Summer 2019

Summer 2019

We arrived home on Friday, May 3, after a brief stopover at our friends Pam and Jerry (Easton, MD) and Jim and Judy (Pasadena, MD).  We didn’t even get the car unpacked and got up the next morning and drove down to Billerica, MA, for Lisa’s sister’s marriage to Dan. The ceremony was held in their garden and was very nice.  Just family and close friends.  Lisa was the Maid-of-Honor.

L to R: Danny (Dan's son and the minister who married them), Violet, Linda, Dan, Michael and Chris (Linda's
sons), Hayden and Lisa

Then the drive back home to NH, unloaded the car and crashed.  We were greeted by the dogs (Jake and Lulu) who were overjoyed to see us.

Our house sitter of the past two years (Brett) bought a very nice condo nearby and moved out.  He had been living here with his son Dexter and the two labs (Jake and Lulu). You may remember that we rescued Jake.  We fostered him for a bit and then adopted him.  He is actually owned by Brett, but we say we have joint custody of both he and Lulu.  They spent a lot of time with us over the summer.

Rear L to R: Dexter and his sister Lanny
Front L to R: Lulu and Jake

Brett, Lanny, Dexter and Jake

One of our boating friends, Mary, lost her boat Alora.  She had 2 crew aboard and was attempting to cross from Bermuda back to the US and got caught in an unexpected storm while in the Gulf Stream.  The forward stay broke loose at the deck and the roller furling (attached to the forward stay) began swinging freely and acting like a wrecking ball.  The wind was North @ 25+ and the waves probably 6-10 feet. They issued a “Pan-Pan” (a call for assistance) and several ships responded. By the time they got aboard the container ship that came to the rescue, the top third of the mast had broken and was dangling above the deck and the roller furling “wrecking ball” had bashed the cabin house and hull many times.  As they tried to get close to the ship, the stern of Alora hit the ship and damaged the stern push pit and tore the dinghy off the davits. After 4 hours trying to board the freighter, everyone was finally safely aboard as the entire mast of Alora broke away. Mary and her crew safely made it to Norfolk. Alora was not recovered.

In June, Lisa drove back to Florida with our friend Hazel.  While helping Hazel clean her sister’s house (where she will stay over the summer with sister and brother), Lisa fell while trying to put up a ceiling fan. She hurt her sciatic nerve and her elbow.  

Lisa and Hazel

While all this was going on, Lisa had offered Mary the option to stay at our house until she got squared away.  Alora was Mary’s home, so she really did not have a place until she managed to get everything settled. Mary accepted the invitation and Lisa flew home. Once home, Lisa saw the orthopedic doctor and started physical therapy for her sciatica and her “tennis” elbow (damaged tendon).

Merrie

Mary stayed with us twice during the summer, once for 3 weeks and once for two weeks. We enjoyed her company.

After Mary’s first stay, Lisa’s regular doctor put her on prednisone for her elbow.  She was also put on Alleve (naproxen). Lisa has had issues with gastric bleeding in the past, and these two meds caused another.  We were unaware of it and one evening she passed out.  We went to the emergency room and they said that these two meds (prednisone and any nsaid (aspirin, naproxen (Alleve), ibuprofen (Advil)) should not be taken together as internal bleeding is common.

We made two trips to see doctors in Boston over the summer. One for Lisa’s annual mammogram and one to see a specialist about Lisa’s hip.  She has always thought she had a touch of arthritis.  Both her mom and her grandmother had hip replacements.  Turns out Lisa has a “spur” in her hip that is damaging the tendon.  They will go in with micro surgery and “cleanup” the bone and repair the tendon.  The condition is hereditary.  Probably what her mom and grandmother had, but they had no way to detect it in the past. Interesting……..

Summer Project

At the end of June, we were notified that one of our tenants was moving out.  They agreed supposed to leave the apartment so it could be rented immediately. Unfortunately, the paint they used to touch up did not match and the whole apartment had to be repainted.  Other repairs were also necessary, so this became our summer project.  The apartment was finally completed and rented in September.

Soon after we got home, I had what I thought was an allergy attack (runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing). This finally became a sinus infection, then a bronchial infection with an almost non-stop cough.  After several trips to the doctor, in September, I wound up at a pulmonary specialist.  She was extremely thorough going over my history.  I had xrays and CT scans and she found little wrong.  Because everything was inflamed due to the almost constant coughing, she put me on steroids and anti-histamines to stop the cough.  She also put me on protonix to stop the acid reflex, which she believes was a factor.  By the time we left Laconia, I was feeling much better and the cough was gone. 

