Visit to the Noor Arfa Crafts Complex in Terengganu with Ruth and Elizabeth

June 17, 2009 Ruth

On Tuesday, June 16^th, Ruth from Icicle One and Elizabeth from Labaraque and I met at 8:30 am in the marina lobby to await our prearranged taxi. We might have taken the 3 ringgit water taxi and then the free bus, but the bus schedule is somewhat erratic and the taxi was only 8 ringgits apiece so we splurged on the taxi to save time. The complex opened at 9 am and we wanted to be there in the cool of the morning, before the crowds of tourists arrived. www.noor-arfa.com is the web address and you can see the beautiful material they make.

Most of the crafts people we saw were trained at the complex. Traditionally men do the brush painting and the block printing and women do the songket weaving. At least that’s the way it was in the Noor Complex in Terengganu. www.batikmalay.net is another wonderful web site about Malay batik. Most of the printmakers were men.

Batik tools. Some are done as a block print.

Preparing the cloth for the color. We thought the women were using water just too wet the cloth to absorb the paint.

Both women walk around the cloth adding color. They have done this enough to have an idea how to apply the color and work well together. Then the frame is tilted first one way and then the other to let the paint run. A lot like doing watercolor!

Then more color is added and allowed to run.

This was a piece that was ready to have additional design added. Unfortunately we didn’t learn what would happen next exactly though we did see a similar piece with a gold design running through the cloth. The white design was woven into the cloth prior to the painting.

Using paintbrushes this young man had painted the back of this shirt.

Songket weaving has gold and silver thread woven into it. This woman had learned the process from her mother.

I would not have the patience to do this at all.

You can see how intricate the pattern is and how time consuming it is to create this material.

According to the woman who has the batikmalay site there are some small local shops and maybe I can see some of those when we return here in about a week.

“Pulled tea” is poured from one pot to another adding air….like cappuccino only without the machine. We had a late morning snack and then went back for a late lunch.

Malaysia, Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Sail Malaysia

June 13, 2009 Ruth

Hi All

Each stop has an official welcome dinner. This email is the welcome dinner at Terengganu.

DoraMac

Heritage Bay Marina

Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

Wednesday night was the welcome dinner for Sail Malaysia here in Terengannu (apparently pronounced Trehgahnu.) Tables were set out on the lawn in front of the marina and we were served a buffet of local dishes. Many of them were quite good, but since it was quite dark when we ate and the tables weren’t lit, it was hard to tell what you were eating. Even the buffet line was fairly dark so I just took some of everything that wasn’t fish and tried it all. I don’t take the fish because it always seems to be boney and I end up with a mouthful trying to figure out what to do since by then the fish and bones are all mashed together in my mouth. There were speeches and dances and a tiny ballet of sorts when the dancers acted out a story of fishermen who become possessed but then are saved by “the princess.” I didn’t quite hear the whole story. We took some short video pieces and I hope to be able to send some but so far my connection has been too slow.

There is always a local dignitary to welcome us and give a speech promoting the wonders of the area. One of the rally members usually gives a speech also. So far it seems as if they choose men from among the cruisers. I’ll have to investigate that; not that I want to get up in front of everyone…..

So how did this happen? I can’t even explain it to myself; Muslim events have no alcohol. After the formal dancing, cruisers are invited to join the dancers on stage. At the dinner in Kuantan one of the dancers invited me to dance with them and I said no and she looked hurt. So this time I said yes. No more front row seats for me! But I wasn’t the only one up there.

Some cruisers seem to really enjoy it. The man in the center is a retired dance instructor so he has no problems joining in!

Each cruiser was given a batik wrap.

My favorite part of the meal was the dessert! This is the Malaysian version of the Philippine Halo Halo! Crushed ice, condensed milk, and jelly bean and syrup toppings! Yum.

Thursday morning we boarded a bus to visit the local boat building area and next the Islamic Civilization Park. http://www.tti.com.my/ That will be my next email.

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac

Malaysia, Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Traditional boat building

June 13, 2009 Ruth

Hi All

We went to see two local boat building facilities….Randal found it to be interesting. I was more interested in the street life.

