It Looks Like A Rainy Day

7:39

Light wind and gray skies welcomed me this morning as I came down at 6:45 for my coffee. The flag, unfortunately, looks stuck on the flag pole, something that happens occasionally. I usually take my paddle out and unfurl it unless it's frozen to the pole. Because it rained on and off overnight, the grass is wet, and puddles gather on our road. Ir's 9:20 as I finish this after breakfast in Bemus and soon, I will be off to yoga and do some shopping. 

Yesterday was another day of mixed weather.  I was able to get in a good paddle for an hour which was great even though the weatherman predicted rain.  By the time I returned, in fact, blue skies were out for a good part of the morning. We did not have much on the agenda for the day, no worry about dinner because we were going out with friends.  So we did a few things around the house, like vacuuming and cleaning.  

Victoria/Woodlawn

Victoria Creek

Spring Woods

Around 11:00, I needed to get outside and went for a walk around our woods, a bit chilly along the lake, warming when I walked in the woods,  It felt like Spring for once and I even saw signs of Spring, purple flowers.  

Spring Flowers

For lunch, Evie made me a delicious quesadilla with cheese, tomatoes, and avocados and I watched my show, The Sopranos. Once lunch was done, Evie took off to do some shopping a TJ Maxx, our only clothing store around now that the mall is practically moribund. I did my usual, read and napped, and read and napped and thought about yoga but that was as far as I got. Evie was home by 3:30 and I was bored enough to clean our back porch and do some sweeping of our sidewalks. 

By 6:00, we were on our way to pick up Linda and Ron and have dinner at Bellini's, the bistro in the Chautauqua Suites Hotel.  It was not very busy, maybe four or five other tables. We had not been there in three or four years. It has a nice menu and we loved their appetizer of beer cheese and pretzels.  The gals ordered salads and I had a veggie pizza, and Ron tacos so we were happy.  We stayed talking until 8:00, dropped them off, and were home by 8:40, in time to watch a couple of our shows before going up to bed. 

A Changing Morning Sky

6:56

7:36

8:56

I woke at 6:00 I think but I had forgotten to charge my Apple Watch so I wasn't sure of the time.  I did get back to sleep till 6:50 when I came downstairs to get my coffee. I am not sure depending on a watch is a good thing or not.  It's 9:00 and I have been out paddling for over an hour, starting with overcast skies, ending with the sun out, some blue skies, and a still placid lake. I saw lots of buffleheads, a loon, a couple of pairs of wood ducks, and I think a grebe. It was clear when I started, then foggy, and then cleared up by the time I returned home.

Kayak Mornings

Yesterday turned out to be a decent day, with some sun, decent temperatures, and no rain. I kayaked for forty-five minutes before returning to finish the blog and have breakfast.  By 9:10, I was on my way to yoga, a good 75-minute class. I then had a light lunch and watched the second half of the Kansas/NC game before we left for Jamestown because Evie had a doctor's appointment at 1:00. After the appointment, we were tempted to stop and do some shopping but resisted the temptation and came straight home. And that was it for the day for both of us.  We spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about what we should do but not doing it. We should have gone for a walk but didn't.  Our only exercise was watching the guys next door work on our neighbor's house, scraping it and getting it ready to paint, a sure sign of Spring.

Loon

Wood Ducks

Wood Ducks

Grebe

Dinner was easy, warming up the leftover baked ziti, enjoying it along with a salad and sourdough roll. We started a film, Carrie Pilby but after a half-hour, neither of us was into it so we switched to our regulars, Colbert and Jeopardy. Evie went to bed earlier than usual so I watched some NBA games before going up to read before sleep.

Slowly Spring

6:54

8:21

8:21

It's just after 7:00 as I start this, the sky overcast, the lake fairly calm, a few ripples and 37º.  It should get up to 60º later in the day, making for a good day to walk or bike.  Maybe too warm? It's 8:35 and I kayaked down to Sandy Bottom and back, chasing off rafts of buffleheads on a partly cloudy morning,

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was a relief from the weekend weather of mixed precipitation. It was a perfect morning for a long paddle, so I was out for close to an hour.  As a result, the blog was not published until late, around 9:30.  We then did a few things around the house in the morning, changing the beds, vacuuming, and stuff like that.  I also did a few things outside, gathering another bucket full of deadfall, and organizing my toolbox finally so it's easy to get to.  

Afternoon Fishing Off Long Point

By 12: 30, I was sitting in the TV room enjoying a couple of tuna sandwiches and watching my show, The Sopranos, Season Five, and I am looking forward to the end of the series.  The afternoon went quickly, reading, napping, doing a few things for the both of us but I decided to get in a hike, so I drove over to the end of Lakeside Drive and hiked Long Point State Park for close to an hour. It was strange walking through the woods because the last time I was on cross country skis, slipping and sliding on the icy trails. I met one guy walking with his daughter and his dog but that was it for a perfect afternoon for a walk.

