Early Light Rain and Heavy Clouds But Sunny By 9:00

7:20

Heavy Rains and Wind, Friday afternoon at 4:35

Dinner At Fred and Judy Gregory's, With Cle and Penny Austin, Wendy and Charlie  Heiiz

Up at 7:15, a gray Saturday in store, a chilly 48º outside, and at the moment, 8:00, dark gray clouds are sliding north, over Bemus and Long Point.  An enviable forecast for today, however, with rain early then clearing, the high in the 50's.  A good day to hunker down with a good book, some Turkish tea and enjoy being warm and cosy.

Yesterday was pretty nice until 3:00, when it clouded up and started to rain as predicted.  Amazing, the weathermen were correct.  Evie spent the morning working inside, hoping to enjoy reading on the dock one last time before the rains and cold weather arrived.  Our good friends, Joe and Mary Lou Barry are stopping by mid afternoon today, spending the night before driving to Montreal tomorrow morning.  So, we re-cleaned, at least in my mind, the upstairs, getting it ready for them.  We also have a couple more friends coming later in the week for two nights so we will be busy, enjoying their visits and extending our hospitality, always a quid pro quo, because we will be staying with them in the near future, no doubt.  While Evie worked inside, I made the mistake of deciding to bring the buoys in from the lake on a windy day.  It was difficult enough to row the boat let alone drag the anchors and cement blocks out of the water, and I already had sore back.  Well, this effort pulled another muscle before I dragged everything in.  Like most guys my age, I stubbornly did something I should not have being doing and paid for it with a strained back.

Around 11:00, I drove off to the library. gingerly getting in my car because of my back, returned a book, then went on to Wegman's to pick up some groceries for the weekend.  It was good to be back in familiar territory, Wegman's though they have changed, again, some of their products, so I had to ask where something was.  Why do grocery store's continue to rearrange their items, making it difficult to shop efficiently.  When I got home, Evie went out to enjoy the sun and read on the dock but was only out their 15 minutes because of the thirty mile an hour winds but she did manage to get in a short swum.  So we spent the rest of the afternoon inside, reading and taking it easy.  Evie drove off to Lakewood around 3:00, for some errands, returning by 4:30.  We both showered and got dressed because we were going to the Gregory's for dinner, friends who live in the Chautauqua Institution.

Last Night' Menu

Wendy Heinz and Judy Gregory

They are friends we have gotten to know because Fred, at my age, still plays in basketball tournaments all over the States, and I played on one of his teams about 15 years ago.  His wife Judy is a well known artist, in fact, she has a installation called 'Taking Tea' at the Burchfield Penny Art Museum in Buffalo.  Their house is filled with her work and other interesting objects.  We got there around 6:00 and were surprised to see our good friends the Heinz's were there, as well as the Austins, friends we have not seen in 10 years since they moved full time to Erie, PA.  So it was a really fun night, talking basketball with Fred while grilling chicken, art with Judy at the table, business with Cle Austin during appetizers, and just catching up with everybody, their lives, children, and grandchildren  since we had last seen them. The Gregory's leave for Davidson, NC, in a week, where they spend their winters and Fred, of course, has season tickets for the Davidson College's basketball team.  We had a great meal, grilled chicken breasts, corn pudding, a vegetable salad of sweet potato, black beans, mango and avocados, really good, with no greens.  For dessert, we had an apple pie from Portage Pie in Westfield, with Fred's homemade ice cream.  It was a  really fun evening, great to see friends we have not seen for awhile.  Because the Austins had to drive back to Erie, we all went home by 9:30.

We were home just before 10:00, in time to watch some TV and read before going to bed.  It was another fine day at the lake, and we look forward to another one today, when our friends stop by from Oxford, Ohio.