FEATHER RIDGE

End of 2011

2011-12-31T09:32:00.000-08:00

A sunset for 2011

I really wanted to find time to reflect on this past year and make some profound statements but, as usual, the year has slipped out of my grasp and I'm typing this on the last day of the year trying to collect my thoughts and I'm drawing a blank!

So, here's just a few Christmas photos of decorations around the island. Well, these are decorats that appear in just two locations: G&G's Clearwater Paradise and Graham's Cay. Hope you enjoy them!

An island Christmas Tree

Santa and his Crystal ball
(Note the tiny train that goes around)

A Christmas Nite Light

Ginger's Santa Collection

A tribute to Rudolph

A Christmas Nite Light

Santa and the Crystal Ball of Dreams
(Cut train that runs around the base)

Ginger's Nativity Collection

A darling Bear Nativity
Love the "Bear" Angels

Graham's Cay

This year I did not decorate at my house, which is very unusual. Circumstances were just not right and so my precious reminders of Christmas past lay dormant in the storage area. But, next year, they will be out in all their glory to remind me of the friendship, love and happiness that makes up this season.

May 2012 be all you want. May you live happily and in good health and may you enjoy the love of friends and family throughout the year. To my children I send all my love, to my friends I thank you for your kindness, thoughtfulness and "being there" for me this past year and to my husband, may we have many more happy years together......if you do what I say!!! HA and Ho Ho Ho!

Cooler Weather and More Rain

2011-12-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

As I've said before - it is December and we have lots of rain. Not a good time of year for tourists to visit the island but all of us who live here, we get out and about nonetheless because this is a time of celebrating.

First, with cooler weather I had to make the traditional pot of Chili and Mike's favorite, crunchy bread....at least that is what he calls my French Bread when I toast slices to have with a meal.

Mmmm, mmmm, good. I make French Bread at least 3 times a month and have a wonderful recipe which is simple and fast. HOWEVER, one is advised to mix the warm water, yeast and sugar and let it sit and then mix in one cup of flour before adding the rest of the flour and 2 teaspoons of salt. Well, about twice now I’ve forgotten the salt! The bread turns out nice but is rather bland. I highlighted the addition of the salt on my recipe card but, unfortunately, on this particular day I used the newly re-typed recipe which did not have the salt highlighted! You guessed it - I forgot the salt. And the bread came out looking so beautiful too. I fixed that by slathering it with garlic/parsley butter and broiling slices for a few minutes. Where there is a will there is a way.

Next, I apologize for not reporting on one more news item in my last blog. At the time I sat and sat and tried to remember what I was forgetting but alas it never jumped into my brain until yesterday! What I meant to tell people was that over two weeks ago Sue Sikaffy was out sick from her store and when we inquired as to her whereabouts we were told she had experienced high blood pressure and was being checked out. We later discovered that she had experienced this increase due to stress over the fact that she had learned her husband had an incident with his heart. Armando works on a boat servicing other ships off the coast of either Africa or the Middle East (I’m not quite clear on where he is working). Several of the men on the island have taken jobs on oil rigs or work on service boats in the Atlantic and are away from home from 3 to 6 months. They come home for about a month R&R and return to work another stretch. Armando was on the job when he experienced chest pains (or something similar - not fully informed as to his symptoms). They took him somewhere (and I don’t know that either) for medical attention where they discovered two of his arteries were clogged. They inserted a balloon device and cleared the clog and sent him home for a month. He is now well and resting and was told to start a diet and watch his cholesterol. Armando, we are glad you are well and hope that you can deal with this new lifestyle change!

Next, I mentioned in my Christmas blog that I had made several other presents but could not post the photos as the people receiving them would know what they were getting. But I can now post a few of the things I distributed at Christmas to friends. Unfortunately, and not to bore you, I forgot to take a photo of two items and so you are not subjected to having to view even more things!

The following were tea light flowers I made for several of the girls that work at our local grocery store and are so helpful all year. The coasters were to be made to use at the bar at Manati. I love the bright colors and so did the recipient.

This is a bag to hold plastic bags! You put in your bags at the top and pull them out the bottom. I have done the before and sewed them from material. However, I found this pattern which was so elegant that I had to make it up. I gave it to the person with a bottle of wine as it makes a nice gift bag for that too!

This is a slipper sock I started for my husband but it turned out to be too large so I used it as a Christmas sock to put his gifts in!

This is a book bag but will be used as a small purse by the recipient of this gift.

These are slippers for my friend in Florida who needs something warm to keep her toes comfortable in the winter!

So, I guess I am caught up now. I might add that I forgot to make Christmas cookies for my husband this year. His favorite are Pecan Sandies which are really melt in your mouth kind of cookies that I've made for years. I was able to make one batch (40 cookies) as I only had 1 cup of butter left in my refrigerator. In spite of the "limitation" on his intake of cookies, he was very happy that I finally remembered and made him his cookies! Also made a couple loaves of garlic flavored bread to go with them. So, we have chili, french bread, garlic bread and cookies - and who says good food here is hard to come by?

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T07:53:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas has come and gone and, as usual, being so far from family we celebrated with our friends in order to share the joy of the Season!

For a few years we have all gathered at Manati to celebrate Christmas (among other festivities) and this year was no exception. The day started as normal Christmas Days do; cloudy, rain and rough traveling. In 14 years I think we have had 4 sun-filled Christmas days with possibly two of them beginning and ending with rain but in the middle there was sun! Dec. 25th this year was no exception, it rained off and on all day and some people managed to miss the downpour to arrive high and dry while others got caught and came in drenched! Needless to say, everyone was in good spirits.

We usually have turkey and this year was no exception except this year we had two humongous birds! Everyone was instructed to bring a dish to share and we had a variety of salads, vegetables and deserts to fill our stomachs.

Claus took on the responsibility of cooking the turkeys in his outdoor grill. This huge oven was built a couple of years back to celebrate Hansito’s 50th birthday and has been providing the island with wonderful meals ever since. Today was no exception as Claus tended to the two turkeys. As usual, he did an outstanding job and our thanks to him and his wife, Annette, for all their hard work! Great meal guys!!

Of course we all caught up on the latest news which was that of Dick Monroe falling off a ladder last week and breaking his hip. It was doubly sad as the whole family; wife, Jennifer, two sons, Seth and Ben, and Robin, Ben’s girlfriend, managed to make it to the island for the first Island Christmas celebration. They had all come to Manati the previous Saturday to see everyone but between then and Dec. 25th, Dick, while tending to the trimming of some trees near his house, unfortunately chose to use an old wooden ladder which had weaken and broke while he was on it.

For those of you who know Dick, he is a large man and getting him off the island really presented a challenge. But, as ever, the islanders were up to the task and with the help of the people from Wilmont Bay and the family, Dick was loaded onto a reclining porch chair, loaded into a boat and taken to the airport where Lahnsa had a plane waiting to take him on to San Pedro Sula. From there he was transported to Hospital Cemesa via an ambulance (which Jennifer had to fill with gas!) and about two days later he had a total hip replacement surgery. Doctors are reporting that the surgery went well and Dick should be able to leave Honduras on January 7th to return to the States to recuperate. We wish you well Dick and are so sorry you could not spend Christmas with your family.

Meanwhile, back on Guanaja we all prepared to partake of the feast spread out before us. With my husband offering to carve the birds, in no time there was food on the table, people assembled and it was almost all gone within an hour or two!

As an added attraction, once again we celebrated Capt. Al’s birthday. He turned 83 and we all cheered and sang Happy Birthday to a colorful character that has been an “attraction” of the island for many, many years. Happy Birthday Capt. Al!

There was a huge blue iced chocolate birthday cake (I guess that is his favorite color and favorite flavor) and was sufficient to feed the crowd of over 50 people present. Of course there was some funny colored tongues and teeth because of the food dye in the frosting - but, hey, makes for more laughter!

I also have some pleasant news to report: Joan and David Cobb who unfortunately could not be here this year as they were in Alaska with their son, McCrea and his wife, Michelle, were informed that they are to be Grandparents for the first time next June! Congratulations to the proud parents and Grandparents.

There was a sad note to the season however with the passing of Diane and Terry Conlee’s good friend, Susan Moelling who succumbed to a sudden unknown illness and died after 36 hours in the hospital. Our condolences to Diane and Terry and the family of Mrs. Moelling. Also, Jack’s Mom, Jackie, fell a few weeks ago but has returned to her home and is reported to doing well. Go Jackie!

For the rest of my friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season and look forward to a bright, healthy, happy New Year.

Death and Rebirth

2011-12-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

No, this is not a religious blog - this is about crafts! I am an avid crocheter. When I first came to the island I put all my crocheting away as 1) I was way too busy to find time to crochet and 2) it was too danged hot to work with yarn.

Over the years my crocheting was put on the back burner, so to speak, and everything was tucked away in boxes and stored out of sight.

A few years ago, in the "cool" of our winter season, I took up the art once more and through the magic of Internet was able to find fantastic patterns. You see Honduras has women who crochet but they are limited as to what they can make. The few businesses that do sell crochet items only sell are small steel crochet hooks and only fine crochet thread, which one generally uses for doilies. You can find some wool-type yarn occasionally on the island but it is of poor quality (as is their thread) and only in black, red and white with an occasional green appearing.

Lucky for me I had a lot of yarn and all my various needles to tackle most any project. I am not one to make what I consider those "tacky" toilet roll dolls or lots of dollies or clothes for dolls. I like unusual items, things that are useful, pleasing to the eye and look like someone cared enough to really search for the right item to give as a gift. I know I may offend those long-time crocheters who love those little doll items and tea towels, and they have their place. However, I don't like to waste my time on those type of things - I like things that can sometimes be considered a real challenge and be useful.

Over the past few years I have made coasters, scarves, Christmas decorations, afghans, a doily (for myself in an unusual pattern), hanging items from filet crochet patterns, hats for my step-daughter who was undergoing radiation for cancer, stocking caps for my Grandsons, baby clothes, dish cloths, ponchos, eye glass cases, bowls, and the list goes on. Sometimes I have posted a photo of what I am doing. For example, last December on my Busy End of the Year post, I published many photos of things I had been doing all year long.

This year my friend, Annette, requested a sweater for her Christmas present. She had wanted a Granny Square sweater as she had seen one of various multi-colors several years ago. I could not find an appropriate pattern on the net and as I'm not really fond of putting a bunch of granny squares together, I checked out other various designs.

I found a nice jacket-like item which was a copy of a pattern that was popular in the '70s. It was about the style she wanted so I ordered yarn on-line. Unfortunately, the yarn she wanted was to be in bright rainbow colors which I could not find. I found a reasonable facsimile and ordered this. A week later I was surfing the net and found exactly what I wanted for her and ordered that too. I then waited for my DIP box to arrive. Both yarns arrived a few weeks later and I was set free.

Well, I must say, I've never attempted a sweater/jacket before but this pattern was fairly straight forward and, as luck would have it, was worked from the top down with no extra setting in of sleeves. I finished the project in record time only to find that it was too large for Annette's tiny frame. I revised the pattern down two sizes (from small to tiny to petite).

So, I tore the sweater apart and re-did it. The result is what you see above. This time the item fit her but was a terrible style for her. I refused to let her keep it and tore it out again, determined to find a better pattern.

I did find a pattern I felt suitable and made it out of the first softer colored yarn. This time it fit her, was better suited to her body style and she was warm and happy. So, this would be her Christmas present.

This is a close up of the sweater. The first picture is not the actual color as I took it without a flash. The photo of the close up of the hand-crocheted buttons shows the true coloring.

I then proceeded to crochet her another sweater, this time using a pattern that has set-in sleeves and would compliment, I hope, her body style and I was back to working with the bright colors she wanted. This will be a birthday present for her was her birthday is in January. So, in record time (I felt), I finished the major part of the sweater and now only need to put it together and then make the cuffs and front collar.

But, Christmas calls and I am forced to put this aside until next week and complete my Christmas gifts:

These are tea light holders for a few of the various people that help me out during the year. I have other gifts, but cannot post them because then it would take away the surprise for those who surf the net and read my blog!

Merry Christmas to all!

There's a Pizzeria in Guanaja!

2011-12-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

I should have reported on this "new" happening long before now but have been wrapped up in so many things that my blogging has suffered.

However, I am now here to tell you that Hanspico's Restaurant at Fruit Harbour, which has been in operation for several years, has perfected a recipe for Pizza which is outstanding! They have been making pizzas for about a year now and have built a better oven, developed a better crust and have wonderful toppings to put on to boot!

This is what Hanspico's Pizza place looks like! True island flavor.

This is our Chef/Cook/Bartender - Hannas, Pico's 18 year old son who really knows how to make a pizza!

I had a photo of Hannas putting the pizza in their homemade Pizza oven, but there is a new format on the blog site and it just does not seem to do what one wants - add the multiple photos one selects. Of course there is no "help" bar and I'm experimenting here. I did preview my blog and noted some little blank squares which I imagine contain the photo I wanted to download but don't know how to open it up!

Success!!

Finally got the download to work so you can get a look at the "professional" pizza oven of Guanaja!

To get off the subject, I cannot understand businesses updating their sights and then not offering either an updated help bar or any help bar! Oh, well, if this were a perfect world.......

