We just found out Thursday from a friend who read on a sailing forum that the facility our boat is at is closing!  The news said all boats out by April 1st!!  We hadn't heard a THING about this.  I was a nervous wreck.  When I called them, they said they had sent a letter just that last Saturday.  So little time for us in Oregon to MOVE our boat that's been dry docked alone for 10 months...  Thank GOD we had made the plans we did and Brett will get down there a week before our boat has to be moved.  This will give him just enough time to get her fixed back up and put in the water.  We'll have to figure out the bottom job later....

I feel badly for them, I don't think they wanted to close, they tried everything to stay open.  They seem like really really nice people.  Another business eaten up by this evil recession...

Brett has touched base with a friend near our boat who is going to help him when he gets down there which is a true blessing.  We're making a mad dash at saving up money for him to go and getting some things needed for him to go down there.  But so far everything has been falling into place.

I already have plans at keeping very busy when he leaves with knitting nights at Cathy's and time spent with my aunt and uncle. i hope to work on our garden that he started last fall.  Our garlic and shallots and onions are well on their way already.  I'm hooked on needle felting and have all kinds of fun projects lined out.  It will be hard to be apart though.  He's my lifeline.  But it's exciting to have him finally be able to get down to the boat and see how she is and what he can do to make her better.

I posted a new sea shanty too this month under the Flotsam tab.  It's been a year since I have!  Bad me!!  I am also adding an ART tab again to share my art with you.  I love needle felting, polymer clay and photography.

Less than 3 weeks till Brett heads back to Benevolence!  There is a lot of anxiousness, apprehension, excitement and expectations with the waiting. 

We have been saving money for him to get by down there for a month or so and to be able to buy needed materials for repairs and cleaning that will have to be done. 
I can't wait to hear what kind of shape the boat is in.  I wish I could go with him to help fix her back up. 

There is so much unknown with this..  What shape the boat is in.  Where he will be able to work on it.  Where he will stay when he gets down there.  Will he be able to find work?  Where's he going to go?  What are goals for the boat?  Will we move it to Oregon?  Sell it?  Find new avenues? 

I have been apart from Brett many times since we begun this adventure in 2006.  But this feels different.  With no set goal and no timeline, I feel anxious about losing his presence and friendship and support for an unknown period of time. 
It's been hard lately and I can't imagine not having him with me.  He is my life support. And he feels the same way.
Even with the anticipation of being able to get back to the boat and be able to make decisions quickly and unimpeded by his wife, he is wary of the loneliness of it.  Of the decision making.  He feels guilty for doing this while I stay behind to pay our bills. 

It's very exciting but so anxious at the same time for so many reasons for both of us.  But I will continue to pray that God will guide us as He always has with this. 

Meanwhile- I made a cute clay turtle the other day for a friend. I hadn't taken time for crafts for awhile- it was a ton of fun.

I have taken up needle-felting and LOVE it.  I felt my wool using only a foam block base and some barbed needles and wool in various colors.  It's like sculpting with a needle and wool rather than clay and your hands.  I haven't actually finished any of the three animals I've been working on but it's been fun.

I've also been learning how to use a spinning wheel with Cathy.  It's really hard for me to coordinate my feet with my hands. LOL  But it's been so fun to hang out with her. 

There's been a few trials the last few months and hardships with loved ones we know.  Our lives are filled in daily prayers for our friends and family. My work has been challenging but I am sure I will grow from it. 

Our baby orphan rabbit, Annie, is now almost 6 months old!!  She is fabulous- sooo cute and beautiful.  Such a cutie.  I love her to death. 

Benny is still with us- he's doing great but you can see the age starting to creep in.  He's almost 13 now.  But he's doing great.   
I continue to drool and dream over my friends' blogs, as they continue to live their dreams. 

I think it's hilarious that we when we are posting about luxury when we arrive at a destination, it's because of SHOWER and LAUNDRY FACILITIES. On land, we don't think twice about those luxuries.   LOL

Hi!  We're still pluggin' away in Oregon during this cold, dreary, wet, colorless winter.  But life is slowly creeping back into the plants.  Bulbs are coming up and trees are budding.  The birds are transitioning.  The chickadees are moving back to the mountains while Robins make their way to the valley.
 
