GARDEN REPORT - 3 heads are better than 1
(left - biggest plant & head)

Tomorrow will start up our commitment to finishing the boat in the next 4-6 wks. We will put in a full day, 2 of us, on the topside.


For today, I wanted to share an exciting development in the garden. I have 3 heads of cauliflower!!!! FINALLY!! It's been 4 full months. (right- my Lazarus "should be dead" plant w/ the next biggest head)



Found this 3rd one today. Big plant and should be a substantial veggie when done growing.

My bell peppers are slowing down. One to three tomatoes are turning red each week. Carrots & onions are still growing. Herbs are my best friend in the kitchen.

I did pull another section of weed/yucky plants from an older flower bed and turned the soil. I think I'm going to add soil & make that my bean area for spring/summer. I would also like to make a strawberry bed but I don't know how much space that takes.

Again, be sure to check back tomorrow for boat improvement pictures.
Happy New Year!
Robin

OUR 1st FISH IN MONTHS!!!!!!

Ok, so it is only a whiting, caught surf fishing. However, it did take some of the fishing withdrawls away. I had 2 poles going for approx 4 hrs. The minute I heard my cell phone go off, this guys thought it was safe to steal bait. Little did he know that the same guy that beats me to the phone is also the guy who beats me to the pole. (w/ my blessing, of course)

At least he enteretained me a lot. We also played football. His brother did the same handstands, only stranger looking. (look-mom.html) You've got to see the picture.

When I had nearly caught 3 tourists & 1 surfer on my line, it was time to pack it up and hit the fishing pier. We stayed an hour but only had nibbles. Nobody else was catching fish, so we packed it up and headed home to determine the amount of sunburning.

It had been rumored that somebody caught pompano off the pier, but after being up there, I'm not sure how much truth there was to it. Pompano love the beach & surf rushing through their fins.

Happy New Year.
Robin

PARADISE!

(fishing parking lot off of US-1)


The boys asked me on the way to the grocery store what paradise meant. "Hmmmmm..... honey, look out your window," I said.



(Crossing over the bridge to head back home, window view.)

Warm Regards,

Robin & her 81 degree day.

RED TIDE

They are saying that Red Tide here at Cape Canaveral is the worst it has been in this area in the past 10 years. The fish that the Dr. takes the scale from is not a deep-sea fish. It is a tripletail. She has done a good job ID'ing the other species. She does a great job of explaining the science behind red tide.



Here the city workers are taking all the dead fish from along the beach and burying them under the sand. That would be a disgusting find for some kid that wants to build a little sand pool. Ick!



Robin

CORRECTION

That one picture below with the purple tint was truly bothering me. So, I went ahead and got rid of the tint correction and simply did a contrast correction. THIS is so much nicer. Infact, it almost makes it look like a sunny day.

We were Pompano fishing Christmas Eve - fyi. The Pompanos haven't shown up quite yet, but it should be any day now.

I have to say that I'm getting a bit of a sore throat and I'm wondering if it was from all the Red Tide (bloom) from the sea air. It is a known irritant for the eyes, nose and throat. We saw many dead mullet on the beach.

It's strange because there could have been many beach species to die, but only the foot-long mullets actually washing up. When we went to the Panhandle, we also saw dead foot-long mullet on their beaches. I have a picture of one up on the Raising Fishermen blog a couple weeks ago.

Capt Jack is working hard all week but we'll be hard at the boat project after the 1st of the year.

I leave you with this parting shot of my bigger of two cauliflower heads growing in the garden. Normally, it is completely covered by those little leaves.

Short story: Few weeks ago, I had a smaller cauliflower plant that was knocked over & pulled out of the dirt. I hated that so much that I ended up quickly reburying it & watered it. It thought about dying but then it didn't. It eventually came back to where it is now growing my 2nd head of cauliflower. I find all that so weird. Not only was it 'dead', but it came back much better from then dead than my other healthier plants. I'm going to call it my Lazarus plant.
Happy Fishing to all!!

Robin

CHRISTMAS EVE on the BEACH

We headed here for a couple of hours today, but it was very gloomy and eventually started sprinkling on us.
It never ceases to amaze me that people are playing right next to the sign that says, "Keep off of Rocks." There are 3 signs all 30 ft from these people and yet, they're all over the rocks. Sheesh!

These barnacles are all over the rocks and will cut you up!

Enjoy these holiday pictures! It was too cold to be shirtless & wet, but they did it because they're young & full of energy.

My oldest making a volcano out of sand.
You'll have to put up with some of my artsy pics.

Too purplish/blue, but it sure looks a lot more cheerful than the gray original.

This next one is better.

Gorgeous sandollar found intact on the beach. Well, that was until I sqashed it with the cooler about 30 min later.

Here's my fisherman. Braving cold waves simply to wet a hook. Sorry dear, skunked again. No fish came to play.

This was our first spot, but we moved to the rocks to protect us from the northerly winds.

This guy.... oh my.... loves every single shell on the beach and brought them home as a gift for me.

Then join me over on Raising Fishermen for a crustacean-christmas-eve-dinner. Little man did not want anything to do with shellfish so he opted to make his own PBJ early-on.

BOY! I MISS SUMMER ALREADY

I know I have no right to complain since I was in shorts & a t-shirt w/ jacket today, but still..... I miss my pool, my fishing pole, my ocean, my tan and my time off of homeschooling. I don't know what it is about 90 deg heat, but after awhile, you get addicted to it.

Jack and I are going to put a big effort into completing the cuddy & upper decking of our Mako 248 in January. We don't lack much and we're sorely missing fishing and water life. Before you know it, the cobia will be passing through in huge numbers and soon to follow behind them will be the spring run of mahi mahi. Oh my.......... I can't hardly wait. It is MY idea of a holiday season.

Christmas is beautiful that we remember Jesus's birth and we gather with family & good eats. But.......but...., every year, our family waits for March & April like a lion stalking an antelope. It is our family hobby. We make so many memories on the water fishing together. I especially can't wait to try out the better camera on the blue water.

Funny, but true story....

Jack hates it when I make everybody stop what they're doing in the boat to take pictures. Stop. Smile. Oh wait. Flash. (yes, flash in sun helps) Wait, not focused, ok, one more. Cheese. You know the drill. Lots of pictures that he is too impatient to pose for. How many times was he ready to gaff a fish and I had a camera in my hand. Oops. HOWEVER, as soon as we get home and the boat is put up, it is a stampede to get the memory stick loaded onto the harddrive. My biggest fan of viewing the pics that moment is Jack. We love to relive and retell the stories. All that confusion on the boat is melted away and the pictures are a wonderful way to preserve that day.

I will leave you with a few pictures to warm your hearts as you sit in snow or taking time away from holiday dishes & cooking.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

May your skies be blue and your fish coolers full of fish.

Robin

GARDEN REPORT

Jack didn't feel like working on the boat, so I took a couple garden shots while the sun was on the plants.

What's this little thing tucked away in green leaves?

Could it be what I think it is? Baby cauliflower.

Baby Brussels growing on another stalk. They are starting to finally resemble a vegetable.

Last but not least, I have a 6-7 ft cherry tomato plant. I have grown these for many years and never got above the 4 ft mark before. I'm not sure if that is because of the less light legginess or new soil.

Whatever it is, I'm likin' it. Those poles are 8 ft, so in another 2 ft, I'm in trouble.

NIKKI CUOMO MEMORIAL SERVICE

I noticed that I have been getting numerous hits on my Sitemeter for Nikki. If you recall, she was the diver from our area that went missing back on Sept 22nd.

Here is a link to a recent article about her.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/NEWS01/712130326/1170/news0309&template=news0309

They have created a Memorial fund in her name to help search in the future for other divers.

There will be a Memorial service to celebrate her life at the Jupiter Civic Center on Sunday, Dec. 23, 2007. 5:30 - 8pm. Please RSVP to spearboardRSVP@gmail.com
http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=55402

Robin

TEAK

There are a couple things you need to know about teak.

1. It's expensive.

2. When it is weathered, it is called "silver". Nice & natural. Aged.

3. For us, it is getting sanded & varnished with several coats.

4. It's expensive, so make it look that way. Right?

Our teak has had 20 tough years in salt water & sun, plus whatever God gave it before it was drilled into our Mako. It was always our plan to pull it off & restore it, too. As you can see from the photos, it has a beautiful honey-colored finish.

Because of our rain day yesterday, Jack had plenty of time to do this into the evening hours. We had tornadoes north of us today and the tarp had replaced itself somewhere else. I had to go up there and recover everything. While I was there, I took a picture of the rain damage on the "windshield area" paint job.

