World's Ocean Day

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.

Jacques Cousteau

In the words of famous explorer Jacques Cousteau, today I want to pay tribute to my favorite place our planet earth, the Oceans.

Today is World Oceans Day, a day in which we need to honor and celebrate this wonderful body of water that links us all, for what it provides and what it represents.

But why are Oceans important (you might ask)?

The Oceans cover about 2/3 of the Earth's surface which helps create the atmosphere in which we live. 

These great body of waters impact our daily weather and climate. But most importantly the Oceans are home to thousands of marine species and invertebrates, creating amazing habitats that we can only imagine.

So, what can we do to honor and help such an amazing and important part of our planet?



Perhaps we think that one individual cannot make a difference, but that is not true.Every day tons of plastic and garbage gets thrown into the sea, making it hard for sea animals to swim and in some cases they even get killed when confusing food with garbage.

But we can make a difference, with simple changes:


Stop using single-use plastic water bottles.  In nearly all cases, the water out of your tap is just as safe – if not safer – than the water distributed in single-use plastic bottles.   Instead, buy and use a reusable bottle and fill it with water.


Stop using plastic grocery bags.  Each year over one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide.  Because these bags are so light and thin, they are easily carried by the wind out into the environment.  Instead, use reusable bags to get your groceries and other purchases home.


Buy a reusable travel mug.  Use a reusable travel mug or to-go cup for your coffee, tea and other beverage purchases.  Think of all the lids (as well as the waxed paper cups) you’ll save.


Always look for alternative packaging. Many items such as soft drinks, detergent, cat litter, etc. come in alternate packaging (such as aluminum or cardboard) that can be more easily recycled than plastic.


Buy and sell secondhand before tossing it.  Clothing, toys, baby gear, furniture, household supplies, sporting goods and many other consumer items can often be found through secondhand sources, thereby reducing the amount of new plastic entering the waste stream.


If each one of us makes a pledge to at least change one of our ways with plastic and garbage, I know that  together can make a difference from this...

To this...

Being that I live on a piece of land surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Ocean is a HUGE part of my daily life, I am an avid swimmer and diver, considering it almost like my natural habitat, so I myself pledge to protect it and make a difference today and every day for future generations... Are you with me?




Here's to many more centuries of cleaner oceans, for me and you and future generations!!!

Happy World's Ocean Day and happy weekend : )

in transit

As Venus was in transit by the face of the Sun (yesterday), I am glad to say so we are, weather is been beautiful the past few days, making up for those torrential rains a few weeks ago!

So, yesterday after work I got home and my husband was watching the whole spectacle that Venus was putting for us to enjoy, he even took some amazing photos of the whole thing, so if you were not as lucky to have such view yesterday, just visit his blog here and see the pics!

Monday was a holiday so we went visit my Brother and SIL, had a great time with them and it was so awesome to see them again, on our drive back while my hubby did the driving I took some pictures (with Instagram- of course!)...

Coconuts & Casuarinas

Old Caymanian Porch

Boddentown Bike Ride

For those readers that are on Instagram and feel like following me (promise to follow back!), my user name is Caymansunshine.

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Now, that's a yard!

Over the weekend we hired some gardeners to come and do some very much needed landscaping in our yard that was over grown and massively high in some areas after the rain we had a few weeks ago.

So we went from this...

To this now...

And from this...

To this...

Of course it now looks all brown, but I am sure it would get pretty green once we get the next shower.

I am so happy I decided to do this because our yard needed a bit of form and such a thing can only really be accomplished by actual gardeners (well I could probably do it but it would be a hell of a huge job!)...

Now, if only we could get those annoying chickens to stop digging on every plant, then we can really have a nice yard!

Have a wonderful week!

Monday OFF

There's nothing like starting the week with a day off.... Makes you really appreciate the other 4 business days, right? Well maybe not, but it's still very nice!

Today we are home but going to visit my Brothers and SIL in the afternoon, haven't seem my brother in more than a month as he was away in Saudi Arabia on business, glad he is back!

Many years ago I read a wonderful book  "Como Agua Para Chocolate" or in English "Like Water for Chocolate" by Mexican author Laura Esquivel.

It is a great love story that tells the life of Tita, the youngest of 3 sisters that was pretty much born and raised in the kitchen and mainly because she was the youngest, her Mother decided that it is her faith to never marry so in the future she will take care of her in old age.

Tita grows to be a wonderful cook and with her delicious and in her almost magical recipes she literally puts all her emotions in every dish which she passes along to all those that eat them... The she falls in love with the wrong person, her love is corresponded but because of her faith she is unable to fulfill it...

There's much more of the story that I don't quite remember right now...

