Chilly In The Morning

8:13

The house was chillier than usual this morning, so I turned on the fireplace (what a luxury) and got out a blanket.  We usual keep our house at 60º but this morning, it was not warm enough.  It's a Chautauqua gray morning, 8º outside, the lake a bright white, dotted already by fishing tents, mostly around Long Point.

Wind Storm

We were not up for our Sunday tradition of a walk around the Chautauqua Institution, mostly because it felt so cold outside when we went to get the paper.  And the winds were howling, so strong that it was often hard to see Long Point because of the blowing snow.  So we had a leisurely morning, like most of our mornings to be honest.  Our only chore, to put together the many ingredients for a loaf of black bread, including coffee, molasses, rye flour, and, unusually, 2 cups of grated carrots.  It was fun to get back in the routine of making bread and I hope we keep it up at least once a week.  As the bread proofed, we both did some organizing of our closets before a breakfast of a hash browns and ham hash with a couple of fried eggs.

Jerry-Rigging A Wind Shield

By 1:00, I had started a TV marathon, watching on and off two football games, then parts of the Golden Globes Red Carpet, followed by the Golden Globe awards.  I figure the TV was on for almost 10 hours, with me ensconced in front of it.  Evie took off mid afternoon to drive to the Lakewood YMCA to work out, a good girl we both took time out to put together our dinner, Brussels sprouts, baked potatoes, mushrooms, salad and a couple of tasty strip steaks.  We ate ,of course, in front of the TV, watching the end of the Packers game, then the Red Carpet.

Blue And White, The Best Of A Winter Day

I forgot to mention that around 4:00, I arose from the couch, from a nap and donned my cross country gear and went out to cross country ski in the Victoria/Woodlawn woods.  It was cold starting out but once I got going, I was fine.  It was more difficult than I thought because I had to bushwhack (make my own trail) much of the way.  But it was great to be skiing in the woods once again, as the sun began to set behind the trees.  I got home about the same time as Evie, around 5:00, in time to help get dinner together.

We enjoyed the Golden Globe awards, happy to see THE CROWN and THE NIGHT MANAGER get awards, two series that we really liked.  We were disappointed that John Lithgow, who played Winston Churchill in The Crown, did not get best supporting actor.  We did like Tim Hiddleston from The Night Manager, and he deserved an award.  And, of course, the culmination of the night's festivities was Meryl Streep's amazing acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille award.   It's too bad she's 'one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood.'