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July 14, 2010: Car update: We're now the proud owners of a 1992 Subaru Legacy, and we're very impressed with it. The dealer put a new (used low mileage) motor in it, and it's much peppier than the Volvo was. And notice I said "was". We still have the car; someone helped Jim tow it up the hill to the house this afternoon so at least it's out of the marina's parking lot. Jim will remove and sell all the new parts and we'll see if we can get anyone to haul it away. I honestly don't think it's dead for good; we just don't feel like messing around with it any more. House update: none. Starfish is keeping Jim busy so not much work has gotten done. I've pretty much written off getting into the house by Christmas. And I'm in Day 3 of a 12 day stretch of work, but I'll be working all by my lonesome for the next 4 days. That means no lunch or coffee breaks...it also means a nice paycheck, which we can use.

July 6, 2010: Hooray, hooray! The inspector signed off on the electrical inspection! Another major milestone checked off! Next on the agenda: a little more framing and figure out how to build a fireplace (that should be interesting). Good job, Jim!

July 4, 2010: Happy holiday, everyone! I think the entire country, with the exception of the Seattle area, is experiencing hot summer weather. I lucked out and had the entire weekend off (payback comes in 2 weeks). After a filling pancake breakfast at the fire station yesterday morning, we returned to the boat and readied ourselves for our huge voyage to Deer Harbor (the bay just west of West Sound). We removed the flybridge cover and I scraped the loose varnish off the rails; then I swept. Jim installed our 2011 registration tabs and I made sure that our flares were current...we had a feeling that the Coasties and/or Sheriff would be out in force. Headed over to Deer Harbor and joined Endeavor and Rogo (Robert Goulet's old boat) for a raft-up for the fireworks. There were 5 kids on Rogo and 1 on Endeavor and no sooner had we tied up but they all came running to Manana...I haven't the foggiest idea why! Knowing how I love kids (NOT!), I put my hand out in the international symbol for "STOP"!! and made it clear that there were to be no kids running around our boat because our new cat, Amber, wasn't a happy camper! Shortly after we were settled, Misty J arrived and tied off our port side, sandwiching us between boats. The later it got, the more boats joined the raft-up, along with at least 5 more kids. We gave up trying to keep the kids off the boat -- there were just too many people trying to get to a boat other than their own! By 9:45pm, there were at least 11 boats in the raft-up, and we were all hanging from Endeavor's anchor! The fireworks were very impressive, and especially loud, as the barge was anchored just off a sheer rock cliff so the sound reverberated across the bay. All but 4 boats left when the show was over, and everyone hit the sack. This morning, the sun was out and it was gorgeous. I baked some breakfast muffins, which we shared with Misty J's crowd. Returned to West Sound around noon so we could attend the yacht club BBQ. It was gray, cold and very blustery, but the weatherman tells us to be patient; summer should be here on Tuesday.

House update: Jim put the call in for an electrical inspection. The inspectors come to the island on Tuesday & Thursday (they don't tell you which day they'll show up). He'll finish up the few remaining items, but he's going to leave a couple of things on the premise that the inspector has to find something!

Car update: The Volvo is dead. It might only be water in the gas tank but now the battery is dead from all the hard starts. Buying a decent car on an island where there is no car dealer is challenging so he's planning to fly to Bellingham, buy a car and drive it home. I think he's looking at an older Subaru Legacy. Somehow we have to get the car up to the house and get it running so we can sell it.

June 22, 2010: The truck Jim borrowed for our weekend trip was pretty tired, but it ran fine. The passenger's door didn't open at all, the driver's door only opened part way, the heater didn't work and the wiper blades were shot. So I had to climb in and out of the driver's door, carefully maneuvering so that while missing the stick shift, I didn't accidentally trip the emergency brake! I lost track of how many times we climbed in and out of that thing! We had a nice visit with friends in Port Townsend on Sunday, though. We had a front row seat, so to speak, on the ferry to Port Townsend and saw lots of porpoises, seals and birds. My original plan was to return with P&B on Monday while Jim went to Forks for the cedar shingles, but we discovered there were a couple building recycling stores in Port Townsend and Port Angeles, and since we are on the look out for a vintage front door, Plan B was put into effect! Ended up going to bed much later than normal and then we were up and out the next morning by 7:00 AM. Peter, the terrific dad that he is, got up at 6:00 AM to make coffee for us...what a guy! To make a long story short, we picked up the shingles in Forks (where Twilight was filmed), visited both stores (no joy in the door department), caught the mid afternoon ferry back to Keystone and then caught the 7:00 PM ferry to Orcas. Boy, were we exhausted! However, it was a worthwhile trip and I'd forgotten how beautiful the Olympic peninsula is. It was sunny out, the blue sky making for a beautiful backdrop for the snow-covered mountains. And Amber was very happy to have us home! Jim unloaded the shakes today and returned the truck.

Betsy told me I'm not allowed to go off island any more! Seems like some catastrophe always happens while I'm gone and the office is short-staffed. Yesterday a sailboat hit a reef, jamming its rudder; it had to be towed in. And at the end of the day, it was discovered that a boat in Massacre Bay sank. The marina provided oil sorbs and pumps but the owner elected to have the boat towed to Anacortes for repair.

June 19, 2010: Amber is now officially ours but I suspect if she had the chance, she'd be gone! All was going very well until we decided we wanted to join a raft-up out in the middle of West Sound for a "sailstice BBQ" after the Friday night sailboat races. That, of course, meant we had to start the engine, which, of course, freaked Amber out. She stayed hidden for the majority of the evening because of all the noise and people. However, she did come out of hiding briefly to say hello to a friend of ours who has worked at the shelter for years. Apparently Amber recognized Barb's voice. At the end of the evening, we decided to follow friends over to Massacre Bay for an evening rafted on the hook. Then this morning, we started the engine to come back to the dock. She was NOT a happy kitty and stayed in hiding until I coaxed her out around noon. At 1:00, Jim moved the boat over the the guest dock to take on fuel offered to us "at a discount price". I really didn't want Jim to move the boat, but there was no other way of transferring hundreds of gallons of diesel. And then at 3:30, we started the engine and motored back to our slip. All should have been nice and quiet after that, but Jim filled the starboard tank and then put about 20 gal. in the port tank, so we had a serious list (and I do mean serious - lol)! Jim turned the transfer pump on, and that didn't set well with Amber. The pump finally turned off at 9:00 and I, once again, coaxed her out of hiding. The sad thing is that we are headed out on the 1st ferry tomorrow and won't be home until Monday evening. I have a friend coming over to look in on her, but I hope Amber doesn't think we don't love her any more!

June 14, 2010: We were watching a M*A*S*H episode last week where Hawkeye decides to lay off the booze for a week, just to see if he can. I admit I like my glass of wine at the end of the day, but wondered if I liked it too much. So I decided I would lay off the booze for a week. Today was day #1; it's amazing how habits are hard to break. When I came home, I wanted a glass of wine. I didn't NEED it, though (always a good sign). Instead, I poured myself a glass of OJ, minus any vodka, and that seemed to set well. Apparently I like to come home and drink something; not necessarily alcoholic in nature.

I talked to the shelter today and told them we are enjoying Amber. She likes catnip and her Minke-lined basket; she knows where her toy basket is and she likes being brushed. I've tried to take pictures of her, but she always gets up to investigate the camera, so no pics yet! I'll probably sign adoption papers later this week.

June 13, 2010: Bye-bye, Max! I tolerated as much abuse as I could take and last Sunday was the straw that broke the camel's back. Jim was off the boat and I was quietly working on the computer. Max kept attacking my elbow, biting and clawing. Jim and I kept saying "perhaps he'll grow out of it with maturity" but then I figured why wait that long? So I called the shelter and was told I could bring him back. Jim concurred that this was probably a good thing to do -- obviously none of us were happy. The cat I originally wanted to see, Amber, was finally out of quarantine and I spent a little time with her. My gut told me she'd be a nice cat so I asked Jim to check her out the next time he was downtown. He, too, got positive vibes. We visited the shelter yesterday afternoon for another visit and decided we'd like to bring her home. While at the shelter, we stopped in to see Max. I thought he might remember the sound of our voices but he didn't show any sign of recognition and when I went to pat and hold him, he became that lean, mean biting machine. So he had his chance...I had felt guilty about bringing him back to the shelter, but after seeing him again yesterday, I realized that I'd done the right thing. The worker suggested we bring Amber home for a sleep over, which we did. She's settling in well and our fingers are crossed. She's about 6 years old, medium length fur, calico coloring. She loves to meet and greet people (evident at the shelter) and she loves to be petted.

