Comfort

I learned to crochet as a child; sitting across from my left handed mom. She peered at my work and tried to give me encouragement from a vantage point that helped her right brain processing give me backwards guidance. In spite of her patience, it took years before I could make anything worth keeping.

My mom crocheted every day. When we were little, she made many of our clothes, both sewn and knit/crocheted. My favorite was a granny square vest that I wore for my school picture. As mom got older, she began making baby blankets. She had an ongoing series of them in different stages of complete; always there was a boy's and a girl's in progress. It was her thing. She made them, wrapped them in plastic bags then stacked them in great piles with a dryer sheet tucked between the folds. Whenever a new baby came along in our circle, we would purchase them from her to give as gifts. More often than not, she wouldn't take our money. 

Mom had a vast assortment of yarn that she organized by color schemes. Each was stored together in a carefully labeled bin; green, blue, yellow, etc. She loved to mix variegated yarn with matching solids. Her favorite stitch was granny square but she branched out to the ribbed ripple pattern, making heirloom full sized afghans for us all. Many of my friends were lucky to be gifted one of the hundreds of blankets she made. 

My mom turned 83 this year. She packed up all her yarn and asked me to take it home, saying she was finished crocheting. She complained about arthritis in her wrists that made her work painful. Amongst the bins of yarn she sent me home with, I found a few projects which she started but had abandoned along the way. She told me to throw them out but I decided to complete them instead. While working with her final projects, I learned that my mom was struggling with following the very patterns she had worked with effortlessly her entire lifetime. Her once natural skill was gone. Instead of tearing out her stitches, I completed each project and gifted them to people in my life who were facing challenges. It felt extra special to say that the gift was made by me and my mom.

I've used my mother's yarn to make several blankets over the last year. They are comfort lap blankets, smaller than an afghan but long and narrow; they are meant to be a virtual hug carrying my love, thoughts, warmth and support. Like my mom, I crochet often. I make time in the morning and evening while watching tv and I crochet in the car on long road trips. I love the feel of my mother's yarn running through my fingers and the rhythmic twist of my hand and wrist as I add row after row. 

My mother passed this legacy on to me. I've made sweaters and booties, Christmas trees and holiday light strings, snowmen, stockings, pumpkins, gloves, cardigans...the list goes on. I love to practice new stitches and share patterns back and forth with my daughter who also crochets. Her work is like her Nonnie's, it's perfect. It brings me great joy to carry on this fiber art that I share with my mother and daughter. It's an extra bonus to give my work to the special people in my life.

I've got a lot of yarn to work with. It will take years to get through my mom's impressive stash. As I carry on my mother's legacy of generosity and compassion, I know I am blessed with a labor of love.

Happy birthday Alexa

For my dear friend Kathy in Connecticut

For baby Noa
Made by Mom and Me

For Mary who has been
a big part of our MN life

For Rhonda
my favorite Boat Buddy

For Jim - We love you!
Made by Mom and Me

For Debby my MN confidant

Season Changes

Things are winding down at Nestegg marine in Marinette. We're only aboard Mystic on the weekends now. The dock is bustling with boaters trying to get in their last cruising of the season. We've been taking car loads of boat stuff home each visit in preparation of our haul out on September 30th. This is a bittersweet time.

Friday Night Lights, Stephenson Island
Photo by Ric Mellon

We brought several extra blankets on board the end of August, including a heated one. It's cool at night but boy is the sleeping good! Each visit to Nestegg we see a few more boats lined up neatly in their winter storage spots on the hard. More boats arrive daily to wait their turn for hauling out. We took a walk through the marina and were delighted to find M/V Bob Tale out of Madeline Island sitting across from us at the docks. We first met Jean and Paul in 2016 on the Great Loop at Hoppie's and then again at Green Turtle Bay. We haven't seen them in six years. They are not with Bob Tale but we will look for them in the spring to reconnect.

On haul out day Dave watched as the marina eagle nesting on a post nearby snatched a fish from the river then landed by our car to enjoy it's feast. I had time to capture this close up. Other boaters joined us and watched in awe. It's one of the perks of living on the water that rewards us over and over.

Marina Eagle Visit

Eagle Feeding

We scheduled haul out for the first week in October but moved it up one week, concerned about the dropping temps. We were first in line to come out of the water on the 30th of September. Things went smoothly and before we knew it Mystic was nestled into the line of sailboats already settled in the lot. We began the long list of tasks required to prepare our boat for her winter rest. We can't just take her out of the water and walk away; there is much to do. While Dave winterized our engine, head and water systems I began cleaning the decks. Next I moved inside to work on the interior. Each surface must be wiped down; I use Fabulosa on the walls and Murphy's Oil Soap on all wood surfaces. Every locker, drawer and floor is vacuumed out. It's a lot of work. Finally, we installed Mystic's custom winter cover. The process took two and a half days. As soon as we finished we noticed purple bird poop stains on our boat cover. The song birds are eating fermented berries and leaving deposits to prove it. It's unavoidable but so disappointing.

Last Sunrise

Good Morning Haul Out Day

Coffee First

Last wake up aboard Mystic 2022

Peaceful morning

Calm Reflections

View from our slip

Ready for Harbor Hoist

Mystic on her cradle

The maple tree that sits beside Mystic's winter resting spot is painted in bright red. The leaves will be gone soon. The river has been mostly glass calm with reflections of boats on the hard mirrored in the water. It's a beautiful time of year here. As we drive away we begin to reminisce about our summer. Quickly, we switch to dreaming about next year's cruising season. There is a season for everything. There is a time to every purpose.

Mystic and Maple Red

Cozy tent view under cover

Tying straps down

All Wrapped Up

Ready for Winter (Mystic, not us)

A week after haul out, there was a huge mill fire just south of Stephenson's Island along the river. Clouds of thick black smoke made a dramatic back drop for the Fincantieri ships docked on the river. We were worried about ash falling on Mystic's cover but our friends Kathy and Ric assured us that the wind was on our side, blowing the smoke out onto Green Bay. What a relief!

Menomonie, MI mill fire near Nestegg
photo by Ric & Kathy Mellon

Door County

For the last two years, we'd planned to settle in at Sturgeon Bay after completing America's Great Loop. Delays cost us dearly. By the time we were ready to stay there, the marina had been sold to a conglomerate and was no longer an option for us. We ended up across the bay at Nestegg, a small marina on the Menomonie River. If we had docked at Sturgeon Bay, we would have been able to explore Door County from our marina. Instead, we took several day trips by car this summer. 

Calm day at Nestegg Marine

Always beautiful sunsets

Rainbow over Green Bay

Our first visit to Sturgeon Bay was to pick up bottom paint for S/V Mystic at West Marine. After grabbing our paint, we headed north up the peninsula. The drive was beautiful, taking us through tiny towns and vast farmland. Door County is a rural, destination community that offers a glimpse into the past, of a place that hasn't changed a ton over the years. The eastern coast is on Lake Michigan, the western on Green Bay. Each side has it's draw but everything about Door County is rustic and beautiful, from the apple and cherry orchards to the tiny coves with gorgeous shorelines. It reminds us of other attractive popular coastal areas like the Apostle Islands, downeast Maine and Traverse City, Michigan. There is something for everyone! 

We stopped in Jacksonport and walked out on a very blustery Lake Michigan beach. The park was full of families enjoying the beautiful weather. The temperature was 30 degrees colder on the lake side than it was on the Green Bay side. It was refreshing!

Dave walking across the dunes

Beautiful Lake Michigan

Dog walking and beach combing

Jacksonport shoreline view of cave point

Wisconsin Maritime Shipwreck Sanctuary

Back on the road, we drove to Bailey's Harbor a quaint town that was busy but not overcrowded. We walked to the marina and found that the harbor is shallow. Mystic would not be able to enter this port. Door County Microbrewery was on Main street. We stopped in for a beer and a stamp in our Wisconsin Hop Passport. Mike, the General Manager came over to say hi. Before we left, he gifted us a four pack of an experimental IPA, unavailable to the public, to enjoy on the boat. In addition, he gave us wooden beer coins for free brew on our next visit.

Door County Brewing Co.

DCBC Stage

DCBC Sticker Wall

DCBC Brew List

Enjoying a brew at the bar

Bailey's Harbor Marina

Lupine growing in someone's garden

On our way home we drove through Egg Harbor and stopped at Shipwrecked Microbrewery. It was more of a modern restaurant style craft brewery. We prefer the smaller breweries where the bartender is also the brewer, like Door County Brewing. 

On our second visit to Door County, we drove up the west side of the peninsula, along Green Bay, making stops at every port to check out the facilities. Sturgeon Bay, Ephraim and Sister Creek we're our favorites because they were less crowded but still had lots to explore. Fish Creek was crowded; tourists we're wandering through the shops and enjoying lunch on the patio of cute restaurants. We followed highway 42 until it dead ended at Northport where you can take the ferry to Washington Island. We didn't have cell service for most of the drive but we found our way to the east side of the peninsula to Bailey's Harbor where we stopped for at Door County Brewing. Before heading back to Marinette, we explored Sturgeon Bay. 

View of Sister Cliffs at Sister Bay

Sister Bay

Looper Tug Boat docked at Sister Bay

We've been working on filling up our Wisconsin Hop Passport all summer. Bridge Up Brewing is located at the south base of the lift bridge, in front of Skipper Bud's Marina in Sturgeon Bay. We enjoyed a great cold microbrew at the outside patio overlooking a marina. We took a walk around Sturgeon Bay, over the Michigan Street lift bridge then around and back over the Oregon Street bridge. I found a rubber duck with an Instagram link that indicated the duck was meant to go on an adventure. We took it with us to make that happen.

Bridge Up Brewing

Bridge Up Brewing Patio

Sturgeon Bay, Door County Wisconsin

Wisconsin Ice Age Trail

Next year we'll take Mystic across Green Bay and pass through the Sturgeon Bay canal leading to the big lake. We have enjoyed exploring the area and recommend it as a stop for cruisers. We found dockage ranging from $2 to $2.50 per foot in Door County which is pretty typical for Lake Michigan ports. There is so much to see and do. Every one of the towns along the peninsula has a fall festival. Who knows, maybe we'll make a third visit this season!