02/22/2017 I have been lost in space the last several weeks, seems like months since I blogged. I’ve had company and a sick dog but all is now well and we are enjoying day visits with new friends. I’ve been to Calabash, Camp Bay, West Bay and West End, even made a few stops in Sandy Bay to see friends.
I’m pretty sure I haven’t filled you in on the Pirate party, it was held at a different spot this year because Franklin and Francie sold their fabulous home where the previous parties were and set sail for a year or more (boo) in the Caribbean. This year it was in the Calabash area again, on the water @ Andy’s home. I was “picked up” by Franklin and Francie for the ride out to Calabash. The road left a lot to be desired, although the location was very nice, right on the water, it did make up for the lousy road. It was a fun party but was not quite as epic as last year’s.
Lots of my friends were there and the Bobby Reiman band was playing tunes. Needless to say, we partied, danced and planked. Of course we did. What’s a party without pirate plankers?
I’m not sure who I handed my camera to when we planked, it was one of those moments, “here take a pic of us being awesome.” It may have been Brian Boyer.
Nothing beats hanging out with your friends and being crazy. I’m so thankful for the friends here on the rock, such a great group of peeps.
I was invited to a luncheon at my friend Milesse’s. She is the one who owns Barefoot Cay. Since the place changed ownership she gave up her condo there and moved into a friends guest house in Sandy Bay. This is no ordinary guest house, it’s AMAZING. The place is decorated perfectly, everything about it is stunning, which is no surprise. Milesse’s previous place was pretty stellar also. There were just a few of us there, we enjoyed a great lunch and wine, of course. Then we had dessert and some more wine down on the palapa over the ocean.
It was a fun day spent with some of my favorite ladies.
A friend and I met at Cal’s one afternoon, and over a glass of wine we discussed how to best help Alexi and his family (not mother). Alexi is living at the Bomberos (fire department) and he said they didn’t have much food. My friend donated a big box of food for them and I went to the store and bought them all sorts of food items and powdered drink mixes. Their fridge was well stocked and the guys were very grateful.
We were hoping they didn’t eat all of the food in one sitting, Alexi reassured me they didn’t.
I met Jessica at her school, paid for the matriculation fee and the first Q. After we were finished there we went to the store and bought backpacks for her and Osman. When I was taking her home we saw Ephraim, he was on lunch break.
Osman was not in school when I gave him his backpack. I asked why. Jessica said he didn’t have shoes. We bought his clothes and backpack and gave him donated supplies. His mother has internet on her phone, her mom’s boyfriend got a new motorcycle but nobody has $15.00 to buy the boy shoes. Bill and I decided we had to step away, we will continue to take care of Jessica and Alexi but the whole situation with the mother is just too much. We are afraid she sells the things we give the kids, it’s happened before. We were told to be careful. Sometimes helping can backfire and with a mother as evil as theirs is, we need distance.
My friend Teri came to visit, she is Frito, the 3 legged wonder dogs Momma. The day after she arrived we went to Mondays Don’t Suck, of course. There was a small crowd there, always fun.
The next day Teri and I went to Marcia and Dennis’s home to go kayaking. It was a nice day but pretty windy. Going to the mangroves required some effort on our part, coming back was a breeze with the wind at our backs.
That evening Teri and I went to Cal’s for dinner, yummy as usual. International Living asked if there was a local hangout that I would like to write a little blurb about, so I did one for Cal’s. It was just published in their March issue. I’m going to print it and laminate it for Carl.
Teri and I hung around the house for a few days, pooling it with the dogs. On Saturday eve I was in bed and Bill came in and said Max puked. I came out and he had puked 2 puddles about 3′ in diameter, all over the floor and the one dog bed. We got it all cleaned up, hosed bed cover off to wash the next day, and I went back to bed.
Sunday Teri and I went to the Reef House for a party. The sky was looking ominous on our way there, I called Keith and Jimmy came to get us. It was starting to drizzle as the boat docked at the resort. I said to Teri, we better run it’s going to pour in minutes. 30 seconds later the sky opened and it poured. All of the people went into the dining room where it was nice and dry. Alex was playing outside so he moved all of his equipment inside. It was kind of crazy for ten minutes, the rain must have made everyone realize they needed a drink because Keith was slammed. Teri and I finally got drinks and settled into chairs. Soon after that, the rain stopped and the sun came out, people slowly migrated outside again.
When we got home Bill said Max puked again, a lot. Now I was worried, he wasn’t eating or drinking and we hadn’t seen him poop. I was giving him pedialyte and water with a syringe and we held back food for 24 hours to give his stomach time to settle. He was having difficulty walking and had no energy. My vet doesn’t come until Wednesdays. Tuesday morning I took him to Doc Calderon’s office, my friend was going to start a saline IV to keep him hydrated. When we got there, he actually seemed better and we decided not to do the IV and I would just see doc in the morning.
On Tuesday afternoon Teri and I ran to West End, she needed to get a few things to take home.
We stopped and saw my other family at Blue Island Divers, love all the people there, really amazing group. After that, I took Teri to the sloth farm. Now she wants a monkey and maybe a sloth. Daniel Johnson has such a fabulous place for his animals, they are so well taken care of.
I was at the vets at 6:30 Wed. morn with Max. Doc called Bethany around 7 to translate for my friend KJ (who was there w/ her dog) and me. He drew blood and checked him to make sure he wasn’t bloated, checked for hard masses/lumps, took his temp, all ok. I took the blood to the lab to get it tested, making sure they knew it was for a perro, dog. I then came home and waited until Teri was packed and ready to go and I drove her to the airport. She was headed home to see Frito, who she missed terribly. Then I drove towards home, stopped at the lab and got the results from the blood test. I went back to my house, picked up Max and drove back to Doc’s. He read the test results and said Max is anemic and has ehrlichia, which is a tick borne disease. I don’t get it because they all get monthly flea and tick meds and heartworm medicine, like clockwork. Max was given 2 shots by Doc and he is on doxy and prednisone. He is slowly feeling better.
I stayed home the rest of the week and read by the pool with the dogs, keeping an ever vigilante eye on Max.
On Monday my friend Ann came down to our house and rode with Carmen, Brett and me to Mondays Don’t Suck. It was a fabulous day on the beach with a great group of people. The water was crystal clear with small waves. It was postcard beautiful.
I gave more school supplies to Eddie’s brothers, Milton, David and Lester.
I still have crayons and pencils and that cute raincoat to give out. I’ll do that soon.
I have been in touch with Jessica’s teacher and she has been going to school daily. I’m anxious to talk to her and see how it’s going. I’m so happy she is back in school, it gets her out of that horrible environment for a few hours a day.
I expect we will soon be delivering TOMS shoes, it’s that time of year again. The people from Live Again Ministries are coming as are our good friends Brian and Addy from Canada. Looking forward to seeing them all again. It’s always a pleasure to have Pastor Ronny and the gang come to help, fantastic group of people.
It looks like it’s going to be a busy summer, visitor wise again. Three of the people are repeat visitors, three of them are new to the rock. I always love showing newbies around!
My last thought for the night; my Father just turned 96 on Feb 17th. NINETY SIX YEARS OLD. He has lived on this earth almost 100 years. I see the subtle changes every year when I visit, see him slowly, mentally slipping away. He was always such a strong figure in our family, someone you could always go to and get the best damn advice ever. He was always right. I was, and still am so fortunate to have this amazing man as my Father. I wish him many more happy birthdays!
It’s time for me to stop typing and go to bed, going on 8 PM, close to bed time. I will make a conscious effort to be more timely with my blabbing. I still have a lot to say. Life is never boring.
06/10/2016 As I stated in my last post, Olivia (Bolivia to us) arrived on Roa on 5/29. It was not her first time here, it was visit #4. She and I came in 2010 and then she, Teri, Bill and I came in 2011 & 2012. However, it’s been awhile since she has been here. Teri has been here twice since the last time O was so she has seen much more of the island. This time I wanted to make sure Olivia got the grand tour, especially now that I am no longer an island virgin, so to speak.
Mermaid on a Raft 