It's cold in Port Maitland, and it's cold in Lake Annis. We're spending our days travelling back and forth, starting fires, stoking fires, rearranging wood. Also packing - we're headed to Toronto on October 31st, help Anna and Andy move to another apartment, then Antigua on November 5th.
Transition times are always fraught, and this year is a bit more complicated than most.
Our stuff is even more spread out than usual - three places instead of two: we went hunting for Randy's old hammer last week, and after some mental rummaging, realized that that hammer is on the boat. Things we're not using everyday are being moved out to Lake Annis. Every day, we pack an eclectic collection in the volvo (aka the Blueberry Express): shells, lamps, books, Randy's lonely and neglected suits, pictures, shoes, books, more books. If anyone was taking stock of our belongings as they arrive, they'd think that we weren't very practical people. The useful stuff is staying in Port Maitland until we get back in the spring, giving Laurie a chance to furnish her own house during visits over the winter. She's had a great little woodstove installed, and it will make PM a great deal cheerier when it's blustery outside. Our woodstoves in L.A. have been great, and Randy discovered caches of kindling under the house. Bonus. So we're comfortable, inside, and generally feeling underdressed outside, but reluctant to buy any more winter clothes.
Our house is really coming along. All the painting is done in the bedrooms, bathrooms (two! two bathrooms on the main floor! one is too small to turn around in!) and hall. All painted cloud white over two coats of primer, and the floors are red or turqoise. The wall between the kitchen and livingroom has been removed. Last week, Tom was here and did a pile of work - clearing out the underbrush in the backyard, splitting wood, and helping Randy remove the wall and put up a new supporting beam. Tom showed us his photos from his cross-country trip and his summer at Panorama in BC. Also something about a grizzly bear, but I put my maternal fingers in my ears and la-la-la'd through the exciting parts.
And just to round off the season, I've caught the cold my father has been trying to keep to himself. One cold per year is not too bad. It reminds me of how great it is not to have to call anyone and explain why I won't be coming to work. I'm wondering how that will work here in Canada this flu season. Will bosses and supervisors just have to have faith that the sickies are sick? Will people stay home and eat donuts and drink tea and wash the curtains and do blog updates even if they're not feeling all that bad? Will people continue to think that their offices will wither and die without them, and will they continue to drag themselves to work until everyone has a cold or the flu? I used to hate going to work when someone was pathetically hacking and sneezing. No call for that, really. Most cruisers isolate themselves on their boats if they bring a germ into an anchorage. Nobody would invite them over anyway, once word is out. Hard bunch!
We are looking forward to getting back. Wan and pale and snotty is not my preferred state, and Randy is starting to look like a pale shadow of his former self. If you need more sailing news to keep you warm this winter, I've got another blog to recommend, if I haven't already: trioconbrio with Bill and Janet Campbell aboard are on their way down the east coast of the US, heading for the Caribbean. Janet understands the important things in life: laundry, food, shopping, strange occurances and odd fellows, and of course, stupid weather, stupid stuff that goes wrong on boats and usually requires money or skilled assistance, usually both. http://trioconbrio.blogspot.com/ Enjoy.
Next update will probably be from Antigua. See below for some recent photos.
Transition times are always fraught, and this year is a bit more complicated than most.
Our stuff is even more spread out than usual - three places instead of two: we went hunting for Randy's old hammer last week, and after some mental rummaging, realized that that hammer is on the boat. Things we're not using everyday are being moved out to Lake Annis. Every day, we pack an eclectic collection in the volvo (aka the Blueberry Express): shells, lamps, books, Randy's lonely and neglected suits, pictures, shoes, books, more books. If anyone was taking stock of our belongings as they arrive, they'd think that we weren't very practical people. The useful stuff is staying in Port Maitland until we get back in the spring, giving Laurie a chance to furnish her own house during visits over the winter. She's had a great little woodstove installed, and it will make PM a great deal cheerier when it's blustery outside. Our woodstoves in L.A. have been great, and Randy discovered caches of kindling under the house. Bonus. So we're comfortable, inside, and generally feeling underdressed outside, but reluctant to buy any more winter clothes.
Our house is really coming along. All the painting is done in the bedrooms, bathrooms (two! two bathrooms on the main floor! one is too small to turn around in!) and hall. All painted cloud white over two coats of primer, and the floors are red or turqoise. The wall between the kitchen and livingroom has been removed. Last week, Tom was here and did a pile of work - clearing out the underbrush in the backyard, splitting wood, and helping Randy remove the wall and put up a new supporting beam. Tom showed us his photos from his cross-country trip and his summer at Panorama in BC. Also something about a grizzly bear, but I put my maternal fingers in my ears and la-la-la'd through the exciting parts.
And just to round off the season, I've caught the cold my father has been trying to keep to himself. One cold per year is not too bad. It reminds me of how great it is not to have to call anyone and explain why I won't be coming to work. I'm wondering how that will work here in Canada this flu season. Will bosses and supervisors just have to have faith that the sickies are sick? Will people stay home and eat donuts and drink tea and wash the curtains and do blog updates even if they're not feeling all that bad? Will people continue to think that their offices will wither and die without them, and will they continue to drag themselves to work until everyone has a cold or the flu? I used to hate going to work when someone was pathetically hacking and sneezing. No call for that, really. Most cruisers isolate themselves on their boats if they bring a germ into an anchorage. Nobody would invite them over anyway, once word is out. Hard bunch!
We are looking forward to getting back. Wan and pale and snotty is not my preferred state, and Randy is starting to look like a pale shadow of his former self. If you need more sailing news to keep you warm this winter, I've got another blog to recommend, if I haven't already: trioconbrio with Bill and Janet Campbell aboard are on their way down the east coast of the US, heading for the Caribbean. Janet understands the important things in life: laundry, food, shopping, strange occurances and odd fellows, and of course, stupid weather, stupid stuff that goes wrong on boats and usually requires money or skilled assistance, usually both. http://trioconbrio.blogspot.com/ Enjoy.
Next update will probably be from Antigua. See below for some recent photos.
posted by Susan at 11:40 AM
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