First I'd like to say that Fiz did remarkably well during and post surgery. She's back to normal minus a back canine. We both thank-you for your well wishes!
Exciting NEWS!!! We are now the proud owners of a sailboat, a Nonsuch 33 named “Catalyst”. Maybe the word ‘now’ should be changed for the word ‘finally’ because realizing this dream has been a long haul. Through a series of wrong timing and sometimes bad luck our ducks were never in a row. Over the last three years, boats listed that seemed to be too good to be true, proved to be just that elevating our hopes and then dashing them. But at long last, our dream has come to fruition and we couldn’t be more excited at the prospect of a summer on the water.
For such a momentous occasion, we decided to host a party Saturday evening to sailebrate. At long last we are giving berth to a sailing vessel and quite frankly, it’s aboat time!
I haven’t thrown a party for a very long while. We sail by anniversaries and birthdays without a blink, just another day we say, but this boat represents a new lifestyle and deserves a proper launch. It was fun dragging out all my fancy serving dishes and doing a spot of decorating. I bought a red, blue and yellow boatquet of flowers, about as nautical as flowers can be. I put painted wood buoys on the table boasting nautical flair and found the most delightful navy material with waves running across it for a table cloth, which might end up as curtains below deck. I had napkins with anchors on them that were the perfect match for the material. Hubby hung his burgees from various yacht clubs he has joined in his fifty years of sailing so the room was well appointed with marine flavour.
The house was pretty clean due to Larry’s regular swabbing so the place was ship shape which allowed me to concentrate on the food. This was the first party we’ve had in several years so I went all out. The galley island was covered in dishes heaped with grub and so was the dining room table. I kept hauling appetizers out of the oven and trays from the refrigerator and there were groans at the overabundance but you know what they say about seafood, you see it you eat it. There wasn’t much left, thankfully they all stepped up to the plate and emptied them. I’ll bet there were a few Tums consumed later that night, after they opened their belts or put on comfy, loose fitting clothes.
I’m the kind of gal that goes all the way; it’s the cut of my jib. I attack any job with everything I have and this boat, a major purchase and the new lifestyle that will accompany it, was deserving of a proper nod to our cruising future from Mahone Bay harbour and ports beyond.
My sailor hubby that I will now have to refer to as Captain hubby, and me, his first mate, with our four salty dog crew, are going to sail every day the sun is smiling, cruising the local waters. I predict, she’ll be the most used boat in the Bay! I’m going to learn the ropes, pardon the pun and sail her on my own. I’m pretty handy and if I can master the motorcycle I can take on a sailboat. If at any time I get into trouble, such as heading towards the rocky shoreline at 6 plus knots, I can dump the sail and power out of danger. All I need to do is keep her off the shoals, reefs, bars, spits and shores, stay between the navigation marks and monitor the depth gage, heck, how hard can it be?
I love being on the water, rocking to the motion of the waves. I think it harkens back to the days I floated in my mother’s womb because when on board a boat, I curl and sleep like a baby. I’ve always responded to movement, especially swinging; as a child I’d climb so high I kicked the clouds. I get the same feeling slicing through the water, the sail harnessing the wind, driving the hull forward, heeling over to the press of the gust, what a rush. If I close my eyes I can taste the salt air, feel the breeze in my thinning hair, I can hardly wait for the summer to begin. Maybe there was a mermaid ancestor in the family tree that passed down seafarer DNA....that would explain the webbed toes and the hint of gills under my hairline, but that’s quite a tail.......
There was the threat of another winter’s storm interfering with our celebration but we kept an eye on the weather and hoped our guests would come and go before it hit. Those that could make it arrived in good cheer and because this is Lunenburg County they all gathered around the kitchen island and stayed there.....it’s a standing joke....
The favourite nosh was the bacon wrapped scallops made from scratch so I could use the bacon I like best and a generous sized, fresh scallop. The boxed ones usually taste like smoked cardboard wrapped around a thawed, rubbery, hint of one. I couldn’t fathom serving those to our friends!
We had super large shrimp from Costco that didn’t last long. I have these great shrimp cocktail servers that hadn’t been used in twenty plus years. I used to love to entertain and use my specialty dishes but life is so busy now with a shop to run and four dogs to raise there is little time for fancy fluff.
We bought a couple of thin crust pizzas from Michaels in Lunenburg. I reheated them to make the bottoms crisp, put a bit extra topping on them and then served them in thin wedges. Those were really popular and made the house smell like Italian heaven. Costco has fresh made vegetable, spring rolls and there was a lot of double dipping in the plum sauce.
There was a homemade artichoke dip, a nice hot appetizer and mini quiches in phyllo pastry...tasty! Mary made her famous salsa and guacamole. I make a grape spread with red and green grapes, orange rind, pecans, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and cilantro that looks fabulous and tastes even better, recipe below. I had a fruit tray and a veggie tray, the fruit was devoured but no one touched the veggies...it reminded me of that TV ad, lie to your kids when they ask, "is this a vegetable?" I guess a party lets you off the hook for eating healthy. For a closer, I served eight different squares from Lahave Bakery that I cut into quarters for bite sized pieces as an end of evening sweet.
We were all respectable, no one rocked the boat. Even with an open bar we stayed high and dry, no one got three sheets to the wind. I even had a few celebratory drinks, let my thin hair down for a change.
The snow held off until 10:30 and by then everyone had left except Chris & Tina. We talked boat because they just purchased a Nonsuch 30 called Felina. A beautiful sight, the Nonsuch boats with their wishbone rig. A lot of retirees lean toward this design because they are easy to sail and race, are well-built and are stately below for comfortable living on the water. On Sunday, hubby and I spent the afternoon perusing the NS Nonsuch Association Site and although it looks like age spots might be a perquisite to joining, hubby and I can grow into them. There's nothing wrong with being the youngest, old farts there. This year’s annual meeting is at the Lunenburg Yacht Club the early part of September, and that will serve as our meet and greet of the members. I wonder if I will find any rug hookers among them. I plan to do a lot of rug hooking aboard our boat and we’ll be taking out hooking friends for jaunts on the water.
For such a momentous occasion, we decided to host a party Saturday evening to sailebrate. At long last we are giving berth to a sailing vessel and quite frankly, it’s aboat time!
I haven’t thrown a party for a very long while. We sail by anniversaries and birthdays without a blink, just another day we say, but this boat represents a new lifestyle and deserves a proper launch. It was fun dragging out all my fancy serving dishes and doing a spot of decorating. I bought a red, blue and yellow boatquet of flowers, about as nautical as flowers can be. I put painted wood buoys on the table boasting nautical flair and found the most delightful navy material with waves running across it for a table cloth, which might end up as curtains below deck. I had napkins with anchors on them that were the perfect match for the material. Hubby hung his burgees from various yacht clubs he has joined in his fifty years of sailing so the room was well appointed with marine flavour.
The house was pretty clean due to Larry’s regular swabbing so the place was ship shape which allowed me to concentrate on the food. This was the first party we’ve had in several years so I went all out. The galley island was covered in dishes heaped with grub and so was the dining room table. I kept hauling appetizers out of the oven and trays from the refrigerator and there were groans at the overabundance but you know what they say about seafood, you see it you eat it. There wasn’t much left, thankfully they all stepped up to the plate and emptied them. I’ll bet there were a few Tums consumed later that night, after they opened their belts or put on comfy, loose fitting clothes.
I’m the kind of gal that goes all the way; it’s the cut of my jib. I attack any job with everything I have and this boat, a major purchase and the new lifestyle that will accompany it, was deserving of a proper nod to our cruising future from Mahone Bay harbour and ports beyond.
My sailor hubby that I will now have to refer to as Captain hubby, and me, his first mate, with our four salty dog crew, are going to sail every day the sun is smiling, cruising the local waters. I predict, she’ll be the most used boat in the Bay! I’m going to learn the ropes, pardon the pun and sail her on my own. I’m pretty handy and if I can master the motorcycle I can take on a sailboat. If at any time I get into trouble, such as heading towards the rocky shoreline at 6 plus knots, I can dump the sail and power out of danger. All I need to do is keep her off the shoals, reefs, bars, spits and shores, stay between the navigation marks and monitor the depth gage, heck, how hard can it be?
I love being on the water, rocking to the motion of the waves. I think it harkens back to the days I floated in my mother’s womb because when on board a boat, I curl and sleep like a baby. I’ve always responded to movement, especially swinging; as a child I’d climb so high I kicked the clouds. I get the same feeling slicing through the water, the sail harnessing the wind, driving the hull forward, heeling over to the press of the gust, what a rush. If I close my eyes I can taste the salt air, feel the breeze in my thinning hair, I can hardly wait for the summer to begin. Maybe there was a mermaid ancestor in the family tree that passed down seafarer DNA....that would explain the webbed toes and the hint of gills under my hairline, but that’s quite a tail.......
There was the threat of another winter’s storm interfering with our celebration but we kept an eye on the weather and hoped our guests would come and go before it hit. Those that could make it arrived in good cheer and because this is Lunenburg County they all gathered around the kitchen island and stayed there.....it’s a standing joke....
The favourite nosh was the bacon wrapped scallops made from scratch so I could use the bacon I like best and a generous sized, fresh scallop. The boxed ones usually taste like smoked cardboard wrapped around a thawed, rubbery, hint of one. I couldn’t fathom serving those to our friends!
We had super large shrimp from Costco that didn’t last long. I have these great shrimp cocktail servers that hadn’t been used in twenty plus years. I used to love to entertain and use my specialty dishes but life is so busy now with a shop to run and four dogs to raise there is little time for fancy fluff.
We bought a couple of thin crust pizzas from Michaels in Lunenburg. I reheated them to make the bottoms crisp, put a bit extra topping on them and then served them in thin wedges. Those were really popular and made the house smell like Italian heaven. Costco has fresh made vegetable, spring rolls and there was a lot of double dipping in the plum sauce.
There was a homemade artichoke dip, a nice hot appetizer and mini quiches in phyllo pastry...tasty! Mary made her famous salsa and guacamole. I make a grape spread with red and green grapes, orange rind, pecans, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and cilantro that looks fabulous and tastes even better, recipe below. I had a fruit tray and a veggie tray, the fruit was devoured but no one touched the veggies...it reminded me of that TV ad, lie to your kids when they ask, "is this a vegetable?" I guess a party lets you off the hook for eating healthy. For a closer, I served eight different squares from Lahave Bakery that I cut into quarters for bite sized pieces as an end of evening sweet.
We were all respectable, no one rocked the boat. Even with an open bar we stayed high and dry, no one got three sheets to the wind. I even had a few celebratory drinks, let my thin hair down for a change.
The snow held off until 10:30 and by then everyone had left except Chris & Tina. We talked boat because they just purchased a Nonsuch 30 called Felina. A beautiful sight, the Nonsuch boats with their wishbone rig. A lot of retirees lean toward this design because they are easy to sail and race, are well-built and are stately below for comfortable living on the water. On Sunday, hubby and I spent the afternoon perusing the NS Nonsuch Association Site and although it looks like age spots might be a perquisite to joining, hubby and I can grow into them. There's nothing wrong with being the youngest, old farts there. This year’s annual meeting is at the Lunenburg Yacht Club the early part of September, and that will serve as our meet and greet of the members. I wonder if I will find any rug hookers among them. I plan to do a lot of rug hooking aboard our boat and we’ll be taking out hooking friends for jaunts on the water.
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