City Dock, Annapolis to Castle Harbor Marina, Kent Island

March 22, 2021 - March 28, 2021

Annapolis was bustling with locals and tourists for our last week at City Dock. The weather was beautiful and spring like except for a mid-week heavy rain storm.  Bob had his daily radiation treatments and I was able to walk almost every morning.  I enjoy being outside at this time of year watching the flowers bloom and the tree leaves bud out.

Since our vaccines were fully effective on Tuesday I scheduled a hair cut for Wednesday afternoon (first one since October).  It’s good to get my hair back in shape.

Both the quilts I shipped out last week arrived at their new homes.

My grand daughter, Lili, with
the quilt I created for her.

My son, Karl, holding up the folded quilt I created.

Karl displaying the label I always sew
 to the back of the quilt indicating
 who I made the quilt for and
 the date it was completed.

On Friday afternoon we drove our car over to Castle Harbor Marina on Kent Island and a friend from City Dock picked us up at the marina and drove us back to the boat.  We stopped into the Pour House Pub for Happy Hour while we waited for our friend to arrive.  When he got there he sat down and had a beer, too.  We exchanged some interesting stories about cruising life. 

On Saturday morning we left City Dock in Annapolis around 9:30.  It was a perfect day to be on the water with a light breeze and plenty of sunshine.  We motored under the Bay Bridge, across the Bay, rounded Love Point (the northern tip of Kent Island) and continued up the Chester River. We arrived at the entrance to Castle Harbor Marina just before noon. Unfortunately, it was just past low tide and we went aground.  A dock hand from the marina came out to try and pull us off the low spot to no avail.  We got the boat turned around and headed back out into the river to wait for the tide to come up.  At 4:00 pm we tried to enter the marina again. We got to our slip easily without touching bottom once.  We got settled in and enjoyed the quiet evening in our new marina. It looks like our summer here will be quiet and laid back.

The Bay Bridge from the northern side.

Love Point with the Bay Bridge behind it.
Love Point has an interesting history read about it here
. https://www.secretsoftheeasternshore.com/love-point-on-kent-island/

We slept in on Sunday and walked to the Pour House Pub for hamburgers for lunch.  The food was great.  It’s nice to have a good restaurant with in walking distance of the boat. We will explore the area more later.

Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog.

 

Final Two Weeks of Winter in Annapolis

 March 5, 2021 - March 21, 2021

I saw daffodils in full bloom on my walk today and last week I saw crocuses, a sure sign of spring.  I haven’t seen any robins yet, but the birds in Eastport are singing their hearts out.  Finally, today the temperature reached 61 degrees.  Annapolis has been packed all weekend with locals and tourists alike. I certainly understand everyone's need to get out on such a beautiful day (but I wish they would be more  conscientious about wearing masks).

My first sign of spring!

Daffodils are such cheerful flowers.

Bob has completed three full weeks of treatments - only 5 more weeks to go. He has been tolerating the radiation treatments well so far with only mild fatigue as a side effect.  

My two large quilts came back from the quilter and I finished Lili’s and shipped it to her last week.  Today I completed Karl’s quilt and will ship it to him tomorrow.  Hopefully, they will both photograph the quilts and send me pictures that I can share on my next blog. I’m working on my youngest daughter’s quilt and will take it to the quilter next week. I still have one baby quilt to make and plans for some lap quilts and throws, but I’m not in any hurry to complete them.  I, also, want to take a break from making king and queen size quilts; the smaller ones are much more fun!

Lola is sleep testing my son's quilt.

The week coming up will be our last one in Annapolis.  It’s been a good experience being here this winter although living on a boat is much more fun when you are going places!

My next blog will be written from Castle Harbor Marina on Kent Island (our summer home).  

Thank you for reading my blog and stay safe!

Winter in Annapolis

 February 15, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Lot’s has happened in the last couple of weeks.  The big news is it’s starting to look and feel like spring might not be too far away.  After a short spat of cold weather we have been experiencing days with highs in the low 50”s.  It rained for a couple of days straight, but the weather is definitely improving. It's hard to believe that we will be leaving for Kent Island in a few short weeks.  

