An Amazingly Cool Morning

The Gang's All Here

6:31 

Well, it's 7:41 and it was 59º when I paddled out on the lake, wearing a couple of jerseys. I was up at 6:30 and my daughter-in-law Mary was already up. Now, it's 7:42 and all hell has broken loose as my great-grandson Rhys is up, a bundle of energy among adults still waking up. What a delight. 

Kayak Morning

Northern Clouds

Yesterday was a waiting game, as we checked our phones to follow our son Tom's family's flights from Kansas City to Buffalo, and our daughter Jill's family as they drove to the lake from Virginia. I was able to get in a good 50-minute paddle before the fun began, getting the last things ready for their arrival. I had breakfast in Bemus at 8:00 and on my way home, I picked up a large bag of ice for our cooler. When I  got home, we spent a good hour getting the sheets changed on the beds,  turning over some mattresses, and making up all four bedrooms, one for our grandson Rhys' crib. After the upstairs was done, Beth made a peach and blueberry crisp for Thursday night's dessert, Evie organized dinner, and I vacuumed the living room.  

Tom's Family From KC

The Girl's AS Jill's Family Arrives

Jill Arrives And The Fun Begins

Lunch was the last of the cauliflower soup, and I was really tired for some reason and napped briefly. We followed my son's light from KC to Baltimore to Buffalo, and then their drive to the lake, arriving at 2:30. They were fortunate with their flight, both on time. And then the fun began with Rhys who seems to take to anyone. We took turns playing with Rhys as he explored all the niches in the living room where Evie had put toys, most of which our grandchildren had played with many years ago. We then followed my daughter Jill's drive through Pennsylvania to the lake, arriving at 3:25 to a fanfare of relatives. 

Rhys With Grandpa Tom

Yum

Rhys Loves Books

Jill And Tom

Girlies

We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on everyone's lives, especially our three granddaughters and watching or playing with Rhys. We tended to take turns with him. It was a fine afternoon to sit on the porch enjoying a glass of wine. Since Tom's family left Kansas City at 6:00 AM, they were up way to early, so we ate dinner at 6:00. Evie pulled three trays of ziti out of the freezer, one with chicken, the other two with eggplant and Italian sausage. Along with salad, we had a feast, and the ziti was better than ever. Everyone loved it, most getting seconds. We then had our dessert, a peach and blueberry crisp with ice cream. The rest of the evening, after Rhys went to bed at 7:00, we spent in the living room although the girls went out on the dock. We took turns going up to bed, some by 8:30 and I was the last one up at 9:45 although the girls stayed up watching Love Island in our TV room so I am not sure what time they walked up to their room in the Pine Hill Motel, just behind our house, What a great day. 

Relaxing On The Dock After Dinner

Partly Cloudy And Rain

 

6:38

7:32

Great Grandson Rhys, On His Way To The Lake

So far, we have not had any rain this morning, just clouds and occasional sun. We received close to an inch of rain since yesterday afternoon, which is why the humidity is high and the temperature is 74º. I was able to get in a forty-five-minute paddle before driving over to Bemus at 8:00 for breakfast. 

Kayak Morning

The Son

Osprey Hanging At Sandy Bottom

Taking Off

Sandy Bottom Heron

Above Victoria Reeds

Yesterday was a fairly normal day, other than getting ready for the arrival of our great-grandson, Rhys, granddaughter Marlena, Tom, Mary, Nick, Aundraya, and daughter Jill, granddaughters Hayden and Halle. I got in a good paddle, finished the blog, had breakfast, a high protein yogurt at my daughter Beth's suggestion. We were practicing yoga in Lakewood by 10:00, with an emphasis on our calves, which have been called our second heart because they send the blood back to the heart. It was a good class, and Beth enjoyed it as well. We never seem to remember to get everything we need for our dinners this week, so we stopped at both Wegmans then Aldis to get things Wegmans was out of, like pita bread. 

