Brilliant Sunrise On A Wednesday Morning

Girls Growing Up, Way too Fast

Beth at the Park

Our College Bound Grandson, Tyler, Plunking His Guitar

6:25

 Up at 6:20 and I almost didn't sit outside on the porch  because of the sun but by the time I got my coffee and Mac, clouds hid the sun, so here I am, on the porch, no boats, some clouds, sleeping grandchildren, and only the sound of birds, a brief morning of quiet before the gang awakens, ready for bear.  It's 52º, an open window kind of night, perfect for sleeping.

Yesterday morning, the girls stayed upstairs in their beds till we finally got them downstairs, for some breakfast before going off to pick blue berries, a yearly rite of passage, where we have gotten to know the owners of the Blue Berry Farm, Dave and Margaret Smith,  a couple who left the East Coast to live the simple life, sort of, on a blueberry farm.  We thought we would be the only one's there, on a Tuesday morning, but there were at least 12 cars in their yard.  The couple have a wonderful dog, tied to their door but will do all sorts of tricks for a treat, from rolling over to a high five.  Margaret gave the girls treats for the dogs and showed them how to get him to do his tricks. The girls had a great time with him, before we walked to the blue berry fields.  Lots of blue berries this year, most, however, needed another few days to ripen, so we had to be careful to look for the dark blue berries, the sweetest at this time.  We ended up up with close to ten pounds of berries, and Evie took the usual bunch of photos of the berry picking, as it's a great venue for taking pictures, and we have photos of berry picking from the past three or four years, the classic being the photo of the family with berry picking pails on their heads.

Mitch At The Park

Grandfather and Grandson Ruminating On Life's Challenges

When we got home, the girls wanted to have lunch on the boat, so Evie and Beth put together an easy to eat lunch of cheese and crackers, guacamole and chips, apples and peanut butter, and drinks, and we went for a cruise on a surprisingly windy day.  It was fun to be on the lake, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies as the kids ate, laughed, wrapped themselves in blankets, hung over the front of the boat and fed the ducks, as we floated off of Long Point for a bit.

When we returned, the girls wanted to swim, so swim we did, playing hide and seek, tag, any other game you can come up with in the water with five rafts.  The  girls loved to sit on the raft, waiting for Tyler to come by, underwater, and try to tip the raft, throwing them off.  What fun.  We enjoyed the dock and water until about 3:00, when the girls went in to make more ring bracelets(they give the away as presents to neighbors and friends) and practice their dance routine in the yard.  They also went off to visit our neighbors, Pat Jones, with her two dogs, Abbey and Libby, and Joyce, our next door neighbor.  They love visiting them. While the girls were being neighborly, Evie put together a peach/blue berry crisp for dessert later in the evening, watched over by Mitch and Tyler as it cooked.

Halle Bissell, Eight Years Old

Marlena Davis, Ten Years Old

Hayden Bissell, Twelve Going on Thirteen

Marisa Albarran, Nine Going On Ten

Around 6:00, we took the boat over to the Casino, for wings, games, and rough housing on the playground.  The grandchildren love coming for wings, especially the boys, who devoured over  30 wings between the two of them.  The girls played the various games in the Casino, spending twenty bucks to win four cheap rubber balls but what the heck,  they were happy.  The Casino was fairly crowded for a Tuesday evening, probably because it was a nice night.  After wings, we went out to the playground, where the girls played on the swings, and Tyler and Evie took mega silly pictures, mostly close ups.  We left for home around 8:00, drove under the bridge for Hayden, then home, to play Spud in the yard before it got dark. Evie then made ice cream cones for two of the girls, as the rest of us wanted the delicious peach/blue berry crisp with ice cream.  There are few desserts better than a crisp and ice cream  during the summer.   Around 9:00, the girls wanted to watch the show America's Got Talent, so they stayed up till about 10:00 before going to bed.  The boys stayed up and watched The Untouchables but I want off to read, finishing LIFE AFTER LIFE, beginning THE BURGESS BOYS.

Halle with Her Baba

Overcast Tuesday Morning, As The Gang Increases

6:20

Up at 6:20 and, like yesterday, a slash of light to the south, cloudy over Long Point and towards Mayville.  It's a very cool 53º though I am comfortable on the front porch.  Another quiet morning, no action on the lake, just the sound of NPR and birds.  It looks like a nice day, mostly sunny, warmer than yesterday, the high in the low 70's.  A great morning to go blue berry picking, our first task for the day.

Like the past couple of days, the girls slept till 9:30 then stayed up in their cosy bedroom until 10:15 when Evie called them down to breakfast.  I love they way they just kick back in our bedroom, on a floor of mattresses, covered with quilts and blankets, and just sink into them, talk and surf the web on their Ipads or play games.  They end up going up there two or three times a day, to read, hang out, or just enjoy being along with each other (no adults and it's only going to get worst).

Orange Brick Road At Chautauqua Institute

Because it was cloudy, we decided to take them to the Chautauqua Institution, to get books from the library and browse the bookstore.  We can  get in on our library cards; just say we want to go to the library avoiding the 17.00 dollar fee and the girls were free.  They loved browsing the bookstore, of course, and came a way with a few trinkets.  And they each got a couple of books out of the library, compliments of a very helpful children's librarian.  Halle came right home and started reading.  We stayed for a little over an hour at the CI, just enough time and ran into our friends Fred and Judy Gregory.  Judy is quite an artist and she invited the girls over to see her work if they wanted, so we hope to do this sometime this week.  Fred and I have played basketball together and we see them usually once a year for a dinner, as they spend their winters in North Carolina.

Beth and Family Arrive

We came home to a lunch of leftovers, quesadillas and Evie's vegetable soup and before we knew it, around 2:00, the Albarrans arrived from Darien, CT, to the excitement of all especially the girls who missed Marisa, another ten year old.  Our house count is now up to nine, three adults, two boys, and four girls.  Yikes.  And it's only going to get better (worst?) on Friday when the rest of the family arrive, bringing the total to fifteen.  Enough.

Treasure Chest Raided

The girls hit the Treasure Chest almost immediately, something they have looked forward to for years.  Each child gets to pick out a present from the chest but by the end of the week, they usually end up with two or three, if not more.  In fact, almost any child that visits gets to go into the chest.  And if they come back the next year, they look forward to diving in again.  It's an idea from my childhood, as I may have mentioned, when my grandparents took me out to Olin Goudy's farm in Concord, Ohio, and his wife, Ella, had a treasure chest which she allowed us, each summer, to pick out a gift.  I always looked forward to the visit because of this.

Granny and Her Grandchildren

Everyone went swimming despite the cool around 4:00, the boys harassing the girls, chasing them on the rafts, while they filled the summer air with their screams of delight.  Girls love nothing better than being chased by boys (as long as it's not their brothers).  It was great to have the Albarrans with us and Beth, ever thoughtful, gave Marlena, Halle, and Hayden an early birthday present, an ingenious craft kit for each girl called Rainbow Rings Looms.  They weave various designs of braids, for bracelets, out of tiny (1/4 inch) multicolored rubber bands.  This will keep them busy the entire vacation.

Learning How To Make A Rainbow Bracelet

Making Bracelets in Our Bedroom

Rainbow Bracelets

While the girls worked on their bracelets, Evie, Tyler and Mitch made home made fettuccine noodles, to go along with the barbecued chicken I grilled, candy sweet local corn, and a salad.  The noodles are cooked in the broth from the par boiled chicken, making them delicious but sinful, sopped in butter and chicken fat. YUM.  For dessert, Evie and the girls made cupcakes early in the day, so she got out the frosting, put it in a plastic bag, and each grandchild decorated their own cupcakes, loading them with frosting, of course.

Tyler, Mitch and Granny Making Fettuccine

Girls Open Their New Outfits for Summer, 2013

After dessert, the girls begged Evie for their new dresses; each year Evie spends an inordinate amount of time looking for four matching outfits for the girls, so that each year, they all get new matching dresses.  This year was no different and they quickly ripped the wrapping paper, pulled out the new outfits, and ran to the bedroom to change, excited and happy with their new look.  The colors this year seem to be lime green tops, a multi colored skirts.

