Greek Orthodox Festival

[singlepic id=141 w=320 h=240 float=right]The local Greek Orthodox church was having festival today and we decided to attend.  They had some of the usual craft tables and food.  I had the Dolmades, stuffed grape leaves, and SAM had Spanakopita and then later a Gyro and of course it was all authentic.  We enjoyed ourselves immensely in spite of the high winds and 60’s temperatures.

This afternoon we went to Walmart to refresh the larder and to get my special chocolate.  When we arrived back at home the Star Fruit tree next door was gone.  The guys next door cut it because it froze in the cold temperatures of 3 weeks ago.  They did invite us to take as many oranges and Kumquats as we wanted.  I told them we would get some next week.  They are good neighbors.

Sixty Five Past

Well the day of trauma is past and now I am officially 65 and counting. I received a couple of congratulatory calls, an email from Daryl, and several Facebook congrats from old school mates.  My son Marc called too and we had a good chat: It is one time I can really talk technical with someone who really understands what I am talking about.  Thanks Marc!

Truthfully, I did not sleep well last night. I think it was a product of too much to eat at my birthday dinner at Sonny’s. SAM slept like a baby but Martha and I prowl’s the house to all hours befor falling asleep – for me around 0400 hrs.

Today is bright and mostly sunny so far and around 64 degrees with moderate wind. We anticipate the Greek Festival with mouths watering.

No sun today & very wet

[singlepic id=140 w=320 h=240 float=left]To make up for yesterday the weatherman gave us no sun and much heavy rain ( like summer in the tropics).

This morning we did drive to downtown Tampa to the Port Authority area to visit a tall ship named Gunilla.  She is a Barque of three masts and is of Swedish registry and is about 150 ft length.  Ostensibly, she is a training vessel for the youth of Sweden to learn a post high school level trade in a nautical environment.  Our guide, Anna, was blue eyed and blonde and a social science major.  I am not sure what other specialties were represented.  The tour was sort of a disappointment to me as I had envisioned  a below decks tour – no such luck.  It was all above decks and cursory but still we were on water again and it felt good to bob around.

SAM was not too happy about our direct return to the house.  She wanted to roam around a bit and let me know of her displeasure.  However, since today is my birthday I prevailed but we will go out tonight to Sonny’s for dinner.  Just what I need as i am getting fatter and fatter.

As I write the rain continues as can be seen from the radar pic I snapped a few minutes earlier.  My old buddy Daryl sent me a birthday greeting.  Every year he is  faithful to recognize my birthday.  BTW-his birthday is the same day as mine (;-)

Sun Today & I got some

I had a whole paragraph but it got lost so this is the sunny part.

Tonight we went to the library looking for a reference book called “The Seaweeds of Florida” but they did not have it in the whole system.  There is a book that is available on Amazon for $10 by the s author called “Seaweeds of Western Florida”.  I may just buy that one to see what it looks like.  We are interested in the edible seaweeds and want to try a few species.

Yesterday Jerry & I went up to Don’s Marine Salvage.  I had sent an email asking if they had an Andersen 10 winch.  When I arrived they had a Barient 10 winch and they wanted $60 for it.  I thought that was too much for a winch 30 years old.  Jerry and I cruised the yard looking for “treasures” and found a lot but nothing we had to have.  We left after about an hour.  After that we went down to Gulfport and outred the beach area and the marina for another hour or two.  That pretty much killed the day.

A rainy day

[singlepic id=136 w=160 h=120 float=right]I spent most of the morning looking for batteries and shorty socks over on the Tyrone Blvd area.  After returning to the house it was time of lunch and then work on the boat research projects.  These items are on the list.

• Reefing winch – Andersen #10 or even a #6 if I can find one
• Xantrex Temp Sensor for batteries
• How To connect solar/wind/water chargers so it shows on the Freedom 2500
• Locate some marine salvage companies for neded parts.

So here it is 1953 hrs and another day is rapidly coming to an end.  BTW-it was lightly raining and overcast all day.  We have the oil filled heater at the 600W setting on the back porch to cut the chill.