2020 Ends In Gray

7:59

Because of yesterday's rain, much of the snow has melted in the front yard and the lake is now open, at least in front of our house. We did get a dusting of snow last night and the temperature has dropped to 29º on this winter ugly morning.

Yesterday was not much of a day for me, as I was tired and achy for some reason, wanting to do nothing but stay on the couch, read and slept.  So that's what I did most of the day, with no kayaking or hiking, just wasting the day. Evie, however, took over and did the shopping, picking up groceries via Instacart at Wegman's, making sure we have enough staples for the rest of the week.  

When she returned home, I had enough energy to help bring the groceries in the house before returning to the couch.  Lunch tasted good, an omelet with tomatoes and feta cheese and toast, and I watched my show before taking a good, long nap, something I obviously needed. 

Neither of us did anything of note the rest of the afternoon, just reading and watching an older film we have seen a couple of times before, The China Syndrome, with Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda.  It holds up well. 

We had the leftover Thai chicken, rice, broccoli, and salad for dinner and it was just as tasty as the night before.  We watched the second episode of Your Honor on Showtime, with Bryan Cranston and now understand why Michael Smerconish said he might stop watching the series.  We switched channels halfway through because it was so depressing, too real, with nothing uplifting.  We switched to Schitt's' Creek, much better, lots of laughs, and ended the night with the first episode of Season Two of Deadwood.

Breezy, Sunny, And Cold

7:53

8:04

8:04

It's 8:00 and I slept in for once, till 7:00, on a morning where the sun did arise, the lake is filled with ice floes, and we witnessed a boat cruise by Tom's Point.  It looks like another cloudy day, with some rain later as the temperatures will rise into the high 30's. 

Long Point

Tuesday was another gray, even dreary day, the usual here at the lake in winter.  We were in no hurry to get busy, enjoying coffee and the writing of the blog, picking out photographs to include. We then got a few things done, none that I can remember until 11:00 when we decided to get in a walk despite the weather. We drove over to Long Point State Park and I cross country skied while Evie walked.  The conditions were not ideal as much of the trails were frozen, icy from the rain.  I was able to stay on the edges of the icy trail most of the time where there was still snow,  Regardless, it was good to get outside and we met a couple other brave souls.  

Cross Country Skiing

Filtered

Lunch was a throwback to the 1950s, Lipton's chicken noodle soup, and a toasted cheese sandwich.  It tasted good to me after a tiring and sweaty cross country skiing.  I watched another episode of Undercover, then was happy to get back to my book, The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake, a multi-generational read. Both of us were tired from our outing in the woods, so little was accomplished during the afternoon other than a nap for me, a zoom call for Evie, and prepping our dinner. 

Mid-afternoon, Evie made a Thai marinade and sauce, of soy, peanut butter, and hot sauce.  She then marinated the chicken thighs in the sauce before frying them around 6:30.  Once they were done, they were served with the sauce, with sides of rice and broccoli.  It's an easy and tasty dinner, the chicken thighs flavorful because of the Thai sauce.  As usual, we did not know what to watch so we went back to Schitt's Creek, a series we started two or three times but did not like and started it again because of all the awards it got and the number of friends who love it.  And, guess what, we are starting to like it and watched five half-hour episodes before finishing Season One of Deadwood, quite a contrast to Schitt's Creek.

A Slash Of Light On A Gray Skly

7:04

7:05

7:24

7:39

It's 8:06 and I have been up for two hours, back to listening to Morning Joe until I have had enough and reading the papers, both the NYTimes and Washington Post.  I hoped to kayak this morning but the lake is choppy, littered with pebble-like ice floes, making it not worth the effort.  We received a dusting of snow overnight and it's chilly out there, a 24º.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

I have to admit that Monday was a wasted day as neither of us did much other than get up off our couch or do a bit of organizing.  We did, however, manage to write the blog and have breakfast.  Fortunately, we had cleaned up the mess from our Christmas dinner extravaganza the night before.  The morning flew by and before we knew it, it was time for lunch.  Evie made me a great wrap on lavash and I happily adjourned to the TV room to watch my show. Afterward, I tried to read my book but fell asleep and took a great nap, one of those where you wake wondering if it's morning or afternoon.