We were home by 12:30 and Evie was on the porch relaxing after having mowed the entire yard, quite an accomplishment on a steaamy 80º morning. For lunch, she made me a tomato, mayo, and cheddar cheese sandwich to go along with cauliflower soup. Beth loved the soup and had some tomato. After lunch and my series, I took a nap while Evie put together our dinner, lamb curry with apples, bananas, and cream, a favorite from our days in Istanbul. 

Rainy Wednesday Afternoon

After my nap, I pulled out the chairs that we kept under a tarp on the side of our house and sprayed them and washed them down, getting them ready for the week. I got it done just as the rains began, around 3:30 and it continued on until 5:00. We spent most of our time on the porch, enjoying the rain and then a glass of wine before dinner. Dinner was great, along with a salad, so we were happy, both with our dinner and what we had accomplished that day. After dinner, we relaxed in the living room, reading or on our devices until both Evie and Beth went up to bed around 9:00. I watched some TV until 10:00 when I went up and started a new book, a thriller from Daniel Silva called A Death In Cornwall. 

Morning Sun

6:18

7:25

It's 7:45 and Beth and I are up, Beth reading a book for her classes, and I have kayaked for 50 minutes.  It looks like a nice day until late afternoon when storms arrive. I was talking to Jeff, my neighbor, who mentioned that noisy merlins were in the trees behind his house. I pulled out my bird app and listened carefully to the sounds, and Merlin popped up. I cannot remember ever seeing a Merlin in our area. 

Great Blue On Boat Lift

Long Point

Kayak Morning

Same Great Blue Heron

Tuesday was a big shopping day for Evie and Beth, hoping to get most of the food and necessities for the next week. Neither of us was in much of a hurry to get going, and I skipped kayaking, mostly because of the heavy fog. Before we left, we organized the attic, then retrieved the air mattresses we might need and set up the orange room, installing an air conditioner in the window. So, for the most part, we are ready for the family.

I left to meet friends at Ryder's Cup around 9:30 and sat on the front porch with a couple of guys for a half hour until they had to leave. I then drove to Aldis to pick up a couple of things for Evie, and then came home to an empty house. I then got busy pulling chairs out of the attic and from the side of the house, where they have been stored for the winter. I washed them down and let they dry in the sun. 

The girls didn't arrive home until 1:00, the car groaning with groceries. I helped unload the car, and it took a good 15 minutes to put things away, to figure out where they might go because we were running out of room in both the pantry and refrigerator. Once all was done, I took a brief nap and read some. All three of us didn't do much the rest of the afternoon. Around 4;00, Beth and I went out and sat on the dock, enjoying the sun and breeze. Around 5:30, we prepped the racks of lamb and parmesan potatoes and put them in the oven around 6:00. I carved the racks around 6:30, into lamb chops and we ate outside for the first time this summer. 

Dinner With Our Daughter, Beth

The sun was behind the trees so we were in the shade, and it was comfortable out because of a light wind.  We stayed out until 7;30, enjoying the evening. Around 8:15, Beth's daughter, Marisa, Facetimed us from her apartment in Austin, Texas. Recently, she adopted two kittens, so much of our half-hour talk was spent admiring the kittens. She is in her second week of Med School and seems to be happy and doing well. Around 9:00, Beth and Evie went up to read, and I watched three quarters of the Indiana Fever game before joining them and reading for a few minutes before falling asleep.

Fogged In

6:32

It's just 7:00, and Beth and I have been up for over half an hour, enjoying our coffee and the fog. I doubt that I will kayak this morning due to the fog, and it feels good to just sit in my living room and relax. 

