Maiden Voyage with Panda & a Mothers Love...

Lil man & I scrubbed the Rowboat down just enough to be suitable for her maiden voyage. He was so excited, he stuck with me through the entire cleaning. The Captain & Lil man were the first to take her out, so the girls & I followed in the car just in case they needed help launching. While he parked the truck, we let the kids row her, staying close to shore. Which you can see, lil man was such a gentlemen and manned the boat so the girls could lounge.

While the boys were fishing, the girls & finished up the tomato sauce I began canning that morning. I am so fortunate to have kind & gardening landlords. Despite the failure I endured this year, I have managed to put up a small amount from tomatoes that were closing in on their end of salability from his roadside stand & restaurant customers.

Once the boys made it back home, Panda & I jumped in the truck & took off for the lake! We are both just as excited as our men to have this new vessel. Our floating lady is very much appreciated and will continue to be enjoyed for hopefully many more decades.

I wanted to experiment with photos on a boat since the lighting while doing lake photos has been a bit of a problem for me.

She happily obliged as well as realizing the benefit of that parasol I brought along.

It is the little moments I have with her that I cherish the most. To see her smile and laughing after we managed to talk like pirates for 5 minutes straight, had my motherly heart swelling with love & happiness. I love this girl with everything I have. I missed so much of a normal childhood, having her has given me so much happiness on things I have missed out on. Just by viewing her smile & laughter, her interactions with friends & the giggles of many tweens carried down the hall may seem trivial to others. But for me... It's pure bliss.

 

Once the sun had set, we headed in to shore. I noticed with this photo,trees that were green just a month ago have already begun showing Fall colors. I love when they begin their change. Now we can experience the beauty from a new angle.

Panda is taking an interest in my new camera which I feel was fine...while on land. The row boat is managable by one person, so I got to work loading her. I will say my choice of a long skirt was not such a wise decision being I wore Muck boots for stepping in the water during the move. Panda though it was hilarious when I decided to bring the back of my skirt up between my knees & tuck it into my waistand. What a sight I must have been to the shore fishermen. As if an ankle length skirt & muck boots were not enough.

It took some muscle, with barey a tad of help from my shutter bug, but I got her in there and we were off in no time.

 We had such an enjoyable evening together. Panda had never rowed a boat before so she gave it a try & did great. Can't wait till our next jaunt out.

Now I must be off to tend to the storm ravaged yard. Some hard winds had blown in & of course, it has to be the full can of recyclables laying victim to it's strength.

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie