Another Friday

Maldini  Dahlia

5:45 

6:16

6:29

It's a partly cloudy morning and surprisingly cool, making for a pleasant paddle, my usual, Long Point, Sandy Bottom and home.  I spotted both a heron along the shore and what I assume is a bald eagle/hawk?, high up in a pine tree, difficult to see because of the shadows.

Kayak Morning

Great Blue Heron

Hawk?

Yesterday was New Orleans hot, lots of humidity and temperatures in the 80's making for a lazy day for both of us, especially Evie.  For once, she spent most of the day relaxing, out on the dock under the umbrella, reading her book.  She was tempted to mow the yard but overcame the temptation and stayed relaxing.  I was proud of her.  I was determined to do something, so I took my bike down to Mayville, parked it by Webb's Trail, and rode it around the north end of the lake, on Sea Lion Drive and beyond to Ellwood, an area of small cottages and manufactured homes, set along  a creek that leads into the lake.  Almost every homeowner had a pontoon boat moored in front of their houses.  I was gone for a good 50-minute ride, just long enough to make me feel righteous.

Creek Off Of Ellwood

A Quaint Houseboat

When I returned, Evie was out on the dock so I grabbed another half of my sub from Wegman's for lunch and watched my show.  I then read my book, a John Sandford Lucas Davenport crime novel, one of my go-to reads when nothing else grabs me.  And, of course, I fell asleep, then joined Evie on the dock until it became too hot for me and came in and sat on the porch and read.

The Birthday Boy And His Honey

We were meeting Linda and Ron on the Watermark's outdoor patio at 6:30, to celebrate Ron's birthday.  It was a pleasant night to sit outside, catch a breeze, along with five or six other tables.  We had a calamari appetizer, a favorite, and everyone had a different dinner.  Evie had a shrimp and scallops over risotto and I had soft-shelled crabs, maybe for the first time ever.  I really enjoyed it.  We not only enjoyed a beer but a bottle of wine to celebrate Ron's birthday.  We literally were the last to leave it was so enjoyable.

We were home by 9:30, in time to watch the first episode of Part IV of Money Heist. Part III ended with disaster but as usual, things were not as bad as they seemed.  Tokyo and gang will survive, I think.

A Sultry Morning

Great Blue And The Flag

6:37

A damp morning here at the lake after a half-inch of rain overnight.  I worked up a sweat paddling over to Warner Bay, back to Sandy Bottom and home and photographed three different great blue herons, a good morning.

Kayak Morning

Heron On Woodlawn Dock

Heron Sitting On Downed Tree At Long Point

Another different sort of day for both of us. Early morning rarely changes, with a paddle, blog, and breakfast.  We then decided what the day will bring us.  For Evie, it was a cleaning at the dentist's at 11:00.  For me, a quick trip to Home Depot to look for a new grill as the bottom of my cheap grill from Aldi's fell in, so that there is nothing below the burners.  You get what you pay for I guess.  So I broke down an bought a Weber with three burners and it should last me till I am in my late 80's if I can figure out how to put it together!  It seems like every week we get a message from Wegman's Pharmacy telling us a prescription is ready, so I stopped in, picked up my two prescriptions, and a sub sandwich for lunch.

Blooming Coneflower

I was home at 12:30, had my sub, and watched my show.  Evie was home just after I arrived with the good news, 'no cavities.'  After lunch, I took a good nap in our air-conditioned bedroom and must have needed it since I was up early.  The rest of the afternoon was a waste or we just deserved the leisure of sitting on the front porch till wine time, reading our books. 

5:20

It began to rain around 5:30 just as we were having our wine and a few appetizers, listening to the Dumpster's prevarications. We sat out there until 7:00, enjoying the changing sky, the drizzle, the reality show and finally one of our favorite apple music playlists . 

Dusk

Dinner was easy, just microwaving the leftover English cut, potatoes, and mushrooms, along with a couple ears of corn.  We watched Colbert, then the last two episodes of Money Heist Part III, leaving us with a cliff hanger.  Will they finally be caught? Will Nairobi survive? 

