Morning Pink

6:24

6:24

6:26

6:27

It's refreshingly cool this morning as I sit on the porch and watch the pink sky turn to gray. The weather is beginning to change from the dog days to a hint of fall as the temperatures will be in the low 70s most of the day.  Yippee. It was a bizarre morning on the lake as I was the only one out with the exception of my neighbor out skiing.  And when I headed back, the wind picked up, it cooled off as a layer of mist covered the lake.  

Kayak Morning

Threatening Northern Sky

Heron Admiring Joyce's Garden

The heat, however, continued much of yesterday draining much of our mojo.  The day began for me with getting up early, kayaking for an hour, and coming home to the guys from Serpro.  They have decided we will have to have much of our kitchen floor torn out, the subfloor dried and then we can find a guy to install new flooring, hopefully finding the maple flooring that matches.  We have called an installer who has been recommended.  In fact, he probably installed our floor 26 years ago but he has yet to return our call.  We fear we may be without a new floor for weeks if not months because of delays in finding someone who can do the work.  Around 10:00 Evie went out to do some weeding and deadheading in her garden and I drove to Lakewood for a bike ride.  I rode for close to an hour through neighborhoods, to Burtis Bay, Celeron, and to Jamestown before turning back.  

Gathering Weeds At Burtis Bay

After my ride, I did a quick run-through of Aldi's, picking up a few essentials, and was home by 12:30. For lunch, Evie made me a goose liver sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo and I finished the first season of Proof.  Fortunately, there is a second season so I will have something to watch for the next week.

The rest of the afternoon we both spent relaxing, napping, or reading, both on the porch or dock. The temperature was in the low 80s but it was pleasant enough either on the porch or out on the dock.  I joined Evie on the dock around 3:30 and we stayed out until 5:00 when it was time to get dinner ready.  While Evie prepped, I had a beer with my next-door neighbor Bill until it was time to grill the pork steaks. They took about five minutes to grill and along with roasted cauliflower, baked potatoes, and a salad, we had a fine dinner.  We watched an older film, The Lincoln Lawyer, based on a Michael Connelly novel and it was a good way to wile away the evening.  We ended the night with a Real-Time With Bill Maher which we had missed from early August. 

An Overcast and Gray Morning

7:21

It's 8:45 as I start this blog although I was up at 6:30 to dark skies, a light drizzle.  I went out to paddle in my raincoat, felt a few drops of rain but that was it, just threatening skies.  At the moment, it is in the 70s and may not get much warmer and may not get back in the 80s for quite a while.

Kayak Morning

Sunday, however, was another hot and humid day, the sixth or seventh in a row. We were both up early and I got in a paddle before it became too warm.  I was tired of sitting around and did not want to waste the morning so put my bike on my bike rack and drove down to Mayville's park. It was warm but most of the time I had a breeze so my 50-minute bike ride was not too bad.  Much of the ride was in the shade and I kept off the dangerous #394, with traffic going at a 55mph minimum.  Just as I put my bike back on the rack, it started to rain some so I timed it perfectly.

Northern End Of Lake

Evie was on the porch reading when I returned, the only cool spot in the house.  Around 12:30, she heated up the leftover sausage and grits casserole, fried up a couple of eggs and I had my big breakfast.  I couldn't wait to get back to my series, Proof,  I then read and napped, my usual, and later joined Evie on the porch because another brief thunderstorm arrived, chasing her off the dock. We both have lost our mojo, a result of the flooding of our kitchen floor and uncertainty as to what to with it.

Good Friends

We both showered at 4:30 because we were having dinner at our friend Wendy's house, along with two other couples. We had dinner with Fred and Judy a few weeks ago but neither of us had seen Cle and Penny in a couple of years so it was great fun to see them again.  We had appetizers and wine in Wendy's living room, then a delicious chicken casserole for dinner.  Both Evie and I have known Cle and Penny since the 80s because I taught both of their sons at Reserve and their son Robbie was our son Tom's very good friend.  So it was a fun night, lots of reminiscing and catching up with all five. For dessert with had brownies and ice cream. We then said our goodbyes and vowed to see each other more often. We were home around 8:45, in time to watch an episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, our only political fix of the week.  

Dog Days Of August

6:52

6:53

It's 9:00 and I have been up since 6:15, went for a 70-minute paddle on a quiet lake, and was able to photograph a couple of herons and a juvenile bald eagle so it was a good morning. Evie's up, working in her garden before it gets too warm.  It's 73º already with a 96% humidity and should get up into the 80's in the afternoon.

