Talk about embarassin'. Talk about frustratin'. And how about good old feeling like a class A bonehead? Yesterday's posting title was clearly in error as Chris and Taunya don't arrive until Friday the 23rd, so we are setting our excitement clock back 24 hours. Oh well. 'Twas another chilly night last night, hopefully our last according to the weather forecasters. Tomorrow it is supposed to be going up to 16 degrees centigrade and then to 20 and 22 the day after that. Maybe it's just as well that Chris and Taunya aren't coming 'till tomorrow after all. I'm getting a little tired of wearing sweaters in Florida! I woke up this morning to a mist on the surface of the water. Very picturesque but most what I would expect at a hunting camp in Canada in the fall of the year, not in Florida.

By the way, have you checked out the new feature on Sailblogs in the Map Section of the blog. They have incorporated Google Earth into the display so you have a satellite's view of where we are. For me it has already helped me fix a problem that I didn't realize that I had with our reported position. For the last six weeks I had been reporting that Nelleke was berthed in a Tampa suburb! Obviously, it isn't so. I have it now corrected for yesterday's position report and it'll be right from here forward. I haven't had a chance to go back through all the previous postings to correct the goof, but when I have a half hour or so, I will.

My art class this morning was really interesting from the point of view of learning more about the technique of painting with watercolours plus a different style of producing something that is pleasing to the eye. Our instructor gave is a lesson in pen and ink reproductions and painting and we ended up with a nice scene of two fishing boats up on the hard, undergoing either repairs or slow destruction through the ravages of time. Barb came and took a photo of our class, and I of hers, which I have put out in the Tampa Photo Album. My class is very small and since the teacher is paid based on the number of students that attend, I am really grateful that she is prepared to show up for just two or three of us. I plan to go next week again, in spite of the fact that Chris and Taunya will be here, in fact I am hoping to persuade Chris to join me. Although you wouldn't guess it to look at him he is a very talented artist that, like me, has put the painting muse on a back burner. Maybe I can persuade him to bring it out for a bit. Taunya can also come to the watercolour class or go beading with Barb, whatever she chooses. I am quite enjoying my little "dabble" back into painting. It gives me another purpose for the photos that I am taking and something very relaxing to do in my down time.

The weather forecast seems to be for increasingly warmer weather, which is a great thing since I can do without frost on the life raft early in the morning. Plus, since Chris has told me that he intends to "veg out on the beaches..." I'm sure that he has visions of Speedos and bikinis, not sweatshirts and mittens.

From Barb -

I think I am finished the cuff - after about 19 hours of eye-straining beading! You can't really tell from the photo but it is rather like a two dimensional sculpture - there are waves and raised areas providing interest to the piece. I will be returning to Kay Ladd's class next week to learn another technique that produces a beautiful twisted effect - once we leave this area I will really miss Kay and the ladies in the class. I invested in an excellent book of designs that use the same types of beads and will use that in my future projects once I no longer get to use Kay's brains, skills, and patience.

I am really looking forward to the arrival tomorrow of Chris and Taunya - I have the advantage over Mike in that I met Taunya before; when I was home for the week in early December. I really think that they might want a bit of time to themselves, without us around, so I would not be surprised if they decided to give the art classes a miss on their two Thursdays with us - especially if the weather is good.