Sun Rise On A Snow Covered Lake - Finn's in Niobe

6:51

7:05

7:05

7:19

 It's 7:40 and I have been up for an hour, early enough to see the sunrise over Tom's Point.  Evie came down soon after me, so we are sitting here, listening to Morning Joe talk ad nauseam about the Cohen hearing, how wonderful life was like under Reagan, and when Joe was in the Congress - blah, blah, blah.

7:53

Yesterday was a different day from the usual yoga, coffee, and some shopping.  It started at breakfast at Schuyler's Country Kitchen.  It was a first and I was impressed by their menu, with lots of different breakfasts.  I had cheesy grits with a couple of eggs on top and it was great. 

The Ubiquitous Church

Charming

At 9:00, I drove off into the country to Finn's Auto in the village of Niobe, to get my brakes done, rotors and pads. He is clearly a well known Subaru mechanic because later in the afternoon when Evie was getting her hair done, she mentioned to Jaret that she was unable to get in touch with me on her phone because I was in the boonies getting new brakes.  Both he and his assistant both said, 'Oh, he must be at Finn's in Niobe." So the place must be legendary.  It took close to two hours to get both front and back brakes done. 

Hiking in Niobe

Winter Creek

While they were working on the car, I walked on a couple of back roads, one really beautiful, with pine forests on both sides, covered with snow. 

Finn's Auto Next To Watts Flats Trail

There was also a New York State Trail nearby but Finn warned me off it because the bridge was out.  In fact, the bridge was also out on the one road I took through the pine forest.  After the walk, I waited in Finn's reception area, filled with deer heads and other wildlife on the walls as well as various anti-government sayings.  I fear Finn is not a liberal!

Finn's Waiting Room

After I paid, half of what it would have been at the dealer, I drove to Bear Lake, PA, wondering what the lake looked like.  I still do because though I drove through town, I never saw the lake.

When I returned home, Evie had shoveled the parking area and pulled our Honda Accord out of the garage, thinking I might not be home in time for her hair appointment.  I am surprised it started after sitting in the garage for three or four months but it did.  I checked the tires, put some air in them and its ready to go although she took the Outback to Lakewood.  For lunch, I warmed up the black bean and sweet potato soup Evie made on Wednesday, topped it with chips, cheese and avocados and watched an episode of Ray Donovan, Season Five which I missed.  I am not taken with it but will stick with it for a couple of more episodes.

Thursday Afternoon

It was a beautiful afternoon, the lake sunny, the skies blue but I did not get out my skis because I feared the lake would still be wet beneath the snow, icing up my skis.  I guess I should have tried it because it was so tempting but I ended up being lazy, preferring to nap and read on the couch.  Evie was home by 3:30, having shopped at Wegman's.  Around 5:30, we enjoyed a glass of wine and fortunately, Evie had little to do for dinner because we were having leftovers, a pork chop and the rigatoni with mushrooms and sausage.

We watched a movie from 2018, WHAT THEY HAD, which was highly recommended by Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, neither of us liked it much.  A son and daughter try to convince their father that mom, who is suffering from dementia, should move to a home.  It had potential if the two siblings and the father were likable enough so we cared about them but we didn't.  Only the Mom had our sympathy.  We stuck with it knowing we could watch The Great English Baking Show when it was over.  It, however, had its own problem.  As the episode began, they announced that one of the participants was ill and would not return which, if you searched the web, you would find was not accurate.  On the previous week's final episode, she had pulled Ian's ice cream out of the freezer, thinking the freezer was for her, not him  As a result, his ice cream melted, ruining his show stopper baked Alaska, which he threw in a trash can and walked off the set.  Shocking to us fans.  I guess there were all kinds of negative reactions to this woman's action on Twitter so that she ended up quitting the show, not because she was ill.  So even a fun, likable reality show like this has its controversy, spilling over into the media although this happened in 2014.  And so it goes.