Morning Haze Or Smoke

6:32

7:47

It's 7:52 and I was up at 6:20, out on the lake at 6:30 for just a half hour as the wind picked up, roughing the lake. It was 59º when I started out on the lake, and it's now 62º with the sun trying to break through the haze/smoke. We have been affected by the Canadian wildfires. 

Kayak Morning

Friday morning was busy as I was up early for a paddle, then on my way to Westfield for an ultrasound at 9:00. By 10:00, I was enjoying breakfast, a bagel, and coffee at Westfield's local coffee shop, Full Strength Coffee Company. When I returned, I stopped at Tops and picked up our dinner and was home by 11:00. I then decided to finish weeding under the red twigs and, surprisingly, worked up a sweat it was that humid and warm. While I was gone, Evie was going through her closet, getting rid of clothes she no longer wore and sending them to Goodwill. 

A Busy Coffee Shop

Lunch was the leftover asparagus and shrimp stir-fry, and I started a new series, Blue Murder, which centers on a pregnant mother of four trying to balance her career with her family. I then read some, took a brief nap, and mid-afternoon, watched the third and fourth quarters of the Pacers' defeat of the Thunder in the last second. I was too lazy to do much the rest of the afternoon, and before I realized it, Evie was putting together our dinner with my help. Then, we enjoyed a glass of wine on our front porch for the first time this spring. Dinner has become one of my favorites: Salisbury steak with gravy and mashed potatoes. We both devoured our dinners, and fortunately, we have enough leftovers for tonight. We watched the finals of Jeopardy,  and our favorite, Victoria Groce, last year's winner, lost to our least favorite, Yogesh Raut, alas. We then watched the penultimate episode of Sirens, saving the last episode for tonight. Since there was no basketball, when Evie went up to bed, I watched another episode of Blue Murder. 

A Day In The Garden

6:17

7:17

I was up at 6:15 and on the lake by 6:30. It's an overcast morning, 62º, and I was out for forty-five minutes. It's now 7:45, and I have an ultrasound in Westfield at 9:00, so I need to avoid eating or drinking anything. 

Kayak Morning

Northern Gray

Great Blue Heron

Yesterday we finally got out in the yard and got stuff done. About time. The day began with a great hour paddle for me, and I was early and out on the lake by 6:20. It's amazing to be the only one on the lake on a morning like Thursday. I was back by 7:30 and was on my way to breakfast with Jack at 7:50. Lake Life is beginning to come alive as I had to wait in line to order. Usually, at least in the winter months, we are the only ones in the place,

I was back by 9:10, wrote the blog, and then we decided to work in the yard rather than the house or porch. Evie bought a couple of flats of flowers last week, so she wanted to get them in. I helped turn the soil, then got out the weed wacker and edged all of the garden, then around the trees and the lakeside. Finally, I weeded around the red twigs, digging out all the weeds between the bushes, a boring but necessary task. I worked up quite a sweat and was itchy so before lunch, I took a nice cool shower and felt much better when I finished. Evie was still working in the yard so I popped a chicken pot pie in the microwave, and ten minutes later, I had lunch. I watched a show, then decided to try and nap since I was tired from the morning yard work. I napped for a few minutes but woke when I heard rain on the roof.

I then spent much of the afternoon relaxing as did Evie, both tired from our morning. Around 3:30, I got a couple more things done, filling the flower boxes with potting soil, cleaning the flower pots of various sizes, getting them ready for annuals.  We enjoyed our happy hour, mostly because of the news of the brouhaha between Trump and Musk. Love it.  We turned to Fox, and they were talking about Biden , not Trump and Musk. Of course. We were not sure what to have for dinner, so Evie thawed some shrimp, cleaned both mushrooms and asparagus, and we had a great stir fry for dinner. We watched another hour of Jeopardy Master and then Sirens on Netflix. We watched more of CNN before Evie went to bed and I watched the first half of the Pacer/Thunder game. 

Hazy And Warm

6:16

9:18

It's 7:40 and I paddled for close to an hour, getting up at 6:15. I head over to Bemus for breakfast in ten minutes. so I won't get the blog done until I return at 9:00. It's 9:40 as I finish this and am listening to Michael Smerconish after having breakfast at the Lake Life Cafe. 