This is the final product! As you can see, we've already dug in! Yumm.

And, so, the end of a perfect day with a perfect pizza in a tranquil place called Guanaja!

When Turkey is King for a Day!

2011-11-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. It combines two favorite pastimes - visiting with friends and eating!

Of course the main ingredients of Thanksgiving are 1) people, 2) TURKEY, 3) Mashed potatoes and Gravy, 4) Cranberries, 5) Green bean casserole, 6) Pumpkin bread (at least in my house) and 7) Deserts. Of course one can throw in salads, appetizers, sweet potatoes, etc. But the basics are a must (#6 is an absolute in my house).

This year there did not seem much enthusiasm for Thanksgiving and no one was talking about having a get together. No dinner invitations were being handed out, so rather than miss out on the fun, my husband and I decided to host a private Thanksgiving Dinner at a public restaurant. We made sure the party took place from Noon until 5 p.m. when the restaurant would officially be open for business. We ordered a couple of turkeys from our local store and I sent out invitations asking people to sign up to contribute various dishes to the celebration. The response was great. All invited wanted to attend and everyone was willing to bring a dish.

We set the dinner for Friday, November 25th as Thursday, typically, is grocery shopping day in town and sometimes it can take most of the day depending upon what you are waiting for. This was not a problem and no one had a problem with celebrating on Friday as opposed to the official Thursday of Thanksgiving.

The turkey(s) I ordered arrived. I thought they would send 2 12-13 lb. turkeys, as that is the usual weight one gets here. But, no, they sent two 21 lb. turkeys! So I kept one in my freezer and took the other up to Claus at Manati who said he would cook it in his outdoor oven and make the dressing. I was to make the gravy, green bean casserole and pumpkin bread. At the last minute I decided to make a salad for a friend that had given me pure maple syrup for a special dressing I make and a special salad to go with it. Since he gave it to me a few months back, I figured it was time to pay up.

The day of the dinner dawned and wonder of wonder, we had sunshine, calm seas and beautiful blue skies. All October and part of November we have had lots of rain and we were just glad to see it brighten up to make traveling easy.

I had taken the time from a couple of my crochet projects to make myself a new shell with a cowl and was able to finish it the night before the party (see photo above). We went to Manati early to help set up but Annette had most everything under control, along with the help of her worker, Jessica.

The guests started arriving, appetizers were set out and the feast began.

As an extra, my husband recently has gotten back into the geological history of Guanaja and brought maps and a paper written by two geologist in 1963. They came to the island to research the topography and cataloged the types of rocks found here. Locals have assumed for years that his island is formed from volcanic rock. However, this is not true. We have a rock here - at Black Rock - which looks live magna but it is not. This island is located 40 miles from a fault and the island itself was formed by the constant moving and shifting of plates under the sea. Utila is the only island that has any remnants of a volcano. Pumpkin Hill is the sight of an old cone. Anyway, Mike has always been interested in rocks and took some time from activities of the day to explain the island's makeup to those who were interested.

About 2 p.m. Claus, who had been cooking the turkey for almost 6 hours, declared it to be ready and brought it in. George was elected to carve (and what a grand job he did too. We got our plates and lined up for the food.

We also had bottles of champagne donated by myself, Kate, Gar, Bryan and Uli and we drank a toast in remembrance of people who were special to us or meant a lot. Each individual called out the name of that person when we said "A toast to ........" I gave a short synopsis/history of what Thanksgiving means for Americans and we dove in to the food.

I wish I had remembered to ask my husband to take a photo of the spread but, alas, I did not. Fortunately for me, Kate brought a camera and took a picture of the turkey - the main attraction.

We were about 18 people in all and we managed to clean up almost all of the food! With the exception of some turkey, green beans, salad and still lots of mashed potatoes, we managed to show our appreciation for the efforts of those donating by eating up the goods! Of course we were then lucky enough to have Joan make 3 beautiful pies; cherry, apple and pumpkin with whipped cream to top off the meal! Fantastic! And a special big thank you to Claus who did a fantastic job cooking the turkey. For the first time ever, the white meat was actually juicy and moist! Just the way it should be. It would not be appreciated, however, by the islanders who are accustomed to their poultry fried and dry. When they get juicy poultry they think it feels "slimy" and send it back to be cooked until there is no moisture left in it! To each their own.

I thank all those who attended and especially those who contributed to our beautiful dinner. I especially want to extend my best to all my friends and family and I hope they had just as wonderful a Thanksgiving as we did on the island.

Now.......on to Christmas and more food!

What's that noise?

2011-11-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

About 3 weeks ago I was sitting in my bed either reading or crocheting (both of which I do every evening) when I heard a definite "chewing" noise coming from the wall opposite the bed.

It started and stopped and started and stopped and I finally got out of bed and walked over to the wall to try and determine where the sound was coming from. As you can see by the photo, our wall is a display area for a lovely quilt I bought before we came to the island. What you don't see are all the wires running for the phone antenna, the TV and the computer, etc. When the house was finished and we moved in I expressed my distress at the sight of the ugly cords hanging for all to see. My husband said those famous words that I tremble at when I told him I wanted to cover up the ugly cords - "I'll take care of it." When those words are uttered I know that it will 1) be a long, long time before it gets done or 2) it will never get done and/or 3) he is not interested in the project as he doesn't think it is necessary. So, I offered a suggestion. I said I wanted to hang my quilt "temporarily" to cover the cords. He agreed and 14 years ago we proceeded to hang the quilt and, as you can see, it is still there!

Because of this step, I saved myself a lot of stress worrying when the job would be done and I saved him from having to do a lot of work he felt was not necessary at the time. Behind the quilt, besides all the cords, we have shelf after shelf of books - so the quilt served a dual purpose.

Now, however, the chewing noises that distracted me from my past time seemed to be coming from behind the quilt. I could not pinpoint the source and gave up. Off and on, for several nights that whole month the chewing would commence and quit. It would wake me up at 3 a.m. and once out of a sound sleep there was no chance of going back to that blissful state and I would get up and listen and search.

I walked up the stairs on the other side of the bedroom wall to see if I could pinpoint the sound. I even went to the outside roof above our bedroom, checking the outer wall to see if something was trying to chew its way in. If you have been a constant reader of my Blogs you will remember that one year we had an invasion of little "pocket possums", mouse like creatures with a mask across their eyes. I certainly did not want these creatures back in my house so I was being very diligent in my search.

Finally, the other day, my husband announced that he found the source of the "chewing".

I hung these little metal creatures outside my bedroom window and being metal and exceptionally light, when the wind would pick up at night they would bang against the house creating the chewing noise! Who would have guessed?

I have since secured their little flippers to the house proper and they should remain silent and still. A big thank you to my husband!

Boats R Us

2011-11-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it is November and we have had a couple weeks of learning to live without a boat for transportation.....or, stay at home and enjoy what you have!

About the beginning of August we encountered problems with our smaller boat (the Skiff) and had to take it in for engine repairs. There is a mechanic who works near the airport, Almicar, and everyone goes to him. Due to the fact that there are virtually no parts stores on the island, we had to order parts from the States to be shipped down. We waited 6 1/2 weeks for the parts.

While waiting we used the big boat but then it, too, started giving us problems in September so we ordered a new engine for it. The big boat then sat at our dock awaiting the new engine. Fortunately, by this time the skiff had been repaired and we had transportation.

The 19th of September we took the big boat to Andy's to get some fiberglass work and repainting done to the it. The new engine was delivered awaiting installation when the work was completed.

Unfortunately the end of September and October were months with daily amounts of rain and, thus, the fiber glassing and painting had to be put off. We felt lucky that we had the skiff running and were at least able to get around, that was, until the 4th of November.

We went out to Renate's house on Hendricks Cay that day to help spread a tarp over her roof. She had experienced bad leaks over her bedroom and needed some relief. This, we felt, would be a temporary solution to a long standing problem. The tarp was laid out and secured to the roof and we had a nice visit. We left to go home but when my husband started up the engine something must have broken when we shut it off upon arrival and so, when starting it, it was stuck in full throttle and we had to make several adjustments just to get it to run properly.....so we thought.

We dropped off Kate who had gone with us at her house and when we went to start the engine again, it would not start. After some concentrated work on it by my husband and Bill, Kate's husband, they found that the throttle was stuck in forward and it was impossible to start the boat. We called Renate and she sent her worker to haul our boat home with her larger boat. We dropped it off at the airport to have it fixed and went home to order another part. So, now we were stuck with boat boats in the shop and no transportation.

Andy, the worker assigned for the big boat, finally managed to get the fiberglass work done, repaint the boat and install the new engine. It was delivered Monday the 14th of November. Almost 6 1/2 weeks waiting.

We originally wanted a deep purple color as we were planning on calling the boat "Amazing Grape" but since the store on the Cay did not have the proper base color the mixing was haphazard and what we got was this:

As you can see, it is not exactly purple and, as a matter of fact, this picture does not show the true color which is shocking pink! Because the paint was not dried totally and it rained soon after applied, the paint job will have to be redone as it is pitted and rough looking.

In the meantime, we now have both boats running (still waiting for a part for the Skiff but the mechanic managed to rig it up so we could drive it in the meantime) and back on our dock.

We are hoping that the new color on the big boat will distract from noticing that there is a new engine! Heck, someone said, no one will steal that boat because of the color!

Well, at least it is a Caribbean color!

End of Summer Woes

2011-10-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

The end of the summer has brought a few problems this year that have not occurred previously. Over the years we have had relatively few insect problems in or out of the house, except for the constant no-seeums and other biting insects. We have suddenly been inundated with ants! I covered this problem in a previous blog but wanted to update my readers.

I checked on-line for natural solutions because of the fact that the ants were appearing mostly in food related areas. We read that if you put a line of dried hot red pepper flakes around, they would not cross the line made by it. Well, these ants apparently have not read the material that is being published, or they are Honduran ants and love hot stuff! Either way, it had no affect on stopping their onward progress.We also discovered that hot pepper flakes when mixed in water are not attractive to ants. We have small cups above each feeder filled with water to discourage ants from crawling down into the chamber holding the sugar water mixture. Lately the ants apparently have been donning their snorkel and dive gear as not only were they swimming across the water to get to the edge of the cup and climb down, they were now entering the feeding holes and, by large numbers, were inside the bottle of sugar water! The bottle could sit overnight and when we brought it in to empty it, we would find the bottle filled with ants floating around. When the bottle was emptied, they would shake themselves off and attempt to climb out of the sink! I could not see their air tanks nor their regulators, but surely they must have had those devices to live all night in the water. I mean, I did not imagine that ants could hold their breathfor hours!

Next I read that ants would not cross a line of talcum powder. I put a line of it down and, according to the written word, they would not cross it. But they would walk around it and traveled the full length of the line to do so. We did find that they came in droves to eat cornmeal which is said to eliminate them by the simple fact that they eat it and it enlarges in their bodies and they explode, or some such thing! I think the fact that 1) since ants don’t really eat what they gather and instead take it back to the next and feed it to the larvae who in turn process it and make a fungus out of it which is eaten by the ants and 2) the fungus from the cornmeal is foreign to their nest and, indeed, takes over the normal fungus they produce and destroys it thus rendering them without food and this is what kills them over time. I put cornmeal out mixed with boric acid to make sure it worked and they went for it, like a super-special free buffet. Over a short time the ants disappeared, or moved on, I don’t know which.

Finally, we read where boric acid mixed with honey or bacon fat would be appealing to them. They would take it back to the nest and spread it among their fellow workers and die. This appealed to me but I did not think we would find boric acid on the Cay. Imagine my delight when inquiring after the product I was told that “yes, we have it” and I bought up the whole small supply. It was a small bag with individual packets of the boric acid; about a tablespoon each. This mixture seemed to do the trick and we are slowly gaining control of our house back.

So, while the ant numbers have decreased drastically, we still battle them around the perimeter of the house and have been removing dead, rotting stumps which they like to nest in.

For one week in October we experienced a swarming of mosquitoes. Normally we have a lot of these insects in the low lying part of our property in back as there are many crab holes holding water there in which they breed. This year, however, for a few days the mosquitos were all over; on the beach, in the front and around the back. We had reports from other sections of the island of a huge influx of mosquitoes and are at a loss to figure out why the sudden outbreak. It was short lived thankfully and we are free now to exit our boat without being overcome!

Next, our lovely hibiscus bushes had developed a white, powdery mildew/fungus. This appeared mid-summer and we blame it on a long period without rain as we have never seen this on our plants before. The mildew/fungus creates mutated leaves which are deformed and flowers which are much smaller than a normal bloom, as can be observed in the above photos. Again, I went for a natural cure as we have a lot of hummingbirds and small geckos/lizards which I did not want to harm. We had a fungus powder which was to be mixed with water and sprayed on the plants once a week for 3 weeks or until the fungus disappeared and then once a week for 3 weeks or more thereafter. It was not harmful to animals/birds so my husband tried this for over a month. It seemed to contain some of the fungus but in some areas it was still spreading. We then tried a mixture of water/oil/alcohol which was said to be effective. Same outcome! I then convinced my husband (who hates to cut back the hibiscus bushes because it would eliminate, for a while, the blossoms which the hummers feed on) to cut back the bushes and burn the offending limbs. We had to cut all of our bushes down by half and our yard looked pretty pitiful for a while. Fortunately the rains came in October and the hibiscus are recovering and thriving. The rain fell for a total of 7 days with more than 17” accumulating. The cooler temperatures were a relief and sleeping was improved. And, the plus, the hibiscus love the rain and are now putting forth new shoots on the bare limbs. We are just hoping that the fungus did not enter the actual woody pulp of the limbs and continue to harm the plant. We have one bush that we believe will not make it, but one out of maybe 50-60 bushes is not bad.