Gentle Rain

Social Distancing With Jerry and Jane

6:16

8:20

An overcast morning sky and light rain as I paddled for forty-five minutes, over to Long Point, Sandy Bottom and back.  No much action on the lake,  a couple of fishing boats, three kayakers, and me.  No wildlife to speak of, unfortunately.

Kayak Morning

Tuesday was a good day, a busy one for both of us but a good day.  It was still hot and humid but not as bad as the day before, in fact, by mid to late afternoon, it was decent out as the humidity dropped precipitously.  We were having Jane and Jerry over for dinner, long time friends, ready for a big change in their lives, by moving to The Villages in Florida in a few weeks.  So part of the day was spent prepping for dinner.  In the morning, Evie baked and made twice baked potatoes and the English cut had been marinating in the refrigerator overnight.  Once she felt organized, I drove over to Bemus and rode my bike for an hour despite the heat.  It was a good ride although I made the mistake of taking one of the Fat Tire Bike Clubs paths. I now know why they ride fat-tire bikes.  They absorb the vibration when riding over tree roots. Clearly, my bike is not meant for this sort of ride so I was shaken up by the end of the path, happy to get back on the regular trails. I stopped at The Wired coffee shop in Bemus and enjoyed a mango smoothie on their porch as I cooled off from my hour ride.

When I returned home, I cleaned up the kitchen while Evie gave both porches a quick cleaning.  For lunch, I had the last of black bean soup, with a few chunks of previously cooked potatoes thrown in to make it go farther.  I am having a hard time finding a book I want to read so I have started two or three, but none grabbed me. I started downloading more choices on my Kindle from the library.  I don't think it's the books but me.

We decided to grill the English cut around 4:00, then wrap it in foil until it was time to slice before dinner.  That took around twenty minutes, as the outside was nicely charred, the inside medium-rare to done.

Jerry and Jane arrived at 6:00, with two bottles of wine.  It was going to be a good night.  We sat out on the front porch, enjoying Boursin cheese on petit toast and red wine.  We had fun talking about their move, the advantages of living in Florida, especially in The Villages.  We went online and were able to view their home, all the rooms, and they look very Floridian which Jane wanted.

Before The Bees 

Around 7:30, we moved outside, started enjoying our English cut, twice baked potatoes, asparagus, and salad until the bees arrived.  They would not leave us alone and one even stung Jerry as he tried to wave it away.  Finally, we gathered up our plates and wine glasses and went inside to eat.  We have never had this happen before last night.  After dinner, Evie and Jane sat on the front porch, going through our recent photo album while Jerry and I sat inside, enjoying a glass of wine, talking about his readiness to retire from the construction business.  Both he and his son, Scott, built our house so we have been good friends for twenty-five years.

They left around 10:00 and we vowed to keep in touch even though they will be in Florida. We then did up most of the dishes, leaving a few for this morning.  We watched some TV until we both were ready for bed.

A Quiet Lake Morning

6:12

It's 8:20, surprisingly humid, as I worked up quite a sweat kayaking over to Tom's Point and back.  It was a fruitless paddle, no herons, eagles, or osprey, just a few mallards, and geese.  Still, it's always good to be out on the water, especially this morning because I had the lake mostly to myself.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was a busy day in the morning for me, in the afternoon for Evie.  I had to drive into Ashtabula Cleveland Clinic for a test at 11:30, so I was on my way my 10:00.  The test was quick, a ct scan, again, one I have had many times before.  I was back on the road by noon, stopped at Wendy's because the line at Mickey D's was too long.  And, I stopped at Ortons' in North East to pick up another cherry pie, hot from the oven.  Yum.

