Beautiful Barbados

Our last full day here.

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. Even with the AC on, I was very hot and I finally got up and rested on the sofa under the fan. I started writing this at 3:30am after tossing and turning.

It looked like it rained outside again, otherwise I might have tried to sleep outside. Maybe my non-sleep will make me tired enough to sleep well on the plane on Saturday.

Yesterday they had fogged for mosquitos like the do every Tuesday and Thursday evening but last night's seemed heavier than usual. Still, some mosquitos survived and managed to bite me, one on the arch of my foot. I can't imagine he got anything out of my foot.

When I woke up at 6am after getting only 2.5 hours of sleep. Tom had opened up and there was a nice breeze. He was off, trying to get sunrise pictures. When he got back, I was sitting with my legs in the pool, trying to cool down the burn from the mosquito bites. They reminded me of a time we had been in Hilton Head and I accidentally stepped into a nest of fire ants.

We got yet more pictures from the deck. I saw that heron again but he was still too fast for me. It looks like there's another storm out at sea somewhere. I hope nothing big happens between here and Miami tomorrow while we're flying home.

Turns out there was no storm today. The whole day was beautiful. We went over to the Carriage House again for lunch. I got several “heron pictures” but none that really show him/her to best advantage.

Yesterday I'd ordered a tossed salad with lunch instead of fries. Fries arrived. Today I figured what the heck and ordered fries. My salad came. Hmmm..

There was another wedding and we got pictures of the setup and all. This one had a steel drummer playing the wedding march. I tried to get a little video but we were too far away. The wedding took abut 5 minutes. The pictures afterward took about 45.

At some point, I was resting on my elbows on the side of the pool, just lying still, thinking, and a bird swooped down and touched my chest. I think he was as surprised as I was that I wasn't a fish.

This is the last entry until we get home. Tomorrow will be a long, difficult day. We get up and pack, then check out of here by 10. We have to be at the airport by 12:40, then lines for tickets, baggage checks, security, customs, duty-free stuff. Then at Miami we go through immigration, US customs, then wait for several hours until our next plane. We get to DC about 12:35am on Sunday, then get a cab for a 45 minute ride home. Then, sleep! Our son should be there when we get home and that will be so nice.

Then, we pick up our dog later on Sunday and...back to real life. Work, doctors, volunteer stuff, medical testing, webwork, house cleaning, laundry, calls to make, emails, rehearsals. Real life.

In 50 weeks we'll be back! I'm already counting the days.

We took 177 pictures today just in case we missed anything over the last 2 weeks:

Not much of interest today. I went over to reception and posted 3 days worth of blog posts and pictures. I haven't found anything yet that can replicate for the Mac what Windows LiveWriter does on my PC. Fortunately, at home. I can stick with the LiveWriter.

People called from the spa to offer a 10% discount for any treatment I wanted (or, presumably, any treatment Tom wanted). I guess someone looked at our account and realized that we weren't coming even close to the hold they had put on our debit card and wanted to use a bit more of that money before we left.

Around 2:30 we went over the the pool complex for lunch. I took some pictures of the goldfish? Koi? Whatever, there were lots of them, maybe hoping for lunch, too.

I saw what looked like a brown heron watching the fish but I think they were too big for him. I saw him or one of his relatives last night but thought that I was mistaken. I don't think that they have herons here. I'll have to look that up. Of course, this one flew away as I was getting my camera out but Tom saw him, too.

Around 6pm I finished my 4th book and started on number 5.

Only 10 pictures today:

Wednesday September 1

When we woke up, we could see that it had rained overnight but it was another nice sunny day.

Mostly another lazy day that blended into the others. Around noon I finally decided to get the bag I'd been coveting since we got here. I had looked at it 3 times when we were in Cave Shepherd before. Naturally, this time it had been sold. They did have it in another color which I didn't like nearly so much. Tom got another thirt, though!

We went swimming in out little pool for a bit, then the rains came. We got lots of pictures.

