Today is Wednesday...all is well

Amazing how mid-week is often a time of calm!
After taking the dinghy and therefore the outboard for a spin last night...and successfully!!! we felt at peace finally knowing that things worked, and well. The evening was still warm, so we retreated yet again into the airconditioned comfort of the salon.
I have been reading a gruesome John Grisham novel which is set in Texas, "The Confession". Was compelling enough that when Waz decided to take a nap at 8.30pm, I was reading then, and at 10.30pm when it was time to go to bed...I was finishing the last pages. Time to start a new one:)

We had received new yesterday that the Eisenglas fellas would be back to fit the last of the glass on the flydeck. This is the last of the big stuff to be done (and the most expensive), but we have almost  a waterproof fly deck. It rained, as I said, on Monday and this tested the new glass on the front. It wasnt the new glass that let us down, but leaks through the older bimini (top). We need to ask these guys what to do to seal those seams.

Rodney and his gang from Boat Fashions came this morning at 10am, just as I was on the back deck sewing again.
They installed the back glass and went away again to wait for Rodney, the boss, to come and inspect etc.
Rodney just left. He isnt happy with the starboard corner, so that was removed to be redone. Because this is such an expensive item, it must be right or we dont pay!
 I have to say here, that it is a hugely complex thing to do on a boat this size. I watched them make the templates for the back section which has just been installed. Fascinating!
So, here are the first photos of the back of the flydeck, now covered in...

The white part around the bottom is designed to give us some small amount of privacy. We had the option of more, but being good kiwis, we wanted as much a feeling of space as we could get.

 

The rolled up portion is a 'door'. The part on the right is the one they just took away again. He said he will be back on Monday to refit it, give us instructions for the up keep of the glass and to fit the fly screens. Yayaya!

If we dont keep some of the windows open, it is like an oven up there! I know we will appreciate this in winter, but not right now. It is like a sauna right now, lol.

Im going back outside to install the curtains across the back where the flag is situated..this keeps the worst of the after noon sun off the back of the boat, and we struggle less with the aircon as a result.

Still too hot to sit out there and the glare is harsh.

See you tomorrow!

 

Tuesday...more drapery saga

The curtains!!!
Yes, three more curtains went into the wash, and oh dear! two came out somewhat ok..though a little holey, but the third one was pretty shredded. This meant I had to make a hurried trip to the store where I bought the sewing machine..Sew Contempo, on El Camino Hwy. Lovely ladies there helped me choose the right sticky backed Pellon (fusable) to iron on the back to stabilize the cloth so I could rehang them for a short period of time until new curtains are made. The photo doesnt look that bad, but each time I handled these drapes, they ripped a little bit more:(

 

Late morning I went food shopping. We figure we spend about $200 on food et al (including paper goods and some personal items) every 10 days.  This figure is helped along by a loyalty card for Randalls Supermarket (a Safeway brand) which saves me up to $50 per shop, if I buy items that are 'card price'. I could do most of my shopping (and have done) just buying Card Items. They are incredibly discounted...e.g. Toothpast, 110g, normally $2.79, now .99c (card Price)..so I bought 4, of course.

Because we only have a relatively small fridge, I have to buy to fit everything in. I am getting pretty good at this, but some fruit and veg. just wont go there. I had to buy a VERY small cabbage  in order to get it in the fridge, and canteloupe have to stay on the counter. The challenge then is to eat it in time before it goes bad!. Fortunately half a canteloupe WILL fit into the fridge.

We eat so much fruit every day, I have to go marketing for it every four days.

 

While I was away doing the shopping, Waz decided to take a look at the disfunctional Outborad motor which had seized. I got a text message while parking the car at the dock, to say that he had the engine working! Yaya...because our next trip, after lunch was going to be to Yamaha dealers to see what we could find in the way of a whole new motor.

Three cheers for Pooh!

What had happened, and why had it seized?

Well, it hadnt seized. It has a device that stops you starting the engine when it is in gear. A tiny piece of plastic that holds the spring on the end of that device had broken off. Because the lock was now in place, it felt like it had seized, even though it was out of gear. It did munt the impeller somewhat, which was a new one...but W has decided we can keep it as a spare. Good news:) We had to go out anyway for a new impeller to put back into the engine. All parts replaced, and of course we had to go and try her out ....again!

