Month: July 2014

07/29/2014 I was beginning to feel like I was back in the Pacific Northwest with all the rain; however the crazy thunder boomers and constant lightning made sure I knew where I was. I was/am on a small speck of land in the Caribbean Sea, in a concrete and METAL home. We’re just one big lightning rod. Now that I know this, I won’t rest until we do something about it. We had storms in Pennsylvania all summer long but it was a rarity to have a good thunderstorm in WA. This past week I don’t think we had one night that we didn’t get up to the sounds of rumblings and booms and cracks coming from the sky. We had to bring the dogs inside it was so bad. Dooce was a shivering drooling puddle of fur. I put her Thundershirt on her during one bad storm and just left it on her but Bill takes it off because he thinks it upsets her. So I guess she just shivers and drools and pants without it. The other night we had some serious booms where the noise and the flash were mere seconds apart. A little too close for comfort! Today, Tuesday is a nice overcast day, pretty muggy outside.

The kitchen island is done, well, the counter top is. Bill is working on the cupboards and the back of the island. We ran errands yesterday looking for a new mattress and some door handles for the kitchen. I need 15 and I saw 1, one handle, uno, ein. ONE that I liked. Ace hardware has a huge display but they have only a few of each. They are the most poorly stocked store I have ever been in. Amazon here I come. It’s the little things. We also can’t find the small yellow fluorescent bulbs that fit in our porch lights. Until we do we can’t put the covers on them. Yes, it’s frustrating but it’s not a deal breaker by any means!

 

On Saturday we were invited to our friends house to hang out in the pool for the afternoon. It was a gorgeous sunny day, not a rain cloud to be seen. Trish and Dave live down in Sandy Bay way up on a hill. Needless to say they have amazing views!

I haven’t been driving my car very much lately. It makes me nervous that the CHECK light is still on. The last time I drove it there was a noise coming from the front wheel but I knew what it was so I kept driving. Sure enough, the underside of the car was dragging on the ground. Bill has since fixed that but the CHECK light is still on. Scarlett is such a tramp.

The other morning I saw some bugs on the screen and went to check them out. I realized they were inside and one was H U G E and scary looking.

This is a stock photo from the web, these people obviously know how to pose the Beetles for photos..something I have no intention of mastering.

So now you know about Rhinoceros Beetles.

Last night I felt like making chicken with pot pie noodles. Of course, I didn’t have all the ingredients and of course it was 5:30 when I considered making it. Bill went to the store to get what we needed because he obviously was hungry.  I’ll eat a bag of popcorn for dinner and call it good. I’m totally happy with that, I don’t need much more. Him, he likes food. So I made the dough, rolled it out, cut the noodles and made dinner. I think it was 7 PM when we finally ate.

It was pretty good and just what we needed on a blustery, cool (83) Monday!

I’ve wanted a shelf unit for the living room so I would have somewhere to put my little amount of stuff. I saw one at a store that I really liked but Bill didn’t, he thought it was overpriced for the quality of it. I decided to give up on that piece, despite the fact I have looked at it at least 4 times. Sunday we went to the grocery store but before that we stopped at Lady Lee’s looking at mattresses. While there I saw a funky corner shelf. Bill looked at it and liked the way it was made, it was really heavy and unusual. Although it doesn’t have all the space I need, at least my things are out and not in a box..

Bill is working on the kitchen cupboards right now and I am trying to hammer out this blog before Jurgen starts bugging me..I’m not doing too well, it’s 1 PM, been at it since 8 ish.

Tomorrow we are taking our friends dog to the vet. They are in Long Island for the summer, the dogs are looked after by their watchie but he doesn’t have transportation. Later on in the day I am meeting my friend at the new police station in Oak Ridge. She is meeting with the police chief about a kids program so I am going to tag along and hopefully get involved.

