Sandie & Mister Knightly @ Home

Welcome

Wish for the New Millennium:
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy, and enough money to buy gifts!!

Past History:

2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |

Thought for 2015:
"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too."

- Voltaire

December – My sprained ankle finally began to really heal and I tried hard to get and keep the Christmas spirit, sending cards, wrapping gifts, putting up some decorations… going through the motions… until last night, Dec 23^rd when news came from the UK that Mary is responding well to treatment and the dire forecast may not come to pass – surgery is now possible and hope is in the air for a recovery. Rickie too seems improved and getting treatment. I am overjoyed for them both and can now enter whole-heartedly into the spirit of the season.

November – This was a strange and awful month… Both my dear friend Mary and my neighbor Rickie were diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. On Thanksgiving Day as friends came to feast, they were both not expected to live. These facts colored my enjoyment of what otherwise was a lovely gathering and made me feel like an actor playing the part of good hostess. Otherwise the month was normal.

October – Sat around for 3 weeks with my foot on ice and in the air… by mid-month I had to go to the gym and work out. The Kails came over for a night and Susan came for 10 days, but I was not much fun as the leg hurt after an hour or so of standing. Work at the spice shop was slow so I didn’t go in, which was a good thing. Susan and I went boating with the Hunts and to the beach, movies and out to dinner. We also had a remembrance for Don.

September – September I fulfilled my promise to myself and went to Ireland. Visited my dear friend Bartley and felt like I was in the way at times, but really had a great time with him overall… sprained my ankle badly on the 23^rd and lost my glasses and travel purse on the flight home… keep hoping someone will send them back. Got home to discover a gift of the WSJ waiting for me.

August – The rains continued in August, showers most every day but I did get in a night with the A&W gang on first Friday. It was good to see them all. Went to the theater and saw MAME. Not my favorite musical but they did the best they could with it. The guy who played the title role is a great actor but the part didn’t leave him much to do in the second act… I went with Tim & Randy and Robbie and I have to say, I can’t remember when I have seen Tim so somber… he perked up when he saw some clients but I wonder how much of that was for real.
Had a nice dinner at Pie-topia with Gary and Barbara – best veggies I’ve been served in a long while. Took Susan Hunt to lunch to celebrate her birthday – she has been through a lot this summer what with losing Timmy and her brother-in-law.
As the month ended, Tim and Randy got a new puppy, Toby and I got to see a big smile and a heart filled with love when Tim and I had lunch. I can definitely relate to the mood change.
Jim from work is going to house sit while I am in Ireland and he came by to look at things and almost drove me nuts… he has some kind of AADD condition and could not focus plus he was sweating like a pig… I wonder if he is taking something? Oh well, I am trusting him with Mister K and the house – perhaps I am the one who is nuts…

July – Back to work at Savory Spice Shop and things were a bit slow. I don’t mind only working 3 days a week even though I didn’t manage to get too much done on my days off. I had a really lovely dinner with Marcia and Bill and a long lunch visit with Doug & Bonnie but otherwise my social life ground to a stand-still. The last half of the month we had so much rain that all my best efforts went to indoor activities; drawing, cleaning and laundry. I caught up with Bartley via phone and we had a long chat about my trip to Ireland in September… I was so excited after the call, I packed my bag!

I had to have a heart-to-heart talk with Paul about life and death next door but while I hated doing it, it turned out well and he is again paying attention to his life and his health.

I also hired Rickie to prep the house for its upcoming paint job and as usual, he managed to drive me a bit nuts before he got it done. I gave away 3 large bags of clothes and stuff to charity, so I am continuing to maintain my New Year’s resolution to to get rid of stuff.

June – So I took the whole month of June off and the first thing I did was go out to the beach for sunset therapy with the Herd… later that week I was able to catch up with Bartley and confirm my dates for Ireland in September and as the week ended, I attended the funeral of my friend Jack Bowman… that night I had dinner with the Kellers and we spoke of Jack and then they showed me pictures of their own trip to Ireland.

Randy let me know that his wonderful dog Hunter was nearing end of days so on the weekend I went to say my goodbye to him and then out to lunch with Randy.
I went to the beach again on the next Monday night and mid-week the gym rats had a memorial lunch for Jack. The weekend found Mister Knightly and I in Punta Gorda with the Haldermans – a fun visit and a little road trip.

The following week I had lunch with Susan Hunt and went to a movie with Joan Stevenson and on the weekend I threw a party to celebrate the solstice. Then it was off to Flagler Beach for a visit with the Kails and with Bridget and Liam. Mister Knightly got to go to the ocean 3 times and it made me very happy to see him having so much fun. Tim & Randy came for clam chowder and I made one more trip to the beach for summer therapy before the month ended. I made 6 drawings too.

