Wow, I’ve left Sheila365 untended for 3 weeks! That’s the longest stretch without posting since I started this blog over 3 years ago. But it’s not because I don’t have new photos. Oh my, do I have photos! We spent 2 jam-packed weeks in Seattle visiting family. I worked the first week, but I was on vacation for the second week. We celebrated birthdays, had great visits with my mom, all my siblings and their kids, and Monte’s nephew and his awesome family. Watched kids soccer games, watched football games (go seahawks!), went golfing, went to the Port Townsend wooden boat show, spent a glorious day on the Seattle waterfront. We’ve been back home for a week, but it was way too busy with work to attack the photos. I just need to sit down and sort through them, to a pick a few to share. But that’s not going to happen today, so let me just post this one, to get back into the blogging groove. Happy Anniversary to us! We’ve completed another ride together around the sun, with lots of great memories — looking forward to what we encounter on the next lap.
Category: inspiration
In the midst of the mist.
We went to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival today. And we had a really fantastic day. I took a ton of photos but am wiped out so I will only quickly post one before I succumb to sleep. I’ll post more tomorrow.
This was from this morning before the fog lifted. Soon after this we were treated to a beautiful day. Sunny, clear and light breezes. This was the rowing regatta, with a ghostly schooner looking on from the fog.
Sunday sunrise.
Hello September, and… good morning! One of the nice things about anchoring in Arky cove is that you are treated to beautiful sunset and sunrise views – this was the view off the port-side of Nirvana, as I was drinking my morning coffee.
Back at the marina, we popped into Shades for lunch for the last time this season, after this weekend they close up shop until next spring. This is the sobering view of the marina from the restaurant. The lake is at 620′ and some change. Just 6 feet from the all-time low for Lake Travis of 614.18′ in August of 1951. Less than 3 years ago, the lake was brimming at 680+ with the lakewater lapping the parking lot. With the LCRA’s mismanagement of this incredible natural resource, and with no rain in the future, we’re sure to go much lower than that this year. All docks are now moved out, off-shore, accessible via shuttles that leave from the courtesy dock. No electricity or water on the docks for the forseeable future. This is sad, not only because we love playing on the lake, but scary because this is Austin’s drinking water supply, quickly disappearing downstream.
Pray for rain.
Saturday sunset.
A three day weekend! Yep, you guessed it, we headed to the lake. Lori and Dave anchored out with us. Here’s our favorite spot at sunset, the view off the starboard side of Nirvana.
We layed on the deck and played ipod wars ’til we couldn’t keep our eyes open. The breezes were light all night, so we rigged the windscoop for the first time, and it worked great. We were very comfortable in the v-berth up front.
Goodbye, August!
Saturday nom noms.
Dinner time rolled around tonight and risotto and grilled salmon were on the menu. The before shot of the risotto:
And the before shot of the salmon fillet, rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt and ground pepper, sitting skin-down on a cedar plank that has been soaking in water for about 4 hours:
We cook it on a weber charcoal grill over direct heat for about 30 mins (this fillet was 2 pounds). The plank burns on the bottom, but infuses the salmon with a delicious smoked flavor. Be careful taking the plank off, it will burn anything you set it on. I use a cookie sheet. It’s not pretty, but it does the trick.
And after:
We watched the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup final, but it was disappointing as both boats had problems and they postponed the second race. Later, the Seahawks preseason game 2 was on the NFL Network, and i got to watch them cream the broncos, so that made up for it.
Have I mentioned that I love weekends?!
A little worse for wear.
I saw this dragonfly perched on the top of my garden obelisk in the backyard. At first I thought he might have been dead, but as I approached I saw that he was moving and watching my every move. After taking a breather, he eventually flew off.
He looks a little like I feel this week… but reminds me that no matter what challenges we’re dealing with, we just have to keep on going.
Do you know what day it is?
Happy Champagne Day!!!!! Cheers! Well, National champagne day, that is. If you happen to miss this one you can catch international champagne day or global champagne day later this year. Heck, any day will do! Get out there and celebrate!
Tiptoeing through time.
I’ve spent the entire day today jumping back into my genealogy research. I have recently connected with distant cousins in my same generation, all of who’s grandparents were siblings born in the late 1800s. It has rekindled the fire in me to transfer the myriad of notes, stories and photographs that I have compiled over the last decade or so into a cleanly documented family tree. And we are pooling our research.
It is especially challenging to research my ancestors because virtually all of my grandparent paths on all sides start in Ireland. So I’m enjoying joining forces on the research.
Once I make a pass through my ancestors’ part of the tree, I’ll do the same for Monte’s, for whom I have significantly more information.
Happy July 5th!
We anchored in the cove last night. Camelot joined us for the night with Lori & Doray. Kalliopi joined us with nick, Isabel, their kids and about 4 other girls. Quite the raftup! We grilled cheeseburgers off the back of the boat, in true July 4th style. Because of the drought, fireworks were few and far between. But we caught a glimpse of some.
We brought the kayak and the sailing dinghy. They’re getting used quite a bit.
And, here’s the obligatory arky cove sunset shot:
My neighborhood rocks.
Happy July 4th! Monte and I are packing for two days and nights on the lake. It’s going to be great! As we were getting ready I heard the Stars and Stripes blaring down the street. We went outside and caught our neighborhood’s annual parade. I love it. Small town awesomeness in the middle of Austin! They do this every year, but this is the first year we have been home on the 4th to see it (!).
why yes, that IS a mop&linen Statue of Liberty going down the street. Don’t you have one of those?
I see flowered people.
Just a few of the fun characters gathered this weekend for our bi-annual family reunion. Fun!
It’s margarita Wednesday!
We’re most of the way to the end of the week! These are the awesome margarita glasses Julie gave us. We feel compelled to use them as often as possible. 🙂
And, Happy Birthday to our friend, Teri!
La Jolla!
Today we set out for La Jolla beach, rented bikes, enjoyed a picnic on the shore.
Pelicans flying overhead at La Jolla Shores:
An artist’s vantage point at La Jolla Cove:
Pelicans and seals nesting on the rocks:
Back in San Diego watching the America’s Cup boat Stars & Stripes tacking across the bay:
Safe and sound back at the Palomar lobby in time for happy hour:
Dinner tonight at Cafe Chole. Didn’t get a picture of the restaurant, but the food and the service was excellent.
Back at the penthouse, there was table dancing into the wee hours. No photos here, but what a fun time!
Walking 9 (well, 14 really).
At the beginning of the year, I had scheduled today as an extra day off after the long weekend. Bonus! I relaxed, swam laps at the gym, and then this evening monte and I zipped over to the newly renovated Morris Williams golf course for the sunset rate. We usually can only squeeze in 9 holes before sunset. But we made good time today and finished 14. The golf course looks really great and there is a fabulous new clubhouse.
This is a shot from the 15th green looking west right before sunset. You can see the old Robert Muller airport control tower still standing in the distance.
And this is a shot of the new clubhouse as we were heading in.
Back to work tomorrow. Yay 3 day week!
Sheila365 