We are official dogsitting for some of our neighbors! It is really cool because I get paid a bit and I haven't been able to do that since I had Abi and decided to stay home to raise children 7 years ago! The kids LOVE it! Aaron would really love to have his own dog so this is especially nice for him. Our new charge is, Munchee, an affectionate dachshund. Munchee's owner is out of town 3 days a week. He gets along fine with Miguel - although I think Migsy could really rather do without him being around at all.

Another dog that we watch sometimes is Gigi! She is a tiny 3lb, 3 month old Chua Chua. We took her trick or treating with us which was fun. She is not really leash trained yet - pulls this way and that so it is interesting to take her out.

All the dog watching has gotten us off the boat quite a bit and out walking. Great exercise for me. We took Munchee hiking with us.

In addition to the dogs we look after, there are 9 other dogs in this marina and the kids have enjoyed passing out bones to all of them whenever we have some left over from stew or casserole.

Maybe we can offer our dog walking services in the Caribbean! A lot of people have dogs on boats that need walking.

Meet our new turtle.... Erin

It's quite a bit bigger than Tammy. They are happy together in the tank. Erin is the same kind as Tammy, a Florida Yellow bellied Slider. Neither one of them eat turtle food. They only eat shrimp and romaine lettuce. We were advised not to give them iceberg lettuce because it contains traces of arsenic! Apparently not a problem for humans in such small quantities but possibly dangerous for turtles.

Lately I have been at a loss as to what to write about. We aren't exactly cruising now and we are still months away from moving back onto Yebo. Living on a houseboat rental is well, like being in a house again. We have a regular size fridge and oven. No bath tubs though - too bad! I don't even feel right calling anything by boat names. It doesn't feel right to call it a salon when it is a living room or a galley when it looks just like a kitchen! We have a dining table , a sofa and a rocking chair. None of these are fixed. The rocker gets going when a north wind blows but other than that you wouldn't know you are on a boat from the inside. Sure we walk outside - not "on deck", just out the sliding glass door to an area with another table and 4 chairs, full sized bbq, turtle tank, vacuum cleaner - I guess it is our garage,....anyway we see the water from here but also all our neighbors. The other side, the back, I guess the aft deck?? It is open to the cove and quite pretty.

Yesterday I was chatting to a friend on the phone in PC, Fl. She was at the beach and spotted a dolphin. Precisely 2 minutes later we spotted some wildlife too - a snake in the river! Not as exciting as a dolphin but who am I to complain? We have seen countless dolphins and sea creatures these last few years. I guess I just miss them. I miss the salt air and the sound of the ocean. I miss the call of the gulls. I miss the feeling of going out there and not knowing what to expect or what the next port will be like, the adventure of it. I miss the peaceful feeling that I get when I am with my family and my family alone and no other outside distractions and we are sailing along with dolphins off our bow. Not a care about the frivolous things in life that seem to always nag at me when I have too much time in a marina and the kids are involved in activities with land based kids. Priorities get lost when in a marina too long because there is no other way around it. Everywhere you look you are surrounded by influences, people or things. At sea, that all goes right out the porthole and it is the most wonderful burden free ride! - when you aren't seasick of course!

So the constant struggle for us while we prepare another boat is keeping focused on our dreams, which are not just for travel and adventure but very important life choices for us. We want to be free from the strains of society, to expose our kids to a world with different people and cultures and a tolerance for the many religions that people put their faith in. We want our children to learn about the real values in life, such as relationships, love and kindness and to realize that materialism and greed only takes our focus off what is important in life. To expose our kiddos to more than just one town, one city, one county, one state, one country and give them a sense of connection to all the world and the natural life that inhabit it. Life is short and we should enjoy every moment.

An older gentleman I was friends with died a week ago. He was the laundry mat man and I saw him every week for over a year. He'd often ask about the boat and Justin, even though he had never met Justin. He saw all of Justin's work clothes go in the washer each week. He was a kind man and had a wonderful family, lots lof kids and grandkids. He liked Abi and Aaron very much and teased them a lot. When he went to hospital it wasn't unusual because he had congestive heart failure some years ago and been sick for a while, in and out of hospital, since we've been here. When I saw, "Granny", his wife, this week, I asked her if he was home yet and she told me he died last Saturday. Now this just kind of surprised me. He was sick I know, but he just never seemed sicked. He always looked so full of life to me and was fit and able. I became tearful anyway after she left. There was a man there doing my friend's job, repairing the washers and it just seemed wrong. I don't know if it is because he was one of those people that was genuine and kind and the sort of fellow that restores your faith in humanity or because it made me realise my own mortality but I was and am a bit sad about it all. We choose boat life because we want to be a close family and the boat represents freedom to us to do what we want. We want to live life to the fullest and this loss of my friend reminded me to be doing that whether I am out sailing with my precious crew or whether I am at the dock for a time preparing to go again. Each day is a blessing to have and I am thankful to have known my friend, "Grandad".
C

 

 

 

Wow! We are blogging now! I hope this will make things easier for me making regular updates. I will try to add photos but I don't think I will be able to upload as many here!

Feel free to let me know what you think of the change. Should we keep it, should we go back to the way things were? New ideas?

Okay well off to make my first proper blog!