One afternoon we fed the sea gulls in the City Dock Park.

One morning we walked off the boat to find
Mr. Peanut was visiting Annapolis.

The bronze statue of a young girl listening to
Alex Haley glistens in the warm sun.

Nancy Hammond (a local artist) has changed the picture
in here gallery window to this spring scene.

I completed the quilt top for the baby quilt I have been working on. I took it to a machine quilter who I met at The Crabby Quilter (my new favorite quilt shop) and she had it done in a week! I finished the binding and sent it (along with the swaddling blankets I made and a couple of items I purchased) off to Rachel.  She loved it!

The whirly gig pattern was fun to create.

Another big event is that Bob started his radiation treatments for his prostate cancer on March 2nd.  Things seem to be going well.

We have also found a new favorite Mexican Restaurant in Annapolis - Chevy’s Fresh Mex.  It is never very busy for a weekday lunch and we can sit far away from any other customers so we have eaten there a couple of times.

We watched the cooks making tortillas one day.
We had seen a production like this once 
in a tortilla factory in Mexico. 

Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog.

Winter in Annapolis

 February 1, 2020 - February 14, 2020

We’ve been having severe winter weather during the last two weeks interrupted briefly by a few spring like days.  Our first snowstorm of the year turned into an ice event coating the boat and all other surfaces with a thick coating of ice.  I cleaned the ice covered snow off the boat with the deck brush to prevent damage to our canvas from the weight of the snow and ice.  Just yesterday we had another ice event. We had freezing rain all day and woke up to an ice covered world.

The most impressive ice cycles on the boat
are hangingfrom the sail cover.

Our slip piling with Rainy Days in the background

Ice cycles hanging from our grill cover

Our view from inside the cockpit

The ice on all surfaces was an eighth of an inch thick.

Again, I have been sewing most days since we are often confined to the boat due to the weather (I have still gotten out to walk several days each week). This time I’ve been working on the baby quilt and some flannel receiving blankets (I think they are called swaddling blankets now).  The bright primary colors of the baby quilt were a cheerful contrast to the gloomy outside weather.  I took the quilt to a local long arm machine quilter who hopes to have it back to me in two weeks! Can’t wait!

Of course, we followed the second impeachment trial of Donald trump.  The videos of the insurrection were quite frightening and I thought the House Managers did a thorough job of proving their case.  However, Trump was still acquitted. 

Bob and I are both on three lists for appointments to receive the Covid vaccine. My sisters have either had the first dose or have an appointment for the first dose. I would think Bob, with his cancer treatment and diabetes would be able to get a vaccine quickly, but Maryland isn’t getting enough doses each week to satisfy the great demand for vaccines.

Bob is closer to starting his actual radiation treatments.  On Monday he has a mock treatment to help he and the doctors solidify the treatment plan.

Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog. 

Our Winter in Annapolis

 January 11, 2021 - January 31, 2021

In my blog today I’m just going to highlight some events from the past couple of weeks.

We have firmed up our plans for the summer.  We visited Castle Harbor Marina on Kent Island again and chose slip A-5 as our summer home.  The marina has a large pool and an onsite restaurant. There are plenty of walking and bike trails in the area and easy access to the Bay from the marina.  One draw back is the weekend beach traffic, but we are used to staying home on the weekends.

The Castle Harbor Marina Office as
seen from across the harbor.

Our summer 2021 home

On the news front our new president, Joe Biden, and new Vice President, Kamala Harris were inaugurated on January 20, 2021. What a great day for our republic!

My daughter, Rachel, finally got the results of her blood test and - wait for it -

IT’S A GIRL!

I spend most afternoons sewing.  I finished the quilt top for Liliana (Rachel’s partner Juan’s daughter) and have purchased all of the fabrics for the new baby’s quilt.  I’ll take both Karl’s quilt and Liliana’s quilt to be machine quilted by a friend with a quilting business sometime next week.  The quilts probably won’t be ready for a few months. When the quilting is complete, I can bind them and send them to their new homes.  

