TGIF...Just Kidding

7:28

7:29

7:30

8:02

It's 8:00 and I have been up since 6:20, enjoying the changing morning sky, of cloud banks, colors, fog and sunshine.  Every morning is a new painting of the same view.  Of course, the pundits are going off on Trump's most recent appointment, super-hawk John Bolton (one scary dude) and Trump's most recent infidelity, Karen MacDougal. Both are dominating this morning's news, with Bolton pushing the MacDougal story off the screen.

Long Point at 7:35

Yesterday was not a fun day, especially for Evie because we drove to Erie so she could get another epidural.  And in preparation, the doctor prescribed a couple of valiums, so she was really woozy much of the late morning and early afternoon.  We went straight home and I settled Evie on the couch in the TV room so she was comfortable and she spent most of the afternoon there, relaxing and getting to normal.

This Morning's Photo Around 7:30 (Reminiscent Of A Beth Painting)

I helped out whenever she needed something and I finished off the sub from the Lighthouse for lunch, read my book SOURDOUGH  and easily fell asleep on the couch for a half hour.  We had planned on meeting Linda and Ron for a wine tasting at Lakewood's wine shop, Bags and Strings and then dinner but this was before we found out Evie was going to get the epidural.  Like a good wife, Evie insisted on my going, that she was happy to relax at home.  So we drove to the wine shop around 6:00, stood around tasting wines and talking about them with the expert and I went home with a couple of bottles that I liked.  We then walked about 50 yards down to Craft Burgers and Brews, sat at the bar and had our dinner.  I ordered a burger with jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and onion straws.  It was decent, not great but I liked the fries.  Linda also got a burger and Ron ordered a rice bowl with steak which he liked.  We stayed till about 8:00 then drove home.

Missing Evie

Evie seemed happy to have stayed home but was visibly upset with the news that Mc Master was out and Bolton was in.  I can understand why because we are definitely a couple of steps closer to a possible military confrontation with either North Korea or Iran, both Bolton's boogiemen.  We ended up watching Anderson Cooper's interview Trump's latest paramour, Karen MacDougal.  There was no reason to doubt that she had a 10-month affair with Trump just after his son Baron was born.  Big deal. We have always known he's a serial philanderer to go along with being a pathological liar.  None of his supporters cares because it's not Obama.  Otherwise, they would be on an impeaching warpath.  What a world  Trump et al are creating for our grandchildren.  I am ashamed.

Blue Skies, Nothing But Blue Skies

7:24

7:28

7:46

It's just after 7:00. the sky has opened up, creamy clouds hang over the eastern shore, the sky a light blue above.  It's still chilly, 18º, and most yards except ours are snow covered.  I must be thinking spring because I have been looking up where to find dahlias, as many dahlias societies have tuber sales, the closest seems to be in Cleveland. 

Yesterday was taken up with a  trip to Erie, for Evie had another appointment at the Pain Institute at 11:30.  She had a good visit with her doctor and we are going back this morning for another epidural which we hope will solve her problem.  The doctor is optimistic.  After the appointment, we hit the humongous Sam's Club in Erie, much more crowded than our local Sam's Club used to be.  We had a big list of things we wanted to buy, so Evie happily took off shopping without me as I decided I would rather have a hotdog, with sauerkraut and coke then shop.  I joined her after 20 minutes, her cart overflowing with products and we had not even gotten to the food section.  It is, I admit, a top notch Sam's, not quite as good as a Costco but close.  We ended up spending mucho bucks but stocked up on lots of paper products for summer when our kids arrive for a couple of weeks in July, a nice thought.

We were going to hit Bed, Bath and Beyond as well but had enough shopping after Sam's so we just went home, getting there around 1:30.  It took us quite awhile to unpack, even longer to find a place in our pantry to store things.  Once that was done, we both relaxed, me with my book and a nap, Evie with some TV and kitchen prep.  Around 3:30, Evie needed a prescription from Wegman's so I drove into Lakewood, picked up a coffee at Ryder's Cup, got the car washed, hit Wegman's and the bank and was home in time for wine time.  Meanwhile, Evie had been busy prepping our dinner, rotisserie chicken from Sam's, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, and brussel sprouts. A real diner like dinner.  We watched the last episode of The Killing, much more violent than we remembered, but the final scene brought both of us to tears, the best ending to a series by far.  We also watched some Vice News and started a Norwegian series called OCCUPIED.  We decided to watch the first season again before starting the new second season. 

Overcast With Perhaps Rain/Snow Mix

7:25

A quiet morning here at the lake, no exciting sunrise, just gray on gray, as the morning becomes lighter.  It's 25º, the snow continues to cover the lake and the lawns, no sign of melting yet as the temperatures remain mostly below freezing.  And, yes, it's the second day of spring. 

