The new plantings are doing well both in the ground and in containers.

The plantings from last year have also for the most part taken root. Two clumps have buds already.

Although I got a very late start, I got to the shredding event at the library before the truck left and to the plant sale at the Pine Cobble School before they packed up.

There was very little left but I was able to buy a tomato plant and three bean plants, the latter of which were sown by the Grade 3 students. They were half price.

Later I picked up a couple of bottles of French Sauvignon Blanc and some lemon squares.

Catch as catch can for lunch and “supper”.

A man came by to check out repairs to the deck and placement of the electric box in Ron’s “study”. He’s a local person and has been working with a crew who are building luxury homes on Sweet Farm Road.

We watched “Compass Points” and “Horizons” on PBS.

I think I’m done with MRS. Uploaded changes to web pages and database today.

Had to switch Backblaze to an internal drive, have run out of room on my laptop. Uninstalling apps now.

I woke up from a horrible dream feeling that I’ve turned into a monster who stomped on a little girl who loved me but now hated me. She was bruised and sad and she was sitting on a doorstep waiting for me because no one else had let her in the house.

This is terrifying.

What can I do to fix this?

It can’t have anything to do with Jett or with Ron. I made cinnamon rolls and oatmeal with raisins for Ron and me and mixed half a hard boiled egg with two kinds of dog food for Jett this morning.

I keep thinking about and worrying about my granddaughter which scares me to death. I know my fear is not based on anything real.

We haven’t been doing much around town these days, partly because money was so tight from the first of the year to now and partly because we are old and “been there, done that” jaded.

It occurred to me the other day that while I was looking for a new place to live, I wanted a house in the woods, and we pretty much have that even though our lot is small. For one thing, we’re on a hill, which gives the illusion of more space between houses than there would be on the flat.

For another, our lot is surrounded by trees on three sides. The back of our lot abuts an undeveloped woodland and a steep hill with Henderson Brook at the bottom. We can see our neighbors’ houses but rarely see them, although Jett barks at or for their dog.

My window has a limited mountain view in the winter but from now until November, all I can and will be able to see are leaves, branches and a little sky.

We live in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s beautiful no matter the season. The number of cultural and artistic events and amenities in North Berkshire County is astonishing never mind the activities an hour or so south of us.

People are concerned for each other and support local businesses and Town government. Our neighbors wave to us, they are considerate and respectful. Business people are friendly and some of them even call us by our first names. Everyone loves our library; the new director is dynamic and imaginative and has launched a remarkable number of events. The College opens its facilities and performances to everyone; most opportunities are free.

It’s nice here and we enjoy it, so why does my stomach hurt so often and why am I frightened right now? Why have I started to hate taking showers because I dread being cold? Why do I want to stomp on my little girl inner self and make her hate me and be afraid of me? Have I become the jealous, narcissistic, manipulative, cruel Rose Cohen? God help me, I hope not!

Filed complaints regarding T-Mobile with both. Received a message that the FCC is sending a copy of my complaint to T-Mobile and that they must respond in writing within 30 days.

Made an apple cobbler from a very old box of dark brown sugar and apples from the Pantry.

Working on MRS. Weeding.

I feel sick to my stomach. Cannot believe it and am dreading it.

This is a PTSD reaction from living on Cape Cod for 23-odd years. Traffic there is bad much of the year because of road construction but Memorial Day Weekend is the start of the crush of tourists and second home owners that makes travel, shopping and everything else intolerable.

Fortunately, this is our “one more year and then you’d be happy” year. We are in a good place and grateful for it. There is so much we need not fear any more.

We had great cellphone service with T-Mobile for years. We added internet service and were pleased with that until we got a better deal from a different carrier.

I cancelled our phones and the internet service on May 13. I received an email acknowledging this with no instructions for returning the equipment. Turns out if you didn’t get the equipment from a store, you need to either return it by UPS or drop it off to what they call a “corporate store”, the nearest of which is in Rensselaer, NY, about an hour away.

To get a shipping label, you need to call their customer service. I called last night about quarter to nine and there was a half hour or so wait.

It seems that T-Mobile uses its Philippines call center for off-hours “assistance”. A more stubborn bunch of corporate toadies I have rarely encountered. The rep tried to “sell” me on keeping the service. It was after 9 pm and I was not of a mind to indulge a sales pitch from an aggressive person with a heavy Asian accent.

The rep refused to acknowledge that I cancelled my internet service before the end of their May cycle and wanted to bill me for a month that we never used! He (supposedly) needed to complete some mystery cancellation order on their end before the service could be stopped.

