by Judy Handley | Jun 2, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 207, Year 7: Tommy and Josh Arrive
Date: Saturday, June 2, 2012
Weather: Rainy and Cool
Location: At Heather and Jed’s in E Falmouth, MA
My nephew Tommy and his son Josh arrived mid-afternoon, but we never got a
call from our sailing friends, the Steins. The weather was horrendous
today, so maybe they holed up somewhere and will come in tomorrow. I
cleaned house, baked enough lasagna for an army, and then spent time
enjoying the visit with Tommy and Josh. We were up until after mid-night
talking about family. Josh is going to graduate school in the fall. He
hopes to be a writer, so I told him all of the family stories so he can get
them into print one day. It is one of my goals, but I have so much writing
I want to do about our sailing experience that I might not ever get to the
family stories. So I’m leaving it to Josh to get that done.
by Judy Handley | Jun 1, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 206, Year 7: Almost Summer
Date: Friday, June 1, 2012
Weather: Another Gorgeous Day, Warm and Sunny
Location: At Heather and Jed’s in E Falmouth, MA
I finished polishing Windbird’s hull today thinking she would be going back
in the water this weekend, but no progress has been made. We hired the boat
yard to paint the bottom (actually you are not allowed to paint your own)
and to put in four new through-hulls. The bottom has been sanded, but there
has been no work done on the through-hulls. So I think we could be out of
the water for another week. Very frustrating, especially since it looks and
feels like summer. It’s time to sail, but we will just have to be patient.
We have no choice.
We have had two beautiful days of sunshine and the peonies are in full
bloom. When we lived in New Hampshire, the blooming of the peonies was
always the transition from spring to summer, so we’ll take it to be that
here on the Cape as well. The forecast is for two days of rain over the
weekend, so I tried to get as much garden and yard work done as possible. I
got all the rest of the peas supported. They were so tall that some had
broken over with the weight of the little pea pods that are growing. Sam
and Jonah will be happy to learn that they will have peas to eat when they
get home from New Mexico. I worked on weeding the lettuce patch and the
sunflowers in the bee garden in the front yard. And then I started cutting
the grass in the backyard. Since the front wheel drive on the lawn mower is
not working, I was only hoping to get part of it done. But through the
generosity of a neighbor, the whole backyard is cut. I knew if it didn’t
get cut before two days of rain we were going to have a hayfield instead of
a yard. Next door neighbor, Brian, rode over on his riding lawn mower and
completed the job for me. Jed had just cut the grass, but it grows fast
this time of year and it is hard to keep on top of it. Thanks, Brian!
Tomorrow my nephew and his son arrive and we are hoping the Steins will be
sailing in. Unfortunately the weather is not going to be conducive for a
barbecue, so I’m making lasagna and preparing for an indoor visit. A
casserole like lasagna is easy to keep for a day in case the Stein’s don’t
make it until Sunday.
by Judy Handley | May 31, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 205, Year 7: Roller Coaster Ride
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2012
Weather: Gorgeous Day, Very Warm and Sunny
Location: At Heather and Jed’s in E Falmouth, MA
Poor Mark. This chemo treatment is like a roller coaster ride with its ups and downs. He feels good for a few days during the second week after his treatment, but then he gets another treatment is knocked down again. The visiting nurse came just before noon today to remove the drug pack that pumps chemicals into his body for 46 hours after his bi-weekly infusion. He was already wiped out, but as soon as the pump was removed, he crashed. He slept most of the day, but at 3:15 pm he got up and went to the boat with me so I could finish AwlCaring the port side of the hull. I waited until late afternoon so that side of the boat was in the shade so it wasn’t so hot. While I polished, Mark drove over to Dick and Claire Wiklunds to invite them to dinner this weekend. A mutual friend is sailing down from New Hampshire and will be here on either Saturday or Sunday evening and we thought it would be fun if we could all get together. My plan was to have all of us come here to Heather and Jed’s, but we are now thinking that it would be nice to have everyone meet at the clubhouse at Fiddler’s Cove for dinner. The mutual friend is Carl Stein. We met Carl and his young son, Alex, in 2005 on the town dock in Lewes, Delaware. This was the very beginning of our voyage around the world and the emergency stop in Delaware was made to repair a faulty transmission. We actually ended up replacing the whole engine, but one of the nice things that happened while we were there was meeting Carl and his family. Alex is no longer a little boy and he is very interested in the prospect of sailing around the world. Carl bought a sailboat recently and he, Alex, and an older son are sailing down this weekend. We haven’t seen them since 2005, but they have followed our travels. While in Delaware, Carl invited us to his home for dinner. It was then that we discovered that we both knew Dick and Claire Wiklund. So this will be quite a reunion. And in addition, my nephew Tommy and his son Josh are going to be here visiting this weekend. That’s why we need a clubhouse!
