Well, it wasn't technically a Monsoon, but it felt like one.
To begin the story, our friend Craig was having a birthday on July 16 and his wife, Bree, decided she wanted to throw a beach party in his honor, Island Style. The first place to start was where to have a beach party where we could build a bon fire and not burn anything down. I know what you are thinking, if you are on a beach then there is a lot of water around so no worries, right? Not exactly, due to the reason that most of the shacks on the beach are just that, shacks. They would be up in flames before you could pour out your rum in order to fill your glass with ocean water.
Bree found a great spot on North Friars called "Godfathers". Private, easy to get to and the owner of Godfathers was being a great sport and providing a bar and shelter for us to have our shindig. That means we only had to bring food and people without the hassle of trying to figure out what everyone would prefer to drink.
So, on with the plan of what to make. Keeping with their family tradition of going to Joe's Crab Shack every year, Bree suggested it be a Lobster Bake. Oh, this was going to be great! I researched ways to cook lobster on an open flame on the beach and foods to serve with it. She was going to take care of organizing and decorations and a couple of side dishes and I was going to take care of the lobster, a side dish, the cake and the fire pit and beach chairs. I found some awesome suggestions for doing lobster on the grill and the one I ended up with was a lemon butter that was brushed on them, then wrapped up in foil and thrown on the grill. Easy enough. I graciously volunteered Ron to clean the lobster (all 15 of them) on Thursday night so I could prepare them all on Friday afternoon. Also made a carrot cake, chocolate cupcakes and a black bean, corn and mango salad. Bree made an awesome potato salad and the table was complete with little lobster food labels, lobster forks and great decorations for the "Craiggity Shack". Ron and I set up the beach and lit the fire. Now it's a party!
The birthday boy got there before everyone else, but I guess that is an Island Style surprise party. When you get there, no guests. His daughter sort of blew the surprise right before the party, but he still didnt' know everything and that was good enough for us.
The rest of the guests finally arrived (including the guy that owned the bar) and everyone got a drink and I started grilling the lobster (and pork chops for those who didn't partake in the lobster feast). We had a couple of mishaps where the lobster rolled off the grill into the sand, but Craig saved the day by taking it and washing it in the ocean and then we just popped them right back on and finished cooking. No worries!
By this time the wind is picking up a bit and it looks like it might rain. We are watching the cloud over Nevis and hoping that it is not coming our way. All of a sudden, the wind grew fierce and my food flew right off my plate! That means it is time to move inside. Well, if there was an inside. We are at a beach shack after all.
Everyone was abruptly finished eating and we started grabbing the chairs and trying to put out the fire since there were hot embers flying down the beach by this time and I was worried that something was going to catch on fire...like the next shack or the new building that was being constructed just down the beach and of course all the palm trees. The sand felt like bullets hitting the back of your legs and my shirt kept flying over my head every time I would bend over to grab a chair or try to move something from the beach.
All of a sudden, I saw a tiki umbrella from the beach bar north of the beach shack floating in the ocean. I called to Craig and the two of us took off into the ocean and grabbed the umbrella and dragged it up on the beach so it wouldn't wash further away. Now, to let you know what these look like, they are palm tree leaves strapped down over wood to provide shade. They are very cute, but not when they are floating down the ocean. It was quite heavy and now we were both wet and sandy. However, we saved the day and decided that he and I should go to Ship Wreck and boast that we saved their umbrella and that they should buy us a drink. We haven't done that yet, but I expect we will someday.
By this time we have everything off the beach, under the roof and the fire has been put out and everyone is huddled under the shack's cover. The music is still playing and we are determined that the party will go on! Then the lightning started and the rain was getting heavier and harder. The kids started panicking and so it was decided that Mother Nature won and we were moving the party. Everyone started grabbing stuff and shoving it in their cars and off we went to Craig and Bree's house. A trip back was necessary because the top of the grill was left on the beach and who knows if it would be there in the morning.
The party continued and thanks to Greg, we had some awesome music and the neighbors were so grateful that we didn't have a microphone.
It was a great time and even though the party didn't go off as planned, it was a very fun night and I wouldn't mind doing it again. Thanks Bree!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Just a Catch Up Blog
Since the last blog, we have almost solved the water problems. We had a roof repairman come out and fix what we thought were the issues and wouldn't you know, it hasn't rain like that since! So, we are waiting for the next big rain to come through so we can see if he did in fact fix it. The water coming around the doors is still an issue which is going to be solved once the storm doors are purchased and installed. Until then, we will just keep rotating the towels.
Ron and I have been doing a lot of swimming and snorkeling lately. Of course, he can't keep up with me and I have to slow down and wait for him. I truly think it is because he gets distracted by all of the undersea life that we see and I sometimes get distracted to and it is hard to keep that focus. When we went swimming on Sunday morning, we hadn't swam 3 strokes when he starts calling for me. So, I go check out what he has seen and it was a flying gurnard. Okay, I will give him that one because that is the first one we had seen since we moved here. I gently reminded him that it isn't exercise if we continue to stop, so let's move on. While swimming we also saw a very large turtle and other fish that looked as if they belonged on our dinner plate, but we are swimming, no fishing, let's go. Ron finished a minute behind me, however, it would have been longer had I not slowed down to let him catch up. Once he caught his breath, I said, "Okay, now we can go at your pace and snorkel for a while and see what we find". An hour later, we had managed to swim the Strip once again, but in a zigzag pattern this time and had loads of fun playing with an octopus and 8 very curious squid.
I did a swim by myself on Monday morning bright and early (7am) and did almost the entire Strip in 18 minutes! The water was a bit choppy and as some of you know, I don't do choppy very well, so I opted to cut it just a bit short. I felt it was an improvement since the first time we swam that very same distance it took us 22 minutes.
Other than that, nothing has really been going on. I am not saying that it is boring around here, but nothing worth writing about.
I did get myself into a project that was much more than I bargained for. As you know we love to go watch Karaoke on Friday and sometimes on Wednesday. All Karaoke functions I have been to always had a book so you could check out all the songs and see how many of them you think you know the words to. I mean, how else are you going to know what to ask for, right? So, as usual, we struck up a conversation with the Karaoke DJ and I asked about the book and he said he just didn't have time to do it. Well! I have lots of time! So, I told him that I would do it for him and this past Friday (after a few months) he gives me the hard drive with all the songs so that I can show my stuff and make the books. Oh Boy! Once I got into the hard drive, there are over 18,000 songs on there! I can't back out now, so I am going to truck along and get it done. It is probably going to take me longer to make the books than it did him to get the hard drive to me. I am going to have Ron to put his hand over my mouth and drag me away next time I step up to do something like that.
Well, that all for now. So long until next time...
Ron and I have been doing a lot of swimming and snorkeling lately. Of course, he can't keep up with me and I have to slow down and wait for him. I truly think it is because he gets distracted by all of the undersea life that we see and I sometimes get distracted to and it is hard to keep that focus. When we went swimming on Sunday morning, we hadn't swam 3 strokes when he starts calling for me. So, I go check out what he has seen and it was a flying gurnard. Okay, I will give him that one because that is the first one we had seen since we moved here. I gently reminded him that it isn't exercise if we continue to stop, so let's move on. While swimming we also saw a very large turtle and other fish that looked as if they belonged on our dinner plate, but we are swimming, no fishing, let's go. Ron finished a minute behind me, however, it would have been longer had I not slowed down to let him catch up. Once he caught his breath, I said, "Okay, now we can go at your pace and snorkel for a while and see what we find". An hour later, we had managed to swim the Strip once again, but in a zigzag pattern this time and had loads of fun playing with an octopus and 8 very curious squid.
