Still Sunny, Still Warm

Lake Life

6:18

8:45

It's 6:40 and the living room is filled with sunlight and it's already uncomfortably warm for June, 68º. Now that Memorial Day weekend is over, it's back to normal, a quiet neighborhood, a few boats on the lake, the way we like it. 

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Great Blue At Long Point

Purple Martin

Same Gal

Monday was special because we had our granddaughter with us.  Other than that, it was a fairly normal day.  I paddled for over an hour, working up a sweat and was back before anyone was up. By 9:30, when we finished the blog, it was already getting warm although not yet in the 80's.  Evie wanted me to pick up a few things in Mayville so I drove there about 10:30, then washed my car before driving home. Marisa was up relaxing on the porch and Evie was starting to prep dinner, baking potatoes for twice baked later in the day. 

Kayak Afternoon

By the time we thought about doing something, like a walk, it was already in the 80s so we nixed that and looked for a cool place to relax. l had the leftover pasta for lunch and watched the second half of the Celtic's nail-biter over Miami Heat. I then couched it, finished my book, and yes, a few survived the Safari. Evie was looking for something to do so she mowed out lawn in stages, taking frequent water breaks because of the heat and humidity. I joined her after a nap and cut our neighbor's yard, too, so our front yards look manicured.

Late Afternoon Cruise

We decided on a boat ride at 5:00 and we cruised down to just beyond the Viking Club, crossed the lake, and headed home along the western shoreline. It was a beautiful night, not much traffic because the weekenders were heading home. In fact, the lake traffic all day was light, after a busy Sunday. 

For dinner, we went classic Memorial Day fare and had burgers for Evie and me, and vegetarian for Marisa of her own making, with salad and the twice-baked potatoes. I have to admit after three days of vegetarian cooking, which I liked, the burgers tasted yummy.  We did up the dishes, cleaned the kitchen and sat on the front porch until it was TV time.  We were disappointed to realize that we had only one episode of our series and will have to wait till next week for the final episode.

 

It Was A Very Good Day

Chillin On The Dock

6:04

6:46

8:35

It's 8:40 as I start this blog and it looks like a warm, sunny blue sky day. I woke to clouds, the sun hidden behind them but eventually, they moved off as I kayaked and the lake glistened with the sun's reflection. I paddled for 80 minutes, north to Snug Harbor and back.  It was warm going with the wind at my back, nice and cool coming home. 

Kayak Morning

Fishing

Prancing

Yesterday was a day of relaxation and everyone did just what they wanted. I paddled of course and took a walk around Woodlawn before Marisa came downstairs. We were not sure what to do with our day, perhaps go for a walk but by the time we wanted to go, we had lost our mojo and decided to hang out on the porch or out on the dock as it was getting too nice to sit in the house. So that's what we did for most of the morning and afternoon, suck up some sun. Lunch for me was the leftover eggplant casserole and Marisa made herself an egg white and spinach omelet, which was nice and healthy.

Captain And Patriarch

After lunch, I returned to my book, increasingly violent as one after another of the group on the safari is killed. Maybe it's not the kind of book to read if you are going on a safari. I took a brief nap and Marisa went for a long paddle, down to the Power Boat Club and back on a busy lake day. It's as if suddenly hundreds of boats appeared on the lake this Memorial Day weekend. We then either sat on the dock or in the side yard depending on the wind.  By 5:00, however, it died down so we went for a cruise, over to Bemus, along Lakeside Drive and home, perfect timing as the lake was beginning to quiet down. 

Marisa And Her Granny

Earlier in the afternoon, Evie had put together a mushroom, leek, and sundried tomatoes pasta sauce, so dinner was boiling the penne, and adding the sauce. It was a new recipe and everyone really liked it and it was gluten-free, vegetarian, and I assume healthy.  After dinner, we sat on the front porch, enjoying the early evening, reading or on devices. We then watched an episode and a half of Under The Banner Of Heaven. It's an increasingly scary look at LDS fanatics who believe in the primacy of the Book Of Mormon as if it's the only truth. It reminds me of today, with the crazies out there, mostly on the right, a few on the left, and the series The Handmaid's Tale, where women are subservient to men, treated like sheep, and incapable of independent thinking. 

Crocheted Bucket Hats By Beth

A Chilly, Partly Cloudy Mornning.

A Female Merganser

Cheaper By The Dozen

6:40

It's 9:00 as I start this although I have been up since 6:00.  It was a chilly 48º then but now, it's already up to 59º, and should get up to 70º in the afternoon.  I paddled for seventy minutes, to Long Point, across to the Power Boat Club, and home.  It was worth it to photograph a family of mergansers, the mom and a dozen babies, on the tip of Long Point.

Kayak Morning

A Mottled Lake And Sky

Yesterday was a strange day since we really did not take advantage of the blue skies and sun, mostly because it was still chilly, or too chilly for Marisa, after a few weeks in Dallas heat.  And for some reason, few neighbors were up for the holiday.  I paddled, of course, and was up for three hours before Evie, four hours before Marisa. Around 10:00, I gathered the trash and went off to my weekly trip to the Transfer Station. After I returned, Evie had finished up her shopping list with the help of Marisa, and off we went to a packed Wegmans as everyone was getting ready for Memorial Day. Between the three of us, we got out fairly quickly although our cashier was obviously a rookie, as he tried to weigh the fresh sweet corn, rather than charge it by the dozen until I corrected him.

