SO THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

At the east end of Long Bay, Tortola, there is a huge white house with red tiled roofs.  It is hard to miss, both because of the white against the lush green backdrop of jungle, and because of it's size.  It featured rather prominently in a few of my daughter's wedding photographs.

In my trips back to that beach, I often wondered what the house would look like inside.  Would it be kitschy and full of tacky 'art'?  Would it be ramshackle?  Opulent?  Divided into a bunch of rental units?

Well, I finally have my answer.  Rick Moore, the videographer I wrote about back in March, has just completed a video of the house, called Sterling House, for Sotheby's as it is on the market for a mere $7,000,000.  That price includes $1,000,000 of furnishings.


There's a lightbulb out on one of the chandeliers.  Knock $1m off and I will take it!!

ST. THOMAS

I am all packed and ready to go. I have left all of my liquids and gels that I bought on my first day here (except for the OFF and the bug killer spray) along with a Prairie Dance Club CD and a tip, in my room for the housekeeper. I don't know if she will want all of it but it's there if she does.

I have lots of time before I have to catch the 2:30 ferry to St. Thomas and I want to walk the beach one last time. I cross the road between the building with my room in it to the restaurant and through the outdoor patio area down the stone steps to the beach. On the right I walk down as far as I can until I get to all rocks - this is just a few feet away from the backside of The Bomba Shack. Then I turn around and walk all the way to the other end where there are more rocks.

When I was swimming a couple of days ago, a fellow walked from this end of the beach to where I was right in front of Sebastians and called out to me "Are you Sandra?" "Yes I am." I called back, mystified as to how he knew my name. I got out of the water and he introduced himself as the fellow who ran the Facebook page BVI Network and whose picture I had commented on just an hour or so ago. It was one he had taken of the waves coming in on the sand and I had asked where it was taken and he had replied that it was here, on Apple Bay. So then I replied to that saying I was on Apple Bay at Sebastian's right this moment. So as he had walked by, on his way to work, he saw me and recognized me. We chatted for a while about his work and how long he'd lived on Tortola - 18 years. He makes his living as a web designer and lives at the end of the beach that I have now walked to.

I have noticed, while at this particular beach, how the waves come in in sets. There will be a few small ones and then they will get bigger until about the fourth or fifth one is really big and then it goes back to the smaller ones again. I guess this is what my daughter is talking about when, as a surfer, she talks about sets of waves. It's something I had never noticed before. So I wait for the largest one to hit so I can get a picture of it hitting the big rock that is on the sand here.

The fellow was telling me that, at this time of year, the surf brings in the beach - that is, it dumps so much sand on the rocks that they are completely covered, even this big one, and it goes partway up the retaining wall in front of the houses. That's amazing to me. I had no idea that a beach could come and go like that. He said that, all it takes is a northern wind and the beach will be gone in two days.

At 11:30 I check out and pay my restaurant tab and then get in my car and drive away from Sebastian's for the last time, over the killer hill for the last time.

I drive to Soper's Hole to have lunch at Pussers and take a table right on the water. I order the Shepherd's Pie. When it comes, it's smothered in melted cheese, which I haven't ever done with Shepherd's Pie - or seen done before this, and the meat and gravy is way too salty. So I just pick at it and leave most of it.

I can see that the people who own that gorgeous sailboat that I saw the last time I was down here have arrived from Great Britain and are getting her ready to take her out.

After lunch I pop into one of the gift stores here to buy a couple of presents for people back home and then head out to return the car to Jerry's. After a short wait there for another customer who also needs a ride into Road Town, we all climb into a nice SUV and a very pleasant woman drives me to the ferry.

When I get to the ticket booth for the Road Town Fast Ferry to get a customs form - I already have my return ticket as I purchased a round-trip, the agent tells me that the 2:30 ferry has been canceled. Before I can panic she says that a different ferry service will take me instead, 15 minutes later at 2:45. Phew. So I go to the next window, Speedy's Ferry Service, and sign in for that ferry.

When I get on board, the air is still and stuffy. We get underway and there isn't a lot of air movement where I have chosen to sit but I notice that the big loading doors on either side, just behind me, are open. So I stand in the doorway and not only is the breeze fabulous but so is the view. With the wind whipping my hair about, it reminds me of my boating days. I stand in the doorway on one side, and then later the other, for the entire hour and a half trip.

Bye bye, Tortola!

Loving this!

Oh yes! I'd like to live right there, please.

I didn't realize we'd be stopping in Soper's Hole for more passengers - I had lunch there just a couple of hours ago.

The Jolly Roger, a famed restaurant that is known for its Jerk Prime Rib, a meal I would have loved to try but the teeth just aren't up to it yet.

And just on the other side of the Jolly Roger's parking lot, the family plot. You see that a lot on these islands, people bury their families in the front yard.

An island we passed on the way to St. Thomas. If anyone recognizes it and knows what island it is, please leave a comment letting me know as I have no idea but would like to know.

We finally arrive on St. Thomas and a 15 passenger van/taxi takes four of us at once. We're all headed in the same general direction. Two are dropped off at a business. The fellow left with me wants to go to the airport and when we pull off the main road at the turn off for the airport I figure I am going to be the last one dropped off. To my surprise, my hotel - The Best Western Carib Resort - is right at the entrance to the airport and so I am the next one dropped off. I knew it was close to the airport but I had no idea it was this close.

I get checked in and before I go to my room I sit down at the business center computer to print out my boarding passes for tomorrow. That done, I go find my room which is on the first floor and off of an interior hallway, which I really like. The Best Western I stayed at in Yuma had the doors off of an outdoor walkway and I never feel as safe in that situation. There's a lot of crime on St. Thomas so this is great.

All of the rooms at this hotel have been recently renovated and when I get inside my room, I am really impressed by how nice it is. Especially the bathroom which has a lovely stone tiled shower with a huge rain shower head.

As soon as my stuff is in my room, I head back outside and down to the pool and restaurant area. Apparently the restaurant is Mexican and quite good.

There are several ancient Cannons on the property; these are on the stairs leading down to the pool and beach area.

The Mexican restaurant to the left of the stairs.

And the pool to the right.

And further to the right, the beach area.

I test the waters of the pool and it's a lovely temperature and I am tempted to go back to my room and change into a bathing suit. Instead I head to the restaurant and order a Taco Salad and a virgin Margarita for dinner. It's delicious.

After dinner I head back to my room to repack my bags. My 'purse', which is actually a beach bag, is far too heavy and so I need to get more of the contents into my pretty-full wheeled carry-on bag. I manage to lighten the load considerably and still get the suitcase zipped up but I decide to use the beach bag I bought for the groceries in Tortola (and have been using for taking my stuff to the beach every day) as my purse and to leave the woven grass bag behind - which I love and was a gift from a friend but it has started to fall apart on this trip - just barely started falling apart so it's still got a lot of use in it, but it's not holding what I need it to very well. In the morning I drop the 2 bug sprays into it along with my toothpaste and some moisturizing cream and hope that the maid or someone can make use of it all. Meanwhile, I take a shower under that decadent shower head and then make it an early night as I have to be up at the crack of dawn to catch my 9:15 flight.

ANEGADA BOUND

Lucky for me, Bobby's Market was open for business as usual so I got all the essentials that I couldn't bring with me due to having only carry-on luggage; shampoo, conditioner, mousse, (no hairspray - they didn't have any!), sunscreen, a tub of cocoa butter moisturizer, toothpaste, bug repellant, bug killer spray, and then some snacks: water, club soda, digestive cookies, taco chips. Most everything I bought gave me sticker shock - the stuff that was priced, that is. And, apparently, even if it does have a sticker price on it, it just might well ring up different at the till and - tough beans - that is the price today. All part of the charm of the Caribbean. So all-in-all I spent $100.