In Evie's Garden

Around 7:30, while Evie played Bocce with the boys,  I went off with the girls to the Elste's playground, just down the street, where they played on the swings for a half hour.  One of the reasons for going is to see Becky Deault's tailless cat called Kitty.  The girls look forward to seeing her and she is very affectionate, rubbing against their legs.  We tried putting the girls to bed early; they were upstairs in their beds by 9:30 but did not get to sleep until almost 11:00, when Evie and I went to bed.  The boys watched some TV, an old 1970's movie with Warren Beatty called The Parallax View, so dated we stopped watching after an hour.

A Cold Monday Morning ( And The Albarrans Arrive)

Kayak Morning with Tommy 

6:40

Awake at 5:30 but I  stayed in bed, 'tossing  and a turning' till 6:40.  It's a cloudy morning, though the sky off to the south, around Bemus, has a swath of pink and blue.  Not a boat on the lake that I can see, a slight southerly wind, and only the cawing of the obnoxious crows mar the early morning.  It's cool, 57º, so I have my sweats, fleece, and Ugg boots on, as I sit comfortably on my front porch, waiting for the day to begin (when the girls rise).  Yesterday they slept in until 9:30 and last night, when I went to be at 11:00, they were still awake though they were in bed by 10:00, typical I suppose for a sleep over.
Yesterday was another cool, fall like day on the lake, with intermittent sun and clouds.  I was up early, able to get my blog written and published before anyone got up.  When Tom woke, we went for a nice kayak ride about 8:00 and by the time we got back, about 9:30, the girls were awake up in their bedrooms, laying in bed, surfing the net on their Itouch's and Ipads, a leisurely way to spend a Sunday morning.  Evie made Tom and me a feta cheese omelet and bagel and then, because the girls wanted waffles, she made them as well, my favorite, so both Tom and I also had waffles.

New Purses at Dart Field Flea Market

After breakfast, we decided to go to the Flea Market in Mayville, at the Dart Airport.  It was in the middle of a field with about twenty vendors, a small showing but enough for all the kids to get excited about some junk jewelry and other things.  The three girls ended up buying a couple of purses and some bracelets, happy to buy anything, a form of therapy.  We stopped at a new bar/restaurant in Mayville, called the Boardwalk, with a chain saw sculptor in their parking lot, a typical combination here in the boonies of Chautauqua County.  The bar/restaurant is enormous, the old Ethan Allen building, with various table seatings, pool tables, darts, a bar and a walk up window to order your food.  It looks like it could hold two or three hundred people but there were only two sitting by the food window.  They have a band on either Friday or Saturday night and if crowded, it could be fun.

Dancing the Afternoon Away

Cousin Love

We came home for a lunch, ate outside, chicken sandwiches, pizza, and P & J sandwiches, a combination to fit all tastes.  At 2:30, I took off, driving Tom to Buffalo to catch his plane at 5:00.  We made good time, an hour an a half on the dot, and I stopped at Dick's on the way home, for 15 minutes, though I did not buy anything.  I got home at 6:00 and the girls were sitting on the front porch, wrapped in blankets, with Evie, reading and eating Cheeze It's, enjoying the cool dusk, after a busy afternoon. They practiced their dance routines in the front yard before swimming mid afternoon, the water cold when they first went in but then they warmed up and had a good time jumping from one raft to another.

A Cosy Reading Corner

For dinner, we had baked potatoes, with bacon and other fixings, Hayden and Halle's  new favorite dinner. With a salad and broccoli, it was a filling and healthy dinner, especially if you love potatoes, which the girls do.  After ice cream and peaches for dessert, we watched an Iranian film, one we have seen before, called the CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, about a small, impoverished family. A young boy loses his sister's only pair of shoes, forcing them to share the one pair of shoes they own, trading them each day after the girl returns from her morning school. It's a wonderful film, so realistic, their lives so rich despite their poverty, no smaltz, sex, violence, just a film about the human condition, the love between siblings, life as we know it.  It makes you feel different about the 'supposed evil empire of Iran.'  They are us!

Sunday's Dinner

Sunday Morning Quiet (for now) and Gray

Evie' and the Girls Going Through The Photo Album of Summer, 2012

6:20

 It's 6:20, a quiet morning on the lake, as all the girls are still sleeping. It rained over night, the lake smooth, gray, a touch of mist off in the distance, the lull before the storm of granddaughters.

Yesterday, the adults were all up fairly early, sitting on the front porch, enjoying our coffee.  About 9:30, all the girls were up as well  so Evie made pancakes, at first in the shape of letters, later the normal stack for all the adults.  Jill and Drew left around 10:15, a seven hour drive home and will return next Friday or Saturday.

The Girls

Later morning, the girls took out all the yoga mats and Hayden showed  them various dance and gymnastic routines in the yard.  After working up a sweat, all of them went swimming, just as it began to rain but because there was no thunder or lightning, they just stayed in and enjoyed the water.  One of their favorites things to do at the lake is to swim in the rain, especially a hard rainfall.  We had leftover moussaka, smoothies, home made vegetable soup and cheese sandwiches for lunch...must cater to the diverse tastes of the girls.

Gymnastic Ladies

Dancing Hayden

Crazy Ladies

It was windy and cool most of the afternoon, so Evie took Halle over to the campground, to see the zoo to see their animals, and it also happened to be Christmas in July so the campground was decorated for Christmas.  Hayden and Marlena stayed back and both continued to work on the dance routine that Hayden was teaching her.  She is wonderfully patient, a good teacher and Marlena is quickly getting the steps.  In fact, all three girls spent a good part of the morning and afternoon outside in the yard, doing gymnastics and working on their dance routine.

Making Vodka Sauce with Tommy

For dinner, Evie and Tommy were in the kitchen for almost an hour, putting together a vodka shrimp sauce, and getting the homemade pasta dough ready to put through the pasta machine.  One forgets how much effort is involved in something seemingly as easy as a pasta dinner.  I think making your own pasta might complicate things.  While they were making the sauce, the girls played 'Pick Up Sticks,' a game I remember playing at my Granddad Camplehjohn's probably sixty five years ago. All the girls helped Evie make the fresh pasta, each one getting to roll out a ball of dough, eventually into fettucine.  They did it amazingly well, perhaps why they so loved the noodles

Making Homemade Pasta With The Grandaughters

Dinner was great, the girls loved the home made pasta, especially Hayden who had four helpings.  The rest of us finished off the shrimp vodka pasta easily.  Because it started to rain and it was getting windy and cool, we decided to stay in side, watch a movie and have ice cream.  I picked out a Disney movie, Lemonade Mouth, a take off on School of Rock but pretty good none the less, as everyone, adults and kids, seemed to like it.  All of us went up to bed around 10:00 but there's not way for the girls to settle down, at least for a half hour, so I stayed up and read until they quieted down then went to bed.

Ice Cream and Peaches for Dessert

It was a good night for sleeping, cool, with rain drops on the roof.  A good start to the next couple of weeks.

No Time To Write On A Busy Saturday Morning

6:30

Marlena Arrives in Buffalo

Up early, with Drew, as we talk the in's and out's of his buying a boat from a buddy in Virginia. It's a good price, and they would love having it in Virginia, perhaps even trailer it up here to the lake.  It's fun talking about someone else besides me spending money.  I have been up for a couple of hours and have yet to write a word and now it's time for breakfast, pancakes made by the girls, in the shapes of our initials.  Yum.

Marlena's Jump

Fishing With Granny

We picked up my son Tom and his daughter, Marlena, in Buffalo, right on time.  They had to get up at 3:00 AM to catch an early flight out of KC but it allowed them to enjoy the day yesterday.  We picked up some corn on the way home, had lunch outside, and the corn was amazingly good, just like the other day.  We relaxed in the afternoon, fished and swam, and took a booze cruise before Jill and her family arrived, just about 8:00.  We had dinner ready, fried chicken, moussaka, sweet corn and salad, just what the doctor ordered.  We had a great meal, the girls loved seeing each other, the first time since last summer, and we sat outside until about 9:30, just enjoying the cooling evening.

Shucking Corn With Dad

Bissell's Arrive

Dinner

The girls then went up to bed to sleep, supposedly, as we sat downstairs and talked till 10:30 but when the adults went upstairs to bed, the girls were, or course, still up.  Fortunately, when Evie and I went to bed, the girls settled down and went to sleep easily, tired from their journeys.

