Well, it does snow in the winter

Margaret with her sons-in-law: me,

Jim, Steve; grandsons Ian, Mark

and his son Brock

There was no doubt on my part that the white stuff would eventually arrive so a good old fashion northeaster to herald its appearance shouldn't be a surprise. The snowblower is tuned up and has already done a preliminary run out to the road before Carol left for work. Me? Taking the week off, have vacation time, best use it. With the weekends binding the holidays together the whole week off a is natural choice. This was Carol and my first Christmas since Ian's birth we haven't all been together on the holiday though he and Ali were not far off in nearby New Hampshire at Ali's family since earlier in the week from their home in California. They arrived here late on Christmas day and are spending much of this week here with us with their dog Ajax. Saturday we had a holiday brunch and gift sharing at Lois and Jim's with Carol's side of the family. While here Ian and Ali who are teachers at a charter school in Oakland, CA have a ton of papers to grade and lesson plans to finish and submit by tomorrow. Not all fun and games on their vacation. In spite of the snow they'll be going to Portland to do some things and Carol and I will catch up to them at the civic center there for a hockey game between UMaine and UNH, their alma mater.

Sunday was a wet, dreary day but Carol and I wanted visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for their annual Gardens Aglow event in Boothbay, ME - about a hour and a half ride. It was worth it to see all the trees and structures a lit for the season and the dampness may even have enhanced the experience.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and

wishing you a Happy New Year!

Quality company time

Office "Holiday" Party tonight. So I took the afternoon off. Not that simple to attend this event - leave town, run some errands, go home, take care of household things, light bit to eat (only hors d'oeuvres at the event) Carol and I dress up, drive back to town then back home again. This takes place at a hotel so there were discounted rooms available but I wasn't interested in the extra time to kennel the dog, a drive itself to and from twice. That said it should be a good time. Smooching with fellow employees with drinks in hand (cash bar). If only we could do that during office hours - those were the good old days.

Will the real December please step forward

Actually I'm not in a hurry for the real December to appear. The only snow I've seen so far was in November, a half inch about 3 weeks ago. Daytime temps in the 40s and 50s, getting more yardwork done than I would have expected. Yesterday was a long overdo trip to the transfer station, the truck loaded up with demolished building materials from recent and projects past. Today putting up fencing that cuts the backyard in half for the winter (if it ever snows). Relocated the birdfeeders closer to the house and trimmed the dog's nails. Even cleaned my desk off though not in the yardwork category. Still no snow in the forecasts around this region. No expectations of a White Christmas.

Will the real November please step forward

And so it has. Nary a leave on a tree, windrows of dark gray clouds separated by slivers of blue sky and the temperatures in the low to mid 40s with a brisk breeze. I like it. The yard is scattered with the remaining leave crumbs from last weekends mowing as the most of it has been blow away off the property. A good day for a ride to my mother's to put the plastic up inside her windows keeping out the winter drafts. We picked up Carol's mother for the visit as she and my mother get along fabulously. Once Carol and I finished the windows the four of us headed out for a late lunch at a local diner. A Sausage Bomb sandwich adorned my plate with a side of crispy fries. I'm sure that pressed the boundaries of my most recent diet.

The key to happiness

It wasn't the starter or the fuel pump, nooo... the dreaded unidentified key/communication error- da ta DAAA... So it was the key fob battery was run down. The garage spent enough time figuring it out to cost me $266.49. It's true, a good education does not come cheap. On to the next DIP.

Machine vs man

Tomorrow the PT Cruiser gets picked up for a trip to a service garage. A co-worker who tinkers with cars quite a bit thinks it's possibly a fuel pump issue, we'll see. I'm still working on my shoulder repair with physical therapy, that's not going as well as I expect the car repair to go.

