Well, it's Winter. On a boat.

Too bad you can't convey temps via photo...

It is so cold. OK. So it's in the 30's (0-5 celsius) We've been here so long that we are acclimated. So 30F is flippin' cold.

All hunkered down.  Too bad we actually have to leave the boat today.

I don't like it. Mark doesn't like it. The dogs don't like it. It's time to move further south! Only it's not. But time is passing and before we know it, it WILL be time to head south!

 While we continue to work our day jobs, we also carry on with our boat projects. I am constantly organizing - particularly the galley. And as I do so, I also modify my Provisioning spreadsheet. Yes. I have a spreadsheet. It has all of the foods I plan to stock onboard before we leave. It continues to shrink as I continue to realize that we just don't need 80 thousand different kinds of hot sauce and 14 types of beans.

We only have so much space, and streamlining the food list seems to be working toward using that space in the most efficient way.

 Today I did the typical cleaning - heads (aka bathrooms), vacuuming, ongoing pantry consolidation (do I really need 5 kinds of vinegar?!)

Terrible pic, but the lighting on a gray day is lacking.
Those tiny black spots are mildew.

I also did the monthly attack on mildew. The tiny black specks pop up randomly - particularly in our forward cabin. We think that's because we shower in that head, so there's more moisture up there.

This is NOT efficient.

I am also on a fridge clean out mission. Every month or two I have to defrost the freezer. Fun times. It's always easier if I empty as much food out as possible. Tonight's dinner was shredded potato (hash browns...) with sun dried tomatoes, spinach, onion, red pepper and cajun seasoning. Topped with very ripe avocado. It had potential, but I was heavy handed with the cajun seasoning...

Curious to see what I scrape together for breakfast. Combine the fridge cleanup with my attempt to reduce the number of trips I make to/money I spend at the grocery store each week, and well, each meal is becoming an adventure. I foresee some randomly filled crepes for breakfast tomorrow. I'm pretty sure we have eggs...

Yes. That is a travel Q-tip container...

I found a (FREE!) way to contain my ponytail holders. It fits perfectly in my aft medicine cabinet and keeps the suckers all in one easily accessible location. These things were previously strewn about the entire boat. Which was kind of convenient... but annoying at the same time.

My grandmother gave me this cool lamp. I put a tiny lampshade on it (regular sized shades were all WAY too wide at the base for any of the available real estate on the boat) and Mark wired it for 12v power this afternoon. He was even able to use a remote/dimmer that he ordered for our cockpit lighting project. For some reason the dimmer wouldn't work when he tried to hook it up to the cool outside lights, but magically came to life for the lamp.

Now I can be incredibly lazy and use the remote to turn the light on. Even though it is at the most 3 ft (1 meter) away. I ordered some tiny LED bulbs for it, so it will use minimal power. I think it makes it homier in here. To me, this is a bit of an indulgence. Space is in such high demand when you only have 300sq ft/28sq meters of space. We have almost all of our stuff on the boat, but before we leave one day, we will stock up on spare boat parts and food.  I'm sure we will use every nook and cranny possible. I plan to buy whatever food I can find wherever we are.  But certain things (COFFEE and dog food) I plan to stock up on before we shove off.

When we are not doing projects, we are busy trying to close on an effing rental property that we are selling.  It was originally supposed to close mid-december.  We are currently crossing our fingers that it will actually close on 2/1/16.  Only 6 weeks late...

Shortly thereafter, I have to get started getting the next property ready for sale.  Unfortunately that kitchen has to be gutted and all new cabinetry/counter tops installed.  And maybe kitchen flooring.  And bathroom vanities.  Ah, the joys of being a landlord.  I'm telling ya, nobody takes care of your property the way you do.

But to be fair, we've made good money on the house.  It has high square footage for the area, and is close to a local university.  It has never sat empty and has kept me out of a cubicle.  And it has and will contribute significantly to our Adventure Fund.  The hard work we put into it will not be in vain!

There you have it.  A random, rambling play by play of how we are spending our winter.  It's cold and rainy and time to hunker down for a Netflix-a-thon as soon as we take care of necessary errands.

Are you all staying warm and dry where you are?  Are you stalking all the sailing bloggers out there in the Caribbean like we are?  Feel free to comment.  And stay warm!  :)