loss of our dear friend, our 75 yr old maple tree

After dear Ike Calhoun and his helper took her down, Blake was able to cut most of her into firewood for our back yard campfires. Then 2 days ago, a very nice young man from Louisville came and took away her large trunk, a huge log! He was very good at loading her, and has plans to use her spalted maple wood.

THE BOYS ARE BACK! J & D SKATEBOARDING!

IT'S 30 DEGREES AND THEY DON'T CARE! THEY LOVE SKATEBOARDING!

Fall at Ann's Chateau

Here are us and our bikes! Fall is beautiful here! Ride safe and keep the shiny side up!

AIRHEAD TECH WEEKEND

Great weather, great weekend! link to all picts: http://picasaweb.google.com/ohsolma/AirheadTechWkndOct2008#

update on Gill

http://staugustine.com/stories/100608/news_100608_045.shtml click on above link for update and good news. An outpouring of aid! Gill Le Houx lost everything when his 64-foot, 100-year-old wooden hull sailboat ran aground and broke up on Vilano Beach in August. He now has a new boat and is restoring it in GibsonÕs Dry Dock in San Mateo in hopes of continuing his journey to Cuba. By PETER WILLOTT, peter.willott@staugustine.com Looking at Gill le Houx's 29-foot sailboat and shiny, black Ford pick-up truck, it's hard to imagine that just a month ago he was homeless and penniless. The Canadian was stranded on Vilano Beach after Tropical Storm Fay destroyed his 64-foot sailboat while he was traveling to Cuba. But good Samaritans have him more than back on his feet. "I have never been in a position where I needed anything," le Houx said. "It's overwhelming, the generosity." Le Houx, 56, had put all of his money into renovating the 100-year-old wooden sailboat. The boat ran aground on Vilano Beach and was torn apart by violent waves. Also in the storm, he lost his glasses, almost all his clothing, about $300 of his last bit of money; his two front teeth were knocked out while getting off his boat. St. Augustine residents read about his plight in The Record and bought him new glasses, clothing and put more than $500 in a bank account for him. A St. Augustine dentist charged le Houx half price to fix his teeth, bringing the cost to $2,000. He's making payments using the funds from the bank account. A Gainesville resident, Ann Welch, who heard le Houx needed help, sold him her sailboat for $1. A St. Augustine resident, Sue Upchurch, is letting le Houx use her pick-up truck for as long as he wants. "I'm very surprised how fast things went from homeless to a truck and a boat and a bank account," he said. "I mean, geez." Upchurch could not be reached for comment, and Welch did not return calls. Le Houx is fixing up Welch's boat, held at Gibson Dry Dock in San Mateo in a scenic, wooded area along the St. Johns River. Welch is also allowing le Houx to use her old Volkswagen van, which he is living in while he works on the boat. He uses Gibson's bathroom and shower facilities. "It's pretty nice, eh?" he says pointing to Gibson's beautiful grounds. "This is my new home." But he hopes to be gone by January. Le Houx expects to have the boat's renovation completed by then and will sail to Cuba. He wants to start a travel agency there because it is a popular vacation spot for Canadians. "If I ever don't want the boat anymore, I give it back to Annie (Welch)," he said. "It's a fair deal. I'm investing 600 hours to redo the boat. That would cost $3,000 to $4,000." Le Houx is using some tools donated to him to work on the boat, and he salvaged a few items from his sailboat. To get money for other needed supplies such as a new engine, he's done a few odd jobs including painting a Vilano Beach resident's back porch. Le Houx did not have insurance for his first sailboat, leaving him broke when it was demolished. He also did not have updated nautical charts. After everything, he still does not plan to buy insurance for his new boat because it is "too expensive," but he says he will get new charts. A fellow boater gave him some GPS equipment. Le Houx says he couldn't be happier or feel luckier to have been stuck in St. Augustine. "These people are great," he said. "This is, in fact, the best place to be stranded."

Gill doing ok with support from lots of new friends! YAY!

I spent a week in St. A helping with cleaning the beach, getting some support for Gill, and enjoying St.A. On way home now, as he is in much better shape and will be just fine in time.

update from St. Augustine

here is link on local followup story that came out today in St. Augustine Record with a nice picture of Gill on front page. We are making a little headway at getting him up and on his feet again.

