22 October 2007 update #2!!
Yeah! I think I figured it out...so, here is some more:
22 October 2007!! My how time flies! OK – I am determined to update the journal!! I had written the following
outline back in June when I wrote the previous blog so I think the best plan of action is going to be to write
a quick bit about each of the items and move on to more current events!!
Dinners & parties – lots of these through out the holiday season…
Christmas day at Hope Beach – Christmas 2006 Jeremy was away in England with his sister and I was
invited to join the gang from Spring for what is an annual event for them – having Christmas dinner at
Hope Beach. Although I did not drive my Landrover down, two Landrovers were piled high with tents,
chairs, coolers, food stuffs, drink stuff, table clothes, etc, etc…at the top of the trail to Hope Beach, all but
the drivers walked down and we all went to work setting up for Christmas on the beach. A bit of rain and
wind was no deterrent for the fire to heat everything up, the champagne, fabulous food and the eventual
beach cricket and swim in the surf! After eventually packing things up, we all headed up to the Donahues’
for a dip in the pool and more celebration. Definitely a novel way to spend Christmas!
over view cricket John….????
New years eve, fireworks, etc – New Years Eve was…ummm….”interesting”! We opted for a “special
dinner” at a typically very good restaurant with Tim & Suzanne, Matt, Margot, Delaine & Brock….let’s just
say, it was not what we were looking forward to and eventually we headed down the way to the festivities
along the Belmont Walkway…running into friends and acquaintances along the way…then the wonderful
fireworks display over Admiralty Bay at midnight! Lots of fun as we celebrated “Old Years Night” and rang
in “New years Day”!
fire works Jill, Suzanne, Tim, Jeremy, Jayne, Nigel
Guests start arriving…all good on that front! Great guests through out the season with stays ranging
from a long weekend to (6) weeks. Origins from Mallorca, Calgary, England, Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, the
States….celebrations of birthdays, anniversaries and honeymoons! And a few have even purchased
property here!
Construction … stopped early / ended late….huh?? yes – the project did have to be stopped early in
terms of completion of scope due to the construction schedule running so behind schedule. So, the GYM
was built although it leaked like a sieve initially…gradually things have fallen into place although there are
several of those outstanding questions such as “why was this done that way??” I won’t even start on the
full construction story…too many bad memories!! Actually, the laborers and masons were great – they just
needed better direction. Jeremy, as always, stepped in “after construction” to fix everything and things
are relatively complete…still waiting a couple new doors, mirrors, a canopy and flashing at the entry to
keep the weather out and actually flashing all around the roof perimeter to help keep water from pouring
in! OK – so phase two is under way…more on that in “current events”!
the newly unfinished phase one! From the roof: new stair and indent is
future edge of plunge pool…
Last minute preparation of the lower apartment…with the delays in construction, the downstairs
guest apartment was still housing the gym equipment which prevented ample space to “set up” the guest
apartment. Literally, days before guests were checking in, the gym equipment was moved out and stashed
in the “new” gym in between bamboo supports for the still curing roof deck! Kenny went to town painting
the walls & ceiling, Roxanne went to town cleaning, Jeremy repainted the floor and the furniture was set in
place, pictures hung on the walls, dish ware, linens, etc were all placed, curtains hung, light bulbs changed
and finally – fresh flowers and voilà! hours before guests arrival – READY! Whew! Who says there is no
stress down here??!!
Dinners on boats, dinners at houses…throughout the season dinners with friends stacked up (as
soon as this phase two construction is done and my place is ‘in order’ I am long over due in reciprocating
to everyone!) Beautiful meals with friends on the water and at beautiful homes… the dinners made social
life here more complete – very enjoyable and much better quality time with friends!
Jeremy’s birthday – dinner for 27 @ Nando’s Jan 25…although Jeremy always prefers his home
cooked meals but he was up for celebrating at Fernando’s for his birthday. Mention it to a few friends and
along with Uncle Louie’s birthday, we had (27) people there for, as always, a great dinner! I think we may
have ended up at Frangi after to round out the evening.
Music Festival Jan 26 -28…a great annual event here on Bequia…musicians from Mustique’s big
Blues and Jazz Festival put on by Basil’s, come by Bequia for the weekend on their way to St Vincent to
finish out the event. Friday and Saturday evenings various musicians, bands, impromptu jam sessions, etc
performed at The Plantation House which is just below AQUA. As a perk…the music during sound checks
and practices drift up the hill side for day long back ground music! Sunday the event moves to Lower Bay
at DeReef to bring a highlight to the “institution” of Sundays at Lower Bay!
Feb – getting GYM “almost” ready ….I do not even want to think back to tearing my hair out trying to
get things done “enough to be operable”! None the less, eventually windows were installed, walls were
painted, plumbing was hooked up, lights and power were installed, equipment was re-set up….gradually
ready for use…off to a slow start after being shut down for so long…but with some new equipment shipped
in, things started feeling like a gym!
Sunday volleyball – not AVP, but net, ball, sand…yes, even though the beach is not level and a
corner of the court is typically close to if not in the water, this became a fairly regular aspect of “Sundays at
Lower Bay”. Although, at times, a bit of “jungle ball”, a few games, a swim in the sea, a few games, a swim
in the sea, Heinekens in the sea, all makes for a fun Sunday afternoon…it has been a little while now,
seeing some of the regular players are no longer around…but hopefully with the opening of Stanley’s new
restaurant in the next month or so, we will restart the tradition!
February - Week end of bad flu / Sunshine School auction….oh, I forgot about that! Yes, at first I
though it was food poisoning then it just turned out to be a bad bout of stomach flu. It was the weekend of
the annual Sunshine School auction and I was of course intending to help load things over to L’Auberge
from the school, help with set up and my favorite – help sell t-shirts!! Well, I made to help sell shirts for a
little while and I did get cohersed into buying stuff (that is Nicola’s job though as the great auctioneer!)
Even if I did miss out on the cool artsy turtle and the mermaid by the same artist (lucky for me, my neighbor
who bought the cool turtle, decided she did not really like it once she had it at home, so she gave it me at
the end of the day! – it now adorns a little wall in the GYM!)
Private fitness training….started doing a little bit of personal training here and there. In the process
of obtaining my certification as well.
March – cricket in SV (twice in one week AND on tv…) yes…as guests emailed me after watching one
of the warm up matches on TV in England to ask: “were you the only American in the stadium?” Yes, I
believe I was!! Although, not a typical pastime of mine, I did accompany Jeremy twice in the week prior to
the start of World Cup Cricket, to warm up matches in St Vincent. I will admit, you do learn a lot more about
the game being there in person versus watching on television! Soon after, Jeremy left on his pursuit to
follow the games around the Caribbean… St Lucia, Grenada, back to St Lucia, Barbados… and he managed
to be captured on tv a few more times, as well!
March 11th – dad & Dollie arrive; 17th Donna arrived; kite flying; beach; Friendship Rose…wow, this
seems like ages ago! Dad & Dollie arrived for their second visit to Bequia. This year Donna was able to
make it down for part of their stay…we went to the Karib Cable Kite Flying out on St Hilaire Point, many
afternoons at the beach, many dinners out, a day of sailing & snorkeling on the Friendship Rose to Tobago
Cays. They all met the puppies for the first time and saw all the house projects done since the last visit
when I was “JUST” moving in!!
Sunday March 25th – walk a thon….the first annual “Walking on Sunshine” event, sponsored by The
GYM as a fund raiser for The Sunshine School, for children with special needs. It was a start…we had
about 28 people participate as we walked the Mt Pleasant loop and returned to the starting point for a book
sale, food sale and crafts & merchandise sale. I have already started planning for next year’s hoping for
more participation with improved publicity and a more centralized starting and ending point with a bit more
“event” at the end!
March 26th – family departed…sad to have everyone go! Already looking forward to the next visit!
March 26th – Mark & Sarah arrive! Later in the day, the greatly missed pair arrived…actually I think it
may have been the ‘following’ morning after they had to stay over in St Vincent?? My memory is failing me!
Anyway – great to have them back on the island, especially staying with me! Managed to get out to play a
bit toward the end of their stay and did take the ferry over to St Vincent with them the day of their
departure – although I did stick with my morning coffee while they enjoyed ‘the tail of the dog’ with their
final Hairouns for breakfast on the trip over!
April: Impromptu b-day party in between guests on the newly unfinished deck…a little April 4 get
together during a slight gap in occupancy…although not ‘finished’, the new GYM roof deck offered the
great view of the harbor for friends stopping in for the celebration!
Right into Regatta weekend…then there was the big weekend – Bequia Easter Regatta! Participating
on the race committee means out on the water around 8:30 each morning – front and center for the start of
all the races then back to Lower Bay for times at the finish line…then over to the Frangi for post race
parties…exhausting but all in all lots of fun!
Jacks’ open – great new beach bar…on Princess Margaret Beach…great location, although at times
a little difficult to get to…great addition to Bequia!
Saturday windsurfing & waterskiing – Andrew, German girls, Gabi, Thomas, Margot & Brock…all down
at Princess Margaret Beach – windsurfing lessons, lunch at Jack’s then water skiing, all made for a really
fun day!
Tuesday to Ft Lauderdale…Pine Crest (high school)reunion… caught up with great friends:
Cathy & Jack
Fabiola & Lisa
Val, Henry, Lisa, Ingrid
Denise, Lisa, Heidi
Amongst others!…caught up on Dr appts, shopping, mom in town; sushi, movies; sick – missed
flight…guests to AQUA arrive before I do (fortunately they have stayed here before!) – but did get to catch
the Ft Lauderdale Air & Sea Show!
Guests over next month up to this weekend! Summer guests here and there…good excuse to
procrastinate on phase two of construction!!
Well, I am making progress on this journal update thing...I do think the remainder of "past events" needs to
wait until tomorrow though! Until then...