I am getting VERY sceptical about coming back to the big boat, after being out in the dinghy. We decided to wait till the heat at 4pm was somewhat abated, and finally took her out for a trial around 6pm. This gave us enough time to open the engine up...full revs, that is...and see if all was well.

 

I am always keep to get back out onto the water, so we lathered up in sunscreen...you would be surprised how much heat there is still left in the sun at 6pm!...and took off gently (no wake zone) until we hit Clear Lake. I didnt take my camera with me this time...bummer! We actually needed the video camera. Next time!

There area lot of little places that we see on our routine drives that we make mental notes to return to or discover 'next time'.

One of them is under the bridge where the boat used to be parked. We would see kayaks coming from under there and always wondered what was on the other side.

 

So, we are back on the lake, waz has opened the throttle..I'm holding on!!!:) Love it! not much wind in the hair, but sure is a lot of heat. We get to the bridge...which is on NASA Rd 1 and go under. We had wondered where all the ducks had gone for the past week. Well, now we know...they were all roosting under the bridge, lol. An Ibis was dipping for fish and apart from the road noise, there was only a middle aged woman standup paddle boarding. Because this is another no-wake zone, we were only doing 5mph. This gave us plenty of time to look around at some of the lovely homes lining the canal. On one side they were right down to the water with huge boat lifts and docks, and on the right hand side the homes were set farther back from the water with huge lawns, lovely shade trees and swimming pools...also wth docks and boat lifts. A variety of water craft attached to all of these, from Pontoon boats to cigarette boats.....and of course, Jetskis.

Imagine this subdivision as you would one with roads...cul de sac etc. Well, this was a marine subdivision (though there is road access along the back of the homes) all facing the canals with water frontage. Some lovely HUGE homes with all the accountrement, and others a little less serious and very low key. All had plenty of shady places to sit outside with ceiling fans going. Some dogs greeted us, which was nice:) and we said hellow to a few homeowners in the throws of garden maintenance.

A good number of Mexican lawn and yard workers also in evidence.

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon, after picking up the new impeller, we decided to do a little tiki tour in the car.
Just off highway 146, going seward are whole other housing areas...not sure you would call them subdivisions, but ok. I love this arrangement, below. Perhaps they should have a boat instead???

It was quite surprising to see many homes abandoned...but then they would have been washed out, as it were, after Hurricane Ike in 2008. Lots of evidence of that there Hurricane left over.

 

Some things get renewed, but others dont. I love the juxtaposition of these two buildings.

 

These boat lifts are on Galveston Bay, jutting out from the shorline and the homes they belong to.

 

 You can see in this photo that some of the jetty hae not been replaced. A lot of the rouble in the foreground is broken concrete from roadways and foreshore that was broken by wave action during the Hurricane. it is EVERYWHERE!

3 sleeps on....

Yes, today is Wednesday!
Monday we woke to rain. Always nice when the temps previously have been in the mid 90's. It does lower the generaly feeling of heat by about 10 degrees! most welcome.
We spent the morning working our butts off. Waz still had rats and mice to attend to on the flydeck and I had two more curtains to take up. We were exhausted by the humidity around lunch time so decided to incorporate lunch out with going and finding bits and pieces (usually hardware things). we have previously been to Las Haciendas next to the Randalls Supermarket on South Shore Blvd. We like their reasonably authentic mexican food. We settled for something different to the normal Chicken Enchaladas, and I managed to get Waz to try a Tamale..pork. This arrived with refried beans and a side of guacamole and some mex. rice. I went for the quesadilla..chicken, of course which came with rice and Guacamole and sour cream. Waz decided her will go back to the enchiladas, thank you.
For a few days Waz had been showing me what we thought was a mole which appeared to be coming off...and it didnt look at all healthy...soo after lunch we went looking for a General Practition. Of course, here, they close for lunch from 12-1...we waited till they arrived back at the office and once the nurse  had done all the basics of blood pressure (fantastic) weight ( he has lost 4lbs!!!) temperature (perfect), we were left to wait 30 mins for the Doc. He took one look and made some interesting suggestions as to how we could remove this 'tag' (not a mole) that he said was healthy looking, but which Waz kept catching on things when he was upside down in the boat, somewhere.
One of the suggestions involved tying a piece of thread around it...very tight, and waiting for it to drop off. Hmmm....not in this environment, thanks. So...we are off there again in a few minutes to have it surgically removed. not brain surgery, but he might need to keep a plaster on it for a few days.

Of course I had to take a photo inside the examination room...that's Waz's knee on the left:)

 

 

Off to do the rats and mice shopping and back to the boat. We took about 4 hours to get everything we wanted, with Waz and I various sitting in the car in the aircon, while the other went looking for the required part.
Went for a long walk after dinner around to the fuel dock...Somewhere I have a photo of the fuel dock...but it has gone AWOL!

Saturday

How the week has flown...
Today was a finishing off kind of day.
I had finished the light shades for the guest cabin and reinstalled those. In doing so, I opened up another can of worms.
I had been putting off going forward to clean...mostly because it involves small spaces and heat.
I turned up the aircon and got to work cleaning all surfaces of mould. Nasty stuff!
I turned myself inside out in the small bunk room, and again in the guest cabin. The ceiling was in a dreadful state...again, I was wondering how much cleaning had ever been done of this boat.
So..4 hrs later, the bunk room and the guest room forward are all clean and sweet smelling.

I still have to replace the curtain directly above the bed which covers an escape hatch. the fan is left running 24/7 to create air circulation in an otherwise dead-end space. Without that air, the mould grows. All the white parts that you see are padded vinyl. It is all in excellent shape, fortunately, and now looks good as new:)

Warren finished off some other projects and now the radio on the fly deck works. We are hoping we can clean up some of the mess in the pilot house, tomorrow.
We might just get in the car and do some tiki touring, as our wet touring companion is out of order (dinghy).
So, more photos tomorrow, folks.
Night night.

Industry at it's finest.

Yes, I was going to post the photo from the last post, here. The one of me sewing. That's part of the industry.
The day dawned hot and clear on Friday. The wind was up again, which is nice when you consider the alternative...hot/humid/no air!

I suddenly had the opportunity to occupy the cockpit table to do some sewing. I had several 'jobs' that needed doing before I could create anything new.
First up...I had bought two pairs of capri trousers (come down to mid calf) which were way too hot to wear. I had already cut them off to create shorts (above the knee), and they needed hemming.
Got that done in short time, and then cut the long 3/4 sleeves off a shirt I hadnt been wearing because again, it was too hot to wear with longer sleeves. Im pleased with the results:)
The last chore was to patch my 'boat' shorts. These are old knit shorts that had huge holes in them. With the cut off capri material, I patched all the holes, and they are almost as good as new...well, kind of! they will last a LOT longer now. Good thing too.Cant have too many old clothes on a boat:)

Next! The curtains.

This is the 'original' length. they just brush the top of the chairs and get in the way when you are sitting there.

 

I had threatened to shorten the curtains. I have done two. Unpicked, cut and rehemmed. They look 100% better (in my opinion..and Waz's) and I cant wait to get the rest of them done.

 

 

I still have to launder 4 more, so will do that tomorrow (Sunday).
That was pretty much the rest of the day gone.
Waz was upstairs on the flydeck putting in another radio and two aerials. All installed and we are just waiting for a part to arrive to finish installing another piece of equipment.

Sigh! More Challenges

Oh yes, if it isnt one thing, it's another.
Thursday dawned bright and early and a tiki tour was called for. Waz had administered some 'Salt Away' to the dinghy motor a few days previously and then flushed the motor thoroughly. This was a great opportunity to give her a run.
Anticipating that all would be well (you know the rest of this story already, dont you?) we set out..well sunscreened, watered (in cooler) and in fine spirits, if not a bit hot already, at 9am. The sun was vicious, and threatened to be another 95F + day.

Hazy Hot!..there's those lovely colored chairs again:)

Well, the photos are a little backwards, so I will go that way too...this next photo is where we ended up 1/4 way up Clear Lake. The little dock with the white ramp...thats where we tied the dinghy.

Hmm...how did we get there??

We were doing just fine and then the outboard started making 'funny' noises...(I'm not the motor person, so dont ask me what was wrong!)..then it stopped...and didnt start again. We were close to this marina, so paddled...yes, me in front paddling right, and him in back paddling left...would have made a funny movie, and Im sure someone looking on would have wondered 'what the heck'!!!:)

Unable to start motor, and about 2 miles (at least) from home...being the big boat...and waz didnt have any shoes on, or we would have walked (yeh right!), we went in search of peeps to ask if it was ok to leave the dinghy there.

Yes, it was, and we went into the Marina office to see if we could call a cab...we were told someone would drive us back to the marina...and it ended up being the Marina Manager...Steve...thanks Steve from Endeavour Marina...these boat peeps stick together!!! We took him a bottle of Kiwi wine later:)

 

So, back at the big boat. Prepare her to run back to the Endeavour marina to pick up the dinghy. All but one line cast off, and ready to go...

This part is pretty embarrassing....

Rule #1.

No matter who ties her up, ALWAYS check ALL the lines!

The detailers had added an extra line (rope) when they were working on the boat, which wasnt at first obvious to us. Soooo...we thought we had cast the boat off, and she wasnt going anywhere....we can see the funny side of this now, but it was pretty disconcerting to be trying to go backwards and not doing so.

Ok..you can laugh now!

There was a decent wind blowing, so that didnt help things either.

 

Extra line cast off and away we went to pick up the dinghy.

Not having been up that way before, we didnt know the channel into the marina. We watched other boats going in, but from another direction. The depth sounder wasnt registering ANY depth, and we looked to be churning up mud. We were going VERY slowly at this stage.

We didnt bottom out, thank goodness, and because the old paddle steamer in the photo goes in and out of there we figgered we could too.

Picked up the Dinghy and got out of there safely. While we were out, we thought we might blow some moths out of the girl and we headed out into Galveston Bay.

Here is Waz at the flybridge helm:) He is sitting on the extra cushion because with the new Eisenglass installed, he cant see sufficiently well without it.

Looking out off the fly deck into Galveston Bay.












As we were passing, I thought I should take a photo of the Outrigger Restaurant that we wont be going back to.

 

 

 This is the 'Boardwalk Beast', a jet boat that operates from the Kemah Boardwalk. For those that dont know what a Boardwalk is...it is like a Fair that operates almost year round. It was just opening for Spring Break in March, when we bought the boat.

The ladies in red are staff and were doing the Macarena!lol! The music was VERY loud.

 

 This is what the Boardwalk 'rides' look like from the Bay.

Lots of seafood restaurants on the pier.

The wooden Rollercoaster and gardens. Very pretty!

More rides

These fishermen are typical of those who fish (not 'sposed to) in and around the marina. We think the main past-time around here is 'fishing'. Almost everyone does it, and whole families will spend the WHOLE day (in blazing hot sun) out fishing...from shore and boat of every kind.

 

After all that....

We made it back into the Marina without any further drama, and now have to figger out what is wrong with the outboard. Another job for Waz to do. This may require stripping it on the very table I am sewing at...hmm..there goes the sewing room!!

 

Dont you love it? Airconditioned sewing room with a view...cockpit deck.

By the way..the  NZ flag does double duty...keeping the natives guessing at whether we are Aussies or wot? and keeping the sun off the immediate back deck (cockpit) in the afternoon. That pm sun is vicious and we now have fabric etc to make a 'blind' that will go right across the back of the boat for shade...it is 95% UV protection. Amazing how cool this keeps the boat, and the aircon inside has an easier job.

More coming...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Happenings!

Wow! Progress today.
Finally, the 'glass' men arrived to install the Eisenglas on the fly-deck. They were supposed to come on Friday, then Monday, then yesterday, and today, they arrived just after 9am.
I am either getting super picky, of there is a distinct lack of respect from the various boat workers who arrive with footwear on that marks the decking. Black soled shoes are a nono on a boat...they leave black marks. It is good etiquette to take your shoes off on the dock and come aboard a boat in bare feet.
These fellas, just like the detailers, came aboard wearing their shoes and with lovely new shiny decking and white areas, I was not happy with the nasty marks left. I did ask that they take them off, and I did point out that I didnt want dirty marks all over the nice clean white surfaces as we had just detailed. They put cloths down and one man had socks on, but they still stood on the railings (I talked about them recently as not being a place to put a 150-180lb man...especially those railings that are at an angle (not 90 degrees off the deck) to install the 'glass'.

