January In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: (1) One of the books I won; (2) Star Wars Cosmic Shells that some friends gifted me; (3) Van party!; (4) Another book that I won; (5) English translation for a Spanish song that was sung at one of the cruiser get-togethers; and (6) Gifts from my mother.

It's time for our usual monthly recap by the numbers. January was chock-full of Indiantown Party Posse get-togethers (lots of fun and full of calories), saying goodbye to friends heading off on new adventures, and countless hours making final revisions before sending my cozy mystery, >>Murder at the Marina<<, off to the editor.

So, enough with all of those words, here's the usual random nonsense recap by the numbers:

• 17 - How many books I won last month. Winning stuff is fun! 15 of them were sailing-related books from Melody at Saving to Sail. If you're interested in learning how to make money online in order to give yourself the freedom to travel, check her site out. I also won two cozy mysteries - Stowed Away by Barbara Ross and Survival of the Fritters by Ginger Bolton.

• $11.52 (Canadian) - How much the postage was for one of the cozy mysteries to be sent to Florida from Canada. That's a lot of money! Very sweet of the author to do that. 

• $0.81 (American) - How much you'll get for one Canadian dollar (at time of writing). I feel bad for our Canadian friends here in the States. The exchange rate sucks. Does anyone else remember when it used to be close to par?

• 3 - Number of replacement fire extinguishers we got for our boat. We keep one in the aft cabin (where we sleep), one in the lazarette in the cockpit, and one by the companionway. Kidde has recalled almost 40 million fire extinguishers. If you have a fire extinguisher, check to make sure your model hasn't been recalled. It could save your life.

• 22,700 - How many bees it takes to make a jar of honey. A wonderful couple here at the marina gave me a jar of honey that they made from their very own bees. How many people can say that they have their very own bees? Pretty cool.

• 100 - How many books I've set as a target to read this year as part of the Goodreads challenge.

• 18 - How many books I read in January. It may seem like a lot, but three were short and several were cozy mysteries, which tend to be quick reads. Once we get back in the full swing of boat projects and head out cruising again, I won't be able to read as much.

• 342 - How many M&Ms are in a 11.4 oz bag. My mom sent me unicorn socks and a M&Ms. How's that for a truly awesome present? The M&Ms didn't last long. It's surprising how quickly one can eat 342 of them.

• $9.11 - How much it cost to see a matinee of Star Wars. We rarely go to the movie theater anymore. It's so expensive and we're often disappointed in the movie. However, exceptions are made for movies like Star Wars. 

• 17 - How many chapters are in my book. I've given them weird titles, like "Weevils" and "My Little Sweet Potato." It will all make sense if you read it one day. At least, I hope it will.

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite blog posts from last month:

Cost of Cruising & Living Aboard a Sailboat | 2017 Recap
New Year's Eve Boat & Camper Crawl
Some Days, You Just Need a Box of Kittens 


How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?

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Wordless Wednesday | Farewell To A "Beloved" Rat

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - One day, as I was walking past the free table at the marina, I noticed a sign with a picture of a rat on it. I took a closer look and saw that someone was bidding a sad farewell to their "beloved" rat.

2 - I think the sign was a tad sarcastic. If there's one thing people who live on boats don't like, it's having rats take up residence. From what I understand, the people who made the sign had a heck of a time getting rid of their own "special" rat. It was there so long, they ended up naming it Georgette.

3 - There was a huge problem with rats getting on boats in storage this year. Sure, you might be one of those people who has pet rats (and they do make great pets), but rats on a boat is not good news. They chew through everything.

4 - There's probably a correlation between getting rid of the adorable feral cats that used to live here and the increase in the rat population.

What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

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Shiny Toes & Tacos | The Indiantown Party Posse

Sometimes, people come up to me with a worried expression and say something like:

"You poor thing, all on your lonesome on your boat, while Scott's away. Don't you get bored?"

Uh, no. It's impossible to be bored when you have the  >>Indiantown Party Posse<< constantly planning new get-togethers, like our New Year's Eve boat and camper crawl.
 
It usually starts when someone posts pictures of a delicious-looking dish, followed by a flurry of messages on Facebook, which evolves into a plan which involves getting together either at the marina and cooking something fabulous (like a low country boil or fish tacos) or heading to the local pub for Taco Tuesday or Wing Wednesday.

Sometimes, it starts when two people talk about going to get mani-pedis which then morphs into an afternoon girls get-together, followed by a van party and Taco Tuesday with the blokes.

Look, shiny toes.

Of course, no girls get-together is complete without sugary treats - like this "fugly" toffee.

