A daily journal of our lives (begun in October 2010), in photos (many taken by my wife, Evie) and words, mostly from our home on Chautauqua Lake, in Western New York, where my wife Evie and I live, after my having retired from teaching English for forty-five years in Hawaii, Turkey, and Ohio. We have three children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandson, as you will notice if you follow my blog since we often travel to visit them. Photo from our porch taken on 11/03/2024 at 7:07 AM
Thursday, December 31, 2015
THE REDEEMER: JOE NESBO
Maybe my fourth Harry Hole novel, set in Oslo, Norway. And I forgot how much I like the main character, Harry Hole, sympathetic, on the wagon for the time being, fighting the darkness that his life of fighting crime brings. The story is strange, centering on the Salvation Army in Norway, which appears to be a respected and major force in Norwegian life and politics. And though it seems to have the trappings of the army, it's an army for Christ. Two brothers, both brought up in this tradition, are at the center of the novel. Robert, the older, is assassinated at a function, seemingly for no reason. Nesbo, however, allows us to get to know the killer, a Croatian named Stankik, known as the 'little redeemer,' a survivor of the Serbia atrocities, a contract killer, working for a group, headed by his mother.
Harry decides to go to Croatia, to talk with the killer's mother, to find out who took out the contract on the brother. They make a pack; she will tell him who was the Norwegian who hired the her son, and Harry will do what he can to let her son return to Croatia. Because Stankik realizes that he assassinated the wrong brother, he stays in Oslo and ends up killing a couple more people before Harry corners him, with the help of one of the brother's girl friend, and we discover it's the brother, the seemingly straight, kind one who hired Stankik to kill his brother. The plot may seem complicated but we like Harry enough to stick with it, and we learn quite a bit about the Salvation Army in Norway, its work, as well as the troubles this kind of religious fervor creates in a family.
White Roofs, Gray Skes
Winter Kayaking |
8:00 |
The days have seemed the same all week, cold and gray and wet. Until this morning, we have not had even a hint of snow though Monday was close, with ice pellets and freezing rain. We seem to be waiting, for what I am not sure; I guess the beginning of the New Year, next Monday perhaps, when we get back into routine, at least I will, as I begin yoga again for the first time in six months. Evie's started, having begun at the YMCA.
I spent a good hour yesterday morning, finishing the raking of the front yard, mostly twigs this time and now I can rest and not be bothered by a trashy looking lawn. Talk about being anal. It felt good to be outside doing something I must admit; sitting around doing little is not much fun. Evie left for the gym around noon, and I had lunch, soup and cheese sandwiches and watched another episode of Deadwood before adjourning to the couch to read and take a nap. I finished the OUTLINE and started Grisham's new novel, ROGUE LAWYER. It's always nice to a have a pile of books, ready to read, either on my coffee table or now on my Kindle.
Woodlawn, Late Afternoon |
Paddling -- Long Point |
Misty Afternoon |
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Early Morning Calm
8:45 |
Long Point At 8:45 In The Morning |
Tuesday felt like a Wednesday, as I lost track of the days, which can happen when you are retired. We hung out in the house most of the morning because it was still drizzling outside and cold, not the kind of weather that made you want to put on your hiking boots. Our yard was a mess of down twigs and branches and I wanted to get out and start cleaning it up but it was to wet in the morning to do it. So, I decided to drive to Lakewood, to the library, to return a couple of books, then stop at Ryder's Cup, for a coffee. I sat and read for about a half hour, half listening to a couple of ladies talk, though their tete a tete was interrupted by a 15 minute phone call. How different a cell phone makes in our life, interrupting whatever we may doing, as if it's a matter of life and death. Fortunately, I don't have that problem since I rarely get a phone call.
When I got home, 'that Evie,' had my lunch ready, salmon cakes, soup, and a bagel. She then drove off to Lakewood, to work out at the YMCA, about a ten mile drive. I ate lunch and started to watch a series I have always heard was great from HBO called Deadwood, a cowboy series set in the 1870's. I hope to stick with it since Longmire is finished. I then read, fell asleep for a half hour and woke to a slight drizzle, but not something that kept me inside. So I went out and spent almost an hour filling up two garbage pails with branches and twigs from our two front trees, and still have more clean up to do today, mostly raking up the smallest twigs.
Monday's Ice Storm |
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
High Winds, Rain, And Cold
8:12 |
A Busy Woodpecker |
A Pileated Woodpecker Pecks |
Most of yesterday, a Monday, I thought was Tuesday. Go figure. The day was kind of a loss, as I had little to do, and nothing in mind. Thus, it seemed like a long day, probably because our past two weeks were filled with travel, a wedding, grandchildren and Christmas. So the post holiday blues have set in even though we have yet to bring in the New Year. The day, however, was not an entire loss, especially for Evie. She put together our dinner in the morning, a pot roast, with veggies and one of my favorites, pearl onions. And around noon, she drove off to Lakewood, to start her regime of working out at the YMCA, putting me to shame as I stayed behind, watched some TV and had a marvelous salad she made for me before leaving, salmon, greens, tangerines and a Caesar Salad dressing.
