An Autumn Sky

7:23

7:31

7:45

It's later than usual as I start my blog, 9:00, and I was out paddling for a good hour, to Long Point, Sandy Bottom, and home, shooting a few herons and a solitary cormorant, making me wonder when the migrating birds will be back.

Kayak Morning

Cormorant

In The Reeds

Along The Shoreline

Yesterday was a decent day and although rain was predicted, it never did rain.  For some reason, despite getting little sleep, I woke wanting to get a few things done.  So after a paddle, blog, and breakfast, I got busy.  I took the weeds up the hill, finally getting rid of them. Then, I stopped at Hogan's and filled up a gas can.  When I got home, I  siphoned the five gallons into my boat, making sure there was enough for Chris to take it back to the Marina on Sea Lion Drive. Finally, I power washed my purple martin house which had been sitting under our willow, waiting to be cleaned and put away.  Once it dried out, I put away in the garage attic and I felt better about getting a start on fall chores.  

Woodlawn

An Autumn Morning Colors

It was time for lunch when I finished, so I finished off my hoagie and Evie, having spent a good part of the morning cleaning the porches and making a shopping list, went off to Wegman's to stock up for the week and return clothes to TJMaxx.  I spent the afternoon as usual, reading, napping and for once, watching TV, catching up on a couple of episodes of Babylon Berlin. Evie returned around 3:30, the car groaning with groceries.  I helped empty the car and Evie put things away, trying to find room for them in our pantry which is overflowing.  

Dahlia

A Painting Of A Dahlia By Evie's Sister Jean

At 5:00, Evie zoomed with her sisters for an hour and I read and enjoyed a glass of wine, waiting for dinner.   By 6:15, Evie was off the phone and we were both hungry so she sauteed the Wienerschnitzel which she had pounded thing and breaded early in the day.  We also had parslied potatoes, Brussel sprouts with maple syrup and mustard (yum), and Evie's homemade applesauce, a dinner fit for a pre Debate evening.  We watched two episodes of  Borgen, both really good before the debate.  I won't say much about the debate other than I was embarrassed as a citizen of the United States to watch our President rant, bully, lie, whine, and undermine our democratic tradition of voting.   If you think he deserves to be President, then you were watching another debate than me.

A Touch Of Rain

7:09

It's 6:00 as I start this and I have been up since 5:00, alas, another bad night.  As predicted, we did get some rain overnight, about an eighth of an inch, just enough to wet the ground.  I just paddled in a world of gray for the first time in weeks, gray skies, gray lake. I was out for forty-five minutes, a light wind, 55º, and no sightings of birds.  

Kayaking North

Kayaking South

Yesterday may have been the last day of summer weather but its so unpredictable here at the lake that nothing is a certainty.  We had lots of sun yesterday, again, a good day to be outside, working, or just basking in the late September sunshine.  Unfortunately, I drove to Buffalo to return my E-Bike.  It was an hour and a half drive to the bike shop, the same on the way home.  The bike shop made it easy to return the bike which was nice.  On the way home, I stopped at the Silver Creek exit for gas because the stations are in the Seneca Nation, so I save 35 cents a gallon,. I also browsed in a country-western store at this exit which has lots of neat clothes, boots, anything for outdoors.  We stop here once a year usually if we are going to Buffalo.  For lunch, I picked up a sub from a great grocery/deli/meat market in Fredonia called Tuscany.  We love stopping there and browsing the shelves for kitchen items, interesting foods, and of course, the meat counter. 

I didn't get home till 1:00 and Evie was halfway through mowing the lawn.  She stopped to enjoy some of the hoagie and I watched my show, some basketball, before falling asleep briefly while reading my book.  It's one of those books which you keep reading because you are too lazy to find something else. Once Evie was finished with the yard, she relaxed for a bit.  I suggested it might be a good time to go for a boat ride so I took the cover off the boat and we cruised over to Bemus and back. Of course, the wind picked up a when we were out, making it difficult when we returned to dock the boat.  Typical.  

September Cruising

Still, it's always great to be out on the lake.  Both of us were surprised at how warm it was, in the high 70's, so once I put the cover back on the boat, we both went for a swim for the first time in a couple of weeks.  The lake was, well, cold, no other way to describe it yet we both loved it once we got used to it.  Evie hung out for ten minutes while I let the sun dry me off on the dock.  

Monday Afternoon Sky

We had appetizers and treated ourselves to a Manhattan on the front porch before dinner, enjoying the changing colors of the trees, as the day began to wane, the sky darken.  It's dark here by 7:30.  Evie had put together an eggplant and pasta casserole, so it was baking while we sat on the front porch.  We enjoyed it while watching some of the breaking news, always breaking on CNN, then finished the first season of Borgen, the Danish political series. We are excited because we have two more seasons to keep us watching for the next week or two. 

Storms Arising

6:40

7:21

This morning may be the last sunrise I enjoy for the next week as the forecast has it raining for the next seven days after a couple of weeks of sunrises, blue skies, and warm temperatures.  I guess fall may be arriving along with the rain.  I paddled for forty-five minutes, my usual route, and did not see anything until I came back along Victoria and saw a couple of herons and an osprey

Kayak Morning

Hanging With Canadians

Osprey Hunting

Same Heron, Same Perch

Yesterday was a wasted Sunday as neither of us slept well and woke not really having much energy.  I did get in a paddle and around 10:00, as Evie was grilling eggplant for tonight's dinner, I took my E bike out for my first ride.  Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it much.  I struggled up hills despite the electric motor and by the time I rode ten miles, I decided this was not the bike for me so I will be returning it this morning.  I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach or something like that.  I had visions of me riding the hills but it was not the reality.  Too sad, too bad. 

Evie made me some scrambled eggs for lunch with a toast to soothe my damaged ego and I watched some basketball and tried to nap to no avail, probably because I was upset with having to return my bike.  Around 3:30, Evie finally found some mojo and worked in her garden, watering it, mowing, and weeding while I watched football, a true couch potato.

Evie And Three Banditos

We gathered our energy around 5:00, showered, and drove to meet Linda and Ron at the Bemus Point Gold Club & And Tap House for dinner.  We were able to get a table out on their porch, safely distanced and this may be the last restaurant we eat at in months unless we are willing to sit inside. It was a pleasant night, good beers, good food, and we were happy to have been able to meet them for dinner.  The gals had salads, Ron a burger and me a chicken po'boy, tasty but tiny although the fries were good.  We were home by 8:00 and it was surprisingly dark on our way home.  Winter is coming.  We watched two more episodes of Borgen, still enjoying it and ready for more.`

The Last Day Of Summer?

7:37

Weekend Paddlers, Jim And Tina

It's 8:55 and I have been out for an hour, a muted sun but warm, in the 60's and it looks like the weather will begin to change this week, more fall-like, less like summer, with rain and clouds and lower temperatures.  I ran into our neighbors, Tina and Jim, and they are up for the weekend, as usual, and it's a sad day for them as the boat and dock come in.  It's part of fall here at the lake, first boats, then docks come in.

Kayak Morning

Sun Reflecting On Water

High In A Tree

Yesterday as a nerve-racking day for me.  After kayaking and breakfast, we cleaned out the freezer, the refrigerator and then I took the trash to the Transfer Station.  As we cleaned, we talked about my getting and E-bike again and Evie finally said I should do it.  I was still uncertain but gradually decided to go for it so I drove to Buffalo, to one of five Rudy's Bike Shops because I knew they had the bike I wanted on the floor and it was my size.  After much talk and doubt, I finally said I wanted it and of course, I also needed a new bike rack because these E-Bikes are much heavier than a normal bike.  So it took my close to two hours to get everything settled, the computer on the bike up to date, the bike rack attached, and so forth.  I was on my way home by 2:00, an hour and a half, bike in tow.  I stopped at Mc Donald's and for some reason, I was overcharged and when I asked the cashier, she said no, that's the price.  I was hungry so I just paid it but Evie checked when I told her about it and they charged me eleven dollars for a meal that should have been around six dollars. We cannot figure out why this happened because the bill showed eleven bucks.  

It was good to get home because I was exhausted from the angst, the decision making, and whether I made the right decision. O to be that youth again, where nothing worried me, even moving to Istanbul with three kids under five.  Evie had spent much of the day enjoying the dock, knowing the weather might be changing.  We sat on the porch around 5:00 with a glass of wine and Evie and our son Tom tried to get her iPhone working so that all her info on iCloud was on the phone but to no avail.  It was very frustrating for both so finally Evie had it and decided to work at it again today.  Maybe. 

Dinner was easy, warming up the meatloaf and baked potatoes.  Evie made a meatloaf sandwich, I had mine with lots of ketchup, potatoes.  We watched a depressing Real Time With Bill Maher because of his mantra that Trump will refuse to leave office even if he loses the vote and it appears to be a possibility.  We were happy to leave it and watch two more episodes of Borgen, a Danish version of The Left Wing in that the female prime minister always seems to get her way and do things the right way.  It's about a leader who acts the way we would want our leaders to act, not the way they usually do.  So it is not a reality show but more like a Utopia.

Sleeping In

7:18

7:30

Wow, I actually didn't get up till almost 7:00, a 'sleep in' for me.  I didn't miss the sunrise and was out on the lake by 7:40, the sun blinding, as I paddled south towards Sandy Bottom.  I thought it would be a heron less morning, but I shot a couple, one over by the Long Point fishing dock, the other between Woodlawn and the campground.  It made my morning.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was another fine day, just as fine as the days before, as Indian Summer stretches on, nearing October.  We had no real plans for the day, just enjoy it, the best kind of plan because we don't feel we have to do anything and if we do something, it's because we want to. Around 10:00, Evie got busy in the kitchen making applesauce, a chore that she enjoys and we have enough for the winter. I went for a bike ride in the neighborhood, down to the Stow Ferry, back on Stow road to Carpenter-Pringle and home, about 50 minutes. It felt good to get in some exercise, knowing I probably would not feel like it later in the day.  Both Evie and I seem to be morning people, usually energetic but fade after lunch.

Still Dazzling

Evie took time out from her apple saucing to make me a quesadilla, nice and juicy, and I watched some basketball, as a new great appeared on the horizon, Miami's Tyler Hero, a twenty-year-old who scored the game-high 37 points in Miami's win. He's got game!  I then finished up my Lucas Davenport novel and started a new book called Winter Counts, set on Indian lands in South Dakota. Around 2:30 I joined Evie out on the dock, taking time out and it was so nice that I took the cover off the boat and we went for an hour cruise, beyond the bridge and back, along the shoreline.  It was almost too warm out there with all the others, enjoying a late September afternoon cruise on the lake.  

Sunset At The Viking Club

We came in about 5:00, showered, and left for a fish fry at the Viking Club around 6:00.  It was packed as we expected but we found a table in the yard, under a tree, a good distance from anyone.  The lines for ordering beers and fish fries were long but we persevered and it was worth it.  The fish fry was great, the beer strangely tasteless, as if there was something wrong with the taps or the lines were not cleaned. Oh, well, it was fun to be out and it seemed as though all of the area felt that way as every restaurant seemed packed and Bemus felt like it does on a midsummer weekend, streets lined with parked cars, people walking everywhere or waiting outside of restaurants.

We were home by 8:00 in time to watch a Colbert and two episodes of Borgen, a good way to end another 'fine day.'  

Darkness In The Morning

Pearl Among Swines

7:13

7:54

I woke to darkness and by 7:00 the fog not darkness obscured my view. I am starting my blog before kayaking, at 7:15, and am waiting for the fog to lift so I can get out there on the lake.  It may be a while. It's 9:20 as I finish this up.  I was out kayaking for an hour, the first half hour in the fog so heavy I stuck to the shoreline until the sky opened up and I was able to cross the lake to Long Point and back. It's been a heron morning.

Kayak Morning

In The Fog

Into The Sun

Thursday was like Wednesday and Tuesday, etc. Lots of sun, mild temperatures, a day to enjoy the outdoors.  I got in my paddle early morning and returned to putter around the house, basically putting away summer things, bathing suits, shorts, and short-sleeved shirts and getting out the winter stuff, fleeces, long underwear, and flannel shirts. While I was doing this, Evie was going through the pile of clothes from TJ, one pile for keepers, the other for taking back.  By 11:00, we were sick of doing things in the house and decided to drive to the Chautauqua Institution for our daily constitutional, an hour walk around the grounds.  We were surprised by the busyness. In years past, the place would be empty after Labor Day but not this year as many of the out of towners have elected to stay for the fall.  As a result, many homes were occupied, the front gate was busy with a line up of cars entering and people were out walking or biking. I wonder if this is going to be the new normal.

