Gray And Gray And Gray

Final Boat Cruise Of The Year

8:32

Guess what, it's gray outside now after having sat here for at least an hour in the dark, wondering what kind of sky would appear.  Now I know...gray.  It reminds me of a winter sky although the temperature is in the low 50's.  It does not look very appetizing to kayak this morning.  I did get in a paddle, catching a couple of herons as I kayaked to Long Point, the reeds, and home.

A Gray Kayak Morning

Early Morning Yoga

Standing Pose

Sunday was not a day of leisure for us, at least in the morning as we took a couple of major steps towards getting ready for winter.  First, however, I took a long hour paddle down to Snug Harbor and back on a windy morning. After breakfast, Evie continued to organize the attic while I went out in our rowboat and gathered up six buoys which I put in the lake last spring to discourage boaters from driving in front of our dock, where we like to swim.  The buoys and anchors were coated with zebra mussels and seaweed so it was not much fun.  I then spent a good half hour washing the buoys in bleach water, scrubbing them, taking off the grime, making them white once again,  Once that was done, I went upstairs and we pulled three air conditioners out of our bedroom windows, a sure sign summer and warm weather is over.  By the time we were done, we felt satisfied with our efforts and decided it was time to enjoy a big Sunday breakfast.  Evie fried the eggs and bacon, pulled a couple of scones out of the freezer and we had breakfast.  That was it for the most part although Evie did get some washing done during the afternoon.

She read and enjoyed sitting on the porch.  I read, napped, then watched the Browns play up to their hype, beating their rivals, the Ravens. Fortunately, I was able to get the game on an Erie channel, however, it was not in HD.  I took the cover off the boat at 3:00 because we wanted to go for a final fall cruise in our boat around dinner time.  It started to cloud up at 4:00 so we jumped in our boat and took a long slow cruise over to Bemus and back, our usual route.  It was an overcast sky but we loved it as there's always some beauty in the sky, whether blue or gray.  When we returned, I pulled all of the cushions and life preservers out so that Chris can pull it out and clean the hull and winterize the engine for winter.

We sat on the front porch for an hour, enjoying the last of a bottle of wine before Evie went in and finished off dinner. Before wine time, she roasted some veggies, then after it, she roasted a marinated filet of salmon for dinner. Add some rice and a salad and we had a tasty easy dinner.  We watched Saturday Night Live, back for the season, with their parody of Trump and the White House.  It was fresh and funny two years ago, a bit tiring now as we are getting used to Trump's idiocies, ignorance, and lies.  We then watched  CBS Sunday Morning interview Hillary and her daughter who have written a book on Gutsy Women.  It was a pleasure to listen to someone who was articulate, thoughtful and caring, a striking contrast to the carny we have in the Oval Office.  It remains unfathomable to me how one half of the electorate voted for this clown rather than a smart, experienced and knowledgeable candidate like Hillary.  I guess I have to give credit to the Republican machine which vilified and lied about Hillary for years.  It was easy to believe the talking point, difficult to investigate them and realize they had only a modicum of truth.  Whatever her faults, they pale next to Drumpt.

Dark Cloud Bank Looms Over Bemus Bay

6:43

6:50

6:54

Well, it's 7:00 and one bass boat after another is busting out of the marina, heading either north or south on the lake.  I have been up since 5:30, watching the sky lighten, the star-filled sky disappear, as a dark cloud dominates the sky.  It's a windy 58º morning.  It's 9:35 and I finished kayaking an hour ago.  I paddled down to Snug Harbor and back, easy-going down, tough coming back because of the wind and waves.

Kayak Morning 7:35

Kayak Morning 8:36

Heron On Boat Cover

Heron Near Snug Harbor

Yesterday was a typical Saturday until mid-afternoon when it began to drizzle.  Earlier, we were into a routine, with an early kayak paddle for me, then breakfast and finishing the blog.  Evie was up in the attic when I returned, starting the semi-annual task of reorganizing the attic, moving the summer stuff in, the winter stuff out. Unlike most homes, with have little storage and a single car garage so we are always short on space, especially because it's difficult to get rid of anything.  Fortunately, we did make a decision to get rid of a storage box and a couple of plastic chaise lounges we never used.  It took me then three trips to the transfer station to get rid of the box, chairs, and trash. 