The bright spot in our month lately has been the return of the little migrating birds. This year they have appeared in large numbers hopping about our front lawn seeking insects. Evidently there must be a lot of them to feed on as they have been here in greater numbers and staying longer at this time. They also are very curious and seemingly unafraid of humans. My husband, while sitting on the porch yesterday, had one actually land on his foot and preen itself and another walk across his knee. These are small warbler type birds and while most of them are black and white or gray, yellow and black, there was a small red bird, a Summer Tanager, who appeared on our porch rail. He managed to take several photos without disturbing the bird on his foot and it is shown above.

We have also have received some disheartening news. My husband’s daughter who has been fighting the worst form of leukemia and the hardest to cure, is not doing well. In July she went to the Moffit Cancer Center in Tamper and received a stem cell transplant to supplement the bone marrow that was destroyed by chemo and radiation. For two months she was in the hospital being tended to while fighting the effects of the transplant treatment. She seemed to be rallying but in late August she had a down turn. Since her immune system is virtually non-existent, contracting any germs was dangerous for her. Her bladder was attacked by a bacteria which is not uncommon in these treatments but, unfortunately, they were not able to combat this strain as effectively as they wanted. She became very ill and has been losing a lot of blood daily to the point of needing transfusions every 3 days. She has bladder problems and continues to bleed. They tested her blood and although the transplant was successful, her blood was full of cancer cells once again. There is nothing more at the present time that they can do because of her weakened condition and she returned home to Orlando to see what is now available for her. She has lost considerable weight and is weak and, so, not many options are available to her at this time. We only hope that there is something that can be done for her to overcome this disease.

Oh, and with all this going on we got a new computer. We decided this time, since we have tried a variety of brands, to go with Apple/Mac. We purchased the Mac mini and after waiting for 3 weeks for it to come on the boat, we are now attempting to understand and use this computer to its maximum. So far it has been challenging but with my constant research on the net and some clues from other Apple computer owners, we are slowly making progress. My husband cannot use his favorite photo program and we are trying to transfer our documents from a Microsoft program to Apple though a migrating program. So far it seemed to transfer but we cannot find the documents which leads me to believe that it was unsuccessful. Now, if the weather would clear up so we have sunshine, I could work longer on the computer and not worry about the solar electrical power.

Oh, another problem. Our batteries, after 15 years, are starting to get old and losing their charge! We will be forced soon to check into another set and that will present a whole new array of problems - mainly transporting them here and getting them up to the house. The original 2 batteries weighed 450 lbs. each and are modified fork lift batteries. There is a new battery out, that has more power and is only one unit but weighs 1,100 lbs. So, how to get it into and out of a boat, onto a dock (without caving the dock in), up the hill and up the steps into our back door! Don't you just wish you had our problems?

We are hoping that November will bring better news and continue to deal with the day-to-day problems hoping for the best.

Benighted, Bewildered and Befuddled

2011-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

My husband often says most people are not stupid just naive, which means they are simply deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgment. Of course this can be remedied with education - educate and people are informed; informed and they can act with intelligence.

However, benighted (existing in a state of intellectual, moral or social darkness) sometimes is not so easy to solve.

On this island one big problem is garbage. I have touched on this subject before and the ramifications of not disposing of garbage properly. It is difficult on a small island and burning is one way of disposal. However, when you have items that cannot be burned; i.e., batteries, metal, chemicals, then another problem arises.

I am, today, focusing my attention on the more prevalent form of garbage - daily waste in the form of food products, containers, wrappers, human waste, etc. This is the most common type of garbage and one that every island has problems with.

When we first arrived on Guanaja trash was everywhere; in the water, on the land, around homes and businesses. There were no trash cans in town; people just threw their waste in the canals which weave in and out of Bonacca. They had been doing it for years with no one complaining or teaching them that this was wrong. I guess when one lives with garbage around them and it is taken for granted, then one accepts it as part of the course of life.

Finally, after a few years a clean up took place; children were taught in school that disposing of one's garbage wherever they happened to be was not the thing to do. Trash cans appeared around town and streets were cleaned of liter. The canals were cleaned periodically and now we no longer see trash floating in the canals along side the streets were we walk.

I have, over time, stopped people from disposing of trash incorrectly by lecturing them and even, in some cases, picking up the trash, giving it to them and making them dispose of it in a proper receptacle.

Children are the easiest to reach and the quickest to learn; adults tend to avoid change and many hate being told what to do even if it is evident that it is in their best interests. They cling to old ways and are, in this case, benighted.

The other day, while sitting on our front porch after 4 p.m. in the afternoon, my husband noted a dory (long boat) going by our house heading to the southeast end of the island. Just after it passed our house, it turned around and appeared to be heading back towards the Cay (or Bonacca). For those uninformed, from the Cay southeast one must pass the dump which is where all local garbage is disposed of, then you pass a huge building that has become a ruin and is falling down and on to the end of the island with only our house and one dilapidated beach home appear before all that is present are rocky shores and green hills.

As my husband watched, the man in the boat, accompanied by two young boys, started pitching his garbage out into the water. My husband grabbed his camera and caught the activity in the following photos:

First - still in the water:

Second - Tossing garbage

This is not fish jumping n the water, this is garbage they are tossing. Note the young man is getting ready to toss out a piece of lumber.

Third through Six:

Some of the results of their efforts:

After pitching whatever they could out of their boat, they leave the scene:

What is worrisome is that this man had to pass the garbage dump where he could have disposed of his waste without polluting the water. This bewilders and befuddles me. Why he chose to come all this distance and dump is a mystery except for the fact that no one could see him! What is worse, he took two young boys with him to accomplish this task thus passing on his benighted views.

But, Aha - as his boat's name suggests: "All Eyes On Me!"

Caught you!

Island Bugs

2011-09-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

The term “bugs” can relate to mechanical things meaning trouble with an object that must be attended to. On the island, the word “bugs” means discomfort, destruction or death.

We have bugs, there is no doubt about it. The planet is covered in bugs and in large cities/communities, efforts are taken to keep them under control and render them, at least temporarily, less destructive. Well, here on the island, we have no little VW Bug (a Volkswagen) with a rat or roach mock-up on the top which goes around advertising that they can rid you of pesky insects. No, here, you are on your own.

We have ants of several varieties: large black ants, microscopic ants, termites, flying ants, red ants; you name it, we have it. We have no-seeums, potato lice (akin to, I believe, red bugs), mosquitoes, flies; both green flies, black flies, and fruit flies. We have scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, spiders big and small; tarantulas which can be as large as your hand and some spiders that are so small one can barely see them with the naked eye. We have wasps, lightning bugs, bees, rhinoceros beetles and palm beetles, stick bugs, caterpillars of many descriptions, katydids, and bugs that defy description.

For the most part those bugs that reside on the island can be found the world over, so we are not unique. The difference is that in a third-world country, generally, bugs must be tolerated and the only areas where they are attacked chemically are on large farms/plantations.

On Guanaja our biggest irritation are the no-seeums which are pesky bugs one can barely see (hence the name) which are found, generally, close to beach areas. Some people would have you think that if you are located more than 30 feet away from the beach or at least 20 feet off the ground, they are not present. HA! These bugs are found at higher elevations and not just on the beach. For the most part, people here build up an immunity to these flying creatures and even though we are susceptible to their bites, when bitten the effect lasts only 5-10 minutes. However, people visiting the island who have not been exposed to them can suffer for 2-3 weeks after being bitten. There are a small minority of people that are allergic to the bites of these tiny creatures and develop large, pus filled welts leaving the person scratching constantly. Luckily most people are not affected in this manner and, with the help of a good insect spray, the irritation of these bites is minimal. Some people believe that baby oil or Skin-So-Soft oil will protect them. While it does work, its effect is temporary (say about 10 minutes) and once it is absorbed by the skin, the slick coating of oil disappears. This oil, in effect, suffocates the bugs so once it is gone they are free to feast. While some people disparage the use of inspect sprays with DEET citing the possibility of cancer, etc., we have used a 100% DEET spray twice a day for 13 years with no ill effects. Of course one does not apply this chemical to any open sores and, therefore, I feel, with caution this product causes us no harm.

As a side note, my research on DEET shows that from 1961 to 2002 only 8 DEET-related deaths occurred. Three were from deliberate ingestion (foolish people), two from dermal (skin) exposure (quite possibly oversensitivity to the product and/or an open wound) and three were children receiving heavy and frequent applications of DEET. People believe that DEET causes cancer, ideas which may partly be due to the fact that people confuse DEET with DDT. Scientists have not established a direct link between DEET and cancer. The EPA does show DEET as slightly toxic to birds, fish and aquatic invertebrates but virtually nontoxic to mammals. The current rate of toxicity for DEET today is a Category III, the second lowest of four categories.

While the no-seeums are one of the most irritating bugs we have here, THE most irritating, I believe, are ants. We have microscopic ants and ants up to almost 2 mm long! When certain species of these ants bite the effect is longer lasting than the no-seeum bite (for those who have built up a tolerance to no-seeums that is) and the itch is a burning, painful thing. And ants are all over. If one has ever paid attention at all to Nature anywhere, one will see ants.

For 12 years we have not had ants or roaches in our home. We do apply a poison frequently under the house and around the pilings of chlorodano or chlordane. This chemical is dangerous and once used for the control of termites in the U.S. was banned in 1988. It continues to be used in a powdered form in Honduras and I do not know if the chemical we buy here is a watered-down version of the original. Either way, we use great care when applying it, protecting our mouth and nose again inhalation and washing our hands thoroughly after using. The original chemical did cause many types of cancer but in those cases the use of the chemical had been heavy and over an long periods of time. Because of ignorance or non-information, the inhalation of this chemical was not a concern at the time.

Either way, it is about the only way one can effectively kill mounds of ants that one discovers on the island, but we use caution in applying it.

The last two years we have noticed an influx of ants in the house. First there were miniscule creatures scurrying around the counters. Then we noticed a roach or two. Where there is one there are bound to be hundreds so we used an injected goo targeted specifically at roaches and that seemed to clear up that problem. The ants, however, were another problem. We kept them “under control” so to speak until this past springs when we were suddenly invaded by huge black ants. These ants are strong and determined. We found them entering the hummingbird feeders literally swimming across the small cups of water we have hanging up the feeder to prevent ants from crawling down the cord from which they are suspended. They were everywhere and especially came out at night. One would find dozens on the kitchen counter and a simple slap would not kill them. I would have to literally pound them with my closed fist several times to disable them and still, bent and broken, they still managed to crawl away.

After several nights of searching outside our home, my husband discovered a huge nest at the base of a dead tree stump. Apparently they like to make their nest in rotting wood. He applied the chlordane and that seemed to cut down their numbers in the house. Several weeks later they were back and he was, once again, searching the yard at night aided by his flashlight determined to find their new home. We found them in an old log that had been cut from a tree about 2 years ago. A second nest was found near a hibiscus bush and he again treated their nests heavily. We have seen about 1 or 2 ants in the house since then but are still keeping an eye out.

As to spiders. In July I put on a dress and felt a sting on my hip. I found nothing so I passed it off. The next morning, when I arose out of bed, I could hardly walk I was so dizzy. This condition continued all day and I laid down quite frequently because navigating was difficult. I was also slightly nauseous. I then checked my skin surface on my hip and sure enough found a small, red bite. It think I was bit by a spider and when I showed it to a friend they said that their relative had a bite similar to that several years ago and she became sick and was badly infected. The whole week I was dizzy with the dizziness subsiding somewhat and by the end of the week both the dizziness and the bite had gone.

However, last week I received another bite and had similar symptoms. So, it was either the little ants that are still crawling around in our bedroom or another spider. This time the consequences weren’t as severe but I was still dizzy for a couple of days.

All in all, we have not had a lot of trouble with insects. We keep our yard fairly clean along with the beach area and the number of birds, lizards and iguanas help keep the population in check around our house. I just wish we had an ant eater!

Now we have to address a new problem on our hibiscus: white powdery mold/mildew! It never stops!

Transportation

2011-09-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

This past year was not a good one for boats. Having one's engine stolen is a part of life here. Generally, there are several things everyone experiences on the island: you hit a reef, your engine drops off the back of the boat or the engine and/or gas tank is stolen. When you are really lucky maybe only have one of these things happen to you! We have done it all; been stranded on a reef not once but twice, lost the engine off the back of the boat, got one boat and motor stolen and found the boat minus the battery, gas tank and engine later the next day and the other boat and engine was stolen and hauled off to Roatan by thieves where we discovered it 9 months later!

