That isn't to say we have sat round, mind you. We have actually been very active, with loooong bike rides looking for parts etc. More of that and we will be VERY fit. Most of the riding is uphill, and our butts are pretty sore at the end of a five mile ride +.
Lets see....
On Sunday morning (which was a nice day, if a bit windy) we got out the bucket of suds and washed the baby on the outside. This was done by about 2.30pm, and we were just finishing up when Brenda and Ken appeared at the boat. They had told us they had a Church obligation, on Sunday, and they were on their way home from that, and called in.
It was good to see them again (We had met at Lock 42, where they were camping (with their 22ft boat) and we were hanging out for two nights), and hear about their trip and to compare notes on the shallow parts:)
They invited us back to their home, just around the corner, and we gladly accepted the ride there. Silly me for not taking my camera...They have a garden to die for...well, some of us would!:) and one which they have built together over the 8 yrs they have lived in the home. There is a stream running through the property (one of my dreams!) with a lovely little bridge, a two tiered lily pond that used to have fish, bit the Racoons and Herons liked to go fishing, so there aren't any left...though Waz spied a frog looking at us.
The property is large, and runs down to the Lake with their own little beach. Gorgeous trees for shade and shelter, and the property appears to be long and skinny, but in fact opens up inside the tree canopy, where their grandchildren love to camp:) Just perfect in every way. We also saw a Hummingbird while we were having refreshments on the screen porch. Always exciting to see them.
We all decided to go out for dinner, as it got later, and Ken's choice of Italian food at Lily's was inspired.
We ordered starters of Filo wrapped Brie with wild mushroom sauce (served hot), and beer battered mushrooms with ranch dressing....both of which were huge, fed the four of us and might easily have been enough for our mains.
Brenda and I ordered the Truffle and Ricotta Ravioli with wild mushroom sauce (divine!) and Ken ordered the Thai curry which had a wonderful mix of chicken and shrimp in it, while Waz ordered the Honey and Rosemary Roast Chicken. He said it was very sweet, but very tasty.
We ordered a bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, for the table...we like to purchase NZ products wherever possible... and we all enjoyed the crispness and rounded after flavor of the wine.
It was an expensive meal, but certainly we don't mind paying for quality, and this was absolutely one of the better meals we have eaten, while on 'the road', as it were. The company was excellent and we even had leftovers!
Brenda arranged to pick us up at 10am, the following morning. She had to go shopping for them, and offered to take us to her favorite supermarket and meat store. We were happy to accept the offer, as the marina no longer lends vehicles for transients to go shopping. It would have been yet another long uphill bike ride with cart in tow, otherwise.
The supermarket prices were excellent, and we were very happy to see NZ Green-lipped Mussels and NZ lamb on offer....albeit less in price than we could have bought them in NZ! What's with that??
Brenda took us to M&M's, the frozen food store afterwards, and we purchased frozen bacon wrapped filet, for about $3.50 each...each one large enough for me to cut in two and have half each, for a meal! We also bought bacon wrapped chicken which we ate for dinner...most tasty!, Two Chicken Kiev, ready to cook, and something else that I cant remember.
We took Brenda's groceries home, coz she had Ice-cream in the bag, and picked up Ken to go for Lunch to their favorite place, and something of an Icon in town, Dino's Deli. I will have to get the photo off Waz's phone....We ordered the special...Corned Beef on fresh Rye, and I opted for a small salad to go with it. The sandwich only comes with the meat inside....and a pickle! Seriously...the sandwich was 4 inches high! The corned beef was excellent and we shared both the sandwich and salad...wayyyyy too much food, otherwise. Brenda and Ken did the soup and sandwich combo. We sat outside on the sidewalk...hot in the sun, and cool in the shade.
This summer is cool, compared to other summers, here in Ontario (Georgian Bay, actually) and this follows a brutal winter. Normally the evenings would be balmy by now, but there is a COLD wind blowing that means I put my scarf on whenever we go out.