Kayak Morning

Long Point

Campground Trees

Juvenile Eagle

Above The Reeds

Yesterday was much like Thursday and Friday, hot and humid, making it difficult to accomplish anything in or out.  The good news is that Servpro removed the noisy machine that supposedly sucks the water from between the floorboards as well as the cyclone fan, drying out our carpet.  So we have only a humidifier and a couple fans going in the crawl space.  Monday will be the day of decisions, whether we need new flooring or not, perhaps a new carpet if it does not come clean. Breathe, Relax, Repeat.

Once the Servpro guy left, we were able to at least get the refrigerator cleaned out, the trash taken out to the car and I drove to the Transfer Station.  It was crowded, few if any with masks and I was glad to get out of there. When I got home, Evie was already on the front porch reading, looking for a cool place to relax. I had lunch, a leftover Slovenian sausage, and soup and watched an Irish series from 2005 called Proof which I am liking. I am beginning to enjoy napping upstairs in an air-conditioned bedroom rather than the couch.  It's quiet and when I came downstairs, I did not realize it had briefly rained, enough however to chase Evie off the dock.  Around 4:00, we both went out to read and enjoy the sun and breeze until it was time to get ready to go to Linda and Ron's for dinner.  It was supposed to be at our house but when Linda realized what was going on with our house and the flooring, she insisted we come there for dinner.  We did not argue.

Dinner On The Porch

It rained just as we were leaving, again, only for ten minutes or so.  We were able to have beer and appetizers on their front porch and listen to it rain briefly, enough to up the humidity I suppose.  Ron and I cooked burgers and corn on the grill and it was just what we wanted, juicy burgers with all kinds of topping and corn, blackened just a touch.  We had dessert inside, coconut ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce, toasted coconut, and cherries,  a delicious way to end the evening. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  We did not get home till 10:00 and both of us were tired enough from doing nothing to go up to bed.

  

Hot And Humid

7:05

It's late as I start this, 9:20 because I got up late, just after 7:00, and paddled for over an hour over to Tom's Point and back. The heat hit me on the way back from Tom's Point with a slight wind at my back and paddling seemed like I was moving through mud.  I was happy to get home.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was another bizarre day as we continue to have a wind tunnel blowing in our house. The supervisor for Servepro was here and put in more fans and wants us to leave them until Monday when he will then determine whether we need new kitchen flooring or not.  So we will be living outside, either on the dock or porch for the next two dog days of summer, with high humidity and temperatures. Around 10:00 yesterday, I got sick of doing nothing so I tied my bike onto my car and drove over to Bemus where I rode through the park and along Lakeside Drive.  

Long Point

There was a decent breeze so it was not as warm as I expected and I enjoyed the ride.  When I got home, Evie was finished with working in the garden and it was getting too warm to be outside.  I had a lunch of leftover Cincinnati chili, watched a terrible show on Korean ramen, then went upstairs, turned on the air conditioner, and read and napped.

Storm A Coming

The rest afternoon it was too warm in the house, bearable on the porch and comfortable out on the dock because of the wind and shade of the umbrella. Late afternoon it looked threatening so we went in on the porch and then because heavy rain was predicted, I raced out on the dock and put the cover on my boat in record time.  Of course, it rained for maybe ten minutes and that was it for the heavy thunderstorm warning.

Earlier in the day, when we thought the machinery from Servepro was going to be taken away, we laughing joked that we would make it a Manhattan night if the fans and stuff were staying, thinking no way.  Well, by 5:30, we were settled on our front porch with a couple of mannies and a bowl of popcorn, away from the noise, on a crystal clear late afternoon and early evening.  It was if the light rain had washed everything and all was clean and clear.  Dinner was the Slovenian sausages that my sister had thoughtfully brought us and we watched the last two episodes of Atlantic Crossing. We both ended up liking it more than new thought we would, especially the last two episodes.

Running On Empty

6:14

It's still foggy as I start my blog at 8:20.  I was up at 5:30, a beautiful morning although overcast, not a ripple on the lake as I started out for a paddle.  Off to the north, however, I could see the fog moving in, and although it's not thick, it still muddles my long-distance photos. I was out for an hour, caught a couple of herons along the shore and in the trees but missed an eagle, which flew by as I approached. 

Kayak Morning

Kathy and Medio Out For A Paddle

A Hung Over Heron

We had a surprisingly good morning despite the roar of the various machines in our kitchen, filling the downstairs.  I was up early and waited almost two hours for someone to come down and join me.  Finally, at 8:00, all three came down to enjoy their coffee with me out on the porch. The difference in temperature between the house and porch was at least 20º. Fortunately, it was pleasant out on the porch as well as in the yard so we could eat our breakfast outside.  

