Pittsboro, NC

Still just hanging out....dreary days here in Pittsboro!  We'll get back to boating...I promise!

I did get around to packaging and shipping the nautical quilt top to my sweet SIL - who has offered to do the actual quilting!!!  Amazing, huge,  kind offer - I was really dreading that and wasn't really sure how to proceed.  I'm sure that she'll do an amazing job as she always does. 

Otherwise, I've had both of my previous 2 vehicles back for electrical troubleshooting.  (They're both crew cars at the airports, but they've been giving difficulties with charging over the past few weeks). 

Both of them have "gremlins"....we hopefully fixed the Saturn and it's slow battery drain by installing a solar charging panel, wired directly to the battery.   Feels nostalgic somehow to see these cars back at the house after years away.

And the Escape - has real gremlins - haven't got a solution for this one yet!  That's about it lately. 

Pittsboro, NC

Still enjoying ourselves at the house....although the soggy rain has set in and doesn't appear to be diminishing any time soon.

I've spent the better part of 2 days trying to get our personal taxes done....and I've finally given up.  There are a couple of items that I just can't get the program to treat properly.  So I'm packing it in and taking it to our business accountant.  Should be worth the fee to make sure I get the proper deductions.  I hate to give up, but sometimes you gotta know your limitations!

Pittsboro, NC

I made good progress on the dreaded teak sanding....I know you'll be happy to hear that I won't be whining about it anymore.


Putting the stain on the table.  I forgot to get a "finished" photo, but you get the idea.

Finally, the lattice was stripped.  Do you see how many holes....sorry, I'm still whining.

Starting with the stain.

Turned out quite nice.

And it was finally time to go flying!!   Duane had to order a new battery last week and it had arrived.  Simple installation and we're ready to go.  It's been a long time!!

Was just fun to see the familiar sights around the area.  I did notice 3 new large solar farms within just a few miles of Siler City.

Nice to see the Siler City airport again!

And Eagles Landing is looking very nice!

Pittsboro, NC

I won't trouble you with complaints about my wood-stripping saga.....yet it continues.

I did get one thing accomplished to completion.   I had stripped the berth of all the linens including the mattress pads and pillows and brought them home to the "big washer".  The pillows were in cotton zippered covers, but they still were in need of a thorough cleaning after 6 months at sea.  So, in individual loads on the "Bedding" setting, I washed them in hot water with bleach.  They came out beautifully clean but lumpy.   After a good bit of massaging and manipulating, I got them back into (mostly) their original shapes.  I left them out to dry as I thought using the dryer would make them lumpier.  Will be nice to have all fresh linens when we return to the boat!

Pittsboro, NC

Sorry to keep whining about this lattice.....but it's my only non-accomplishment lately.  Sanding the top was easy enough.   Sanding the bottom was more tricky because of the supports attached.  But the in-between spaces are just a pain!!! 

No way to sand them - so I've resorted to the dreaded stripper!!  And it's still extremely difficult to get the varnish off.  It's got many layers - some of it peeling. Each of the "holes" takes 5 minutes of scrubbing to get anywhere near cleaned.  Just a mess.  But I persevere!

Nothing special about meals lately - not as elaborate as our shared meals with What If!!

Pittsboro, NC

I sanded, and sanded.....

They're looking better, but still lots to do.  I believe I'm going to have to get some paint stripper for the lattice-work because I can't reach the in-between spots.   

Pittsboro, NC

We brought the teak items home for refinishing.

The table we're using in the cockpit - remember we found it washed up onshore at the Berry Islands late last year.  It's been tumbled in the ocean and needs to be brought back to life.  It's extremely well made - doesn't appear to have any metal fasteners (I believe those would have corroded badly during it's journey from "who knows where" in the ocean.

And this is the lattice that sits in our cockpit floor.  It's spar varnish has just worn off over the past couple of years when we are constantly stepping on it with salt water on our feet.

Should be a tedious but rewarding project!

Pittsboro, NC

Not a lot interesting happening at the house.....just doing some cleaning and chores. 

Enjoying the nice weather!

Pittsboro, NC

Made the trek to Pittsboro - the house was in fine shape after almost 6 weeks away.  Got the a/c turned on and the refrigerator cooling down.   I did another easy-peasy pickup at Walmart to restock the house a bit.

Robert came over for a visit - nice to see him again after 6 months!  Dick and Lindy invited us over for drinks on their deck.  A wonderful end to the day!

Oh, I love his shirt....took me a minute to get it, haha!

Oriental, NC

Not a lot happening!  We're getting ready to go back to Pittsboro for a visit. 

There was a weird pink glow last night at sunset......

I thought it was kinda pretty.

Oriental, NC

Just another pretty day! 

The mimosa tree is in full bloom - I just love the delicate flowers!  (Duane calls them a weed....)

And a peaceful sunset.