The sun might be shining when we get up, but within minutes, the weather changes, the clouds come over and it is COLD.
The saying here goes...If you think this is bad, just wait a few minutes! :) Weather on the lake appears to be very changeable, which doesn't bode well for those making the crossing to the other end.
These looking out to the Lake.
Our little bit of excitement on Tuesday, was the Canadian Coast Guard coming into the Marina.
Waz, having been a NZ Coast Guard Volunteer (Almost all the NZ CG is volunteer staffed), is always interested in the 'gear'....these photos are for YOU, Karen Elliot! (Another NZ CG Skipper!)
They tore off out of here later in the day, having picked up a third crew member.
We had seen a new anchor, up at the Marina store...a 30kg one. We had a 20kg Bruce on the front, but after talking to the locals, here at the dock, we felt the need to go a bit bigger. The 30kg Bruce look-alike (locally produced?) has now been installed, and the 20kg anchor is back in the anchor locker up front. We now have three anchors, which is greater comfort, with the variety. Apparently storms on Georgian Bay are legendary for their violence, and many a craft has dragged onto rocks during one of them. We don't want to see any more rocks, close-up and personal, so bigger is better, in this case.
Here she is sitting on the dock.
To get the anchor onto the track, we had to first lasso the old one, let the chain out, with Waz holding the end of the rope in order to pull it onto the dock. He exchanged the anchors on the dock, dropping the new one into the water, and I hauled her in with the windlass. The old one, at 20kgs, is able to be handled without TOO much difficulty, and we set her on the side of the boat to manhandle into the locker, which kind of needed a cleanout first. That accomplished, we had a cup of tea:)
We were going to leave the dock, after last night. Well, you get three nights on the dock, courtesy of the Marina if you are having work done. As soon as the work is done, you pay for your nights. They have a buy two get one free promotion right now...We would have to come back to the Marina on Thursday night to pick up the Prop and mail, and they would give us that night complimentary, as a result. So...we asked at the office what we owed them....They are comping us all but three nights, which we pay for. That will mean we get four nights complimentary. We feel like we have paid for two weeks, already, with the cost of Haul Out etc. WOW! Twice the price of what we paid to haul out in Houston! They only have a short summer to make their money, up here, and it surely shows.
It got to be 4.30 yesterday afternoon, and we were feeling peckish. I haven't made any white flour/sugar baked goods for almost 8 months, but I had a pot of fresh raspberries that would make wonderful muffins, with a touch of lemon zest...so I got creative. The smell in the cabin was wonderful:) Feeling that muffins would encourage us to eat too much of a good thing, I decided to make the mix into a cake, instead. Portion control is easier that way.
So, here is my fresh Raspberry/Lemon Muffin Cake. I don't have fresh milk, and didn't want to make up a powder mix, so I used cream instead! Worked well!
We ate this for dessert with cream, last night:) It should have been warmed first, but it was very tasty, with less sugar than I would normally include.
It was so good that we had that (warmed) with the left over raspberries and some fresh blueberries and cream for breakfast, this morning:). Why not eat dessert for breakfast?? No rules, are there?
Waz has been waiting for parts for the Raw Water Pump...it seems to have taken longer than it should, to get this thing repaired. Today was no exception. He needed a Puller to complete the task, and we took off on our bikes to find one with the parts to be pulled (bearing), in the backpack. We thought we might find one to borrow, at Car Quest, but they don't loan tools. Bah! That meant we were back on the road and back up the loooong hill to Canadian Tire. There we rented the tool ($84 + tax = $103 and change), and took it outside to the parking lot where Waz did the deed. All done in ten mins. It took longer to assemble the tool than it did to pull the bearing. All done, we took the puller back for our refund. Lunch looked awfully good, by this time, so we rode along the main road to A&W Family Food restaurant. This is advertised as being 'local', NO GM, NO hormones etc etc, in their meat.
We found them to be expensive, though they did serve Sweet potato fries...for $1 extra, over and above the cost of potato fries. Our lunch still cost us $20!!