Recently, friends who own one of the Cays had to overhaul completely their boat motor. They felt this was far more economical than buy a new engine and brought all their parts down to Guanaja. Several people got their small motors stolen and our worker has been having trouble with his 5 HP. Also, this past month our friend, Bill, went out early one morning and discovered his cabin cruiser was missing! During the night thieves had cut the lines, taken the boat around the corner and stolen his 200 HP engine. Normally the engines of choice are 25 HP as they are lighter and easier to steal. The larger the engine, the more time it takes and the weight of the engine is a big factor in getting away. Next, George, another friend of ours, was on his way home with dive equipment (he has a resort), and various other supplies when his boat suddenly started leaking. Not a little dribble, oh no! A major gusher. Luckily he made it home to find that the boat he had built in Savannah Bight several years ago had received only a thin coating of fiberglass and where the seams met in the bottom and the sides, the material had worn away and was now splitting. Among other things, George had just completed painting the bottom of his boat! It took him 3 weeks to re-fiberglass the outside of the boat and last we saw of him he was tackling the inside of the boat.

Many people have more than one boat, and we are no exception. We have two boats; a 17" skiff which is a great "truck" for hauling but very uncomfortable in rough seas with its flat bottom and a 21' V-haul which we had made on the island about 12 years ago. The skiff has a 40 HP Mercury engine and the V-Haul has a 90 HP Yamaha. The Mercury was a "used" engine when we acquired it in about 2006 and has served us well. The Yamaha we purchased new in 2001.

It figures, when something goes out on the island it seems to happen in pairs. We happened to be leaving a marina about 6 months ago near dark. The marina was very shallow and in need of dredging and, because of low light, we could not see the really shallow spots well and the engine got mired in sand. Sand was sucked into the intake and as a result the water which normally comes in and runs around the engine to keep it cool was blocked. My husband tried inserting a wire up the "pee" hole where the water exits after cooling the engine. Unfortunately, the sand was still blocking the intake some and as a result enough water did not circulate to cool the engine. We made it home (all the while I was telling him to turn around or stop as the engine would overheat - but then, I'm a woman and what does my opinion in mechanical things amount to?). As we pulled up to the dock the engine quit and smoke was billowing from under the cover. Long and short, the engine was super heated causing it to cease. Which simply means - it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon!

We ordered parts the next week on-line and brought the engine to our local mechanic who has a shop at the airport. Well, 5 months later we are still waiting for the engine to be put back together. I'll admit that most of the time was spent in getting parts here. Then, after the parts were here the mechanic discovered one of the cylinders needed work which entailed a trip to the mainland. Finally, last week, just when we thought all was about to climax with a repaired engine, lo and behold the mechanic said one of the cables was froze up. My husband advised him to use the cable from the old Mercury we once had on the skiff and had brought to the airport shop to use for "extra parts". He asked the mechanic to check the cable and call him back with the result. My husband seems to forget that no one in Honduras calls back or returns calls (at least businesses) and at the end of the day he finally called the guy who said you can come on down now and we'll put the engine on the boat. Well, it was 4:00 p.m. and Mike said no, we'll do it tomorrow. Nope! The mechanic, who has just returned from a weekend on Roatan, was leaving the next day for the Mainland and would not be back until late Thursday. So, we are trying for Friday.

During all of this going on we started having problems with the 90 HP. The tilt engine had been acting up and one day it quit all together. We generally put the engine up when we come home to keep it free of barnacles and lock the boat to the dock with a stainless steel cable and lock. Now, however, it was too heavy for the two of us to raise so we were having to park it at the end of our dock with the engine down. We were also experiencing problems with the fuel pump. Since things were going out slowly on this engine, we decided to bite the bullet.

So, not only did we have to put money out for parts for the skiff motor, now we had to buy a new motor for the V-hull. Once we get the new motor, we will take the boat up to the airport and have someone there make major cosmetic repairs to the V-hull before putting on the new engine. A new fiberglass coating, new wood strips on the outside bumpers, a new console and re-paint the entire boat. This step has been long overdue so it did not come as a surprise.

So, you ask what we are getting for Christmas? Now you know!

Dining Out

2011-08-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

For the most part, a fine restaurant on the island is an oxymoron. We have a few places that serve up exceptional meals that one would find in Europe or the U.S., but, for the most part the meals served on the island in the majority of the restaurants (and there are very few here) are the standard Honduran dish which has, at minimum, two starches, a salad (most of the time cole slaw), plantains and chicken or fish. The Islanders tend to overcook their fish and chicken so it is really special when one finds a place that serves a good chicken dish done to perfection.

I have spoken in the past about Manati and Clearwater Paradise as being exceptional restaurants. The price, depending upon what you want for an entrée goes from Lps. 150 to Lps. 400 (approximately $8 to 21.00) per person. On the high end (at Clearwater Paradise) one gets a deluxe 7-course meal with your choice of entrée and is an exceptionally high-quality meal. In the “average” price range one can get, depending upon the restaurant, chicken, fish or beef fixed in a variety of ways. The normal Honduran fare is fried chicken. The best fried chicken we have found is at Bo’s Island House where his wife, Martha and/or her Mother, Maria, understand that overcooking is not necessary! They serve up a wonderful chicken or fish with salad, rice and plantains for a minimal cost. Manati serves chicken cordon blu, schnitzel, garlic fish, stuffed chicken (a wonderful specialty), German sausages and, on occasion, a beautiful filet which is cooked to perfection. The prices at both places are reasonable.

When we hear of a new restaurant we are anxious to try it but also wait to hear what other people‘s experiences are. Almost two years ago an islander, Daniel Ebanks, opened a restaurant, Shade Tree, out of his mother’s house near Mangrove Bight. Daniel had worked for a short time on Clark Cay as their cook, at one of the other dive resorts, did private cooking in people’s homes for parties and, in general, is an exceptional cook. I have tried Daniel’s dishes at Clark Cay and always encouraged him to continue with his craft stating that maybe some day he could open a restaurant. We had heard some good things about his place and decided we would like, one day, to go there.

We recently were invited to celebrate Ginger’s birthday with free drinks at their resort (Clearwater Paradise) and a meal at Daniel’s. George generally holds a birthday party for Ginger cooking wonderful meals at no cost and offering free drinks for the celebration. This year, however, George has been working for 3 weeks on his dive boat which suddenly started falling apart (more on that in another blog). He had to re-fiberglass the entire bottom of the boat and will also have to do the whole inside. After 3 weeks of working with fiberglass, he really did not have the time to whip together a meal or plan a proper party and decided that they would try out Daniel’s restaurant.

We had not made the trek to Daniel’s restaurant because of the distance to go to get to Mangrove Bight. One must phone ahead a day or two in advance so he knows what to prepare. He does not have a set menu, from what I understand, and since he never knows when people will show up, he prefers them to call ahead. This is fine with us except that sometimes one will call ahead and then on the appointed date weather will be inclement and passage to the other side impossible. We had heard from a couple of people that Daniel’s food was of excellent quality and his specialty, fruit smoothies, were worth the visit. No alcohol is served at Daniel’s restaurant so he came up with wonderful smoothies to satisfy one’s thirst.

Daniel’s place is located a little ways up from Mangrove Bight and for those of strong constitution, it is quite a hike to get there. We later discovered that one could hire a taxi to take you to Shade Tree! Anyway, our small party got to the Hilti dock in Mangrove Bight, strolled UP the steep ramp to the highway, turned right and then proceeded up some steep stairs on the left side of the road to the crest of a hill. We trekked further on, walked down a small, steep ramp, continued on a road, down another hill and finally came to the road leading to Daniel’s Mother’s house, which was more walking downhill. It was hot with hardly a breeze and we were tired and thirsty. Daniel serves his guests outside on tables under beautiful palms and a huge Ceiba tree. The yard is beautifully taken care of and makes a pleasant place where one can enjoy the view and their meal.

Unfortunately, Belco was not supplying electricity at that hour and, therefore, we could not sample Daniel’s smoothies. He did offer us ice tea, fruit punch or the local hog plum juice. We found a table and were served our drinks. Our reservation was for 2:00 p.m. and we noticed that on this particular day there were several people gathered at various tables for what we were to learn would be a buffet meal. About 15 people were present while we were there for the buffet.

Buffet meals can be tricky and, normally, they are reasonably priced considering that the entré will be something that can be cooked in large batches and kept reasonably warm. We were told that there was conch and small dumplings, chicken with barbeque sauce, a lettuce salad with vegetables, potato salad and rice. We had all expected an individually-made meal and were a little disappointed but agreeable with the offering. We were not, however, in agreement with the stiff price for this buffet. He was charging Lps. 320.00 ($17.00) which we all felt was quite steep considering what was being offered. But, we were there and we were hungry.

The ambience of Shade Tree was lovely, the fact that they had their pet dog caged up near the dining tables barking the whole time detracted from the peacefulness of the meal. Daniel was working very hard and it was quite a feat to prepare this whole meal for a small crowd. Maybe this is why we did not get served until 3:30 p.m.. However, his serving help was inexperienced. I think the girl must have been in training as she was slow and did not seem to comprehend just what she was to do. She could only carry one plate at a time and brought individual dishes to us without a knife or fork. I finally got up and went over to get the utensils I saw laying on a table wrapped in a single, thin, paper napkin. To my surprise all that we got was a flimsy plastic fork wrapped in a thin paper napkin; no knife at all nor any extra napkins. We were never approached and asked if we wanted another drink until the meal was almost over. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the conch was interesting fare. The lettuce salad had a little more in it than most served on the island, the potato salad was average and what can one say about rice? No bread or rolls were offered. All in all, it certainly was not a meal that one would pay $17 for on the island; even on the Coast, this price was a little out of reason.

George asked Daniel if he had any champagne glasses as it was Ginger’s birthday (he had told Daniel this before when arranging the party and that he was bringing champagne). Daniel was able to produce 2 glasses; there were 6 of us. The rest of the group drank the refreshments out of plastic cups. The meal, fortunately, was served on a ceramic plate and we were puzzled as to why he would not offer good metal utensils, especially a knife, with the meal.

Desert was announced and there was the typical flan, a fruit salad, a fruit cocktail cake and something Daniel christened a Guanaja Mud Cake which was simply a boxed chocolate cake with bits of peanut butter in it. To our surprise, with the desert we received a metal fork.

We finished our meal and were paying our individual bills. George was talking to people and so did not pay Daniel directly. There was a girl sitting at the gate when we came in who, evidentially, was to collect money from individual’s when they walked in for the buffet. George approached her to pay the Lps. 640.00 for himself and Ginger and when he asked how much the meal was she said Lps. 700.00! George turned and got Daniel and explained that the girl was asking Lps. 60 more than she should have. Daniel apologized and said the girl must be trying to take money for herself. George paid Daniel and noticed that Daniel did not even bother to go to the girl and reprimand her.

So, all in all, I cannot recommend that one go to Daniel’s for a meal unless he is making an individual meal for each person. The food was good, but not worth Lps. 320.00 per person. The fact that he did not use proper utensils nor even have cloth napkins or any extra napkins for people nor glass glasses certainly did not give the restaurant a feel of a “professional” establishment. The distraction of a constantly barking dog did nothing to relax anyone and having to get one’s own utensil because the waitress did not seem to know what was required of her was a shame. To top it off, the girl at the gate trying to rip the customers off did not sit well with our group and we wondered if we were the only ones being charged Lps. 320.00 as, for the most part, islanders will not pay that kind of money for what was offered, which was nothing more than normal island fare. We, as customers should have been advised when we called ahead, that a taxi could bring us to the restaurant rather than making the long, difficult walk in the heat, but that was not done. Even when leaving, some of our party took a taxi out but had to wait 20 minutes for the driver to talk to people and eat his meal!

All in all it was an average island establishment with minimal service and an overpriced meal. Quite possibly Daniel’s individual meals may be better, but we will not go back to find out.

Fact of Life

2011-08-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

I tend to stay away from reporting the really bad stuff that happens on the island. For one thing, bad things can happen anywhere in the world and usually do. So, when someone hears of the same things happening on a small island it can spell disaster for its economy in so many ways.

Yes, we have little law enforcement here but, in general, there is not a lot of big crime. I mean, getting off a small island when the only transportation is a boat or plane makes it a little difficult. It has been done, but happily I can report that there are times when the people committing more than petty theft are caught, even white attempting to leave the island.

Of course the major crime here is the thieving of boats and engines, especially engines under 25 HP which can be easily carried off. Homes are occasionally broken into but, generally, the thieves here do this when the owner is away and no one is watching the premises. People trespass on other people's property to steal their mangoes, bananas, avocados, etc. and to hunt iguanas and watoosies (and, yes, I'm guessing at the spelling), a type of rabbit-like creature.

We have had two bank robberies in my 14 years where, which occurred more recently and since then security guards are present at the bank in town and seem to have deterred that activity. There have been a few people killed on the island and that is another area entirely. Most of the time a crime is committed by someone who has been drinking too much and gets in fight with another individual, in-family squabbles or now, unfortunately, drug related crimes.

And this brings me to my topic. Crime is every where, a fact of life. We are not unusual except for the fact that on an isolated island law enforcement is difficult at best.