Love hurts

I love my PT Crusier, except when something goes wrong with it. Like this morning when it wouldn't start. Almost fired up then poof. Couple more tries, no luck so I grab my office case and the gym bag and throw them in the truck then off to the gym then work. Once home with supper behind me I went out to give the PT another try - no luck, even worse after the first two tries I got absolutely nothing, grrr. Maybe the starter is gone. I'll end up getting it towed to some service center. I miss driving it already.

Hiding out

Grueling may describe the pass week at work to the point I felt like the weekend may go by too fast to appreciate it - so I stayed home. No errands away, no going to the gym, just a short foray with Carol and the dog down a trail out of the backyard. Saturday's mild November temperatures was a good time for maybe the the last mow of the lawn for the year as I left the abundance of leaves out to be chopped up in the process. I earned a afternoon nap for that. Today's chilly temperatures were reason enough to catch up household desk work and a slightly overdue vacuuming in the house followed by watching football through the afternoon then into this evening. About as good a job of stretching out two days as I could come up with. Monday morning can wait.

Some of what's ailing me

Finally got around to my annual physical in August - now-a-days all you get to talk to the doctor about is general health issues, anything beyond that needs additional appointments. Now with age and other factors of course there's more to talk about. I was advised to get some additional shots besides the annual flu shot flavor of the season which I'll get in the next week or so. The other two were for Shingles and because of my COPD a pneumonia shot. Also suggested getting a chest X-ray to see if anything else besides the emphysema has developed or any changes from what we know from the x-ray that lead to the diagnosis. The result of latest x-ray was nothing unusual and nothing of note showing advancement of the present condition. I made a double appointment, one for talking about and getting a prescription for a daily inhaler (Spiriva). I had been using a rescue inhaler occasionally just to open the air passages in my lungs a little better. The other appointment was for an ever increasing pain in my right shoulder. That one resulted in a referral for physical therapy at facility adjoining the doctor's space. Two sessions per week for four weeks and a couple more a week apart has made some progress. I have a routine of exercises I do every other day for the time being structured to buildup the muscles around the shoulder to help relieve the inflammation. Also included in the treatment was dry needle therapy and I ice it 2 or 3 times a day. Need to get it back to normal relatively soon so I can screw it up again shoveling snow this winter.

The boys of summer

Sounds innocent enough, men playing a game for a living. A game meant for summer weather. So here we are watching the the first game of Major League Baseball's World Series, the NY Mets vs the Kansas City Royals at KC, 56 degrees on October 27th. Tomorrow night for the second game it's forecast is colder. Friday/Saturday/Sunday in New York City could be down to 38/47/49. If the series goes all seven games the MBL season will have gone to Wednesday, November 4th. There are reasons for this to have creep into November as opposed to earlier in October. Longer regular season, additional playoff games, money (oh my?!?) and here we are half way through football season, hockey teams are playing their 6th or 7th games and basketball is about to start and baseball is being played in November. Summer my arse.

October's goodnight

The waning days of another October are upon us, the autumn leaves are making their last stand of flamboyant colors. The camper is safely in storage, the yard is a bit of a mess hopefully to be some what rectified on the approaching weekend. With Carol and her sister Lois visiting the northern family homestead this weekend I'm free to meander about the yard and house doing a little here and a little there in spite of a bum shoulder. There is the matter of a buggered up garage door to be attended to which we need to determine if it's DIY or a professional job. Oh, and don't forget to set your clocks back, you'll hate yourself if you missed that "extra" hour of sleep.

Another year, another ring on the tree

So there I go, minding my own business as I stumble into being another year older - 61 to be exact. Guess I'm feeling it with more aches and pains than I had a year ago, so much for exercise. Start some physical therapy Thursday for my right shoulder and maybe get an x-ray to see how my lungs are doing. On the flip side, watched my son get married to a wonderful young woman, have had a terrific summer weather-wise. Taking my first trip to San Francisco with Carol in a couple of weeks to celebrate our 40th anniversary with a visit to Ian and Ali's and take in some sightseeing. More to do, lots of good things to come.

September catch-up – Part 1

One of the best Septembers one could hope for. Great weather, even some humidity - beats shoveling snow, some rain but not much. I've been kept plenty busy and blogging as usual has taking a back seat. A couple of things to catch up on, first the wedding. Our son Ian married his girlfriend Ali last month. It was a wonderful event held at an outdoor chapel on a lake island in New Hampshire, the reception was at a barn of a bed and breakfast renovated for such events. Kudos to Ali's parents, Victor and Mandy for putting together a magnificent memorable occasion. Carol and I had arrived four days before the wedding. We stayed at a local campground not far from their family lake house where each of the next two evenings with plenty of food and beverages we gathered for greets and meets with family and friends of the bride and groom who came from far and wide, some from the UK and one from France. The next evening the wedding rehearsal was held there amidst the another gathering as additional family and guests had been arriving. The day of the wedding the weather was as good as it gets, sunny, warm, not humid. Beautiful setting for a wedding as wedding party and guests were shuttled to the island then back again to the reception location where everyone had been able to park their vehicles. The reception itself was wonderful, Hors d'oeuvres were being circulating as people arrived, lawn games were available behind the barn, wine and beer aplenty, The DJ was terrific as he MC-ed the wedding party arrivals and the various stages of the proceedings while managing a great selection of music throughout the evening. Definitely an event one is not soon to forget.

I don't think I'm at Madawaska Lake Toto

Well actually if I were there it would have been last week - shifted my vacation to this week for Ian and Ali's wedding. Carol and I will roll the RV to the vicinity of the wedding on Wednesday to visit with Ali's family and assist if we can for the wedding festivities leading up to and after the main event. There will be plenty of people to meet, food and beverages to be consumed while we celebrate. I will get some time near a lake. If the weather cooperates the wedding will be on an island outdoor chapel and the reception is at a B&B with a barn renovated to hold events at.

The Rehearsal Dinner and some other gathering will be at Ali's family lake-house (middle left) in a beautiful region of New Hampshire.

Here and there kind of Sunday

Yesterday was another perfect weather day so we decided to go out to Coles Farm for lunch. Comfort food at the counter, Carol had her favorite fried haddock sandwich while I indulged in a fried shrimp roll, we spilt an order of fries. On the way there we had decided to continue on afterwards for a Sunday afternoon drive. While waiting for our meal to arrive I Google Mapped the region on my cellphone to find a route that would take us somewhere we hadn't been thorough before. Being life long Mainers of course didn't mean we had been everywhere in the state though I'd say we've been to the extents of its boundaries more or less. It took about twenty minutes of driving to get us to a turnoff to an area we were not familiar with before which we stopped at an antique car show along our route which made for an interesting diversion. Once continuing to the turnoff we manage to drive through three towns I never been to Waterford, Sweden and Lovell, peaceful looking rural towns at the foothills of Maine's western mountains that took us near the New Hampshire border to a road that lead us home. Pleasant route indeed.

Air traffic control

Breakfast on the deck this morning, sunny, warm, very mild breeze and with a staggering amount of air traffic in front of us. Wrens, gold finches, morning doves, bluejays, bluebirds and battling hummingbirds. Throw in a couple dozen of the largest dragonflies I've ever seen around here and one wonders how they avoid each other. Glorious.

Going to get real interesting around these parts

Good bye Aunt Arlene

Mixed bag of weather this weekend, a good of time for it as any. Yesterday was taken up by attending a memorial service for my Aunt Arlene who passed away in January at her home in Florida. She and her husband Gerald are from Maine, retired in Florida and returned to Maine for a couple of months each summer. Another of my terrific aunts and uncles who always  had a good word and

Uncle Eddie, Aunts Grace, Arlene,
Roberta (Hi Mom), Dot and Dixie
from I'm not sure how long ago.

enjoyed more than anything being with family. Her cremated remains were returned for the service and now rest at a local cemetery. It was a very nice service at the church where she and Gerald were married some 63 years ago. Afterward was a wake with family and friends at the home of their oldest son. This leaves my mother as the last of her surviving siblings, rather sobering thought as my siblings, cousins and myself are now in the era of our lives being the family elders. Much the same as my father's side of the family.

