A Break In The Snow

8:00

Ducks Off Of Long Point

I woke this morning to white, of course, but no snow flakes falling, the first time in a few days.  The lake is covered with snow, a vast bowl of white, surrounded by the green of pines, the temperature, a frigid 14º.  It makes me want to go out and ski but I checked the lake yesterday and it's still slush at its edges and no fishermen have ventured forth yet.  They will come.

Yesterday, at least for me, was a wasted day, as I did not get out to ski.  For some reason, I just did not have the mojo to put on my skis and go.  The weather may have contributed as we had close to a foot of snow to move from our parking areas and driveway which took me three trips outside with Evie's help to clear it.  It was the first time I wished I had a snow blower.  So that took up a good part of my morning, going in and out and shoveling.  Evie was busy prepping our dinner of chicken picata and ice box pudding because we were having a couple we met at the Viking Club over for dinner.

A Spot Of Open Water

Our afternoon flew by, the usual, lunch, so TV, a book and a nap.  And Evie worked some in the kitchen, set the table, got things all set for our dinner before our friends arrived so she could enjoy herself.

A Plump, Well Fed, Junco

They arrived at 5:15, a little late so we were afraid they could not find our house.  They had no problem, however, and quickly settled in with a beer and appetizers.  We did not know them well, just from talking a the Viking Bar so it was fun to get to know them.  Our music tastes quickly bonded us, as Evie played some of theirs and ours favorite groups from the 1970's on Pandora on our Sonos sound system.  And Dawn, an avid Beatle fan, has every album they made, the album covers in mint condition, a legacy for her son.  Doug was a social studies teacher in the Jamestown area for 30 years, an avid bow hunter, in fact, he dresses the deers he shoots and cans the deer meat.  According to Dawn, who grew up in the area, the venison tastes tender and not gamy.  They have so much that they are currently on the canned venison from 2012.

Dinner With Doug And Dawn

Dinner, the chicken picata, was really good, punctuated by Evie's pumpkin rolls, a pilav with spinach and salad.  We finished dinner off with icebox pudding in front of the fireplace talking about the controversial Netflix show, Making A Murderer. It was great fun getting to know them;  they stayed till after 9:30 before heading up to Ashville, where they live, about 15 minutes away.