Barcelona Beach, Lake Erie

Yesterday was another warm day, but a good one. I paddled for close to an hour before most fishing boats were out and shot a couple of herons. Beth was up early with me, and when I returned from a paddle, Evie was up as well and both were planning the week ahead when all our family arrived. Beth and I usually drive to Barcelona and walk the beach, looking for interesting, heart-shaped stones so we left Evie behind to get a few things done, and we took the long, picturesque way to Barcelona. Walking out to the beach for a quarter of a mile along the Chautauqua Creek is always interesting, sometimes filled with trout fishermen, but none yesterday. We walked the beach, littered with mostly stones and driftwood, for half an hour then returned to our car around 12:30.  For lunch, we stopped at Jack's Barcelona Drive In, a fixture in Barcelona and always busy. We sat at the counter and ordered perch sandwiches with mayo, lettuce, and tomatoes, and they were great. I got hand-cut curly fries as well. 

Mouth Of Chautauqua Creek

The Beach Head

Driftwood 

Mouth Of Chautauqua Creek

Lake Erie

We were home around 1:30, and I was ready to fall asleep reading my book while Evie and Beth read on the front porch. We didn't do much the rest of the day except make a list of things to do over the next couple of days and what we needed from today's shopping at Wegmans. Much of this was done as we were enjoying wine time on the front porch. Dinner, chicken with artichokes and mushrooms, was already made, so all we needed to do was heat it up in the oven. We were too lazy to set a table, so we ate on the porch, our plates on our laps, a first. We watched an episode of The Resident, a series Beth had watched in 2017, and liked it, so it was fun. Evie then went up to bed first, and Beth followed shortly after, around 9:15. I went up early, too, wanting to read and bored with the news. 

Happy Hour

A Gray Morning On A Quiet Lake

    

Got An Itch?

Heading Out

7:24

It's 8:44 and Evie, Beth and I are sitting in our living room, talking and enjoying our coffee. I paddled for close to an hour, over to Long Point, back to Bootey Bay, and home, shooting two herons along the bay. It looks like a gray but cool day, with highs in the 70s.

Kayak Morning

Northern Gray

Sitting On  Boat Top

Great Blue

Same Guy

Sunday was a hot, warm, and busy morning because our daughter Beth was arriving in the afternoon. I kayaked for an hour before it got too hot. After coffee and relaxing, we got busy, getting the upstairs bedroom ready, putting in the air conditioner, changing the bed, and vacuuming. I then emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen before heading out to the dock to gather all the drying weeds and take them up the hill to the woodpile. We actually didn't have that much to do because Evie had been getting the house and bedrooms ready for a couple of weeks. 

We took time out late morning and early afternoon. I had the leftover burger for lunch and I watched the last set of Wimbledon, won by Sinner, a likeable and articulate twenty-three-year-old from Italy. I then watched the first half of Caitlin Clark's team destroy a Dallas team. I got bored with it after the first half and went upstairs and read and napped. After my nap, I cleaned both porches and put down our canvas curtain on our front porch because we had 15 minutes of torrential rains before the sun came back out.  

Stormy Weather

We were supposed to leave for the airport around 3:00 but Beth's flight kept getting delayed, so that we eventually left around 6:15, after showering and getting ready. We stopped in Fredonia at McDonald's for dinner, then got caught in a 20-minute traffic jam on Interstate 90 and arrived at the airport, finally, at 8:00, about ten minutes before Beth walked through the gate. We were on our way home by 8:30 and arrived home just before 10:00. Beth had a quick snack and then all three of us went to bed, tired from our day.

Lots Of Sunday Sun

A Noble Heron

8:12

It’s 8:23 and another sunny morning, and I was out for close to an hour and photographed a couple of herons, both along Sandy Bottom. Evie’s up as well, and we're enjoying our coffee, thinking about what we need to do today to get ready for our daughter Beth, who arrives this afternoon for a week at 4:45. We're excited. 

