A Night Of Strong Winds, A Day Of Thuderstorms

6:52

Leonard and Davis Houses

It's 7:15 and I have been up for an hour, listening to the winds whip through the yard, shaking trees, the canvas on our porch, stirring up the lake.  It also howled most of the night, sending Evie downstairs to sleep for much of the night.  The birds are having a hard time at the feeder, the wind shaking the feeder, knocking them off the perches.  It should let up by 11:00 but then the thunderstorms will come.

Yesterday was another good day, mostly sunny till late, cooler than Saturday with the highs in the 60's, a day to be outside.  We had an easy morning and looked forward to having both the McClures and Jones's over for Sunday dinner.  Before we drove off to Long Point State Park for a hike, Evie was able to prep some of the dinner and put together the yeast dough for Chillingsworth's pumpkin rolls, letting them rise during our walk.

Long Point State Park

Walking The Long Point Beach!

Woodlawn/Victoria (photo taken from Pavillon Beach)

Jones' and Cooley's Abodes

It was a windy, cool day for our hour and a half walk, through the woods, still mostly brown except for patches of vinca on the forest floor.  As usual, we were the only ones hiking until we got out to Long Point's tip, where a couple of families were also out for a Sunday morning stroll.  We did vary our walk some, walking along the shoreline of Long Point, on the sandy foot wide beach, when possible.  The tip was  windy, so we didn't linger but headed back through the corridor of Black Locust trees, always impressive in their height and variegated bark.  We were home by 1:00, so Evie got back to prepping some, while I made myself a cheese and salsa omelet, and with a bagel, I had another good Sunday brunch.

Park Trash (Been There Forever...why?)

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready for dinner, reading, watching some TV, the Cavs beating the Celtics, and waiting for 6:00 to arrive.  We have not seen the Dave and Pat Jones since last fall, so it was great to see them again; they spend their winters in Houston.  We sat around with drinks for an hour, dipping, then munching on sour dough pretzels.  For dinner, Evie made pork tenderloins, with a pan sauce, a cabbage and cheese strudel, salad, and pumpkin rolls.  Everyone enjoyed their dinners but were too full for seconds, so we have another dinner for tonight.  We had homemade lemon squares for dessert, and sat around wondering if Dave's purple martin gourds, which he had just put up on a pole in the lake, would survive the winds during the night.  They did. Everyone left around 9:45, and we were tired, so we put away the leftovers, and washed half the dishes, leaving the rest of the this morning.  Ugh.  We went to bed listening to the winds shake the trees, the house, hoping we would wake up to no downed electrical lines.  We were lucky, or so it seemed.  Everything works and at first glance, no large tree limbs are down, no obvious wind damage.