Thursday, January 28, 2010

yes another sunset but its so pretty

While some of my buddies are socked it with ice and snow I thought I would share some pretty sun again.
















When the sun sets, the moon takes advantage.

I think these are some of the best shots.....they almost look painted they are so 'soft' I was sitting there watching the sunset and turned around and the moon was saying "hey!" The sunset lit the moonrise......kinda cool.













Sunday, January 24, 2010

sunset Jan 24th

I always have to just get these things posted because so often I wait for them to load and then I get kicked off!
The sunset was beautiful tonigh and we had such a nice afternoon listening to some good live music.
I wish I had something less boring than that like catching a big fish or saving someone's life but its just been nice and warm and wonderful.




























































Monday, January 18, 2010

The cold spell, and warmer weather!

Leave it to us to arrive in Florida just in time for the record breaking 13 days in a row freeze. With a broken heater.......not to worry they rigged the heater to get by till the correct part could come in and we were cozy most of the time. We do not like to run the generator all night, so we warmed it up as best we could but woke up about 3 am most mornings and turned her on! It does not take long to warm up our cabin and we pulled all the blankets out! I even absconded with Gypsy's blanket one night!

Its over now and the days are longer, warmer and sunnier! Florida is the place to be in the winter.
For boaters and horse people. My friends Leon and Deb Gerard are here and my lifelong friend Penny came down for the winter with her hubby and a horse.......Alfie. Alfie is kept at the same barn as Leon's horse Maestro. I have made two trips so far and plan to make as many as possible in the next 6-8 weeks. I might even ride. Yep!

The marina life is good. The place was literally full when we got here. We were lucky to get one of the last mooring balls left out of...80 or so I think. Last year the city added docks and a lovely area for cruisers. The word got around and its loaded. There are three nights a week where they have Meet and Greets for the boaters. Everyone brings a dish and talk. There are mostly sail boaters but many trawler folks too. LOTS of smart Canadians.....Ill bet half the boats here fly the Canadian flag.

Its a blast to sit and listen to the talk of smaller groups. Talk of bad weather, rough crossings, great anchorages and the best way to get to the Bahamas or Bimini! Boat talk, diesel talk, generators and windlass's.

We have met so many interesting people. One couple in their 70's have been doing this cruising thing full time for 17 years! They lived in the Med for 8 years! Turkey, Paris, Italy, London!!! All in their sailboat about the size of ours. Turkey! All I can think about Turkey is Midnight Express....that movie. But they say its top of the list of favorites. Beautiful, cheap, clean, great friendly people, lots of things to do ashore and easy to get around. Who'd a thought?

Then another Swedish couple who have sailed all up around north in Sweden and over to here. Hell I think Im hot sh** because we went from the Chesapeake to Stuart!

Anyway, Barry is teaching twice as many classes as normal, so he is busy but that comes in handy with two kids getting married this year.

Casey passed his big test and is set to graduate in March. The test was a NREMT, National Registry Emergency Med Tech. So now he is officially an EMT. Next phase may be to go on to OCS if he qualifies and then to become a PA. Im so proud of him. It is not an easy test and he has been busting his butt to do well. His unit graduates March 5th.

Anyway.........the dogs and cat and Sami and Barry are happy cruisers just twirling out here on our mooring ball. Also......I learned how to drive the dingy. A good thing to know.

Life in Stuart and Wellington.....Sunset Bay Marina
















Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Back to the basics

Me and Alfie.....He is SO handsome!









Hurrah! Can I just tell you how wonderful it was to get in the car on a pretty day and drive 'to the barn' which I have not done in a long long time Im here to tell ya. Blue Marlin Farm is where Leon keeps his horse Maestro and Penny moved her horse Alfie, from Nashville for the winter. Pen and I only had a few hours but it was so much fun and Im looking forward to spending a lot of time 'at the barn' the next few weeks!








Today I was able to learn how to drive the dingy by myself! We finally got the outboard fixed and I can start it and we dingied around for a while.....took the garbage out, visited a sick friend....brought them chicken cutlets for dinner....OH and we moved to a new mooring ball closer to the dock. I should get better WiFi connection and its a much shorter ride to the dock. I scrubbed the decks this afternoon and just loved being outside.