Then, years later (after I read the book) the movie came out and like most books that are turned into movies, it was not as good as the written version, but it was a good movie over all.

Why am I now after all these years thinking about such a story?

Well, on Saturday I tried a new recipe for flour less chocolate cookies and while trying to melt some chocolate, then it dawned on me a possibility of why such a story has that name...

I have to say it wasn't the first time I've ever melted chocolate, in fact I've done it many times before very successfully, but on Saturday I learn the hard way, what not to do.

I guess I was in a hurry to get it done so by mistake I set the water on the double burned too high and by the time it started boiling, the water splashed on the chocolate and that did it, I was never able to melt it.

So after about 1/2 hour trying to melt it, I gave up and went to do some research online. Well almost every articles on the subject says that once water touches the chocolate it will become dry and hard, making it impossible to melt...

Well, perhaps now after years of reading the story by Mrs. Esquivel, I finally think this could be the reason why she decided on such a name for her book... Or maybe not!

Anyway, I started all over again, and the second time on the melting process was a success and so was the recipe for the cookies....

If you ever have the chance to read the book and specially if you like to cook, I am sure you'll enjoy it. It's available via Amazon here in both Kindle and Paperback edition, I know I am reading it again on my Kindle.

Also on Saturday before my melting "ordeal" I went out to lunch with my hubby and we stopped by a local kitchen ware store that I absolutely love and that I had a gift certificate I won last year at some event... Well, it was time for me to find something to add to my kitchen and I am very, very pleased with my purchase.

I got some very stylish and useful Joseph Joseph Nest Utensils, I love them!

Are those cool or what?!?!? This store has so many amazing kitchen utensils and gadgets that I want to buy it all...

This past weekend I downloaded the very much acclaimed "Game of Thrones" Season 1, can't wait to watch it to see what's all about and why so many people are raving about it... Have you watched and like it or not?

Have a wonderful Monday and and eve better week!

all I have to say...

Can't really start today's post without saying first

Dunno no why but this week felt like it had more than 24 hours a day and more than 5 working days.

But now I am so ready for the weekend I feel like jumping up and down, specially because Monday is yet another holiday on the island, this time we are celebrating the 60 years of the Queen Elizabeth's reign. (So congrats to the Queen!)

Lately I've been sort of "addicted" to the Instagram app on my phone so here are the latest photos I've taken...

Cayman Sky

blueberries and toast for breakfast

Our cat LT

Cruise day on George Town, Grand Cayman

Sheba's new haircut

Yellow sidewalk

Shopping area in town

Pretty Garden Weeds

Pool at Inner Space Event

And that's it for today, like I said before, looking forward to a 3 days weekend, hope to hook up with Yanique among other things!

On Sunday we are expecting a new gardener to come over and take care of our "pretty garden weeds" and super tall grass because I almost need a machete right now just to get to my car, LOL!

Wishing everybody a wonderful weekend!!!

CR: Get Living

Although the following video makes me very homesick, I decided to share it with y'all because it very well show how Costa Rica is like.

To me, the best part of the video (besides the pig on 2:29) is that a little of the country as well as the culture is shown through the eyes of a tourist that just went for a visit and decided to shared his experience.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and perhaps some day visit... Oh and in case you need a tourist guide, just let me know!!!

Have a wonderful Thursday : )

over the hump...

Talk about frustration with the new blogger interface. I had a whole post ready to go with pictures to light up the text and it was impossible to post it.

Why? Because the caption on each photo would appear half way down the photo and it was impossible to read and correct, so I just gave up....

Weather is still kind of iffy here but at least it's not torrential rain 24 hours a day like it was last week, did I mentioned we got about 19 inches in 3 days? Yeap, people where literary kayaking in some of the roads in town because of the flooding... and this was just rain, not even a tropical storm, yikes!

My husband's been participating on Inner Space which is sort of a Rebreather "conference" all week, he is diving every day and then in the evening there are all sort of presentations and lectures about different systems and new products related to the industry. This is his 9th year that he participates.

Last weekend I had to work so I was unable to meet with Yanique, I am making a big effort to make sure we are not missing our date day this weekend.

On our last review meeting for the program we decided that we are going to start a calendar of monthly events so we can start focusing more on school related activities as well as perhaps encouraging her to try some arts and crafts.

The reason why we decided to come up with a schedule is because this past 6 months have been great and we've done all sorts of fun activities, but there is so much we can do on the island and with the rainy season coming up (well, it's sort of already here) we need more indoor activities as well.

Not much else to share today, in the evening I am stopping by Inner Space as they are having a "fashion show" of this line of wet suits called Four Element and are really nice and good quality, I have a vest from that brand that my husband got me a few years ago and I love it and wear every time we go diving...

Happy Hump Day!

Changes...

Lately I've been contemplating a few changes in my life, from painting the kitchen cabinets white, to becoming vegetarian. Of course once I discussed it with my husband I did not get the reaction I expected, or perhaps I did but I was just in denial.

His worst reaction was towards me becoming vegetarian, can u believe it?

Mainly he thinks that if I change my eating habits he has to change his as well, as if...

I say: Not at all!!! If I decided to stop eating meat, that doesn't necessary mean that I would not cook it for him... So, oh well, I guess I am going to have to give it a little more thought or perhaps do it gradually so he doesn't really notices it ( right, like I have a chance on that, being that he reads my blog and all...)

Now, becoming vegetarian won't be that difficult for me, the part of loving veggies I already have and perhaps the main deal would be surviving dinners without chicken which is the easiest thing to cook (most days!).

On the other change, the kitchen cabinets, I really want paint them white, but I know it's a very big job and my husband says that once we paint the wood, there's no way back... I have just always loved white kitchens, they look awesome, like these ones...

Another reason why I wanna paint our cabinets is because our kitchen is very small so I think white cabinets will make it look brighter and bigger... or not!

What do you think? Should I attempt to do it or not?!?!? I could use opinions on this.

On another note, yesterday my lovely godson Julian turned 1, wish I could have been there to see how big he is... I do not have a photo of the birthday boy on his day but here's the most updated one I have... Isn't he adorable and such a big boy?

Hoping everybody had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and a great week ahead!!!

long term friends

The other day I read the following;


"Every morning when I wake up, I dedicate myself to helping others find peace of mind. Then, when I meet people, I think of them as long term friends; I don't regard others as strangers."

~Dalai Lama~

WOW! Such a powerful thought, to think of every stranger as a long term friend- surely that changes my attitude when approaching my customers every day. This makes me wanna be an even better person in each and every interaction through the day.

Now, practice makes perfect... So all I have to do is, keep it in mind and try to master the art of kindness towards everybody, all day, every day.

I am not saying it would be simple, in fact sometimes the simplest of tasks and actions that require the most use of our soul/heart and less use of our ego, are the hardest one to master, right?

But then when we think about the reward those actions can bring into our life, is when we realize that a life without the purpose of giving kindness and helping others, has no real meaning at all.

So, this weekend I encourage you to think about what the Dalai Lama says, when dealing with strangers treat them as long term friends and perhaps that might even encourage them to do the same or if not give yourself the change to gain some peace of mind. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

what's for dinner?

For those readers that as of today still haven't noticed my new menu options on the top of my blog (under my banner), all I have to say is "shame on you"!

And for those that have and perhaps even clicked on one of the "categories", I am hoping that your experience was amazing!!!

So, now in order to make good use of my this new blog feature I've decided to share with you yet another wonderful recipe that I made a few days ago. Also because, don't you hate it when your day is been very busy, you are about to leave work, or just go back home from running errands, only to realize that you have no idea what to fix for dinner?!?!? Suck, doesn't it?

Well, if I was still single and living by myself perhaps this would be a whole different story, but this is not the case anymore...

So the other day I stumble upon a delicious and super easy Garlic Chicken recipe, I tried it and gave it 2 thumbs up, which is why today I am sharing it with y'all- you're welcome!

Easy Garlic Chicken 

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. 2
   In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
3. 3
   Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.
4. 4
   Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish (lined up with aluminium foil for easier cleaning purposes) and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5. 5
   Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. 6
   Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes

So, if any day you want a simple yet delicious dinner, give it a try, you won't be disappointed... same as if you "navigate" on my new blog feature menu bar thingy... promise!

Now, go home, get some chicken out of the freezer and cook it later or tomorrow, your family will love you for it!!!

Happy Thursday!

where's the sun?!?

Anybody knows where the Sun is been hiding lately?!? I look out the window and this is the 4th day I don't see the Sun around...

Yesterday was still very cloudy and raining pretty hard at times, makes me forget that I live in the Caribbean.

On days like these I can't help but wonder and think about the poor lil' animals outdoors, how they need to find some shelter to stay dry and perhaps warm.

For those that have never been to Grand Cayman, here, we have many many wild chickens all over the place, they're pretty much everywhere, running free and even walking down the streets [no joke], like in this photo taken in town by my sister in law.

photo source G.G.

To us residents, it's a pretty usual sight to have them all over, but tourists some times get crazy taking their photos... just as I was back in Maryland and specially Virginia where instead of chickens they have Canadian Geese.

And duckies!!!

But it's not so much about the chickens that I worry when the weather is this bad or when the hurricane season is coming up, there are lots of iguanas, birds and of course feral dogs and cats that could be in danger when the weather is bad....

