Oh my Gosh - my dream is coming true!!!

 A little background for those who may not already know it...

For many, many, years, I have dreamed of traveling to beautiful tropical places.  (I'm just not much of a winter person.)  But for over 20 years, I was married to someone who would not do anything even remotely adventurous. It got far worse as the years when by, and toward the end, he would just barely leave the house to cruise the aisles of the grocery store. (I am NOT exaggerating here.)

My sense of adventure was so stifled for so long, that when I left that situation, I made a vow to myself that I was going to try as many new things as I could. I was going to go out and see this big beautiful world,  I was GOING to travel.  I didn't exactly know how, but I was determined to make it happen. 

Fortunately, I was introduced to sailing, and loved it.  Sailing is an wonderful way to travel, because your boat is your accommodations and your transportation.  You don't have to spend money to fly from one place to another or pay for hotel rooms. It's all right there below your feet, and - so far anyway - the wind is still free for those who chose to use it.
 

Sailing is slow, but it is also quiet and unobtrusive, so you tend to see a lot more wildlife. And you're not polluting the air or using a bunch of fossil fuel when under sail.  I was fairly sure that sailing was my best shot at travel. I was no longer going to just cruise the aisles of the grocery store, I was ready to cruise the tropical isles!  My search began,... 

Last January, I found Sid.  An electrical contractor, who was also a sailing instructor, and a certified Captain through the Coast Guard. He was looking for a companion to sail with him in the tropics.  Hmmm,...   (You'd think what he and I were looking for would be easy to find, but it is NOT.  People are not comfortable with leaving their safe jobs and comfy houses to get into a small boat and go out on that big scary ocean.) But as luck would have it, and with a little help from match.com,... we found each other.

Now, 8 months later, our joint dreams are coming to fruition.

Yesterday, we made an offer on one of the boats Sid looked at during his boat hunting trip to Florida last week. (I say WE, because I am able to qualify for the "first time home buyers" credit, and this boat will qualify, so I will get to contribute that money to the purchase of this boat. Hooray for stimulating the economy!!!)  We made a 'low ball' bid, figuring better to start too low than too high. Well, today, the owners countered, with a figure slightly higher than our bid, but still about 5K lower than we were willing to go.  So, we accepted the offer - contingent on an acceptable sea trial and survey. (That means Sid has to go down and actually SAIL it, and then it's pulled out of the water, and a boat expert does a full bow to stern survey on it looking for problems.) 

 If we are happy with both the sea trial and the survey, we sign the papers and become the owners of this beautiful Island Packet 40!

  

She is a1994, 40 feet long, with 2 nice cabins and 2 heads, (bathrooms), so that we can have company come visit and they'll be comfortable during their stay! (It can sleep up to 7 people)

 

 The boat has lots of room up above in the cockpit  for sitting around having cocktails and enjoying the warm Caribbean sunshine, and plenty of room down below for comfortable seating while visiting and eating.

Again, if all goes well with the sale, and it should,... we will have to move her to the Bahamas within 90 days, to avoid paying 5K in state sales tax.  Let's see, that would put us in the Bahamas for Christmas. 
Oh, bummer...  

I found Cindy Ward!

My sister, Jodi, recently helped me locate my childhood best friend, Cindy Ward. Cindy and I were very best friends the summer before 1st grade when I met her playin' on the tree swing at Shirly's house, until we moved from Garden Valley at the end of 7th grade.  We've not seen each other since.

Well, as luck would have it, Cindy Ward-Suzumura is living in Seattle, about an hour and a half from Anacortes where I am now living!  I have thought about Cindy sooooo much over the years, I've wanted to find her for so long, so what a thrill to finally find her, and so close by!

She does not look 50!  She still looks just the same I swear!

I'm taking Sid to the airport in Seattle on Tuesday, (He going to FL to find us a boat!), so Cindy and I are meeting for dinner and drinks!  Two childhood best friends, meeting again after 37 years. 

Oh man do we have some catching up to do! 

Three childhood friends from Garden Valley - reunited through Facebook.

Cindy Ward-Suzumura,  Linda Pogue-Harrison,  Joy McBride-Streight

Hooray for FACEBOOK!

Linda Kay Harrison - Seamstress To The Bikers

My new gig –  Biker Patch Attacher!

She Attaches Patches While U Wait!

