April 2015 – Mermaid on a Raft

Twenty eight little paws

04/23/2015 What a week it’s been. I have not had a full nights sleep since the ~~dwarfs~~ puppies were born. The first night Frito woke me several times to go potty. At that time we had her and the pups downstairs. I thought being away from the other 3 barkers would be better for the first few days. After running up and down the stairs hundreds of times a day my knee begged us to move her upstairs. OMG, so much easier. While they were downstairs I had to follow her down, take her out the front door and wait until she went to the potty. Then, back to bed for both of us. Me? Once I’m awake I don’t go back to sleep very easily, it’s the curse of an overactive mind. I spent the last week functioning on a few hours sleep and several hours long naps during the day. Sometimes only 2 hours after I first woke up I found myself back in bed. Having 7 puppies is not easy.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Frito, after the 7 dwarfs were born. Nice and slim with boobs that are saggier than mine!!!

Now that Frito is upstairs with the kids we are wondering if we are going to have problems in a week. When these 28 feet decide they are hungry, all HELL breaks loose. They are so loud, screaming and crying and making all these weirdly amazing noises, a few of them can already crawl out of the bottom of the dog crate they are in. They are now blocked in by cardboard and clamps. Bill will soon need to build a structure to contain them.

We were afraid Frito had mastitis, a common problem among nursing females, human or dog. It’s an infection in the milk ducts so we put her on Amoxicillin, a very low dose so it won’t affect the pups. I was also doing warm compresses and wrapping the swollen teats in soft red cabbage leaves. YES, I was doing that. If she had it, and I don’t know for sure (I am a hypochondriac animal owner) that she did, she is now fine. Saggy teats and all. I’m so freaking happy I don’t have 8 boobs. OMG, I would cut them off.

Aside from the puppy incident we have been busy with friends coming by. Sam and Chelsie were here for dinner the day Frito gave birth. These two are really special to me, just love them. On Saturday evening Brian and Addy from Canada came for dinner. We met them doing Because We Care with Nidia @ Camp Bay. We have worked together several days doing TOMS shoes too. On Saturday night after they left Bill didn’t feel good and he went to bed. He felt awful most of the morning on Sunday, causing me to cancel our plans for Sunday company. He was feeling better late on Sunday so we rescheduled our company to Monday. Lynda and Dave came on Monday but the dinner we served was blah., less than stellar, blech. It wasn’t good. Need a pizza dinner do over.

I am trying to get the downstairs cleaned up before my friend K.P. comes from Sydney Australia on Sunday. I keep thinking that being here won’t be any different for her than Australia, I mean, they’re both islands, right?? Totally forgetting the fact that Sydney is a hugely modernized developed city in a very large educated prosperous country. So unlike Roatan.. We are going to do desk delivery on Monday to Pandy Town and also school supplies to Pandy Town and to Calabash Bight. Bill and K.P. and I will deliver the school supplies and desk and whiteboard (and cupcakes) and new TOMS shoes for the kinder down in the valley near us. I recently was given a lot of brand new school books, math, science, health, workbooks, reading books, teacher manuals, all in English. Nidia and I are deciding which school will benefit the most having these books.

We were supposed to go to friends for dinner tonight but Frito has been weird all day, kind of freaking me out. She keeps taking one pup and trying to carry him downstairs. The problem is, he’s too fat for her to get him in her mouth. She seems very panicky about him and has tried numerous times. I even carried him downstairs and she once again tried to get him in her mouth. She seems distraught and has been under all 3 beds at one point or another today. I don’t know if it’s because Alexi is here helping Bill or not but she is not the same dog she was yesterday. Maybe it’s hormonal. So, we are staying home to keep an eye on the family and they are happy to reschedule too because they have workers there and don’t know when they will be done. It all works out just fine.

Last Sunday we took Highway and Lola to the lagoon for a swim. Highway starts whining as soon as we turn off the main road and head to Parrot Tree, he knows where he is. Lola doesn’t like the water. This has not changed. She hates it!!

