Lots of paving crew out on a dreary day....
I know you're getting tired of all the paving talk.....will soon be over!
With all the rain over the weekend from the N'orEaster that blew thru, no paving today. They are instead focusing on the mailbox area. This pavement had some large tree roots growing up and making it generally unpleasant. The contractor is digging it all up, taking out the roots before reconstructing the pavement.
The paving crew is starting on our main subdivision road project....lots of dust as they clean out the potholes. Paving won't start until Monday or Tuesday. Looking forward to a nice, smooth neighborhood road!!
Well, we're still in Oriental. Just ticking off a few more little projects before we head back to Pittsboro.
Our gel coat, the white "paint" surface all over the boat is of course very old as it's original to the boat. Years of UV has taken it's toll and there are some areas that the underlying fiberglass is showing thru.
You can't just paint it - if you do, it will eventually flake off and leave a mess.
We used a two part gel coat - Duane spent some time tinting a quart container. Because white is not just white. This particular white has some tints of grey, brown and mustard apparently. He added less than a drop of each to the quart and mixed well. Pretty pleased with the color match. After activating the epoxy paint, we had less than 15 minutes to apply before it sets up. After two coats, we applied a wax product that helps it cure.
It's not perfect but much better than before.
Another little project was finishing up the jib cover. We needed to close up the end of the cover a bit. We installed a grommet and a couple of DOT twist fasteners to snug-up the cover and provide good sun protection. (There are two DOT fasteners....because we installed the 1st one in the wrong position. Oh well...)
While we were tinkering with the jib cover, we raised the jib just to check things out. Two massive mud-dauber nests so we got to wash off some mud.
I decided to do things a little different this season concerning bread-making. I always hate pulling out all the ingredients for each loaf. Sometime more than once a week. I had the idea that I can vacuum pack all the dry ingredients for individual loaves. Then I can just toss in the water and oil into the bread maker and have almost instant bread!
First, I had to order a nice little food scale - then make a sample loaf using the same recipe I've been using all along. But this time, weighing each ingredient in succession instead of using the measuring cup.
The sample loaf turned out wonderful....
Had to sample it of course!
The resulting vacuum pack. I wrapped the yeast in a little plastic sachet to keep it away from any moisture in the other ingredients. I'll retrieve that of course before using.
Quite a few done. I'll do more later if I end up liking the setup.
In case you're interested, here is the recipe:
Wheat Bread Recipe
110 g whole wheat four
Kris and Dean on Charm stopped by on their way to New Bern! The boat is looking pretty and shiny from their recent haul-out.
They came over for a nice relaxing afternoon of catch-up. We figured it has almost been 2 years since we've seen them - time sure flies! (We took last season off and they've been in the Caribbean some of that time). Like with all good friends, instantly feel like we've not been apart. Lots to catch up on - a while later we got back together for a relaxing dinner aboard. (There is a festival in Oriental this weekend so we opted not to go out as the restaurants are likely swamped).
I stole the group shot that Dean took from their blog....I'm sure they don't mind.☺☺
Charm had already lifted anchor by the time I dragged out of bed this morning.....saw this heron on the dock....he quickly spotted me and flew away.
We were trapped on the boat for the day....really, we could have gotten off although it would take a 5' step to get down to the dock. High water for sure!
No worries, we just did "inside chores". The winds will die off a bit over the next few days.
