Ahoy there!

 

Well Hurricane Ophelia passed us by without too much problem.

She hit the east side of the Chesapeake quite hard, mainly with very high waves (15ft plus) and high tides. Even where we were we got 3 foot over the norm but tucked up our creek we were fine. They said that this year was going to be bad for hurricanes and they seem to be right. They only have another four names left for the 2005 season (which still has until the end of November to run) and then they start with the Greek alphabet. They've never been this close to using all the names before. Rita has nearly made landfall and unfortunately the higher water has already breached one of the repaired levees in New Orleans and flooded parts of the city again.

 

We've been sightseeing around the Patuxent River . Although very sleepy now it was the site of several battles during the early 19th century and was the staging post for the British Navy's ransacking of Washington . Sotterley Plantation is an early 17th century tobacco plantation which we visited last week. They have dock facilities which made it easy for us. It was hard to believe that once transatlantic ships stopped here to pick up tobacco to take back to England . In the grounds is a customs warehouse as well as   a   smoke house, ice house, granary and one of the few surviving slave cabins. We had a tour of the downstairs of the house. They are restoring it but have run out of money. It wasn't very big considering it housed very wealthy plantation owners, the largest room was 20 x 15 feet. What surprised us was the amount of European influenced   interiors & furniture - the dining room had wallpaper copied from the Brighton Pavilion!

 

Sharon has had itchy fingers having left her sewing machine and upholstery tools in England and has been looking for a craft to fill the void. Her weapon of choice is now a crotchet hook.

Thirty five years ago she was quite good but the strange triangular shapes of wool littering the cabin prove that this ability has been well and truly lost! This week has seen an improvement and Paragon is now the proud owner of several hand made dish clothes (sadly you can buy several different patterns for the crocheting of dishcloths!) Very Betsy Ross! The object of all this practice is to make an Afghan - not a toy dog but what we would call a 'throw'. It may take some time!

 

We're back in Solomon Island as we've been able to organise a mail pick up at the post office and are waiting for a couple of things. This has meant access to the wonderful bus system and several trips have been made, including one to Leonardtown passing through some Amish areas. The downside is that the budget, which was well and truly blown in August, is not recovering! There are so many silly things you need which at home you can just lay your hands on - like staplers & alarm clocks & stationery. We also spent $80 on a printer/scanner which we have needed for a while. So now if you send us photos you may be selected for 'Photo of the Week' on our pin - board!

 

While we were out walking a couple of days ago we saw quite a large creature we didn't recognise. Investigation led us to find it was a groundhog, we thought they were made up for the movies. We found a great site showing these - and you can hear them too! www.hoghaven.com .

 

The sun is setting earlier now (yesterday was the first day of autumn) and although still in the 80's during the day some evenings are cool and too dark to read on deck. Our new computer gives us the facilities to watch DVD's and conscious of budgetary requirements we have been collecting bargain films. $5.50 got us nine (yes nine) 1930's black & white John Wayne films. The actors are obviously from the silent movie school of acting as they really ham it up. In fact we think some of the extras still travel the Solomon Island bus! One thing you really notice is the lack of background music (and lack of plot!) The horse chase is obviously the precursor to the car chase and the sound of two coconuts being banged together can be deafening. Still each film is under an hour. 

 

Signing off now as the first rain in four weeks is falling and we need to scrub the decks!

 

Warm regards

 

Sharon & Andrew