Good Morning Sunshine

6:16

6:44

8:28

It's 6:48 and I have been up since 6:06, waiting for the sun to rise on a clear sky morning. It's 55º and once again will get into the high 70s by the afternoon. It was a beautiful morning for a paddle, calm lake, light cloud cover, and some sun. Our friends and kayak buddies, Tina and Jim are up and ready to paddle.

Kayak Morning

Long Point

North

Yesterday was another typical Thursday, with a short paddle, then breakfast in Bemus. I was home by 9:15, in time to finish the blog, and was off to Yin Yoga by 9:40. Yin yoga is mostly a restorative class, which I needed after the rigorous yoga class on Wednesday. After class, I drove to Wegman's and did a quick walk-through, picking up a few things we needed for the weekend. It was surprisingly empty.

Loon

Osprey In Victoria

Taking Flight

I was home by 12:30 and Evie made me a cheese sandwich which was enough since I had a big breakfast that morning. Evie had a pot of sweet potato and spinach soup simmering on the stove but it wasn't ready for lunch, alas. For some reason, neither of us had much mojo in the afternoons, so we both relaxed and I tried to nap but couldn't. So I decided to get something done in the yard and trimmed the red twigs in our back yard, and the privets in the front yard, hoping they will grow fuller as a result. 

While we had happy hour, Evie worked on the Shutterfly book of the past summer, making some progress and feeling good about it. Dinner was easy, the leftover pizza from Pace's, soup, and a salad. We watched a couple of Colberts, then Jeopardy, and ended the night with the first episode of a new series on Netflix called The Diplomat. It's too early to tell much about it and we will stick with it for now.

A Calm, Overcast Morning

6:30

7:40

9:18

It's 6:50 and it's motionless outside, not a whisper of wind, the lake like a sheet of gunmetal. It's 41º but will get up into the 80s later in the day as Spring returns. I was able to get in a 25-minute paddle before heading to Bemus for breakfast. I was rewarded with what I thought was a photo of a wood duck but when I put it on my computer, I realized it was standing next to a female. It's 9:20 as I finish, after breakfast in Bemus as the sun has finally popped out, the sky blue.

Kayak Morning

North

Wood Ducks

Yesterday was a fun day, a different afternoon and evening from the usual. It started as always with a paddle, a tough one, then breakfast and the blog. I was in yoga by 10:00, another rigorous class with Tara. After class, I had coffee and shot the breeze with a couple of regulars before coming home. Evie had lunch ready, having pulled an eggplant lasagna out of the freezer for me to heat up. And of course, I watched my show as she worked out on the rebounder.

We had a short afternoon of leisure because Linda and Ron were picking us up at 3:45 for a movie in Lakewood at 4:15. We had heard good things about AIR, the story of Nike's signing of Michael Jordan to a shoe contract back in the 1980s. All four of us really enjoyed the story. It was just good old fashion entertainment, nothing too heavy or crazy. No car chases, no torrid sex, no angst. Just a good story. 

Big Enough Popcorn, Evie?

We then drove to Jamestown to our favorite pizza place, Pace's Pizza, and found a booth although the place was busy. We ordered a large pepperoni as usual, large enough to take home half for dinner tonight. It was strange to be out to a film and dinner in daylight but we better get used to it, right. We were home by 8:15.

All's Blue/Gray And Chilly

 

6:56

8:14

It's just about 7:00 as I start this on an overcast, threatening sky. I love the dark gray almost blue stack of clouds over Bemus Bay, with a hint of light high in the sky. It's 32º but after yesterday's snow flurries, it's getting warmer, with a high today of 50º, Thursday of 74º, typical schizophrenic Chautauqua weather. It's 8:20 and I was out for a short, 30-minute paddle as the wind picked up, the lake was choppy and I struggled some to get back home. It was not fun to be on the lake this morning. 

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was back to routine, with a good, long paddle early, then the blog and breakfast, and by 9:30 I was in yoga class. It was a different class, with a substitute teacher, the one who gives foot and back massages and sprays lavender in the air. After class, I skipped coffee and just came straight home, tired from getting up early.

