Living the life most people just dream about~

Got to have breakfast with our baby and her baby this morning at Denny’s. Second morning in a row at that establishment. I ordered the breakfast sausage instead of their normal weenie links – and it was a fairly respectable breakfast. We got to spend a very pleasurable hour with her and Kinsley while we had breakfast. A great way to start a day. We wrapped it up and came back to the hotel just long enough to get cleaned up and head out for the raging metropolis of New Harmony.  I had to stop by and see my # 1 fan – Vera Johnson and chat for a bit. We were ‘alloted’ “2 minutes” which quickly turned into an hour and 20 minutes with some of the most delightful conversation we have had since our last visit to ‘The Harm’…………… We were soon on our way stopping by to see Judy [Alsop] – I managed to chat with Tom Smith for a minute while my Queen chatted with her replacement at the Inn (Robyn)…… a fun and nice to visit — even nicer to head back…….  Probably the only night we had available…. I wanted to take my Queen out for a nice meal, I made reservations at one of the nicer places in town (Cavanaugh’s) and we were soon on our way. Very nice ambiance… good food, slightly above average service and my bride……. couldn’t hardly ask for more. We split a massive Shrimp appetizer. I had a nice Filet with Lobster…. my Queen had a massive serving of King Crab legs…… followed up by Chocolate Martini’s for dessert. A very fine evening~! We chatted briefly with our damn neighbors during the course (as we shared a delightful evening together there before we left).

Soon back at the hotel and I sat down to do this – the damn neighbors pinged us again – and it was almost like we were back to together. We made drinks, toasted each other and then sent nasty text messages back and forth just as if we were back on our back patio and had never left Posey County….. God Bless telephone communications. It is now almost 9:30 (party animals that we are)….. the damn neighbors have apparently faded out for the evening and we are getting ready to do the same…….. What a wonderful, wonderful day……… tomorrow is planned for some time with my cousin/nephew and his beautiful bride at a local bar and then out to my Honey bear’s for a family get together later that after noon. Can’t wait~!! Until then….. pix from today~~~~~

Good night Ya’ll – – — – – – – – — – Thankx for stopping in~!

 

Sunset in the Bubbly

 

Rolled out this morning after a reasonable night’s sleep with a nasty case of the GI Blues…… and I’m not talking about the kind in the Elvis movie [thank you very much]….. I have found that traveling takes a toll on me any more. It never was kind to me any way, but as I have made a few more laps around the sun it’s getting a little tougher. It took me three days to get over once we got to Michigan and just about the time I was ‘getting right’ – we made that long nasty drive down here and now I am apparently starting all over again. That to shall pass (and hopefully soon)  😉

Wound up having breakfast with Stephanie and Colton (my Mess) again – this time trying out the Denny’s just down the way from us. A decent breakfast except for the sausage. Clean environment, good service — I could get used to that ! We had a nice visit and accepted Stephanie’s invitation for dinner then soon headed back to the hotel for me to work on stomach issues.  In between dashes to the restroom I caught up on all things FB while Angie played her game on her phone. I was just about to mention I was getting a touch sleepy and that a nap might be in order….. as I turned around I saw my Queen had already crawled in under the covers and was snoozing away peacefully. She had a fairly rough night last night with her own GI issues and her coughing didn’t make it any better, so I knew she needed the sleep….. so I continued to wander the internet and “stand guard” while my bride napped. Poor little thing must have been tuckered as she logged a solid 3 and a half hours before finally rousing. A cigarette or two and some conversation to see what she had missed and we were out the door toward Stephanie and Joshes. We tussled with the boys, watch Will show off his ever growing 4 wheeler skills, had a nice dinner and then some more 4 wheeler watching.  I was asked to take my Mess for a ride and then naturally Will wanted me to show him how to go fast – so we spent another 30 minutes all romping around together. The sun started going down and you could actually start breathing again and it was time for the boys bath – so we bid adieu and headed back to the hotel.

Drinks are made and we’re getting ready for a shower. Hopefully GI issues will “blow away” during the night and we’ll be ready for another day. I think we’re doing breakfast with Jeni and Kinsley in the morning, maybe a trip to the ‘Harm’ in the afternoon….. and late afternoon up for options at this point. As always, will try and get some pictures – plus more Michigan fun pix.

Happy Birthday Grant~!

Good Night Ya’ll * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thankx for stopping in~!

 

Woke up this morning wondering for a split second wondering just where in the hell I was at….. but finally figured it out. A decent night’s sleep considering I had a double Quarter pounder [with onions] about an hour before I got in bed. I just want to go on record as saying that is NOT the smartest move I have ever made…. especially in my declining years…. but a nice long hot shower after that grueling 9+ hour drive down here…… two or seven drinks after we got here and a reasonable nights sleep… and we were [mostly] ready to go the next morning. Met up with Stephanie for a nice little breakfast in Evansville before heading out to see our baby and her baby (Jeni & Kinsley). Spent a fun couple of hours with them before taking off and stopping at Wally world for some essentials. Met up a little later at Turoni’s, and, as any regular reader knows, is my most very favorite pizza on the planet, meeting Jeni again, only this time Michael and Kylen was with them as well. The smell of Turoni’s was enough to about put me over the edge….. but when food got there — smack my mouth is that some fantastic stuff…… almost worth the trip just for that-almost~! Way too much food, not quite enough to drink and some of the best company in the world…….. a feller can’t hardly ask for much more than that……..

Now back at the hotel…… my belly has been released from the belt buckle that was holding it hostage…… have a fresh drink made and enjoying the quiet and A/C here in the room.  Car was reading 98° on the drive to Turoni’s…. now what is that about ? We were freezing our a$$e$ off in Michigan and sweating it off here…. How do you all put up with that ?? Yes – we have as close as you can get to the perfect climate on our island – and yes, we’re now island weenies that don’t like the cold or the heat anymore….. (I don’t have a sticking your tongue out emoji)  :-)~

Gonna leave it here with you for the night…… trying to get a schedule together for the rest of our time here…… until then………

Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – –  Thankx for stopping in~!

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Well it’s a mere 2 and half days since my last post…. and seems like just a couple of minutes…… we spent the first part of the day of the wedding finalizing set up before running back for showers and cleaning up for the big event. Got back out in plenty of time to secure our positions as friends of the groom. A beautiful ceremony, under almost perfect conditions.  Blue skies with big fluffy clouds and a light breeze creating the perfect setting in underneath a gigantic tree. I don’t guess I have ever seen two people more suited for one another – don’t think I’m being biased here…. you can just see it in their faces. I don’t think I could be any happier for them. The reception then moved into this gorgeous old barn set up for just such events. Sadly, the weather kind of broke down a little bit as clouds rolled in and the wind picked up….. it made for perfect conditions inside the barn for some partying hard folks, but for us poor island folks wearing his finest silk island shirt, standing outside trying to enjoy a cigarette – I almost froze my a$$ off~! The reception went off very well. Well attended and only a minimum of drama for the entire event….. very successful, very nice reception~! Did a little bit of clean up before leaving for the night, getting back and dropping into bed a little bit after midnight.

Next morning, the men folk were up bright and early (and slightly hung over) to head back out to the barn to clean up. With the help of some of the wedding party, we got the bulk of it knocked out fairly quick but some of the finer details took much longer than expected. ( I did see a truck I would have “killed for” during some of our running though – OMG – it was gorgeous~!) We wrapped up cleaning and details about 1:00 in the afternoon, just in time for the Bride & Groom to show up to open presents. They also had about 15 friends and family show up to watch them. They were gone in fairly short order and soon some friends of Nelia & Brad’s showed up for some burgers and Brats. Then some drinkin’~!!! OOh-Rah…… the evening turned into a big party around a bonfire. Even though I was once again freezing my a$$ off….. it turned into a heckva a good time. We got to meet Nelia’s ‘Damn Neighbors‘. It became apparent very quickly why they like them so much…. Good people~! As were her other friends that showed up. We drank and laughed well into the evening before everyone finally lit out for their respective abodes. I took LOTS of pictures….. I did not edit or fine tune any of them…… entirely too many for one night – so you’ll see them for the next couple of days. I’ll try and put comments on them so you can kinda understand what’s going on. I should be on here a little more regularly for the next 5-6 days as we are now back in Indiana in Evansville….. more about that later~~!