Evidently other customers have encountered this obduracy and, frankly, dishonesty. After arguing with me, the corporate stooge finally got his supervisor on the line. They both insisted that the confirmation email was not for cancelling the internet service even though the subject line is “We have confirmed your T-Mobile internet cancellation.” Unbelievable.

The supervisor finally apologized for the fact that the representative from my May 13 call only cancelled the phones and not the internet. He must have taken care of the mystery order because I received a slew of emails including the RMA labels shortly thereafter.

I guess my next stop is to file a complaint with the FCC, the FTC and the Mass. AG’s office.

Jett’s groomer is about an hour away from us, in the Hinsdale/Peru area. She does such a fantastic job with Poodle hair that it’s worth the trip.

Yesterday we lucked out for weather back and forth. I packed us a light lunch and after poking around for a good spot we ended up in the town of Washington’s public park.

We took a wretched, ill-maintained paved road part of the way back to Jett’s groomer. Afterwards I’d hoped to complete a couple of errands but neither worked out. It was a pleasant trip nonetheless. This is an exceptional time of year in Berkshire County.

Town Meeting happened this week and there is the usual complaining about the lack of participation – only 200 people stuck around for the full three hours.

I didn’t show and neither did Ron. The way I figured it, all but one Warrant article had the support of both the Select Board and FinCom. So, why blow an evening just to rubber stamp their decisions?

The monthly or semi-monthly meetings of the Select Board and other committees might be better venues for discussion and getting answers to questions, but would we really be welcome?

With one or two exceptions, I haven’t found anyone, either elected official or private citizen, who really wants to engage in respectful two-way conversation about civic matters.

I don’t think that’s unique to Williamstown, by the way. My theory is that American public education doesn’t include training in civil debate or analytical thinking and it should. “We” are a combative, over-competitive society. Sad.

I have a very itchy rash on my right hand and it’s aggravated because I took a shower earlier today.

It’s Day 2 of planting the Viburnum. One day to figure out where to locate it and dig the hole. One day to water liberally, fill the hole with soil and tamp it down a little. Day 3 will be to fill in any depressions and fix anything else that doesn’t look right, then put down mulch.

We picked up the truck this afternoon. Not a huge expense for now.

I made a small amount of blueberry sauce for the vanilla ice cream the nice Walmart driver brought yesterday along with two of my meds and 20 other grocery items.

Looking at https://www.framedestination.com for the new artwork.

Enjoying Marsha’s book, it’s a very good read.

Changed sheets. My back is not real happy with me right now.

Tiny, disappointing bit of rain. Guess I’ll be out with the hose….

On Saturday and Sunday, we visited a very talented neighbor, an author turned painter whose book was turned into a Hallmark TV movie. Her property covers 8 acres.

We bought two of her paintings and I could have taken home at least two more.

Her workshop is a restored barn with a loft that she uses as a living room. She calls it “magical”; I call it a spectacular example of master carpentry.

We also met a friend of hers who helped me with my purchases and who made a delighted fuss over Jett.

I did some cooking over the weekend, eggs and mycellium bacon and pasta for supper. We watched “I Want To Live” with Susan Hayward.

This morning we brought the truck to Berkshire Transmissions.

It’s a hot one, 90 degrees in the shade this afternoon. Ron did the lawn, front and back. He’s a better man than me, that’s for sure!

In the course of digging, I picked up a vexing rash.

Yesterday we finally brought the truck to Berkshire Transmissions. The owner, Mark, inspected the ailing part. Turns out Mark is something of a local auto repair legend. His shop is a mechanic’s cathedral, and I’m not kidding.

He gave us a couple of options and offered to do a repair today if we brought the truck in early. Unfortunately, I got very sick around 5 am and wasn’t nearly well enough to drive, safely or otherwise.

I made a big mistake last night and consumed several chocolate desserts: cupcakes and an ice cream bar. Horrible, horrible endless pain. Nothing worked, not vinegar, Tums, ginger, ice, Pepto. I stayed in bed belching and flatulating and sleeping until ten of three. Faithful, concerned Jett stayed with me for a while, waited until Ron let him out late, at around 9:30. This afternoon, Ron did a small grocery run before the news.

We made arrangements to bring the truck to Berkshire Transmissions for the day on Monday.

Meanwhile, had a nice text conversation yesterday with Peter about music influences. We got several errands done yesterday which was good because today was a wash. Checked in very briefly with Remedy, sounds like the inventory app is behaving. Connection and certificate problems still trouble MRS.