Issue # 151 - What Month is this?

. April to July 2019 .

Hello all!

Long time no see!

This year has certainly been a special one. We hope you are doing OK and keeping the sense of humour in these crazy times.  

It was March when we last published.  That was our last outing off island (to the Vancouver Sevens - which is well worth the effort, no matter where you are coming from.  Hopefully we can get back there in 2021!).  We got back from Vancouver and the world changed within days.

Our borders have been closed since - apart from some evacuation flights and a repatriation flights. No tourism.  Plenty of businesses are suffering.  On the positive side, we never really had many serious cases on island and the sole death was someone off a cruise ship.  

We were locked down for a while. Lots of folk were working remotely from home where they could.  Bars and restaurants were closed, apart from some continuing to do takeout where they were able - curbside pickup, and delivery.

Sam met us in Vancouver for her Spring Break, then came back to Cayman for the week.  She is still here....  We are still unsure as to when  she will make it back to Ohio.  Thankfully they are offering courses online, so her studies will continue from August/September.  We just aren't too sure about the swimming at this point.  She is training here with Jake at Stingray so that is good.

Jake had a bunch of online classes to finish off his year.  He's now on Summer Holidays before his final year at High School.

Dave has been back at work for a few weeks now. Michelle went back on Monday. We both continued to work throughout from home and Dave had a few days in the office here and there.

So, here is a pictorial summary of some of the things we've been up to.

The sun continued to rise and set every day.

This was likened to the Dragon in Shrek (Donkey's Girlfriend).

With all public pools closed, and sea swimming banned, Sam and Jake resorted to tethered swimming in the pool at home.

We held our own little ANZAC Dawn service at home.

The 'local' was closed... Its open again!

Sam and Luna do some study...
 of the insides of their eye-lids.

It was also Mango season.  So, what do we do?
Mango Daiquiris!

Jake gets creative as part if the Swim team weekly challenge.
They earned points for various forms of exercise, as well as for a random 'creative challenge' that the coach devised.
This one was to make the tallest structure with bread.
The winners each week were awarded ice-cream as prizes.  Just doesn't mind a bit of ice-cream.
Michelle won a couple in the Parents division for her efforts!

Jake's effort.
I think some of this ended up as Bread Pudding!

We managed to hire a spin bike for the duration.
It certainly got some use on the total lockdown days!

Dave harvested his Basil for the Herb Cupboard.

The Sahara Sands are an annual occurrence, but it was a little more noticeable this year... of course. This photo was taken in the mid- late afternoon.

We were able to spend a weekend at East End recently.  Hotels and Air BNB etc starting to open up for locals, since no tourists can come in. We all headed out with some friends of Jake and Sam and had a nice time away, although it was only about 40 minutes up the road.
We did some chilling.  Played some cards.  Did some snorkeling and also went for a couple of dives!  Diving had been banned for the entire time and has only recently been permitted, as long as you have your own gear.  No hiring...  Luckily we do have our own.

A little Conch on our Snorkeling

And a Starfish

The kids hung out in the water...without swimming.

 We booked a two tank dive with a local Dive Crew.  The number of divers allowed is limited so it was nice having a smaller crowd.

Jake, Sam, Kenneth &
Michelle (below).

Pesky Lionfish

The Sharks were out to say hello.

Crabs were out as well. 
Maybe they missed the Divers who hadn't been around for a while.

Mr. Lobster

Another big-ass Crab

Sam, Jake & Kenneth 

Jake gets a visit during his safety stop

Still hanging about....

Barracudas too!

Flamingo Tongue

Our first visit back to the beach in a while.  The beaches where only open for exercising, but you can now go and sit and enjoy the sun and sea.

Harry got the Cone of Shame after putting his face somewhere where it didn't belong.

Another weekend a bunch of us (about 11 Families) headed to Kaibo (near Rum Point) for a fun weekend and to celebrate one of the Kids' 18th Birthday.  We all had a bunch of units right on the beach and close to the pool which was great!

One day we Kayaked over to Starfish Point.  Since boating had been banned for aged, there were plenty of Starfish about once again which was pretty cool.

Our Sea-through Kayak!

It is Rainy Season so the odd downpour wasn't unexpected.  Although at times it came in buckets!

Sam employs a novel approach at keeping the rain out of a glass...

Michelle finds a Throne somewhere.

Some of the kids escape the rain!

Kaibo Night Life

Kaibo Day life...

Kaibo, later-in-the-day life.

Looks like Beer-O'Clock

A few of the kids

Sunset House (The Local)

Since we were locked down all weekend for a number of weeks, Dave started to make little cups/glasses out of coconuts.

It was a very messy activity (out on the patio) but the results were pretty cool.

The Workbench

Some of the final products, being quality tested with Mudslides.

They worked!

The process starts with some old coconuts - not greens ones, as the shell needs to be hard.

Then you wrestle the Husk off.

The size of the coconut will help determine what happens next, i.e. will it be big enough for a cup, small enough for a shot glass, or should it be used to make bases for a few other cups. Either way, the top is the first bit to be removed.

Some still have the copra in them.  If they are really old, the copra dries into a ball so you don't have to spend time digging and scraping, like we did with these ones.

The next stages involve scraping and sanding to clean up the main part (the cup) and then shaping the base to fit.

The base is glued on.  The entire cup is sanded (inside and out), so it's nice and smooth and ready for sealing/coating.

Here's a bunch cups of various sizes.  We have shot glass sizes, wine glass, cocktail glass and right up to the jumbo cups which hold just under a litre.  

Dave has been busy giving them away to whoever wants one.  

We have kept a bunch here as well.  Maybe one day, when the borders open, you can come and collect yours!

We are now allowed back in the bars etc, although there is still a 50 person limit.  Here we are with Lisa and Mick at an engagement party at the Wharf on Saturday night.

So, that is pretty much us for the last couple of months.  Hopefully things will continue to improve around the world and we'll all get back to the new version of normal.

Until then, wash your hands, take care and keep smiling!