Lovely rain in the dark tonight-- we had been "promised" rain all weekend but it never did happen and I was sorry for that. We have suffered through a five day spell of heat and humidity greater than that usually felt in Maine although our house has remained comfortable throughout. It is gloomy inside in the summer time but it does stay cool. Horrified to see that I have written nothing for more than two weeks. I guess when the Fitizies are here I am just too distracted and too tired by the time I go to bed. We have done a lot of things-- I took a long bike ride with Liz on the first day she was here-- Perkins, Lower Congress and etc. over to Crocker Road, then Marsh, and over to their house. I rode back alone and it was very pleasant. The hills that used to bother me seem quite manageable now. On another day we finally convinced Liz that she didn't need to work every single day and we all went up to Acadia. Because I had enjoyed the Jordan Cliff/Penobscot Hike so much we decided to redo it. We had another perfect day and added some mileage to the hike by going over to the summit of Sergeant Mountain. It was really lovely. Nearly all above treeline and my favorite kind of hiking. On the 21st John and I went down to Rockland and participated in the "Lobster Ride and Roll". He did 50 miles and I did 30. The 30 really didn't stress me and I am sure I could have done the 50 although I would have been exhausted. That evening we went to the contra dance where we danced almost to the point of dropping. Crissy Fowler had sent out a plea for housing for some of the band "Wild Asparagus" and we hosted David Canteni, his wife Ann Percival and their young son Gus. They were splendid guests and I know they were very happy to be here. Their accomodations the previous night had been uncomfortable. On Sunday we had thought of going on the farm tour and also thought of going to an event at Waterfall Arts but in the end we simply went to the common and listened to the Celtic band. The view out over the harbor was idyllic. On Monday I cut fabric for Dianne Hire and did the same again on Wednesday. She is making kits for students on a cruise and had to cut 50 6 inch squares for each of 40 people and she wanted to give them some options. Because she is going up to Bangor everyday for radiation treatments, the quilt groupers are giving her a hand. Margaret arrived home safely on Wednesday evening and we all three trooped off to the doctor on Thursday. She seems only slightly chagrined by the fact that both parents attend the visits and I think she is pleased "underneath". Our last visit was so dreadful that I was really dreading this one and all the way over I was preparing my angry speeches but they turned out to be unnecessary. Dr. Amidon said that she could start to taper the prednisone (by five milligrams per week) and that she should start taking the 6-MP. She seemed surprised that the taper would take eight weeks but Sybil says that he is right to go very slowly. The 6-MP is supposed to have little or no side effects. On Friday I went to Augusta for the quilt show. Rode with Joan and Ruth Herrick and had an inspiring (and exhausting) day. It is harder to walk around a convention hall looking at things than it is to do physical labor in a garden. There were many quilts that I liked and many more that I did not. I definitely gravitate to the simple classic patches. I bought a book and a fair amount of fabric but didn't find as much red as I had hoped to. On Saturday John went to the boat building challenge (and got his picture in the paper) and M. and I went up to Fort Knox and the Bridge Observatory. Fort Knox was much enhanced by a Civil War encampment going on and we had a good long talk with the army surgeon. He showed us his several medical tools that had been used in the war as well as the replicas that he has collected. On Sunday we had a leisurely morning, then went up to the Full Circle Fair. It was very hot but one was comfortable sitting in the grandstand. The downside of the heat was that the hippie dancing I found so fascinating last year never really got going. Helene Malone was not there and everyone else was cowering in whatever shade they could find. There was a contra dance to end the fair but I was completely uninterested so we came on home. Margaret left this morning-- we went in two cars to the library so that she could get a couple of books on disk for the drive and parted at the circulation desk. She was going to make another stop at Ocean State Job Lots and a few minutes after she had gone I had my usual panic that I would never see her again and thought wildly of dashing up to OSJL. I conquered my foolishness and she arrived safely in Marlborough in good time.

