so very, very busy...

This weekend has been a blur.  I've had some issues with connectivity here at the marina, so I am late in getting y'all back home brought up to speed.  It is now 9:40pm Sunday evening, and the marina is dead silent.  All I hear is the wind rustling the palm trees.  9:00pm is the bewitching hour here at Banana Bay.  We call it "Marathon Midnight."  I have to wait for everyone to log off and turn in for the night, otherwise I have trouble keeping a connection to the internet- especially when I try to upload pictures.  Let me peruse through my photos of the last few days and attempt to fill in the blanks...

On Friday, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to take care of what I hope is the LAST of the paperwork for China.  It took several more trips to town, to a scanner, a copier, a computer, and eventually Fed Ex (yet again), interspersed with no less than a dozen phone calls.  Washington DC had not received my overnight Fed Ex from Indianapolis.  I called Indy for the tracking #, and long story short, it had been delivered to them at 9:00am Friday.  I had the name of the person who signed for it.  That person then left it on their desk for the next six hours, without forwarding it to the person that was waiting expectantly for it.  I then had to find another scanner and printer for some documents that needed filled out by me for DC.  Thankfully, the manager of Banana Bay Resort heard my inquiry at the front desk and got me all set up in his office.  I managed to get everything signed, sealed and emailed back to them at 4:47pm, with just 13 minutes before quitting time- whew!

Donnie continued to work all day with Richie in getting the new fuel tank all properly installed.  They had to build a new nest, line the nest with this heavyweight rubber material, for shock proofing,
then properly build and install all of the proper connections and fittings.  It was an all day affair; but they finished in time for Pizza and a Movie at Ken and Lucille's.  This week we watched "Saving Mr. Banks" which was a really cute flick.  I enjoyed it so much more than "12 Years a Slave".

On Saturday, in spite of it blowing stink (20-25kn) Kenny was kind enough to take Richie and Donnie out scuba diving. Rich and Edie are leaving Monday morning, and Rich just had to 'get wet' one more time or he was going to spontaneously combust into dust.  They went in about 80' of water on the hunt for some fish.  They shot several hogfish and snapper, while Kenny caught some grunts and yellowtail from the boat.  I would have never made it.  They were in a 4' rolling sea all day...I was feeling nauseous just thinking about it :/

With just 400lbs of air left on his second tank, Cap'n shot
this nice sized lionfish on his way back up!You have to cut off
 his 'lion's mane' with scissors, as that's where the poisonous sting
 is at.  The meat on a lionfish is every bit as white and tasty as
a hogfish.  I would know; we grilled them up for
dinner tonight and had Mamaw and Paps out to the boat!

While boys were out diving on Saturday, we had a pool and chickenfoot
 kind of afternoon.  Alexa is back in town with her momma, Christine,
and she won Adolph back from the clutches of Grandpa Ken.  She
promptly dove in the pool and took the bird for a swim.  You wouldn't think it,
but the chicken loves the water... so long as it is not a hot, boiling pot of
 water...eh hem, Ken. Even the hot tub makes Adolph a wee bit nervous.

Willis has a love/hate relationship with Adolph,
like he does with the water, and Bessie, Marquesa's engine.
Since the boat is quietly tied to the dock, and the wind has finally
turned out of the E/SE, he slept peacefully ALL AFTERNOON.
This is how I found him when I came back to get my
baked beans started for the cookout Saturday night.  Dern cat.

 

We had a pork BBQ dinner, especially made by Big Ron- the man
knows how to cook!  There were 17 of us Saturday night feasting ourselves silly.
Kenny was sampling Rich's pico.....nom-nom...



Ken and Donnie were having a creativity contest
 with Mamaw's deviled eggs!

Donnie had to top Ken, a deviled egg,
slice of cucumber, cherry tomato,
sandwiched between two tortilla chips.
He swears it was delicious....um, yeah.



