Dahlia Days

Heron On Our Dock This Morning

6:06

8:07

It's an overcast morning, with no evidence of a sunrise and a light wind.  So it's back to Chautauqua gray with no forecast of rain despite the cloudy sky.  Both Evie and I were up by 6:30, thinking about what we have to do today.  It's going to be a warm one, with a high in the '80s again, not exactly Spring temperatures here at the lake.  It's 8:30 and I had a good paddle, over to Long Point, back to Wells Bay and home, shooting both a bald eagle and a heron, a good morning.

Kayak Morning

One Of A Pair Of Bald Eagles

Heron Blending Into The  Grasses

Yesterday was back to normal, to our lake routine, to getting up early and going for a paddle, hoping to shoot a couple of photos of waterfowl.  After breakfast and once Evie was up and ready for bear, we went out and worked in the yard the rest of the day with brief timeouts to catch our wind.  I did little things like get the boat ready, gassing it up, getting it ready for a cruise.  I also set up our buoys, getting them ready to put in the lake this morning.  Meanwhile, Evie is planting her dahlias in planters, make sure that the colors blend.  She has close to 40 dahlias growing in yogurt containers so there's a lot of ground to get turned and ready for the plants.  While she worked, I mowed our neighbor's lawn, taking time out every 15 minutes to relax or check my email.  

By 12:30, I was done and Evie came in and made me a great lunch, fried potatoes with eggs.  I watched my show, Queen Of The South but am getting bored with it.  I then read a few pages of my Tana French novel, fell asleep briefly.  Around 2:00, we needed more potting soil and I decided to drive to Home Depot to get it.  Well, they were out of what I wanted, a driver shortage according to one of the workers.  So I  stopped at Walmart, its parking lot overflowing with cars and shoppers (does anyone work anymore), and picked up five bags which should be enough for Evie's garden.  When I returned, Evie was busy turning the soil in her garden, adding potting soil to make it a rich environment for her dahlias. 

At 5:00, we had enough and grabbed a beer, and went for our first boat cruise of the summer, over to Bemus Point and back.  It was a beautiful late afternoon, blue skies, a few puffy clouds and it was so good to be back out on the lake.  Dinner was chili, thawed from the freezer, over spaghetti with cheese and sour cream.  With a salad, we were happy, loving the chili, a good choice.  It's strange to be back in our TV room, watching TV once again, the same shows as before, Colbert and Jeopardy.  We also started the third season of The Handmaiden's Tale on Hulu.