Bill got one of the upper cupboards done and hung, still a few more to do. I didn’t want doors, I like the simplicity of not having to open them. Sheer laziness? Maybe. Who cares?

I apologize that this post is centered on puppies but that has been my life for the past 10 days. Next weekends’ post should be more exciting because I’m sure KP and I will be on the move once again.

I have a few more things to do before I can call it a day, I pick KP up tomorrow @ noon and plan to pick up school supplies before I get her. This saves me a trip in to Sandy Bay on Monday to get the school stuff we’ll deliver out here on the east end. I hope the weekend is good to all of you. I’ll be back next weekend when I recover from another week of puppies and fun!

A little soundtrack for you, this is what our days sound like.

https://youtu.be/zW2pQP3jF4I

Frito Bean and the 7 dwarfs

04/15/2015 It’s been HOT HOT HOT in the tropics. Boob melting sweatiness. I mean, mine feel like they’re melting off but every time I look, they’re still there. Sunday morning I baked for several hours, making coconut macaroons for a dinner party on Sunday at Chuck and Nancy’s. I think I even sat in the sun for awhile that afternoon. I know I was being ultra lazy because when Bill told me it was 3:30 I freaked. I still hadn’t showered or anything. and we had to be there by 4. It was a fabulous evening, getting to meet Lynda and Dave and spend time with Chuck and Nancy and Annie and Charlie. Nancy made a wonderful meal for all of us, as usual. We didn’t stay very late, we had 4 hungry dogs at home.

I absolutely did nothing except some sweeping and cleaned up the kitchen on Monday. It was nice to not leave the house, makes up for all the days that I run all day long. On Tuesday morning Marilyn came to my house @ 8 Am and we were off to Sandy Bay to pick up more shoes. Sarah, who also lives here, Addy and Brian and Charlene and Nancy (all from Canada) were helping for the day too. We loaded up a truck and my car and went to a big school in downtown Coxen Hole called Juan Brooks. There were over 1000 kids there to be fitted. Then Natalie, a director, Marilyn, Sarah and I went to a kinder in Spanish Town to fit the kids. I was fitting that morning so I didn’t have time to take many photos but I did manage to snag a few hugs!

11161346_10205700414645712_4751832435179766525_n — This is my beautiful friend Sarah. She snapped this fabulous selfie with a gorgeous little girl at the kindergarten in Spanishtown.

Sarah lives here on Roatan and is from the Pacific Northwest, Oregon to be exact. She too writes for Women Who Live on Rocks and has her own blog at BellaGypsySol. Check out Sarah’s blog while you’re at it. Sarah is a diver and she recently posted a photo of her wearing a BangWrangler and I had to have one. It’s a wide elastic band that doesn’t slip and holds your hair back out of your face.

Sarah brought one for me on Tuesday and she happened to have an extra, which Marilyn snagged. I love my BangWrangler. I just want to keep saying Bang Wrangler over and over again. Thanks Sarah, you and my new Bang Wrangler rock!!

When we were done there we headed back to Coxen Hole and Juan Brooks school to help the other volunteers fit the 1000 kids who go there. It was a steaming HOT day, we were on the open stage, no air moving at all. At one point Addy had her cold bottle of water stuffed in the front of her shirt.

It was a long hard day but over 1000 children got new shoes. I got home around 4 PM and was ready to crash right then and there. Thankfully I thought ahead ( a very rare occurrence when it comes to meals) and dinner was a no-brainer.

Shortly after we got Frito home from her amputation we were feeding her several meals a day because she had been so malnourished. You all know our dogs eat like royalty, minus the 11 piece place settings, real china, crystal and fine linen napkins. Frito started gaining weight F A S T. We assumed it was because she was finally eating regular meals. When we took her to the vet to get her stitches out we said, she’s preggo. He said, no, she’s “gordo.” FAT. So we cut back a little on her food but she still continued to expand. We had Weight Watchers on speed dial. HMMM. Now, I have had dogs all of my life, always. I’ve never had a pregnant one though, mine were always spayed. This was uncharted territory for us. AND, the vet said, No preggo, GORDO. So we continued to feed her 1 small and 1 large nutritious meal a day. Soon it looked like she swallowed an eggplant WHOLE.