You can see the shine on the radar arch!!

 'window' rolled up.

The troublesome front panel on the right. They resewed the zipper to make the two front panels join.

 

 

They had taken the Bimini away before we arrived in Houston, to get new zippers sewn onto it for the glass, and when we arrived at the boat a month ago, the insideof the Bimini was filthy...dirty foot and hand marks. It still is! It looks like they might have laid it on the floor of the workroom and then walked all over it. I'm not happy about that and will have ANOTHER chat with them to get it cleaned off.
For the most part the installation (of the glass forward of the Radar Arch) went according to plan, but when they came to zipper up the middle of the front, they were almost an inch apart. No amount of rearranging would make the two parts come together, so the boss man was called, duly arrived and they whole front section was taken away for some alterations. In the meantime, one of the others was installing the rest of the sections and attaching the toggles to keep it in place around the bottom. This took a lot longer than we anticipated.
By 1pm, they left with the promise to return tomorrow morning, bright and early to take measurements and make templates for the rear section of the Fly-deck.  This will make 2/3 of the fly deck covered from the worst of the wet weather, when it arrives.
We have had fly screens made for the window openings, as we want to sit up there in mosquito country, with the windows rolled up.

I took 4 of the curtains down this morning and put them in the washer. I somehow doubt these have been washed once in the 14 yrs of the boat's life. The stains didnt come out, but never mind. I cannot find a fabric I want to replace them with, yet, so will put up with them for now.

They do look a slightly lighter color, thank goodness. I need to unpick the bottoms and rehem them to make them a little shorter when hung. Right now they dont hang without drooping.

 

I went to JoAnn's again this afternoon to look for some more fabric for another curtain project. I found it and also some bits and bobs to complete the revamp of the light shades for the forward cabin...this is one clean one and one dirty shade before I do anything else to them...clean on the right.

They also probably hadnt been cleaned in 14 yrs!

I have now stripped them both down...lots of GooGone was used, I might add, and they look almost good as new.  I will post results when finished!

 

 

Time to turn out the lights again. A busy morning tomorrow, and I have more 'projects' to complete. I cant wait to get the sewing machine out and working...highly motivated!! And...Waz says I can use the floral Sunbrella fabric for a cover for one of his electronic pieces:)
Night Night.

A decision has been made.

Yes, a decision has been made.
After much consideration we have decided to stay in Houston for another month. August is prime Hurricane month, but that didnt really count towards the decision...not really! It does help that we are in a Hurricane Safe Marina, but our main consideration is that we still have much to achieve in the way of upgrades (essential ones) and we also have plenty of time for the rest of the year to get to know the boat, how she handles, how we handle her and most important of all...how I, as First Mate, need to learn to handle her in all ways. There is so much to know, and not being a boater in my previous life, the way Warren has, I have everything to learn. Nothing like learning on the job but this is life threatening if we (or more specifically ME) get it wrong. Not just our lives, but the boat as well.
This extra time here will also enable us to do more side trips as the bulk of our 'work' is done.
We dont have to be anywhere in particular until November...Thanksgiving, to be more precise. We also have a Christmas date with our broker, Len and his lovely wife Stephie. Stephie is the one who took us to the Crab Shack for All you can eat crab.
Speaking of food....on my way home from some errands this morning, I had a hunch that we might enjoy some fresh shrimp for lunch. I stopped by Rose's seafood...I found it pays to be there in the morning...and bought 2lbs of shrimp (veined and with heads off..more expensive, but...) and two more pots of crab pieces to put in the freezer. We finished off the last pot with more of my 'famous' crab cakes, the other night.
I came home and put a pot of water on to blanch two thirds of the shrimp to put in the freezer. I didnt want them totally cooked, because I would finish them off when making a meal.
the rest (two dozen) I shelled and popped them into a pan with lemon infused olive oil, some lemon zest, one large clove of chopped garlic (important not to crush garlic), salt and pepper and lastly fresh squeezed lemon juice. I had some artisan french bread in the freezer which got a quick thaw in the microwave, and voila! lemon garlic prawns with mopping bread! WOWOWOWOWOW! it was fantastic!  Waz asked for more sauce next time...and I am tempted to go and get some more tomorrow and do the same again. We finished the meal off with a half a canteloupe, which was the perfect frangrant end to a perfect meal. We sat and grinned at eat other afterwards:) Totally satisfied.

