April 16, 2022 Saturday

 I haven't posted for a long time.  I'll have to think back to update things.  Emily and Sheldon both arrived and we had a wonderful week together.  Very hard to say goodbye.  They did a lot of diving and hung out at the pool and just enjoyed the island.  They seemed pretty happy and were sad to leave. 

The other day, when I returned from my morning walk, I was down on our beach.  I looked in front of me at the water and there about 2 feet from the edge was a hammerhead shark!!  He was probably 5 feet long or a little more.  First I thought it was a nurse shark but there was no denying it was a hammerhead!  When Richard got back later, he said other people on the island have reported seeing them too.  I guess they come in to have their young. Glad I wasn't in the water then!  

Richard has been catching tons of fish.  He is happy!  The day before yesterday, he caught a record size Tuna!  Very exciting!!  We donated it to CCMI.  Central Caribbean Marine Institute.  They are having a fish fry.  

We are flying home on Tuesday.  Monday we have an appointment to get Covid tested.  One still has to test negative to get into the USA.  The weather here has been spectacular!  We have been snorkeling tons of times.  Our reefs here are in perfect condition.  The water is smooth, warm, and lovely.  I've seen every fish imaginable and turtles and sharks and on and on!  So fun!.  

Our truck did arrive.  I was surprised how nice it is.  We never saw it before purchasing it, so I was relieved.  The air conditioner works which is great since it has been very hot here.  I've started getting some things ready for our return home.  Today I cleaned ceiling fans and of course, did laundry.  We went to the Little Cayman Trust House Easter Auction this afternoon and evening.  They have a live and silent auction.  Richard made off with a really special bottle of rum.  A private stock bottle! 

April 19 is fast approaching.  We will get home about midnight!  It's a long day of airport world.  

March 28, 2022 Monday

 We are enjoying another beautiful day here in paradise. Little Cayman, that is!  Life is busy here.  Today while eating our lunch on the porch, Lionel the huge iguana, lumbered up the steps to join us.  He just sat with us and walked around a little and mosied away. What a riot!  There must have been about 25 birds came in to the bird bath while we sat there.  It is just an old tiny frying pan I set out for them. They seem to love it.  I love how the birds settle right next to us and bathe.  We continue to be entertained by the variety of wildlife here on the island.  It is so different than in Iowa.  

Saturday, we were at the Hungry Iguana for a BBQ and live music.  We sat near the waters edge and the view is gorgeous.  What a fun evening.  Another thing we can't do in Iowa.  The music was provided by a guy singing to recorded songs. He was super talented.  It was very popular songs and from a wide variety of eras.  Somehow he tried to sound like Sinatra singing New York, N Y. and a popular Elvis song and CCR and all my favs.  Everything had the Caribbean beat to it though.  It was fabulous! But, the guy is the meter reader here on the island! What a riot!  He sang for two hours straight with no breaks.  

Our new truck should finally arrive this week.  We haven't seen it yet so it'll be a surprise.  Hopefully, it's not in bad shape.  I wonder if the air conditioner works?

Emily is coming for a visit and we are thrilled.  She will arrive on the 7th. of April.  Some serious diving will commence during her stay.  Poor Sheldon isn't coming.  He has a work trip and Emily didn't want to stay home alone. 

Things are still very quiet here on the island.  It is lovely, but very different.  Our tiny grocery store finally got some supplies in a few days ago.  What a relief!  For two weeks there were not even any potatoes.  Richard has been catching many fish so we are happy about that.  The waters are calm, clear and lovely.  Snorkeling is a dream! Our reefs are in beautiful condition.  

March 18, 2022 Friday

 I'm still here in paradise! The weather here this year has been really great.  Pretty much hot and sunny every day with a nice breeze.  If I sit in the shade with a breeze it is absolutely ideal.  I am sure living the good life! 

Today, we bought a new used truck.  It is on Grand yet.  Our current truck has seen its better days.  This environment is hard on things.  Someone is buying it though, so that is good.  The poor thing won't go to the junk yard.  

We had a great snorkel again today.  We saw a very large beautiful angel fish, a nurse shark, a huge school of blue tang, and numerous others!  On the way in I spotted a flounder laying on the bottom just a few feet from shore.  He was almost invisible!  All you could see was his eye moving.  What fun!!  How lucky am I to be able to snorkel whenever I want!! That's why they call it paradise!  

Tonight we are watching ISU play in the NCAA tournament.  We had an early supper of tuna so we don't miss a basket! 

   

March 10,2022 Thursday

I'm still here in paradise!  This poor blog has not been tended to lately.  I've been busy having fun and enjoying being here.  Our weather has been pretty much perfect everyday!  

We have plenty of fish to eat as the fishing has been great and the boat is in good repair.  We snorkeled in a new spot yesterday and got lucky to see a "slipper lobster".  It is also called a "spanish lobster".  It looked totally prehistoric!  Walking along the bottom, totally ignoring us gawking at it!  Six legs!  We also saw lobster the size of humans!  I've never seen them so big! Lots of them!!  

People have started arriving to stay at the little resorts here.  They are no longer empty.  It is not up to normal yet but this is so encouraging.  Thank goodness!  

Tomorrow we will hit the water again.  We are so lucky to be here.     

February 28, 2022 Monday

It is the last day of February already.  I haven't been updating my blog a lot this year.  This can mean I am too busy having fun or just too lazy to type!  Yesterday the wind died down and this morning the wind speed is zero.  The still days really heat up but we haven't turned on the air.  I wonder if today will be the day! 

Friday we went to dinner at Southern Cross Club with friends.  One of the original founders of the Club was on island with his family. It was his birthday so SCC set off fireworks! What a display!  It was way more spectacular than the City of Ames 4th of July celebration.  What a treat!  A huge cake was served to all and there was LIVE MUSIC!  We had so much fun!!!  There are some really talented people on this island.  We sure get entertained a lot.  I know they set off fireworks on New Years Eve here every year too.  We have never been here then but everyone tells me they are spectacular!  

Yesterday, we went lobstering.  We got three!  Talk about exciting!  Today is the last day one can harvest lobsters here. The season is ending until December 1.  Tonight we are getting together with friends and having a lobster feast! Yes!

Richard went fishing for tuna this morning with two guys.  They caught nine!!!  He said they could have got more but that was enough.  I'll say!  Tomorrow Greg is going along and they will catch more but will share with people who don't fish. 

This morning on my walk, the mosquitos went along!  With no wind they hitched a ride on my body.  When I got back to the house I practically bathed in Cortaide!  It is so fun to walk and go on bike rides here.  This is living!  Time to go out to my hammock on my beach and read and watch the beautiful Caribbean waters.  

February 22, 2022 Tuesday

Hello February 22!  It is 2-22-22 on a Tuesday (Twosday!!!)!  It is a gorgeous day here in paradise!  I've been sleeping really well here.  I guess paradise agrees with me!  

Last night we had friends over and fixed tuna.  It was just like old times on the island.  The wind has been blowing so there is no fishing for a few days.  Luckily, we have some in the freezer.  This morning after my walk, I worked on the yard.  I have to make sure the sand burrs don't take hold again.  It has been my goal to eradicate them and it is not easy!  

Richard and I are excited to announce we have a new pet!  He is a tiny Common House Gecko.  They bring good luck!  We don't have to walk him, feed him or entertain him!  He doesn't even make a mess! 

Time to head to my beach and relax in a hammock.  I can't miss a minute of this beautiful day!  

February 18, 2022 Friday

Things are busy here in paradise!  It has been hot and not windy again.  Today, Richard caught 7 large tuna!  They could have caught more.  We will eat a long time.  It's a good thing because our tiny store is so empty.  I ordered food and I don't want to do it again.  

