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.