I'm sorry this is so long, it seems like there is always so much to tell ya!

A couple days ago, I rode my bike up to ACE and the car parts stores. It was very cold. I rode back and dropped the new purchases off. I have been searching for a rolling grocery cart basket thingy for months now and finally found that this ACE carried them but were sold out! So I took off on my bike again and headed to West Marine. But I took the bike patch and wound up half way to Covington. I turned back and headed down a road and then ended up on a main road with no signs. LONG story short, I got pretty lost and never made it to West Marine after the three hour detour. So I headed back to the boat, exhausted and SORE from the seventeen mile jaunt.

Brett got the radar mounted. That was so great to finally get done. After considering the expense of a new cable and calibration or a new mount, we decided to simpy move the existing radar mount lower to be able to use the cord we had. So Brett spent Friday up the mast, moving the mount and placing the radar on it. He ran the cable through the boat and mounted the screen at the nav station. So our radar is finally in.

We spent the night, in the dark, practicing using the radar. He also made me start the engine in the dark, which involves about 4 different steps. We tested all of the nav lights and they still work.

I finally got SOME of my jewelry organized. Most all of the earrings are now on the rack that Shannon bought me. The anklets, bracelets, pins and necklaces are still bundled into a small, fabric jewelry bag until I can mount another holder in the vee berth. Believe it or not, I didn't even keep half of my earrings!

We spent yesterday... go ahead and guess... yup- working on the boat. I finally got the nerve to pull out the sewing machine and cut into the vinyl for cockpit cushions. Brett reinstalled the windvane so it sat out of the water on the stern. We cleaned and organized the cockpit and deck, putting the mainsail back on the boom.

Our new friend, Benny, who lives on his boat just down from us, brought us wonderful steaks earlier this week and then gave us a brand new swim ladder in exchange for the sails we'd given him. What luck. We had been talking for a few days about the need for a ladder so we could climb into the boat. It was exactly the ladder we were looking at with an extra telescoping step. Benny and his son have also been helping us haul our garbage away, there are no garbage cans at this marina for some reason. Our generous new friend also offered us his truck to drive around for errands and even picked me up at the laundromat after we'd run into each other there. He ran Brett to West Marine yesterday.

Brett picked up a really nice life jacket for me that has a harness built into it. He got Benny (our cat, not our new friend) a small lifejacket, too, but it is going to need a major refit. When we pick him up by the handle, he just falls out of it. LOL. His belly is too soft for the straps. Hee hee...

We feel blessed by our new friend and have really appreciated all he's done for us. He refuses any payback, simply stating, "Southerin' Hospitality". Hopefully I can at least slip him some blueberry muffins before we leave. ;)

Benny, had invited us to go see a blues singer, Bryan Lee last night. It happened to be one of his favorite singers and he was playing just a mile from here. At almost 10:00, he picked us up and we drove to Ruby's Roadhouse. Just as we ordered our drinks (soda of course) the band started to play.

They were awesome. Really, really good. Benny bought us coke after coke as we sat enjoying the guitars and Bryan Lee's singing. His side guitarist, Greg Johnson was amazing and reminded Brett of his brother-in-law, Greg (same name!) This guy was amazing. We picked up one of Bryan Lee's cds and he signed it during their break.

After about four hours on our feet, the concert ended and Brett drove us all toward the marina. Not without getting lost first. I don't know if I told y'all or not, but Mandeville has been one of the MOST confusing places for us to drive. We have gotten lost almost every single time we've driven and, yes, even walked anywhere. We walked to McDonald's the other night on the bike path, about a mile and a half from here. In the dark, we passed by our street and had to turn back on a road to get back to the marina. So it was not surprising that Brett made a wrong turn and we had to double back last night. LOL

We've really had a great time while we have gotten tons accomplished on the boat. We'll be leaving in a few days to head to the haulout yard to paint the bottom of the boat and replace our prop.