Swans Standing On Thin Ice

Around 4:00, I decided to walk to get the mail but both our parking area and road were ice-covered and pellets of snow were falling, so I drove the two hundred yards to get it, a lazy boy. We waited anxiously for it to turn five o'clock so we could sit down and relax with a glass of wine, the only thing we looked forward to all day.  We must have been really wiped out from our Sunday dinner, replete with good food and multiple libations.  Dinner was easy, finishing up the leftovers from our dinner and making a salad. We wanted to watch a good movie so we started Palm Springs on Hulu and bagged it after 15 minutes.  We switched to Jeopardy and Midnight Diner, more to our liking than watched the Bills destroy New England on Monday Night Football.  I am finally becoming a Bills fan. 

Flocks of Trumpeter Swans Arrive

Trumpeter Swans

7:45

8:21

It's an overcast morning, a few icefloes left on the lake, as the wind has picked up and bare spots are beginning to show in the snow.  It's 36º but snow is forecast later in the day as the weather gods cannot seem to make up their minds.  I just noticed a stream of at least a hundred trumpeter swans floating by our home, about 100 yards offshore, an amazing sight.  

Yesterday was busy but fun as we finally celebrated Christmas with a dinner with our only friends (thanks to Covid19), Linda and Ron. Evie had started prepping on Saturday but there is always lots to do for a special dinner.  We never have been happy with tablecloths so we went up into the attic and pulled out a kalim, a flat weave hanging,  from Turkey and it fit our table perfectly and looks festive and Turkish.  We got out the good china and Evie polished the sterling silver.  We have not used either in years so it was fun to get them out and use them.  After breakfast, we worked on getting the table set, the living room dusted and vacuumed.  One wonders if we did not have company would this ever get done.  While Evie then put together our dessert, a brandy alexander pie, our favorite go-to dessert when we lived in Istanbul.  I went out and cross country skied for forty-five minutes through our neighborhood and the campground. It was surprisingly warm and I worked up quite a sweat. 

Spectacular Morning For Cross Country Skiing

I was home by noon and Evie had our big breakfast ready, bacon and eggs and toast and we watched CBS Sunday Morning. While Evie continued to pots around the kitchen, I got back to my book and took a brief nap. We were having prime rib for dinner and decided to try a new method called reverse searing. So, around 1:40, after seasoning the prime rib, Evie put it in a low oven, 225º and let it roast until it reached an internal temperature of 120º.  She then tented it with tin foil and let it sit until a half hour before dinner. when I would take over.  While the prime rib was roasting, I watched some football and  Evie made our salad, one of my Mom's favorite, a jello salad with strawberries on a pretzel crust. Once that was done, Evie felt ready to relax with everything under control.  

Christmas Dinner

Turkish Kalim

We relaxed until 4:30 when our friends arrived.  I made whiskey sours and we were able to enjoy the last remnants of light before darkness hid the lake and sky.  For appetizers, we had an Asian shrimp cocktail, basically shrimp with mayonnaise, red onions, and lemon juice, a recipe from my sister, Linda. Once we finished our whiskey sours, we had a glass or two of Prosecco then I went outside and finished off the prime rib by searing it in a 600º Weber Grill.  I forgot to mention that Evie had also made popovers and my mother's sweet-sour green beans with bacon. Once the meat was browned, I brought it in and carved it and then we plated our dinners, opened a bottle of wine, and had a gourmet meal, one we have been waiting to enjoy for three days. Everything was great.  Even the jello and pretzel salad and sweet-sour green beans were hits. 

Buffleheads

We ended the night with our dessert, a brandy alexander pie topped with whipped cream, sinful but delicious.  By 9:00. we were happy and stuffed and tired, so we said our goodbyes after taking a selfie, and we will see them again on New Year's Eve at their house. We then worked on cleaning up the kitchen and putting away all the leftovers before watching some TV before going up to bed. 

 

It's A Beautiful Morning

7:12

7:53

7:59

It's 8:00 and the sun has just appeared above the southern horizon, lighting up the lake and sky.  The lake is partially frozen, still open in the middle. The snow has ended for a day or two but it's still very cold, right now a 16º. No kayaking this morning!

Finch Enjoying A Sunflower Seed

Pushing Back The Snow

Saturday was another snow day as we were outside shoveling our parking area three times, morning, noon, and late afternoon.  We probably have a foot and a half of snow, not as bad as forecast.  We love the whiteness, the snow and wish it would stay but warm weather seems to be in the near future.  We had a slow morning, in no hurry to do much, other than gather the trash.  Around11:00, I deiced the car, filled the back with trash, and drove off to the Transfer Station.  When I returned home, we wanted to get some exercise, enjoy the woods and snow, so I got out my skies and we drove to Mayville, hoping to walk and ski Webb's Trail.  Unfortunately, the parking area was not cleared so we had to look for somewhere else to ski. 

We ended up at the north end of the new asphalt path through Mayville which ends at RT426 and where the Rails To Trails trailhead starts.  Just as we got there, a tractor was pulling a snow-grooming machine, at lesast15 feet wide. We could not have had better timing.  We asked an owner if we could park in front of his shop and he said no problem.  Our forty-five-minute skiing and hiking were amazingly beautiful and Evie, though walking, was ecstatic. We could not have asked for a better trail and I got in a great workout skiing for the first time this winter.

Nicely Groomed

We did not get home until after 1:00, time for lunch, the last of the chicken soup and a fried baloney sandwich with pickles on a bun. Yum.  I watched my show, then could not wait to get back to my book, The Guest Book, which I really like, wondering why I haven't read it before.  The afternoon went quickly, although Evie starting prepping for our Christmas dinner on Sunday.  She paused around 3:30 and we finished the last of the oysters with beers, thanks to our daughter Jill and husband Drew. Around 4:30, I went out and shoveled the parking area for the last time. We decided to have Bloody Mary's for Happy Hour, a nice change from our glass of wine.  We both love our Bloody Marys with lots of horseradish, giving them a nice bite.

For dinner, Evie roasted some Brussels, made a salad, and warmed up the leftover lemon chicken and rice and we had a dinner, just as good as the night before.  We made the mistake of watching a new film on Amazon Prime called I'm Your Woman.  Unfortunately, we never stopped it and suffered through all of it, too lazy or dumb to switch to something else.  We ended the night with Deadwood and I was happy to get back to my book. 

Not Dreaming Of A White Christmas

Our Cathedral

Christmas In The Woods

7:37

It's 13º at the moment, the yard, bushes, and trees, blanketed with white.  It's 8:15 and I have been up for a couple of hours, waiting for the light.  Just beyond the ice, a least a hundred ducks, buffleheads, gulls, mallards, and mergansers, are floating by, looking for something to eat.  

Christmas Morning On Long Point

Yesterday did not seem much like Christmas because it was just the two of us.  It was strange to get up on a Christmas morning and have the house to ourselves, no children or grandchildren.  I did get in a paddle, however, knowing the lake would be frozen this morning.  And after the blog, we had a breakfast of bacon and waffles to look forward to.  Our depression, however, was lifted by a hike through the glorious cathedral of white, the woods of Long Point State Park.  Neither of us had ever seen it so beautiful and we hardly knew when to stop and take another photograph because each view was spectacular. Although we did not run across anyone walking like us, some of the trails showed some use so others had the same idea for a Christmas morning.  We did see a couple of fat tire bikers, making their way through the eight or nine inches of snow.  By the time we were back at the car, our spirits were up and we were ready for the rest of the day.  

We were out for over an hour and did not get home until 1:30.  I was really whooped from the walk and getting up so early, 5:30, so I easily fell asleep reading.  After my nap, we watched some basketball until it was time to shuck some oysters.  We sat around the kitchen, enjoying the oysters as I shucked them, dipping them in a horseradish and ketchup sauce, with a sprinkle of lemon.  Shucking was more difficult than it looks at a bar but I got the hang of it after a while, with help from Jill and Drew via a facetime call.  

Shucking It

f

Face Time With Tom's Family

We had a zoom call with our son Tom and his family in Kansas City and Evie's sisters' in Chicago, Fort Worth, and Gilbert, AZ.  so we had a busy late afternoon.  Before the calls, Evie had prepped our dinner, Greek Lemon chicken, so it was baking in the oven as we talked.  We had the lemon chicken around 7:00, with rice, garlic spinach, and a salad.  This  Greek chicken used to be our family's favorite Christmas Eve dinner. We ended the day, as usual, watching a couple of shows on TV, Midnight Diner and Deadwood before going up to bed early.  

Snow Bound Bird Feeder

Christmas Moved To Sunday

7:22

It's pitch black outside on this Christmas morning and I have been up since 5:30, anxious to see how much snow we received overnight.  Predictions were high but so far, we have four or five inches if that.  More to come over the next 36 hours.  The Winter Storm Warning was so dire, up to 19 inches that we pushed our Christmas dinner with friends off until Sunday.  So, we have two more days until Christmas here at Chautauqua Lake.  It's 7:00 as I finish writing this and it is still dark out, as the sun will not rise until 7:46 when I might be able to kayak.  It's 8:55 and I was able to get in a 25-minute paddle in a light snow, the lake gelatinous and beginning to freeze.  After my paddle, I cleared our parking area and finished just as Evie was getting up,  perfect timing.  