The untold blog story

Ian, Ali and their pup Ajax.

I'm afraid I've been remiss in blogging about a very big event approaching later this summer in my and Carol's lives, we are going to be father/mother-in-laws! Our son Ian and his fiance Ali will be getting married in August. Ian proposed in September and the planning has been in motion ever since. They make a great couple, very suited to each other and we are happy to have Ali join our family and Ian join her family. Some long range arrangements are going on as they had moved in September across country to San Francisco and the wedding will take place in New England. Ali's mother and father have worked hard on putting it together, it will be a great and unique time.

Enjoying the weather

Gorgeous day here on Ledge Hill, temps in the 80s and was able to do the first full mowing of the season. Tidied up the yard nicely, even had time for some reading.

At last, away from the office

Finally, after several weeks of eye and mind grueling work at the office I've made it away - for a few days. It's Memorial Day Weekend and as is our usual pursuit Carol and I are at a campground in a site next to Carol's sister Lois and her husband Jim. This year we are in Kingfield, Maine at Deer Farm Campground where we've been couple of times before years ago. Though only a two hour drive from home it resides in the western mountains region of the state and with sunny weather and rather extremely windy it's beautiful. No big plans, maybe a little hiking/sightseeing, a visit to a nephew's family's camp they recently purchased. This area is know for a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities year round. Skiing, hunting, snowmobiling, atv riding, moose spotting and other wildlife sighting, plus boating, kayaking and canoeing. I'd also include a strong possibility of some hanging around with a few adult beverages.

Me, myself and I

Carol, Lois and Elaine.

Doing the Lone Wolf thing this weekend - drove Carol and her sisters to the bus station around 5am to jump on the bus to Logan Airport where they'll catch a flight to Texas to visit their brother and family and also attend their nephew's college graduation. So I'm quite buried with work at the office so Friday night will be the usual wine and supper and movie. Saturday I'll attend the wedding of one of my nieces, always a good time to see the extended family and I get to pickup and drive my mother to the wedding. Sunday catchup on yard work then back to the cube farm Monday, Carol returns on Tuesday - boy time sure does fly.

the return to the home port

Nice to have Big Cat home for the summer. Picked it up from storage yesterday after running a few errands and having lunch at a small local family owned restaurant. Pretty chilly around these parts for this time of the year but bringing the rig home helps to elevate the spirit of spring.

Camper out Day

Heading for home.

Winter's receding shadow

Looks like clear sailing from here on through summer. Some lingering snow lays behind me as I took this photo of the front yard, all the forecasts show nothing but some rain during the next 7 days. That was one winter I'll be happy not to dwell on. So the work ahead consist of raking and general tidying up of the surrounding yard. We're planning to build a attached shed along the north wall of the garage that will replace the two freestanding ones we have now, each has seen better days. Next weekend the camper comes out of storage and maybe the I'll roll the grill out to the deck. Tune ups on the lawn tractor and the walk behind lawnmower probably should happen as well though there have been a few seasons when I've just checked for oil, added some gas and I was good to go.

When "just a little is enough" isn't quite enough

So "isn't quite enough" what can be done, buy a domain name. Google the hosting company where this blog resides has been teasing a bit about getting a domain through them and I thought what the heck, $12 per year and when I searched for what was close to the blog's name that might be available, lo and behold there was "www.justalittleisenough.com" just waiting for me. After which I managed to bugger up the setup but a call to Google help and I was up and running in no time. The support person Louie quickly went though the process with me pleasantly and efficiently. The old standby address (justalittleisenough.blogspot.com) will still work but once on the site the address bar will show the new domain. I'm not anticipating to garner fame and fortune from this but there is an ounce of satisfaction to being able to say "Hey, check out my blog at 'www.justalittleisenough.com'!

