The Sun Finally Rises

6:32

6:37

6:45

6:50

6:52

Up at 6:30, to a spectacular pink/orange colored sky, so amazing that I ran outside barefoot, forgetting to turn on the coffee, to take photos.  The sun had yet to rise, thus the colors, and when it did rise, all the dynamic qualities disappeared,  Now, it's overcast and most of the rains clouds have passed south of us, alas.  This has been typical this summer of dry weather, storms passing north and south of us.  It's 63º, starting to warm up some, with temperatures in the 80's to come later in the week.

Yesterday was another fine day on the lake, mostly sunny, not too warm, clouding up some early afternoon, then clearing, bringing a lovely late afternoon and evening, no wind, a calm lake, a clear sky.  It was a perfect for an outdoor party celebrating our neighbor, Joe Bergen's 50th birthday.  It was mostly family and friends, plus the neighbors, so there were nearly 50 people.  Lots of beer of course and great appetizers and dinner.

Joe, The Birthday Boy In Orange, With Family and Friends

A Multi Generational Party

We, unfortunately in some ways, left early, since we had plans for dinner with other neighbors, the Johnstons', mistakenly thinking the party was from 2:00 to 5:00.  No doubt there were enough people so that we were hardly missed.  This is but a prologue to Evie's day, spent making potato chips in our fryer for the party, then onion rings for the salad we were taking to the Johnston's.  This may not seem time consuming but it is as after you slice them (mandolin indespensible) soak the potatoes in icy water, rinse well till the water runs clear, soak again in a light vinegar water, then rinse, dry and fry.  The frying takes a good hour and a half of sitting out on the porch, making batch after batch.  Meanwhile, I was busy outside, washing our car, clearing out the garage and organizing and sweeping it out.  And I started the task of putting the summer things away, up in the garage attic; it's always a pleasure to slowly put things away for the winter.  Evie was not done with the chips till 2:30 when we went over to the birthday party for a couple of hours, meeting the birthday boys family (he is one of nine brothers).  We left around 5:00 so Evie could make the onions straws which had been sitting in buttermilk, then dipping them in flour, cayenne pepper, and salt,  and deep frying them for two minutes.  They were amazing and I could not keep from eating them, so much so that Evie had to put them away to save them for our salad.

Dinner With John And Mary Anne Johnston

We went over to the Johnston's at 6:30 and stayed till almost 10:00.  They have a great house that's set back almost a hundred yards from the lake, so they have a huge lot in front of their house, leading down to the lake.  Like us, they love the water, living here in the winter, and they get out, too, in winter and summer, skating in the winter, canoeing in the summer, roller blading at Presque Isle.  And I remember them telling us about driving up to Ottawa this past winter, staying in the city, so that they could ice skate on the frozen canals.  It sounded amazing. We had appetizers on their porch, dinner of grilled chicken breasts, corn, pineapple, and melons, and a luscious homemade peach pie for dessert, with a topping of oatmeal, brown sugar and cinnamon, the best.  They are very proud of their sons, both have doctorates and we got to know them because they would put our dock in the lake back when they were in high school and college.  Now they are all grown up, one engaged, the other about to be.

So it was a busy but fun Saturday, with a birthday party and a dinner at a neighbor's house.  Today we have nothing on the agenda, the only decision being what to have for dinner.