We were home by 12:30 and Evie quickly made up a bowl of guacamole with fresh sweet corn and heated up the black bean soup, The corn added a sweetness to the guacamole and we loved it. I couldn't wait to get back to my book, The Lionness, set in Africa, as a safari of celebrities gets kidnapped by a group of Russian mercenaries in 1964. Coincidentally, my daughter Beth is reading it as well on a safari in Rwanda at the moment.  After lunch, Marisa walked the neighborhood for an hour while I napped and Evie started to put together our dinner, a casserole layered with eggplant, cheese, tomatoes, bread crumbs, eggs, and squash, having it ready to bake at dinner time. Despite the fine weather, all three of us hunkered down in the living room, and even turned on the fireplace because we were chilly.  Late afternoon we watched another episode of our series on Hulu, Under The Banner Of Heaven. 

Afternoon Sun, Shadows, And Clouds

We were enjoying our casserole by 6:30, with a salad and rolls, I really liked it but Evie was not too taken with it and would not make it again. I like anything with eggplant so I was happy. We adjourned to the living room to our devices, as the sky darkened. We then watched an episode and a half of our series before going up to bed early, at 10:00, tired from our shopping I guess. 

A Long, Early Paddle In A Mist

Marisa And Her Baba

5:45

8:15

It's 8:24 as I begin this blog.  I woke at 5:30 to rain, an overcast sky, and 58º. I spent the next hour, with my coffee and listening to Bill Simmons. By then, the rain had stopped and I took an hour and a half paddle, to Bootey Bay, to Tom's Point, across to Bemus Point, back to Long Point, and home. All this paddling and not a glimpse of any interesting wildlife, other than a pair of martins.

Bridge To Bemus Point

A Leisurely Morning Paddle

Purple Martins Settling In Their Gourd

Friday was rainy early morning but settled down during the day and started raining again in the evening. After kayaking, we spent a good part of the morning waiting for Marisa, our granddaughter to wake after a day of travel, from Dallas to Buffalo to the lake. We envy our grandchildren's ability to sleep. Finally, she got up, around 10:30.  Once Marisa was awake and fed, she was ready to go for a hike around the Chautauqua Institution. The CI is suddenly alive, the streets back with construction vehicles and residents, the front yards of the homes in bloom as spring has finally arrived in full. We walked for forty-five minutes, with a stop at the bookstore.

Thunder Bridge

Our walk tired us so we were ready to relax, and have lunch,  Evie made a couple of chicken/ham sandwiches for me and we also had black bean soup. We ate on the front porch as the sun came out. I then adjourned to the house, read, and napped. I was out for a good hour, having been up since 5:00. Marisa was out like a light on the porch for at least a couple of hours, obviously wiped out from her travels. I joined Evie in the yard.  She had been busy planting the last of the dahlias. I then spread the rest of the topsoil and put away in the garage attic empty pots and spring stuff that we no longer need. 

We came in at 5:00,  tired out but Evie still had to make dinner. I helped some with the dishes as she put together a vegetarian curry of cauliflower and garbanzo beans over rice. It was filling and good along with a salad, neither of us missed meat. We relaxed some in the living room, on our phones, following the travels of Beth and Rami in Rwanda. 

7:45 PM

Around 8:00, we watched Jeopardy, then started a riveting series on Hulu, based on a Jon Krakauer novel, Under The Banner Of Heaven. Set in Utah, a Mormon detective investigating a murder in an LDS community has his faith tested. 

Listening To The Rhythm Of The Falling Rain

6:30

It's 7:09 and I am in no hurry to kayak because it's been raining since I got up at 6:30. In fact, we already have close to an inch of rain overnight and it will rain most of the morning, bad for kayaking, but good for Evie's newly planted dahlias. It's 7:40, raining harder than ever so I doubt if I will get out on the lake so I will have to be satisfied with sitting out on the front porch, listening to the rain while Evie and Marisa sleep. Well, it's now 9:48, Evie's up, Marisa's sleeping and I waited for the rain to turn to drizzle and padded for forty minutes. 

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was a get ready for the arrival of our granddaughter Marisa from Dallas. Her parents should be landing in Istanbul on Turkish Airlines in the next hour before flying after a four-hour layover to Rwanda for a couple of weeks in Africa.  They will spend a couple of days on mountain gorillas treks in Rwanda then fly to Kenya and spend a week on a photo safari. Marisa will spend at least a week with us before traveling to see friends and her brothers in LA, quite the family of travelers. 

Friday, then was the usual morning, kayaking and blogging before Evie drove to Wegmans to do some 'big shopping' while I practiced Yoga With Adrian. When she returned,  I had to leave by 11:30 for an appointment with my cardiologist in Ashtabula, an hour and a half ride which ruined most of my day. It was a cursory appointment, so it was basically a waste of time. 

