Winter in Annapolis #1

 December 21, 2020 - December 28, 2020

The big story this week of course is Christmas! We had all of our decorations up so our final preparation was grocery shopping.  We had decided on ham, au gratin potatoes, walnuts, greens and gorgonzola salad, cranberry sauce, and creamed spinach (just for me as Bob is not a spinach fan).  We had to wait in a line outside the grocery store before we could enter.  The store posted an employee at the door to carefully count those entering and exiting in order to limit the number of shoppers in the store.  We purchased the necessary items for our meal and brought them back to the boat to store until needed.

On Christmas Eve Day Bob made the cranberry sauce and I baked a pumpkin pie and combined all of the ingredients for the slow cooker au gratin potatoes. I was a bit skeptical of how the potatoes would turn out, but we didn’t have room in our oven for both the ham and the potatoes.  Traditionally, Bob and I had opened one present on Christmas Eve, but since we have moved on to the boat we have not exchanged gifts.  Actually, if we want something now we buy it for ourselves  and don’t wait for a holiday to receive the item (typical old people behavior I guess). My daughter Jessica FaceTimed me in the evening and we shared our Christmas happenings. They were having snow in Johnstown while all we got was lots of rain.

On christmas morning I baked a cheese quiche for our breakfast, relaxed, and then started in on the dinner preparations. 

I made the quiche without any meat and
just used gruyere cheese. It was
 probably the best I ever made!

I had already turned the crock pot on so we mentally scheduled when to start each of the other food items.  At 1:30 everything was ready.

Everything was great except the potatoes.
I was disappointed in the flavor,
too much garlic I think.

After dinner we finished the champagne we had with dinner and watched a random NFL football game and relaxed.  I got a Face Time call from my daughter Rachel and wished each other a Merry Christmas and chatted for awhile. Grace texted me Christmas wishes, too.

During Christmas weekend I spent some time looking over some photos from previous Christmas celebrations.

My children with each set of
grandparents long, long ago.

Christmas day when my children are older.

The weekend was normal, but with a great number of visitors downtown in Annapolis enjoying the decorations and nice weather.  On Sunday we watched the Ravens beat the NY Giants 27 - 13.  I cut out the last of the squares I need to finish Karl’s quilt and will finish sewing all of the pieces together in the next couple of weeks. 

Our next big event will be New Year’s.  I wonder how that will go during the pandemic.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thank you for reading my blog

Late Fall in Annapolis #3

 December 7, 2020 - December 20, 2020

The days since my last blog post have been less than exciting.  Instead of listing all of my activities each day I decided to give you an overall list of how things are going here in Annapolis.  First off, the weather has gone from warm (mid to upper 40’s and one day 60) to very cold (upper 20’s to low 30’s) and back again, twice.  I do enjoy the warmer weather, but it seems so unnatural to be walking around without a heavy jacket in December.  Most days have been consumed with mundane tasks (grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, and cooking) and a couple of boat projects.  One day we replaced the discharge hose for the deck drain on the starboard side of the boat - plumbing tasks are not my favorite and always take much longer than expected. I have also made progress on my son’s quilt.

The holiday spirit is alive and well in Annapolis and the decorations around town are the best part of the season. I have photographed some outstanding decorations on my morning walks.

The lighted wreath on the stern of Rainy Days
 twinkles even in the sunlight

Decorations go from traditional colonial...

to glitzy.

The flower vendor offers beautiful bouquets to 
passersby on Church Circle.

The trees in the yard of St. Ann's Church are wrapped
with lights and decorated with lighted snowflakes.

A display of unique stars caught my eye.

Swags of greenery festooned with
red velvet bows are everywhere.

Nancy Hammond, a local artist, has
decorated her gallery with her own  work.

The view looking down West Street toward Church Circle

The view down Main Street to the City Dock

The Restaurant "Red Red Wine"
 changed its name for the season.

A unique window display 

Another outstanding window display

All of the boats around City Dock are decorated, too.

The Christmas lights are outstanding, too.

Lights sparkle all night at City Dock and around town.

Remember wear your mask, social distance and wash your hands.  

Thank you for reading my blog

Late Fall in Annapolis, MD #2

 November 30, 2020 - December 6, 2020

The weather is getting colder every day.  Happily the sun is usually strong enough to help the oil filled radiator warm up the cockpit nicely.  Sitting in the cockpit in the afternoon helps me cope with staying on the boat so much as it gives me the feeling of being outside.  I’m still able to walk most mornings and will continue that habit unless it is bitterly cold.  

We have finally found the leak in our water system that was causing the water pump to run every hour or so even if we were’t using water.  Bob got a suggestion from one of his blog followers that changing the hose clamps to smaller clamps would provide a better seal.  So we changed the clamps on the hot water heater hose and we haven’t had the leak problem since.  

I’ve been working on the quilt I am making for my son, Karl.  He is a marine (not on active duty, but once a marine always a marine, right) so I chose a star pattern for the quilt and patriotic fabrics.  I’m sure I’ll be working on it for most of the winter.

I have to make 61 of the red squares and 60 of the blue and white squares.
 They will be sewn together to make strips of 11 squares
 and then the strips will be sewn together.  

