Clear, Cold, And Sunny

7:28

8:16

It's 7:50, Evie just got up but I have been up since 6:30.  The sun is peeking out from behind the trees to the south, will rise in five minutes or so. The lake is a patchwork of smooth and choppy ice and most likely, we will begin the big melt over the next couple of days as it warms up.

Yesterday began with sun and clear skies but clouded up during the afternoon.  So we had a morning to enjoy, having coffee, writing the blog, in no hurry because we had nothing we had to do. We were sitting in the living room debating whether to get a faux Xmas tree.  So we decided to call a few places, like Home Depot and J.C Penny's.  Penny's had one for eight hundred dollars so we decided on Home Depot's eighty-nine dollar tree with lights and drove off to pick it up.  It looked good so we bought it, then did more grocery shopping at Wegman's before getting home, an expensive Sunday morning jaunt. 

Bestor Plaza

By 11:00, however, we decided it was too nice out to sit in the house so we drove over to the Chautauqua Institution for a walk, a good choice.  The road was decent, some ice but mostly safe and we enjoyed the snow on the houses, the trees and bushes, so different from the fall.  We were out for just short of an hour and we were surprised to see the action in Bestor Plaza, as many were gathered to enjoy the food trucks, the reindeer, the tent with princesses.  We were tempted by the tacos but decided we would prefer our big breakfast at home. 

A Gathering At The CI

A Well Lit Dining Tent

Sunny At Noon

We were home by 12:30 and were shocked to see our neighbors, John and Maryanne, and their grown kids out on the ice skating with abandon, past our house, down to the reeds. They even had chairs out on the ice to enjoy the afternoon.  We were jealous, tempted to join them, but smart enough to just stay in the house, and keep the skates in the attic.  Evie, then, got busy in the kitchen, fried up a couple of eggs and bacon, toasted a bagel and we had our usual Sunday breakfast and watched CBS Sunday Morning, always excellent and informative. 

Neighbors Enjoying The Frozen Lake

Ice Skating With Poles

The rest of the afternoon was one of rest for me, of making more appetizers for Evie, our new favorite, Buffalo chicken eggrolls.  They are time-consuming to make but much quicker if you use a couple of rotisserie chickens.  I watched the Browns boot away another game, occasionally helped Evie by cleaning up the dishes.  By 4:00, all was finished,  both the Browns and the egg rolls, ready to freeze.

We then began the fairly easy task of setting up our fake Christmas tree.  It went together pretty well although it looked scrawnier then it did at Home Depot.  And the lights were a bit of a mystery, with five choices on the remote.  Yep, our tree has a remote.  Finally, Evie figured out the remote and we tweaked the branches so the tree looks decent in the dark with lights on.  This morning, however, wit with the sun out, I can see right through it to the lake.  I guess I should have gotten the eight hundred dollar tree.

We ate dinner at 6:30, after enjoying a glass of wine and looking at our tree, listening to Christmas carols by assorted artists, from old favorites like Perry Como to more recent folks like Mariah Carey.  Dinner was the leftover Greek lemon chicken with rice, a salad, and brussel sprouts.  We watched a decent SNL, then a couple of episodes of Mrs. Fletcher before going to bed.  It turned out to be a pretty good Sunday,