This coming Sunday we are headed to West Bay Beach to meet our friends Trish and Dave and spend the day in the water. It’s a much needed beach day for me and the last we’ll see them until they return @ Christmas..

Speaking of Christmas, I saw these online and think they are fabulous

I am outta here, we just got company so it’s a good reason to post this and be done with it.

 

 

07/21/2014 I forget last week. It’s like I blinked and it was over. I don’t think anything memorable happened, nor did we do anything memorable. Meet Mr. and Mrs. Boring. Actually, Bill worked on the kitchen every day last week and it’s getting there. I now have drawers, no drawer fronts yet, but soon.

The boy dogs have been barking relentlessly at the vultures, again. They also do this very annoying loud yap whine bark gig when we come home or someone comes. I’m tired of the routine. I was yelling at them constantly, NO. NO. NO. STOP BARKING!! NO. NO. It didn’t work and I was sick of yelling. I got so mad at Highway when he was down in the yard barking because there was a vulture or two in the trees I picked up their bowl of water and threw it on him. He stopped immediately. Next time he barked at the birds I did it again. He stopped. I threw water on the 2 boy dogs about 4 or 5 times. Now they rarely bark at the birds. I don’t yell if they bark when there is someone coming; however I do not allow them to go berserk when someone comes or when Bill comes home. It is overboard and so not necessary. Highway starts and nips at Lucky who reluctantly chimes in and yaps. Luck has a real high pitched snappy bark, Highways is deep and gruff and Dooce, she just makes a grunt bark noise once or twice for effect.

On Wednesday evening a taxi came up our drive with the music blasting. I stood at the window, hands on my hips, waiting to see who and why this car was here. It turned around, backed up towards the house and turned the lights off. I was getting pissed; until I recognized Miguel and Rambo. They stopped by to say hello on their way to party in French Harbor. It was nice to see them, it’s been quiet here without workers on the premises.

Over the weekend I tore into some storage boxes and emptied and tried to find a place for stuff. Oh the things I found!! Aside from the lizards that are on the wall, another thing that reminds me of WA. is my Phinney pottery. These are my favorite pieces and the only pottery that made the trip to Roatan! The pieces were gifts when I left Williamsport in 1995 and moved to Washington.

I love this pottery, it makes me think of Cathy (O) Hurvitz and Kelly McGarvey. Love those girls.

I started cleaning out the kitchen downstairs, getting the pans and dishes out that will be for downstairs and moving more stuff upstairs, even though I don’t have room for it. What I need to do soon is move ALL of the remaining storage tubs into one room and do a final repack and list of everything. Despite the fact this is about the 8th time I’ve redone the tubs and made new spreadsheets, it still is a huge time saver. Considering there were 28 boxes and 26 tubs and I’m down to 10 tubs and 4 of those are full of scrap booking stuff, 3 are kitchen things and two are Christmas. Not bad. I’ve graduated from a junk drawer in WA. to a junk storage tub.

On Saturday afternoon we worked really hard in the house. The sweat was cascading down my chest like a river, I could feel grit on my moist back. I felt like a crustacean, so we made drinks and headed down to John’s pool with rafts. We thought maybe John was sleeping so we were quiet, he wasn’t sleeping though and came out and chatted with us for awhile. He wishes we would use the pool more and I’m going to try to. It instantly lowers my body temperature. So nice..and his view is great and the foliage is just lovely around his pool. He sure does have a nice spot. Come September this neighborhood will get a lot more interesting..

Bill gave Dooce a bath on Saturday, man, did she ever stink! Now she smells nice and clean and I’m sure it will last for all of 5 days. She doesn’t seem to mind the bath, at least she doesn’t try to get away.

I am still walking the dogs every morning. They are so funny they know my routine. They wait until I’ve eaten my breakfast then they sit at the door watching for me to pick up my sunglasses. Once they are in my hand, all 3 tear down to the back door. I hook the boys on leashes and Dooce is on the loose and we are off. First stop, my car tire. It has so much dog urine on it that it could win a contest. If there ever were a contest for most dog urine on a tire. Then it’s over to the electric meter. That’s right take a leak on the high energy costs we all endure on this island. (approx. $.50/KW including fuel adjustment) Then Dooce is down by John’s turn-around chasing all the lizards onto the other side of the fence. She trots down the driveway, sneering at the boys because she is loose and they are in my care. Or am I in theirs. The whole trip, coming and going, I am trying to remain untangled and upright.I keep  H and L separate, I have a leash in each hand, then they come up behind me on opposite sides of my body, quick, uncross leashes. Then H cuts in front and goes behind me, quick, spin around, keeping L untangled. Many times I trip on the sole of my Havaianas, it gets bent underneath from all the frolicking and cavorting I end up doing. I know I have to be careful with the boys because I don’t need to trip and fall on the drive, ours is so steep I’ll roll down to the main road. Hopefully that will not happen. I’ve thought about walking them bare footed but there are so many ants on the driveway and I do not want to step in fire ants, so flip flops it is..

Bill had part of a tooth break off the other day. He made an appointment for yesterday afternoon, figuring he would need a crown. The dentist went to school in the states and practiced there for 10 years before coming to Roatan. He has a very good reputation on the island. Bill went in yesterday and came home with only a temporary crown. The dentist said if it’s not hurting lets do a crown. Since it takes some time to get the final crown they would have that much time to determine what he really needs. After Bill told me all of this he said he had to go back today @ 8:30. I asked what for. He said to fix the air compressor at the dentist office. Obviously the dentist mentioned he was having trouble with it and Mr. Fixit said he could take care of it for him.

Bill just put the third coat of stain on the counter tops. If that makes it a color we like we’ll go ahead and seal it and be done with the counter tops!!

Currently I am baking a recipe I found on Pinterest and modifying it my way. The first attempt at the brownie cups did not turn out well. Attempt #2 is in the oven. If I can get it to work I’ll post pics. Guaranteed to NOT be fat free..

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a crazy work filled week. We are really wrapping up around here. Not that we are “done” because I don’t think that will ever apply, we are almost fully functioning

The eating part of the island is done, concrete wise, now it needs stained. The sink is working and I finally have, TA  DA!! A garbage disposal! (happy happy girl) And I already ground up the handle on a fork. YAY for me, another piece of cutlery that has the distinctive marks of the garbage disposal blade on it! If I keep it up they will all match!

I won’t even list the little things we have to do because there are a lot. Yesterday, Monday the 14th is the first work day (non holiday) that we haven’t had workers since November. That’s a long time. Since March when we moved in downstairs the guys were here at our house every day at 7. Now they’re not and that means I don’t have to put on a bra right away and not wearing a bra is heaven to me! It also means I don’t have to get dressed as soon as I get up, I can spend the whole day in whatever garment I slept in the night before. It’s nice and it’s been a long time, little things!

On Thursday I was running errands w/ Miguel, one of our workers. We were in Ace Hardware 2 times in 15 minutes, I am in there a lot. Walking into the store they have some funky shit sitting there, yard fountain, plastic dogs for your yard, etc. When Miguel and I were walking out the other day some guy threw himself on the floor, grabbed a plastic dog and pretended it was biting him in the neck. It was hysterical, I was almost crying!! Reminded me of my friend Kevin.

Friday was a no good very bad day. I woke at 3:59 dreaming that the army/cleaner ants were on me and not the walls. Then realized it was raining so I brought the dogs in and took them downstairs. Then I had a hard time going back to sleep. Fun.

