- Updates from the Islands -

- - Dominica - -

- - - 2010 Hurricane Season - - -

- Wet & Windy.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:49:01 -0400

Good evening everyone,

whew it's pretty breezy out there. Good strong healthy breeze been with us all day. The washing

dried in no time at all. Hubby had to chase the undies round the garden before they were whisked over

the fence and away. Had a torrential downpour of rain late morning and early afternoon. Friends came

over from Pond Casse and told us that it had been raining heavy over their way throughout the night and

into today. Around 3pm the sun managed to break through. Still the garden was in desperate need of a

good drink, and the amount that came down was more than a thirst quencher. Sea looked more than a

little rough for my liking. Humidity comfy. Trouble seeing the horizon through the rain.

Our friends have told us that their self catering holiday apartments are now ready, and open for customers.

Anyone wishing to stay in the middle of the island up in the rain forest area needs to check out the

Trois Piton Apartments. It is lovely up there in the forest. Very cool, and very near to Emerald Pool. They are

also at the end of one segment, and the beginning of another, of the new Watakubili Trail. The trail is for those

of you who are into serious hiking and walking. The trail start in the south of the island and finishes in the north.

There are 14 segments of this trail. Some easy, some not. You make your choice, depending on how good you are

in Hiking boots. Me, I'll stay at the local hotel with all it's amenities. Hubby says lazy. Hmmph.

I'm off to fill the glass with something. You all take care. Especially after all the rain today. Ideal

time for those slips and boulders. Have a great day tomorrow.

- Dolphin Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:50:42 -0400

Good evening everyone,

well we ended with another glorious day. Did think that it was going to be a bit of a grey day

to start with.

For the morning we had large dark clouds obscuring the sun. The sea was grey. A

good strong breeze. Then early afternoon the sun broke through. Sky turned blue. Sea that silvery

blue and fairly calm, could see a few white caps out there. Humidity up. And I had a lazy day,

sitting in my favourite spot, watching the DOLPHINS playing outside my back door. So no complaints.

Poor Hubby kept missing the dolphins, every time he came out they disappeared. He gave up

in the end, and carried on with the tiling, and told me not to make ooohs and aaahhh sounds when I

spotted them.

Well I'm off to find the glass. You all have a good evening and a great day tomorrow. Stay safe.

- Hot Days.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 11:07:09 -0400

Good morning everyone,

well we have had mostly lovely sunshiny days for the better part of this month. Yesterday was a little

overcast and we had a sprinkling of rain late afternoon. Not enough to make the plants excited though. Had

to resort to the hose pipe last night, Hubby said rain is now guaranteed, I think its only really guaranteed

when our neighbour washes his car, then we water the garden.

The morning is bright. Pretty blue sky with a fair amount of clouds. Some of them pretty dark.Light

breeze. Sea calm and a sort of silvery blue. ( good for whale spotting ). Nice clear sharp horizon. Humidity

comfy.

Have had a bit of a mozzie explosion over this past week. Little blighters are everywhere. Poor Hubby

has picked up a nasty cold. Something we rarely suffer from here. So no doubt I'll get it next. Lovely.

I'm off to finish my coffee, check out the view. You all stay safe. Have a really great weekend.

- A Result.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:34:32 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

not something I usually do, post twice in one day. Oh but what a result at about 1. 45pm.

Decided to take a break from doing some work inside, went out to my favourite spot on the

back balcony, picked up the binoc's and oh yesss! There they were. A small pod of whales

going past. And out there all on his own was one loan fisherman. What a result he had too. Next

thing he knew he was surrounded by whales. We watched him darting from one to the next. He

was having a whale of a time ( excuse the pun ) out there all by himself. What a great story

he is going to be able to tell. We counted at least six of them.

Hubby is chasing the naughty bird around the living room. Not sure who is going to tire

first. Probably hubby, he is threatening to go and get a big stick.

The day has been absolutely beautiful. Bright blue sky and sparkling blue sea. Nice cooling

breeze going through the house.Horizon still hazy, but who cares. Pleased I haven't wasted the

day looking at carrots.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

- Bue, Blue and more Blue.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:20:42 -0400

Good morning everyone,

and a stunningly beautiful morning it is. Sky is so BLUE. Sea, calm, flat like a pond and oh so BLUE.

Really lovely after all that grey. Nice light gentle breeze, just enough to make the fronds on the plantain's

shiver. Humidity, nice and comfy. Horizon, a little on the hazy side, but hey I can live with that. Only sound

to be heard is from the birds. Purrfick just purrfick.

Yesterday we had a brilliant morning watching the whales outside the back door. There was a small

sailboat just coming into the bay at the same time a whale popped up, how lucky were they, only hoped they

spotted it and didn't just sail on past.

Then it was off to town time, (grrooooaan). Managed to get all that was needed, and everything done,

(bigger groan, bills to be paid ). Found our friends from Pond Casse parked up by our car. Back to our place

for a much needed coffee. So all in all a pretty good day. Today is gonna be a lazy day. Really should have

gone to market but it's so lovely out there this morning why waste it looking at carrots.

I'm off to grab another coffee, enjoy my view. Do a bit of whale spotting with luck. You all stay safe and

have a really great day everyone.

- Grey Grey and more Grey.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:31:18 -0300

Good evening everyone,

O what a grey day. Just glad to have so many trees and plants around to see a little

colour, even if it is just green. Really waiting for these grey days to move on, I want my blue back.

. Mind you not too bad today, very light showers. Not much in the way of breeze. Humidity

comfy. That funny kinda of half light, which makes you squint, so you end up with this squashed

face look.

Only major problem we have with no sun, is our water. Being solar it means COLD showers.

It's take a real deep breath, jump in, run round for 10 seconds and out again. Let out breath. Wow,

it's a wake up call.

Well I'm off to find the glass, think it will be a hot toddy again tonight. You all take care. Watch

out for those slips that can happen now, along with those boulders that can make their way loose.

Especially on those sea roads, with those overhanging cliffs. Have a good evening and a really great

day tomorrow.

- Continuous sprinkle...

By Micheal Colaire <nichs2002 at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:30:05 -0700 (PDT)

Our hearts go out today again to the already affected islands south of us which according to the looks on Radar and satellite pictures appear to be somewhat back in the deluge today again.

Here in the Nature Isle the more or less continuous sprinkle has continued this morning so- we’ll still have to be vigilant should our showers turn heavier, though of course we hope and pray it will not.
Also, my apologies to Lisette having missed that post from You regarding Shanice’s return... However, as an island we are all truly happy to celebrate such Good news in a world that’s so often filled with only tragic reports.

I trust that we will all continue to pray for her continued recovery and normalcy -spiritually as well as psychologically and emotionally.

God’s Blessings to All; take care in the rain, and do have a great day -perhaps on the indoors!