Bob is making some progress in his cancer treatments.  He still hasn’t started radiation, but he has completed all of the pre-procedures. The radiation should start soon.

We are actually in the middle of a snow event right now.  It’s fun to see the snow falling and to walk around outside. What a different winter this has been from the ones we have spent in the  Bahamas. It’s nothing like the snow storms we used to have when I lived in Northern Indiana, but it’s plenty for me now. I enjoyed photographing the area with a covering of snow.

This was our view from the cockpit this morning.

A snow topped piling

A utility building at the end of the
pier looks deserted.

I'm sure glad I'm not a duck today.

Main Street in the snow

The State House as seen through a haze of snow

.

Starbucks was one of the few businesses open today.

These benches aren't very inviting
when covered in snow.

The history lessons go on even in the snow.

Rainy Days isn't used to the snow anymore.

Thank you for following my blog and stay safe!

Winter in Annapolis, MD #4

 December 30, 2020 - January 10, 2021

 Well, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s  Day were pretty  much non-events for us here on the boat.  Since there weren’t any fireworks scheduled in Annapolis this year we didn’t want to stay up to welcome the new year (although we were plenty happy to see 2020 go).  At the stroke of midnight we were awakened briefly by the hoots, hollers, and bangs of fireworks from the revelers in downtown Annapolis.  Other than that it was a normal night.  On Friday Bob prepared the traditional pork and sauerkraut meal for New Year’s Day in the crockpot and we ate around 2:00 pm while listening to a college football bowl game on the SiriusXM radio on board.  

The weather has been mildly chilly during the day and cold at night with a few days of overcast skies which make it feel colder than on sunny days.  We are keeping the cabin and the cockpit warm with our oil filled radiators that supplement the reverse cycle heating system we have on board.  When the water temperature goes below 40 degrees we will have to rely completely on the radiators and shut down the heating system completely.  

We had been noticing an odd taste and odor from our water ever since the marina shut down the water on our dock and we had to rely on the dock hands bringing a hose from the office to fill our water tanks.  Bob always changes the filter in our onboard filter system every quarter.  This time we noticed a large amount of sludge in the lower portion of the filter.  It looked like we were going to have to flush out all of our water tanks.  First, we emptied all the tanks and refilled them adding 1/4 cup of bleach to each tank.  Next, Bob ran the bleach water through all of the water systems on board (galley sink, head sink, and hot water tank).  The third process was to refill the water tanks with fresh water and flush it through all of the systems to clean out the bleach.  At this point the dock hands came to take the hose back to the office as it was close to closing time.  We had purchased an inline water filter and attached it to the office hose when they brought it out to us the next morning and refilled the tanks with fresh filtered water.  We also put a water treatment liquid into each of the tanks as we filled them.  The water still had a very faint bleach odor to it so we decided to continue drinking purchased water  and only use the water from the tanks for cleaning and dish washing.  Hopefully, we can go back to drinking our tap water after we empty and refill the tanks next time.  Oh, and of course, we had a glitch in the middle of this process when the port side tank’s flow was impeded when we were emptying it.  We had to remove the hoses from this tank, remove the blockage, and replace the hoses with new ones.  This whole process took a day and a half with lots of time standing outside in the cold filling water tanks.  On the positive side, it looks like the problem is solved!

I have been taking brisk 40-60 minute walks each morning except on the coldest days and it has helped me keep my spirits up in this stressful time. My sisters and I have been meeting through Zoom every week, too, which has also helped me feel more connected to my loved ones. Another great strategy for getting through this pandemic has been my FaceTime date every Monday afternoon with my daughter Rachel who has just informed the family that she is expecting a baby due sometime in late July.  How exciting!

Bob and I want to go on a Keto diet after he is done with his radiation treatments and we have been trying out some Keto type recipes. 

One night I made mojitos (called mo-Ketos)
 from a recipe Bob found in a Keto recipe book.
Mojitos were my favorite drink when
 we were in Cuba and these were great!

Be safe and thank you for reading my blog.

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