always at sea level: "What's All The Buzz?"

I'm into my 3^rd week of being a 'lefty'. It's tiring. No matter what job it is......doing the dishes or putting them away, folding clothes or making the bed, having a shower or brushing my teeth.....everything takes twice as long. I am managing pretty good though even if I do say so myself.

While at the hospital several forms had to be signed and I have to tell you that even I couldn't decipher the name that I penned but now only several weeks later I can read the scribble that passes for my handwriting. It's amazing how quickly one can adapt.

The long list of jobs that need to be done within the first month we are here are for the most part being crossed off the list due to a combined effort. Since I cannot slice, dice, chop, julienne, cut or chunk Mike has become my sous chef. Making hugh pots of spaghetti sauce and chili, several cauldrons of soup, along with a tray of stuffed green peppers is a must-do job so we can use up all the produce before it is only fit for Sammy, Norm and Al.

The vacuum packers are also scheduled to go out on the barge to be serviced this year so the push is on to re-portion all the cheeses into smaller quantities and vacuum seal along with several boxes of extremely over ripe bananas ( all the better for breads and cakes) plus cases of pork chops, chicken breasts, whole chickens and steaks to prevent any freezer burn.

There are numerous jobs like rearranging freezers, reorganizing the kitchen to suit my needs, washing windows, sweeping the boardwalk ( I just cannot hold a broom to save my soul) and scrubbing floors that will have to sit on the back burner for now till I'm restored to my former capable self.

We knew a chopper was coming in to pick up some parts but I had no sooner heard the buzz than there he was landing on the upper heli pad. I love these pint size helicopters and what I wouldn't give to be able to skim along the beach and set down whenever we saw something that looked intriguing. It would be the perfect beach combing vehicle.

The pilot must have heard me telling the co-pilot who had jumped out first that the parcel they were here for was down at the crew shack because before I knew it the bird was in the air again, actually the pilot must have seen me gesturing towards the docks. No need to carry the box up here, we'll just go down there to get it.

I know it's only been 29 days since we arrived but the weather has been beautiful. Sunshine everyday – well almost everyday, warm (for here) with only a light breeze turning the glassy bay into a pattern of swirls and ripples. It's the kind of weather that begs you to venture out and explore. Nothing would be nicer than to get the double-man kayak wet but what would be horrendous would be getting my stupid cast wet! Chances are I would be perfectly OK but accidents happen, that's how I got here in the first place so land bound we stay.

Take out the workboat you say.....well the “work” in workboat these days implies the work to be done on the boat. She hasn't been in the best of shape these past couple of years and our viewpoint concerning her condition is you only take her out as far as you are willing to paddle back. Once again my 'condition' has thrown a wrench into these plans since Mike would be the sole paddler, which would be no easy feat so we are once again land bound.

We wander along the beach, stomp along the easier going paths of the forest and spend time sitting on the heli pad gazing at the nearby islands to be explored, so tempting yet just out of reach. We will have to wait till spring this year to venture out on the water for the time being we are land bound.

If you've got a craving for that special sweet dish than your best bet these days is to make it yourself. Getting by right now with doing minimal cooking and trying to make meals that don't require me do use a knife or better yet a fork....think about it there is of course soup, we all love chicken wings, there's french fries, chili, hamburgers (although messy) sandwiches and pizza...this has been my culinary level for now. Not very healthy for sure but these are special circumstances and require certain sacrifices to be made.

Mike was concerned I may not be getting enough fruit in my diet and was sweet enough to make an apple crisp, I will not mention that this just happens to be one of his all time favorite deserts. He searched the internet for a recipe since this was to be his apple crisp. The results..........

I meant to take pictures of it as it came steaming out of the oven and than maybe in a nice dish topped with a scoop of ice cream but before I got around to it this is all that was left. It was really good. What is even better is that from now on I can say “Hey hon, why don't you make your apple crisp tonight?”

.....hummm maybe I'll suggest he try his hand at pies.

“You hear that buzz? It's a helicopter.”

What do I do when I hear a plane or see a boat – grab the camera.

We have choppers buzz over us each year, we assume we're just on their flight path but this particular one was really checking us out. So there I am standing on the front deck, head on to the whirling blades getting some great shots when I thought maybe I should get to the radio and say Hi.

“Outpost here, good morning”

“Hi”

“Nice day for a flight”

“Yep”

“ Just out doing a fly by”

“Your on camera”

“I'm in my pyjamas!”

“Brian would like you go upstairs and open the curtains?”

“ OK?”

So off I go upstairs to open the curtains and than rush back to the kitchen to see if there are any other requests. The helicopter hovers right in front of the windows for a few seconds, getting some pictures I guess and than without another word is gone.

What the heck was that all about?