Parly Cloudy And 40º

6:53

8:36

I woke to full sun sunshine at 6:45 but now, at 7:25, its hazy and the sun is behind veil of thin clouds. The lake has some ripples but it still looks like it will be fine to kayak.  It's 8:45, and Evie's showering and getting ready for school. I just returned from a 40-minute paddle, down to Sandy Bottom and back. My least favorite birds, turkey vultures, were hanging out on a neighbor's steps, about 20 of them. What ugly birds when compared to the striking beauty of the wood ducks, cruising next door.

Kayak Morning

Turkey Vultures

Mallard And Wood Duck

A Pair Of Wood Ducks

Yesterday was a glorious day for the most part, as I paddled down to Whitney Bay and back in bright sun and little if any wind, my kind of a morning. Mondays are wide open because I have no yoga and Evie had plans to make use of our day. We had an extended coffee which was pleasant and by 10:30, Evie was out mowing and I was cutting down the seven-foot Zebra grass from the side of our house, filling a couple of garbage pails with the grass. It always amazes me how tall it's gotten and how stiff it is when I cut it down in the Spring. Because Evie had a bad night, she took her time mowing, stopping every 15 minutes or so.

By noon, Cory, our plumber had arrived to fix the leak under our sink. He decided to put in an entirely new set of pipes since a couple more were rusting out. While he was working, I had lunch, tomato, cheddar, turkey and pickles on sourdough bread. Cory was in and out a couple of times, having to go back to the shop to pick up a few things. After lunch and my series, I took a brief nap, then went out and finished up mowing the lawn because Evie had had enough and just wanted to kick back and relax. Cory finished just as I was done mowing. After mowing, I picked up the mail and ironically, we got another bill from our plumber for fixing the leak in the dishwasher hose. I opened it and it knocked my socks off: $49.59! We thought as usual it would be at least a couple of hundred. Mid-afternoon, I noticed 20 or 30 buffleheads, mergansers and sea gulls, drifting in front of our house, still hanging out on the lake before heading north.

Hanging Out In The Afternoon Sun

It felt good to have gotten some yard things done and get back to my book, Tana French's The Searcher, set in Ireland. While we relaxed with wine, Evie prepped and baked our dinner, chicken, with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. We ate around 6:30 and dinner was great, chicken was nice and tender and juicy. When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed the moon was full in the southeastern sky and took a photo. 

8:10

We watched two episodes of a series on Netflix called Ripley, a remake of the novel and film, The Talented Mr. Ripley. So far, so good. We ended the night with a vow to start watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, all eleven seasons. So far, we have watched just two episodes. Evie went to bed and I stayed up, fortunately, to watch the Knicks beat the 76ers in the final 30 seconds when they were down five points and Philadelphia had the ball. Unbelievable.