- COLD, COLD WEATHER

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:51:08 -0700

It has been a really cold, cold time for the last two days in Dominica. Here in the valley it is gloomy and rainy and has been this way since yesterday morning. I am sitting out here on the deck with a t-shirt, sweater, dungarees and socks on my feet typing away, my hands are cold and the temperature is 69 degrees................eeeeeeeeeeeek! This is April and should be much warmer. The low/ depression seems to be moving at a snails pace. We are cooking up a storm though and having a roast dinner tonight and a good bottle of Beaune wine!

In respose to Michael Colaire: I did post on Stormcarib about Shanice being found. Shanice is actually living with her father and not her usual family in Layou, as this would be too traumatic for Shanice considering she was abducted right by her home in Layou! The man who took Shanice captive is now in jail and has been charged with other crimes; he will presumably be charged for other offenses that will shock a lot of people here in Dominica, as well as abducting Shanice. The sad thing is that Shanice had to endure absolute hell in the bush for 40 nights before she was found. Shanice is one strong brave young lady whose life obviously will be affected by this unbelievable nightmare. The most important thing to be learned from Shanice's disappearance is that people should not gossip and make up stories without knowing the truth about anybody ever! People here said the most unkind, uncharitable things about a child of 14 when she was abducted and certainly being taken against her will. Shanice is a child and as such is an innocent adolescent. We are all so glad she is now securely located and so proud of her that she is strong and continuing to move forward in a very positive way with her life. God bless you Shanice.

- Sympathy, *(Good news) and Hope!

By Micheal Colaire <nichs2002 at yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:26:58 -0700 (PDT)

From the wet and drippy Nature Island of the Caribbean -Our sympathies go out 
to all those persons who have been adversely affected by the flooding in 
Grenada, St. Lucia and especially St. Vincent. May God give You guys much 
needed courage and strength to move on.
So far here in the North East of Dominica some light rainfall continues for the 
most part; surely nothing of the likes of St. Vincent/ Grenada/ St. Lucia.  
Though we should Brace ourselves for potential flood, landslide impact should 
more rains continue this week.

*Also, on a positive note Shanice Jemmot who was earlier reported as missing by 
fellow correspondent Lisette Stevens was subsequently found and has since been 
happily re-united with her family. It must have slipped Lisette to update on 
such a great and Blessed outcome- May God be Praised!-

See Further: Photo Attached of a 'new' Shanice after the whole ordeal. 
Photo Credit:
http://dominicanewsonline.com/dno/shanice-is-back-home/
Dominica News Online 
Monday, April 11th, 2011 at 7:30 am     •      
Photo Title: Shanice Jemmot; who was discovered on March 28, 2011 after 40 days 
of being reported missing, is back home.

It was very good news indeed for the entire Island especially for those who 
spent several hours each day praying for her safe return and searching 
frantically through the hinterlands of the Layou valley.

Weather-wise Let's all continue to keep safe and be as prepared as possible, 
And let's all hope that this latest bout of inclement weather serves to prepare 
us even better for the approaching Atlantic hurricane season which is just 
about a mere month away.

Pleasant evening to all and God’s Blessings!

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- Wet and Cold.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:26:58 -0300

Good morning everyone,

It's COLD this morning. Yesterday the rains came and are still with us. Overcast and

very grey ( not my favourite colour ) this morning. Looking at the sat. pic's seems we are in

for quite a bit more for another few days. Hope it moves on quickly. A cool breeze, making

it feel really chilly. Had to put a woollie on yesterday evening, and I think I'll have to go find

something a little warmer than what I'm wearing now. Now is the time to be aware of those

landslides, and bouncing boulders with all this rain.

Our friends at Pond Casse, will have a raging river, instead of a nice little stream running

through their property. I have been doing a fair amount of work in the garden over the last week, and it was very dry. So the garden is happy with the rain. The washing basket isn't though.

I'm off to have my other coffee, check out that grey view. You all have a great day and

stay safe.

- Leatherback Turtle at Marigot

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:28:19 -0700

We seem to be having beautiful weather lately, the dry season seems to have kicked in! We have not posted lately owing to being busy bees, so to speak.

Our garden is looking absolutely gorgeous; the Bougainvillea is outstanding; this year we have lots of purples and reds; the lawn is very green and everything is in harmony.

I took a trip out with my business partner on Thursday, we stopped and gave a family of four a ride and they told us they were going to look at a Leatherback turtle that was laying her eggs at Marigot beach! We were intrigued; luckily, I had my camera with me and took these photographs. I felt very sorry for the turtle who had so many viewing her laying her eggs. The eggs were being scooped up by the Rosalie Sea Turtle Initiative (RoSTI) that was taking the eggs to be hatched in safety and once this happens, endeavour to get the offspring a risk free passage into the sea! A truly fascinating sight.

It looks like a visit to the beach today!

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Attachment: Turtle 2.jpg
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- The World & Cabbage.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:09:22 -0300

Good morning everyone,

Not sure what the day is going to bring, Looking to the west, the sky and sea are

bright blue. Sea calm, hardly a ripple. Just a hint of a breeze. Horizon fairly clear, a tiny

bit of haze out there but not much. And to the east. OH DEAR. Large dark clouds,

making their way over the ridge. Sun keeps disappearing behind them. Clouds look to

be travelling quite fast, so I guess there is fair wind up there. Humidity comfy. A bit of

this and a bit of that kind of day I think.

Forgot to mention we had the 'The World' ship in a couple of days ago. Not really a

cruise ship, more a floating apartment block. Wow, SERIOUS money. Aahhh, but are they

happy, I asked Hubby. Unable to repeat what he said on a family site.

Bought some lovely red cabbage in the market, with all intentions of making my own

pickled cabbage like granny used to. Not to sure what I have done wrong, but it sure doesn't

look like granny's. Problems with drying it, even in this heat. Ended up looking something

like shredded tyres, and all limp. Back to the drawing board. Suggestions welcome, nothing

to rude please.

Kettle's boiled, off for that other coffee. Check out the view. One of my favourite clipper's

has just pulled into the bay. You all take care and have a really great day.

- SHANICE HAS BEEN FOUND

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:40:26 -0700

We have had great news this morning. Shanice was found fairly close to her home last night at 8.0 p.m. The man abducted the child five weeks ago. The man was armed and caught trying to steal food close to where Shanice has been held captive. The abducter had made a make shift camp under a tarpualin in the bush. Shanice only had on is her school clothes that she was wearing when she went missing which would have been six weeks this Thursday. Shanice has been taken to the hospital where she is being looked after. I can't even begin to think what that poor child must have been subjected to it does not bare thinking about! We are just so happy she has been found and is alive.

A bit of weather news it is raining today and very chilly! I am taking the day off so will make a hot soup for lunch!

- Raining.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:14:19 -0300

Good morning everyone,

Knew it would rain, because we watered the garden and washed the car. Had rain now

on and off over the last couple days. This morning it is still raining. The sky is just grey. The sea

is grey. Not nice. We do have a lovely rainbow though. The horizon is almost lost in rain. Can

just about see it through the mist. Humidity slightly up, keep getting that horrible clammy feeling.

