Gypsy Friends

We have some dear friends who are true gypsies
They popped in for an overnight stay last night.


We've been friends for about many years,
...raised our kids together,
and have stayed in touch forever.

They've been sailing for years,
and have made Australia their home-away-from -home for the past 8.
They started out by learning to sail on a small lake
near the town where we all lived.
They both went back to college and became nurses
in order to support themselves wherever their travels took them.
As they honed their sailing skills,
they gradually expanded the distances.
Before long, they had sailed from California to Hawaii,
then down the west coast of South America
through the islands
and on to Australia.

They own this (pic above) large beautiful catamaran
and have made Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
their homebase
...until now.

We've enjoyed years of receiving emails, photos and
amazing tales of travel from them.

A few years ago, they took a kitty on board,
who they named Pooterhead
(go figure... where do we get these names! LOL)

This cat loved living on the boat
and learned to swim from boat to land and back.


A few years ago some other friends and I talked
Shirlee into writing a book of their tales of travel.
We've been working together on the book ever since.

Well, its almost done...

To publish the book
is dream that will hopefully be fulfilled one day!

So they popped in last night after flying in to Los Angeles.
They're moving back to the States for now.
Shirlee's parents need her help for awhile.
Sadly, they are selling their boat and staying ashore indefinitely...
but one day they plan to buy a new boat
and sail down the East Coast of the US,
and on down to South America.

We had hoped to vacation with them in Australia one day

...but the years rolled by and one thing or another always came up...
or maybe we allowed it to.

Sadly for us, it looks like our opportunity has escaped us...

for now.

I so admire their gypsy-ness...
You wouldn't believe the tales they have to tell,
and I love hearing them

...but I am also so much an earth person.
I need a home place, a garden and a solid spot on earth,
but I can kinda live a gypsy life vicariously through them,

...because I know their gypsy blood
will not allow them to stay land-bound for long.

And one day we will join them for an adventure!

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After seeing this little button on Dzintra's blog,
and then following the link to Heidi's blog to read about it...

A Sew-in sounds too inviting to ignore.
I'm making this new outfit for Sophie,
and a sew-in will give me a boost to get it done!
I can always use an extra incentive...
So I'm joining the February Sew-in

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