Kayak Morning

Heron Perched Above Sandy Bottom

Heron # 2, Hunkered Down

Yesterday was a typical Saturday in some ways, different in others. First, I kayaked, finished the blog, and had breakfast. Usually, we then gathered trash so I could go to the Transfer Station. Evie wanted to put it off because she wanted to mow the lawn before it got too hot. Not a chance. So while mowing, I drove off to Mayville to pick up a five-gallon bottle for our cooler. When I returned, Evie was on the front porch, soaking and literally exhausted from mowing. I volunteered to finish the last fifth and she was more than happy to let me. I mowed for maybe ten minutes and worked up a sweat. 

We saved the garden for later when Evie had cooled down. By noon, the trash was gathered and I was off to the Transfer Station, which is how I measure my Saturdays over the past fifteen years. Lunch was a couple of tomato sandwiches, finishing them off. I finished my show and don't know what to start today during lunch. I went upstairs to my nicely air-conditioned bedroom, read for a couple of minutes, then took a nap. Midafternoon, Evie put together tonight's dinner, chicken with mushrooms and artichokes. Around 4:00, I was bored with reading and went out and cut weeds in the lake for forty-five minutes. I think I am making some progress because our swimming area is practically weed-free. 

Wine Time: 5:15

I was on our front porch by 5:00, after a shower, to enjoy a glass of wine. Our neighbor, Missy, took time out from her family to sit on our porch and have a glass of wine with us. They usually have so much family that we rarely get a chance to talk. Earlier, when I went to Tops, I picked up hamburger and buns because Evie wanted burgers for dinner. So by 6:30, she had burgers fried and made, with pickles, mayo, and mustard, along with some cheesy pasta. We watched another couple of episodes of The Resident before Evie went up to bed and I started a PBS series called Lewis. I am sure I have watched a few episodes before. I was in bed by 10:30, reading until I fell asleep.

The text below revised the above text using ChatGPT: Vive la difference 

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It’s 8:23 on another sunny morning. I was out for nearly an hour and managed to photograph a couple of herons, both along Sandy Bottom. Evie is up too, and we’re enjoying our coffee, thinking about everything we need to do today to get ready for our daughter Beth, who arrives this afternoon at 4:45 for a week. We’re excited.

Yesterday was a typical Saturday in some ways, different in others. I started the day kayaking, finished a blog post, and had breakfast. Usually, we then gather the trash so I can take it to the Transfer Station. But Evie wanted to delay that a bit—she hoped to mow the lawn before it got too hot. No chance of that. While she mowed, I drove to Mayville to refill a five-gallon water bottle for our cooler.

When I got back, Evie was on the front porch, drenched in sweat and clearly exhausted from mowing. I offered to finish the last fifth of the lawn, and she gladly handed it over. I only mowed for about ten minutes, but still worked up a sweat.

We saved the garden work for later, after Evie had cooled down. By noon, the trash was collected, and I made the usual Saturday run to the Transfer Station—how I’ve come to mark the weeks over the past fifteen years.

Lunch was a couple of tomato sandwiches—the last of them. I finished my show but haven’t decided what to start next during lunchtime viewing. I headed upstairs to my pleasantly air-conditioned bedroom, read for a few minutes, and then took a nap.

In the afternoon, Evie prepped dinner: chicken with mushrooms and artichokes. Around 4:00, bored of reading, I headed out and cut weeds in the lake for about 45 minutes. I think I'm making progress—the swimming area is almost entirely weed-free now.

By 5:30, freshly showered, I was back on the front porch enjoying a glass of wine. Our neighbor Missy stopped by for a glass, too, taking a break from her family. They usually have such a crowd that we rarely get the chance to chat.

Earlier, on a trip to Tops, I’d picked up hamburger and buns because Evie had a craving for burgers. By 6:30, dinner was ready: juicy burgers with pickles, mayo, mustard, and some cheesy pasta on the side. We watched a couple more episodes of The Resident before Evie headed to bed, and I started a PBS series called Lewis. I’m sure I’ve seen a few episodes before. I went to bed around 10:30 and read until I drifted off.