Cloudy, Cool, and Rain, Wonderful Rain

8:00

 Up later than usual, 7:00, to a drizzle, a gray sky and lake, a light southerly wind, 59 degrees, not a very inviting lake view, so I don't think  I will kayak.  It's been so long since we have had a morning like this, overcast, rainy,  windy, that I forgot what it was like.  We had an over an inch of rain over the past twenty four hours, more expected today.  Two days ago, sunshine was forecast for the weekend, now it's only clouds and rain.  How can the weatherman be so wrong, so often?  

Yesterday, Mitch and I took a long kayak ride after he  got up.  We left about 8:30, not returning until about 10:30, as we paddled straight down to Whitney Bay, up the mouth of Prenderfast Creek, to Snug Harbor Marina and beyond, all the way up to the bridge across Route 394.  Lots of birds as we paddled, kingfishers, ducks, and a black bird with an orange stripe on its wing that I have yet to identify.  I thought it might be a Baltimore Oriole but they seem to have much more orange than this bird, with a strip just on its wing.  Mitch tried taking underwater pictures with his camera but only got water, no fish.  We did see a few frogs, heard some fish jumping or so we thought, and avoided all the downed trees in the creek.  It would be fun to start a mile or two up at the other end and work our way back but I fear we would have to portage our kayaks much of the way, as the river was low.  It began to get warm as we headed back.  Along Whitney Bay, we stopped to watch a huge steam shovel cleaning out a canal, pulling the mud over to one side with a long plow like structure, then scooping it out with a shovel.  I wonder who is paying for this, where the mud goes?

Kayaking in Prendergast Creek

Dredging a Canal off of Whitney Bay

When we got back, Evie was ready for Mitch, for making Crispy Creme donuts.  They put together the dough easily, let it sit for an hour, cut and shaped it into donut shapes, let it sit for a half hour, then deep fried the dough on our back porch, then dipped them in the glaze.   All three of us ate a couple just as the glaze was applied, and they were about as good a donut  as we have ever had, so light.  Amazing.  Evie passed a couple out to the Leonard's and a kid who happened to be walking by, as they made over thirty.  They also put powered sugar and cinnamon on some when the glaze was gone.  By the evening, we had made quite a dent in the platter of donuts, after giving some to Ron Mc Clure.

Frying Crispy Cremes

A Platter of Hot Crispy Cremes

Earlier, Mitch and I went to the Tri James yard, picked up four crates of #2 stones for my driveway and also picked up a book at the Ashville Library though we didn't get to see Libby, the cat.  We also stopped at a yard sale, though we didn't find anything worth buying,  It always amazes me what people try to sell and I suppose, what people end up buying.

Spreading Stones

After lunch, outside, a turkey and ham wrap and home made corn chowder, it began to rain.  We ran in and put on our suits and went out and swam and played in the rain for about twenty minutes.  No thunder or lightning, just a pelting of rain, refreshing and fun, after the heat of the past few days.  Later in the afternoon, Evie worked on weighing the bean bags, each one 13.3 ounces, then sewed them back up, so all were uniform, ready for the tournaments to come.

Weighing and Sewing Up Bean Bags

The Mc Clures came over at 5:30 and we went down town, to Jamestown, as a band we like Smackdab, was putting on a free concert in the Wintergarten Plaza, on Main Street, on Third Thursdays, an attempt to bring people downtown.  Unfortunately, it was rainy when we got there at 6:30 and no band yet, so we went to Taco Hut for dinner, figuring they would be playing after we ate.  We enjoyed our meals at the best Mexican restaurant in Jamestown (the only one, as Mitch reminded me) and walked back to the park, just in time for the band to start.  It was a very different crowd of people gathered, not exactly the CI crowd.  Most were what I would call the underclass, those who live in downtown Jamestown, along with their children, many of whom were enjoying the music by playing with hula hoops. The younger crowd were a mixture of rapper look, with a few hippies thrown in, none looking preppy or prosperous.  We stood in the rain, with our umbrellas, people watching, and enjoying the music.  We stayed almost an hour, and got a beer at the Wine Cellar(compliments of Ron), which abuts the brick park.  When Ron and I walked in the bar, we were hit by the smell of stale beer, smoke perhaps, bringing back memories of dives past , like the Lauhala Room in Honolulu, half bar, half laundry mat where we used to spend evenings bowling on their machine with the locals.  It was my get rich scheme to open a series of bar/laundromats across the country and become rich.  I became a teacher instead.

At Smackdab Concert

Kids Hula Hooping to Smackdab

A Hula Hoop Magician

We  got home about 9:30, just in time for more crispy cremes as we watched another episode of Breaking Bad, a really good one, as Walt and Jessie baked a batch of meth only to find out there car battery was dead.  Since they were in the dessert with little water, they had to figure a way out or die of thirst or heat.  After various attempts at starting the RV, Walt makes up a battery with some of the chemicals and they finally make it out.  Jesse continues to screw up just about everything he tries, which adds to the black humor of the series.  Mitch really enjoyed this one.  He's getting in to it.   His Mom is not happy!