Recently, another blogger sent out, via an e-mail a copy of a cable from or to, I could not verify which, possibly addressed to or from: DEPT. FOR INL/LP, DRL/PHD, AND WHA/CEN. This was one of the documents released in Wekileaks. It appears to have been prepared in 2003 and reads as follows:

SUBJECT: TROUBLE IN PARADISE: HONDURAN BAY ISLAND OF GUANAJA A HOT-SPOT FOR NARCOTRAFFICKING

Â¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The Honduran Bay Islands of Roatan, Utila, and Guanaja are well known narcotrafficking transit points and home to countless other illicit activities. Due to the large tourism industry on Roatan and Utila, the GOH has chosen to focus its limited counternarcotics resources primarily on these two islands. Guanaja, however, has not received the much needed resources to combat its ever-growing narcotics problem. The least developed of the Bay Islands, Guanaja's limited infrastructure and services have served to be a deterrent to tourism. Additionally, unemployment is widespread, creating a safe haven on Guanaja for narcotraffickers and organized crime families. Drug abuse among the 6,000 islanders has greatly increased and all indications suggest that this trend will continue.

Â¶2. (U) The Honduran Bay Islands of Roatan, Utila, and Guanaja are well known narcotrafficking transit points and home to countless other illicit activities. Roughly 85 percent of Guanaja's adult population uses crack, cocaine, or marijuana according to a recent El Heraldo newspaper report. Casual drug use can be observed openly in public, and even children as young as 8 years old are known to be regular drug users. The widespread usage of illegal substances may be due to the high unemployment rate on the island. Tourism also remains depressed and the fishing industry is not at a sustainable level for many families to subsist on. Thus, some people have found employment with the narcotraffickers and are often paid in the form of drugs rather than cash, creating a cycle of drug abuse.

Â¶3. (U) Honduras is not usually the ultimate destination for narcotrafficking transactions, but rather a transit point. Much of the product that transits through Guanaja originates in South America and is destined for the Cayman Islands and the United States. The most common means of transportation in the area of Guanaja is maritime, although planes are also used. Drug runners use 200 horsepower boats that easily surpass the 100 horsepower boats used by the Honduran police and Navy. It is common for abandoned packages and boats to be found near Guanaja when the traffickers are alerted of the presence of authorities. This in turn makes prosecution highly difficult and unlikely.

Â¶4. (U) The narcotraffickers are protected by the inhabitants of Guanaja through methods of terror and assault. Also, the under supported police authorities of the island do not have the manpower to patrol, capture, and prosecute known traffickers. According to the Director of National Police, Coralia Rivera, the effectiveness of the police force is minimized because they need boats, planes, and helicopters to enforce narcotrafficking laws, and these resources are just not available.

Â¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: In a recent letter to the Ambassador, the Mayor of Guanaja pleaded for some form of direct U.S. counternarcotics assistance to combat the presence of drug traffickers. There are recent reports that a fed-up local population, acting in a vigilante-style campaign, attacked and destroyed the house of a well known drug trafficker. Until more resources become available to law enforcement agencies in Guanaja, the island will remain very vulnerable to the corruption of crime bosses and influential narcotraffickers. Furthermore, much of its population will continue to support such activities both through the use of narcotics and the protection they provide to the traffickers. This problem is not just that of a small island of 6,000 inhabitants, but indicative of the larger problem Honduras faces as more and more of its territory is compromised by the drug trade. Post believes that additional USG counternarcotics resources should be directed at areas like Guanaja in order to fight the larger war on drugs.

For the most part this report is true and is a hard, disturbing fact concerning the Bay Islands. Guanaja was the main target in this article because 1) it is not the popular tourist spot that Roatan is, 2) it has no roads and little infrastructure to contain this problem and 3) the government of the Mainland does not, in general, concern itself about what goes on out there. We do not generate the tax revenue Roatan does and because the difficulty of reaching the island and the lack of funds for law enforcement, the Government of Honduras just does not want to go to the expense to assist the islanders.

In the first Article it states: [on Guanaja] limited infrastructure and services have served to be a deterrent to tourism. And, there it is in a nutshell. Tourism! No tax revenue, i.e., no help to the island. Guanaja had a good tourism business back in the 80's. It had two main dive resorts which were, for the most part, filled to capacity most of the year. What happened? Well, Hurricane Mitch was this island's downfall. It was such a devastating storm, sitting on the island for an unprecedented 3 days, that the rebuilding was too much for the islanders to bounce back from. Some people took out loans from the government and took in donations from other countries to rebuild their businesses but, in many cases, did not use the money for its intended purpose. The businesses did minimal repairs and never returned to their past glory. That was the beginning of the end. With hotels that were offering less than desirable service, tourism fell off. Of course the reporting that people should stay away from the island because of the devastation caused by the hurricane hung with the island long after repairs were made and life was returning to normal. Then we had the big to do with ex-President Mel Zelaya. This was the icing on the cake as foreign governments warned people to stay away from Honduras.

The island has little connection with the mainland and his ouster did not affect us one bit except for the news flashes and the scare tactics of various governments telling people to stay away. Business went on as usual here albeit with less tourists appearing on our shores.

Then, there is the fishing industry which has hit on very, very hard times. This along with tourism was the backbone of the economy and with fishing drying up and tourists no longer flocking to the island, it was a perfect chance for narcotraffickers to step in. And come they did.

Of course, the above cable is erroneous in many ways. First, the population of the island is not 6,000 people; it is more like 13,000 to 15,000 with approximately 5,000 living on the Cay of Bonacca. To state that 85% of the population uses drugs is, I believe, is a stretch for any populated area. We do have a problem of which there is no doubt and it is out of control. Why? Because nothing is really being done. The drug families here are just that, families and since most all islanders in one way or another are related, few will turn in their relatives!

The statement: El Heraldo newspaper report. Casual drug use can be observed openly in public, and even children as young as 8 years old are known to be regular drug users. I would like to know where El Heraldo is getting its reports as the only time a reporter from any mainland newspaper comes here is during a campaign run by a politician or if something newsworthy happens like the shutting down of the airport by protesters years ago. Few if any reporters ever come to report on our annual Conch Festival or Fishing Tournament. So, for people to observed using casual drugs openly in the public, I would ask who is reporting that? Not that it really makes any difference who reports it as, yes, we have individuals that use marijuana in the open but not on the main streets nor in the presence of any law enforcement. For the most part, one does not see people walking down the street or in the open puffing on a joint. It is not unlike other parts of the world where drugs are used in public places - no one does it "out in the open" but it does occur in certain establishments where adults congregate. Crack cocaine is used but I have never witnessed anyone using it in any public areas. And, crack cocaine is a terrible problem with our young people.

And, as throughout the world, young children may be using drugs here as they do in other cities of other countries. By in large, however, I do not believe that many of our young children use drugs. Of course, it depends upon what you classify as "young". If you are speaking of teenagers, yes, they use drugs here the same as they do in the U.S. and Europe.

Articles 3 and 4 are correct - it is a problem here and one that is more than difficult to deal with.

According to Article 5, I can report that here have been recent steps to do something about the problem on the island, but it is not necessarily to save the island from itself. It is simply to stop the disbursing of the drugs to the Cayman Island and the U.S. I am not fooled into thinking that anyone is doing this for the good of the people here. Money is being made by the individuals here that control the drugs and they do not care enough about their fellow Hondurans to warrant stopping the flow of drugs onto the island and thus stoppingthe cash coming into their pockets.

The number of nightly flights per month into the island to deliver drugs has decreased, but they still come. Last Friday evening, during a thunder and lightning storm, a plane came into the island. We all know when a plane is flying above the island late at night, and especially in adverse weather conditions, it can mean only one thing - a drug delivery. There is a new station built at the airport which is to house, from what I am told, drug agency personnel and/or military to stem the influx of drugs. Of course, then I would ask how they are going to deal with the corruption and payoffs which are most likely to occur? People bringing in the drugs, handling the drugs and dispersing the drugs surely don't want to lose their comfort money and know that corruption is King in Honduras, as in many underdeveloped countries!

The fact that locals are involved as hired help cannot be disputed - but it is the same on the mainland and nothing is being accomplished there to stop the flow of drugs, or, what little is done is not making a dent in the trafficking.

Drugs are a fact of life, a miserable one at that, but it happens the world over. For the most part our island is a wonderful place for divers and snorkelers to come and enjoy their sport. As in any large city anywhere in the world - you don't go into areas you are not familiar with, you don't deal in the purchase of drugs unless you want to take the chance on getting caught and or get into a situation that would be life-threatening. The resorts here are distanced from the drugs and safe places to enjoy one's vacation.

I wholeheartedly agree that drugs on the island, i.e., it being a jumping off point, are a problem and I would love to see the whole enterprise shut down. But, as in Europe and the U.S. where they have every means available to them, it is still a major problem.

Life on the island is always hard and in the past it was less difficult with no drugs. Now, with this problem and the misery and pain and lawlessness drugs bring, it is making life less than idealistic.....but where can you go in the world and not have similar problems? I am not excusing the island and the people involved in this dirty business which causes nothing but pain, but I am realistic enough to know it won't go away overnight. We need help for our young people, better educational programs to keep them away from this plight and assistance for those who are hooked.

My wish would be for drugs to be banished from the island, but then again, I want long-lasting good health, a boat without mechanical failures, an electric company that can deliver 24/7 and clean water!

Lightning!

2011-08-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

The first form of entertainment we had on the island when we arrived in 1997 was a spectacular lightning show on the coast in July which we viewed from the front porch of the apartment we rented. It was better than watching fireworks!

With the advent of digital cameras my husband has been attempting to photograph lightning strikes and has had a few good photos in the past to show for his efforts. This past Friday and Saturday, however, proved to be an ideal theatre for his attempts. Both evenings we had electrical charged air with huge clouds and lots of lightning. Friday the clouds were quick thick and numerous so capturing strikes of lightning was limited. But Saturday! Well, that evening was great. Strikes could be seen at a pretty constant rate and since the cloud cover was smaller, he caught some good shots.

Reading about lightning further increases ones awareness of what is going on in the sky. There are so many different types of lightning and different situations create it. From thunderstorms to volcanoes, the sighting and photos of lightning has always been awe inspiring.

I hope you enjoy these photos.

Pitfalls of island living!

2011-08-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Living on an island without any roads is a rare experience for most of the world. It is quiet here with a lack of pollution and noise that is associated with automobiles. There are no roads to mar the scenery; unmaintained and filled with potholes. Nor does one find debris associated with these non-existent roads. No huge billboards or disfiguring signs, no old tires, no broken down cars, no “tossed out the window garbage”, just nature and its beauty.

Then there is the sea, beautiful in its various magical colors of blue and green. Wonders to explore by diving or snorkeling and the ever relaxing day of fishing. Of course the sea has it dangers and no matter how hard man tries, the sea always wins!

A young couple recently came to Guanaja from Roatan via Canada this past week on their honeymoon for relaxation and snorkeling. Unfortunately for them we were being invaded by a jelly fish not common to these waters.

The box jelly fish, or sometimes known as the sea wasp, is usually restricted to the Indo-Pacific but had suddenly appeared on the West side of the island in shallow water during the calm period just before Tropical Cyclone Harvey hit. While they are mainly found in Australia and the Mediterran, they can appear in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and in the sub tropics. Prior to this incident, I had never heard any reports of this particular jelly fish in the waters off Guanaja. It has an extremely potent venom which is contained in its tentacles which contain nematocyst (a harpoon-shaped mechanism that injects venom into the victim). They are very fast moving (can move up to 4 knots), are transparent and prey does not realize it has been stung until some time after. Once a tentacle adheres to the skin, it pumps toxin causing a stinging sensation and agonizing pain. Vinegar is generally poured over the skin and then the tentacles are removed with the aid of a towel-covered hand or a glove as direct contact with the skin can release more toxin to anyone attempting to remove the tentacle.

We met the couple when we were flying back to the island from the States last week at the airport in La Ceiba. They had booked a room at Bo's Island House and were looking forward to a week of relaxing and snorkeling. They got a lot more than they bargained for. They went snorkeling on Friday, a calm day (which is what these jellyfish love) and enountered a large group of box-like jellies swiming very quickly through the water. They never felt the initial sting and swam around for a short while in the group of jelly fish trying to get away. That evening the agonizing pain began and the blistering. No one knew just what to do because they had not seen this type of jelly fish before. So, no vinegar was poured on the stings nor were the tentacles removed! The photos below were taken on Sunday and the blistering had gone down but they were still experiencing much pain. There were more stings than those shown in the photograph and I do not envy them when they have to put clothing over the area and buckle up in an airplane pressed back into the seat for their return flight! They are returning to Roatan on Tuesday for 8 more days and they hope that by then the injuries will be healing over so that there will be less discomfort on their long flight back to Canada!

Then, we had a tropical cyclone approach the area which threatened us with high winds, rain and rough seas. This one was named Harvey and we were ready. Not that much in the way of preparations must be done for a tropical depression/cyclone/storm. A few plants may be brought in to protect them and maybe some lose furniture moved out of the way. This storm was rather gentle in that some of the “Northers” we have in the winter are far more damaging. There was not a lot of wind, enough to blow leaves off the trees and break weak or old branches, but there was little rain. There was, however, a lot of surge action in the sea. It came ashore at our house about 1 a.m. Saturday morning and we could hear the waves crashing on the beach. Previously, on Thursday while shopping for groceries on the Cay, our clear skies turned dark and for over 2-3 hours it poured on the shoppers. We registered 3” of rain at our house while parts of the island had absolutely nothing! Some of the streets were flooded as can you can see in the photograph supplied by my friend, Cathy, below. The children took advantage of the rain, making the most of the flooded streets by running through the shin-deep water!

