Voyage #4 -- Spanking at Agate Pass

Voyage #4 was not a success. We were attempting to go from Agate Pass, under the Agate Pass Bridge, to Manzanita Bay, our first point to point attempt. Previously we have embarked and returned at the same spot. We thought we had taken everything into consideration: current, tide, weather. We forgot about the wind, which just might be the most important factor!

Here we are before we started, looking blissfully unaware of the challenge ahead. The water doesn't look to choppy, the wind isn't very strong, we're going with the current as the tide goes in. We're strong, we're smart, we're ready!

Paddling along before the bridge wasn't too difficult. Once we got out into the sun, we were even a little warm. The bridge ahead! We were so excited to go under it!

A beautiful boat, going under the bridge at the same time we were:

And notice the pictures of us kayaking stop. Once we went under the bridge, the wind picked up. The water became rough and choppy and we felt like we were treading water. On the beach next to us was a huge, gnarled tree stump that I kept looking over at to note my progress. I stayed next to it for at least five minutes, going nowhere! Except for "She-Ra" a.k.a. Gretchen. She probably could have made it all the way, but maybe not in the time we had allotted. She got quite a way ahead of us, and when the rest of us were ready to give up, we tried to holler and whistle to try to get her attention, but the wind was so strong she couldn't hear us. Finally she looked back and realized we weren't gaining on her, so she turned around and came back. I think it was hardest on her that we decided to turn back.

I thought going back would be easier, with the wind at our backs, but my "little blue" was a failure. I had a horrible time keeping it under control. The wind was pushing me one way and the current was pushing me the other. I had to fight constantly to keep going straight ahead. No one else had the same problem, at least not to the same extent. Everyone else got way ahead of me. There was no time to rest; if I stopped paddling, I would get turned around or pushed into shore. Brooke thought we had reached our destination and pulled out, only to find that we still had quite a way to go. Gretchen found our starting point first, and went back to help Brooke carry her boat.

Mariann and I kept paddling and finally made it back. Once we got there, I decided to try out Gretchen and Brooke's boats to see if it was my boat or me that was having so much trouble. Fortunately, it was the boat! I was starting to worry that I had a serious kayaking handicap. I had no problems with either of their boats, so sorry "little blue", you're going back to the store!

Here are our abandoned boats, waiting for us to return with our cars that we left down at our "destination".

We might have gotten spanked, but we're not giving up! I'm going to find a better boat and we're going to do some more research. Brooke's going on vacation for a week, so hopefully that will give us some time to get things figured out before our next attempt.

My new favorite website

Remember MacGyver? The guy who could fix/create anything with duct tape? Well, this site takes it to a whole new level! Apparently with a little duct tape (OK, maybe A LOT of duct tape), a magic marker, and some twine you really can fix anything. Beware of showing any handy-person in your life this site. He or she might get some ideas!


http://www.thereifixedit.com/


This is one of my favorites:



I'm thinking of making one for Brad for Christmas!

Voyage #3 -- Murden Cove

After our third kayaking trip this afternoon, I had to ask myself, "Why does anyone live anywhere else?" It's a good thing they do, or else this place wouldn't be so special. We spent another amazingly gorgeous day out on Murden Cove, on the east side of Bainbridge. I arrived a little earlier than the others and had a few minutes to myself to take in this breathtaking view:

Mount Rainier in all her glory,

the beautiful Seattle skyline,

Shilshole Bay Marina and the Cascades,

even Mt. Baker showed herself in the distance!

I broke down and bought my own kayak yesterday, after borrowing two different ones. The first one I borrowed was great, but it was too complicated to pick it up and drop it off each time I wanted to use it. The second one was a two-person, and much too big for me to handle on my own. So here's my "little blue", out for her maiden voyage today!

When the rest of the group arrived, a nice man on the beach saw us struggling to set up the camera to take the mandatory group shot, and offered to take our picture. Thank you, nice man!

And then we were off!

There aren't as many houses around Murden Cove as there are in Manzanita Bay and Port Madison, which made it more tranquil. Several are perched high up on the cliffs with crazy staircases down to the beach.

This beautiful house sits out on a point all by itself. The beach surrounding it is sandy, a rarity around Bainbridge. It's for sale, too...hmmm...

This house just goes to show that you don't have to be beautiful to have fun. I love the yellow water slide!

In some places, the water was as smooth as glass and so clear you could see the sandy bottom below us. If it had been 20 degrees warmer, I would have gone for a swim!

These birds have the right idea!

