Beach and Baby Bliss

Nearly 2 months since my last post and my time has been well spent. My 8 weeks in Barbados flew by faster than I could ever imagine. How could I have believed that it would be too long!! And watching the weather from paradise turned it into an excellent spectator sport.

People came from all around the world and everyone shared one common topic: the craziness that has been this winter!! The Brits had all the flooding. Portugal was unusually cold. Germany was in a deep freeze. And well, you all know what happened in our neck of the woods. Not happened - happening!!

Even Barbados had unusually wet weather this year. In fact, the umbrellas that had sat in our suitcases since our first trip there 4 years ago became an extension of our hands - we took them everywhere, including the beach.  If the showers looked like they "wouldn't amount to much", we just hid under our brellies till the sun came out again. This became a popular position.

There were lots of adventures during our stay, many repeats of what we have done in the past, but we did make it to our first polo match and a few new eating spots, the best of which turned out to be the "cheap and cheerful" options.  One of our new favourites is Bombas, a beach bar/restaurant with great food and an amazing view.  We had early dinner one evening to try to catch the "green flash" (a flash that happens at the exact second the sun goes down into the sea). We didn't see one because of the cloud cover. But if you click on this picture, you will see what else was blocking the view.

That's right - one of those climbing ice bergs got parked in the exact spot where the sun went down. Too funny really!

We flew back on March 12 and made excellent time till we got to Toronto. Then we sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting for a place to park. So many flights were grounded that day that there were no empty spots. We drove to Oakville and saw our car sitting under nearly 18 inches of snow. Yuck!!

The silver lining to our return was that our daughter Laura and grandson Jackson came for a 10-day stay. Yes, we were able to get new pics and videos and the occasional skype session plus imessage daily while we were in Holetown, (technology is wonderful!!) but it's amazing how incredible it is to catch up with this little bundle who was only 15 days old when we left.  Now he wiggles and giggles and kept us entertained throughout his visit.

The house will seem quiet without him this coming week. But reality will seep back in as will that "to do" list of things waiting for me to tackle, including income tax stuff. grrr.

Rug hooking is back on the radar screen this week, especially since my students are returning to my weekly classes - barring any blizzard conditions that get in the way. And before you know it, the OHCG Annual in Oshawa will be here at the end of May, followed closely by my class at Trent Rug Hooking School. The Annual is always a fun weekend of catching up and a great rug show. And the Trent Rug Hooking School is a total blast - summer camp for rug hookers. I understand there are still some spaces available there if you haven't already booked.

As to the next "beach time", according to the forecast here, it will be a very late spring, so no water activities for a long, long time. But baby bliss is just 2+ hours away and there will still be daily imessaging and occasional pictures and skype to fill the gaps.