I spent another good hunk of my day working in the garden. I replanted green beans, lima beans, and corn that came up spotty from an earlier planting. I also secured the peas to the fence by wrapping string from one end of the row to the other, over and over. They have grown so tall that they were starting to fall over, thus the need for the extra support. We have peas growing on two different sides of the garden and I only got one side done today. The other will get done tomorrow. The garden is looking good, but it does take a bit of work to keep it that way. Thankfully, this is work that I love.
We talked to the New Mexico crew a couple of times today. Oliver is still struggling with a cold, as is Heather, but despite that it sounds like everyone is enjoying the visit. I’ve been promised that photos will be coming my way and I will share those as they arrive.
by Judy Handley | May 30, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 204, Year 7: Slowng Down
Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Weather: Overcast with Dibble Dopps of Rain
Location: At Heather and Jed’s in E Falmouth, MA
It seems that we have been moving at the speed of light recently, but today
things slowed down just a bit. Mark and I took Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah,
and Oliver to Boston to the airport, leaving here at 4:30 am. It was about
8 am by the time we got back here, but it was not the same place.
Everything was so very quiet and empty with those little boys. Mark
actually spent the morning sleeping since none of us got to bed very early
last night. I tried, but couldn’t sleep, so I got in a couple of hours of
garden work. It was work, but I did it at a leisurely pace and enjoyed
every minute. While searching for the cultivator, which was behind the
shed, I also found a patch of Poke greens. So now I can add those to the
Lambs Quarter for the perfect mix of greens. We ate lunch and headed into
town to do some chores and pick up another through-hull at West Marine that
came in today. Then it was on to Windbird to start polishing the hull with
AwlCare. We worked together and got about a third of the hull shining
brightly before cashing it for the day.
The trip to New Mexico did not go as smoothly as hoped for Heather and Jed.
I was up until after midnight last night holding Oliver while Heather and
Jed dealt with a last minute flight change. Heather got a late night email
from United telling her that their flight to Denver was going to be delayed
by more than hour. That meant they couldn’t make their connection to
Albuquerque, so for the next hour and a half she waited and then talked to
agents to get the trip rearranged. The new flight schedule had two stops
instead of one plus a four hour layover. So instead of arriving in
Albuquerque at 12:30 pm, the arrival time was changed to 4:30 pm. But that
wasn’t the worst part. It was the plane changes and the wait with three
little boys. Sam and Jonah made it fine, but Oliver lost it in the late
afternoon and cried most of the way from Houston to Albuquerque. That, of
course, left Heather in an almost state of tears as well. I didn’t talk to
her later in the evening, so I don’t know how the two hour drive from
Albuquerque to Ojo Sarco went, but I surely hope Oliver calmed down a bit.
Sam, Jonah, and Heather got colds last week and Oliver got it this week. In
addition to all the traveling today, he was dealing with a stuffed up head
and ears. I sure hope the rest of the visit goes more smoothly and that
there aren’t similar hang-ups with the return trip. It is a beautiful time
to visit New Mexico, so Goldstones-enjoy.
by Judy Handley | May 29, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 203, Year 7: Garden Weeds for Dinner
Date: Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Weather: Still Sunny and Warm
Location: At Home with Heather, Jed, and Boys in E Falmouth, MA
Mark had his chemo treatment today and now has only four more to go!!! I
stayed home with Heather this morning to help her with the baby. She needed
to make some work related phone calls and get the last packing done for
their family trip to New Mexico. Then in the afternoon, Heather and Jed
were busy with parent-teacher conferences at the Woods Hole Daycare
Cooperative and visiting the public school Sam will attend in the fall. It
was an opportunity for the children to see the kindergarten classrooms and
for the parents to talk to the principal. Mark and I stayed home with
Jonah. When Sam came home he joined Jonah and I at the swing set. As he
was swinging, he told me all about the kindergarten visit. Having taught
preschool, kindergarten, and first grade for twenty of my teaching years, I
was very interested in his first impressions. He actually made me a bit
teary (tears of joy) when he said with the greatest enthusiasm, “That school
stole part of my heart. I just love it.” This statement came with a
radiant smile and I was just sad that Heather and Jed weren’t there at the
moment. He liked the idea of making choices at school and he loved the one
classroom that had small Legos. Since there are younger ones at home, Sam
still plays with Duplo Legos. He does have one set of small ones and he
loves building with them. I’m just so glad his introduction was so
positive. The Woods Hole Daycare does a great job of getting them ready for
‘real’ school.