Then I had to figure out a way to get it all on the ferry with me. Four grocery bags, one suitcase, one large beach bag - I don't think so. So I went to the Crafters Corner - a group of little beach huts that are really aimed at selling kitchy stuff to the cruise ship passengers. I found a huge beach bag (the biggest one they had) for $12, hoping all of the groceries fit, and they did! Only two or three of the huts were open for business - due to it being a holiday for the royal wedding - one of them belonging to an artist named Joseph Hodge. He was standing in the doorway as I walked near and so I said 'good morning' (it is considered VERY rude to start any conversation with anyone without greeting them first, so I always say good morning, afternoon or evening when I am close enough for conversation) and he returned the greeting. I was intrigued by what at first appeared to be some abstract sculptures hanging on the door and window shutters - very colorful and flat. I realized it was the dried oil paints peeled from his palate. I complimented him on the ingenuity of using the unused paint that way instead of just discarding it. He then welcomed me into his shop to look around. He is really a very good artist, depicting the islands as they were 30 or 40 years ago. I fell in love with one painting in particular, of the hill overlooking Cane Garden Bay with workers and donkeys. It was a huge canvas and when I asked how much, he said that it wasn't finished yet but it would be in a couple of days, and that it was $3,000.

He asked where I was from and I told him. He asked me to sit in one of two comfy chairs he had and tell him about Canada. So I did, and he sat in the other, and we ended up talking for an hour. He was a very interesting person and when I left I felt like I was walking on air because THIS is what this trip is all about for me. I want to meet as many local people as I naturally can and just talk with them, hear their stories, learn about the islands.

I went back to my hotel, Maria's by the Sea, a very nice place right on the water with a heated pool and restaurant. So handy to the town and ferry dock. It was perfect in every way for my one night on the island. I had checked out after having a breakfast of egg and toast overlooking the water, and asked them to keep my luggage for me while I went into town and shopped. I had also left my groceries in the luggage lockup while at the craft huts so now went back and gathered all my things together and headed over to the ferry for my ride to Anegada.

The view from my room at Maria's By the Sea

The view at breakfast.

A very well earned virgin Pina Colada after walking to and from the grocery store in heat I am not yet accustomed to.

There's a new waiting room at the ferry dock, all lovely and airconditioned with comfy seats and a fabulous view of the bay but no one was using it. The local people were all sitting outside on a little ledge in a narrow strip of shade, as they have done for years. Finally someone joined me inside and commented on how everyone was such creatures of habit here on the islands and how crazy they were to sit in the heat when there was this lovely room. We got to talking and he tells me his name is McKenzie, or Kenzie as he is known. It turns out that he owns Anegada Beach Cottages at Pomato Point. He was born and raised here but moved to San Bernardino, California after serving in the Navy for years and became a fire fighter there. He made frequent trips back to the island and had slowly, cottage by cottage, built the business. I found out later that he owns quite a lot of beach front property on Anegada that has been in his family for generations.

It was quite the rolly ride across to Anegada, about an hour long. The wind was up and there were no sail boats out at all, so that tells you how bad it was. But, thankfully, I am not prone to seasickness at all - in fact I quite love a rough sea - so I enjoyed it immensely and was excited to finally be starting my holiday.

When the island was finally in view - you don't spot it until a mile or so out as it's so flat - I was really struck by how different it looks than the other Virgin Islands. Very flat, not a lot of trees... the waters here are very dangerous for boaters as the island is almost entirely circled by the third largest barrier reef in the world. Consequently, it's a fabulous place to dive wrecks. There are ships that have been resting on the bottom of these waters since the 1700's.

My first view of Anegada through sea spray spattered windows.

There were a LOT of people on the dock waiting for the ferry to arrive so they could travel back to Tortola. At first this puzzled me as there are only 200 people on this island and it seemed that a good half of them were right there. Then I remembered, it's a holiday. Both of the people who I spoke to that had huts open at the craft corner had said they had planned to go to Anegada for the day but their plans had fallen through. So this was the holiday crowd heading home.

Another woman and I shared a taxi from the dock. She wanted to stop at a store to get a few things so as she ran inside, the driver and I chatted. He has lived on the island here his whole life; drives taxi and keeps the roads clear of debris for the government. He had no idea where Vancouver was - that always surprises me for some reason. Once the other woman was back in the car, we headed to my hotel - Neptune's Treasure, a very short ride. $3 cab fare short.

They were expecting me, a lovely woman checked me in (this place is entirely family owned and operated - several homes on the property houses them all - brothers, sisters, spouses and kids of the original Bahamian couple -originally from Portugal, who started the place) showed me the honor bar system, and took me to my room. She gathered up all of my luggage and brushed me off when I tried to insist on carrying some of it myself. My room is sparse but clean and seens to have all I need - it's the typical Caribbean setup unless you're in one of the few uber-luxury resorts paying $900 a night. It suits me fine as long as there aren't any creepy crawlies - and I don't see any. I notice that there is no blow dryer attached to the wall as in most hotels and ask if they have a courtesy one to loan. They don't. I guess it will be flat and stringy hair for my time on this island then.