It was all down hill sailing from there, and we didn't stop for a Dairy Queen this time:)
We did stop at the small grocery store on King Street to get some more yellow beans, and sweet potatoes. The beans are wonderful and 100% on what is offered at the big supermarkets, where they look weeks old.
On the way up the hill we stopped to take this photo ...what can it possibly mean, on the side of the road of a steep hill??? No prizes, sorry!
and just to get a little more excited...this gorgeous old girl is opposite us...well, kitty corner, actually, in the Marina. I do love the old boats with their lovely varnished wood. Just to completely digress!!
Now for some $$ information, just in case you get too excited about keeping a boat in this Marina on Georgian Bay...
Our neighbor with a 47ft Sail boat (Yacht, for you're kiwis) pays $8,700 for Dock Fees FOR THE SUMMER SEASON...which is about three months long (maybe 4!). THEN, he has to pay for haul out, because ALL the boats come out of the water for the winter season....AND shrink wrapping, if he chooses to leave it out in the snow, OR have it incarcerated in the HEATED Boat shed. They do things a little differently in these here climes. He did quip that they call the Marina PAYport, instead of Bayport:) ha!
As I went looking for clothes to wear, this morning, I became disenchanted with the ever shrinking selection...this is with GOOD cause, I might add. It was time to have a grand try-on and get rid of those things that don't fit me any more.
I had been keeping (for who knows what reason) a selection of 'boat worthy' shorts...meaning that they were not suitable any more to wear OUT!...as in Off the boat. Those are now nicely packaged and about to be on their way to the trash...not good for rags or recycling, unfortunately.
Our immediate neighbors in their yacht, are a Doctor and his wife (a former surgical nurse). I noticed from the previous week, that she wears similar colors to myself. I went next door and enquired after her preferences, and if she was interested in receiving some of my hardly worn clothing, or knew where to take it? She said yes, she would be happy to, and if she didn't want/fit it, then she could find a good home for it with a women's organization in Toronto. Yay! Well done!
I have lost 4 dress sizes in weight. Don't ask me the pounds, they are unimportant. I just need to know what size clothes I can fit now.
I am somewhere between a 14 and a 16...a 15? The 16's are a bit large and the 14's a bit neat....not long tho!
The selection of clothing in the closet is getting narrower, but I don't mind...I will have a shop- up when we return to the USA.
As I may have mentioned before, we have been eating like kings, without sugar (added sugar, or refined sugar, that is) and white flour processed carbs et al. We eat plenty of wonderful fresh food...meat, dairy, fruit and veg, and occasionally an ice-cream or other 'treat' which we don't always enjoy...too sweet!. This isn't just to lose weight, but to make a lifestyle change so that we are fitter, healthier, leaner, in our golden years, and more able to fight off diseases (we hope) and other possibly age-related illnesses etc. So far so good!
I have been sitting here eating a large bowl of jumbo cherries...making the most of the summer fruits...for a snack. They work wonders!! I highly recommend them for a morning clean-out:)
Waz has finished putting the pump back together. I have finished shining the stainless steel and I have even vacuumed the inside of the boat (yesterday afternoon), so we are all ready to go on the next portion of our trip.
Keeping our fingers crossed for the mail arriving tomorrow, along with the Prop.
We even had a pump-out yesterday afternoon! woohoo!! Literally went across the small channel to the Fuel dock and back again. We did need help getting back onto the dock though..the wind was blowing us off. Two dock hands were there to help us:)
The place is crawling with dock hands and others, all wearing bright green t-shirts. This is their summer job! Mind you, they are kept running in the weekends when all the boaters are out and about. We watched the four young folk on the fuel dock, this past weekend, absolutely run off their feet from 7am till 8pm.
Well, time for tea to warm up. It is cold! Im going to put a sweater on and maybe even my sheepskin slippers! We might be motoring up the bay in our down jackets this rate.
Pray for fine weather and flat water for us this weekend. It is a long weekend, so the place is going to be a bit of a zoo, me thinx.
Ciao for now.
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