Blue Moon Friday

Another month is about the finish and the beginning of September is almost here. 

We are also half way through hurricane season which is a major part of the year for those of us who live in the Caribbean, and today we also have another event to celebrate...

To me it's impossible to celebrate the "Blue Moon" without my favorite version of the song with the same title but the version by Canadian band "Cowboy Junkies" and the amazing voice of Margo Timmins...

here's a very nice video of it I found via YouTube.

"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone

Without a dream in my heart

Without a love of my own

Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for

You heard me saying a prayer for

Someone I really could care for..."

Now this song and its lyrics come with a special meaning for me today, specially the part of 

"I will also be saying a prayer for someone I really care for", 

in my case I will be praying for my husband, who has a job interview this afternoon. 

I would appreciate if you want to join me in sending him your prayers and good vibes, thanks!

In unrelated news, we have yet another new cactus flower on our back deck blooming for the first time...

This was yesterday getting ready to open

Today's flower completely open!

Pretty nice flower, eh?

Well, hope everybody has a nice weekend and that wherever you are you'll be able to enjoy the Blue Moon!

Happy Friday and weekend to come!

Inside my studio

I learned to live without TV when I lived for 3 years (from '02 to '05) in "remote" Tulum, Mexico.

While there, I lived and worked at a Yoga Retreat Resort that didn't have electricity 24hrs and operated mainly on generators, so specially during the night the lights went off at 12 midnight and came back on at 5am.

A few months after I moved there, my boss bought some batteries for the generator so he offer to put a 24 hour outlet. So, out of that one outlet I survived with my one fan, a lamp and my little stereo... always connected.

Years later I moved back to a bit more "civilization" to Cayman Brac and although I had TV, the island only has about 6 channels so there wasn't much of a choice.

When I finally moved to Grand Cayman, having a TV or cable was not on my "must have" list to survive and since my husband (boyfriend at the time) didn't have cable (although he did have an actual TV), I just continued life without it.

Of course it's not that I don't like TV, as there are some good shows and channels out there, but there's also a good share of crappy ones (like some of the "reality shows" nowadays). So, to make it clear we do own a TV but we mainly use it for movies and we have it connected to our computer to watch from there.

Now, lately I've been kind of hooked on a show called "Inside the Actor's Studio" which airs on Bravo Channel (although I watch it on my TV from this YouTube channel)... and it's a "one on one" interview kind of show with famous actors and actresses.

As the host (James Lipton) says, "it starts at the beginning" meaning where the actor/actress was born, raised, who are their parents, siblings, schools, career begin, and then off to pretty much every project and movie they've been involved with.

So far, I've watched the show with; Betty white, Robin Williams, Jude Law, George Clooney, Myke Myers, Will Smith, John Cousak and Salma Hayek.

Well, my favorite part of the show is at the end when Mr. Lipton would ask a set of ten questions that I find very interesting so I decided to share them with you and also give you my answers.

The ten questions Lipton asks are:

1. What is your favorite word? wicked
2. What is your least favorite word? mucus
3. What turns you on? charm
4. What turns you off? self pity
5. What sound or noise do you love? the ocean surf
6. What sound or noise do you hate?  mosquitoes buzzing when I am trying to sleep
7. What is your favorite curse word? fuck
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Vet
9. What profession would you not like to do? Mortician
10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? Welcome home, we've been expecting you!

Now, what about you? Would love to hear your answers and if you've never seen the show perhaps you might wanna check it out.

Have a great Thursday!

Scrub that!

Perhaps this is old news for you, but not so much for me.

A few days ago I found (via a friend of mine) about a natural, easy and specially effective face (and body if needed) scrub. The best part of it (like I said before) is that it's natural and made with (easy to find at your own kitchen) only 2 main ingredients: Lime/Lemon Juice and Sugar.

photo source the idea room

Main ingredients:

1/2 fresh lemon
1/2 cup of granulated sugar

Optional ingredients:

1 Tbsp of olive oil/coconut oil/almond oil

Benefits of the Ingredients:

Lemon – A natural source of Vitamin C; an ingredient commonly used to lighten sun and age spots and even out skin tone; A natural astringent that tightens pores and brightens the complexion.
Sugar – A natural exfoliator; a natural source of glycolic acid which evens out skin tone, cleans pores, and improves overall skin texture by removing dead, dull skin cells.

