgot, and now another week has passed. While waiting a week to deal with the taxes is not a real problem, it's a symptom of a real problem.

There were a few new developments. I finished February with an Ekphrastic Writing Workshop at the Aldrich Museum. We looked at three exhibits and wrote about artworks of our choice. It was a nice afternoon. Jeff started acupuncture treatment. Hopefully it will ease his pain and increase his mobility.

March brings spring and St. Patrick's Day; I look forward to both. March usually brings baseball. I'm not sure about that this year. I've barely thought about baseball this year, probably because there hasn't been much talk about the actual game; the talks been about the labor talks or really the lack thereof. I don't mind waiting for baseball, at least for now. 

A Busy Two Days

Sunday was a wasted day after my Covid-19 booster shot on Saturday night. I had various body aches, fatigue, fever, and chills all day. I barely had enough energy to take Lola to Oyster Shell for a half-hour walk. I had very little appetite, only for rye toast with butter and mandarin oranges. I had prepared for a bad reaction, but hoped for less. A friend said she was ill for a day-and-a-half. Another woman told me it would be a cinch because the booster was a half-dose.

I felt better by Monday morning for my last writing class of the fall. I was pleased to get a good response to my story, especially from the best writers in the class. I took Lola for a walk on NRVT, made a steak dinner (postponed from Sunday when Jeff got Thai takeout because I was too wiped out to cook) and dusted the dining area and part of the living room.

Today I did the grocery shopping and the laundry. In between I took Jeff to the doctor and Lola to the dog park. The grocery store was much busier than normal, but since I am taking the easy way out for Thanksgiving (catering from Whole Foods) it went smoothly. I had more laundry than expected, mainly because of a blanket that fell behind the couch and flannel sheets. We had a relatively easy dinner of manicotti from the farmer's market (the first time we tried this) with my marinara sauce and a salad.

Now I'm winding down; I need to take Lola out, get ready for bed, and read a bit. I'm reading another book about the Romanovs--this one focused on finding and identifying the bodies of the last Tsar and his family, and all the imposter claimants to the throne. 

Thursday Thoughts

Thursday night feels like the end of the week even though I'm not working, and if you think of the week as running from Monday to Sunday, it's really mid-week. 

Whatever. I'm feeling like another week went by with minimal accomplishments on my part. For one thing, I'm committed to driving Jeff for treatments for his foot twice a week. While he can drive himself, we feel more comfortable with me driving. Sometimes his foot burns afterward and it's a 45 minute drive. I use the 45 minute appointment time reading, playing Spelling Bee, doing New York Times crossword puzzles, and occasionally journaling. 

Lola still has toxins in her kidneys, so she is getting fluid injections three times a week. Usually Jeff and I both take her, although either of us can do it alone. For the past week, we've scheduled Lola's appointments at 9 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and Jeff's for 10:45 on Tuesday and Thursday. It's easier to plan around the appointments when they are consistent. This is still a work in progress. Jeff's been on this schedule for two weeks, and Lola for one.

I'm doing most of the walking with Lola (sometimes both Jeff and I go.) It's frustrating because she no longer will walk around the neighborhood--I can't explain it. It's also frustrating to take her somewhere such as the Norwalk River Valley Trail--a 30 to 40 minute roundtrip--and she walks for barely 20-25 minutes. I've been trying to enjoy our walks more while the weather is nice. We've had a string of beautiful, unseasonably warm days, and I know they won't last. I'm letting Lola off-leash more. So far, so good. She runs a bit and seems to enjoy herself more. I just realized that I can now take her to Westport beaches (as of October 1.)

I've really fallen behind in cleaning and writing. Both areas will require more planning and scheduling to get back on track. I can't wait for convenient times or moods. One good thing is I've gotten back into a gym routine the last two weeks. 

I'm continuing to try new recipes usually from the New York Times. Last night it was Skillet Chicken with Black Beans, Rice and Chiles. It got rave reviews. We were disappointed. I was also annoyed that it was billed as a one-pot dish, when you needed two. It took about an hour to cook, which can be too much on a weeknight for most. 

Throwback Thursday. I finally backed up my computer and looked through some old photos. I found this of Spike from our New Year's visit to Daufuskie Island around 2005? He is in his element with a favorite squeaky ball, taking a rest from chasing it down the beach. As much as I love Lola, I still miss Spike.

A Photo Post

 Here are some good things to help me forget my last post.  I took these photos of an egret on Lola's (designated) birthday on Wednesday.

On Tuesday on the NRVT from Sharp Hill Road to Skunk Lane, I saw this plant growing through a space in a bench. 

We returned to Oyster Shell today and saw a boy beagle, a bunny, ground hogs, egrets, swans, and cormorants. Once again, I missed getting a photo of an egret in flight. I also tried to get a photo of an egret and two cormorants,  and a pic of the bunny, but no luck. 

On the Homefront

I've been in a bit of a cleaning mode. These are few and far between, so I need to take advantage of them. Unfortunately, I didn't finish cleaning the living room. By the time I do, the kitchen and bathrooms will need to be cleaned again. That's the thing I hate most about cleaning: it never ends. 

Today I was in a cooking mode. First, Jeff and I tag-teamed brunch--a difficult undertaking in our small kitchen. We had scrambled eggs with vegetables and cheese, bacon, toast, and a fruit cup. 

I've been talking about making chili all week. I finally made a big batch in the crockpot today with ground beef and ground bison. I needed to use two ripe avocados, so I made a salad with them and tomatoes, peppers, onion, and garlic. 

I tried a new recipe for dinner: French Onion Chicken. It was good and fairly easy to make with chicken thighs, onion, chicken broth, and thyme. I'll tweak it a bit, add garlic, maybe less chicken broth, and add it to our meal rotation. 

We had two nice walks in Wilton this weekend at the NRVT yesterday and Schenck's Island today. Both days it was nicer than I expected. I probably wouldn't have gone out except for Lola. Thank you Lola. 

The End of Indian Summer and What's On Deck

We've enjoyed a week of beautiful Indian Summer weather, with temperatures ranging from the mid 60's to the mid 70's. Today is still warm, but rainy. For the next few weeks, temperatures will range from the mid-40's through the mid-50's. 

I can't complain about these temps in November, but I will miss the balmy weather. 

In the past week, I've met a friend at Calf Pasture Beach, met others at the dog park and Sedona Tap House for its charity steak dinner. Jeff and I took several walks with Lola: around the neighborhood, Taylor Farm, Sherwood Island, and the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT.)

A few houses in the neighborhood that favored plastic blow-up Halloween decorations now have giant blow-up turkeys in their yards. Another house jumpstarted its Christmas decor--way too early for me. 

Jeff and I are planning to spend our holidays alone this year. This will be the second consecutive year having Thanksgiving alone. The previous year I had bronchitis and had to stay home. We are checking out places to get pre-cooked meals. We've found two that sound good. 

I guess we'll bring out the Christmas decorations Thanksgiving weekend (or the week after.) We didn't decorate at all last year because we went down to North Carolina.

This will be the first Christmas ever with just the two of us. (Sorry Lola, there will be three of us.) For many years we spent time with both sides of the family. Sometimes we traveled to South Carolina and Georgia. I regret we didn't make it down to spend a Christmas with my father in Florida. We haven't started to talk about Christmas yet. We still need to figure that out. 

I have three more writing classes this session. Then we're off until sometime in January. My mixed media and collage class has four more sessions, but that will be it. The instructor will be teaching a silk painting class and that's beyond my skills.

I need to find a way to keep writing and doing collages. 

32

Today is Jeff's and my 32nd wedding anniversary. We might have taken a mini vacation somewhere, but with Covid-19 lurking about, it's not worth the risk. 

It will be a low-key day. We'll take Lola out for a long walk on the NRVT in Wilton. We have early dinner reservations at 5:30. We took our time deciding where to go: we still aren't comfortable eating indoors and checked several menus. Luckily, the weather will support outdoor dining.

We ultimately decided on Basso. We've eaten there several times before; the food is always good. I just checked out its most recent menu updated Tuesday. It looks good. 

I'd also like to do some writing today. 

Happy Anniversary to us. 

On the NRVT

 Here are some new items at hero's rock on the NRVT. 

I couldn't get a clear picture of a rock painted with "Thank you Dr. Fauci."

A September Saturday

Labor Day weekend is here and the weather is beautiful. We took Lola for a long neighborhood walk this morning and saw our doggie buddies, Dylan and Jack. 

Then Jeff and I headed out to United House Wrecking. The iconic "store" (it's so much more than a store) is going out of business. I may have only gone there five or six times, but I feel close to it because my friend Elaine's family ran it. Jeff bought a book of poems by Milton. I felt compelled to buy something too. I chose a grab bag of religious medals which inexplicably included a diabetic charm and a Taurus charm. 

I felt ridiculously guilty leaving Lola alone. I can't remember the last time Jeff and I went out together without Lola. I looked through my blog and my engagement calendar. It was February 27th: we went out to dinner at Peaches with our friend Marti. Peaches was closing on March 1. About a week before that we went to Fat Cat before it closed. So silly for me to feel guilty. 

After we left United, we drove a few minutes to Lock City Brewery, but it wasn't open. We picked up Lola and went up to Heibecks Stand and picked up lunch and went over to The Redding Beer Company to eat it.  I checked beforehand that it had outdoor dining. Usually we get food to take-in and eat inside. It's always been dog-friendly. We made sure to get a side of bacon because Jeff told me that today is International Bacon Day.

We had been planning to go to the Wilton loop of the NRVT, but wanted to go to Paganos before it closed to get cooked lobster: I'm going to make lobster risotto for dinner.  After we got the lobster, we took Lola to Oyster Shell Park for a loop. We'll go to NRVT in Wilton tomorrow. 

Back home to watch a belated Kentucky Derby.