Tomatoes, Peaches, Corn, and Flour

When we started coming to Tampa for the winter a number of years ago, I was startled when I couldn't find the flour.  There was certainly no mention of it on the signs on either side of the grocery store aisle.  After a closer search and scrutiny, I found the small bags of flour on the bottom of the shelf in the middle of an aisle - in a very small area.  Yes, I'm a bit slow.  When I compared the flour section to the baking "mixes," there was no comparison.  Conclusion?  Not many people use flour!!  Duh.  Mixes and prepared foods are "de rigueur" (I had to look that one up . . . ) in the city and probably everywhere else but rural areas.

 

In early October, I flew to Hoonah, Alaska, for a memorial service.  A long time friend there, gave us the jars in the photo above.  I tried to bring out the colors and textures justice in the jars with the camera, but I'm not that happy.  Aren't they beautiful?  I guarantee they'll taste good, too.

I'll bet not many people preserve vegetables and meat by canning any more.  I'll bet my brother and sister remember our family "gatherings" canning peaches, tomatoes, and more - depending on the year.  We also froze corn, string beans, lima beans, strawberries.  We grew most of it, although often the peaches or other fruit was supplemented by the farmer's market, a roadside stand, or "U pick it."  I'm not sure the "gatherings" were necessarily fun, but we all felt part of the something greater than the individual.  I think we learned something about delayed gratification - in the winter those fruits and vegetables were pretty doggone good.

I can still see those quart ball jars of bright red tomatoes and creamy yellow peaches lined up on the basement shelves.  Beautiful . . .  and functional!

Shelikof Beach, Kruzoff Island: Fast Forward

Sometimes it takes just one step, that step turns into another, and with enough little steps there might be great things will come.  Hmmm.  Realistically, maybe if I put one foot in front of the other, I'll get a blog entry done and move on to another.   We'll see what happens.

I left the blog half a year ago with a photo of Shelikof Beach, Kruzoff Island - just outside of Sitka, Alaska.  ML and I had taken the trip in Fall of 2010: our boat from Sitka to Mud Bay, anchor out and dinghy in, then a 7 mile walk across the island to the "Hippy" U.S. Forest Service Cabin on South Beach.  You can get to the North Beach Cabin by ATV, which locally is called the "Redneck" cabin.  We had a gorgeous couple of days.

We went back last August of 2014 with our Tampa neighbors, who were kind enough to come visit us in Sitka.   In the photo above, the fire is flaming on the beach and the sun is setting in back.  Great evening.

You can never be sure about the weather, and it started out kind of rainy and cloudy.  But luckily, it didn't really rain until we arrived at the cabin.













But it got better.  And no matter what the weather, it is a beautiful place.

Study of green and blue . . .

The river empties into the ocean just north of the cabin.  

We were lucky not to have any "bear encounters," although we did see a couple of bears.  You can see their footprints in the sand.  Lots of salmon were in the river, and it's always fascinating to see them struggling up the creek.

We had a great little adventure.

Shelikof Beach, Kruzoff Island, Sitka, Alaska

I was looking at some of my photos today.  This was taken on Shelikof Island which is outside of Sitka right on the Gulf of Alaska.  ML and I took the bicycles over on the boat, rode across the island on an old logging road, and then walked another mile to a Forest Service cabin.  It was early September in 2009 and we hit a beautiful stretch of weather.  The cabin is right in front of a wide and beautiful white sand beach.  

This night, we built a fire on the beach and watched the sun go down. 

The moon was rising in the other direction.  For those of you who have been in Sitka, you're looking at the back side of Mt. Edgecumbe. 

It was a fantastic trip, and the boat didn't even drag anchor by the time we got back to it!

It always makes me think, too, how many great experiences and fun that ML and I have been lucky enough to have - with others and just us two.

Building the Expedition Wherry - Part XI Finished and ready, but not so fast . . .

Here she is - all finished and ready to go.  But . . . hmmmm - how do I get it to the water??   It's a bit heavy for ML and me.

The sliding seat rowing unit is put together (with great consternation, I might add - either the directions were not very clear . . . OR, and I'm sure you won't believe this, but it could be I'm not very skilled at reading and following directions.

Surprisingly, our neighbor had a little wheel dolly unit that was slick.  Luckily, the same neighbor has water access.  I think, NICE!, I'll just wheel it across the street, into their backyard, and ML and I can slide it into the canal. 