Not much went on yesterday as neither Evie nor I were active, alas.  So we hung out on an impressively sunny first day of Spring.  I did have a doctor's appointment in Mayville at 10:30, so I was gone for an hour, stopping at the Lighthouse to pick up a sub sandwich for lunch, as our fridge was bereft for once of leftovers. 

When I got home, Evie had already prepped our dinner, our family's famous Greek lemon chicken with oregano.  I made some ramen, had half a sub for lunch and finally finished Bloodline, the ending leaving much up in the air.  Could there be a fourth season?   I hope not. The rest of the afternoon was filled in with TV, books and a nap until 5:00 when we sat down with a glass of wine and went through some old photographs on Google Photos, trying to date them, no easy task.  We got through maybe 30, dating mostly in the 1980's and 1990's.  It's fun but frustrating trying to figure out how old our kids or grandchildren were in a photograph.

Around 6:30, Evie pulled the Greek chicken out of the oven. We always have rice with it because of the lemon gravy.  And since asparagus is in season, we had that as well, roasted in the oven, along with a salad.  Needless to say, we were very happy as we watched some Colbert and a couple of more episodes of The Killing.  We have only one more to go before we are finished.  Around 10:45, I was happy to get back to my book, SOURDOUGH. 

The First Day Of Spring

Painting By Beth

Today begins Spring and I was up in time to see the sun rise due east, today's daylight equaling the amount of night.  It's a partly cloudy sky, a chilly 23º and should remain cool, in the low 30's over the next few days.  Spring may have sprung but winter stubbornly remains.

7:04

7:33

Yesterday was bright and sunny but cold, no complaints from me.  I decided to give yoga a try so I headed to our studio, Eight Limbs, for a Yin Yoga class.  Unfortunately, I am still bothered by a strained iliopsoas muscle.  It's been bothering me for a month so I am going to do a doctor this morning because it's beginning to frustrate me.  After yoga, I stopped at Save A Lot, picked up a Point Cut of corned beef, having read that the point was juicier than the usual flat cut.  Butter was on sale for two bucks a pound so I bought four, the savvy shopper.  When I got home, Evie had cleaned up the messy kitchen from Sunday night's dinner.  We were too lazy to do them on Sunday night.  And she was ready to go to the gym and get in a walk, to see how her back felt on the treadmill.

I was alone, then, in the early afternoon, a strange feeling actually because both of us have been housebound for quite a while. For lunch, I warmed up the leftover shrimp and snow peas and watched Bloodline and have a half hour to go to finish the series.  It was a bizarre afternoon for me because I liked neither the series I was watching (Bloodline), nor the book I was reading (The Hush), and could not wait to finish them.  Both deal with weird dreams, flashbacks, or the supernatural, which are confusing and boring.  Fortunately, I finished The Hush and started SOURDOUGH, a book I instantly took to, about a young, female computer programmer's life in San Francisco.  I am already contemplating making another sourdough starter.  It's funny how books and TV influence my interests and actions.

Evie returned about 3:00, having stopped at TJ Maxx's after working out, no surprise, and bought a couple of mats for either our kitchen or bathroom.  Neither, unfortunately, seemed just right so we will be taking them back, hoping to find some tomorrow when we go to Erie and do some shopping at both Sam's Club and Bed, Bath, And Beyond, Evie's favorite, the bane of my shopping experience.  In between shopping at big box stores, we will be working in Evie's doctor's appointment.

We both decided in the morning that we would have breakfast for dinner, so after a glass of wine, Evie fried up some leftover potatoes, eggs and bacon, toasted a bagel, of course, a salad, and we had dinner.  We watched Homeland and we are finally beginning to understand what is going on, that Carrie is running a rogue unit outside of the purview of the government.  We ended the night with another episode of The Killing, this time a murder involves a military academy and its students.  Joan Allen is perfect as the Academy's Commandant, stern and humorless.

An Interesting Morning Sky

7:08

7:14

7:15

7:34

7:44

 It's 7:48 and both Evie and I are up, listening to the pundits talk incessantly about whether Trump will fire Mueller or not as if they are tempting him to do it.  Madness and boring.  I have been up for over an hour, taking many photographs of the changing morning sky.

Enjoying A Sunday Afternoon On The Lake

Yesterday was another one of those rare sunny winter days here at Chautauqua Lake.  It's difficult to look outside because it's so bright with the sun's reflection on the snow on the lake.  It was a busy Sunday what with watching basketball and prepping an Asian dinner.  I, of course, did most of the watching and Evie did the prepping of dinner.  We both forgot how time-consuming Asian food can be especially if you make things from scratch.  So much of the morning was taken up with chopping and getting things ready for wonton soup, with homemade wontons stuffed with shitake mushrooms, as well getting everything chopped and sauces made for the wok dinner I was going to put together just before dinner.