About a week ago we determined she was pregnant, not fat. We could feel and SEE the puppies moving around in her belly. I was convinced there were only 2.

On Wednesday morning (the only day we have a vet on the island) I was taking Frito to find out about her impending delivery and when it would be. While there, she had 2 puppies so I brought her home and away from the craziness that is the vet office. She had one more puppy in the car and then 3 more after that.

And we have 7!!

Just when I thought she was done she popped out another one. All soft and shiny, fat and squeaky. Frito is a good 3 legged momma. She hadn’t eaten much in the morning so after fritito # 6, I fed her some yogurt, then she ate some dog food, then she had another pup. Just like it was a walk in the park, no biggie, I just had 7 puppies. We think her timeline went something like this:

B. C. W. (Before Crazed Woman) A night of unbridled passion with a handsome neighborhood lothario

B. C. W. May be still in a stupor from the passion, passed out in the aftermath, paw gets run over

3/10/2015 Scavenging for a morsel in the schoolyard of Barrio Los Fuertes school when a Crazed Woman offers me cheese and apples. Next food offered was Fritos to lure me to the car for the snatch and grab. Crazed Woman names me Frito.

3/11/2015 Go to the vet to see if he can save my paw (bone was sticking out of the foot) He could not and said I had to go to the mainland for amputation. WTH is that?

3/11/2015 I get stuffed in a dog crate with a bleeding paw and put on a ferry for a long ride to La Ceiba.

3/11/2015 I’m met by a vet employee and taken to the clinic.

3/12/2015 The day begins by being bathed 4 times to get rid of the fleas and ticks. Doc prepares the room to be sterile for me.

3/13/2015 Off with the leg. Crazed Woman drives vet assistant friend Bethany bonkers with repeated questions about me ALL DAY LONG. Crazed Woman is told I am fine and awake and maybe Bethany just told her that to shut her up. She is persistent.

3/14 & 3/15/2015 I spent the weekend recuperating in the vet clinic.

3/16/2015 I’m back on the damn boat for the trip home. Wondering if when I get to the other place they’ll chop off the other leg.

3/16/2015 Extremely excited to see Crazed Woman @ the ferry terminal. I cried, she did too.

3/25/2015 Back to vet to get stitches taken out. Ask vet if I am preggo, he smiles and says “No, just GORDO.”

04/15/2015 I give birth to 7 gorgeous little puppies, 2 girls, 5 boys. I am no longer “GORDO.”

So there you have it. A month plus in the life of Frito Bean.

I sensed Frito was upstairs at 4:45 this morning. I got up and she was at the top of the steps. I asked if she wanted to go potty and she ran down the steps. I let her out and she took off running to the grass for her morning potty. As soon as she was done she tore back in to those puppies. She is never away from them. She has certainly proven to me what a miraculously strong dog she is. To go through all that she did and then give birth and be totally chill, I am in awe of her. She is one special dog and we are pretty blessed she is ours.

This morning I was to meet Nidia at the bodega in Sandy Bay at 7:30. I don’t think I went back to sleep between Frito’s potty break and 6 AM. I left home at 6:45AM. We lugged 12 boxes down the steps and into my car and set off for the Kinder Nicolas Villeda in Coxen Hole. We had 4 mothers to fit the shoes this morning. The kids were adorable and totally fascinated with me taking pictures.

After that we went looking for a kinder teacher in Las Brisas. It is down the road to Steel Pan Alley, near the cruise ship terminal.

I was home by 10 and still had dishes to do from last evening when Sam and Chelsie came for dinner. I really love those two, such a sweet couple.

I was so exhausted after giving birth with Frito yesterday there was no way I could have washed the dishes last night. In fact, I only washed part of them today, Bill just now finished washing them, I took a 3 hour nap with Emmy cat. I’m pooped, birth is a bitch!

I’m off to check on Frito Bean and the 7 dwarfs again and then settling in with a glass of wine and catching up on The Voice.

Anyone want a puppy???

