Summer on Kent Island - 3

 July 20, 2021 - July 29, 2021

I left early Tuesday morning from BWI airport and arrived at Midway Airport at 8:30 am Central time.  Rachel, Juan, Lili, and baby Claire picked me up and drove me to their apartment in Oak Park where I held my granddaughter for the first time.

Lili with her baby sister, Claire

The week was filled with a lot of baby holding by everyone in the household.  Claire is a calm and happy little thing with lots of entertaining facial expressions.  She likes to lay in her crib or bassinet and when she is awake she moves her arms and legs all-around.  I got into the habit of getting up around 6:00 am and taking the morning shift of baby tending.  After Rachel nursed her I would burp her and lay her back in her crib.  If she was awake I would start her baby lessons (I am a retired educator after all).  I held up shape, color, and number books a page at a time for her to focus on and of course I talked about everything she was seeing extensively.

Claire is sleeping.

The happy parents - Rachel and Juan

 

Later in the day we took her for walks in the stroller and one day she went to the doctor’s for her first check-up.  She gained 1 lb. and grew 2 in.  She is doing well.

Lili and I visited the bead store down the street several times.  Lili is becoming adept at making beautiful wooden bead and shell necklaces.  She learned how to put lobster clasps on the cord which looks very professional. I purchased the beads, direction book, and findings to make Kumihimo braided jewelry.  My first attempt was not perfect but the clerk at the bead store showed me what I was doing wrong and hopefully I will be showing you a photo of the finished project in my next blog.

Lili is posing next to the sign announcing
 her graduation from elementary school.

On Sunday Juan’s two sisters, their husbands, their children and his mother came for a visit. It was great to meet all of them.  The two babies - Claire and Amelia - stole the show.  Amelia was born in April and will grow up with Claire.  What fun to have a cousin so close in age and so close by.  

The two proud Papas are holding their girls.

Juan's sister's Jenny and Flor are holding
the two stars of the day as Rachel looks on.

I left Oak Park on Tuesday, July 27 in the afternoon and got home to the boat by 9:00 pm.  Bob and I completed several boat projects in the next few days and I prepared to leave for Bethany Beach for my yearly family vacation.  All about that next blog!

Thank you for reading my blog.  

Summer on Kent Island - 2

 July 5, 2021 - July 19, 2021

We’ve had lots going on in the last two weeks besides usual boat tasks.  The weather has been mostly hot and humid with a few low humidity, breezy days thrown in.  We’ve been having issues with our air-conditioning that have not been solved by the two fixes we have tried.  The air-conditioner still works but occasionally gives a false high pressure warning and the thermostat goes whacky.  We have a request for service in with Cruise Air  (where we bought the unit) and are hoping the  air conditioner works till we can get it fixed.  

One of our tires on the Prius had a leak which was caused by a nail in the side.  We made it to the Toyota dealer and had all four tires replaced. While waiting for the tires to be mounted, etc. we walked to a nearby restaurant, Paul’s Homewood Cafe which has been in business for year’s in Annapolis.  We’ve frequently talked about going there but this was our first visit.  The food was fantastic and we added it to our favorites list right away. Yum!

Another great restaurant we have discovered is in Kent Narrows. The seafood is fresh and well prepared and the tables are outside in a large pavilion with views of the water.

The view from our table at The Crab Deck in Kent Narrows.

We finished our bulkhead painting project and put everything back in place.  The stress of having the main salon in such a mess during the project was well worth it.

Painting over the dark teak bulkhead wall brightened
up the main salon considerably.

Mary, who runs the cattery where Kali was born,
graciously sent us a picture of her at 11 weeks.

I was finally able to meet my Baltimore friends for lunch on Tuesday.  I hadn’t seen them for over 10 months and we had lots of experiences to share with each other. That day (7/13 ) was also my daughter, Rachel’s, due date, but nothing was happening.  However, the next morning I woke up to a text from the baby’s father, Juan, that they were at the hospital and things were moving along.  By 8:00 am I had a granddaughter, Claire, weighing 6 lbs. 2 oz. Rachel and Claire were both doing well. 

Rachel and Claire doing well in the hospital
on Thursday, July 15, 2021.
She was born on 7/14/21.

I finished some sewing projects, did laundry, cleaned the boat and packed up my suitcase in preparation for my trip to Oak Park to meet my new granddaughter. I will leave bright and early on Tuesday, July 20th for  a week long stay.

Thank you for reading my blog

Summer on Kent Island 1

 June 22, 2021 - July 4, 2021

Happy Summer!!!!!

