Pandytown – Mermaid on a Raft

Moving along on Island time

03/14/2018 Just saying, we do NOT change our clocks here in Honduras. We are on perpetual Island Time and most of the time, that is a good thing. Except when you’re trying to get something accomplished. I thought the limit of bad things was 3? We’re on #4.

It seems Bill and I are playing tag with our cars being at the mechanics. I was without a car for a few days, then he was without a truck. He got his truck back and it still is not fixed, it’s going back to the mechanic today. It’s always something.

Bill decided to add another filter to our water filtration system, he bought all the parts, laid them out so he knew exactly what he was doing, got it all hooked up and the UV bulb wasn’t working. He went to the place where he bought the new UV bulb and told them it was flickering again. They said he must have moisture in the glass tube that it is in and that will burn out the bulb. Bill called the manufacturer and they said no, that will not burn out the bulb, they even laughed and said more than likely a part was bad. Bill figured out which part was bad and went back to the store to get it, $350.00. It’s $137.00 online. So we ordered it.

Our hot water heater stopped turning on automatically. Now you have to go turn the hot water on in the shower, then go outside and flip the switch, go shower, then go turn it off. The guy came and fixed it, worked for 2 days, doesn’t work any more. He’s coming back tomorrow.

And the pool, oh the pool!

The poor dogs are so confused, there was water in it one day, the next day it’s empty.

The idiot who installed our pool did not properly back fill it, causing little bubbles and then the coating would chip off and you could see the fiberglass. This happened in several places. We decided to wait a year and see how many more we got. Ends up we waited 2 years until we contacted the company. They sent a young guy by the name of Dylan out here. Turns out he’s related to Sam Arch (iguana farm) and good friends with Daniel from the sloth and monkey hangout. Dylan has been a blessing, he knows what he is doing and is meticulous with his work.

Before the white gel coat is applied. After he was done you couldn’t even see where he had fixed it.

We also found out that the deep end was not properly back-filled however the factory said if we haven’t had any issues in 2 years, it would be fine. The steps were another issue. The factory repair guy was going to come over here and stay and fix the pool. He would need a place to sleep and he spoke no English. Bill said he could stay downstairs and I said OH NO HE CAN’T. First of all there are the dog issues, Bill is gone most of the day usually and who is going to feed this guy? There are no baleada stands in walking distance. Reminds me of when Bill said the workers from Asia were going to move into the 3 spare bedrooms in our house in Everson and again I said OH NO THEY’RE NOT. Not a fan of having non English speaking people sharing my living space. Life is difficult as it is. Now if it were 20 Honduran kids, that’s different, maybe, for a night or two. Or 50 dogs..

The guy from the pool company suggested we remove the blocks from behind the steps and try to pack dirt in underneath them. So we did. We had poor Devon come out and chip the covering off then use a hammer drill to bust the blocks out. It was an awful job to do.

This photo was taken after we broke the block out and now have to put blocks in and cement over it. Seriously?? The little room is access to our filter for the pool. I apologize, my cell camera sucks.

Once it was done, we found out we didn’t really have to do that. We could have (and did) drill holes in the steps and fill them with concrete. Then Dylan will fill them all in, re glaze all the fixed areas and we’ll be calling Brown’s (yes, that’s the name of the water company) to fill the pool. The dogs will be so happy.

HOLES. He drilled HOLES in the steps. Then he meticulously filled the holes with cement. Once it is set we will fill the remainder with fiberglass resin to fill in all the nooks and crannies. This is all providing the guy fixing the pool agrees with that theory.

The guy doing the work is also a tour gide on cruise ship days so he is a very busy person. We appreciate his help a lot!!

The east end (more mid island) got lucky again. Brion James and The West End Players returned to Beach Club Roatan, just down the street from our house. Needless to say, I HAD TO BE THERE. I had so much fun that evening, I think I danced to 96% of the songs he played. My feet were sore the next morning because I was dancing in my bare feet. We danced like nobody was watching. It really is the best way to dance. Most all of our friends were there too, making it a rocking good time. It was over at 8 pm, we’re all old.

Brion is going on a world tour again with the Dan Reed Network in April and will be playing his last show back at the beach club by us. You know where I’ll be that night. When he plays Purple Rain, I turn to jelly.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to join Nidia and some friends of Pastor Ronny (Live Again Ministries). Pastor Ronny is the real deal, his life is lived via his heart, he’s a very special man, to many many people. He was being joined by the Jensen and Riddle families. The Jensen’s had their 3 amazing children with them. It really makes you step back in amazement when you see these kids so confidently walk into a classroom and start saying hello to all the students.