I am settling in when I hear "SANDRA" called loudly from somewhere outside. I figure one of the children here must have my name as no one knows me yet and I am pretty sure if they did, they wouldn't summon a guest in that manner. So I just keep unpacking. Then I hear it again..."SANDRA!!" I look out of my window and there is Nancy and Walker Mangum!!! They are a couple who started reading my blog way back when I went to Florida to go sailing. He also has a website to do with all things BVI as well as another one with lots of their photos from the islands. We have become friends over the internet through those sites and on FaceBook and I actually planned this trip around the dates that they were going to be at their cottage, Hidden Treasure, at Cow Wreck Beach.

I flung open the door, "NANCY! WALKER!!" it was so great to finally see them in the flesh. We hugged like old friends. "Wow, I can't believe the restaurant here is closed" Nancy said. The woman that checked me in had told me they had no reservations for dinner tonight so they were closing but she would make me a salad if I liked. I had said I would manage - I am not quite up to eating salad just yet. I told Nancy this and she said, "Well then, I guess you're coming home and having dinner with us." and we piled into their little Toyota pickup truck and bounced along the sand road to their cottage.

I have seen this place on the internet, seen photos of the progression of building it, watched their live webcam of the beach from their deck - and imagined what it would be like to be there. As I step out of the pickup truck and walk to the front of the cottage, it feels surreal to me. To finally be where one has imagined... wow. Walker follows me and points out the camera on the deck rail that takes a photo every 30 seconds and tells me to go stand in front of it so that I will be on the webcam. So I do and he follows me and puts his arm around me and we wait 30 seconds. Then Nancy joins us and we wait another 30 seconds. I am now part of the Anegada Bar webcam!! Walker makes a movie of the shots every day, and puts it up on his YouTube page. So if you look at April 29 at the 5:04 mark you should see me there!

We had a wonderful meal together. Laughed, shared stories, and I was told I 'lived there' so make myself at home. Walker and Nancy are fabulous hosts and they have insisted that I spend each day this coming week with them. The only downer for me was that they are leaving a week earlier than they had originally told me when I asked for their dates for April. So I will only have the one week with them and then will have to fend for myself. But I don't want to think about that yet.

Walker sitting across from me at Hidden Treasure.

After a good nights sleep back in my room at Neptune's, with only one scary moment in the night where I felt something on my neck, a bite, as I slept and picked it off, tossed it to the other side of the bed and then woke with a start as I realized what had just transpired. I flicked on the light at the side of the bed, and searched for whatever it was. There was a black thing on the coverlet but in the dim light I could not make it out. So I went to the bathroom, got some toilet paper, picked it up and left it by the sink so I could see what it was in the morning. I slept a bit fitfully after that - waking every time I felt a twitch or a tickle on my skin. In the morning I took a look at the thing but still couldn't make it out (my eyesight is really failing) and so rolled it under my finger and, you know, I think it might have just been a bit of lint. But then why did it feel like I was bitten?

I hate it that I am so afraid of bugs.

Today I am going with Nancy and Walker to Windlass Bight (a beach) to watch him learn how to kite board. Should be fun!

The view from the restaurant at Neptune's Treasure

I am staying in the building on the left, bottom floor.

IN THE MOOD

I found this song on YouTube today. It's by KapEye, a popular entertainer on Tortola who is only there in the high season and usually performs at Myett's in Cane Garden Bay. Listening to the song today has really helping to get me in the mood for my trip. I ended up buying this song and four others of his on iTunes this afternoon.

I was really hoping I could catch him while I was there in a few weeks, but his time on the island for this season ends at the end of March. I am a little disappointed and it makes me wonder how many other entertainers and restaurants will be closed because it is the off season. I hope not many.

Have a listen and see if it doesn't make you want to tap your toes.



Here's another video from Tortola celebrating a birthday of someone I hope to meet while I am there; he's reputed to be a lot of fun and a very cool guy. He was a producer in LA - one of his shows was Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, so we just might have something to talk about. Anyhow, I love the bit in the middle that shows driving the crazy roads of Tortola that I feared so much but came to love. The video is set to the same KapEye song.