I did a swim by myself on Monday morning bright and early (7am) and did almost the entire Strip in 18 minutes! The water was a bit choppy and as some of you know, I don't do choppy very well, so I opted to cut it just a bit short. I felt it was an improvement since the first time we swam that very same distance it took us 22 minutes.
Other than that, nothing has really been going on. I am not saying that it is boring around here, but nothing worth writing about.
I did get myself into a project that was much more than I bargained for. As you know we love to go watch Karaoke on Friday and sometimes on Wednesday. All Karaoke functions I have been to always had a book so you could check out all the songs and see how many of them you think you know the words to. I mean, how else are you going to know what to ask for, right? So, as usual, we struck up a conversation with the Karaoke DJ and I asked about the book and he said he just didn't have time to do it. Well! I have lots of time! So, I told him that I would do it for him and this past Friday (after a few months) he gives me the hard drive with all the songs so that I can show my stuff and make the books. Oh Boy! Once I got into the hard drive, there are over 18,000 songs on there! I can't back out now, so I am going to truck along and get it done. It is probably going to take me longer to make the books than it did him to get the hard drive to me. I am going to have Ron to put his hand over my mouth and drag me away next time I step up to do something like that.
Well, that all for now. So long until next time...
Friday, May 28, 2010
Rain, Rain Go AWAY!!
What a day! When you live on an island and it is going to rain, you always wonder from which way it will come. Is it coming from the Atlantic side or Caribbean side? Will it rain from North to South, East to West or some other way? Any way it comes at you will matter.
We live in a beautiful house and it was just built a few years ago. As luck would have it, we are the first people to have lived here. I think it is luck...but it is also like buying a brand new car...lots of bugs to work out. And I am not talking about the 4 legged kind.
Most mornings we check the weather and yesterday it said we had a 30% to 60% chance of rain. Actually, every day you have a 50% chance it will rain, but let's go with what the weather channel said.
The morning was going great because a friend of mine came over and we cooked all morning. Made pizza dough, Shepard's pie, hummus deviled eggs, pumpkin filling for ravioli and most of it was going into the freezer for some quick cooking later on.
About 3:00pm it started to rain and you could see it coming from the Atlantic and a bit to the North East. In a few short minutes, the downpour came and all hell broke loose. The rain was coming into the guest room from around the outside access door, so in a very short time, the guest room started flooding and by the time I got there, the water was almost to the entrance to the guest room. I grabbed towels and started throwing them on the floor and then I ran to the outside door of the family room and water was coming in that door as well! I just knew that the roof was going to be leaking in the living room and by the time I got in there, the arm chair of the sofa was wet, so I pushed the couch out of the way and threw down more towels.
Back in the guest room, the 3 beach towels I had thrown down were completely soaked and I had to replace those and grab the mop to catch the excess. When I finished there, I go back to the family room door and have to change that towel because it is soaked. I can see that I am quickly running out of towels, so I try to wring out the towels and throw them into the dryer, cause I am gonna need them.
So, with towels in the dryer, I go check on the living room roof leak and on my way there, I spot another leak, so off I go to get another towel. As I am laying the towel down, I spot water in the floor in the corner of the living room and look up to see water streaming down the walls from our archway window way above my head. I run back to the laundry room for more towels and this one was a bit more involved because the TV, Internet and phone are all plugged in where the rain is coming down the walls. Reluctantly, I pulled the cords from the wall (because I went through an electrical fire on New Years Eve if you remember) and pushed the TV out of the way and it took 3 towels to grab all this water.
As I am leaving this leak to check on the guest bedroom towels, I notice more water dripping from the ceiling in the archway going to the Master Bedroom. By this time, I am ready to pull my hair out because I am quickly running out of towels, water is coming into the house everywhere and I have sweat dripping from the ends of my hair because I had to shut all doors and windows to keep the rain from coming in there as well. So, off I go to find more towels and had to use the dirty ones from the shower because my supply is being depleted very quickly.
The towels in the guest bedroom are soaked and the water is running down the inside of the door from the top, and also under the door and around the sides. Guess what? There is no weather stripping around the door and you can see daylight! No wonder the water is gushing in like a waterfall.
I turn the towels so the dryer end is catching the water and I grab the mop to soak up what the towels didn't catch and off to the dryer I go to see if the towels are dry. NOPE! So, I did the best I could at keeping the water contained until they dried.
When I could catch my breath, I called Ron to see if he could contact the landlord or someone because I didn't have Internet, which meant I didn't have a phone and I didn't have the number of the local person here in my local cell phone. He tried contacting everyone, but nobody answered or called back.
What I didn't realize was that as our house was flooding, his factory was flooding as well! Their dock filled with water and came over into the shipping area. I guess there was excitement all over the island about now and everyone was busy mopping up water.
It has now been an hour and I have everything contained and have checked on the towels and decide to go into our bedroom, turn on the air and the TV and catch a break. It was raining so hard that you couldn't hear anything in the living room and it was unbearably hot in there. All was good in our room and I went to the kitchen to get a glass of ice water and when I came back into our bedroom, I looked up and water was coming down the walls behind the dresser! AAAHHHHHGGGGG! I had to pull the dresser out and find another towel to put back there and then I also found another place by one of the windows that more water was coming in.
It is almost time for Ron to come home, it is still raining outside and we are supposed to be taking a colleague out to dinner. There is no way that I am going to be ready and since it is still raining, I haven't had a shower and I know that I am going to have to change the towels and there is a load in the washer and the dryer.
I have to tell Ron that I am not going to dinner and he feels bad that I am stuck here "minding the buckets", but to tell you the truth, I am just not in the mood to go out after all this chaos. I will have a slice of veggie pizza and a rum and coke and call it a day.
It stopped raining for a while and after the last load of towels was dry (about 10pm), I decided to get some sleep. Ron was home but asleep on the couch, so I woke him up and told him I was going to bed. I knew that I wouldn't sleep sound because I was afraid it would start raining again and the house would flood while I was sleeping. Luckily, that didn't happen, but I did wake up a couple times to check the towels and the guestroom seemed to be the worst of it. I changed the towel about 2am and it had stopped raining, so I figured I was safe for a while. I went back to bed and slept until Ron's alarm went off at 5am (UGH) and had a couple cups of coffee while I did my round of water patrol. All is well this morning...
But we checked the weather report...60% chance of rain for the next few days along with Thunderstorms. Better make sure my towels and our mop are dry.
And to top that off, there is power sharing on the island, which means that different parts of the island are shut off during the day and this morning happened to be our turn. Power went off for about 2 hours, but now it is back on and I hope that it all holds off so I can at least go to happy hour and have some dinner. I haven't left the house all week and it is about time I do.
All the towels are still on the floor, the furniture is still pulled out, however, I did plug in our Internet so that I could get in touch with the world and stop talking to myself because pretty soon I am going to start answering myself as well. You can never say that Island Life is boring or uneventful.
