Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 9:00 pm CI

It is Monday in paradise. What a day we had today. We had to buy our paint for the house and all we have is bikes to bring it home with. We tried unsuccessfully to get a ride. Richard took the pull behind cart and brought home a 5 gallon jug of paint. Now that was a work out. While he did that I raked a hugh area on the side of the house that was covered very deep with sea grape leaves. What a job. I had sweat running into my eyes and mouth and my pants were falling down like a plumbers. The sweat was pouring so bad and I was so dirty that I couldn't keep pulling up my pants any more. I guess they get heavy when wet. It was all worth it as the area I cleaned up looks so nice now. I worked on the beach some today also.

After all that work, we had a good lunch and decided we deserved some fun. We got on our bikes and headed for Bloody Bay. The water was as smooth as a babies butt. We saw a turtle that was bigger than me. I am not even exaggerating. He was just swimming along so beautiful. We also saw our big nurse shark. We like to believe it is the same one we saw last year. Of course, there were many beautiful fish. And the deeper the water the more giant the fish. Boy are they colorful. We really enjoyed ourselves.

When we got back home we got cleaned up and started painting the house. We are 2/3 finished already. In the morning we'll paint again unless the bone fish are out front of the house. Then fishing will be the order of the morning.

After a nice supper, we are both sitting here in a stupor of shear exhaustion. It is time for bed. If only the days could be a little longer. We get up at 6:30 a.m. One just can't wait for the fun to begin. I could use another month here. Today we saw some pretty terrifying pictures on the internet of Des Moines snow. People were wearing heavy coats!

Carolyn

Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 8:46 P.M. CI time

Today was a warmer day and very sunny. There was a good breeze though and if in the shade it was glorious. I love it here. I held my hammock down for awhile this afternoon. It just doesn't get any better than that.

We changed our minds, and decided to paint the lower half of the house white. What can I say! We couldn't get paint and start today, as planned, as it is against the law to sell hardware on Sunday. Nothing is open on Sunday in the Cayman Islands. It is a day of rest. Richard built a new hurricane shutter today as per his new design. It really works nice. Good job Richard! Only 10 more windows to go. What a job. It will make it easy for us to come here when we get old. We celebrated with a lovely kayak adventure.

I made potato salad today and for dinner we had it and chicken and broccoli. A summer time meal. We made a bike trip to pick up some food supplies also today (they would sell us food). We seem to be eating OK here. I was very worried about that before we came. Next year I'll know what to bring and how to get it over here. All will be easier.

Tomorrow we hope to go the Bloody Bay Wall to snorkel. We will probably paint too and move a few rocks. We always have plenty to do. It is good to be busy in paradise.

Carolyn

Saturday Feb. 20/2010 7:30pm

I am sitting here in the house with the windows open and the ceiling fans on low feeling just right. We had a good supper (roast beef with sweet potatoes and vegges) and I am feeling ready for bed already. We had an exciting day today. At 8 am the guy from the store showed up and wanted his paint sample booklet back. Luckily we had made our decision on the color shade. I was doing laundry while brushing my teeth when suddenly I had no water left and Richard came flying in and started shutting off breakers in the box. The pump pipe snapped in half. Water everywhere in the storage room. We had absolutely no water. Too bad the guy from the store had already left, we could have hitched at ride to look for parts. Richard jumped on the bike and luckily was able to get parts and fix the pump. He is the "jack of all trades". Luckily, they use plastic for pipes here as I don't allow him to solder with copper piping. We have not had good luck using that material. So, our water is flowing and my teeth are clean.

We finished our sealer/primer on the whole house. Tomorrow we will paint. We are putting our bodies in high speed mode. We also worked a little on the beach again. It is looking better every day. Yea! Soon we have to stop and take photos again.

Carolyn

Friday 2/19/10 8:30 p.m.

We are still here in paradise. Everyday is just perfect. This morning Richard went diving. The water was very rough and his patch didn't work well. He got sick. His dive was wonderful though but he couldn't do the second one. He made it home and rested. After a late lunch he was functioning again. We worked out on the beach again. We were going to finish the prime coat on the house but it was a late start. This place is looking good. One of the builders came by with his estimate for our changes to the house today. He is coming again tomorrow to do a few yard things for us. He has a little tractor to do some quick rock moving.

I was fixing supper tonight when my microwave died. We will get a new one and put it above the stove so I don't have it sitting on the counter anymore. I fixed rice and beans with vegges all mixed together. I was trying to do a Caribbean thing. The grocery store had sent me actual rice. I had to soak it and then cook it for over an hour. It was brown rice and looked like mush. It actually tasted quite good. Natalie would have enjoyed it I think.

Now that I have the dishes done, we are sitting here on our computers just plain exhausted. We spend every bit of our energy every day.

This morning I went on a beautiful kayak ride. It was nice. This was the first time I went totally by myself.

This house is pretty comfortable for the two of us. I think we should keep it. I'm glad I have lots of photos to look at because I will certainly miss being here. Especially since we are going back to winter weather. We seem to have really settled in now.

Carolyn

Thurs. Feb. 18,2010 8:00p.m.

This has been another busy day. We have accomplished a lot. Richard started the morning early with burning some more piles. We can burn here. I worked on moving rocks and raking again. I sometimes feel we could do that forever and not finish. Of course, I pulled weeds. We also moved some big tree trunks together. They were heavy! Then we headed to the store on our bikes and bought paint sealer for the outside of the house. We lucked out and were also able to get some lumber that Richard needs for his newly designed hurricane shutters. I asked the guy at the store if he could deliver us, all our purchases and our bikes home since we bought so much stuff. He said yes! That was nice. When we got back I made lunch. We borrowed (hired) a worker from Southern Cross Club to help haul a bunch of metal and debris to the dump for us. At l:00 he came by. It was nice to get rid of all of that. Obviously, we had a lot of cleaning up to do after the previous owners of this house.

Finally, we started to paint. The sealer is white. The house looks so different. We got about half done. It is so exciting! We will paint it pastel pink. The top half is light blue and our trim is white. How Caribbean is that!

Tomorrow morning Richard is going diving. The water surface is a little rough right now so I am not riding along to snorkel. I will work here at the house and maybe take the kayak for a spin. In the afternoon we will probably paint some more. If suddenly conditions change, I will snorkel instead though.

Our time here is going by very quickly. We have been super busy. We are enjoying every minute. Even when we are working hard.

We forgot to take a picture of our handiwork today so I don't have a photo of the newly primed house. Tomorrow I will do that.

For supper tonight I made leftover pork roast with fried potatoes and peas & corn. Boy, were we hungry. I seem to get along fine without a dishwasher and clothes dryer. I feel just like a pioneer. If only the pioneers had it so rough!

Till tomorrow,
Carolyn

Wed. 2/17/10 9:15 pm

Here is our bathroom. It is actually pretty
large. The washer is on the right. We are
going to put a new vanity with two sinks
eventually.


Here is our bedroom. To the right of the door
is a big closet also.


Another shot of the bedroom. We have a new
bed arriving on the barge tomorrow. Yea!


Today we worked in the house. We cleaned windows and screens. It was a perfect day for it as early in the morning we had a little rain. We also cleaned out some more "stuff" around the house. We think we might start painting the outside tomorrow. After lunch Richard went fishing as the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I layed on my beautiful teak lounge chair on the beach and read a good book. Then I got bit by the work bug, and started raking the sand and moving rocks. Then I came into the house and had a grapefruit and then went back out and settled on my hammock with that good book. Is this a good life or what!

For dinner tonight we rode our bikes to Southern Cross Club. What a feast! I am so full that I'll just need to go to bed to sleep it off.

I'm going to search my photos to see if there are any more I can post on this. Hopefully, I am not being too obnoxious bragging about this wonderful life I am living. Today was a nice relaxing day. I think Richard and I both enjoyed it.

Feb. 16,2010 Tues. 8:00 p.m.

This is the entrance. Living room on right, bedroom door on the left.

This shows pretty well what the place looks like.





Now you can see both sofas. There is plenty of
room to have the one open and still keep the
table there. A TV is on the wall across from
the sofa on the bottom of the photo. We have
a DVD player for movies but no TV reception.
That is our choice. Both sofa beds could be left
open and still have plenty of room.



This is just another shot of the dining area.





Here is the kitchen.

Today we had a breezy, shadier day. It was perfect for getting some yard work done. Slow but sure this is starting to take shape. We are both exausted. A second builder came by today and he seems more interested in getting our project going. Next year when we come the place will look different. When I was working today I got bit by a thousand fire ants. Good grief! I ran for the shower as fast as I could. It was terrible. What we are essentially doing here is clearing out a jungle. One can get bit up. Tomorrow is "Wet Your Whistle Wednesday" at SSC again. We will go as all the residents of the island go. Fun, fun. We took some photos of the house today. I have many books to read but so far we are so busy that there is no time to read. When we aren't working we are biking, kayaking, snorkling, and fishing. Go Carolyn and Richard, go!