What I did on my Winter Vacation

So, here we are on the deck of our little piece of paradise and it's almost been a week since we left home. Hard to believe that I haven't sewn a stitch, looked at a quilting magazine or planned another project! The weather here is always moderate - usually in the high 70's, low 80's and no humidity to speak of. When it rains, it usually rains only in passing, and it's quite refreshing.

The private villa where we are is not close enough to the beach for my liking, and the swimming pool is quite a bit smaller than I thought. BUT, I am not complaining - it's not 21 degrees like at home! We HAVE been to the beach everyday, but since I can't just get up and walk there, I must wait patiently while Hubby does his "thang". He's not the beach lover that I am. His brother his here for a few days, too, so that's yet another male that has to do his "thang" before we go. Driving is on the left side of the road, so I don't even bother getting an Anguillian driver's license. We usually aren't even to the beach until close to lunch - in the hottest part of the day - so I am adjusting my expectations as we go. This is a view of the side of the villa open to the ocean side of the island.

I've already read quite a few books in the short time - some I recommend, and others I don't. The one I WON'T recommend is The Emperor's Children (Messud). It was a true waste of time, and quite disappointing. I thoroughly enjoyed In the Heart of The Sea (Philbrick) about the true story of the whaling ship Essex that inspired the story of Moby Dick. I usually leave my books here, but I am thinking that my friend Nancy might enjoy this one, so I am taking it home and will send it to her later (yes, Nancy np!). My brother-in-law brought a few with him, so I thought I would read some of his before he left (and took them with him). I enjoyed A Nail Through the Heart (Hallinan), a nice mystery set in Thailand. Last night I finished A River Town (Keneally) about a good man who seems to always be on the wrong side in Australia at the turn of the century. The author also wrote Schindler's List so he does know how to turn a phrase! Today I am on to A Place Called Wiregrass (Morris) which is just a nice read with some laughs and some tears in it. As you can tell, I have a very eclectic reading list!

This is my brother-in-law, Brett and I enjoying Caribbean crayfish at Zarah's. Brett's first crayfish couldn't have been at a better place to eat than here!
This is one of the funniest things I've ever found on the island - and it's in a new "mall". You must remember that this a 16 mile long island, 3-4 miles wide. When we first starting coming here over 20 years ago, there was one stop light that didn't work - now there are 6 of them. There were less than 2000 residents - now there are over 8000. They are both Anguilla citizens and British citizens (if they want), and everything from food to clothes is shipped here from another place.


I'll have a quilting story for you next post. Here's where we'll be tomorrow around noontime - hope to see you there!