Sunday, March 19, 2017

It is our last night on the island for this year.  The time went so fast!  I guess it is because we were so busy and having so much fun.  What a vacation it has been!

Tonight we ate dinner out as my kitchen is packed away.  I have enough supplies just to make breakfast in the morning.

I went in the water this afternoon.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky!  I had to force myself to get out.  It is so great to just walk out the door onto the beach and get in the water.  Paradise!

Tomorrow will be spent in airport world, and for sure, I will thinking about what I was doing the day before!

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Hello from paradise!  This morning it was wonderful to wake up and still be here on the island.

 About 7:15 the power went out!  It didn't come back on until 12:30.  I was starting to panic!  Without electricity we also have no water.  The time was put to good use anyway.  I started packing up my kitchen and bath for the remodel. It turns out, I have more things in my cabinets than I originally thought.

After lunch I went in the water and truly enjoyed it.  No matter how long I would be here, it would still be hard to leave.  When I first got in the water I almost stepped on a smaller stingray.  I think I startled him.  He didn't notice me and I sure didn't see him either!  I wasn't out long and I almost bumped into the biggest turtle I have ever seen in our waters.  Once again, we both startled each other it seemed.  Our heads were about a foot and a half apart.  Boy, was that cool!  His whole body came up out of the water!

Tonight we had fresh yellow fin tuna for dinner with potatoes, broccoli, carrots, green and red peppers all cooked on the grill.  We also had a nice green salad as I am using up food.  We had chocolate gelato with brownies for dessert.  I have been eating an awful lot while on vacation this year.

Richard went to Iggy's to watch ISU play basketball again tonight.  The game doesn't start until 8:45.
I skipped tonight.  

Friday, March 17, 2017

Today was a windy day so it was perfect for doing laundry.  I have plenty of it to do as we leave in a few days.  I like to wash all the bedding and every little thing.  We put the big double kayak away and took down two hammocks.  The tiki torches are put away too.  Tomorrow is the day I will store all the kitchen and bath cabinet dishes and all.  A new kitchen is coming soon! Fun, Fun!

Last night we went out for dinner with a group of friends.  We had a great time.  Afterwards we watched a late ISU game.  The night before, we had friends at our house for dinner.  The night before that we went to friends too.  So we have had a lot of late nights.  I may need a vacation when I get home!

Richard is waiting to play cards now.  He loves for me to win!

I almost forgot!  I went snorkeling here at the house this afternoon.  I didn't see a thing!  It was fun though as I just love the water.  Maybe I can still get in tomorrow too but everything has to be dry to store when we are gone.  There is that nasty thing called preparing to leave that I have to do too.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Another day in paradise!  Richard went fishing with Mike today.  I headed out on my bike ride/beach walk and didn't get too far on my walk when I noticed some rain in the distance.  It was heading at me at a good pace.  The sun was everywhere else!  What the heck!!  I turned around and got to my bike in the rain.  It was very light rain.  I rode home in a light rain so I was nice and cool.  I out ran it a little before home.  It didn't even rain here.

This afternoon Richard went diving and I went snorkeling.  He went with Greg and Tom wanted to go too but his neck is bad.  This worked out fine as then Tom went snorkeling with me.

I am tired tonight but it could be because I am getting a little sad.  We leave soon.  My vacation is coming to a close.

Monday, March 13, 2017

I am finally writing on my blog again.  We have been so busy having fun that I just run out of time!  Last night we didn't get home until 10:30 and that was late for me.  We had dinner at some friends.  We watched the big orange full moon rise over the water while we played boccie ball on the beach.  We used coconuts for balls and did we ever have fun!  Linda had tables set up on the beach so we could eat out under the moonlight!

The night before, we were at Patti and Toms for dinner.  Tonight when I had to cook, I had almost forgotten how!

Our resident Iguana, Rocky, has become very familiar with us.  Yesterday when I went out to hang my laundry out I almost stepped on him.  He was on the porch!!  Of course he didn't move.  I had to wait on him.  He had come up to get a drink out of the Frisbee that I keep for the birds.  I was wondering if they drank.  It is amazing to watch him maneuver the steps.

Today Richard and I played  paddle ball (it is like badminton) on our beach barefoot!!  No stickers!  I have worked so hard to get our beach to this point.  We had fun!

Plans are all finalized with Robin to remodel my kitchen.  When I come back next year it will be completely different.  I'm excited but also nervous about it.  He is also doing our bathroom.

This is our last week on the island.  I plan on enjoying every minute of it!  It will be a long time before I return. The plan is to stay a lot longer next year.

Frigates having a feeding frenzy for scraps as the fish are cleaned.  That is Tom's head that bird is going after!

Fish having a feeding frenzy while the guys clean fish at the dock.  There are sharks, stingrays, tarpons and more!

Beautiful full moon rising over the water.  That is tiny Owen Island under it.  

Brian holding a 30 pound yellow fin tuna he caught yesterday.  

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Another day in paradise!  It is a beautiful day!  I so love it here.  This morning I got ready to go out on my bike ride and beach walk.  Richard was laying in bed so I asked if he wanted to come too.  He said yes!  So I waited and we rode together.  This is the first time he ever went with me.

We stopped and saw Brian coming in from fishing.  Linda and Mike were there too.  They had just gotten in last night.  After our visiting, we walked back to get our bikes.  Richard's bike had a tire blow out!  It happened just sitting there waiting for us.  Good grief!  So he rode my bike home to get the truck and I layed in a hammock at Southern Cross Club.  Oh, what a life I lead!!  He came and got me, we put the broken bike in the back end of the truck and headed home.  I lounged on the beach awhile and called my mom.  It is so fun to call her from the island!

We ate lunch at the Hungry Iguana while watching the ISU basketball game.  They won their first Big 12 tournament game!

This afternoon, I went in the water.  It is hot, sunny and the water is warm.  I had a wonderful time! I got cleaned up and layed on the beach to read awhile.  We ate dinner on the porch while watching another beautiful sunset.  Somebody pinch me!  I must be dreaming!

Monday, March 6, 2017

Today our paradise was super windy!  We have never had this strong of wind here in all the years we have been coming.   So, of course, we worked.  The giant rocks that we thought we would move next year, got moved today.  I am so glad we moved them.  Our beach is looking so great.  There is one small area that we want to remove trees on and then we are finished.  I never thought we would get to the point of being finished.  What will I do then??

Tonight we went to another lecture series presented by CCMI at Southern Cross Club.  It was very interesting.  This time the students presented on their projects and they were so talented in their work and their presenting.  Too bad the parents of these college students weren't there to see them.

We met some old friends at SCC tonight.  They come every year to the resort and it is fun to catch up with them again.

Here is a shot of where we removed the giant rocks.  They used to be to the left of the new coconut tree that is in the center of the photo.

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Today was the big boat day!  Two technicians from Grand flew here to work on our boat motor.  They worked all day replacing what seemed like every square inch of the motor.  The only parts left now are the computers.  Turns out, our motor has two computers!  Of course, they are super expensive.  Now they are trying to locate them on Grand or we will have to get them from the US.  When all is said and done, we will about have a new motor!  Will it finally then work???

We are better off than a fireman here on the island.  He lost his boat today!  It was tied to a buoy and overnight it came loose!  The boat along with the buoy is gone.  All the planes flying today were watching for it.  We are all hoping it is found. It will be hard to spot as it has a blue bimini top and a blue interior.  The water is blue!  It will blend right in!

I worked on the beach this morning moving rock.  I decided not to keep the half moon design wall I had made.  The really big rocks will take two people to move and we will tackle that next year.  I get plenty of exercise and weight lifting while on this island.  It is great!

 There is a lovely breeze blowing in the window this evening as I write this.  Our weather has been so hot and perfect.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

What a day in paradise I had today!  Our weather is sunny, hot and perfect.  I went on a big early morning bike ride.  When I got back, I hung out a load of laundry.  Richard and I lounged around on our beach.

After an early lunch, we met Susan and Joe and Tom for snorkeling on the north side.  We had such a great snorkel!  We saw several eagle rays.  They are so beautiful!  Every time I have seen them, they are cruising along the sandy bottom.  This time they were soaring through the water.  Now I know why they are named "eagle" rays.  Just like an eagle soars through the air, eagle rays soar through the ocean water.

Later afternoon I read my book down on our beach under a shade umbrella.  What a life!

Our beautiful eagle rays!

Can anyone find the flounder on this picture?  They are so camouflaged  We saw two of them today.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Our time on island is just speeding by.  Here it is March 1 already!  We are having just beautiful weather.  It is so wonderful to be here!

Last night I went to Ladies Night.  Susan picked me up so I didn't even have to drive.  It was at Pirates Point Resort.  Susan Howard decided to have it at her home though which is on the resort property.  Wow!  I wish everyone I know could have been there with me.  Her house is so beautiful!  I want everyone to see it and enjoy the wonderful time I enjoyed.  She served us all champagne on arrival.  The hor d'oeuvres were so yummy and the meal was prepared by PP chefs so I needn't say more!  We ate outside on her wrap around deck listening to the waves lapping on the beach.  Us ladies know how to have a good time!

Richard and I attended a program on Monday evening educating us about mercury in seafood.  It was presented by a scientist from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University.  She is working on a study at the CCMI here on island.  We have decided to continue to eat our fish.

I have been spending my days riding my bike, beach walking, laying around on the beach reading, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking.  That is how to spend the winter!  Yes!!

Here is Rocky.  He came up on the porch today!  I came walking up the steps and there he was!  What a character!

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Richard and I are tired this morning and slept in a little after partying last night like we were teenagers. The party started at 9:00 which is late for us.  We had a great time.  Today we had a cloudy morning and then the sun came out.  When it got to be time to do beach clean-up the clouds were back.  What a gift!! We didn't have to work in the hot sun.  There was a huge turn out to clean up our beautiful beaches.  We must have collected 100 bags of trash.

After our work was finished, there was a BBQ for all at Point of Sand.  The food was the best we had ever ate as we were all hungry from all our efforts.

Another spectacular weekend in paradise!

A group shot of all us workers with Richard on the right running to get in on the shot!

 

Another beach site we worked on.

Marcia and I posing with our trash!

Hard at work!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Just a short post tonight as I skipped last night.  We just get busy somehow and time gets away from me.  This morning we woke up to a very calm day.  I think the wind speed was 1.  The water was beautiful!  Friends wanted us to go to Point of Sand with them snorkeling in the morning.  We had to say no as we needed to get the boat out of the water.  We finally got news from the boat repair shop on Grand that a technician is coming to work on the motor.  Hopefully, they will find what is wrong and it can be fixed.

After lunch we went lobstering again.  Conditions were wonderful and we loved being out even though we didn't get a lobster. We didn't even see one!  Tom went along and we enjoyed a nice visit too.

We rushed to get ready once back home as ISU had a game.  Richard likes to watch them on the big TV at the Hungry Iguana.  We ate dinner there also tonight.   Tonight at 9:00 there is a party with a live band at the Iguana.  I hope I can stay awake that long to head back there.  Normally we don't stay up so late.  This should be a lot of fun though.  We are not teenagers anymore!

Tomorrow is the big beach clean up event so maybe we will have to sleep in tomorrow morning.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

We woke to a beautiful day here on our little island in paradise.  Everything is sparkling clean after our big rain.  I dried off the outside furniture and we are ready for action!

I did a load of laundry.  The wind was coming from the southwest which is super rare.  This is the second time it has come from the SW this season though!  It was blowing pretty fierce.  Hanging out the laundry pretty much did me in!  I felt like the wind just beat me up! I should have had Richard take a movie of it.  The laundry was blowing in my face and nearly knocking me over!  What a riot!

Late in the afternoon I took the laundry off the line.  It was so fluffy!  The towels were just like fresh from a clothes dryer.  The wind did it's job!  Thank you wind.

We worked a little on trees this afternoon.  Will we ever finish?  I am reading a good book and fulfilling my obligation to everyone who told me to lay on the beach for them.  This was a relaxing day.  My sea lice bites are slowly getting better.  They look ugly yet.  Once in awhile they start itching again, which is so weird.

Time to beat Richard in a game of cards!

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Yesterday was a busy day cutting trees again and hauling them away.  We worked hard but it is looking good.  These island sea grape trees just got too close to the house.  They grow so fast. You can't turn your back on them for a minute!

Friends had us over for dinner last night and we had a super yummy meal.  We even had sweet corn! It was a very fun time.

Today Robin, a very good contractor on the island, stopped by our house.  He is working up a quote to remodel our kitchen.  I like the kitchen as it is but it is time to replace the cabinets, counters and sink.  Very exciting!

Bruce stopped by with some sympathy fish from Brian.  The boat is still out of commission and we never hear a word from the repair technician.  We may have to cough up the big bucks and buy a new motor!  You can be sure it won't be a Yamaha!!

Late this afternoon our beautiful blue, cloudless sky suddenly got very dark to the southwest.  The wind was super strong and it poured rain.  This was sure welcome as it has been super dry here.  Boy did it blow!!  I am absolutely positive, I would never want to be here in a hurricane!

Needless to say, I have been spending my fair share of time laying on the beach and in hammocks.  My book reading continues.  

Monday, February 20, 2017

I'm still in Paradise!  I slept a little last night.  My one million bug bites are actually caused by Sea Lice!  How gross is that!!  After researching this and talking to others on island, I now know way more about these lice and hope I never encounter them again!  I guess they got inside my rash guard and got trapped.  The water we were in was too warm and shallow with grasses in it.  Never will I go there again!   I am so uncomfortable!

The boat saga continues.  We are having a technician fly here to work on it and he was supposed to call today.  We never heard a word.  That's island time for you!  Whoa, guys they want to go fishing, whoa guys they just want to fish!  That was to the music of Girls They Want to have Fun.....

Today we cut down trees along the side of the house.  They are Sea Grape Trees.  Very hard to cut and a tremendous amount of work.  It'll be so great when they are gone though.  Richard likes these trees a lot and I hate them.  So we are trying to compromise.  If you give these trees an inch, they take a couple miles!  One has to be aggressive with them.

We have two iguanas that have joined us here.  They hang out here all the time and stay close to watch us work.  We have to step over them a lot as they like to be in the thick of things.  The silly things seem to like it if we talk to them!  What fun!  Today I had my green floaty laying on the porch.  Rocky climbed up all the steps to get up to check out my floaty.  We named them Rocky and Balboa!
They were just tiny when we bought the place.  Now they are all grown up!

Another beautiful sunset tonight.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

It has been hot here in paradise!  The wind is not blowing so even in the shade it is hot.  This is great water weather.  Yesterday we went with friends to Owen Island in the kayaks.  We took the back way around and then parked our boats on the beach and went snorkeling.  We saw a lionfish!!  Richard put a bunch of rocks at the opening of its cubby hole so he at least couldn't escape.  When it was time to head back home, out of nowhere, the wind picked up! Of course it was the wrong direction!  It was super hard to paddle home.  I was exhausted!  Once back at the house, we all snacked and had rum punches and recovered.

Today the water has been like glass all day!  We should have made our trip to Owen today!  But I can't see the future!!

My continuing saga of bug bites progresses onward!  This morning I awoke with what looked like about 20 mosquito bites on my left shoulder.  As the hours pass I get more and more!  What a mess! Boy do I itch!  I had my rash guard on while snorkeling and that is where all the bites are.  My right arm is OK except for two  on that shoulder now appearing.  Help!!

This afternoon the water was flat as glass and warm.  I went out for a swim and it gave me some relief from my itching.  I had at least four turtles join me.  They wanted to see who the weird lady was with all the bites on her body.  They kept their heads out of the water for long periods and were probably talking to me.  I speak English not Turtleish though!

Fun day on Owen Island

Friday, February 17, 2017

Today in paradise we awoke to absolutely no wind!  Everything was so still and quiet.  The water was completely smooth.  Talk about pretty!  I worked on the beach early before the sun was beating on me.  We had an early lunch and had a rendezvous with friends snorkeling on the north side.  Conditions were ideal.    We had so much fun.  I am calling it the "day of the ray"!  We saw a couple of lovely Eagle Rays and several stingrays.  There were a couple turtles, tons of fish and two "love bird" groupers there for our viewing pleasure.

This day we were joined by several other snorkelers.  This has not happened for years.  Usually we are totally alone over on the north side, wondering if we are alone in the world!

We are still bug free here and loving it.  The house is all open and we ate dinner on the porch.  Our lemon shark entertained us while we ate tonight.  He seems to be liking our locale of late.  There must be some small rays he is after.  We also had a turtle stop by tonight.  We don't get this view in Iowa!

Last evening we went to a program on the Grouper Aggregation presented by REEF Divers.  It was so interesting.  The scientist presenting this did such a great job communicating to all in attendance.  The Nassau Grouper is protected here.  It is the largest aggregation left in the Carribbean.

One of the beautiful Eagle Rays we saw today.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

It has been a busy, fun two days here on Little Cayman.  We have been enjoying the hot, sunny days and beautiful evenings that have been bug free.  This season we do not have bugs.  It even seems weird not to have them.  We sit out on the beach at night totally bug free.  We ate supper on the porch tonight and lunches and breakfast and absolutely no bugs!

Richard has been busy taking the boat out fishing.  He has been having a little luck.  We had tuna for dinner tonight.  Yesterday afternoon he did some bone fishing from his kayak.  While he bone fished, I went swimming.  I was not joined by a shark this time!  

This morning I enjoyed my bike ride and beach walk.  I noticed a black tip reef shark near the Conch Clubs boat dock.  Suddenly I seem to be seeing sharks!  After lunch Richard and I and Tom went lobstering.  We found several.  One lobster was huge!  He did not want to be eaten though.  We tried and tried to capture him!  We were in the water several hours.  I shrivelled up from being in so long!

Following are some photos of us getting ready to head out to go lobstering.  Or I should say, photos of Richard!

How about this great shot!

Getting ready to go lobstering.

We bring a kayak along to put the caught lobster in so we don't have a shark come get us.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Happy Valentines Day!  It was a beautiful, sunny day so I took my bike out and went on my beach walk.  What a fun time!.  When I got back I put in a load of laundry and took my book out to the beach.  Soon Richard and Jim returned from fishing with a nice fish.

In the afternoon I went for a swim.  I was out for a short time and was joined by a lemon shark!  I immediately came back in!  Darn!  Hope he doesn't make a habit of hanging around here.  I took the kayak out right away to see if I could find him but had no luck.  I will have to be careful for awhile.

Sitting on the beach under the stars.

Tonight we went out to the Beach Resort for valentines day dinner.  The weather is just perfect this evening.  We sat on the beach when we got back home.  Richard took a photo and video.  The stars were so pretty as the moon wasn't up yet.   We are so loving it here!

Richards fish.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Richard and I have been enjoying our time on the island so much this year.  It has been busy with water play, friends, and yard/beach work and so much more.  All this busy fun has been making the time fly by though!

Yesterday we did some major clearing on our property again and today tackled another area.  Soon we will be totally finished.  What will we do with our time then?  I am looking forward to being finished clearing.

Last night we went to McCoys for their Saturday night barbecue.  We went with Susan and Joe.  It was fun and the food was great.  We saw the beautiful sunset from there and on the way home enjoyed the gorgeous full moon!

Tomorrow it is back to fishing.  The wind has calmed down again.  We had two days where it was too windy.  The waves and swells in the ocean just get to high and dangerous.  So, I put my order in for a nice wahoo and some tuna.

Dinner at McCoys.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Yesterday was a beautiful day here on the island.  Richard went fishing with Tom and they got skunked again.  Brian felt sorry for them and gave them some "sympathy" fish.  He was out fishing too and got a couple and gave them to us.  He is such a nice guy!  We had company for dinner and I fixed the tuna.  It was super yummy!  Today I baked some brownies for Brian as an exchange for his fish.  Not a fair trade at all.  I definitely got the better end of that deal!

Today was a yard working day.  It was windy on the north side so we work when it is not a "water" day.  We just keep clearing more areas and spiffing things up where we can.  It is fun work!  While I was working three "twenty somethings" came by on their bikes.  They had gone all around the island and were out of water.  I invited them in and filled their bottles with water.  We had a nice little visit.  They were here visiting from Grand.  The girl had purple hair like Emily!  How fun!

We had a beautiful sunset tonight.  Another fabulous day coming to a close in paradise.

Sunset photo taken from out beach.

Even a fish jumped up to see the sunset!

So pretty!

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

The sun has set on another beautiful day in paradise.  What a day it has been!  This morning at 6:15 we headed out in the boat to do some deep sea fishing.  It was a beautiful calm morning and getting through the cut was very easy. We fished and we fished but never got a thing.  If I wouldn't have been there, I wouldn't have thought it was possible to be skunked!  Well, tomorrow is another day!  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  That boat drinks a lot of gas!

After lunch, we headed to the north side to snorkel.  It was perfect conditions and one doesn't want to pass that up.  What a way to spend the afternoon.  Just the expanse of the beautiful ocean water in its vibrant shades of blue will take your breath away.  The water is so clear and warm and for some reason no one else can be seen for miles and miles.  You feel like you are alone on a deserted island.  Life is good.

This evening we lit the Teki torches and sat on the beach under the almost full moon.  Need I say more!  So lovely!

The sun coming up over the water.

Coming back to the dock after fishing.

Heading out to snorkel.  Notice how clear the water is.  The tiny dot in the distance is a dive buoy where the water is 40 to 60 feet deep.  Just after that it drops to 600 ft. deep.  We swim out to the buoy to snorkel the drop off wall.

The first sign of the rising sun.  It was very pretty.  The top photo here is when the sun was a little higher.  The blog posts my photos out of order for some reason.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Another day in paradise!  Just a gorgeous day today.  The wind was very calm for Richard to go fishing.  Apparently, the fish loved it too as they were ready to eat.  Richard caught a fish!!  Finally!  I immediately prepared some for a second breakfast.  It was super yummy!

The seas are supposed to be calm tomorrow so I am going deep sea fishing too.  When I go along, we catch a Wahoo (hahaha).  I am hoping we catch a lot of fish.  It would be fun to get a bunch!

I am still vacationing today, so I didn't do a lot of work.  We had a 15% off special day at the grocery store today.  I made a big list and spent $124.24. I saved $12.98.  I had 18 items of food and $ 50.00 in gas.  They don't give the discount on gas.  Gas is only $ 5.53 a gallon this year.  Not too bad, but I had just picked up a few items yesterday.

We had fish for dinner tonight, of course!  Boy, it was so tasty!  I fried it and put a special sauce on it.  I had gotten the recipe from Brian.  He knows fish!  We had it with rice and some vegges.  It was like a stir fry.  I could eat it every night.

Our second breakfast of fresh caught tuna.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Yesterday was a fun vacation day for me here on Little Cayman.  I got up early and made a batch of pancakes and ate them out on the deck.  Not a bad view!  I could have eaten the whole batch, they were so yummy!

Richard trimmed up the mangroves and I helped haul them out a little but I sure didn't exert myself!  I grabbed my book and read on a beach chair.  What a way to spend the morning!  After lunch, I went in the water.  It was calm and wonderful!  Then I layed on the beach to dry off for awhile and did some more reading.  What a lazy life!  I truly felt like I was on vacation!  I didn't even cook supper as we went out to watch the Super Bowl.  What a game that was!  I normally don't watch it but I did this time.  We had a good time.

This morning Richard went out again and tried to catch a fish.  No luck!  I took my bike out and walked down to Brian's dock.  They had two smaller ones.  Brian invited me to stay and enjoy the fresh caught Tuna.  He had a wonderful new sauce he mixed up and it was so yummy.  I could have eaten every piece and not shared with anyone!  I'm excited to fix this when Richard finally is successful.  Maybe tomorrow!  We will have a party to celebrate when he finally catches the fish!!

I shoveled a little driveway sand this afternoon but quit after only a few wheelbarrow loads.  It was time to lay in my hammock again and read!  That is just too fun!  We ordered way too much sand so we are trying to find places for it.  What a shame as it is so expensive.

This was after my swim.  The boat dock is in the background.  Our boat is there if you enlarge the pic by clicking on it.

Yesterday, reading on the beach.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

This morning I went on my bike ride down to SCC again and then went on my beach walk.  I walked down to Brian's dock and watched them clean some fish.  The pelican was there and a bunch of frigates to pick up scraps and then the sharks and two stingrays showed up along with some tarpon.  What a sight!  I also finally got to see Brian's new boat!  Very impressive!

Richard did not catch a fish again today!  What the heck!  Won't be long though.  It will happen eventually.  I don't want to starve!

Today I spent some time just goofing off.  I am on vacation!  I went to the store for a couple things and got home and discovered I forgot one thing!  I am not a good grocery shopper!  I sat on a beach chair a lot today.  So many people back home have asked me to do that on their behalf!  I had to do it.

We are having beautiful warm/hot sunny weather and I love it.  It is dry here though.  They did not get as much rain in their rainy season as they normally do.  Luckily, our cistern was full when we got here.

Hats off to my 90 year old Mom today!  She went to Phantom of the Opera in Madison, Wisc. with my sister and my niece today.  She is amazing lately.  Seems to have a lot of "get up and go"!  Fun!

Tomorrow Richard wants to see the Super Bowl so we will watch it at the Hungry Iguana.  They always have a crowd!  Should be fun!

This morning a bananaquit took a bath on the porch in the frisbie water I set out.  The pan I had was seeming too deep for them this year.  The frisbie is perfect!  They are loving it.  This little guy got in three times and each time he stayed in super long.  These tiny birds are so cute!  It is a deep frisbie and will be a lot easier to keep fresh for them.

Friday, February 3, 2017

It was another beautiful day in paradise today!  Richard took the boat out fishing this morning very early.  I got the "house work" complete and finally went on my bike ride and beach walk.  Things have been so busy here that I haven't had a chance to do this yet.  As I was walking on the beach, I realized how much I had missed doing my ride/walk.

On my ride back home I was able to stop and visit with a neighbor which was also fun.  Once back home Richard was there and told me all about their fishing adventure.  They almost had a fish....darn!  He will try again tomorrow.

I spent some time doing some easy work around the yard and beach but mostly I moved from one comfortable hammock to another comfortable hammock today.  When I was finished laying in hammocks, I layed on a beach chair to read.  I am trying to make the most of every blissful day on this beautiful island!  I'm living the good life!

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Today I am so grateful to be at Little Cayman.  Back home in Ames the temperature was 17degree F.  That is cold!!  It was 85 and sunny here with a lovely breeze.  I went swimming at the house and layed on my beach afterwards.  What a life!

Our permanent Internet was finally installed today.  So the next thing I will expect is the bill!  It was just a little over 3 weeks late.  That isn't bad for island life!

Last night we had friends over for dinner and they brought the game called Sequence along.  It is fun to play and we decided to buy one for at home.  Maybe I'll buy one for here too.  When you don't have TV, you need games.

Yesterday we installed all our new window blinds.  The old ones were blue.  The new ones are white and they really look great!  It really brightens the place up!  It took a while but was well worth the effort.  

I had such a lovely adventure with a tiny bananaquit yesterday while laying on my hammock.  I was reading and suddenly felt something/someone pushing lightly on my hammock.  I thought it was Richard!  I turned my head and there was the little bananaquit sitting there looking right in my face!  It hopped along inspecting me.  It came so close as to peck on my face!  It continued to check out my whole side of my body and then quietly flew away.  These bananaquits don't seem to mind humans at all.  They come on our porch when we are sitting there and get a drink and bathe while we are watching.  Totally adorable!

Cutie Pie is still here on our property but he is all grown up now and looking like an old man!  There is a young one here now also.  Our rock iguana also is back and seems to remember us along with our little curly tail gecko.  Such pets we have!!

Time to beat Richard at another game of Cribbage.  My winning streak continues!

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

After a great nights sleep, I awoke in paradise!  Everyday it just amazes me that I am here.  It is so beautiful.  Our little spot here is so peaceful and perfect.  I worked outside again today as it is perfect weather for that today.  It was a relaxing day of odd jobs and laying in hammocks and reading.

I am typing this a little late tonight as this was ladies night!  Us island ladies gathered this week at Southern Cross Club for dinner and fun conversation.  The fun on this island just never stops!

Richard is at the Hungry Iguana.  Iowa State has a game tonight and he will watch it there.  The University of Iowa Coach's parents are on island.  They are also at the Hungry Iguana so there is some fun conversation there tonight also.

This is a short post as it is late and I had too much fun with the ladies and must go to bed!  I need my rest as tomorrow we are entertaining friends.

Monday, January 30, 2017

I have not written on my blog for a couple days!  We have been so busy here in paradise, it is hard to keep up!

We had a great walk/run/bike fundraiser for cancer turnout here on our tiny island.  $1062.00 US dollars was raised to provide financial aid to cancer patients in need here.  After finishing the event we had breakfast at Southern Cross Club with several of our friends.  What a feast!

This was boat launch day for our deep sea fishing boat.  We had high hopes!  The motor worked great before launch and started right up once in the ocean.  Richard headed out and it died!  There was no starting it!  He was drifting with the waves into sand and rock with the anchor not holding!  Bruce drove by and stopped.  Suddenly Miguel showed up too!  They jumped right in to help.  Literally!  Richard and Bruce had to pull the boat back and get it back on the trailer.  What a sight!  We are so grateful to Bruce and Miguel.  So it was back to work on the boat motor.  Richard now agrees with me that we should have just bought a new motor instead of working on this one.  Hindsight is 20/20!

Saturday evening we were invited to friends for dinner.  Boy! What a great meal we had and so much fun visiting.  The time just flew!

Sunday was so beautiful here on the island again.  Every day has been sunny and beautiful here since we arrived!  We tried a second launch of the boat on this morning.  Finally success!

 Early afternoon we went snorkeling.  I think it was one of my all time favorite!  The water was the clearest ever and super calm.  It was the most relaxing snorkel ever!  I am so lucky to be able to be here and do this.  All of us agreed,  it could not have been more perfect!  Sunday evening we went to another friends house for dinner.  There was eight of us and we really enjoyed a beautiful evening. We have made so many nice, fun friends on this island.

  This morning Richard and Tom took the boat out to do some fishing.  Finally!  Getting through the cut was smooth but the seas were rough today.  They did  not get a fish.  We were just happy the boat performed well.  I am ready for some fresh fish, so he better get cracking!

I ordered supplies from Cost u Less and it arrived by plane this afternoon.  It was just like Christmas!
Susan and I did a joint order in an effort to save money!  Aren't we getting clever!

It is now time for ice cream and I need to beat Richard in a game of cards.  This has sure been a great day!

Friday, January 27, 2017

I awoke to another glorious day on Little Cayman Island this morning.  It is so great to be warm!  Today was another busy day.  I worked on beach clean up again this morning.  Yesterday I started but got into some nasty ants.  I just ran and never even went back!  I had welts on me that itched beyond control.  All I was trying to do was rake up the seaweed that washed up on a windy day from the Southwest.  It is super unusual for us to get wind from that direction.

This seems to be my season of being eaten alive!  I lost a day this last week being sick from a nasty brown recluse spider.  Luckily it was a small one.  I still have a scar that I guess can last a week.  I had fever, chills, nausea and could do nothing but lay there.  Glad that is over! It was a riot!

Richard and I went to the north side today to snorkel but suddenly a black cloud appeared there.  So we came back to our sunshine and took the kayaks out.  It is strange how a cloud can show up in one location on such a tiny island.  We finished kayaking and I went for a swim. It was wonderful!  Afterward I layed on a beach chair and read a little from my newest book.    I felt like a queen!

We had leftovers for supper tonight so my queen for a day routine continued!

It will be early to bed for us tonight as we are doing the run/walk/bike for cancer fundraiser tomorrow morning.  We will ride our bikes down to Southern Cross Club, where the event will start at 7:00 A.M.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

I am sure glad to be here in the nice warm weather.  It snowed back home today.  Tonight we went to a presentation at the Little Cayman National Trust about the green iguana invasion.  Our island is home to rock iguanas and our whole eco system will be threatened by the green iguana.  We have been very successful fighting the lion fish invasion and I sure hope we can also fight off the green iguana!

Today we finally have Internet service at our house.  What a relief!  It is temporary until they get "time" to finally install our permanent Internet.

Boat from Cuba!  22 people were crammed in this boat to travel across the ocean! The Mast was made of a tree trunk.

Richard and I made a drive to Point of Sand this afternoon.  It is the Seven Mile Beach of Little Cayman!  We were the only ones there today!  That is why we chose Little Cayman instead of Grand Cayman.  Twenty two Cubans made a trip to freedom and landed at Point of Sand a couple months ago.  The people were rescued and the boat still sits on the beach.   What a site to see!

Here I am enjoying the Seven Mile Beach of Little Cayman!  It's Point of Sand!

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

We had another busy day here on Little Cayman.  I haven't posted since Saturday.  We will be glad to hopefully get our Internet installed at the house tomorrow.  Saturday evening we went to the Hungry Iguana to watch the football playoff game.  We had a hefty supper before we went but while there I had a big order of their fabulous french fries!  They have the best fries in the world!  I am still thinking about them!  HaHa!  Of course, I had a mudslide to go with!  What an evening!

Last night we had guests for dinner.  It is so fun to catch up with island friends.  The last two days were windy here so we had good days to clear some more areas on our property.  It sounds like we like to work.  It really isn't hard to do when in this paradise!

Today, was just a relaxing day mingled with some property work.  The wind was down and it was just so peaceful.  I still am in awe to be here.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Another fun, fabulous day in paradise!  This morning I worked on spiffing up the entrance to our property and cutting back over growth along the driveway.  Things grow like crazy around here.  I don't know why biologists don't mix the DNA from Island Sea Grape trees with human DNA.  These trees can regrow after they are dead!  Totally amazing!

After lunch Richard and I went snorkeling on the north side on Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson Point.  The water was so calm and beautiful.  Of course, we saw tons of fish and beautiful coral, a huge shark, stingrays, barracuda, and the sweetest turtle ever!  What a day!  We are having so much fun!

Here is our beautiful nurse shark.

This was the nicest turtle.  It let us get so very close and swim along with him.

Relaxing after a great swim.  The water goes forever!  Next stop: Cuba!

Richard snapped this just as I got in the water.  Right after this was taken, I saw a huge barracuda! Yikes!

Friday, January20, 2017

Today was so wonderful!  We worked hard in the morning cutting and hauling trees.  So that was my exercise!  We got another load of sand delivered this morning so we can do touch up work on the driveway.  I am calling that my exercise!

This afternoon Richard, Tom and I went lobstering!  We got a giant lobster and I even saw one but he escaped.  The water was warm, super clear, and perfect! What a day!  I fixed him for dinner and we ate on the porch watching the sunset!  I feel like I am living at a five star resort!

After I am finished typing, we are going to Beach Resort to see if they are having Friday night trivia!

What a fabulous day!!

Showing off our yummy lobster!

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Today Richard and I woke up around 6:30 A.M. which is 7:30 Iowa time.  How we slept that late is amazing as by 7:00 last night Richard was snoring and I was by 8:30!  We were exhausted!

This morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and started to work. We discovered the window blinds we bought the day before on Grand were the wrong size.  A.L.Thompson had already sent them to Thompson Shipping so I asked them to pick them up and refund my money.  They did not have the size I needed.  So I called another small store and they have my size.  I tried to purchase them with my credit card but they said I had to come in the store to purchase them.  It took me all morning to talk to a manager and convince them to sell me the blinds and put them on the barge to Little Cayman. Such silliness!

Our Internet did not get installed.  They will come next Wednesday now to do it.  We have had our order in for two months.  They got busy and told us we had to wait.  It is so strange not having e-mail or facebook and also no TV!  Thank heavens we are too busy enjoying paradise to pay attention to technology!  Thank you to Southern Cross Club for allowing us to borrow their Internet this evening.

We had our dinner on the porch this evening as well as lunch.  The sunset was so pretty and the weather is beyond perfect.  All the effort and exasperation melt away when you are here relaxing while you work!

They are busy cleaning and closing up the little resort next door to us.  They painted all the buildings and it looks very nice.  I wonder what will happen there in the future.  Johnny, who lives on the other side of us is not here this year.  He had surgery.  So Richard and I are all alone in the world.

Today an island friend stopped by to see us.  It is so fun to get company.  I am excited to catch up with everyone here on island.  These first few days we seem to concentrate on just settling in.  Then we can party!

January 18, 2016

We have arrived!  What an adventure getting to Little Cayman was this year.  We were flying on Monday the 16th on the 7:00 A.M. flight out of DesMoines until the night of the 15th.  We received a call from American Airlines that our flight was cancelled due to a mean ice storm we were experiencing.  They rescheduled us for the Tuesday flight at 7:00 A.M. So I lost a day of sunshine!
We immediately tried to reschedule our flight from Grand to Little but had no luck.  They finally got us on the Wednesday morning flight that turned out to run almost two hours late! Of course!  We are so grateful to be here and grateful to be safe!

Everything at the house looked great!  We didn't have a hard time getting settled at all.  I was amazed how clean the inside of the house stayed too.

Last night we enjoyed a delicious meal at the Wharf on Grand and then watched the waves crash on Seven Mile Beach.  What a wonderful evening!

Today was 88 and blue sky!  I am not complaining!