right now

right now

Jun 13, 2012

Lotsa weekend photos!

I haven't been out in the garden since finding the dreaded water spots on the tomatoes, looks like I have the privilege of entertaining both early and late blight at the same time, ugh.  It's a jungle out there, but I will be able to share photos of a harvest soon, the beans are flowering!  I'm counting on beans and squash at least right now :)

Getting away from the garden started with an early Friday morning walk, by myself, down at the beach.  Being alone is so nice sometimes, just me and my flip flops, not carrying bags of sand toys, boogie boards, coolers, towels or any of that other stuff that "the family" requires.


I admonished some tourists that were letting their kids play in the dune grass, clearly posted I might add... I'm definitely not the right person to serve as a gracious host to tourists :)


Back home by 9 am it was time to make a fruit platter for a BBQ we were going to Friday evening.  I've never made a fruit platter before so I had a little fun with it, posting random photos of my coconut splitting adventures on Facebook to see if anyone was worried about me home alone and would send rescue vehicles if I needed them.  

No, I didn't really use that knife.  I admit though that I was regretting telling hubby a firm "no" the last time he went on his rant about how much a machete would enrich his life.  I think I know what this year's Christmas gift for him will be.  I did succeed in making a nice dent in the front of my stainless fridge where I thought that would be a grand place to slam it down and split it.  Um, no - the cement outside worked better.



I call this my IKEA hack coconut, who knew those allen keys would be so useful for draining coconut?



Success!



Voila!  I was amazed at how much fruit all the kiddos ate that evening!  Why won't they just eat a regular piece of fruit without all the hoopla?




The next day we went to OpSail 2012.  We have a yearly festival of tall ships that congregate here and it's lots of fun and a great learning adventure.  The photo I posted the other day with the tall ships at the beach was taken while they were just entering the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and headed to moor at the festival, I just happened to be at the beach that evening.

The kids' first ride on "The Tide", our new light rail system that took us downtown Norfolk.  They thought it was pretty cool, and we "rode the Tide" all the way to the festival, no parking headaches, no traffic.


Some photos taken onboard the tall ships that day -




Coast Guard tall ship "Eagle" - this is still used as a trainer and I feel good knowing that our military can still read maps the old fashioned way :)




Hubby has a fascination with rope and knot work, so I snapped a bunch of photos in hopes of editing them a bit for some artwork around the house, since I'm too cheap to buy artwork :)







I really like old wood on boats... to me it is intriguing how much these boards have seen.  Others there were staring at me like I'd gone mad, squatting down to photograph the deck!






One of the ships was signing on "crew" for a South Pacific adventure, this old pirate ship looked like it would barely make it down the east coast let alone around the world - hubby had his first taste of age related discrimination when he found out he was "too old" LOL!  Of course he grumbled a bit about the fact that he's physically fit and already is a sailor.... blah, blah, poor guy!



Here's the kitchen on the ship he wants to be on :)



Here is the ship under full sail.  There is another voyage he can sign up for to the South Pacific that he is eligible for on this ship, for the sum of $38,000!  Uh, huh.  It's more likely that he'll be getting his fix soon enough onboard the aircraft carrier, where he will actually get paid LOL.


It looks way more seaworthy in this photo that it did onboard haha!  Seriously though, it was a really cool ship!

Other parts of the festival commemorated the War of 1812, which had significant battles here and it's the 200th anniversary.  Basically it meant there were lots of poor souls dressed up in full garb in 95ยบ temps trying their best to entertain!

Here Loch and Finn are learning to make 2 ply and 3 ply braided rope.  You can see from Finn's face how hot and sticky it was that day.



It stayed very hot all weekend but we were able to salvage Sunday evening for a little trip out to Back Bay to enjoy the evening breeze.


Not much else for now, it rained all day yesterday and I have a week full of dentist appointments, Cub Scout stuff and school awards ceremonies.  Can you believe the kids are still in school here?  Enough already!!!

20 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a great time. I bet that poor woman in the period piece outfit was ready to melt. Glad those fashions are over. And where is the button I click to order the fruit tray. Not seeing it anywhere :)

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    1. Jane, the worst was the guys dresses in wigs and the long coats, one guy had a floor length wool coat and cape on! That fruit tray was crazy fun but expensive LOL, now I know why they cost so much at the store, there's no local fruit here except berries :)

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  2. Looks lovely. I keep hoping to send a kid on the tall ships that go from Washington state to southern CA -- I hear they can get a job starting at 15. . . The garden will do well because of the break you're taking. A rested gardener is a happy one. And the fruit plate looks like lots more fun than regular fruit, so of course they'd eat it.

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    1. Stefaneener, I am definitely having a "break" kind of year in the garden this year, just waiting for the next insect and disease free summer to roll around LOL

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  3. Glad you were able to get out and enjoy the beach by yourself. Sometimes that's just the thing a mommy needs.

    Ditto Jane's comment about the period clothes. I can't imagine wearing something like that 100 years ago in Florida. CRAZY!

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    1. Dani, next time I will bring a book though :)

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  4. Looks like a grand time! I remember going to some or another pirate festival and crawling around on all the tall ships. Too much fun.
    And your fruit platter looks amazing! We always used a drill on coconuts and then a large hammer and a railroad spike.

    Judy

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    1. Judy, I made it a point to not do the drill, it's an honor thing bahahahaha!

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  5. The fact that you actually called it "garb" makes me suspicious that you have done your fair share of historical reenactment... Looks like you guys had a great time.

    Tip: maybe a band saw would be a better gift for the husband, it should make quick work of a coconut too.

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  6. AnywhereEden, LOL actually reenactment stuff kind of gives me the creeps, but hubby loves all that junk and would love to drag me to a Renaissance Fair hahaha!

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  7. We went to an event in Bremerhaven (Germany) once and got to see many different ships. Old, new, large, small and outrageously expensive ones, but we weren't allowed on any of them. :-( We would have loved to explore some of the older ones...
    Your fruit tray looks amazing by the way! Do you cater? ;-)

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    1. Anke, it was pretty fun, and I think even more fun for the kiddos :)

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  8. ha'e matey,did you meet black beard anywhere ,I'm sure he was there lurking.you always take such good shots ,I guess your not using a disposable--lol,shiver me timbers

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    1. judy, nope not a disposable but almost as bad, it's just one of those little PowerShots auto focus deals - I would love to have a nice camera and learn how to use it but I have to know when to say when and admit that I have neither the time nor money for that LOL!

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  9. Your fruit tray looked amazing! Love the tall ships but boy the kids look hot! I can only imagine how hot those poor people in full costume must have been.
    Last night my daughter and I were taking pictures of a ceiling where the son was having his violin recital. People must have thought we were a bit strange but heck you don't see ceilings like that anymore.

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    1. Sparkless, egads it was hot! And I totally would have taken photos of the ceiling too LOL

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  10. That fruit tray was a work of Art! Amazing! I want one! I love the photographs of the ropes/knots. Isn't it something how much beauty there is in ordinary things? Wonderful photographs.

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    1. Susan, thanks! I too just love ordinary things, I have also been seen 3 inches away from a tree photographing just the bark LOL

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  11. Okay, I've gotta ask: why can't kids play in dune grass? Is it a fragile ecosystem or are there scary, biting creepy-crawlies in it?

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    1. yep, the dune grasses are what "hold the beach", without them hurricanes and tides would wipe out our beach areas!

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