Looking for a good read?

Are you land locked?

Wondering what life on board is like?

Or maybe your on a boat but want to know you are not alone. 

 Well look no further!*

 Have I got a blog for you! 

(*Okay so you will have to look a little further but not too far.)

I have family and friends always asking..."the blog is behind. Why don't you write more? How am I suppose to live through you, if you don't keep the blog up?"

 I'm sorry folks but the plain truth is that no matter how hard I try I can not for the life of me figure out how to make work, grocery shopping, laundry, and everyday boat maintenance interesting. I have tried, I promise. But I'm sad to say "that dog don't hunt". But lucky for you all, my talented friend Barbara does know how to write about those things, and in an interesting, fun to read way. In fact, most of the time she takes the words right out of my mouth (if I had been able to think of them in the first place). Plus she writes MUCH more frequently than I do. BONUS!!

So I would like to thank all of our readers that are sticking it out and keep checking in with us to see what's new. We are here! We are just not very interesting. 

So to get your fix until our next blog just click on this link to hop aboard 'La Luna' http://hartsatsea.typepad.com/  that should satisfy your wanderlust (and buy me some time) for a little while.

Thanks Barbara for letting us "hijack" your blog, keep up the good work. (Pictures also from her blog.)

And faithful reader, Thanks again for checking in.

We miss and love all of you back home!

Love,

The lazy bloggers on Sandy Dreams

I'm so handy!

I have been there done that and have the t-shirt pants to prove it!! LOL ok so maybe not ALL that but I do feel pretty productive.  I have been pretty crafty lately and I'm showing off my skills.

In no particular order here are some of my previously unblogged achievements:

Exhibit A: 

Before - our window hatches.

After - window hatches.

I made screens/window shades for them!

Now the sun and the bugs stay out!

Exhibit B:

My friend Mary asked me to help her put decals on a boat.

Not too bad if you ask me (Paint overspray wasn't us!)

Exhibit C:

Ryan wanted a new bag for carrying all his captain stuff around. The zippers on backpacks kept corroding and falling apart.

This is proto type one, it is holding up okay but bag two is on the drawing board and will be bigger and better!

Exhibit D: 

Baskets for our beach treasures. 

They are Made of rope :)

Exhibit E:

I changed the light in the closet.

And I didn't shock myself or burn anything down! The ends are soldered and everything.

Exhibit F:

A bug screen for the "front door"

It's actually just a curtain hung up but it works great.

Exhibit G:

Shelves

Lots and lots of shelves

The boat had several large cabinets and hanging lockers but it was wasted space for us so I started adding shelves. 

Now we can fit more stuff!

 Exhibit H:

I painted Ryan a picture of his little gremlin.

Exhibit I:

I have been studying herbs and the property of the different plants. I am not near as knowledgable as my friend Sarah but I am really enjoying learning and reading about everything.

Our little garden on deck. The snapdragons are just because they are pretty. We also have chives, rosemary, parsley, peppers, and aloe with several other seeds waiting for pots. Oregano, lavender, basil, cilantro, mint, chamomile.

Exhibit J:

A divider for another anchor system in the chain locker.

Ryan actually helped but if he wants credit for everything he's been doing then he should write his own blog ;)

Exhibit K:

Peeled wallpaper in the forward cabin. (Yes, we still have wallpaper but slowly we are getting it all)

Exhibit L:

Selling Photographs printed on canvas

Ok, so I have blogged about this before but it doesn't hurt to plug myself again. :)

Exhibit M:

Tshirt pants

Yes I can make pants...out of t-shirts! 

I know they're AWESOME! LOL 

The internet has the best ideas.

Thanks Eric for the shirt!

Okay, I'm done. 

Thanks for letting me brag.

We miss everyone and hope that you all are safe through the tornados and other weird weather going on. We are getting ready for hurricane season here and have the boat moved into the mangroves. It is hot and the Mosquitos are terrible, hence the need for screens on the doors and windows, but those are small to having the boat safe and secure.

No other news here. Take care and come visit us!

Sunday Funday

We have played every Sunday this month and loved it! The last few Sundays, as well as this memorial weekend, was spent wake boarding and hanging out with friends at Happy Island. What better place to be?! 

We have spent the week days preparing for hurricane season and working on a few projects with the boat. Nothing exciting, but we like it. The weather is starting to warm up here and being in the mangroves makes for lots of Mosquitos especially after all the rain we have been getting. Makes Ryan and I miss our spot in Long Bay, but we will be really happy with our new spot come hurricane season and the first storm.

Not much else to report here. Ryan has family coming in on a cruise ship soon and they are going out on his work boat so we are looking forward to that. And spending time with family.

Hope everyone had a good long weekend and got to spend time with family and friends.

Merry Christmas from the Caribbean

Well here we are marking the passing of another year. I know I have said it before but it astounds me how quickly time passes. This is our third Christmas onboard. A holiday that is never going to be the same without all of our family around, but one that Ryan and I are beginning to get our own traditions established. I am baking sugar cookies and wrapping the last gift while Ryan is at work. When he gets home we will have shepherd’s pie for dinner and watch a Christmas Movie, then we will open a gift each before bed. Tomorrow morning we will open Santa’s gifts and our stockings that my mom lovingly packs and mails to us. Sissy can hardly stand to have a secret surprise hanging just out of reach and she checks often throughout the day to make sure that her stocking is still there.

This year we received a lot of beautiful Christmas cards from our friends and family. Thank you all for your thoughts and pictures. We love getting mail! On the subject of mail, my mom gets ours and sends it on to us, since my parents recently moved our address has changed. This did not effect our mail recently but it will, so please email me if you would like our new address.

Not much else to report here. Ryan still loves his job and works lots of hours. Sissy and I pass the days doing odd and end jobs and enjoying ourselves.  The other day we made a snow  sand man for the holidays.

We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ode to an Ode

Our bad influences, the reason for the madness, are still out doing and exploring and it makes Ryan and I very happy to see them still “cruising”, it gives us hope, goals, and inspiration. When we grow up we wanna be like you! After receiving a nice long email equipped with beautiful pictures I have been inspired to give an ode to an ode.

When asked ‘How did two people from OKLAHOMA?! end up here?’ we always reply ‘Our friends crazy parents convinced us we could.’

Thanks guys! We love you!

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So here is an update on us. It is not action packed or real interesting but it is our lives as we know them right now.

Ryan has moved jobs. Which doesn’t mean much has changed but with the new job he has his “own” boat and crew. He now leaves from the East end of the island and visits St. John daily instead of Buck Island. He was sad to leave his ferry boat but is glad to have done it for the reasons he did. He currently still works “The Cat” on the weekends and fills in when his other schedule permits. I believe him to be a bit of a workaholic but as long as he still enjoys the job I will keep silent. (Really I want him to take days off so that I have a playmate, but <sigh> I will have to continue to bribe others until he sees the light.) So really nothing much has changed in the world of Ryan The fact that he has a different crew shirt and has to leave the boat earlier in the morning to get to work are the biggest differences. He fact that he loves his job and loves the work are still the same.

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Sissy is much the same, she is still the spoiled smelly little gremlin that you last saw.

A little older, a little chubbier, and a little more set in her ways. (Much like her parents. ) She still enjoys the beach and a swim in the mornings which works out great for Ryan and I when we are in a hurry and in our work clothes <another sigh>. But the things we do for our hairy companions. When not on the beach Sis prefers to be on the boat, we go ‘to town’ some evenings for a beer and visit with friends and she whines and pulls and wants to go back to the dinghy, I guess she is a true salty dog.

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Me? I have put the brakes on working seven days a week. I woke up tired and cranky and in a rush for work one day (okay so it was more like a month) and decided ‘Rain on this, I’m in Paradise!’ so I now work about 3 days a week at my job with the Tour Company/Ferry and spend the other days painting and reading. Okay so maybe I spend a larger part cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, running errands, taking the dog for walks on the beach, taking naps, playing on the internet and well playing in general. But I have finished a couple paintings, put pictures into a gallery in Oklahoma, got more pictures ready, made jewelry for said gallery and today I wrote this. I would say progress has been made! Oh yeah and I guess the biggest news and most time consuming project was acquiring my 100 ton master mariner license. I am now a legal menace on the water. I have one last endorsement to get and have classes next week. I currently don’t have any plans for my license and mainly went to classes for the knowledge but I have had several offers for part time work and fill in jobs once season gets into full swing.

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And that my friends is a summary of our lives. Hurricane season is coming to an end and we are thankful that it was a relatively quiet one without any danger to us. We are excited to see some boats that we know returning to the harbor and hope to catch up with some of you soon.

Missing you all back home and sending happy thoughts and love to each of you this approaching holiday season.