A Bright Shinny Morning

7:26

8:44

It's 8:55 and we are both up, listening to the radio. I just returned from a 50-minute paddle and spotted a couple of eagles and a gang of buffleheads. It was tough going south, into the bright sun, but easy returning home.

Kayak Morning

Northern Blue

Long Point

Bald Eagle Above Sandy Bottom

Buffleheads Are Back

Bufflehead

Thursday was a typical day for us. We were up early, at 7:00. I had breakfast at 8:00 in Bemus and Evie likes to have lots of time to prepare for her day with kindergarteners. After breakfast, I returned home, grabbed my yoga blanket and bolster, and left for class at 9:40. The class is easy, which is why it's popular, as it's close to overflowing, with women and two men. After class, I went straight home because I had a car appointment for my KIA at 1:00 in Jamestown. I heated up a leftover dinner from Tuesday, watched my show, and was on my way to Jamestown by 12:35. 

It took close to an hour and a half to get new air flaps, whatever they are, but I have to bring it back because one of the wires was frayed, and they had to order a new one.  I was home around 3:00, and Evie had just returned from kindergarten. The snow had melted, and our side yard was strewn once again with leaves from our tulip tree. So I got out my trusty rake (no leaf blower) and raked for about 20 minutes, filling another garbage pail with leaves, and took two pails up the hill to the wood pile.

At wine time, I broke tradition and had a Blue Moon beer. refreshing after yard work. The late afternoon sky was an amazing accumulation of puffy clouds and blue skies. Around 6:00, Evie put together our dinner, a shrimp and spinach pasta dish, and it was great. We watched our show until 8:45 when Evie went up to bed, and I watched some NFL on Prime before returning to my new series on Netflix called The Asset. And that was it for the day.

The First Big Melt

7:11

8:58

It's 7:30 and Evie and I are both up, Evie getting ready for kindergarten, me to have breakfast at 8:00 in Bemus. The snow has mostly melted, the lawns are green once again, and I had to chase a bevy of Canadian geese off our neighbor's yard this morning.

Wednesday was a strange day. I was up early and out on the cold lake by 7:15 for the first time in a couple of days. I was out for forty minutes, photographed a heron, and was dressed in layers so I wasn't cold. When I returned, I decided to go to yoga in Lakewood at 10:00. Just before I left, our plumber stopped by to check on our boiler. It had to change a zone valve because we were not getting heat in a couple of upstairs bedrooms. When I arrived at the studio, the lights were off and no one was around. I waited around for a few minutes, yelled if anyone was home, then left for a cup of coffee at Ryder's Cup. 

Ryder's Cup Friends

Neal, one of the regulars, was there, so I sat down with him for 15 minutes when our good friend, Paul, and his wife, Ellen, stopped in. Paul's been suffering from lung problems and is in a wheelchair. It was great to see him since he's usually been a regular until his health problems. He seems to know everyone, as anyone who came in for a coffee stopped to say hello. We sat around for nearly an hour talking. I left around 11:30, stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for our dinner, and came home to kitchen cupboards taken apart. 

Lunch was easy: the leftover dinner from Tuesday night, and I finished my series, Lone Wolf. After lunch, my afternoon went as usual, with a nap, reading my new book, a new novel by acclaimed novelist Ian McEwan called What We Can Know. Evie's afternoon was similar, finishing up the kitchen, watching some TV, and waiting, like me, for 5:00 when we could have a glass of wine. I tried to do a few things outside, but it was raining, so I just came back in. 

Afternoon Skies

Dinner was Kentucky Fried Chicken, Evie's favorite, and we watched three All Saints, although I have to admit that I am losing my interest in it, or like most series, it had a few bad shows before picking back up. When Evie went to bed, I watched a new series from Denmark, I think called The Asset, and it looks decent, and I watched about ten minutes of the Lakers/Thunder game before going to bed.

Word Of The Year: 

 

Light Snow And A Paddle

Female Cardinal

Male Cardinal

8:54

It's 9:05 and I was out paddling in a light snow for forty minutes, down to Sandy Bottom and back. It felt good to be back out there in 32º weather. It looks like snow this morning, rain this afternoon.

Kayak Morning

Victoria

Woodlawn

A Cold Heron

Sea Gulls Huddled At Mouth Of Woodlawn Creek

Yesterday was another day without a paddle, so I enjoyed a leisurely morning, a couple cups of coffee, breakfast, and then the blog with Evie. By 10:15, I was off to my mechanic to get my New York State inspection. New Yorkers have to get their car inspected every year. It took longer than I thought, about an hour, before I was on my way home. 

