Six on Saturday

1) This post will be pictureless due to the continued malfunctioning of blogger.... not very happy about that but I guess if forces me to write instead of letting my pictures do the talking.  It also causes regret that I don't write down the little tidbits that I think of during the week =(.

2) Had my first full week of work  (last week was split up by the retreat).  It was a full week started out with a repeat of sanding and varnishing all the spars but then morphed into learning all sorts of stuff.  As the Swift is wood and now 25 years old the upkeep is continual and work getting it ready for another season is tremendous. The swift came out to dry dock this week to have hull repairs done.  It was a super interesting process to get it out of the water.. I have pics and will explain that later.   I did some leather work making coverings for some of the rigging, splicing and whipping to make sail ties.  A big job each spring is relashing all the sails back on to the stays and hoops.  Michelle and I started doing that this week. I did the staysail and fore and she did the jib and jibtopsail. Lots of marlin (tar infused rope), knots and cuts later the sails are attached for the season.    Its very cool seeing the progress of your work and that fact that you are learning an ancient art.

3) “A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other's lives. It is the knowledge that people have of each other, their concern for each other, their trust in each other, the freedom with which they come and go among themselves.”  Wendle Berry  
  This quote is typed up on an old typewriter upstairs in the the house.  I am truly learning what it is like to live, work, eat, play, worship, learn, grow and laugh in community. 

4) Elske and I have a new friend- Kammi the Kombucha.  We went for dinner at a a co-worker's on Monday night and when enquiring about a glass jar on her counter we were introduced to this symbiotic yeast organism bacteria mushroomy thing that ferments tea and apparently is a good natural detoxifying health drink.  So she gave us a growth from her jar and now we are awaiting the process.  Between Kammi, the sprouts we are growing and our little basil plant we have the beginnings of a little health food window =)

5) Switching from an inside job to an outside one definently impacts ones willingness to go for walks in the rain.  Thankfully if you wait long enough in Victoria the sun does come out =)  Afternoon walks are almost as nice as ones first thing in the morning. 

6) Not quite sure if I am entirely cut out for the city- I had to pay for parking for errands downtown  and then when I went to walmart there were flag people directing traffic in the parking lot... something wrong with that picture.