Early Morning Rain

6:04

6:29

7:59

It's 6:30, and I have been up since 6:00, listening to the rain. The rain is supposed to let up soon, then start again later, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get in a paddle. It looks like we've received a half inch of rain so far, with more to come.

It's 8:10, and I just returned from a forty-minute paddle, occasionally in the rain.

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Some Light

More Clouds

Sunday began as usual: with a good, long paddle and a few photos of birds. Evie was up when I returned around 8:15, and I wrote the blog; Evie picked out photos before we published it. After breakfast, I got a few things done, cleaning both porches and spraying for spiders. Once I was done, I decided to go for a bike ride. If I could get into the Chautauqua Institution, I would ride there, but the gates were still closed, so I decided to drive to Mayville and park. I rode two sections of Webb's Trail, through the woods, a three-mile round trip. I then rode Sea Lion Drive to the end and back, and was out for 50 minutes, the last 20 minutes in drizzle.

Webb's Trail

When I returned home, I was ready to take it easy and join Evie in the living room, where she was relaxing after being busy in the morning. Around 12:45, I had another quarter of my sub from Wegmans and some corn chowder and watched Goliath. By 1:30, I was ready to start my new book, Heather, another detective thriller. I was able to take a brief nap, then came downstairs and did some work in the yard — weed whacking various beds, things like that.

By 5:00, the lake had quieted down, and I had a glass of wine; Evie was still feeling a bit off and decided to skip wine. For dinner, we had soup and sandwiches, easy and good, and watched a couple more episodes of ER. When Evie was ready for bed, I watched a couple more episodes of Goliath before going up to read and sleep.

Sunday, Sunday

6:10

8:26

Kayak Morning: Barb Our Neighbor

We are both up as the sun just popped out at 8:25. I was up at 6:00, of course, but didn't get out on the lake until 6:30 because it was too dark. It was a quiet morning on the lake for me despite the Cleveland Bass Tournament — they must be fishing in other parts of the lake. I paddled across to Long Point, then back to Bootey Bay and home, a good 90-minute paddle.

Kayak Morning

Southeastern Sky

Some Blue

Looking South

Osprey

Heron

Ducks

Heron

Yesterday was not my favorite Saturday. It began well, with a good paddle, out for an hour and a couple of photos of great blue herons. When I returned, Evie and I finished up the blog and published it, and I got busy making my bed, something I do each morning, thanks to General McRaven, then gathering the trash to take to the Transfer Station. I was on my way by 10:30, dropped my trash off at a crowded Transfer Station, picked up corn for corn fritters, and filled up my Outback with gas (sixty-five bucks). I needed string trimmer line for my weed whacker, so I stopped at Home Depot, then at Wegmans to pick up a few things but forgot to get milk. My last stop was at Evans for wine, another fifty bucks. It was an expensive morning jaunt.

When I returned home, I wasn't feeling well — a stomachache for some reason — so I told Evie and went upstairs to read on my bed. I took a couple of Tums and felt a bit better, so I came downstairs. Evie thought it might help if I ate, so she made me scrambled eggs and toast, and I watched another episode of Goliath, Season Two. I felt better after eating and decided to take a nap and read. In the mid-afternoon, I took a shower because we had our local Woodlawn neighborhood meeting at 5:00. We usually bring an appetizer, so Evie made corn fritters. This was our third meeting of the summer, and it was poorly attended because many weekenders weren't here. Nevertheless, it was fun to see our neighbors, enjoy a libation and appetizers, and find out that our Treasury needs more money to help finance the snow plowing of our road.

Woodlawn Guys

Woodlawn Gals

We were home by 6:30, and each of us had a quarter of a sub from Wegmans and watched two more episodes of ER. When Evie went up to bed, I watched a couple of episodes of Goliath, then went up to bed. Our evenings don't seem to change much.

North Coast Bass Anglers Association Weigh-In

A Sauerkraut Morning

Slicing Cabbage With Tom

6:19

7:34

It's 7:53, and the sun is so bright in our living room that we have to move off the couch to read on our devices. I am not complaining, though, because it's a beautiful Saturday morning on the lake—just a few clouds, lots of sun, and a light wind.