update on Gill and Lady Cecile

bad. BAD. its bad. when she first got on the sand, she could have still been saved. the coast guard and environ. and home security and dept wildlife came and made him spend 7 hours sucking the fuel out with a tube and his mouth and putting it in gallon containers. the waves were terrible and were slamming her bad. then the boat broke in half. then the mast fell and broke the front in half. he had to sit in the sand and watch her break into a million toothpicks, and he made piles of his stuff. like 12. like the bell, etc. then the cops came and made him find a room and drove him all over town making him get a hotel room. he could not afford them. finally they brought him back to the south beach where he wrecked and there's a real dump so he got $10 a night. paid for a month. today we start cutting up and cleaning up her cockpit. a guy is supposed to come for the engine which is mostly buried in sand. they paid him $40 and they have to dig it out. this really sucks. it's breaking my heart. we are still in shock and cant believe it. anyway, the next day, the ocean and pirates took most of the piles. he made it into 3 piles. next day, all gone. just this cockpit. i am shocked and horrified and still can't believe a boat that big and beautiful is gone forever. he will be here the month as lots of paperwork and red tape. he did dnr yesterday, coast guard today to take him to office, he has to say yes sir no sir ok sir. so we have no truck or chain saw and have to find that today. its weird the cockpit and the teak i worked so hard on is the only part left. thats not all. the dnr (wildlife) guy comes (he could charge him $35,000 a day till its cleaned up, but was nice and waived it). we ask him about a home for the baby possums and he says he can arrest me for bringing wild animals over the state line! LOL! he was serious! ugh! so he gave me 3 animal resuce numbers which i wanted anyway, but no one answers. and one died last night. we put it in a freezer. the other one still going. so you can run over and kill them on the road but u can't care for them. go figure. room crappy, black mold, wet floor, disgraceful. Gill's spirits ok considering. He still can't believe it. plan: get all stuff done here, find job, get shit back together, get steel catamaran! we are on vilano beach (he beached right in front of the "Fountain of Youth" :) St. Augustine is oldest city in US. good think he beached on cheap end. he can have room near what's left. he could have saved his boat if they would have helped him instead of making him suck fuel!!! this is so crazy and sad! so my cell, to all you boater friends, is 270-699-5651. if u can come or send help, call! love ya awl! a very sad ma ps a miracle i found him! my nose just led me. coast guard on sunday had no idea! amazing. he about fell over when he saw me! he was sitting in front of his room tiny tv (lost his glasses) 2 feet from it zoned out! waiting for dnr. he about fell over. he couldn t believe i came. i was the closest one of all of us.

ma on way to St. A

M A on way to St. A, should arrive Sun eve.

video of Lady Cecile after Fay

SAD NEWS!

a comment on LADY CECILE - GILL LE HOUX: Hello. I'm really sorry to have to let you know that Lady Cecile grounded on Vilano Beach, just north of the Inlet at St Augustine Florida during Tropical Storm Fay on Wednesday August 20th 2008. Despite strenuous efforts to pull her off the beach by the Coast Guard and a local shrimp boat, she was wrecked by the breakers. Even destroyed as she was, you could see her beeeeeeautiful lines. Poor Gill. We'll look out for you around town and buy you a beer.... this is very sad!!! i spent time on this boat last winter in Rockport, Tx., and it was a beautiful boat. i believe the video of her right before she sailed is in this blog and on youtube. i really feel for Gill. you can google "Lady Cecile St. Augustine Fl" and find the news articles, pictures and videos of this sad sad happening.

Little Boobie for Grampa from Gramma!

my little boats!

my new little sail boat on our pond, and my trusty kayak on dock with Grampa (Blake), who's getting ready for a little skinny dip!

VIP Guests!!

Our latest visitors, Janis, Editor of Women on Wheels Magazine on her Fat Boy Harley, up from Fla., and Casey on her F650GS, up from Georgia, both headed for the WOW Gathering in UP of Mi. Also in the picture is Jane Bell, who organized our local chapter, and her friend, Fran, who cooked us all a great breakfast before the women left Mon. morning. I know they got soaked on the way to Michigan, too! ugh! They will be back, Sat., on their way back home. We are looking forward to spending more time with them!

Kentucky Jets

FIREWORKS!

Javen and Dylan, wearing eye protection, and with adult supervision doing this homemade shooting can! Dylan's dad put a hole in the bottom of an empty can and they put a small firework in it. The can was set in a pie plate half full of water, and the fuse sticking out of the can was lit! The result was a can flying very high in the air!

blake losing his muffler

blake and mark on a fun ride! blake on his R1100GS and mark on his K1200RS then they trade after the muffler loss.

abby's game

javen & dylan homemade ramp

javen and dylan grinding

mark did this cool video!

http://www.talktoyourcomputer.com/fastride.wmv check it out! (short beemer movie with music!) he and blake again! good stuff!

BMW Motorcycles Having Fun in Ky!

sara grace graduating ith grade!

MY GRANDDAUGHTER!!! ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO PROUD!!!!!!!!!!!!! i shouldn't do it sideways cuz i dont know how to edit it on puter! duh!

Spring at the Cabin

Loving kayaking on the pond! Very beautiful and peaceful!

LADY CECILE - GILL LE HOUX

JT Little League pitcher

Dogone Bike!

Mark and Sheba going in circles!

WOMEN ON WHEELS MAGAZINE published me!

 

 

 

 

rowing in austin

daughter, lisa! awesome, huh??

shinefest 508

fun!

little league javen and dylan 508

great game today! javen got the winning catch on first base ! missed it on film tho!

To catch you up!

Five pictures of the USS LEXINGTON in Corpus Christy's harbor. It is totally amazing! I was very surprised at how large it is! Everyone should tour this boat while in the area!!! I even got a ride in a flight simulator of a WW II War Plane! Above is my neighbor with some fish he caught: a shark and some redfish! Above are my two rides! My cool $10 pawn shop bike, and my great little kayak! This is my crab lady friend catching crabs in Little Bay in Rockport, TX.

Lady Cecile

I have had the fine opportunity to spend time on this 100 year old boat in the harbor! It has been restored and will sail in May, to Key West, Quebec, then all five continents!

Sunrise on the TX Gulf

Beautiful sunrise on Aransas Bay, here in Rockport, just outside my window at Surf Court Motel where I am spending the month. Another perfect day in paradise!

Back in Austin for weekend

daughter, Lisa, and I getting henna tattoos, and she on her bike and with her boat! oh and a swan I hung out with at the dock!

Surf Court, my Rockport, Tx.,home

My Texas home, Surf Court, the greatest place in the world!!! And,my trusty bike, and my hermit crab friend, Richard Gere. He and his buddies make great roommates! Let them go when I leave. Kite flying is fun there, too!

birds i have seen in texas