DoraMac

Traditional Boat Building Tour at Paulau Duyong

“The traditional boat builders of Terengganu are famous for their skills that have withstood the test of time. These craftsmen do not require plans or blueprints. They build boats from memory passed from generations and yet produce intricate designs with great precision and details. Built with the touch of modern technology and traditional precision, the boat is sought after by sailors from all over the world due to its sea-worthiness. “from the Terengganu travel guide. www.tourism.terrengganu.gov.my

I really can’t tell you much about the boats or the building process. I spent more time talking to the other cruisers or taking photos of the flowers in front of the workers’ homes.

Reminds me of the guys who built our boat!

Boats under construction

Most of the cruisers have sailboat and were interested in this one being built.

Computer screens, classroom area, and technology.

Walking from one boat building workshop to another I saw this scene, a mix or old and new from the cycle on the left to the bicycle on the right and the clothing of the men in the middle.

A young boy and his sister posed for a photo.

I liked all of the colors here.

Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Islamic Culture

June 13, 2009 Ruth

After the visit to the boat building workshops we visited the Islamic Civilization Park.

DoraMac

Islamic Civilization Park

Part of the heritage tour was to visit this Islamic Entertainment Park. There are replicas of major mosques around the world, a convention center and the famous Crystal Mosque. www.tti.com.my is the website.

A map showing the entire complex. It was really hot and the entire group was supposed to stay together….”herding cruisers is like herding cats,” as Patrick from Labarque said during the welcome speech he gave representing the cruisers at the welcome dinner back at Kuantan….so it was hard to take your time and read all of the info or watch all of the informational movies at some of the mosques. And there were varying levels of interests…mine was somewhere in the middle of the group.

Shaykh Lutfallah in Iran on the left. Scale is 1:4 It was built in the 17^th century and once used as a royal mosque. On the right one of the more unique, Samarra in Iraq. Scale 1:5.7 The original was built in the 9^th century of bricks and clay. It is located just north of Baghdad.

Replica of the Taj Mahal in India. Scale 1:10. We watched a short movie about the building of the Taj Mahal which included the little factlet that a hand of many of the craftsmen was cut off so no other building could rival the Taj Mahal.

We next were taken to see the Crystal Mosque built with steel and “crystal effect glass.” I think I read on the Park’s web site www.tti.com.my that it is the only mosques built with steel and glass. It is actually a working mosque, though my guess it’s for more special occasions.

The Crystal Mosque is also called the Floating Mosque. From the bridge crossing the river you see it from the back and it looks to be floating on the river.

Tourist robes and headgear are provided. Another cruiser being helped into the robe and scarf.

A local woman in her prayer robes, praying and watching over her son. She was off in sort of a separate area and I peaked in and couldn’t resist her white robes.

When I came out, I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d left my sandals… But I did find them.

Then it was off for lunch in Chinatown and finally an overcrowded public ferry ride back to the marina. Normally the water taxi doesn’t go to the marina, but it did because there were so many of us; too many for the small marina water taxi.

Malaysia, Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Sail Malaysia Kuala Terengganu

June 6, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

Email issues again. For some reason my outlook email won’t work with the Heritage Bay Marina wifi. And our new cell phone is just too slow so the outlook times out. I am going to try sending this email as an attachment.

Sail Malaysia Kuala Terengganu Day One

Hi Everyone,

We are in Kuala Terengganu, and a bit ahead of Sail Malaysia. We had some boat chores to catch up on and Terengganu has a marina where we can tie up, have shore power. Wednesday we had cruised from

7am to 3:30 pm; but the anchorage where we’d planned to stop wasn’t good enough so we cruised on until 8 pm and anchored at Pulau Kapas. Not only did we have to anchor in the dark, but the last hour we were surrounded by rain squalls and lightening. Luckily the heavy rain missed us and the anchorage was good. We slept well that night. Thursday we made the 90 minutes passage from Pulau Kapas to Kuala Terengganu. Our friends Ruth and Cliff on Icicle One were our travel companions and are here at Heritage Bay Marina too. Friday we all went off to see the sights just a quick water taxi ride across the harbor.

Just so you know where we are… Came across this street sign in KT and thought it was pointing to different restaurants named for famous places. Only when I was looking at the photos later did I see it was really a signpost telling a traveler where he was.

“As the capital of Malaysia’s oil producing region, KT has money and has used it to tastefully redecorate. Large brick sidewalks and elegant mosque-like shopping complexes have gussied up the place yet the soul of the former fishing village has been maintained.” Lonely Planet. My first impression is of a smaller Kota Kinabalu where we had spent a month last year. The first local person who asked where we were from had a daughter who studied English at a University in Tennessee and now taught at Malaysian university.

We took a marina water taxi for the 5 minute ride over to the city. We can take our own dingy when we refill the gas tank. It might be possible to bike also. The round trip water taxi is about $2 US per person.

The waterfront area. We climbed the stairs up tree covered Bukit Puteri ( 650 FT Princess Hill ) to see the remains of a fort, a sultan’s palace and a view of the city.

The cannons are aimed across at the marina and DoraMac! Notice the big cannon and little canon.

These cannon are named Meriam Beranak or “The Cannon that give birth” due to their positions that are close to each other and of different sizes. The cannon of bigger size is said to be the mother of the smaller size cannon.

“This throne was made by His Majesty Sultan Umar for His Majesty to sit when having discussions on various strategies with high ranking officials.” Or as Chad Mitchell Trio recited, ” No matter how high or great the throne, what sits on it is the same as your own!” as Randal is proving….. You know you are far away from home when you are in a place ruled by Sultans.

The world is the same all over. A “typical” scene of women in the dress shop and the husband being bored.

And “in the world is the same all over category,” this dad and his daughter were in line ahead of us at KFC. We went from chicken rice in Chinatown to ice cream at KFC.

After a walk around the part of town near the waterfront, we went to the wet market and bought some fruit and veggies. We were hot, tired and hot. So about 3 pm we water taxied back to the marina to rest up for the Night Market; a 10 minute (really 30 minute) walk away towards town. It was a hot walk and the Night Market was mostly food. Since we had planned to have dinner on Icicle One, we will wait until next Friday to sample the food. Back on the boat we found our electricity off. Some cruisers going off to the Night Market told me to find Steve on Wind Swift who seemed to know the most about electrical issues, the marina office being closed…. Luckily it was our friend Steve Calpin whom we had met in KK and whose wife, Valerie and I had gone exploring together. Actually, Steve had been to the boat the prior evening. Between Steve and Randal our electricity was back working, whew!!!

Randal and Steve working on the power cable that hooks us to shore power. This picture actually tells a great deal about cruising. Things are always going wrong. Cruisers have to know how to fix almost everything on the boats themselves. Cruisers will always help each other.

Today is boat chore day. Randal is changing oil filters and I’m doing laundry, blog mail, and then will clean the heads…. Also the cruising life.

Next email some Night Market photos…

Ruth Johnson DoraMac

Kuantan, Malaysia, Sail Malaysia

Sail Malaysia Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

June 1, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

We have officially joined up with Sail Malaysia. We left Tioman Island 2:45 AM May 30^th and arrived here in Kuantan May 31^st 2:45 PM after a passage of about 75 miles. We passed through one storm that dropped our visibility but didn’t generate waves so it wasn’t too bad (read that scary.) We were the 2nd boat to arrive; usually we are one of the last since we always seem to be playing catch up at these rallies. Because it’s better to arrive at an anchorage in daylight we plan our passages to arrive before dusk at 6:30 pm. We are still near the Equator so have 12 hours of daylight and dark. Leaving an anchorage at night isn’t so problematic because you are familiar with it and have laid down a track on the chart plotter to follow out from the anchorage. New anchorages are unknown so better to enter in the light of day.

Yesterday we took a taxi into the city to the Megamall. We found a DiGi store where we can buy minutes for our 3LG phone which will provide Internet access on the boat. We used it in the Philippines with lots of success and in Indonesia with little success (read that as good at times and terrible most of the time.) Service runs from the 1^st to last day of the month so we didn’t buy the service yesterday since it was May 31^st and the DiGi guy was afraid that it wouldn’t carry over if we bought it yesterday so we will return this morning. It costs about $45 US for unlimited service; we’ll try it for a month. As long as we have cell towers nearby, it should work.

Our anchorage, officially called Teluk Chempedak, is a bit rolly but quite nice. There is a lovely beach and several small eating places along with a Hyatt resort hotel. It is a 10 minute taxi ride to Kuantan, which is the capital city of Pahang, the largest state on Peninsula Malaysia (East Malaysia) . (West Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo and we will go there too.)

Yesterday evening we met on the beach for a welcoming reception.

Any time you go to shore you take your dinghy and most of the time you just leave them on the beach. If your anchor holds they will be there when you return. No one bothers them.

On the beach we found cruising friends Craig and Lynne from Solan, Margaret and Doug from Tonic, Elizabeth and Patrick from Labarque, Greg, Leanne and small Jack from Keshi. The welcoming event began almost immediately. We were given Pahang hats. There were short speeches from local officials and from Sail Malaysia organizers. There was a great band playing wonderful American popular songs, and a buffet of local dishes. A group in black T shirts with Marshall written in white letters seemed to be helping out and joined in the meal. I told someone that they reminded me of a motorcycle “gang.” She pointed to the motorcycles parked on the plaza and said they were a motorcycle “group.” Randal thinks the group’s name is Marshall.

The Marshalls….

Young men led off the festivities with a martial arts demonstration.

They were accompanied by a group of musicians playing traditional instruments.

We were invited up to the plaza area and given coconut milk; I’m getting used to it.

Our new hats, coconut drinks and bottled water. We are all at the buffet table loading up our plates!

Chicken on skewers, rice, fish, leaf-wrapped meat, cucumber salad and a rolled piece of bread.

All quite good.

While we ate the band played, Country Roads, Hotel California, some Credence Clearwater music… and they were very good.

And cruisers danced….

And checked out the Marshalls’ motorcycles.

It was a lovely evening. Today we’ll return to the Mall and take care of the phone/computer set up. At 3 pm we will join with the other cruisers for today’s rally event. We will meet on the beach at 3pm. Buses will take us to a local museum and then to a dinner. The sun is shining and all seems well.

Ruth Johnson

Doramac

Two little girls in pink. The one on the left is the 5 year old daughter of Sazli, one of our Sail Malaysia organizers.

This anchorage is a beach and resort area so there were lots of people around all day Sunday, enjoying the beach and food stands. Many of them came over to watch our festivities too which is always nice.

Malaysia

Tioman

May 29, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

Ten years ago Randal and I got married…Who would have thought ten years later we would be sitting side by side in a tiny internet cafe across the the world. This morning we donned wet suits and tanks and Randal cleaned our prop while I practiced staying under water in my scuba gear. Later today we’ll get some lunch, check out the tiny village here and then go back to the boat. I promised Randal salmon patties for dinner since he loves them.

We left Sebana Cove Wednesday and cruised all say, 60 miles to Jason Ban where we anchored overnight. Ruth and Cliff on Icicle made the same passage and it was nice to have them anchored “next door.” The next day we finished the passage to Tioman where we have caught up with the Sail Malaysia rally. Both cruising days were smooth and sunny and I did laundry to pass the time. We might stay here one more night or we might take off tomorrow as the rally moves along. Everything is quite loose.

I will email when I can and send photos when possible. We have no internet connection on the boat where my photos are stored. I guess I’ll figure out how to save the photo emails on a donigle and see if that works. And I also have to find one of those web based photo savers too as Audrey keeps telling me.

So that’s where we are today. I will hopefully have more interesting emails to send as we take more part in Sail Malaysia.

New Bedford, USA, Virginia

New Bedford part 1

May 26, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

I have a hard time sleeping when there is a Red Sox game on, so I’m up following it. It started at 2:10 but I just got up. Still half the game left to play. It might be the last one for a while since we seem to be planning to leave Sebana Cove tomorrow on our way to join Sail Malaysia. Our first stop will be an overnight anchorage at Jason Bay which I think is cool since “Jason Bay” plays left field for the Red Sox. It’s 60 miles from Sebana so we’ll have to leave at daylight. Then it will be on to Tioman Island. Our friends Ruth and Cliff on Icicle will leave either today or tomorrow with the same plan.

More from our visit to the States…..

I grew up in New Bedford, MA. My growing up friends Harriet and Bruce still live in the area: Har in Dartmouth and Bruce in Westport. But both of those areas say “New Bedford” to me. We grew up on Plymouth Street in New Bedford’s West End and it was a great place to grow up. New Bedford has great beaches, a mix of several cultures, and the best steamed clams anywhere. www.destinationnewbedford.org or www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us or www.nps.gov/nebe

Appropriately the brochure about New Bedford starts out….. ” “Around the World!” The crews of New Bedford’s famous whaleships sang out this cheer as they embarked on voyages that took them to every corner of the globe in pursuit of whale oil……Today, New Bedford is an authentic seaport city with a large fishing fleet and working waterfront.” There is a huge Portuguese community, hence the great steamed clams and wonderful Portuguese food. There were other influences too. At the beach we poured vinegar on our french fries and there were places to get fish and chips reflecting an English influence. When I smell vinegar I think of the Acushnet Beach where we learned to swim and hang out until we were old enough to drive ourselves to Westport and Horseneck Beach with its sand dunes and waves for body surfing. And there was a French area too, in the North End. The North End was French, the South End was Portuguese and the West End was where the Jewish community lived. But by junior high everyone was mixed together and there was only one high school so everyone went there. New Bedford wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a good place to grow up and it is definitely worth a visit if your travels take you there.

