A Rainy Day/Week

8:30

Well, I slept in until 7:15, perhaps because of the gray skies, lack of color other than gray.  When I got up, it was still dark, a 41º.  The wind has already picked up so I probably will not get to kayak unless it lets up some but the lake at least for now does not look very inviting.  And the duck hunters are out, so they might limit my paddle.  It didn't as I have become obsessed with kayaking in the morning and went out in the light rain.  I was conscious of duck hunters but missed a  guy standing along the shoreline until he yelled out to me and waved.

Kayaking In The Rain

Yesterday it rained practically the entire day, something that has not happened in a long time, perhaps last spring.  It was gentle, no heavy showers, just a steady sprinkling and this morning I checked the rain gauge and we got an inch and a half in close to 24 hours.  Since I knew the rain was coming yesterday, I got a paddle in just before the rain began.  When I returned, Evie was up and we relaxed with our coffee, listening to the radio and finishing the blog until 10:00 as the weather was such that we were happy to stay in the house.  And we did, most of the day.

Amish Buggy From Friday's Drive

Around 10:30, we started gathering the trash and doing a quick look at the pantry and other closets to make sure there was not something we could throw away.  I drove off to the Transfer Station in a drizzle, getting rid of the trash.  And I took a couple of trash cans of leaves and twigs up the hill just after I kayaked, just before it rained.  So by 11:00, we were firmly ensconced in our home, ready for a day of leisure, of gray skies, light rain, just the way we like it.   In fact, Evie was excited for the day, so much so that she put together an apple pie in the morning, using up the apples from our friend Dick's tree.  There's nothing like the aroma of an apple pie baking in the oven.

I had the last of the white bean stew for lunch, along with something I had been wanting, my homemade bread toasted, with jam and feta cheese, a typical Turkish breakfast or lunch.  Yum...the crispness of the toast, the sweet of the jam, the saltiness of the cheese.  We pretty much wasted or enjoyed the leisure of the afternoon, depending on your point of view.  I read, tried to nap and Evie loved just sitting in the living room, listening to Apple Music, making up playlists for our trip West in a week.  Around 3:30, I made us some Turkish tea, a sure sign of the coming winter and we enjoyed watching a raft of coots feed in front of our house for a good part of the afternoon.

A Raft Of Coots

I was looking forward to the Ohio State/Penn State game, taped it and watched the first half quickly, fast forwarding through commercials.  I almost turned it off after the first play, a touchdown on a kickoff return.  By 5:30, the second half was just starting so I decided to watch it later because we were about to begin our cocktail hour, with cheese, crackers, chips, and dip.  It was our kind of evening, gray and wet and we enjoyed our Manhattans, listening to music, missing Prarie Home Companion, our usual accompaniment to our Saturday night at the lake.  Dinner was easy, leftover potato salad and bratwurst from our Octoberfest dinner on Thursday night.  Mostly, though, we were looking forward to a piece of warmed up apple pie with ice cream.  We watched Bill Maher who had one of Evie's faves,  Joy Behar on as a  guest.  It was his typical show, lots of arguments, with the liberals winning of course because of Maher.  We did not watch the baseball game and I feel guilty about that, for not really caring or interested in the sport.  I guess I could say that about most sports these days as after ten for fifteen minutes of watching, I am ready to do something else.