Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
trips

ridgway, pa

We vacation in the weirdest places. This year, Jake and I spent the week at a cabin in Elk County. The cabin was surrounded by the Allegheny National Forest and was right across the road from the Clarion River. It was a great way to social distance while on vacation–we didn’t see another soul. Of course, we didn’t venture far from the cabin, other than to go for walks in the woods or along the river. We did see a couple of  deer one day and I saw a turkey another. The cabin was beautiful and we were content to just hang out and do nothing. If I went there again in normal times, I’d plan a few outings, but it was nice staying in, too.

In true 2020 fashion, Jake ended up getting sick with a stomach bug early in the week. And if that doesn’t sum up the year (a stomach bug while on vacation), I don’t know what does. Luckily for him, it was a 24 hour thing and he was feeling better by the next day. And, luckily for me, I didn’t catch whatever it was.

We liked the place so much, we’re thinking about returning next year. We’ll see what happens, but I’d definitely be up for that. I liked the place so much that I want to live in a log cabin now. This was Ralphie’s first vacation and I think he liked it. That dog is so easy to take care of. Whenever he starts getting rowdy, I just take him for a 15 minute walk and then he sleeps for a couple of hours. I don’t know how I lucked out with that. I boarded Buster because he does not travel well. He probably enjoyed the break from the puppy.

 

out and about, pandemic

canceled

Jake and I had tickets to two entertainment-type events this year. The first one, Brit Floyd, was supposed to happen in March, then it got rescheduled to August, and then it got rescheduled to August 2021. I ended up requesting a refund for the tickets because the new show is scheduled during the week and I don’t know what Jake’s class schedule will be at that point. Hopefully we’ll still be able to go, but that’s so far down the road, I can’t even think about it.

The second event was to see the comedian Jim Gaffigan. That was supposed to be held in August, but I just got word that it’s being moved to August 2021. It’s on the weekend, so I’m going to hang on to those tickets. Surprisingly, he’s still on tour right now, but he’s doing “drive in” type of events. I guess they couldn’t support that at the Kovalchick Complex, but it would have been fun to go to something like that (well, given the circumstances, it would be fun to do anything entertainment-related at this point).

All I can say is that 2021 better be a good year.

gardening & landscaping

hot, hot, hot

It has been very hot outside. This hasn’t stopped me from doing things in the yard in the evening because stuff needs to be done. I finally finished mulching and weeding the pond hillside, for one. And I did remove some more ivy from the shed area. I had to get the stuff off the trellis because I bought another vining plant (a Black-eyed Susan vine) that I wanted to plant there. It’s so late in the season that it probably won’t do well this year, but what can you do? It’s an annual so I’ll have to make sure I get it in earlier next year.

Since it is almost mid-summer, the garlic and onions were ready to harvest this week. I picked all of the garlic and about half of the onions. I expect to get the rest of those tonight. Unlike past years, my tomatoes actually look good this year. I hope to get a decent harvest and can some of them. If I would have known the summer was going to be so dry, I would have planted more!

household stuff

window washer

I started washing windows last weekend and finished on Sunday. Now all of the windows in my house are sparkly clean! I couldn’t tell you the last time I washed all of the windows. I’m sure it has been years. I also replaced some of the screens that had tears in them. So, everything’s looking pretty good right now.

But, I’m not done with the windows yet–I noticed that all of the windows need to be recaulked outside. I guess this should not come as a surprise as the windows have not been caulked since I have lived here and that stuff doesn’t last forever. The good news is that once it’s done, it apparently won’t have to happen again for a while.

holidays

the 4th

We had Friday off work due to the holiday so I did some things around the house before we went to my brother’s new place on Indian Lake for a cookout. He’s right on the lake–living there will be like being on vacation every day! Very nice.

We didn’t have any plans for the actual holiday, but I did get Jake to help me with the hedges–I trimmed and he raked. That went a lot faster than it usually does (especially since his one friend got impatient waiting for him and came over and helped, too).

It seemed like everyone in the neighborhood was lighting fireworks all weekend. At first, it made the dogs bark, but then they settled down after a while. They usually upset Buster, but besides the barking, he seemed ok this year. I don’t think he can hear very well any more.