TOMS TOMS and more TOMS

04/10/2015 Since my company left I have kind of been a homebody. I haven’t been running off here and there for a few reasons, mainly, we had to get my car in the shop for the electrical issue (exploded brand spanking new headlight bulb and the door dinger dinging without my key in the ignition.) My car was in the shop for 2 days and I finally got it back Wed. night. More on that situation later.

On Sunday Bill and I met Walter at Parrot Tree Plantation for lunch and some pool time. It was crowded when we got there but cleared out then got crowded again. The second crowd was enough to send us home!

I will admit that I slept a lot on Monday and Tuesday DURING THE DAY. I’m still hacking like I have major fur balls and I can’t make it stop. On Wednesday while my car was still in the shop Janice asked if I wanted to get some supplies for the kinder down in the valley below us. This is the kindergarten that I went to with Abraham and Nidia to deliver desks. I met Janice at the bottom of our driveway and rode with her to Coco View. We had to take a boat over to the bodega to get the stuff.

When my friends Cicily and Cheryl came they brought a bag of school supplies, pencils, crayons (the big box that was always my favorite) paints and brushes, a pencil sharpener and erasers. I bet these kids have never used a pencil sharpener before! My friend from high school who I haven’t seen since then also generously sent money to me to buy some supplies for the schools. We used some of the money to buy the materials and Bill built this white board. The teacher is a volunteer and currently she uses a notebook to write things on and holds it up to the class. Thank you so much Walt and Judy Kaiser, you two rock! I haven’t spent all of the $$ yet but will post photos when I do.

Nidia also was given a desk for this teacher at the kinder. Some day next week we will be delivering the goodies, along with cupcakes and balloons for the kids. They will also get NEW TOMS shoes!! We were going to do it Thursday but the TOMS shoes came in so we set off delivering them instead.

You would think that 5306 pairs of shoes would cover the kids on the island but it didn’t. Thursday I left the house at 6:45 to get to Sandy Bay @ 7:30. As soon as I got out of my car I smelled something electrical, like hot wires. Abraham looked at it and didn’t see smoke or anything at that point. Nancy and Addy and Brian, our friends from Canada were there helping so Nancy decided to ride with me. We left for the school in Mudhole, it was out first stop. When we got there my car smelled HOT. Abraham disconnected the one headlight but the high beam indicator was still on even though my lights were off. Not cool. I sure don’t want an electrical fire in my car, I have no insurance.

We were getting bitten by sand flies there so I was happy to move on! After there we went east to a school up on the hill in French Cay. I was familiar with this school because our architect used to live behind it.

From there we headed to a school I’ve driven by a zillion times and never noticed. There was not a road per se down into it but an abrupt drop off of the pavement. Thankful for my AWD car, even if the headlights are shit.

That school was a quickie and there was a lot of help. Nancy and I were in this classroom talking to 2 young boys who were very knowledgeable about the map of Honduras. They were giving us pronunciation tips; we were so engrossed that we missed the fact that our group was leaving!

From there we went to Santa Maria. We delivered food and toys there at Christmas time.

Our next stop was Isla Bonita. I had never heard of this school nor had a clue where it even was. The road to get down to it was very steep. Nidia asked me to look at it to see if I could go down it with my car. Yep, I sure can, no problem at all, just put it in low and go! This too was a very small school, we didn’t even take the boxes of shoes off of the truck.

Just a few more stops and the day would be over. Next was a big school in Spanish town. The school director was told to have the kids there at 1 but she reportedly told the students 2. We fit as many as were there and then waited. All but 20 some showed up.

Our last school was in Wild Cane. Nidia and Abraham and Because We Care delivered 10 desks to the school recently and now the kids were getting shoes.

The TOMS One for One program is alive and well. I had heard about it before and feel truly blessed to now be able to be a part of it. I have so much respect for Nidia Webster and what she does for this island, she really is an amazing woman who gives so much of her time and energy to help others less fortunate than she is.