I had the last of Evie's soup for lunch and was happy to be ensconced in the TV room with my soup and watching my show. While I was enjoying my show, Evie was working out on the rebounder, being a good girl. I, however, had little if any mojo and wasted the afternoon although, to be honest, I did take a nap of almost two hours. I must have been tired. The afternoon went quickly and by 5:00, Evie was on a Zoom call with her sisters and I was watching the second half of the Kings/Warriors game which I saved from the night before. Yea, I knew who won the game but still enjoyed watching the game.

For dinner, Evie went deep diving into the freezer and found a container of leftover pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. She heated it up during the Zoom call and with a salad, that was our dinner. Waste not, want not. We watched Real Time With Bill Maher, ER, and a couple of other HGTB shows before bed, an uneventful day.

A Spring Paddle Among Snow Flurries

7:07

It's way too early, 6:50, and I have been up for close to an hour. It's 31º out, the roofs of houses are snow-covered, and the windshields of our cars are frosted although the lawns are still green. Snow is predicted for the next couple of hours but it will probably be more like sleet or rain. Well, I did get out for forty minutes and kayaked in flurries most of the time, down to Sandy Bottom and back along Woodlawn. Because there was hardly any wind, it was easy going both ways.

Kayak Morning

A Cloudy Northern Sky

Snow-Covered Roofs Of Woodlawn

A Pair of Wood Ducks

First Grebe Of Spring

Monday was a day with nothing we had to do which was nice. The only problem, I get bored with too much leisure. So after a great paddle and the blog, I decided to go for a bike ride around 10:30. Evie was happy to see me off as she was busy, cleaning up the kitchen and doing the dishes from Sunday's dinner. I parked at Mayville Park and rode Webb's Trail, then the Mayville Trail and finally along Sea Lion Drive. Unfortunately, my last half mile was in wind and rain so I was soaked by the time I got to my car.  I then stopped at Tops to pick up a few things and was home by 12:20. 

Webb's Trail

Lunch was the last of Evie's soup and a bagel with cream cheese and tomato. I am sticking with my show, The Mosquito Coast, and have no idea how it's going to end. While I was out biking, Evie was putting in an hour on her rebounder, upset, however, because she only got in 7,000 steps in an hour of exercise. Neither of us did much the rest of the afternoon except the usual, reading, napping, and watching some TV. 

By 5:00, we were ready for wine time because Evie has been working on putting together another Shutterfly photo album of our kids this past summer and Thanksgiving. She has done this for years and they are amazing memories of good times each summer with family. At times, it's hard to look back at the photos because we miss our families so much and our grandchildren are growing up way too fast. 

Dinner was the leftover cioppino although I sauteed the leftover mussels in butter, garlic, and wine. With a baguette, we had another tasty dinner. We watched a couple of episodes of a new series called Hank, then back to the usuals, Hometown and ER. I watched 15 minutes of the Kings/Warriors game before heading up to bed to read. 

More Spring Like

Sunday's Dusk At 7:50

7:10 AM

It looks like the days of sun, blue skies, and 70º days are over for a week or two. Yesterday's 75º is this morning's 40º with rain forecast, perhaps some snow later. I did get out on the lake for an hour, a solitary paddler, over to Long Point and back. I watched a couple of loons dive then noticed one who snorkeled, just dipping his head for a few seconds, rather than diving. 

Kayak Morning

Bald Eagle On Long Point

Loon

Snorkeling

Sunday was another perfect day until late, around 5:00 when it clouded up and even rained with lightning off over Bemus Bay. The day started with a paddle down to Whitney Bay and back, a good start to the day. Neither of us left the house, preferring to stay home and get some of the dinner prepped because Linda and Ron were coming over at 6:00. Evie decided to try something different, a cioppino, basically a seafood stew. So while she made the tomato sauce/broth I cleaned a couple of bags of mussels, too many really for the four of us. Once they were cleaned and the sauce made, we were basically done with dinner. 

For lunch, I had an egg and bacon sandwich and began to watch a few minutes of the NBA games, four of them, which started at 3:00 and probably ended around midnight. We also did some vacuuming and cleaning both porches so we could enjoy our appetizers and drinks out on the porch. We both were able to enjoy the afternoon and by 6:00, we were showered and ready for fun. 