Update from Anacortes, WA

Gracie, my african grey parrot, seems to be adjusting nicely to her new home here in Anacortes. But when I first moved to here, Sid and I both had real concerns about Grace’s safety, because one of Sid’s two cats, Scamp, is a ruthless bird killer. (Yeah, the same cat that brought that cute, fuzzy, brown -dead- mole into the bathroom!)

We thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to introduce the two of them to each other in a very controlled setting. So Sid held Scamp securely in his arms and took him over to Grace’s cage so that they could see each other.
Grace looked closely at Scamp. Scamp focused intently on Grace. You could feel the tension. Scamp could tell this was no ordinary bird, and no ordinary pet. “Why does this bird seem different than the ones out in the yard? There IS something different about this bird, but what is it???”

At that moment,… the bird spoke. This bird spoke English, like the humans! And she said,…
“Are you hungry? Want some birdie?”

Oh, that was a cheap shot! As Sid laughed in amazement, Scamp leapt to the floor and sulked off, thinking “GREAT! Not only is there a damn bird living here now, but it's gotta be a smartass too!”

Yes, Gracie has adjusted nicely, and is doing better than she has in quite a while. She’s very happy here, she has grown feathers on her chest again, and…. her red tail has even grown back!

Grace has always been very confident regarding her position in the 'pecking order' of the world around her. That is to say,… it is her belief that she holds, and deservedly so, the position of ‘alpha’ pet. (She basically feels this way about human family members as well.)

I must admit, she has always had a remarkable ability to get large predators that could squash her like a grape, to give her a wide personal space and a tremendous amount of respect. (I’m not sure she deserves that last part!)

Over the years, Grace has lived with 8 different cats, and 6 different dogs, and all of them, regardless of their initial instinct, eventually seem to kowtow to her.

For instance, the other night, Sid and I were sitting on the couch, watching a movie. His australian shepherd, Bo, was laying at our feet chewing on one of his favorite treats, a rawhide chip. For reasons unknow, Gracie climbed down the leg of her cage, walked across the floor from the dining room to the living room, walked up to Bo, TOOK the rawhide chew from his mouth, and headed back to her cage with it!

Bo was a bit taken back at first, then he looked up at us as if to say, “Hey! Can she do that?”

We were both just cracking up laughing about it, so poor Bo knew he was gonna have to take matters into his own paws and go get it himself. So he got up and walked cautiously over to the bird, who was hi-tailing it across the floor with the loot. Bo politely took one side of the chew in his mouth, “I’m sorry birdie, but I believe that is mine,” and they both stubbornly stood there tugging on it for a few seconds. Grace finally let go and casually continued back to her cage thinking, “Ah, the nasty thing smelled like dog breath anyway…” 

Meanwhile, in the other room, Scamp is quietly plotting,..."Not to worry, Bo,... Someday..., that bird will be MINE!"  Wild fantasies "flutter" through his evil little feline mind....

"Red feather? I don't see no stinking red feather!"

He is so.... NORMAL! I love our President!

Ok, I know I'm supposed to be updating my 'month in Anacortes' post... but this will only take a minute....

I LOVE that President Obama called Kenye West a "jackass"! When asked what he thought of what Kenye did, he just came out and said, "Ah, the guys a jackass." Just like that,... no 'political bullshit' - he just called it like it was. I LOVE this President!

I'm sure his 'approval rating' just shot through the roof!  LOL!!!   It did in MY opinion!
(But I already thought he was awesome!)

My first month in Anacortes

One month ago, I packed my little Kia Rio, with as much as it could possibly hold, and headed for Anacortes.

Believe it or not, I got a large parrot cage and stand, a clothes hamper, a small computer table, my laptop, a box of books, my sewing machine and large chest full of sewing supplies, along with all my clothes, coats, shoes, and my parrot Gracie, all in/on that little car.

So let me tell you about my new roommates. Sid has 2 cats, Scamp and Sarge, (Sergeant Pepper), and a 6 month old Australian Shepherd, named Bo, (Mr. Bojangles). Sarge is a grumpy ol’ fart that has terrible allergies and sneezes cat snot everywhere. Scamp is pretty cool, (for a cat), but is a stealthy hunter which is kinda sad. (He has caught everything from quail to humming birds!) Then you add my prema-donna parrot to that mix, and you have my new home.