( to much info hubby reckons ) Slightest of breeze. Which is very pleasant. Peace shattered.

The builders have arrived. Sun now making an attempt to get through, but there is still a lot of

rain cloud coming over the ridge. hopefully the sun will burn it away. O dear, spoke to soon. Big

dark clouds looming again. Breeze picking up.

Finally managed to get half the tiles for the bathroom. Much to hubby's disappointment,

he has to put them up. Now all I have to do is find the other half.

Good news, the young lady that went missing over a month ago has been found alive.

I'm off to get that other coffee, check out the view before it disappears again.

You all take care.

- Building Houses & Whale Watch.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:20:34 -0300

Good morning everyone,

Cool, cloudy morning. Horizon nice and clear. The slightest of breezes, can just see the tips of

the fronds on the plantain trees moving. Sea, that nice shade of blue, and so calm. Hardly a ripple.

Silence for now, but that's not going to last long. It's been pretty hot all this week. seem to have a lot of

mozzies and ant's about. Gave in and watered the garden last night, badly needed it.

The guys building the house in the next road down must eat loads of carrots. They were out there last

evening filling in the cement columns for the house, in the DARK. Then they gave up trying to feel when the

cement had reached the top and turned on the car headlight. Yep, it's only got one.

Also did a bit of whale watching this week. Sitting out back, spotted the whale boats just hanging

around almost outside the back door. Grab the binoc's, and 'Thar she blows'. Fantastic. We can spend hours

watching for that water spout, and the tail coming up when they dive.

Well I'm off to check out that view and any whales that maybe lurking around. One of our local fish guys

going past, can hear the conch shell. The dog's have started barking, so the garbage guy's are on their way.

Which means the chicken man will be knocking on the door soon. Busy,busy. The builder's have finished breakfast, can

hear things being hammered. Silence has been shattered.

Breeze is picking up, and there is huge dark cloud looming across from the east. Rain is coming, cos

we watered the garden and washed the car. Sorry.

You all take care. Have a really great day.

- A Hidden Secret.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:21:21 -0300

Good morning everyone,

No complaints this morning. It's beautiful. Clear horizon. Sun shining in a bright blue sky.

Sea, fairly calm and a lovely blue. Cooling breeze going through the house.

Just spent a night in the jungle, recently, with friends. An interesting experience. Well not

too much jungle, did have good accommodation. Anyone heading towards this little island

looking for something slightly different should checkout MERMAIDS SECRET over on the east

coast at Rosalie. Mermaids Secret is tucked away in a valley, amongst some of the best scenery

you are ever likely to see. The whole area is lush and green. Some of the most amazing plants,

( everything wants to be tree ). Right next to a river, with it's own natural pool, for those who like to

swim in cold, clean, fresh water. The water is so clean you can drink straight from the river. The

Atlantic coast is not to far away, so you can spend time on the Black Sand beach, watching the waves

roll in. A thoroughly different experience for those of you who are a little on the adventurous side and

like a bit of a challenge.

The Watakubili trail is now open. This is for the more serious walkers, and hikers. More on that

at a later date.

We are having a new gate put in, so it's a little noisy this morning. Not wanting to get in the way

of the guys working, so I think another coffee is in order. Sit and look at the view, till they have finished.

Such a hard life.

You all take care. Have a great day.

- Orange Moon.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:41:08 -0300

Good morning everyone,

It's a bit noisy this morning, the builders are in the next road to us. Two new houses going up.

Now carnival is over everyone back at work.

Nice cool morning. Slight breeze. Sun is up and out. Sky, that lovely shade of blue with a

few fluffy white clouds. Sea looking calm and blue. So no complaints.

Must be a lot of dust up there in the atmosphere. Did anyone else see that bright ORANGE

moon last night. Having my last coffee of the evening out on the balcony, when the moon popped out

from behind a cloud, and there it was in all it's glory. Bright orange. Hubby missed it, he had gone off

to bed.

Well I'm off. Busy day today. Looking at new tiles. You all take care. Have a really great day.

- Japan, 2cnd Quake.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:36:13 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Just read on the D.N.O. site that Japan has experienced another quake. This one

is 6.3 mag, and hit Honshu, which I think is around 100 miles or so off Tokyo. Plenty of

strong aftershocks being reported.

You all take care.

- It's a Blue Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:09:34 -0400

Good morning everyone,

And a stunningly beautiful morning it is. Horizon is as clear as a bell. Sky, well that's just

blue and some more blue after that. A few little wispy white clouds, but generally just blue.

Sea, looks something like a child's drawing. A lot of blue with some little sailboats going past.

Really clam out there, not a ripple. No breeze, everything still. Back balcony feels cool ( facing west ).

The front balcony on the other hand is already hot, hot, hot (facing east ). I pop out to the front

for some warmth, then go to the back to cool down. Best of both worlds. The evenings have

been just lovely, real Caribbean evenings. Cool, calm and quiet. Although a bit chilly in the early

hours. Felt really cold in the early hours of this morning, the word FREEZING comes to mind. Need

to put another cover on the bed.

What dreadful news from Japan. Deepest sympathies go out to them. It was scary enough

when we had our little shake a few months back, compared to what they have just experienced.

Hope the emergency help teams from around the world get there fast to help them. And any

tsunamis that should occur hopefully will not cause too much destruction and loss of life. Reading

the reports on the world news, the tsunami warnings have gone out early, to make people aware.

Lets just hope they take notice.

I'm off for my other coffee, check out that vast expanse of blue. You all take care and have

a really good day.

- Carnival

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 04:42:20 -0800

It is a glorious sunny day today. Carnival is going to be in full swing, Jaco Ladd and I are off to party with the best of them. We are so happy to see the sunshine and have a good time.

We have to also add that the police and Government officials here have been working day and night to try and locate SHANICE. It is a complete mystery to everyone and all who know Shanice and the family are just keeping our fingers crossed that she is returned safely to her home. The reason I have posted on stormcarib about Shanice disappearing is just in case she has been taken to another island, which is a slight possibillity someone just might see her.

We intend to have a fun day and we hope the sunshine keeps up for today and tomorrow.

- SHANICE JERMOT IS STILL MISSING

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 19:25:06 -0400

We are just posting to let everyone know that SHANICE is still missing. It is our Carnival and this child is still not found. We are all very distressed. SHANICE is only 14 years old she is a child and she has been missing for over two weeks. Nobody has seen SHANICE she is believed to have been abducted by a local man who was let out on bail for rape! This person has been missing since SHANICE disappeared, if anyone knows where SHANICE is will they telephone the nearest police station. Also 1 767 449 6222.