Instructions:

If using any of the oils, add lemon juice and oil in to a bowl (I like to use tupperware as it is easy storage) until they mix together. Add in the sugar and mix. If you sense that there is not enough sugar to get the scrubbing done, add a bit more. Again, this is a personal preference.

As a face scrub: The lemon and sugar scrub is also great for the face, but use with gentle circular motions. This scrub is ideal for people who suffer from breakouts and acne as all of the ingredients are highly beneficial to acne prone skin. Lemon tightens pores and evens out the skin tone, sugar removes dead skin cells and cleans pores, olive oil heals acne scaring, and honey prevents future breakouts.

As a body scrub: Apply to body, paying extra close attention to elbows, knees, feet and hands (nails and cuticles especially) and rub in circular motions for 3 to 5 minutes. Rinse. Enjoy the silky softness of your impossibly smooth skin.

To use, follow the same recipe instructions then apply to clean face in gentle, circular motions. Be cautious of using on open wounds as the lemon may sting. Leave on for 7-10 minutes and rinse with cool water.

Believe me, this really works and I am living proof. 

Lately I have been getting lots of blemishes in my forehead (partly related to "that time of the month" and partly because of what I've been eating and stress), but by using this 3 evenings in a row before going to bed, I can already start to notice a big difference.

So, go ahead, try it, it's easy and the ingredients are a no brain-er for any kitchen, your welcome!

Please tell me all about your results (if any), good or bad! Thanks.

Have a great Wednesday : ) 

Weekend @ Barkers

Yesterday we got our beach stuff together, grabbed the dogs and took them for a nice walk at Barkers Park (which is a protected Mangrove/Beach near where we live).

For the dogs, riding in the car is one of the top most exciting activities ever!
Oh boy, do they love it...Even if it's just a ride around the block, they go nuts with excitement...

Well, yesterday was no exception. 

Yesterday for the first time ever (well, at least with me around), my husband decided to take
Sheba off the leash!!!
He has done it before and says she is very good and doesn't run away or even goes far,
well he was right! 

She walked around and in front of us all the time without getting to far and paying attention that we were there right behind here....

Ditto on the other hand is a runner and I worry he will get lost- so he stayed on the leash!

Just last weekend my husband didn't close the house front door properly and Ditto did one of his "escaping acts" to go hunt chickens, luckily he came back...

He is getting old so I worry about him getting hit by a car (like he did a few years back!).

We had a great time at Barkers, got to take some photos and the dogs seems to enjoy themselves!

Here are some extra random photos of the area...

pretty sand flowers

nice big clouds around

We found this abandon picnic table along the beach (see it on the above photo?)... and of course I took advantage of the "Kodak" moment!

On unrelated news, Tropical Storm Isaac did not affect us at all... Now all we can hope and have faith that no other storms will come our way...

Have a wonderful week!!!

Smile, it's Friday!

SPOILER ALERT: a Rat was harmed before the making of this post.

Lately I feel as if I'm lacking in the "ideas department" of what to post.

Sometimes I just don't have it in me to write and I feel that I am not even worthy of having a blog... but I keep on trying because blogging is like a drug that you just gotta have, right?

But if I wanna apply the "half full" mentally, at least it's Friday, so a couple of days off to look forward to, specially because I work both days last weekend doing inventory.

On Sunday we are expecting some sort of weather as the result of Tropical Storm Isaac that is lurking around the Caribbean. According to the "computer models" and the "expected path" it should go by North of us, but nevertheless it will probably generate rain and wind for us.