At first, I thought this might be hurricane Fiona but it turned out she was already north of us. This was Tropical Storm 9, now hurricane Gaston. This season has had more hurricanes out to sea than I can remember from any other year. There have been 4 in the 12 days we have been here. Pretty impressive! Someone on StormCarib said that it seemed like Africa was shooting us with fiery cannonballs and I think she was right.

When it it was pretty obvious that the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon, I took my shower and resumed reading inside. When the rains stopped, I went back outside to read even with the chairs being wet. Why not? I had just been in the pool and the clothes would be washed anyway.

When it got too dark to read, I got some good sunset pictures before coming in to get dressed...again.

This time I put on the new island-y dress I had bought last week for only $24 duty free. We stopped over by the big pool again to see if we could see any of the satellites or the Hubble space telescope. Several space objects were supposed to be orbiting around 6:30 but it was too cloudy to see anything.

We stopped by the little street market in the village and Tom bought some handmade shoes but wanted then in black so the shoemaker is supposed to deliver them to us on Thursday. I had never known that anyone in Barbados made handmade shoes and I never knew Tom to be interested in any. He also bought some bird made out of a coconut shell for one of his office workers. I'll reserve comment but he was sure she'd like it.

We took the coconut-shell bird back home then went back out for our main mission of the evening. Out to dinner at D'Onofrio's again. I had the same thing I had last time – chicken scallopini with lemon sauce. Tom had the veal scallopini with lemon sauce but said that it was tough so he had some of my chicken instead. The restaurant manager took the veal off the bill, even though we hadn't asked, and that was nice.

A week from today I'll have to check in at Weight Watchers and I don't think it will be good news.

Stopped by the pool again, just in case any of the satellites were late but nothing there. Maybe tomorrow!

More pictures! Click to view, as always:

Today we ran out of milk and the fridge is looking pretty bare so I guess we actually have to go shopping again. But later, much later.

Our usual housekeeper, Brenda, came back from a 4-week holiday and it was so nice to see her again.

We started the day as usual, my typing away, Tom checking email and we decided to go out to L'Azure for breakfast. They have a really nice buffet-type spread so we got lots of good stuff to eat, with a nice view.

When we got back, we found that Brenda had cleaned out or coffee pot, our supply for the day was gone and we hadn't gone shopping yet. Oh, no! I need my coffee and I'll drink day-old, cold, I don't care as long as it's fully caffeinated.

Tom managed to get some last coffee out of our container, enough to tide us over a little.

I went over to Reception and did my daily email, Facebook, Cushing's news and bios, the usual daily routine here. I saw Mel again from the other day and he actually remembered my name, probably because I'm the only person in Barbados walking around with a laptop all the time.

We were going to go to the store but decided to go later (everything in my life is becoming later and later!) and take the opportunity to go in the pool. Tom had a book to exchange so while we were over by the big pool we noticed that no one was in it so we settled into our private space. After reading for a while, we went in and swam for a bit, then went over to the pool complex and tried out a couple of those pools that we hadn't been in yet this year. Pictures were taken.

And I finished my third book for this trip.

We decided to go back and get to the store. We had decided on the little general store here. Surely they had milk, coffee and spaghetti sauce. The paperwork said they were open until 9, so no rush. We got there just after 7 and they were closed for inventory. There had been no announcement, no sign earlier. Luckily we had the rental car. Otherwise, I guess we'd have had to eat at one of the restaurants. Not a bad thing, but something I like to plan for, to look forward to.

So, we went back, got the car keys and headed to Emerald City again. We got more than we would have gotten at the general store and it probably cost less, so it all worked out.

Today's pictures: Click the cover one to see them all

Monday, August 30

This is actually Tuesday now and I didn't write a thing yesterday. It was another of those sloth days, just being, thinking, reading, napping. No serious naps like at home but short ones here and there.

We had requested someone come in to fix two of the doors that were sticking due to all the moisture in the air. A very nice Portuguese man named Faroe from Guyana came to do that and Tom spent lots of time talking to him while he worked. Tom actually happened to have a phrasebook of lots of languages, one of them Portuguese, and the man was very thankful when Tom gave that to him.