The fabric that went thump in the night got cut into today. The  grey vinyl is to cover tables. The indoor ones all have a high gloss finish, so we want to preserve them as much as possible, and the outdoor ones have just been waxed and polished, so we dont want them getting all scratched up again.
I have covered the cockpit table, the flybridge dining table and the salon coffee table, so far. No sewing is necessary but I did need to use some self sticking velcro to keep the outdoor cloths on the tables. This is easy to get off when necessary.

Last night after dinner we were looking for a different place to take a walk. We chose Kemah boardwalk area, just over the bridge. We COULD walk there, but there is no safety railing between you and the vehicles doing 45-55mph over the bridge, just a wide strip alongside the roadway. We drove over and had no trouble parking, being a monday night.

 

The Marble Stone Creamery was closed, so we didnt get dessert there!

This place has a For Sale sign outside and because it is right in the middle of retail stores, we couldnt decide if it is another one, or is indeed a private home. Rather cute!:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the brick entry to what was someone's home before Hurricane Ike swept through the area. This is all that remains as a poignant reminder.

Yesterday afternoon (I tend to go shopping later in the day) I went back to  JoAnn's fabrics having made up my mind that I would get some sunbrella fabric to make a new winch cover. It isnt inexpensive, but I wanted enough fabric for other eventualities too. Coupons are wonderful things:) 50% off the cost of the fabric helped hugely (at $21.99 per yard, full price) and I had a truck load of notions in my cart, all for 40% off with my coupon, and the rest of the stuff got 15% off the whole lot. I consider that a worthwhile shopping expedition. Overall I saved $80+!
Not one to do things that everyone else does, I decided to also purchase some patterned fabric so that I can 'jazz'  up the necessary items on the boat.

The blue patterened fabric is a cotton Duck, but the other three are sunbrella fabrics. I will make some table mats with the former.

I still dont understand why most of the covers on boats are such boring colors...white, taupe, blue, navy, maroon and green. No patterns that I have observed!...sooo...I am thinking I will use the red patterned and plain red for some pretty accents. I may yet be over-ruled by 'The Captain' who has final say on the boat....always!:) But he is a good captain in that he agrees that he makes all the important decisions...I just tell him which ones are the important ones...but you have heard that joke before, right?

 

We are off to experience the 'local' Thai restaurant with Veronica, tonight. She swears by the place and Roy doesnt like eating there, so she is delighted we are Thai food fans. Roy is still in far off lands, so this is a great opportunity for all of us.

TTFN...

 

 

 

Things that go bump in the night

Dont you hate it when you just get off to sleep and something goes bump, thump or bang?
After I turned off the computer last night and finally settled into our princess and the pea bed (it has lots of mattress toppers for extra soft sleeping), we were just in the twilight zone when something went thump. I mean THUMP!
I have light controls on my right, so immediately turned on the full monty and Waz climbed out of bed to see what the noise was about. He checked doors etc and came back to bed. I had a hard time getting back to sleep after that...adrenalin, and all that, and running through my my mind the location of anything that might be able to fall down. You get hypervigilant about these things on a boat, because she is a moving beast.
Consequently, it was difficult to open eyes this morning when the alarm went off at 7am. Waz went up to the Marina showers and I came up to do a 'girl's' inspection of possibilities for thumps. I found 'it'! The large roll of Marine Vinyl I had bought on Saturday which WAS standing up against the TV console, was now on the ground. Yes, it was capable of making such a loud thump. Phew! Nice to identify the bogeyman.
So why the adrenalin rush??
Well, having just read an article on one of our online boating magazines about Pirates (YES!) on the Hudson River, NY, and having heard from the locals how theives approach boats in marinas by dinghy or other boat..quietly, in the dark of night (except last night was a full moon!), I have my 'mother's' hearing on. No, not my mother...but the kind of hearing mother's have when they have little kids and hear them breathing at night through thick walls and many doors...that kind.

So, today we have the clunking and thunking of the detailers finishing their job. They are washing the boat down...I'm waiting to see how many leaks we have! none hopefully, but hatches and portholes are the worst for leaks.
I dont like that they stand on our rails. 150-170lb male (they are small Mexican fellows) and work from those. I had already asked them not to, as the railing on the starboard side (right side facing forward) needs to be reseated, and standing on them will unseat them further. I wonder if they even think about the impact they make on the boats they are cleaning?? probably not. They arent being paid to think!

I hope they will be done upstairs in time for Rodney, our Eisenglas fabricator, to come and install the first three sides, as he promised, this morning.

A little excitement too...The lovely 75ft Lazzara motor yact that is often in my photos because she faces the same way as the sunsets, is off to the boat yard this morning. Her hydraulic ram for the duckboard is in need of of replacing.

You can see the buoyancy device holding the duckboard up, on the back right of the boat. the owner is in red. He has a captain driving the boat around to the service dock, and the mexican crew who maintain the boat in his absence are there for the ropes etc. These guys were photographing each other :)
She is a rather gorgeous girl:)

The day security chief at the Marina was worried that she wouldnt get through the narrow pass between us and the pilings...no problemo, plenty of space!

Where was I, after all that excitement?

We had driven past Helen's Garden on the Main Street of League City, several times in the past couple of weeks...going to or from a business where we were purchasing a part for something or other. Each time we said something to the effect of "we must go there sometimes soon". Well, we did yesterday, and it proved to be the panacea we thought it might be. Gardens are soul food to both of us, and especially when we have cameras over our shoulders. The very act of setting up and taking photos is relaxing and we came away from there feeling uplifted.  This garden was created by the husband of Helen (dont remember his name, sorry) who was a local banker and community leader. What a special couple he and Helen were. Their busts and biographies are placed in the middle of the garden (in bronze!). Helen spent much of her time helping the less fortunate, but her main passion was the education of those who otherwise would have had little or none. He created this garden (because it was her passion) for the city. It is an asset that I hope they will cherish. It was good to see young people out there enjoying lunch in the garden, with their parents.

Waz in the garden.

The entry to the garden

Crepe Myrtle is everywhere, but coming to the end of it's season.

Gorgeous Live Oaks shading the walking path and inviting you to sit on the lovely benches.

How attractive is this?

Helen's bronzebust...you can just see the plaque on bottom left.

Saint Mary's church across the road. Classic!

 

 

 

the Historic Village in the next block down towards the railway lines.

 

 

This is called 'Funnel Inn'..all kinds of funky stuff there. I must go back tomorrow and go for 'Tea' which is in one of the shops:)

 

these tomatoes were just lying on the ground beside one set of stairs...sooo tempted to take them home. I can imagine that nobody else will.

 

After leaving the village, we literally crossed the street to where we found a fantastic kids playground and a lily pond...a few people out enjoying both. Another serious photographer was there with his Canon camera, and we chatted...as you do!

The pond turned out to not just contain lillies, but hoards of (herds of?) Red Eared Turtles of all sizes.

This baby was about 3 inches long. Very cute!

At first glance, a lilly pond.

these fellas were not moving for anyone. it was about 90F outside at the time.

One of the larger specimens. Anyone standing near the fence got the once-over, but I'm guessing people feed them, so they would all come over to the fence for food. The water was teeming with them.

 

On the way home, we took a detour (of course). The sign pointing to the One Room School House sent us off in search of same. We took a bit of a tiki tour up and down the grid of 'local' streets and delighted in the huge live Oaks overhanging most yards and the streets. There is no shoulder on the road...instead there are huge drainage ditches. You wouldnt want to drive these roads inebriated!

Built in 1890, this is the One Roomed School House, no part of a slightly larger Historic showcase.

the building on right houses a horsedrawn Fire hose gig. The middle one is where a Summer School is being held... not sure how genuine the building is...and the one on left is a Barber Shop (note the pole) and Ice business.

 

 

One of the classic homes along a shady street. The shade is so necessary in this summer heat.