Going Through Evie's Picture Album

Today Jill and Drew are driving back to Bristow, leaving about 10:00 but they will be back next weekend, perhaps with a boat...hint, hint.  It looks like a beautiful day on the lake, cooler than expected, in fact, the next week  looks as though it might be 'Chautauqua Cool', which is fine with me.

Coffee Early Morning

Blinding Sunrise and Fog Rising

6:20

Up at 6:20 and I can hardly look at the lake the sun is so bright.  It's around 50º, a great night to sleep and it looks like the perfect day, high in the 70's, clear skies, cool night.  Keep it up. A big day for us, one we have been preparing for all month.  Tom and Marlena arrive in Buffalo this morning at 11:00 and Jill and family will drive from Virginia, arriving around 10:00 tonight.  Let the fun begin.

Yesterday was a cool, fall like day, lots of wind and sun, a good day for inflating six floats and rafts,  getting them ready for the girls.  All of he summer toys are stored in the attic of the garage, so I spent a good part of the morning clearing it out.  I almost forget how much junk I have stored up there until I actually get up and look around with my headlamp.  Lots of stuff we will never need but cannot throw away.  While I worked outside, Evie did her final food shopping, having planned ahead so we wont' have to shop for the next three or four days.

Inflated Rafts, Ready for Grandkids

The girls bedroom is ready and looks like one huge dorm, four mattresses on the floor of our bedroom, covered with quilts and pillows, bureaus ready for their clothes.  I am sure the first thing they will do is jump on it, roll around, and snuggle up in a corner.  Our quiet nights of reading before sleep are over for a couple of weeks although as they get older and stay up later and later, I may be going to bed before them.

Mid afternoon, Evie cut the lawn and I stayed inside and like a good house wife, vacuumed the downstairs.  When we finished, we both fell into our dock chairs, with a beer, ready finally for the arrival of our kids, a long and winding road, to steal from the Beatles.  We had an easy dinner, pizza from Sam's and a salad, relaxed with some TV and a book, before going to bed early, both of us tired from the day. Off to the airport in an hour and a half.  Yippee.

Frosty Morning, As The Fog Rises

6:15

6:16

Up at 6:00, to a foggy morning, the first heavy fog of the summer.  It's 47º outside, so I am sitting inside, as I watch the sun rise, over Long Point, as it attempts to burn off the moving fog.  It was great sleeping last night, all the windows open, such a contrast to last week's 90 degree weather.  Nothing is predictable or consistent about Chautauqua weather.

Yesterday morning, we set up our bedroom for our granddaughters, moving our dressers, side tables, bringing in mattresses from the attic, pumping up a couple of air beds.  All four girls sleep on the floor in our bedroom, at least they have for the past eight years.  I wonder when they will become too grown up to want to sleep in our room?  And yesterday was probably my last morning of yoga for awhile though I am ready for a change.  Perhaps Jill or Beth may want to go to yoga sometime in the next two weeks.  I stopped at Home Depot, picked up some sand, to anchor our floats, a flotilla of them, for the kids to play on.  While I went to yoga, Evie baked some eggplant, getting it ready for Friday's moussaka, one of our son, Tom's favorite dishes.  We are getting excited as Tom and Marlena arrive Friday morning, Hayden and Halle, Friday evening, Beth and family Monday.

We fished and relaxed most of the afternoon, staying inside because it was an extremely windy day, not enjoyable for kayaking or sun bathing or reading on the dock.  At 6:00, the Mc Clure's picked us up and we went over to Bemus Point to celebrate Ron's 67th birthday.  We opened presents on the porch of the Lenhart Hotel on a lovely sunny afternoon, enjoying an Old Vienna or two. And he loved his presents, a 'Where is Effingham' tee shirt and plastic frog, which does back flips.  So thoughtful!  We then went to the Seezurh House for dinner and it was great to see it busy and lively, so different from our winter dinners there.  We got ice cream cones after dinner,  went for a walk along the water, to the strangely quiet Casino and then drove home about 9:30.  A good evening with good friends.   

Seezurh House

Birthday Boy

Enjoying the Lenhart Hotel's Porch