Feb. 14, 2010 Sunday 9:30 pm

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a lovely day here today in paradise. The temp. was just perfect and breezy too. We took advantage of it and got tons more work done. Wow, did we work. It was fun. I made supper here tonight as we have been eating out so much. I made spaghetti and my homemade meat sauce and a nice salad. It was good. Hopefully we will have more photos tomorrow to show off the fruits of our labor. This was the fist day we didn't ride our bikes somewhere.

2/13/10 Saturday 8:50 pm (Cayman time)

We just got back from Mardi Gras. It was tons of fun. Everyone was at Pirates Point Resort.
All the resorts brought food after the parade. The best food you've ever had in your life. We rode our bikes to SSC and they gave us a ride to Pirates Point. All the Island folk were there.

Early in the morning today we had a nice rain. Then it cleared right up and was beautiful. We worked in the yard again. It is really taking shape. Of course, we have a couple more years of work to do. We really enjoy doing this. It is really not work to work here.

Tomorrow is Sunday and everything is closed here at the Caymans on Sunday. Like it used to be in the States when I was a kid.

Time for bed,
Carolyn

February 12, 2010 Friday

Today was another busy day. Richard went fishing after breakfast. He took the bike and went to his favorite spot and also tried the tarpon pond. I did my usual laundry load. I am trying to wash all the linens so they are fresh for next time. There are a lot of linens. Then I went out with my book. But I didn't make it. I got out the wheelbarrow instead and went to the water side and picked up several loads of nice flat rocks and moved them to the driveway side of the house. I put them by the hose hookup so we can wash our feet there easily. We also have the outside shower but the hose works great for just feet. We just have it all! I had a little gecko keeping me company while I worked. He was hoping he could get my ice water with a lime slice in it. My project turned out nicely. Richard got back and we had a quick lunch.

After lunch our food was to be at the airport. The store delivered in the morning to Cayman Express. So we rode our bikes (it was hot out). Only one small box arrived. They said the rest would be on the 3:30 plane. So we headed back to the house to drop off our box. Then we went back again and it didn't arrived on the 3:30 (plus it was an hour late at 4:30). This is horrible as my food was melting. It wasn't even in coolers. Then we waited for the next plane and it was super late. Finally at 6:15 our food arrived. I was upset as we paid for our food on the plane. It should have taken priority over suitcases as they don't spoil. So we peddled home, put the food away, and I made supper. It was good to have a meal at home. I boiled some potatoes and then fried them in butter with rosemary and salt & pepper (I didn't buy many spices). Along with that we had fresh green beans and hamburger steaks and some fresh fruit.

We had a visitor at the house in the afternoon too. We were getting ready to leave and there was a ruckus under the house. We rushed out to find a hugh iguana. Somehow, he had pushed open the storage room door and it closed on him so he pushed the screen out of the window and fell out. Poor guy. I think he would have enjoyed a treat, but if we feed him he will come everyday and want to eat.

Tomorrow is Mardi Gras here. It is a big deal. There will be floats and a parade and a big meal after. Everyone attends. We will be there with bells on, or should I say beads on.

The temp is still in the 80's and perfect. We couldn't be happier. Back home it is snow and cold.

February 11, 2010 Thursday

Today is a beautiful day. Not so hot and very little humidity. It's perfect. We had breakfast and then SSC picked us up to take us to the barge to pick up our kayaks. On the way we stopped at the bank to open our account. Now we have Cayman money. We took lots of photos of our kayaks. Fun, fun! Also this a.m. I e-mailed my grocery list to the grocery store at Grand Cayman and they are shopping for me. They will box everything and take it to the airport. Then the airlines is picking it up and flying it over here to Little Cayman. We will ride our bikes and bring the groceries back in the pull behind wagon and my basket. Tomorrow will be a fun day to finally get some food. I did fix lunch today with some things we bought from the tiny store here, but we ate dinner at the Blue Lagoon. We spent some time in the afternoon investigating mattresses again. The brand names are all different than at home so we need to make a decision. We also had to put more minutes on our phone and went to the store this afternoon. All these things are right there in one tiny building. Very quaint.

The rest of the afternoon was spent kayaking. It was a beautiful afternoon for it. The water was so smooth. Our new kayaks are really nice. They move very fast and are nice and stable. Tomorrow we are going to work on our beach again for awhile. But not all day. We must have fun too. Actually, working on our beach is fun too.

On the photos, the yellow house with the green roof is Johnny Johnson's. He is next door to us. and on the other side of us is the Blue Lagoon. This photo shows how nicely he has done up his place. Our beach will look beautiful too in a minute or year or two.

I can hardly believe this is all happening to me. I am truly blessed.

Enjoy the photos.

