Red-Handed Jill

Patt - contact Jack and ask him how he made our cots. They turned out GREAT. He carved the headboards - mine has a skull and wings (like the top of a tombstone...) and his has a head and wings.

Another funny aside - during Saturday's battle, the corset I was wearing had a malfunction and one of the bones in the front was poking me in the chest. So I took it off and stored it in one of the fore deck lockers where we keep the gaskets (used to tie down the sails when they aren't up.) In all the excitement, I forgot that I had left it there and when one of the guys reached in to grab a gasket and got a black lacy corset instead. After the surprise wore off he thought it was pretty funny. And the other crew members kept teasing me about it the rest of the weekend.

I'd forgotten about that - Full Moon over Vallejo...

More pics: Sailors: A boy and his gun: Treasure hunt:

Aye - one of the chosen few... Captain Hayden was really impressed by both of you, by the way. Here are your pics! Oderless Eye: Aldebaran through the smoke: Aldebaran and a friend (the Sea Eagle):

Ransom - you made it back home in one piece! Send your pics over - I'll post 'em.

I'm with you on the jewelry as weapon concept... Looks wonderful!!

Both Royaliste and Tales of the Seven Seas have been using Hern Iron Works cannons for years. Haven't blown ourselves up yet...

They'll be the best pirates EVER!

As we were getting ready to fire on the shore battery...

I didn't take any pics from where I was on Aldebaran, but lots of pictures were taken when Ransom and Chainshot joined our cannon crew on Saturday - I'll post 'em when I get 'em. It was a grand battle all around - lots of bangs and booms and blackpowder smoke in the air... Ransom and Chainshot acquitted themselves quite well and were complimented by the Captain of the Aldebaran (at one point, we were getting sail up and Chainshot jumped in and started hauling line.) Sunday was another good battle. At one point, the shore guns were all set off at once and we heard a big BOOM and saw masses of smoke - in fact, there was so much smoke we couldn't see anything behind it! We were joined by some friends of ours with their own piratical boat, the Sea Eagle. And in a bit of an amusing aside, after Sunday's battle, we made ready to sail back to home port but needed to offload some passengers who were staying in Vallejo. We were going to do this via a friend with a power boat who was going to motor along side us and we'd have the folks jump/step into his boat. I've done this before - no biggie. So Russ got ready to speed over to us when a Coast Guard boat "pulled him over" and two Coasties leapt onto his boat. Seems he forgot to put his updated DMV sticker on the boat and they were going to cite him. So we had to keep tacking back and forth while they wrote out a ticket and he signed it. (Didn't know the Coasties did this kind of thing - learn something every day...) So when that was done, he came over and fetched the folks from Aldebaran so we could sail away.

Aye - we're heading out to the Aldebaran right now to set sail for the NorCal festival.

I recommend staying in neighboring Benicia rather than Vallejo. There aren't any hotels near the festival and Vallejo isn't exactly known for its hotels (in fact, you really don't want to stay in a hotel in Vallejo...)

We've got our cannon charges and quills done and I'm pretty much squared away with my rifle and pistol and accoutrement (had to take the balls out of my shooting purse or I might shot one of my guns by mistake in all that excitement...) Also need to remember to take my camera so that I can get lots of pictures of Ransom and Chain Shot firing black powder implementia. Oderlesseye - you do know you have a home base in the TO7S camp, right?

When I was in my late 30's, I went to see a friend's band perform at a tavern. When I ordered a beer, I was carded. To really appreciate this you should know that I was ordering alcohol with meals since I was 15 and buying beer for 20-year-olds at 16. Although since my early 30's the aging process has slowed down considerably, there was no way anyone could possibly mistake me for a person under 21. So when this guy carded me I started laughing like mad. He looked at me quizzically and I handed him my ID. He got the joke and handed me a beer.

One more day to prepare... Jack and I are sailing up on the Aldebaran (the ship that will be taking part in the sea battle) so we must have everything done by tomorrow night. Still have to make my rum cakes!

I feel bad that I can't do anything other than send good wishes to those in dire straits. Unless your situation is something that can be solved with a boarding ax, Cheeky...

Lady B - sounds like you should have left a long time ago if that's the tip policy. I can see sharing tips with bussing staff, but being told to give your tips to someone who is probably a political favourite of the managers? That doesn't sound quite above-board, frankly.

Last year, we sailed up in our 30' sailboat and slept aboard. The first night, it was so windy it was like sleeping in a Saturn rocket that was blasting off into space. On Sunday there was almost no wind, so ya just never know... But it will be sunny, so definitely bring your sunscreen. Ask Jack about what happened to his shins last year...

Right now, I have a 1998 Saturn SL1 sedan - over 100,000 miles on it and it gets better gas mileage than a Prius, even if I drive it 75 miles an hour. I have found the need to get something that can haul more stuff and still get good gas mileage, so one of these months I'll get an HHR wagon. It's rated at 30 MPG on the highway, but according to owners of them, 36 MPG is a more accurate figure.

You mean you haven't already started reading Treasure Island to him??? Congratulations!!

Alum is also used for fixing dyes as well; it was quite valuable because of that, if memory serves. And alum as the base of aluminum? Hmmm.... could have sworn it was actually bauxite.

I really lucked out with those two baby owls peeking out at me - it was too good a picture not to take. Today during my walk, I saw a man blunder his way too near the nest, completely oblivious. Mama owl chattered loudly at him and gave him the what-for with some deep knee bends. The guy jumped about a foot and slinked away as fast as he could. I could not stop laughing and mentally gave that fierce little owl a high-five. Here's a video I took last year of those deep knee bends I keep mentioning: Deep knee bends

Polenta with veggies and sun-dried tomato pesto.

I got close enough to take some photos of the owls yesterday (okay, using the zoom as well.) The father owl was further out in the field, shooing away ground squirrels. The family consists of a pair with five babies. Occasionally, I've seen all five babies, but today I only saw two at a time. The always vigilant mama owl: Notice the banding on the legs - I guess someone is keeping track of these particular owls. Mama owl and a couple of babies (the boldest of the babies is on the right - it has even started practicing those deep knee bends. Also, the mama owl is sitting and somewhat hunched over. She's normally about twice the size of the babies.): Baby owl, right before it realised it was being watched and hustled its little butt into the nest: These were taken earlier in the day: The boldest of the baby owls peeking out at me from the nest: Now joined by a more timid sibling: