Fort Myers - February 4-7

Yet another palm tree in the City of Palms

Artfest Fort Myers, 2012

ArtFest Fort Myers last weekend was an impressive three-day immersion in all kinds of visual art.  Wayne gave you a taste in our last blog of the show setup that we could watch from our back deck and then Saturday and Sunday hordes of people showed up to see the work of 214 artists.  This juried show accepts only about one-fourth of the artists who apply to exhibit here,  We're told that the city of Fort Myers maintains a staff of three people whose job it is to prepare all year for this show.  Wayne and I both enjoyed the unique opportunity to stroll through the art booths at will and eventually found our own favorites.  We had a chance to talk with several of the artists and to learn about their techniques, all the way from the Best of Show winner, John Costin (go to www.costingraphics.com to see the etched piece that won him the prize) , to Prince Duncan-Williams who painstakingly glues silk threads in different colors to create large splendidly detailed iridescent pictures (www.princesilkcreations.com).  A special favorite that we found is Christine Reichow, a watercolor artist who draws and paints wonderful birds (www.christinereichow.com).

Wayne enjoying the ArtFest

Crowds of folks all day Saturday and Sunday

This booth was located right behind our boat.  We watched its
owner arrange and rearrange her art works over several hours Friday afternoon.

The show ended at 5:00 PM on Sunday and within a few hours all the tents and the art were packed up and gone.  You would never have known they were there.

Stinky Boat Repairs

On Sunday our aft shower drain ceased pumping water.  Wayne investigated that and discovered that the pump switch on the sump pump that gets rid of shower water had gone bad.  Water had overflowed the shower sump and had dumped into the bilge under the floor of the boat.  Oh, goody!  You would be surprised how smelly shower water becomes.  Another trip to West Marine for a new switch and then several hours spent re-installing the sump system and hand pumping into a bucket the very soapy, smelly shower water that must have been  collecting in the space for some period of time.  Problem solved in time for Colleen's next shower.

More stinky stuff:
Then Wayne had a busy afternoon yesterday as he attacked the lingering sewer odor that we notice in the boat occasionally.  Without going into too much gruesome detail, I can tell you that he thoroughly pumped and flushed our two sewage holding tanks five times; then crawled into the engine room located under the salon floor to replace a sewer system Y-valve.  This had the potential to be a very odoriferous job but fortunately he spilled only a small amount of sewer water in the course of the repair.    Following this experience he washed thoroughly multiple times and changed clothes.  After which he cleansed all the tools that he had used as well as his hands in Clorox water.  My hero!

One Cooking Triumph
Okay, I'm getting better.  Rice Krispie Treats I can handle.

Three tablespoons margarine; melt and mix in 40 large marshmallows.  Stir over medium heat
 until all is melted.  Stir in six cups of Rice Krispies.

Quilting Projects

Colleen is pleased to announce a completely finished quilt.  This small baby quilt will be donated to a charity that I work with in Charlotte.  Project Linus is a national organization that donates homemade blankets to children who are ill or who are experiencing difficult life situations.  Check out their web site (www.projectlinus.org).  It's a wonderful worthy cause.