Turning Red

We were home by 12:30 after stopping at the Lighthouse Grocery for some ground beef.  I woke yesterday thinking 'meatloaf', so that's what we had for dinner last night.  For lunch, Evie made me another wrap with lavash, spreading hummus on the lavash first, adding a salad, with tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese before wrapping it up and cutting it.  I loved it. Meanwhile, Evie put together the meatloaf, adding the goodies from our pantry because we ran out of the old standby, Lipton's onion soup mix. After watching my show, I read some and took a brief nap because we were going to Erie at 2:30 for Evie's doctor's appointment at 3:45. 

I dropped her off at 3:20, drove to Starbucks for an iced coffee, and decided to go inside because there were at least ten cars waiting for the drive-through.  By the time I returned to the doctor's office, Evie was done so we headed to Peach Street to find a TMobile Store.  It should have been easy but the address has about five different stores but we finally found it.  Unfortunately, Evie still cannot pull up her old information from her old iPhone to the new one although we now know what to do.  We just need to get the right password to close off the new phone.  I am not very clear but it will be done.

On the way home, I made the mistake of asking Evie if she wanted to stop at Stan's Nursery and of course she said yes. After browsing and talking with the nursery people for a half-hour, we left with sixty bucks worth of goodies, a small false cypress tree, and another fall clematis, a Paniculata,  our third or fourth attempt to see if we can keep voles from eating its roots. Rather than spending money on drinking and eating at bars, we spend it on improving Evie's garden. 

When we arrived home, we were both hungry and ready for wine time. So I washed up some potatoes and Evie popped them and the meatloaf in the oven and we sat on the front porch with our wine for a good hour until dinner was ready.  Evie made a salad and cauliflower, plated the meatloaf and potatoes and we had the kind of dinner we both wanted.  Yum.  We watched a Colbert then turned to our new series, Borgen, as Denmark has a woman prime minister for the first time and her male colleagues are not very happy with this development. We can see where the series is going as politics take over her life, her personal life will begin to fall apart and she will be forced to compromise, make choices that are political, even hypocritical, rather than moral or ethical.  Sad but true if you are a politician it seems.  

A Thin Veil Of Gray

7:00

7:35

It's one of those mornings where the sun's rays are muted by the sky, leaving most of the morning bathed in gray.  I paddled for forty-five minutes, saw nothing of note other than seagulls but still enjoyed being out on the lake, often a solitary figure in gray.  It's 55º as I write this at 8:30 and it may get up into the mid 70's today.

Kayak Morning

Victoria's Secret

Yesterday was a good day despite a dentist's appointment.  After paddling, Evie got busy making some hummus, refilling my breakfast mix, grinding coffee and doing washing while I played.  I drove to Linda and Ron's, dropped off the bike they lent us, then rode my bike for an hour, over to the other side of the lake, to Hartfield and back, just over an hour.  It was a good day for a ride, cool and sunny.  I was home by lunchtime and because I had a dental appointment at 1:00, I had soup for lunch, something easy. 

Hapet Blue Eyes

My appointment lasted only an hour, measuring for a new crown, and then I was off to Jamestown Cycle to look at e-bikes.  They let me ride it around downtown to get a feel of what it was like to get assistance when going up hills and it was pretty cool.  I am tempted but it's pricey and I wonder if I would use it enough to justify the cost.  I then stopped at Wegman's for a few things before driving home.  Evie was getting ready to head to Walmart, to see if their phone gurus could help her with exchanging Sim cards, from her old phone to her new and do some shopping at TJMaxx. A couple of guys from our breakfast club arrived around 4:30 and we sat on the front porch, waxing nostalgic until 6:00, hardly touching on politics which was great.  Jack had picked up three 32 oz Crowlers for us to enjoy while we munched on pretzels.  It was good to see them and we decided to do it more often. 

Evie arrived just as they were leaving, happy because the guy at the Walmart counter was extremely helpful, so much so she wanted to tip him.  And she also came home with a bagful of clothes from TJ because you are not able to try them on because of Covid19 so you have to try them on at home.  Fortunately, we had leftovers, both Chinese and pork chops, so all dinner involved was heating them up in the microwave.  We watched Colbert, then a third episode of Call My Agent and we decided that might be enough.  A friend recommended a Danish series called Borgen so we watched the first episode and really liked it.  It will probably be our new series for the next week or two. 

An Interesting Contrast