Sigh!

A whole bunch of stuff since our last blog posting, most of it boring as all heck, but never the less, here goes….

Firstly, we did indeed set off on Friday last for a wee trip in Merlin the motorhome but found out very quickly two things: the engine was running more warmly that I would want and second, that the vehicle inspection had expired. That put a bit of a damper on the excursion, I can tell you, so we only went as far as the Gaspereau Valley and the vineyards up there at which we took a couple of tours and then spent the night at a campground where we had to set up in an un-serviced spot as all the rest were full and discovered that the house bank wasn’t charging so we had to hit the sack at dusk and couldn’t even read! Next day we cried “Uncle!” and headed for home with one stop at Petite Riviere Vineyard for yet another tour, perhaps the best of the lot. Back at home we put Merlin into the garage for work and got on with the other things that we wanted to do, only it was raining too much for us to do much if any of the varnishing on the boat that we had planned. I did get the rest of the wiring finished and I am planning to pull apart the anchor windlass to find out what the heck is wrong with it. I am hoping that it is the solenoid. If it is I plan to replace it with a truck solenoid for a 24V system that is a lot more robust than the pansy little things that they sell you with an anchor windlass.

I have been introduced to a retired doctor from New York who has emigrated up here and has a beautiful property in Port Hubert just down the road from us. His name is Vinnie (naturally) and every year he makes gallons upon gallons of wine in cooperation with six or seven other fellows. He has all the kit including oak barrels, a de-stemmer and crusher, and a press to say nothing of the climate controlled cellar. He was gracious enough to give us a couple of bottles of last year’s wine for us to try and he has inspired us to pursue this as a small hobby. He has agreed to let Barb and myself join his coop. I figure that I was going to be spending about $500 on equipment for my own winemaking and since he already has the gear, my money could be better spent on buying cases of grapes and joining in with Vinnie and his other pals. In another year or so when our small backyard vineyard is producing we will try making some of our own at home too.

As an update on the water plant adventure, everything seems to be in order now just in time for the new fellow that we have hired from near Ottawa to travel down to take up his new duties. The one good thing about this is that not only myself but also several others of the Public Works group has a much clearer idea of how the plant operates and how to control its operation, so I guess there is a silver lining, eh?

Barb and I are still planning to get at some of the bright work tomorrow and Saturday aboard Nelleke. The deciding factor will be the weather. If it’s miserable we will work on the anchor windlass instead, but regardless we are watching the hurricane track to see what Leslie is planning for us. Right now it would appear that we are going to get a backhand from her on Tuesday. If so we will have to get Nelleke off the dock and onto one of the moorings. Stay tuned!