Or bubbles and chocolate wine. Yes, you read that right - chocolate wine. I had no idea such a thing existed. Whoever invented that deserves some sort of medal.

Of course, sometimes these get-togethers are bittersweet when we end up saying goodbye to some of the members of the >>Indiantown Party Posse<< as they head off to new adventures. That's part and parcel of a nomadic lifestyle - cool people are constantly coming in and out of your life.

But, the good news is that we're constantly recruiting new members for the posse, provided they can answer one important question:

"Do you like moose balls?"

Don't worry, they're not what you think they are. Unless, you're imagining something with Bailey's in it. Probably the most popular item ever served at the >>Indiantown Party Posse<< get-togethers.

Have you ever had a moose ball or chocolate wine? What's your idea of a good get-together with friends?

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Saturday Spotlight | Terror On Sunshine Boulevard Blog Tour

In addition to the usual blog posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday about our eccentric travel adventures and day-to-day life living aboard a sailboat, I also occasionally post on Saturdays, focusing on things related to writing such as cover reveals, book launches, reviews, interviews with authors etc. So if you're a bit of a book nerd like I am, check in on Saturdays - you never know what might pop up.

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Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed or investigating mysterious murders are not the usual calls in a Florida retirement community for volunteer first responder Jim Hart.

I'm delighted to have J.Q. Rose join us today on her blog tour for her latest release >>Terror on Sunshine Boulevard<<. 

I do love a good murder mystery and this one sounds like a winner. It's set in Florida where we're currently docked. It features a volunteer first responder which is something I could never do (blood and all that). I'm always in awe of and grateful to those folks who volunteer to provide this kind of service. And it involves a naked woman lying in a geranium bed - sounds intriguing!

J.Q. sounds like an interesting and fun lady. Check out her bio, especially the part about hunting salamanders with the grandkids.

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Bio

After writing feature articles in magazines, newspapers, and online magazines for over fifteen years, J.Q. Rose entered the world of fiction. Her mysteries published by BWL Publishing are
Terror on Sunshine Boulevard, Dangerous Sanctuary, and Deadly Undertaking. Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. She and her husband, Gardener Ted, spend winters in Florida and summers up north camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter. 

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Blurb

Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed or investigating mysterious murders are not the usual calls for first responder Jim Hart. He expects slip and fall accidents or low blood pressure emergencies in his retirement community of Citrus Ridge Senior Community and Golf Resort. The ghastly crime scenes turn the winter time fun into a terrifying season of death and mystery when the authorities cannot track down the predator responsible.

Jim and his wife Gloria could escape the horror and grief by returning to their northern home, but concern for their friends and residents keep them in Florida. With the entire community in a dither over the deaths, the Harts participate in the normal winter activities of golfing, dancing, and pool parties with their friends to distract them from the sadness and loss.

Can Jim and Gloria work with the authorities to discover who or what is killing the seniors on Sunshine Boulevard and stop the increasing body count?

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You can buy a copy of >>Terror on Sunshine Boulevard<< here and connect with J.Q. Rose on her blog, Facebook, Google+, Amazon, Goodreads, Pinterest, and through Books We Love.

 

What have you been reading lately? Have you read >>Terror on Sunshine Boulevard<<?

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Flashback Friday | Can Wallabies Be Litter Box Trained?

 

Flashback Friday takes place on the last Friday of the month. The idea is to give a little more love to a blog post you've published before that maybe didn't get enough attention, or is something you think is still relevant or even a something that you really love and want to share again.

Many thanks to Michael d’Agostino for starting Flashback Friday and inspiring me to go back and revisit some of our earlier blog posts.

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This is a flashback to when we were anchored at Kawau Island in New Zealand. The weather was getting to be a real drag and we were stuck in that anchorage for ages. Fortunately, we spotted some wallabies one day when we went for a walk which cheered us up. Which, of course, led to the question - "Can wallabies be litter box trained?" If they can, they sure would make a great addition to the crew.

{This post was originally published in March 2014. You can find the original post here.}  

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Wallaby spotted on Kawau Island. So cute! They were introduced in 1870 by the Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Grey, along with other exotic animals. Sadly, they are now considered to be a pest which negatively impacts on native flora and fauna and the Department of Conservation and other landowners are trying to manage their population. You can help by adopting a wallaby and having it live on your boat!

I’ve been trying to convince Scott for a while now that we absolutely need a cute little dog on our boat, but sadly I haven’t been very successful yet. Every time I bring the subject up, he gets all Mr. Spock logical on me with seemingly rational arguments such as the fact that there are lots of countries you can’t easily bring a dog into. 

But his biggest argument is that you have to cart your dog on to shore to do their business. His favorite refrain is, “Are you going to get in the dinghy when it is pouring down rain and blowing a gale and take the dog to shore? Hah, I didn’t think so! There won’t be any dogs on our boat because I’m sure as heck not going to get stuck rowing the mutt to shore every day.”

Fortunately, I’ve found an even better idea for a liveaboard pet – a wallaby! I figure if I can litter box train one, then Scott can’t possibly say no to having one on board. And because they can stand on their hind legs, when we get to a new port we can put clothes on our little wallaby and pass him off as a human crew member. Animal immigration problem solved! And the icing on the cake is the fact that wallabies can jump and they have a built in tool pouch. Something wrong up the mast? Get your wallaby to jump up there and fix it with the tools they carry around in their handy pouch. Much, much easier than getting a clumsy human to climb up there.

Last time we were at Mansion House Bay in Kawau Island, we caught a glimpse of the wallabies that live there. We’ve been there many times previously, but have never seen them before. It was amazing! They look so cute and their fur seems so soft and I just wanted to grab one and cuddle it. Unfortunately, they’re fast little buggers and they jumped away before I had a chance to say hi and ask them if they know how to use a litter box. Scott seemed really interested in the wallabies, so once I solve the litter box issues, I’m pretty sure he can’t possibly say no to having one on board.

I’m really grateful we had some wallaby sightings, because, frankly I was getting really tired of Mansion House Bay. We have spent far too much time there hiding out from various blows and desperately trying to escape. I can hear you saying, “Are you nuts? Mansion House is a beautiful, iconic New Zealand spot. I would love to go there!” And, yes, if you haven’t been there before, by all means you should head up there and spend a couple of days exploring the nature reserve and the Mansion House grounds. But, if you’ve ended up spending around eight days in a row there trying to escape (with only a quick run to Gulf Harbour to reprovision), then you’ve probably seen it all and done it all. But of course, every cloud has a silver lining and for us, it was when we caught a glimpse of the wallabies on the island.

I’m also really grateful for things like wallaby sightings, because without these amazing moments, I think the setbacks we’ve had with the weather so far might do my head in. We counted up how many days so far this summer that we’ve spent hiding out from a blow (either in a marina or at an anchorage) and the number is quite depressing. 

Intellectually, I know that the weather really does dictate what you can do and where you can go. And, I know people end up waiting weeks for the right weather window to make a passage. But we’re just doing coastal cruising, so I never expected that the weather would have such an impact on us. If the wind isn’t blowing a near-gale or gale, then it is blowing from the completely wrong direction to go where we want to get to. And, then there is the swell – it either is way too high for our tiny boat and/or crashing into us beam on. And on those days when you can’t stand the weather or the boat anymore a cute little wallaby to cuddle sure would make all the difference.

So if you have any experience training wallabies to use a litter box and jump up to the top of the mast, please let me know. Also, feel free to email Scott and tell him that having a dog or a wallaby or even a cat on board would be a great idea! I’m sure he’ll listen to you!

Anyway, here is what our week up in Kawau looked like. Other than the wallabies, not too exciting.

Scott thinks that the wallaby fences are proof that they can't jump high enough to get to the top of our mast. Personally, I think they are just smart creatures who can read the signs and choose not to jump over the fences.

Monday, 17 February 2014

After making a run from Great Barrier to Kawau the previous night and getting in around 11:30 pm, we had anchored down near the Kawau Yacht Club. It is a big anchorage, which we know well, and we figured it would be easiest to park the boat there in the dark. But it turned out to be a bit roly-poly, so we decided to move the boat over to the more protected Mansion House Bay in the morning. The only other big event of the day was having a solar shower. Scott helps me wash my hair because the solar shower can be a bit fiddly to use. Honestly, I never thought it would come to this…I can’t wash my hair without my husband’s help. That’s living on a boat for you.

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

We ran out of eggs and cheese. These are two essential staples in our diet and we ended up getting stuck with eating things out of cans we’ve been avoiding so far. And they tasted terrible. {Note to self: never, never, never try to make a pasta dish out of cream of mushroom soup and canned chicken again.} Fortunately, wallabies were sighted!

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

We ran out of water in our bladder. Not our actual human bladders, but the water bladder under the settee that we use instead of a water tank. Hmmm….no funnel to get the water from the jerry can into the water bladder. But, no worries, Scott cleverly cut up a tonic water bottle and turned it into a funnel. Problem solved. More wallaby sightings.

Thursday 19 February – Monday, 24 February 2014

Nothing too exciting happened. And when nothing too exciting happens, you spend a lot of time looking at the other boats which are also stuck in the anchorage. Scott was particularly interested in an older couple living on a boat even smaller than ours. They seem to be a really fit duo – she even drops and raises the anchor herself by hand while he watches from the cockpit. Scott spent the rest of the day trying to convince me that if an old lady can manage the anchor, I can too. I ignored him and daydreamed about wallabies instead. Sadly, no more wallaby sightings.

Eventually, we got a brief break in the weather so we made a quick run to Gulf Harbour to reprovision – more diesel, water and food. And then it was back up to Kawau to wait for another break to be able to head up north which finally came on Monday. We said goodbye to Mansion House Bay and the wallabies and made our escape.

Overall

Total nautical miles = 32 (to Gulf Harbour and back)
Number of wallabies sighted = 3
Number of days in Mansion House Bay = too many

What do you think - can wallabies be litter box trained? Would you want one as a pet? Have you ever had an "unusual" pet?

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Wordless Wednesday | Sugar

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - Sugar comes in all sorts of varieties. I'm used to the white and brown stuff that comes in bags. But it also comes in big solid chunks of unrefined whole cane sugar as well, like the panela pictured above. 

2 - Some people swear cane sugar tastes better than corn syrup when it comes to soda pop. Personally, I can't tell the difference.

3 - I love sugar. My life would be incomplete without it. But what I don't like is the burning of sugar cane fields nearby. It leaves ash all over your boat. Top Tip: Don't leave your hatches open when they're burning, unless you happen to like an ashy residue clinging to everything. 

4 - I watched a show the other day which said sugar is highly addictive, as addictive as heroin and cocaine, possibly even more addictive. Scary stuff.

What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

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Morning Coffee | Random Thoughts & Oddities

Image via The Graphics Fairy

Paul at Lat43 does these hysterical Morning Tea blog posts which are a brain dump of whatever pops into his head while he's writing them. I decided to steal his idea. Except, I'm drinking coffee while I write this and he drinks tea, so it isn't really stealing, is it?

So, here we go - all of the random nonsense floating through my head while I sip on my morning coffee.

• I love Rhys Darby. What? You don't know who he is? Your life is lacking a bit of *sparkle*. Go out immediately and procure Flight of the Conchords and then watch this episode of the X-Files.

• Yes, I've finally caught up with the rest of the world and watched the tenth season of the X-Files. I have mixed feelings about it. Some episodes were great, some were a bit less great. I'm feeling that way about the current season as well.

• Guys swear a lot when they're working on boat projects.

• Yeah, I know. That's stating the obvious.

• I'd like to suggest some alternative adjectives that they might want to use instead of swear words. They could say something like:

"The *sparkly* transmission fluid leaked all over the *sparkly* engine room again! I'm tired of this *sparkly* boat!" 

I bet by the time they uttered the last *sparkly* they wouldn't be able to keep a straight face and the problem wouldn't seem half as bad as it did before.

• That's the thing about living in a marina - you hear everything. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to learn sign language, if you don't know it already. That way you could swear about your latest boat project without causing parents to cover their kids' ears or have a fight with your partner without everyone pretending they can't hear you. 

• My sister used to know sign language. I wonder if she still does.

• I haven't had to use my air conditioner in weeks. I could do without the near-freezing temperatures that we've had on a few nights, but the mild days are pleasant. Yep, there's a reason why people spend the winters in Florida. 

• I've been seeing pictures of cute kids all bundled up in snowsuits playing in the snow up North. They look so happy. I used to be one of those kids. Now I'm one of those adults who would be happy to never see snow again. 

• I looked back at the last Morning Coffee post I did. I complained about the cold then. Well, isn't that boring. Maybe every time I want to talk about being cold, I should just use *sparkly* instead. It would be far more interesting.

"I'm so tired of this *sparkly* weather. Why is it so darn *sparkly* out there? I don't want to have to put on a *sparkly* coat and go out in this *sparkly* weather again!"

• I just googled how to say cold in American Sign Language. It's a fun sign. 

• A bee buzzed around inside my boat the other day. Bees scare me. Honey good. Bees not so good. I put a blanket over my head and hid until it left. Yep, I'm that much of a baby. 

• I've never been stung by a bee. What if I'm allergic? I really don't want to find out. Probably less because of the reaction and more because my medical insurance deductible is really high.

• To make the sign for bee, you make like you've been stung on the cheek and then bat the bee away. If I was in charge of making up signs, I'd have one where act like you're putting a blanket over your head and cowering in fear.

Okay, that's enough ramblings for today. I'm off to find some bread so I can have some toast with honey.

What did you think about over your morning cup of coffee, tea or other favorite beverage? What did you have for breakfast?

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