Getting Changes Ready

We've had some really warm and dry weather this week - had record high's in the mid 80's - so Phil has been busy getting Changes ready to put into the water. Unfortunately, some of the red Vivid bottom paint had flaked off the interprotect - so he had to scrape off all the loose areas in addition to the normal sanding. Part of the keel and the bow were affected. He thinks that maybe it was too cold when he put it on, as not all of the bottom paint is flaking off. Some history: In preparation of changing the bottom paint to be compatible with salt water instead of the fresh water Changes has been set up for, fall 2008 he removed part of the old bottom paint and repainted with the Vivid red. spring 2009 he did the rest. It's the areas he did in the fall that we're having problems with now. Of course he had to order more paint - and is now waiting for the additional quart of paint to come in on Tuesday so that either Tuesday or Wednesday he can paint the rest of the bottom. He has cleaned the top-side with the windex- so it's nice and shiny and plans to wax the topsides on Monday. Besides these last two chores, all that needs to be done is to charge and install the batteries, which he won't do until close to when the boat is scheduled to go in to the water and Changes will be ready to go in the water. April 27 is the first day that boats go in at Grand River Marine and he hopes to get an appointment on that day.

Phil is now over his friend Kay's home picking up the dinghy, where it was stored for the winter. He plans to sell it and have us use the new one that he is making for when we cruise. The new one so much bigger because it has a flat bottom so we'll have plenty of room to put us and the water jugs/food/supplies that we'll need when traveling.

Here is a picture of starting to put the bottom on the boat.

Here is a picture with the bottom being clamped on.

Here is the bottom after it's been glued, fiberglass and epoxy applied and sanded.

The Daffodils are starting to bloom in the bed next to the house. Here they are in their prime condition. We have the greenery up of the daffodils across the driveway, but no flowers yet. There are buds coming out on the trees and Phil trimmed the plum tree in the back yard. The red stalks of the Peonies are starting to poke out of the ground too. Spring has arrived! Even thought it wasn't a bad winter, the weather was hard on the bush type plants and japanese maple tree - as limbs have broken off. Too bad! I trimmed the bush rose bushes and hope that they will bush out more this year.

Good News - Iceboating and Spring

I wanted to let everyone know that I was offered the job to be the first RN on the GWEN team (Go Where Ever Needed) at work (still at Hospice of the Western Reserve) and accepted. We announced it yesterday to the team and most are happy for me and also sad to see me go, which is very affirming for me. I have been waiting a long time for this position to open and am thrilled to be getting back into patient care again. I start my new job Monday, April 12. Even though this is a 40hr/week job, this is a position that has flexible hours for scheduling when I work so after I get updated on the latest how-to on the computer charting, I'll be starting working noon to 830pm. That's good so while I'm in school, I can do school work in the morning when I'm fresh. This is a job in that I'll be working to cover nurses that are sick, on vacation or leave, or on a team that has an increased census and they need an extra nurse for a time. It's a job that we will be figuring out what the needs as as we go along. Now I have 4 weeks to wrap things up, which doesn't seem like a long time. My boss, Noel, has been great - very supportive, even though she doesn't want me to go so we have started working on a transition plan. So far don't have a replacement for me in the hospital/physician area- even though she has been interviewing- but I hope that I'll be able to pave the way for a new person that will cover the nursing facilities that I'm the coordinator for.

To wrap up ice boating for the season, Kelly Jacobs created a great video-slide show that can be viewed on You Tube of the ice boaters that have been on Elk Lake, Michigan. Phil and yours truly have a cameo. Many of the people in the video were with us when we visited last weekend so it's great to be able to get some of their last names. Tim and Molly live in Cleveland, so look forward to connecting with her soon. Just click on "great video" above and you'll go directly there. It's been so warm, that ice boating is over for the season. Toledo Ice Boating club said that the ice had gone out to the lake.

Spring has definitely show her face this past week. We had our first 70F day Thursday. The 18" of snow we had last weekend has melted and now just the big piles of snow are left. We are no longer in "Alaska" in Chardon. They have flood warnings out for the rivers, though we haven't had much rain the weather men predicted this past week. We are having some this morning which is coming from the east instead of our typical west.

Our friend, George Schlauch and his brothers were boiling sap to make maple syrup Saturday through Tuesday this past week, and now we are hoping for some cold weather before the Maple Trees bud out to continue the Maple Syrup season. I haven't been up to Chardon Square so don't know what's going on there, but I think it was Monday that the sap buckets went on the trees.


Phil needed a project what with me being busy working and going to school so he has started making another dinghy. It's 12 feet long, 1 1/2 foot more than our current dinghy and is based on the Chesapeake Bay Sharpy design. This is going to have a flat bottom, which really makes a difference in size. I took the picture on top first, but he was so far away, that I have the one with him closer. Are we going to be able to use this when we're cruising? Who knows, but Phil's happiest making his boats.