We attempted Murden Cove at what we thought was high tide so that we could go all the way back into the "slough", but apparently our calculations were off. This was as far as we got:

With our arms burning, we decided we should head back to reality. Next week we'll be back on the west side of the Island, attempting to go under the Agate Pass Bridge.

It's too Early!

Now that school is well underway, I thought my kids would be used to waking up early. Apparently not!

Ben has had the biggest change this year. Last year, school started at 9:30 and he was able to wake up about 8:15. This year, school starts at 7:45 and he wakes up at 6:45. The past few mornings when I've gone in to wake him up, he's been very groggy.

A few days ago, he said to me, as I was shaking him awake, "But I only slept for 5 seconds!" This morning it was, "I want to quit school!"

Jillian also has a hard time waking up. With the school time change, she actually gets to sleep longer than she would have if they kept the times the same as last year. She should have been on the early schedule that Ben is on, but now she gets to sleep in a little later. She takes longer to get ready in the mornings because she likes to shower, practice piano and do homework before school, so I get her up at 7:00. This morning, still half asleep, she asked me,"Is it Thursday?" "Yes," I said. "But we haven't had Wednesday yet!" was her response.

I know how they feel! I long for the summer days when we all slept past 8:00. But the peace and quiet in the house when they're at school is well worth waking up early!

Voyage #2 -- Port Madison

Once was just not enough! The "fantastic four", as we have been dubbed by one of the husbands, have decided to kayak all the way around Bainbridge Island over the course of the next twelve weeks. (Some of us are a little more ambitious than others and thought we should accomplish this before Christmas. I won't mention any names...) So today was our second voyage, Port Madison. We were blessed with another gorgeous day!

Port Madison is more populated than Manzanita, and is home to the Port Madison Yacht Club, so there are boats anchored everywhere and docks abound.

We also encountered some wildlife:

This little island in the middle of Port Madison is called Treasure Island. I didn't get a very good picture, but it's a secluded sanctuary. The only way to reach it is by the long foot bridge. When Brad and I were first married, the house was vacant and we went in it. At the time it was a small, old, log cabin, but the new owners have fully renovated it and now it's a huge house.

And of course, what would a kayaking trip around Bainbridge be without the house envy?

Gretchen got a new toy, a Thule Hullavator, which makes it a hull-of-a-lot easier to load her kayak onto her car! It's as easy as ONE:

TWO:THREE!

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures as the Fantastic Four circumnavigate Bainbridge Island. We know that the weather will not always be this amazing, but we're determined to accomplish our goal!

Honey Harvest

Every year, our bee-keeping friends get together to "spin" honey and compare notes on how well our hives have done over the year. Every year, someone different hits the jackpot. This year it was my parents; they harvested about 40 lbs. of honey. Not a lot, compared to some years, but more than any of the rest of us got. It was a strange year; we thought with all the warm weather we would be drowning in honey, but that wasn't the case.

Here's how we harvest honey:

First, you have to remove the frames from the hives. This is Kylie and Ross checking his hive. The first frame he pulled out was beautiful, and we thought he had a bumper crop. Unfortuntely, he only had three good frames from this hive. He has two more hives that he hasn't checked yet, though.

Next, using a hot knife, you cut the wax off the frame.

Then you put the frames into the spinner, and crank the handle really fast, hence you are "spinning" honey.
The spinning forces the honey out of the frame and into the spinner. Then you drain it into a bucket with a filter to get out any bits of wax or bee parts that might be mixed in:

Finally, you pour the filtered honey into jars:

and voila, you have jars of beautiful honey! This is ours, about six quarts or 18 lbs.

This year, our honey was much darker than it has been in the past. Maybe due to the great blackberry crop this year?

Harvest Fair

Harvest Fair is one of the things I'll really miss when my kids have all graduated from Wilkes Elementary. Every year, the kids come up with the most creative things using vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. I helped Ben build his "school bus" yesterday afternoon,

and today he proudly carried it to school and carefully placed it on the display table.

I tried not to do much of the work myself, because it's really obvious when it's the parent's project and not the child's. But I admit, it was very fun to use a giant zucchini for something other than bread or soup!

Here are some pictures of the creations I especially liked. After looking through them, I realized they were almost all animals. Hmmm...

Our friend Camille's por-cuke-pines:

An example of an obvious "parent project". Tell me, what kid has the patience to glue on all those dried beans? Cute idea, though:

Now this kind of hamster I might let my kids have:

LOVE the quills:

And this lion is way too cute!