I love the line in the song "Try to explain it; words don't come near." So true.

AVERTING DISASTER - DISASTER AVERTED

One of the reasons I am trying to take only a piece of carry-on luggage on this upcoming 5 week trip is, I have a lot - a LOT - of connections to make. It is a three leg trip with 3 flights from Vancouver, BC to Yuma (it was supposed to be two but a few days ago I got a notice from Ticket Pilot that the flight from YVR to LAX had been cancelled so now I fly from YVR to San Francisco to LAX to YUM). Nine days later I have 3 flights to get from Yuma to St. Thomas (YUM to LAX to Dulles in DC to STT) then, on the flight home, I have three flights (STT to Miami to Toronto to YVR). With 9 flights in total, I don't trust that any bag I checked would stay with me for the entire trip. I lost my faith in the airline to keep bags with passengers some time ago.

Let me tell you why.

When my daughter was flying with her fiance to their wedding on Tortola, they left two days before everyone else because of the requirement that they be on the island three full days to qualify for a marriage license there. We (my other daughter, myself and a makeup/hair girl) were flying out of Sea-Tac airport near Seattle because it was considerably cheaper due to the often heavy taxes added to flights by the Canadian government. The Bride and Groom were flying from YVR (Vancouver BC) due to his being a British citizen and his application for permanent residency here; they just felt it would be a lot less complicated than trying to drive across the border both ways.

The night before they were due to leave, they had their luggage spread out on the floor. In my daughters suitcase was over $700 of new lingerie I had bought for her trousseau, almost all new clothes she had purchased especially for her honeymoon while living in London, 5 pairs of satin flip flops for the wedding ceremony - hers and her bridesmaids - hers covered in Swarovsky Crystals as well as the usual accoutrements a young lady and new bride takes on a trip. His luggage had all of his new clothing, plus all of his and the groomsmen's outfits for the wedding - 5 pairs of khaki pants from Old Navy, 5 linen shirts from Le Chateau, and 5 pairs of leather Rip Curl flip flops. Her wedding jewelry, their wedding rings, and jewelry gifts for the bridesmaids were all in carry-on.

We laid out the many other items that would be needed for the wedding itself and the reception table and divided it up between all of us because they did not have enough room for it all. They took quite a bit including Swarovsky Crystal nuggets to spread on the reception table along with white star fish, seashells, and sea glass, and some of the items to be gifts for the guests. I don't recall all the items they took in their luggage, but it was a fair bit. She carried her wedding dress and veil onto the plane in her arms in a garment bag and they had one other carry-on between them.

Twenty three hours after they took off, I got a call from her. She was on Tortola and she was in tears. American Airlines had managed to lose their checked luggage - both his and hers. She was devastated. I was in shock. This just could not be happening. She told me that they had talked with the airline and they didn't have much to encourage them with other than that they could go and buy new clothes and toiletries and the airline would cover them up to $200 each. As if that would take care of everything they'd worked so hard for and now was missing.

I reassured her that I would do everything I could from this end and to just leave it with me. They had a lot to do in their three days on the island, meeting with a wedding planner and the event planner at Long Bay Resort; this was the last thing they needed. I hung up the phone with a very heavy heart.

And then I got angry. The momma bear protective kind of angry.

I paced the floor of my home for several minutes, trying to think of what to do. I knew that calling some missing luggage hotline was no guarantee that this would be resolved quickly enough, I'd read enough stories to know that much. I decided that the only way to get a solution to this now was was to take it to the top. To the very top. I sat down at my computer and started a search. I started looking for the name of the CEO of American Airlines. I found a name fairly quickly. I then started to search for an email address or phone number to go with the name. It took me two hours. I finally found it, an email address, buried in an annual business report. I then did a check to make sure this person was still the CEO. He was.

I composed an email to him explaining that these two pieces of luggage contained months of preparation for my daughters wedding - a wedding that was costing them and me a small fortune, yet if the luggage was not found in time it would be completely and utterly ruined and his airline's incompetence would be wholly responsible. I laid it on pretty thick but I meant every word with all of my heart and soul. I begged him to do everything in his power to locate the luggage and restore it to my daughter and her fiance as soon as possible. I sent it off with a prayer that he would get it right away.

