Back on the Boat!

Today was odd for Chicago.... the sun was out and it was HOT!! Wow... could the weather finally be shaping up?  We packed a little picnic and  headed off to the boat! Corbin and Ally joined us, and it was a perfect day.

Well, it was a little gusty and choppy at the end, but, I'm not complaining. No, not at all..

In all the fun of today, I didn't forget it was Memorial Day. My Mom and I went last night after the storms finally passed and planted flowers at the cemetery. It was so muddy, I felt and looked like a mud wrestler. But the graves looked nice when we were done.

 Then this morning, before we left for the city, I wanted to fly the flag to honor those who are or have served our country. So, I got Mark to mount another bracket on my porch for my flag. I had one, but something...or someone nibbled it off.

 Seriously, who or what did that???

A BLOG SLACKER...

That would be me.

I'd like to tell you I have a good excuse, but, I don't.

Well, maybe I do...I've been working hard, spending money... not just me... us.

If you've happened by, you might have noticed the extreme scaffolding we had running up the north side of our house. Quite an elaborate get up eh?

See, we had to have a new chimney, from the roof up. So we had to hunt up a bricklayer, pick out brick and I NEEDED Chimney pots.

What are Chimney Pots, you might ask?  First noticed them in Europe, and decided, we really needed them. I'm quite pleased with them.

I told you they were cool!  They added something to the old shack, don't you think?

Then, there's the hot tub, I picked up... ah yeah... I told you it's been cha-ching lately.  More on that later....

I was in Houston last week. It was HOT and I mean hot; well into the 90's. Delightful. We had a fun week, eating, music, dancing, drinking...ending with an afternoon at the beach.

Well, first we ventured to Kemah, which is kind of a touristy spot, and wandered about.

After we left there, we attempted to follow the coast for a while and ran across something I've never seen before. A 'dumping' ground of oyster shells... tons and tons.

This isn't the best picture, but, you get the idea. Then we headed down to Galveston Island for a stroll on the beach. Wow, sunshine and heat...something the gloomy midwest is lacking.

Note that I'm holding my empty Frozen strawberry lemonade glass from McDonald's... I'm addicted.  It's the perfect beach, pool, boat drink.

As always, Houston was fun... what's not to like about dinner out every night, a loft apartment, and none of life's little irritations?  I spent a good portion of the week working on a new little project that I'm currently obsessed with, here's a little peek.... more on that later too.

But, as always, all good things must end.  So, we caught a mid Friday afternoon flight home.  I sat next to an extremely tall ex basketball star, Clyde Drexler. He was very nice, and even offered to share his diet coke with me! I couldn't help compare his HUGE hand to my little one... slyly of course, I didn't want to appear weird....

Came home to a mess in my house...Corbin, could you pick up a little???? And the hot tub churning heat into the air. We haven't gotten the cover yet, we had to have it made, so I ordered a solar cover for the interim time, it arrived yesterday, so that greeted us. At least that'll hold the heat until the big cover comes.

We got into it yesterday and it was delightful!! I can see a lot of time spent in there. Time that should be spent doing other important things...... like blogging!

MOTHER'S DAY....

I had a nice one. All 3 of my kids remembered!

From Corbin, I got an awesome plant.

From Scarlett I got this darling bowl and frame.

And from Jessica I got this adorable little doll,  of course I had the perfect chair for her!!

Pretty good haul huh? And, from Mark, of whom I am NOT his mother (but sometimes feel like I am) I got a bracelet, a scarf, a jacket and an HOUR long massage.

Wow.

And, he took us all, including my mom out to dinner in Chicago. It was fun to have everyone there. (Although we were missing Blain and Ally) but, it was very nice none the less!

Other than that, our weekend was spent working on the yard and the deck. See, I bought a hot tub, and it necessitated a little deck repair and some pressure washing.

Before....

and after....

Now, I just happened to know of a company who does this... Backyard Solutions. Not only is the workman handsome, but he also does a FAB job.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN.....

We've had a busy, busy week... driving back and forth to Waukegan, working on the boat. Love the boat, do NOT love the 'readying' of the boat.

 This year, in addition to the painting of the bottom, waxing the outside, scrubbing the dirty winterness off, installing a new fan and Mark contorting himself to try to address the water system, we reupholstered the cushions.

And this, of course, necessitated redoing the pillows, and getting a new rug. Which I did find and order, and am anxious to get!

 Mark took the week off... this was NOT even close to vacation...so don't mistake it as one.  We were either in Waukegan, or he was sequestered in the living room working 'remotely' on something job oriented, or on a conference call, sometimes even while at the boat. 

All week we watched the weather, and decided......

......today was the day!!

Yesterday, we headed into Chicago, picked up our passes and parked our car. We were verklempt to discover our parking for the season isn't as convenient as it had been. The city is redoing our parking garage, and we now have to walk a block. Not a big deal, unless you are carrying a lot of stuff..which we often do. Funny how there is a lot of eating and drinking on that boat. But, it is what it is.  We found the new garage, and caught the train up to Waukegan, spent the night and headed over to the harbor this morning.

Our 'set sail' time was 9 am... we were actually there early, and ready to go. The boat was not.

  So, in spite of the uncharacteristic earliness of us this morning, we got a late start.

Headed out at 10:15... made it to Chicago in 5 1/2 hours! It was sunny, windy, and fairly warm. Actually pretty much perfect for an early season sail. Except for the storm that brewed up just North of Chicago, and trailed us...

 eventually dropping a few raindrops on us, and some gusty winds, but nothing to dreadful.

We found our buoy, and I attempted to bring us into it... and after a couple false tries did get us there.

I planned to take a bunch of photos... but... I also planned to make a living as an artist... so much for my plans.


...the season has begin!

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

We ran to scenic Waukegan today, that's where our boat is in dry dock.  Mark had some things to do, to begin readying it for the big sail to Chicago later in the week.  In addition to all the stuff we took off it last fall, we also took the finished reupholstered cushions.

Here's the love seat

and the V-berth. (That's a sun spot, not a bleach spot!)

They look pretty good, even if I do say so myself.

The sofa side, has the cushions done, but not the back; it won't take too long, we just needed to see something on the boat to figure out the stripes.  After that, I need to address the pillows.  And order a rug.  There is much to be done yet. What I am sitting here doing this, when I should be working.....

Speaking of should be's, I should have been in Florida this weekend... somehow THAT didn't work out.  I could use a beach vacation, and NOT in Waukegan.