Now here's the thing with storms, they cause a lot of stress [at least for me] just by being out there. And I know we have "experts" and machines monitoring their path and behavior, but we should never take anything for granted and assume that what we know what it is going to happen, because only God knows the plans ahead.

In other news, this morning after coming back from my early morning gym class [yes, I am BACK on the exercise bus, beep, beep!!!]... I found another lovely gift from one of our kitties...

I am not sure if it's a mouse of a rat... but it sure it's a rodent and no, it's not sleeping :(

Anyway, not much else to report from my end, work's been kinda of on the slow side lately, but it's slow season for tourism on this little island, so kinda expected to be this way.

Hope everybody is having a great Friday and that the weekend is nothing short of fabulous!!!

hooked on crochet

From a little girl I have always been very creative; from drawing to poetry and even some painting. Now that I am older I guess I have ignited the flame of my creativity once again but now through crochet.

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I totally love to make "Amigurumi", which is mainly crochet animals or objects. Well, lately it's been on my mind that perhaps I should expand my talent and try to make something different, something I could wear!

Although I have to say I am very hesitant about venturing into the apparel part of crochet and it's mainly because I have always consider that crochet clothing is for "old people" but I really don't know where I got that idea.

What do you think?

Anyway, with the huge vast of information that nowadays we have available at our fingertips through the internet, I have been browsing for some ideas of what could be my very first and maybe only piece of crochet clothing.

Here are some example of what I like, but most importantly that I think if I make, I could actually wear!

photo source ravelry

photo source ravelry

photo source ravelry

photo source ravelry

photo source ravelry

photo source red heart

Well, that's all I have found for now.

I could really use opinions on which one you like?

I kinda like the last one but perhaps without the long sleeves? And I also like the little wrap skirt to use over my swimsuit but definitely in some nice summer colors instead!

Happy Thursday!!! : )

[very] random post

Perhaps if today you decided to venture into blogger world and you happen to stumble upon my blog you will realize it is your lucky day, because today my blog is a endless source of 

random fact for your enjoyment!

As most of you know I live in a small island of the western Caribbean, the Cayman Islands 

(which are 3 islands in total- hence the plural in the name).

I live in Grand Cayman, which is the biggest of the three. Now, on this little piece of heaven we have lots of animals; some endemic, like the famous Cayman Parrot or the Blue Iguana among a few others.

© Burrard-Lucas.com

endemic Blue Iguana a.k.a. Blue Dragon

But of course we also have dogs, cats, birds, cows, horses, lots of fishes in the sea and if you go to the pet store, perhaps exotic and not so exotic pets like hamsters and gerbils.

Did you know Hamsters are illegal in Hawaii? (see, what I said about random facts).

I never really liked hamsters or any kind of rodent other than squirrels, beavers and porcupines (yes, they are rodents as well!)... Oh, and I like Otters, although those are not actually rodents.

I think Otters are so sweet... specially because they hold hands when they sleep so they won't drift away from each other, or should I say "each otter"? LOL

photo source unknown

Awww, how sweet are those Otters?!?!?

Besides having those animals, our underwater world is pretty amazing too, we have tons of beautiful fishes which you can go and visit at any of the 159 dive sites we have around the island of Grand Cayman (not counting the other two!).

On an unrelated note, last night I went out with the girls at work for happy hour and then we catch a new movie called "Sparkle", which was alright I guess, not a movie I probably would choose to see by myself but it was a good "chick flick" kinda of night.

Sparkle played by Jordin Sparks and Emma played by Whitney Houston

If you haven't hear of this movie is basically the story of 3 sisters (back in the 1960's) trying to become a singers, but of course fame becomes a challenge and things don't end up working out for all of them.

Also this was Whitney Houston's last movie as she passed during post production, so in fact she was never able to see her last role- very sad- 

Whitney was also the producer of the movie as she owned the rights for it since 2000. 

On another kind of weird and random note, the role of Sparkle was originally thought for singer Aaliyah who passed away just before signing for the role- also very sad :(

Happy Hump Day everybody!

wake up and be awesome!

