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Clockwise from upper left: (1) Bob the Pirate Dog; (2) I read 100 books in 2018 as part of the Goodreads challenge!; (3) Having German food and beer in Portland; (4) The annual good luck New Year's pig gifts from my mom; (5) the line-up at the Christmas Eve potluck at the marina; and (6) Tickety Boo being moved into the workyard. What can I say about December. It was a month of highs and lows. I got to visit my family in Portland for a week - that was a high. We hauled our boat out of the water to assess the crack in our hull - that was a real low. It's bad. We had some cool weather in Florida - a high. I had freezing weather in Portland - a low. My sister has adorable cats that I got to play with - a high. .  .well, let's just leave it there with a crazy cat lady high, shall we? Okay, so onto the recap of last month in numbers. Basically, the really random numbers that pop into my head as I write these monthly posts. 4 - How many quarts my slow cooker holds. I made baked b...

Clockwise from upper left: (1) new batteries = more power; (2) new charge controller = more amps into batteries; (3) new-to-us windlass = no more pulling up anchor by hand; (4) waiting for rigging inspection results = three nervous guys; (5) canvas & mainsail up = Tickety Boo looking more like a sailboat; and (6) varnishing project = fun with arts & crafts. November was busy, busy, busy! We worked on a lot of boat projects and I released the second book in my cozy sailing mystery series - Bodies in the Boatyard . Boat projects went really well during the month, so well that we started to wonder when the other shoe would drop. And drop it did - we discovered a crack in our hull a couple of days ago (more on that in a future post). So instead of getting ready to head off to the Bahamas in January, we've made arrangements to haul out our sailboat, Tickety Boo , and move her to the boatyard in mid-December so that we can see the extent of the damage and address it. We'll al...

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Early voting; (2) Creative Halloween potluck dish - a zombie made out of meatloaf and bacon; (3) Breakdown #1; (4) Breakdown #2; (5) Some of the Indiantown ladies in their awesome costumes; and (6) Yes, it's still hot in Florida and everyone is wearing sandals or flip-flops of some sort. Cruising season is just around the bend with the end of hurricane season coming up on November 30th. People are starting to come back to the marina to get their boats ready to head on out sailing in Florida, the Bahamas, and beyond. Boat projects are in full swing on s/v Tickety Boo, along with plenty of fun social events to distract ourselves from all the money, time, sweat, and tears everyone is pouring into their boats. Now, without further ado, here are some of the random things that happened at the marina last month in numbers: 6 - Number of books I read during October. 2 writing-related, 1 cozy mystery, 1 graphic novel, 1 literary fiction, and Deb Akey's lov...

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Insect repellent - the essential centerpiece at any outdoor event in Florida; (2) Alex, one of the cool guys who works at the marina, sporting some patriotic shorts; (3) Visions of having three books in my cozy mystery series published; (4) Kudos to folks who brave the heat to clean their boats off - feel free to stop by and take care of mine; (5) I love that someone is driving a former police cruiser - very cool!; and (6) Our friend, Ted, doing his best imitation of a peacock at the local Guatemalan-Mexican restaurant. September was hot, hot, hot. That's about all I remember from the past month - the heat. Everyone in northern climates is posting lovely autumnal pictures on Facebook. Cool, crisp air. Needing a sweater at night. Sipping on hot chocolate without breaking into a sweat. It all sounds so lovely. Instead, I spent pretty much the entire month inside my boat with the air conditioning running full blast. On the bright side, at least the great...

Clockwise from upper right - A day in the life in July: (1) checking on my Sims over coffee; (2) unclogging a drain aka fun science experiment with baking soda and vinegar; (3) editing; (4) checking for packages up by the marina office; (5) procrastinating with some toenail painting; and (6) making dinner chock-full of vegies. July was a very focused month. Focused also means boring . Not much happened on s/v Tickety Boo other than working on writing-related projects. I even took a "blogcation" during the month, only posting the occasional cat picture here, not really visiting other blogs, and trying to limit my time on social media. My sole focus has been on trying to get a draft of next book in my cozy mystery series, Bodies in the Boatyard , ready to go out to beta readers. Of course, ugly plot holes and defiant characters made this challenging, but I'm hopefully getting closer to the finish line. So here are the rather random and boring things that happened last mon...

Clockwise from upper left - six things that start with "C": (1) cat; (2) another cat; (3) chocolate cake; (4) coloring books; (5) candy; and (6) coffee mug. It's time for the usual monthly recap in numbers. If you're a regular visitor over here, then you can probably guess what the primary focus was during June and I bet you're tired of hearing about it. Yes, it was all about the release of Murder at the Marina . After a whirlwind trip to Atlanta at the beginning of the month, I spent the rest of June getting everything organized for the release and then managing all of the activity that comes with a book launch. I also worked on the next book in the series, Bodies in the Boatyard, although not as much as I would have liked. I'll try to do something more interesting in July so that next month's report isn't nearly as dull. But in any event, here's all of the random nonsense that popped into my head when I reflected on the month past. 10 - How many ...

Clockwise from upper left: (1) The coolest gift ever - a Lt Uhura finger puppet!; (2) Courtesy flags; (3) Paperback proof copies from KDP and Ingram Spark; (4) A gloomy day at the marina; (5) Hurricane season starts early with TS Alberto; and (6) Our friend Ted with some of the cute boat kids at the marina. It's time for the monthly recap in numbers, a collection of odd tidbits that popped into my head as I reflected on the month past. As usual, the month just zipped by. It's hard to believe that 31 days can evaporate so quickly. If I had to pick one word to characterize May, it would be >>rain<< . Lots and lots of rain. And that can only mean one thing. . .lots and lots of leaks. I had towels and bowls placed strategically around our boat. The bilge pump seemed to run constantly. {One of life's unsolved mysteries continues to be the source of the water draining into the bilge.} There were a couple of boating milestones during the month - one set of friends spla...

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Coloring = procrastination + creativity; (2) Exactly how big is an 8.5 x 5.5 paperback book?; (3) Dave from s/v Toucan showing off his grilling skills; (4) Dave and Linda from m/v Lady Gus patiently waiting for the towboat at the St. Lucie Lock; (5) the Boat US towboat to the rescue; and (6) our new-to-us bikes. To be honest, there isn't too much interesting to report about last month. I was pretty much focused on getting >>Murder at the Marina<< ready for publication. While I knew there would be a lot involved and that it would take a lot of time, I seriously underestimated how time-consuming the process would be. But, on the plus side, it's been really interesting to learn about things like international pricing, formatting, uploading to various e-retail sites etc. I'm kind of a nerd that way. And, because Scott is still toiling away in Scotland, things are quiet around here and it's a good opportunity to get everything s...

In my ongoing efforts to learn Spanish, I'm highlighting a different Spanish word every day during April as part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge . I'm also sharing the random thoughts that pop into my head when I try to pronounce them. Today's post is a bit different, as it's also our regular monthly update in numbers. I chose today's Spanish word, >>bibli ófilo<< (bibliophile), because I read a few books during March as part of my Goodreads challenge . So without further ado, here's the usual photo collage and some random thoughts about today's word and what I got up to last month: Clockwise from upper left: (1) tree in your cockpit - sure sign you haven't been cruising in a while; (2) fun with a friend's drone; (3) watching the thoroughbreds train at nearby Payson Park; (4) impulse shopping for brandless food; (5) celebrating St. Patrick's Day with potato nachos; and (6) working on promo stuff for my book release. It's be...