Clouds Begin To Intrude On Clear Sky

6:04

Hostas In Spring

It's almost 7:00 and I have been up for just over an hour.  The sunrise was muted by light cloud cover, and it's now hidden behind clouds, the lake returning to a gray color, the sky marred by the flight patterns of purple martins, as they swoop and sing, then land on the shoreline, looking for grasses for their nest building.  It looks like we will be getting some rain today, let's hope not too much.

Ready For A Memorial Day Picnic

Yesterday was the perfect Memorial Day, a cloudless sky, lots of sun, a rising temperature, getting in to the high 70's by the end of the day.  We had invited Ron and LindaMc Clure and Dave and Pat Jones, our neighbors, over for a picnic.  So a part of the afternoon, at least for Evie, was spent getting things ready for our picnic.  Late morning, she went shopping at the Chautauqua Institutition stores with a couple of neighbors, Debbi Kinney and Betsy Bergen.  While she shopped, I spent an hour getting all our lawn chairs and tables out of storage and scrubbed and washed, getting them ready for the day.  I also raked up the detritus on the lawns, leftover from the high waters.  When Evie came home, we decided to fire up the lawnmowers and together we cut the Leonards and our yards as they were dry enough, finally, to cut.  By the time we finished, they looked like a golf course, so I then moved the furniture on to the lawn, getting it ready for the company.

Dining Al Fresco On Memorial Day

Everyone arrived around 5:00 and it was the first time for all of us to sit outside with appetizers and drinks, enjoying the late afternoon, the lake, the clear sky.  The Joneses had just  driven in from Houston the day before so they were happy to relax after their long drive to the lake.  We caught up on all the news till about 7:15, when I began cooking the burgers and hot dogs.  Linda had made her famous potato salad, so along with barbecued beans and a salad, we had a great Memorial Day dinner.  We also ate outside, another first of the year.  After dinner, we adjourned into the house and sat around talking until about 9:45 when everyone went home.  It was a fun night, nothing like good food and company.