7:04 PM

7:06 PM

7:56 PM

Earlier I made our drinks, something new for the four of us, cosmopolitans. We settled down on the porch with our fancy glasses and drinks and enjoyed appetizers, as the dark clouds moved in, and by the time we were ready for dinner, it started to rain and lightning. We started with a Wedge Salad, with homemade blue cheese dressing, bacon, cherry tomatoes, and hard boiled eggs. Yum. Evie then plated the cioppino, mussels, shrimp, cod, and scallops, in a hot, garlicky tomato sauce, perfect for dipping baguettes. 

Yum

As the mussel shells piled up, the wine bottle slowly emptied as we enjoyed our Italian cioppino. We ended the night with a bowl of sorbet, a palate cleanser! They headed home around 10:00 and we were both too tired to do the dishes. 

Blue Skies And Sunny

6:41

6:45

8:58

It's 9:05 and I just paddled for over an hour, down to Whitney Bay and back into the wind alas. There is never that much to see when I paddle north, too many homes, not enough wooded lakefronts. Still, it was a beautiful morning to be out on the lake and I want to take advantage of it while I can. It looks like the weather may change next week and be more like a lion, not the past week's lamb.

Kayak Morning

Into The Blue

Yesterday we both had a few things in mind. Evie wanted to get in 10,000 steps and shop and I wanted to go to the Transfer Station and bike. So after a paddle and the blog, we cleaned up some, gathered the trash and I was off to the Transfer Station. When I came back, I fastened my bike to the car and drove of to Bemus, parked by the bridge and rode for an hour to the Long Point State Park, out to the point and back along Lakeside Drive, about an hour of biking. While I was gone, Evie spent a good hour on her rebounder and finished just as I got home. 

Spring Biking

Long Point

It was noon when we both finished, so Evie showered, then drove off to Wegman's and I had lunch, vegetable soup, sardines and crackers and watched another episode of The Mosquito Coast as well as some of the NBA playoffs. I am starting to like my book more, set on the Greek Island of Paros, and am halfway through it. I tried to nap, then read some until Evie came home. We unpacked the car and put things away and then both of us were happy to not have anything else we had to do.

Evie spent a good amount of the afternoon talking to my sister Ellen and daughter Beth, catching up on their lives, and the lives of our grandchildren. I watched more basketball but usually get bored after 15 minutes so I went back to my book until wine time. 

Dusk

Dinner was easy, my suggestion, a chicken salad sub sandwich from Wegman's and Evie's soup. It was a good idea. We rewatched a couple of episodes of Last Tango In Halifax to see if we wanted to stick with it and watch the last three seasons. We then watched ER, then some basketball, again, before going up to bed. 

A Saturday for Clouds And Sun

7:24

It's 9:10 and I just got back from a 70-minute paddle, over to Tom's Point and back along the shoreline on a beautiful although mostly cloudy morning. The sun would peak through the clouds occasionally when there was a blue sky. The lake was like glass again, perfect for a paddle.

Kayak Morning

Paddling To Tom's Point

Paddling Towards Woodlawn

North

Southern Sky

Friday began as always with a paddle, breakfast, and blog but by 9:15, we were on our way to Jamestown for Evie's doctor appointment at 10:15. We waited a half hour of course before the PA arrived and were on our way home by 11:00. We stopped at our mechanic's to pick up the Outback and let's hope I don't have to go back for a long time. We were tempted to shop but had enough so we came straight home.

Heron Fishing Off Woodlawn Creek

Loon

Looking Back

Crusing

Bald Eagle At Bootey Bay

Lunch was Evie's soup and a toasted cheese sandwich and I watch my show, The Mosquito Coast. Not much happened early afternoon, our time to relax, read, and nap. By 3:30, Evie was cleaning the front porch, getting it ready to enjoy and I went out and using the hedge trimmer, cut down grasses and shaped some bushes, filling up three trash cans which I then took up the hill to the wood pile. It felt good to bring home three empty pails, soon to be filled, no doubt. 

We resisted the temptation to go out to dinner for a fish fry. Instead, we relaxed with a glass of wine before Evie fried up some bison burgers, sauteed mushrooms and onions, for topping the bison burgers with swiss cheese. We actually really liked the bison burgers and will buy them again. We also had a salad of course. We watched a film called The Circle, about a conglomerate that tried to convince the people it was to their advantage for this company to know everything about an individual so there was no such thing as privacy. It was not a favorite but was something to watch until we returned to ER and Jeopardy.