- SHANICE JERMOT MISSING

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 06:28:00 -0800

SHANICE JERMOT IS MISSING Our neighbours daughter and niece has been missing today makes it 2 weeks! Everyone here in the valley and all over Dominica are very, very concerned for this 14 year old schoolgirl. It is believed that SHANICE has been allegidly abducted by a local man who has also been missing for three weeks. The police are still searching the hills for her and the man, as time goes by everyone is very fearful for the childs safety. All of us in the valley are very united and it is really amazing how everyone is pulling together like one big family there is a wonderful community spirit throughout Layou and St. Joseph where SHANICE attends school. There is to be a candle light vigile on the playing fields of Layou tonight, we must find SHANICE. Locally it is felt that the man is held up with the child in a cave somewhere in the valley! There are many caves and places to hide. SHANICE went missing on her way to school at around 6.30 a.m. - 7.00 a.m. she only had on her school clothes, she did not take anything at all from her home in the way of clothing. Her favourite clothing a pair of skinny jeans that her father gave her for Christmas were still in her bed where she slept with them each night as her prized possesion. If this child had planned to go anywhere this item of clothing would have accompanied her. If anone has any information about this child SHANICE JERMOT will they please contact either of these two numbers or their local police station 1 767 448 2222 1767 449 6222.

We have not posted for a while. Time goes by so fast and so many things happen so quickly. We have been very tied up and concerned about Shanice. This time of the year in Dominica is known as the dry season! Last year this was true at this time throughout the Caribbean we believe we had 5 months of sunshine and a lot of islands had a drought! This year it seems that the heavens have opened and we are all walking around like drowned rats. I think this must be Jaco Ladd's fault as he went and acquired a brand new Honda water pump machine which is the bees knees and sucks up hudreds of gallons of water in extra quick time!

It is our Carnival this weekend and we are all praying for some good sunny weather it will be such a disappointment if the weather continues as it is now so we hope that we get a very sunny weekend!

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- Cool Morning.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 10:14:45 -0400

Good morning everyone,

It's a cool, cloudy morning. Not much in the way of breeze. The strong winds

we were experiencing have died away to nothing. Light showers of rain last night

and this morning. Just enough to keep the plants going. The sea is blue, well most

of it, some patches of light grey. And it looks very calm out there. Although the small

craft warnings have been removed for the east coast, caution should still be maintained.

Had a look to see what our rainfall was for February. 123.5mm. That's the official

amount on the meteorological site. Me, I think it was a lot more. Really must get a

water gauge so I can work out why we are swimming out of the garden. All the trees,

bushes and plants are a nice lush green. The sun is making an attempt to get out from

behind those clouds.

Had a lovely couple of very relaxing days at the hotel.

We have three cruise ships in today. So our little island will be bursting at the seams. Think

I'll head for the garden. Have to be careful at the back though. We have a pair of banana quits

taking up residence in the lemon tree. Not sure if they are nesting or just using it for a rest station.

You all take care. Have a great day. I'm off to get the other coffee, being lovingly made

for me, and check out that view.

- Pretty Windy Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:33:31 -0400

Good evening everyone,

A cool, cloudy, and very, very windy day. Strong gusts throughout the day, and

this evening. Feels like someone is punching the house from time to time. I imagine

that the Atlantic over on the east side is pretty rough. All very dramatic, but great care

needs to taken. Sea this side was covered in whitecaps. Sun managed to break

through a bit. Around 3pm it was quite hot out on the balcony, could feel my little toes

burning. That's time to retreat.

Carnival is almost with us. Everyone gearing up for a couple of days fun. Lets

hope it all goes off peacefully and everyone just has a good time, and enjoys it. Hubby

and I are off this weekend to collect our prize that we won at the new year. A weekend

in a luxury sea front room at a local hotel. We only live 10 minutes away. L. O. L. Still

I'm sure we will enjoy. Be nice just to have someone else do the cooking if nothing else.

And if we forget anything we can just pop back home and get it.

Well I'm off. Find the glass, settle down and watch a film, and listen to the wind

howling around the house. You all have a good night and a great day tomorrow. Stay safe.

- Another Great Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:50:58 -0400

Good morning everyone,

It looks like it is going to be another lovely day in paradise. Blue, blue sky,

with a few of the smallest white cotton ball clouds. Sea, bright blue and sparkling.

Not a breath of wind. Everything totally still. Humidity comfy. I love these days.

The evenings have been just as lovely. Starting with the sun going down,

and you get that fantastic range of colours going across the sky. Silvery blue,

orange, black, and sometimes the odd bit of purple thrown in. Have even seen what

appears to be a shade of green, love it. Even better when you have those bright

moonlit nights, and you get that frosty look to everything. Last night, not a cloud

in the sky. ( well over our bit anyway ) Could see billions of stars. No wind, calm

and warm, frogs all singing. Wonderful, its these days, and nights,when I know why we

are here.

O. K. , back to reality. Washing to do. Still it will dry pretty quick. Think I'll have

another coffee first though. Check out that view. You all take good care. Have a

really great day.

- Cousin Found.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 10:02:13 -0400

Good morning everyone,

A little better this morning than yesterday. Which started out very, very, grey. Then turned

into a nice day. I had written my report to send out, when the 'lecky' went off. By the time it came

back on, the report was well out of date. Better luck hopefully this morning. The wind picked up

last night, with some really good strong gusts. Could hear things being blown over in neighbours

gardens. Wind moaned around the house till the early hours.

This morning is pretty nice. Bright blue sky. Sea, dark blue, but at least blue and not grey.

Winds have died down a bit, but still getting odd strong gust now and again. Humidity comfy.

Sea looking a little on the rough side, well for me anyway. I like looking at the sea, but I have no

wish to go in it, or on it. Find it a bit scary, it's so much bigger than me. Never really been comfortable

with it since that first Jaws film. Hubby is still trying to convince me that sharks do not come into these

waters. Hmmm, with my luck at times, welllll.

The 'Ventura' finally docked here on Thursday, and we found the missing cousin. We had a lovely day.

Even the office staff, on the ship, contacted us to wish us a nice day together. Thought that was very

nice of them to take the trouble. Even after 10yrs, it was instant recognition. Cousin only needed a

'tache' and it was uncle walking towards us. Came back to the house and spent the next 6 hours just

talking. Sure had some catching up to do. So a great day was had by all.

I'm off for another coffee and check out the view for an hour or so. I'm sure I could find other

things to do, but hey what the heck, whatever I should be doing will probably still be there later, or

even tomorrow. You all take care and have a really great day.

- Where is the Cousin ??

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 20:35:52 -0400

Good evening everyone,

We had 2 really nice days. Little on the windy side, but at least the sun was out.

This morning was lovely. Blue sky and sea. Not much in the way of breeze. Now we are back to

rain. It started a little after 1pm this afternoon and has been on and off for the rest of the day.

Sounds like it is getting heavier and heavier as the evening wears on. At around 6pm it became

quite chilly. Sitting out on the back balcony, which is quite nice and warm as a rule, I actually

started to shiver. Time to go find a cardie to put on.

