Top Of The Morning

6:12

6:13

Kayak Paddle At 7:05

It's strikingly quiet and calm this morning, a few birds, no boat motors, not a whisper of wind.  The sky is partly cloudy, some color off to the east and 68º.  We are still waiting for the rain they predicted but we may have to wait until tomorrow, and tomorrow.  It's 68º at 6:15 and the sun has just popped above a low hanging cloud cover, sending me back into the house, off the porch.  I rarely describe the lake 'like glass', but it was appropriate this morning when I kayaked.  And it was a good morning for birds, two herons, a broad-winged hawk and a kingfisher.  I was a happy kayaker.

Broad-Winged Hawk At Tom's Point

Heron Perched Up In A Tree At Tom's Point

Kingfisher

Heron On A Log At Sandy Bottom

Yesterday was a typical Saturday, in fact, a typical day with lots of things to do, none that we had to do.  I got in my paddle, then did some watering of the privets in the front yard.  We are desperately in need of rain as its been over two weeks since the last rainfall.  While I was playing on the lake, Evie was in the kitchen, putting together two baked zitis, a time consuming task, then freezing them so they will be ready when our kids arrive in a week. I was not the chief cook, just the bottle washer but by 11:00, the ziti was made, the kitchen was clean, and I was on my way to the Transfer Station with our trash.

The afternoon was spent trying to find a comfortable spot to sit.  The dock was excruciatingly hot and humid, with little if any breeze.  It was better under the trees but still warm, so Evie finally settled on the porch with a fan going so she could finish her book.  Before hitting the porch, she made me an open-faced ciabatta bread sandwich with tomatoes and cheese, then broiled it for 10 minutes.  I watched FAUDA and I was incorrect;  the episode was literally a replay of the previous episode, a tip, a gathering of commandos, then an empty room.

Around 4:00, I put the cover on the boat,  straightened up the yard, and drove off to Lakewood, to pick of the makings of sloppy joes at Sav A Lot and our dinner, a rack of ribs from a fairly new rib place in Lakewood called Hog Wild Barbecue.  When I got home, we decided to relax on the front porch with a drink and an old standby appetizer, red pepper jelly on crackers with cream cheese.  It brings back the old days when that was the new, new appetizer.

Around 7:00, it started to cool off some.  We went in to have our ribs and coleslaw and watch a mediocre movie on Amazon Prime called TOAST, about English food writer and chef Nigel Slater.  The ribs, by the way, were a bit tough but we ate them all, chewing off the meat to the bone.  We both were tired so we went up to bed early to read and fall asleep in our warm bedroom.

And I am excited about the World Cup Final today at 11:00, France vs Croatia.