Across the Achushnet River from New Bedford is Fairhaven where you can find the monument to Joshua Slocum, the first man to circumnavigate the world alone on his sailboat Spray. http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/ http://fairhaven-ma.gov Growing up we rarely ventured across the bridge to Fairhaven or Marion, but now it is a favorite place and we always stop there when we visit Har and Bruce, the real reason we go to New Bedford.

“Acushnet” comes from the Wampanoag or Algonquian word, “Cushnea” meaning “as far as the waters” from Wikipedia

Our favorite corner in Fairhaven. Pumpernickle Restaurant where we “always” eat lunch and Euro across the street where we always find something to buy that we can’t live without. And the Millicent Library just down the street. We seem to always enter New Bedford from Fairhaven so stop there first.

Padanaram Harbor where Har lives. I love New England

Har took us to a daffodil field not far from her home, where it looked like spring, but felt cold to me.

Buttonwood Park Ruth the Asian elephant standing behind me. Yup, that’s her name and we’re about the same age too. She has a friend Emily the elephant too who is a bit younger. Buttonwood Park is the next street over from Plymouth Street. How great is that, as Rachel Ray would say, living around the corner from a park, zoo, tennis courts, skating pond, all part of Buttonwood Park. Growing up it was all free. Unfortunately, now the zoo isn’t free. but the animals do have better housing and care now so I guess the fees go for a good cause. And I think you can check free passes out of the libraries with your library card. You can see I’ve added an “I love New Bedford” button to my hat. Har bought it for me. http://www.bpzoo.org/

Lobstah Dinnah at Har’s per Randal’s request. Eating lobster is great fun and very messy. Har’s husband Dick, Bruce and his wife Jean were there too! We spent a wonderful evening eating lobster and catching up with each other’s lives and thoughts and hopes.

The most important reasons we go to New Bedford; Har and Bruce…”the Plymouth Street gang.”

Perfect fried clams from the Oxford Creamery in Marion, MA! YYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! Har’s’ niece and her husband own the restaurant and he does all of the cooking. Go early, it gets jam packed!

Peter and Catharine Katzenbach and one of their labs outside their beautiful home on the Westport River.

The first time we met Catharine and Peter was when they welcomed us into their guest apartment for the 3 nights we spent in New Bedford. Har’s daughter Sharon is married to their son John. It was a lovely apartment, they were wonderful hosts. We hope one day we can repay their hospitality “when” they come visit us on DoraMac.

New England stone walls. “Good fences make good neighbors,” as Frost wrote. But it made for difficult farming as the stones had to be cleared from the fields first.

end part one

Johor, Malaysia, Sebana Cove Marina

Doramac Update

May 25, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

Randal and I are back on DoraMac in Sebana Cove. Our cruising friends Cliff and Ruth from Icicle had been keeping an eye on her. They even had the fridge going when we got back about 9 pm Friday night Sebana time. We had spent about 20 hours flying and 22 hours of layover time by the time we got off the Singapore to Sebana ferry. Way too long! But all of the flights were smooth and the luggage arrived when we did so no complaints. Except for one. We flew Lufthansa/United and had a 12 hour layover in Munich. Nowhere in the whole second floor of terminal H area was there a water fountain. And, of course, I couldn’t bring the water I’d had from the previous flight. So it was $5 US !!! for a cup of tea. A bottle of water was $1.90 Euro which was about $3 US. How can you not provide drinking water for free to airline passengers?