Disappointing day today. We have been waiting for today, for sometime. Tom's cousin, was coming

in on the 'Ventura' cruise ship, who we have not seen for probably 10 yrs. The ship is normally docked

by the time we are up and moving. Today.No ship. We patiently waited to see if it was just running late. Still

no ship. Managed to locate it over at Antigua Even managed to contact the ship, via the Internet

( wonderful thing the Internet ), and they had changed the itinerary. We have now been told they will

be calling tomorrow. So, hopefully, we will get to see the cousin. I spent ages tidying, dusting,

making lunch, and no cousin. Still, we now have a nice clean house, and loads of food sitting in the fridge.

Ah. well it's all go for tomorrow now.

So then, you all take care. Have a great day tomorrow. I'm off to find that glass and have a

'hot toddy'.

- WINDY

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2011 11:19:10 -0800

Wow, for the last three days we have had nothing but rain and wind and more rain! Today we have sunshine and a great deal of wind, a fantastic day for washing and drying clothes.

Well on Monday we had a visit from our friend to find out if there were any wood ants nests or things that we should be aware of encroaching on our home! Unbelievable, he found 13 wood ants nests in close proximity to the house; plus a huge snake living close by in a hole in a tree! Our friend was terrified but we were delighted he found a very large snake living in the hole of a large tree. We think we have found Carla, who used to sunbathe in our drive. Carla was 10' long very beautiful except when she used to open her mouth, dislocate her jaw and sunbathe showing a very sharp set of teeth and a good amount of saliva, very ugly. We feel pleased to know she is still around as she keeps down the rodent population. The wood ants nests were dealt with and we now feel free of predators for the time being. We just want a little bit of warmth and less wind. Just another day in the forest in paradise, Dominica!

- Very Windy.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2011 20:49:55 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Thought we were in for another wet day this morning. Torrential rain all through the

night, and into the morning. Then he sun broke through. Breeze has picked up nicely. Some

really good strong gusts. Sitting out on the front balcony, during this afternoon, was a bit like

being in a wind tunnel. To say it was cooling was a bit of an understatement. Feels quite chilly

at times. Although very windy it has been pretty dry for most of the day, which gave the

neighbours guests a chance to get out. Poor souls have been stuck inside for 4 days of

their holiday. That's not much fun.

About 7.30am I went out onto the back balcony and there was one of my neighbours

cats looking at me. What the cat didn't know was my immediate next door neighbour is

looking after a dog. So the cat had taken his usual leisurely stroll through the garden, only to

be confronted by a dog. Safest place, up a tree. There it was, about 12ft up, clinging to a very

slim branch, the wind was blowing a gale, cat was swaying backwards and forwards, then the

rain came. And it was a real good downpour. One very wet cat. Who, if he had been able to

get down quick enough, would have given that dog a real good whipping by the look on it's face.

That was one unhappy cat.

Well you all have a good day tomorrow. Stay safe. I'm off to find that glass.

- WET,WET, WET.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2011 20:20:29 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Well, its rained and rained, and rained some more. Last 48 hours has been just, WET !!

Still, don't hear the plants complaining. They are loving it, 'cos everything wants to be a tree on

this island. Been pretty grey out there for the last few days. Just not nice. Good strong breeze

whipping through the house from time to time. Uhhhggg, bringing with it dust. I would love an

invention of a world wide vacuum cleaner. Somewhere, out there, where someone just

presses one button and all the dust in the world gets sucked up. Not sure what to do with it all,

but I'm sure someone would have a bright idea on how to re-use dust.

The tiny tree frogs are giving voice of approval to all the rain. The rivers are running well.

In between the whiteouts, could see a lovely aquamarine colour, of all the clear fresh water running

out to sea.

Feel sorry for our neighbours guests who are here on holiday. They have escaped from the

cold, hoping for some sunshine, and it's not stopped raining since they arrived. They probably feel

quite warm, but we are finding the evenings fairly cool. Rain is lashing down while I write, and

thundering across the roof. No thunder or lightening though. Hmmm, perhaps I shouldn't have said

that.

Well you all have great day tomorrow. Stay safe. Watch for those slides and boulders.

- REALLY COLD

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2011 17:24:43 -0400

Today 6th February, is Jaco Ladd and Jaco Lasses 25th anniversary! It has been really rainy and cold all day. It had been raining all night. We guess that the cold weather from all over the world has reached us here in the Caribbean!! Well it is definitely cuddle up time for us, we have some great movies to watch, I have some great food for a romantic dinner! The Moet is on ice. We are now going to chill out and snuggle.....................................

- A Real Good Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 20:42:23 -0400

Good evening everyone,

No complaints about the weather today. Been glorious. Brilliant blue sky. So bright

it made me squint. Little tiny, white, cotton wool clouds floating on by. Nice cooling breeze

going through the house every now and again. Neighbours out in the garden, laughing and

joking with us, and one another. What a great day. Yep, days like today are why we are here.

Garden is begining to look good again. Still some work to do, but really not as bad

as I thought it was going to be. (Word from Hubby - 'I took great care of it while Jackie was in England' !!)

Planted a couple of tiny banana trees, which are already showing signs of having taken. Tiny

new leaves already poking through, after only 24 hours of being planted. Taking some plants out, and putting in new.

Going on the search for some Rosemary plants, to put by the front gate. Love the smell.

Well I'm off to find something to eat. Fooled you, you all thought I was going to say the

glass. L.O.L. Already found the glass!

You all take care. Have a good evening and a really great day tomorrow.

- Raining Again.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 09:18:35 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Well, the weekend, and yesterday, was lovely. Lot's of sunshine,blue sky, and sea.

Light cooling breeze. Perfect. And this morning. Rain. Looking at the Sat Pic's it

seems we are going to get a fair amount of the liquid stuff again. The sky is grey and

the sea is grey. No breeze, but it feels quite cool this morning. Temperature reading on

back balcony reading 73f. Rain getting heavier while I write. Nice big rainbow going

out over town and out to sea. So there is some sun up there somewhere.

One of the little female finches is driving us crazy. She is just so naughty. She's

taken to destroying my spider plants for some reason. Screeches outside the main

doors if they have not been opened earlier enough for her. And the noise from her is

unbelievable. I have put a couple of old discs in the plant pot to try and discourage her.

Hubby says she will just sit and preen herself in the reflection, like she does in the

bathroom and bedroom mirrors. She just doesn't care and is not scared of us at all.

Oh well, guess it's part of the price we pay.

Can see small patches of blue up there in the great wide yonder. Might get a

good day for the garden. OH YES the sun's just peeked through. How long it will last is

anyones guess though.

I'm off to get that other coffee. Sit back and enjoy my view, Noise from one tiny

bird permitting. You all take care. Have a great day.

- Warmer weather

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 06:04:40 -0800

Yesterday was a glorious day weatherwise; I was actually really hot in the afternoon which is a first for a few weeks!!