End of a family era

Today was my Uncle Pete's funeral, he was 86 and had several medical issues though a recent diagnosis of acute leukemia brought him to the end. He was one of my father' brothers and the last of the siblings to pass away. There were 13 total, 7 girls and 6 boys. Those were the days of large families, working farm and holding down a variety of jobs to support their family. One of his sons is an ordained priest who performed the service and another son did a reading and the oldest delivered a the eulogy. It was a wonderful remembrance of his life. I think my generation of cousins have been fortunate to have had terrific Uncles and Aunts and Uncle Pete was one of them.

Turkey Tribulations

Bizarre and ridiculous, probably not so much but irritating at the least. Now that the temperatures are becoming more seasonable and the snow is receding the local turkey population has been making daily visits to the yard and beneath the bird feeders, pooping, scratching up exposed grass and flower beds and pooping some more. Here on the weekend I go out and spook them away but during the weekdays while I'm away at work they have their way. I cleanup the best I can raking the debris away though some of the poop is gooey I do what I can for what they leave on any pavement. All said I admire them as local wildlife and don't mind the occasional turkey or two with their poults wandering across the lawn during the summer. When I see a flock working their way through the brush I'm hoping they are keeping the tick community under control. Presently I wish they'd keep their snoods and wattles in someone else's yard.

Weekend wandering

As winter weather is showing signs relinquishing it's hold on me Carol and I ventured out for a 2 hour ride to the Owls Head Transportation Museum for their Midcoast Model Festival. My brother-in law Jim displayed a few of his remote controlled (RC) planes each hand built as did many other enthusiasts.

Other exhibits included ships, other watercraft and several other modes of travel. All this in a setting of restored antique automobiles and aircraft. The museum itself resides in a hanger type building next to a tarmac, runway and supporting buildings where they hold a number of events each year of which we've attended several. I'm starting to think it might be time to get a membership. The return trip included a couple of stops to Maine mainstays that we had never visited before. First Moody's Diner where I had a shrimp roll with fries and coleslaw, Carol had the fish sandwich. Afterwards we stopped at "Big Al's" which is a big bargain outlet store a large assortment of household, tools, knickknacks, and a bunch of other items. We left which a few little treasures for ourselves.

Fingers crossed but not my toes

Not to jinx anything but winter seems to be winding down a notch. Still plenty of snow piled up that even with milder temperatures it will be awhile before we see open space in the yard should we not experience a big storm. There is some snow in the weekend forecast but no prediction on amounts yet. In the meantime I've been hobbling abouts with a ailing small toe on the right foot. According to my podiatrist one of the joints of the little toe and the one next to it are rubbing enough to have caused sore which hurts like %#$@ when pinched into most footwear. The solution, surgery to scrape down the joint part of the bone where the two meet and your jaw would drop to the floor if I told you how much that will cost. Sure, insurance pays a portion but with a high deductible my wallet will sting as much as my toe.

Old Tooth Faerie

Along with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, leprechauns and unicorns the myths of our childhoods not to forget the financially beneficial Tooth Faerie, one of my favorites. Well I'm well past that stage of life and lately I've been visited by the Tooth Troll who's been living in my upper gums just being grumpy. I finally paid a visit to my long time dentist and after a series of x-rays, electronic pulp tests and drop in by one of the practice's endodontists I left with a freshly done root canal. Drinking a hot cuppa coffee becomes dicey business after that.