Great Blue

Kayak Morning

Same Guy

Yesterday was back to normal. I kayaked for close to an hour, had breakfast, wrote the blog, and was off to yoga class at 9:40. Unfortunately, the class was challenging, so I left feeling sore and tired. Too many planks and downward-facing dog. I did not stop anywhere on my way home, and was just happy to be home and relax. It was that kind of morning. Evie took pity on me and made me a great lunch, a quesadilla with lots of veggies and cheese. I watched the final episode of my series, Scrublands, and sadly, the second season is no longer available on Prime. 

Wishful Thinking!

I am only 20% into Moss Hart's biography, First Act, so the tomb is much longer than I thought. Fortunately, I am enjoying most of it, getting an inside view of acting, writing plays, and Broadway. I tried to nap, but it was too warm and I didn't want to turn on the air conditioner for a short nap. I read some but was bothered by not having finished my job of putting buoys into the lake. So I gathered everything, tied the buoys to cement blocks, ferried them out to the lake in my kayak, and placed them four or five feet apart. It's difficult to set them in a straight line and get them not too far apart, but I did my best. 

It took me an hour and by the time I was done, Evie was enjoying a glass of wine in the living room. I joined her and we listened to the always depressing and often absurd news before dinner, the last of the peameal bacon, eggs, and twice-baked potatoes. We watched two episodes of Sirens on Netflix, a soap opera-like series supposedly based on the Greek myth about Sirens.  We are not sure if we will stick with it. After Evie went up to bed, I looked for a new series but ended up watching a Colbert and the news before returning to my book and going up to bed. 

Getting Warmer

7:15

It's 8:30 and I just returned from a 50 minute paddle, my usual, down to Wells Bay and back along Woodlawn. There was not much action on the lake but I did spot an osprey, partially hidden in the trees. 

Kayak Morning

North

Osprey In Victoria

Tuesday was an easy day for the most part. I didn't feel like going to yoga after an hour on the lake. Evie was happy to let me go off for coffee with the guys so I was on my way by 9:20. Three of the guys were there along with their wives. Bob was celebrating his second anniversary and Paul just celebrated his first. Both are in their second marriages and are in their eighties or approaching it. I spent most of my time talking with Neal, a transplant from Portland, OR. I left around 10:45, stopped at Home Depot to pick up some primer, and then stopped at Wegmans again and picked up our dinner.

When I returned home, Evie was moving furniture around in the living room, trying to decide where the two new chairs seemed best. Once we got it right, I moved some tables out and Evie heated up my lunch, the leftover chicken, mashed potato and gravy.  And I started a new series on Prime called Scrublands. I had never heard of it. Set in Australia, a reporter goes to a small town a year after a priest guns down five locals, hoping to find out why. I was not expecting much, but I really like it.

After lunch, I opened the windows in the bedroom and napped and read under a nice breeze, just like last summer. Around 3:00, I had a great talk with our daughter Beth, who just finished her first year teaching in Dallas after a long hiatus to raise a family. She, of course, received top evaluations. At 5:00, Evie had a Zoom call with her sisters, and I went outside and began the process of anchoring buoys in front of our dock to keep boats from infringing on our swimming area. I put in three and have four more to put in when the wind calms down.

Dinner was haddock filets from Wegmans, spinach, and baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. Yum. We watched Hometown, then some news, and another home improvement show before Evie had enough and went up to bed. I then watched another episode of Scrublands before returning to my book, First Act, then sleeping.

How True

A Hazy 55º Morning

8:37

It's 8:50, and the wind is picking up; the haze continues. I paddled for over 70 minutes, down to Tom's Point and around it so I got my first glimpse of the bridge. I saw a couple of herons, no osprey, perhaps an eagle or hawk, but it wasn't clear. 

Kayak Morning

Bridge

Great Blue

Heron

Yesterday was not what we wanted, but at least it started with a good paddle and great photos of birds. When I got home, I called the doctor's office and was able to make an appointment for Evie in Jamestown at 10:45.  So the drive there, the appointment, and a stop at Wegmans on the way home filled up our morning. Evie came up with some steroids and Mucinex for her cough. 