Female Cardinal

When I returned, Evie was excited about the photos she had taken of cardinals at our bird feeder. She showed them to me,  then made me lunch, soup, and a sandwich. Our days don't change much this time of the year, mostly because of the weather. We got a couple of things done in the house, then relaxed either napping (me) or watching TV or reading. So I took a good nap, woke around 2:45, then by 3:30, I was off hiking the Woodlawn/Victoria woods for a half hour. It was not as attractive as I thought because of the wet snow, the bare trees, and mostly snow-covered paths. 

The Victoria Woods

Barren Trees

Victoria Creek

Woodlawn

Evie prepped our dinner, a sheet pan recipe with gnocchi, broccoli, and sausage, then had her Zoom call with her sisters at 5:00. After the call, we had our wine time while the dinner roasted in the oven. Dinner, unfortunately, was a C, edible but we won't be keeping the recipe. We watched three more episodes of All Saints until Evie went to bed and I watched my show and a few minutes of the NBA before going up to bed. 

Windy, Wavy, And Gray

7:14

9:08

As I sit in my living room, reading the NY Times on my Mac, I look out and watch the waves rolling in,  a result of the northerly winds, with gusts up to 23 mph. Although snow is predicted, it has not started yet, but we did get at least three inches overnight, totaling 5 or 6 inches. I know I will be cleaning snow off my car again this morning. 

Yesterday was a long day for me, no kayaking or hiking, mostly sitting around, occasionally helping Evie, reading, or watching TV. I was up at my usual time, 7:00, and read and had breakfast, waiting for Evie to get up and help with the blog. I knew I wanted to get out of the house, so we created a grocery list, and I left for Wegmans around 10:15, stopping for coffee at Ryder's on my way. I also went to the bank and deposited my four-hundred-dollar inflation refund check from our governor, Kathy Hochul. I also stopped at T.J. Maxx to return some sweatpants that were too short. Mondays at Wegmans is not as busy as Tuesdays, so I was able to zip through the aisles, although I chose a slow checkout line. 

I was home before noon, and Evie had the cupboards emptied, cleaning the shelves in the kitchen. I helped put the groceries away, and during a time out from her chores, she made me a turkey sandwich to go along with a bowl of cauliflower soup, and I was happy. I watched my show, Lone Wolf, then went upstairs to read and nap until 2:45. Evie was mostly done with everything except the wash when I came down from my nap. I cleaned the snow off the Outback and drove it around for ten minutes, making sure it was ready to go to the State Inspection today at 10:30. I was afraid the battery might give me trouble, but it was fine. 

4:23

4:51

The rest of the afternoon I read until 5:00, when we both sat down in the living room with a glass of wine and enjoyed the changing sky, at times blue would break through the clouds, and ten minutes later in would gray up and start to snow for a few minutes. Around 6:30, Evie baked a tray of fries in the oven and fried up a couple of burgers for our dinner. We enjoyed a nutty buddy ice cream cone for dessert and watched three episodes of All Saints until Evie went up to bed. I watched a quarter of Monday Night Football, then another episode of Lone Wolf before bed. 

Last week, our grandson Mitchell was presented with the Young Facade Engineer Of The Year in London at a gathering of Facade Engineers from all over the world.  We are so proud of him!

Mitch Albarran, Accepting His Award

First Snow Of The Fall

 

8:43

It's 8:20 and I have been up for an hour, to a white yard, as 2 or 3 inches of snow fell overnight. Now, it's also snowing, but it looks more like sleet. When I woke, it was 27º, and because of the wind and sleet, I bagged kayaking and have been reading on my Mac for the past hour. 

Sunday began with a great hour-long paddle, and I spotted a couple of herons and eagles, a good way to start the day. Like most Sundays in the fall, we don't do much, watch quite a bit of football, and enjoy the leisure. I knew the snow was coming, so I wanted to get in a hike and decided on Tom's Point, the entrance just behind Hogan's Hut. It was a good choice, with lots of different landscapes, including woods, open fields, and brush, culminating in a view from Tom's Point, looking towards Bemus and Long Point.  I was out for forty-five minutes, the only one on the trail. 

