Week Three

Should someone have asked me, if given the choice, would you prefer to live on a lake or the ocean, my answer would have been a lake. Never would I have imagined I would have the choice, but now that it is a reality, well, it is good. For some folks, the answer would be just the opposite, so perhaps you are wondering about my choice? Wondering or not, here is my reasoning--the variety of animal/bird life is more abundant. Sure, there are wonderful shorebirds at the ocean, however, I'm learning that life on a lake, albeit a small one, is new everyday. Especially when there are so many trees lining the shoreline! As I type, I'm seeing tiny birds, the type I don't know, flit from branch to branch. Squirrels leap from one tree to another, and most afternoons the Wood Duck and her ducklings come onshore to snack on the birdseed our upstairs neighbor provides. Oh, and did I tell you there are otters? In the early morning,

the ducks head out from the aquatic plants, heading, presumably to the other side of the lake. The heads of turtles peek up from the water, as they too get moving. So far I've seen a hawk,

an Ibis, many Annhinga, as well as several Snowy Egrets. A Great Blue Heron too.

We have also learned that the trees drop all manner of branches into the lake, and with the extreme heat of summer, algae blooms as seen above. Both are pesky, so Bruce is going about changing that, borrowing a rake from Pam, he pulled the branches from the water, as well as some icky, and I do mean icky, sheets of algae. How it grows that way is beyond us.

When the sun hits just right, you can see the little fishes swimming in the shallow water, and we hope with this clean up, to see far more of them.

I've been out riding my bike a few days, once heading over to Southern Oaks to check on my owl trees. Much to my dismay, Hurricane Irma must have been the culprit that took the giant oak tree in Nell's yard. Amongst the flowering plants below, a mighty oak once stood where the owls slept the days away.

I always knew when they were present by how the driveway looked. Clean and tidy, and they were nowhere to be found. Spotted with their droppings, I knew to look upward. Remember this cutie?

A fellow came along, seeing me stopped in my tracks in front of Nell's, he asked if I were looking for the owls? "Oh yes I am", was my reply. Hearing them most evenings, he claims they have moved a street over. Well, what with all of the rain we are having, me riding over there probably is not going to happen. After about a week of intermittent rain, the downpours have once again begun in earnest.

Lord, have mercy! That Sunday evening whopper while we were at the Hill's house, according to the newspaper, dumped just shy of FOUR inches in three hours! And you thought I was exaggerating...

In good news for the village here, the paving has been getting done, and if you have ever wondered how they paint the lines in a parking lot, wonder no more!

While rhapsodizing on lakeside living, I neglected to mention the butterflies! It is no wonder the Zebra Longwing is our state butterfly as I have been seeing them like crazy, one of which just flew by the window.

Pam sent everyone who was fast enough to claim it, home with big bunches of a new type of basil she's grown. Irene made pesto, while I made a Panzanella salad, the epitome of summer.

All is right with the world because I have made some cookies, definitely a sign we are settling in. No longer do I need to use an upturned broiler pan for cooling, nor wait for one batch to cook before forming another. Snickerdoodles, an old favorite, made many times as is evidenced by the dirty pages of my Betty Crocker cookbook, a wedding gift.

More often than not, recipes written today suggest one use parchment paper on your cookie sheet. While it does make cleaning up easier, there is the matter of waste. Many years ago, my sister-in-law, Ruth, gave me these excellent cookie sheets for Christmas, and friends, they work like magic, with the little ridges keeping the cookies from sticking without any added cooking spray.

I will say, I was delighted that the oven worked as well as it did, something, at this point, not to be taken for granted. We are still mulling over our kitchen remodel with nothing decided so far.

I was telling the ladies last night, at a get together at Lynn's adorable new place,

that the nickname Vancouverites have for their city, Raincouver, would be somewhat of a joke here as their idea of rain and ours differs greatly! Pours and pours here, whereas there it is not quite a mist, but hardly what we would call real rain.

That roof at the top of our back room is some kind of hard plastic that really magnifies the sound of the downpours. Speaking of sounds, I neglected to mention how loud both the crickets and frogs are in the evening. It's a chorus out there folks!

One more short story on sounds carrying across the lake.....yesterday morning, just as I stepped out back to check to see if the water was clearing, I heard a huge crash, knowing instantly it was the sound of two vehicles colliding. Soon thereafter I took off on my bike, heading to Ferncreek, the street on the other side of the lake. Sure enough, one car was hit so hard, the passenger door came off, landing in someone's front yard.

The other car was just shy of the ditch! What worried me, aside from the damaged car was the open window. Rain, you know.

Finally, earlier in the week, I drove over to Winter Park to see what Orchard Supply looked like and found it to my liking. I picked up some hooks for the bathroom doors as well as some handles that I thought were super cool to use on a chest we plan on painting this weekend. Except, we realized that they would look great on this chest I purchased a few years ago. There are indentions on either side of the door that you pull to open it which worked so-so. Bruce surprised me by putting them on yesterday and I could not be any happier.

And not a few days later, following our visit together on Sunday afternoon, we learned that Lowes has decided to close all 99 of the stores. Very sad indeed. I was probably out looking for rugs as we've discovered that in our absence, moths have found our living room woo rug rather tasty. Finding one has not been easy, but then again, is anything?

I said I was done, but that was before I realized there is one more thing to say---our sister Carol is having another procedure done today and needs your thoughts and prayers. Now, I'm done.

your friend,

Gail