by Judy Handley | Apr 9, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 153, Year 7: Oliver Visits Windbird
Date: Monday, April 9, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day, Temps in the 50’s, Windy
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Oliver is just shy of three weeks old and today he came for a visit on
Windbird. That makes him our youngest visitor ever. Sam visited Windbird
in Thailand and was onboard for his second birthday. Jonah and Ziggy made
their first visit to Windbird when we were in Puerto Rico last April. Ziggy
had just turned two and Jonah still had a few weeks to go. So at two weeks
and counting, Oliver is definitely the youngest of the four to visit.
Heather came to help us tape-off the teak deck so we could start the
caulking process. The three of us worked for most of three hours, with each
of us taking a little time-off to hold Oliver. He slept for the first
couple of hours, but then it was time to eat and play. Heather went to pick
up Sam and Jonah and I continued taping for two more hours while Mark
rested. All of that taping, and we only had half of one side of the deck
taped! Then Mark and I spent the next three hours caulking. He really did
all the work and I was just there to hand him things he needed and help
remove the tape once the caulk was in. We didn’t quite complete caulking
everything that had been taped off, but we can finish that in the morning.
The bigger problem is that we only ordered 12 tubes of caulk and now we only
have three tubes left. Once we finish what we have taped off, we certainly
won’t have enough left to even start the next half. And the only places
that we know we can buy the caulk we are using is in Jamestown, Rhode
Island, or Stewart, Florida. Heather and Oliver were going to come back on
Wednesday and help us tape-off the other half of the starboard deck, but
we’ll have to put that job on hold until new caulk arrives. We are using
something called Maritime Teak Deck Caulk. In the past we have always used
Boatlife Life Caulk, but Mark’s research showed that this newer brand has
better adhesive qualities. It certainly is easier to use, but then anything
sticky and black on a boat spells trouble. No matter how much taping you
do, there are always missteps which result in black globs on the teak. But
we had less mess with this new brand than in the past. Now we’ll just have
to hope that it holds up as long as the Life Caulk.
Since I usually pick Sam and Jonah up from school, I am at Heather’s to help
out in the afternoons. But today I stayed on the boat to work and Heather
had her three sons all to herself. Mark and I had told her we would come
when we finished the caulking job and play with the boys after nap. When
you are caulking, there is no time to stop and check the time, and by the
time we stopped, it was almost 6 pm. We missed playtime by two hours! We
went over anyway since we knew Jed had to leave to go to a meeting, and
Heather fed us dinner which was a welcome treat after hours on our knees.
We stayed and helped with bath and storytime before heading back to
Windbird. It was a very busy day, but Mark did get a good rest mid-day. He
is starting to feel “normal” again. He was tired at the end of the day, but
he didn’t have that uneasy feeling that he has had since Thursday. I think
we just have to adjust to the fact that he is going to have a few days of
uneasiness after every chemo treatment, and he can learn to live with that
as long as there are good days as well.
by Judy Handley | Apr 8, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 152, Year 7: Sam’s Question
Date: Sunday, April 8, 2012
Weather: Mostly Cloudy
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
At the dinner table tonight, Sam asked the simple question, “Why is this day
called Easter?” None of us had ever questioned the name, so we had to look
this one up on the internet. What we found is that no one knows for sure,
but there was a late seventh-century historian and scholar named Bede who
said that Easter’s name comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. The
literal translation of Eostre is East and she was the goddess of dawn (sun
rises in the East). This goddess was the symbol of spring and fertility,
thus the importance of eggs and bunnies and chicks. Somewhere along the
line, the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox in
the Northern Hemisphere was set as Easter Sunday. Just as Christmas was
moved to coincide with, and eventually replace, the pagan celebration of
winter, it is very likely that Easter was set to replace the pagan
celebration of spring. So Sam, this is a complicated, and not complete
answer to your simple question, but it’s the best I can come up with without
further study. But keep asking those questions.
Mark and I went to Heather and Jed’s early this morning, but not early
enough to witness the egg hunt. By the time we arrived just after 8:30 am,
not only had all the eggs been found, but much of the candy had been eaten
as well! Despite the early morning sugar hit, Sam and Jonah were really
good little boys today. We had a second breakfast, walked down to the
cranberry bogs, came back and ate lunch, and then spent the afternoon
between naps and cooking dinner. Oliver was also a very good little boy
today. Granddad and I both got lots of baby time so it was a good day.
by Judy Handley | Apr 7, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 151, Year 7: Happy Birthday, Ziggy
Date: Saturday, April 7, 2012
Weather: Another Repeat–Partly Sunny Day with Temps in the High 40’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Happy Birthday, Ziggy!!! He is now officially a three year-old. Where do
the days and years and go? We talked via Skype this evening and got to see
him in action. Unfortunately, he has an ear infection and the Justin and Jo
both have colds, so his birthday party was delayed until next weekend. But
he got plenty of presents to keep him busy for bit. We sent him a fishing
rod, fishing vest, and net. Jo took a photo of him in full fisherman gear
and he looks like an ad for LL Bean. He loves to fish so we hope he will
enjoy the gear. We also got to see him playing with his new bunnies, Reuben
and Suki. They are Holland Lops which means they are lopped-eared, small,
and so very cute. So Ziggy already has his own Easter bunnies, but he is
looking forward to those eggs filled with goodies. Last year we were in
Puerto Rico with all three grandchildren for Easter and the eggs were hidden
on the beach. Ziggy, we are going to miss being with you to hunt for Easter
eggs. Maybe next year we can once again all meet on a tropical beach to
celebrate spring. I’ll talk to the Easter bunny about that.
Mark is feeling better and made it through the whole day at work today.
Tomorrow we will head to Heather and Jed’s early for the Easter egg hunt in
the Goldstone yard and then we will spend our day celebrating the arrival of
spring by working in the yard and garden. On Monday, we will turn our
attention to caulking the deck, but I must admit that hunting for Easter
eggs sounds like a whole lot more fun.
by Judy Handley | Apr 6, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 150, Year 7: First Seder for Oliver and for Oma and Granddad
Date: Friday, April 6, 2012
Weather: Same as Yesterday–Partly Sunny Day with Temps in the 40’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
A Seder is Jewish ritual dinner that marks the beginning of Passover. Jed’s
father is Jewish and although no one in the family is really a practicing
Jew, some cultural traditions are honored. The Passover Seder is one of
those. The dinner is very special and Heather and Jed prepared quite a
feast. We had leg of lamb, marinated all day and then cooked on the grill
with apple chips to give it a smoked taste. With the lamb we had a charoset
(haroset) which is a sweet condiment of mixed nuts and fruits, sometimes
served as a paste. The charoset Heather chose for tonight’s dinner was made
from dried apricots and pistachios. It was chunky, not a paste, and was
delicious. We had potatoes prepared as au gratin but without any cheese and
a delicious endive salad. And, of course, all was served with lots of matzo
and wine. The food is important, but the story that is shared is the center
of the evening. It is the story of how the Israelites were freed from
slavery in Egypt. As is commensurate with their ages, Sam was interested
and full of questions, Jonah was more interested in other things, and Oliver
slept. But the boys did wear kippahs or yarmulkes (pronounced yamaka) which
are little head caps. In the Jewish tradition, the head is covered during
prayer and there are prayers involved in the retelling of the story. Oliver
looked quite precious donning his little kippah. But the crowning touch of
the evening was a wonderful lemon cheese cake Heather made with an almond
and matzo meal crust. It was DELICIOUS. So thank you, Heather and Jed, for
including us in this family tradition. We appreciated learning about the
tradition and the food was fabulous!
Mark went to work at West Marine today but he didn’t make it through the
whole day. He didn’t feel good yesterday and that continued through today.
This fourth chemo treatment is hitting a little harder than the first three.
But that is expected. We are hoping that he will rebound by tomorrow as he
is supposed to work all day. We’ll play it by ear but hope he can make it
through the day. And after tonight’s feast, I think I need to spend some
time tomorrow coming up with some yummy recipes for Sunday’s Easter dinner.
by Judy Handley | Apr 5, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 149, Year 7: Strawberries, Apricots, and White Eggs
Date: Thursday, April 5, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny Day with Temps in the 40’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
It’s strawberry picking time on the border between North and South Carolina.
My sister who lives just north of the border and our friends Lee and Lynda
that live just south of the border have both reported that the strawberries
are in early this year. We were picking strawberries the first of June when
we arrived there last year, so this really does seem early. The photo of
the apricot blossoms in Justin and Jo’s yard in New Mexico that I posted
yesterday made Lynda wonder why she never sees fresh apricots in the
farmer’s markets in the Carolinas. Obviously apricots can withstand very
cold winter temperatures like they have in the mountains of New Mexico, but
they have a harder time growing where there are alternating warm weather
periods and freezes. This is because they, along with cherry trees, tend to
bloom much earlier than other fruit trees when there are warm spells during
the late winter. They bloom and then they get hit with a frost and the
fruit is lost for that year. When I searched on the internet I found that
apricots grow in Armenia, China, India, Egypt, Japan, Iran, Southern
Australia, and in the US in California, Washington, and Utah-but not North
and South Carolina, at least not commercially. So that covers the
strawberries and apricots mentioned in the subject line, but what about the
white eggs? This afternoon I was coloring eggs with Sam and Jonah.
Actually, Sam and I started the process and Jonah joined us when he got up
from his nap. When he joined us, Jonah wanted to see the boiled eggs. He
opened the carton, got this big-eyed look on his face, and exclaimed,
“They’re white!” We all got a good laugh out of that one. Obviously, he
thinks eggs should be brown since that is what Heather and Jed buy. But he
sure did enjoy dipping the white ones in the coloring solutions and ending
up with green, blue, orange, yellow, pink, and purple. Tomorrow night we
will have a Passover Seder dinner with Heather, Jed, and boys. The modern
day mixing, matching, and melding of cultures and religions within one
family makes for very interesting holiday celebrations. So we are going
from coloring eggs for Easter to the required hard-boiled egg at each place
setting for the Passover Seder dinner. I’m sure Jonah’s only concern will
be whether the eggs are white or brown or colored!
Poor Mark. Last night when I wrote the log, he felt so good and was hopeful
that he was going to skip having the really down day he has had after the
first three chemo treatments. Unfortunately that was too optimistic. He
was unable to sleep much during the night and felt just awful this morning.
All hopes for caulking the deck today went out the window. Maybe next week
he’ll be feeling better and we can do that. In the meantime, he is supposed
to work at West Marine tomorrow and Saturday. He is still not feeling good,
but he will go in to work in the morning and see how the day goes. If the
pattern of the past treatments prevails, he might feel just fine. He just
seems to have the one really bad day. But we’ll just have to wait and see.
One day at a time . . .
by Judy Handley | Apr 4, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 148, Year 7: Happy 5th Anniversary to Justin and Jo
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Weather: Another Sunny Day with Temps in the 50’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Five years ago today Justin and Jo were married in California. Two years
and three days later Ziggy was born in New Mexico. So early April is a very
special time for them. Justin and Jo got married when we were in New
Zealand in 2007 and Ziggy was born in 2009 while we were sailing from
Thailand to Malaysia. We learned of both via email and were sad that we
weren’t there, but at the same time elated with the good news. Happy
Anniversary, Justin and Jo! Can’t believe it has been five years. We love
you and hope you had a glorious day.
I checked Jo’s website this evening and saw photos of their recent snow.
Last week when we talked to Justin and Jo, Jo talked about the apricot tree
in front of their house being in bloom and the wonderful spring weather.
Then the snow came over the weekend. I “borrowed” a photo that Jo posted on
Facebook of the apricot blossoms in the snow and am posting it here. Sure
hope the snow protected the blossoms and that there will still be apricots
this year. The blossoms are so beautiful.
It was another sunny, warm spring day here. I took Mark to work at West
Marine and then went to spend the morning with Heather and Oliver. Heather
bundled Oliver to the front of her and we started to head out to the
backyard. Just before opening the sliding glass doors in the kitchen,
Heather noticed a bat flying in circles in the backyard. We went out and
this little bat just kept circling and sometimes spiraling downwards. We
kept an eye out for it just in case it was rabid, but we suspected that it
more likely was just confused to be outside flying in the daylight. We
surveyed the garden and I planted seeds of some hearty veggies. Jed picked
up Sam and Jonah and brought them home and then everyone took an afternoon
nap while I hung out with Oliver. What a little sweetheart.