Good Night Ya’ll * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thankx for stopping in~!

Lord please stop Billy from taking pictures~!

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Well we made it to the states with a moderate degree of aggravation and headaches – but we are now here in the frozen North. Well – not actually frozen but it sure feels like it to us. We landed at our destination in shorts and tank tops to be greeted by not only my little sister [Nelia] but my big sister [Ela] and their husbands AND temperatures in the 40°’s~!!!  OMG~!! We got our luggage and car and away we went. We stayed up way to late drinking and laughing before finally crashing.

The next couple of days have been setting up for the wedding in a gorgeous big ole barn fixed up to accommodate such events. Today is the big day and there is a lot of activity going on as everybody is prepping for the wedding. Since I am just an innocent bystander at this point – I am left with a little bit of free time and I thought I better get a line or two up here before the day gets any busier. A couple of my girls have made it up here with their families, so free time for me is almost non-existent. Not sure if I’ll get anything else up before we get back down to Indiana and settled in our hotel….. I have managed to snap a couple of pictures and will try to put them up. I’m working off the hotspot on my phone and not sure if pictures will load or not.

Have a great day…….. Thankx for stopping in~~

Met early with dear, dear friends up at Blues to give them some paperwork we owed them…. we had a bite to eat and some drinks…. and some more drinks – and then some more drinks, all the while chatting with other friends who showed up after they got off work. Yes – we had been up there that long…… lots of drinks…. a couple of shots of a coffee flavored Patron’ [Tequila] which, by the way was not the smartest move I have made in a while…… just about the time the bartender announced last call [yes – we were up there that long] we figured we ought to move along, so we took off and wound up back at our condo. We had been sitting in a sweltering heat (no wind) and the thought of lots of conditioned air appealed to all of us…….. Not sure getting into an icy cool place and loving it was the right environment — but damn sure conducive to consuming more alcohol~~  yeah buddy—- Good idea right there~!  😉   Broke out some snacks and had some of the best conversation we have had in a while. This particular couple, even though they call us ‘Island’ “Mom & Dad” remind us a lot of our damn neighbors….. won’t go into details. 😉  We laughed and drank and just enjoyed each others company without cell phones or TV. Before we knew it – it was 10:00pm and not wanting to accept our gracious offer to stay in conditioned air for the night – They decided they needed to get back to their place.  They soon took off – letting us know they arrived at their West end mountain top in one piece.

No sooner were they out of the parking lot and my Queen and I went out for a cigarette only to discover a visitor~! We had a [estimated] 200 lb. Green Sea turtle – diligently digging away at a nest~!!!!!!!!!! We thought this was an ‘off’ year for them so we weren’t expecting to see any this year. I took one picture from a distance and let her be. By now it is 11:00 – we are tired and mostly hammered and I didn’t even try to open my computer….. no that’s why I wasn’t on here last night….. so….. sorry~~    When I got up this morning — her work was obvious — From knowledge learned – I can tell she dug at least 2 different nests~! Sure hope we get some babies out of it~!!

A relaxing day started today as we started to prepare our selves mentally for the long taxing day coming up tomorrow. A tasty little breakfast my Bride made us – she then ran to the store for some last minute necessities (smokes) while I work on some invoicing  and estimates for a couple of other jobs I’m working on. Finally back – we wanted to run up to Blues for a “last” drink before we took off….. more friends….. more drinking and a tearful good bye to another dear friend moving away from the island after 17 years. Helped another friend in the parking lot get his car started before we finally got on our way back…… only to look at my email and find out our first flight out tomorrow has been cancelled~!!! No explanation, no other options… just cancelled~! GREAT~!! [sarcastically] I think this is God’s of way of saying we should not leave the island~!!   I have now been on the phone for an hour and 45 minutes trying to get our selves back on track to make Michigan by 10:00 pm tomorrow night. You know — I used to love to travel….. now…not so much…. matter of fact — I DREAD it……. ONLY for the love of my family that I’m going back for — I wouldn’t tolerate this mess any more.

I really need to quit drinking and writing… I’m well over a 100 words my limit — but since I missed yesterday and will probably miss tomorrow night – I’ll go a little long….. IF the day goes even close to plan….. I’ll write as often as I can — but the first 5 days has been earmarked for my Michigan family… and I’m not shortchanging them…..  I hope you understand~~

Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – – – – – — – – – -Thankx for stopping in~!