The week was topped off by the outage of electrical power supplied by Belco, the privately owned electric company here on the island. Power will be on for 4 hours a day (sometimes a little more) with no power for the rest of the time. From all reports, they are running out of fuel. This is something that happens quite often and, so, not unusual to hear. What is beyond my comprehension is a company supplying power through the means of fuel has run out. I don't know why stocks of fuel are not cataloged so that they are aware when they are running low or why fuel is not replenished in time to avoid this, but for some reason it happens on a regular basis. This time rumors are running rampant of the company enlisting the help of an individual to bring them fuel and gave him $1.5 million to buy it and he ran off with the money, or simply they were having trouble getting fuel delivered and the boat captain of a delivery boat wants a share of the fuel for his payment and the agreement not to pay any electric bills, or, the excuse that is given most of the time; people are not paying their bills and they cannot afford to replenish fuel at critical times. Although I was assured once by one of the members of the board of Belco that this is not the case and that anyone not paying their bill has their electricity cut off. Well, we know for a fact that in certain cases that does not happen, but the owners of Belco will never admit that. For the most part, they do have trouble collecting money for the power used. The rates on Guanaja are the highest in Honduras and it is no wonder that people are having a time paying their bills. But, if one wants electric power one must then accept the rates and pay for what they use. There is no clear cut answer to why the power is being turned off, it is a fact of life here and I can only say that I am very glad that I have solar and do not have to be inconvenienced by this outage.

Then we find out that this Monday through possibly Wednesday there will be no water to certain parts of the island due to the fact that the water company is cleaning out one of the dams. We were told later that school children will be used to clean the dams during their school days! While some people see nothing wrong with this and believe it will teach the children a love for their island (???), my argument is that these children get a scant education at best and to take them from school to use them as cheap labor is unconscionable. Besides, if they want children or volunteers to clean the dam, why can't the do it on a weekend? Well, then we get into the territory of the Seventh Day Adventist Church which is the leading church on the island and work is forbidden on Saturday. One person pointed out this would be the same as a "field trip" for educational reasons! Never in my life did I go on a "field trip" to do free labor for a profit making company! We went to museums, concerts, historical places, etc. all to learn about our country and the history of the world. But, again, we live in a country where education is not a high priority and the rights of children and/or women are low on the totem pole.

I say, use the labor force that is sitting in the jail to complete these tasks, not the children of the island! There are projects for beautification of the island that are periodically done and one sees children cleaning the beaches of trash. When this is on a school day, I see no redeeming value to missing classes. If they want to organize a beautification project, then it should be done on a weekend or after school. However, my voice is small and, since I am not a citizen of this country, I have no say in how they handle their "education" or clean-up/beautification projects.

Of course, every society has their own set of rules and customs - I just think it a shame to sacrifice education in the name of custom.

And, so, island living is not for everyone!

Pets - You Gotta Love 'Em

2011-06-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

By now everyone knows that our house is run by our pets! My husband gets up in the morning to tend to their various needs; 26 lbs. of sugar a week for sugar water for the 150+ hummingbirds, 4 parrots to uncover and feed, 2 cats to feed and 4 dogs to let out and feed.

While the hummingbirds are an on-going daily routine of cleaning feeders, filling feeders, hanging feeders, refilling feeders, the cats require one meal a day and the parrots are fed twice a day with a few snacks tossed in and their cages cleaned, well, whenever Mike gets to it.

The dogs, well, they are another story. One of the dogs, CocoNut, sleeps in the house at night. The other 3 sleep on the porch and are kept within its confines by a gate. Lately, however, our oldest dog, Nod (who is 13) has been allowed to sleep in the house at night. Nod recently injured herself while we were gone to the Cay shopping for groceries. When we came home we found her laying in the backyard not willing to get up and come up onto the porch. When we checked her out, we found that she must have stumbled or somehow twisted her right front ankle as it was swollen and she could not want to walk on it. It took her several weeks to get back on her feet properly. I wrapped her ankle with an ice pack for a few days and put a bandage on it to support her weight when standing. She is better but now walks with a limp. She was never a real active dog and so she enjoys just laying around on the porch and taking little trips to the backyard to sniff around and do her duty.

Prior to this, about 6 months ago, I noticed her walking backwards in the yard. It seemed that she had lost the ability to go forward and was very confused. She would not come when called and continued walking in a confused manner. We went out and picked her up (no easy feat for she weighs 44 lbs.) and brought her in the house. She was panting and confused. She did not want to lay down and seemed determined to stand upright. Finally she just collapsed and rested. We made sure that she was comfortable and that she had water and kept an eye on her. After several hours she finally came around and seemed to be ok. We finally assumed that she had a mild stroke. She has been fine ever since until she hurt her ankle.

Lately, however, we have noticed that Nod is panting a lot. When she goes to get up she starts panting and it is a strain (because of her ankle) to walk any distance. All of our dogs get heart worm medication every month and so I felt it could not be heart worms but just could not imagine why, all of a sudden, she would start panting. I then Googled her symptom and one of the signs of a dog with an advanced case of heart worms is panting. I was stricken. How could this happen to my dog when she is receiving treatment? Then, the other day she had an accident in the house and I found worms in her stools. After writing Susan (our dog angel here on the island) and telling her I thought they were heart worms because of the panting, she reassured me that the dog probably had worms (I thought the heart worm medication would take care of most of the worms dogs can get) and we should stop by and get some medicine for her. Since Susan has just brought over the Vet from La Ceiba and a U.S. Vet, we will take her there Sunday for a check up. Susan does not think Nod has heart worms and that was a great relief for us.

Next, CocoNut, the dog we acquired 14 months ago. CocoNut was a smaller duplicate of Coco, her predecessor, who passed away in April of 2009 (see my blog of April 29, 2009). When I saw CocoNut it was on the other side of the island and she was owned by a Honduran over there. We offered to buy her and after a few months of back and forth, he finally relented to sell her to us as he could not afford to feed her. I was elated. CocoNut is quite the explorer and the wilder of the 4 dogs. She had to hunt and feed herself while younger and could not quite get the hange of sticking around our house and being content with just exploring our 3 1/2 acres. She is the Alpha female and convinces, somehow, the other two (Desi and Lucy) to go on "walk abouts" with her. They have been gone as long as 2 days. Coco use to take off too but after once being gone 3 days, she stopped the "overnighters" leaving now and then for brief excursions to who-knows-where for 2-3 hours.

Because we did not want the 3 dogs to either hurt themselves while out, get lost (yeah, right, they know where their food is), or get taken by someone else, we bought an electronic collar for CocoNut as all the training I did just did not sink into her head when it came to running off. The collar delivers a small jolt when she approaches the boundaries of her yard and I taught her where they were. Even so, when the mood takes her, she will still attempt to sneak off and did so recently with the other 2 dogs right behind her. They were gone for 14 hours. The collar does work but sometimes the battery is low and she manages to sneak off. She only wears it when she leaves the porch and when it is being charged she is allowed out without it. I keep an eye on them and a loud "NO" from me whenever any of them reach the boundaries of our property usually brings them back. I did put the collar on Desi and Lucy once and they got the idea immediately. Lucy is not much of a wanderer and if she goes off and the others are not with her, she comes back in a short time. Desi and CocoNut, either together or separate, can be gone for hours if they get away.

We had installed a gate on the porch, which CocoNut managed to jump over. My husband rigged up a barrier above it with netting and thought we had the problem solved. Well, she got through that so he put barbed wire across the base of the net and that stopped her jumping. Then she started to jump off one end of the porch - about a 10'+ leap to the ground. This was the same end of the porch where my beloved Sienna flew off to the ground and broke her neck on the rocks below. We did not want her to injure herself on the path so he strung barbed wire across the one end of the porch. Problem solved! Not - she started jumping off the other end - a shorter leap of about 4 feet. He put boards up across this opening and that stopped her from going off there. Then she went to the next opening (about 4 1/2 to 5 feet off the ground) and leaped from there. Same solution. Finally, she went to the opening at the end of the porch (a leap over some plants and of about 9 feet) so he strung barbed wire there. Fortunately for us she has not decided to leap off the front of the porch as there are many plants in front of that area and she cannot see the ground clearly enough to determine whether or not there is a safe landing.

The other two dogs; Desi (male and black) and Lucy (female and reddish brown), are bother and sister. About 3 years ago I saw them as puppies at Bo's place and fell in love with Lucy. I wanted to take her home but we already had 4 dogs and one more was out of the question. Later I found that the dogs had been born at the dump, were in terrible condition when Susan got them and nursed them back to health. She gave them to Bo but, unfortunately, Bo had two dogs and a resort to run and could not keep them. They went to a couple other places and ended up at Susan's again. It was about this same time that Coco had passed and Susan, who can be very persuasive, convinced us that we needed two more dogs! So, they have been with us ever since.

Lucy and Desi are great dogs; good looking and good learners - well, when they want to be. But they bark a lot - I mean, they don't just bark at strangers (sometimes they ignore them), but they bark at boats going by (day or night), coconuts dropping from trees (day or night), cows in the yard or next door (day or night), horses, crabs, vultures, each other, other dogs who pass by. Well, you get the picture. The barking started to become really bothersome, especially at 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning so we ordered bark collars for them! Problem solved! They bark less now and only wear the collars when they start barking late at night.

The latest activity of these 3 balls of energy is to wrestle on the porch. I am afraid they will fall off the ledge at the front where it is open and so I will put CocoNut's collar on her and let all of them tear off the porch to the backyard where they run and wrestle.

CocoNut is a sleek dog and loves to run and is the champion. Desi can keep up with her but he prefers to let her run from the back to the front, return and then chase her. Lucy just watches until she feels she can get into the game and play. They are full of spirit and a real show to watch. They sometimes decide that the cats need to be played with and have no fear of Mr. Leonard or Ivy. The cats generally just dash under the bird cage or leap onto the porch railing when the dogs decide it is play time. Most the time, however, they all get along. They ignore the parrots and hummingbirds looking for easier prey I guess. Of course they are all up to chasing iguanas which Mike is not at all happy about.

So, if things seem to get dull around her, we can just sit back and watch the dogs lip wrestle, chase each other, watch humming birds feed from our hand held cup, listen to the parrots jabber to one another or the cats doing whatever it is that cats love to do!

I have always had pets and can't imagine a home without one. I think people miss out on a lot when they don't share their love with an animal as they give so much in return for so little.

So, if you don't have a pet, consider getting one - you will get far more than you give!

Catching Up

2011-06-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while as not much was happening. Finally, I realized that the little things that have been going on have been going on long enough to write an account of the past few weeks.

First, the weather! Normally, in May/June the weather is wonderful here; soft breezes from the East and temperatures hovering at about 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the last week to week and a half we have had a depression sitting off the area which seemed to suck the air out of our area and thus resulting in little wind. While it brought some much needed rain, without this breeze it is hot and, worse yet, buggy. Generally, on this side of the island, the wind blows the bugs away and cools us. In August/September we normally have the hot days with no wind, but rarely in May/June. Anyway, it has made doing any normal activity that much more difficult. For example, I have been doing a regime of Yoga 3 times a week and last week it was down to one day as it was just to hot to move. If I would have done it more, I would have turned into a puddle of sweat and disappeared. Well, ok, not entirely but it sure felt like that.

Then we had a fire. Right now there is a forest fire raging in Arizona presenting a danger to homes and businesses. Well, last week the workers on land about 1 mile south of our place evidently were ordered to burn off the pasture land and/or surrounding areas to clear off the brush for pasture. This is not the time of year to burn as it has been very dry. We did manage to have some rain about a week ago and it helped the trees and plants. However, it was not enough to reconsider any burning at this time.

Normally, one has to apply for a permit to burn, especially this time of year. I doubt very much that a permit was applied for as usually people just don't bother. The first year we lived on the island a fire ran rampant just behind our apartment and had been started down by the fish plant by the workers burning trash. Keep in mind that most of the people here take no precautions when burning; they do not have water or implements available in case it gets out of control, walk away and leave trash fires burning unattended and once it gets out of control they panic and leave the scene! Thus, the small trash fire that was burning at that time could have been put out had people been prepared or even decided to take action. Instead it raged on and, in spite of alerting the leaders of the town in plenty of time to take action, the request for help to contain the fire was turned down with the statement that they did not have the money to fight fires! So, it burned out of control, up the mountain and across the island destroying hundreds of acres of property. It took several days, as I recall, before it burned itself out.