Saturday, Cliff and Ruth had borrowed cruiser John’s car and we joined them for a trip to Kota Tinggi for groceries. Everyone was having a good time until the car’s electrical system stopped on the way home in the rain. Miraculously John’s mechanic was traveling the road to Kota Tinggi and had been alerted to our predicament. He stopped and using his battery started our car. Luckily the rain had stopped so we didn’t need the wipers or lights or AC so the battery charge lasted until Cliff dropped us off at Sebana’s main gate and drove himself on to Sungai Ringget to the repair shop. We returned to DoraMac mid-afternoon and I slept until about 6 pm. Sunday we were up early. Lang and Douglas invited us to go with them to Sungai Renggit for lunch. We made a quick stop at the grocery store on our way home. I lasted about 1 hour before it was nap time again. I woke about 6 and Randal and I joined the C dock happy hour for a bit. Then it was back to the boat to cook chicken for dinner that neither of us was awake enough to eat. We were in bed and asleep by 9:30 pm. This morning we were up at 3:30 am and I figured it was the best time to work on storing all of the groceries and stuff we’d left strewn about the boat since we got back. Also, the Internet is working somewhat oddly so you have to use it when it works.

Our Plans……

Some time this week we will be joining up with www.sailmalaysia.net. Many of our cruising friends, including Ruth and Cliff will take part. We will cover about 2300 miles and see many parts of Malaysia we have not seen. The rally ends in Kota Kinabalu where we had spent time but quite like it.

Passage To The East – Rally Schedule

IN SUMMARY, THE SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS. DETAILS BELOW:

3 May – Penang

5 May – Lumut

10-12 May – Danga Bay, Johor Bahru

13-15 May – Puteri Harbour, Nusajaya

19-21 May – Sebana Cove, Johor

28-29 May – Tioman Island, Pahang

30 May-2 June – Kuantan, Pahang

9 June – Kapas Island, Terengganu

10-13 June – Kuala Terengganu

2-3 July – Kuching-Santubong, Sarawak

21-23 July – Miri, Sarawak

24-27 July – Brunei

1-2 August – Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

I did take hundreds of photos while we were in the US and will try to post a few. We spent time with my sister’s family, Randal’s family and lots of friends. We made new friends too! We thank them for taking great care of us during our visit. Except with our friend Julia in Hyannis, we tried not to stay longer than 3 days! Time flew!

I will try to share some photos if I have time before we leave. When we join the rally we will be anchored out a great deal of the time so communications might be sparse. Sorry. And any Internet connections might be very slow, so please save any emails with photos for when we are back at a marina. It is just very hard to download anything other than text.

So that’s it for this quick update. Time to get back to packing up the boat.

GO SOX!!!!!

MY DoraMac

Johor, Malaysia, Sebana Cove Marina

Randal makes biscuits

May 25, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

Randal and I were up at 3:30 am this morning! Of course we spent most of yesterday afternoon sleeping and then were in bed by 9:30pm. Hopefully we’ll be on a Malaysia time schedule soon. And hopefully I’ll get used to the heat again. In the States we were COLD! Everyone else was enjoying spring; but we were used to summer all year round so rainy 60 degrees made us bundle up. Does blood really thin? I took photos or all of our family and friends; photos that are important to Randal and me. Some photos have additional stories so I’ll share those…like Randal’s sister Linda teaching him to make biscuits “like mama used to make.” Randal had tried making biscuits here in Sebana, but had little luck. They didn’t rise, they burned, and they were tough. Not good. He definitely needed help with his biscuits.

Randal and Linda in her kitchen. Looks just like the set of a Food Network cooking show. Linda is opening a bag of self-rising flour. Not sure what Randal is doing.

Mixing and measuring. Biscuits do best with Crisco and a very light hand while mixing the dough.

Biscuits in process

Perfect southern biscuits.

Ken, Linda and Randal

Just before we left Roanoke we had breakfast with Randal’s brother Eddie and his wife Judy and our friend Joe Deshiell. Judy made a huge southern breakfast with biscuits, sausage gravy, bacon, eggs, tomato, strawberries and lots of juice and coffee. Everything starts with a stick of butter! That’s how Randal’s mom had cooked and she lived to be 96!!

We had many wonderful meals with family and friends all along the way. Randal had requested a “lobstah dinnah” in New Bedford and our friend Harriet obliged. I ate wonderful fried clams at the Oxford Creamery in Marion, MA owned by Har’s niece. You could taste their time in the ocean….Yummm. I shouldn’t even start writing about the great meals because we had so many along the way and my fear is I’ll leave one out! Home cooked meals with family and friends were the highlights of our time at home.

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac