A Time For Transitions ~

Transitions ~ sometimes they are planned, sometimes you have to shake things up and shift things around in order to catch up to the next Transition ...

Summer of 2011 was my time for shaking up and shifting around!

Thank You Jesus that we have spent the last 10 years working on our 20 year plan of building our home and planting our yard ... and by "WE" ~ I mean "HE"!! :D

My wonderful JaJa Travel Friend Jaith was transitioning as well ... finishing her working years and moving for a long term stay at her place near Negril ~ so I jumped on her bandwagon and booked a long term stay ticket for the travel dates - mid September thru mid December.

Woot Woot!

It worked out that Jaith would come and stay a few days with me prior to our take off date. We ate, drank, spent time at my pool, relaxed and laughed till our sides split.

Last minute shopping, last minute packing, Lord Jesus ... I promised myself I would not go thru a drama with my luggage and packing choices, but dang, I just had too much to carry!!

the photo below is a visual of the two of our packing and carry style ... guess which side of the Porter is mine??

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LOL...funny Laurel, I hope this is the start of some of the runnin's and photos while you were there! :)

Hi Sprats ... HELP!! I am having a hell of a time trying to upload photos! It seems things have changed since I last uploaded from Photobucket (and I can't figure that out); and when I try to upload direct from my computer, I am told my photo file is too large and blocks me from loading.

**sigh**!!

I found the same thing Laurel...and it took some time to figure out some new options. I will pm you on facebook :)

come with it sister!

My first day was spent resting at home, catching up together, and enjoying the last of the pear from our tree. He went to the shop to find some fresh bun and icy cold juice for lunch:

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and then brought me a Sweet little box meal for supper:

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Yes Laurel...you got it gurl.. ;)

by guess and by gosh .... stumbling around ~ this may take me forever!!

That's how I felt Laurel.... a four picture format really is a lot of work...especially when you get on a roll and post...and that dreaded message comes up! You have posted 5 pics...lol OMG...please tell me it's not true...

So you have to save work, control delete...copy, save...a pain...

I probably won't do it again, unless it changes and becomes a bit more photo/ report friendly.

So with that said...carry on girl... :)

Our first order of business was to sort out transportation ~

my plan was to one day buy myself a Vespa ~ but it really does not make sense for me at this time of transition ... so we bought this instead, and then also had his 5 year old Prestoni Scooter refurbished for me: new brakes & shocks, new this and that ... can't remember what all, but got it all redone and ready like new for me. did not photo it tho.


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I have turned into A Bike Back Girl ... and I JUST LOVE IT!!! I begged him to take me all around the Island on it ... but - of course - that was me talking crazy!

I spent my days at the beach enjoying the most glorious sea ... swimming and floating. Jaith joined me everyday on the beach at Whistling Bird ... we had the best times ever!!

Yay, a Laurel report...I know you got all round too, can't wait to see!

Good Lord Lizzie ... my photos are a hot mess! scattered all over filed in a mixed up heap ... and they don't upload due to files being too big. I have hundreds ... I am going to just have to sort them and resize them before I try to go forward with this.

A scooter ~ wow I am impressed!

If I figured out the photo thing anyone can trust me.

Hi Lola ~ I left you a voice message on your phone ... but I realized it was likely too soon, prior to your arrival. I thought I still might hear from you ~ maybe next time. YES ... we revamped the scooter for me so I would have my own dependable transport without relying on only taxi rides. We LOVE the new motorcycle - it is awesome!

Hi Poolguy ... what a process to try to upload photos .... sheesshhhh ~ well ... it will keep me from posting too too much!

anyhooo ~ moving along.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Ari for years - we used to work together here in Minneapolis. She would join Jaith and me at the beach for lot's of swim, sun, chats over cocktails at Aqua (love Love LOVE that bar), and laughter beyond ~

Ari would also invite me to join her on random outings - what good fun we had! THANKS Ari ~ much love to you and your husband. I was at the beach on morning, and they called to invite me and Bim along on a day trip to YS Falls. Bim busy working, so he sent me on my way to enjoy the adventure.

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Howie's One Stop is the cook shop located at the final turn off to YS ... photo'd up there -

There was a pile of pear that caught my eye ... YES!! please sell me your best one!!

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We all picked up our lunches and arrived at YS:

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we boarded the jitney to ride back to the fall attraction. the rest of the guests were a group from England ~ I tried to engage them in some sort of conversation .... they were simply NOT having it!! No one would turn their head - no one would speak!! all just sat face forward and stoic, stone cold silence!!

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nevermind .... we enjoyed conversation amongst ourselves and soon arrived. I have always just loved YS ... it is glorious! and I love the fact they have been able to keep the family that still lives on the property have their private lives, along with the cattle and horses that are scattered all around.

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We had a spectacular time ... the river was running really high ~ Ari and I were swimming in the river pool at the base of all the walking falls sections ... I got sucked back into the rocks and pulled under - Lord God!!! Ari is a strong swimmer and was close enough to pull me back up and get me to the steps for her husband to help me up out of the river.

nuff river swimming for me that day. went over to the river water swimming pool to enjoy the rest of that day. weather had changed for the day and it was beginning to rain ~ to we made our way back home.