Last night the Cayman government suddenly announced changes to the Covid testing requirements.  The every other day of testing on the first week of arrival is over starting today!  Everyone is thrilled!  It cost $30.00 US every test!  

I've been doing a lot of relaxing lately.  My daily walk has to be completed early as it really warms up here in a hurry.  We are discovering why afternoon siestas are popular. The heat makes us sleepy.  Today, we talked about starting up our air conditioning. I love having the windows open and the ceiling fans spinning. We have zero bugs yet!! This has never happened before!  It's crazy!  I sat out on the porch after sunset tonight again with no bugs.  Even on the beach in the evening!  Richard says I will jinx it by talking about it!

 

February 13, 2022 Sunday

It is Super Bowl Sunday and I am in paradise to watch it!  Last night we went to the Kingston Bite Bar and listened to live music.  These guys came from Grand to entertain us!  Peter Quilliam from here on LC also played guitar with them.  This was a very high quality band.  I guess they know I'm here, so they played all songs I love. Everyone on the island was there.  For such a tiny island, we sure get entertained! They played in a screened room and we all just crowded in.  Plenty of room. 

Today is another very warm day.  No wind at all. Humidity at 87% and the dew point at 74!  This morning it took me a long time to recover from my walk.  My exercises after, had me in a heavy sweat! This afternoon, we snorkeled.  The water felt really good!  I wore tons of sunblock and covered up everywhere I could.  It was like we had the whole sea to our selves!  I am so lucky to be here and enjoying this wonderful life.  

Tonight we will watch the Super Bowl at Iggy's.  We will also eat supper there. I don't have to cook tonight!!!!! Yay!!!  

February 10, 2022 Thursday

Hello paradise!  We got up super early to go fishing.  We were on the water before the sun came up.  The water was flat.  Even out in the open ocean.  It was a piece of cake getting through the cut.  Sorry to say, we got skunked!  They should be biting.  All the gods are lined up.  The only thing anyone can come up with is last night there was lightning again.  It is just heat lightning.  Could it be making the fish crazy???  Trying again tomorrow!

The weather continues to be spectacular.  I lounged on the beach some in the morning, lounged in my hammock on the beach in the afternoon, played Qwirkle with Richard in the afternoon, and late afternoon we went kayaking.  It was a super easy paddle with that flat water.  Two huge blue herons got up right in front of us.  We had numerous egrets to watch and an energetic tern was fishing right in front of our kayaks.  He just kept flying over us and nose diving right in front of us.  Came up with a fish every time.  The extreme quiet here almost will hurt your brain!  I'm finally getting used to it.  No wonder I'm relaxed!

Our air compressor quit working and Richard was going to order a new one.  Suddenly, he figured out the problem and presto! It works!  I was starting to think we were jinxed with so many things breaking down.  Now we have turned the corner!  Now I still need that miracle with the scooter!  

I'm looking forward to another good sleeping night tonight.  We still have all the windows open and are bug free.  Who could ask for anything more!!

February 9, 2022 Wednesday

We have been very busy on the island lately.  There is always something that needs our attention.  Suddenly our tiny grocery store is out of food!  The barge had come in and still nothing!  The manager said it wasn't going to get better.  I hurried home and started an order to Grand.  Then I decided to try Brac.  They had everything I needed and could get it to me the on the next flight from Brac.  I ordered frozen items and they arrived completely frozen.  Talk about good service!  Accomplished the whole order using WhatsApp.  They even sent me photos of the items I ordered.  

The scooter still won't run.  It seems we need a miracle on this one!  I just the other day renewed the insurance on it too.  Darn!  

There are no great fish stories to report yet.  The guys have not had any luck!  Tomorrow, I will go and we better get tons of fish!  