Wood Duck

Snug Creek

By 11:00, we decided to take advantage of the morning sun and lake and cruised over beyond the bridge and back along the Bemus shoreline under an amazing sky of puffy clouds, a nice breeze keeping us cool.  It was a good idea to get out on the lake before the wind picked up.

Cruising Chautauqua Lake

By the time we were through with the organizing and taking out the trash and taking a boat ride, it was lunchtime so Evie made me a quesadilla and heated up the corn chowder for my lunch. I ate my lunch and watched my show and Evie went out to enjoy the sun on the dock.  After lunch, I read some, took a brief nap, read some and joined Evie on the dock for forty-five minutes.  A rain alert popped up on Evie's phone, so I put the cover on the boat, a sure way to ensure it won't rain but it did, forcing us both in the house. 

From then on, our lives were a waste, as we did little, moped around the house, watching junk on TV, reading and in my case, talking with Apple about my problems moving my photo library from Aperture to Photos.  I must have talked with the advisor for over an hour until it was time for dinner.  Earlier, Evie had put together a pasta sauce with mushrooms, so we ate that with a salad, a simple dinner, perfect for watching Real Time With Bill Maher.  Apple called me back around 8:00 and I spent another hour on the phone with them to no avail.  Nothing worked so I am getting a new external hard drive this week and we have a phone appointment for next Saturday at 2:45 to continue the efforts. All of this effort is to make sure I can save my photographs from the past twenty years, close to a half a terabyte.  We ended the evening with Colbert. 

Partly Sunny And Warming Up

7:33

It's just before 8:00 as I slept in until 7:00, up just in time to see the sunrise, then hide behind a cloud bank, and now rise again, filling the lake with its reflection.  We may get some rain later in the day but most of the day should be decent enough to enjoy being outside.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was not a typical Friday, especially in the afternoon.  The morning, however, was the usual, kayaking over to Tom's Point and home, a good hour on the lake.  I then finished the blog with Evie's editing, then went to yoga class with Julie.  After yoga, I stopped for a coffee, the bank, and home, not needing to stop at Wegman's for once.

Dahlia And A Bee

When I returned home, I got busy with some of my fall chores and drove to the gravel pit and picked up five buckets of stones to put on a pad next to our house where I hope to store some of our summer chairs over the winter as needed.  It took me forty-five minutes to get in done, then I gathered up our four water hoses we used to get water from the lake and tied them up.  By then, Evie had my lunch ready, just made corn chowder a family favorite.  Too bad our granddaughters are not here to enjoy it. I had a bagel with tomatoes as I watched another episode of Line Of Duty which I am really liking, a good afternoon series.

Evie, after working in the kitchen, making soup, getting things organized, spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun on a sunny, pleasant afternoon.  I took a quick nap, read some then started the unenviable task of talking with an Apple consultant about moving my Aperture Library to Photos, a must because Aperture will no longer work on the new Apple update.  I did get in a touch with a good guy, who walked me through a couple of steps, first repairing my Aperture library, a four hour task, then moving one library to another which, I found this morning, when I go up, did not work for some reason so its back to ground zero and calling Apple again.

We decided since it was Friday and we are good pagans, we would drive to the Rod and Gun Club for a fish fry, hoping it would not be too crowded.  It was, however, but we did find the last two seats at their vast bar.  For the first 15 or 20 minutes, we talked with each other, sipped a  beer, gambled but then struck up a conversation with a couple seating next to Evie for the next half hour.  They are locals, live now in Frewsburg, have two kids and five grandchildren.  They were fun to talk with and for once, we spent most of the time talking about us rather than listening to them tell us all about their lives.  We agreed to look for each other the next time we were at the Rod And Gun.  We were then called to our table, ordered our fish fry and just about time it was to arrive, the waitress tripped carrying a tray of food and spilled it on the floor.  With a minute four or five servers were there to help and all was well except our fish fry was a bit late, no problem.  Evie loved her fish and is becoming an aficionado of Friday night fish fry, a good ex-catholic.