I had - with 13 other art enthusiasts - a lesson given by a very talented sculpture and water colour artist originally from the UK who has settled in Dominica, luckily for us struggling hopeful artists. There is a lot of artistic talent on the island derived from all age groups and yesterday it was a thrill to be working with others in a life class. Life defined as using a live model to capture all the contours of the body in a very quick time. It was very invigorating and helpful comparing our efforts with each other and learning about letting the lines flow onto the paper through the crayon, pencil, charcoal whatever medium the person uses to make the drawing.

Tiffany, another renowned artist in Dominica has a new art gallery/cafe in Canefield under her own name and is busy encouraging other like-minded folk to learn and grow in the art field. If anyone out there is interested in taking classes in pottery, sculpture or just art call in at Tiffany's gallery and find out about it. For me it is so great to get to know other people who have the same passion and interest.

I am pretty sure we will have a relaxing day today and hit the beach this afternoon to enjoy the Mero festival, lots of stalls with goodies to eat and drink, roll on the party.

- SUN, Yippee.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:48:03 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Finally some sun. We have had plenty of the wet stuff here on our little piece of

paradise, over the last couple of weeks. Rained most days on and off, with some

really heavy downpours at times. Total whiteouts, so heavy we couldn't even see the

cruise ships in the port. Then yesterday the sun came out in all it's glory. Today was

lovely. A couple of big dark looking clouds drifted over, but they just drifted on out to

sea. So I managed to get back into my garden for some serious work today. Little

on the breezy side, with a few good strong gusts thrown in. Enough to blow the hat off

my head. The island is looking lovely and green. Sea looked calm, and that nice shade

of blue.

Yesterday we spotted the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's yacht Eclipse

outside our back door. And very nice it is too. While watching it slowly heading away

from the island, heading towards the north, I asked hubby, Ahhh yes but is he happy.

The reply cannot be printed on a family site.

This evening is lovely. Little puffs of breeze going through the house. Cloudy sky,

unable to see many stars out there tonight. Frogs having a good old sing song. Couple of

dogs joining in the chorus. What more could you ask for. O yes, a full glass. Which I'm off

to find, then relax and enjoy this lovely Caribbean night.

You all take care. Have a good evening and a great day tomorrow.

- Pretty warm in Dominica but freezing in Canada!!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:46:15 -0400

Well we have had a really fine sunny day here today. It is still pretty chilly here in the early mornings and evenings but not how it is in Canada today:- Temperature is a balmy -20celsius today with a wind chill of -30C = -22F

Our friend Kevin Edwards from Canada kindly provided us with these wonderful photographs which I hope come out on the blog!!

We went to River Rush today for brunch and to listen to some cool jazz it was so nice to get out listen to some good jazz and be waited on - cool!

This is a quote from Kevin in Canada:- "Maybe u should post these to your blog to show how LUCKY U all are?" This is one of the reasons Jaco Ladd and I live in the beautiful nature island of Dominica!!

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Attachment: Its not Frosty the snow man.jpg
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- Plenty of Water.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:43:39 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Rained most of the night and really heavy. Still raining now. Sky is mostly

a dull grey. Raining almost to whiteout conditions now. Sea is grey. Will be able

to see the run off from the rivers soon I expect. That lovely shade of brown. Breeze

picking up nicely again. Now have a stunningly beautiful rainbow to look at, while

I'm sitting on the balcony drinking my coffee. And it is still raining.

Still, with all this rain the island is looking lush and very green, and the water

barrels are full to overflowing.

Like I have said before, we do not have that many white sandy beaches like

some of the other islands. It's always puzzled me that more film makers do not use

this island for its jungle scenes. It's perfect for them. Especially the Jurassic Park type

films. The ride from the airport to town is a little hairy to say the least, but you expect

at any moment a T- Rex to come lumbering out onto the road. Wouldn't surprise me

in the least if it was discovered we still had one or two up there in the forest.

I,m off for that other coffee. Blue sky to the south of us. Still raining though.

You all have a great day. Stay safe. Watch out for those boulders.

- Breezy and Mozzies.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:10:40 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Well the washing is up to date. Been pretty breezy here for the last couple days.

Some rain, fairly heavy at times. Our little farmer, who works the plot at the back of the

house had to run for cover a few times. We have had the sun break through occasionally.

Which is nice, keeps the water heated for the shower room. Some very nice rainbows.

Mozzies out and about and on the attack. Considering it's been so breezy I was hoping

most of the little blighters would have all been blown out to sea. But no, so I am walking

around with my trusty spray. Still getting the odd lumpy itch though.

Quite cool this evening, with a couple of odd light showers of rain thrown in. Breeze

has died down a bit. Moon was very bright earlier, and gave everything that frosty look, but

without the cold to go with it. Clouds are now covering the moon. Big thick, dark clouds.

Better through the night than during the day.

Well I'm off, only one guess where.

. You all have a good evening and a really great day

tomorrow. Keep a good watch for those boulders and slides.

- Wet & Windy.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:36:25 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Wow, two fantastic days to do the washing and get it dry in record time. Peg it out

and by the time you have get to the end of the line, go back and take it off, cos it's dry.

Although we did get loads of rain throughout the night on the 12th, really heavy at

times, and it has been extremely windy, the days have been really nice. Lots of sun, nice

blue sky. Sea a little on the rough side. And warnings about the east coast, how rough it

is on that side of the island, and to take extra care due to swells and rip tides. A few odd

showers through the day, but very light. Well where we are anyway.

Brazil looks like it too has been badly hit with flooding, and mudslides, from what I

see on the international news. Quite a few lives lost. Very sad.

So then, you all take care. Especially if your going out to sea, or are near a river.

Take it slow, and easy, and watch for those slides and boulders if you're driving.

Have been very busy over the last couple days, now have time to relax and enjoy.

So I'm off to find the glass and start the enjoying. Have a good evening and a great day tomorrow.

- RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 03:36:51 -0800

What a miserable day yesterday and all through the night we had really heavy downpours so much so that it woke both of us up every time it rained, it sounded almost like it would rain through the roof!! The wind is very gusty and I truly thought we were having a mini hurricane in the night!! This morning as I sit on our deck it is really cold - for us I mean; below 70 degrees - it is grey and dull, not what we are used to in the Caribbean. The weather seems to be pretty wet all over the region it looks like it is here for the day! To be honest the light has been so bad over the past week I have not been able to see to paint which is truly amazing because of this rainy, stormy weather. Please bring back the sunshine.

- Rain & Rainbows.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:44:05 -0400

Good evening everyone,

What a miserable day we have had. Rain, rain and more rain.

Heavy and almost constant throughout the day. Total whiteouts. Couldn't

even see the cruise ship in the bay. Strong, gusty wind. The sun only

making the most feeblest attempts now and again. Quite chilly this

evening. checked the temp on the balcony and it's down to 66f. Had to go

find a woolie.