When you go to these schools and see the children and the classrooms it really hits you hard. These kids are barely given a fighting chance to survive let alone successfully exist in the world to which they are born into. I am not insinuating that the kids parents don’t love them, I’m sure they do, but they absolutely can not afford to care for them in a normal manner. Many of the parents have no education, no work, no source of income and it is so very evident in the eyes of these kids.

I didn’t go with them today because of my car issues. Bill’s truck is in the shop too getting something with the clutch fixed. Tomorrow I am going with them to Helene to take desks and shoes to the kids there. This is the island that is part of Roatan but is separated and only accessible by boat. This should be a fabulous day!

On the home front, Bill is working on the upper cabinets for the kitchen. It will be nice to get them done and hung, it is much needed storage space.

The dogs are getting along fine. Frito Bean is FAT and HAPPY.

Frito somehow thinks she should be an inside dog and that it is her duty to guard Emmy’s food dish, plus she loves Em’s water fountain. Emmy would rather she be outside all day every day. I have been walking her every morning and this dog can RUN. I kick the dried Hog fruit seeds down the road and she takes off chasing them. It’s the only time I can get her to play. Lola loves to play ball but I can’t get Frito to grasp the concept. Lola is still a pisshead. I’m having Bill bring up the other dog crate and I’m going to start crating her. She will hate it but you know what, I hate dog urine on my porch every day! Lola and the boy next door have a “thing.” He is only 8 weeks old and he bites the living shit out of her. He has needle like teeth. She will take it for awhile and then she snaps.

I got another batch of dog biscuits made this morning, mess all cleaned up, think I’ll head outside to the sun for a little bit with the pack.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Before the wench got drenched.

04/05/2015 Happy Easter everyone. Thanks Cheryl for the blog title. I’m going to attempt to finish the adventures of Cicily, Cheryl and I in this post. One thing I forgot to mention was that Friday evening, after a day on the beach we went to Cal’s Cantina for dinner. Not only is it right down the road from us, it is also the BEST food and restaurant view on the island. I had to add that because what kind of hosts would we be if we didn’t take our guests to Cal’s?

OK, back to the adventures. Sunday was an off and on rainy day. We decided to go for it and headed east. So far the girls had only been west of our house, except for the boat trip with Sam and Chelsie. We stopped at the store in Oak Ridge for drinks and munchies then did a road tour of Oak Ridge and stopped by to see Miguel and Winston.

From there we headed east to Camp Bay and Roger and Jeanie’s house. It cleared up on the way and turned out to be a nice day. We visited with Roger and Jeanie for awhile, ooohhed and aaahed over their view and the sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks. Bill discussed some cabinets that Jeanie wants for the kitchen and took some measurements of the wall space.

10861122_994831547194574_1675706992323364406_o (1) — Roger and Jeanie

After that we went further east to La Sirena, AKA Jimmy’s. Just as we got there we saw our friends Francis and Karen. We stopped to chat with them and I recognized the one guy from the previous day at Pigeon Key. Turns out he is Francis’ brother. Small world, small island. We had rum punches and lunch at La Sirena.

We covered new ground by driving the road over the mountain (sic, this is Roatan, they are big hills compared to where I come from) to Port Royal. It was a really pretty drive, during parts of it you forgot you were on an island, it looked like any other forest. Sort of.

Next stop was Punta Gorda, actually, we just drove through there to show them the area.

We made our way home and went down to John’s pool for a late afternoon dip. The pool water felt great, not cold at all.

On Monday morning we drove down to Sandy Bay to check out Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum. This is the place that hydroponically grows the fabulous lettuce that we eat here on Roatan. They also grow a variety of herbs that are also sold in the grocery store. FROM THEIR WEBSITE: “Welcome to Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum, Roatan’s working ”Tropical Eden” covering over 160 eco-friendly acres. Here you will find uniquely spectacular tropical displayed gardens, seasonal fruit and nut orchards, the only tropical botanical “Conservatory” with a 12 ft waterfall in the Caribbean and over 70,000 heads of lettuce and herbs in a working hydroponic produce and herb farm.” We did the self guided tour and it was amazing. You can take your own tour by clicking HERE.

