First of all, I would like to dedicate this post to my trusty old Toyota Camry, may she rest in peace. Last Sunday morning, she (and I) were involved in a car accident at an intersection (we were t-boned by a man who ran a red light) downtown. Fortunately no one was injured, but it was quite scary to say the least. My car spun 180 degrees and landed partially on the sidewalk, facing the direction from which I came and nearly hitting a concrete post. I won’t say that my life flashed before my eyes, but I will say that the accident has definitely got me thinking about the things I take for granted in my daily life and the risks I take everyday.
I have been driving to and from work for a year and a half now and never really considered it much of a risk until last Sunday. On the contrary, when Brian and I talk about sailing, I am always thinking about the million things that could go wrong in any given circumstance. My perception of risk clearly has much to do with my comfort level. Charleston feels comfortable, so I don’t worry about the daily risks—but maybe I should.
Anyway, since my car has been totaled, I’ve come to a crossroads of sorts. There are several possible outcomes to my predicament, but I will have to let you know more when I actually make a decision. Just know that I am re-evaluating my life goals and priorities right now and trying to stay focused on my art.
With that said, let’s talk a little more about my art. I’ve been working hard on designing t-shirts of late with the idea of creating my own little screen print line for sale (keep in mind this is on a very small production scale). I still have much to learn about screen printing, but have been pleased with most of my results so far. Here is a look at some of the shirts I’ve been working on.
Lately I have been so busy that I haven’t had any time to slow down and really enjoy the little day-to-day things, like these flowers for example, which are a gift from my grandparents’ garden. Looking at their delicate white petals this morning, I realized that I need to take a deep breath and slow down a bit. So I am working on it. As soon as I got home from work today, I made myself a nice cantaloupe smoothie with this great little one-cup blender I bought a couple of weeks ago for the boat (Hamilton Beach Single-Serve—very inexpensive and perfect if you have any space constraints). Then I sat down to catch up on a few emails before dinner.
To recap, I had a good visit this weekend with my family in Raleigh, NC, but it does feel good to be back on the boat, even if it is a mess. While I was driving and visiting nearly my entire immediate family (both sides), Brian was cutting open the fiberglass on the cabin top in order to re-core a soft spot. Needless to say, he did not finish this weekend. I came home yesterday evening to find a tarp draped over the boom to keep the rain out of the hole—good thing considering it is the time of year when a thunderstorm blows through for about 30 minutes every afternoon around 4:30 or 5 p.m. I snapped a few pictures just before one of these evening storms broke last week. You can see just how blue it was outside, and the light reflecting off the bottom of the clouds is actually from lightning, rather than the bridge lights. These storms are great because they fight back the oppressive SC heat/humidity. I am quite looking forward to more of these on the boat.
Ah, to be able to relax and enjoy a good storm.
Well, I had a great weekend in the mountains of North Carolina connecting with old friends and nature. Unfortunately I didn’t take very many photos, nor did I take my camera with me on our hike to an amazing waterfall. Lucky for me, Brian took some pictures of me as I screen printed t-shirts for 20 of my friends. It was a great success all around. I saw a big black bear, some snakes, some awesome falls, did a little bit of kayaking, hung out by a bonfire, went boating on the lake in the wee hours (and in the fog), and shared some fantastic meals with some great people. Couldn’t ask for more! 
So I haven’t been doing the greatest job of cooking on the boat lately. I’ve been incredibly busy over the past two weeks and will be going out of town tomorrow night to visit a bunch of my college friends in the NC mountains. I’ve also been working on several t-shirt projects this week after work and was finally able to put a package in the mail for my mom and brother (finally!). I also just designed t-shirts to print for my friends in Linville this weekend. I will definitely be posting some pictures from the trip.
Anyway we haven’t had much in the way of groceries and have been so busy that we have just been eating out ALL the time. Not a terrible thing when you live someplace that has fantastic restaurants like Charleston, but can definitely throw you off a tight budget! Plus I just miss a good home-cooked meal and a night of sitting out on the boat.
Recently Brian and I have been making a mental list of quick meals that won’t dirty too many dishes. I think one of the largest deterrents from cooking is the mound of dishes that stack up on top of the boat (yes, I know this is not very classy). The water supply in the tanks apparently doesn’t last very long when you wash dishes regularly—surprise surprise. Sometimes I will do small cups, plates, and silverware in there, but we still leave the big pots and pans for the dock.
Today at the store I bought an onion with the idea of doing a variation of a recipe from my Italian cookbook, The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan (btw this is the ONLY cookbook that I own and it is awesome). I made a variation tomato sauce with onions, butter, olive oil, sage, kalamata olives, and garlic. For those of you out there who are looking for a simple tomato sauce, this is it, unless, of course, you are buying pre-made sauce from a jar (but I prefer to make my own). I like it because it can be as simple as you want it to be, or you can add veggies and spices to make the flavor more complex. I have several recipes that I use in this way and I will try to post the recipes as I make them in the coming weeks so that you can enjoy them too.
*Please note all amounts are estimated as I don’t, and have never, really measured out my ingredients.*
1 tbs of olive oil
1 tbs of butter
1 yellow onion
handful minced or whole olives
1 can of diced tomatoes (or you can dice your own)
1 tsp. of sage, basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning
1 clove of garlic
salt
farfalle pasta
Put olive oil and butter in pan and place on low heat. Dice onion and sautee in pan until mostly translucent, then add entire can of tomatoes. I usually use Del Monte’s Diced Tomatoes with Zesty Jalapenos and pour it in with all the watery tomato juice. Put pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Mince garlic and olives and add to sauce along with a pinch of sage (or whatever spice you prefer) and a pinch of cooking salt. Turn the heat to medium and simmer until most of the water is cooked out and turn off heat. Add salt once the water starts to boil, and then add pasta and cook until tender. Strain and serve with sauce.
As we sat outside tonight enjoying the pasta, I snapped a few pictures of the sunset. It seemed exceptionally beautiful tonight and there were a few boats coming in from their racing this afternoon.
Bella sera!
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In early 2009, I moved onto an old sailboat with my boyfriend, and I decided to become an artist. This blog chronicles the pursuit of my dreams, exploration, travel, and art.
Join me for the adventure!
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