We are planning and hoping that we can get Brett down to the boat in March, it all depends on finances.  We have just under 2 months left to save money for him to go.  We have his plane ticket which was a big chunk but still need to get his courier ride (100 bucks!) from Tallahassee to Carrabelle and some nights in a motel and money for material to get her looking good again.

We're not sure about plans after that.  We thought we'd have him bring it back to Oregon but our current finances are preventing us from saving up for the Panama Canal crossing (about $2,000)  so we're just not sure what we're going to do.  Trucking it costs about $10,000 so that is out of the question.... It's the same questions that plague us day in and day out.... There's a few things we could do and have to decide on but a lot of it weighs on finances.  BLAH.  The most important part is getting Brett down there to get her back into ship shape so she doesn't continue to deteriorate as she sits dry docked.

Meanwhile, to keep us preoccupied, preparations are in the works to plant a veggie garden outside our cabin for the summer.  Our brother and sister-in-law and us are having a pumpkin growing contest and I can't wait to get started! LOL  I'm excited to grow my own vegetables and herbs this summer such as lettuce, artichoke, green beans, corn, broccoli, parsley, cilantro, rosemary and other goodies.  Just have to figure out how to keep all the critters out of it!!

Speaking of critters, something got our two hens Friday.  We felt AWFUL..  It was terrible.  My aunt and uncle gave us two more hens to keep our lonely rooster company.  We won't be letting them wander anymore, we are expanding our run so they won't be able to get under the berry bushes anymore that run along the property behind our cabin. 

Our little orphan rabbit will be 4 months old next Friday!! Crazy!  She's so beautiful and a character.  We love her so much.  It is almost time to get her spayed and to get her a bigger cage.  Our baby is growing up!! 

My friend is coming out today and we're going to mess around with the acrylic paints.  Haven't painted in a long time so that should be fun.   Or hair-pulling, teeth-nashing, fist poundingly annoying. LOL

I decided to give my rabbits to our breeder that we got them from... It was a hard decision but I was so worried and stressed about them all the time after Princess died.  As much as I miss them, they are in a good home and will be loved as much as they were here.  I do still have our orphan rabbit, Annie, who is now 3 months old!  Time goes fast!  I have felt a lot better and more at ease not worrying about each rabbit 24 hours a day...  We definitely found out that we are more of pet owners than breeders or farmers.  So just Annie in the house works out perfect. 

The decisions to part with my rabbits may have unconsiously ended up opening other doors.  We have some possibilities that we're starting to open up to that are very inticing to our souls. 

My nephrologist appt went well.  He thinks it's a mild case so far of stage 3 CKD and that I have a good chance I'll not have to have dialysis.  And I'm sure if I keep to a good diet, lower in protein, I can lengthen that time even more.  I am very excited at this news as it keeps my doors open a little more. 

We think Brett can go back to the boat in March, after we saved up money for him to get back (It's very expensive to go to where the boat is).  That way he'll have enough to try and bring it around the Panama Canal if he wants.  The weather window for the Pacific is May so that would give him about 2 months to get it down and around.  We'll see how things go.  It depends on if we can save up the money for him to go...  It'd be about a 8-12 week journey for him to bring it here to Winchester Bay or Newport.... If he could do that, he'd have lived his dream of sailing solo and we could finish fixing her up so she was beautiful and do mini cruises to the San Juan Islands.  It's nice to dream anyway...

I came home Friday and after awhile, Brett said "Oh, by the way.  I bought a car."  He and my uncle worked out a great deal to buy us a AWD minivan.  It's a 1995 with high miles (used as a chaser vans for bicyclists) but the 95 Chevy Astros have good ratings and it was a great deal.  So we finally have a vehicle again.  It drives very nice and has a lot of storage room.  I am excited about it.  I call it my Christmas present. 

We found out that a hatch was unsecured on Benevolence...She has gotten wet and moldy and foul smelling since being dry docked...  Some people that were interested in buying her were not willing to deal with the mess.  It's breaking our hearts.  We are trying to come up with solutions to go down there and clean her up....

