January 9: Great News, Maybe!

Linda found out that due to some "possible" rescheduling, her knuckle replacement surgery might be moved up to January 18th instead of February 14. We'll go up for some preliminary lab work, etc. on this coming Monday, January 16th and they will tell us whether or not they can move up Linda's surgery to Wednesday, January 18th. Keep your positive thoughts and prayers going for Wednesday. We are very anxious to get this hand done and then the other one.

One prerequisite was to remove her wedding ring.  Her knuckles are too swollen to slide it off. Hmmmm, should we go to a jeweler? Of course not, we have a dremmel! 

I was confident I could do it safely and Linda agreed. We also had encouragement from Randy who reinforced our thought that we need to be careful of the heat. We decided a screwdriver to protect her finger, short taps with the dremmel and an ice cube should do it.

Linda seemed a little nervous and jumpy. Not sure why. 

What could possibly go wrong using a power tool with a cutting blade that spins at 5,500 rpms within 1/4 inch from her finger?

After stopping often to cool the ring, I finally ground through it. The dremmel is a very handy little grinder. 

We thought she'd be able to pull it off once it was slit, but it was a tough little ring. It required two needle nose pliers to bend it apart. Needless to say, Linda was once again a little nervous, but all went well with no injuries.









Except of course for the ring! Now we just have to wait until Monday. We're optimistic.











I found out what happens in the Keys when you don't store an onion in the refrigerator. I had put this one in a basket on a shelf at the back of the salon where it wasn't real visible. I went to get it to use it for supper and this is what I found. I could have planted it! Fortunately there were two and the other one had just sprouted.

A few years ago the Toracks were here at Banana Bay. Seeing all the coconuts in the trees, JP and Kaitlyn wanted to find a fresh coconut, open it and eat it. Sounded like fun. Never tried to get one out of the outer husk but Will and I were confident we could handle it





















We had a saw, hammer, multi-tool and various hand tools. Turned out the husk is very stringy but tough. It's like trying to saw through a spool of strong but flexible string. Neither the saw nor the power multi-tool wanted to go through it. Will and I finally wedged it under a railing on the steps and went at it with the above mentioned tools.  Linda and Christi took JP and Kaitlyn and left the scene, afraid of what might happen.






Probably took half an hour, or more but we finally got it. JP and Kaitlyn enjoyed the coconut.




Having heard that story our sailboat friend, Dave, recently sent me info on how to free a coconut from the husk without tools. I had to try it.

I found a coconut, (not too difficult as they grow on the many palm trees here.) 

The directions said to prop the coconut upright with rocks on a hard surface.

Next drop a large heavy rock on it.

To my surprise it started to split open with one hit. I turned it over, dropped the rock on it again and the other end started to split open.
















Turned it over one more time, dropped the rock on it and it split open enough for me to pull it apart. Truly amazing.  Took about five minutes! So now you know in case you are ever stranded on an island.


The pedestal in front of our boat has had a water leak that is difficult to repair. A pair of ducks thinks its great! Its hard to find fresh water in the Keys. They're cute but they are making  quite a mess on the dock. Hopefully the water leak will be repaired soon because if a few more people step in the duck droppings the ducks might end up being "Roast Ducks".

Fortunately the duck dirt is not as noticeable as the flower boxes in front of our boat. Sharon, long time winter resident on Stevedore, planted the flowers and takes care of them. Great job Sharon, we appreciate your green thumb. Hmmm, I wonder if duck dirt is good flower fertilizer.