PROJECT DAY

It was Project Day for our guys today.  Joe and Norm have been working all day. First they tore off the old roof and put a new one on Joe's storage shed; and now they're replacing some boards on the deck. They seem to be having fun pounding and sawing....you know....doing "manly things ?!"   LOL

Meanwhile Louise and I have been holding a Bake Sales for MS out in the front of the house. "Summer Parkways" is going on in Spokane today and one of the 'walk/rides' was slated to go right past their house; so Lou figured it would be a good place to have a captive audience for all the home baked goodies she and her mother have been busy baking all week ! We did pretty well - not as good as she did previously when she hosted the booth in the park, but not too bad a showing all-in-all and we handed out lots of brochures about the upcoming Ride for MS too.

Next, as soon as the guys are done with their project, we'll go see Jenny's new baby and then head back to the lake.  Another fan-tab-ulious weekend!  And the beat goes on.....

~Nancy

TAKE ME OUT TO A BALLGAME

After our usual morning at the lake : sleeping in, slow morning coffee, a hearty breakfast and then a quick paddle around the marina in my little kayak; we headed in to town to spend the day with Joe And Louise. We may get another peek at that new baby girl, but that will depend on how Jenny's feeling.

Louise cooked a scrumptious home-style meal for us.  Her meat loaf and mashed potatoes  sure tasted good after eating 'out of cans' for a week !  (Not that we are going without, mind you, we actually eat pretty good on the boat as well) 

Melissa brought her new boyfriend over for grandpa to meet. Casey seems to be a very nice young man - Air Force and has the manners that go with that and also being a 'southern man' from Georgia.  They are real cute together.

After dinner we all went to the Spokane Indians Baseball game.   Hadn't been to a game in years and it was fun !  Our team lost but ...oh well.  Great fireworks show after the game. It was worth going just for the fireworks! 

Tomorrow Norm will help Joe with some 'fix-it' projects around the house while I help Louis man a Bake Sale for MS. Then we'll , hopefully, get to stop by and see Jenny and family on our way out of town and drop off Marcus's birthday present. although we weren't on the lake much today, it was another wonderful one....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

ANGELS ON PROUD MARY

Yesterday was another great day on the lake. Pete and family came out and we all enjoyed a sunny, fair-weather day on the lake. Laina and Marin were perfect little girls - very well behaved and sooooo cute!  Laina was really good at 'driving Proud Mary' and like to go fast. By the end of the day she was racing along "20 fishes fast" according to grandpa.  Marin preferred to color :-)

Of course we can't get a Harless clan together without an ice cream run, or in this case, "walk," up the hill to Ralph's Ice Cream and Laundromat.  I just love how the lake towns businesses combine things. Reminds me of Mexico!  :-)  Boy!  Little Marin sure knows how to enjoy a cone!  :-) 

By the time we walked by to the boat the kids were getting hungry, so we decided we'd just eaten desert first and so we started up supper.  After eating we took one last walk up to the Post Office and it was time for the Harlessfamily to take two very tired, but very happy, little girls back home.

Norm and I fell into bed early and slept for 12 hours!  Gosh, we didn't even realize we were that tired !  I don't know if it's the exercise, the fresh air, or the gentle rocking of the boat, but we are sleeping like the dead here.  It was another great day on the lake. ....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

CELL SERVICE ON PEND OREILLE

This is how we use our cell phones here at the lake. The only place they work is in front of the little store at the top of the hill.  Good exercise and we can buy ice while we're there!

The BIG NEWS of the day is that Jenny's baby girl arrived yesterday afternoon and she is beautiful !  Now I know, I know ...all grammas feel that way, but no kidding she is a little beauty !  See:

And now, today we're waiting for Pete to get here with his family.  The girls, Laina and Marin want to have lunch on Proud Mary.  We hope to also take them for a ride, however, the sky is cloudy up so I don't know if that will happen, or not.  Oh well, Proud Mary is just one big 'playhouse' and we'll have a good time doing something!  Another great day on the lake....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

SWITCHING GEARS

We woke up to a cloudy day so Norm got on-line (lucky for us we DO have WIFI on the boat and even though it's slower than molasses, it's better than not at all) and checked the weather report. Sure enough: It's going to rain off and on all day. So, we decided today would be a good day to drive over to Sandpoint and look around. For those not familiar with Sandpoint, it's a small town know for it's crafts & arts located on the opposite side of Lake Pend Oreille from us.

Just before we were ready to take off we checked our email and there it was on Facebook , of all places, "Jenny's water broke. Here we go !"  I guess Rick had tried to call us, but our cell phones don't work on the boat, so we didn't get his messages.  Of course this meant a change in our plans for the day, so we're in Spokane waiting for the little girl to arrive. Dads and step-mothers aren't invited to the actual birth (not a problem; we get it) so we're hanging at Barnes & Noble, enjoying their much more efficient WIFI as well as great coffee and we'll go up to the hospital once she's arrived.

Loving the lake more and more each day. I can't believe how the days fly by!  We've been here one week tomorrow. The only sad part of that is that it means we've only got five more!  My geese come around daily for the cracker snacks. I start, and end, my days with a paddle around the marina in my new kayak, "Little Turtle" ( I want to name it that in the Lakota language once I find out what the words are) and we've taken taken Proud Mary out to sail twice. She's getting easier and easier to sail and to tack already. By the end of summer we'll be "real" sailors! 