Woodlawn Creek |
Dead Fall Along Woodlawn |
A Babbling Winter Creek |
Dinner was a bit of a downer, as the pot roast was not tender, nor the veggies. Obviously, it was the cooks fault! So we put it back in the oven and will have a great pot roast meal for tonight. I did enjoy the mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts, and some of the meat. We caught up on Homeland, watching the last two episodes. And, like The Affair, the show left us with more questions than answers, suggesting their will be another season. Because of the heavy winds, Evie slept downstairs; I stayed upstairs, falling asleep to the wind pounding on the house, wondering if we would have electricity in the morning, if any large branches would be down.
Monday, December 28, 2015
It's Cold (27º) Outside...Finally
7:51 |
Yesterday, we did not take our usual Sunday walk around the Chautauqua Institution though I thought about it. We just lacked the mojo I suppose and started talking about a grocery list, so instead of a walk, we drove into Lakewood, stopping at Sam's and Wegman's, stocking up for the week, like a storm was coming. Although it was Sunday, both stores seemed crowded, as most people, probably like us, had not shopped since before Christmas.
We were home around 12:30, quickly put things away, then Evie got out the bacon, starting frying it, adding eggs, making toast from our leftover baguette and in 15 minutes, we had a great breakfast. We were happy to be back on a Sunday in time to watch what we think is the best news/culture program on TV, CBS Sunday morning. It's stories are always interesting, relevant, and eclectic.
We did little the rest of the day, occasionally looking out the front window, as the weather got more and more nasty, the way we like it, windy, gray skies, perhaps some snow. It's not the nasty weather we like so much as the cozy feeling of being inside despite the weather.
Woodpecker Chips |
HUGE! |
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Home Again
7:30 |
7:50 |
7:53 |
An Early December Morning Fisherman |
We did stop at Reverie Cheese just up the road from our house and picked up some St. Ivy Cheddar cheese and a baguette because we left a couple of gorgeous cheeses from Trader Joe's at Jill's. They will enjoy it. Around 4:00, we decided a pizza sounded good, so I drove over to Bemus and picked up one from Coppola's, the best around. Later, we enjoyed a long cocktail hour or two, savoring the cheese, bread, and drinks, listening to our usual Saturday night radio show, Prairie Home Companion. In other words, we were quick to get back to the comfort of routine, the bane of retirement I suppose. It's hard to get out of it, easy to get back into it.
We ate around 7:30, pizza, a salad and a soda. And watched bits and pieces of saved TV shows from the past ten days, some football, but saved both The Affair and Homeland for tonight. We were both bushed from our drive and went to be by 10:30.
We had a wonderful ten days, celebrating my niece Julia's wedding, with all our family, then spending Christmas with Jill, Drew, and the girls. We are fortunate grandparents to have such great families.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Festivties Are Over, Back To The Lake
New Sweater, New Hat |
Hayden At Rest |
Yesterday was not the classic Christmas Day, of snow, Christmas carols, and carving a turkey which is all right with me. We were up and opening presents by 7:15 as I recall, the girls up, for once, early. They were excited of course about their presents and were not disappointed. Everyone seemed to get things they wanted for the most part; Halle's favorite was the hot chocolate maker, Hayden's a backpack, with matching lunch bag and wallet. I got a cool vest, Evie some neat earrings. So, as I mentioned, it was a good Christmas for all, short lived as always, with just a bit of the post Christmas blues.
We had the breakfast the kids wanted, as Evie made crepes for all of us, Jill browned some sausage and Halle made hot chocolate. We like out crepes with lemon and sugar, so they were easy to make. Afterwards, the girls organized their presents, put on their new pajamas and hung out in their rooms. Drew and I took a long walk late morning with Coco because the rain had stopped, the sky lightened a bit.
What to do after all the opening of the presents. We couldn't go outside because it was raining
We really had nothing to do the rest of the day so Drew got the bright idea of going to the movies to see the comedy Daddy's Home, with Will Ferrell. Surprisingly, there was quite a line to get tickets though there were plenty of empty seats in the theater. The movie was a typical silly comedy, with Will Farrell playing the dolt who slowly learns how to be a man. In between some of the grosser parts, it had some funny scenes. The girls loved it, so that 's why we went. To hear them laugh.
Couch Time |
Around 6:00, everyone was awake, downstairs in the living room, as we debated whether to have dinner or not and decided to hold off till 7:00 and hope the rains stopped because we were going to cook outside. So we punted for an hour and found a movie on TV the girls wanted to watch called Monster In Law, with Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda. I smartly kept my mouth shut and just watched until it was time to cook the ground beef koftes.
Drew and I grilled them outside and thankfully, the rain had stopped and the moon came out briefly. It was actually a nice warm night, like late summer, a good night to have a beer and grill.