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We often took our breakfast at Coletta's ~ the ONLY time I have ever not been perfectly satisfied with the quality of my food was when Miss Coletta was not feeling well and was not in charge of the kitchen.

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Our friend Dandy (Driver for Catch A Falling Star) has been working on a cook shop business for the past couple of years. He has wanted us to come check him out since his start up, he was having a party and insisted we had to come join the fun. So glad we did; it was plenty of good fun:

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The food was wonderful!! the beer was icey cold!! the music was blasting!! bellies full and the dancing was full on!! FABULOUS night out!!

Dandy is wonderful ~ his Cook Shop business is called "Seafood Haven & Natural Juice Bar" ~ it is located about 15 minutes from Negril on New Hope Main Road, Little London, across from Knotts Block Factory. His phone numbers are 876-572-4423, 876-313-1748, and 876-576-0159 ... during slow times he is not open for business every night, but check him out ... he can certainly throw it down!!

The idea was for me to take over the scooter now that we got him a new motorcycle ... we thought the best idea would be for me to learn how to manage the scooter by practicing on the new roads built up in the future housing project behind our house. I was getting eaten by ants one morning of training, so that was a short lesson. the next time we had time to get out there, I had a couple good runs up and down the steep hills; so I gained confidence ~ I thought I have to speed up the learning process and learn to turn corners using the turn signals, and 'KEEP TO THE LEFT SIDE, KEEP TO THE LEFT SIDE'.

Oh Hell NO!! ... I was turning up a steep hill, onto an even steeper hill and lost control of the bike ~ smashed into the curb, pitched myself up over the ledge, and proceeded to tumble via summer salting down the steep hill.

Bim was way far down the hill watching this debacle unfold before his eyes ... he heard me cry out ~ then tried to listen for me screaming; I was not hurt too badly tho, so there was no need for any screaming ... I had to get myself up as much as possible to allow him to know I was not dead yet!

bungled up my neck, back, hip, bruised and black n blue legs .... *sigh* ~ it is always something!!

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needless to say ~ the scooter lessons were put onto the back burner until I healed up myself ...

While I spent my days at the seaside swimming with the Girls or on day trips out with Ari ... there was just no time to keep in my kitchen to do much cooking during the week. Often he would just bring me a take away fried chicken meal from The Ackee Tree or Sweet Spice, or Estovitch Fish & Festival from Mi Yard (shown below), or hot juicy jerk chicken from Marshall at "Step Aside" .... nice every time.

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Oh no, so sorry you had an accident. Gentle hugs.

Loving your thread and all the pics. Thank you for taking the time to post for us

Oh no, so sorry you had an accident. Gentle hugs.

Loving your thread and all the pics. Thank you for taking the time to post for us

Hey Lady Jane ... I was such a hot mess after that performance ~ my hip is still aching!

While I spent time lounging at the sea side, Mr. Big Man is busy working the bush, raising up a herd of goats, keeping the yard ... pregnant goats birthing new babies ~

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Teen Girl had to finish her school shopping list, and we needed to get basics and treats for the households ... so ~ off to Mega Mart ... Oh Mann ... LOVE me some Mega Mart!!

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Baby Ante is getting to be so big!! such a lovely child and he LOVES his Uncle BimBim!

Ante is getting so big! He's always been very independent. Time for Shelly and Fire to fire another one. So cute.

isn't he getting big?? he is so funny too ...

He calls Shelly by her name, and Fire by his name as well ~

He calls Grandma "Mummy"; he calls Tracy "Mamma".

one day they had him over in Montego Bay, he called over a Hot Gyal - told her she was for Fire!!

Lord God!!

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Whistling Bird, great hotel. Did you bump into Anthony, who runs things, and Cynthia, the long-time bar server? They're both great.

we finished our shopping and a HUGE rain came in just as we were loading the car ... we managed to drive away from the rain.

stopped by Tracy's shop - located just past The Grand Palladium ~ stop by if you get the chance!

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Family does love a snack of saltfish and icecream ...

Hey Gerry ... yes - of course I know Anthony (aka: James), and Miss G ~ and all the rest of the long time staff at Whistling Bird; known them all for years. Do you stay at Whistling Bird? I hope so ~

We planned a family day out at Nature Village Farms - taking a car load of those that had never been able to attend our visits there in the past ~ we had a dreadful surprise that day.


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Last year, Tropical Storm Nicole wiped them out .... they had MASSIVE flooding, with no insurance ... how very very sad. We loved this property as a family outing destination ...

we understand they still do the white water river rafting from this location ... but - it looked sketchy at best ....

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taking a day trip out to a destination ~ we came upon this precious cargo ...

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there were two little goats tied up inside that box ... I hope they were headed to their new grazing farm ... not to a cook pot!

Awww, that's horrible (the goats)

Is this Bim the same Bim that used to work at Whistling Bird?

yes ~ Bim did used to work at Whistling Bird, do you know him?

Small world!

Yes, I know Bim! I just saw him last on June 3 this year. He's a great guy! I can't believe you wrecked his scooter! Hope you are OK. Those things are dangerous, always wear a helmet.

Hi, pretty, Laurel! I'm enjoying your report. Bim's daughter is getting so grown up and beautiful ;)