Half an hour later there was an email from him. He apologized for what we must be going through and asked for a list of details about their flights, luggage description, etc. I sent him the list back right away. Then I prayed some more.

A very anxious two hours later I received a phone call from his assistant. The luggage had been located in Dallas airport. They would put it on a private plane to Tortola the next day and have it delivered to Long Bay Resort by taxi. I nearly cried with relief and thanked her profusely, asking her to pass my heartfelt thanks along to the CEO.

The luggage showed up at Long Bay the next day. I can't say enough good things about American Airlines for doing that for my daughter.

Three days later, Cape Air lost my carry-on bag. Yes, you read that right - my carry-on bag with every single item we needed for the wedding that I was responsible for carrying (including my entire outfit) in it - after what had happened to their luggage, I wasn't about to put anything for the wedding in the bag I checked. You can read all about that panic session HERE.

True story, that.

FIELD TEST IS A SUCCESS!

Today I conducted a highly scientific and carefully regulated field test of an occurrence so rare I can confidently state that it has never taken place in the history of the world until today.

I attempted to pack everything I would **need for a 5 week trip into one regulation sized, wheeled, carry-on bag.

And, I am happy to report that it was a complete success!!

Here is what I managed to fit in:

In the front small pocket of the bag (not pictured) is several cards of barrettes, colorful hair elastics, nail art stickers, pens, pencils, those weird rubber band shaped bracelets that are all the rage with the kids, and some rubber stamp pens to give to the kiddies I meet. I also have several pairs of florescent patterned ankle sox for the girls but they had to go in the big compartment; they wouldn't fit in the front pocket.

In the suitcase, along with the half dozen or so sox, I have:

1 nice dress for dinner
1 long beach/dinner dress (black tee shirt fabric, great cut, LOVE it)
4 sun/cover up dresses
2 camisole type tank tops
1 long white ladies tee shirt (I hate normal tee shirts, this one I love)
2 tank tops (both white)
2 lace cami-tank tops
2 black legging capri's
3 swim suits (all in a mesh bag)
1 night dress
undies x 6 and 1 bra (in a 2nd mesh bag)
2 pair flip flops black/bronze
1 pair water shoes
1 sun hat
snorkel & prescription mask (fins don't fit in the case)

In the lid part you can see what I have:

holder for all my electronic cords
fold up beach bag
waterproof pouch
underwater camera case
small shoulder purse (usually for iPod)
bag of liquid & gels

My big travel purse will hold:

laptop
Kindle
iPod & noise cancelling earphones
makeup
jewelry (just dress stuff, not taking expensive real stuff)
and probably the bag of liquids now in the lid of the suitcase, if there's room

One thing I have realized when laying out all of these garments - I have no color in my wardrobe AT ALL. I do have a few summer items with more color but none are appropriate for this trip.

If you can think of anything I should have packed and have forgotten, let me know.

My containers of vitamins aren't in there but there's lots of room for them.

Two things I wish I could bring, other than more toiletries, is my pillow and a beach towel. I might try to cram the beach towel in. I need to check and see if the two places I am staying have ones I can take to the beach with me. I'd also like to take my spring float with me again, I took it on my last trip to the BVI and loved having it, but it doesn't fit into a small suitcase.

To travel in, I will be wearing a pair of long linen pants, a black lace cami-tank, a cowl neck sleeveless tee-top, a black sweater, and a pair of dressy sandles. That takes care of a pair of pants - should I need them, which I didn't on my last trip to the BVI, a sweater if it's a cool evening, and nicer shoes for dinners out. I will also have a pashmina shawl wrap with me, which I always take on flights to use as a blanket - I find it can be so cold on the plane. It will work well as a wrap in the evenings when I am wearing my nice dress. I am considering a light shell rain jacket and my tiny purse umbrella as it absolutely poured it down on the day we left Virgin Gorda on the last trip. I mean, the kind of rain where one step out and back in and you'd be soaked to the skin.


**the word need is starred because, in fact, not everything I 'need' is in the bag, only what the TSA stooges will allow me to take into the body of the aircraft less I attempt to blow it up with my perfume, hairspray, and spider killer spray

OLD BLOG

Did you know that when I first started blogging, I just wrote about whatever was on my mind? THIS blog was started to chronicle my anticipated adventure sailing the Caribbean on a charter luxury catamaran as crew. If you started at the beginning of this blog then we all know how that went.