Kayak Morning

Soupy Lake

The major excitement yesterday was the arrival of fresh oysters late afternoon, compliments of our daughter Jill and husband Drew.  We will be enjoying them this evening for sure.  Other than that, it was a quiet day for Christmas Eve with family scattered across the US.  It was too windy to kayak and wet as it rained most of the day, saturating the yards and roads, turning to sleet, and finally snow late last night.

Our decision to put off Christmas until Sunday suddenly freed Evie from the kitchen as her prepping was put off for a couple of days.  We had, then, a lazy day of thinking about Christmas Eve's past, in Hawaii, Turkey, Ohio, and here at Chautauqua Lake.  Evie, of course, had things she wanted to get done and while she did them, I practiced some Yoga With Adrienne since it was raining out and we nixed our walk.  

Lunch arrived early, a vegetable/salad sandwich on lavash, and a bowl of Evie's homemade chicken soup. I watched my show, finished my book, The River, which I really enjoyed, and then downloaded a few books that I thought I might like.  Neither of us did much the rest of the afternoon.  We talked with our son Tom in Kansas City, then watched some TV and read until it was cocktail time.  

7:00 In The Evening

We decided to have our Manhattans on Christmas Eve, rather than waiting for Saturday night. Evie made some popcorn, pulled out a brie and I made our drinks.  We listened to Christmas carols, lit good luck candles from our friends Linda and Ron. and had an enjoyable evening even though we were 'home alone.'  I had to laugh at our dinner, soup and scrambled egg sandwiches with baloney, my request by the way because it was good and easy.  I even looked back at last year's Christmas Eve blog to see what we had for dinner and it was a Turkish omelet with a bagel.  Hey, we don't need the seven or eight fishes like the Italians.  Soup and a sandwich are good enough. We were not sure what to watch and started a Hulu Christmas movie called Happiest Season but after ten minutes, we were not very happy and switched to Midnight Diner.

Wet, Windy And Gray

7:38

Today looks to be a miserable Christmas Eve day, of rain and wind, setting the stage for a snowstorm that should begin late tonight and continue through much of Saturday, mucking up our plans for Christmas Day. Christmas dinner may be on the 26th this year rather than the 25th depending on the snowfall.

Evie's New Look (Wiggin It) (ha, ha)

Wednesday was another day of making lists, waiting, and busying ourselves with getting ready for the holidays and the snowstorm.  Because the lake was still partially frozen, I did not kayak, thinking it would be better on Thursday (which it isn't). We thought about what we wanted to do with the day and decided we had to get in a walk even though neither of us was too big on the idea.  First, Evie put together a pot of chicken and noodles soup for our lunches.  I went up in the attic and pulled down our cross country ski gear, skis, poles, and shoes, getting them ready for the weekend.   Around 10:00, our plumber came to give our boiler and heating system a check-up.  It's taken three months for him to get here and took him at the most, 15 minutes. We then drove to Mayville and walked Webbs Trail, convenient, flat, and the trail is bordered by woods. It usually takes us forty-five minutes and yesterday was no exception, the trail partially covered with snow. 

I was anxious to get home and have a bowl of Evie's soup along with the leftover spaghetti from Tuesday night's dinner.  Evie left around 1:00 and drove to Lakewood, to pick up another order of food from Wegmans via Instacart  You would think we were having our family of 15 over for dinner if you counted the times we have shopped this week.  At least we will be well stocked to be house-bound for the next four or five days.

I read, watched my show, and napped and just as I woke and started cleaning up the kitchen, Evie drove in and I helped bring in the groceries. We spent the rest of the afternoon either reading or on our devices until it was time to make dinner, a throwback to our first years of marriage, the unforgettable gourmet delight, hamburger stroganoff.  Evie whipped it together in 15 minutes and we then enjoyed a wine time, watching the lake turn black and nasty and the wind pick up. Around 7:00, the noodles were done and we had our stroganoff with a salad, happy to finally be sitting down and watching TV, the best part of our day recently, with nothing else to do.  We watched two more episodes of Midnight Diner, an episode of Jeopardy, some news, then two more episodes of Deadwood.