I was home by 2:30 and Evie had been busy, getting the house and Marisa's room ready, then mowing the lawn, working up quite a sweat. We didn't do much after that except play the waiting game. We had an easy dinner of leftover cabbage, noodles, and ham and watched our shows, really loving The First Lady on Showtime. We also continually checked flights because Marisa was not arriving in Buffalo until 10:30. A driver picked her up on time and she arrived just about midnight, happy to be at the lake. It should be a fun week for all of us.

 

Clear Skies, Sunny, And 60º

5:47

6:10

7:37

It's just after 6:00 as I start this and I have been up since 5:30, alas. The flag is flapping as the wind is picking up.  I hope I can get in a paddle before it gets too choppy out there. I was out by 7:30, paddled for an hour, windy going, decent on the way back and out for an our before driving to Bemus Point for breakfast, a start to this morning.

Kayak Morning

Paddling North

Eagle At Bootey Bay

Great Blue At Victoria

Yesterday was dahlia planting day, long-awaited, as Evie has to be confident we will not get a frost. The tubers have sprouted, some four to six inches, others just popping out of the soil in their containers. Before getting busy, I paddled for an hour and photographed one of the few herons I have seen this spring. Where are all of them? Since it was Wednesday, I did not have yoga so by 9:30, I was out with shovels and rakes, digging up the dahlia beds with a shovel, then raking them to break the clumps, so that Evie could plant her dahlias.  The bending over to shovel always stresses my back, so I took time out occasionally to do some yoga to loosen it up and it helps. It took me a good part of the morning to get the best ready but by noon, I was relaxing in the TV room, enjoying a lunch of a chicken sandwich and watching my show.

A Bed Of Dahlias

Evie then started planting her dahlias, figuring out which colors go best next to each other, making sure they were 12 inches apart, and digging holes at least six inches deep, It took her as much time to figure out which dahlias went where before planting. With occasional breaks, she was not finished until 4:30. 

Meanwhile, I read some, napped, then woke refreshed and since Evie did not need my help, I drove to the Lighthouse Grocery, parked my bike, and rode to the beginning of Webb's Trail and biked two sections of it, all the way to Rt. 426 and back. It's tough going a slight grade, easy returning. It was a fine afternoon for a ride on what was once a railroad track, both sides of the trail wooded. I was home just as Evie finished and put everything away for her. 

For dinner,  we decided on wings and ordered them from the VFW in Mayville at the suggestion of our dock guy who is their cook.  It was a good choice, the wings nice and crispy and loads of both regular and sweet potato fries. Little change in our viewing, Jeopardy, Colbert, and First Wives with a dash of the NBA thrown in.

Windy, Cloudy And 57º

A Great Blue Heron Morning

6:47

It's 7:30, fewer bass boats are out on the lake this morning, sensing the gray day I suppose. The rest of the day should be similar, with no sun, and temperatures in the low 70s. We have only one thing on our agenda, get ready for our granddaughter Marisa's visit late tomorrow. It's 9:15 and I paddled for an hour, down to the Power Boat Club and back, rough going, easy returning. 

Kayak Morning

Sandy Bottom Bald Eagle

A Prancing Great Blue Heron

Tuesday was a lost day for Evie, a decent one for me. I got in an early paddle before driving off to yoga at 9:30. Our teacher Courtney was back after about with Covid. After class, I got a text from Evie asking me to pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner. That was unusual but I stopped at Wegmans, bought an increasingly expensive but shrinking chicken,.

I was home by noon and Evie had made use of old cabbage and put together a noodle and cabbage dish for dinner.  Because I bought some swiss cheese as well as chicken, Evie made me toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. Yum. I watched a few minutes of the Celtic's destruction of the Heat, and the neverending series, The Sopranos.  The rest of the day despite the sun and temperatures in the 70s, we did little if anything out in the yard, still tired from Monday's gardening.  After my nap, another good one since I was up early, I felt strangely energetic instead of loggy and decided to go for a bike ride. I drove to Bemus, plugged in my AirPods, and rode through Bemus, then Long Point State park's trails, out to the point and back along Lakeside Drive. It felt great to be out, the woods now covered in green, the trails empty. 

Spring Green

Long Point

Because Evie's Zoom call was at 7:00 we had dinner after the call--the cabbage and noodle casserole along with the rotisserie chicken and a salad. After dinner and the Zoom, we watched episodes of a series on Hulu called Candy, an embellished but factual story of a wife who murders her lover's wife with an ax, striking her 41 times. Nice lady and neighbor. We ended the night with Colbert and Jeopardy, happy to see Ryan Long, an uber driver, win again. 

Once again, the impossible thirty years ago, happened at Robb Elementary School in Texas, the 27th school shooting this year, the 198th mass shooting this year. We cannot imagine what the parents of the 19 children who died are going through today and for the rest of their lives. No thoughts, no prayers, we need action Congress, not politics. The fact that an individual can purchase two assault rifles on his  18th birthday is madness and in no way can be defended by the 2nd amendment.