The Rescue

[Saturday, August 23, 2008]

This morning an interesting adventure awaited us while we were out on our boat. After riding 2 miles over to Berley Cove the motor stalled. It had been idling here and there, but Adam thought we could make it. Twenty minutes and two fresh blisters later, Adam was unsuccessful at re-starting the boat. Anyone singing the Gilligan's Island theme yet?

We began drifting toward several piers, so Adam and I had to break out the orange collapsable oars. Summer wanted to row, too, but we didn't want to risk the chance that one of the oars might fall into the water and drift out of our reach. I was trying to keep Summer entertained and in the boat while rowing at the same time, but my inexperience was evident as we floated around instead of going straight.

Adam was about to radio for help when, fortuitously, a group of locals were about to launch their cabin cruiser a few feet away from us. Out of the kindness of their hearts, they offered to tow us back. We couldn't have been more grateful since the tide was rolling back in and rowing against the wind would have taken us hours if not days. We were also grateful that we had decided against going out into the bay that day due to the chop. We really would have been stranded then!

Adam rowed the boat as close to the dock as he could get while our rescuers loaded up their boat and backed it away from the dock. Adam threw them the line, and they tied it off. Adam joked that ours was their life boat. We made a bit of small talk and snapped each other's pictures, for storytelling, of course. Although Adam was slightly embarrassed, I reminded him that it could happen to anyone much like a car breaking down.

Our new friends weren't put out at all. In fact, they seemed thrilled to be sailing for purpose rather than mere leisure. They dropped us at our dock, threw us the line and sailed away. Below are some images commemorating the event.

Since we made it home safely and in time for Summer to take a nap, I reward myself with a little scrapbooking time. Still plugging away at the images from the tour of Biltmore House, I have nearly concluded the main floor. This page of the library won't take much space so I plan a border for the left side of the page. Color choice is easy: brown and cranberry single color cardstock to coordinate with postcards. I use the tearing tool to create a staggered effect on the border (image 1).

At this point, I come down with a case of cropper's block in deciding how to embellish the border. I consider making tags with the tag maker and writing one-word descriptions on them. I consider punching paisleys with the paisley maker. I consider using letters to spell a title. I search and search my stash but nothing seems brainy enough for the page. What images conjure confidence of knowledge? I ask myself. What images are indicative of learning? The brain? Spectacles? Reading lamp? Notebook and pencil? I can't think, and unlike on Nabbs Creek, I receive no rescue, so I step away.

[Sunday, August 24, 2008]

When I return to it the next morning, I find a tag in my stash that contains autumn hues of orange, red, brown and teal. I use this to journal a few sentences and anchor the border. I also discover a remnant of aqua paper to change the brown and the red under the vellum and the as-built. When I add the tag, it will unify the entire color scheme (image 2).

For the journaling, I choose the cocoa fine-tip pen, then adhere the tag to the page with 3-D dots. Finally, I attempt to create a pair of reading spectacles using the mini-circle maker and the black round- and fine-tip pens. I punch two 3/4-inch circles each of white and mediterranean single color cardstock. Then, using the black round fine-tip pen and scrap paper (to catch ink run-off), I outline the mediterranean circles in black, then with the tape runner, adhere them to the white circles, leaving a bit of the white exposed to the left. With tape runner, I adhere the double circles to the border on my page at a slight angle. With the fine-tip pen, I free draw the frames of the spectacles, then outline the frames with the round tip pen (image 3 and 4).

With that, I've logged another page. It doesn't rival the relief of being rescued from a breakdown in the middle of Nabbs Creek, but it is still one step closer to a completed album.