Monday we had a plumber come to the house.  Our toilet sprung a leak!  Turned out the drain pipe was done incorrectly and after years and years it started to drip.  Luckily, we caught it right away.  He replaced the pipes and it is perfect now. The "plumber" was the same guy who installed my tile backsplash in the kitchen!!! This guy works for Robin. I called and Robin had him here in half an hour!  Talk about service! It was quite a project!

Did I mention, we are in paradise!!!!!!!!!! 

February 5, 2022 Saturday

 Today was a pretty exciting day for us here on Little Cayman!  The barge arrived!  My Cost U Less order was on the barge along with the new battery for the scooter and our new ceiling fan.  I take back everything I said about Cost U Less.  Even though it was frustrating to order from them!  I saved tons of money.  I'm talking tons!!  I love saving money!

Richard is now working to get the scooter running.  The new battery is great but now it needs a spark plug.  We will overcome!

This afternoon, our dew point and humidity dropped to 69!  The feel like temperature is 85.   It is so much more comfortable.  The weather here has been spectacular!  So happy to escape the temps in Iowa.

The boat is back in the water today.  Now the serious fishing will begin.  Lonny was here from Grand and worked on the motor.  He is a great boat motor technician and we are so glad to have found him.  Luckily, he didn't have to stay overnight. We just flew him here and back in one day.

February 2, 2022 Wednesday

 Woke up today in paradise and it's a beautiful day!  It is 2/2/22! How cool is that!  Went on my morning walk and did my exercises and was ready for the day.  Last night friends had us over for dinner and it was a lovely evening.  We are fortunate several of our friends are here on island too.  There are basically no tourists and at times I feel like I'm alone in the world here.  It is pretty deserted.  

Still no UV water sterilizing system and no order from Cost U Less.  It'll all get here when it gets here I guess.  

This afternoon I relaxed in my hammock on the beach. Richard did a little bone fishing.  I'm finally posting some photos here.  

Richard is putting his kayak in.  He built a new kayak dock this year.

He has his fly fishing pole ready and is heading out.

January 29, 2022 Saturday

Things have been pretty busy here in paradise.  The weather has been fantastic and we are loving it!  Yesterday the wind speed was 2 mph!!  Today is breezier and it feels great!  I worked on clearing the jungle along our driveway this afternoon.  Richard took my picture.  I dressed in long pants tucked into my BOOTS!  My long sleeve UV protected shirt, gloves, sun glasses and UV wide brimmed hat and of course, my white war paint on my face! The sun and bugs and environment will not touch my body! I love working on our property.  The crew did a great job but there is still plenty for me to tackle.  

Yesterday, the UV Sterilizing equipment arrived.  We picked it up and discovered they only sent a bulb!  Richard called the company and they are going to try again.  So we will continue drinking bottled water. Just amazing!  The airport called and said my Cost U Less order had arrived.  We raced to get it only to discover someone else picked it up.  After driving all over, turns out the airport thought it was mine by mistake.  So I still await my Cost U Less order.  We ordered a new ceiling fan yesterday to be sent on the barge.  I'm anticipating a long wait.  

After supper last night Richard and I went for a nice bike ride.  It was fun to get on a bike again.  This morning I walked again.  Mid morning there was a sailboat in front of our house and it just sat there. As I was watching and wondering, they suddenly fell over!  Not seeing any activity, Richard got in his kayak to offer help.  Thankfully, everyone was fine and eventually got upright and carried on.  For a deserted island, we sure have a lot going on! Luckily, I had time to relax in a hammock this afternoon and do a little reading.  Awesome!  

This afternoon, Richard dressed in his finest Iowa State gear, headed to Iggy's to watch ISU play basketball.  Go ISU!!  

 

January 26, 2022 Wednesday

 We have been so busy enjoying our lovely paradise that I have been remiss in writing.  Richard is busy right now building us a new kayak dock.  The previous one has disappeared!  Hopefully, someone is enjoying it somewhere.  Maybe a big wave carried it off!  