There are a lot of workers here from Guyana. In past years we used to see the construction crews a lot more and Tom would talk to them about the building plans and so on. The wages here are so much better that many workers will come here for a year or two and send money home to family. Faroe had been able to bring his family here for a month and they were enjoying their time until the youngest had to go back to school next week

Sometime in the afternoon we decided to go have lunch by the pool so we put our suits on and walked over just to find out that something had happened to the stove and they only had drinks and cold stuff.

We went in the pool, read a bit then decided to go to the Manager's Welcome Party we missed last Monday. I went to take a shower and could hear Tom's cellphone ringing in the safe. Apparently, Tom had set his alarm on his phone. When he went to open the safe, it wouldn't open so he called the front desk.

I got my shower in before the safe-fixing person arrived. Apparently, it had lost power sometime – maybe when the stove stopped working at the pool? - and it “forgot” our combination.

We got to the party about halfway through and talked to some folks. There weren't many staff people that we could see there but a nice woman named Margarita came over and introduced herself. She was the new head of housekeeping, just here 3 weeks and she was anxious to hear from people how things were going. Although she is a Bajan, she has lived in Canada, Florida and Indianapolis. After being in all the snow of Canada and Indianapolis, she wanted to come home. Who can blame her?

Margarita had also worked at Sandy Lane but gave most diplomatic answers when I asked which she liked best.

Sandy Lane is a huge resort on the West Coast of Barbados which focuses mainly on golf and luxury living. I remember when they were being built, wondering what it would be because the area was so large. One of their claims to fame is that Tiger Woods was married there. This year I saw that they were still featuring his wedding pictures in their ads. I asked Tom if they shouldn't remove these ads since the marriage was in such trouble. Tom said that they weren't divorced yet and still might get back together. That night the divorce was announced.

Guess next year Sandy Lane will have different pictures in their ads.

Then we talked at great length to Paul's wife and that was nice. I wish I could remember her name. One of the other guests came over to introduce himself and asked where she was from. She said that she lived here and the man asked if she worked here. Embarrassment all around when she said that she and her husband owned the whole kit and caboodle.

We stopped by the pool overlooking the sea on the way back and thought that maybe could go to L'Azure for dinner but we weren't wearing “evening attire”. I pointed out that it was evening and we were dressed but we decided that probably wasn't what they meant.

We should have done shopping today, but we lazed around too much, so we were out of a lot of stuff. For our exotic dinner we had canned soup and peanut butter sandwiches. Yum! Shopping trip tomorrow for sure.

I don't think we even took any pictures today – amazing!

Sunday, August 29 (but not posted until Tuesday!)

The sun was shining brightly through the window but it looks hazy out to sea so I'm not sure what kind of day it's going to be.

At least we know it's going to be quieter!

Last night when I went to bed I slathered on some nice-smelling lotion. This morning, while writing this, I had mosquitoes hovering all around me. I guess they were attracted to the lotion, too! Luckily, I have some Off! Towelettes here and I used those. Mosquitoes gone!

The haze seems to be lifting and it looks like its going to be a beautiful day. I can hear some waves coming in and that's unusual. Even though we're on the Atlantic side of the island, we don't usually get much wave activity here. Further north, in Bathsheba, they get good waves, good enough for surfing competitions in the “Soup Bowl”. I wonder if Earl or another hurricane is out to sea somewhere.

Just checked on http://stormcarib.com and it looks like Earl is already north of us. He's become an actual hurricane with winds of 75 mph so that could affect our waves. I guess Fiona will be next up. Hopefully not too soon! I did read that article before we came that predicted a hurricane for here on August 30 so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Throughout the day, the waves her got stronger and I noticed that planes flying into the airport had changed from a southern approach to a northern one. Something is brewing out there.

The rest of the day was spent in the usual routine – reading/napping/being in the pool. I started on my third book since I've been here. This one is Kane and Abel, recommended by my good friend Alice.

