A Fine Day Ruined

7:27

8:29

It's 6:50 and pitch black outside. We must have gotten some drizzle last night because the brick walk looks wet. I have been up since 6:15, waiting for some daylight so I can get out on the lake before yoga class. It's 7:25, just becoming light, or gray I would say and it looks like Indian Summer is over. It's cloudy and windy, and I am wondering if it's worth kayaking. 

Kayak Morning

Sandy Bottom

Heron On Shoreline

Yesterday was about as perfect a fall day as there can be. I know I said the same thing a couple of days ago but Monday was spectacular, the lake a big, smooth pond, the sky blue. I had an eighty-minute paddle down to Snug Harbor and back. After coffee, breakfast, and the blog, we sat around trying to decide what to do on such a beautiful day. Take a long drive to Zoar Valley, hike its woods, then maybe enjoy an early dinner at the Slovenian Club in Gowanda. So that was our goal but first, we would get a few things done in the yard and before we knew it, we had bagged the idea of the drive and hike and we worked in the yard until 4:00, getting things done but ruining the beautiful day.

Evie spent the day working on her dahlias, pulling them out cleaning the tubers and saving those that she wanted to store for the winter. I helped on and off but mostly spent the day working in the yard, mulching, and taking three containers of leaves and twigs up the hill. I also gathered a couple of containers of pine needles from our Austrian pines and spread them around the roots of a number of small trees that we planted on the hill last year. They are supposedly great mulch. We also put up the curtain on our porch, after taking everything off and cleaning and sweeping it. Now we are ready for winter.

We both took time out for lunch and Evie made me an omelet with sauteed meatloaf, something we used to call a western, with a bowl of chicken noodle soup. I watched my show and Evie relaxed a bit. I then read some, tried to nap but couldn't, and joined Evie outside and worked until 3:00 when I drove to Hogan's and bought chips and dip. We decided to treat ourselves to a special happy hour since we never did leave the yard. By 5:00, the containers were empty, the leaves in the backyard were mulched and the tubers were in a container, ready to be stored in our crawl space. We had beers to go with our chips and dip, Evie's favorite, and we were happy, finally, with our day, having gotten a lot done. As we sat enjoying our libations and chips,  the colors on Long Point dimmed as the sun began to dip. We also marveled at the falling leaves and wondered why they continued to fall on a windless afternoon. 

6:21

Dinner was leftover meatloaf and mushroom gravy Evie put together, to go with our fried potatoes, and salad, a feast after a busy day. We still are looking for a series so watched Jeopardy and a couple other shows, none of which we liked enough to stay with them.