West End wasn’t very crowded, people were just starting to make their way to the island for the Semana Santa festivities/craziness. We shopped for a few hours and on the way home stopped at the Bulk Gourmet for lunch, which was delicious as always! Once we got home I gave Nancy a call to see if they would be home. They had just gotten there and she said to come on over. I really wanted them to see their house.

We had a nice visit with them, toured their gardens and looked at the awesome flowers and plants they have. I’m going over once Sebastian returns and get some cuttings!!

The next day was the Pirate Party out in Calabash Bight. We were making rum balls in the morning to take, seemed fitting for a Pirate Party. This is the link for the Rum Balls, they were a huge hit. I made a sign and amazingly even had little pirate swords to stick in them. The sign got wet along with everything else on the ride to the party. Nothing like being at a party with a soaking wet ass. Oh well, once I got some Bandit in me (and yes Nathan and Scott,) I was drinking out of the BOX, I forgot I was wet.

We got to BJ’s around 11;45 for a ride to the party. The first boat came and went, we said we would wait for the next one, big mistake. BIG BIG mistake. Pudens son came soon after the first boat left and we climbed aboard. Part way to Big Rock the sky opened up and it freaking POURED BUCKETS!!

11071613_994834130527649_6060364989800788924_o (1) — I am the wench who got drenched!!

11116247_10205599370959248_4274916746828371868_o — The party in full swing. Photo by Cindy Darby Macy

11082272_10205599369639215_7156976124298317526_o — Brenda and I chatting, Marilyn and Alex next to me. Photo by Cindy Darby Macy (I think)

11078084_10152883247588822_1130626474281111902_o — The fabulous hosts Francie and Franklin Christopher. Note the Pirate Flag flying in the background!

11012759_10205599356518887_3534493833631025808_o — Cheryl and Llyn and ?? Photo by Cindy Darby Macy

They made so many different kinds of pizzas and they were all fabulous. There were other foods too that people brought, it was all delicious! I took a box of Bandit wine with me. Jeanie noticed that it perfectly matched my ZORIES. (AKA sandals)

11037507_994829783861417_6362470614334814470_o — Jeanie took this photo of Cheryl, me and Cicily as we were waiting for the boat to take us home.

The boat ride home was mesmerizing. At least it mesmerized the 3 of us into a trance like state, which was fine except I had to still drive from Oak Ridge home. It was interesting for sure and a whole lot calmer and drier going home. I think we all went home and passed out.

Their next to last day here we were going to Little French Key. Before we went there I gave them a tour of Parrot Tree Plantation, such a beautiful spot on the island.

I had told Cicily and Cheryl (and everyone else) so much about Little French Key that I held good on my promise to take them there. Personally, I will not go there anymore, too many things bother me and I won’t get in to them on my blog but it’s not someplace I will visit again. It was overly crowded on Tuesday, crazy busy and the prices were jacked up, even for local admittance. Enough said, I won’t go on and on but I could easily.

We wrapped up our day at LFK and headed for home and a last dinner at Cal’s Cantina. Once again, we were not disappointed in our meals, it was superb!

The next morning the girls were packing up their stuff to get ready to head to the airport for their trip back to the land of the cold.

They made it home but it was not uneventful. Cheryl decided to wander around in Houston and ended up missing her flight to Newark. Cicily was on the plane, Cheryl was not in sight. They were arriving in Newark late so they planned to stay overnight at a hotel and drive back to PA in the morning. Cheryl was lucky enough to get on the next flight and made it to the hotel at 2:30 AM. Crazy girls!! They are now back in Pa, freezing their butts off and both wishing they were still here.

They came to see what I was doing down here.

Whoever said “Time flies when you’re having fun” knows their shit! I can’t believe a week has flown by and Cicily and Cheryl are on their way home. I hated to see them go. We were very busy the whole time they were here, so much so that I’m whooped!

Their flight was two hours late arriving in Roatan due to mechanical problems. I always check flight tracker so I was aware and watching the flight online. I arrived at RTB moments after the plane landed. They got through immigration pretty fast and we were on our way. First stop, Eldon’s for groceries. After that we went back to the Bulk Gourmet for a few things and headed home.

Once they got settled we went down to our neighbor John’s pool for a dip. It felt fantastic and the water was nice and clear. (unfortunately not always the case) We floated for a while and then came back up to the house. Bill was making pizza for dinner with fresh pineapples and mozzarella and provolone cheeses. Yummy stuff!

The plan was to hit West Bay Beach early on Friday. There were no cruise ships in either port and the insanity surrounding Semana Santa hadn’t quite kicked in. We got there before ten and went snorkeling right away. Cicily has snorkeled recently but it’s been years for Cheryl. It didn’t take long for them to get their sea legs. Cicily has a messed up snorkel so we were going to get a new one on the way home. After snorkeling we put that stuff in the car, got our rafts and plopped on the chairs at Banarama.

The three of us floated on the rafts for a while with some cold cervezas. It’s all great floating until your beer is empty and you need another. They seriously need surf delivery. We ate some lunch there then decided to call it a day. On the way home the car miraculously drove itself to Umbul Umbul. So funny how it does that, talk about auto pilot!! I was pissed because I forgot to bring a check and I only had a little cash with me, which fortunately limited my spending. Probably a good thing. Cis and Cheryl were having a blast and each bought some cool things. We hit Barefoot Key on the way home for a new snorkel for Cis and came back to the house. Bill had supper cooking for us when we arrived.

Bill got the roof furniture finished while we were at the beach and carried the 4 chairs up to the roof. He just built the table today. We spent many nights on the roof looking at the view and the sky and all the junglish beauty that surrounds us.

On Friday evening I got a message from my friend Sam Arch about going to Pigeon Key on Saturday. We were worried about the weather and I said to Sam in a message, “if the weather is bad we can always turn around.” His response was that he never turns around, he always goes where he is headed. Gulp, OK, calling for thunderstorms but, we’ll trust Sam. We met him at 8 AM at the Iguana farm. Most of the iguanas were still in the trees sleeping but there were still quite a few wandering about. Once he got the boat ready, the 5 of us were off. Sam brought his girlfriend Chelsie along for the day. I’m so glad he did and we got to meet her, she is such a sweetie and they are the epitome of young love. So much fun to be around them. Sam was born and raised in the waters around Roatan, he reads, writes and speaks perfect English and Spanish and he knows these waters. I was totally confident in his boating skills and we were in the new boat he and his dad built, Miss French Key. We left French Key a little after 8 and went to Los Fuertes to get gas. On the way east after filling up the sky got darker and darker.

Near Calabash it really started raining. Chelsie was chilling in the bow of the boat so the 3 of us stood out of the rain in the cabin with Sam. We went through the mangrove cut and came out at Rocky Point, going right past my friend Perry’s house. Once we cleared Rocky Point the sky started to clear up and the sun came out. Sam was right, it was going to be a beautiful day on Pigeon Key.

We wandered around the island and met some people who came in a boat right after us. They were from Canada, turns out they were relatives of our friend Francis, small island, small world. We found this out the next day at La Sirena.

Sam was going to show us the snorkel area so the 4 of us set off. It was easy swimming going with the current and once we got there it was magical. Really, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was a huge underwater garden of every kind of coral you could think of with a vast amount of unusual fish swimming in and out of the huge coral heads. At one point Cicily motioned for me to go up and when I did she said, “I think this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” It was ahhhhmmmaazzing. Many thanks to Sam Arch and Arch’s Aquatic Adventures.

It was really hard swimming back to the boat because we were swimming into the current but we made it, exhausted but excited over what we had just seen.

I’m going to end this post after only two days. It’s already long and I’m tired and want to eat and go watch The Voice.

I was supposed to go to a pool party today at Llyn and Wendy’s and I had every intention of going. Until I got home from the airport and grocery shopping and made the mistake of laying down on the bed. That was all it took. I think I need a few days at home for R & R and to assemble my thoughts for the rest of the post of Cicily and Cheryl’s visit to Roatan. I hope they enjoyed being here as much as I enjoyed having them!