Funky Nautical Junk

One of the fun things about going to the shipyard with Himself is all the cool things I can photograph.  Everywhere I look there are fascinating objects. 

There are pallets and pallets full of ropes.

Ropes of every shape and color you could imagine.

Chains of all sizes sit rusting on the dock.  This anchor chain has links that are around two feet long! 

I’d love to have this hook!

There are even ropes with chains!

In other places you can find piles of nets. 

And stacks of crab pots with netted sides.

I don’t know what these pipes are for but aren’t they fun with that flower shape and pops of bright color?

Everywhere on the dock are turn wheels connecting hoses carrying who-knows-what. 

This old dock cleat caught my eye.  It’s marked “Atlas Foundry – Tacoma”.  I would take it home in a heartbeat if given the chance!  It looks ancient.  I wonder how old it is?  The company dates back to 1899. 

This welded tag was on a piling floating in the bay. 

And all of that is before we get to his ship – the M/V Independence.  Not quite sure what this grappling hook is used for but I love the contrast of the yellow against the blue.

Once on the Indy, there are more ropes tied in interesting knots!

These knots are called “monkey fists” and are used to help get ropes from the ship to another ship or the dock.  The monkey fist is tied to a lightweight rope that is tied to heavy rope.  You throw the monkey fist over like a baseball and pull the heavy rope to you.

This big chain is the Indy’s anchor chain.

One way to get to or from the ship is in the “man basket”.  This is a man basket that is collapsed down.

When you go down to the engine room, there are all sorts of pipes and rods.  I have no idea what they are for but I love the way they look!

The repetition of the yellow turn wheels and every other one having a red tie was a surprise.  Aren’t the brass tags great?

This green turn wheel was big.  Looks like it has had a rough time of it too.

There’s a little bit of everything with this wench… bars, wheels, gears, ropes. 

I wonder what this is for? 

I think this is part of the mechanism that controls the anchor chains.  It was heavy duty and grease laden.

Cool looking at any angle!

It’s funny watching the deckhands watch me as I photograph the things that are part of their everyday life. Sometimes they will go over to see if they can figure out what I found interesting enough to take a picture of. Usually they walk away shaking their heads.

Another Child To Care About

I would like to introduce Josphat. He’s 14 years old and in 8th grade. His favorite subject is science and he is ranked 3rd in his class!

I am sponsoring Josphat thru a special program at Nairobi Kids (http://www.nairobikids.org/  ). It’s called the SOS Sponsorships. For a minimum donation of $25 (you can donate more) you can be linked with a primary school child and send them letters of encouragement. And that means a LOT to them. Altho the sponsorship does not cover their school fees or supplies, you can use the online store to purchase items for them… if you wish. It’s not required.

For more info and to see photos of these precious kids, check out their blog at http://www.nairobikids.blogspot.com/  

Wandering In Washington

I am just back from a trip out to Washington State.  It’s been 3 years since I’ve been there.  Himself had to take some medical renewal classes before he left for Alaska, so it was the perfect opportunity for a short vacation. 

Himself has a cousin who lives east of Tacoma who invited us to stay with them.  We always enjoy visiting with M and L.  Their home faces Mt. Rainier; you can just see it in this photo I took from our room as L was grilling salmon for dinner.

I really like western Washington.  Even tho the weather was rainy for a good portion of our trip,

…it always cleared up right when we wanted to do something outside.  And it was so cool… unlike the temperatures in Tennessee!

I don’t mind the rain.  That’s why it looks so beautiful there!

Besides, the rain makes for its own beauty.

Like this drippy tree (photo taken by Himself!).

And the amazing variety of mosses…

…which are on just about any surface that doesn’t move!

Mt. Rainier did come out a few times.  On clear days it dominates the eastern horizon.  I was surprised at how far away you can see it. 

I’m drawn to the rivers that flow down from it.  Cold and clear, they run over smooth granite boulders.  Every time we visit I fill a large flat-rate postal box (or two) with cobble stones I’ve picked up.  You may laugh about mailing rocks, but they are a great souvenir of our visits. 

The other thing I love about western Washington are its beaches. 

Dark volcanic sand, driftwood and cool breezes…

…and lots of those granite boulders and cobbles.

We packed a lot into our two weeks. There are so many things to share that I’m going to write about them over a few weeks time.

