Meanwhile on the North Fork...........

[Volkonski]

One of the NoFo's nicer restaurants has just opened a grab and go shop near here which features frozen pot pies handmade in the restaurant. Also soups and such.

Mrs.V has picked up a chicken pie and some seafood bisque for dinner.

[Foggy]

That turtle is gorgeous, V.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Turtle visitor to our cottage today.

turtle.jpg

Gangnam Style

[Volkonski]

That particular turtle is an eastern box turtle that Mrs. V's cousin's (who has a cottage on the Circle) husband has been tracking for years. The marks on the shells are as distinctive as fingerprints.

[Volkonski]

Mrs.V's cousins to the left of us got started mowing and trimming first thing this morning.

This apparently inspired the folk just north of us to start their yard work.

It rained the last 2 days so today folk will be catching up on their lawn work including our lawn service which usually comes on Thursdays.

Oh look! Rent A Fence has arrived to remove the temporary fencing around the cottage across the Circle from us that has been having major work done.

Noise!

[Volkonski]

The sun is out!

[Volkonski]

Took Mrs.V out for her birthday today for lunch at a nice French restaurant on the Sound about 30 minutes west of us. Food was good but pricey.

Driving back to the Circle there was a lot of westbound traffic. Since today is Friday I imagine that those were Northforkers getting away before the weekenders arrive tonight.

Mrs.V's cousins to the left finished opening their cottage today.

Across the Circle the construction fence is gone. Our neighbor there can begin landscaping what is now a mud flat after a winter of reconstruction work.

Mrs. V's cousin in the DC area is doing better and has doctor appointments next week. No idea when she and her husband will be able to come to the North Fork this year.

Mrs. V has a 4 day early music event next weekend in Connecticut. I get to stay at the cottage and take care of the cats. This means not leaving the cottage since the cats tend to escape if I try to enter or exit. I move a bit slow these days.

[bill_g]

Happy Birfday Mrs_V!

On cats escaping - My Mrs insisted they stay inside even though they adopted us by coming to our back porch mewling about how cold it was outside. She's not here anymore. I've adopted an open door policy. I only have one cat these days. He's younger and he's faster than me, and he's become part of the daily ebb and flow. He goes out at dawn. Comes back in around 9am. Spends the rest of the morning sleeping on my bed. He may or may not take a nap with me after lunch. He's out again around 3pm, and won't return until dinner time. By dusk he's on the back porch ready to come in for the evening.

So, I wouldn't stop going outside. The cats are faster. C'est la vie.

[Maybenaut]

Happy Birfday Mrs_V!

On cats escaping -

<snip>

The cats are faster. C'est la vie.

When we moved here there were three outdoor cats who came with the house. We promised the former owner we’d feed them, which is all she ever did. One of the cats was already here and full grown when they moved in in 2004. We moved in in 2021, so he would have be 18 years old at the very least.

The former owner said the cats always ran when she came out, but they’d come back for the food. My husband, the cat whisperer, made it his mission to befriend the cats. I don’t know how he did it, but within a couple months he was able to get close enough for a long enough time to squirt a little frontline on them. After about six months they would jump up on his lap. I think they were appreciative to lose the fleas and ticks.

We lost the old guy, Chunky, after about a year and a half. He died in his sleep in his cat bed in the back porch. We lost Leo a year later. We don’t really know what happened to him; he was pretty young as cats go - maybe five - my husband found his body down by the cabin. We still have Ivy the tux, and now a newbie showed up - we call him White Mike (Snowball didn’t stick).

We also have a momma possum who sometimes comes to eat the cat food. Ivy and White Mike know to eat their fill as soon as it gets put down or it will be gone; we don’t put out very much so they usually eat it all.

[bill_g]

I can see the listing now: Hillside home with great view, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, 3 cats ...

[Volkonski]

Quiet Sunday afternoon on the Circle. Mrs.V's cousins have headed home. Our neighbor's to the right daughters have left after mowing his lawn. Mrs. V and her remaining cousins are at a performance of the 1731 Meeting House Chorus. Our cats are napping upstairs. LIRR trains are on reduced weekend schedule.

Just some hammering in the distance.

[jemcanada2]

What a beautiful turtle!

[Volkonski]

It is the last quiet week before the Memorial Day weekend when the North Fork will be inundated with weekenders, day trippers and summer people until Labor Day.

[sugar magnolia]

It is the last quiet week before the Memorial Day weekend when the North Fork will be inundated with weekenders, day trippers and summer people until Labor Day.

But aren't you "summer people" too?

[Volkonski]

We are summer+ people.

[Volkonski]

Beautiful day today, high in the low 70s.

Then rain tomorrow.

Then a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend which means TRAFFIC!

[bill_g]

Yesterday our weather forecast said rain. At dawn I'm looking at blue skies out the window. The forecast now says mostly sunny with a high of 60F. IOW sunglasses, long sleeves, and a jacket.

[Volkonski]

Rain! Thunder!

Messy morning on the North Fork.

[Volkonski]

Pollen! Green dust on everything!

[Volkonski]

Warm enough to sit out this evening.

Eight turkeys in the Circle just now.

Turkeys are social birds. Always come in groups.

When the Circle gets busier we won't see so much of them.

[bill_g]

Pollen! Green dust on everything!

Ours is always yellow. Covers everything for a couple weeks. Best to hit the wipers *without* water first.

[Foggy]

Yeah, pine pollen is yellow ... and sticky. On everything.

[Volkonski]

Yeah, pine pollen is yellow ... and sticky. On everything.

Our pollen is mostly oak pollen. The LI pine barrens are mostly west and south of the North Fork.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Isla ... ne_Barrens

[Volkonski]

Mrs. V is about to leave to catch the ferry to Connecticut for her early music workshop. Getting an early start to avoid holiday weekend traffic.
.
Warmest day yet. High will be 80F. Then things will cool down just a bit for the weekend.

Large crowds expected on the North Fork due to forecast of nice weekend weather.

[Volkonski]

So, nice day after a day of rain and the Friday beginning a holiday weekend.

You know what that means. Yes, gasoline-powered lawn care!

Our neighbor's (to the right) daughter is doing his lawn now. She is a lovely lady but not being a commercial lawn care person with large equipment it will take her most of the afternoon to finish his yard which is the largest on the Circle.

Radio just reported that the authorities will be using drones to detect sharks off the LI beaches again this year. The film "Jaws" would be very different if it were made these days.