Great "mini" Cruiser's Reunion and a sidetrip down memory lane.

On Wednesday the plan was to travel about 45 miles south to Palatka to meet up with former cruising friends from 3 other boats; Nancy formerly on Silver Seas, Marlene & Benno formerly on Diesel Duck, and Allayne & Dennis formerly on Audrey Paige.  

Nancy was also heading south, Marlene and Benno coming up from Ocala, and Allayne and Dennis coming inland from St. Augustine, one of the places here in Florida they have been visiting this winter.

We met each other while cruising in the Caribbean around 2006 or so and have stayed in touch over the years via email and social media.

The weather was pretty favorable although a small sprinkle passed by rather quickly. The park, Ravine Gardens State Park, is situated within a ravine, carved out over time by a spring-fed river. The park is well known for it's springtime azalea bloom and it's small formal garden and hiking/biking paths.  This is an akward time of year horticulturely, the trees are mostly bare with a few blooms here and there. Lots of spanish moss and leaf litter around too. Personally, I don't find that too terribly appealing, which is probably why I didn't take many photos, but here are a few.

The group: L to R - Marlene, Me, Nancy, Allayne, Dennis
Back row - Benno, Ed 
Harley the dog

 

Summer view of the Formal Garden
(Photo courtesy of floridastateparks.org)

I would definitely like to head back there in May after things have leafed out somemore. However, it was a really nice spot for a picnic, and we had a ton of food - it was a potluck after all. It was also a gabfest! So fun catching up with everyone.

All that made me feel a little nostalgic for the Caribbean and Venezuela so I thought I'd put a link in for one of my slideshow videos I made up quite a while ago. The length is about 3:30 so it's not a snoozer (I don't think, lol). The music is nice too.

Here is the link to the youtube video on our channel of s/v Dreamtime and s/v Paradise sailing into Laguna Grande, Venezuela and on up the Rio Carioca where the Scarlet Ibis nest. https://youtu.be/BICkg9FOV6g 

Laguna Grande in the Golfo de Carioca, Venezuela

Thanks for the visit!

February fun, food and jewelry making.

 It is nearly mid-February and it seems like Spring is about ready to be sprung. We had a dandy start to the blooming season of the azaleas around here, however a cold snap to just below freezing put the kibosh on that. There are more blooms in the offing so we'll just have to be patient.  In the meantime, during these chilly and rainy days it's all about passing the time with chores, cooking pleasures, books and other generalized amusements.

Over the past few year's I've enjoyed making up a big batch of enchilada wraps and freezing them individually. That way I can pull them out one at a time and have a ready-made easy dinner, just add salsa, raw onions and cheese to the frying pan with the wrap and cover. Voila, in 30 minutes you have the tastiest treat. 

What is my dilemma you ask? All the leftover flour tortillas sitting in my pantry until they get so old/dried out that I toss them. Enter the tortilla wrap sandwich, which I understand had a huge showing on the internet a while back. You've probably seen the videos of people making them. Well, I'm here to say that they've become quite popular in our house for a lunchtime treat. Usually, we each do our own thing for lunch but occasionally I'll make up a "specialty wrap" which we will share. 

So, the other day I had some leftover caramelized onions and cooked bacon which together with smoked turkey coldcut meat, sliced tomatoes and pepperjack cheese made for the perfect wrap sandwich. Very easy to make once you see how to fold them. Basically, you cut from the center out to the edge (radius line) and think of the tortilla in quarters. Dress each quarter as you wish then fold one quarter onto the next. I generally fold in a counter-clockwise direction. Then I give it a bit of a spritz of olive oil, and pop it into the air fryer for about 5 minutes, flip and let go for another 3 mins and you've got it.

Just serve with some chips and you've got it. This is 1/2 of 1/4
of the sandwich - uh, 1/8th I guess, lol.

Moving on, I read blogs where "certain people" do a lot of home improvement or difficult home repair projects. While I applaud their diligent efforts, I'm afraid I'm not up to those tasks (anymore). Once, I was able to shimmy and squeeze myself down into our lazarette bins on Dreamtime in order to TSP clean and paint them (and a hundred other difficult and tedious jobs). Now I'm lucky if I can find the wherewithal to finish sand, and stain an oak banister. It was fun though.

I have managed to find time, in between my cooking exploits, to practice making copper wire-wrapped jewelry, It is time consuming but pleasurable. Herre's a couple of examples.

A little blurry in this shot. I like how it came out.

This is my first attempt at "hammering",
I love the texture it gives the piece.

And lastly, I did find time to make more cookies, pecan, butterscotch, & coconut with a few dark chocolate chips thrown in for good luck. Hot tea and a cookie is a great way to wind up the day.

A sweet treat for sure.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and as always, I'd love it if you wanted to comment! Have a great day.