So, lately I have been thinking of ordering a cage for our 6 cats, I've looked around and I think this one is the best one I've found so far at amazon.com

I specially like it because of the levels and that it fold down to this...

I'm not sure we will be able to get all 6 cats in there when a storm is coming, but we can at least try, it would be a small space for all 6 but we also have a small kennel and perhaps we could also get a spare small kennel as a back up.

So four in this cage and two in kennels could sound like a plan.

Perhaps we will get the cage and we might never use it or perhaps this is what we need to ensure they will be safe... When it comes to safety for our animals, we really need to be prepared.

Hoping to see the Sun very soon, if you see "him" around, please tell him he's missed!

Happy Wednesday : )

Just Add Rain

My three day long weekend was nice, but it was mostly spent indoors as the weather was pretty crappy (and still is)...

Saturday was overcast for most part of the day but at least it wasn't raining. In the evening we went to have dinner with some friends and then afterwards stopped by to celebrate our friend Simon's birthday and to thank him for taking care of our animals and house while we were away!

Our friend Simon gettin' some LOVE for his b-day (photo by L. De Viers- facebook)

Sunday I went to the 6 month review for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, it was a short meeting but I am glad I went because we talked about some important issues and we came up with a plan of how to approach those.

So, when it rains and there's point in going outside, what do you do?!?!?

Well, I spent the day watching tv and working on some crochet projects as I am trying to come up with ideas for my next giveaway which will be coming real soon... (stay tuned!}

I worked on this little Koi Fish Money pouch which I gave to my friend Jody on Saturday when we had dinner with her and her husband, she loved it!

What do you think? You like or not? Is it giveaway material or not?

Out the following bag I found on Pinterest, I got inspired to crochet a little pouch with a new pattern I recently purchased..... (inspiration is on the colors only!).

Unfortunately I took the picture of the finished product at night, so can't really see the colors very well...

Yesterday morning at around 5:30am it started raining with very strong wind gusts and it pretty much hasn't stop raining since, I went out of the house only once to walk the dogs and managed to get a little video so you can have an idea of what our "lovely day" looked like but unfortunately I was unable to upload it.

Hope everybody's has a great Tuesday and our is not too wet!

rambling

Perhaps because it's Friday I feel like writing but without an specific subject in mind.

Although last week I was on vacation, have you ever noticed that after a few days away sometimes you  come back a bit dispersed, perhaps hoping that you were still somewhere else other than back? Well in my case this didn't happen, in fact this past few days back I have accomplish more than expected, for example.

I managed to set up to have somebody change the oil on not one, but our two cars.

Picked up a lovely packaged in the mail from Cat Chat blog, where I won a giveaway, yep pretty awesome I would say, so again Thanks Caren and Cody! If like cats and from time to time wanna win something for the dear feline in your life, I suggest you visit them by clicking the name above or here.

[go one, do it, I know u want it]

Also thanks to Caren (who suggested me to do it), as of this week you can sign up to get my "ramblings" deliver directly to your email- your welcome!

And writing talking about cats, that reminds of this little video I took [also this week] of our kitty Al... she is a lovely girl that it's getting more and more affectionate towards me everyday!

Now, if you think this is it for my week, it is not!

I've been to the gym 3 times this week, did some grocery shopping, bought a new plant (and planted it) for a big pot next to our front door, as the previous "tenant" of that specific pot passed away... [note to self: take some photos of new plant and share].

Yesterday I made some Banaberry Whole Wheat Waffles and they were simply delicious...

A couple of nights ago I tried a new recipe for Garlic Chicken and it was fantastic, but we also had steamed broccoli with it and my dog Sheba HAD to have the rest of the broccoli...

isn't she peculiar? LOL

And now for the weekend, I am trying to schedule going out with Yanique (my men-tee little sister) but according to her Mom she's been having some health issues with the flu and a chest infection so I won't really know if we are going to be able to see each other yet.

Monday is a holiday here on the islands, so that means it's going to be a long weekend for me, woo-hoo!

Happy Weekend!!!

Photo Art

One of the best things about art is the fact that it's so subjective, meaning it is entirely linked to the individuality of both the creator as well as the beholder.

What seems amazing to me, might not really impress you. What I might find beautiful, you might find just plain and boring. 

But I believe that because each one of our minds is different, this gives room to all sort of amazing discoveries and creations for everybody's taste and desires.

Yesterday I mentioned that one of the new exhibits at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is the 2011 Winners Nature's Best Photography.

Well, perhaps to some photography might not be consider art, but trust me, walking into this exhibit and seen the amazing photos displayed would change your mind.

Here are a few of the many beautiful and unique ones they had...

I hope you enjoyed the "exhibit" as much as I did... although it's so much better in person!