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what the hell Krewe de Croix means…. but we spent the bulk of the day there today – helping the Blues Crew with their entry into the competition. We arrived a little bit before 09:00 to ensure we got a primo spot on the beach for the competition. An hour of work to get the site set up, then pretty much sitting and drinking staring out at arguably one of the prettiest beaches on the island. Definitely one of the most popular beaches. Site of this years Crewe de Croix Rib competition. Crewe de Croix has got to be some kind of spin off of a Mardi Gras thing….. but no matter how you look at it – it is a good time for a whole lot of folks who are out for a good time, drinking and munching on some of the best ribs the island has got to offer. Jim and Deb finally showed up with the Cambro (miniature hot box to keep the ribs warm hot out of the smoker) that contained the ribs…. 14 racks of ribs~! Prepared to the inth degree~~~ Butter my butt and call me a biscuit them are some wonderful ribs~!!! We off loaded the Cambro and finished the last few details of our tent – that Deb likes set up “Just So”. We were ready. Official competition didn’t start until 3:00…. and by 10 til 3:00 – people were lining up trying to get what they could early. By 2:55 we were serving ribs and by 3:45 we were out~! 14 racks of ribs in less than hour……. talk about a brutal hour~! WOW~!!! Deb had made some cornbread to hand out with the ribs – and it was almost as popular as the ribs were. Me, Deb and Angie worked the food line and by the time we finished up – all three of us was soaked in sweat and worn out. While we had some huge gray clouds show up to help cool the beach off – it was still ridiculously hot handling ribs to hot to touch. Lots and lots of happy people as they streamed past our tent. We probably had as many repeat folks as we did folks trying out our ribs. Wow — very cool to watch and experience~~! We quickly ‘sold out’….. and had to then sit and wait and apologize to people for being out of ribs. Judges finally announced their findings and while we didn’t win first prize like we have for the last 6-7 years – we still placed. From what I saw (as I served almost every single rib we had)….. I personally think we were the hands down favorite….. but I may be a tad bias……………………………….. Collected our trophy, loaded DD up and headed back to the backyard……soaked in sweat and worn out to unload all the stuff.

We are now back at the condo —- got the A/C cranked down and damned glad to have it. I’m gonna take a shower…. make me a sammich and crash. This day has been as long as I want it to be. I managed quite a few pictures from today – and I’ll put some of them up today and tomorrow. Until then——-

Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – — – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!

Our view for breakfast

Jim

Jim & Deb

 

 

Up bright and early after a miserable nights sleep…… excited at the prospect of getting to make a couple of dives~! My Queen was joining me, with the intent to hang out on the beach while I was out blowing bubbles. Grabbed all of our recycle (getting the condo cleaned out in preparation for our trip back to the states) and headed West to Frederiksted. Met up with friends at the dive boat, loaded gear, kissed my bride and away we went….. 2 new sites for me – Yay~! No big fish at either site….. but tons and tons of fish and gorgeous corals. The first dive of the day was my 100th dive~!  Not quite the big deal my 100th skydive was – but a small milestone for me anyway. I found a pretty little conch shell on the dive and kept it as a memento of the dive~~ Second dive was like the first – no sharks, rays or eels but tons of coral and fish. I got to ‘bottle-ass’ around on both dives and work on my picture taking skills. I have found I need to really slow down and focus on my shots. 180° difference from taking shots in freefall…. lessons to learn. I wound up taking 167 pictures between the two dives. By the time I was done editing and trashing blurry pictures – I wound up with 96 saved pictures – so I will spread them out here over the next 3-4 days or so.