June 5, 2010: I wanted to write on my site today, but I'm not really sure what I'm feeling, so I'm not sure how to put what's in my mind. Jim and I visited a lady who I quilt with. She and her husband moved into their home last Sept.; they have 11 cats and a cat enclosure that we wanted to check out, as it's something we're thinking about building at the house. So we headed on out of the marina, and our '82 Volvo stalled before we'd even gotten 1/4 mile away. Jim got it restarted, but this happened several times between the marina and S's house. The car had been running flawlessly until we put gas in at Fred Meyers in Burlington two days ago. Don't know whether we got a bad batch of gas or whether it was totally coincidental, but the car's been running like shit since we filled up. Anyway, we followed S's directions and eventually ended up at their custom built 4000 sq. foot home built overlooking Rosario Strait. No doubt about it -- it's a gorgeous house and location (with S's sporty BMW in the driveway). So we're invited in for a tour and the first thing that Jim notices is their coffee maker...it's an unbelieveable automatic machine, push the button for the coffee you want and a minute or two later, voila -- you have a perfect cup of coffee. You open the drawer beneath the unit and pull out a heated cup for that perfect cup of coffee. A tour of the rest of the house reveals granite countertops in all the bathrooms and offices, granite in the showers, granite floor in the master bath. S's husband joked that the house has an acre and a half of granite. They have an exercise room, work shop, space for a future wine cellar, etc., etc., etc. I guess it's what you would expect in a 4000 sq. foot home, but I live in 38' so what do I know of what's expected? Anyway, we had a very nice visit...S & hubby are really down to earth. During the house tour, we joked that I have $50,000 taste and a $5,000 budget for the kitchen. S's hubby stated that they had no budget and are now "paying for it". We climbed into our car, which continued to stall, stutter and stumble its way back to the marina, with us scratching our heads wondering if its time for us to buy a new car...we could probably come up with $2,500 if we decide we won't buy a dinghy. Back on the boat, which needs lots of TLC, Jim looked up the coffee maker that had served him that perfect cup of coffee -- no problema! Shell out OVER $3,000 and you, too, can have one. And it doesn't come with the cups' heating drawer -- that's extra. So here we are, trying to figure out if we have any extra cash laying around to buy a new very used car (after all, what can we expect to buy for $2,500?), and their coffee machine cost more than that. Sorry, but this is just not computing in my mind! S and her husband have been invited to our boat. When they arrive, we will offer them a cup of coffee, which will be made in our 10 year old aluminum drip coffee pot!

June 4, 2010: Max got to experience what it feels like to wear a harness, and he wasn't impressed! As I told friends, if he'd been at the Olympics, he would be scoring a 10 for his acrobatical moves trying to get out of it! Our thought is that perhaps taking Max for walks down the dock will help shed some of his kittenish energy. Jim has added "Dr. Strangelove" to Max's nick names as Max's right rear leg comes up and he kicks himself in the face! This ticks Max off to the point where he bites the foot, only to realize that it is his! Very comical, and the best thing is that he is still young enough that he's not offended when you laugh at him! :-)

Max (aka Psycho Kitty)

June 1, 2010: The weekend weather was pretty miserable and we're expecting yet another late-season rain and wind storm tonight/tomorrow. I'm convinced that our Jan. and Feb. weather was better than what we had in May. It can only get better! Our cat now has an official name...Max, but sometimes we refer to him as Psycho Kitty! All in all, he's pretty sweet and usually mellow but at least once a day his alter personality comes out and he becomes a mean, lean biting machine! So Jim and I are growling and hissing at him, stomping our feet, clapping our hands...anything we can think of to make him stop biting. Occasionally he latches onto our leg, trying to bite our feet. We look pretty silly trying to walk while dragging a cat along!

May 21, 2010: Welcome aboard to our newest crew member! Last weekend we visited the Orcas Animal Shelter and took a shine to a beautiful blue (gray) male. The shelter said he was a stray and believed him to be about 2 years old. I was really hoping for a female this time, but this gray cat came right up to us, demanding to be petted. We played with him, picked him up, petted him and decided we'd like to bring him home -- he was an equal opportunity cat! The shelter called him Clay, but we will rename him. As I write this, he's been on board for 2 1/2 hours. He's still exploring the boat, but took time out to eat some canned cat food (the shelter does not serve canned food), told us he loves catnip and, in fact, hid the catnip mouse in the forward v-berth! Then he hopped up on the settee between us and purred with delight as Jim and I took turns petting him. He tolerates having his stomach rubbed. We are hopeful that we'll come to love him as we loved DC and Jerry. So far he seems pretty mellow and appreciative. We'll wait a week or so before starting the engine -- don't want to freak him out just yet!

Update on the electrical: We're still waiting for the bedroom and library heating units and Jim has the office about 85% wired. Then comes the task of hooking all the wires to the circuit breakers!

May 11, 2010: The inspector signed off on the plumbing inspection -- woo hoo! One milestone down, 1000 more to go! Jason did the inspection; he's the inspector who Jim has been working with since last Sept. Because Jason and Jim have been working closely together, Jason barely gave the plumbing a second glance. Jim had been sweating bullets the night before and wanted to say, "Look, God damn it, check SOMETHING!" :-) Work on the house is moving forward slowly these days; the fireplace is sitting in pieces in the dining room, the house is 98% wired (waiting for the bedroom & library heating units to arrive before wiring for those), and the wiring has now started in the office.

May 5, 2010: Cinco de Mayo -- NOT celebrated in Mexico! Leave it to the Americans to use any excuse to party! I received an email this morning telling of a classmate who had passed away. That got me checking out the In Memorium page for my high school and I was amazed at how many of my classmates are now deceased. Some of them I knew about; many I did not: the first boy I kissed, the girl who sat in front of me for years in home room, the boy we doubled dated with to the senior prom, the girl who could sneeze a hundred times (I think she was faking her "achoos", but it got the class going), etc. What a depressing way to start the day... On the other hand, though, I hadn't thought of these people in years, and the memories were all good ones. May they all rest in peace.

April 30-May 2, 2010: Jim had the boat cleaned up and almost ready to go when I got off work. As we made our way up West Sound, we looked at the settee and commented on how empty it looked without our crew in their position. :-( Several porpoises swam by us as we turned into Harney Channel from West Sound. We dropped our anchor in Blind Bay on Shaw Island. Bob & Gail (Endeavor) arrived shortly thereafter and rafted off us; drinks and dinner were on their boat. They had a 4-legged crew member on board, Sammy Toad, a 3 year old tuxedo cat. Sammy took a liking to Jim and Jim had tears in his eyes as he held Sammy. After breakfast on Sat., we followed Endeavor south through San Juan Channel and then up the west coast of San Juan Island, hoping to spot orcas. No orcas...only choppy waters from a small craft advisory! We pulled into Reid Harbor on Stuart Island late in the afternoon. This time we let Bob drop the hook and we rafted off them. Drinks and dinner were on Manana. Sammy Toad joined the party and took great delight in exploring our boat. He eventually made himself at home and went to sleep on our bed -- how normal he looked! We tried to talk Bob and Gail into leaving Sammy with us at the end of the evening, but to no avail! The winds were predicted to pick up during the day on Sun., so we left the anchorage around 1000 and were greeted with very rolly, choppy seas and 15 kts of wind. Had an uneventful trip back, with waves smacking us on our starboard beam. The wind died down by the time we got to West Sound; Jim made a perfect docking -- just like we knew what we were doing! It was good to get away from the dock for a couple of days. We were rusty in our procedures (forgot to put the ensign out when we left, forgot to pull it in Sat. pm, etc), it took us a couple of tries to remember how the electronics worked and our sea legs weren't all that steady. Still, we decided we need to do this more often than once a year!

Today was also Opening Day for our yacht club. We had volunteered to help out with the cooking and cleaning, thus giving us an excuse not to decorate the boat! It was just as well because it was cold, raw and wet outside. Considering the crummy weather, there was a very good turnout of about 100 people. Returned to the boat at 1645 and collapsed!

April 28, 2010: Cruising friends who we met in Mexico arrived today. They are on their way to Alaska. Stephanie, sweetheart that she is, made a pit stop in an Anacortes quilt shop and arrived with several beautiful pieces of fabric for me. We gave them a tour of the house; it's come a long way since they saw it last September! Then we had dinner at P&B's -- lively conversation and the evening went way too quickly. I dropped them back at their boat around 2115. Hugs, kisses, wishes for a safe journey, etc. We'll look forward to seeing them on their way south in late August.

April 26, 2010: Jim has started blocking Mondays off to work on the house. To that end, he was able to replace the 2 bedroom windows, remove the 2 windows in the library and reframe them. The plan was for me to go to the house after work to help install the windows, but he was way ahead of me, so the only thing left was for me to help him install the windows in the library. A good day's work, even if it was senseless.

April 25, 2010: Not a good day; woke up in tears missing my orange boyz SO much that it hurts. I seriously doubt that I'm going to be able to hold out until we move into the house. And speaking of house, Jim spent quality time yesterday installing the hurricane clips that hold the roof to the framing members. Can't honestly say I remember when the last hurricane hit the Pacific Northwest, but it's code. And today he removed the two bedroom windows and reframed the openings. Again, this is code -- a fireman in full gear needs to be able to climb in your bedroom window. It doesn't matter that maybe the window can't be reached from the ground; it's code. And it doesn't matter that Sheriff Bill has told everyone to lock their windows to keep the Barefoot Bandit out; it's code.

April 18, 2010: It took a trip to the locker, a trip to the pet shelter, 5 loads of laundry and lots of dusting and vacuuming to make it appear that there have never been cats on this boat. Amazing, in the saddest sense of the word. We donated the kitty litter and dry cat food to the pet shelter. They had one big orange guy, but he was 11 years old and neither Jim nor I are ready to do a senior cat; at least not right away. And they had a room with 4 kittens who had just left their mom the day before. The workers invited me to go in, but I knew if I held a kitten I'd come home with 2, if not all 4! We put our name on a list for 2 orange kittens but were told they are a popular item. So I'll wait, as patiently as I can. Maybe some stray will come to us (it happened once). If it does, that will be our sign.

April 12, 2010: In loving memory of Jerry. Unfortunately he only bounced back part way and never did gain control of his bowels. It was a very tough decision to make, and part of me wanted to give him one more week. But deep down inside I knew that Jerry was not living a life full of quality or dignity, and if I'd given him one more week and he still hadn't rallied, then all I would have done was given him an extra week of misery. On the other hand, had he rallied....best not to go there. So now he is buried out in the copse behind the house near DC -- not too close as DC liked his space! But Jim and I will be able to look at the trees and remember our two orange boys. Wow! It's been 29 years since we've been without a cat. Neither of us can remember exactly how long it took before we got Mittens but we think it was only a week into our relationship! Jim's off island for the next several days and I'm alone, truly alone, on the boat. I'm filling the void with a glass of red wine and Susan Boyle. And the only thing that comes to mind right now is, this sucks. Pet lovers will understand that DC and Jerry weren't just our cats, they were our children. And for any family to lose their two children in a 3 1/2 month span, well, it's just mind boggling.