 

On Wednesday we tackled a giant project - reorganizing the storage locker. 

Here's what it looked like before we started.

After three hours of lugging containers down, sorting and reorganizing their contents, and replacing them in the locker we wound up with a car full of garbage and Good Will donations.  We didn’t make much of a dent in our accumulated stuff, but at least we know what we have in the locker.  We are considering pairing down the contents more by selling off some items.

 It doesn’t look much different, does it?

On Thursday morning Bob couldn’t find his coat.  In all probability he left it at Italian Market yesterday.  Oh darn, that means we will have to go back today to have lunch. That afternoon we drove to Homestead Gardens to purchase some Christmas lights for the boat. Back at the boat we strung them inside the cockpit.

The blue and green combination is called Caribbean.

Later in the week I made bows from Christmas ribbon and used them to decorate the cabin.

  

The bows, fairy lights and Christmas music
give a festive air to the cabin.

We usually stay close to the boat on the weekends mostly because so many people come to downtown Annapolis.  After I walk in the morning and we fix our lunch we settle down to listen to or watch college football on Saturday (Penn State beat Rutgers 27-7) and NFL football on Sunday.  We have been trying to improve our television reception, but it looks like the only way to fix it is have someone go up the mast and fix whatever is wrong.  We will have to hire someone because, believe me, neither of us are going up the mast!

In my next blog I’ll take some pictures of the wonderful Christmas decorations around town.

Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog

Late Fall in Annapolis, MD

 November 9, 2020 - November 29, 2020

The weather has been magnificent - sunny, warm, and dry.  I’ve been able to walk every morning along the historic and beautiful streets of Annapolis and Eastport (just across the Spa Creek draw bridge).  On Monday we decided to take advantage of Margarita Monday (1/2 price margaritas) and went to Mexican Cafe for lunch.  When we lived in Baltimore we weren’t able to enjoy Mexican Cafe’s margaritas because of the long drive home.  The meal started off with chips and salsa, margaritas, and water.  We both tried new dishes - I had the tostadas and Bob had enchiladas.  Both meals were very good and we topped it off with fried ice-cream for dessert.  Needless to say we won’t be doing this very often as the combination of food and libations made for a very lazy afternoon and evening.  

We started our lunch off right!

On Tuesday we drove to Anchorage Marina in Baltimore to retrieve some items from our dock box and secure the box with a lock.  On our way home we stopped at the storage unit to drop off most of the retrieved items and pick up what I needed to complete Rachel’s quilt.  After lunch at Italian Market we returned to the boat.  I received a call that Rachel’s quilt was ready for me to pick up and made plans to drive to Fallston on Wednesday.

As predicted the rain started during the night and Wednesday morning was wet and cool.  As we drove to Fallston to pick up the quilt the rain became heavy reducing visibility.  I was very pleased with the quilting done by Glory Bee’s and I should have time to finish the binding before I leave for Oak Park.

I did finish Rachel’s quilt, but I did not take it to Oak Park, IL.  The surge in covid-19 cases and the recommendations from Dr. Fauci, other reputable doctors and civic leaders convinced me that traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday was too risky.  I was supposed to spend five days with Rachel, Juan, and Lili and then drive to Johnstown, PA to visit my daughter, Jessica and her husband Joe.  Our plan was to have Thanksgiving dinner with my sister Becky in Pittsburgh.  I cancelled all of those plans. Since then I have been sad and disappointed, but have tried to make the best of the situation.  Bob and I have also stopped eating at restaurants even with outside seating and are curtailing our outings to only essentials (food, doctors, CVS, and laundry). 

Bob and I enjoyed a simple but delicious Thanksgiving dinner on board the boat.

A scaled down but delicious Thanksgiving dinner!

Since not much is going on here I thought I would highlight some of the unique features of downtown Annapolis.

Annapolis is the home of the Naval academy and in the evenings if I’m outside in the cockpit I can here the bugle sounding the end of the day.  The cadets are frequently seen around town in their crisp uniforms.  At the end of city dock is the Kunta Kinte / Alex Haley memorial which features a bronze statue of Alex Haley reading to African American children (also in bronze) seated on the pavement around him.  There are numerous bronze plaques around the dock documenting the history of slavery in the area.  Walking up the hill on Main Street there are restaurants and shops lining the sidewalk.  Most of these are local businesses, but some chain restaurants have encroached upon the area.  Main Street ends at Church Circle where the St. Ann’s Episcopal Church is located.  West Street is one of the exits leading away from church circle, which is the arts district with numerous art galleries, a theater, and several unique shops and eateries. Just off West Street is Maryland Hall which is the hub of the performing arts in Annapolis. Of course during the pandemic there are no performances.  At West Street and Washington Street is the entrance to the Old Fourth Ward which historically has been called the Harlem of Annapolis.  From what I have read from the 20’s to 50’s this neighborhood in Annapolis was alive with entertainment venues, clubs, and restaurants where both black and white Annapolitans enjoyed  music, dancing, food and, drink.  All of the features I have mentioned are within walking distance from our boat making walking around Annapolis enjoyable even if we don’t go inside any of the buildings.  

That’s all for now.  Stay safe and follow the covid-19 protocols for your area.

Thank you for reading my blog.