A Southern Adventure: Good Eats - 17th St Bar & Grill

Our Southern Adventure had a ‘PS’ added to it.  After our visit to MO for Mother’s Day we had to come home by a different route due to roads being flooded out.  Dad and Mom mentioned we might enjoy stopping at a restaurant that was along the new way we were going.

Their suggestion was “17th St. Bar & Grill”, an award winning barbeque restaurant. They have been ‘World Grand Champions” three times at the Super Bowl of barbeque cook-off’s – Memphis in May Barbeque World Championship Cooking Contest. 

There’s not much more Southern than great barbeque so stop we did!

 

The unassuming looking restaurant is in Murphysboro, IL. 

There are two dining areas: in the bar area and another room off to the left.  We came well after normal lunch hours, so we stayed in the bar area for more interaction.

We shared the “Grand Champion Plate” which they described as “a tour of Mike’s World Grand Championship ribs, turkey, smoked chicken, hot link, beef brisket, pork shoulder and a choice of two sides.” For our sides I had their red beans & rice and Himself had the baked potato. We also ordered the appetizer of garlic bread. 

It was fantastic. My favorite was the brisket, Himself favored the hot links. The turkey most impressed me as usually barbequed turkey is closer to jerky. This was moist and flavorful. The red beans & rice were the perfect heat (tho I would have liked to have seen a bit more rice). Garlic bread has seen some time on the grill and was smoky wonderful. 

The photo shows HALF of the plate meat platter, both sides and the bread. There was enough that we took home a portion large enough for another meal.

 

This is what was left of our dessert! It was strawberry shortcake but it looked so delicious we greedily dug in before I remembered to take a photo. It was better than it had looked. The shortcake was REAL shortcake…not those tired spongy things from the grocery. 

Since 1986 I’ve been going the same route from my home to my parents. Now that we’ve been to the 17th St Grill… that route has been changed!

A Southern Adventure: Vicksburg National Military Park

While visiting the Shiloh battlefield, so many times I told Himself that Vicksburg battlefield was so much better that we made the decision to rearrange the schedule yet again. We drove 3 hours one-way to spend a few hours before coming back. And it was worth it! 

The last time I was there was in July ’02. It was HOT… melt-into-a-puddle hot. Thankfully this time was much different. 

Vicksburg has the most beautiful monuments of any national battlefield I’ve visited. They are truly works of art. And the designers have done a masterful job of marking the battlefield with an abundance of signs that really show how the lines were formed up… and how close quarters the fighting became. There are many displays of tactical artifacts from the battle. The plan is to educate the visitor not only on that particular battle but on the general method of warfare in that era.

The lesson starts in the parking lot with this display of cannons.  Each is labeled with their type and size. 

All thru the park there are busts of the various commanders who were at Vicksburg.  I’m not sure if they were cast by the same artist/firm; but they are really good.

There are also statues and monuments that depict moments during the battle.

Each state that was at Vicksburg has erected its own monument.  They range from this huge Illinois rotunda to a very simple art piece done by Kansas.

Inside the Illinois monument bronze tablets list the name of every man who served in the siege.  The room is huge… and the writing is very small…

Iowa did a series of monuments that are scattered throughout the park.  Each beautifully done stone shows a scene of everyday life during the battles.  Here a soldier writes a letter home.

There is a monument to the African-American soldiers, noting their bravery in battle.  (It is noted that during the siege, Confederate troops went behind lines and attacked a Union supply camp.  The freed slave soldiers defended the camp while “the white Yankee troops turned and ran”.

This area is where Gen. Ulysses Grant headquartered during the siege.  It noted that for a while he lived in a small house that he commandeered, but one night was awakened by a group of engineers who dismantled the cabin to make ladders for an assault.  The assault failed… and Grant had to live in a tent thru the mosquito-infested summer. 

As we came near the end, I saw something that wasn’t there at my last visit. Actually… it was there, but had been completely covered for restoration. I was really excited to be able to visit it this time. 

It is the USS Cairo (pronounced Kay-row, so named by the farthest most south town in Illinois), an ironclad battleship. The Cairo had been sunk early in the war, and found again 112 years later.

 

She’s partly assembled for visitors to see.  Strong new wood supports the original wood (preserved thru some very cool methods).  This is the forward deck of the ship.  The thickness of the metal plating and wood beams protected it.

The metal plating is original.

The bottom of the ship.  I think it’s kind of cool how they have rebuilt the ship with whatever pieces have been recovered.  On the left are the boilers to power the ship.

Love these gears!

The ship was undisturbed and they were able to recover many artifacts.  Here’s a few of the bottles.  Aren’t they fantastic?! 

Items from the ship’s workings.

And from the galley.  That copper pot and the jug to the left could come home with me!  -wink-

And they found the beautiful ship bell. 

If you find yourself in the area of Vicksburg, you really should take a few hours to visit the battlefield. I’m sure you will be impressed.

A Southern Adventure: Good Eats - Madidi

As part of our stay in Clarksdale, MS I made reservations at Madidi - the posh restaurant owned by Morgan Freeman.  I’ll have to admit I had qualms as we walked to the door.  Reviews I read ran either very positive or very negative… not much in-between. 

We went on a Thursday night and when we arrived at 7:30pm there were only 3 other tables seated with couples at each. Shortly after we were seated one other couple came in. About 45 minutes later a party of 10 arrived. But that still left the restaurant half empty. 

The menu looked delightful. The food was what I would call “Upscale Southern”. We ordered an appetizer of baked oysters (“with spinach, bacon and Pando crumbs, topped with Fontina and Parmesan cheeses, sambuca.) Himself ordered a traditional Caesar salad (made with the anchovy paste).

 

My entrée was Salmon Grenobloise (“pan seared, with asparagus on couscous with a lemon caper sauce”). 

Himself ordered Seafood Cioppino (“Scampi, jumbo shrimp, scallops, fresh fish, and lump crab in tomato seafood broth served with crispy Arborio rice with ciabatta”)

For dessert I had peach cobbler.

Himself had dark chocolate molten cake. 

My review? It’s in-between. 

The food was excellent. However, it was in several instances NOT what was listed on the menu and we were not told of substitutions.  

The oysters, although delicious, had neither spinach nor bacon on them. 

The salad was perfect. 

My salmon had green beans instead of asparagus, and yellow & red bell peppers in the couscous instead of the asparagus. The fish was perfectly cooked at medium rare. The couscous was light and fluffy.  

The cioppino was a VERY small serving for the price charged. Himself told me he did not detect any crab in the dish and there was very little rice (perhaps 3 tablespoons). However, it was very flavorful and the seafood well prepared. 

The dessert selection was very limited and average, with the only thing offered that was listed on the web site menu being the molten chocolate cake. That being said, Himself said his cake was the best he had ever had…perhaps the best dessert he’d ever had. My peach cobbler was excellent. 

Would I go back? Probably not. While our orders were “close”, it was not what we ordered. 

And a restaurant with the reviews Madidi has gotten and the prices charged needs to do better than “close”.

The Peril of Having a Plan

I had it all planned out. I knew what I was going to do over the summer. But have you heard the saying “If you want to hear God laugh, make a plan”?


We came home from our Easter trip to find that after 16 inches of rain in 3 days… my newly neaten hobby room was now wet. What remodel was at the end of the list was just shoved to the top of the list.

So all the work I did this winter is now deconstructed and moved out to our garage (only the finished side of the basement leaked…). Next project is to tear all the paneling down and rip out the carpet. We will have it watersealed (if it happened once…it can happen again).

And then I have to put everything back together again. The upside is I’ll be able to put it back together as I want it. Tile floor instead of carpet. Drywall instead of dark paneled walls. An awkward useless closet removed. An equally useless bar also removed. That will be Phase One. I’m going to be learning a lot of DIY skills.

Phase Two will have to wait until next winter. That is when I will install custom shelves for all my books and hobby items, and otherwise get it put together in a cool way.

And while I did have working on the ‘courtyard’ area next to our front porch on my summer to-do list, I will have to escalate the project to include water control measures. Apparently huge amounts of water pooled and washed around the foundation during the deluge. I have to come up with a way to stop that.

But I am determined to do at least some of the creative projects I had planned too. I’ve had those on the back burner so long and I feel I really need the outlet of creating.

I know everything will work out. Just because God laughed and changed mine plan… I’m sure He has given me a better one that He’s planned.