Saturday, August 10, 2013

More catching up...

Once again....heeerrreee'sss Leslie!

 

Tropical Storm Chantel was supposed to produce some rain and winds for us. I waited in anticipation as I had my supplies and knew the routine in Florida, but still really did not know what to expect here!! Well - I got thirty minutes of a sprinkle and maybe three wind gusts of 15 MPH! Dodged a bullet this time!!

 Fostering my girl, Patches, had been a joy for me and I appreciate our landlords allowing it. She is such a cuddler and is so lovable! I try to help the ACC out when they are overcrowded or when Patches may need some one on one time, but let’s be serious- I need some of that doggie love too! So it's a win-win situation!! The ACC knows that I can't commit to more than just our fostering as my number one priority needs to be getting Champ down here and getting him adjusted!!





Kids Night In Babysitting Service is in full bloom. I am watching little ones from both local families and visiting guests. I have watched kids aged 3 months to 11 years and had a blast with all!!







I have finally seen my first therapy patient with Partners 4Kids !! It is exciting for me to see babies down here! I love the doctor, the OT, and the office  staff, so I cannot wait to get more involved as this expands!! I think it will be amazing for everyone!

Went snorkeling with a lovely lady who has lived here 30 years! Lucy was in charge of Caneel's snorkel hut for 20 years, so when she asked me to go, I was really excited to find a snorkel partner!! We snorkeled for over 2 hours and went from Caneel Bay, to Paradise, and then to Scott Bay! We saw some great fish and reef. The most exciting thing we saw was a basket starfish as they usually come out at night only!
(here's a picture as they are pretty wild!).
Afterwards we were famished so we decided to try a place that neither of us had been to, but had heard rave reviews on their burgers, Driftwood David's. The burgers were yummy! After the burgers Lucy inquired about dessert, Nikki the waitress told us the pastry chef left five months ago, so there were no desserts available. Lucy said she would have to come to my house for cookies! Nikki went and got the owner, Dave, who said he wanted to sample my cookies. I dropped them off the day I was going back to Florida for six days! Upon my return, he asked when I was making him more as they were the best cookies he had ever had!! Yowza!! So now I am baking cookies as needed for Driftwood Dave's! The best part is he is donated some of the money to ACC!! Nice guy, good burgers, and now my cookies!!

Saying goodbye to a new friend is difficult. Rob has been a huge supporter of the Animal Care Center for several years. I have had the privilege of getting to know him through the Sunday ACC hikes , but even more so on our Tuesday morning long walks for the pups. We would take them into town, or to swim in the water, and us humans got to giggle and tease each other throughout our walks!  Rob and Ken decided to move back to Rhode Island and will be dearly missed! 

Denise, our other walking buddy, had a going away party at her home in lower Peter Bay and I just was in awe of the view!




  I may need to send care packages to Rob as he kind of liked my cookies!




Thursday, August 8, 2013

Catching up (Carnival Edition)...


Yes, it's been a while (too long) since our last blog entry. Leslie has been busy (as you'll soon see) and things are heating up a little on the leaving Florida behind front, But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First things first, let's get caught up. And with that, I now turn you over to our on island correspondent...

I have been slacking this month in terms of getting info to Steve for the blog so I am so sorry! I got a fire under my butt today while I was helping out at St John Kids/ Spice for our dear friend who needed a little extra help. A couple came in and said "you are EagleRayLover ( my name on a travel forum), I stalk you a little on line!"

So I apologize and will update on some of the craziness in this month of July!! 
Let’s start with Carnival- although we have been to St John many times we have not been during this time of year.  I decided to get up early and go down to town and see some of the prep for the parade! (Jouvert is the early morning - 4am walk that locals come to and walk the streets in their own type of parade! I went down to town around 7:00 so I saw the tail end of the fun people, who were definitely excited about the day's events! I just walked around, taking pics and visiting with some people in the parade. I actually helped one women stock her booth with food at the festival area! Around 10:30, I decided I needed to find the perfect spot to watch the parade. I decided I would try Quiet Mon, a bar that is on the second floor. You can imagine my surprise when I got front row seating at the balcony!!

I was met by two dear friends, Randy and Marcia, who were visiting from Maryland, and we were ready to go!! Parade was supposed to start at 11:00, but it was on island time and started at noon. It was so much fun watching the dance groups, music, the little kids, the princesses, and my favorite - the mocko jumbles!! 

What's a mocko jumbie you may ask? They are  people on stilts that dance and do acrobatic maneuvers! They wear vibrant costumes and love audience interaction. So being on the balcony, we were in the prime place to visit with them (by visit I mean give them a beer!)

 



Next we went to dinner at Rhumblines, where several of my favorite local peeps work. We had a party of nine and had a great dinner! Later we all went to Randy and Marcia's condo to watch the firework display and eat my homemade chocolate chunk cookies! Fireworks were fabulous and we may have had the best seat on the bay!!

I had a fun, fun day that I cannot wait to share with Steve and the boys next year, but I was exhausted by the end of it!!