Tuesday was errand day in Annapolis.  After lunch at Carrol’s Creek I decided the discomfort of my tooth was too much.  I called the endodontist and they scheduled my root canal for that afternoon.  It was a completely painless procedure although keeping my mouth propped open for an hour was definitely uncomfortable.  As advised by the dental assistant, I started taking ibuprofen right away and continued every six hours for the next couple of days.  My only issue was trying to keep myself from chewing on the left side of my mouth.  

On Wednesday morning we got going around 8:30 am to drive to Lewes, DE to catch the 11:30 Cape May Lewes Ferry for our planned visit to Cape May, NJ.  I was thankful that my dental procedure had been so painless and didn’t interfere with our trip.  It was a beautiful day for the trip; the high was in the mid 70’s with a nice breeze.  Crossing the Delaware Bay from Lewes to Cape May was uneventful but chilly.  Bob’s plan was to eat lunch at a famous Cape May Restaurant - The Lobster House. We had a bit of a wait to be seated so we used the time to explore the area.

Bob watching from the bow of the ferry
as we cross the Delaware Bay

A fishing boat docked next to the Lobster House.

The bow of the fishing boat

Two views of the fish market connected to the Lobster House

After a great lunch we drove to Sunset Beach to collect some “Cape May Diamonds” which are small stones that have been smoothed by the water and deposited on the shore where the wet stones glisten in the sun. I also visited the gift shop and added another kitchen towel to my collection. Next stop was the Washington Street Mall. Five blocks of the street are closed to vehicle traffic making visiting the many shops, galleries and restaurants enjoyable.  

The rest of the week was taken up with chores, errands and a couple visits to the pool. Being so close to the pool makes it easy to take a few hours for a  break in the afternoon to enjoy sunning and swimming. We did have an issue with our air-conditioner one afternoon which required tearing the quarter berth apart to get to the problem.  We also had to pull up a couple of floor boards to detach and remove the inlet hose.  When I cleaned the hose out on the dock an 18 inch long clump of debris came out.  We concluded that the pump must have sucked up a jelly fish causing the disruption in the air-conditioning. It’s always something on a boat!

On Tuesday the 29th I was scheduled to have the resorption in my tooth (the one I just had a root canal on) repaired.  I thought it would be a fairly easy procedure, but I was very wrong.  It involved cutting my gum to get to the resorption and an hour of scraping and drilling - not fun.  Once my gum was stitched up I had to apply pressure to the area for several minutes and then apply ice to the area for several more. We stopped at McDonald’s so I could get some scrambled eggs (I could only eat soft food) and some ice so I could continue to keep ice on my face to prevent swelling. I continued to ice my face - fifteen minutes on, fifteen minutes off- for the rest of the day. I was wiped out, but we continued our errands in Annapolis and had lunch at Italian Market. I continued to treat my discomfort with ibuprofen and tylenol for the next several days.

Bob came up with the idea that we needed to brighten up the inside of the boat.  Our bulkheads and many of the walls of the interior are teak which is a desirable feature in a boat but tends to make the boat dark.  We decided to paint the forward bulkhead to match the off white color of the side walls leaving the trim around the shelves, etc, teak. I think Bob just needed a new boat project, but of course I was roped into the project as well.  Bob does the taping and sanding and I do the dust clean up and the painting. Any interior boat project causes a big disruption in our living space, but judging from what we have completed so far it will be worth it.  

We spent most of the July 4th weekend working on this project, but I took some time out to go to the pool and walk each morning.  The weather was wonderful, cool and sunny, but it is starting to get much hotter.  We enjoyed watching the island’s fireworks on Sunday night.

Hopefully, I’ll have pictures of our finished paint project for my next blog.  Thank you for reading my blog.

Late Spring on Kent Island

June 4, 2021- June 21, 2021

I forgot to include this picture in my last blog.

Rachel is taking the picture of me, Lili, and Juan during our
 Rummicube game on the last night of my visit.

I’ve had a whirlwind few weeks! After a few days of preparation I flew from Baltimore (BWI) to Huston on Friday June 4th. My son and grandson picked me up at the airport and after a quick stop at their home we headed to Lake Conroe in Montgomery, Texas for a week’s vacation.  We rented a 2 bedroom/2 bath  condo with a full kitchen and living space. As a bonus there was a loft bedroom that I claimed right away!  The condo had a beautiful view of the lake and was a short walk to the pool complex.  The original weather prediction was for rain all week, but the weather turned out to be sunny and hot with only a few cloud bursts late in the day or early morning. Every morning Acen (my grandson) and I took a walk by the lake and around the resort, had breakfast, and headed to the pool for a day of fun.  His parents joined us later in the morning.  The snack bar at the pool had access to the country club restaurant and we ordered from the menu and had lunch delivered to us at the pool most days. Acen and his dad went fishing every evening at the lake and caught enough fish for one meal for Acen!  Needless to say it was a relaxing and fun week together that ended much too soon.