Bemus Bridge

Buffleheads

It was nice to have everything ready and organized by noon so we could enjoy the afternoon.  Late morning, however, after helping some in the kitchen, I decided to see what Long Point looked like so I drove over to the Marina and hiked out to the point and back, on rough, choppy, rutted trails, from skis, hikers and what looked like fat tire bikes.

Hiking Long Point

Woodlawn From Long Point

It's must have been tough going for them as there were two-foot drifts to ride through. It was windy but bearable and a lovely afternoon to be out in the park.  Afterwards, I drove into Bemus and took some photos of the buffleheads swimming in the open waters just north of the bridge.  They looked happy.

A Rose Among Thorns

Our afternoon went quickly, with relaxing, watching basketball and reading and before we knew it, Ron and Linda drove up with a four pack of beer, probably the ones I took to their house last time we were over.   On Saturday, we had bought a six pack of Tsingtao beer, so we all were happy to drink it along with Wegman's egg rolls for an appetizer, surprisingly good, with a wasabi dipping sauce.  After the egg rolls, we sat down to a great wonton soup and then I got busy, putting together the wok dinner, flash frying the shrimp, then added snow peas, sauce, scallions, and cashews. 

Dinner

Evie served it over rice and with a salad, we were ready to eat and have another bottle of Tsingtao.  We sat around until we finished up the beer and shrimp and snow peas.  After dinner,  Ron and I checked on a couple of the March Madness games and then the four of us sat in the living room, enjoying mango/coconut sorbet, a palate pleaser, to finish off our dinner. They left at 10:00, fat and happy with too much beer and Chinese food, a fun night.

THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL: GREG ILES

Another Penn Cage novel, with all the regulars, Caitlin Masters, Daniel Kelly, Tom Cage, Walt Garrity, and Danny Mc Davitt. Penn discovers that a couple of Irish thugs, who are running the local casinos are not only ripping off the town of Natchez but dealing in prostitution and dog fighting, both illegal.  A high school buddy of Penn's steals the disk which will incriminate the owners but he ends up murdered and thus the novel begins.  Like most of Iles novels, there's lots of violence, threats but eventually, the good guys win, sort of, leaving things open enough for the next novel. All Iles novels are tombs, long winded but readable for the most part.

More Sun, Still Cold

7:32

7:32

I was up around 7:15, waiting for the sun to rise once again on a clear Sunday morning.  It's 11º, much warmer than yesterday's 7º, the sunrise a replica of Saturday morning.  We should have lots of sun for the next three days, unusual for Chautauqua at this time of the year but who is complaining.

8:30

Like today, yesterday was a full day of sun and the temperature got up to the mid-thirties by the afternoon.  The morning was our usual routine, clearing out the refrigerator, gathering the trash and driving to the Transfer Station.  Our neighbor, Becky, was gathering her trash as well and being the good neighbor that I am, I took her trash with me, saving her a trip.  On my way home, I was happy to run into a neighbor up for a winter weekend and no doubt St. Patty's day. Other neighbors came up as well to enjoy a winter weekend.  It's nice to have them around for the weekend.

We had an extensive list for our Saturday excursion to Wegman's around 11:00.  Jamestown must have had the same idea, to shop on Saturday as the parking lot was so full we had to park in the boondocks.  Surprisingly, after filling our cart, we found a check out line that was practically empty.  Wegman's is pretty good at keeping lines open depending on how busy they are.  We had trouble finding a couple of items but two employees spent five to ten minutes with us, helping to find what we wanted.  It's a good reason why we love Wegman's.

Around 12:30, we began an afternoon of March Madness, turning to the tube on and off, depending on the game. I had the last of the leftover cheesy broccoli soup and crackers with salami and cheese for lunch. We hung out much of the afternoon, a bit tired from our wild Friday night at the Viking Club although I went for another good walk around the Chautauqua Institution around 3:30, getting home in time for the one game I wanted to watch, our local MAC champion and giant killer, the University of Buffalo.  They were playing an immensely athletic Kentucky team and hung with them for thirty minutes until finally succumbing to them.  It was a good game to watch.

For dinner, Evie had early in the afternoon browned mushrooms and Italian sausage and added it to leftover pasta for a one-dish meal.  We ate while watching Friday night's Vice News, then Bill Maher's Real Time and ended the evening with the first episode of The Killing, Season Four.  We both were tired so we went up to bed early to read some before falling asleep.