Christmas Barbecue |
Making Salad With Mom |
Jill and Halle, Helping Evie |
Friday, December 25, 2015
A Warm Virginian Mele Kalikimaka
The Happy Family On Christmas Eve |
Christmas Stockings First |
Jill's New Earrings |
Groovy Ukrainian Hats |
Halle Loves Her Hot Chocolate Maker |
Yesterday was your typical day before Christmas, as we all went out to madly finish up the shopping we never got done. It's the maxim that you need the pressure of the last moment to pull the trigger and get something, like finally buy that present. So Jill and Drew went off around 10:00, to the local shopping area while the rest of us stayed behind, or rather, we waited for Halle and Hayden to get up. Around 11:00, Evie and I and the girls went off to Sports Authority, as Hayden picked out a beanie for here Dad, then off to Stein Mart, for slippers, and Justice for Halle, ending up at Target where the girls got a complicated coffee from Starbucks. The girls were excited to have gotten some neat things for their family, so it was a good day of shopping.
Making Icebox Pudding With Granny |
Jill And Her Mom |
Ready For Fondue |
Chrismtas Eve In Bristow With The Bissells |
Sort Of The Moon |
Griswald's Of Bristow Replete With Christmas Music |
Thursday, December 24, 2015
It's The Day Before Christmas And It's Still Raining And Warm
Halle and Carleigh, Cookie Decorators Supreme |
Bristow At 8:00 AM |
Coco In The Morning |
Both Hayden and Jill were up early for workouts at 7:30 and 8:00, a well disciplined duo. Drew, fortunately worked from home so he was able to miss what I am sure would have been traffic jams caused by the rain. I stupidly decided to drive to Trader Joe's to pick up some goodies for home. What's a little rain, right. Well, there was a lot of rain and I fortunately did not take # 66 back to Bristow as I could see it was backed up because of an accident. Trader Joe's was busy, of course, lots of people buying wines and cheeses for the holidays. I did, too.
When I got home around 12:00, Evie was making ham and egg sandwiches for the crew, so I was home early enough to also get one though we hardly put a dent in the leftover ham from Sunday night. Around 1:30, Drew and Jill took off to do their penultimate shopping and the girls and Evie and I sat in the living room and watched a movie with a Christmas setting, Home Alone. I had forgotten how boring the first third was, how funny the last third. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are perfect foils for Macaulay Culkin, a charming brat. We did not do much the rest of the afternoon after the movie. Evie played some Monopoly with the girls, I read, Jill napped, and Drew went for a run and came home soaking wet, of course.
Halle And Granny Kneading The Dough For Cloverleaf Rolls |
Dinner With Mike And Jan Bissell, Jill's In Laws |
Today, at last, will be the last day of shopping. Drew's taking the girls' out early so they can pick out some gifts, and around noon, he will pick up our groceries from Harris Teeter, which Jill ordered yesterday, so they will have them all packed and ready for him. Pretty cool. And then the cooking begins for the day.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Bah, Humbug!
Hayden In Her New Giraffe Onesies |
8:30 |
At the moment, Jill is off at Boot Camp, Hayden at track practice, both being 'good girls,' while Drew and I lull around on the couch, with cups of coffee, watching the news. And Evie and Halle are still sleeping, the lucky dogs. It's a shock to think it's already Wednesday, as the days seem to blend into one another. We are kind of stuck in the house, not being able to get out except to do some shopping. So Tuesday we spent most of the day in the house though Evie and Halle had a productive afternoon, doing some shopping and making Halle's present for her Dad. She is excited. Jill and I did some shopping after dropping Hayden off at a friends for a gift exchange, then hit a new local restaurant for lunch called Nando's, famous for their Peri Peri Chicken. It's either Peruvian or Portuguese influenced though I am sure I ate at Nando's in Pretoria, South Africa in 1996, when I spent a couple of months in that amazing country on my sabbatical. When we picked up Hayden after lunch, she pranced out in her new giraffe onesies.
Making Cookies And A Mess |
Carleigh And Halle |
Jill And Her Hayden |
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
And Winter Begins With A Blah, Gray Skies and Rain
"Don't Go", Marlena! |
8:40 |
Leaving, Alas, For Home |
Nick |
Everyone was home by 5:00, even Drew, so we relaxed until dinner, Evie downstairs with Halle watching a movie, Hayden half asleep on the couch. Around 6:00, we had some wine, and started to get dinner ready, as Halle, still exhausted from the weekend, fell asleep on the couch and slept through dinner. Dinner was spaghetti, meatballs, salad, and garlic bread, made by Hayden. It tasted good after a weekend of amazing dinners and partying. Afterwards, we watched some TV but Hayden and I did up the dishes. I quizzed her on the Presidents and state capitals, just as my Mom used to do with me when we washed dishes. It was fun. The night ended with Evie's favorite dessert, Nutty Buddies. We all love those chocolate and nut covered ice cream cones. We all went to bed before 10:00, even the girls went without a whine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)