Sailing haircut......

My short but terribly thick hair seems to grow so quickly......

Lately it's been "fuzzy".  Time for a change. 

Duane suggested I let him loose with the #4 guard on the clippers we use to trim his hair.

I declined.  Not quite ready for a full "buzz".

I snapped a "selfie" before I went into the beauty shop.

Viola!  She used a #8 guard for all the hair except she hand-shaped the bangs.   It's incredibly light and easy....perfect for windy sailing in the Bahamas!!

Tie-dye Shirts for the trip!!

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone this time, so I'll go on and show you the tie-dye shirts for the upcoming sailing trip!  If you're inclined, you can see previous tie-dye escapades here - BVI 2008  -  St. Martin 2009 -  Bahamas  2010.  I guess I got lazy in 2012 when we went back to BVI....no shirts that year!

The boat we're chartering is called "Island Girl".....which, if you've been paying attention, is also the name of our own boat!

Remember when we sailed to Ocracoke over Easter, Richard and Miranda gave me the blue shirt printed with "Island Girl"?   Well, Sharon got the great idea to buy  the "Island Girl" shirts  in white - but this time to tie-dye for our charter trip!

4 shirts for the 4 girls.

Supplies ready - shirts freshly washed and soaked with  soda ash.

You know the drill....for a "spiral", just start a twist....

And work it until it's all twisted.

Put on rubber bands to keep it all together and help with your dye "quadrants".

Then simply start squirting copious amounts of dye on the quadrants, one by one.

Blue, pink and purple.....I know, it looks messy.....but the end result will be fun and unique!

All done!

Rinsed once and set out to dry in the sun.

And here's a closeup of the finished shirt - washed and dried several times now.  Will be fun to get a photo of all 4 girls together!  

Happiness

No photos today....just me rambling....

The "big" questions - like "why are we here" and "what is the purpose of it all" interest and confound me. 

So, I was delighted to see the answers on CNN !! 

Apparently, the answers were there all along....most notably 5000 years ago in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

"Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man, they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man."

And surprise, surprise - Ecclesiastes 9 pretty much sums it up the same way:

 Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.   Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your  fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

So, there you have it......The Meaning of Life.....eat good food, dance, be merry, cherish your loved ones and be sure to wash yourself and keep your clothes clean!!!  

 

More rainy day....

I told you it was a rainy day!!! 

In the afternoon, I had a "flurry" of activity at the airport.  I had a helicopter fly when it had gotten particularly misty.  We'd seen that helicopter before - it was carrying one of the owners of the Carolina Panthers!  

And about the same time, I had someone pull a fuel trailer in needing to by 300 gallons of Avgas.

I went out to help him pump the fuel....and it was misty/rainy.  So, I wore a jacket but didn't think too much about it.

It takes 10-15 minutes to pump 300 gallons of avgas.....and in that amount of time, the skies opened up!

I think I should have put on a raincoat!  I was drippy wet!

Rainy days!

I know you think I've fallen off the face of the earth....but we're just not doing anything all that interesting right now!  Just chores at home, getting ready for our big Bahamas sailing trip. 

Too much rain lately for my taste!  Here's the airport this afternoon......hazy/foggy just looking across the runway.

EEEWWWW - Bug Candy

The MOST FUN folks on the boat volunteered to play my favorite group card-game - rummy.....that is, Sharon, Miranda and Richard. 

Amazingly, we didn't have a pack of cards on the boat!  So, we made a quick trip to the store before closing time to pick up a pack.

None of that is terribly interesting but was the lead-in to what we found next .....  as we were walking down the candy aisle.....


Real crickets.

A caterpillar  in a lollipop

And ants in a lollipop.

No, I did NOT partake.  I would if I was on a deserted island.  But not on Ocracoke!

Oh, and Richard won the rummy game handily!

More Ocracoke trip

Richard & Miranda had gotten a "kite" assisted fishing rig.....and they wanted to try it out.  The theory is that you attach your fishing line (hook and bait) to the kite.   Fly the kite out over the water, then use a trigger to release the bait far out in the ocean.

Well, he proved that it would work - but the wind was blowing the wrong way so no fishing!  All the fishies are safe for now!

In the meantime, we just relaxed on the beach - Miranda and Sharon stretching out on a blanket.  Note Duane asleep on the sand (he's the black dot to the left of Miranda!)

Miranda snapped one of those  ever-elusive photos of Karen!  Beautiful day and good company!

Ocracoke trip

New post over at the sailing blog!

Kids from Endurance Seafood in Oriental, NC

I've posted several photos of the son's of the owner of Endurance Seafood over the years.  Their property adjoins the Pecan Grove Marina - so I've seen them grow up along the shoreline. 

We've also bought ultra-fresh seafood from them on occasion.

Yesterday, we stopped by, tempted by the "Fresh Oysters" sign at the road.

One of the son's (I think he's the youngest in the previous photos) helped again to haul out and weigh our oysters.  Then he introduced us to the parrot.  Cool- he/she says "HELLO" loudly and unbelievably clearly!  I thought I got a video, but I apparently forgot to turn it on!

My "bounty"!

And just because I enjoy seeing such wholesome young men....here are a few of the past photos I've posted of them thru the past 8 or 9 years!