I got up at 6:30, the guys came and started work and the power went out. Then it came on. Then it went out. No Internet and the data on my phone is expired. I had to renew it today. {I have to go in to the store and renew because they only sell monthly plans if you don’t buy a phone. Pain.} I left early because I once again had no gas. It’s an aversion of mine to have to stop for gas, just as is stopping to pee. Forget it. I’ll explode first. Soon after I left the house a light came on my dash that said “CHECK.” Check what? The seatbelt? The tires? The fluids? WHAT DO I NEED TO CHECK, TELL ME DAMMIT. I called Bill and he said go to Nelson and have him look at it. I stopped to get gas on the way and because the power on the island went off and on and off their pumps didn’t work. There is only one more gas station that is close enough before I run out. If they don’t have gas I’m screwed. I stopped at Nelson’s, still out of gas with the light on that says check. Nelson said he would check it for me. He spent about 15 minutes, checked belts and fluids and it was all good. He said that maybe the light shorted on. Great. He did tell me the one on the other side meant I needed gas. Uhhh. D U H. Off to get gas. The next station had working pumps.

I had an appointment with a gal to do our US taxes (we filed an extension) at 10. I get there and she said she sent me an email that she couldn’t meet me today and that she had to leave. I never got her message, no internet. THEN she says she doesn’t do US taxes, which is specifically what I told her we needed. So, it really didn’t matter if she was leaving or not, she can’t do our taxes. I still need to find someone to do them, or it will be us. So I left there at ten but had an apt in the same mall to get my hair chopped at 11:30. I decided to go to the chamber at AKR to see if Dr Raphael was in, hoping he would cut open my ankle and get this damn frigging alien out. Yes, my ankle is bad again. It’s still the case of the stitch from surgery on 3/31/13 that never dissolved and is infected. It has been cut open 3 times, I’ve been on enough antibiotics to give all of the women in First Bight a damn good yeast infection. I must have a resistance to the benefits and side effects of the drugs. My ankle? It’s still bugging me. A lot.

I digress, Dr Raphael was not in.

So I called my hair gal to see if she could take me early. She was booked so I said oh well, I’ll see you at 11:30. She said, you have an apt?? I said yep, wondering, why did she ask me that? So I had time to kill, 70 minutes. I drove into Coxen Hole to the electrical supply store. I walked in the door and heard Tanya say good morning Miss Debra. I went over and told her I was there to get the twenty receptacle covers she was getting for me. She was still short eight. Really? An electrical supply store, no receptacle covers? I bought a ceiling light and twelve covers and drove back to get my hair cut. I got to the salon a few minutes early but went in thinking I would look at magazines. I got in and sat down and she said my apt. was at 10:30, I said no 11:30. I was scheduled to have a tax apt. at 10 and figured at least an hour for that. 11:30. She was very nice it was her fault, and then she cut my hair off. Six inches. I love it! And because she felt bad for the confusion she gave me enough for 2 Keratin treatments for my hair. OH BUT WAIT. When I got to the salon there was a guy getting color. I didn’t really think anything about it until I had to switch chairs with him. They took the towel off his shoulders and he was shirtless. As in, no shirt at all. WTH? Really? YCMTSU.

I headed to Tigo, recharged my phone, had them put the voice mail in English and turn off all the ridiculous text messages they send every 11.5 minutes. Voicemail OK, text messages, NOT. Still getting 20 a freaking day!!

