Best Life

 Happy Birthday Thomas!  It seems like just yesterday you were in the cupboard!  Love the smile and the "up to no good" attitude! Another beautiful day here and with no rain in sight we planned a full day of work.  How can the summer be nearing the end?   Since the parts for the boat are days away from arriving, we covered the "holes" to prevent critters from taking advantage.                                                        Parts are waiting in the basement for reassembly.                And the boat is covered and tarped under the new carport until it's time to begin again.                                           ...

The Pub at Saddleback was our choice tonight for dinner.  Good food, great service and an absolutely stunning view of the mountains and sunset. Paul spent the majority of his day working on the boat motor.  Unsuccessful in locating the oil leak, parts have been ordered and should arrive early next week.  Ugh. Meanwhile I made avocado bread - yummy! (And super easy!) I also found pictures from 1998 in the closet. (Actually I found 1998- 2001 but I only sorted and downloaded 1998 today.) My faves:                                                                      Megan                                                   ...

 Today's goal - float the boat.   Paul began by changing out the impeller.  Used to cool the engine by pulling in lake/ocean water they can become brittle and crack.  Paul had changed out the impellers on Quiet Time a few times but never on our Stingray.   He also changed out the fuel filter.  And then during the testing phase - the engine began overheating.  Ugh.  (Hopefully a simple fix of inversing the impeller.)  And there is an oil leak from somewhere.  Double ugh.  So no test float today.  Paul will begin diagnosing the leak tomorrow.   My day was pretty mundane with laundry, reading, sketching, a bit of cleaning and I emptied another box from the closet! National Sandcastle and Sculpture Day.  Here the kids are sculpting but no sandcastles!                                       ...

August 18, 2013: Angel Falls, Maine                                                                           Megan, Kevin and Scott Today's goal - install the post for the carport loft and seal the roof junction.                                             The first boardhung was unpainted (oops) then the post was notched                                               to fit snugly underneath.                           ...

  The sun came out this afternoon after lots of rain all day.  We took advantage of the miserable weather and headed to Tractor Supply and Walmart in Farmington.  Since we were running low on protein and fresh fruit and veggies and Paul needed nuts and bolts - to the "city" we went.   The trip down uneventful.  The stores were without crowds so we were in and out quickly.  The diner where we thought to grab lunch - closed forever.  (Mexican coming soon.)  Then to avoid the momma quail and her babies crossing Route 4, Paul jammed on the brakes and sent our cooler and food bags flying.  Ugh.  The eggs - unbroken and squished bread tastes better anyway. The afternoon - lazy.  I napped and read while Paul attempted to install our new router.  Instead of renting the router from Fidium with a monthly fee, Paul bought one off Ebay.  We are still waiting for customer service to call us back and help link our MAC address....

 While Paul measured, cut and hung the remaining roof panel I did a bit of landscaping and debris cleanup.  Frogs everywhere! The remainder of the morning Paul spent coming up with a game plan for the trim and the "loft" in the carport.  I did laundry, sketching and reading. And after lunch - a bike ride.  We chose to park near the town park and explore the side streets of Rangeley.  We were looking for a "gentle" ride. After a brief ride down Main Street (where there were too many cars and pedestrians), we headed to Pleasant Street.  We circled one block then tackled the hill.  The view worth the extra sweat! Lots of "wildlife". The ride downhill- awesome!  We circled another couple blocks before coming back to Main Street.                                                         ...