Sincerely, Denise

RED BLUFF BAY ON ANCHOR

Thursday, July 9^th

Happy Birthday to my Sister-in-Law Lisa! Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

I woke up to the sound of waves slapping the boat hull which isn’t a good sign, usually means waves or wind. It was indeed a bit windy and VERY rainy this morning once again. Sigh. At least this morning I have a project. Day before yesterday I decided to revive and feed my sourdough starter with the intent of making bread. Yesterday I made the dough and went through the process of turning it every 30 minutes for 3 hours, then refrigerated overnight. This morning was time to cook the bread but I did not have a dutch oven so had to borrow Bill’s. His pot was a bit larger than I normally cook in so the bread didn’t rise much but did cook much more quickly! I have two nice loaves which is good and bad. Good to have, but it’s so delicious that we make sourdough toast throughout the day, slathered in butter of course!! Or even better, butter with peanut butter that melts and gets gooey. Ok, enough food porn.

We had rain all morning until finally around noon - IT STOPPED!! Connie and I threw the doors open and said “let’s go kayaking” which we did while conditions were favorable. It was still a bit windy and cold so we were bundled up in puffies and windbreakers, beanies and gloves and boots (with our life jackets on of course), but it was still a godsend to be off the boat, outside in the crisp air, and paddling around our bay. We were hoping to paddle up the stream nearby to look for bears but the current was just too strong, and frankly the shallows crept to the surface connecting with the bottom of my kayak from time to time, so we gave up. There’s a resident Eagle in the bay who perches in the same tree every day. From time to time the local seagulls harass it into leaving but with each dive bomb the Eagle would lurch up with its beak open and try to connect with a gull, and eventually they gave up. The favorable weather continued into the late afternoon so the whole group set out on a cocktail cruise around 5:15 to get up close to the gorgeous waterfall nearby, and explore the shoreline. Still no bears. Dinner tonight was Halibut Piccata from the halibut John caught a while back, along with scratch Rice Pilaf and Caesar Salad. Bill worked magic in his galley and whipped out Tiramisu from scratch to round out the meal. We do not starve….ever.