The amazing young girl in pink is Lela Jensen. she came with her brother and sister, parents and grandparents to do missionary work on Roatan. *I did NOT take this photo. It was taken by Lela’s mother Tamson.* I think this photo speaks volumes about the type of young woman Lela will be. Pretty amazing kids, all 3 of them.

Luke carrying supplies for the school from the boat. The little dory was laden down with a box of dictionaries, boxes of school things, sandals and notebooks+ 10 people. It was NOT stable. We went from Clifford’s dock to Calabash Bight Key and then back to Pandytown.

This little cutie, I have many photos of him, this was my favorite. He liked his new sandals.

This is inside one of the 2 classrooms at Pandytown. The rooms are very dark, warm and not conducive to learning.

These doors are a mystery to me. What is the weird shaped one for anyhow??

The teeny tiny Dory, however returning, the load was considerably lighter. Nidia and Lela with the boat captain.

It’s so enjoyable to give to the kids and the teachers. There is no government funding of the schools, sad but true. The majority of them are in a state of disrepair.

The other morning Bill went out on the back porch and said through the window that there was a vulture on the fence post. I thought it would be a cool shot so I grabbed my camera and stepped out on the porch. As soon as I did, this guy spread his wings in a display of finery I’ve not seen elsewhere. I took almost 20 shots of him.

This was taken the night before the beach concert, full moons are pretty amazing here due to the lack of ambient light.

On FB the other day I was tagged in a photo from a friend in my home town, Dolli. Another girl I know but am not FB friends with posted this photo. It is an old permanent wave machine for the hair. The girl who posted was selling them and she said there were two. Another friend asked where it was found and soon people were putting two and two together and realizing they were in the basement of the beauty salon my Father owned for many years. My sister asked Dad but he didn’t remember them at all. She asked Mom and Mom said no, never saw them. Yet, when I spoke to Mom on the phone she remembered them, she said there were 2, described them to me and said when they used them the hair stylists had to really watch because these suckers could burn your hair. Pretty wild stuff.

Mom now says Dad doesn’t have any memory issues (he’s 97), he is just choosing what he wants to talk about. Not sure where that came from but I’ll go with it for awhile.

My little coconut opener managed to sneak one up on the back porch. That is a no no because of the mess, it’s bad enough in the yard. Max is waiting for the bonus, fresh coconut.

My friend David sent this photo to me. I want to let my hair grow and do it. It’s the best!!

I bathed the boys on Friday and took them to the beach on Saturday. Then gave them baths again when they came home. Total glutton for punishment. Barrio, Max and Gringo (l-r)

Max is still having health problems. I just sent some test results to a friend who is a vet in AZ and we are going to get another x-ray on Thursday and I see the vet from Tegus on Friday. I noticed at the beach he was unable to keep up to his brothers, something is still wrong. This has been going on for a year. He’s had so many tests and nothing conclusive. The one doc in Ceiba said kidney stones but I think he was totally ripping me off.

Gringo and Barrio. Their fur is completely different from Max’s, his is like a wolf’s. He must have had a different baby daddy than the other 6.

These three listen so well, total opposite of Highway. They are really amazing dogs. Gringo, Barrio and Max, always bringing up the rear.

This is Miguel’s (in the background) oldest daughter, Naeli. She is a sweetheart. She is one of the children my high school friends helped get ready for school.

Sweet Michelle. I adore these two girls, not sure where Miguelito was when I took these photos. She too was helped by my friends.

We are finally going to do the roof, well, we are having someone do it because the reality of Bill having time is non-existent. We will have the same guy do the extension on our deck. Bill did these drawings.

Top view, think lattice will give the best shade. The sun gets freaking brutal up there in the day, but it’s so beautiful.

We have a few macrame basket chairs we lugged home from Zihuatanejo several years that we plan to hang as well, if the elements haven’t destroyed them.The half way up blue square in the middle left of this photo will have a high table with high stools built around it with an umbrella for the top.

On the right side of the pergola we will have seating around the outside of the roof (in certain areas)

No drawings for the deck by the pool yet. That will be pretty simple.

There was a huge music festival this past weekend on the other end of the island. Unfortunately we did not get to go as we had two people working here at various times. The band I have been going to see recently is often joined by musicians traveling through the island. There is one famous guy who continues to visit the island and play with Brion and the boys and that’s Stu Cook, the bass player for Creedence Clearwater Revival. People my age know who and what CCR is, other generations do not. Sad for them.