So, last week we were up on the back hill of our property when I noticed smoke coming from the valley and hills to the southwest of our place. This area is used for grazing the cattle and horses of the land owner. I was dismayed that anyone would be burning this time of year because it was so dry and could not image a permit being issued for such an action (which it was not). I went back to the house and about 30 minutes later I received not one but 3 calls from people stating they could see smoke from a fire on our end of the island. I walked to our dock and that's when I saw that the fire was also burning on the side of a hill close to the water's edge. I can only say that the only thing in OUR favor was that what little wind there was was blowing south and west, away from our house. We watched as a couple of boats came down to investigate the source of the fire; one staying off shore (that of the owner of the land) and another boat with the Mayor and some other men on board. The Mayor's boat landed at a nearby dock and they walked out to observe the fire. Eventually they must have determined that no lives were in danger or property since this, basically, is an uninhabited part of the island, and left the scene without taking action.

We kept watch, from a distance, on the fire throughout the early evening and the next morning it had, indeed, burned itself out probably finding little to fuel its progress. Nevertheless, it was a frightening thing to watch considering that if the wind turned we would have been in its path.

Next, our computer started giving us problems. My husband first noted it in his photo program when he was having trouble retrieving various photos. Finally, the computer locked up and shut down. We made arrangements to send it to La Ceiba to TecnoComp for an analysis of the problem. We talked to Joel over the phone, an amicable young man who has assisted us effectively in the past with our computer problems. We first thought the hard drive was corrupted and were happy to hear later from Joel that the software was the only thing affected and that he would reinstall the software and could save some of our material. Of course we had to package up the computer and put it on a plane on Thursday to La Ceiba. We were told that once it reached the airport there that usually all items in "cargo" would be taken to the main office in the Mall where people could pick up their items. Well, the computer was not taken to the main office that same day or the next and Joel was only able to pick it up the following Tuesday! This was a worry for us as the more time the item sat in the airport or the office the greater the opportunity of it getting "misplaced." As it was, it was recovered, fixed and returned to us 10 days after leaving our island. We are now busy re-entering e-mail information, putting back important documents that were saved and re-installing programs we use.

Then, we had heard news of an excel in the thievery on the island. Normally, this time of the year the fishing boats are in and are restricted from putting out to sea until the end of June or first of July. Thus, the men are not working and in the interim are without funds. So, some of the islanders start stealing. Usually their targets are small boat engines, gas tanks, batteries, copper tubing, any metal they can resell or computers, cameras, etc. they can find when breaking into a house. Unfortunately, a friend of ours who lives near Savannah Bight woke up one morning last week to find that his big 22' cabin cruiser with a 200 HP engine was missing from the marina in front of his house! They had released it from the dock and rowed it around the corner to remove the engine. He finally found it near the old resort of Posada del Sol. The thieves had removed the engine and, for all practical purposes, wrecked all the cables that were attached. The incident was reported to the police but, for the most part, not much is done here about thievery. A recent meeting had been held with the Mayor, Chief-of-Police and the locals from the Sandy Bay area about the problem wanting to know what the elected officials could do about enforcing the laws and prosecuting the thieves. Long and short of it - not much. They only hold people who are caught thieving spend only 24 hours in the jail because of some ridiculous law restricting the time they can spend in the facility. Recently a thief was have caught, released after 24 hours, assigned hours of community service (which were greatly reduced) and when picked up to serve were found stealing again! I say, leave them in jail for at least a week or during the duration they have to do community service. It costs the Municipal little to nothing as they do not feed the prisoners. If you do not have family on the outside or friends to feed you, well you are going to be very hungry. Normally, this is not a problem as everyone has someone who will bring them food. Of all the laws in Honduras that are in effect and not enforced, this seems to be the only one that is strictly adhered to! A woman was caught with stolen goods and reported not only to the Mayor but the police. She was brought in for questioning but nothing was done as she was a single Mother. Hey, almost every Mother on the island is single! So, this is not something that should enter the equation. I have not heard whether or not she was assigned hours of community service, but I rather doubt it. So, the advice most generally given is if someone is breaking into your home or stealing and threatens you, shoot to kill and hide the body!

Next, we are in the process of painting our house. It has been 13 years since the original paint was applied and it needed to be re-done. I had our worker wash the outside walls on the downstairs level and my husband has been busy scraping the loose paint around the windows on the porch. He has also had to repair the caulking around some of the posts and we will have to replace one post near the back door that is rotting out. In the photo he looks so happy doesn't he? It took more than 3 weeks to get a new post from the Mainland as the first one ordered was crooked. We finally picked it up last week. I will start cleaning the walls on the second floor next week and our worker will be painting the downstairs now that the rain has stopped.

Finally, we managed to celebrate our friend, Renate's, birthday the 1st of June. Since our porch is in a mess and I wanted to have a small birthday party for her and I suggested that we hold it at her house. I told her I would bring all the food so she would not have to prepare anything. I made an appetizer, bought champagne to toast the occasion, prepared a new chicken dish with rice and a fresh vegetable medley, a pineapple cole slaw salad and my homemade French Bread. I made passion fruit ice cream for desert and brought extra glasses for the champagne toast. Renate was so happy, especially since this was the first time she did not have to do a thing! We had wonderful weather, a good meal, great conversation and were all able to spend a pleasant day with the birthday girl! Again, Happy Birthday to a wonderful individual, Renate and many, many more!

We did have two pieces of bad news; a woman, Carmen, who purchased land many years ago on the island with her husband passed away from a lung disease in Canada and Linda Murski's step-sister succumbed to cancer in Texas. Our deepest condolences to the families.

So, for now, that's all the news. With some of the summer visitors coming back late this year to the island, there is not much going on so, unless something exciting occurs - heck, even boring, I won't be blogging for a couple more weeks. Anyway, I'll be busy painting!

Same old problems!

2011-05-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

The same old problems keep cropping up, whether it be that the cows have returned to my yard and are destroying my landscaping, disturbing my sleep, driving my dogs crazy, or the return of Ex-President Mel Zelaya. They both have about the same affect. Well, my sleep is not disturbed nor the dogs are not being driven crazy by the return of Mel, but both have the potential of destroying the landscape so to speak.

For the past several weeks our closest neighbor has allowed his cows to roam this end of the island to graze as his pastures are dry and there is not sufficient feed to sustain the animals. We have dealt with this in the past by approaching the owner and insisting they round up their animals or chasing them off ourselves. We have run barbed wire across the front of our beach to keep out his cows and horses but this is temporary as the fence posts eventually rot and the barbed wire rusts. Our property is totally fenced off except for the land facing the sea and all we ask is that the owner maintain his fence and gates so the cows will not get out. The owner is not willing to control his cows and even his workers don't bother to round up the animals. My husband had tried, on 3 separate occasions recently to speak to the man and has been rudely brushed off and ignored. We finally had to set a meeting with the judge this Monday.

These same cows have wandered over to Wilmont Bay, on the other side of this end of the island (quite a walk), and destroyed the water line over there and some solar lights. The owner was called and responded on that occasion by sending his men to retrieve his cows. This was unusual but since substantial property was being destroyed he probably thought it was best to react.

It seems the only way people confront each other about problems on this island is through a judge. No one is willing to talk face to face in a civilized manner. If they are approached, rather than calmly listening, taking in the facts and working with the individual to a satisfactory end, they become belligerent and defensive. It seems they have not learned the finer points of discussion and agreement in a "gentlemanly like fashion". The only time Hondurans will complain to others is if it is someone "beneath" them and then they bark orders. If is a third party they simply are sounding off to someone just to vent. If the person they want to approach is their equal, they will not discuss the matter nor even approach them concerning the problem. We have never seen the logic in this for surely it would save time and frustration to try and solve your problems by yourself first.

Anyway, we now have to go to the judge and try and get a solution as these cows are eating my flowers, hibiscus, clover, grass, disturbing my sleep, littering my yard with cow manure (yes, I know it is good fertilizer but my dogs also like to eat it!) and trampling and destroying my various potted plants.

The other activity that is going on in Honduras which is also upsetting is the possible return of Mel. He has managed to bully, cajole, argue his way back into the country. The present President evidentially cannot stand up to him and I believe that Mel's return signals a downward slide for the country. Riots, killing, more corruption (can it get any worse?), lawlessness and possibly a turn to communism/socialism. Ties are being sought with Chavez and the OAS which is not necessarily a good thing for this country. Groups of people who are easily bought/swayed will be out in force rioting, stealing, burning and hurting others just because they can be bought off and seem to enjoy the anonymity of being in a group where they can cover their faces and reek havoc on people. The country will be hurt financially with his return and tourism I am afraid will fall off drastically.

In general, this should not affect the islands much as all the rioting goes on mainly in the Capital. However, to fly into the country, one usually passes through San Pedro Sula. While, for the most part, it is quite safe to fly in there and tourists should not encounter problems, the U.S. Embassy, if any small outbreak happens, will discourage people from coming here. Now, people can fly direct to Roatan and over to the island on another direct flight, if there are enough people to justify the final leg of the flight. Otherwise they must fly Roatan or San Pedro to La Ceiba to Guanaja. Again, not a real problem except that you usually have to spend an extra day and overnight it in one of the cities.

So, we are facing on this island a lot of cow shit and bullshit, neither of which I am happy about.

The demise of a sailboat

2011-05-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

On Wed. evening around 6 p.m. my husband and I could barely could make out the sail of a small craft "in the vicinity" of the interior reef between our house and Southwest Cay. I had noticed the boat earlier in the afternoon anchored off the Red Cliff area which is just south of our home. This is a bad area to anchor as there are a lot of hidden boulders and small corral reefs. Evidently the Captain of the boat had decided to lift anchor late in the day and by the time they reached the area in front of our house evening was falling. It's sails were up and we could not ascertain the exact position of the boat as it was too dark.

When we arose in the morning we saw that the boat had gone aground on the reef trapped there all night. Shortly thereafter a larger boat came from Bonnaca to try and pull it off the reef. The photo above was of an attempt to haul the boat off the reef that day. After much maneuvering, tugging and pulling, the tow line snapped and this photo was taken just before that happened. Several more attempts were made during the day until, finally at about 4:30 p.m., the captain apparently decided to abandon any hope of freeing the vessel and loaded his orange dingy into a cabin cruiser; presumably with other possessions - and rode away.

Just before noon on Friday, Mike and I got in our boat when we noticed that the standing rigging was now gone so as to take photos before the rest of the boat was torn apart for scrap. Evidently the Captain did not have the funds to make any further rescue attempts at a rescue, which would have proven very costly, nor did he have insurance on the boat. He gave up and left the boat to anyone who wanted to salvage her.

My husband managed to take a couple of photos of the boat as it sat forlornly on the reef awaiting its destiny. It was already being stripped of re-usable parts and, we expect, in a very short time there will be little left to mark its passing.

I don't know who the owner is, what country the boat is registered in, how old it is, how long it had been at sea or even the name of the boat. All we know is that someone's home is gone, sitting on the reef as a temporary marker to others to be aware of the dangers when approaching an unknown island and to travel when it is light enough to see what may lie ahead.

Sad News

2011-05-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

I really hate to pass on sad news but, then, all news in the world, unfortunately, is not always bright and happy.

I was recently informed of the passing of Mr. Jim Chapman who died on Tuesday, May 10th,

in a hospital in Houston, Texas. Jim had been battling a rare form of Leukemia for several years and had just undergone his second bone marrow transplant. I do not many details except that there will be no funeral or service and his family intends to bring his ashes to Guanaja to be dispersed.

It will be hard to think of Linda and Jim as just Linda now. They had been married for many years and had one son who is to be wed this year in Australia. I am sure that everyone that knew Jim would want to send their condolences to the familym thus the reason for this blog.

I know that my heart goes out to Jim's family and the long road ahead towards healing.

On the day Jim died (from what I understand it was about noon in Texas), there appeared in the sky over Guanaja, from about noon to 2:00 p.m. a huge Sun Dog. Now, while this phenomena is not rare, it does not appear often on the island. I have only seen one other one in the 14 years I have been here and not near the size of this one. Of course, one must be looking up to know that is is occurring so, of course, it is missed quite often.

Was it coincidence that this Sun Dog appeared about the same time Jim passed on? Either way, it was a fitting tribute to a life leaving the Earth.

May Day!!

2011-05-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

May has started out well. First, on May 1st my husband and I celebrated 30 years together! Neither of us can believe we have been together that long. Time has flown by so fast and we have been lucky enough to have experienced a lot together.

To celebrate I arranged for a 7-course lunch at George & Ginger's Clearwater Paradise Resort. As usual, G&G did not let us down. The day was beautiful, the sky pristine and the water calm and blue. G&G have done a lot to the looks of their resort since our last visit; one thing being a new, beautiful stone walkway up to the house. It was beautifully done and, as I guessed, a lot of hard, back-breaking work had gone into the construction. Rocks were brought over from a hillside across the bay and had to be broken up (by hand), carted to their boat, brought over to their shore, unloaded and broken up again to fit into the crevices waiting for them. Sorry, I did not take a photo and should have. But, if you want to see it make a reservation and come on down!

We started the meal with a lovely fruit and cheese appetizer and mimosas. This was followed by homemade french bread and roasted garlic to spread on it. We next had a chilled pea soup which was absolutely wonderful and then a beautiful romaine lettuce salad with pickled beets, walnuts and a tasty dressing. The main course was fresh green beans out of their garden with a Dijon mustard sauce and slices of chicken breast rolled and filled with vegetables and popovers fresh out of the oven. The outside of the chicken was coated with coconut and the whole thing topped with a tempting raspberry sauce. This was a new specialty of George's and worth the effort he put into it. Desert was a lemon soufflĕ which was light, fluffy and the perfect ending to a wonderful meal.