A Study In Brown

Fat Bike Trail

We had dinner around 6:30, taco salad with all the fixings, just what I wanted as it had been a while for Mexican food and our favorite Mexican restaurant closed a couple of years ago. We watched an hour of a much-acclaimed Japanese movie, Wheel Of Fortune and Fantasy, by the director of Drive My Car, which just won the best foreign film. If you like a film with no action, two people talking endlessly for an hour then these are the films for you.  We had enough after an hour and don't intend to watch Drive My Car. We then waited for the start of the Kansas/NC game by watching Colbert and Jeopardy.  And like I am sure many basketball aficionados who live in the Eastern Time Zone, I went to bed at halftime, thinking there was no way Kansas could win after being down by 15 at halftime and playing poorly.  O ye of little faith.  I woke up this morning to a Kansa win, one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA history, and I slept through it.  At least I have it on tape and can watch it this morning.

Sound familiar?

BASEMENT   BY Louis Jenkins

There’s something about our basement that causes forgetting. I go down for something, say a roll of
paper towels, which we keep in a big box down there,
and as soon as I get to the bottom of the stairs I have forgotten what I came down there for. It happens to
my wife as well. So recently we have taken to working
in tandem like spelunkers. One of us stands at the
top of the stairs while the other descends. When the descendant has reached the bottom stair, the person
at the top calls out, “Light bulbs, 60 watt.” This
usually works unless the one in the basement lingers
too long. I blame this memory loss on all the stuff in
the basement. Too much baggage: 10 shades of blue
paint, because we could not get the right color, extra dishes, bicycles, the washer and dryer, a cider press, a piano, jars of screws, nails and bolts…. It boggles the mind. My wife blames it on radon.

A Sunny, Calm Lake Morning

7:05

9:07

I woke to a surprise, the gray skies and wintry mix of Sunday gave way to clear skies and a sunrise that brightened up our living room. Not a ripple on the lake, as geese honk, on a chilly 27º morning. It looks like a good day. It's after 9:00 as I finish this, after an hour paddle on the lake, chasing rafts of buffleheads, photographing pairs of wood ducks, a wonderful morning on the lake.

Kayak Morning

A Woodlawn Morning

Buffleheads

A Colorful Male Wood Duck

A Pair Of Wood Ducks

Sunday as I mentioned above was drab and cold, as it either snowed, drizzled, or sleeted most of the day. In fact, the precipitation was so slight that we had to look carefully to see that it was falling.  Needless to say, I did not kayak but stayed in and enjoyed a leisurely morning coffee as I wrote the blog. Once it was done we got semi-busy and Evie realized we were out of salad.  I am always happy to go shopping so I drove to Wegman's around 10:30, did a quick run-through on a surprisingly busy Sunday at the grocery store. I should remember that Sunday is a busy day, like 2% Tuesdays. I also stopped at Tractor Supply, looking for some grub/mole control but I guess I will have to see if Home Depot has something.

When I returned home, I watched the end of the Duke/NC game while Evie made our breakfast, fried eggs with potato pancakes from leftover mashed potatoes.  We then watched CBS Sunday Morning and once it was finished, I adjourned to the couch to read and eventually nap. Since I was up so early, at 5:30, I took a good nap, the kind where you wake up wondering if it's morning or afternoon. 

Because of the weather, neither of us was interested in a walk so we basically spent the afternoon waiting for dinner time.  Around 6:00, Evie made rice, roasted the asparagus and made a salad while I seared the lamb chops and finished them in the oven.  The chops were tasty, something we have not had in quite a while.  We watched a quirky but decent film called Riders Of Justice on Hulu. A military officer loses his wife in a train accident. A survivor and two friends convince him the train was sabotaged by a violent biker gang called the Riders of Justice. The aggrieved father then seeks revenge, decimating the gang only to realize that the gang was not responsible for the train wreck. A violent and funny film.  We then watched the Grammys and for the most part, we thought it was one of the better years, lots of great performances.  Billie Eilish was amazing along with John Baptise from the Colbert show.  The 'In Memoria' sung by four different singers gave us goosebumps. 

Spring Snow Flurries

7:12

7:58

I woke to snow on roofs, some white on lawns on a 32º morning. At the moment, it's 7:10 and I can see snowflakes falling, though not sticking on our lawn. It looks like another gray, overcast day with bouts of either drizzle or sleet as Spring struggles to come out. I feel bad about sitting here and not going kayaking but the falling sleet, gray skies, and cold weather keep me on my couch. 

Trail At Tom's Point

Northern Sky

Tom's Point

Yesterday, unlike today, was sunny, with blue skies, puffy clouds, and temperatures in the 30s most of the day, giving it a chill. We were both up early, alas, watching the sunrise, the day begin.  I went out for a paddle around 8:00 and was gone for close to an hour.  It was great to be back on the lake. When I returned, Evie was busy cutting up eggplant and roasting it, the first step in our ziti dinner. I gathered the trash and was off to the Transfer Station around 10:30, dropped off the trash then drove another mile and parked behind Hogans', at Tom's Point Trailhead. It was a fine day for a walk, lots of sun, a decent trail as I marked numerous gopher holes with sticks, making sure other hikers would avoid spraining an ankle. 