Movies I’ve watched recently:

Three Billboards in Ebbings Missouri

I Tonya

I see why both Frances McDormand and Allison Janney (Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding was meh..) won awards for their amazing performances in these movies.

Tomorrow it will be 3 years that Frito came home from the mainland after having her leg amputated. One month to the day she blessed us with 7 puppies, 3 of which I still have, Max, Barrio and Gringo.

Frito has a great life in the US with Teri, she is loved so much and has a big brother to play and run through the fields with. Funny how things come full circle, Teri lives 5 minutes from where we lived in the US.

Everyone else in the house is sound asleep except me. I imagine the chocolate bar at 10:30 didn’t help. I’m still going to bed.

My friend Annie said to not end with adiós but with hasta luego..which means, until later, so

Hasta Luego!

Now I want gills

you-me

09/25/2016 I didn’t forget about you guys out there in blog land, honest, I didn’t. At first I had nothing to blog about because I spent a full week and then some on a raft in the pool reading. It was HOT, unbearably hot and being in the pool was my only salvation. I’m thankful my neighbor has several books, however you can only read so many James Patterson’s in a row. After a few books you begin to figure out whodunit pretty damn quickly.

My friend Marilyn had been gone for 2 months, I caught up with her briefly one day at the Reef House but I was slightly under the weather that day with my airplane cold. This damn thing still lingers in my chest, coughing and hacking like a TB patient. Although it is getting better, the fact that I have spent a lot of time under the water recently may have something to do with that.

Marilyn and I decided to spend a day poolside at our house. We floated and caught up on all the island info that happened while she was stateside. Her husband stopped by later on and took a dip, we had some snacks and I ended up drunk on my ass later that day. After Marilyn and Alex left I passed out on the couch, slept there for a few hours then went to bed. I had slammed one whole bottle of wine in the hot scorching sun in just a little time. I’ll blame it on my Seven Fifty wine thermos. I have to blame it on something and it certainly wasn’t MY fault.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Thanks Tarra for buying this awesome wine thermos for me!

I went to Alexi’s school and paid for the balance of this year, school is out the end of Nov for a few months. The teacher asked if she should put it in Alexi’s Mother’s name and I said, NO. I’m paying for it, my name. Bill bought Alexi new soccer cleats while I was in the states and the other day he took Alexi to the dentist for the first visit in 17 years. He had his teeth cleaned and he has 6 cavities that need taken care of ASAP. We are also taking him to get his eyes checked. Bill had him doing something pretty simple and he messed it up because he couldn’t see it.

After that I drove down to Juticalpa and dropped off the rest of the soccer stuff for the kids. The director saw me coming and met me at the car. He was very grateful. I also gave my cleaning girl 3 bags of clothes I didn’t want / need. I don’t care if she gives them to friends or sells them, just as long as it benefits her.

On the way home from there I saw a poor sad dog along the road. I stopped to feed him and he started to walk away. I called to him as I was putting food down and he turned around and came back. He took a few mouthfuls and looked up at me and burped. Poor guy.

14333637_10154114163018533_1521094796430429317_n — He was skin and bones

14370325_10154114162993533_5472379328437303027_n — I’m going to run over this week and see if I can find him again.

I posted his photo on FB and got so many comments that I was such a good person and stuff like that, and while that’s all nice and warm and fuzzy, the reason I posted the photos is so that others will realize that all it takes is to carry a bag of dog food and some water in your car and if you see a starving dog along the road, stop and feed it. Simple to do and it does make you feel good. By the looks of this guy, he hasn’t had a meal for awhile.

My friend Karen saw the photo of the skinny dog that I fed and asked me if I knew where there were any females available. I said I did, thinking immediately of Lola, the dog I was offered when we were passing out the food with the Carnival Cruise line people. She and her husband picked me up and we went to Pandytown looking for Lola. We found a guy named Jimmy who was trying to help us. I noticed Lola laying under a truck, we coaxed her out with some dog food and I picked her up. She is a sweetie. Jimmy couldn’t get in touch with the owner to make sure we could take her so we put Lola in the car and drove around looking for him. We never found the owner but found a relative who said it was her dog and she paid for it. I am assuming that was her way of asking for $$ for the dog. Jimmy said he knew of a few puppies that were ready to give away so we looked at them. Karen fell for this little girl and ended up taking her home. Their last name is Bogart and they have a 120# male named Bogey so they named this little one, Bacall.