We stopped at Wegmans on the way home, for a treat, a box of Nutty Buddies, Evie's favorite ice cream cone and were home by 9:00, in time to watch Colbert and his guest, Bernie Sanders who was really good at explaining his policies, his reasons for them, and how he would pay for it.

Orange Glow On The Horizon

Crescent Moon Morning

6:45

6:46

 It's 6:30 and I have been up since 5:00, waiting for some color, on a cold 46º morning.  A slice of the moon is hanging in the sky, above the lake,  as the glow of orange radiates from the Bemus shoreline.  No one is out on the lake yet, calm in close, a bit ruffled out towards the middle.  I listened to Morning Joe for about ten minutes, had enough and am back to Bill Simmons and football. 

Kayak Morning

Looking Up The Lake

Cormorant Up Close

Yesterday for some reason neither of us did much other than sitting around, feeling guilty because we were wasting the day, no yoga or kayaking for me, no baking, cooking, or working in the garden for Evie.  It was just one of those days.  For me, I barely made it to breakfast on time because I could not find my wallet, which I left in the car.  Breakfast was just the four of us but fun as always, with lots of stories we have probably heard before but don't remember.  I have been out paddling for an hour, the first twenty minutes into the sun as I head to Tom's Point.  It was a blue morning, sky and lake, the sun's reflection dazzling on the lake. 

I missed yoga and kayaking but decided to do something I have been dreading, moving my Aperture Libary from the Mac to Photos because Aperture will no longer be functional on my Mac.  I called Apple, got a consultant, learned how to do it but as usual, a bug appeared, that my library needed to be repaired.  So I repaired it supposedly, tried again but the same thing happened,  my library has to be repaired although I supposedly repaired it.  This downloading, then finding out it was not working took up a good part of my morning and part of the afternoon, with two calls to Apple.  And it still does not work so I will be on the phone again either today or tomorrow.  I did take time out to have lunch, a leftover half of a sandwich from my breakfast and started a new cop procedural, Line of Duty, a British show.

Meanwhile, Evie was ensconced in front of the TV occasionally complaining about something that was said during the House hearings concerning the whistleblower letter.  I would stop in and watch for five or ten minutes but Evie hung in there all morning and part of the afternoon, thus getting nothing done but happy with it.  She even had popcorn to keep her happy.

Victoria Woods

Around 3:30 I could not stand working on downloading photos and failing any longer so I put on some hiking boots and went for a walk in the Woodlawn/Victoria woods, taking my time, catching a hawk in a tree just as I started. 

Deadfall On The Trail

A Dry Victoria Creek

Looking North, Towards Woodlawn

The woods settled me down, made me forget my failures with the photo apps and I was out close to forty minutes.  When I returned, it was wine time on the front porch and though it was chilly, we had blankets to keep us warm along with some cut up cauliflower and radishes with a dip, for once a semi-healthy snack.

Autumn Colors Begin

For dinner, we had enough of Wednesday nights pasta with shrimp and asparagus so both of us were happy, a tasty and easy dinner, just pop it in the microwave.  We watched Colbert of course, then more of the news, switching back and forth between CNN and Fox, for a laugh.  They are still talking about Hilary's emails.  When Evie went up to bed, I watched 15 minutes of NFL football on Amazon Prime as they are now offering Thursday night games for Prime viewers.

Overcast With A Hint Of Color

7:30

7:31

It's 7:20 and I have been up for a half-hour, having slept in for a bit.  The lake matches the sky, gunmetal gray and calm on a 60º morning.  A single boat glides down the lake, seemingly the only action on the lake.  I just returned from breakfast, in the rain, with no kayaking, no yoga, alas.

Another Dahlia Daze

Yesterday was an easy day for me, just more of the same.  I kayaked early, photographed a couple of herons, had breakfast, then drove to Lakewood to a yoga class with Julie, substituting for Jen.  After class, I stopped at Wegman's to pick up a few things for Evie who was home, getting ready for our company last night.

When I returned home, the table was set, the kitchen cleaned up and Evie had most of the prepping for dinner ready.  So as I sat down with lunch, a couple pieces of pizza, Evie decided to relax after a morning in the kitchen by cutting the lawn.  Thinking about her cutting the lawn made me tired enough to take a nap, then start a new book called THE WIDOW.  Once she was finished, she joined me in relaxing before our guests.

By 6:00 we were both showered and dressed and Evie got out the appetizers, a vegetable, and cream cheese pastry along with mixed nuts, both healthy appetizers for our seventy-five and over gang. They arrived at 6:15 and spent a good ten minutes talking about Evie's garden, especially the profusion of dahlias.

Dinner With Good Chautauqua Friends

We settled on the front porch for a good hour, enjoying drinks and appetizers, talking mostly about our kids and grandchildren, many who live a good distance away.  Charlie and Wendy win the prize because their son lives in Sweden with his wife and daughter.  By 7:30, Evie was serving up our dinner of pasta with sundried tomatoes, shrimp, and asparagus, with salad and rolls as sides. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and of course the Twisted Trunk cabernet sauvignon, compliments of Dick.  Midway through dinner, we had to laugh as we decided to change the subject from our health and pills to something more cheery. We ended the night with Evie's peach pie, a perfect ending to a great dinner. And because Dick and Caran were driving to Vermont this morning, everyone left about 9:15, giving us enough time to clean up some before watching some Colbert and going up to bed.  It was a fun night with friends.

Pink Sky In The Morning

Great Blue Heron On Long Point

6:48

7:20

8:30

I was up at 5:00, a dark house made the coffee and waited to listen to all the hullabaloo on MSNBC concerning the possible impeachment of Trump and like the speaker in Walt Whitman's When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer:

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

And as I sit here at 6:43, the sky is turning from pink to orange, the lake a variation of their colors. It's 8:50 as I finish this, after a 50-minute paddle, just me and my ski neighbors on the lake.

Jeff And Nancy 

A Noble Bird

Yesterday started out cloudy but the skies opened up early afternoon and it became another stellar fall day.  I paddled for a half-hour on choppy, windy seas, not much fun.  I then drove to yoga class, a good one but did not stop anywhere because I was going back out to Jamestown at 1:00 for teeth cleaning.  When I returned home, Evie had left to do some major shopping and for a major hair appointment with Jaret and I did not expect her home until mid-afternoon.  I heated up the leftover taco meat and made myself another plate of tacos for lunch and watched the last episode of City On The Hill, a disappointing ending with no closure as they obviously are gearing up for another season.

Yellow Trumps Purple

I left for my dental appointment at 12:30, stopped at Peterson's Market and picked up another dozen ears of corn and purple grapes for Evie.  I was out of the dentist office by 2:00, with a smile and decided to go home through Lakewood and stop at Wegman's and get my free flu shot.  It was quick and easy.  When I drove in, Evie had just gotten home and was putting away the groceries, so I helped.  The rest of the afternoon we spent taking it easy as is our wont, reading and watching some of the news program, all trumpeting the news about Trump. 

Ava Serving

Thank goodness we had plans for the evening.  So at 6:00, we drove off to Panama High School to watch our good friends Jack and  Diane's granddaughter, Ava, play volleyball for Chautauqua Lake.  She is only an eighth-grader but starts on the varsity team.  Unfortunately, Panama was too tough and her team lost in three but she plays like a senior.  It was fun for both of us to be back in a gym, watching a girl's volleyball game. 

Team

After the game, all four of us went to dinner at Andriaccio's just across the street from the Chautauqua Institution.  It was a busy place even though it was a Tuesday which was nice to see.  Evie and I split a pizza, Jack and Diane ordered the specials.  It's a good place and I wonder why we don't go there more often.  Perhaps because they do not have a bar; we like bars when it's just the two of us.  We didn't get home until after 9:00 in time to watch Colbert and the neverending babel on the news channels, excited to have new breaking news.

Threatening Sky But No Rain

7:30

8:15

It's 7:15 overcast, dark clouds off in the distance, the first day its really felt like a fall morning.  It's 59º and we had light rain overnight, with little accumulation.  Today should be mostly cloudy and cool, with occasional wind gusts.  It's 8:20 and I just returned from a rough paddle, lots of wind, choppy and wavy lake, and chilly for the first time spring but I did catch a hawk sitting up on a tree branch, scouting the area for prey.

Kayak Morning

South

Among The Reeds

Yesterday was back to routine in some ways, in others not so.  I did get in a brief paddle, avoiding most of the rain. After breakfast and the blog, I drove to Lakewood for yoga with Julie, substituting for Danielle, a good class.  I then stopped for coffee before driving to Aldi's to pick up a few things for our taco night dinner.  I stopped for corn but it looks as though the season is through as the stand was filled with pumpkins, a sure sign of fall. 

 Hawk

Because of the overcast skies and rain, Evie was not out on the dock.  Instead, she was getting the wash done for the week and doing some cleaning in the kitchen.  I heated up the leftover butter chicken for lunch and watched my show.  I have a half more hour to go before I finish Showtime's City On The Hill with Kevin Bacon.  I have enjoyed it. 

And that was it for both of us as we stayed in the house the rest of the afternoon although it did clear up some mid-afternoon so Evie ended up reading on the front porch, wondering how long this temperant weather would last.

We had our wine at 5:00, then at 6:00, Evie browned the meat for tacos, cut up the lettuce and got out the salsa, cheese, and sour cream.  Although it was not Tuesday, I wanted tacos so for us, it was Taco Monday. We were loathe to start a new series, so we stuck with our stand bys, Colbert and Real Time With Bill Maher before ending the night with a quick race through the Emmy's, the only way to watch, avoiding all the commercials. 

Light Rain As Autumn Arrives

Hello Dahlia

6:54

It's a mixed sky kind of morning, colorful and light off to the south, overcast to the north as a light rain began around 7:00 and may continue on and off during the day.  I may try to squeeze a paddle in between the precipitation.  It's also starting to cool, as the temperature will only get into the 70's after yesterday's 84º.  I did get in a paddle, some light rain at first but then it ceased and I was able to stay out for a half-hour, among the seagulls but no herons.

Kayak Morning

Kayaking North

Yesterday was a midsummer day, hot and humid, the end of a glorious week of sunny weather, the best week of weather all summer long.  I paddled for a good hour but had no luck with finding any waterfowl other than the mallards.  By the time I paddled home, it was already warm.  We finished up the blog and coffee, had some breakfast then decided to take the boat down to the Chautauqua Institution for a walk.  It was a good choice as cruising down the lake was comfortable despite the heat.  We docked and walked for only a half-hour, again because of the humidity or we just had enough exercising for the week.  We took our time coming home, boating along the eastern shoreline, passing fishing boats as we looked for any new houses. 

Forever Dahlia 

We were home by noon and Evie couldn't wait to get out on the dock so she quickly fried up some bacon and eggs, warmed the scones she made on Friday and we had a good Sunday breakfast.  By 1:00, she was out on the dock under the umbrella and I was in the den, trying to keep cool as I watched some of the Buffalo Bills football game. As usual, I was bored after a half-hour and returned to my book and tried to nap to no avail.  I read some more than joined Evie on the dock for a while until we decided it was too nice to stay on the dock so we took another boat ride, over to Bemus Point and back along the shoreline, in no hurry to get home on this calm lake, sunny afternoon.

Perfection

Around 6:00, we decided to rewards ourselves with a manhattan or two and some appetizers.  We were able to sit on the front porch, as a breeze and a fan-made it comfortable, and listened to jazz, Evie trying to find music that might appeal to our friends who are coming to dinner on Wednesday.  Earlier in the day, before hitting the dock, Evie had put together our dinner, butter chicken, one of our favorite Indian dishes.  So around 7:00, she warmed it up, put the naan in the oven to warm, and we had an authentic Indian dinner, the naan taking the place of rice.  We finally watched the last episode of Unbelievable, a bit of a letdown in some ways.  We also watched a couple of Colberts, some of the Emmys and a touch of the Browns before going up to bed.  It felt like the end of summer as the sky was beginning to cloud up and the temperature was dropping.