Carolyn

February 10, 2010 Wed.

This first photo is before we cleaned out the
overgrowth. Notice you cannot see the house
at all. Then we took the next pic from the
same spot only futher out. We actually stood
in the water. We are going to remove bad
trees on the left soon. Also we are raking all
the rocks into borders so we will have nice
smooth sand.

This is the Blue Lagoon Resort & Restaurant.

The first little bush there is our prop. line. We

have 100 feet of beach.

This is a shot of Richard fishing in front of

the house. That is Owen Island in the back-

ground. Blue Lagoon would be over on the

right. The next photo is me reading on our

beach. I tried to be in the shade. It is hot.

No snow.

This morning the weather is dead still here in paradise. It is not very common. Usually there is a breeze. I did my usual load of laundry and hung it out to dry. Richard is fishing this morning right outside of our house. We decided to take a day off of work to relax. So I grabbed my book and sat on the beach in my teak lounge chair. This chair washed up onto our property I guess after the Paloma hurricane. It is a wonderful chair. Wish I had a couple more. I took tons of photos but Richard isn't sure he can get them onto my computer. I'm crossing my fingers.

Mid morning we decided to snorkle. We jumped right into the water at our house to see what was there. Boy, was that fun. Afterwards we washed off at our outdoor shower just like I had dreamed of. Then we had to really do a fast ride on our bikes over to SSC for lunch. Another fabulous meal. The afternoon was spent making some calls about how to get a new bed for us over here and some food. It is very difficult (and expensive). We are learning a lot.

Tonight we went to SSC for the Wednesday night locals get together and dinner. We met tons of the locals. It was really fun. Of course, we had to ride our bikes and on the way it started pouring rain. We got soaked. Can you believe it rained? We dried out and had a great time. We are getting some great advise from everybody. This is sure fun.

Tuesday Feb. 9 at Little Cayman

Hello to everyone,



Here is the view from our porch facing the Caribbean. Notice tiny Owen Island in the background. Our property proceeds over to the left a ways and then 100 feet to the right. That is a mangrove on the left. Right in front is an island Grape tree. We are still clearing some more to the right and with show more photos later. I have a few Jasmin trees and a Papaya tree also. Of course there are silver palms and a lot of coconut trees.


We landed at Grand Cayman on Wednesday. Of course we ate at The Wharf (spectacular restaurant right on the water) and watched the sun set into the caribbean. After dinner we walked to a grocery store to check out prices and bought a few things.





We arrived at Little Cayman on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. The weather was warm 87 degrees and a slight perfect breeze. This is a dream! We had to wait a little while for our ride to arrive and deliver us to our house. We visited with some people and enjoyed the warmth.





Gert (past owner) was at the house to greet us and prepare us dinner. She had invited another couple who winter on the island to eat with us. They are very nice and I look forward to seeing Lynn again this evening at "ladies night" at the Blue Lagoon restaurant. The Blue Lagoon is right next door to our house and is the favorite of the "locals". It is pretty nice.





That first night I was tired but excitement kept me awake most of the night. It was sure different to sleep without air conditioning. Already I am used to it now.





Friday morning we started working. I cleaned out tons of things left by the previous owners and started cleaning like a fool. Richard started right away on the outside. We want to see the water and he gave us the best view in the world. This is work beyond all words. Imagine a jungle.





Saturday I had no choice but to join him on the outside quest. It is backbreaking work and offers cuts and scratches as a lovely bonus. But slow but sure we are seeing a beautiful sandy beach you have to see to believe. We are the luckiest people on earth.





So far we are eating breakfast at the house and ride our bikes 3.6 miles to Southern Cross Club for lunch and dinner. That will end on Thursday as we will fly back to Grand Cayman and purchase our food for the month and also buy a new bed for us. We need a good bed here in paradise. I have been doing laundry every morning and hang it outside to dry. I have a pully system that I use from the deck. It drys in no time as the sun is hot and a wind is blowing in that area. You can't even tell the clothes weren't in a clothes dryer. Boy, do they smell nice.


We are drinking our water from a 15 thousand gallon cystern of rain water. It was full when we arrived. The water is filtered with a charcoal filter first, then it goes through an ultraviolet tube to be sterilized and then still another charcoal filter at the sinks. So far we are OK. The water tastes good too.





I will try to update this everyday. We are so busy that I can't be held responsible if I skip a day or two. Tomorrow (Wed.) our kayaks arrive and we may never work again. Time to snorkle and dive and just plain swim and splash in the water. Let the fun begin.

Until later,
Beach bum Carolyn

The week before

It is Sunday the 24th and I'm starting to get nervous now. Will I take everything I need to survive on a tiny island? Let the fun begin!