More Paris pics - stories to follow later

I'm still playing catch-up on getting pics from the Paris trip out of the camera and uploaded, but here's a link to a group on my flickr site where I have parked a few more of the shots:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdogandy/sets/72157629299979478/

There are several hundred pictures still on the camera that I need to go through and cull, and I'm hoping to be able to write down some of the stories of the adventures that I had as well, but that will have to happen later. I'm still playing catch-up at work, and I'm nursing a broken foot-bone (Jones fracture of the 5th metatarsal sustained in a fit of klutziness early Friday morning....another adventure to try to capture with the pen sometime) and will be hobbling around on crutches for at least a few weeks. So, progress will be slow but steady. I hope.

Peace.

Paris...more to follow

Wanted to put up a few pics from the trip before I head to the bed....more pics and stories to follow.....

This band appeared out of nowhere and played some big-band jazz for almost an hour on this street corner.

Fans of the Mona Lisa.....

The Arc de Triomphe....

Inside Notre Dame....



One of the hundreds of patisseries...this one was a block from the apartment in Montmarte. The raspberry torts were my favorite!

One of the many houseboats docked along the Seine....this one had a pretty nifty arrangement for lowering the masts to go under the bridges.

Venus de Milo at the Louvre

Katydog

The vet that Katy was boarding with while I was away on vacation called me early Wednesday and let me know Katy had passed away in her sleep early that morning. Her health had declined steeply in the last few months, and although it was clear it was her time and her passing wasn't unexpected, I am heartbroken.. 

She was a good dog and a good friend, and I will miss her terribly.

Wednesday night softball......

So...some folks from the jobsite have gotten together, organized a softball team, and joined in the local city rec league. We play Wednesday nights, and although we are playing against vastly superior competition we always have a good time.

President's Day block party!

In honor of President's Day our neighborhood had a block party today organized by the family across the street - an amazingly energetic and talented mom, dad, and daughter that all do art, music, and theater in their day jobs. The "Wilt Chamberlains", the band made up of the young guys that moved in a few houses down last fall played the gig and did a great job, and fifty or so neighbors and friends brought food and drink for the community table. Everyone, including dogs and random passers-by, joined in the fun.

Here are a few pics. I'll probably load another few on the flickr site this weekend.

Fair winds...

Here's a short video from today's sail on Moon.....(click on the YouTube button on the bottom right to be able to see it in full screen)

Sailing today!

Weekend catch-up

After a long and action packed week at work it was nice to be able to relax on the boat over the weekend. The weather was nice, but I couldn't summon the gumption to take the boat out for a sail. Katydog and I enjoyed just hanging out, reading on a book, and working on a few chores like installing a new VHF radio and getting the new depth transducer connected to the chart plotter. 

I also got a few pictures from Thanksgiving uploaded to flickr.....here's a link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdogandy/?saved=1

Splashdown!

Thanks to everyone for a great Thanksgiving get-together, and a big shout out to Carrie for holding down the fort and letting Pat and I bail out for the Iron Bowl. The way the game turned out sucked, but being there was a lot of fun anyway. It's the greatest show on earth!

In other good news, the yard completed the bottom work on Moon this morning and we got her back in the water after lunch. The bottom work looks great, and the fiberglass work on the cutlass bearing hanger is really nice. There were a few things that didn't go exactly as planned, but all in all the work they did turned out really well.

I didn't have time to get her out for a sail today, but hopefully the weather will hold and I'll be able to take her out for a spin on the weekend.

Dinner at Sunnyside

I dropped in for a visit with Uncle Lee and Aunt Carol this afternoon after working on the boat for a while in the morning. Lee's making a strong recovery after being in the hospital last week, and I can tell he's eager to get things back to normal. He gave me one of his trade-marked scowls when I broke out the camera, which is a good sign he's starting to feel better....

Aunt Jeanene came by for a visit, too, and it was good to see her. She's going to St. Pete this weekend with Ron to test drive a retirement center - she's not too excited about that but it seems like it would be good for her to be closer to Ron and Lynn and the grandkids...... 

Carol had fixed dinner, and it was a feast....pork roast, black eyed peas, yellow squash, baked sweet potatoes, creamed white potatoes, and yeast rolls, all served up with an extra little bit of butter thank you very much. And apple pie and ice cream for dessert afterwards. Hush up yo mouth honey child.

All in all a great way to wrap up the weekend.