Time for an update from the crew?  OK then…

We’re on the down slide of winter here in our little home in the country.  There hasn’t been much winter to speak of really.  A few dustings of snow.  Barely reason to shovel the white stuff but it gave us a chance to use our two new shovels.  One of our neighbours is a snowmobile enthusiast and has been bemoaning the fact that her husband hasn’t had the chance to use his new $20K acquisition.  Even the Cape Breton Highlands is denude of snow.  Very sad for businesses that depend on snow people and wintery activities for their livelyhood but we are thrilled that Shubinacadie Sam (our resident Nova Scotia groundhog) and Lucie the Lobster (a south shore crustacean) have predicted an early spring.

This is the best time of year to tend to fixing stuff.  You know…all those chores that come with home ownership. We’re really lucky having moved into a place that needed almost nothing to be done to make it nestable.  Even the walls throughout were white so painting can be done in stages. But there have been little things to tend to.  My leaky bathtub for example is no longer leaky thanks to a visit from our now fave plummer.  Yay!  Spa time for the Kat… bath salts, a good book and a glass of wine.

Then there was a bare spot on the roof where snow should have been…a place where a chimney from the original house existed.  A small patch that was never insulated.  Strange but true.  All the rest of the roof had code insulation but that one spot.  All fixed now.

Francois bought himself a fancy new ladder.  Check out that flashy colour!  One of the gutters was clogged, plus with all the rain we’ve been having he wanted to make sure any run off was diverted away from the house.  Smart man he is, taking such great care of his kingdom!  

Our feathered friends have given us endless hours of entertainment and we’ve expanded feeding stations from one to six at last count, blossoming into faithful providers. Francois now creates his special recipe of peanut butter, suet and seeds for the critters, stuffing the mixture into recesses in tree branches and holes drilled in logs that now hang outside our kitchen window perfect for morning viewing.

Speaking of taking care of things, most days Francois is like a puppy going from window to window wanting to get out in the yard.  But before he takes his vegetation pruning too far we needed to find our property markers.  Pissing off even one neighbour can never be undone no matter how nice we are.  This meant a call to a local engineering firm for an estimate on having a survey report done.  Yikes!  That’s how much it cost? I called another for a second opinion so to speak and within five minutes had a return call letting us know there was already a survey done in 1992…saving us several thousand dollars.  All that was necessary was a drive to our county Registry of Deeds and a print out costing $10.  We still had to find the markers but to date we’ve located 6 of the 11 and our fave neighbour from across the way dropped by with flourescent paint so we could mark them more clearly….and to enjoy a glass of wine with us while she caught us up on local lore.  I cannot wait to learn more about ‘Crazy Maggie’ the original owner of RED by the Sea.

We also recently had an energy audit done to find out just how effective our little home by the sea is retaining her heat.  The government is offering incentives and if we make certain improvements can qualify for subsidies.  A thermo pump has been added to our list  of upgrades for this year.

And speaking of upgrades, Francois is still in need of a proper work room and when spring finally does arrive we’ll need space to store garden stuff.  When we were searching for RED by the Sea one of the criteria was a garage/workroom/garden shed or at the very least a space to build all of the above structures.  Enter, architect.  We’ve enlisted the help of someone locally who will help us put it all together to be created in stages.  We’ve started with a basic wish list. I’m not a big fan of out buildings so am hoping she can help us find a way to expand the existing space to accommodate  current and future needs.

Fitting into a new community isn’t always easy especially when you move to a province that, unless you have produced several generations, will sometimes see you as ‘from away’  or as my aunt would refer to as ‘foreigners’.  She wasn’t referring to ethnicity and no malice was intended.  It was just that if you weren’t born here you would always be ‘from away’.  We have found our transition surprisingly  easy though. Our neighbours are wonderfully friendly. I’ve been joining in with a local community group for crafting sessions. The highlight other than learning new skills has been meeting hilarious, at times deliciously irreverant, fun-loving ladies.  To help be more a part of our community we have both joined a local Legion branch.  They too are a lively social bunch and when we went to their monthly breakfast several days ago came away feeling like we actually could belong.  “Oh, you must come to our weekly potluck suppers and you’ll just love our summer activities!” There is also an attempt at regeneration of the South Shore Field Naturists group with guest speakers, offering another way to meet those with common interests and the field trips would give us a chance to see areas we might not usually visit.

Adapting to country living has been a breeze.  Being a distance from the ‘big city’ (not so very big and not so distant) isn’t a problem.  We batch outings and whatever else we need can be located within an easy five kilometre run down the road where at those crossroads we have a small grocery store, hardware store and of vital importance, a liquor store.  That five minute drive also brings us to our doctor’s door, our dentist and a pharmacy.  A ten minute walk down our shore road we reach Chris of the Ryan J, our lobster guy.  During the winter months one of our fave suppliers from the farmers’ summer market, delivers produce and meats every two weeks…another 5 minute drive down the road.  I’m also trying out something new…delivered dinner ingredients.  Will see how it goes but I’ve chosen three weekly plant-based meals for the two of us.  This way we have fewer outings to the market, less animal protein consumed (yay for the environment and us!) and the Kat doesn’t have to plan or shop for or ask ‘what would you like for dinner?’ Win, win…I hope.  Some say this is the way of the future.  Whether true or not our first meal was delicious.

Now you might be thinking, but what about R.E.D.?  Isn’t this a blog about sailboats and such?  Adventures of our 26 footer and her crew?  Quite right!  Can you hear the ‘but’ coming?  We always knew this recent move would create a universal change to our lives.  We didn’t know just how it would play out but knew it would impact our sailing lives.  First off,  we are thrilled to have a space for her on our own land….right outside our kitchen window in fact.  

We would like a better place for her though so come spring there will be some grading and gravel spread to make sure she has a more stable place to reside.  We have at least two adventures in the planning…one to sail the Bras d’Or Lakes…another the Saint John River.  And there is still so much sailing ground still to discover in our immediate area.  The Chester Islands and Mahone Bay for instance just around the Apostogan Peninsula from where we live.  All of that is still a part of our plans.  But now that spring is just around the corner soon we’ll expect a call from our boat home of last year wanting a committment for this coming season.  For the past two months at least I’ve had this on my mind.  My night time musings I call them.  We haven’t talked at all about what our summer will look like, only that there are things we want to accomplish…house-wise.  How much time and effort…and money will it involve is still a big question.  For the past five years R.E.D. has been the benefactor of that time, effort and money almost exclusively.  Now it must be shared with RED by the Sea.  In what form will that sharing present itself?  Time to talk to Francois about the elephant in my head.  So we talked…and talked…and mused…and came up with several options…several more scenarios….and a conclusion…maybe not the most appealing conclusion but one that seems right…for now.  

First off is to prepare a better place to store her, as I mentioned before.  We think we’ve located the best spot to the side of the driveway…easy in…easy out.  But we’ll need to grade it first and lay a more stable gravel base.  Next plan is a thorough spring clean-up.  The end of last season we gave her what my mother used to call ‘a lick and a promise’ type of cleaning.  Just enough to get her ready for the winter months.  At the end of last season we noticed a strange rusted spot on the foot of the engine.  Is it a galvanic leak?  Not really sure but investigation is necessary and repair to do.  This is the year we had planned on a complete anti-fouling paint job, so count that as chore number three.  

Now that we have her close by it would also be the best time to address one of my pet peeves….that ugly white carpet on the walls.  If you remember we did a great job on the interior dagger board wall a couple of years ago by replacing it with flooring cork and sealing with several layers of varathane (the story here).  It will be a huge job but will improve the interior immensely.  

With all of that in mind, we have decided not to put R.E.D. in the water from April to October this year…at least not at the marina.  We can still drop her in from time to time for short outings…because she’s that kind of boat and one of the many reasons why we chose her.  We just couldn’t justify the costs of marina life when our interests and plans are so fragmented.  Spending time on her has to be foremost a pleasure not an obligation. 

There you have it, our big ‘reveal’.  I’m not sure why this was so hard to admit and that I somehow had to justify.  It felt as though I had to drag it from the depths of my belly.  I still do feel a bit cheated not having a full season on the boat but maybe this is what was meant to be.  We now have to share our time on the water with our time by the water.  But when the time comes to splash our lady again won’t she be a beauty, inside and out! More on that later.