Until the next storm...
We live in a beautiful house and it was just built a few years ago. As luck would have it, we are the first people to have lived here. I think it is luck...but it is also like buying a brand new car...lots of bugs to work out. And I am not talking about the 4 legged kind.
Most mornings we check the weather and yesterday it said we had a 30% to 60% chance of rain. Actually, every day you have a 50% chance it will rain, but let's go with what the weather channel said.
The morning was going great because a friend of mine came over and we cooked all morning. Made pizza dough, Shepard's pie, hummus deviled eggs, pumpkin filling for ravioli and most of it was going into the freezer for some quick cooking later on.
About 3:00pm it started to rain and you could see it coming from the Atlantic and a bit to the North East. In a few short minutes, the downpour came and all hell broke loose. The rain was coming into the guest room from around the outside access door, so in a very short time, the guest room started flooding and by the time I got there, the water was almost to the entrance to the guest room. I grabbed towels and started throwing them on the floor and then I ran to the outside door of the family room and water was coming in that door as well! I just knew that the roof was going to be leaking in the living room and by the time I got in there, the arm chair of the sofa was wet, so I pushed the couch out of the way and threw down more towels.
Back in the guest room, the 3 beach towels I had thrown down were completely soaked and I had to replace those and grab the mop to catch the excess. When I finished there, I go back to the family room door and have to change that towel because it is soaked. I can see that I am quickly running out of towels, so I try to wring out the towels and throw them into the dryer, cause I am gonna need them.
So, with towels in the dryer, I go check on the living room roof leak and on my way there, I spot another leak, so off I go to get another towel. As I am laying the towel down, I spot water in the floor in the corner of the living room and look up to see water streaming down the walls from our archway window way above my head. I run back to the laundry room for more towels and this one was a bit more involved because the TV, Internet and phone are all plugged in where the rain is coming down the walls. Reluctantly, I pulled the cords from the wall (because I went through an electrical fire on New Years Eve if you remember) and pushed the TV out of the way and it took 3 towels to grab all this water.
As I am leaving this leak to check on the guest bedroom towels, I notice more water dripping from the ceiling in the archway going to the Master Bedroom. By this time, I am ready to pull my hair out because I am quickly running out of towels, water is coming into the house everywhere and I have sweat dripping from the ends of my hair because I had to shut all doors and windows to keep the rain from coming in there as well. So, off I go to find more towels and had to use the dirty ones from the shower because my supply is being depleted very quickly.
The towels in the guest bedroom are soaked and the water is running down the inside of the door from the top, and also under the door and around the sides. Guess what? There is no weather stripping around the door and you can see daylight! No wonder the water is gushing in like a waterfall.
I turn the towels so the dryer end is catching the water and I grab the mop to soak up what the towels didn't catch and off to the dryer I go to see if the towels are dry. NOPE! So, I did the best I could at keeping the water contained until they dried.
When I could catch my breath, I called Ron to see if he could contact the landlord or someone because I didn't have Internet, which meant I didn't have a phone and I didn't have the number of the local person here in my local cell phone. He tried contacting everyone, but nobody answered or called back.
What I didn't realize was that as our house was flooding, his factory was flooding as well! Their dock filled with water and came over into the shipping area. I guess there was excitement all over the island about now and everyone was busy mopping up water.
It has now been an hour and I have everything contained and have checked on the towels and decide to go into our bedroom, turn on the air and the TV and catch a break. It was raining so hard that you couldn't hear anything in the living room and it was unbearably hot in there. All was good in our room and I went to the kitchen to get a glass of ice water and when I came back into our bedroom, I looked up and water was coming down the walls behind the dresser! AAAHHHHHGGGGG! I had to pull the dresser out and find another towel to put back there and then I also found another place by one of the windows that more water was coming in.
It is almost time for Ron to come home, it is still raining outside and we are supposed to be taking a colleague out to dinner. There is no way that I am going to be ready and since it is still raining, I haven't had a shower and I know that I am going to have to change the towels and there is a load in the washer and the dryer.
I have to tell Ron that I am not going to dinner and he feels bad that I am stuck here "minding the buckets", but to tell you the truth, I am just not in the mood to go out after all this chaos. I will have a slice of veggie pizza and a rum and coke and call it a day.
It stopped raining for a while and after the last load of towels was dry (about 10pm), I decided to get some sleep. Ron was home but asleep on the couch, so I woke him up and told him I was going to bed. I knew that I wouldn't sleep sound because I was afraid it would start raining again and the house would flood while I was sleeping. Luckily, that didn't happen, but I did wake up a couple times to check the towels and the guestroom seemed to be the worst of it. I changed the towel about 2am and it had stopped raining, so I figured I was safe for a while. I went back to bed and slept until Ron's alarm went off at 5am (UGH) and had a couple cups of coffee while I did my round of water patrol. All is well this morning...
But we checked the weather report...60% chance of rain for the next few days along with Thunderstorms. Better make sure my towels and our mop are dry.
And to top that off, there is power sharing on the island, which means that different parts of the island are shut off during the day and this morning happened to be our turn. Power went off for about 2 hours, but now it is back on and I hope that it all holds off so I can at least go to happy hour and have some dinner. I haven't left the house all week and it is about time I do.
All the towels are still on the floor, the furniture is still pulled out, however, I did plug in our Internet so that I could get in touch with the world and stop talking to myself because pretty soon I am going to start answering myself as well. You can never say that Island Life is boring or uneventful.
Until the next storm...
Friday, May 21, 2010
How to Get Your Hair Cut on an Island
Well, to back up just a bit, we went sailing on a Hobie Cat with some friends and had lunch in Nevis at this great little place called Coconut Grove Beach. While talking to the owners, I found out that one of the owners has her Master Degree in Hair Cutting and Design. Yee Haw!
I have had a terrible time since the last time I got my hair done on the island because the woman bleached me blonde and damaged my hair beyond repair. There wasn't really anything I could do except for try and camouflage it or shave my head. I chose to camouflage until something could be done.
I finally decided to give this lady a call and have her do something with this mess on my head. The trick is how to get there in time. I will have to take the Sea Bridge to Nevis in order to get this done.
No worries, I am up for an adventure. The only drawback to this is my appointment is on Thursday morning and on Wednesday night I took a tumble down our front steps and spent most of Wednesday evening with ice on the top of my right foot, the back of my left foot and on my butt. Ron thinks I will need to cancel my appointment. Come hell or high water, I am going to Nevis! I am so tired of looking like something that just crawled out from under a rock.
On Thursday morning, I dragged myself out of bed, hobbling around and limping. I was supposed to do a photo shoot this evening and I know I can't do that because all that running around on the beach and trying to maneuver around to get the different shots is going to be impossible. So, I did cancel that until Saturday night.
I got ready and took Ron to work and I headed for the south end to catch the Ferry at 9am. The ferry was late, which isn't a big surprise, but I got to Nevis around 10 and walked to the salon that is just a way down the beach. I am sure I looked crazy walking on the beach with a limp, but hey, I am on a mission to take care of my mop head.
I reached the salon in time and I let her do her thing. At this point, I really don't care if she shaves my head. Anyway, when she was finished, it looked great!
Once finished, I have about 20 minutes to get back to the Ferry before it leaves. If I don't make it, I have to wait 2 hours before the next one.
Ok, I cannot miss this, so I ignored the pain and started walking back down the beach really fast. I can see the Ferry and it is loading and now I am down to 10 minutes. At this point I had to do a little bit of a jog and just keep telling myself there is no pain! I was almost hoping that a taxi would come by cause I was going to hop on! No such luck.
With luck and the wind behind me, I made the Ferry with 1 minute to spare. Whew! Now I am sweaty, the wind is blowing, my face is red, but my hair still looks good! That made it all worth it!
Ron calls to see how I am doing because I was so sore when he left for work. I told him the story of the Ferry and the great hair cut and told him to hold on to his belly cause I was going to come pick him up and take him to lunch with my new hairdo!
I took him to a new place he hadn't been and that was to Sweet Cane. I grabbed a salad and he got a chicken wrap, which set his mouth on fire due to his allergic reaction to the mammy apple he ate almost a month ago. So, we swapped food and had a great lunch together.
By this time my right foot is swollen above my sandals so I spent most of the afternoon ice on, ice off until the swelling went down.
I am so glad that the haircut was worth all the time it took to get there and back. I think next time, I will take a friend with me and make a whole day out of it! Guess that will be next month!
I have had a terrible time since the last time I got my hair done on the island because the woman bleached me blonde and damaged my hair beyond repair. There wasn't really anything I could do except for try and camouflage it or shave my head. I chose to camouflage until something could be done.
I finally decided to give this lady a call and have her do something with this mess on my head. The trick is how to get there in time. I will have to take the Sea Bridge to Nevis in order to get this done.
No worries, I am up for an adventure. The only drawback to this is my appointment is on Thursday morning and on Wednesday night I took a tumble down our front steps and spent most of Wednesday evening with ice on the top of my right foot, the back of my left foot and on my butt. Ron thinks I will need to cancel my appointment. Come hell or high water, I am going to Nevis! I am so tired of looking like something that just crawled out from under a rock.
On Thursday morning, I dragged myself out of bed, hobbling around and limping. I was supposed to do a photo shoot this evening and I know I can't do that because all that running around on the beach and trying to maneuver around to get the different shots is going to be impossible. So, I did cancel that until Saturday night.
I got ready and took Ron to work and I headed for the south end to catch the Ferry at 9am. The ferry was late, which isn't a big surprise, but I got to Nevis around 10 and walked to the salon that is just a way down the beach. I am sure I looked crazy walking on the beach with a limp, but hey, I am on a mission to take care of my mop head.
I reached the salon in time and I let her do her thing. At this point, I really don't care if she shaves my head. Anyway, when she was finished, it looked great!
Once finished, I have about 20 minutes to get back to the Ferry before it leaves. If I don't make it, I have to wait 2 hours before the next one.
Ok, I cannot miss this, so I ignored the pain and started walking back down the beach really fast. I can see the Ferry and it is loading and now I am down to 10 minutes. At this point I had to do a little bit of a jog and just keep telling myself there is no pain! I was almost hoping that a taxi would come by cause I was going to hop on! No such luck.
With luck and the wind behind me, I made the Ferry with 1 minute to spare. Whew! Now I am sweaty, the wind is blowing, my face is red, but my hair still looks good! That made it all worth it!
Ron calls to see how I am doing because I was so sore when he left for work. I told him the story of the Ferry and the great hair cut and told him to hold on to his belly cause I was going to come pick him up and take him to lunch with my new hairdo!
I took him to a new place he hadn't been and that was to Sweet Cane. I grabbed a salad and he got a chicken wrap, which set his mouth on fire due to his allergic reaction to the mammy apple he ate almost a month ago. So, we swapped food and had a great lunch together.
By this time my right foot is swollen above my sandals so I spent most of the afternoon ice on, ice off until the swelling went down.
I am so glad that the haircut was worth all the time it took to get there and back. I think next time, I will take a friend with me and make a whole day out of it! Guess that will be next month!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Keeping Busy on an Island
Not that keeping busy is something people think about when they think about "island living", however, you can only lay on the beach so much before you start to look like shoe leather.
Ron and I started swimming. We lasted 2 days and we were both sore and his back started hurting, so we are going to have to stop being so ambitious and take our time. Hopefully tomorrow, we will get back at it.
You know, I forgot exactly how much time that I can spend in my office editing photos, updating and organizing photos and whatever else catches my attention. I have been in my office for 3 days doing stuff and having a ball. Of course the house looks like it has been neglected, so I am going to have to take care of that too.
On Mother's Day I did a photo shoot for a group called Project Strong. They were putting on a fashion show at Port Zante, so I volunteered to help them out. This is the first time I have ever shot a fashion show and it was definitely a challenge for me. Just to make a long story short, it took me 2 1/2 days to edit the photos. Ron however, had a good time harassing the locals. Just kidding, he wasn't harassing them, just joking with them. This one little girl came and talked to him and she must have been about 4 yrs old, so Ron asks her when her birthday is and she told him "August 28" and he says, "Oh! Me Too! I was born in August". So then he says, "So, you were born in August" and she replied, "No, I was born in St.Kitts!" Needless to say this threw Ron for a loop. I wasn't there at the time but the story I got later was hilarious.
It was a great way to spend the day. Something different and fun. I hope they give me another opportunity to do a photo shoot again. I learned a lot and did some research on all the things wrong with the photos. Next time will be better.
Other than that, I have been teaching myself how to make new things. Last week I taught myself how to make whole wheat ravioli. It was very good and with a bit of work, it will be going into my cookbook. That is another project that takes a lot of time and research. I am not sure if my waistline can take all of the experimenting. I need to start making stuff and giving it away. I have found a publishing company though, so that is a good thing. I will be very happy when the finished product is in print. I read Julia Child's book and I didn't feel so bad about how much time it is taking me because it took her years to write her book and she worked on it for hours and hours every day. I don't work on it that much, except for trying new things. I am still going through photographs trying to decide on which photos are going in the book.
I am learning how to operate Facebook. We lost a very dear friend on April 24 and I started a Facebook page for her so that everyone could come together and share their thoughts and feelings. It has been so rewarding to see how many people took advantage of it and posted pics and memories. The family was very grateful to see how she touched so many people and how she was cared about and loved by all. The next move is to try and do something in her memory that all can enjoy. I believe that an artificial reef will be a possibility if the money can be raised. I hope that everyone keeps posting.
Anyway, I don't want to bore you guys with trivial stuff, so I will go for now. Talk to you in a couple of days!
Ron and I started swimming. We lasted 2 days and we were both sore and his back started hurting, so we are going to have to stop being so ambitious and take our time. Hopefully tomorrow, we will get back at it.
You know, I forgot exactly how much time that I can spend in my office editing photos, updating and organizing photos and whatever else catches my attention. I have been in my office for 3 days doing stuff and having a ball. Of course the house looks like it has been neglected, so I am going to have to take care of that too.
On Mother's Day I did a photo shoot for a group called Project Strong. They were putting on a fashion show at Port Zante, so I volunteered to help them out. This is the first time I have ever shot a fashion show and it was definitely a challenge for me. Just to make a long story short, it took me 2 1/2 days to edit the photos. Ron however, had a good time harassing the locals. Just kidding, he wasn't harassing them, just joking with them. This one little girl came and talked to him and she must have been about 4 yrs old, so Ron asks her when her birthday is and she told him "August 28" and he says, "Oh! Me Too! I was born in August". So then he says, "So, you were born in August" and she replied, "No, I was born in St.Kitts!" Needless to say this threw Ron for a loop. I wasn't there at the time but the story I got later was hilarious.
It was a great way to spend the day. Something different and fun. I hope they give me another opportunity to do a photo shoot again. I learned a lot and did some research on all the things wrong with the photos. Next time will be better.
Other than that, I have been teaching myself how to make new things. Last week I taught myself how to make whole wheat ravioli. It was very good and with a bit of work, it will be going into my cookbook. That is another project that takes a lot of time and research. I am not sure if my waistline can take all of the experimenting. I need to start making stuff and giving it away. I have found a publishing company though, so that is a good thing. I will be very happy when the finished product is in print. I read Julia Child's book and I didn't feel so bad about how much time it is taking me because it took her years to write her book and she worked on it for hours and hours every day. I don't work on it that much, except for trying new things. I am still going through photographs trying to decide on which photos are going in the book.
I am learning how to operate Facebook. We lost a very dear friend on April 24 and I started a Facebook page for her so that everyone could come together and share their thoughts and feelings. It has been so rewarding to see how many people took advantage of it and posted pics and memories. The family was very grateful to see how she touched so many people and how she was cared about and loved by all. The next move is to try and do something in her memory that all can enjoy. I believe that an artificial reef will be a possibility if the money can be raised. I hope that everyone keeps posting.
Anyway, I don't want to bore you guys with trivial stuff, so I will go for now. Talk to you in a couple of days!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Jeff and Lyndsey's Vacation in St.Kitts
Ok, I really suck at keeping up with this blog. Ya'll love me anyway though, right? I thought so.
Actually, I have been very busy since the last blog.
First, getting ready for company always keeps me busy for a days. There is lots of cooking, cleaning and errands to run so all we have to do when company comes is to have fun. That is the goal, have fun and nothing else. Our visitors this time were Jeff and Lyndsey from Myrtle Beach. Jeff has come to visit us every where we lived, for the exception of Florida and I guess that wasn't far enough away, so he skipped that one. Anyway, they arrived on Saturday evening around 5:45 pm and their plane went right over our house! We stood on the roof and watched them fly over and then got in the car and went to the airport and still beat them at the door. I guess that is a real plus of living on a small island. The funniest part is that they had to land on Nevis before landing on St. Kitts and the landing and takeoff and flight to St.Kitts took all of 15 minutes! That isn't even enough time to pop your ears!
Our first item on the agenda was to pick them up (with rum and beer in the car of course) and then drop their bags at the house and then off to the beach for a happy hour drink and a sunset. Both of which were great! After this, we decided it was time to eat so we went to Club Fusion and had a bite to eat and then back to the house to let them get semi settled in while the drinks were flowing. I have to admit that I have no idea what time it was when we went to bed but we had a great first night.
On Sunday morning we all slept late, then drank some coffee and some bloody marys and had a big ole breakfast. The only mishap was that their bed fell apart while they were sleeping (or just waking up). Ron and I had changed over the box springs from one bed to the other and neglected to check the frame. Made for a great conversation at breakfast though. Lot of laughter and pictures the first thing in the morning. I am just glad nobody and nothing was hurt. Except the muscles in my stomach from laughing.
Afterwards, we decided to take them around the island and to Ottley's Plantation for a little taste of what is called a "Rain Forest". We tried to round the monkey's up for Jeff, and they seemed to be surrounding us at one point and I think I could hear Jeff's blood pressure going up, but then they seemed to vanish into the forest. Now, in the cooler (I never leave home without a picnic of some sort) there is rum, beer and snacks. Everyone picked their favorite and off we went. Next stop Black Rock where lava rock has formed over hundreds of years and have made some wonderfully huge formations to see. However, you cannot leave Black Rock without the legendary drink at Black Rock Bar, which is the first bar on Black Rock.
From here we moved on around the island where we encountered stray goats, donkeys, cows and bulls. Some we had to dodge in the middle of the road and others we tried to get them to come closer to the car. Actually kind of glad that we didn't get the bulls to come closer. A brief stop at Rawlin's Plantation gave us a chance to show off our stuff and show them different fruits and trees of different kinds.
We ended up back at the house later on and hungry! Our plan was to grab the grill and food that had been prepared and head up to the top of the mountain at the overlook and have dinner while we watched the sun set. Before we did that though, we took them down to Reggae Beach where Wilbur the Pig lives along with his friends Oliver (the monkey) and another pig and a goat live. Once we had had our fill of the livestock, we headed back to the overlook.
The Jack Daniels grill was filled with Charcoal and lit and then watched closely to see when it was ready for the steaks. In the meantime, we pulled out the rum and the beer along with bread and cheese, just to keep us occupied until the coals were done. Jeff threw the steaks on the grill and then I put the leftover macaroni pie on there to so it would heat up. The timing was perfect and we were eating dinner as the sun went down. YEAH! We will be doing this again! If you are going to be visiting, you can look forward to this!
On Monday, we went snorkeling for a couple of hours and saw so many terrific things. This was Lyndsey's first snorkel, so showing her everything was such a special treat for us. I think she enjoyed herself even if she did get just a bit woozy with the waves. Then we had to do a very hard thing and that was to take Ron to the airport bc he had a meeting in San Juan that was called at last minute. I have a plan though. There will be no down time here, to many things to do.
I had made reservations for the 3 of us to do the Sky Safari later in the afternoon so that it was after Ron had left. What I didn't plan on was that it was a holiday and after we dropped Ron off at 12:30, we tried to find something to eat and absolutely nothing was open. We went to the Sky Safari place to see if we could get in earlier only to learn that they pushed us back 1/2 hour so now we had more time and we were starving. There was one place we saw on the way up called, "The Love Shop" and we all giggled and said that we would pass that one by. It was opened, but didn't look like a place we should be hanging out. What we found out was that this was the place to go for fried chicken and also the only place open on a holiday! We still passed on it and drove up to Rawlin's Plantation and had a wonderful Caribbean Brunch and then back to the Sky Safari.
The Sky Safari was a great time and we had to harass Jeff just a little so we had the guy at the end of the second trail to shake the wire really hard so it would make Jeff swing back and forth. It was hilarious! We got lots of pictures and lots of laughs. That evening for dinner we had some fish tacos (their first) and ate until we couldn't feel our feet!
On Tuesday morning Jeff had a dive scheduled, so Lyndsey and I decided to go for a spa day at the Marriott. Now, that is a way to start every day! A nice relaxing massage and pampered to the max! We arrived at the port just in time to pick Jeff up, and I believe that was about 4 hours later. From there, I took them to my favorite Roti Shack on the island and then off for some souvenir shopping.
We went back to the house and had some dinner and of course, the drinks were flowing. Now, it is Tuesday night and this is the night that I watch LOST. I have never missed an episode, and I wasn't about to start tonight, so they decided while I was watching my show that they were going to go to the strip and have a few drinks and I would pick them up after my show. Sounds like a plan, so off they went. I gave them the low down on the better places to go and the riskier places that are not the best idea to go and went back home to watch my show. After my show was over I went back to pick them up. That was when the real work began. They weren't where I left them and I had no idea where they were. So, I started driving very slowly and stopping in front of each bar to see if I could see them. I was in my pj's so I wasn't going to get out, I just knew I would find them at some point. And find them I did at the opposite end of the beach, giggling and stumbling and having a great time. They were approached with various forms of "fun" and surprised by the actions of a few older women and I feel sure that these are images that are forever burnt in their brain. The important thing is that they had a wonderful time at the strip and got back safely.
Have no idea on what time we went to bed, all I know is that I was worn out. Everyone finally made it to bed and I think all were up by 10am. I made bloody Marys and a hangover breakfast consisting of sausage, gravy, biscuits and eggs. Once that was done, they started getting all together and packed for their next adventure in Antigua. We had a wonderful time and I am so glad they came. I just wish they were staying longer. Next time, next time. I dropped them off at the airport at 12:30 and went home where I was so bored and the house was way to quiet.
I am glad Ron comes home tomorrow so that the house will not be so quiet.
More to come!
Actually, I have been very busy since the last blog.
First, getting ready for company always keeps me busy for a days. There is lots of cooking, cleaning and errands to run so all we have to do when company comes is to have fun. That is the goal, have fun and nothing else. Our visitors this time were Jeff and Lyndsey from Myrtle Beach. Jeff has come to visit us every where we lived, for the exception of Florida and I guess that wasn't far enough away, so he skipped that one. Anyway, they arrived on Saturday evening around 5:45 pm and their plane went right over our house! We stood on the roof and watched them fly over and then got in the car and went to the airport and still beat them at the door. I guess that is a real plus of living on a small island. The funniest part is that they had to land on Nevis before landing on St. Kitts and the landing and takeoff and flight to St.Kitts took all of 15 minutes! That isn't even enough time to pop your ears!
Our first item on the agenda was to pick them up (with rum and beer in the car of course) and then drop their bags at the house and then off to the beach for a happy hour drink and a sunset. Both of which were great! After this, we decided it was time to eat so we went to Club Fusion and had a bite to eat and then back to the house to let them get semi settled in while the drinks were flowing. I have to admit that I have no idea what time it was when we went to bed but we had a great first night.
On Sunday morning we all slept late, then drank some coffee and some bloody marys and had a big ole breakfast. The only mishap was that their bed fell apart while they were sleeping (or just waking up). Ron and I had changed over the box springs from one bed to the other and neglected to check the frame. Made for a great conversation at breakfast though. Lot of laughter and pictures the first thing in the morning. I am just glad nobody and nothing was hurt. Except the muscles in my stomach from laughing.
Afterwards, we decided to take them around the island and to Ottley's Plantation for a little taste of what is called a "Rain Forest". We tried to round the monkey's up for Jeff, and they seemed to be surrounding us at one point and I think I could hear Jeff's blood pressure going up, but then they seemed to vanish into the forest. Now, in the cooler (I never leave home without a picnic of some sort) there is rum, beer and snacks. Everyone picked their favorite and off we went. Next stop Black Rock where lava rock has formed over hundreds of years and have made some wonderfully huge formations to see. However, you cannot leave Black Rock without the legendary drink at Black Rock Bar, which is the first bar on Black Rock.
From here we moved on around the island where we encountered stray goats, donkeys, cows and bulls. Some we had to dodge in the middle of the road and others we tried to get them to come closer to the car. Actually kind of glad that we didn't get the bulls to come closer. A brief stop at Rawlin's Plantation gave us a chance to show off our stuff and show them different fruits and trees of different kinds.
We ended up back at the house later on and hungry! Our plan was to grab the grill and food that had been prepared and head up to the top of the mountain at the overlook and have dinner while we watched the sun set. Before we did that though, we took them down to Reggae Beach where Wilbur the Pig lives along with his friends Oliver (the monkey) and another pig and a goat live. Once we had had our fill of the livestock, we headed back to the overlook.
The Jack Daniels grill was filled with Charcoal and lit and then watched closely to see when it was ready for the steaks. In the meantime, we pulled out the rum and the beer along with bread and cheese, just to keep us occupied until the coals were done. Jeff threw the steaks on the grill and then I put the leftover macaroni pie on there to so it would heat up. The timing was perfect and we were eating dinner as the sun went down. YEAH! We will be doing this again! If you are going to be visiting, you can look forward to this!
On Monday, we went snorkeling for a couple of hours and saw so many terrific things. This was Lyndsey's first snorkel, so showing her everything was such a special treat for us. I think she enjoyed herself even if she did get just a bit woozy with the waves. Then we had to do a very hard thing and that was to take Ron to the airport bc he had a meeting in San Juan that was called at last minute. I have a plan though. There will be no down time here, to many things to do.
I had made reservations for the 3 of us to do the Sky Safari later in the afternoon so that it was after Ron had left. What I didn't plan on was that it was a holiday and after we dropped Ron off at 12:30, we tried to find something to eat and absolutely nothing was open. We went to the Sky Safari place to see if we could get in earlier only to learn that they pushed us back 1/2 hour so now we had more time and we were starving. There was one place we saw on the way up called, "The Love Shop" and we all giggled and said that we would pass that one by. It was opened, but didn't look like a place we should be hanging out. What we found out was that this was the place to go for fried chicken and also the only place open on a holiday! We still passed on it and drove up to Rawlin's Plantation and had a wonderful Caribbean Brunch and then back to the Sky Safari.
The Sky Safari was a great time and we had to harass Jeff just a little so we had the guy at the end of the second trail to shake the wire really hard so it would make Jeff swing back and forth. It was hilarious! We got lots of pictures and lots of laughs. That evening for dinner we had some fish tacos (their first) and ate until we couldn't feel our feet!
On Tuesday morning Jeff had a dive scheduled, so Lyndsey and I decided to go for a spa day at the Marriott. Now, that is a way to start every day! A nice relaxing massage and pampered to the max! We arrived at the port just in time to pick Jeff up, and I believe that was about 4 hours later. From there, I took them to my favorite Roti Shack on the island and then off for some souvenir shopping.
We went back to the house and had some dinner and of course, the drinks were flowing. Now, it is Tuesday night and this is the night that I watch LOST. I have never missed an episode, and I wasn't about to start tonight, so they decided while I was watching my show that they were going to go to the strip and have a few drinks and I would pick them up after my show. Sounds like a plan, so off they went. I gave them the low down on the better places to go and the riskier places that are not the best idea to go and went back home to watch my show. After my show was over I went back to pick them up. That was when the real work began. They weren't where I left them and I had no idea where they were. So, I started driving very slowly and stopping in front of each bar to see if I could see them. I was in my pj's so I wasn't going to get out, I just knew I would find them at some point. And find them I did at the opposite end of the beach, giggling and stumbling and having a great time. They were approached with various forms of "fun" and surprised by the actions of a few older women and I feel sure that these are images that are forever burnt in their brain. The important thing is that they had a wonderful time at the strip and got back safely.
Have no idea on what time we went to bed, all I know is that I was worn out. Everyone finally made it to bed and I think all were up by 10am. I made bloody Marys and a hangover breakfast consisting of sausage, gravy, biscuits and eggs. Once that was done, they started getting all together and packed for their next adventure in Antigua. We had a wonderful time and I am so glad they came. I just wish they were staying longer. Next time, next time. I dropped them off at the airport at 12:30 and went home where I was so bored and the house was way to quiet.
I am glad Ron comes home tomorrow so that the house will not be so quiet.
More to come!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Just an Update
It has been a while since I posted anything and I guess that means I am seriously on "Island Time". Let's see if I can catch you up without boring you to death.
I spend most of my days plotting on what to cook or what to create, spending time online, cleaning up volcano dust...did I mention how much I hate volcano dust? About every 3 or 4 days, I sweep up about a 1/4 inch of dust just from the living room, kitchen and family area. We won't even talk about the patio. I have also given up trying to keep the floors clean, I am all about just keeping down the dust.
Just about every morning I take a walk to the far end of the beach and back and that is about 2 miles. It is nice and quiet that time of morning and fairly cool. The weather has been unusually hot for this time of year and there hasn't been a whole lot of rain, so everyone is very thankful for the least drop of rain when it comes. When I come out of the bedroom in the morning to grab that cup of coffee I can tell what kind of day it is going to be. If the heat hits you first thing in the morning, you know it is going to be hot and humid. Those are the days I get what I want to do done in the morning and spend the rest of the day where there is a breeze. I figure if I am going to sweat then I may as well get the house clean all at once.
Ron now goes to the market with me every Saturday morning. He has found he likes to go and see what they have and what good stuff he can score. One of the vendors tried to take him one day on a bunch of bananas. The price they gave him was $1 more a pound than anyone else. Once he goes a few times, the price will come down, but for now he will stick with me when making the purchase. We now have someone that saves us the good lettuce every week. As hard as we try to get there early, 7:30am is about the earliest we can get there and by that time some of the good stuff is already gone. One week we got some fresh, sweet corn on the cob still in the husk and it was so good. We soaked it and put it on the grill with our fresh red snapper and other grilled veggies.
Enough about food, but to be honest, that is what I do. I figure out what we are going to have for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then forage for the food and cook it.
Not a lot happens during the week and I figured everyone was bored when I kept talking about cooking or cleaning. Ron loves his job, however, works late most days. Our time begins on Friday afternoons when we head down to The Dock for happy hour with some friends to catch up on what crazy things they have had happen during the week. Then we usually head down to a place called Club Fusion for a bite to eat and some karaoke. It is so funny to watch locals sing Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffet and other stuff. Ron has not been shy about getting up there and singing his heart out. One night he and I even sang Summer Nights (from Grease). I hear there is video of that, so I will have to watch myself a bit closer when I am out.
I spent a bit of time in the states lately and enjoyed visiting with my family and friends and as always, Power Shopping! I had a list of the craziest things and most of them involved cooking. An ice cream maker for Ron, a vacuum cleaner and a room divider were on the top of the list.
Let me explain about the room divider. We have glass french doors into both the master suite and the guest room. The guest room has no privacy at all and in the master you cannot forget to take your clothes with you into the bathroom because you will have to streak across in front of the doors in order to get dressed. Thank goodness that the divider is portable so it can be moved to different parts of the house until the curtains for the doors are complete.
When I came back from the states my cousins John and Willie came home with me. I was going to surprise Ron, however, he was going to have to forage for food before we got there so that we would be able to eat. It was Easter weekend when we arrived and nothing was going to be open. Ron was so sweet and hired someone to come clean the house before we came so that it was spic and span when we got here. What a blessing that was!
Our first night here, we came home from the airport, unloaded the stuff from the car, changed clothes and took off for The Strip to watch the sunset. I was really hoping they would get to see a green flash while they were here but that didn't happen. Not that we didn't try because we were at the beach almost every single night with our happy hour drinks waiting for it to happen.
On the morning of their first full day it was raining like monkeys and mongoose! Before we took off for the day we stopped by my favorite little roti shop and pick up some beer and chicken roti for lunch. We attempted to go to Ottley Plantation and walk thru the rain forest but there was no way due to the rain so we opted for a ride around the island. When we got to Brimstone Hall Fort we decided to head up there and see what was going on. There are lots and lots of steps getting up to the top but we all made it just fine. We had lunch on the top of this mountain at the fort and had people staring at us eyeballing our rotis. A couple people even stopped to ask where we got them. You know, thinking back we could have made some money off those rotis cause we were far from anywhere. I think we stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed back toward our end of the island.
By this time we are ready for happy hour, so we head to the beach and introduced John and Willie to our friends and had a good time at the beach. We opted to go to bed a bit early because we are going to the market in the morning.
Everyone got up early and watched the monkeys play for a while, then off we went. The market was extremely busy and we loaded our arms full of the local wares. After the market we headed to Ballyhoo for breakfast and then back home to unload and take a nap. Didn't do a whole lot the rest of the day and then back to the beach to watch the sunset. Still no green flash.
On Sunday we got up and had a nice big breakfast because me and John have an exciting day planned. We are going on a Sky Safari! The two of us will be zip lining over top of the trees in the rain forest. John of course is calm but I know he is about to pee himself, he just won't show it. Me? I am so excited and I am hoping I don't pee myself. Ron and Willie are going to hang back and take photos. We get all geared up and do a practice run on the zip line and get our instructions. Now we have to ride to the top of the mountain so we can zip line all the way down. The driver was so nice and stopped at each place so that Ron and Willie could take pics of us getting ready to take off. It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be and for that I am glad because I came home with dry pants. If any of you come to the island I highly recommend this.
After our exciting day we have really worked up an appetite. We haven't had them on the south end of the island so we head down to Reggae Beach for burgers and fish sandwiches. It just so happened that Wilbur the Pig was there and although he was asleep he was still quite entertaining because he snored like a fog horn. We took some pics and video of Wilbur and had a good laugh when he tried to get in the van with a bunch of locals that were getting ready to leave. Now, Wilbur is about 400 lbs and has one tusk hanging out of his mouth. Let me show you his picture...
After Reggae Beach we took it slow and easy back to the house and watched the sunset from the southern side of the island and it was beautiful. We were all worn out from the day and all of us turned in early.
Today is Monday and we are off to a Caribbean Cooking Class. We learn about the history of Caribbean food as we watch Wendy make some fabulous dishes. I won't bother you with the details because it will just make you hungry. Class lasted for about 3 hours and we all waddled out the door happy. The rest of the day we spent at the beach while Willie looked for beach glass and Ron went snorkeling. John and I were bums and hung out in the lounge chairs and drank beer.
Wow, it is already Tuesday so we decide it is time to do some shopping. John waited so patiently while Willie and went into every single souvenir shop. We picked Ron up for lunch and then went at it again for a while, then back home.
Caribelle Batik was our last tourist activity. This is where you can go watch them make Batik and it is fascinating. They put wax on those areas they want to stay white and dye the rest of it, then boil off the wax and start over. It is truly an art and they have made some beautiful stuff.
That is the end of our week with John and Willie and I can't wait until someone else comes to visit so I can do it all over again! It was such great fun getting up, having our coffee and watching the monkeys play almost every day.
Since they left, I really haven't done anything unless you count reading 3 books nothing. I did got to the beach yesterday which was nice but I can't do that everyday because I will look like a lobster.
Anyway, that is our update for now. I apologize for the lateness and I will try very hard to keep everyone up to date at least once a week.
I spend most of my days plotting on what to cook or what to create, spending time online, cleaning up volcano dust...did I mention how much I hate volcano dust? About every 3 or 4 days, I sweep up about a 1/4 inch of dust just from the living room, kitchen and family area. We won't even talk about the patio. I have also given up trying to keep the floors clean, I am all about just keeping down the dust.
Just about every morning I take a walk to the far end of the beach and back and that is about 2 miles. It is nice and quiet that time of morning and fairly cool. The weather has been unusually hot for this time of year and there hasn't been a whole lot of rain, so everyone is very thankful for the least drop of rain when it comes. When I come out of the bedroom in the morning to grab that cup of coffee I can tell what kind of day it is going to be. If the heat hits you first thing in the morning, you know it is going to be hot and humid. Those are the days I get what I want to do done in the morning and spend the rest of the day where there is a breeze. I figure if I am going to sweat then I may as well get the house clean all at once.
Ron now goes to the market with me every Saturday morning. He has found he likes to go and see what they have and what good stuff he can score. One of the vendors tried to take him one day on a bunch of bananas. The price they gave him was $1 more a pound than anyone else. Once he goes a few times, the price will come down, but for now he will stick with me when making the purchase. We now have someone that saves us the good lettuce every week. As hard as we try to get there early, 7:30am is about the earliest we can get there and by that time some of the good stuff is already gone. One week we got some fresh, sweet corn on the cob still in the husk and it was so good. We soaked it and put it on the grill with our fresh red snapper and other grilled veggies.
Enough about food, but to be honest, that is what I do. I figure out what we are going to have for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then forage for the food and cook it.
Not a lot happens during the week and I figured everyone was bored when I kept talking about cooking or cleaning. Ron loves his job, however, works late most days. Our time begins on Friday afternoons when we head down to The Dock for happy hour with some friends to catch up on what crazy things they have had happen during the week. Then we usually head down to a place called Club Fusion for a bite to eat and some karaoke. It is so funny to watch locals sing Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffet and other stuff. Ron has not been shy about getting up there and singing his heart out. One night he and I even sang Summer Nights (from Grease). I hear there is video of that, so I will have to watch myself a bit closer when I am out.
I spent a bit of time in the states lately and enjoyed visiting with my family and friends and as always, Power Shopping! I had a list of the craziest things and most of them involved cooking. An ice cream maker for Ron, a vacuum cleaner and a room divider were on the top of the list.
Let me explain about the room divider. We have glass french doors into both the master suite and the guest room. The guest room has no privacy at all and in the master you cannot forget to take your clothes with you into the bathroom because you will have to streak across in front of the doors in order to get dressed. Thank goodness that the divider is portable so it can be moved to different parts of the house until the curtains for the doors are complete.
When I came back from the states my cousins John and Willie came home with me. I was going to surprise Ron, however, he was going to have to forage for food before we got there so that we would be able to eat. It was Easter weekend when we arrived and nothing was going to be open. Ron was so sweet and hired someone to come clean the house before we came so that it was spic and span when we got here. What a blessing that was!
Our first night here, we came home from the airport, unloaded the stuff from the car, changed clothes and took off for The Strip to watch the sunset. I was really hoping they would get to see a green flash while they were here but that didn't happen. Not that we didn't try because we were at the beach almost every single night with our happy hour drinks waiting for it to happen.
On the morning of their first full day it was raining like monkeys and mongoose! Before we took off for the day we stopped by my favorite little roti shop and pick up some beer and chicken roti for lunch. We attempted to go to Ottley Plantation and walk thru the rain forest but there was no way due to the rain so we opted for a ride around the island. When we got to Brimstone Hall Fort we decided to head up there and see what was going on. There are lots and lots of steps getting up to the top but we all made it just fine. We had lunch on the top of this mountain at the fort and had people staring at us eyeballing our rotis. A couple people even stopped to ask where we got them. You know, thinking back we could have made some money off those rotis cause we were far from anywhere. I think we stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed back toward our end of the island.
By this time we are ready for happy hour, so we head to the beach and introduced John and Willie to our friends and had a good time at the beach. We opted to go to bed a bit early because we are going to the market in the morning.
Everyone got up early and watched the monkeys play for a while, then off we went. The market was extremely busy and we loaded our arms full of the local wares. After the market we headed to Ballyhoo for breakfast and then back home to unload and take a nap. Didn't do a whole lot the rest of the day and then back to the beach to watch the sunset. Still no green flash.
On Sunday we got up and had a nice big breakfast because me and John have an exciting day planned. We are going on a Sky Safari! The two of us will be zip lining over top of the trees in the rain forest. John of course is calm but I know he is about to pee himself, he just won't show it. Me? I am so excited and I am hoping I don't pee myself. Ron and Willie are going to hang back and take photos. We get all geared up and do a practice run on the zip line and get our instructions. Now we have to ride to the top of the mountain so we can zip line all the way down. The driver was so nice and stopped at each place so that Ron and Willie could take pics of us getting ready to take off. It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be and for that I am glad because I came home with dry pants. If any of you come to the island I highly recommend this.
After our exciting day we have really worked up an appetite. We haven't had them on the south end of the island so we head down to Reggae Beach for burgers and fish sandwiches. It just so happened that Wilbur the Pig was there and although he was asleep he was still quite entertaining because he snored like a fog horn. We took some pics and video of Wilbur and had a good laugh when he tried to get in the van with a bunch of locals that were getting ready to leave. Now, Wilbur is about 400 lbs and has one tusk hanging out of his mouth. Let me show you his picture...
After Reggae Beach we took it slow and easy back to the house and watched the sunset from the southern side of the island and it was beautiful. We were all worn out from the day and all of us turned in early.
Today is Monday and we are off to a Caribbean Cooking Class. We learn about the history of Caribbean food as we watch Wendy make some fabulous dishes. I won't bother you with the details because it will just make you hungry. Class lasted for about 3 hours and we all waddled out the door happy. The rest of the day we spent at the beach while Willie looked for beach glass and Ron went snorkeling. John and I were bums and hung out in the lounge chairs and drank beer.
Wow, it is already Tuesday so we decide it is time to do some shopping. John waited so patiently while Willie and went into every single souvenir shop. We picked Ron up for lunch and then went at it again for a while, then back home.
Caribelle Batik was our last tourist activity. This is where you can go watch them make Batik and it is fascinating. They put wax on those areas they want to stay white and dye the rest of it, then boil off the wax and start over. It is truly an art and they have made some beautiful stuff.
That is the end of our week with John and Willie and I can't wait until someone else comes to visit so I can do it all over again! It was such great fun getting up, having our coffee and watching the monkeys play almost every day.
Since they left, I really haven't done anything unless you count reading 3 books nothing. I did got to the beach yesterday which was nice but I can't do that everyday because I will look like a lobster.
Anyway, that is our update for now. I apologize for the lateness and I will try very hard to keep everyone up to date at least once a week.
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