Boy! Does it ever feel different now that our daughter's little guy isn't at home with us any more. I have to admit that I was more than a little surprised at how much we had grown used to dealing with only adults and visits from small people were only that - visits. On this occasion he was here for almost a week and it took some getting used to, mostly in the area of getting the house "kid proofed" but also in our patience quota. Don't get me wrong, he is a great little guy; it was wonderful to have him visit; and he can come back any time. We now have an idea of what to expect of him and in ourselves.

Yesterday I was a baaaaaaaaad boy. It was our 34th wedding anniversary and guess who remembered it and who forgot. Three guessed and the first two don't count. I had better do a better job of it next year for our 35th or life won't be worth living. Herself was very forgiving but I know that she was disappointed and probably a little hurt. I tried to make things up to her by offering to take her out to dinner at our one and only haut cuisine spots here in town but wouldn't-cha know it - they are closed on Sundays. Instead I BBQed us some nice pork souvlaki and washed it down with some wine. Too much wine truth be told, and before the evening was out I was nodding off. Boy when I blot my copybook I really do a complete job I can tell you. Maybe I'll be able to take her out on night this week.

The Chateau Turney Vineyard has been planted with 10 L'Acadie Blanc plants and four Marechal Foch one in separate beds. Just to add a little spice we also have some high bush blueberry plants in there as well. So everything is in there and hopefully establishing roots and getting ready for a long life. The only other piece of gardening that I am wanting to do is adding a small pond for water plants and either koi, if I can find them or goldfish if I cannot. I understand that goldfish will grow into their enclosure so that will be just as good. We are also going to expand the patio in the middle of the yard by about 30% so that the lawn furniture including the BBQ and fire pit will all fit on it.

I have been able to get some of the list of jobs done aboard Nelleke but the biggie, the work on the engine throttle linkage etc will be done by a mechanic sometime next week. Then I have to get at the list of the rest of the stuff to be done. Oh, and make a few trips like we have been promising ourselves.

Barb is making me a re-enactment costume. Now there's a bit of news! I am going to be a sailor from the 18th or 19th century to coincide with our Founder's Days celebrations and Tall Ships. I will even wear it to work for the next couple of weeks just to startle the rest of the staff.

Hiatus on the Hard 2011-?

Comments [4]

Just a quick note for the day before I head on down to Nelleke to try to tighten up the compression collar on the shaft take off pulley.

We are making great progress on two major projects for the Town: an electrical project for the town dock that will see 200A of power down to the town dock so if anyone ties up there we can provide them up to 100A power plugs. Most people will only need 30A with the occasional 50 but with clever use of plugs we can give them the whole enchilada. The only thing is that one 100A user, since the 200A is split between two user groups, means nothing for anyone else on that particular spot. As we are trying to entice the mega yachts to stay with us here I don't expect that there would be much room for anyone else on the dock so that may be a moot point. The other project is repaving of one of the main streets in town and re-designing an intersection to make it safer. The only fly in the ointment is the former town employee that I mentioned in a previous post who is wandering around the streets complaining about minutiae such as a small patch of grass not having been mowed regardless of all the work being undertaken in major projects. I suspect that part of his problem is that people in town are talking about how much more stuff is being done in the last six months than had been done in the previous six years under the former administration. Personally I would rather not be compared but clearly this fellow is finding it to be bothersome so he is walking about with a knot in his face. The fact that I am writing a weekly article in the local newspaper keeping everyone informed on what is going on and what we have planned where the previous administration used to do nothing or if they did keep it a secret probably isn't helping matters much. I do have some concerns that if the former mayor gets re-elected in October he is being quoted as having said that he is going to return everything to the former way of doing things which will include getting rid of me and the new CAO. If that is what happens I guess I will have more time to help Barb through her second knee operation and to do more work on the boat and house. I won't be too much out of pocket other than the fact that I will not have built up the cruising kitty as much as I would have liked. Unless of course this guy is totally stupid and gives me the opportunity to sue him for wrongful dismissal in which case I should have a significant boost to the cruising kitty.

But that is being really pessimistic. Sorry for inflicting that on you all. On a positive note maybe someone sensible will be re-elected or elected and I will be able to stay on. Fingers crossed! The fact is that I don't really have to have this job. I could go back to being retired and be more on hand to help Barb out and work on my job list and only really be out of pocket about $700/month as everything else was going into the cruising kitty which by then should be back up to where we started three years ago. I had hoped to have it higher but what they hey? If it ain't, it ain't. Part of me would like to have all my time back.

On another positive note, some good friends of ours has given me a long term lend on a piano accordion and today I was able to source some beginner instruction manuals. So in a year or so when we get back to the cruising lifestyle if you are sitting in an anchorage somewhere on the eastern seaboard and you hear some sea shanties being played, it might just be me practicing getting ready for a concert on a dock somewhere with a hat at my feet busking for tips.

Hiatus on the Hard 2011-?

Comments [6]

Kayt arrived late Friday afternoon with her young fellow Karter in tow and had dinner with us down at the club. Karter was quite the hit as he has bright blue eyes and a tousled mane of blond hair. We got to share all day Saturday with Kayt and Karter helping me with building the trellis for the "vineyard" and the raised garden bed between the apartment building and garage in the back of our property. We have L'Acadie Blanc grapes planted in the "vineyard" and Barb will be heading to the garden centre to get some shade tolerant perennials for the garden bed between the two buildings. I am trying something new for me, namely I have buried a soaker hose in the soils in the garden bed so watering will simply entail turning on the tap. I am interested to see how it works.

Kayt left to catch the ferry back to Saint John from Digby after lunch on Sunday so we have a small house guest until next weekend. It will be kind of interesting as it has been a long time since there were small children in the house and it certainly isn't kid proofed. Also as our kids will tell you, I tend to be a bit of a disciplinarian so poor little Karter has already discovered that we won't tolerate him jumping up and down from the table, or wriggling about, or not eating most if not all of his food that has been put in front of him. Sounds like we are a couple of meanies but we also plan numerous trips to the beach and lots of occasions for him to give me a hand with some of the jobs about the house and boat. On Saturday and Sunday for instance, he had a little shovel and was helping me to load the wheelbarrow with the soil to transport to the garden. Not only did he help load but his presence made the job go more quickly for me.

Besides entertaining Karter this week (put him to work) we will br doing more gardening and stuff on the boat. I may have to solution to the problem of slippage of the pulley on the shaft. I will use clamps to assist the tightening and hope to get a firmer grip from the compression collar. I'll let you know how that works out.

Next weekend on Saturday we will take Karter for a drive to the ferry terminal in Digby where we will meet Kayt who will be riding the ferry across from Saint John as a passenger. While the boat is going through its turnabout procedures we'll have a picnic ashore and then Kayt and Karter will board as foot passengers for the return trip.

Hiatus on the Hard 2011-?

Comments [2]