Kaimusailing

I awoke on board SUNSPLASH in the marina. I don’ remember how I managed to return from the dinner party at Eve’s house. My bicycle was here and to get into the marina I had to enter a code in the lock. There were extra groceries in the fridge and a box of “Taco Kit”. OK, now I remember some of the evening.
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I deleted several short videos of the ladies of the arts council boogeying in Eve’s kitchen. We must have had a great time. I made breakfast with the last slice of bread and an egg. Coffee was weak and made with water from the marina spigot. I was out of coffee, water, bread, and I was scheduled to go shopping with Skittlezz, a local lady who is kind of like Uber.
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We went to Mrhos, a propane supplier, and I refilled my 20# tank. It cost just under 20 dollars. The alternative is to do an exchange at Food Lion, but they give you 15# and charge just over 22 dollars. I did stop there on my way back and got my water, bread, and coffee. At the marina I schlepped the water and propane to my finger pier. I was finally done with provisions and I could take it easy.]
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Eve texted me to come help her with her vehicle. What could I do? I biked up to find out. She had the check engine light come on and conversed with her son in Pasadena. He is a mechanic and told her how to obtain the trouble code, then he researched what that code meant. It was a vacuum balance problem. The cause was a vacuum hose had slipped off its spigot. This allows air into the intake manifold and results in hard starting, loss of power, and the engine running lean.
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Eve started the car up and felt confident to make a run to the trash transfer station. She had had the car die on her and didn’t trust it. I suggested that the loose hose might have been the problem all along. We had no trouble on the short trip and checked the hose again on our return. All good.
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She continued packing and I returned to the marina and found the avocados were ready for a batch of guacamole. I checked the contents of the taco kit and found a package of blue corn taco shells, taco sauce, and a pack of taco seasoning. I used the remainder of a jar of salsa rojo, the taco sauce, and a sprinkling of the seasoning in the guacamole mix. It was good. I tried one of the blue corn taco shells and found them to be stale tasting and leathery, not crunchy. Fortunately I had some white corn nachos and enjoyed a snack of the guac.
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I made a batch of brown rice and put most of it away in the fridge, warmed up some leftover pollo en negro mole. It was now late afternoon so I had my early dinner with some pinot noir.
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The next day Eve texted me, did I have boltcutters. Yes, but not in Crisfield. Later she asked if I could bring her Twisted Tea, Original Flavor. I bike to the wine store and got a cold pack of the hard tea. We drank a couple of teas while she took a break from squeegeeing the water in her basement. She was trying to dry out the basement prior to a house inspection in a couple days. She was frantic. I asked if she wanted to go to the Legion for supper. She said she was too busy. I was hoping she could give me a ride there. Was I ready to bike that far?
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Back at the marina it was getting close to dinner time. I could bike to the grocers to get foodstuffs or bike to the Legion and have supper there. It would be the first time this season. I set out for the Legion.
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On my way against the breeze I was struggling a bit. I saw Cuddily approach the Legion just as I got there. We went inside where Teri was sitting at a high top alone. We joined her with our wines, or in Cuddily’s case, whiskey and ginger ale. A fellow had brought a game of some sort to the table and was trying to show Teri how to play it. She seemed surprised at the intrusion. He left abruptly as we three sat at the high top. Eve arrived, causing a commotion.
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We moved to a larger table. The special on the menu was BLT salad or wrap. We saw one of these and wisely ordered burgers. I bought a shot of Jameson’s for Cuddily. She seemed very happy. I do not remember the bike ride back to the marina in the dark or opening the security gate.
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The next morning I felt pretty good and organized a load of laundry. Today would be the day of tuna salad sandwich for dinner. I began filling an empty 1lb propane cylinder from the 20lb tank. I figure I paid a little less than 20 dollars for 20 lbs. The 1lb cylinders are around six and a half dollars at the grocers. The alcohol stove would use about a quart of alcohol in about 12 days, a 1lb propane cannister lasts about 2 weeks. No brainer.
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Ole Mole Chili con Carne

Brown 1 lb chopped meat in skillet, drain, set aside
saute 7 jalapeno's deseeded and fine dice with 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 cup diced onion, 1 cup diced mixed peppers
add 1 tbs cocoa powder, 1 tbs brown sugar, 1 tbs peanut butter, 1 tsp oregano, dust top with chili powder and cumin, 1 tsp coriander.
when jalapenos and onion mixture has softened, add 1-2 cups spicy prepared salsa (tostado medium)
Try this 1 tbs each of cocoa, chili, cumin, old bay, brown sugar, peanut butter.
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This is directly copied from my old recipe. I am using orange marmalade instead of brown sugar, no old bay.
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For this batch I sauteed 1 diced red onion with some olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar. After a while I added 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves, maybe a tablespoon and a half’s worth. I dusted with fresh ground black pepper, 1 tbsp of chili powder, cumin, cocoa, and after mixing added 1 ½ lbs of ground beef. This was mixed until all the meat was browned. Next a jar of Food Lion medium chunky salsa went in. Mix until bubbling. Then I added a heaping tbsp of peanut butter and one of orange marmalade. Mix and taste. Rick Bayless adjusts the spices by adding salt or brown sugar to taste. I would use marmalade and garlic salt. The chili is removed from the fire and allowed to “improve”.
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I had the chili with brown rice for dinner. Very tasty.
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The next day was supposed to be a party at Cuddily’s house to honor our great artist and friend, Eve. The forecast was rain and in the morning was overcast with light rain falling intermittently. I texted Cornelia Marie, could she give me a ride to the party, yes, but the day improved, no rain. I could have biked it. We stopped at the wine shop for some more Frontera pinot noir and a bottle of white wine. The shop did not have a good selection of white wine in magnum sized bottles.
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We were a bit early to help Cuddily with her party. I tried one of the deviled eggs that CM made and it was very good. She had extra special spices, herbs, and the obligatory paprika on top. Guests began arriving. I thought it might have been a really big party but the turnout was kind of a select group of Eve’s friends. It was like the old Bad Crowd but with a few added souls. CM had written a long poem, ode to Eve, and she read it before the guests came. Cuddily read it. CM could deliver it better.
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The party migrated to the enclosed porch overlooking the inlet to the Small Boat Harbor. We adjusted chairs and drank more wine. The Legion nearby was having entertainment and free hot dogs. We were fine with our party.
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The sunlight became better and better as it sunk lower and lower. I snapped a few shots, then got a colorful sunset. The image is of that sunset.