2014

Breakfast With My Sister, Linda, and Her Husband Rich

Evie made one of Rich's favorites, grits with sausage and chilies, mine also.  With a couple of eggs, melon, and bagels, we were happy to be up and enjoying the morning.  As it started to warm up, we decided to go for a cruise and it was a good idea.  We boated over to Bemus, along the Lakeside Drive, then down to Maple Springs and home.  While we were out, our granddaughter Marisa, a freshman at Vanderbilt, called Evie to her delight and filled her in on her first few days and school.  She's doing well.  We were home just before noon and Linda and Rich were ready to head home so we said our goodbyes, vowed to see each other more often, and we were once again alone in our noisy house. Yuck. I was surprised at how much fun we had despite the hassle of the noise and machines. 

I had some of the zucchini soup for lunch, then took a nap upstairs in an air-conditioned bedroom. Evie stayed on the porch and started one of the hot summer beach reads, Malibu Rising. After my nap, I decided the only cool place was the dock, with a dip in the lake whenever I became too hot,  So I stayed out there for much of the afternoon, reading under our umbrella.  Evie joined me around 5:00 and we had a glass of wine on the dock as a breeze picked up, making it nice to be there.

Around 7:00, we were able to ensconce ourselves in the TV room.  The first time we tried turning on the TV room air conditioner, the breaker went off.  So we moved one of the electric cords to another outlet and we were able to watch TV, enjoy our dinner of moussaka and a salad, in a comfortable room.  We watched some of the reporting of the tragic news from Afghanistan, then two more episodes of Atlantic Crossing predictable but entertaining.

A Scorcher Of A Day

A Fun But Sweltering Day

6:17

7:10

It's 6:50 and I have been up for forty minutes and have been sitting comfortably on our porch to avoid the heat and noise in our house.  I will explain later. It's 68º and as I said, pleasant on the porch, the sky mostly overcast with a slash of color off to the north over the shoreline. 

Wednesday was a bizarre day to say the least. It started normally with a paddle but then Evie and I got busy organizing the house, vacuuming, do the little things you need to do before guests, in this case, my sister and husband. To complicate matters, because of the flood in our kitchen on Tuesday, we called Serve Pro and they arrived around 9:00, ready to remediate the problem. Little did we know what that meant. They brought in two dehumidifiers, one for the crawl space and one for the kitchen.  And they brought another device that supposedly sucks the moisture out of our wooden kitchen floor.  They placed mats down and a hose suction the moisture from the mats. And that was not all; we also had a high-powered fan blowing air under our carpet, drying it out along with the mat and floor.  So when you walked into our house, it was like a wind tunnel or visiting the roar of Niagara Falls.  That's what greeted Linda and Rich when they arrived around 11:30.

Mitigation In Full Force

They were good sports, laughed with us because they had also visited us years ago when we had another catastrophe, making it impossible to stay in our house. We braved the noise for a bit before realizing it was going to be more pleasant either on the porch or in the yard. We moved the table under our trees where there was a bit of a breeze and had a nice lunch, a chilled zucchini soup with dill, corn on the cob, and bruschetta. It was bearable even the temperature got up to 90ºs in the afternoon. After lunch, we had a time out or nap time. Evie, Linda, and /Rich sat in the shade of our side yard in lounge chairs where it was surprisingly cool, read and napped,  despite the heat, and I went upstairs, turned on the air conditioner, and read and took a nap. I joined them around 3:00 and we sat around talking since we had not had a chance to really catch up in over a year.  

Mellow Yellow

Around 4:30, we went for a swim and sat on the dock, enjoying the cool breeze, the water, and the afternoon.  It was by far the most pleasant spot to be and we did not want to leave.  However, happy hour was calling so we came in, got dressed and had wine on the porch with corn fritters and a special sauce that Evie made.  It had cooled off some from 90º by then and with the ceiling fan in, we were comfortable. We were able to eat outside, away from the noise and it ended up being a perfect night for dining alfresco.  Evie had made a moussaka earlier so that was our main course with a salad and rolls,  We stayed out enjoying our dinner and talking until it started to get dark and moved to the porch for dessert, a peach crisp with vanilla ice cream.  We stayed out on the porch talking until 10:00 when we decided we were tired enough to go upstairs and read some before sleep. It was a surprisingly fun day despite the noise and heat. 