We did have some of the most beautiful rainbows though. One in

particular was fantastic. From the angle I was standing on the balcony, it

looked flat. It was laying flat across the sea and swept right across Roseau.

It looked so pretty, all the buildings bathed in various colours. We also sat

and watched the guys trying to change the cables onto the new pole. Every

time they climbed up it rained, down they went to take shelter and it stopped.

up and down at least ten times if not more. One guy gave up, and just worked

on through the downpours. They were pretty wet by the time they had finished.

Please take care out there after so much rain. Watch for those landslips.

I'm off to find that glass and put something that will give me nice warm

feeling in it. Have a good evening and an even better day tomorrow.

- THUNDER IN JANUARY!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 04:49:07 -0800

Here in the Layou valley we are having valley weather which was yesterday heavy showers, Jaco Ladd was in Roseau and reported hot sticky sunny weather! Well here in the valley it has poured with rain on and off all night and at 4.30 a.m. this morning Jaco Ladd jumped out of bed to disconnect the routers as we he heard thunder rumbling overhead. Thunder is almost unheard of after November! It does not look like there is will let up in the weather this morning. I have been ill with a very bad head cold because - we believe - of this really cold chilly weather!! I am glad to report that I am feeling better today!! It seems like the whole world is sufffering from cold and wet; look at Australia and the terrible floods they are having in Melbourne! What has happened to Global warming! Our correspondent from Nevis I think is correct in their assumption this weather will continue for a while. It is true it is not good for the tourist but yes, at least it is warmer here in the Caribbean than elsewhere! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH We want the sunshine.

- It's Wet.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 08:35:20 -0400

A very wet good morning everyone,

It's rained throughout the night and it is still raining. Some pretty good downpours.

Total whiteout at times. Which is a shame because we have the M V Azure docking

for the first time today. That can't be much fun for the tourists planning to go out on trips

round our island.

So the sea is grey. The sky is grey. Not much in the way of breeze. Sea was a little

rough late last night. Sitting out on the back balcony, all was quiet and still. No dogs barking,

my neighbours had all gone to bed, I could hear a strange noise, then realized I could hear

the waves crashing against the shore, and the pebbles, rocks and stones all being washed

around.

When I came out this morning the sea had already taken on that lovely brown colour,

with the run off from the rivers. So you all be careful, if your near any of those rivers today.

And watch out for those landslides. Sun is making its first attempt of the day. Have a huge

rainbow going across now. Had planned a trip into town today, it would be good day to go,

just not to sure I really want to get that wet.

I'm off to have my other coffee and make the decision. You all stay safe.

- Mixed Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 20:39:37 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Funny old day today, Some sun, lots of rain. Quite heavy at times, which the

garden is extremely grateful for. Nice cool breeze. Sky very overcast and grey. If I didn't

know better, the clouds looked very much like the ones in the U K just waiting to dump some

snow on us. It's a nice cool evening. Just checked outside and cannot see many stars.

Must be a million frogs out there singing there little hearts out tonight. The noise

coming from them is unbelievable. Amazing how much noise such tiny little creatures can make.

I love reading the different stories from the islands. Gives such an insight into how

different the islands are. And I do have some favourites, which hopefully one day we will get to

visit. Something to look forward to.

Just watched the cruise ship the Crown Princess glide past, heading south.

You all have a real good evening and a great day tomorrow. Stay Safe.

Started raining again.

- COOL NIGHTS AND MORNINGS

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 04:00:09 -0800

Well we are experiencing really cool weather! It is showery and yesterday we went to the beach but for me and Jaco Ladd it was too cold to swim, there was a breeze coming off the sea and also there was quite a sea swell. We came home to a really lovely smell of a hot beef stew cooking in my slow cooker for supper! So we settled down to watch a good movie eat a great heart warming meal washed down with a good bottle of red wine! Reading Jackie's discription of cooking a turkey made us smile because we last year forgot to buy a turkey until the last minute and guess what our turkey was so small we only got one meal from it!! No leftovers for the freezer, in fact we were lucky to get enough off the turkey for all of us to eat!! We went out and bought our turkey early this year a good lesson to be learned.

I hope this comes out but I have been sent a great photo by our friend in Canada Sharon of Mindy she is the smallest dog in the picture sitting with her husband Sinbad, she is sadly missed!

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- Good Start.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 22:56:54 -0400

Good evening everyone,

The afternoon was a little overcast and breezy. This evening is cool and still breezy.

Had a great new year night at the local hotel. And we won 1st prize in the raffle. What a

good start to the new year.

You all have a real good day tomorrow. Stay safe.

- cont. Turkey and Me.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 20:09:25 -0400

Jamie Oliver to the rescue. With luck I had watched Jamie prepare a Thing, without the added fun

of removing legs and wings, on T.V. while back in the U K. So I sort of knew what to do. Out comes

the tub of butter. Right then, all I have to do is separate the skin from the meat. Shove some butter in

between. This is gonna be Easy Peasy stuff. Covered in moisture, water, juices, I'm now adding

grease. Wow, this is such fun on Christmas eve! If I had known, I would have had a party and let everyone

join in my new party game. 1st prize is a Thing minus legs and wings.

So I now have to carefully work my way down between skin and meat, edging the two apart. Started

out well. Half way down resistance. Just shove remember. Out pops my fingers from the skin. Ooops,

don't remember seeing that happen to Jamie. Oh well, never mind just pat it back down, it will look fine.

Just shove in some butter and it will melt over the rest. Theory again. Armed with tub I scoop out dollops

of butter, start pushing it in between and under skin, patting it down. Which in turn pushes the butter back out.

Blobs of butter now flying around the kitchen, and it's mixing well with all the other stuff. Shove Thing back

into pan. It will do. Oven lit, shelf at it's lowest so that Thing will fit ! By now I'm minus flip flops, because I can't

feel the floor and all that lovely gooey stuff over it. Slipping and sliding around with Thing, Hubby thoughtfully

went off to get mop and bucket and cleaned up around me. Thing now covered in foil, oven ready, pushing

and shoving the Breast of Thing finally goes into the oven.

Now all I have to do is clean up the draingboard, worktops, floor, me. Still haven't checked the ceiling.

Piece by piece ( literally ) the whole of Thing has been cooked. All I have left to do is make, risotto, curry, stew,

something with fries, sandwiches and if there is anything I have missed please let me know, and then

FREEZE IT.

Hubby said it was one of the funniest things he's seen. And we sure did laugh, and we are still laughing.

Let's do it again next year says hubby. Have I got news for him !!

Moral of this story,

1) Buy a bigger cooker.

2) Buy a smaller Thing, about the size of a chicken. Better still buy a chicken.

3) Go out for dinner.

- Help . CASSAVA

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:36:51 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

and a grey afternoon it is. Grey sky, thick grey cloud. Sea looking grey and a little on the rough

side. Still nice and warm though. Lovely breeze just whipped through the house.

Evenings turning cool, and the early hours of the morning feel quite cold. Have to pull the covers up.