May- The lovely month of May is also a very busy month in my calendar… it began with Tropical Heatwave in Tampa – a two day music festival of world music. A bunch of us went in the VAN-esa and spent the Saturday night dancing to many new and interesting bands, and some old friend bands too. Then it was dinner on the 4^th to celebrate Tim’s birthday and ZZ Top the following Thursday – a great Show!! The following week Ed and I went to see The Rays beat the Yankees in what may have been the best game of the season: 10 hits, 6 runs for our side to win 6-1. The only Yankees score was an out-of-the-park homer by A-rod. The following week, on the 19th I was scheduled to have lunch with Jack Bowman but it was cancelled, and though I didn’t totally realize it at the time, I was never to see Jack again in life. He had looked great on the 12^th when we planned the lunch the week before… always listen when someone says good-bye… they could really mean it… But, Life goes on and on the 24^th I made a pool party for all the May babies and we all had a good time together. I finished out the month at work – which I had reduced to 3 days a week and planned to take the whole month of June off for visiting with local friends.

April – The month began with a wedding. My first gay wedding in fact. Russ & Jim married after 38 years together… it was a lovely affair. And followed closely by Easter but alas no Sunday brunch…still I wore a hat in the garden so I maintained my tradition.. The following weekend was Marcia’s music party and it was a very fun time. The following weekend I worked the whole time as Paul went to SC for a family affair. I put in an 8 hour day and it didn’t kill me… it was OK. I am so lazy. On the 25^th I took the May Babies to see Harvey and it was a truly delightful play. Ed missed out so it wasn’t quite a perfect time, but close. Dinner afterward at Pia’s.

March -

Spring is always so busy in St Pete… this year it began with a concert at the Palladium by Leo Koetke…the Kails came over for it and I went with Randy. A couple of days later a quorum of the trivia team met to drink up our winnings before officially disbanding. The following week the Hummingbirds has me over to dinner… I learned a lot about My Little Pony and about Mermaids. The third week I got to see an outdoor play of As You Like It by the local college…rough/minimalist production, but always nice to see The Bard back in the Burg. Marcia, her sister, Bill and I did brunch the following Sunday and then on to Art In Bloom to support Tim. Dion popped in for a quick visit the following weekend and I took her to the Egg Coloring as a surprise guest. And Joan did a spectacular job as the Egg Coloring hostess again this year! The month ended with the Renaissance Fair with the Hummingbirds… so very full of fun stuff… Work was good and is still fun for me and my neighbor Paul’s niece and nephew came down to be with him for some surgery which made me very happy for him.

February – The party was a success but my team failed to win. I however, won $84 in the various pools. Home field advantage, I guess. The month was a dreary one for me. I saw some movies in preparation for the Oscars. I saw Birdman with Paul T. and when it ended, he turned to me and said: “I didn’t understand one word of that!” But I loved it and want to see it again and keep finding things in it that make be wish I had someone to talk about it with. Paul and I tried but it was mostly me just talking my thoughts out loud since he had little to say about it himself. Aleth and I tried too, but we have so much to talk about… I saw Whiplash too but absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave after 5 minutes… but I stayed. Nothing rang true to me… but at the Oscar Party Anne was really crazy about the film and at the gym, Gary was too. Oh well we can’t all like the same things. The Oscar party was fun. Nice to see that crowd again. I got some sad news about Eric Watters though. Also sad was the passing of Jim Byrnes, though he had lived a long productive life and passed in relative peach with his family by him at 93… not a bad ending.

I am attempting to combat memory slippage by memorizing long poems. More interesting to me than computer games no matter who designs them… learned Kubla Khan by Coleridge and refreshed my memory of Arthur’s farewell speech from the Idylls’ of the King, brushed up the missing lines in my version Of Frost’s Fire & Ice and am now working on Renascence by Millay. I recite to myself as I walk to and from work.
Work continues to be mostly fun but I miss having two days off in a row. I get tired but that isn’t a bad thing and about the time I do get tired, it is time to go home. Tomatoes are coming fast and furious, I have given away a lot and eaten a lot and still they come…it is satisfying.

I’m still adjusting to my reduced finances and every major expense has me rethinking my situation… spent $400 on the car in February but can’t complain as the car has cost me relatively little over the last 11 years… and I have loved having it.

No trivia in February or again as the game has moved to Sunday and I don’t want to commit a Sunday to it. Oh well, we had some fun… still now drawing…my bad!

January – Happy New Year to me and Mister Knightly!

My little job keeps me quite busy but I found time to celebrate my birthday with the A&W gang and Randy and Diane… Diane and I went to the Blues Fest with the A&W’s but while the day was grand, the music was less that wonderful… still fun was had. The following day we all united to see the Packers loose the playoff game.