Finally came back in and met up with my Queen. Oddly, she did not want to go for drinks and eats with our friends, so we excused ourselves and headed back across the island. Big black clouds rolling in over the mountains kind of indicated that there was not gonna be much sunshine there at the beach anyway. About halfway back – she decided she would like to have some ribs….. and there is NO better place on the island for ribs than our little hang out — Blues Back Yard BBQ. We whipped in and saddled up to the bar – got a drink and ordered a bite to eat. It’s a good thing we got there when we did, because my bride got the last of the ribs… Them dudes go pretty quick – so if you want them, you need to get there early~! I had a Double Dare Grilled Cheese sammich…. a grilled cheese with pulled pork and prosciutto ham on it….MmMmMm good~! Angie had her ribs and part of my sammich. We had a few more drinks then headed to the condo. I have already had my shower and edited and uploaded all my pictures… so gonna leave it here with you so I can chill for a bit. We have a very long day tomorrow, helping the Blues Crew as they head out to Cane Bay for the Krewe de Croix BBQ rib competition. Blues has won this competition many times and I see no reason why tomorrow will be any different. I’ll try and snag some photos~~~

Good Night Ya’ll * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * *  Thankx for stopping in~!

 

We wound up meeting our friends up at Blues…. much, much earlier than expected and stayed there probably about an hour longer than we should have – but I guess you’ll have that every now and again. Stopped by the store on the way home to reload hooch for my Queen and came home to continue our little drinking episode…. probably not the best idea either- but again – you’ll have that every now and again. Sat and watched The Practice and ate until I was bloated. Sat through a couple of power outages and I figured I’d better get on here and get a little bit something up while the power (and internet) is on for now. I’m really too tired for it – but need to get something up here because you made the effort to come see what was going on.  So- here it is……

I do have a 2 tank boat dive scheduled for tomorrow morning – and I’m really looking forward to it. It is a Dive Club event and our friends from today are supposed to be on it. We are supposed to get together after the dives for drinks [again] – so Lord knows what will come out of that. I do have to go give a guy an estimate on his roof while I’m on that end of the island as well. Not sure if I can do the job – but will see. For now – a couple of pictures from today….. may put up a couple I don’t know if you’ve seen or not – then the old fat boy is headin’ for bed…. long weekend in front of me, as we will be working all day Sunday at a rib cook-off helping out Blues in the competition…………..

Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!

 

Well as I think most of you know – we survived our first weather event here on the island. TS Dorian took a wild swing and came directly across the center of our little island. There is a LOT of debate where she went from a Tropical Storm to an official hurricane, but any way you looked at it – it was a official event for the island. The island and all the folks on it fared well. I have seen much, much, much worse weather back in Posey County Indiana. Have I seen worse than Cat 5 hurricane weather?…. dunno…. doubtful…. but yesterday to me was just a down day. Lots of rain and there was some pretty dandy wind gusts…… but I did not even bother closing the hurricane shutters. Just didn’t feel the need. There were apparently parts of the island that experienced a little worse weather than others, but for my piece of the weather – weren’t no big deal. I will say in all honesty though – I’d just as soon not see the maximum Mother Nature has to offer. I have seen her do some pretty intense stuff…..and just as soon not see what she can do to an island~~

Our electricity stayed on a lot longer than I expected, but just about the time the eye of the storm crossed over the island, it started going out. Luckily… the condo has finally got our generator fixed so we were never out more than 4 or 5 minutes. As the backside of the storm came through – our cable/internet bit the big one. It didn’t take long before I had our portable DVD player hooked up and we commenced watching some old DVD movies we had left over from our wandering days. Woo-wee were there some dandies….. not worth mentioning, but it beat the hell out of sitting on the couch looking at each other~~ It finally dawned on me I had our handy dandy little hot spot, so I pulled it out and got it fired up, but I guess the weather was just to much for it and we couldn’t hardly get anything internet related to work. So we sat and watched really bad DVD movies….. We finally got our cable/internet back, but by then it was much to late and I was much to tired to write….. sorry about that.

So, thank you to all of you that made the effort to check in on us during the storm….. it’s nice knowing you all are out there concerned for our welfare….. I took a couple of pictures and a video or two. Not sure if I can get of the video’s loaded on here – so if not, you’ll have to look at them on FB. Really nothing special, although I do like the one of the waves coming in and the wind blowing over the tops of them.

Supposed to meet with some friends at Blues tomorrow for a bit – then a 2 tank dive Saturday morning – so more underwater pictures. Busy weekend coming up plus a busy week next week as we get ready to come back to the states again.

Good Night Ya’ll * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thankx for stopping in~!

The Frigates were out and about in the stormIMG_2320

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