Witch?? Wench?? Which wench?

Last night "Ladies Night" was held on the 'Double wide' at Chez Barnacle.

There has been some talk round about the area as to whether it was really a band of renegade wench wannabees or a coven of witches that meet each Wednesday evening. The word is that these women meet to "rag aboot men, puff up their chests, and say wimmin rule". Nothing is further from the truth. Now, if you are one of those that are concerned about a band of renegade wenches, my question is why would that worry you? But for those that are worried about a coven of witches, be very afraid. We are probably a mixture of both. Call us what you will, as a very wise woman said and I quote, "Does it matter whether we are witches or wenches? It's the power of the luv of women - We revere our men - at least in this case I do. Some of you pirates might feel threatened - but fear not - we are good women." That says it for me.

All in all, it was a great meeting, the food was awesome as usual and the women, well, they were just as interesting as always. We laughed and had a great time. We did miss the sunset, but most of us saw the moon. I won't go into any further details than that as we don't want to give poor Barnacle a heart attack.

Thanks Adriane for being a great hostess and opening up Chez Barnacle for the evening. I had a great time. The bats were awesome.

Walk For Polio

Most of us don't think about polio anymore, it is a childhood disease that has been eradicated from where ever we live. In fact, there are four countries where polio is considered endemic. Those four countries are Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

This morning I got up early and did the "Walk For Polio" which was co-sponsored by the Turtle Inn and all proceeds will go to Rotary International's Fund to eradicate polio world wide. The walk started at the north side of the Placencia airstrip, and continued around the airstrip, into the village to the point. It is approximately 2 1/4 miles each way and we walked both ways. YAHOO!!!!

Once we got to the point, there was a tent set up and we had cold juice and johnny cakes.

After refreshments, we walked back to the airstrip. Round trip was close to 4 1/2 miles.

Next up..... the Walk for Cancer during the Placencia Lobersterfest. That walk will be from Seine Bight to Placencia Village. Who is going to join me?

Rockin' And Rollin' On Saturday Morning

I heard the roller early this morning going up and down the road, so after coffee I decided that I better go check it out. Now some of the guys working on the road here are very serious and don't look up at all. This guy on the roller was the friendliest one yet.

Here he is, coming south towards me.

Then he notices me taking pictures and waves to get my attention. Notice he has a toque like hat on.

Here, he has pulled his toque off and is actually arranging his hair for the photo.

Now he tells me I am alright!!!!

And there he goes heading south towards the village.

Seeing as I was out there, I thought I would check out the Kiskadee nest. It looks almost finished and neither of the birds are around this morning.

On my way back to the house I see this Great-Tailed Grackle using our foot wash as a bird bath. He let me get almost up to him before he flew away.

Believe it or not, this is the sun at 10 o'clock this morning.

The Road Fairies Must Have Been Busy!!!

It was just after five o'clock yesterday afternoon when I looked out towards the road. I saw a big pile of rock and dirt outside the yard blocking the driveway. I went down to look at it and what I saw was road crew. Well I didn't actually see the road crew, I saw the road and piles of dirt and rock for as far as the eye could see in both directions.


View from inside the yard, no way were we getting company tonight. Looking out from our world.

View from across the road, looking in at our world.



Looking south towards Seine Bight. Remember, this is after 5:00 p.m., were they going to leave it like this overnight?

Looking north towards Coco Plum, it really is a one lane road. They started working on it about 7:30 last night. I think I fell asleep listening to the road construction equipment going back and forth.

Remember the tooth fairy? Well we have the road fairies. They must have worked all night long because we woke up to road, dirt road yes, but still road. This is looking south towards Seine Bight village.

Looking north towards Coco Plum. What a difference a night makes. These pictures were taken at 5:30 this morning.

Now if we can just get the water back on so I can do laundry.

The Morning After

It has been a strange morning weather wise. It pours rain, then is sunny, then pours again. I can see bits of blue off in the distance, gray and black over us. At least there is not much wind at all, so the rain comes mostly straight down.

Well yesterday I baked a cake and we headed off to Little Bit's for a bit of a party. Men are not usually allowed to 'Ladies Night' but we made an exception this one time. My understanding is that there will not be another time. We must have scared the hell out of the few that were brave enough to show up. However, we do wish to thank all those who came to wish Bob a "Happy Birthday" last night. As usual the people were awesome and the food was excellent.