Marking Gopher Holes

It's three-quarters of a mile out to the point, an easy hike and I then walked around the Power Boat Club and Bootey Bay development before walking back to the car, It felt good to be out on a crisp Saturday morning and as usual, the only one on the trail. 

Bridge To Bemus Point 

Spring Blue

I was home by 12:30 and Evie made me a couple of meatloaf sandwiches to go along with the last of the squash/carrot soup.  I watched the end of the UConn/Stanford Women's semifinal, then another episode of The Sopranos. While I was enjoying lunch, Evie put together the meat sauce for the ziti then relaxed in the TV room after I had lunch.  I took a nap, loved it, and started another book, this time another crime novel, Dead Irish by John Lescroart. So far so good.  Neither of us did much the rest of the afternoon, other than reading, relaxing, and watching a movie on TV. 

Around 5:30, I cooked up the ziti noodles, then Evie put together the layers for the ziti and baked it for a good hour. Once it was done, we let it sit for 20 minutes and Evie made a salad and heated up a sourdough roll. We loved our dinner, one of our all-time family favorites, and watched the first half of the Kansas/Villanova game. I had it saved and we watched the second half later after we watched a film we thought we might like but ended up hoping it would end sooner rather than later.  We then watched the second half of the Kansas game, happy to see them play well and win. Evie was then ready for bed so I stayed up for a bit and watched the first ten minutes of the NC/Duke game but soon got bored by their erratic play, one on one offense, and went to bed. 

Gray Skies And No Snow

7:22

Buddha In The Garden

Friday Afternoon

It's 7:43 and Evie beat me up (I mean was up before me) this morning. There's a streak of light over the Bemus shoreline but the sky is otherwise overcast, a gray. I just thought about the fact that we have not really seen much sunshine in the past week, more snow than the sun actually. It's a chilly 27º out there but may get up into the 40s, a start to Spring I guess. It's 9:40 as I finish up the blog, after a good fifty-minute paddle and although it was in the 20s, I was nice and cozy, with many layers, mittens, stocking cap, and a light wind.

Kayak Morning

Victoria/Woodlawn

Paddling North

Loons Are Back

Turkey Vultures

If you wanted to compare miserable days, yesterday's weather would be close to the top. It started when we got up with a wintry mix, rain, sleet, and occasional snowflakes.  We thought that would last for an hour or two but basically, it continued for most of the day.  We decided to drive to Erie and look at refrigerators at both Home Depot and Lowe's and during our forty-five-minute drive, it sleeted or snowed, so that many of the trees along the highway were white.  We spent a good half hour talking with a guy from Home Depot and found a refrigerator we really liked but decided to look at Lowe's before buying it.  It was a good thing because we found one at Lowe's that we liked better, found it was in stock, available April 11th and it was on sale, saving us eight hundred bucks. It's an LG with an innovative see-through door, so it's easy to get at things you use every day. We also bought some dahlias, now in stock everywhere, and stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch. We drove through fog and a wintry mix all the way home making for an unpleasant drive.

Woodlawn Road

Our Drive To Erie

A Mallard Visits 

We didn't get home until 2:00 and we both quickly took our usual stations as both of us were tuckered out and were glad to be home.  I went for a short walk around 4:00  but did not last long because of the sleet.  We relaxed in our living room until 6:00 when Evie baked the salmon she had marinated earlier, made a salad, then topped it with the cooked salmon, my favorite way to enjoy it.  

We watched a little-known film called Blue Jay and it's our kind of film, about relationships, in this case, two high school sweethearts accidentally run into each other after twenty years, and spend a day together, reminiscing about their past and the reason for their breakup. A quiet film, just the two of them, talking, but a powerful statement about young love, often tragic. We ended the night with episode four of Pachinko and we love this series.  Again, our kind of TV. 

A Touch Of Snow

7:07

7:27

It's a gray, overcast morning, 32º, a tinge of snow on lawns and roofs, nothing accumulated and it will be gone this morning. At the moment, however, a wintry mix is falling, the last gasp of winter.

Thursday was another windy day, with gusts in the 30s, making it not much fun to be outside or paddle on the lake.  I was up early, wrote the blog, went to breakfast, then drove to Lakewood to a crowded Yin Yoga class.  People I haven't seen in a year or two keep popping up in class. After class, I drove to Runnings, and did some browsing but found nothing I wanted.  Every time I  walk in, there seem to be more workers than patrons and their aisles are groaning with all kinds of stuff.

I was home by 12:30, had soup and ham and cheese for lunch, and watched my show.  Evie had been busy all morning accomplishing a few things around the house, so she was ready to relax and enjoy doing nothing much of the afternoon.  I was happy to join her, reading and napping, then going for a short walk up the hill and back, as I just wanted to get outside for a bit. We enjoyed a happy hour with good cheese, listening to our favorites on Apple music.

"Our House Is A Very, Very Fine House"

Dinner was leftover meatloaf which Evie had made and frozen the leftovers last week.  Along with fried potatoes, we had an easy and tasty dinner, the meatloaf just as good as the first time. We watched our shows, Colbert and Jeopardy, news, and an episode from St Elsewhere, a 1980s medical drama. It's fun to see actors who later become famous play small roles as they begin their careers.