The most fun part of the day came at dinner time. Yesterday Heather weeded
the garden and kept all of the Lambs Quarter. This is a common weed, is
abundant here, and is delicious. It has a taste somewhere between spinach
and asparagus and is so easy to fix. I first blanched it in boiling water
for two minutes, then drained it and stir fried it in a bit of bacon grease
and olive oil for two minutes. It is tender and has such a beautiful bright
green color. It has been years since I have had Lambs Quarter. When
Heather and Justin were little and we lived on a farm in West Virginia, I
often went out and picked a five gallon bucket of Lambs Quarter and Poke
weed to eat. I loved them then and love them now. And besides, eating
weeds for dinner is just fun.
Tomorrow morning at 4:45 am Mark and I will go with Heather, Jed, and boys
to the airport in Boston. We will drop them off for their 7:45 am flight to
Denver, and then on to Albuquerque. They arrive before 1 pm New Mexico time
and then drive a rental van north to Santa Fe where Justin, Jo, and Ziggy
will meet them. I sure wish I could see the boys as they play together over
the next week. New Mexico is so different from here and I just know Sam and
Jonah are going to love it and love playing with cousin Ziggy.
by Judy Handley | May 28, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 202, Year 7: Another Boat Cleaning Day
Date: Monday, May 28, 2012
Weather: Another Beautiful, Sunny Day
Location: At Home with Heather, Jed, and Boys in E Falmouth, MA
The weather was beautiful today so Mark and I headed to Windbird to clean
the outside of the boat. I washed it down before it was hauled out of the
water, but I needed to do it again using AwlWash. This is the soap
recommended by the AwlGrip folks. We had Windbird painted with AwlGrip in
Thailand and we have tried to follow the recommendations to make sure the
paint lasts as long as possible. After washing it down, the next step is to
apply AwlCare which protects the paint. The graphs published by AwlGrip
show that using AwlCare can extend the life of the paint, so we are
following their directions. But we ran out of time and energy today. While
I washed down the cabin top, Mark worked on cleaning the prop. We have used
our Dremel in the past, but this morning Helaine Kanegsberg called after
reading my log from last night and suggested that we try a product called
The Works. This is a toilet bowl cleaner but Helaine says it does a great
job of cleaning the prop. We stopped at Stop and Shop on the way to the
boat but only found GreenWorks, a more environmentally friendly product, but
not as effective. Tomorrow Mark will go to Walmart and see if they have the
recommended product, but he did make progress with the one we did buy. We
then both worked together to wash the hull. It was mid-afternoon when we
finished and we decided to quit for the day. Well, we meant to quit. But
before leaving, we decided to put on the dodger that I cleaned yesterday and
then I decided to spray it with 303 Fabric Guard to help restore the water
repellance of the Sunbrella. The dodger is three years old and I figured it
was time to give it a bit of a boost. I bought the Fabric Guard in Thailand
thinking I would need to apply it before we got home but I just never got it
applied. Now that job is done and we will return to Windbird on Wednesday
to continue working on the hull.
Mark has his eighth chemo treatment tomorrow morning and I will help Heather
by playing with Oliver while she gets some work done. Heather, Jed, and
boys leave early on Wednesday morning for their trip to New Mexico and
Heather has to cut some promos for her new radio program before she leaves.
Then in the afternoon, she and Jed have parent conferences at the Woods Hole
Daycare Cooperative and then a late afternoon ‘Welcome to Kindergarten’
program at the school Sam will attend next fall. So Mark and I will keep
Oliver and Jonah while Heather, Jed, and Sam attend that. We lead a busy
life but we sure enjoy it. The boys are a constant source of entertainment.
Tonight Mark was sitting at the dining table after dinner and he had
obviously been running his hands through his hair and he was looking a bit
like a wild man. Heather and I were talking and Jonah came in. He looked
at Mark and asked very seriously if he slept with a duck. Mark didn’t know
why he was asking that but Jonah asked again, “Granddad, do you sleep with a
duck?” Heather and I were dying with laughter knowing that one of Jonah’s
favorite books is “There’s a Duck in My Closet.” It is about a little boy
that imagines that he has a duck and a number of other animals that live in
his bedroom closet and come out at night to sleep with him. The book ends
with him looking in the bathroom mirror in the morning and seeing his hair
in a wild state. He blames it on sleeping with the duck from his closet.
Out of the mouths of babes.
