On Open Sea

One of my favorite places to be is on the water with my family on a calm day.  I'm not a big fan of going far out.  I've been miles and miles and miles off shore on not-so-calm-days, and, well, it weren't pretty.  There is no fish in the world worth that, my friend.  

But our local, untouched coastline... it's nothing short of overwhelming.  

A few weekends ago, we loaded the kids in the boat to pick up a few scallops.  It turned out to be a fairly productive outing, even though we didn't get the first scallop; we never even made it to the picking-up-scallops-place.  Instead of masks and snorkels, we strapped on our good Samaritan hats to save a drifter.  Seriously.  We were halfway to Scallop Central when we found a guy drifting along holding up his sunken, water-filled jet ski.  He had floated along for nearly 3 hours before we found him.  Crazy thing is we didn't leave the marina until 4:30 or so, much later than normal people decide to go scalloping.  Anyway, we helped this tired, sunburnt, dehydrated guy into the boat, gave him a towel and a bottle of water and took him and his sunken jet ski  back to shore.  We were on the water for over 3 hours and only picked up a human.  No scallops for us.

A few days ago, we gave Round 2 a shot and headed out. Although we kept our eyes open, we didn't see anyone needing anything more than a just a small dose of common sense. It was a perfect day to not have to save someone.   

I was hoping we'd see dolphins and we did!!  One even jumped and twirled in the air for us!  Too bad I didn't have my camera at the ready for the acrobatics.  

I love the view of the marina from the water.  Such a fun little place.



While Lee was getting the boat loaded and pulled out of the water, the kids and I played along the water's edge.  We take some much for granted...

The hard part of scalloping begins when you get home...

Yum-yum!  

That little bit of scallops only set us back $84.  I'll never complain about sea-food prices again.  

I'll just complain about gas prices.  Boats use a lot of gas.  

And just in case you don't believe we're quite backwoods enough, I'll leave you with a little bit of proof...

That's my boy.

Father's Day

Father's Day is a big deal around here.  And Lee is catching on that Mother's Day is a big one, too.  A birthday can never compare to either of the "parent" days, right? 

Wow...  you didn't die this year... ohhhh-kayyyy... let's buy you a present for that accomplishment.  And a cake. 

In a world of dead-beat dads, I managed to snag, marry, and create a family with a WONDERFUL man.  He is an excellent dad.  Honestly.   There are some things about him that are lacking, but the commitment and love he has for our kids is top-notch.  That, my friend, is worth celebrating!  That's worth TEN cakes and a slew of presents. 

I surprised Lee with this quilt, which he was clue-less about; his main gift was custom built and he helped design it.  Because he's seen me in action, Lee totally appreciates the time and money it takes to make a quilt.  Trust me, it's cheaper, quicker, and  easier to go to Pottery Barn and buy a quilt- even if that means a road trip.  

(The fabric is Echo by Lotta Jansdotter with some Kona solids and Amy Butler mixed in. I did a pretty tight free motion and it crinkled up perfectly.)

Wondering about the big gift?

Several years ago, I bought Lee a boat for Father's Day.  If the phrase best wife evah just popped into your brain, I'm not surprised.  You can see his boat and some of the amazing fish he's killed by clicking here.  

So Lee is bringing home all these yummy fishies and has no where to clean them, so...

I surprised him with the idea of building a fish cleaning station!  We worked together to decide where to put it and how big it needed to be.  It's not finished yet, but here it is... tucked quietly behind the bath house:

Add some lights and paint and he'll be right ready to descale some dinner.  

 Hoping to post completed pictures in the Fall when it cools down enough to paint.  

Happy Father's Day, Lee!!!  I adore you and thank God for you.  So happy, I am, that my kids get to grow up just like me...  with a wonderful, present, full-time dad!  

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And in case you feel sorry for my kids...

I'm not against birthdays... 17 kids came over last week and partied down for Henry's 5th birthday.  I was super excited that I didn't have to dive in and rescue a drowning kid like I've done the last three years in a row.  At one of those parties, I sailed right over the daydreaming $15/hr life-guard.

Here's the Hank the Tank after blowing out the candles...

In the making...

I am a creator.  

Each and every day, I create; and the result is both seen and unseen-- tangible and intangible.  

I can show you the "house" that Lee and I built but you'd have to come and live with us for quite a while to experience the "home" we've created.  

You can touch the dresses and scarves I've made for my girls, but the confidence and quiet beauty I strive to bless them with is a little harder for the eye to dicipher.  

In my heart I know my unseen creations are far more important than anything that can be seen.  In this area, I pray that I am successful- for it is imperative that I succeed.  

I am not alone.  I live in a home and a world full of creators.  We are all creators, whether we realize it or not.  All of us.  We are each and every one created in the image of The Creator. Therefore, it's only natural that we create.

So let's create something beautiful today.  Whether it be a mood (an aura, if you please), a meal, or a nice piece of art, let's create something beautiful.  I promise we'll feel better because of it!

I plan to create "encouragement" today. Hopefully, I succeed!

In the tangible column of my recent creations, I've been having quite a bit of fun.  Probably too much!!

I'll share a few things I've been working on and leave you with an excellent recipe! 

Not yet finished, this quilt top is for someone very special.  I love the fabrics as they have a certain earthy, hippy feel.  If it matched anything in my house, I'd be tempted to keep it- or at least make another one for myself!!  Hoping to finish this bugger by the end of the week.  

When Jesus spoke of the white washed tombs with the bones of dead men inside (Matthew 23:27) He may have very well referred to my closets.  So many of us try to look good and perfect on the outside, but on the inside- where it really counts- we're a mess!!  So it goes with my house.  What you can see is in pretty good order.  It's what's behind the closet doors that will scare you to death!  So I've been working pretty hard lately on getting my closets cleaned out- and I started with this one.  Before I tackled it, you couldn't even see the bottom two shelves and you definitely couldn't walk inside.  Since cleaning this one, I've organized four more, but I still have a lot to do!  And I don't even wanna think about the attics...  

I attend a Life Group at my church called A Stitch in Time.  We have a really good time creating together.  This last week we made grocery bag holders.  I am loving mine!!  

Interested in learning to quilt?  Craftsy.com is offering a FREE Block of the Month class complete with videos and printed directions.  You make 2 blocks each month and then in November and December you put them altogether and have a quilt!  It's a lot of fun.  I've made 3 blocks so far...  

These blocks are all VERY easy to make.  And it's not too late to start!!  You can access January's lesson with ease.  If you want to learn to quilt this is the (free) ticket!

Before grouper season closed I sent my husband fishing and he delivered!  His mission was to fill my freezer so I could make Grouper Chowder all winter long.  We've never been big fans of frozen fish, but we gave it a try and it worked!  We're not planning on frying, baking, or grilling any, but it is wonderful for chowder.  

Want to make your own?

... and I'm sure any fish will do.

Grouper Chowder

Ingredients:

1 large box Chicken Broth

Chopped Onions (I use a lot)

Chopped Celery (2-3 stalks)

Chopped carrots (I use a lot-- we like carrots!)

6-7 Diced new potatoes

2 small cans Potato Soup

Tarragon, Sage, Parsley, Thyme, Garlic, Rosemary, Salt and Pepper

Milk (4-6 cups, depending on how thick you want it)

Diced Grouper (get all the "red" out of it so it doesn't taste fishy; we chop ours about the same size as a Chic Filet nugget)

Cheese

Directions:

In a larger pot, bring your veggies to a boil in the chicken broth.  Reduce heat and cook until they are soft.  Add in potato soup and stir until it's dissolved.  Next, stir in milk slowly.  Make sure to keep the heat on low as your milk can curdle (yuck!).  Throw in the fish and the spices and let it cook for about 30 minutes.  Excellent with Sharp Cheddar Cheese and scallions (which I always forget!).  

I have always used fresh veggies, but if you're in a hurry you could always used frozen.  I don't recommend canned.  An excellent cook named Alison gave me her recipe several years ago and I've slowly adapted it to make it mine.  I'm sure there are 1,000 ways to make this yummier and easier, so have fun with it.  Take mine and make it yours!

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I love comments!!  If this little post has inspired you to "create" let me know!  And if you try the chowder, I'd love to know how you like it.  It's a big hit around here!

My fish killin' husband.

I met Lee a smidge over 14 years ago and he had a boat two boats.  Two pretty decent, offshore boats.  I would be lying if I told you I wasn't impressed with that.  We only had to go fishing once for me to realize those boats wouldn't benefit me one iota, therefore I was no longer so impressed.  Yup, didn't realize the joys of getting sea-sick.  For some reason or another we sold both boats and remained a Double-Income-No-Boat family until Zeb came along and POOF! Single-Income-No-Boat family, we were!  That was a lovely POOF! for sure.

I was fine without a boat.  Lee- not so much.  After all, he's loved the water longer than he's loved me.  I do believe salt water is coursing through his veins.  Soooo...  a few years ago, I bought Lee this boat.  And he smiled big...  

No, I didn't surprise him with an actual boat.  After all, they're not easily returnable and I had no clue what color he wanted.  Instead, I got him to pick it out himself.  Then I bought it.  With his money.  Because I don't have a job.

He loves his boat.  And he fishes on it as much as he can.  He doesn't really fish, though.  He hunts.  He hunts fish.  And he does it well.  Shall I prove it...  

This last picture is probably my favorite.  This cobia was huge!!  Its fin is almost touching the ground.  Lee and a friend did a tag team on this one.  Not sure how they worked it out, but somehow he and Jamie killed it together.  Awww...  

So this last weekend, my main man took first place in the Free-diving division of the 2011 Blue Water Open.  This is a pretty big deal.  Free-divers don't use tanks so they have to look, find, and shoot on one breath.  They dive sometimes 60 and 70 feet. I'll have to double check with Lee, but I think he's had one dive close to 100 feet -- at a diving class in Miami.  Impressive, huh?  Yup, that's the man I married!  

Anyway, here's a picture of the fish that won him first place, a trophy, and a really nice spear gun!  He gave his Amberjack away at weigh-in, so no picture of it.  

These are the teeth of a trigger fish.  These teeth bit Lee on the chest and left a nasty bite mark.  Never known anyone who was wounded by a 2 1/2 pound fish?  Well, now ya do!

I'm very proud of Lee and about to enjoy a huge bowl of fresh, home made Grouper Chowder-- my favorite way to eat Grouper when the weather is the least bit cool.  Ahhh...