NOT SO FAST.  Neither the wheel dolly or the boat would fit through the gate.  This was the day before I was due to leave for Alaska, so no-go.  It'll be there in September.


So there you have it.  All ready to go and no way to get it there.  I think it's going to really look sweet in the water. 

I better get started designing a bicycle trailer so I can ride it around to the Yacht Basin and slide it in the water without lifting it.

Building the Expedition Wherry - part X - painting and varnishing

If I remember correctly, which often times I don't, I left the boatbuilding project writing about sanding.  I can honestly admit that I did a lot of it and still  have more to do.  But, there has been progress.

 For some reason, and I'm not totally sure why, I started the final finishing process by varnishing the rails.  In this case, I'm not sure if it really matters what order. 

By the time I put a coat of final epoxy on them, sanded that down, and then put 5 coats of varnish - it took a week of total time.  I think they look good, though, and feel smooth.

The next task was to paint the hull.  I primed it with Interlux "Pre-Kote" primer.  The goal of the primer is to fill all the little imperfections that still exist.  So basically, you roll on a coat of primer and then sand it all off!  Hmmm.  What fun!


This photo shows the general idea.  I'm about finished sanding the primer.

Although not a great photo, you can see in this closeup the scratches and small imperfections that the primer fills. 

It took me much longer than the average human, but I finally realized the finished product is what I and everyone else will see forever.  It's worth making it look good.

And I like it! 

Modern paints, in this case "Interlux Brightside Polyurethene," are amazing.   This is two coats that I rolled and then "tipped out" with a brush, which means just running the tip of the brush across the paint.

I did the cockpit in the same "Seattle Gray" color.  I really like nice smooth paint offset by varnished rails.

Now I need to do the whole process over again for the deck. 

Bicycling the "Florida Overseas Heritage Trail" - Day 9

Bob got up a little earlier than we did.

He caught the sunrise, the moon, and one of the planets, not sure which one it is.  He deserves full credit for the photo on the right.

 I got it a little later just as the sun was coming up over our tents.

Nice spot!

We rode down toward mile 0 in Key West.  We had until 5 p.m. when we had to get on the ferry for the ride back to Ft. Myers.

Here's a commuter in Key West, complete with dog and bicycle.

We stopped at the Key West Garden Club, and wandered about a very nice garden planted on an old fort site.  Plus, we got a preview of a orchid show that started the next day.  Amazing orchids, to say the least.

I like these hackneyed photos of receding doorways. 

We rode by the "Southernmost Point" in the contiguous U.S., but didn't stop.  After all, there might be a coffee shop or bakery nearby!

We made it to Mile 0 of U.S. Route 1!!

OK, that's done.  Let's get to the bakery around the corner!

Hmmm.  The process of getting on the ferry was pretty miserable.  But we did it.

Plus, we got to talk with Waldron, who emigrated to Canada from Germany when he was 20 years old and eventually started his own elevator company.  His story helped make the ferry trip go faster and Bob got to talk with him in German.

 I'll leave you with another of Bob's photos, taken from the ferry.  Maybe it's the shrimper I took a photo of on the first day of the trip.  And maybe not.

Another day leaves us and another successful trip.

Bicycling the "Florida Overseas Heritage Trail" - Day 8

Part of what I like about camping is "returning" to the rhythms of nature.  Although we use headlamps to read in the evening, for the most part we went to bed early and got up early.

So we were up early on another sunny and warm day for our 29 miles. 

But then I went back and looked at the time of this photo and it's a sunset photo!  Pretend it's a sunrise. . .

Two miles down the road took us to a breakfast place.

Sugarloaf Food Company provided some great baked goods and an iced latte.

Glenda had some great Key Lime pie.  She had been looking for the best all during the trip and she judged this mid-morning pie snack as the "Best of the Trip."

By now the riding was getting "old hat."  The worst part of the whole ride was trying to cross the road.  Here we are impatiently waiting for enough of a gap in the traffic to get across.  Sometimes it was a bit harrowing.

It was fall in the Keys!  These Sea Grapes were in glorious fall colors.

Sometimes it's a small world.  At another coffee stop (?), ML and Glenda said, "Doesn't that look like Joyce getting into that car."  And yes, it was!

Joyce and her sister Mona are from Hoonah, Alaska, where ML and I used to live and Bob and Glenda currently live.  It's 4,582 miles away - not including the ferry ride. 

Pretty amazing.

"Gee whiz, where should we put our tents here at Boyd's RV and Campground?"

The decision looks good.