Things done, things undone. Positives and negatives. I'm still working on figuring out if this has been a plus or a minus, on the whole. There have been times I've thought both. Some of those were the same times.
Weather has been one of things beyond control... as always. Usually by early August this area has started drying up, mosquito populations are dropping, firewood is actually usable, and the sandbar at Steve's favorite boat launch on the St. Croix River has grown with dropping river levels to the point where Steve has plenty of room to set up a chair and his gear for fishing without a conflict with boaters for space.
One of those above has happened. Fortunately, it's been the fishing. Steve used a couple of other public access sites that have docks, but his intermittent bouts of dizziness leave him leery of sitting up on a narrow platform above the water when a fall is possible. Using the river site gives room for me to drop him off with all his gear, then either shop locally or sit in the car reading/napping until he calls me ready to head home.
We usually have several backyard bonfires during the summer, flames to enjoy along with our food, and that wonderful campfire smell without having to leave home. Brats and fixings, roasted ears of corn, s'mores or simple marshmallows for dessert to share with good company. We're still waiting for our first bonfire. The thunderstorms have actually been picking up, and with 2 weekends left for that bonfire, I'm pessimistic. Since I'm hoping to use the occasion to celebrate my 70th with a yardful of people, I've been trying to get the inside of the house into shape to hold everybody as the backup plan.
Please note that I've said "I". Not "we". Add two extra people to - shall we say a "casually" maintained house, with all having a tendency to do more cluttering than straightening, and you may understand why the prospect seems daunting. There have been many weeks where both the garbage and recycling bins, each 60+ gallons capacity, have been rolled curbside, not merely full but overflowing. I still see no progress.
If anybody sees Dobby the house elf, please send him this way. I've been feeling like a very incompetent version. While the knees are fine, strength and stamina are still dropping, the lungs are not keeping up, and a light depression has settled in. I'm told the latter is an expected side effect of the medication that is finally successful at keeping my blood pressure where it needs to be. I suspect the lungs are reacting to the excess mold from a very wet summer, although I wonder if the perpetual cough this summer shouldn't be a wet cough rather than a dry one if that were the entire case. I have managed to push ahead that pulmonologist appointment to just after we get back. I'd love to walk more than a block without puffing and panting. That's kind of another impediment to getting the house ready for company. I've given up on doing the basement stairs either for cleaning up or free laundry. Steve and I willingly pay the local laundromat.
One the plus side, I've decided to quit fighting the insomnia so hard, just catching up during the day instead. Either way, it's enough sleep that the A-fib hasn't popped up again. Driving home across two time zones will set my internal clock more where I want it anyway. Steve and I have managed to see everybody we've wanted to at least once this summer, though with family and friends spreading out that's getting to be more of a challenge. Steve has gotten to see grandchildren who've been unavailable for years, so that's been a real treat. We took Rich to see his granddaughter (that's weird: my kid's a grandpa!) who's also my great-granddaughter for a nice visit not long ago. All three of us were armed with cameras and caught bunches of still and videos, since the trip is a challenge. Of course, within two weeks her Mom posted Facebook video of the baby taking her first bunches of steps.
I packed three boxes of jewelry-making supplies to bring up here. Mostly they sit on the table. Just lately, however, I've gotten in three classes on how to do stuff up here that the club in AZ doesn't teach. Not only is it fun, helping abolish the depression for a bit, but I'm now laying in bed not sleeping while I plan on how to work on these new things back down there. In other words, another version of why I can't sleep when the head hits the pillow.
Topping it off, I've offered to teach the woman who's been giving me classes how to do her own chaining. We both benefit. Not only that, but I'll be using - for instructional purposes only - the 20 gauge wire jump rings I make when I first started out, before I decided they were too flimsy to do anything with. I couldn't bring myself to throw them out, and now they'll have a use. She knows she'll be making pattern samples only, and not to expect wearable jewelry at the end of the class. She, like I do, can stay awake nights imagining all kinds of ways to make adaptations. Different metals or colored wires, different size links, interrupted patterns with a bigger ring to connect them or hang things from like pendants or charms, mixing colors....
No, I'm not deliberately trying to give somebody else insomnia. I really like her. But it might be a side effect.
The annual Crex Meadows photography contest is being held later than usual this year. I have 3 photos entered, and just enough of a window to haul Steve up there before we leave so my pictures get at least two votes each for best in their category. Hey, it's not cheating! I'm sure some entrants come backed by large families of voters. There's no other way I can explain how one or two each year manage to win, especially when there are three nearly identical shots in some categories and how the heck to you choose except by reading the name of the entrant below each one?
While I was up there, I managed to wander familiar roads with my camera, shooting everything that was half-worth the effort. Which is exactly what they were: half-worth the effort. But I have a pair picked out to decide between for next year's contest. Or maybe the X-mas card.
On the still-to-do list: plan and do packing, schedule visits with Steve's Colorado family members, reserve motels. Plus that party, of course. Paul wanted me to go around the yard with him and mark how trees should be pruned, but that's not happened. At least the packing list is saved on the laptop so I can compare it with what was brought up.There will be lots of adjustments, of course. We brought stuff to leave here, and acquired stuff to take down.
All in all, we're both ready to head home. And maybe rethink the plan for next summer.
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