Our friends, visiting the island for the week, are leaving in the morning.  It has been fun catching up!  That week went fast.  Right now it is 81 degrees, 68% humidity, and 71 is the dew point with a wind speed of 6 mph here on our island.  They are not heading back to the bitter cold of Iowa but it will be an adjustment for them, just the same.  

The barbecue held on Saturday evening at the Hungry Iguana was so much fun!  There was a live band that sounded absolutely professional!! They played all my favorite songs!  The band members are all from here on LC.  

I still am trying to get food and supplies sent over from Grand.  Cost-U-Less has had my order for almost two weeks now!  Kirk Market is sending things finally to arrive on the 2:30 flight today.  I'm crossing my fingers!  Richard has talked to the guy from the marina to come service the boat motor.  He said he would arrive last week and we haven't heard a word from him!  Nothing!!  Now we have hired a different guy who used to work for Harbor House Marina on Grand.  He has started his own company.  This is a young guy and he is very good at what he does.  He will show up!  Yes!  It has always been hard to get things done on the island but now it is next to impossible.  Thanks COVID!  We have to be very patient here.  I called Grand to pay our vehicle insurances and it took half an hour.  The girl said she was checking things.  While holding she held "Hello" "Good Morning so and so! How are you?" conversations with several people.  All conversations for me to hear.  I interrupted her and said my battery was running out on my phone and I needed to end the call. Gave her my card number and hung up!  What a riot!!!  

Yesterday, Richard and I played a new game called Qwirkle. Emily and Sheldon introduced us to it over Christmas.  It is great for 2 people or 4.  

I have been in the sun but well protected at all times.  I'm not keen to loosing any more of my body parts!

January 20, 2022 Thursday

 We have been busy here on Little Cayman.  The weather has been glorious and we are so grateful to be here. The new UV Water system arrived and we discovered it was missing half of the parts.  Even the UV bulb was not there!  Crazy!  The company is starting over and sending a new one.  In the meantime, we are using bottled water.  

Today, we tested negative again on our Covid test.  It is day 10 so now we are free at last!  Yay!!  Tomorrow we will go to Southern Cross Club for pasta night.  We are going with two other couples. We are all ready to celebrate!  Then on Saturday we are all going to The Hungry Iguana for their outdoor barbeque.  They will have live music too.  So fun!  

I have been going on a long walk every morning and really enjoying it.  When I get home I do a workout as best I can here with limited equipment.  This morning after my walk, I relaxed on the beach.  Our beach is so lovely.  I'm  hoping to get my bike going here soon.  

The guys are going fishing tomorrow morning!  I'm counting on a big catch.  Could use a nice wahoo or mahi mahi!  The seas are supposed to be calm. 

January 17, 2022 Monday

We had a cloudy day here in paradise today.  Very unusual but also enjoyable.  Last night (evening) we had a big thunderstorm!  Tons of rain and wind!  I had a load of clothes on the line so they had an extra good rinse. Today the humidity and dew point were both 64 and the temp was 79.  Super comfortable conditions.  Did my workout and wasn't overheated!  Just got back from a gorgeous evening walk.  

Richard is at "Man Monday".  All the guys get together to gossip in reply to "Ladies Night" on Tuesday evenings.  What a riot!  

We are enjoying our time here so far.  I am already relaxing.  It's been a whole week here now.  That went fast!  Cutie Pie showed up in the driveway this morning.  He looks very mature now.  I'm sure its him!  Or one of his offspring?  

Richard is finally rounding the corner from his big virus.  It was a doozy!   

January 13, 2022 Thursday

I slept very good last night here in paradise!  This morning the wind had switched and picked up a little.  It made for very good walking weather.  So enjoyable!  We are slowly getting settled here.  Brought the outside table and chairs from the storage room today.  

Richard is still under the weather so we are taking it easy.  There is no rush!  We got our vehicle licensing done today.  We finally have an island phone so I tried to order some food from Grand.  I was unsuccessful.  People just aren't working much on Grand.  I'll try again tomorrow.  I'm trying to get used to how quiet it is here.  Much more quiet than normal.  