Oriental, NC

Duane was up at the top of the mast again....hopefully for the last time this year!  Replaced the electronic weather station.  Beautiful sky!!

We had a load of sand delivered to continue leveling the lot.

Ed and Duane made quick work of spreading it around.  Lots more to do though....

Oriental, NC

We spent the morning over at our other vacant lot doing some more mowing and trimming.  Got a lot of the underbrush cut down.  Here Duane had cut down several small pine trees - they were laying across the community driveway, so we scurried a bit getting them chopped up into manageable pieces to drag away before someone needed to drive thru!

The brush pile just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

Dinner was on What If - Ed made some of the best margaritas I've ever tasted! Yum!

Oriental, NC

My sis made homemade pizza recently following the "Italian Grandma" video.  It's a hoot - long but fun to watch!  This video has an amazing 3+ million views!  She's a rock star!

She makes her own sauce....I wimped out and just bought a jar of pre-made pizza sauce.  But I did use her method to make the dough and it turned out great!

She uses A WHOLE 5 POUND BAG OF FLOUR!!!  No, I did not.  Here's what I ended up doing:

Pizza Dough

5 cups all purpose flour
2 cups warm water
1 heaping teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten


I just mixed the water with the dry ingredients until about the consistency on her video - very sticky!!  Kneaded it a bit but nowhere near as much as I knead bread.    Let it rise twice.


Gathered all my supplies.

The key to spreading the tender dough on the cookie sheet is Crisco.  She details that you need to grease the pan with Crisco - not oil so that the dough doesn't "shrink back".  She's absolutely right - it worked beautifully!

I made a couple of different "pies".

Turned out lovely!  A wonderful soft and chewy crust.

And I even used her method of cutting the pizza since I don't have a pizza cutter on board.  Worked wonderful!  Will definitely do this again!  (And I think the store-bought sauce was fine, very tasty).

Oriental, NC

We went for a nice drive towards New Bern to investigate 2 marinas that could possibly haul us out for our maintenance this fall. 

The first one is Hurricane Boatyard in Bayboro, so the closest. 

A very "country" looking boatyard.  Lots of friendly folks around (although we kept our distance!)

Their website says that they can haul "Up to 21' Beam on high tide".   But upon questioning the office staff we were told that the widest boat they'd ever hauled was 20'6" on a very high tide (the curved bottoms of the hull are narrower, so at a high tide you can see that the boat would fit easier into the slip).   So unfortunately our 21' beam boat is not really a candidate for haulout here.

So we drove on towards New Bern to our last hope.  (We can always go back to Jarrett Bay in Beaufort like we did with the engine work 2 years ago, but it was $$$$)


Arrived at Bridgeton Boatworks and were met with Mike - he gave us the dime tour - very friendly, professional and seemed genuinely helpful.

Mike told us that their lift accommodates vessels up to 24'6", so we'll have plenty of room.

And the yard itself seems neat and orderly.  I think we'll be hauling out here - probably in October.

I was distracted by a odd looking boat on the dock so we all walked over to take a look.  Mike told us that it is the boatyard owner's trimaran.

Interesting but odd looking vessel!  I bet it goes fast!!!

And we treated ourselves to Bojangles on the way back to the boat!  Yummy and salty!  (We're easily amused these days!)

Oriental, NC

Still not a lot that's photogenic going on down here!
I tried to lay in the hammock and read a bit but the wind was too chilly! Imagine that on the last day of May!
Our friends on Salty Paws moved their boat closer....

We may take a drive today to investigate a couple of marinas for haul-out this fall. That's about it!

Oriental, NC

Not a lot going on - we did watch the SpaceX liftoff yesterday.  Boat friends are in Titusville and got some great photos.  Even though they were 20 miles away, the video they shot captured the huge "roar" of the rocket until it was well out of sight.  (They have a great camera because this is a long-distance shot!)

Then mid-day our Manta friends Jim and Bentley on Salty Paws came down our creek and anchored!  Said hello to them on the VHF but we won't likely visit too closely.

Other than that, just enjoying the sunshine, finally!

Oriental, NC

I had some extra cloth left over from the quilt top and decided a nice finishing touch would be a couple of pillow shams. 


The logical letters were our initials, KM and DM.   Of course, the "M" is the most difficult to piece together.....

I did the same method as before, just sewed the triangles to uncut white pieces.

And trimmed off the white to make a perfect square.

Completed "M's"

The "K M" block, trimmed in grey.

And the "D M" block.  I know, they're very similar colors.

The completed "K M" pillow sham top.

And the complete "D M" top (upside down).  Unfortunately, I did run low on the blue border cloth due to a slight miscalculation.....one of the borders is 1" narrower than the others.  I hope it won't be be very noticeable.

Now I've got to ask my quilting expert (Sharon) how to proceed from here to construct the pillow sham backing!