Yo ho ho, It's a Pirates Life for Me

Craig and I just returned from a 10 day sailing adventure in the British Virgin Islands celebrating Craig's 51st birthday.  We have sailed the islands before with good friends Albert and Laurie Davis but they were unable to go this year so Craig and I rented a 37 foot Beneteau monohull sailboat for the 2 of us.

Craig was the captain and I was the first mate.  In other words, he steered and I was in charge of manning the sails.  I prefer it that way because I like being busy so pulling the ropes, lines as they are called on a sailboat, was right up my alley.

We set sail from Tortolla and over the days we sailed to Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, Norman Island and Marina Cay.  We had multiple stops on each island.

We moored at Trellis Bay on the island of Tortolla the first 2 nights because there was a full moon while we were there and Trellis Bay has a full moon party complete with a Caribbean Buffet which was delicious (I even tried the curried goat), a steel drum band, sky walkers for entertainment and the final event of the night is the lighting of the burning man.  The burning man is a steel structure out in the bay that has an enclosure at the bottom which is filled with wood and set on fire.

We made a quick stop at Marina Cay to record ourselves on the Pusser's Red Box Webcam.  This is a British style phone booth at the end of the dock which takes photos every 15 seconds. 

Next we went sailed to Jost Van Dyke.  We moored in Great Harbour for the night.  We went to around to White Bay which is the sight of the Soggy Dollar Bar and had a great time on the beach.  After returning to Great Harbour we had dinner at Foxy's with 2 couple we met from San Fransico.   There was an old rastafarian with dreadlocks down to his ankles who danced the whole night and there was a younger guy who danced with a pole.  It was quite entertaining.  Craig and I practiced our dance moves too. 

At Norman Island we moored to the Bight.  We cooked dinner on the boat but later went to Willie T's which is a permenately moored old freight boat that is half restrauant and half bar.  We met a young couple who are from the states but are living on the island.  We had a good time visiting with them. 

On Virgin Gorda, we went to The Baths which are large granite rocks you climb through.  We snorkeled and swam and just enjoyed the day.  We moored for the night at Spanish Town so we could get fresh water and top off our fuel tanks.  The winds were pretty strong that night so the boat did alot of rocking and spinning.

Also on Virgin Gorda we sailed to North Sound and moored at The Bitter End.  It is a beautiful bay which we had not gone to on our previous visit.  We dinghied to different beaches and snorkeled.

For our last night at sea we decided to eat at Saba Rock.  This is a restrauant/ 8 room hotel built on a very small "island" next to The Bitter End.  The decks for dinning are built out over the water and they had lights in the water which attracted very large tarpin.  At last count there were over 20 swimming in and around the lights.

Our last day of sailing we just put up the jib so we would have a "slow and relaxing" sail back to the marina.

Our final night we ate on the boat one last time to finish off our provisions.  We did go to the grocery store and pick up small tenderloins since we still had some charcoal.  We dined on pasta, cheese bread and steak.

It was a great trip; hard work yet relaxing but it is always nice to be back home.

Below are some additional photos to enjoy.

Craig checked out the accomodations at 2 of the local police stations...just in case.

Sunsets in the BVI are breath taking.

Blue Water and white sand

What Goes Good With....

Craig and I made a quick trip to Austin over the weekend to see Chloe, Kimberly and Mark.

 Quick side note- notice who now gets top billing in the Grantham household.

We had a great visit.  Chloe entertained us with her new squeaks, squeals and tricks.

The big mystery from the weekend is....what goes good with.....



toe jam?

Shine on, Shine on Harvest Moon

Last night we were lucky enough to view the Super Harvest Moon. 

None of the photos below have been enhanced or edited.

What we learned was for the first time in almost 20 years the beginning of autumn would have a full moon.  The phenomenon was for the moon to look wider and fuller plus Venus Jupiter was to be brighter than normal too.  Maybe it was just me but I do think it was brighter than usual.

Luckily it was a fairly clear evening with just a few clouds.

I was able to take a few photos but with my limited photo taking skills they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  I was hoping you could see the craters in the photos but when a flash went off the moon just looked a dot.  Without the flash, if I zoomed in too much it looked like I was taking photos straight into a lighbulb.

I did get a couple of shots that show the clouds illuminated and you can see Jupiter as the small dot to the lower right of the moon.

Maybe we won't have to wait another 20 years to see it again.

Birthdays and Killing Time

There has been very little going on in our little corner of the world.  We spend most of our days, after work, being "lazy".  (Lazy meaning doing what we want to do)

Weekend before last Craig and I went to our dear friends house to celebrate the Davis' birthdays.  Laurie had her birthday earlier in the month but we didn't get together other than she and I went to lunch.  Anyway, last Saturday Laurie wanted to surprise Albert for his birthday after he got off work.  Albert has been working 12 hour shifts so he didn't want a big shindig.  Laurie had told Albert it was just going to be the 2 of them but when he arrived home there Craig and I were...surprise. 

Since we had not gotten together for Laurie's birthday, I volunteered to cook so that Albert and Laurie could relax. We had grilled chicken fajitas and I had made an Angel Food cake for desert.  When we left Albert and Laurie were still enjoying themselves in the pool.

The next day Craig, Josh and I went to Galveston to kill the day.  We walked on the beach, watched some people try to surf and ate lunch.  It was a very relaxing day.

Last weekend Craig and Josh went to Louisiana for a company golf tournament.   Since Josh has moved back to Houston, his dog spent the weekend with me.

Saturday, Laurie and I headed for Galveston for some girl time.  We arrived at the Seawall a little before 9 so we could stroll the beach before it got crowded.  We walked 4.2 miles round trip.  We really enjoyed the sand between our toes and the water splashing around us.