That's about it, oh!  I did laundry and of course hung it outside.   

January 12, 2022 Wednesday

Slept last night with all the windows open.  What a joy!  It is super quiet here.  After breakfast I went on a long walk and it was dead quiet.  Almost hurt your ears it was so quiet! Crazy!  

Good news!  Richard and I both tested negative on our Covid tests again today.  I was so worried as Richard has a very bad cold!  He was coughing all night again.  Hard to get any sleep when coughing and I didn't sleep either!  It is fine though, as I am in paradise!  

Yesterday our UV bulb went out on our water purification system.  We have extra bulbs, but the casing holding the bulb and seal is plastic.  It disintegrated when opening it.  Today we ordered a new system.  Costs a fortune but luckily, money grows on trees!  The new system will be here the end of the month.  I bought a jug of water and will boil water.  We have a rope filter so there is no sediment.  Every year we have some issue to deal with.  The surprise is discovering what it is on arrival!  Our island phone didn't work either.  Flow said if you don't use it for a year they keep all your "top up" money and take your number away.  We had no notice this is how it works!  $120.00 flushed down the tank!!  So we had to buy a new Sim card and get a new number.  We will have to have a plane in place for when we leave.  Maybe we will leave our phone with someone and have them use it every once in awhile when we are in the USA. 

We visited with friends today for a bit.  They are leaving in the morning.  We will get together with others when Richard is feeling better.  The water is super flat right now as there is almost no breeze at all.  The sky is gorgeous.  I am so lucky to be here and see it all.   Tomorrow we will get our vehicles licensed again and Richard needs to renew his Cayman drivers license.  I'm hoping to get my bicycle moving again.  I feel like a good ride around the island is what I need.  

Tonight, I cooked.  We ate out last night so we were ready for a home cooked meal.  My grill still works so we had New York Strip Steaks (brought from home), baked potatoes and broccoli.  All prepared on the grill!  Easy peasy!  

   

January 11, 2022 Tuesday

 Hello Little Cayman!  Richard and I arrived yesterday around 3:00 Cayman time.  We actually left Ames on Sunday and flew to Charlotte, N.C. and then on to Miami.  We overnighted there so we could take a Cayman Airways flight to Grand Cayman.  Cayman is only accepting Cayman Airways flights to the island.  The pandemic rages on!  It was eerie landing on Grand.  We were the only plane and only a few of us on it.  The airports in the US are bustling!  Cayman is still shut down to tourists so the place is deserted  Very sad!  

The weather is spectacular!  The sky is so pretty here.  We headed to the Georgetown Yacht Club to enjoy lunch on Grand.  Grand is like a ghost town. 

We flew on to Little Cayman, got in our truck and arrived at the house.  Everything looked beautiful!  Marc and the crew had cleaned up the property and did a spectacular job!  I'm impressed!  They power washed the whole outside of our house too!  My windows are shiny clean and everything is spotless!  I love it!  Turns out I love things super clean!!!  Who knew!

I got everything unpacked last night.  Seems I can't stop until it's finished.  I slept good eventually but it took me awhile to adjust to the humidity and temp.  What a difference from Iowa!  It is so great to be here.  I am missing that the kids won't be coming though.  

There is hardly anyone on the island.  It is so strange.  It's like we are here alone.  Tomorrow we get tested for Covid again.  Hopefully, we will still be negative.  Our friends Marcia and Mark are leaving island tomorrow.  They planned to stay longer but duty calls.  We will miss them.  Gayle and Ian are still here.  Thank heavens!  The tiny resorts are empty.  Even Beach Resort has only 8 guests!  

Prices at the tiny grocery store here have gone up immensely!  I'm going to call places on Grand to find some better prices and have things flown over.  Hopefully, even with flight charges it will save some money.  

It sure is great to be back, even if things are a little quiet.