[Newfie]

Got a very small garden this year. Enough Rhubarb for a nice pie. Tomatoes, cabbage, beets, onions, celery.

Had. Couple of cucumbers but the frost got them, twice, once 3 or 4 days ago.

Ping-pong weather here.

Finally boat in water and a short break in sail to unsnarl all the lines I frigged up.

[theluckycountry]

Thanks for the update Newfie, and for getting the thread back on track. Veggies are tricky I have found. Unless I dedicate a lot of effort to them they go sideways. I have found a local outlet though that sells produce from the local farms and get all my needs there now.

I've been busy with my new pressure cooker making lots of pea and ham soup and know an elderly couple in a nearby retirement village that love it. It's alway good when you can give some away and it's appreciated

[AgentR11]

Found a boat I like that is actually in current production, not forty years old, with forty year old boat problems. Thanks to AI no less, it did the finding.

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'F')ound a boat I like that is actually in current production, not forty years old, with forty year old boat problems. Thanks to AI no less, it did the finding.

[AgentR11]

Beneteau Oceanis 30.1; it fits home(Galveston bay) with shoal draft 4ft3in, CE rating B (more than I want to encounter), is new manufacture, big enough inside to comfort the critics with a good sized head, shower. Nice little fridge, propane stove (a little skimpy on the bottle size though), trusty yanmar, self-tacking jib which I find pretty cool though I've never had one at hand. A lot of freshwater and fuel storage for the Gulf. Enough to stay in blue water when I want, long enough diesel range to get to shelter if needed.

Oh and its new. Like not a project. Still a couple years out from retirement, but now I'm not dreading retirement.

[AgentR11]

nb... The AI is kinda overly positive about things, so you have to put an edge of skepticism to its tone; it'll flatter you into oblivion if you let it too. Still, the boat does fit, its not to big for me to handle, big enough to do what I'd like it to do. Despite being a bit of a cheerleader, the AI does hunt for good facts to relay in the process. Feels weird talking to a machine in conversational language, but it seems to work. So far, I can't find a hole in the boat selection "we" came up with. Still debating with myself about solar and lithium batteries, radar, and a few other things, but I have time to bring that all to conclusion well before I need to do anything *real*.

[theluckycountry]

Congratulations Agent_R, it looks beautiful, I'm not a boatie but I can certainly appreciate something like that yacht. And free wind power with backup, does that make it a hybrid lol.
A vid I found, is this what it's like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=0QyT8vjEY_s

[AgentR11]

That's the boat, though to be clear, I'm not buying for some time yet. So no congratulations or condolences necessary.

[theluckycountry]

It's sweet, love the galley and head, shame he didn't show the master cabin. When I was about 12 an Uncle used to take us out on his half cabin fiberglass, a 40HP Mercury and about 15'. I loved the experience since we had a huge bay, Morton Bay, that was his playground. A total fisherman so not a lot of sightseeing but we did go all over that bay and down to the southern bar often. always wanted us to cross the bar but he just shook his head. Not in this little boat son.

[AgentR11]

Should mention the 34.1 as well, its deeper draft which is more of a problem, but has a bow thruster, which is more of a benefit. Can make it less practical for day sailing in Galveston Bay, more restricted to channels especially in the winter when a norther deletes the water from the bay. But the bow thruster could be a huge consideration as docking with twin rudders can be.. challenging; though I'm assuming a hired instructor yelling at me for a day will improve that in general.

Overall, quite excited by the possibility. How to make the sale though... hmmmmmmmmmm.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'S')hould mention the 34.1 as well, its deeper draft which is more of a problem, but has a bow thruster, which is more of a benefit.

[Newfie]

Agent,

Congrats and good luck with the boat. I view it as supplemental health care, sailing is good for your body and soul.

[AgentR11]

Early for grats, but definitely thank you. See it the same way, something to keep me alive and kicking once retired.

[theluckycountry]

It's the secret for a long happy life, having a consuming interest that gets you out of the house. I've seen a lot of retired men die early, mostly those that have nothing more in life than picking weeds out of their lawns.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', 'I')t's the secret for a long happy life, having a consuming interest that gets you out of the house.

[theluckycountry]

I got my cycling averages back to where they were last year, I'd fallen into a funk over Winter, always do I discovered from old journal entries. We passed the shortest day a few weeks back and are nearly 2/3 of the way through. Funny how it takes years to discover something that should have been obvious? Still very cold, it was cold at 11am when I went out today, big wood fire going again tonight.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', ' ') Funny how it takes years to discover something that should have been obvious?

[theluckycountry]

Off to the city for an appointment, a 2 hour trip up north, a nice bike ride except for all the speed cameras and traffic as you approach the outer burbs. I'll take a backpack because I want to visit some bookshops while I'm in there. The CBD is actually quite nice, compact and civilized. Lunch will be an exotic treat

[Newfie]

I seem to have enough to do. I used to grump at these choree but now find that I enjoy them or the results. I like keeping busy.

Here we have an old shed about 10 x12 feet. One if the foundation posts was tipping over. So I jacked up that corner, dug out the post and reset it as the post was still good.

Last year I did some leveling in the yard. It used to be real rough to walk around, easy to twist an ankle. In the process of disturbing the earth a lot of wild flowers caught making a real difference in the way the place looks.

Made me feel good.

[theluckycountry]

A good few days work. Hard work actually that restumping! I'm in the process of changing the oil and transmission fluid in the car and in a few motorcycles. It's a rort to get a shop to do it, but aside from that they can't be trusted now. It's do it yourself or risk broken parts. Not many do it these days, even young men don't? It's easy with ramps and simple as with bikes after you pull some of the plastic fairings off. I always seem to slop some of the old oil around though, I use a plastic sheet under when working.

Very mild winter here, hardly burning any wood at all. I turned the A/C on this morning because it got down to 5-deg C outside. I like the Celsius scale, it's common sense. Water freezes at zero and boils at 100. The sun was up an hour later and the solar was powering them then. It's interesting because the cost of timber, and I get it delivered relatively cheap, is about the same as electricity to heat the house. But the wood does a better job overall and I like the exercise splitting up smaller pieces and lugging it upstairs. I also like the whole fire lighting and timber feeding ritual. I'll have plenty left over for next season it looks.