  We went with our marina neighbor, Marti, over across the lake to a different marina yesterday to help her get her waste tank pumped out.  She has 27 foot cabin cruiser - very nice and roomy!  It was nice to see how it handled and also to realize how much room it has down below for the living quarters. Hmmmm....maybe our NEXT boat will be a cruiser?  LOL

When we were out sailing, I was "wom"- manning the sail while Norm fished . I brought Proud Mary around too quickly and we had a few moments of excitement as the boat keeled over at least 20 degrees - which may not sound like much for for us beginners it was scarey.   (And just for the record, it's Norm who says it was 20 degrees.....I think it was more like 45 !)   But have no worries !  Every time we take her out we learn something new and we'll be extra careful when we have guests on-board.  Come see us !

Waiting for the baby and drinking great coffee....and the beat goes on.

Norm & Nancy

AND THE BEAT GOES ON

Losing track of time already and that is a good thing. Norm just checked his phone to see what day/date it was.  At least the phone is good for something - not calling as we are down in a 'valley here on the lake and the only place our cell phones work is up the hill in front of the little store. Call if you need us, but know that we only check for messages once a day - usually in the evening.

Yesterday was killer hot ! (90 degrees) So we took the car and went for a drive around the lake. Stunning vistas from above !  It would have made a lovely walk too, but like I said - It was HOT ! I love the gaggle of sailboats all in a row -- their bare masts rising up like flagpoles and row and row of white boats below.  Sad for all the owners who aren't on the lake using them; good news for us as we like being "nearly alone" on the lake.  :-)

 After our scenic drive we drove on into Newman Lake to meet up with   Leigh and the grand daughters, Laina and Marin at Leigh's parent’s home.  Those two little cherubs are sooooo sweet. I'm so happy that we'll get to spend some time with Pete's family this summer. I feel like the girls barely know us!

 I hope to leave some nice "granny Nanny" memories; and I know that Grandpa Norm will.

It’s cooler today. Nice. I started the day by feeding my geese. I'm starting to call them that -- 'my geese.' and they have caught on that if they coming squawking in I'll give them crackers. Fun!  Next I took my new kayak for a spin around the marina. (Norm found it on Craig's List and we bought it yesterday when we were in town. Sweet!  The kayaking went well. The getting into it and getting out of it was less than graceful. I'll be working on that all summer!  :-)

  Longtime friends, Janet & Joe Ohl were out to see us today from Spokane.  They are 'dry-docked' now but in the past they lived on their sailboat for something like six years. We had a nice visit then went for a walk together up around the lake. We didn't try to sail today as there's a storm brewing and when Norm checked the radar it looked imminent.  As it turned out the "storm" was just a big black cloud and a few sprinkles. The Ohl's left in the afternoon to avoid 5 o'clock traffic and we're just settled in to our 'nest' taking a slow, relaxed afternoon.  Life is good.

And the beat goes on....

~Nancy

LESSONS LEARNED

Today is our 29th anniversary. We woke up around 9AM, after sleeping nearly 12 hours! Ah, boat- sleep ....there's just nothing like it! Just like a couple of babies in a cradle and with fresh air too! Ahhhhhhh.

Today was the day we planned to first sail, so right after breakfast we uncovered the boom, untied the lines and cast off....with the help of our two very nice neighbors. Sean and Mark pushed us out of our berth and got us on the right track out of the marina , then we slowly motored out to beyond the "No Wake" area and hoisted the sail!

Oh, excuse me! Did I make that sound like we just pushed a button, or something? NOT! (hahaha) Norm crawled up on the deck and wrestled the sail while I "wom - manned" the wheel and tried keep it 'into the wind'....or was it 'out of the wind'? I don't know...I kept getting confused!

After a fashion he managed to get 'er up and we set sail! Norm tried it first and got a feel for the wind, then he let me give it a try and I learned a VERY VALUABLE LESSON this afternoon while sailing (even tacking - aren't you impressed?!) across the lake. That lesson is this: For me, with all my spatial challenges if I react in EXACTLY the OPPOSITE way I feel like I should, then I do the right thing! Each time I let my head get in the way, however, I would lose all the wind from my sail. But, as long as I kept pulling the line and turning the wheel exactly opposite from what my tangled brain called 'the right way' then Proud Mary sailed on!

After a few hours of sailing and tacking, we brought the sail down (It comes down waaaay easier than it goes up) and motored for a while so Norm could troll for fish. No bites today, but it was mid-afternoon by then and probably not the best time of day for catching fish. We'll try it earlier the next time.

We returned to the marina and our heros Sean and Mark were there to once again assist us in getting situated in our berth (and not crashing into any other boats in the process) Those two are great! We'll miss them this week as they only come on weekends as do most of the folks on the lake. Both Norm and I are looking forward to seeing just how abandoned this marina, and the lake, do get on a Monday.

We walked up the hill to a restaurant for a special dinner 'out' since it is our anniversary and enjoyed scrumptious pasta dishes and garden salads, then back to the boat where Norm is now comfortable in the cockpit reading his new Nook; and I am writing this blog from the cabin.  The sun is going down. It's unbelievably quiet. all is well on Lake Pend Orielle...someone just played taps on a trumpet......and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

"Give me a spirit that on this life's rough sea, loves t' have his sails filled with a lusty wind." ~ George Chapman