We have been spending the last two weeks raising an orphan rabbit baby.  We were devestated to find Princess Pink had died in birth (her first litter) 2 weeks ago.  One baby was still alive.  We have named her Princess Annie and pray that she continues to thrive.  We have had invaluable help and support from our friends and family. 

We did not get the English Angora baby but will be getting one in January.  Our breeders graciously offered us another doe to replace Princess Pink.  We all settle on Lily's mom, Chocolate Mama (we are naming her Madam Gruntsalot).  She is an experienced doe and they want to breed her so they can get lilacs out of her (like Lily) and so we have a good breeding experience... 

Brett thinks we should go ahead and sell the boat.  I am hoping we can still find a way to bring it over to Oregon while it is up for sale.  If we do sell it, we can pay down some bills and work on our little farm and put money toward another boat here on the West coast to work on and sail.   We have been struggling for awhile now and having some money to catch up with and get some relief would be a godsend at this point.

We both miss cruising greatly as we read our friends' blogs while they cruise Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean. I cry every time I open our sail magazines.   But God has a plan for everyone and His will be done.  It's a blessing that we are back in Oregon with insurance and income due to my recent diagnosis... But my wanderlust is suffering greatly...

Came back normal.  So it's still a mystery as to why I have CKD but at least it doesn't seem to be polycystic.  That would have been bad to deal with.  I see the nephrologist again and have more labwork the end of November.
My pregnant doe, Princess, is due the day after tomorrow!  I can't wait!

On the first day of fall, it was over 90 degrees which is weird for our area.  But the next day, it cooled off and we've been having cool rainy weather. 

In the beginning of August, I finally went and saw a new doctor.  She ordered routine labwork since it'd been awhile since I'd had labs.  My creatine and GFR numbers looked off so she ordered another set of tests two weeks after my first.  They, again, were off so she referred me to a nephrologist (kidney specialist) who I had to wait a month to see.

Last week, I had an appointment with the nephrologist.  My lab tests  were worse and confirmed that I have stage 3 chronic renal failure  which is a slow progressive, irreversable kidney disease.  I had an ultrasound Thursday to help determine why I have this as I am young for it and I don't drink or smoke.  It may also be caused by family history but so far, no one seems to know if it runs in the family.  Stage 3 shows no symptoms, they usually don't diagnosis it till stage 4 unless you have a diligent doctor (thank you to my new doctor, Dr Jakious for being on top of it). 

There really is no cure for it but I can do things to slow it down including diet and fluid intake.  They are trying to determine if it was caused by cysts which they can take out and slow it down or stop it.  It's so new though and I don't know much about it and they have to figure out why I have it first before giving me more advice on how to slow it down.  I am very healthy otherwise and have read that I could last years in Stage 3 because I am so healthy.

This has created a worry though.  When the disease progresses long enough (to stage 5), I will eventually need dialysis and/or a transplant.  This means no traveling.  A transplant possibility is scary because I have rare blood.  But those things are in the future and I am trying to stay positive and concentrate on now. 

We are more determined than ever to get Benevolence on the Oregon coast.  We want to bring her here so we can work on her and spend time when we can on her.  We're trying to find ways to get her here.  My desperation is so much worse since this diagnosis.  I miss the boat terribly.  Just being on her makes me happy.  We'll probably not be able to do any long term cruising but we want to at least sail and be aboard her when we can.

We really want to truck her up here but it's so expensive.... Brett is still thinking about bringing her around the Panama Canal and back up (about a 3-6 month trip).

So that's kinda the newest scoop I guess.  Brett is doing well.  He's worked SO hard on the farm these last few weeks, building gardens, fences, rabbit and chicken pens and paths. 
We picked up our two new rabbits last weekend.  They are skittish but lovely and they are slowly getting used to us.  My red doe, Princess Pink, is pregnant (hopefully) and should have kits around a week and half from now.  I am SO excited!  We are also getting a young English Angora baby buck who is gorgeous and so cute.  So we'll have our hands pretty full of rabbits in a couple weeks! LOL 

I have a bunny blog for them set up at www.fancyfiberfarms.blogspot.com