#6 Family and The Great Flood

 

On my last trip to Solomon's before family arrived, I found bags of these delightful little peppers. I didn't buy any....I simply admired them. Buying them could lead to cooking and I'm not there yet....

No bananas. Really? No bananas??? When I asked I was told that the boat comes in Tues. and Thurs. so try again later in the week. When I went back on Wed. there were still no bananas. Living on an island where everything has to be imported is so interesting. You might buy something and want more and never see it again. Guess I could have bought some of these sweet potatoes but really not the same as bananas....

When I rented my present car I asked for a turquoise licence plate like the locals and was denied. I didn't care what the car was, I just wanted the right licence plate. This plate tells everyone that you are not local. It feels like a target on my bumper. They have to be the worst drivers on in the world. I get tail gated to such an extent that I can't see the guys plate. Sped past at outlandish speeds. Cut off and oh let me tell you about yesterday.

On the way home from church I am approaching a curve to the right. There are three cars coming towards me on the right hand side and as I get closer to the curve there is suddenly a large blue pick up truck in MY LANE coming towards me!!!! OMG!!! Nothing to do but to hit the dirt on my left over rocks and pot holes and blow the shite out of my horn!!! What was he thinking? Passing three cars on a curve. Good think we had been to church is all I can say.....And let the people say, "AMEN!!!"

This is honestly how my fridge has looked for the last month. Oh but now, you can hardly close the door!!!

I haven't done any Christmas preparations. There is no tree. There are no gifts under the tree I don't have. No decorations anywhere so when I was in Solomon's I spied this bag of kisses and decided I needed some Christmas cheer. I couldn't find a price anywhere on the display. That should have been my first clue. When I got home and did the math, I discovered that I had paid $53.58 Canadian for them. OMG!!! And then Melanie told me she had just bought the same bag at Walmart for $9.99 which made me feel much better. 

This liquor store is just around the corner from my place. No Kalua. It appears that there is no Kalua on this island. Are you serious??? Good thing I'm going to Mexico at the end of the January. 

 

Finally the big day has arrived. Company is coming!!! I got to the airport 45 minutes before their flight was due as I knew parking was tight or simply not available. Found a spot and started reading  Suddenly about 25 minutes before the plane was due, people started moving all around me. The flight was early in a country where everyone is always late. There is absolutely no logic to this land which is very hard for a woman like myself going through life constantly looking for the logic in all situations. 

Here come the weary travelers. Ray had come from Emsdale to Toronto the day before then he and Tehya flew from Toronto to Nassau and then Nassau to Freeport. No smiles yet....

Wednesday night was a tough night to begin with as I hadn't had anyone in my bed for a month and Ray seemed to be in constant movement. I kept waking and waking. I could hear it raining outside which I always enjoy. At one point Ray said, "What is that water running?" "It's the rain." and we both went back to sleep. At 5 Ray sat up and put his feet on the floor. "Hey, there's water on the floor." Thinking he was dreaming, I sat up and put my feet down into two inches of water all over the floor. It was dark. We needed light but the thought of touching a light switch and getting electrocuted was one of my first thoughts. We sloshed our way out of the bedroom to discover that the water heater in the hall was gushing water out. 

Ray couldn't find a shut off valve. There wasn't one. I grabbed my phone and called the unit manager and left a message. Then I called the wonderful owner in the US who called my back right away and gave me instructions on how to turn  off the water outside. Outside? Really? It was raining. I raised the lid on the shut off  thingy and saw the valve but I had to put my hand into the water to turn it and every horror story I had ever watched about monsters in dark wet places came rushing into my mind so I decided on plan B which was to wake my neighbout at 5 in the morning as I knew this was his line of business. He was great. Turned off the water, diagnosed the problem, had a part and would be back to fix it.

In the meantime can you begin to imagine the mess we were in. There was water everywhere. All of the rugs were soaked. Pillows were soaked. Half a bag of my yarn was soaked. Books were soaked and on it went. I turned off the AC, opened up the front door and started brooming water out of the front door. No ServiceMaster came. No help came. We are responsible renters and felt we needed to get this water out before it started destroying the furniture etc. No help came. 

Do you have any idea how slippery tile is when you add inches of water on top of it and I don't skate!!! We had to wear shoes. My beloved Birks have now gone from a lovely pale beige to this dark yucky colour. I'm not an Imelda Marcos kind of woman with thousands of pairs of shoes. I have one good pair of sandals. One pair of good running shoes. One pair of slippers. 

We worked o the floors for two hours. We were desperate to go back to bed but couldn't as there was a sopping mattress under our bed and the bed skirt was wet so we had to wait until after 8 for the unit manager to come and remove them. He also mopped up all of the water from under our bed and at about 9 we sank back into bed for more sleep.

Well, that was one hell of an experience.

Tehya is a beach baby so we are trying to make it there as often as we can. This little critter would not leave me alone. It kept trying to eat me!!!

This is how the man came out of the bush. Looking like a bushman. When he came through customs in Nassau he was told that he only had 30 days to stay and that he would have to renew his stay to stay for another two weeks. I hear this may cost an additional $200. You have got to be kidding me!!! Now we have to go through some immigration office and oh these people love red tape and rules. None of which I am any good at!!! We need a connection. Jerrisma gets back from Vegas tomorrow. She will be good at this. Welcome home.....

One more gorgeous bush out by the pool. Bougainvillea. 

For the past month I've seen many things driving that I've wanted to take a pic of and couldn't but now, I have Tehya who got this great shot. Two tired guys in a truck.

Happy helper giving us some star shine at Agave in Port Lucaya.

"Hey Nana, come here Nana!" This spicy woman would not leave me alone. Tehya had gone up one of the isles at the straw market and I wouldn't look at this woman's wares until I told Tehya where I was. You know that movie that has the scene where the gorgeous blond goes into the market isle and by the time she comes out at the other end she has been bought and sold six times? I wasn't taking any chances. This vendor had me moving into the shade and then she got a chair for me and when Tehya finally arrived from the parking lot not the market isle she kept yelling, "Never, never, never leave your Nana again. This is the first time I've ever seen a white lady turn black." It was so funny. I'll go back just to buy something I don't need to support her business.

We went to church yesterday in Eight Mile Rock primarily because I wanted to sing Christmas carols. The service started right with the singing of a carol and that was it. One carol!!! The message that went on and on had nothing to do with the birth of Christ which was also a little strange. This minister is a yeller but Ray still managed to grab a few winks. Service lasted almost 2 hours. 

I needed a treat so it was off to The Stoned Crab for lunch. It is the best restaurant that I have found. Great food and a tad expensive. Lunch was almost $400 but very yummy....lol.

Beautiful Tehya, inside and out.

Ray and I started with tuna tartar which also involved some avocado. Delicious. Absolutely delicious!!!

Tehya's grilled cauliflower was good I see. Actually I had one and they were delish. I offered her some raw tuna but she passed.....

Ray and I both had the seafood fettuccini. Muscles, clams, lobster and pasta in a cheesy kind of sauce. I had had it years ago and still highly recommend it if you like seafood.

Tehya had the poke tofu bowl and said it was good. Lots of goodies.

Another day. Another beach.

We are getting ready to go to Banana Bay for lunch and then the baby is going to soak up some sun. Ray and I'll sit and read like old folks.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. Share what you have. Be your best. See you here next Monday, "God Willing" as everyone here says.