August

My camera is collecting dust in the corner.  I find I use my phone for the few pictures that may be interesting to you or something we haven't already seen 15 times in the past.   Summer is passing by, one day at a time.      I'm still cooking all our meals.   We did finally go out for a burger yesterday but when we saw "others" using the outdoor tables at Tom Wahls in Avon, we couldn't do it and ended up eating in the Jeep.    So much for eating out.    The Lakeside Cottage Bistro will continue to be our favorite restaurant.   The food is good and the ambiance suits us.

Pork Wellington with mustard sauce and Sweet Potato/Rutabaga Mash with Sage and Garlic

August 1 was our 50th wedding anniversary.     Sweet Dave surprised me with a sentimental gift (after we decided NOT to buy gifts), a proof 1970 fifty cent piece set in a simple gold bezel to wear around my neck. 

He was wonderful then, and he's wonderful now.   I'm a very lucky woman.

were we ever that young?

Our day was spent quietly, the way we like it - together.    Some beautiful flowers arrived for us and Judi (my maid of honor way back then) brought us a cool personalized gift.   We're lucky, Dave and I.

Jesse and Erin sent this bouquet

Cindy P dropped off this beautiful bundle while I wasn't looking!

Thanks Judi!

The weather has been up and down, mostly hot.    Some nasty storms have rolled through but haven't stayed long.

the skies were dramatic

couldn't see across the lake

and then it withdrew

Dave is busy downstairs.  The walls are up and he's in the "mud" phase right now.   Rock and roll is blaring and he's grooving.

Lewis is fine now, at least we hope he is.    Almost two weeks ago he had surgery to remove a small mass on his eyelid and another, more worrying one, in his mouth.    They were biopsied but we haven't heard anything back yet.    Finger's crossed everyone.....

 He is such a good dog.   He accepted the horrible cone without complaint.   He couldn't get up the stairs from outside with it, however, and we had to remove it before we took him out to "get busy".
Since he was so very obedient and accepting we decided we could put him in a much more comfortable restraint after the first day.   An inflatable donut  collar would make it more difficult for him to reach his eye with a back foot.   To make it even more difficult I put a bootie on his foot.....he didn't shake it, bite at it or pay any attention whatsoever to these embarrassments.    "if you want me to wear these things, I'll do my best"     He always gives us his best.

I actually think he enjoyed having his own special pillow that went everywhere with him.      He's past all that unpleasantness now, no more bootie, no more collar, no more soft food (although I know he loved the scrambled eggs I made for his breakfast).

That's our August so far!

July already?

I can hardly believe it's July already.    Summer is moving by quickly, I'd assumed it would drag with the restrictions on our socialization and explorations.   Not the case at all.

As I've said before, nothing new or very interesting is going on.    Our sweet Lewis turned another year older, he's 11 now.   

The birthday didn't seem to bother him but he has slowed down a bit in his old age.   He still enjoys swimming (if someone will throw in one of his toys to retrieve), fishing with Dave, supervising any and all work, attending second cups and happy hours and just generally relaxing in the air conditioned house.    The temperatures have been unusually high this week (mid 90s) and have arrived with sticky humidity levels so indoors is the most comfortable place to be.

even the birds are hot!

this little guy decided our petrified log would shade his front door nicely

Yep, shady entry door

Wait for me, Dave, Dave, wait for me to get out there, Dave wait!

Dave swims often but, since there is no shade out on the water, I don't while it's this hot.    Lewis never enters the water when one of us is swimming.   He feels someone must stay vigilant in case someone begins to drown.

Our Jeep continues to perform it's new roll of construction delivery vehicle and Dave continues his work downstairs in the emerging bedroom/bathroom project.

loading studs

Mr. David's A-1 Construction Consultants sent his best man to cut the concrete

He outfits his employees with the latest safety equipment

Last week was 4th of July.   Our lake holds a "Lake of Fire" celebration on July 3rd with fireworks and bon fires.   In the afternoon the lake is filled with boats cruising around and pulling all manner of floating things behind them. 

boats everywhere

dear friend Stephen ferrying his little daughter around

the Ice Cream boat made a killing on the 3rd!

In the late afternoon people have lawn parties and at 10 pm sharp, everyone around the lake lights red flares on their piece of shoreline to ring the lake in red.   It's beautiful.      This is the first time in probably 25 years that we did not participate.

Dave couldn't help himself....he built a small bonfire even though we weren't having a party

The Town of Geneseo cancelled their fireworks display and closed the small park at the north end of the lake.    We this would be a quiet 3rd of July.    Wrong.     I think there were more displays than ever.   The booming and banging went on from early evening until way past our bedtime.   Lewis was not a happy camper and squeezed up on the bed between us, something he never does.

the view as I pulled down the shades at bedtime

zzzzzzz after a long night of noise

So, that's July so far!

June

It's almost officially "Summer" and days move slowly.    Things are opening around us but we're staying still.     This is a time of reflection and learning and understanding.    A time of gratitude and happiness and sadness and disbelief.

We've taken down our bird feeder.   The hummingbird feeder stays, they are polite visitors.   Grackles, squirrels and chipmunks took possession of the seed feeder and chased every one else away.    The chipmunks peppered the driveway with holes, the squirrels and grackles ate us out of house and home and those same grackles practiced one of their more annoying habits so enthusiastically that we had to wear shoes when walking on the dock.     They nest communally, lots of them in a small area, and the adults keep themselves busy by carrying their babies poop out of the nest (in their beaks) and dropping it into the lake.    That is to say if all goes well, it lands in the lake, but our grackles seem to be more intent on hitting the dock.   It's a mess.   No more food from us, ungrateful birds!

poop line

We have kept busy planning (with our familial architects) and laying out and building our downstairs project.     We're supporting our local lumber company and turning the Jeep into a delivery vehicle.

Dave cut bathroom fixtures out of cardboard so I could better "see" the placements

up goes the first wall

Fabulous Fred helps Dave maneuver the bathtub down the deck stairs

Dave has also kept up with his list of jobs in Beluga.   So far, he's replaced the toilet, and finished the leveling jack repairs.    On our way home this spring, Dave noticed that the fresh water tank was leaking badly.   We used bottled water until we could get home and investigate.   It turns out that the tank had become loose in it's compartment and as Beluga bumped along down the road (probably that d amn I-70 in Indiana again), the movement broke the pvc drain pipe, allowing the water to pour out.   All fixed now!

I'm still cooking and baking and being domestic.   Rhubarb season is pretty much finished so I've turned my attentions to cookies. I've managed to replicate one of our favorite Safeway cookies (Hope's Royales) and yesterday I made a batch of an old Polish cookie recipe that we'd forgotten about!
 

Polish orange/coconut cookies

Niece Lisa stopped by the other day and brought us some goodies.....wine and flowers AND a huge box of Oliver's candies.     Oh my, they're good.   and, they're almost gone (don't judge - a friend says that covid 19 sometimes stands for the extra weight gained while staying at home).

Lewis has been enjoying his time, just being Lewis.

this shot was taken on a 90 degree, humid day.   He stayed in front of the air conditioning vent!

when we work in the lower level, Lewis scoots around in the grass just outside the window

he swims

he "loses" his ball in a patch of mint on the beach (he smells divine afterward), then has to find it

he enjoys his short summer haircut

curly when wet!

That's about all I have to say for now.   I do this blog to show you (and remind me) what we're seeing - so these are June's views.......

back and forth, ringing his bell at dinner time

my "doing dishes" view

burgers and rose' anyone?

pretty reflected eastern Sunset