Pacific Ocean

By the time I returned home, it was 1:30 and I was exhausted from nothing so I took a brief nap then read much of the afternoon.  Evie had been busy, driving to Wegman's in the morning, picking up a few things because we are having friends over for dinner tonight.  Shopping was enough, however, as she wanted to get in some exercise so as usual, she powered up the mower and cut both our neighbors and our yard, working up quite a sweat because of the heat and humidity,  She would smartly stop every 20 minutes for water, trying to keep cool.

The Boys

At 5:00, we went over to our neighbor's yard, Bill and Joyce, and along with other neighbors, Pat and Dave, we safely distanced and had drinks and appetizers.  We sat around in the shade, bemoaning all the restaurant closings in the area, and the fact that we had not seen our families in quite a while. We also avoided talking about our health and pills for once.  It was cool enough to enjoy sitting out in the shade but by 7:00, we were all ready to go home and fix dinner.

Evie quickly whipped up our dinner, the leftover steak, and mushrooms from Sunday night, roasted red potatoes, with eggs and sweet corn. It hit the spot and along with peach pie, we were happy campers.  Because dinner was late, we watched only one episode of Money Heist along with some of the news before going up to bed to read.

A Hungry Quartet Of Purple Martin Fleglings

Huddled

Anticipating

Food!

It's 8:30 as I start this blog, a partly cloudy but mostly sunny morning,  I paddled for an hour, came home in a strong wind but it does not seem to be cooling off our house, still warm from yesterday's high temperature.

6:23

Kayaking To Long Point

Southern Sky

Sunday morning was another uncomfortable day, too hot and humid to spend much time outside until midafternoon when the thunderstorms rolled in from the north.  It did not deter me from my morning paddle and Evie was out early, watering her garden, not trusting the weatherman.  We then hunkered down for much of the morning, but Evie decided to make Nora Ephron's Custard Peach pie, despite the heat.  She had it ready to put in the oven in a half hour and managed, also to destroy the kitchen with her baking.  Guess who gets to clean it up.

Catching A Big Bad Ass Bass

We decided to forego our usual big breakfast, thinking we might have eggs for dinner.  So I heated up another bowl of black bean soup, topped it with avocadoes and Tostitos for the third day in a row and I have one more bowl.  I finished my book, Ask, Again, Yes which I ended up really liking, a dysfunctional family saga although what families are not dysfunctional to a degree. Around 3:00, the thunderstorms rolled in.  Evie put down the porch curtain and we sat watching the storm roll down the lake.  We received just over an inch of rain in an hour before it cleared up.

On Our Dock, Looking For Dinner

Evie decided to make chicken thighs for dinner, brined, then cooked them on a grill pan, then dunked them in a lemon vinaigrette with herbs.  We also had a surprisingly tasty quinoa, compliments of the Peruvian kitchen.  We enjoyed our wine while putting together the dishes as another faux storm moved in, with just a sprinkling of rain.  We watched an HBO documentary called Showbiz Kids which looked at the harm that follows early celebrity with kids.  It's interesting and sad as the kids have to deal with growing up.  We then watched two more episodes of Money Heist and we are back to liking it.  Watching it was a relief after viewing Chris Wallace's interview with the Dumpster.  What a despicable person.

Sleeping In

Better Together (67 years)

6:36

It's 9:00 and I start this blog, later than usual.  I slept in to the ungodly hour of 6:30, did not get on the lake till 8:00 and Evie just got up as I walked in at 8:50, a couple of what my Mom would call sleepy heads.  I ran into five or six kayakers, out enjoying the calm morning waters and lots of guys fishing off our neighborhood of Woodlawn, the hot spot.

Kayak Morning

The Wonder Of The Natural World

Kicking Back On A Morning Paddle

Yesterday was bloody hot, felt like we were living in Florida or Arizona, as the temperature rose to close to 90º but the humidity made it worse.  We were having Bill and Joyce over for dinner to celebrate their 67th anniversary so we wanted to get everything prepped that we could in the morning before it got too hot.  So after the blog and kayaking, Evie put potatoes in the oven, to begin the process of making twice baked potatoes and got out a steak, to marinate with soy later in the afternoon.  She also cleaned up a pound of mushrooms, so they would be ready to saute later in the day.  I got out the hedge clippers and gave our privets a shearing, keeping them nice and trimmed.