Firing blanks

Like life isn't exciting enough as it is all it takes are a few weather maps and several zealous meteorologist, tossed in with a couple of TV news anchors and you have the makings of disasters on our door steps. Sure over the last two and a half weeks we've averaged a snow event every three days and leading into this weekend was the BLIZZARD of 2015 II. Technically a blizzard refers to a high winds event and in cold weather in the northeast US copious amounts of snow usually accompanies that wind for good measure. The forecast for my region began at 15 to 20 inched overnight yesterday well into today. Made sure the generator was ready, stocked up on essential supplies, beer, wine, snacks. In southwest Maine and further in that direction in Boston yes they got blasted. Here on Ledge Hill and the surrounding area maybe 3 inches but we do have a lot of wind... beer, wine, snacks.

Let the pummeling continue

And so it does. We're at the front end of a 40 hour snow event, the third snow since my last post. Yesterday morning I under took some maintenance on the snowbeast, changed out the drive and auger belts, good that I had as the auger belt had a few cross tears and was only held together by the fabric outer band. Sort of explained why it clogged easily and wasn't throwing snow very far. Would have been dire straits had it broken during the thick of the snowfall. Started the operation by running it until I used up the gas in the tank as it's not made to be emptied. Then I could bring it into the heated mudroom and open up a top cover to expose the belts from that direction followed by lifting up the back end by the handle bars to tip the whole thing over onto the auger housing exposing the bottom plate cover to get at the belts and pulleys from that direction. From there it involved dissembling, twisting, prying, swearing, coaxing, backing out, going forward, fetching another tool or two to go down the rabbit hole and back out again. Then flipping it back round so the correct end was up, dragged it outside, with a splash of gas the beast made a funny sound, shut it down, tweaked the auger cable and all was good. So in spite of my lack of mechanical skills I'm better prepared for what was on the way. This storm started slow enough late in the afternoon, light drifting flakes. By this morning it had only amounted to an inch plus. Since then maybe there more inches, maybe another four by morning followed by another four or more through tomorrow.

Looking ahead there may be a light snow around Thursday and a steady cold spell through the weekend. I hope to have the igloo dug out by then.

Snow Pummeled

After a long stretch of cold dry weather of which I had not complained one iota - a few comments and chats about the cold but in my reckoning very tolerable climate for the time of year. Bam! In one week the pendulum has swing to a place I don't want to be. As I type this we are having our third snow storm since the Blizzard of 2015 I wrote of six days ago. Besides all the work and inconvenience we are on the verge of not being able to put the snow yet to come as forecast later this week. That's right, two more storms may be on the way. After cleaning up the drive of Friday night's snow on Saturday morning Carol and I spent several hours Sunday morning breaking down some snow banks and snowthrowing it away from the driveway/parking areas. I'm a bit tired of it all to say the least.

parking area is getting smaller

Snowed in

This fellow figured out where
to find a meal.

Everybody is snowed in, a lot of dire warnings and encouragement to stay home from the weather forecasters and the "authorities." Unfortunately there isn't enough common sense to leave it to the individual to figure to it out. Planning in advance Carol and I brought work home from the office so we're getting a little done though household distractions have their place. This storm classified as a blizzard has run along the entire northeast coast from Washington DC to Maine, into the Canadian Maritimes and beyond. Possibly a record event. Where our house is located we fall in the 15 to 20 inch (38-51 cm) range. Before lunch I wheeled out the snowbeast and after dealing with a couple of malfunctions made a path to the roadway then out to the backyard for the dog's comfort area. Didn't take long for those areas to refill though I have taken a quick swipe thorough the comfort area, almost time to do it again. I expect to do the majority of cleanup in the morning. Oh, good news... there is another blizzard winding up for Friday night. Nice to have my weekend planned out for me.

First peek from the Garage - that's
a lot of snow and it's early yet.

Memories returned with interest

Carol and I attended gathering today to celebrate my youngest sister Doreen's birthday, which was the week before. I have 5 siblings, one older sister (66) and two brothers (56/54) and sisters (58/50) younger that I am. Now we have all reached the half century mark and we still can swap memories like trading cards. Funny what one can remember once reminded by another.