The view from our balcony - can you see the rain drops?

Acen and I met a friend on our morning walk.

Fun at the pool!

 

Fishing with Daddy.

My flight home was due to get into BWI at 8:50 but was delayed.  Bob and I didn’t get back to the boat until midnight.  This wouldn’t have been a huge problem except that I was due to leave for a sister get together at my daughter’s in Johnstown, PA. at 9:30 the next morning.  It was a tiring four hour drive, but it was so good to see two of my sisters, finally.  Although I have seen Becky a couple of times recently I hadn’t seen Laurie since before the pandemic.  My oldest sister Nancy did not make the trip but we all Zoomed that evening to make it a complete sister get together.  Getting to connect with family again is the biggest blessing of being fully vaccinated.  Jessica and her husband Joe were super hosts. Joe grilled kabobs while I made crab cakes for dinner.  Jessica added a fresh salad and it couldn’t have been better.  We talked and laughed the night away.  In the morning we set out to tour the Waterfall House (Frank Loyd Wright) in a nearby town, but when a fierce thunder storm erupted we decided to turn around and save this excursion for another day. We had no trouble filling up the few hours we had left together catching up on family doings.  The party broke up mid-afternoon and I headed back to Kent Island. 

Jessica and Joe on their front porch

Becky and I just before we left for home.
Laurie had left earlier.

It was great to be home again with Bob and Lola, but I miss being with my extended family.  Bob had been busy with boat projects while I was away. One project was cleaning, waxing, and polishing the cockpit.  What he has completed looks great.  My job now was to reinforce the snap closures on the backrest for our cockpit cushions.  After cleaning the cushions thoroughly I removed all of the the snaps on the cushion covers and reinforced them with a small piece of sunbrella fabric.  Bob was all set to re-apply the snaps when we realized that we did not have the right tool to make the holes in the sunbrella before attaching the snaps.  Amazon is our friend - so Bob ordered the tool and it arrived a couple of days later and the project was done!  Next on my list of boat projects was to create hatch covers for our small midship hatches.  It only took me one afternoon of measuring, cutting, fitting, and sewing.

What do you think of the new hatch cover?

I had been having difficulty with one of my teeth and I made an appointment to see my dentist one afternoon.  Bob had thoroughly cleaned the sail cover that morning and wanted to get the waterproofing done before we left for the dentist.  We finished half of the waterproofing before we had to go…we completed the other half when we returned that evening.

At the dentist, after an x-ray and some tests, I was informed that the tooth that was bothering me was dead and needed a root canal.  So off to another appointment to be examined by the endodontist who specializes in doing root canals.  He also discovered a resorption in the front of the tooth that would need to be repaired.  I’m scheduled for my root canal at the end of June - fun, fun, fun.

We also took a trip to Kunkletown, PA to visit our new kitten at six weeks old. Originally we had thought we wanted one of the all black females, but we were charmed by the exuberance of the female brown tabby of the litter and chose her.  After a couple of days of reflection on our choice we decided that the sweet and shy black kitten would actually be a better fit for our family and changed our reservation to the larger black kitten.  We are looking forward to bringing her home on August 9.  

How could we resist that adorable face?

But we changed our mind and here's
our soon to be new family member, Kali.

Linda, the friend who does most of my machine quilting, let me know that the quilt I had left with her was completed.  I picked it up on Friday and finished the binding over the weekend.  This quilt was inspired by the southwest with it’s mountains and beautiful sunsets.  I will be shipping it to my youngest child on Tuesday who lives in New Mexico.  

I'm sitting in the cockpit hand stitching the quilt binding.
You can see the backing of the quilt, but not the top.

As you can imagine it is difficult getting a complete
picture of a king size quilt on a boat. 
This photo features the braid style piecing.

This photo shows the borders.
Do the colors say Southwest to you?

Till my next blog - Thank you for reading my blog.

 

 May 18, 2021 - May 31, 2021

The last two weeks have been very eventful.  On Tuesday Morning I picked up the ten ft. UHaul truck I rented to drive out to Oak Park.  Bob and I loaded all of the items I was delivering to Rachel from our storage locker and I was ready to hit the road…..except, I had accidentally locked the truck keys inside the cab. Bob suggested that we drive back to the gas station where we rented the truck and get their extra key.  Unfortunately, it is not the policy of UHaul to keep an extra key so that was a dead end.  Our only recourse was to call a local locksmith.  Once the arrangements were made we waited for the locksmith to arrive.  He was there in about 30 minutes and had the door unlocked in five minutes.  I left Annapolis at around 10:30 am and stopped in Pittsburgh for the night at my sister Becky’s house.  It was great to see her and her husband AL in person again.  it’s hard to give hugs in a Zoom meeting.  Al grilled lamb chops on the grill and Becky made a cucumber and tomato salad and rice.  We ate the delicious dinner and relaxed watching some TV.

On Wednesday morning, after loading the truck with baby things given to Rachel from Allison (Becky’s daughter) I left Pittsburgh heading to Oak Park IL. It was the hottest day of the year so far and I couldn’t figure out how to work the air conditioning. If I had stopped the truck and looked carefully at the controls I would have seen the snowflake symbol which I should have turned the control to. After seven hours of bumping along in the hot truck ( I have a new found appreciation for what the pioneers experienced in their covered wagons) I arrived at Rachel and Juan’s apartment.  Besides being happy to be out of the truck I was super excited about seeing them and my granddaughter Lili. I was surprised at how tall Lili has gotten, she is definitely growing up.

During the week, I was able to peek in on Lili’s remote school sessions.  As a former educator I was very interested in how the process worked. Since her school is doing hybrid learning with some students in class and some remote the teacher is filmed teaching and the video is live streamed to the remote students. Lili is thriving on remote learning.

 

We had fun eating, playing games, walking, chatting, watching survivor reruns and movies, and making a lemon mobile for the baby’s room. 

Lili helped us pick out all the materials for the lemon mobile.
On Friday and Saturday Rachel and I worked on creating the mobile.

The mobile looked great when Juan hung it above the crib.

I was also able to photograph the quilt I made for Rachel last fall.

On Sunday we had Rachel’s virtual baby shower which I had planned and hosted.  My sister Laurie set up the Zoom meeting and my daughter Jessica helped me with the planning.  I had sent a box of refreshments (pink lemonade and Herr’s Old Bay Crab chips), games, and an acrylic cup to all of the attendees ahead of time.  We had a few technical glitches in the beginning but, between  Rachel and my great niece Hannah we got things running smoothly.

These are the items I shipped to everyone to enjoy during the shower.

                                                                 The games were in the envelope.

Here are all of the participants in the shower.
first row - Laurie, Hannah, Sarah, Lili, Juan, Rachel, me, Jessica, Aliya

                                                 and Roland

                                                  second row- Amilia, Allison, Wendy, Jennifer and Bella

                                               third row- Maureen, Becky, Nancy, Acen, Brandy, and Karl.

The shower went well and it was great to see most of the family all together.  I think we should plan some more family Zoom events.

I took lots of photographs after the shower all taken in the baby's room, of course.

Lili, Rachel and Juan

Lili, Rachel, and me.

Juan and Rachel

On Monday afternoon I flew from Chicago to Baltimore.  I was surprised at how normal everything seemed.  Except for the mask wearing it was just like any other flight I have been on.  

It was good to be back home on the boat. Bob had made every effort to have the boat clean and uncluttered with boat project paraphernalia.  But, of course, the boat projects and chores started the next day. Also, I started the Keto diet that Bob had started while I was gone.  At first the diet was a struggle, but we have developed some great recipes this week.  We have also found that using Carb Smart tortillas in place of bread or other high carb foods makes the diet doable.

This was our first attempt at making pizza
using a low carb tortilla for the crust.  It was delicious.

This week I completed the project of cutting down the thickness of the navigation station seat back.  It went from five inches to two inches thick. I helped Bob construct a screw jack to use in removing the leaking auxiliary fuel tank. Walking every morning, doing laundry and cleaning were some of my other activities.

The modified backrest makes sitting at the navigation station
more comfortable, but it will take us a while to get used to its appearance.

We had been looking forward to the pool opening on Memorial day weekend, but Saturday was cold (51 degrees) and rainy and Sunday wasn’t much better.  :(  On Monday we awoke to sunny skies and a weather prediction of 70 degrees by the afternoon.  Still a little cool for swimming so we decided to go to Annapolis to do errands and buy groceries.  Of course, that meant eating lunch out.  We chose Lemon Grass II since we could easily stay on the Keto diet if we skipped the rice and dessert.  By the time we got home it was pleasantly warm and people were enjoying the pool and hot tub.  Maybe I'll go to the pool tomorrow.

Thank you for reading my blog and stay safe.