The other blog has some musings as well as some of the story of traveling to the BVI for my daughter's wedding. If you want to go take a look - it has less than a dozen entries - you can find it HERE. It's called Living the Dream. It's all on one page and, in the annoying formatting of BLOGGER, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up to read it in chronological order.

Enjoy!

PRETTY COOKIES

It finally came!! The Tortola Caribbean Bracelet that my daughter and her husband bought me for my birthday way back in April. I love it! Now whenever I look at it I will be reminded of that beautiful Caribbean Island that I long to go back to. Actually, what am I saying?! As if I need any reminder.

I spent the better part of the last two days at my friend's house, helping her with the huge task of making 160 very special cookies for her daughter's wedding. They will be placed in little clear plastic bags, tied with a white ribbon, and placed at each table setting at the reception.

It's quite the process to make one. First make the dough, roll it out, cut with the heart shaped cutter, and bake. Two kinds of royal icing need to be made; one fairly stiff and one quite runny. Once the cookies are cooled, a thin line is piped around the outside top of the cookie, creating an outline and left to dry. Then the runny icing is drizzled into the center and carefully spread out to the outline in a fairly thick layer and an even surface. Once that is completely dry (overnight) then the icing is brushed with a layer of edible pearl shine, then the first initials of the bride and groom are piped on top. Once they are dry, they go in the freezer on trays and then, once frozen, are placed in the clear bags and returned to the freezer to stay there until a few days before the wedding, when the white bow will be tied to the bag. They make really lovely favours. We made them for my daughter's Vancouver wedding reception last year and they were a big hit with the guests.

















We are toying with the idea of doing it as a business. But, to make it worthwhile, we'd have to charge close to $5 a cookie. I don't know if people would pay that much.

CARIBBEAN FOOD

The weekend went by fast.

Today I show up at circus, which is in Hillside Mall parking lot. I was just there on Tuesday to try to pay my Fido bill, and so knew exactly where to go. I get there and the locations fellow tells me that circus is close to set like Calgary is close to Edmonton. Oh-oh.

I ask him where catering is today and he tells me they are on set so I make my way over to where transport is loading people and see that a 7 passenger van is just leaving. I yell to the locations girl standing right by it to stop it for me but she just looks at me with a blank expression and lets them go. Fortunately, there is a 15 passenger van right behind it. It is full of extras. One rolls down the front window and asks if I am going to set. I say I am so someone opens the slider and I heft my bag inside and climb aboard.

It takes a full 10 minutes to drive to set. Sheesh maneesh.

When we finally arrive, I climb out of the van and drag my bag full of scripts and supplies around looking for catering. I can't find them. I see Jill, the camera operator so ask her where catering are set up. She tells me they are at circus. I am incredulous. Really??

Locations are in charge of where the circus parks, where the work trucks park, where catering parks, where everyone parks. Yet one of their own doesn't know where catering is? Unreal.

I grab a transport guy and ask if he can radio someone to send a breakfast to set for me as I don't have time to go all the way back for it. I won't make it back in time for a blocking if I do that. So they make the call and fifteen minutes later the on-set wardrobe gal brings me my breakfast.

We are shooting a bunch of exteriors of the building where the apartment of our young couple is housed. Once we've done those, we move inside and up the narrow staircase to two small, and I do mean small, apartments that we have taken over. We will shoot in both; one is the entrance and bedroom the other is the kitchen, living room and a den.

There are a row of shops under the apartments in this old, brick building. One of them is an authentic Caribbean restaurant called Stir it Up. The people who run it look like they just walked off of Tortola. The guys have dreads, the woman has slicked back black hair and booty. I can't wait to try their food and go ask for a take-out menu. I plan to come back here on my day off, that's for sure.

At one point, during some down time for me, I sit on the bench in the roadway that's just a paved footpath - no cars allowed- and watch the Caribbean family and friends. I think about how they left the Caribbean to live in B.C. and how I want to leave B.C. and live in the Caribbean. Why doesn't the BVI government allow us to just trade places with someone who wants to leave. That would be perfect. I should suggest it to them!

Every night we get a hot snack provided by the crafty guy. I am excited when I find out that he just placed a huge order with the Caribbean restaurant for jerk chicken, roti, and other items from the menu. When it arrives, I happen to be in the room they put all of the food in as I just used the restroom near by. This means I actually get my choice of what I want to eat... nevermind that... I actually get to eat some of it. The other night when we were at the Parliament Buliding, pizza was ordered for the crew and I never saw a slice of it as I was stuck inside and couldn't get outside where the food was and the only place we could eat it as no food was allowed inside. So this is a huge treat for me. I take a few pieces of the shredded jerk chicken and a slice of the roti. It tastes heavenly.

IN A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY

Michael just got back from a week down in Washington to visit his sister who has a holiday place there. We went out for dinner because I told him I needed a stopwatch and he said he had one I could borrow. So we turned the handing it over into a date! We went to Cactus Club and had a lovely time. And why do I need a stopwatch, you ask? Because....

I HAVE A MOVIE!!

Yep. After an entire year of not working, I got a call to do a movie over on Vancouver Island and I got the position. So now I am deep in prep, breaking down the script; timing it, giving each scene a page count in eighths (so one scene may be 2/8 of a page, another 1 4/8), and looking for continuity errors, general mistakes, and putting together my one-line synopsis. And hoping like crazy I haven't forgotten how to do my job once I get into the hectic pace and atmosphere of being on set.

The tenants downstairs have agreed to take care of the cat and plants and get the mail. I need to find the resident son a ride to the airport, and myself a ride to the coast. I asked my daughter if she is up to it, if she will take me and she said she would. But she gets her wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow under general anesthetic so not sure if she will be good to go by Sunday. I need to find a place to stay in Langley for two nights while I go through my suitcases of clothes I have stored there, and pull together what I need for three weeks of shooting in probably every weather but snow. There will be a few night shoots as well and it will be cold by the water so big puffy down coat will be required!

Last night, while out on previously mentioned dinner date, there was a huge electrical storm and it knocked out power just as we were seated. It came back on in short order and we had one or two brown-outs during dinner. When I got back to my place, the internet was down and still was this morning. I tried for several hours to get online. What a time to lose it when I have so many emails to send and receive to the production office about the show! Michael had offered to let me print the script and anything else I needed on his printer. I planned to download the drivers off of the internet for the printer here but now I couldn't get to them. So I called Michael to take him up on his offer. He had me go down to the modem and wireless router and try a bunch of stuff to get it working. He was mystified because the modem lights were indicating that the internet was coming into the house just fine. He offered to come over and fix it... he is an IT guy. I wasn't eager to put him out like that but he insisted. He came over and it turned out that the router had lost the IP address, or something like that, and he had me back on line in half an hour. I offered to take him out to lunch as payment and he took me to a little Malaysian restaurant on the main street of Kelowna. I would have just walked past the place, in fact I am sure I have, many times. It was delicious. What a hidden gem of a place. My friend Donna hired me to paint her bathroom this week so I have a wallet full of cash and this meal came to $16. Not bad at all.

I am on the Island until September 28th. Where I will be after that, I have no idea. I am kinda getting attached to Michael and he isn't into long distance relationships at all, and neither am I, so I am thinking about coming back up here. But I think I will do that only if Disney calls. I wrote to Lance Priebe, the guy who was in the first interview with me, and is the founder of Club Penguin. Basically I said that I was on the island until the end of the month and after that, unless I heard from them, I would be staying on the coast to find work there, that I can't wait indefinitely for them. But that I would be willing to work as a Customer Service Rep until a position more suited to my skill set presented itself. I don't know if it will do any good but I am hoping so. He said he wanted me working for the company so maybe this will get something going in time for when I am done the film.

OR... if I win the lottery... I just found out that Agape Cottages is for sale on Tortola. This is a small B&B type of place that is run by a Christian couple and they give drastically reduced rates to missionaries, pastors and burnt out lay people. Now I could for sure get into that. I have always wanted to own a B&B; my husband and I used to talk about running a place for that exact group of people; and I - as you well know - want to live in the BVI at least part of the year. If I won the lottery, I would get my kids to come with me and help me run the place. Then I'd never leave.