I also had to have some dental work - a crown replaced and a filling

So, this was the summer of the medical stuff.

Terri (Canvas Maker)
 working on the pattern

Patterning the dodger

I made two trips to St. Mary’s, one in July and one in September to haul down parts, etc. and to check on the progress of the new dodger and connector pieces being made (to the existing bimini and enclosure). During the September trip, I stopped in Pasadena, MD to help Jim (Tug-a-Long) set up his new iPad.  We also made a trip across the Bay to Rock Hall, MD, for the annual Crab Festival at Haven Harbor Yacht Basin.  Lots of good food and music.  We spent the night aboard Tug-a-Long, and then headed back to Pasadena the next day.  The weather was perfect.

Lisa spent quite a bit of time working at the Salvation Army Store helping out this summer.  She enjoyed this a lot and met many interesting people. She and her friend Barbara went hiking twice and Lisa went once with her sister Linda and nephew Chris.

L to R: Barbara, Carla and Lisa
Hiking in the Whita Mountains

 She also attended her friend Dala’s 50^th Brithday Gala in Boston.

Dressed for Dala's Gala 50th Birthday Party

Loaded peach tree

Part of the vegetable garden

Part of the bounty

A lot of time was spent working in the flower and vegetable garden. The garden and fruit trees produced an abundance of fruit and vegetables, which were shared with the whole neighborhood.

In October, Dean and Susan (Autumn Borne) came to visit.  During their stay, we went to North Conway and had a nice lunch on the Scenic Railway. We also walked around the village of North Conway and visited some of the shops.  Leaf peeping season hasn’t really started (although leaves are turning color), so not a lot of people here yet.

Dean

Dean and Susan

One day we drove over to Dover, NH, and met Dalmatian (Tom and Mary Lou) for breakfast with Dean and Susan. A nice get together.

L to R: Mary Lou (Dalmatian), Benny, Lisa,
Dean and Susan (Autumn Borne), Tom (Dalmatian)

L to R: James Benny, Laura, Jeff, Lisa, Carly

Jeff (our youngest) and Carly (significant other) came from Salt Lake City for a week-long visit on August 6. While they were here, our friends Kate and Shawn and their son Ted came to visit for a couple of days.  Ted and Jeff  have been best friends since they were 2 years old.  That means these folks have been very good friends for 24 years now!

L to R: Jeff Benny, Shawn,
Ted, Kate, Lisa Carly

There is a tradition in the Bahamas, Caribbean, Hawaii (and other places as well), is to blow the conch horn at sunset to bid goodbye to the sun for another day.  Several years ago, we asked Down Time to show us how to make a the horn from the conch shell. That year we also made horns for a couple for boats we met who had kids aboard and who were lacking an appropriate horn for the daily ceremony.  The following year when we arrived in George Town, one of those boats was there and announced to the world that "Rhiannon has arrived. They make conch horns for boats with kids!"  A tradition was born.  This year we tried to get a head start on the horn making.  Normally, we request, that each boat bring a shell to replace our inventory.

Conch horns in progress

Completed horn

Our first Great Grandchild (Melissa) was born to our Granddaughter Jaimey and her husband Emir on August 7.  A very happy event and a reminder that our children are getting old. In September, we made a trip to Boston and while there stopped to visit Jaimey, Emir and Melissa.  She’s a beautiful baby!

Melissa

Lisa and I with Melissa

We also made a stop at Jim Brennan's while we were in the Boston area. We have known Jim since before James was born.  His boat was in the slip next to ours in 1984. Jim is one of the namesakes for our son James.

Jim

Benny and Jim

Our friend, neighbor and fellow boat builder, Anne (Shultz) Baerenklau, who we had known since 2003, passed away unexpectedly over the summer.  She will be missed.

Anne

We also lost  Ondra Gainey (Last Boat) this summer. We first met Nelson and Ondra in Marathon in 2012.

Ondra and Nelson

We had a great Halloween, which is probably our favorite holiday.  We go all out decorating the house.  We had over 300 kids come by!  We give out flashy rings, bracelets, necklaces and glow sticks instead of candy.  It was neat to see all the flashing lights going up and down the street.

Preparing for Haloween

Autumn sunset on Lake Winnisquam

Autumn in New Hampshire

Autumn in New Hampshire

It is now time to get out of New England, 39 degrees today. On November 5, we flew down to Jacksonville.  We were met at the airport by Nightingale (Grant and Libby), who drove us to the hotel in St. Mary’s, GA. Tomorrow we begin to get Rhiannon ready for another winter voyage.