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. 

Windy And Overcast

7:01

7:02

8:02

It's 7:53 and I have been up for an hour, perusing the internet and just read David Brooks' essay on wolves, human ones like Putin and Trump. Not an uplifting way to start my day, but it's too windy to kayak. The sun just popped out above the cloud bank, and I may have to move my chair.

Thursday Morning Photo By Evie

Thursday was different in that we didn't meet for breakfast, and due to the wind, I had a short paddle. It left me lots of time to finish the blog, have breakfast before going to Yin Yoga at 10:00. The Class was crowded with the usual group of gals.  After class, I stopped by Ryder's Cup for a coffee, then returned several packages to Amazon at Michaels. Since it's next door to T.J. Maxx, I perused their store and ended up buying a pair of sweatpants, which I will return since they are too short. I ended up doing a quick run through Walmart and picking up a few goodies for our wine time.

I was home by 12:30 and made myself a salami and cheese sandwich and finished up my series, The Terminal List. I was happy to get back to my book, Old Friends, and nap.  I woke around 2:45, and Evie was back from school, happily enjoying some lunch. I had a few things I needed to get done for the winter, so I raked and mulched the leaves that tend to gather around the back of the garage and sides, and it took me over an hour to get it done and take a couple of barrels of deadfall and leaves up the hill to the woodpile

Last Night's Moon At 6:37

Around 5:30, we enjoyed our wine along with nachos with cheese and salsa. Dinner was easy: the last of the hot dogs, some beans, and a salad. We watched a couple of episodes of All Saints, the last one bringing both of us to tears as a major character dies. It makes me wonder if the producers wanted to kill her off or if she wanted to leave the series. After Evie went to bed, I watched a few minutes of the NFL but started the sequel to The Terminal List called The Lone Wolf.

Moon

Threatening Clouds And Occasional Sun

Evie's View This Morning

7:34

8:28

It's 8:25 and I just returned from a rough, windy half-hour paddle. Due to the wind and waves, I didn't get far, as I knew it would be tough going back into it. The clouds were spectacular as I looked both north and south, so it was worth it to be out there. My podcast was an interview with Farid Zakaria. He talked about Trump's tariffs, which have basically turned most of our friends against us, like India, and pushed them closer to Russia and China.

Kayak Morning

Northern Blue And Gray

North

Yesterday turned out to be a stellar day until early evening, when winds and a storm hit the area and lasted into the night. The day, however, was mostly sunny, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. I kayaked for fifty minutes and returned home with the vow to do something. So I drove to Dobbins Woods, about a ten-minute drive, and hiked the trail clockwise, something I have not done since I started hiking the trail 15 years ago. It's like walking an entirely new trail! I was out close to 40 minutes, then stopped by Keystone, my mechanic, to make an appointment for the annual inspection. 

Fallen Leaves

Where's The Trail

When I returned, despite being busy, Evie offered to make me lunch, ham and cheese sandwiches on brioche buns. Yum. I watched my show, took a brief nap, and was on my way to the Kia dealer because I had an appointment at 2:00 to check out why a couple of lights were on the dashboard. The problem was the air flaps, and they had to order the parts. Fortunately, it's covered under a 60,000-mile warranty. Strangely, it took almost two hours to figure that out so I walked over to Tops to pick up a few items for Evie.

5:00 PM

I was home by 4:20 and read some since my book, which had expired, was now available from another library, so I can finish it. I belong, by the way, to three libraries. We enjoyed our wine at 5:00 as the storm and heavy winds moved it, even blowing out the fire in our fireplace. Dinner was a Wegman's special, chicken cacciatore in a bag. All you needed to do was put it in the oven for an hour, and it was done. We had it over spaghetti noodles, and it was a B, decent but not great. We watched, of course, All Saints until Evie went to bed. I watched my show and a few minutes of the NBA before joining her. 

Overcast, Some Sun, Rain Later

7:01

8:15

It's 8:24 and I have been up since before 7:00, to a 40º morning. I wasn't sure about kayaking due to the southerly wind of 12 mph with gusts up to 20mph, but it wasn't bad, even paddling into the wind. The lake was a bit choppy, and I was out for 50 minutes, the only boat on the lake as usual this time of the year. I listened to The Prof G Pod, featuring Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov from Fox News' Five. She said something that struck a chord: that "A budget is a moral document." If that's true, who does the big, beautiful bill generally benefit (the haves) and who does it harm (the have-nots)? And so it goes.

Kayak Morning

The Reeds

In To The Sun

Yesterday was a strange day because I was not feeling 100% for some reason. It did not stop me from a great paddle, a striking photo of a bald eagle. I was back by 8:15 and had lots of time to finish the blog, eat, and help Evie get ready for school. She left around 9:30, and I decided to get in a bike ride. I made the mistake of not wearing my windbreaker so once I started to ride in Bemus, the wind was so strong that I fought it much of the way, as well as being cold. I cut my ride short, just to the end of Lakeside Drive, and turned around and biked back to my car, about a forty-minute ride.

Biking Lakeside Drive

Blue Skies, Rocky Beach

When I returned, even though my stomach was uneasy, I mowed the front yard, wanting to get it done before lunch and my nap. I wasn't sure what to have for lunch and settled on a bowl of soup before showering and getting ready to drive to Jamestown for a teeth cleaning. The office is in downtown Jamestown, and an older house has been turned into an office. The dental hygienist was substituting for the usual gal, and she was very talky but fine. I was in for forty-five minutes, then drove home, arriving around 2:15. I was tired and decided to take a nap despite the fact it was after 2:00.

Late Afternoon Moon Rising

Evie was home around 3:00 when I came downstairs, and I decided to finish mulching the side yard. It took me only 20 minutes, and for at least a few hours, the lawn looked devoid of leaves. Evie had her Zoom all with her sisters at 5:00, and I read and watched some TV until 6:00, when we enjoyed a glass of wine and were surprised by the moon rising at 5:00 in the afternoon. Dinner was the leftover eggplant pasta and a salad, followed by my apple pie ala mode. We watched three more episodes of All Saints, then Evie went to bed, and I watched my show, The Terminal List, before bed.