Better Late Than Never

Yes, we know we've been delinquent in posting new pictures! Sorry about that!

We arrived in mid-November after a smooth trip down. Tom immediately dove into a tiling project on the porch with Binghi. It involved a fish that Tom had cut back in Ithaca to demonstrate some of his technique to friends there. It needed a reason for there to be water on the porch, so Tom created a small tunnel on the wall from which the water flows. It all came out quite well.

The gardens are all looking pretty good. Tai Jean, our gardener, had cut back many of the plants just after we left last year, and they have come back nicely and a bit less overwhelming. Jake Spiegel came down as usual with some of his friends and brought along his aunt Teri and her husband Lou. They all had a great time and it is always nice to see Casa Spiegel lived in.

Barbara has kept busy with a quilt project, gardening, entertaining the local kids (who have really grown up!), and is now experimenting with dyeing fabric using natural dyes from our property.

A few days before Christmas Barbara's niece Jill and her husband Bryan came for a visit. Jill had been to the property 15 years ago - quite a change! They had a great time, staying with us until Christmas day when they moved down to Negril for a few days on the beach before heading back north.They have assured us that it will be a much shorter time before they come again!

Tom needed another project after the river and decided to tile the dragon that lives outside the guest room. Now when the dragon door grate is open all of the color is filled in by the tile on the wall.

Several of the kids came over just after Christmas and Tom played Santa, much to the amusement of the girls who ended up literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Tom had been hired to shoot a New Years Eve fireworks show last year at the last moment. It must have been a success, as they not only hired him again for this year, but took his recommendation and hired Bill Turner and Bob Hollenback to fly down and do shows this year. Bill did the show Tom did last year at Tryall golf club, Bob shot a show at Round Hill (very high end place - $3,000 a night!) and Tom did a barge show off Negril at the Azul Sensatori resort. The swim float from Alfred's Ocean Palace was rented, and the barge was loaded there and then towed up to the North end of the beach for the show. There was much confusion, but in the end the show went well. We'll probably all be back next year.

Things look pretty calm for a while now. Charlie Spiegel will be coming down in February to oversee putting a new metal roof on Casa Spiegel. It has been way too long since we've both been in Jamaica at the same time, and we're looking forward to his visit.

That's all for now!

Click on any image to enter the slide viewer