Sun Rising On A Close Morning

 

6:46

6:16

6:12

6:03

I have been sitting on the front porch since 6:00, watching the pink, then red sky turn blue when the sun rose, an orange globe hanging over Bemus Bay. It's 68º and today will be another warm August day, highs in the mid-80s. Let's hope for a breeze since my sister Linda and brother-in-law Rich will arrive by lunch and spend the night.  I also have been listening to a Bill Simmons podcast and he spent a good amount of time talking about why the Browns or Bills could win the Super Bowl. What surprise. It's 9:30 as I finish this and did get in a forty five minute paddle before the guys from Serve Pro arrived.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday morning was a disaster with the flood from our refrigerator.  Fortunately, the plumber arrived by 8:15 and fixed the problem although now we have to deal with whether the wood floor has been damaged as well as a section of our living room carpet which is still wet.  We called Servepro and they will be coming by this morning to access the damage and help dry things out.  Let's hope insurance will cover their fee. Once I sopped up the water and the plumber had been called, I went kayaking, had breakfast, and left for yoga with Evie's blessings. She was going to be busy with prepping our dinner for tonight so she had no need of my hanging around.  

So after yoga, I hit Wegman's one more time to pick up a few things and forgot a couple because my Wegman's list on my phone suddenly disappeared.  Luckily our neighbor was going to the store so she picked up what I forgot.  When I got home, I got a couple of things done I was dreading, fixing a broken board on our dock, which I did before lunch, then gassing up the boat and finishing the edging weeding of the brick walk after my nap. Lunch was leftover chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy from Sunday night's dinner, Evie finished her prepping in the morning, then worked in the yard and garden taking frequent breaks.

Balloon Over Lake In The Afternoon

We both had zoom calls at 5:00, Evie with her sisters, me with a Schwab advisor.  I guess I now quality for having an advisor. We planned an easy dinner because of the calls, so Evie pulled some chili out of the freezer earlier, heated it up, boiled some noodles and we had Cincinnati chili for dinner, along with a salad and fresh corn on the cob. We watched Bill Maher, always entertaining, our only political fix of the week, the two more episodes of Atlantic Crossing and neither of us was too taken with it as it became a bit silly, with FDR's drives through the countryside and its hard to sympathize with the plight of Norway's royalty when you think of what Hitler was doing to Jewish families, young and old. 

Fog, Humidity and Heat

7:10

Well, it's 7:00 and I woke to our kitchen floor flooded with water.  I quickly sopped it up, then went under the house to turn off the ice maker valve and found pipes were dripping, the floor puddling up.  So I turned off the ice maker and the water to the house and will call the plumber at 8:00.  A nice way to wake up, right. By the way, the fog is so heavy I cannot see Long Point once again.  It's 8:54 and the good news is the plumber has been here, will be back to fix the problem with the ice maker hose, the source of the water leaks, and I also got in a half-hour of kayaking.  All's well that ends well!

Kayak Morning

Monday was another day with temperatures in the 80s but we were able to get things done and when we got too warm, we jumped in the lake, a body refresher.  I had a long paddle to Long Point and then we finished the blog and planned our day.  Evie wanted to get things done in the garden and I had a few things I wanted to get done as well.  So about 10:00, Evie set up the garden hose from the lake and gave the garden and trees a good watering.  I got out the hedge trimmers and gave the privets a trim.  Once I was done, I drove over to Greenhurst because Evie wanted more peaches for crisps and pies.  How could I say no.  I also filled up my car and a couple of five gallons cans for the boat and was home by noon.  Evie had finished watering by then and made me a quesadilla for lunch, with avocadoes, yum.  

I watched my neverending series, tried to nap, read some then decided I would get out shopping done.  Evie had a list made up for me so I was off to Wegmans around 2:00 and for once, found everything she needed and found a quick line even though it was fairly crowded for a Monday.  I was surprised that more shoppers were not wearing masks because the numbers of Covid cases are rising precipitously. When I returned, I hit the couch, read, a napped briefly.  Evie had spent much of the day in the garden so she went for a swim and I worked some on the brick path.  

Wine Time At The Noble Vinyard

Our neighbors, Bud and Debi had called earlier to see if we wanted to go to the Noble Winery around 4:00.  It seemed like a good idea so we off to Westfield, with Barb, another neighbor.  The winery is set up on a hill, overlooking Lake Eri, filled with vineyards, with the blue lake in the distance. The view is spectacular and we were able to enjoy our wine in the shade, cooled by a nice breeze off the lake. Bud and Debi had just returned from hiking the trails around Mt. Rainier so we had fun listening to their adventures. What a great way to spend the afternoon, with friends and a lovely view.  We stayed until 6:00 and closed up the place and were home by 6:30.  

View From The Terrace

Evie had dinner prepped so we were able to have our salmon, rice, and garlic spinach by 6:45.  And best of all, after trying another film, we found a series we like on PBS called Atlantic Crossing.  It's set during WW II in Norway, as the Nazis are invading and the royal family has to flee and I assume, FDR comes to their rescue.