A little snack before the grilling begins!!

 

Future Fish Food

Cruising well off shore we received some visitors throughout the day.  Mayflies have hatched out and this particular individual was looking for love in all the wrong places.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly

Splish, Splash I was taking a bath

A return visitor to the bird bath this year is still an unknown.....this appears to be the female, the male is red.  She isn't the bashful type and enjoys an afternoon bath each day as her beau watches from the trees.

Coming into Season Soon

I taste-tested a blackberry but it looks like any of the early ones will be a week or so away from being tasty.  The bulk of the crop would be ready in, say 3-4 weeks---just in time for a couple of more experienced blackberry connoisseurs to do some taste testing.

Sailing in the Great White North

 The view from the office can be distracting at times with the sailing folks taking advantage of good weather and strong winds to sail around the bay in front of downtown.

One of the many marinas lining the bay.

Non-zoomed view....this conference room is booked pretty solid once the pool gets filled (say Memorial Day to Labor Day)

Broccoli Season

With lettuce on the way out, our focus is now on our next crop---broccoli!!!  This year's crop is taking a bit longer to flower than last year's crop though the plants themselves have grown nicely and are looking very healthy.

I did finally spy a few flowers this morning getting ready to do their thing over the next month or so.

Happy Mother's Day

From the pirate crew of the Time and Tide wishing their mom the best Mother's Day ever.....

Poolside at 54 Holly Lane

One of the quadruplets decorating the pool deck

Close-up of one of the clusters

DIY--Marine Style

Our freezer and fridge have performed flawlessly in our short time on the water (slip)----so much so that the awesome First Mate and I decided to keep some items in the chilled confines on the Time and Tide during the week until our return.  Unfortunately, it appears that the controller decided that the compressor wasn't getting up and going quickly enough and started short-cycling the little guy.  This was pretty detrimental to our recently cached food items and upon our return to the Time and Tide we quickly became enthusists for keeping ice in small styrofoam coolers. 

The bad boy controller that needs to have an adjustable window for compressors in different ambient temperatures and system age.  Should be a fairly straightforward fix as the part is readily available.

Touring Sanibel Island

Here's a photo of the First Mate and a little known member of the Village People cycling on Sanibel Island a few months after getting married in 1989.

Looks like it is going to be a hot one on the water this weekend

 

Tennessee Kits

Our young foxes have gone off ranging with mom and dad.  One of our neighbors took some photos while I was doing a little ranging of my own down south.

The siblings are hanging out and playing while mom and dad are out hunting for dinner.

An inquisitive pup.

A little parental bragging rights....

Let's see.....



Capping off a Great Junior Year for the youngest----not only invited to the Honors banquet for those students maintaining A-B the entire year, but as a Golden Honor Roll Member (4.0 GPA) and a member of the 30+ Club---actually she got a 32 but who but her parents are counting :)



And then her older brother finishes off a very successful Freshman year at UTM as a Computer Science major all the while learning to play acoustical guitar (I think it is for the girls) and keeping the free world as we know it safe from zombie attacks.

And then the oldest daughter finishes her Junior year at MTSU in Fashion Merchandising and Entrepreneurship by opening a online store ( http://www.seasweptboutique.com ) all the while getting engaged to to longtime boyfriend (and fellow MTSU student) Madison. 

Yep, it's been a very good year to be a parent around here....

Flags and Sol (with optional 3D)

Got some flags streaming for the mast.  Might even be able to see our boat on the webcam now!

Posted the Blackberry version of this on FB.....here's the real deal.

And below are the 3D efforts of the photos above.

 

 

New Neighbors

Mr and Mrs. B. Martin moved next door after their home in our boom was seized under the imminent domain clause of the Captain's Handbook.

Morning Visitors

Mr. and Mrs. C. Geese and their twins stopped by to chat (and see if we had any hand-outs)

All Knotted Up

While the Time and Tide would never slip its mooring with the semi-mobius rope tie off above, I knew that there were better (and more nautically traditional) ways to tie up to a cleat other than a modified combination of the macrame and shoe lace method.

After much book work, hands-on practice and rolled eyes, I finally managed to properly tie-off to a cleat and can actually do it repeatedly.  Next on my nautical knotting training is properly tying off to pilings.

Still going strong

Though no longer sold in the United States, the Ford Ranger truck is still sold in parts of the world and here in Brazil is considered more of a luxury brand similar to Toyota.  This brand new Ranger (with Pirelli tires) is park outside the offices next to a Mitubishi competitor.

Working Buddies

Similar in size (the yellow guy is several feet closer) and their daily focus, these two avians target flowers and are often seen "working the flora" together.  The hummingbird is going after the nectar of course from the front of the flowers.  The yellow guy (type to be determined) works the flowers from the back, often showing off acrobatic perching abilities and looks to be going after insects and arachnids (or most anything smaller than him I suppose).  Not sure if the hummingbird waits for the flowers to be cleaned but it probably wouldn't be too far fetched to guess as much.

Little Details

This tiny figurine, along with her many sisters, were cast and assembled by hand one by one with a pre-industrial technology.  These adorn some the the exterior windows where I am staying.  Their functionality appears to be holding a frame (louvers?) against the window in times past.