Great Blue Heron

Same Guy

A Teal

Sun Rising Above The Reeds

Into The Sun

Kayak Morning

Yesterday began with a great paddle, as I was treated to plenty of lake-life photo opportunities: herons, eagles, and cormorants. I was out for close to an hour and back by 8:00. After breakfast, I wrote the blog and had it published by 9:00. I then picked up Jim, my neighbor and fellow sauerkraut worker, and we drove to Tom and Julie's house, where a couple hundred pounds of cabbage heads awaited us.

The Sauerkraut Boys, Tom, Jim, And Moi

Tom buys the cabbage at an Amish market for a dollar a head. Wegmans charges $1.29 a pound. We have our method for making sauerkraut down pretty well, since the three of us did it together last year. Jim cores and halves the cabbage heads and brings them to me, and I put them through the electric slicer. Once I have about eight pounds of sliced cabbage, Tommy puts it in a pot, adds salt, and vigorously mixes the cabbage and salt until it's well marinated. He then packs the cabbage into crocks, where it will sit for the next couple of weeks, aging and turning into sauerkraut.

Crocks Filled With Salted Cabbage

We started at 9:00 and finished cleaning up the mess right around 11:15. In a couple of weeks, Tommy will dole out bags of kraut for us to freeze and use throughout the year. It's a fun way to spend a morning.

I was home just before noon and was greeted by the aroma of corn chowder simmering on the stove, our grandchildren's favorite summer soup. I was tempted to have it for lunch, but we decided to save it for dinner, so I finished up the leftover lemon chicken and rice and watched my show.

We then had a leisurely afternoon. Evie sunned herself briefly in the backyard, and I went out on the dock to read until the breeze made it too cool. Around 5:00, we had our wine time and once again marveled at how lucky we are to have a home on the lake.

Dinner was easy, as Evie had already fried up bacon for the soup and had plenty left over to make BLTs. Along with the corn chowder, we had a great dinner. We watched a couple more episodes of ER, and after Evie went up to bed, I watched the second half of the Indiana Fever's twenty-point defeat of Connecticut. Both Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell scored 34 points apiece. Around 8:30, I went in the kitchen and noticed the moon just starting to rise above the Bemus shore.

Moon Rising Over Bemus shoreline at 8:30

Moon Risen

Full Moon Rising

I ended the night with the final episode of Goliath and am ready to start Season Two today.

Two Eagles, A Cormorant And Four Herons

6:30

8:08

Immature Eagle

Eagle

It's 8:10, and I've been out for 75 minutes, paddling to Tom's Point and back as the sun slid in and out of the clouds. It was a beautiful morning on the lake, though the wind picked up on my way back, making the paddle onerous and the water choppy enough that taking a photo was difficult.

Kayak Morning

The Rising Sun

Bridge

Looking North

Heron On Neighbors Dock

Tom's Point Heron

Tom's Point Heron

Cormorant

Wells Bay

Thursday was a good day, starting with a paddle at 6:45, then breakfast in Bemus with the guys — I ordered my usual: coffee and an English muffin with sausage, egg, and cheese. Yum. When I got home, Evie and I finished up the blog and published it, then made a list of a few things we needed from Wegmans. I'd decided to skip yoga and ride into Jamestown instead, so on my way I stopped at Peterson's and picked up some homegrown tomatoes, hoping they'd be tasty. I parked at the start of the Jamestown Riverwalk — asphalt all the way to McCrea Point — then biked to Third Street, over to Main, and took the path along the Chadakoin River before heading back to Main and stopping for a coffee at Crown Street Roasting. From there it's a 15-minute ride back to my car. By 11:30, I was at Spectrum Eyecare getting my glasses adjusted, especially my sunglasses, which had been damaged when I fell. It took about ten minutes, and then I was on my way to Wegmans. It wasn't very crowded, so I was in and out quickly.

Mc Crea's Point And Chadakoin River

Jamestown Riverwalk

When I got home, Evie had been busy but was still willing to make me lunch — a salami sandwich to go with a quarter of my sub. I watched another episode of Goliath, then went back to my book and tried to nap. Evie wasn't feeling well so she went up to bed for a bit too. I checked in with the guys, who've moved on to our neighbors' place to hook up their sewer; it's a tricky job, since the area between the two houses is so narrow. I sat out on the dock and read until wine time. Evie had put dinner together earlier — lemon chicken — so by 6:30 we were enjoying that with rice while watching a couple of episodes of ER. Evie was feeling better but was ready for bed by 8:30, so I watched a few minutes of football before going back to Goliath and watching until 10:00, when I headed up to bed.

Moon Rising At 8:26