What a shame since Jack was doing such a lovely job with rolling it on instead of spraying it.

Our goal is to be 100% done with the boat by the 2nd week of February. My parents are coming to town and it is always a treat to take them fishing, weather permitting. Plus, by March, the cobia will be strolling into town and we are anxious to see what they think of the new paint job. (wink, wink)

Happy Fishing,

Robin

WINDSHIELD AREA

Before

After 1st tack coat

Then we had a problem. For the first time in something like 6 wks, we got rain. Yep. Murphy's Law or something like that. And.... the rain ruined the paint job.

We covered it and Jack will have to sand another day to remove all the dimples & bubbles it created. We'll try another day. At this point, it is covered up and everyone is getting showers to head out to the movies. We could use a nice family day away from the house.

Happy Fishing,

Robin

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - the late report


Corner repair (above)

Fun w/ stickers (above & below)

Another repair on walkway (above), plus cuddy cabin spider crack repairs (below)

All these are filled and ready to go for tomorrow's hopeful painting. The interior painting will be done in small sections, so cuddy first.

INVASION

Forgot to mention these below. A miniature army of these microscopic fellows hatched. I found this bunch but there was already another batch on some stems & leaves elsewhere. Tomorrow, I shall counter it with Extract of Neem Oil. It is suppose to be organic. I cannot afford to feed all these guys.

Happy Fishing & Gardening,

Robin

BOAT UPDATE & GARDEN REPORT

There are actually quite a few things going on with the boat but I haven't been posting them. Jack took some berevement time this week. We received a lovely potted plant from his company. Working on the boat has been good therapy inbetween the rough moments.

Jack has focused on the cuddy cabin top. There were 2 major spider cracks up there that were drilled out, filled and sanded. He also repaired a big chunk missing from the back corner of the boat. It looks as if it was damaged while in production (dropped?) and then they threw the rubber rail over it and nobody was the wiser.

Jack also removed the one set of stripes down the port side of the boat. It wasn't eye-pleasing. He tells me that he will also end up repainting that side for a 3rd time. As an artist, I understood what he was saying. You couldn't feel any flaws with your fingers, but the original runs never weren't removed thoroughly and so they show up under the paint. I don't understand how it happens, but sure enough, they are there. As a wife, I walked away with hands over my ears. I don't want to know or be a part of it.

Today, was garage clean-up day in the afternoon. Jack helped me in the house all morning so I would have no excuse but to spend time in the garage with him. LOL. It was worth all the effort too. Everything is back in its 'home' and I don't have to worry about tripping any more.

I also discovered a surprised in my garden today. I had not 1, but 2 tomatoes almost fully ripened!! Yeah. They are a good baseball size.

I had more bell peppers.

My back row of brussels have their sprouts finally.

My biggest cauliflower looks to be hiding something very special at her very center. I didn't pry the leaves, but I think I have my first head growing. I just love this photo.

It was such a lovely day that after the kids finished up their workbook subjects, I let them do their history & science reading on the back porch. I was in the kitchen chopping veggies and Jack was mesquite smoking up these thigh quarters. The smell was just fantastic.

It's days like these that I have to laugh at all our northern friends. They love the change of seasons. For me, I'd rather have a winter where we can dress in t-shirts, enjoy 4 months of no mosquitos & low humidity and still get out and exercise. I could not stay indoors for months while waiting for snow to thaw.

More boat updates in a day or two.

Robin

GARDEN REPORT

As long as the boat is stil down, there will continue to be garden reports. I am really loving having a garden again. It's like getting a gift every week when I find something to pick in there.

I have been enjoying the peppers for some time but now the cherry tomatoes are ripening every few days. Yummy! There is nothing in the store that compares to homegrown ones.

My brussels continue to be slow growing. I have to be patient.

My cauliflower looks so strong. It is hard to believe I have to wait another couple weeks for the white part to grow.

My carrots are approx 4 in long, so I have begun picking them as needed. They should top out at 6", but I'm eating the bigger ones already.

My herbs are such a blessing as I come across a need for them in a recipe. They add much to a recipe. Last week, we had thyme on our fish. Delicious!! This week, I'm going to have it in a chicken recipe. It won't be long before I can start using my green onions as well.

Ok...... this one has nothing to do with garden, fish or boats. I just wanted to make your mouth water. Here are my perfectly grilled baby back ribs. My guys ate them UP!!!

Happy Gardening & Holiday cooking!

Robin