On The Georgiana

Posted on by Brenda under anchoring, News, photos, sailing

This is an interesting and peaceful place to be. We have Mahdee tied into her spot 6-ways-to-Sunday. Well, two anchors and four lines to shore (to four different trees, two of those…big trees!). Our GPS shows us moving, oh….maybe a foot! David is teasing me about our situation but I like it alot. The brow/swim platform is down, Tinker in the slough and we can enjoy swimming, rowing, or if we feel like it take out the canoe. So far we’ve been empathetic to Beryl’s desire to keep the canoe on deck where she can sit under the shade of it and enjoy watching everything around without a creature knowing she’s there.

Our new spot for now:

We’re quite close to Walnut Grove, so on Thursday afternoon I rowed us up to the town center for a late lunch. Well, it turned into an early dinner instead. I thought it would take maybe 30 minutes when we left in the late afternoon. However, I’d forgotten about that little thing called “currents” which always flow downstream in the Georgiana and the winds were pretty strong blowing, strangely enough downstream as well. I managed to get a blister on my palm from rowing hard for the mile and a half to our destination in town. And even so, it took us an hour to get there. All I could think was “so nice it will be on the way home! I’ll drift!” David enjoys my rowing. I enjoy my rowing, usually, but this was a little much.

On the edge of town, there’s a lovely little floating home that I had to take pictures of as we went by:

We visited Mel’s Mocha and Ice Cream as our meal location. It’s a fun little shop, good ice cream and sandwiches:

One of those places with too many choices:

And great signs like these:

And after a “Grand” sandwich, a Sprite, and a dip of Mocha-almond-fudge ice cream, I was wired for the trip home:

We futzed around Walnut Grove drifting on the Sacramento River, watching the sun lower over the trees and fishing boats.

The row (drift) homeward was calm and surreal.

You see unexpected things here. I saw a motorcycle with sidecar sitting under a tree on the levy as we drifted downstream.

I wonder what we’ll see next?

The Linus Blanket-Afghan

Posted on by Brenda under living aboard, photos

I admit it–aboard Mahdee, our soft knitted afghan is getting used for everything by me. I’m beginning to feel like Linus and his blue blanket. In the comic strip, he used that blanket as a weapon, sunshade, tent, umbrella, and other things as well as just to provide security. Here, I find myself using it as a sunshade in the chart house as well as cuddle blanket, pillow, foot rest, and to cover up things I don’t want Beryl to chew on (like computer wires) while I’m out of the room. David and Beryl also like to swipe my afghan and use it in their own ways. David sleeps under it off-watch and Beryl kneads it with her paws whenever she’s feeling especially cuddly.

I’m excited that the friend who made the afghan has made another one for us. The new one is in my favorite color of cobalt blue. We don’t have an address here, so we had her send it to general delivery in Walnut Grove, CA. We’ll be headed in that direction tomorrow or Monday to pick it up. Then ~~I’ll~~ we will have two afghans!

Sunshade behind the computer

David sleeping under the afghan off watch

PS just in case you were wondering–yes, we’re still eating blackberries! David’s stack of pancakes this morning on one of my favorite (cobalt blue) plates: