I've been taking loads of pictures, but I just don't make the time to post them.

Yesterday my brother told me he sent my blog to a bunch of people, so I figure I better get some new pics up. This is a picture of a friend diving.

Cruising along.

This beauty was spotted on the way up to Brimstone Hill.

I love goats and they are in great abundance on the island. This is a herd I passed the other day on the road. Whenever I see goats, I impulsively stick my head out the window and scream "Goat-ees!" because they make me so happy. I know, it's weird. Unfortunately for the goats (and non-goat-eaters like myself), they are a main food source on the island. No one uses them for cheese or milk. These fine goats right here are being raised for slaughter.

Looking up at the cliffs on North Friar.

I go to this beach in the morning with my friend Barry, who has spent every morning of the last 8 years cleaning it. Now he has help.

I discreetly shot this without waking the gentleman in the green pants.

Massage, anyone?

This was taken from our veranda tonight.

That's what the sign says at the Shiggidy Shack, I noticed last night.

We didn't exactly lime. The bar was crazy busy, and while waiting in line, I was accidentally punched in the face by a wildly gesticulating inebriated Scotsman (is that redundant?). I did have one pina colada with dinner, and it was really good! Halfway through dinner, the one-man band began to play - I was wrong about the iPod DJ. He's a local with a keyboard and a passion for 1980s Top 40, which he rearranges with a calypso/reggae rhythm, making it very difficult for listeners to figure out what 80s Top 40 he's singing. It's sort of like a drinking game. He played some Foreigner, some Mister Mister, and some Rod Stewart (it took me almost the entire song to identify "Some Guys Have All the Luck"). I've been assured that his repetoire is limited, and I'll have the pleasure of hearing him every Thursday night that we're here.

After we ate and after I was socked in the nose, we moved over to the semi-circle of chaise lounges set up around the bonfire. The stars were out, and I realized that I couldn't identify a single constellation. I'll have to start studying my star books again. Everything looks different from down here.

The singer soon introduced Fire Man, a fire-eating, fire-bathing, fire-breathing man who performs every Thursday for about 10 minutes. He was really good. What was really great about it, though, was the one-man band dude - he played an accompanying Fire song to the tune of Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved," with fantastic lyrics like, "He loves to eat fire, he bathes in the fire, he even drinks fire! How does he do it? He is the Fire Man!" The performance was great, but I was partial to the accompaniment.

Around 9:30, my back was 100% completely out, so we head back home. Tonight we're headed back to the Shack for dinner with some friends. No Fire Man tonight, though. No bonfire, either.

So we're off to the beach for the afternoon.

First, here are some pictures of the yard I took at 7:15am this morning.


This is the Caribbean Sea view.


This is the Atlantic view. It's closer as the crow flies (or frigate bird, as the case may be), but because of the Marriot Golf Course, it's faster to walk or drive to the Caribbean.


This little fellow tried to sell me car insurance!


I haven't figured out what these trees are called yet, but we have several. They're pretty!


I call this the petunia bush, though I'm sure it has another name. Don't they look like petunias, though? There's a white one in the front yard.




Notice that Gamma Ray is OFF LEASH - this is maybe the greatest thing about the move. The dogs were rarely off leash in Maine.


That's our veranda on top.


It's nice, right? So book your ticket and get down here!

There's a restaurant here called Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack. It actually is a shack; actually, it's more of a bamboo hut with some plywood. It's right on Timothy Beach, about a 3 minute drive from the house, and it's composed of several small out buildings. The biggest building is the kitchen, then there's a small hut for the bartender, there's another small hut for gifts - though the Shiggidy Shop was closed the other night, there's a portico area (not enclosed) for dining and then more dining without a roof, and there's a small hut where the owner, Mr. X (aka Sylveter Phipps, an astoundly beautiful Kittitian man), hangs out and does the books.

Anyway, it's fantastic. We went a couple nights ago, and we're going again tonight. Apparently, Thursday is bonfire night there, and when we were snorkeling this afternoon, we watched the guys set up the bonfire area. They make great pina coladas, I've discovered. They have mahi mahi for $15 US, and it's served with a salad, plantains, johnnycakes (think Indian fry bread only denser and with coconut), and baked macaroni pie (basically mac and cheese like my mother used to make). It's a huge portion of food, and it's the best deal I've seen so far on the island.

I guess it's the tradition to go there on Thursdays, eat dinner, and then sit by the bonfire, listen to the iPod reggae DJ, and lime.

Let me explain: evidently, back when the British regiment was still stationed here, they would get scurvy, so once a week, they were told to drink rum to disinfect the gut and to eat limes to keep their teeth from falling out and ward off scurvy. Nowadays, the medicinal benefit is out the window. To go liming means to go out drinking, and that's what we're off to do right now!

First, here's a picture of tonight's moon from the veranda. It's basically the same view as yesterday's picture, but I'm certainly not sick of it yet!