Time has sped by with lots of complications. The first being that at midnight on Thursday-- actually Friday, I woke up realizing that I had started a UTI. I immediately took the pyridium but had a very restless and unhappy few hours waiting for it to kick in. Felt very jiggy and nervous and as if I weren't sleeping even though I knew I did sleep a bit. Our plan had been to take advantage of a glorious day and go up to Mount Desert Island. Instead we got quite blue and frustrated. I called the doc and got an appointment for 10:30 and then getting a call from the Fitzies saying that they would come very very late, we decided to continue with our original plan. We left Belfast at about 11:30 and had an unenventful drive up to Acadia. We planned to do Pemetic from the Bubble Pond parking lot but it was full so we went on to Jordan Pond. We took the Jordan Cliff Trail up to the summit of Penobscot and returned via the Penobscot Trail and I must say that it was one of the most perfect hikes I have ever done. The trail is exciting and challenging but never tedious-- the terrain is very reminiscent of Bald Face without the long hauls in and out that you get with Bald Face. We were above tree line for ages with beautiful views of the ocean, Jordan Pond, Cadillac Mountain and other nearby mountains and the whole thing with lots of leisurely viewing took less than four hours. My only regret was that we thought we had forgotten the camera-- as it turns out it was in the car the whole time. I feel I need to do the hike again, however, because we didn't get pictures. The Fitzies did come very late-- it was 10:30 by the time we finished eating and I just dropped into bed and slept fabulously as I usually do after a bad night. On Saturday Liz and I did the Waldo County General Hospital Garden Walk-- enjoyable but some of the gardens quite ho hum. I guess I am getting jaded with all of the lovely gardens that I see, including my own! It is always fun walking around other people's houses and yards, however. In the evening we went to a come one and all birthday party hosted by a UU. They live on Kaler Road and, with some trepidation, took Rick and Liz along with us to meet their someday neighbors. We all had a very good time, came home and I dropped like a log again. I wake up so early these days with the sun-- have a hard time staying awake at night. Manage to read about three paragraphs before my eyes start to close. Liz brought me a "memory foam" pillow that Rick gave her as a gift but she didn't like it. I adore it, except that it makes me long for a whole memory foam mattress. Sue Baker has one that she doesn't like and wants to get rid of but it is king size and John is adamant that we don't have room for it. Considering that I don't usually sleep in the master bedroom I guess that makes sense! This morning we were sitting around contemplating possible bad weather and our exercise options when the electricity failed. Turns out that a young woman from out of state fell asleep just where Birchcrest intersects with Route 1. She hit the phone pole and completely wrecked her car. The car looked unsurvivable but we were told that the driver got herself out and was sitting by the side of the road when help arrived. I took some pictures. Liz and I rode up to Kaler Road via a circuitous route: Route 1 to Perkins, Lower Congress, Congress, Miller, Route 52, Edgewood, Route 3, Crocker, Marsh, Route 7, Doak Road, a road I don't know, Head of the Tide Road and on to Kaler. I love all the possible twists and turns. Liz stayed there and I rode home alone. 36.6 kilometers in total. A good ride and I felt fine upon finishing. Am not really worried about riding 30 miles next weekend in Rockland. There will be lots of other people to motivate me, new terrain, rest stops, and all the time in the world to do the ride. David Cylkowski came in the afternoon, having retrieved his daughter from summer camp in Harrison, Maine. Left after dinner as he had to get back to Massachusetts for a commitment in the morning.

Our tussles with technology continue to plague us. Miraculously, however, my iPod fixed itself. It sat for many hours frozen in one place, then suddenly went dark. I didn't dare touch it but waited until morning, then plucked up my courage and connected it to the computer. All was well, it synched and charged. In the meantime, however, I really really really screwed up my printer; I can't stop myself from reusing paper and I seem to get in trouble when I do that. This was the worst paper jam ever so eventually I disconnected the whole thing and took it downstairs and John took it apart enough so that we found a little turn wheel and eventually got the paper out. When everything was back together we found a small broken piece on the table and when I tried to print the machine continued to be unhappy so again I waited a day, changed the cartridge and all was well. Then yesterday the telephone died but just needed a new battery and my downstairs sewing room clock died also and batteries don't seem to fix it. The satellite was out most of yesterday and I couldn't get on at all in the evening but today it has been sprightly. Yesterday was one of my "perfect" days. A perfect day is one where I do something for someone else (in this case civic beautification), exercise, and so something for myself. The exercise was fabulous. I biked up to Perkins, then took Lower Congress, Congress, Miller, Route 52, Edgewood, Tufts, Jesse Robbins, Back Belmont, a small piece of 52 again, Woods Road, Rocky Road, Cross Road, Bayshore Road and home. This was just a bit over 30 kilometers. I can't figure out how to change my bike computer back to miles! I have decided that I really do need a bike shirt. I was hot and sweaty and need something that wicks better. When I got home I worked on my potholders. My new scheme this year is just diagonal strips but I am really loving the results. When I have some done I will put up a picture. The new sewing machine is stupendous. I finally figured out how to use the automatic scissor and the knee lift and together I can cut and remove each piece instantly. Saves hugely on thread and on time and means that I no longer need to chain sew. Friendship Quilters had planned a picnic for today but it was canceled by threat of rain that never materialized. It was, in fact, a gorgeous day although a trifle hot for my taste. Most people don't complain about 80 degrees! So I decided that I would "improve" my new found time by cleaning my really slovenly room and the bathroom as well. Then we decided to go up to MDI tomorrow so I also made a nice lasagne for tomorrow's dinner. The Fitzies are due back at the end of the day and I can just throw the lasagne into the oven. I used Giada's recipe for vegetarian lasagne. It was easy to make with lots and lots of veggies. We'll see how it tastes tomorrow.

