O What A Beautiful Morning!

6:50

7:03

My Sister Ellen And Her Husband, Walt

I been up since 6:15 and it's now almost 7:00 and everyone is luckily still sleeping.  We stayed up last night until 12:30 playing a card game my Mom taught all of us called Telefunky, a gin rummy like game with partners, so it was a fun, late night.  It's a chilly 50º, great sleeping weather and the next three days should be perfect for the 4th of July, with highs in the 70's, perhaps 80's by Monday.

Evie's Sour Cream Pancakes

Mother And Daughter Porching It

Yesterday was surprisingly cool most of day, with a wind that even brought along a chill, brought out the fleeces for most of us.  It threatened to rain a couple of times but the storms and hail passed us by so we got little more than a wetting.  All six of us were up by 9:00, in time to enjoy Evie's sour cream pancakes outside.  Everyone who has ever been to Chautauqua has had and loved her pancakes.  We had them with syrup from Vermont, brought to us as a gift from Julia and Hampton.  As luck would have it, the few raindrops began to fall as we were eating breakfast, so we grabbed our plates and finished up on the porch.  The rain stopped, of course, by the time we were finished eating.

The Newlyweds

Father And Daughter

After breakfast, Julia, Hampton and I drove to Hogan's Hut, always a stop for most visitors, and picked up some ice and worms, just in case we decided to fish. Because of the clouds and the possibility of rain, we all  decided to drive to Bemus Point and check out the local shops.  We started with coffee at Wired, browsing their neat gift shop, then on to the Art Loft Too, a walk down to the Lenhart Hotel, past the new Ellicottvllle Brewery Restaurant, with a stop at Skillman and Wright.  We ended the visit, like we always seem to, tradition I guess, with a beer on the front porch of the Seezurh House, a bar/restaurant we have been frequenting since we bought our home in 1981.  It's changed owners once but is still a good place for a burger or a fish fry and, of course, a beer.

Seezurh House Porch

First Time On Seezurh House Porch

By the time we came back, it was 1:30 and we were all hungry.  Evie had made up a tuna/macaroni salad the day before, so we had that along with chicken tortilla soup and spinach artichoke quesadillas.  We were able to eat outside as the clouds disappeared and the sun finally came out for the rest of the day.  Afterwards, we all went our own way until around 4:30, reading, sunbathing on the dock or taking a nap.  I watched some soccer, read, and took a nap, my routine not varying much even with family.  Around 4:00, we were all groggy, so four of us jumped in the lake, washed our hair and got refreshed.  Since it was still cool and the lake was choppy, we decided to go to the Southern Tier Brewery, 15 minutes a way, for a couple of microbrews.  Julia and Hampton, who live in Denver, really like Southern Tier beers, so we thought it was a good time to go.  We found a table outside at a very busy BrewPub and had a tangerine ale and Julia ordered a salted caramel beer, a bit sweet, more apt for after dinner.  We enjoyed our beers, the sun, the happy tables of people enjoying the start to the weekend.

Enjoying Southern Tier's Pub and Microbrew

We got home around 6:30 and since no one was hungry yet, we had appetizers, sat on the porch and the finally decided to play some competitive games of bean bag.  Julia and I beat Walt and Evie a couple of times, just the beginning of Julia's string of victories, counting scrabble with Hampton a few days ago (she kept the score card), and Telefunky later last night.  She's just a 'little bit' competitive.  Around 8:00, I fired up  the barbecue and with the help of the guys, we grilled about 30 koftes (egg shaped hamburger patties) for our favorite Turkish dish, Iskender Kebab.  It's basically toasted pita bread, with three or four grilled koftes, topped with Evie's homemade tomato sauce and lots of yogurt to finish it off.  Along with a salad, that was our dinner.  We ate inside because it was getting dark and was cool out.

Turkish Dinner

We finished the night, as I mentioned playing cards until around 12:30.  It was a competitive game and Evie and I were ahead until the last hand when Julia and her Dad took the lead.  Sad making.  It was a fun way to end a very busy day.  Today looks to be just as busy and my sister Linda and her husband Rich are coming for the day from Euclid.  Siblings Day!