The time has come for the Arr!! to be hauled out for the season. Dear Husband is going to spend the night on the boat so that he can get an early start on Saturday morning. He wants to be at the front of the line at the crane, where they un-step the mast. Then, he can motor down the Chicago River to the boat yard, where the boat will be craned out onto the trailer.
Normally, boating season goes to October 15th, but we asked Dear Husband to join us on a visit to my sister and her family in Indiana next weekend. The boat yard announced the day the crane would be set to take down masts, so he didn’t have a lot of choice about when the boat would come home. If he misses the crane on Saturday, he’ll have to join a flotilla of sailboats going down river, which is a lot more work.
Flotillas gather so that they can all go through the bridges at the same time. The City of Chicago used to open a bridge for any sailboat that wanted to pass, but a number of years ago, Mayor Daley changed that practice. Now, the river fills up with sailboats waiting for the bridges to open. It can be dangerous when the river is clogged with small boats. They are obligated to yield the right of way to commercial vessels and government vessels. You have to give way to tour boats, tugs, and fire-fighting boats. So, if DH has the option to motor down the river ahead of the pack, that’s his preference.
Saturday afternoon, he’ll make it back to our corner of the world, and he will very carefully back the Arr!! up our driveway, and settle her in the north 40. He’ll have to back up close to 300 feet, with a gentle bend about half way. Right at that spot, there are trees on either side of the drive. It’s quite a process, getting it settled for the winter.
Over the next month he’ll unload the perishables, and anything that won’t winter over well on the boat. The bilges will have been emptied, and he’ll pour a couple of gallons of cheap vodka in to winterize them. Maybe by Thanksgiving, I’ll see him again. Home is the sailor, home from the sea.
Welcome home, Arr!!

Isn’t there a song in “My Fair Lady” that starts out that way? …where Eliza’s father is getting married and he’s celebrating before he has to go to the church?
Well, in a few more hours it will be my birthday. I expect this one to pass quietly; this is not a milestone birthday. I generally don’t care to go clothing shopping, but I may take some time to pick up some new clothes for this fall.
Dear Husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and beyond a few new quilting books, I didn’t have any suggestions.
It’s supposed to be rainy off and on tomorrow. The storm is on its way in now. I don’t mind the rain, but I wish I had made better use of the good weather to get some yard work done. If the rain keeps everyone out of the stores while I shop, so much the better!
Soooooo….I’ll just be off quietly celebrating over here…..

I’ve been casting about, wondering what I wanted to write about. There’s a lot on my mind, but most of it is trivial nest making, and it isn’t the thing to inspire great posts.
I have to tip my hat to billy who can make a blog entry out of not having the time to blog. I teased him about his absence in the blog world lately, and I got a lovely letter, and then found he had blogged about visiting my blog. *G* I can use all the help I can get in terms of links, but he was linking to a blog that has been too darned quiet lately.
So…first, I want to say to billy…..I totally understand, hon. We all have other things that demand our time, and most of them rank higher in importance than our blogs (unfortunately). I’m sorry I made you feel bad with my comments. More to the point, I should have said I missed you, but I understood. (I’m still waiting for Dr. D’s comment on your comment about packaging.)
Secondly, I want to THANK billy, for giving me something to write about in my blog! lol I have unabashedly stolen his idea and repeated it here. *G*
Maybe things will pick up here when gardening season ends. No….what am I thinking. We’ll be headlong into the holidays by then! Well…maybe in the new year I’ll find time to write.
Until then….be patient with me.