We were home by 12:30, and I heated up the leftover stir-fry for lunch. I also finished my series, Department Q, which I highly recommend, consisting of nine episodes. We then both relaxed, Evie nursing her cough in the TV room, watching an old film, and I read and took a nap. I started a new book, First Act, and I am liking it, an autobiography of prominent playwright Moss Hart. I tried to nap to no avail. It usually happens when I have had a bad night and want a good nap. Late in the afternoon, I got fed up with sitting around and went out to mow the yard, trying to keep up with our new neighbors, who are great at keeping up their yard and lawn. 

We had our usual wine time, then Evie made dinner, a humongous sesame bagel, with a couple of slices of peameal bacon, two eggs, and cheese. One bagel was plenty. We finished our series, "Secrets We Keep." We also would recommend it, although the ending was disappointing, perhaps hoping for a second season. 

Blue Skies And Cold

Heron In The Reeds

7:48

It's 8:30, and I've been up for a couple of hours. By 6:30, I was out on the lake, paddling down to Bootey Bay and back. It was a good morning for birding because I shot a couple of ospreys and herons during my 70-minute paddle. 

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

1st Osprey

2nd Osprey

Great Blue Heron

A Pair Of Osprey

Close Up Of Osprey

Sunday was another cool day, and I was able to get in both a paddle and a walk. I was out on the lake early, like today, but had not luck with birds. After breakfast and the blog, Evie talked me into going for a walk around the Chautauqua Institution, although I didn't feel like it. It's a beautiful time to walk the CI as everything is green and in bloom. The CI is slowly filling up with summer people, and I walked a couple of miles around the Institution's circumference. After my walk, I stopped at the Lighthouse Grocery and picked up a rotisserie chicken and peameal bacon for our dinners.

Thunder Bridge

February 21st

When I returned home, Evie was taking it easy, still bothered by a cough. I was hungry so Evie whipped me up an omelet and a bagel, and I watched another episode of my show. Neither of us did much the rest of the afternoon despite the fine weather. Evie watched a movie, and I read, napped, then went for a short walk around our neighborhood, just to do something other than sit around the house.

After a brief wine time, Evie roasted some cauliflower and made a salad to go with the rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. We finally found a series we like, a Danish film set in New Zealand called Secrets We Keep. We watched three of the six episodes and are into it. Once Evie went up to bed, I watched the end of the Pacers' defeat of the Knicks and another episode of Department Q.  One more to go. I finished my Reacher book, and I have to say it bored me, so I couldn't wait for it to end. And I started a new novel, Perfection, by Vincenzo Latronico. 

A Cool But Sunny Sunday

8:16

It's 8:50 and I was up at 6:45, on the lake by 7:15, and kayaked for close to an hour on a virtually empty lake. It was 41º when I started out, 47º at the moment.

Kayak Morning

North

Shades Of Blue

Saturday began with a short, windy, and cold paddle, a harbinger of the day. It was overcast with drizzle much of the day so that neither of us got outside for any length of time. We stretched out our coffee, then Evie decided to give the pantry a good decluttering. By the time she was finished, we had an entire garbage bag full, and I then drove off to the Transfer Station to get rid of the trash, my one job for the day.

Lunch was the last of the lentil soup and a turkey and cheese sandwich. I watched another episode of Department Q, then went upstairs and read and took a nap. It was a perfect day to enjoy a leisurely afternoon, which we both did. Recently, I seem to have lost my mojo, and I didn't feel like going for a walk or bike ride even though the sky cleared some in the afternoon. In fact, I have done neither in a couple of weeks. 

Before our wine time, Evie prepared the vegetables and chicken for a stir fry. We relaxed with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay instead of the usual Sauvignon Blanc. By 6:30, we were busy stir-frying the goodies and making rice on the stove. Dinner was great and we wonder why we don't make stir-fries more often. We watched a couple of episodes of a new series on Netflix called Penille, which my sister Ellen recommended. We are not sure how we feel about it, but we will stick with it for another episode or two. We watched My Lottery Dream Home, a good time filler, before Evie went up to bed, and I watched the first half of the Pacers/Knicks game. I went to bed confident the Pacers would win, and they did. Yippee.