Chronicles of a Shoemaker's Daughter

Happy 2012!  I hope this year brings peace and abundance to us all.  2011 was an intense year for many of us.  All I can say, is I am glad it is over, and I look forward to new beginnings.  Happily for me, the end of the old year coincided with the conclusion of late-in-life journey through grad school.  I completed my final course, associated assignments, and 3 month research/policy internship mere days before Christmas.  Pheeewww!  I am glad that part of my life is over!   DISCLAIMER:  I also want to post a disclaimer here ... the previous few posts are NOT NEW.  Before I put my blog on hold last fall, I was messing with formats - and one or two old posts jumped forward.   Today, I was once again trying to experiment with formats, and while hiding and bringing back some old posts, they got saved under today's date.  Oops!  I don't know how to fix that!!    In the weeks to come, I will have to look at how ...

Well, I did finally track down some of my own photos that I did managed to snap before my camera and a big wave had a show-down on Rendezvous Bay ... My internet keeps cutting out every time I try to upload ... somehow the snow storm, which was really a non-event here in Toronto, has affected some of the cable systems around my neighbourhood. Eventually, there should be more than one photo here. ;o] So, today - Thursday, February 3, 2011 - the internet gods have smiles ever so slightly, and they have let me upload a few more photos ... Most were taken around Meads Bay, near the Frangipani Hotel and Straw Hat Restaurant. One or two are from Upper Shoal Bay East, near Gwen's Reggae Grill ... I think ...

These photos were taken around my cottage at Oualie Beach Resort - not so much a resort, but more a collection of ginger-bread cottages on a nice stretch of beach with shallow, warm waters, a pier for boating and water-sport activities, an in-house sea-creature attraction-educational facility-"turtle-camp", and a terrifically laid-back and funky, yet decidedly, old-world Caribbean restaurant and bar. On day one, check-in was early and I decided to forego the plans to tour around Nevis for the day and drop in on old friends around Pinney's Beach, because I could not tear myself away from this place and the haunting view of St. Kitts's South East Peninsula across the narrows!  It seems like a long time ago now, but it was spring, 2009!  Much has changed in my life since then, and this is still where I'd rather be!

Well, I sort of lied in an earlier blog post. I said I wasn't going anywhere this year, but I did in fact, sneak away in April after all. It was a working vacation, but it still took me back through St. Martin and on to St. Kitts ... yes ... again! Not sure when, or if I'll be able to post that trip report, but I must admit, it was an interesting trip. I have remained silent, not knowing how to describe my experience this time. Well, I wasn't so silent on a certain travel forum, and I also kept a detailed journal of my trip. So, I'll say this much for now: The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is changing. Rapidly. Oh, perhaps on the surface the twin island paradise may still seem like a relatively "undiscovered" couple of pearls on a delicate chain of small islands in the West Indies, but many of us know the other side: crime is rampant, developers are carving up the landscape and the cost of living is skyrocketing. I can no longer be naive e...

This blog seems to be experiencing a bit of a hiccup - - while trying to experiment with different formats, some of my old posts were transported forward to the present date (or a few days ago, at least).  Not sure what happened. This leads me to my announcement ... you see, the reason for all this experimenting, is that I have finally decided to launch the other blog ... the one I mentioned about 2 years ago that would be focussed on well-being, among other, more specific topics.   For now, there is not much on it.  The initial focus will be on food allergies and sensitivities, gluten-free "trial and error" living, and the occasional foray into a recipe or two, interspersed with (what I hope will be) some helpful information on coping with chronic health "hiccups." So, without further dawdling, here it is the link   Confessions of a Reluctant Health Nut Do take some time to come visit me there in the future ... hope to see you there!!

OK, so let's wrap th is up. All I can say is that I had some great meals and some meals that did not quite live up to the hype, when I was in Anguilla. Sand Bar not only lived up to the hype, but I liked it SO much, that I went back a second time, even though there were so many other places I had hoped to visit during my short 4 day stay. But I just HAD to sample whatever menu offerings I left behind the first night. It isn't just the fa ct that the chef is Canadian, and formerly from one of the chi-chi hotels in Anguilla, or that her husband who also doubles as the bar-tender offers weary lone travelers a true Anguillian welcome, or the teriffic sunsets, or the reasonable pricing ... No, I think it's just the way that all these elements somehow weave together to provide a very real and relaxed experience. This place is not stuffy in the least, nor is it a beach shack. Yet it is right on the beach! I think if I lived in Anguilla, this would be my after-work hang-out. I li...

Unless of course you write about it. Well it's confirmed - I am not taking any southward bound vacations this spring. So now, Anguilla and the rest of the Caribbean are consuming my every thought. Under pressure of unrealistic deadlines, what do I do? Go on the hunt for unfinished trip reports. Here is what I was able to find so far ... my goodness, am I ever long winded! This is only the first 2 - 3 days - imagine if I had stayeda full week! Dinner my first night, was at Tasty’s, and it was indeed, tasty. Except for the fact that I was a) tired from partying at the family reunion/wedding in Toronto the night  before, and b) belatedly reeling from the rough crossing between St. Maarten/St. Martin and Anguilla: I seemed to be experiencing delayed sea-sickness. My meal of Stewed Chicken with rice and the freshest veggies I have ever tasted, was nicely packed up and I was sent home with what seemed like enough food for the next 3 daysworth of lunches, dinners or midnigh...

Over the next few weeks I am hoping to clean up my blog, delete forever the blogs that I started but will never finish or even attempt to follow through, and finally learn how to post photos artistically and effectively. I am even toying with the idea of moving away from Blogger and going elsewhere to host my blog, as I move away from travel stories (interspersed with a few rants here and there) to a whole other set of themes. In the meantime, I thought I would share a few photos from late summer in Guarda La Yarda. Like any self-respecting transplanted Italian, my mother, at age 82 and struggling with health issues, still insists on maintaining a vegetable and flower garden. In the fall, she and my father (who suffers from macular degeneration and insists that he is now completely blind, therefore unable to assist in chores) set up their makeshift factory in the garage, order a few bushels of field tomatoes to supplement the back-yard harvest (a necessity to them, since the kitchen ...

... or ... "phew, I got these out of the way ... so what's next?" My friends and I always made these lists, long before the movie. We often played a sort of game that involved writing your own obituary, or coming up with a list of things you might want to be remembered for. Some of the things on my list seemed well, sort of boring or perhaps a little bland, while others seemed well nigh impossible. But, I am happy to report, that I have managed, over the course of 25 years, to strike some of the entries off my list. It was only when I realized that in fact, I had managed, between long "dry spells" to get to quite a few of my bucket goals, that I really began to understand the power of writing things down and visualizing the results. So here is an incomplete run-down of a few goals that I can safely strike from the list: 1. Learn to type (seriously, I was over 30 when I learned to type without looking at the keys!) 2. Live in the Caribbean for a yea...

Also known as, "doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door ..." It is hard to believe that I had a hand in helping all these little beauties along. And when I remember, I do pause and give thanks to the heavens, because as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, winter is right around the corner. And the chair that I usually occupy during Guarda La Yarda season, will look something like this: And let me be clear, this was NOT shot in B&W and was not photo-shopped or digitally altered in any way. Some winter days are just THAT gloomy ... and cold ... brrrrrrr .....