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I know this blog is long overdue but we have definitely been keeping busy since the last update. Work has been continuing on the house, but the pace has been a little slower and more manageable since we moved in. The contractor that we had hired slowed down as well due to the winter weather. Some things were completed such as the garage. This involved finishing the siding as well as making the door for the upper storage area. The rest of the siding on the house had to stop as it got too cold to work with the siding. The inside work that we continued with was the completion (well, to the point of it being functional) of the downstairs bathroom. This became a priority not only for our convenience but we were having overnight guest that were going to sleep downstairs. Also wanted to have this working for my Mom to be able to visit. The bathroom now has a working shower, toilet and sink. The vanity Bob built but he still has to finish the drawers and doors – not a necessity at this time. We had a great time with Bob’s sister and her husband – thankfully
they were fine with a partially done home.
As we have been working full tilt on the house we decided it was time to take some time for our enjoyable as well. We were very pleasantly surprised by an invitation to a wedding being held in Albany. It was of a student that Bob had years ago in Trumansburg. What a treat! We had hired Dennis back in Tburg to help work on our house there and both of us knew his family (sister and mother as well). It was nice to see a few people from Tburg at the wedding and his best man was another student that both of us knew from Trumansburg. It definitely made us feel old however when we figured out how long ago they had graduated from High School. Oh well, time does march on….
We had been hoping to head to South Carolina to visit Bob’s aunt and uncle that had moved there as well as another uncle and his cousin and her family. It was always on our list to do, but projects kept getting in the way. Another problem that arose was that Janice started to have problems with
her shoulder and wrist so started physical therapy. We didn’t want to interrupt that as need to be in good shape for heading back to Tsamaya. Fortunately things came together and we were able to make the trip. It was definitely a quick trip but a very pleasant one. They all treated us royally! It was great to catch up with everyone down there and also nice to see the flowering bushes and green grass!
Our original plans were to head back to the boat during the last week of April but decided that it was too close to my Mom’s 88
th birthday on May 1
st so figured we would delay for a few days. Earlier my sisters and I got together and threw her a surprise birthday party in April. We had a great turn out made up of people where she currently lives, neighbors from where we grew up, plenty of relatives and even a walking buddy of Mom’s from a few years ago. It was a real surprise as no one said a word to Mom as well as it wasn’t on her birthday so more of a surprise!
Mom’s birthday is actually May 1
st.
On that day there was a fund raising walk for MS (multiple sclerosis) as one of our nephews was recently diagnosed with MS many in the family decided to walk. My mother wanted to walk but unfortunately rain was predicted for that day. We got a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the start of the walk to see my Mom ready to walk complete with a baseball cap on!! What a great way to start her 88
th birthday! After the walk we went out to lunch together – so glad we stayed an extra few days to be able to participate and be there for Mom’s real birthday!
I included a couple of photos from Saratoga – we seem to take it for granted as we are now living in this area as well as grew up years ago near here. Realized when driving through that if we were in any other location I would be taking photos of the architecture and scenery so decided I’d include a couple of photos of our area. It really is a beautiful area of New York State.
We left the US on May 3
rd for the Netherlands and return to
our other home, Tsamaya. We were able to get great connections with a direct flight from Philadelphia to Amsterdam. After a train and cab ride we returned to the marina where our boat had been stored by 2PM. Tsamaya looked great even though she is still on the hard (out of the water). This means that we have to climb up and down a ladder to go to the rest room and showers as well as wash our dishes. It is a little bit of an inconvenience, but it is nice to be near the water again.
We were pleasantly pleased with the condition of Tsamaya when we returned. Fortunately we were smart enough to contract with the marina to check our canvas over, clean it and make any needed repairs. They had reinstalled it by the time we returned so she was looking good. Our teak on the other hand didn’t fair too well so one of our projects is re-doing the teak. Oh well, can’t win them all…
Our priority now is getting things ready to get her launched on Tuesday. Of course there are always things that pop up that weren’t on our list originally,
but have to be dealt with. One of those was dealing with our water pump. It kept running when we tried to run any water in the boat, so that moved up in priority. This meant Bob turning himself into a pretzel, getting into the lazette, laying over the battery cases to get at the water pump. Bob was definitely not happy with the location of the water pump, but eventually got it working OK. Now on to other items that were actually on the “to do list”.
We have thoroughly enjoyed being back on board and near the water again. Even though we aren’t out there we have enjoyed watching the boats as they sail by. Soon we will be out there with them. We aren’t sure how long we will have to stay at this marina as we must get our life raft inspected (its 3 year inspection time) and we were told they are very busy and it may take up to 2 weeks before they can finish with it.
As we are in the Netherlands at a prime time to see the tulips we are going to take a day off for a day
This Room We Didn't Do Yet
but trying to make it liveable for nowtrip by train and bus to Keukenhof, “the place to go”. We are hoping to go on Wednesday next week if everything goes as planned with the launch of Tsamaya.
As for this season, we have been going back and forth with our plans – we had thought of heading north to Norway, but as we are hoping to go through the French canals next year to the Med, we have decided to head south instead. We will instead explore the southern coast of the UK and the northern coast of France. Legally we have to make it to the Channel Islands by June 30
th so that is our only true deadline this season. We had hoped to get into Paris this winter, but we were placed on a wait list earlier and were suppose to hear by the end of April. As we have not, our plans now are to overwinter in Rouen, France. That will put us in a good location for heading down the canals next season. Anyone that sails must know that the name of the game is “flexibility” of plans.
Hope everyone is doing well –will try to keep up with the blog
Bringing Some Furniture In from the Garage
to give Bob space as well gives us places to work entries more timely in the future. Best wishes to everyone!
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