Winding down

And yes, ALL the 33 beaches are just like this one!

We're into the last few days of vacation here. Today (Saturday) and tomorrow will be the end of it and then we have to fly home all day Monday. It's been great, and as always as we fly over the island on our way north, I'll yearn for just one more day of sun and surf. But that's for the next time....sigh.

We've booked a wonderful place called Serenity for December of this year to come back. Usually we arrive either just after Christmas or around the New Year, but the prices have continued to climb higher and higher. Shoulder season, as they call it, will be just fine for two weeks, and then back in time to do Christmas and New Year's at home. This is what it looks like from the beach. The little red hut is a beach bar not yet opened for the day.

There's a little place on the beach where it turns abruptly and heads off on a 90 degree turn. Every year there is more added to the Flotsam stack. Each year I take a picture of it,and now it has become art. I especially like the "no visitor" "no open" sign that has been added this year.

You also never know what you are going to see on the island. We were coming back from grocery shopping yesterday and I had Hubby turn the car around so I could get this picture. Now, mind you, goats and chickens are the only animals you ever see here (with the exceptional of ONE old ox), so I have no idea what they were thinking when they did this to their car!

Enough sightseeing and now onto more books! Don't bother to read Stephen Fry's Fourth Order. It stinks - really bad! I haven't read this bad of a book since I don't know when! After that, I read another stinker - Blinding Light by Paul Thoroux. It was disappointing because he is such a great writer (Mosquito Coast) and the book started out delightfully funny. About 25% into it, I felt as if he got mixed up with what story he was telling and completely switched themes. I barely muddled through it and was happy to put it on the bookshelf to leave behind! Then I read Elizabeth Berg's sweet Never Change, a soft character romance, and then Swimming Naked by Stacy Sims. If you are looking for a bit of brain candy, go for Berg's book. If you want to wonder how in the world do children survive weird parents, read Sims. I didn't care for Swimming Naked but it passed another day on the beach with me. Last night I started an advance reading copy that my brother-in-law left behind: Midnight Rambler by James Swain. If you like Michael Connelly, you'll like this mystery. More character descriptions than murders, with the serial killer just out of reach and enough pizazz to keep you guessing about it. The main character is also like Harry Bosch, but just a bit earlier in his "retirement".

So, that takes me through all the hardbacks available. Hubby brought the new Follett book, World without End, and loved it! I am going to go home and re-read Pillars of the Earth before I start it though, so it will have to wait. I DO have a book on my Ipod that I downloaded just before leaving - Tandia by Bruce Courtenay (the sequel to the Power of One). I am not a big audio book listener so I've saved it for last. Today is a bit cloudy and looks like a rain day, so we are planning to stay at the villa and read some more. The pool is a nice little dip if I get too hot, and we will have BLTs for lunch. Dinner? Probably some fish! LOL!

This will be my last blog entry until after we get home. I hope you've enjoyed coming along with us, and I'll be back at the stewdio on Tuesday!

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!