With all these animals, there are toys everywhere. So the day I got here, I went into the bathroom to take a pee, and I’m sitting there on the toilet, and I look down and see this cute little toy beside my foot. At first I thought was a mouse, then I realized it was supposed to be a mole because he had those funny little feet and that weird nose that moles have. He was very cute. He looked so real and he had soft looking brown fur. So I reached over and picked him up. He was soft, and very real looking.  Well made and obviously still new, he hadn’t been chewed up and mangled yet. I walked past the mole about an hour later, and decide to see if he was a squeaky toy. I picked him up again and squeezed him, no squeak, but he DID feel like he was filled with some sort of ‘gel’ tho, which was creepy feeling, so I dropped him back on the floor and walked off.

Later that evening, Sid came out of the bathroom and said, “Hey, did you see Scamps latest catch?”

“What catch?”

“The mole,… Scamp caught a mole. How do you suppose he got that?”

- stunned silence from me -

“ A real mole? That was a REAL, dead mole???”

“Yea, so you saw it? And you just left it there on the floor?”

“AAaaahhhh!!!!!”    I ran to the sink and began washing my hands.

“EEeeewwwww!!! I thought it was a TOY! I even squeezed it to see if it squeaked!!!”

I scrubbed furiously....

I looked at Sid hoping to get concerned sympathy,... but he laughing so hard he almost blew beer out his nose.  BUTTHEAD!!!


(I'll do more on my first month later.  Gotta run to Costco, got company coming for a week.)

Well Hello Joy!

A child-hood friend found me on face book, Joy McBride. Yes, the one that drug me off to ‘camp’, where I got so DREADFULLY homesick. LOL!!!
(I swear she looks so much like her mother did.)

It's been fun emailing back and forth, and learning about each other.  

Her parents just celebrated their 60th Anniversary and they are both 81!  Wow. 

Joy lives in Nampa.  She has 2 sons and 1 daughter.  One son is a Marine over in Afganistan.  One is in college at - you guessed it - NNU, and her daughter is a senior in high school. 

Facebook is so cool.

Now, if I could only find Cindy Ward.  I have been thinking about her for years, and I even have dreams about her.

Sew What!?!

So I haven't found a job yet,... but I haven't been idle either! 

Shortly before I left Boise, I started making a shirt for Sid.  I've seen him wear hawaiian shirts, so I figured he might like one that was homemade. 

So I started this yellow and green one.  I had to finish it after I got here.  I put a tag in the collar that says "Specially hand made by Linda".  He loved it!  But we discovered that in my hurry to complete it, I put the buttons on the wrong side!

Now, 2 of my previous 'significant others' would have rolled their eyes and thought that I had royally screwed up, and they'd refuse to touch it because the buttons were on the 'womens' side.  But not Sid, he was so cute.  He gave me a big hug and made me feel like a little girl that had just brought him a lovely boquet of dandylions.  He said he loved it, and he actually wore it!  3 times over the next week.  And he showed everyone the tag in it with my name on it.  He never mentioned to anyone that the buttons were put on wrong.  And nobody noticed.

Well, since he like that one so much, I decided to make him another one.  I also wanted to give him a special 'thank you'  for taking me out to see the orcas.  (He knew how badly I wanted to see an orca in the wild, and he didn't give up until he found them for me.)   I actually found some wonderful, bright blue fabric with cetaceans on it - orcas and dolphins.  I knew the blue would really bring out his blue eyes. It was perfect! And I was determined to get the buttons on right on this one! I put another 'made by Linda' tag in the collar.  He did indeed love it.  He wore it when we went to dinner with his son Sean and girlfriend Diane.  He loved telling them I made it.   

He took it with him on his current 'charter'.  (He is out skippering a boat again for 5 days.)  As he was packing it, he said, "I'm gonna wear this on the day I take them out to the 'Straight'  looking for the whales."

Isn't he cute!???

OK, so I just started another one for him!  His birthday is on Sunday, so I want to have it done by then.  (Actually, he gets back from his 'charter' on Friday, so really, I need to have it done by Friday.)  This shirt is not the Hawaiian style.  This is more of a long sleeved dress shirt.  Since I've discovered that blue looks so pretty on him, I found pale blue fabric, with navy blue line drawings of the world map.   I'll put a "Linda" tag in this one too.  I hope he likes it!