Hidden Valley Folks Come to Town

Well, the end of June of drawing near and sailing time it really here!! We were lucky to have our old friends (and neighbors) Dave & Joann Allan join us in Door County for a couple of days. While we didn't get out on the boat overnight, we did take a nice day sail. Along the way we saw the crew of "Buddy" heading towards the Bay side. They too were entertaining and looked like they were having a good time. After a little sail North, we anchored off of the Strugeon Bay light for a nice dinner of tenderloin, salad, David's homemade bread (to die for!) and of course, the requisite bottles of wine. It was a nice evening enjoyed by all. Dave & Jo left a day later as they continued their journey to Toronto to attend the G20 summit. Next up we leave for a 4-day trip this Thursday. Weather looks great and a proper 4th of July celebration will follow I'm sure.

The "Bird" is born

A few weeks ago we had the "official" renaming ceremony for Free Bird. While invoking the Gods and spirits of the sea, we all enjoyed a little libation ourselves. After the incantation were read and the bell ringing was over, we went up to the barge for some more "spririts" and snacks. Thanks to all those who were there, all those who helped and especially to Ron for the great pictures! Long live the Free Bird!

Bye Bye Windjammin'

Haven't posted in a while...so much has happened. We purchased another boat. Yes, we are crazy I suppose but we just can't help ourselves. She is a little pedal boat. We have named this one Happy Hour and while the Big lake won't always let us take her out, we are looking forward to those calmer evenings when we can grab a cocktail and go for a ride. We took her out for a spin a week ago Sunday. The waters were calm and the sun was shining. It was a great little run and quite a work out for the legs too!

Our first visitors arrived from Minneapolis - Tom and Cyn Bloom. The weather was decent so we took a ride all the way up to Death's Door. Stopped at Peninsula Park which is always a favorite and hit the Shipwrecked Brew Pub in Egg Harbor for lunch. Headed back home and had a great time back at Cedar Shores too playing a little bocce ball and building a roaring fire by the lake. A wonderful time was had by all. Thanks for being our first visitors from the "cities"!

Perhaps the biggest news we have is that we sold our "old" sailboat Windjammin'. Her new owner is a nice guy from New Mexico of all places. His name is Steve Hansen and he has decided to leave her on Lake Michigan this year, in fact, he has even rented our old slip at Quarterdeck. I have a feeling we will be getting to know Steve and his wife Peggy a lot better over the weeks and months to come.

We have changed the name of our new boat from Seidean to Free Bird. While we have the new decals on, a renaming ceremony will follow in a few weeks to make it official. It seems there is great tradition associated with the renaming of a vessel which includes making offereings to Neptune and other Gods, as well as lots of champagne or red wine. We are going with the red wine! We slip her into the water tomorrow. It will be the earliest we have ever launched - yeah!!

Signs of Spring

I noticed that some of the nicest gardens around were uncovered and so I followed suit this week. The finches are starting to turn a little yellow too, that's a good sign. We are still hearing and seeing lots of Sandhill cranes moving overhead. And the turkeys are lurking everywhere you look. I guess the most exciting thing that happened this week was the visit we had from a nice young Sheriff yesterday. I answered the door and he asked if I had called 911. I said no and that I didn't believe my husband had either. He said "are you sure everything is all right here?" I then went out to John's office and he said "Oh my God - I thought I was at the office and dialed 9 to get out of the building and then 1 and 1 and hung up. I didn't even think about it." I don't think he'll be doing that again...

Other than that, we've been working on Windjammin' and the floor at Cedar Shores Lodge. We waxed, bottom painted, put on sails and rigged the boat. We also ripped up the tile in the kitchen, hall and north bedroom and are getting ready to lay the new yellow pine floor. I have been doing what I can during the day and John's been working like a dog after work at night, both on the boat and the house.

Next week we will turn our attention to Free Bird. 70's in the forecast - hallelujah!

Another Stellar day!

Wow, it is just another beautiful day here on the lake. Last night we actually saw the other side of Lake Michigan. It doesn't happen very often but it was clear and there was no moon. We could NOT believe that we could see radio towers and streetlights - it's over 60 miles to the other side from here...love it!

Just watched a flock of about 40 Sandhill Cranes fly over the house. Wish I could have captured on film. Time for some boat work today. We'd be crazy not to take advantage of this weather. Wind is picking up a bit, we'll see what it is like up in the boatyard.

St. Patties Day Follies!

Hard to believe that today is St. Pat's Day! It's unseasonably warm here, may get to 65 degrees! We saw our first freighter of the season coming up lake last Sunday. There have been numerous fishing boats trolling just in front of our house the past few days and we are seeing a ton of bird migration. You would think Spring has sprung...maybe it has! We are just itching to uncover our "bird" - Free Bird that is, but common sense is telling us to just wait a bit yet. We have already uncovered Windjammin' in an effort to start getting her ready for sale. We'll have to force ourselves to focus on her first and then we can let Free Bird out of her cage.

We have our first guest at Cedar Shores Lodge this year. Our B Dock friend, Tom of Lily's Pad is staying with us while he is in town to work on shining up his boat.

Hope you are having as wonderful, warm and sunny day as we are. May the luck of the Irish be with you!