Bob's gifts consisted of a new tank top and two masks for his collection.

Here are the latest masks to go along with his first mask and mermaid. I am told the creature on the left is a gecko (I would have thought an iguana) and the one on the right is a jaguar. Now all we need is some walls to hang them on.

It's Bob's Birthday!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my partner and my best friend.












Happy Birthday to the love of my life,

Love Sharyn

If You Build It, They Will Come

No, this isn't about baseball, I think I have outgrown that passion. I am talking about the road. On Saturday I took some pictures around our place. The road crew was out and about so I took some 'candid' shots.

Here we have a grader on one side of the road, moving rocks and earth, on the other side, we have a roller, making it all smooth again. Great to ride the bikes when it is like this.

Here is one of our favourite flagmen, he was posing for me, waving both orange and green flags at the same time.

Here we have your typical one lane of traffic while the equipment is working down the road. To be fair, the green truck is parking.

See, it all came together but, is it just me or do we have some poles leaning?

Amongst all the traffic, building and dust, we have the birds. A pair of Great Kiskadees are building this nest. We have been watching them for about a week now. They were nowhere to be seen this day, but they may have to go further to find materials to build the nest.

Here we have an Acorn Woodpecker digging for his breakfast.

Looks like he found it.

This is Iggy II. He lives in our roof, and shares the suntanning deck with us.

Who Let The Dogs Out???

Okay, there have been some rumours going around about me being bit by a mad dog. This is total rumour, the dog that bit me was not mad. He was a little angry maybe, but not mad.

This happened on the road, in North Seine Bight. In the dog's (his name is Ranger) defense, he is one of the many dogs that has been taught to be mean to protect the owner's property. It seems that Ranger took that training to the next level. I was not on the owner's property, I was on the road, so I am assuming (Ranger won't confirm or deny) that it was a pre-emptive strike in case I was thinking about going on the owner's property.

Now Ranger has been taken away and is in the hands of someone who will give him love and affection and try to rehabilitate him. I sure hope this works. I have been assured that I no longer need to have any fears of running into him again.

There are too many dogs like this on the peninsula. If you do get bit or attacked by one of the dogs here, make sure you go to the police and the Humane Society. They can't do anything if no one complains.

Placencia Peninsula Economy

Yesterday we decided to head north and go do some visiting in Maya Beach. We know the bus is supposed to leave at 12:45 from the village (Placencia). What can I say? It is a 15 minute run from Placencia to Seine Bight. We stood in the very hot sun (not much shade at mid-day) and melted. It was 1:36 when it finally showed up. We were sure happy to see it coming down the dusty trail.

Where can you go for $1.00 BZ? Well, you can go from Placencia to Seine Bight, or you can go from Seine Bight to Maya Beach, as far as Plantation.

We had not eaten lunch yet, so we got off at our old stomping grounds and went to "The Hungry Gecko" to test the food as we hadn't tried it yet. It is as great as we had heard. We had an order of garnaches and two salbutes with our ice cold cokes. Our total bill was $12.00 BZ, how great is that?

After lunch, we walked the beach down to Mango's Bar, where we sat and had a few drinks with our friends Steve and Annemarie before heading to Maya Breeze bar. The Lost Reefers were 'jammin' so there were lots of people to catch up with. We drink local rum and coke which are almost always doubles (we don't order doubles, they just come that way) and will cost anywhere from $4.00 to $5.00 BZ.

Not all our friends were around so we had a couple of drinks to toast them. Pam and OB, Mary and Charles, here's to friendship!!!!!


We caught the 6:00ish bus back and had a great dinner at home. Of course not everyone lives in a place where the economy is so simple. For instance, don't you think that the cat below is just a little too dramatic?

Susan Boyle Has Talent

A friend of mine suggested that I watch a You Tube of Susan Boyle. I had never heard of this woman so I checked it out. Most people probably haven't either. Check it out.

Click HERE.

And Then He Slipped Me The Tongue

As Bob is the main chef in our household, he has been bugging me about boiled cow's tongue. GROSS!!!!! or so I thought. To be fair, you can't say you don't like it if you haven't tried it. So yesterday Bob cooked up tongue for our Easter Weekend meals (Oh God we have to eat it all weekend). It was actually quite nice. I wouldn't look at it while it was cooking, but it sure smelled good. Once it was cooked and cooled (Bob says it is better that way), he sliced it up and we had it for dinner. I took great care in cutting off all the pebbly bits. It didn't taste like ham as he told me it would, it was more like Montreal Corned Beef.

So to make a long posting shorter... Bob wants to share his recipe for Tongue.

1 large stew pot
1 beef tongue
enough water to cover
1 onion sliced
4 garlic cloves quartered
6 cloves
3 splashes of vinegar
4 shakes of black pepper
6 shakes of jerk seasoning
bring to a boil
cover & simmer for 3 hours
skim scum occasionally
remove tongue & drain water
return to pot & cover with cold water
let sit for 30 minutes
slit & peel off outer skin layer
slice off fatty membrane & save for local dogs
slice & serve with horseradish or hot mustard

Access America's Snow Job

I booked my daughter's holiday visit thru Orbitz who use Access America as their supplier of trip insurance.

My daughter's Boxing Day flight out of Victoria to Vancouver was canceled due to a snow storm. Air Canada's first available rebooking was 5 days later and it required an extra day layover in San Salvador so we were looking at a 6 day interruption on a 16 day vacation. I went online and found flights for the next day on American Airlines thru Seattle. We had trip interruption & cancellation insurance so they would cover us for the difference right? Well I got my daughter to call Access America to double check (I couldn't call because Access America doesn't accept collect calls from Belize) and they told her "no problem". I booked the flights & got my daughter to cancel the rebooks. I also went to Access America's website & initiated a travel claim.

The net cost to us for the flight changes totaled $536US but Access America is refusing to pay. In the fine print of their insurance policy under cancellations due to weather it states "Your airline, cruise line, or tour operator or travel supplier stops offering all services for at least 24 consecutive hours where you’re departing, arriving or making a connection..."

So it does not matter that Air Canada couldn't fly between Victoria & Vancouver for 2 days or they couldn't get us replacement flights until 5 days later, as long as they could make one flight to Timbuktu, we aren't getting reimbursed.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday and although we can't be there with you Mom, we wanted to just say that we love you and wish you the best birthday ever.

Love

Sharyn and Bob

Passover Seder

There was no Ladies Night this week. Instead we were invited (with our spouses) to Robert's Grove for a Passover Seder. It was held at Robert's Grove and our gracious hosts, Risa and Robert Frackman, made sure that a wonderful evening was had by all thirty-nine of us.

Now Bob and I are not religious, but we do have respect for others who hold to their religions. We accepted the invitation, not really knowing what we were getting into. We knew that there were going to be appetizers and lots of wine to drink, so to make sure we didn't drink too much and get silly, we ate dinner before going. We weren't the only ones to do this.

I can't say that we understood all of it, but speaking for myself, it brought back memories of Sunday School when I was a child.

First we went around the table and introduced ourselves. Of course, it was easy as by this time the wine pour had begun.

We learned some of the history of Passover and the Seder. We all took turns reading out loud while drinking wine and eating the food from the Seder Plate. I was going to write about everything that we did and what things meant, but after some consideration, I realized that I am not qualified, nor do I have all the knowledge to do that. I only know that after reading and listening to others read, listening to the singing, I found myself singing songs that I didn't know in another language. How's that for getting into it?

After the ceremony was finished, then we started eating dinner. The first course was Matzah ball soup, followed by Gefilte fish. The main course was potato pancakes, a huge chicken drumstick, broccoli as the vegetable along side a slab of prime rib. Dessert was a yummy cake covered in a fruit sauce. My wine glass was never allowed to get empty.

This was our first Passover Seder and I truly hope it is not our last. Thank you Risa and Robert for allowing us to participate in your ceremony, your kindness and graciousness are who you are. Little Bit, thank you for thinking of us and inviting us.

Music Soothes the Savage Beast

Okay, here we go. I am attempting to download some music to the blog so bear with me. I have added the player and one song, it says that it might take up to several hours for the song to be actually playable on here. It will be cool if it works. The first song added is for my friend Pam, who is forever forgetting her shoes, or hat, or .....

Hamster Story

My niece sent me an email this morning, and I decided I wanted to share it. Thanks Rowena!!!!

The Hamster Story

If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through the pet syndrome including toilet-flush burials for dead goldfish, the story below will have you laughing out loud! I know I did.

Overview: I had to take my son's hamster to the vet. Here's what happened....

Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two hamsters he holds prisoner in his room. "He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm serious, Dad. Can you help?" I put on my best hamster-healer statement on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little rodents was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do. "Honey," I called, "come look at the hamster!" "Oh my gosh," my wife diagnosed after a minute... "She's having babies."

"What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!" I was equally outraged. "Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce?" I accused my wife.

"Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired. (I actually think she said this sarcastically!) "No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth together). "Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed. "Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know," she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm, you think?)

By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience," I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth." "OH, Gross!", they shrieked. "Well, isn't THAT just Great!; what are we going to do with a litter of tiny little hamster babies?" my wife wanted to know. (I really do think she was being snotty here too, don't you?)

We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later. "We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "It's breech," my wife whispered, horrified. "Do something, Dad!" my son urged. "Okay, okay."

Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared giving it a gingerly tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results. "Should I call 911?" my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?) "Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly.

We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged. "I don't think hamsters do Lamaze," his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is of her womb, for God's sake.)

The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass. "What do you think, Doc, a c-section?" I suggested scientifically. "Oh, very interesting," he murmured.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, nodding for my sone to step outside. "Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked. "Oh perfectly," the vet assured us. "This hamster is not in labour. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen... Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um...um....masturbate. Just the way he did, lying on his back." He blushed, glancing at my wife. "Well, you know what I'm saying Mr. Cameron." We were silent, absorbing this. "So Ernie's just...just...Excited," my wife offered. "Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood.

More silence. Then my viscious, cruel wife started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly. "What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness. Tears were now running down her face. "It's just... that.. I'm picturing you pulling on it's... it's... teeny little..." she gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more. "That's enough," I warned.

We thanked the veterinarian and hurriedly bundled the hamsters and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay. "I know Ernie's really thankful for what you've done, Dad," he told me. "Oh, you have NO idea," my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter.

Two hamsters $10
One cage $20
Trip to the Vet $30
Memory of your hubby pulling on a hamster's wacker $Priceless

Just Another Wednesday Evening In Maya Beach

I found a website that tells you how to say 'good bye' in over 450 languages, but there was not one instance of how to say 'get your asses back here quick'. It is bittersweet to come to a new country, make new friends and see them leave, even if only for a short time. We made the best of it, we had a party.

Everyone brought a dish of something to eat and we had a couple of drinks. We had some serious moments, but mostly it was laughs, laughs and more laughs. We even did some singing of Jerry Jeff Walker songs. Adriane where the heck are you?

Kit promising that she will return quickly.

Liz seriously indicating that Kit will not return before her.

Pam just being her beautiful self.

Cordy telling stories, probably about me.

Linda

The rest of the photos are just some candid shots taken during the evening. The following are some of the people who were at Little Bit's place last night to give Kit and Liz a bit of a send off.

Lottie, Cheryl and Mary

Carol

Jacque

Lottie, Cheryl and Mary

Carol and Nancy

Liz, Little Bit and Kit

Even AFB had a great time, look at that smile.

This is for all the ladies that come out on Wednesday evenings.

Another Day In The Life

Well, it's another day in the life of the beach bums. The power went out about eight o'clock this morning and did not come back on until noonish. I don't know if it was a planned outage or not, but it was out and now it is back.

Typical breakfast for the beach bums here at our little deck side table. Omelette's filled with good stuff, fresh papaya and fresh squeezed orange juice. What could be better? Not a thing.

Yesterday afternoon, we biked into the village looking for yogurt. I think it has been at least a week since we last saw any. After leaving Elvis', we stopped in a David's and picked up some shrimp for dinner. The next stop was Cree's, a little roadside bar. It has just been moved over about five feet to accommodate the new road going through Seine Bight. It appears that they just lifted up the whole thing and moved it along the wall. Next stop was Nautical Inn, where we tested a couple of appys and had a couple of drinks, then the ride home. Oh yeah, I was worried, last time I had a couple of drinks and rode my bike, I fell off and ended up with some road rash. But we have some street lights in the village and we were able to get home without incident. We had filled up on appetizers so shrimp will be for tomorrow night's dinner. Maybe we can find a nice bottle of white wine to go with it.

There was a fish fry in Maya Beach last night, I am sure all who were there had a great time.