Technology has me by the (figurative) balls today. The satellite is sluggish in the extreme so earlier today I just gave up and moved to knitting and sewing. Far worse, however, is that fact that my beloved iPod has frozen and will do absolutely nothing. Connecting it to iTunes gets me nowhere-- the computer can't find the device. So I am stuck. And just today I had subscribed to "This American Life" and downloaded some past episodes. I can still listen to them on the computer, of course. I am going to try to figure it out tomorrow. In the meantime, on the plus, side, I started my new pair of socks. This time I am starting with the toe and the first one seems to be going well. I did a provisional cast on using "waste" yarn and it worked nicely. Also made my first pot holder of the season and have several others in the works. Still cool and rainy-- in fact John put the heat on this morning which horrified me. Heat on 9 July? Pretty amazing. I had planned to go to the drop-in yoga class but got muddled on the time and didn't figure it out until too late. Went instead to the Y and walked their track. Sold one book yesterday and two more today. We had thought about going up to MDI but the weather doesn't look encouraging. Wrote to Liz today and told her about the mini-crisis regarding Margaret's blood test and I will repeat the details here just to get them down. We went up to Waterville on the 28th and had a dreadful visit with the doc-- so bad that I can't even think about it. The next morning, having recovered slightly, we went up to Waldo County to have blood drawn. This is for a special enzyme test that turns out can only be done at Prometheus Labs in California or at Mayo. Amidon stipulated Prometheus. Then on Thursday we got a call from Prometheus saying that the blood had been "improperly handled" and that they had cancelled the test. I called the hospital where I talked to probably the first person who has been sullen since I moved to Maine-- very unhelpful. A flurry of calls ensued between the hospital, the doctor's office and Prometheus and by late in the day it was decided that there was no problem after all and they could retrieve the blood and do the test. Turns out that when they say they "discard" blood, they don't actually do so. A very good thing-- in part because it is such an ordeal for Margaret to have her blood drawn and also because the test is time consuming and our next visit is coming up and finally because she left on Sunday and we had only a narrow window of opportunity if the blood was to be drawn again. Let's hope that the results get back to Amidon in a timely manner-- she is going to have go get up at 4 am in order to be in Waterville by 10 and it would be useless if they blood test isn't completed. I will call them, of course.

Long day at the computer. I was working on the M.M. genealogical project and made great progress. One more push and I should be finished. It was raining this morning and lovely to sit cozy inside and later when it became glorious outside I was in the groove and didn't want to stop. I did take my pills this morning but I think I will go down and get another one of John's naprosyn before I go to sleep. Margaret left at noon with only a hint of tears (on my part, of course) and arrived safely in Marlborough before 5:30. As she pointed out, it won't be so long before she is up here for her doctor's appointment. Watched the "short" recap of the first stage of the Tour de France tonight with John. Only two hours instead of the 3.5 regular coverage! Thank heaven for TiVo. Great editorial in the New York Times today. They have finally come out against the war. "It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit". This will help to mobilize the politicians still teetering on the fence. The other thing I actually did today was to print out the basic info and the first clue for the Mystery Stole. Not only that-- I actually went online and ordered beads and yarn. I did the whole thing for under $30 including shipping, I think. Melanie (the designer) says that the project is not for people entirely new to lace knitting but I think that my previous (unsuccessful) attempts will still count as experience. With that and the hints that are being posted by the hundreds of others in this "knitalong" I think it it worth a shot.

Sunday morning early-- I have just created this blog. Not because I want anyone to read it-- I won't even mention it to anyone. The idea of having my things in webspace rather than on my own computer is appealing-- it is the natural extension of getting my photographs "out there" so that I won't lose them in a crash (as I memorably did last summer!). I have been sporadically keeping a journal in a word document and periodically printingit out into a notebook but I like this idea much better. I hope sometime to do the same thing for my genealogy. In fact, earlier this spring Dick Eastman wrote about a web-based program called PedigreeSoft. I signed up for the free trial version but a few days later PS was sold to another company and seemed to disappear. I assume it is only a temporary disappearance and that the new version will turn up one of these days. One of my main motivations for journaling is simply to document that I get anything at all accomplished. When I think back about my days I have trouble remembering what I am so busy with...or should I say "with what I am so busy"? I did get up early and bound off the baby blanket that I have made for Mark and Laura Langhans. Now I am dithering about whether to start Melanie's "Mystery Stole", start a new pair of socks or do both. In the meantime Margaret leaves for Massachusetts this morning. There are so many issues connected with her that I don't dare think much about it. The one day at a time philosophy needs to be adhered to strictly. So for this day it is just her departure-- always very hard for me. I am glad that she drove herself down to York Beach last week-- it was like a trial run for Marlborough-- which will be the longest and most difficult drive she has done. She is calm, confident and competent, however and has earned every bit of the independence she has. My resolutions for today? Download some podcasts from "This American Life" to my iPod, work on the M.M. genealogical project and do some knitting.