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.
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.
Olympic sunset.
So pretty. The sun setting behind the Olympic mountains.
Blue-hair special.
As 5:30 rolled around tonight I got this text from Monte on my phone: “Blue hair special?” That’s what we call the hurry-up-to-beat-the-happy-hour-rush dinner run to our nearby Chuy’s. If we time it right we can be in and out of there in no time flat.
Yes, sir! I logged off and got semi-presentable in a jif. And we were off. Ah, yes, dinner and a marg, and home by 6:30. Yum!
Happy Labor-free Day!
To celebrate this Monday holiday, I committed to doing absolutely nothing, for a change. No cleaning, no shopping, no cooking, no lake time, no house projects. So, Monte and I held down the couch as we watched the end of all the movies on the DVR that we’d started one evening or another in the last few weeks, but hadn’t finished because I fell asleep while watching them: Hereafter, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Mask of Zorro, The Birds…. Whew. We’re all caught up now.
In keeping with my do-nothing pledge, we had a plate of cold nibbles for dinner. Cheers!
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!
Nerd alert.
I have only recently entered the realm of the hyper-connected, making the leap to an iPhone just a few months ago. In that time, I have run across a few apps that I find either mildly entertaining or incredibly useful – enough to install them and use regularly. Scrabble and Temple Run 2 fall into the former category. I thought I’d share one of the latter category with you today.
Monte and I joke about the “magic shopping list” that’s hung on the wall ever since Monte and I have been shacking up. Monte can write something on it, and it magically shows up a few days later. We also have a “magic laundry basket,” but that’s another story.
Anyway, upon recently running out of the nifty paper notepads that I use for the magic list, i thought… there must be an app for this. After a quick search online, I found a free one: GroceryIQ. I’ve successfully used it for 2 shopping trips so far. You can add items either by typing them in, or using a barcode scanner, or by voice recognition. The app has a database of brand items that you can choose from or just enter a new, generic item. The app also has coupons integrated, and also has some way of keeping track of item prices, but I haven’t figure out how to use those features. I’m just enamored with the virtual shopping list idea. I like that I can mark items that I buy regularly as “favorites” so when it comes time to make up the list, I can add the regulars easily. I also like the fact that you can order the categories that items show up in however you like…meaning that you can set your list up so that the order the items appear in your list is in the same order as you find them as you navigate the aisles of your particular grocery store (yeah, kind of geeky). But the best part is that multiple users can share the same list – independently adding items to the same grocery list. This meant that to render our magic list completely virtual, Monte would have to install it on his phone and give it the thumbs up (no small feat). He did…….and voila! The app passed the test. Check it out – they have an app for Android and iOS.
Going batty.
Wow, this week has been crazy. Today I’ve been on back to back calls since 6AM without a break until 2:30 PM. And I have a couple more hours of meetings to go before the day is over — certainly lots more work to do after the calls. But after my call ended at 2:30 I just had to get up and walk around.
I started to walk down the hall to the kitchen when a blob on the window by the front door caught my eye. What the heck is that?
I better take a closer look…
OMG that is a bat! In case you were not aware, Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in the US… about 1.5 million mexican free-tailed bats make the underside of the Congress Bridge downtown their home from about March to October. Being nocturnal, they come out from under the bridge in droves after sunset everynight to forage for insects. I’ve seen the exodus many times and consider them friend not foe. This little guy didn’t make it back to the bridge, apparently. I was perfectly fine to let him hang out on the window until nightfall, but I couldn’t resist the urge to go outside and get a better picture. For you guys, of course.
So, i went outside and approached slowly…
Then I had to lean in a little closer to get a better shot… this one is kind of blurry…his head is pointing down, and he’s hanging on to the leaded window piece with his little feet…
and just then, he woke up and flew right past me. He scared the begeesus out of me and I was as startled as he was. I wish I had been able to get a shot of him in flight. Oh well. I hope he makes it back to the bridge tonight. Sorry I woke him up, but I didn’t get a good night’s sleep either.
I think that, eventually, my heart rate will return to normal. 🙂 For now, it’s back to work for me!
Tapas, wine and catching up.
I know this is supposed to be a photoblog, but I didn’t get a photo tonight (gasp!). Forgive me. 🙂
I met some girlfriends downtown tonight at Malaga, a tapas and wine bar. I have gone several times when they used to be on 4th street. But never in their new location on 2nd street. Ok, maybe it’s not so new, i guess they moved a few years ago…. it’s been a while for me.
The tapas were delightful. The wine was good — a Tempranillo. And the company was great: Ann, Ireni, Laura & Lori. We should do this more often.
Since I didn’t snap a photo tonight, I’ll leave you with an audio tidbit instead. The speech about “sunscreen” came up in our discussion tonight. Variously attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, but really written by Chicago tribune newspaper columnist Mary Schmich. What sticks in my mind is this version set to music that hit the top 40 in 2000 or so, produced by Baz Luhrmann. Lots of wisdom therein – check it out.
Celebrating a milestone.
This evening the UT Nursing School held the official pinning ceremony for the students that have passed the RN exam and are now nurses. We were honored to be Julie’s guests, to celebrate with her.
Afterwards, we grabbed dinner downtown at Easy Tiger. They serve bratwurst and other sausages made in-house, and breads, pretzels, sauerkraut and cheeses that they also make themselves. It was our first time, and we really enjoyed it. I don’t remember seeing Waller Creek in this good condition. A nice place. You should check it out next time you’re near 6th Street.
Fair breezes.
We enjoyed a fun raft-up last night. It’s been a long time since we’ve had 5 boats rafted up overnight. Last night it was Monte and I on Nirvana. Nick, Isabel, Lorene and Dimitri on Kalliopi. Wally, Kurt and Kevin on Zen. Kirk and Lilly on La Cima del Cielo. And Brent and Lawrence on a Catalina 27 that came in under the veil of darkness before the near-full moon rose, so I didn’t catch their boat’s name. We played ipod wars into the wee hours. This morning we lounged around on deck and floated behind the boats till after noon. Then Nirvana and Kalliopi sailed down to Carlos & Charlie’s, and then turned around to make way back up to our slips. Isabel sent us this shot that they took on our way back to the marina.
Back at the marina we checked out the boat to make sure everything was ship-shape, since our docks are now offshore by nearly a mile. We will allegedly have power hooked up in a few weeks. We shall see. The lake is at about 621′. Terribly low. It’s no longer a lake. It’s just a windy river with lots of new hazards around every corner. I’m starting to think it will never rise again.
Joe came out visit with us on Nirvana for the afternoon. It was really nice to get a visit in with him.
Not the hands of a girlie girl.
We’re at the lake for the night. We’ll have to wait and see who the wind will blow in tonight.
More owies for the collection. Oh well.
Looking forward to a nice night in our favorite cove.
My team.
Tonight is game 3 of preseason football, and the Seahawks have a rare nationally televised game. So I get a chance to watch them! We’re rooting them on from Austin.
Sheila365 