Warming Up (Skiing Long Point

Woodlawn from Long Point

Cross country skiing Long Point

Our Humble Abode at Dusk

Icing Up

It's 7:20, lots of gray outside and surprisingly warm (29), considering yesterday was 7 degrees. It's going to be in the 40's tomorrow, so we may see the snow melt in some areas, perhaps part of the lake but I hope not.  This is the kind of weather I really dislike, as winter cannot seem to make up its mind.  Live with it.

We had a great excursion to Long Point yesterday, as I cross country skied for close to two hours, Evie hiked it as well.  It was very cold but bracing, we met a few skiers on the way, and the trails were groomed somewhat by snow mobiles.  We also saw probably the first ice fisherman of the year, out at the end of the Long Point dock, making a hole in the water so he could drop his line.  Winter seems officially here, snow mobiles, cross country skiing, snow plows, and ice fishing.  I bought new ski poles, a lot longer than my old ones, and it seems to make a difference as I can get a longer glide, not that I am very good.  I took one tumble on a small hill, pretty funny actually, getting snow down my coat, in my pockets.

We were tired out from our skiing, more than we thought, so we relaxed most of the afternoon, me finally finishing THE ART OF FIELDING, which I really liked, Evie going through recipes.  We had intended to make Gateau Basque and bake some bread but put both off for Thursday.  We did have a great dinner, breaded, fried tilapia, garlic spinach, and brown rice(we found a pretty easy way to cook it on the stove....4 or 5 cups of water to one cup of rinsed rice; cook it boiled water for 30 minutes; drain in a strainer for 10 seconds, return to empty pan, put on cover tightly, let sit for 10 minutes.  Fluff and viola, tasty and well cooked basmati brown rice.  Usually, we baked it in the oven for an hour so this seems much easier.  We watched Woody Allen's MIDNIGHT IN PARIS last night.  I had mixed reactions.  I did not much like Owen Wilson and I couldn't help but hear Woody Allen saying the lines, so the film was not very believable for me.  I did like the scenery, Paris at its best and it was fun to go back to the 20's and meet some of the literary greats.  Entertaining but not one of his best.

Today, we hope to cross country ski the Rails to Trails path in Mayville.  It's quite wooded for the first  couple of miles, then gets more open, even wet so we will stick to the first part.  And, we hope, to get the bread made, sour dough whole wheat bread, and the gateau basque.  Getting one done should be enough for this morning.