I was finally headed home! Today was also a no good very sad day.We said good bye to our remaining crew of 2. They will be back in a month to finish some things. They knew we were coming to the end of work for them soon and they have an opportunity to work for a month for Miguel’s Uncle who will only be here 30 days (he lives in Miami) building his house. That’s all the longer the guys will be gone for. It’s going to be so weird not having Miguel and Rambo (Miguel #2) here at 7 AM every morning. I felt like my kids were leaving home again. Then I thought, wait a minute, I’ve been there, done that with Chance and Trace. Not again. We really do like these guys. Bill took them to Eldon’s for lunch and they each got 4 servings. They all came back to the house and ate and Bill said they ate it all. I made them a peanut butter pie with crushed candy bars on top. When I got home just after lunch all 3 were on the porch BLOACHING OUT. Thank you Lee L Cohen for that term. Miguel said Mr. Bill fed them too much food, they couldn’t move. When they left tonight I hugged both of them, with tears in my eyes. Bill and I are so lucky to have met these guys and have them in our lives. We’ll stay friends, I’m sure. It was sad saying good bye, although they’re not far away, they won’t be here everyday like they have been for 8 months..The one guy, Miguel (Rambo) never missed a day of work. That’s pretty impressive for a young island guy with no transportation. The other Miguel, Malaria Miguel. He may very well have had malaria, our other workers wife has it too. He had some issues going on at home and he was allowing it to affect his job. Bill talked to him very calmly and told him how it made him look and how it made us feel when he blew us off. Miguel said it wouldn’t happen again, it hasn’t. We want him to do the right things in his life, not for our benefit, but for his.  There really are some guys who want to learn and want to work and we have two of them. So lucky.

Saturday I putzed around here in the morning then at 3 I picked my friend Trish up (who is from Toronto) at the airport and gave her a ride to their home in Sandy Bay. After I dropped her off I stopped and got some wine and some Fresca for our adventure on Sunday.

Saturday night we had a craaaazzyy loud and close electrical storm. No rain, just thunder and lightning. I actually could feel the electricity and hear it crackle. It was so fierce that I took all 3 dogs downstairs for the night. Dooce was panicked and she even had on her Thundershirt. I woke up several times that night, closed some windows, checked on the dogs, kind of a fitful nights sleep. When we got up on Sunday it was pouring. Fantastic, a filled cistern!! I was hoping the rain wouldn’t dampen our plans for the day. Cleo and Craig were coming out at 10:30 and we were going to Jeanie and Roger’s home in Camp Bay. We decided to go no matter what, it’s an adventure. We were out of here before 11 and off to the other end of the island. We got to their place with no problems. Oh my, what a home they have. The views are breathtaking and best of all, you can HEAR the waves crashing on the shore. Magnificent. What a piece of paradise, I love their home, it’s so perfect!! We hung out there for a bit and then went to Camp Bay Adventure Lodge for lunch. The food was OK but they were out of everything, no lettuce, nothing but fish and chicken fingers and fries. NO BEER. Seriously, how do you run out of beer?? It’s pretty obvious to me that they really don’t care because if they did, they would have been more stocked. They even knew we were coming!

 

After there we went to La Sirena for a rum punch. Back in July of  2012, Bill, Olivia and Teri and I went to La Sirena and I took a photo of Bill holding a cute little puppy. After we got Highway and saw that photo again we were surprised how much they looked alike. Well, this year the same dog was there, full grown. He’s bigger than Highway now.

After planking La Sirena and having too many rum punches we went back to Roger and Jeanies home, got our coolers and headed back to our house. It rained when we were leaving La Sirena and pretty much kept on raining until after we were home for about an hour.

We put the dogs downstairs again last night because of the weather which means Emmy can’t get at her litter box. I figured that wasn’t a big deal, or so I thought. At 4 AM she woke me up meowing. She never meows, she only hisses and bites. I thought maybe she had to go to the bathroom so I chased the damn cat around the house until I caught her and took her downstairs. I was greeted at the door by the boy dogs who thought it was time to get up. No way boys..back to bed for me, except I was wide awake. I was cold, it got down to 75 last night. Bill slept with a shirt on and the blanket up and I wore socks. 75 degrees and we were cold.

Those of you who have been reading my blog know how much I hate Google Blogger. I decided to try another blog program, this is my first attempt. It seems much more user friendly except I can’t figure out how to make the text larger. If it’s too small when you are reading it just hit the control and the plus key at the same time until it’s big enough.

 

I’ll end with a favorite new video. It’s the song Chandelier by Sia, the young girl dancing is Maddie Ziegler of Dance Moms. It’s fantastic, click HERE.