April 10, 2010: Well, Jerry's still with us, but I'm not sure if that's good. It's been an emotional roller coaster ride with him rallying and being the "old Jerry" (for less than a day), to his bowels giving way to constant ooze. That is what I came home to last night -- yellow sh*t everywhere; in his basket, on the back of the settee, the pillow cover, the settee cushion, the floor -- everywhere! I wanted to cry! (The benefit of having a sinus infection is that I can't smell it!) We only have 3 towels on the boat and those were soiled so I started using dish towels. Ultimately we gave him a warm water bath, which he tolerated rather well. Once his bottom was clean, we could see he had a very raw rectum, and the oozing began again. At our wits end, we called the vet, who prescribed a tsp of Pepto Bismol to firm him up. The vet didn't sound too encouraging about Jerry, and is off island for the weekend, so he told us to either hang in there for the weekend, or take a trip to America. We put Jerry in a large box with a couple dirty towels, some food and a bit of kitty litter. We shut the door and went to bed. We were afraid of what we'd find this morning! Jerry warranted another warm water bath, the box was trashed (no surprise) but the oozing seems to have stopped and his color is normal. He's very thirsty and weak, but hopefully he'll bounce back during the day. Unfortunately I'm working today and afterwards, I MUST get to the laundromat. It's been 2 weeks and we're out of clean clothes.

April 6, 2010: Brace the heart and prepare the brain...here we go again. Jerry (age 14) has been sick for the past several days, so I brought him into the vet's. He's down to just over 4 lbs and the doctor concluded that Jerry is "one very sick cat". He drew blood and then gave him fluids and a vitamin B12 shot. Test results will be back on Thursday. In the meantime, we're supposed to hope that the fluids kick in and make Jerry feel better. If they don't, it could be an indication of kidney failure. We're still trying to come to grips of DC not being on the boat; I'm emotionally not ready to lose Jerry.

April 4, 2010: Happy Easter! Haven't posted anything in a long time because there's been no action on the house. Jim has been up to his eyeballs with Starfish Marine work; we've decided to ride the financial wave for as long as it lasts. The Encanto clan drove up from San Francisco so we drove down to Seattle on Friday. The Northwest got hit with a horrible storm and had it not been for the fact that we had one night to see our friends, we would have stayed home. Borrowed Peter's van and shopped our way south. Spent Friday night catching up with our friends at Judy's sister's house and we left early Sat. morning. Had a picnic lunch at the Cap Sante lookout in Anacortes -- beautiful scenery and to add to the beauty, an eagle soared in front of us. Spent a couple hours at the Anacortes quilt show. So many beautiful quilts that got the creative juices flowing! Returned to a very cold boat around supper time; the power had gone off at some point and the heaters were off -- brr! I've come down with a cold and Jerry threw up numerous times during the evening. No sleep for the weary!

Feb. 28, 2010: The Barefoot Bandit strikes yet again! These days everything is being blamed on him, including the break-in at the ACE hardware store at 0530 this morning. The owner installed a security system after it was broken into last Sept. (supposedly by the Barefoot Bandit); the alarm went off and the burglar scooted out of the store empty handed. Police from Whatcom County arrived with their search dogs, parading around Eastsound looking for him. A helicopter flew around the island for several hours. Per the norm, he wasn't found. He has developed quite a large cult following, so one has to wonder if he's being aided. On the other hand, Orcas has more than its share of McMansions owned by out-of-staters who are only here during the summer, so he could be living the life of Riley in one of these remote homes. All three Seattle TV channels were on island with their big vans and cameras. It certainly was an exciting weekend!

Feb. 27, 2010: The tsunami that wasn't. The 8.8 earthquake in Chile set off a tsunami advisory for the Pacific Northwest coast. The Coast Guard radio kept saying that the first wave was expected to hit Neah Bay at 1507 and Port Angeles at 1544. We didn't know what to expect, so Jim started Manana's engine at noon, just to be on the safe side (she started right up...good girl!). I got off work at 1500 and headed to the boat, where we continued to monitor the radio and wait. The Coast Guard never did cancel the advisory, nor did we feel any distinguishable surge.