Tom went over to Reception to get beach towels again. Our were lost in the great flooding incident. Then, he convinced someone to exchange the gift red wine for white. I still may not drink it, but there's a better chance. I don't get any headaches from white wine.

Today was a nice, relaxing day. So much better than yesterday.

Today's pictures:

More excitement. While I was finishing up yesterday's blog, I started hearing a dripping noise. I ignored it, then Tom got up and said that we had water leakage from the floor above. Those noisy people upstairs managed to flood something.

Tom went upstairs to see what was going on. One of them had left the toilet handle up and after it had flushed water kept coming out of the tank, onto their bathroom floor and bedroom, then down to our bedroom. When Tom got their, they were still asleep and didn't know this.

Maintenance came in with buckets and mops and we moved out a rug that was getting wet on the edge. Tom went and had a few choice words with the front desk and I guess we're going to move.

We went and looked at another apartment in another building. It's newer and on the fourth floor so I'll have to take an elevator or stairs to get to Reception and online. The view will be different, too but, hopefully, it will be MUCH quieter. The apartment and the pool is smaller, too.

I originally chose this place, 211, because of the larger apartment, best view and bigger pool. Now annoying people have changed our vacation and I'm pretty angry. I keep telling myself that it will be quieter and dryer.

Already I hear these people yelling back and forth to each other. I'm glad we're going...I'm glad we're going...it will be fine. I hope.

I've packed up all my stuff already – it's 10:43 – and they just called to tell us our new place won't be ready until 3, even though they've made it a “priority”. Tom said if the water stops maybe we could stay. I told him to go outside for a minute and listen. He did and agreed that we should go. I still don't see why we should be inconvenienced like this because of other people. This day is completely wasted mopping, packing, waiting for the next place to be ready, unpacking.

At noon, we talk to someone else, Dwayne, at the front desk. I'm still PO'd, Tom thinks we could maybe stay here. He's concerned that I'm so angry and unhappy about all this. He points out to Dwayne at that these people made the noise, overflowed the water, are spending the day out at the pool/beach while we're sitting around, wasting the day waiting for another room to be available for us to move to.

At one, someone from Guest Relations, Korey, calls and says that the other people are leaving at 6. Hooray!

We decide to stay and start unpacking again. Korey sends us an apology along with a bottle of red wine. Eventually, someone from housekeeping will probably get the wine. Tom doesn't drink and red wine gives me headaches every time I try it. It was a nice thought, though.

Housekeeping came and cleared up the rest of the floor and removed the buckets, our pots and pans and pool towels that had been collecting water.

I resumed reading outside knowing that the noise would end at 6. A kid or kids from upstairs were in the pool and the father(?) was upstairs yelling at him/them from off their balcony. The kid yelled back. Doors slamming, yelling, the TV is a little quieter than last night. 6 is coming. Thank goodness!

At 5:30 the man yells to the kid(s) that it's time for them to come back to get ready to go. Hooray! They left at 5:59 and left the windows and door to their patio open.

The quiet is so nice. It's back to paradise after 30 hours of hell.

A couple got married over by the pool and we got some pictures of them. No rainbows today, though!

I took my laptop over to Reception to get done the things I couldn't do this morning during the packing/unpacking activities.

On the way back we stopped by the main/older pool. Years ago there had been a frog who stationed himself right outside the path to the pool. He was always there, like a guard on duty. We hadn't seen him for several years but tonight he (or one of his great-grandchildren) was there, back on duty. That was cool :)

We got back home and just before I started making dinner, it started to rain. I remembered the upstairs windows and called the main desk to let them know that it was probably raining in.

Those people probably did far more damage than they had paid to be here. As a fractional owner of this enterprise, this disturbs me. These people were being annoying to us (and to others around them), wasted a day of our vacation here AND cost us money due to their carelessness.

Let it go and not ruin the rest of our vacation, already!!!

Today's pictures: Remember about clicking to see them all?

Click on above image to get today's pictures, if you want :)

Wow, our time here is nearly half over. I was sad when I thought about this this morning but then I remembered that most folks would be headed home tomorrow after a week here. When I get home, bells will start up right away, maybe children's choirs, piano teaching for sure, doctors appointments... Boggles the mind, how to transition from this to that.

One thing that I'm looking forward to – our son is supposed to be there when we get home. He was able to get a week off work, but it was Labor Day week, not one while were were here. It will be so nice to see him, whenever, wherever.

Something new and exciting! The fire alarm is going off in our building. I was impressed how quickly staff got here. I talked to one of the workers who said that someone cooking set off the smoke alarm. The sound is still going, though, so we'll see.

I had gotten a mystery from the book exchange a few days ago. It looked like something I'd like and there had been 17 previous books in the series so someone must like it. I just never got into it at all and ended up returning it today. I've found some really good books here in the past. Books from England or Canada that I can't normally get as easily in the states. Back to reading the books I brought on my Kindle.

>We ended going to L'Azure for lunch which is always nice. I had a chicken and roasted pepper wrap. I had assumed that the peppers would be the mild green or red ones like we have at home but they were the hot Bajan ones. Shoulda known! It was good though.

Sometime in the afternoon I was reading/napping when not one but two sets of noisy neighbors arrived. One set, to our right, was the yelling, slamming doors type and the other set arrived and started watching sports on TV at a high level. I tried listening to my iPod with headphones to block out the noise but it wasn't enough. Tom tried noise canceling headphones and those didn't really work, either.

We shut the doors, turned on the AC and headed to the pool to get some quiet. When we got back it was nice and cool and we couldn't hear the upstairs people...too much. Who goes on vacation in the tropics to watch daytime sports? Sheesh! Hopefully tomorrow, they'll all go out, go to the pool, something quieter.

I am really liking this new Mac. The only thing really missing is Windows LiveWriter which I use to write my blog posts. I like that because it's so easy to insert images and other formatting where I want and, if there's something that's good for two or more blogs, I can easily switch to the second without changing any formatting.

I installed the new Google Voice today although I'm not sure if I'll use it much. I have Skype and rarely use that. We do have a MagicJack that we're using here to give us a “local number”, even though it's in Massachusetts. It's still cheaper than calling/being called from the states. We were able to get a vanity number that ends in our last name, although that gives us quite a series of 6s!

For some reason I didn't sleep well last night. The last time I remember checking the time was at 3:45 so I guess I slept well after that, at least until 9. Not enough! The sun streaming through the windows is just too inviting to resist, though.

So, another lazy day. A little reading, a little napping, a little online stuff. We went in the plunge pool here then went over to the pool complex and went in a couple different pools. I think I might have napped a bit there, too :)

We split a club sandwich – for some reason not a club cutter – then back into the pool even though my Mom always said I had to wait a half an hour before going in. She hasn't been here since 2001 so she probably won't find out, either!

There's a niggling thought in the back of my mind. In 1984 we were on vacation and I knew that as soon as we went back I had an appointment at NIH to see if I'd be accepted into a clinical trial for Cushing's. I was terrified that I would and terrified that I wouldn't. Now I'm reminded that as soon as we go back I have an appointment with a new specialist, a pulmonologist. I guess I'm thinking of this today especially because of the article I posted with info from Dr. Mary Lee Vance at UVA about growth hormone and cancer. I've already had cancer. I hope that the lung nodules and enlarged mediastinal lymph node aren't heralding either a metastasis or anything new.

Time to think those happy thoughts again!

It's time for the street fair over in the village. This is new this year so maybe I'll check it out. Or maybe next week. This chair is just too comfy to get out of right now.

About an hour later, I did get out of the chair and we went to the street fair. There were some interesting local arts and crafts and stuff. Tom got some stuff for people back home and a replacement magnetite bracelet for himself. I also got an ankle bracelet since I never found one at home before we came.

We stopped in the new Italian restaurant, D'Onofrio's, for dinner. Turns out Paul was there with his family and he had some good recommendations for us! I had chicken scallopini with lemon sauce and a rice with peppers. Tom had spaghetti carbonara.

Dessert was a weird thing for me – something called beehive ice cream and liqueur. Gloria, our server, said that beehive was a kind of liqueur but I'd never heard of it. I had assumed that anything called beehive would be made of honey or at least be sweet but it wasn't. Actually, I found it kind of bitter.

The dessert was the beehive ice cream in a pastry shell with the beehive liqueur, whipped cream, pirouette cookie and garnish of strawberries and blackberries. How that can't be sweet was beyond me. So, now I know that I won't be getting that again! Live and learn...

Tom had plain vanilla ice cream, an old standby for him.

Back at home we watched the movie Up and had some popcorn before bed.

Today's pictures. Click on the cover image to see the rest of them. Today Tom got hold of the camera so there are lots more pictures than usual!

Yet another lazy day. I'm turning into a sloth! More of the reading/napping stuff. Today's big news is that I finally got on Facebook. I got nearly through the identification of the avatars, mainly by guesswork, then I came to one that I got entirely by accident. Thank you Becky B for using your yearbook picture with the tiny name written underneath!

Sandy Boone, former assistant pastor at my church had gone out on a leap of faith to start a new waterfront ministry in Baltimore. She sent me a copy of her new website for review/critique and that made me feel good, to be trusted to have possibly-useful comments and thoughts. :) The new site is supposed to go live today or tomorrow. Sometimes these things take a while to propagate, though. In case it's today, the URL is http://www.watersedgepartnership.org/ . We miss Sandy terribly at Pender UMC but I'm sure that her Waters Edge Partnership will exceed all expectations. When I go to my doctor appointments at Johns Hopkins, I'll be able to check this out, too!

Tom came over to Reception while I was doing my daily online routine. He had sent me some PDF files that he couldn't open. They were all financial reports about The Crane, some sent by a new man named Mel. While we were reading, Mel came over and introduced himself.

On the way back, we stopped at the village branch of Cave Shepherd and got that bathing suit Tom had wanted from the first day but didn't come in his size. They had sent one in the right size from another branch.

We were out of some basic stuff again, so it's off to Emerald City for shopping. I always feel like my name should be Dorothy when I mention or write about this store. LOL

Back home I was reading (or napping) outside when suddenly a huge rain cloud rolled in from the ocean. I don't remember seeing if there was a hurricane at sea or not. I thought the next one wasn't supposed to be until the 30th but one could be sneaking up. I went to get my camera but by then, it was really coming down.

About 10 minutes later I got these great rainbow pictures. I don't know if it will show up but the rainbow goes all the way into the sea.

I have a special “thing” for rainbows. Way back, we were in Florida, on the beach. My dad was terminally ill with his second bout of colon cancer. I was feeling guilty being on the beach while my mom was taking care of him in their home. Tom and our son were in the water and I was on shore praying for my dad, that everything would work out ok. It was a beautiful sunny day but all of a sudden there was the most glorious rainbow. I called to Tom and Michael so they could see it, too, and to prove to myself that I wasn't seeing things that weren't there. They both saw it too. I really felt that this was an answer to my prayers, that things were going to be ok. Since then, I've always looked for rainbows :)

No surprise but Tom spent a lot of time at his local “office”.

We went over to the pool area and all the pool chairs were wet from the storm – just like they were at our place. We went in the jacuzzi instead of one of the pools. The jacuzzi is in special location. Way, way back, when this was a hotel, the jacuzzi area was a stable. When my friend was here in the 1990s we were exploring and the stable was abandoned, with all kinds of junk in it and overgrown weeds and stuff. Nowadays, thanks to Paul's vision, it has been expanded, the roof removed and it houses a huge open-air jacuzzi where you can sit out and gaze at the stars.

The expansion – it was about doubled – looks so natural that no one would know. There are 6 large open window cuts on the shorter sides and 6 plus doorways on the longer sides. I'm guessing that the coral stone removed to make these open areas are what was used to make the expanded section but I'm not sure. However it was done all the coral stone looks to be the same age.

Similarly, the old carriage house has a new incarnation as the Carriage House Bar and Grill where we had lunch the other day.

Immediately after dinner I feel asleep on the sofa again. I don't see how I can sleep so much when I'm not doing anything!

The weirdest thing happened. I had been needing a nail file since we got here but I always forget when I'm in the store. Just after we paid at Ganzee the other day, I noticed some with souvenir pictures right near the cash register but I didn't want to start a new transaction. Then, I remembered in the jacuzzi.

When I went to bed, there was a brand new one, not in any packaging or anything, on my side of the bed. Tom didn't put it there – I'd never even mentioned one to him. I supposed that housekeeping maybe found it somewhere and assumed it was mine but I would have thought that they might put it on the bedside table.

Cue Twilight Zone music...

Today's pictures.

Monday, August 24:

Rain! I got up about 8am and it wasn't long before there was a drenching rain. There had been families in the pool complex already and they got up to leave. I'm never sure about that. They were already wet, some playing under a waterfall but when the rain starts they leave.

After a while, the rain stopped and I took the laptop over to Reception where there's a better wifi connection. Several people were amazed that I was online since another area didn't have coverage. It rained again and people from the beach who'd come here just for that experience were trying to decide if they should leave or not. They finally took a taxi back to the west coast.

I tried to log into Facebook but couldn't since it didn't recognize my new location. I was supposed to identify a number of other members by their avatars. I can't remember all those and some people seem to change them daily. So, I was locked out for at least an hour. Maybe I'll take my phone over tomorrow and log on with that – I don't think I ever logged out.

I checked email, added some bios to http://www.cushie.info updated some other pages, checked banking records to be sure that none of the debit card thieves had gotten our card numbers yet. Downloaded Picasa to organize pictures to add to this.

The rain stopped again and I went back to 211A. Did some reading, more rain. Napped a bit, more wet you-know-what. I'm thinking that this is fallout from a hurricane that's out to sea. Next time I go online I'll check my favorite weather source for here – http://www.stormcarib.com – and see what's brewing out there. I remember reading before we came that we were supposed to get a cyclone on August 30. It hadn't even started raining yet but somehow the weather forecasters think that there will be a hurricane here on the 30th.

We've never had a hurricane here. They almost always veer to the north. I think the last one that came here was in the 1930s. One year, they thought that one would hit Barbados. We were out on a small cat (catamaran) and the owner was sure that a hurricane was coming so he took the cat to Trinidad and Tobago. Guess where the hurricane hit instead of here?

Others were pretty sure that wed get hit here, too, so housekeeping brought around emergency instructions, candles and so on. We already knew where the hurricane shelter was which was helpful. All the window shutters were closed and bolted down, the pool chairs sunk into the pool. We hunkered down and waited. We were in the historic hotel still at that time and we had the wonderful wrap-around second-floor deck. We sat out on that and so did our next-door neighbors. We watched the storm out to sea and waited.

The storm turned north for the cat's Appointment in Samarra...

I must be getting old with all these reminiscences and memories. It's sure nice to have them, though!

Tonight is the manager's welcome party but we've been welcomed in past years so we didn't go. I noticed on the invitation that the location had been changed to inside. They probably thought it might rain again. And it did.

Sunset on this coast is always amazing. It's light, light, light, dark! It seems like the whole sunset takes 15 minutes, like a shade dropping over the horizon. The moon right now is full, big and bright and in about an hour and a half a US telecom satellite will pass overhead.

It gets so dark here that we can see all kinds of constellations, which is pretty cool. We went out one time with an astronomer who brought telescopes and showed us all kinds of stuff. He had lots of information to share including that he was an alien from one of the planets he was showing us. When he invited us to the place he said he was living temporarily in Barbados, we politely declined...

It's so peaceful and relaxing here. No stress, no doctors, no deadlines to meet, no places to be and people to see. Very easy to take.

We decided to take a stroll down to the pool complex and sit there for a bit. Unfortunately, most of those chairs were still wet from the rain. We found some under a little roof that were dry enough and sat for a while enjoying the evening breeze, the stars and the tree frogs.

Back home we discovered we got the Game Show Network. Oh boy! More TV for me coming up! LOL

This is from the Crane Blog at http://blog.thecrane.com/crane-recognized-for-fractional-ownershipvillage-happenings/

Crane Recognized for Fractional Ownership…Village Happenings

Posted in: News on: May 12, 2009

Crane celebrated in “Top 10 of the Best Fractional Homes”

In the May 2009 issue of Homes Overseas, the UK’s leading international property magazine since 1965, The Crane was named in the Top 10 of the Best Fractional Homes worldwide by George Sell, a writer for the magazine who focuses on fractional ownership.

Village Happenings

The Crane recently celebrated the opening of two more shops in the retail Village with the opening of Barbados’ oldest retailer Cave Shepherd, along with our own mini-General Store – a preview of the larger General Store soon to come.

Local tour operators and ground handlers joined guests and managers for a cocktail party to celebrate the new Cave Shepherd store, which features the “On the Beach” brand of resort and surf wear, Pages bookstore offering books and magazines for the guests’ reading pleasure, and duty-free shopping featuring liquor, perfumes, and souvenirs.

Shortly thereafter the resort was pleased to open our very own mini corner store, where guests have been shopping for conveniences including wines, snacks, and digging into the ever-popular ice cream freezer!

In addition, The Village now features a lovely conference and event area called The Town Hall, ideal for meetings, banquets and wedding receptions.

Coming soon to the Village – opening in June - will be Dingolay, a casual wear boutique, and Tamarind Seed, a craft store featuring the best of Barbadian and Caribbean art and craft.

Throughout the summer and fall, additional openings will include Ozone Health and Fitness Centre, D’Onofrio’s Italian Restaurant and Pizza Terrace, The Village Café and Bar 1887.

Introducing….

Look out for our daytime Duty Manager, Carolyn Johnson, when you are next on property. A transplanted Canadian who has long called Barbados home, she is on hand walking the property and checking rooms and will be happy to have a chat with you during your visit to assist with any queries or concerns you may have.

Colombian Emeralds opens in new Crane Village

Steel Pan in the Crane Village

This week The Crane unveiled the first opening in the new Village retail shopping and dining area, with a celebratory cocktail party for members, in-house guests, and Barbados’ Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Richard Sealy.

The party truly sparkled, with live steel pan music complementing the shiny jewels on display in the brand-new Colombian Emeralds store. A live fish cake station completed the Bajan village street feel, as guests mingled against the backdrop of the heritage architecture of an 18^th century Barbadian town.

Crane guests enjoying The Village celebration

With a phased opening over the next several months, the 55,000 square-foot Crane Village is expected to become the new heart of the resort community.

The next stage of opening, within a few weeks, will reveal a 3,000 sq. ft Duty Free shopping centre in partnership with Duty Free Caribbean (Cave Sheperd, Pages Bookstore, and Ganzee) followed closely by The Town Hall, a state-of-the-art conference facility.

The Town Hall meeting and function space will offer a spectacular venue for conferences, receptions and private functions, featuring a view of the iconic Crane pool. This area will accommodate up to 150 guests, banquet-style.

Along with duty-free shopping, the Village will also feature resort wear at Dingolay, Barbadian art and crafts at Tamarind Seed, resort keepsakes at the Crane Signature Shop and a selection of fresh food, wine and convenience items at The General Store.

Later in the year, guests will also benefit from the variety of dining and entertainment options, such as D’Onofrio’s for Southern Italian fare, Pizza Terrace with al fresco dining, The Village Café for fresh bread and coffee, and Bar 1887 featuring Rum Shop Happy Hour with authentic Bajan Tapas.

Guests strolling through the cobble stone streets will notice the grandeur of Barbadian design captured throughout The Village, featuring elements of historical architecture, steep gable roofs, wooden shutters and ornate fretwork integrated with fine mahogany features, distinctive lime stonewalls and typical breezy verandahs; all surrounded by beautiful landscaped gardens.

Barbados' Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy and The Crane's Paul Doyle check out Colombian Emeralds