Once that was done, we gathered the trash, cleaned out the refrigerator, and I was off to the Transfer Station.  I talked briefly with a guy who remembers my daughter Beth because they taught together at Mercersburg Academy back in the 1990s, a small world.  When I returned home, I cleaned the grill and Evie set the table and we were basically ready to relax the rest of the day, avoid the heat, and look forward to dinner. without much fuss.

It was too hot to sit out on the dock so Evie tried under the tree but soon came in, joining me in the house where our fans made reading bearable.  I had my black bean soup with avocadoes and Tostitos for lunch, again, and watched my show and took a nap, upstairs in our air-conditioned bedroom. What a joy to be cool, read, and fall asleep,  I am good at it.

We were ready at 6:00 when Bill and Joyce arrived.  We figured it was cool enough to sit on our front porch but too hot to eat outside.  It was pleasant, in fact, both in and out.  We enjoyed light appetizers and beers for an hour, before coming in and sitting down to dinner.  While I grilled the steak, Evie put together a salad and sauteed the mushrooms.  The baked potatoes were already done.  I slice the steak into thin strips, and Evie served the steak with mushrooms, sauteed and finished with butter and soy sauce, with the potatoes and a large salad.  Dinner was quite good, the steak tender, the mushrooms juicy, and everyone loves twice baked potatoes. We had apple pie alamode on the porch for dessert, as the early evening finally began to cool off.  They stayed until 9:00 and we then quickly cleaned up the kitchen and had time to watch one more episode of Money Heist.  We are not thrilled with Part III.

Since we stayed inside most of yesterday because of the heat, I decided to look back at our photos from our lives in Hawaii in the 60s and Istanbul/Europe in the 70s.  They are mostly of our kids but they are such fun that I am going to occasionally add one to the end of each blog.

Tommy And Jill, Kavala Campground in Greece

Bass Boats Roar At 5:30 AM

5:32

6:13

Perfect Perch

Heron Mast Head

It's a sunny, hazy, lazy mid-July morning, the heart of summer.  It was a fine morning for kayaking as I dodged fishing boats on my way to Tom's Point where I photographed two herons, hanging out on the same tree.  Other than the fishing guys, it was a quiet morning, the kind of summer day I remember from my childhood, cool mornings, hot afternoons.

Kayak Morning

Great Blue

Friday ended up being another stellar summer day, so nice that we decided to stay put rather than go out to dinner.  We had a busy morning.  After kayaking and writing the blog, we put together a shopping list and Evie was off to Wegman's by 9:30. 

Biking Trail To Westfield

I decided to go for a bike ride so I drove to the Lighthouse, parked my bike, and rode the Mayville trail, the Sea Lion road, passing our friend Linda, out for a walk, both out and back.  It was great weather, just starting to warm up with a breeze and, fortunately, most of the trail is in the shade of trees.  I was out little less than an hour and was home by 11:30, in time to help Evie put groceries away. 

Mayville Walking Path

Lunch was the black bean soup I made on Thursday, topped with avocados and lime-flavored Tostitos.  Yum.  I watched my show and Evie, having done enough for the day, went out on the dock.  I read, napped, and joined her around 3:00. 

Humpty Dumpty Dahlia

We sat out on the dock, enjoying a beer around 4:30, not coming in until 6:00 it was so pleasant.  There was also a bit of excitement as our neighbors took down a tree in their front yard, perfectly placed to miss their porch.

A Felled And Hollowed Tree

We decided to have a BLT dinner rather than getting showered and gussied up and going out to eat.  It was a good choice because, after the dock, we enjoyed a Manhattan on our porch with Tostitos and fresh salsa from Wegman's.

The BLT's hit the spot, along with a Pepsi, and we watched a couple of Colberts and some news, deciding to skip Money Heist for the night.  It was a good day.