Feb. 25, 2010: Our neighbor, the contractor, stopped by the house today, rather apologetic. He's been staring at our house for several months now, wondering if our bedroom windows meet the "egress code". Jim measured the windows and then checked the code...and no! they don't meet code!! It's amazing that the architect screwed up with the design, the plan reviewer didn't catch it, nor did Builders Alliance, the lumber company that we sent a set of plans to for bidding. What to do about it was the next question; do we continue on and keep our fingers crossed that the framing inspector doesn't notice, or do we replace now? After much information gathering regarding new windows, and much thought, we've decided to change out the windows now, before Jim gets much further along with the wiring, etc. New windows one foot longer will cost about $650 (only 1 window in the bedroom needs to be larger, but we think that it would look funny to have 1 large window and 3 smaller along that side of the house). Jim had purchased Convectair heaters for the two rooms, which now will have to be returned because they will no longer fit. Should we spend extra money for different sized units or put base board in? I suspect the base board will win. We'll sell the current windows and hope to recoup some of the cost.

Feb. 13, 2010: Today was the Winter Shaw Classic Race with the Orcas Hotel being the race sponsor. The Sailing Instructions state that the only rule is to keep Shaw Island to starboard, and don't hit it! Jim volunteered to head up the race committee with friends Chris & Lynn. Betsy & Ian were racing, so that left me to watch the marina :-(. The race had to be postponed 10 minutes as a ferry was in the way, but they had a clean start at 10:10. There was good wind and it was a fast race. I admit I was feeling a bit put out because I got stuck working, but just before noon, I saw a sailboat at the head of West Sound Bay, so I hailed the Race Committee and gave them a heads up, which they appreciated. I continued to hail them as boats came into view. Dinner and the award ceremony began at 1630. The nice thing about being Race Committee is that dinner is free. We didn't hang around too long...there's something about racers and beer. Anyway, being old fogies, we decided to come home and spend the night on our individual computers with Jerry curled up between us. Isn't that sweet?

Feb. 11, 2010: Oh no! The "Barefoot Bandit" is back...or is he??? Last summer, a juvenile delinquent visited the islands. While here, he robbed several stores and restaurants, stole 2 boats and 1 plane. He was caught on a security tape stealing from the grocery store, barefoot; thus his nickname. This young man is cocky, to say the least; he took a self-portrait for all to see who he is. And he is smart, having taught himself how to fly by watching a DVD -- he hasn't quite mastered the art of landing, but he has yet to kill himself. After a period of time, he stole a plane back to the mainland, where he has continued to steal and elude police. How he has managed to blend in is beyond me as the kid is somewhere between 6'3" - 6'5", depending on which news article you read. I mean, how does someone that tall blend in?? On Thursday the marina received a call from the Chamber of Commerce -- a stolen plane was found abandoned at the airport (evidence showing it had a hard landing) and Home Grown grocery store had been broken into. The security system was wrecked, money was stolen and the dessert case vandalized. Whoever broke in had the balls to draw the outline of big bare feet on the floor with a "C ya". Of course, the law enforcement decided the Barefoot Bandit was back. This time the Sheriff was smart enough to contact the Chamber, who contacted its members, who contacted their employees, etc., etc., etc. Everyone on the island is on alert, looking for a tall, skinny teenager. We know who we're looking for, thanks to the self-portrait! The only way this kid is going to get off the island is either by stealing another plane, or stealing another boat. To that end, West Sound Marina went into defensive mode.

So this gets my paranoid juices flowing...is the Barefoot Bandit really back or has this been staged by officials who want to make sure that they don't lose any funding? Thieves are a dime a dozen, but how many know how to fly a plane? And how many are into organic foods that they would break into Home Grown? The Sheriff has admitted that it could be a copycat, or perhaps life is just too slow on the island in February and someone wanted to kick it up just a notch. Who knows? I'll be surprised if they catch this kid; he's really good at making law enforcement look like bumbling idiots. But this is just my personal view....

Feb. 10, 2010: I participate in "Rate My Space" and spent last night looking at kitchen after kitchen, trying to get an idea for something we might like. Somewhere in the middle of the night, I woke from a bad dream...the dream? I was in a house that was filled with cabinets -- so many cabinets that I couldn't differentiate between rooms and I ultimately found myself (in the dream) shouting, "I live in a boat with 4 cabinets that hold everything we need!" LOL! This morning I told Jim we need to make a decision on the kitchen cabinets -- otherwise I'm going to go nuts (short trip)!

Exterior (duh):

Interior (double duh) - L-R: Living room, Dining room, Kitchen, view from breakfast bar & Bedroom

Feb. 8, 2010: Hooray! Pictures at last...I know, I know...it's about time! The house has come a LONG way since I posted pictures last November. The house is now (almost) totally wrapped in Tyvek that rattles when the wind blows. Just have a little bit left to do on the north side wall.

Interior shots: It's hard to get a good shot of the living room with only the studs in place. There will be a front door (door #2) from the living room into the vestibule (the header is visible); in this picture, you can see door #1 (with glass), which is in the vestibule (7' x 8'). The messy shelf on the left of the photo is currently Jim's staging area, but is actually covering up the hole where the fireplace will be (see left exterior picture). The dining room is self explanatory -- lots of light from windows and doors, as well as a 4' x 4' skylight in the cathedral ceiling, which I couldn't get in the picture. The big box is my bath tub. The kitchen presently has the scaffolding in it; you can see through the studs to the back of the house. Those windows in the back are really the windows in the library. The kitchen has 2 windows that look out to the meadow next to us (a meadow complete with 2 cows). Yeah, it's going to be rough looking at that every morning (you can see the brown cow w/white head in the photo)! This picture was taken from where we expect the bar stools at the peninsula to be located. The kitchen sink will be located in front of the left window. And finally, there's Jim (aka Mr. Starfish Marine, Mr. House Builder and Mr. Mom) in the bedroom installing electrical boxes. The smaller windows face P&B's house, which is to our west, so we put the smaller windows in for privacy and to minimize the incoming hot late afternoon summer sun (we're being optimistic). The other 2 windows look out at the barn. You enter the library from the bedroom.

The fir flooring has been ordered, as has the bathroom's tile warming system and bathroom fan. Jim talked to the mason and decided to buy the fireplace box. The second bid for the insulation came in -- $1,000 more than the first bid. And the Convectair heaters for the bedroom and library are also order.

Fabric Challenge Block

February 5, 2010: February already...where did January go to? I spent the last 4 days of January at quilt camp with 56 other ladies. I brought several smaller projects with me: matching napkins to the place mats I made in October, an 18" wall hanging of batik goldfish in a goldfish bowl and a 48 x 48 table topper. By the end of the weekend, the napkins were finished, as was the top of the table topper. I thought I'd be able to finish the goldfish project too, but the pattern calls for narrow strips to be cut on the bias. I did that but then couldn't get them to behave so I could press them (they kept twisting). However, they are small enough that I can fight with them on the boat! Re the picture above, we were given a piece of fabric (in this case, the bottom "dark brown dotted") and told to make a 12 1/2" square block. This was my entry, using a pattern out of a Fons & Porter magazine. Lots of fun to make, but alas, I did not win. :-(

An update on the house: the plumbing is 100% finished and Jim has started the electrical, installing outlet and switch boxes everywhere. Jim has borrowed our neighbor's scaffolding, which is making installing the can lights in the high cathedral part of the ceiling easier. The remaining two exterior doors were installed with our neighbor's help; all door knobs & locks are in place. Jim met with a local mason, Steve from Hot Rocks (www.hotrocksmasonry.com) regarding the fireplace -- it appears that the price of a Rumford or a ready-built box will be about the same. Obviously the box will be much quicker to install. Since Jim's the one who wants the wood burning fireplace, I've left the decision up to him. Overstock.com is quickly becoming my best friend; so far we've purchased a door mat (red w/monogram "M"), a cabinet for over the toilet and the kitchen faucet. And from LaFuente.com, we purchased some Mexican tiles that coordinate with the bathroom sink we bought in Zihuatanejo and a tin mirror. Deciding what we want is overwhelming; we have an idea of what we want but when we go to the Big Box store we quickly get into sensory overload. We now look at stuff online and say, "I like it, do you like it?" If the other party says "yes", we buy it. Simple and done. There is absolutely no opportunity to physically check out any type of home improvement item on island, and we rarely go off island. So we're buying these items with our fingers crossed, hoping that the quality is good. The nice thing about Overstock.com is that shipping is only $2.95 for anything you buy (unlike LaFuente where we're paying $27 shipping for the mirror). And finally, another neighbor gave us a free computer desk and a vintage table (painted pink).

Jan. 24, 2010: We made a locker run and then fueled up Peter's van. Gasoline on Orcas is $.75/gal. more expensive than it would have been in Anacortes -- oh well! Jim's in the process of figuring out the electrical needs and having a couple of outlets on the floor in the living room would be nice. To that end, we decided to measure our large wool Oriental rug. As Jim was pulling it out, he wondered how it had gotten mud on it; we quickly realized that it was not mud, but had been attacked by moths. So he carried it to the house and unrolled it in the living room so we could see 1) the size and 2) the extent of the damage. Unfortunately there were lots of holes throughout the rug and it was also too big for the space. Having it damaged was really a let down as this was a very beautiful and expensive rug. Jim swept the loose fibers and measured it -- 9 x 12. Then we measured the bedroom and determined that the rug will just fit. We'll cover the holes with furniture and call it good. Having it repaired is possible, but financially, it's not something we can do now. We have several other Oriental carpets and it's possible that those, too, have been affected; however, I can't remember if they were made out of wool or acrylic, so I suppose we'll need to drag them out to the house to check them over.

Jan. 23, 2010: We borrowed Peter's van and went to Bellingham on the 7:15 am ferry on what I called a "fact-finding mission". Our list of errands was easily a page long -- Freddie's, Trader Joe's, Village Lighting, Home Depot and Re-Store. Going up and down the aisles at Home Depot was beneficial. I've been looking at items on the internet, but there's no substitution for seeing things in person. Then to Re-Store, which specializes in used home building items. Jim found an ash shoot cleanout door and we found a virtually brand new 6 panel bifold for $12. Next stop: Village Lighting. We spent at least 45 minutes with a lighting specialist, who helped us figure out the best way to light the interior, given the fact that we're dealing with vaulted ceilings in the majority of the house. Enjoyed a delicious and affordable lunch at Boundary Bay Pub before heading to Trader Joe's and finally Freddie's. We decided not to fuel up in Anacortes and made it on the 5:55 pm ferry with 10 min. to spare. If we'd missed that ferry, we would have had to wait an another 2.5 hours, which neither of us wanted to do. All in all, a productive, but very expensive and tiring, day!

Sunrise in West Sound

Jan. 19, 2010: Thought you'd enjoy a picture I took last week -- this is sunrise in West Sound. This is a real photo; the colors have not been enhanced!

Jan. 18, 2010: Another storm like the other night, but this time we clocked the winds at 42 knots! Once again, Manana was rockin' & rollin' in her slip. Jim got up at 0300 and put the wine bottle in the sink so it wouldn't crash onto the floor. At 0500 the power went out. Who needs sleep? The power came back on around 0800 and the winds died at 1000. The sun came out a short time later and the day turned out to be sunny, warm and lovely!

Jan. 16, 2010: I finally got the hang of cutting snowflakes. We decorated the hall using blue and purple tablecloths (Babs' choice) and I put 5 snowflakes on each table. They looked great!

Jan. 15, 2010: What a miserable night -- high wind from the wrong direction. Manana was rockin' & rollin' in her slip; the piling was squeaking; the wind was howling. So much for sleep! I commented to Jim as we were having morning coffee that I didn't like this anchorage and thought we should move! I was VERY happy to have a reason to get off the boat. My sea legs definitely weren't with me, and even poor Jerry was feeling under the weather.

Jan. 13, 2010: We flunked snowflakes -- how pathetic is that? We (that would be the royal we of P, B, Jim & me) volunteered to set up the community center this Sat. Some couples who do set up make elaborate table center pieces; I'm not feeling that creative, but thought some white paper snowflakes might be fun. Babs provided scrap paper, which I cut into squares and marked with a design. Dummy me! I cut the wrong edge, giving me some very interesting snowflakes! Jim tried his hand at free cutting, and he, too, ended up with some very interesting snowflakes. We quit while we were ahead -- will try it again tomorrow night!

Jan. 12, 2010: House update: The waste side of the plumbing is complete with the vent lines through the roof. Jim pressure tested the waste lines and discovered a small, slow drip in the pipe under the house, which will have to be repaired. GRRR! But overall he was pleased because he hasn't done any plumbing work in ages. The hot water tank is mounted and in its permanent home in the crawl space, in between the kitchen and dining room. Work on the fresh water side of the plumbing has begun. Received a quote for sheetrock from the 2nd contractor; this one is $2000 less than the one we received from the 1st contractor; we're still expecting one more quote. The contractor who bid for the insulation stopped by to see the construction status. Jim told him he's hoping to be ready for insulation by the end of Feb. No pressure here, Jim -- you have 6 weeks to finish the house plumbing, wire the office and the house, and install the fireplace! I know I'm overdue for posting photos, but with all the rain we've had, the yard is a soggy pond. We're going to have to figure out what to do about that -- in the meantime, I'm not going to traipse around in the mucky mud!

Jan. 1, 2010: Today was P&B's annual pizza open house. Fewer people than in the past and that may be because they included a 3" invitation in with their Christmas card. Next year they will revert back to their prior invitation. Jim & I held an open house of our own, giving tours and soliciting comments about our house. We received positive comments (but what friend is going to tell us our house sucks?); the only odd comment was from an ex-realtor who suggested we needed a "guest toilet". As I pointed out to her, the bathroom is centrally located and guests do not have to go through the master bedroom to access it. I would much prefer my guests to walk an extra 20 footsteps to our one and only bathroom so that I can keep our coat closet. Peter's suggestion was when we (ultimately) have our open house, we should rent a port-a-potty and stick it outside the front door with a "guest toilet" sign on it! :-) I knew there was a reason I love Peter!

Dec. 31, 2009: Instead of climbing into bed at 2100, we found ourselves climbing into our Volvo to go to a New Year's Eve party in Deer Harbor. About 20 people gathered... a good crowd, most of whom we knew. By 2315 we were all fading -- jokes and laughter about old fogies trying to stay up late -- so we broke out a dice game that kept us occupied for the next 30 min. Clay turned the TV on so we could watch the ball drop in Times Square, despite the fact that it had actually dropped 3 hours earlier. Dick Clark really needs to give it up; he looked AWFUL! A little cosmetic surgery is one thing, but Dick Clark is another! At midnight, we trashed the living room by tossing colorful streamers at one another, and made enough noise to wake the dead! Champagne was poured, fun was had, and we proved that we wouldn't turn into mice or pumpkins by staying up past midnight!

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