Red-Handed Jill

Played the drums until I was about 30 and then got tired of ticking off my neighbors. (Also, a drum set isn't the most portable of instruments.) It's tough to stop drumming, though, so Iron Jack got me a really good set of bongos and I'm planning on reacquainting myself with the bodhran. And when I turned 40 I took up ... the ukelele. Iron Jack's much more musically inclined than me; he's a terrific singer and plays the guitar, keyboards, squeezebox and harmonica.

What??? No votes for Muppets Treasure Island???

Yes, this pattern IS one of the better mainstream costume ones. I used the Simplicity 5958 for Jack's and my vests and his breeches and only needed to make some small modifications to them. One of the problems I've found with a lot of costume patterns is the "fit and finish" - I guess they must figure that no one's going to care if you are just going to wear them once for Halloween. They didn't figure on a bunch of piratical types wanting to wear them all year round. :) I really like the coat, breeches and the longer vest in this pattern. I've been promising Jack a lighter-weight vest. Akasha, would you know where I could get some hemp fabric locally? (And I'm definitely with you on the fake facial-haired model on the cover. Yecch!)

Huzzah! I went to the Joann's north of me (in San Mateo off of 92, for those of you who live in the San Francisco area) and found a plethora of packages of this pattern on display. It comes in two sized packages, XS/S/M and L/XL.

Went to Joann's this afternoon and they didn't even have this in the catalog, though the catalog said it was the fall preview one and the other new patterns were available. ARRR - and ye can't order patterns on-line at simplicity.com!

Best pirate/sea chantey band around is Skip Henderson and the Starboard Watch. Bit of a local legend in the San Francisco area. Does the best verson of "Fifteen men (bottle of rum)" in existence. Also wrote a great piratical ditty called "Billy Bones." Check it out If you happen to be local to the SF area or even visiting, check him out at Quinn's Lighthouse in Oakland on Thursday nights.

It's never too late to learn. I played the drums for years and then decided at 40 to take up the ... ukelele. That wouldn't exactly be a piratical type of instrument, but you get the picture. A lot of sea chanteys sound great with a bodhran. I'm thinking of taking it up again myself.

It's not the manner of the rowing, it's that it is done when I am already rowing in a straight line and rowing with that third oar throws it off like you wouldn't believe. The single oar method is great for one person in a really small boat, moving along with a current - three oars in an inflatable when one person is already rowing is one oar too many. This is an on-going argument for us. We've been looking at other types of boats, so someday maybe we'll get the proper type of boat for "cracker" style rowing. But one of those small outboards for our two-person boat would be way cool, to use the vernacular.

Happy Birthday Gary!! Here's hoping for fair winds, smooth sailing and an endless supply of rum to ye!