 

It was Big Ron's 67th birthday, even though he brought and cooked
the pork shoulder for us all. Did I say it was ah-mazing?! 
I'm showing my gratitude ;)

 

Fran bought Big Ron an incredible chocolate
cake with chocolate cool whip frosting, melted
chocolate and Oreo cookies. Oh. My. Goodness.

 

Me and the seester (in-law), Diane  :)

 

 

As the party was breaking up, my 'nesting' pots and pans with the
removable handle were a puzzle that kept folks perplexed for a bit.
Inquiring minds want to know, ya' know :)

 

Though it was past Marathon Midnight when we got back to Marquesa,
we heard some hooligans from across the marina.  It was just Jim
and Betty the Bookie on their boat, Mimi; Sue from Ragtime docked
next to them, and Jim and Betty's friends from Texas.  Jim was the one
who graciously helped me out the other day when I had scanning and
emailing to do.  I told my hubby, and Jim and Betty tonight, that if I
ever came in to a pile of money, I wanted Mimi.  She's is a
beeeee-autiful vessel!  I covet her.  And she's already named for
me; I am Mimi to our grandkids.  And she's for sale, too.  Perfect.
 

We had walked over to the other side of the tracks (marina) to say
goodbye to our friends, John and Susan.  They pulled out early this
morning.  They are great people, and we had such fun getting to know
them even better this year.  John gave me tips for China, and Susan
hung out with us and sang with Donnie whenever the boys jammed.
We hope to stop and see them when we take Marquesa up the
coast of Florida to put her in storage. They have a home close to the ICW.
Fair Winds, friends....be safe going home!

In spite of it being after 10:30 at night when he started, Cap'n wanted
to finish up the fuel tank job once and for all.  All he had left to do
was place and reconnect the battery bank.  Tah-dah!

While it looks like a mess to y'all, it looks incredible, and lovely, to us!!!
This HUGE job is all Tah-Done!!!

In spite of a very late night last night, we got up for church this morning.
We had lunch at the Hurricane, then it was time for Cap'n to finally get
a much deserved pool day.  We all had no sooner gathered, and
Donnie came to tell us there was a manatee in the marina!

We took turns lounging in the sun and playing chickenfoot.  We took a
break mid-game so that Alexa could get a second scuba lesson with
Cap'n.  Though she's only 10, she's a brave girl, a good listener and
a quick study!  Here they were practicing passing the reg back
and forth to each other.  That's one of the skills she will have to
demonstrate to get her scuba certification one day.

Did I mention the girl is a natural, too?!
Her Grandpa Ken bought her a mask a snorkel, and Donnie
gave her an extra pair of fins.  Now she just needs to hurry
 up and turn 11 so she can take the PADI class :)
Great job, Alexa!!!

The pool party broke up at around 4:00 this afternoon.
We came back to the boat, and while I started getting
dinner together, Donnie had his parents fishing off
the dock.  There were some mangrove snappers
that kept cruising by under our boat!

It didn't take long for Paps to land the biggest one
right into our bucket :)  Donnie filleted him for
Mamaw and Paps to have for lunch tomorrow.
 

I grilled the hogfish and lionfish that Donnie shot yesterday
along with zucchini, peppers, onions and mushrooms
that were marinated and grilled.  We topped it off with
a fresh fruit salad, and we ate high on the hog tonight!
Mom and Pops took their fillets and left for home
while we gathered on the Pointe to watch the sunset.

We had front row seats to revel in God's creation and to thank him for
another beautiful day in paradise.  I have Sophie (the dog) and four
year old Major on my lap with me.  Mimi seems to attract pets and little kids :)
That's just fine with me.  Major is the grandson of our friends on the Wanderer,
the boat in front of us this year.  We have some great neighbors.
 

 

And those same neighbors have a great little pup.
I mean really, who couldn't resist that sweet face?!
When Sophie gets let off the Wanderer, she now comes
running down the dock and starts whining for
Mimi to come out and love on her.  She
has me well trained, don't you think?!

G'nite, y'all!