I'm sitting here with my feet on the ottoman that normally houses the Bread Machine, but has been seconded as my 'feet up' thang, thinking I need to go and take some clothes off....not naked kind, but LESS...It is warm. In fact, it is 80.6F in the Salon right now, and it is little wonder that Waz is lying on the sofa opposite me, snoring his head off!
We will make the most of the fine weather, because we have had a few grey days in the past week, and even a bit of rain, and it is amazing, when one is used to blue sky and sunshine, how much of a 'downer' those grey skies can be. Folks hereabouts walk around with their heads down, on such days.
Everywhere we are reminded of Christmas. We have attended two parties at the Yacht Club....the first was a Potluck, to which I took a good old Kiwi Bacon and Egg Pie. The second, we paid our $15 and it was a catered 'Trim the Tree' and bring a tree Deco...I always think of tree trimming as ...well....with scissors!!! You get the picture!
Anyhoo...it amused me greatly, that there I was, sitting in a nice upholstered chair (it wasn't very comfy, as it turned out) and one of the male boaters up the dock came walking past. I smiled at him as he walked past....he smiled back and kept walking. THEN...he did a double back and said "WOW! I didn't recognize you!!!1 You scrub up REALLY WELL!" Nice of him to notice, lol. I guess we all rather get used to seeing each other in our scrappy shorts and old t-shirts, hereabouts, so it is really nice to have occasion to dress up a little bit and put our glad rags on.
What have we been up to of late??
Well, three mornings a week, my Physical Therapist (PT guy) comes to the boat, around 9am, and tortures me. One of our dock mates, Larry, who is two weeks ahead of me in Hip Progress, calls Fernando the PT Nazi! Only because he is religious about the amount of progress you should be making, and what you should NOT be doing right now that will jeopardize your medical progress. I have been very glad to have this man's knowledge to call on and his expertise when I have not felt able to do some things. He has pulled back on the reins when I wanted to gallop, and insisted that I take things nice and slow and easy...and in fact, listen to my body. I don't like to listen to my body, but wisdom in old age is a wonderful thing, and I think I am gaining just a little of that...mostly!
Tomorrow, Friday the 18th Dec. is the last day Fernando will visit me for PT. He is discharging me because I will not need his help any more.....well, that is a little dubious, because I am sure there is other stuff I could do for PT, but I am having right hand surgery on Monday 21st, and I will be now passed over to the Hand Nazi!
Our neighbors come and go. We are a little bit wall-to-wall with boats at the moment. This is a favorite time for folks to find a marina, leave their boat for a month or similar, and take off on a plane back to Minnesota or Montreal/Toronto, if they are Canadian, for Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year. Some of us who have no other home, stay on the boat and decorate (not us!) with lights and wreaths etc and play Christmas music...ack!....and enjoy the fraternity that is the boating community here at the Marina.
Both of our neighbors across the dock went walkabout for a weekend, leaving us a feeling of freedom, if only from the wall to wall view we normally enjoy...not!
I cant stand for any length of time yet....it being only 4 weeks post op, with this left hip replacement, but I am now cleared to walk without a stick. The issue isn't so much that I cant walk without it, but trusting the new hip and desperately trying not to LIMP!
There are benefits to using a walking stick or cane....People stay away from you, they stop the car so that you can walk pathetically slowly across a crossing or road, and they offer you seats....I might take my cane out with me some times...not that I can use it with my right hand in plaster, but....
Looking pathetic works well too:) Except that I look too healthy now!
Oh well.....
Sitting on a chair out the back of the fly deck is a wonderful place to do my 'cycling'. Who would have thought, when we bought our little 'cycle' in Texas, 2 1/2 yrs ago, that I would need it for rehab?? I can do 2 x 10 mins on it per day and feel fantastic! I will continue to use it in the future.
I wanted to tell you about a certain Central American Parrot who is a liveaboard here at the marina.
She is 29 yrs old...raised by the 'wife' from a baby, but when wife married, said parrot changed allegiance to the new husband, and is now ostensibly the 'man's' bird. I was advised not to put my finger out to touch 'it' as I might get bitten. We all do these stupid things, not deliberately being stupid, but for some reason think the bird might hop onto it???? maybe!
Speaking of interesting 'people'...there are enough dogs on boats to keep Waz and me in puppy love for the rest of our days. We don't need to bother vacuuming the fur/hair, we can just walk next door and pet Suzie, the Dachshund, and then wave goodbye...perfect!...or was that Puuurfect? One of the neighbors down the dock has two HUGE Persian cats...hmmm...not going there either.
Strange happenings are a constant in a marina. There isn't a huge amount of wriggle room for negotiating the ins and outs of docking, so we see some interesting (and at times dangerous) behavior of the different vessels and the people behind the wheel.
As we were sitting here in the salon, we watched the mast of our neighbor but one, move out of the slip...but not the owner aboard...interesting!....we know the neighbor! Two fellas moving the boat forward, and then....backwards....then forward completely out of the slip...but wait! They are pointed in the wrong direction...heading for the wall! Sail boats...single engine, that is, are notorious for the way they swing one way of the other when reversing. Whoever was at the helm didn't know how to drive this vessel. I went to the open pilot house door to watch, as they came very close to the bow of our boat....still reversing...this time all the way to the end of the docks and out into the river. I didn't stay to see which way they went, but I have an idea these two fellas were staff from one of the nearby yards, taking the yacht for servicing of some kind. Phew! they made it to the end in one piece.
Having straightened up, she is now reversing up the channel past all the docks to the river at the end. A little nerve wracking when they came so close to our bow....
Well, this might be the last communication for a while...MY right hand will be in a cast for 6 weeks. I'm sure I will figure out how to type with my next to useless left hand, but don't hold your breath!
So, Have a wonderful Christmas season/holidays, and be kind to each other and don't eat all that chocolate...seriously!!!:)
Take care, and Ciao for now
Mon and Waz
No comments:
Post a Comment