Path To Tom's Point

Looking South Towards Bemus And Bridge

Leaves And Rough 

Open Field

Evie made a great brunch: home fries and fried eggs around 1:00. Since she was on the phone with our daughter Beth, we saved the Bills game until she got off. Unfortunately, the Bills had their worst game of the year, losing to Miami, 30-13. It got so bad that we stopped watching in the fourth quarter. Around 4:00, it stopped drizzling so I went out and changed flags. I don't like leaving the American flag out during the winter, so I put up a Tie Dye Peace Flag until May. For some reason, I was motivated to rake the leaves from our tulip tree, and that took 20 minutes, and I filled up another garbage pail. 

Peace And Love!

By 6:00, we were ready to drive to Linda and Ron's for our weekly Sunday night dinner. It's always nice for Evie to not have to worry about dinner. We sat around the table in their kitchen, enjoying our wine and a triple-cream cheese. Dinner was traditional home cooking, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a salad. It was a perfect dinner for a snowy evening. For dessert, we had bread pudding. We had not seen them in a couple of weeks so it was nice to catch up with their lives. We left for home around 9:20, in flurries. We were both tired and went to bed early, although I watched a bit of Sunday Night Football.

Sunday Dinner At Linda And Ron's

Overcast And 40º

What A Cutie

7:24

It's 8:50 and Evie's up as well. listening to the radio. I am listening to Pod Save America, a podcast introduced by Barack Obama.  It was nice to listen to a President who makes sense.  Anyways, it was a great morning on the lake, despite the gray. I kayaked for over an hour and photographed two eagles and three different herons, making my morning. Also, our bird feeder has been busy, with tufted titmouses and an aggressive blue jay. 

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Sandy Bottom Tree

Woodlawn Creek

Downed Woodlawn Branch

Same Downed Branch

Saturday was a boring day; the weather was gray and drizzling off and on. So, I didn't get in a paddle because of the wind, so neither of us got up off the couch until 10:00. Evie wanted to go through the pantry and throw out everything that was expired before I went to the Transfer Station. So I decided to clean the gutters, grabbed the ladder and a bucket, and cleaned out our three gutters, filled with wet, heavy leaves. That completes my task of getting ready for winter, the snow which is forecast to begin this evening. When I was done, Evie was finished with the pantry and making a pot of Indian cauliflower soup. I then gathered the trash, drove to the busy Transfer Station. When I finished,  I was the only car left in the lot.

For some reason, I was feeling off again, so I had no plans to do much the rest of the day. I actually went upstairs, lay down on my bed, and read until it was lunchtime. I made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich on a bagel with kimchee and watched some college football. By 2:00, I was reading and falling asleep for an hour. Around 4:00, I showered and felt better, fortunately, because we were going to our neighbors, Barb and Jim's, house for happy hour. It was a perfect way to spend late afternoon, early evening, enjoying wine and a bevy of great appetizers, laughing, occasionally digressing into the craziness of today's politics. We are lucky to have such fun neighbors. We left around 7:15, and neither of us was very hungry because of the tasty appetizers. I couldn't pass up a bowl of soup, and we watched a couple of episodes of All Saints before Evie went up to bed. I then watched the Lakers play for about 15 minutes before switching to Lone Wolf for an episode, then went up to bed to read and sleep. It ended up being a good day. 

An Ugly Lake Morning

8:19

It's windy, gray, and drizzling as I sit here, moaning the fact that once again I can't kayak. It's 8:10 and I have been up for an hour, and Evie's up early as well. We are watching a man stand up in his fishing boat, float by, and worry about him falling into the water. 

A Lone Fisherman

Friday was also a blah day; I didn't get to go kayaking early, but I was able to get in a bike ride around the Chautauqua Institution after a long morning of coffee, breakfast, and blogging. It was windy, but I was prepared, and I was out for close to an hour, stopping for coffee at Common Ground Cafe, open most mornings during the winter and free. After my ride, I drove to Tops and picked up a few things for dinner before driving home, arriving after noon. Evie had been busy, cleaning our front porch's cushions and getting the porch ready for winter. 

Thunder Bridge

Chautauqua Institution's Bell Tower

For lunch, I had the leftover chicken cacciatore and watched another episode of Lone Wolf before going upstairs to read and nap. After my nap, it was a lazy afternoon for both of us, reading my book, My Friends or watching TV, waiting for wine time at 5:00. Evie had potatoes baking until 6:00 when she seared a couple of pork chops, then finished them off in the oven. We had the chops with applesauce, baked potatoes, and a salad, and I  watched a couple more episodes of our show, All Saints. Once Evie went to bed, and watched maybe ten minutes of the North Carolina/Kansas game on ESPN, now available on Disney+, and ended the night with Lone Wolf.