Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.
Kin Hubbard, American Journalist

Weather watching approaching storm

That being said, I’m not going to knock the weather except to say that Spring & Summer 2010 was far more pleasant and dry than this year. Every non-wet day is a glorious joy and we are thankful for all 2 of them so far!  Kidding, yes, but I am loath to say that dry and warm days are winning out over wet and dreary.
Mother Nature has provided well for us; we are kept entertained by not only the occasional thunderstorm, but by the swans, ducks, jumping fish and regular, though greatly diminished, river flotsam. Not sure what’s up with the ducks, during the day they are quiet and we seldom see them, but come night-time- yikes watch out. They are quirky and quacky. The darkness morphs them into entirely different creatures, ones who don’t play nice and seem to revel in protecting their territory. We get a kick out of their odd antics.
The other morning our breakfast was interrupted by a resident fish working on capturing his breakfast.  A thrashing, bumping sound emanated from between the hulls. Our best efforts to peer underneath and see the action resulted in a view of agitated water and bubbles.  Now we have bruised fish hanging around.
One beautiful morning we watched a mini air show; first was this very cool ultra-lite seaplane that cruised overhead down the river, then a short time later a gyro-copter drew our attention. The copter was too far for a good shot with my camera- too bad though; we’d never seen one before.

..the plane, the plane

A question we are often asked, understandably, is; “How is it with 3 on the boat?”  I’ll steal this out of our upcoming FAQ post to address it now- it’s timely.  The key is everyone is working. This gives us enough together time but not so much that we get on each other’s nerves. Remember we have two hulls- one bunk in each, a dinette that seats four and well, you get the idea.  The pure joy we all felt after not seeing one another since mid-January has only slightly diminished 45 days later. We always have plenty to talk about.  Helps that our son applauds our decision and is proud to call us pirates livin’ the dream. We are one lucky family.
Father’s Day- not only did the weather cooperate beautifully, but we managed to fit in a bit of everything.  Began the day with coconut French toast and homemade butter- made fresh from the raw milk Benj buys at the farm where he works.

Fresh butter made from raw milk- yum!

Was so easy- skim off the cream, shake for – maybe five mins- pour off the buttermilk (so THAT’s where it comes from), and voila! Soft yummy butter. Add salt while shaking if you want. Lunch out, lobster, kayaking and a continuation of the lengthy boat wash and wax process filled out the day. The topper however, was the surprise card Benj made for Russ; the kind that is from the heart, let’s you know “you’ve done good” and are appreciated.
How often do we never express the love in our hearts to those we care about most? Here’s to you Dad; I hope you would have been proud of me, maybe you wouldn’t have understood, but I know you would still love me as much as ever.