The past few days have brought some nice surprises in meeting new friends and reconnecting with old friends. A woman who sometimes leaves comments on this blog let me know that she arrived in Ft. Pierce on her boat. We just missed each other last year, and this year we almost missed each other again. Bob and I had already left Ft. Pierce, but as luck would have it, we had to return to revisit the yard that did some work on Pandora that did not get finished. After a half day there we decided to spend a night at the marina where Laura is spending the winter.
Laura is a weaver who also writes a blog called Laura’s Loom, where she chronicles her weaving and living aboard their 44′ SeaRay each winter. The tapestry weaving community might be an even smaller world than the sailing community, so I should not have been surprised to learn that Laura knows Don Burns (from the Wednesday Group) and had taken a class with him years ago. When I visited Laura on her boat Dream Weaver I found her spinning some handpainted silk roving on her sweet Hansen electric spinner. That gave me quite a pang that I left my spinner and some new silk roving at home. Sigh…
That evening she and her husband stopped by our boat and I had a great time learning more about Laura’s weaving getting to know her and her husband a bit. I don’t really want to show this photo, where for some reason I am wearing the ugliest shirt I own! Egads!
Yesterday morning I met another Wednesday Grouper, Rita, who spends her winters down here. She and I were the only groupers who did not make it to last week’s WG reunion. We commiserated a bit over that, but mostly just enjoyed catching up with each other. Rita recently finished a wonderful tapestry for her granddaughter — the New York City skyline at sunset in beautiful oranges and golds, with her granddaughter leaping over it in a bright red dress and black Chuck Taylors with red shoe laces! It’s a fun piece—sorry I don’t have the image! You’ll just have to trust me on that!
Then last night we had old friends from New Jersey onboard for dinner. Bob used to work with Linda, before she retired and moved down to Florida with her husband. Now that Bob has also retired we try to see them each year as we head south. It was a beautiful night, though a tad breezy, for watching the sunset behind West Palm Beach and then to see all the lights come on in the buildings. It was a dramatic sight! –although this image came from the internet, not our camera. Good wine, good conversation and a stunning view made for a great evening.
This morning I visited my favorite fabric store on the ICW–Mac Fabrics in West Palm Beach. What a shop! I had a great time there last year, which resulted in a tote bag that I take everywhere. This year the plan was to find fabrics for new throw pillows for new Pandora. I love what I’ve put together–only possible at a place this great!
The small monk’s belt weave will be used for the piping on both fabrics.
As I write this Bob is buried in the back ‘workshop’ of Pandora, storing all the things he’s bought over the past couple of weeks. We have a replacement part for just about everything onboard—from engine pieces to hoses for the sinks, filters for every item that has filters, belts—you name it. It’s a lot of stuff and everything has its place.
Tonight we will have dinner in my favorite place along the entire ICW—a French bistro called Pastiche. I’m sure it will be the best dinner of our whole trip because it always has been! Bon Appetit!
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