Our host and hostess did everything to make our day special and we enjoyed visiting with them after the dinner was over. To top the day off, there was a spectacular sunset on the way home which my husband managed to catch on "film."

Then, this week, we were rewarded with rain! We are in the dry season and our lawn and plants were turning a dangerous shade of brown. Along came rain Monday night and lasted through Wednesday mid-morning. I had to miss my Yoga class on Wednesday as I did not want to go out in the rain and be drenched before I got there, but this was a small price to pay for the rain. Do not fear, I did my Yoga routine at home. Maybe the fact that I did my laundry Monday and left it hanging out had something to do with the rain??!

There was a surprise on our dock this month also. I may have mentioned it in a recent blog, but in case I did not, we found two baby boas at separate times out on the dock. These were not on the shore, but out on the dock on a post over the water. Each time we encountered a snake which was about 4' long and quite young. My husband, who has a knack for naming animals/pets christened the first snake "Bucky Boa". Bucky I and Bucky II were captured and taken to Manati and given to Annette to be set lose to reduce the mouse/rat population under the restaurant. However, Bucky III was found last week on the dock resting on the same piling which is partially covered by a plank. It appeared that the snake had just downed a meal and was digesting it. The photo here does not do the snake justice and its position was so that it made it difficult to photograph, but I did my best. The snake stayed on this same post, throughout the rough weather and high seas for 5 days digesting its prey.

On the sixth day it had taken its leave and was nowhere to be seen. Well, that is until this morning when we returned from the Cay after our weekly grocery shopping trip. We had some carburetor trouble coming back so, while I drove, my husband attempted to check out what was wrong. Lo and behold after completing the task he announced that he had found Bucky III - he was coiled up on our battery! The snake had to have slithered out onto the dock and across the rope tying the boat to the dock. It somehow missed the water which collects where the bilge pump is to get to the top of the battery. How it endured the boat ride to and from the Cay I do not know, but there he was all curled up. By the time we docked he had slithered to the far side of the battery and could not be seen. I guess he'll come out when he is good and ready.

In the meantime, CocoNut, our dog, stands guard on the dock waiting anxiously to greet Bucky III!

Update on Lion Fish

2011-04-06T08:54:00.001-07:00

As an update to my blog of January 4, 2010: Plans for 2010.

I direct your attention to this recent posting on the Internet: http://yalikedags.southernfriedscience.com/?p=543

You will see that divers on Roatan have trained the local sharks to feed on lionfish thus, hopefully, controlling this invasive species. It may be one solution to the problem and, hopefully, if it works there the divers of Guanaja could do the same. Of course, Roatan has a larger dive business than Guanaja and many more hotels so accomplishing this feat here would be, just that, a feat.

Guess if we can train sharks to eat something new and different, we can make Johnny eat his vegetables!

Winds of Change

2011-04-03T12:48:00.001-07:00

Retirement, as defined by the dictionary: the state of being retired; withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or from active working life; the age at which one normally retires; a place of seclusion or privacy.

Many people I know are of two different minds: they either face retirement with happy anticipation and pleasure or they dread the inevitability of ending a chosen career to which they feel irreplaceable. I chose early retirement and approached it with happiness and some trepidation in that we were pulling up stakes and moving to a totally diferent environment. We had prepared for the move by spending vacations over many years in the country we were about to relocate to and understood the benefits and pitfalls. However, there are friends of mine who honestly believe that retirement is the “end” of their life in that they will have nothing meaningful to do or accomplish. They are, in some fashion, of the opinion that they are irreplaceable. I feel sorry for people in that position as everyone is replaceable. The only job I am not replaceable in is the position I hold for myself in my life. No one will ever be like me; no one will raise children in the exact same way I did nor have the same results. No one will act, think, work or behave as I do, exactly. As to the future and my activities while retired, well, I am here to say that I love being “retired.” But it is not the easy going, laid back, uncomplicated life living on an island that people seem to assume it is. It is rewarding, but in a different fashion than that of a job done in order to accomplish someone else’s goals.

I am here to say that life does continue after retirement. There will always be trials and tribulations, changes to one’s character and thinking and, after living in a third-world country, a complete bewilderment to the actions of the people of the adopted country. I cannot change the lives of the people here, at least on a grand scale, and I can only contribute slightly to their well being and hope that they will, some day, have the wherewithal to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make a life for themselves and their fellow countrymen more productive, healthful and rewarding.

I have learned in my many years on this Earth that one should always be in a state of open-mindness and be willing to learn. I have learned, although some people cannot see it or would be hesitant to agree, to be a little more patient, relax a little more, allow people their views, no matter how ignorant they may appear to be of the facts, and to be a little more tolerable of situations around me. I have grown partly due to my past education,and also as to what I have learned since. By advancing my learning in experiencing life among those different than myself, I have become, I would hope, a better person than I was before I retired.

I am a restless person, always on the go, always with a goal in mind. I was brought up with a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility. Taking a break was not in my makeup. It was drilled into me that one must always be doing something whether it be work, a hobby or organizing; sitting, doing nothing was not tolerated well in my family. As everyone knows, I have a hard time sitting still and even at a dinner table (at least in my home), I’m always jumping up tending to things. While living on Guanaja I have learned to relax a little more, even to the point that I have taken a few naps!!! Life is slower here and, while being a little less stressful, there generally is no need to rush. At least the people of Honduras have a good thing going with this theory in mind. The mañana theory is a good one to inject into one’s daily life. Of course, in general, I feel that the people here take it to an extreme. But it does work and, in spite of the few frustrating moments one encounters, for the most part it is a more relaxed and healthy way to live.

Fortunately, as the saying goes, with age comes wisdom. I’m not a genius by any standard, but I have increased my knowledge considerably over the years and am now benefiting from my past learning. I have learned much from my foreign friends, had the opportunity to visit Europe and gain even more insight, and have managed to take on at least one language (other than English) with some success and know words in a second foreign language.

As an example, I learned to crochet when I was 20 years old. I was taught by a fellow worker, Marilyn Rosenquist. At the time it was just one person telling another what to do and explaining instructions and various stitches. I never questioned the why or wherefore of what I was doing; I simply accepted her direction and over time learned the basics. From there I branched on, training myself and, fortunately, having people to ask questions of when I had a problem. I did, indeed, learn from my mistakes. It was not until later in life that I finally learned why certain steps were being taken, how to branch out; how to change a pattern and to read patterns in different forms. I have a wonderful friend who has allowed me to teach her the art. However, she has a more analytical mind than I and questions each and every step in order to make it clear in her mind. While that works for her, and I compliment her on her inquisitiveness, I had found that, for me, it was easier to take directions without questioning, learning each step slowly and methodically which later gave me more awareness to what I was doing and, I feel more important, learning from my mistakes. But, each person has their own way and I’m just glad that I am at a level of ability which allows me the insight to manage any problems for I have reached no one to turn to here on the island when I have encounter a problem. I now know the stitches, can follow directions and have the capability of questioning instructions and changing them if necessary. This method has followed me in my every day activities and I am more comfortable with tasks ahead of me and less prone to failure - or, making huge mistakes. Do not think I do not make mistakes - I still make many, but not as drastic as in the past and I am more comfortable with what I do so that I can correct a situation with some degree of ease. I still get frustrated by my mistakes but am more willing to correct them with far more patience.

The other thing I have worked on, and am becoming more successful at, is patience! I have learned not to engage people who are ignorant of facts at hand and who refuse to take any documented fact into their consideration in order to base an opinion. It is useless to debate with people like that. I have also become more tolerant of people and their religion and beliefs. It is useless to discuss the apparent inconsistencies of religion with people who are strong in their faith to the ultimate position that they are unswerving in their beliefs. While I can admire them in some context, I find it foolish in other ways. For example, years ago, on the island, I heard one individual tell another that soon there would be no room in heaven as it was filling up fast. Now, how they could have reached that conclusion without actually visiting the place they were referring to was beyond me. I knew at the time it was not something I should put to them in the form of a question and, so, left them to their strange assumption. I stay away from politics as most people are, in general, firmly grounded in the politics they chose. I am a middle man; I will listen to intelligent and factual information brought before me and then make my decision after some research. My husband and I fortunately, for the most part, are of the same mind (except when it comes to guns and war) and can discuss the pros and cons of a subject and we can enlighten one another.

I have also expanded my patience and calmness by recently taking up Yoga. As I said, I am not a person who is prone to relaxing and, at times, it is very difficult for me. However, in Yoga one must focus on the exercises at hand and maintain a state of calm, otherwise you defeat the purpose. I have managed, in my one hour, three times a week, to calm my body, relax and breathe and be absorbed (to some degree) in what I am doing. It is not easy and I am still actively working on the premise of this art. It has been beneficial and I thoroughly enjoy the routine of Yoga, the strengthening of my mind and inner core and the calm that comes with the relaxation and breathing. Yoga has also taught me not to expect instant results and to take things slowly as constant practice and paticence will improve one’s technique.

I truly believe that retirement brought about most of the benefits I have spoken of. For me, living on the island has been one way to make the changes I have experienced. Someone recently asked one of my friends here why they chose to live on this island. He replied, “Look around you!.” That said it all. As he pointed out, one can hear the bees humming in the morning when you awake, the air is clean, the life is laid back, and nature is here to embrace you. While this is not the perfect place to live for everyone and can be frustrating at times, it is a beautiful, calm, inspiring place to end one’s life in. I hope that with good health and a sound body, my husband and I will be able to live out our lives here in the relative peace. If one or both of us should have to leave the island to return to the States to live, at least we will have experienced the beauty of a meaningful life.

Falling Behind

2011-03-30T10:00:00.001-07:00

Even on an island where everyone thinks we lay in a hammock all day and sip the "beverage of choice" we have, like people everywhere, duties and tasks which are done on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis.

I'm afraid that my trip to the States threw me off and I have had quite a time getting back into "sink" so to speak. I have yet to do my spring cleaning, I need to get out in the yard and pay more attention to the plants now that we have entered the dry season, I should gather up my recipes that have been waiting to be typed into the computer and complete that task, then update all my documents of importance on the computer, work on the quilt I started almost 2 years ago, burn some CD's that I have put off, and, in general, just get my butt in gear.

Alas, I have not been motivated! Yes, I have to be in the mood to do a thorough house cleaning which means rearranging book shelves, cleaning out and rearranging the closet, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, defrosting the refrigerator/freezer and the solar freezer in the bodega, putting up the winter bedding, washing rugs, moping floors, dusting, etc.

Instead I have managed to complete my Income Tax Form (only because we have a refund coming), update my movie lists to include the new movies I brought back with me, and I am in the process of updating computer information file. And, of course I have photos to go through and identify and a blog to keep up-to-date, to mention a few.

Instead ---

I am spending a lot of time crocheting baby things for the new grandchild due in July to Claus and Annette. I have really had fun crocheting baby things. I have managed to make a hooded baby towel, a bib, a baby cocoon (a bag-blanket to put the baby in), booties, a cap, a jacket, a "onsie" outfit and am working on some little crocheted sandals. I took time out to make a wedding purse for my Grandson's bride-to-be, Brandi, for their wedding next spring. I made a long vest for Annette's birthday which can be worn over her dress to perk it up. I made aafghan for my youngest Grandson while in the States during the final days of the trip and managed to complete it in record time so as to mail it to him before I left. I made and sent to my son's girlfriend a Poncho and a neck scarf for both of them for use in the cooler weather. And then, I just finished a pair of slippers for my girlfriend in Florida!

I have also been busy in the kitchen making new creations from a new cookbook; one of my favorite things to do. I found a delicious and quick sandwich recipe: Chicken Alfredo Stromboli. It was a hit and a "keeper." I have put off making ice cream and have to try out my new ice cream machine and I must thaw a turkey so as to enjoy meals from that (turkey is one of my favorite meats).

I have been busy helping out at Manati Restaurant for a large birthday last week and the week before a group of 15 people booked them for a lunch. Since normally only Claus and Annette are managing/working the restaurant/bar and the fact that help is hard to get on a part-time basis, I volunteered my services to help out.

Of course now that I've started Yoga that takes up my morning hours 3 days a week. At first I had to travel half way down the island to get to class by 8 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Our instructor left for business and will return so now I at least do not have to make the boat trip. I do set aside an hour in the morning on those three days to keep up with the exercises. After all, the instructor will return and will be able to tell who has not been doing their exercises!

We have to go to the Coast next month to renew our residency cards which come due the week of Easter. Because of that timing, we will go before as traveling in this country is a disaster the week of Semana Santa! So travel arrangements have to be made.

My orchids are in bloom and I read that if one cuts them back after the first blooming there might be a second blooming. Since the orchids are early this year I'm going to give it a try. The problem being that they don't say how far to cut the long stem back!

Then, our two boats have encountered mechanical problems at the same time so I have to assist my husband with various "gopher" tasks!

So, this Spring is full of tasks and I am going to have to get in gear and have a talk with myself in order to get on the stick..... or, gee, I just found a really good book and then there is that cute baby blanket to make and oh, that chicken recipe seems divine..........