Friday, September 26, 2014

Broken August and Red Huckleberry Jam

In Early August, my mom, who just happens to be a hand therapist, took a look at my right wrist that wasn't healing and made me a super special, customized splint.  In doing so, she effectively salvaged the rest of my summer.  So, thank you Mom.  :)


I started to work more on the boat more.  Then Ben got really sick, so for a while we weren't moving very fast. But we were able to get in this tile in.  It's where the diesel stove is going to go.  
He sat there on the ledge and placed all the tile and handed me pieces to cut.  I would then hop down to the dock where we had the tile saw set up, and back up with a resized piece.  I was able to do all but the last ten or so, when my wrist started aching. Here are some pictures:




We were going down to the boat one Sunday and I had my feet up on the dashboard of the truck, when I felt the unmistakable sensation of a large insect flying up the right leg of my shorts followed immediately by a sting. Since there was no shoulder and a steep drop off on the side of the road, we had to drive with this thing crawling around inside my shorts for a couple minutes till we found a place to turn off. 

I am not officially allergic to wasps, yet, but every time I am stung the reaction is worse. The last time I was stung and didn't get treatment immediately, the swelling wrapped entirely around my leg and I had to take antibiotics and other fun pills that I can't pronounce.  I was also limping for a week. So when I get get stung, it is unfortunately a bigger deal than I would like.

The place we found to pull off was a gravel parking lot next to one of the Swinomish Tribe administration buildings. Ben sprinted around to my side and helped me out. We had to move extremely slowly and carefully, I got both feet on the ground then took off my shorts. During this, I felt a second sting on the thigh. I can only imagine what this scene looked like the the people driving by.
Ben shook my shorts and a Bald-Faced Hornet fell out onto the ground. We then looked at each other and he said,"Well, I guess this day is shot."

We turned right around and headed to Island Hospital. Because it was a Sunday, the walk-in clinic was closed, so our only option was the ER. I got a bed, and Ben sat in a chair next to me and swapped jokes and talked Game of Thrones until the doc showed up. 
It was a hoot.  I am so glad I ate lunch before all this. 

In the Island Hospital ER.
Now, lest you think this month was a pile of crap, a week later I hiked to the top of Mt. Erie with my knitting.  Get a load of that view.


Partway up, I found the most heavily laden Red Huckleberry bush I've ever seen. All those little salmon egg-like berries peeking out from behind those little tender green leaves!  I like to rub my face against those leaves because they're so soft.
I made a note of its location and returned with a friend the next day.  Now only she and I know where it is.  I am so excited about this! I've been foraging berries and other goodies for awhile, but I've never had a treasure spot before.




Jamming time!






So no, August wasn't a loss.  And in terms of boat work, September has been pretty awesome.  I'll write about it in the next couple of days.  Until then, thanks for visiting.

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