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.  

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Tomorrow we leave Little Cayman.  This is more that a month before our scheduled departure flight.  The airport at Grand Cayman is closing on Sunday due to the Covid-19 virus.  We could stay but would be here indefinitely. 

The island is like a ghost town.  All the resorts are empty and closed.  The little restaurant is closed except for carry out orders.  The grocery store is open.  The barge will still come in but who knows! We made the decision to leave just two days ago so we have been busy closing up the house and packing. 

We are hoping and praying there is a cure for this virus soon and people will stay healthy. 

Saturday, March 14, 2020

It is a beautiful, sunny, hot day on Little Cayman.  I haven't posted on my blog for awhile.  We have been busy doing the usual jungle trimming on our property.  The snorkeling has been wonderful.  Reading in the hammock and beach chairs has been so relaxing.  I have typed plenty about all of that.  We have been hanging out with friends and enjoying this spectacular environment. 

After the tuna disappeared for almost two weeks, they finally returned.  Richard is happy to be fishing again. 

Being on the island while the "rest of the world" experiences the Covid-19 virus has been worrisome.  Our kids report conditions from their locations in the USA and I listen to the local radio station from back home.  Grand Cayman has had a patient pass away with the virus.  Cruise ships are now banned and airlines from Europe and some other countries are also banned.  Things are changing fast.  The "good" hospital on Grand has been shut down for two weeks after treating the patient with the virus. 

I pray everyone stays healthy and doesn't run out of toilet paper.

Tracks made by geckos in the sand.  Pretty design.

See the Flounder!  He kept blinking his eye at us.

Went snorkeling at Point of Sand on a cloudy day that turned sunny!

Huge waves coming in on the north side of island.

North side waves

The tide came up super high.  Eventually came completely over kayak dock.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Oh!  What a glorious day in paradise!  Perfect weather today and I am so lucky to be here to enjoy it.  Some might say it was hot and humid.  Feel like temp was 94 with a dew point of 74.  Perfect to be in the water.  Did some serious reading in a hammock on the beach and after getting back home from a fun snorkel, I laid in a beach chair under my umbrella to do some more reading.  This is living!

Getting ready to hit the water!

Beautiful day!

Blue Tang

Fish and coral

Find the Groupers

Pretty Nurse Shark

Another picture of the Nurse Shark

Me holding down a beach chair.  Check out the view!

Hello!!!