This morning when the alarm when off at 5:45am, it was like the clock whispered in my ear...

I got up with lots of energy and completely "pump up" to get my not so little butt out of bed and get to the gym for the first time in a looong time...

So, I went, I worked it and I am so happy now that I did... My alarm clock was right; 

I am awesome and I know it.... LOL!

Even my lower back and bulged disk cooperated, yey!

Yesterday though, was a completely different story. I had to work all weekend long doing inventory, plus Sunday night was full of lightning storms, so the quality of my sleep was very poor... So yesterday I was exhausted all day, which is why I did not post anything.

But today, is a brand new day, got my exercise already done and I am ready for anything 

Tuesday is going to bring.

On an unrelated note, here is the latest photo of my Amigurumi Monkey... which by the way doesn't have a name, but since it's not going to be mine, maybe I should have Julian (his future owner) name him, right? 

Or perhaps we could name him and I can just put the name on the tag and so be it, what do you think? Any suggestions on the name? 

Weather is been pretty nice lately, only at night we've been having some crazy thunder heads and lightning around... Although it looks like there's already something new on the Atlantic, hoping it's not coming our way.

Here's a photo I took yesterday of the only cruise ship "parked" right out the window at work.

Hoping everybody is having an awesome Tuesday!!!

Funny Friday

I am sure that if by now you haven't ready any "someecards" it's because:

1. You live under a rock

2. You don't know how to read

3. Don't have a computer

4. You live under a rock

JUST KIDDING!!!!!

But, if you really never seen those funny ecards, there's still hope, because in honor of today being Friday, I have decided to share with you some of the funniest "someecards" I have seen around lately...

Most are pretty funny but some are too out there with a lot of curse words... So am going to refrain from posting many of those... Although I couldn't resist the first one, because it totally applies to me in some cases, LOL!!!!

Sometimes I wonder myself...

I actually know somebody that use this expression and I find it HILARIOUS!!!

Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental!!!!

So, hopefully you laughed at 1 of them (at least)... If not, just remember...

Have a funny weekend!!!!

cat photo album

The fact that I haven't posted much about my new camera lately, doesn't necessary mean I am not in love with it anymore, because I am.

Taking pictures is definitely one of my most favorite hobbies, whether is with my new camera or even with my phone one, capturing the world around me is a passion.

Here are the latest photos I've taken of one of my favorite subject matters nowadays, our cats.

Seven in total, all so very different and special... Our life [and garden] is definitely so much happier with
them around!

Goldie chillin' by the Conch Shells

Thirsty "Little One"

BTK and her Daughter Lee [behind]

my sweet little girl "Al" [short for Albina]

LT [short for Long Tail]

Shadow & Goldie... brothers for life!

And there you have it... the lastest on all my kitty cats.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Wordless Wednesday!

Happy Hump Day!!!

what's in a year?

Now on the island it's low season for tourism which means less customers and sales around.

I really don't mind the less traffic around the store because during high season we have plenty of that, but I do mind the fact that the days get very long and the clock drags until 5pm.

This coming weekend is our annual inventory work and I know we'll be working the whole weekend. I really don't mind the counting part, but I do mind the fact that every year it's very unorganized and we could do a much better job if only we apply some organization and time management, but unfortunately it's not up to me to do that... I am just a soldier!

Other than the inventory this coming weekend, on Thursday I am looking forward to a Yoga class with some of my friends, we are putting a group of girls together and a friend of mine that is a Yoga instructor would be giving us an hour class, can't wait!

In unrelated news, my cousin sent me the most updated photos of my Godson Julian, he is so big and such a cute little boy, here are some of my favorites.

he is quite the little poser!

Close Up

Cute or what?

It was exactly a year ago today that he got baptized and I was home holding him in my arms at the church, look at him now, he is walking and starting to talk too... can't wait to see him again!

Have a fab day!!!!