Sultry, Sultry, Sultry

5:27

6:03

6:12

6:42

 I was awake at 5:20, not sure of the time, so I came downstairs to read the kitchen clock and was awake enough that I stayed up to watch the sky slowly change and lighten.  It's now 6:04 and the sun is trying to break through the clouds. There's blue sky above, clouds off to to east, a pink and gray eastern sky.  And the relentless Amish fishermen next door have just started up their ancient motor and are off to catch some morning fish.

Weed Cutters In Action

Yesterday was another 'hot one', the kind we really dislike, too much heat and humidity, the high around 90º.  It was an exciting day, however, filled with anxiety and impatience.  First,  just as I was about to drive to the store, the CLA weed cutters, like huge grasshoppers, pulled into the Woodlawn area, ready to cut weeds.  Evie's been in touch with them off and on over the past few weeks, trying to get them to cut our weeds.  So she spent the next few hours, walking up and down the shoreline, making sure they got to everyone's docks, helping to get the truck down here to pick up some weeds. They worked on the Woodlawn/Victoria area all morning and part of the afternoon.  They had a bad start to the day as they got stuck in our neighbors lakefront and the other weed cutter had to couple to the stuck one and pull it out of the rocky area.  Later in the day, I kayaked the lakefront and though they missed some spots, they did a pretty good job and the weeds in front of the docks are definitely gone.  Once they were gone, Evie could relax for a bit.

A Huddle Of Baby Purple Martins

While all this was going on, I was in Lakewood, getting coffee and a dozen organic eggs from Ryders Cup.  I then stopped at Harbor Freight which was having a big sale.  I picked up a step ladder, a rechargeable flashlight, gloves and a free tape measure, a deal.  A quick stop at Aldi's to pick up some Yuengling brats and another deal, two brooms and a dust pan for 10 bucks.  What a day.  I ended the morning at Wegman's, as we begin our stocking up on supplies for the arrival of our family over the next couple of weeks.

My shopping therapy done, I drove home, and Evie was waiting patiently but anxiously as our new refrigerator was supposed to arrive some time between 1:30 and 5:30.  About 2:00, they called and we quickly emptied the old refrigerator, putting the stuff in coolers with ice.  Two guys with long hair, shorts and hiking boots arrived about 2:30 and couldn't have been nicer nor more helpful.  They were professional and efficient, first measuring both the door and the space for the new refrigerator to make sure it fit.  They then put on their straps and easily carried the old refrigerator out and brought the new one in.  I went under the house, to the crawl space and waited for them to hook up the water to the ice maker, something they are not supposed to do but did anyways, saving us a trip from a plumber.  I turned on the water, crawled out and voila, we had a new refrigerator.  Evie tipped them because they were such good guys, offered them a cold Squirt, and they were off.  Now Evie could relax.

We both then went for a swim in our refreshing lake, and mostly enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, looking for a cool spot to relax.  Around 4:30, the refrigerator was cold enough to start putting things in, so Evie pulled out all the drawers and cubicles and washed them to get rid of the new smell.

By 6:00, everything was back in the refrigerator and we were ready to go out to dinner with Linda and Ron because the Seezurh House was having their rib eye special.  They picked up at 6:30, came in to ogle our new refrigerator and the topper our neighbors made for Evie.  We then drove to a very busy Bemus for dinner.  We had to park quite a ways from the Seezurh House, by the primary school and ball field. Fortunately, the restaurant had some seats available, so we quickly ordered beers, to cool off after the heat of the late afternoon.  We had the same waitress as last week, Kalie, and all four of us ordered the same thing, the special.  It was not quite as good as the previous week but still, a good steak, cooked to perfection with a salad and potato, all for 12.99.  Afterwards, we walked past the very busy Ellicottville Brewery, the newest restaurant in town.  I estimated there were at least 150-200 patrons enjoying their beers and food.  We then walked down to the Lenhart Hotel, the old lady of the lake, and had a beer on the porch.  We ended up talking to a guy who had an Ohio Club tee shirt on, a restaurant we ate at and loved in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  It turns out he and his wife were there in the fall, enjoyed the restaurant and town.  He is a baseball buff and Hot Springs was a spring training destination for baseball teams with the likes of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb staying there in the 1920's and 1930's.

We were home to our stifling house by 9:30, turned on the air conditioner in our room and watched some TV until the bedroom was cool enough to sleep.  And so a very busy day ended.

This morning I have breakfast at 8:00 and then I am driving to Erie to get my oil changed and Honda Pilot checked out at the dealer.