I mentioned in my last blog I was going to do my advanced open water certification at Blue Island Divers, with Eric White. The business is located in Sandy Bay.

I did the SSI course which is the same requirements as PADI Advanced Open Water but it’s called Advanced Adventurer. It consisted of 160 pages of reading material and tests on each chapter. I could chose from:

Photography, Fish ID, Wreck, Buoyancy, Enriched Air Nitrox, Boat Diving, Dry Suit diving, Night and Limited Visibility, Search and Recovery, Waves, Tides and Currents and the 2 required were deep and navigation. I chose buoyancy, Photo and Fish ID and then also did deep and nav. Let me first say, I did not have my camera during the first 4 dives because I was concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing.

The first day I worked on my buoyancy using my own Buoyancy Control Device or BCD. I bought it online, new, years ago and I hated it then because I didn’t think it fit. After my first dive Eric said we were trying a different vest because I was constantly trying to get the BCD centered on my body. When I moved, the weight of the tank shifted my BCD. It was awful. I used his wife’s old Aeris BCD and what a difference. My second dive was fish ID which was pretty easy for me because I am familiar with a lot of the fish and coral in the sea. Not saying I don’t have a lot to learn, I do. But I see a new fish every time I dive and always make a point to identify it.

After completing those two dives on Thursday I was back there the next morning to do my deep and navigation dives. The deep dive was AMAZING. Eric asked if I had any fears about going down to 100′ and I said nope, fear factor missed me at birth. He said we were doing the Odyssey wreck and it sits at that depth. What he didn’t tell me is that you can go deeper onto the sand patch where there are all these garden eels. I’ve never seen them and was blown away. We went down to 112′ but at that depth on Oxygen you can’t stay very long. Well, not unless you want to get narced, Nitrogen Narcossis. At that depth the water was a balmy 84 degrees! We swam alongside the stern of the boat down to the sand patch, then up over the bow that was separated from the rest of the boat. Eric had me do a navigation test while we were there since I had on the compass and a computer. After that we just swam around and ended up close to the spot where we did my buoyancy tests. I plan to dive Odyssey again and take photos. My second dive was navigation, swimming in a square, starting off and ending at the same place. After that was done we just went for a dive and while diving I saw my friend Caroline diving at the same spot we were. How weird is that??

I was exhausted when I got home and went for a dip with the dogs then took a nice 2 hour nap.

Today was my final dive and yay, it was photography and my job was to take pictures.

I can feel my tail growing. I can’t even explain the feeling I get when I’m underwater. I watch the fish swim by and I’m instantly mesmerized by their ability to just glide along the reef, following the water movements, up and down, in and out. It’s enchanting. After my first buoyancy class when I did the fish ID dive in a different BCD I could feel how my breath affected my movement in the water and how I could control my body to go over the coral heads and then back down. I hung vertically in the water and just took deep breaths, feeling my body rise then descend when I exhaled. It’s such a cool sensation. I am still having some issues, when my tank gets down to 1000 PSI I start to float to the surface. Eric grabs my fin, pulls me down and adds weight. I’m convinced that my big boobs and the buoyancy of the tanks are contributors to this. He feels that once I get more practice I will be able to control this ascent, it surely isn’t because I want to surface. If I had gills you would never see me. I’d be down there swimming with Nemo and Ariel.

Gills are on my Christmas list.

Frito, the OCD dog.

05/23/2015 A person my age can not exist on 5 hours of sleep a night. NO CAN DO. Every freaking morning between 4 and 5 the pups start howling, since they are in the living room and I know they are peeing up a storm we get up and take them outside. It takes us 4 trips to get them all out, downstairs. Then I have to come back upstairs (Bill is playground supervisor), make them breakfast, go back down and feed them, watch them all play and poop (have to clean that up) pee and pass out. Then they all go in the big area downstairs and sleep. I come back upstairs, pick up the peed papers and any bedding that is peed on, scrub the tarp off with vinegar, wipe it dry, put more papers in for the night, and wash the soiled bedding. I also crawl back in bed several times throughout this performance, begging my mind for a few more minutes of sleep. At some point I get up and eat, do the dishes and try to sleep again, many times. Saying goodbye to these little furballs will be so BITTERSWEET, I tear up just thinking about it.

We are spending a fortune feeding them.