After our stroll we went to The 'Original' Mexican Cafe.  We ate too much but really enjoyed cooling off under air-conditioning before we set out for The Strand.  (The Strand is the historical district on the harbour side of the island).

Laurie and I broused the shops, bought our husbands some comfy shoes and ended our day at Kings Confectionary.  The confectionary is located in one of the turn of the century buildings.  It has wooden floors and antique fixtures.  They have all sorts of homemade fudge, chocolates and saltwater taffy; yum.  My favorite thing is the soda fountain.  They make all their soft drinks from syrup and soda water. Squirt the syrup in the glass, add soda water and stir.  It's the best!  As their advertisement says "step back in time where memories are everywhere".

On our way off the island, Laurie and I drove around to view the "tree sculptures".  After Hurricane Ike  many of the old oak trees died due to the surge of salt water over the island.  The dead trees were marked for cut down but many of the home owners where the trees were located wanted to keep the spirit of the trees alive so they decided to have them carved into sculptures.  There are many of them scattered around the island.  There are squirrels, owls, birds, dogs, etc.  One of the larger sculptures, which obviously came from a large tree, is a mermaid with dolphins jumping around her. 

click on the highlighted link above to see more sculptures

Last stop, Sonic for a cherry limeade.

Heat, Visitors and Shorty Wang

August is still in full swing. The weather is HOT but it's to be expected. Temperature wise it is in the mid to upper 90's which is not bad but when you add in the humidity it adds another 10 degrees. So with most of our days being around 95 to 98, the heat feels 105-108.

Last week Kimberly and Chloe came to stay for a few days while Mark was in California doing his training at Google.  We are all so proud of Mark.  He was recently hired by Google and will start his new job on Monday.

The week was very relaxing.  We stayed mostly around the house due to the heat but Chloe did get to enjoy another dip in the pool.  We bought a little float for her of course she is still too small to be in it without someone holding her but it did give her more freedom to kick and splash.   

Josh spent time around the house with us too.  Chloe is quite taken with her Uncle Josh. 

We did find one thing quite amusing while Chloe was visiting.  If she got "fussy" during the day all we had to do was turn on the TV to Anthony Bourdain-No Reservations and she would stop what she was doing and focus on him.   I guess she found his voice soothing and you can see in the photo she is mesmerized.

Kimberly and I spent some time doing some sewing and monogramming for Chloe.  Kimberly made her a Texas Tech tutu and monogrammed her a onesy so she will have something to wear in Austin to show her support for the Red Raiders. 

Kim also monogrammed her a lacrosse onesy to wear to her Daddy's lacrosse games.

I made Chloe a few little outfits that she can hopefully wear for a little while.  

I've got more material and more patterns so I will fill more days with more sewing in the weeks to come.  Just call me Shorty Wang.

Random Tidbits

Chloe, and Kimberly too, came for a visit last week.  We had such a good time.  Chloe entertained us all. 

We took her out to eat at Sam's Boat overlooking Clear Lake.   And we drove to Galveston but it was way too hot so we didn't stay.  Did I mention we are in the middle of an extreme heat wave?   The temp has in the upper 90's but when you throw in our humidity we have heat index temperatures of 107-109. 

We spent time in the pool just chillin.  Chloe really liked the water and she wore her itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini that her Great Aunt Devonn sent her. 

We didn't want to see them go home but Chloe needed to see her Daddy.  We can't wait until the next visit.

 

On a sad note, Josh's beloved dog of 15 years had to be put down.  Raider was more than just a pet to the family, he was our families "Marley".  It was a very hard day but we all knew the day was coming and it was definately time.  The family  has tons of funny stories about Raider's adventures.  He was one in a million.

Update:

We helped Josh move back to Houston from Austin.  He took a job advancement that required him to move and he is settled in his new place. 

2 Weeks in a Nutshell

July came in with a bang and the month is only half over.  A slowdown doesn't look like it will happen any time soon.

My mom came to visit at the end of June.  It was pretty weather when she arrived.  We drove to Austin so she could meet her Great Granddaughter Chloe and see Josh's home.  It was a quick trip but all went well.

The next day the feeder bands from Hurricane Alex started delivering rain to the Houston area.  We were spared the hurricane but got some much needed rain.  Rain is always welcome but then you have to deal with the mosquitoes and they are terrible!!!

My mom's flight was due to leave on Friday but many planes were delayed and/or grounded in other places so her plane didn't make it so she was rescheduled for Saturday (wish the airline would have told us before we got her and her luggage checked).  She did make it home safe and sound.

On Sunday the 4th, we had a few of Craig's work comrades and their wives over plus 2 couples Craig knows from other functions plus our dear friends/travel buddies Albert and Laurie.  Everyone swam, ate and swam some more.  Craig out did himself by smoking ribs and brisket for the event. They were delicious!  I think everyone had a good time. 

The next weekend one of Craig's work buddies call to say he had caught a bunch of saltwater trout and wanted to know if Craig would fry them up.  We had 2 couples over for the fish fry which was the perfect for the amount of fish.  We didn't get to enjoy the outdoors because by now the mosquitoes have taken over so we sat inside under the air conditioner.

This week I made a move in my Real Estate business.  I switched to a new broker.  I am now with TEXdot  Realtors.  I am very excited and can't wait to get my business up and running again; new website, new email, new signs, new business cards, everything.  It will take a while to get it all organized but it won't take long...hopefully.

Finally, our son Josh has taken a new position with the company he works for and will be moving back to Houston.  Josh and I have spent the past 2 days looking for a place for him to lease.  We were successful.  He has found a very nice townhouse and will be moving in a week.  Now all we have to do is get the house he owns leased.

That's it...the past 2 weeks in a nutshell.