Frito is totally obsessed with food and its becoming annoying. she knew there was food inside and actually tried to fit her pear shaped body out through the puppy proofed gate. She will probably end up stuck in there and we’ll have to call for the Jaws of Life to extricate her.

A temporary babysitter. Lola stays in there with the pups until the dogs bark or she thinks it’s time to eat.

We plan to let the pups go to their homes next week, once they have their first shots. I will more than likely be a mess saying good bye to them. Despite the sleepless nights and constant laundry and food prep (you all know I hate to cook) I love these 7 small creatures like I never thought I could. My first and last litter of pups EVER. I only hope and pray that they are as loved and well taken care of in their new homes.

Other than running to the grocery store this past week I haven’t done much at all except try to nap when I can and I must say, the afternoon naps I sneak in are marvelous, just ask Emmy, she’ll tell you, she is always curled up right along side of me. Last night it rained and we had to bring the 4 big dogs in off the porch, we had ELEVEN DOGS IN OUR LIVING ROOM. 11 freaking hairy creatures.. Lucky tried to hide, he prefers to be under the bed when it’s raining. Sneaky boy that he is.

Last Monday Nidia told me she had most of the supplies needed to fill the backpacks and school supply bags but was short some writing books, scissors and rulers. I met her at Super Isleno, a store in Coxen Hole and we got the rest of what we needed using most of the balance of the money my friends Walt and Judy Kaiser so kindly sent to me.

While we were there Nidia was talking about a group that was doing a water system in downtown Coxen Hole. She had invited them to go to Helene with us on Friday. I said that I had met them at the airport last week and was talking to several of them for awhile. She took me to where they were working and I walked over and said hello and they all remembered me, even my name!! We chatted for a few minutes and found out what it is they are doing. I’m sure the people who live in that area will be very appreciative, having a water supply right there is going to be wonderful!

I told them I would see them on Friday, dropped Nidia off at her store with the supplies and came home.

Also want to do a quick shout out to Beth and Aaron Fox for their donation to Because We Care. I haven’t spent their money yet, still have some of Walt’s money left. Once we start spending yours (Beth), I’ll let you know what we bought with it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I could do this in 2 posts but I don’t have the energy so here goes..

We met at the landing in Oak Ridge for a Because We Care last trip to Saint Helene to deliver the balance of the desks and school supplies and some back packs for the students. The group from Live Again Ministry was with us, as was Carly White from Sandy Bay (she and her husband have Blue Island Divers) and Brian and Sherri Visker.

We loaded 25 desks for Saint Helene and 4 for Pandytown. We had to wait until the boat got gas and it took awhile. Granted it was a big boat, biggest panga I’ve ever been in, but also the gas was dispensed from jugs and buckets, no gas pump there…

Once filled, we set off for Helene with a quick stop at Pandytown to drop off 4 left handed desks. I never really thought about it but the way these desks are made, they really are specific to your hand writing prominence, left or right. They would make it hard for a leftie to use a right handed desk.

Once we left Pandytown we were in open water and bouncing across the waves. I think it was a little rough and wild for a few people but I was loving every minute of it. There were some kite surfers on the south shore, never seen them here before, only out at Camp Bay. The photo sucks because we were going 700MPH on a choppy sea into the wind but you get the idea.

This little girl was a dusty mess and she had no shoes.

After we were done passing out school things several of the mothers made lunch for us, a conch stew. Needless to say, I passed on that as did Carly. When everyone was done eating we decided to hike over the mountain again so the group from the ministry could see the need for a water system over there.

It was a really hot, tiring, sweaty wonderful day, filled with smiling faces and lots of children who were excited about receiving bags with scissors and pencils and erasers in them. Such small things mean so much to so many and the things we take for granted are a big deal to others.

Today we have a young boy named Eddy from the village below us up here weeding. He has been coming here for a long time because Bill gives him wood for his mother to cook with. A while ago we got him some school things. He goes to a bi-lingual school and the soccer team there is in the playoffs. Bill took him to town for a baleada and I got the idea to buy him a soccer ball with some of Walt’s money. I called Bill and told him to go get Eddy a new soccer ball. Eddy could not believe we were buying him a soccer ball, Bill said he thanked him at least 20 times. They went to Molineros and the balls were 30% off, of course, it took them 25 minutes to figure out how to ring it up, but Eddy has a new soccer ball. Thanks again Walt, this young boy is extremely happy!

Many thanks to all who make this possible and most of all to Nidia, for having this vision and the passion to help the needy here on the island we call home.