Some rain on and off. Nothing to heavy., but enough to keep the plants happy.

Off to celebrate the new year in style tonight at one of our local hotels, with friends. So looking

forward to that. Having dinner as well... Steak. Turkey is not on the menu, thank goodness.

Just had a chat with our farmer guy, who is working the plot behind our house. He as just given me

some huge pieces of Cassava. O K, how do I cook it ? can anyone tell me. ? Is it like cooking dasheen ?

Bit worried because I have been told that it is a poisonous plant, and that I have to make sure it's cooked properly.

Scary stuff.

You all have a good time tonight. Enjoy and stay safe.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

- The Turkey and Me. cont

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:41:34 -0400

A pulling, poking, prodding and a pushing, Thing finally starts to give way. Well I'm now up to my elbow,

which is surrounded by bubbles, Hubby and myself both laughing hysterically. Finally, those little bags of

gruesome stuff come free, along with more bubbles, making the sink look like a jacuzzi, and lots of odd

noises coming from Thing. Hubby produced The Glass and kept it filled. Waving it under my nose from

time to time, so that I could start extracting my arm from inside Thing. And was The Glass needed!

Laughing like some sort of maniac, not sure if that was due to the red stuff or having lost the plot

dealing with Thing, I proceed to drag Thing by it's legs up onto the draining board. Where it could have

stayed forever as far as I was concerned. Even without the ice this dammed Thing is big. Must weigh in

at 50 kilo. Now like I said, there is just the two of us and I'm now looking at this monstrous Thing and

looking at the cooker.Believe me one way or another your going in. I swear Thing was laying there looking

at me, saying Oh No I'm Not. Out comes the roasting pan. The biggest one I have. Hubby's standing there

looking at Thing and the pan and says will it fit. You bet your life it's gonna fit. It's going in.

This is where Thing decides to fight back.

So I get the pan and start pushing. Thing goes into the pan, well it's backside does. Thing then

promptly spreads it legs and wings over the side of the pan. There it is, laying there in all it's glory, backside

in the pan and the rest spread across the draining board. Hmmmm, O. K. lets chop it's legs off says I,with

this maniac grin plastered across my face. Out comes the knife. Trust me this Thing is going in that oven.

So out of the pan it comes and onto the worktop. An hour later, after twisting, hacking slicing and chopping

the legs are off. This Thing is not a turkey. Those legs belong to an Ostrich. Pushing and pulling, Thing

slides back into pan. Tuck in wings. Wings pop back out. Three attempts later, off with the wings. Once

again, Thing and I do battle. Thoughts in my head are now, if you wasn't already dead I'd kill you myself.

Hubby is now standing watching me tussling with Thing, looking very sheepish and guilty. GOOD.

With moisture dripping from all over me and my clothes sticking to me, I push thing back into pan.

Hurrah, it kinda of fits. Now the problem with all the pushing, prodding, poking, pulling, tugging, twisting,

slicing, hacking and chopping, Things lost a great deal of it's juices. They have sort of disappeared down the

plughole, over the draining board, on the floor, over the worktops, and over me. Not sure if any hit the ceiling.

O. K. another drop of the red stuff, try and stop laughing, and I'll tackle the problem.

to be cont.

- RAINY SQUALLY DAY

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 06:59:10 -0800

The last day of the year is a gusty, windy, rainy day! We have had a very interesting year with lots of high's and lows throughout the Caribbean; the worst disaster in the region has to be the earthquake in Haiti and the misery and death that has been caused since. Hurricane Tomas took us all by surprise and the whip at the end of the tail caught everyone off kilter. St. Lucia and St. Vincent are still suffering from Tomas. Looking ahead for 2011 we all hope that the hurricane season will be a pussycat to this one.

We thank everyone for their condolences for losing our beloved dog Mindy, dogs give unconditional love unconditionally!

We would like to to wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.

- Cool day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:09:47 -0400

Good morning everyone,

It's been a nice morning, slight breeze keeping it cool. Couple of light rain showers, just

enough to keep the plants happy. Sea, deep blue and with a bit of swell, can see waves rolling

along the coastline to the north of us. Sun, doing its best to get from behind a few dark grey clouds.

Christmas was good ( apart from the Thing ). Weather over the holidays not to bad. Just a

few odd showers. Haven't really done much except relax and enjoy.

I'm off to get my coffee, decide what I'm doing for the remainder of the day. Hopefully not a lot.

You all have a real nice day. Stay safe.

- Christmas Turkey, A True Story.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:27:25 -0400

Good morning everyone,

THIS IS A CHRISTMAS TALE, OF THE TURKEY AND ME.

I had no intention of buying a turkey this year and spending my time, on Christmas eve, in the kitchen cooking. But turkey is

traditional at Christmas, says hubby. Alright then, we will go get a turkey. So at the very last possible minute, before the

stores started closing, off we go to get the said turkey.

Our local store had only three left in the freezer, and frozen solid ! I mean these turkeys were so solid and covered in ice

they could have been just carved out. Well there is only the two of us, so just get the smallest one of the three, thinks I. This

small turkey was huge. Absolutely enormous. So big I could have invited the whole island to Christmas dinner and still have

had some left over. What with the combined weight of ice I couldn't shift the Thing from the bottom of the freezer, and had visions

of going in head first and being stuck with just my little feet poking out till being rescued. Hubby, the gent he really is, gets the

turkey out, and not without a great deal of effort on his part. ( Hubby is not a small guy either ). When he dropped it into the

trolley the wheels on the trolley almost buckled under the weight of this turkey.

Back at the house, I now have to figure out the quickest and safest method of thawing this brute out quickly. So O.K. at

least lets get it started. Luckily I have a couple of pretty big bowls. I pushed this turkey, putting my full weight behind the push,

and gets the turkey neck into the bowl. All I need now is a pulley and hoist to get the turkey upright. With supreme effort up it

goes. Phew, O. K., time for a coffee, lets leave it for awhile, warm afternoon,lets see what happens. Two hours later I wander

back into my nice clean kitchen to see how the turkeys doing. You guessed it, not a lot. It's still sitting there looking like an ice

sculpture. Hmmm, O. K. next trick. Immersion in cold water. Right, the only thing big enough to take this turkey is going to be the

kitchen sink. Scrub out sink, rinse well, PUSH turkey in. Blast, forgot to put in plug. After some heaving, get turkey to move

just enough to one side to let me get plug in. Fill sink with water. Time moving along at its normal rapid speed, when you don't

want it to. Half hour later I go back to check on the Thing. Great the top layer of ice is cracking. Back to the process of moving

the thing, draining water, refilling with fresh. This goes on for the next couple of hours. WHEN, finally I get some movement from

Things left leg. Oh the joy. Putting my hands into water, that feels like its come straight from the Artic ocean, is not one of my

favourite pastimes. Oh well, I can pick off bits of ice. This goes on for the next hour or so. I now need to get some water inside

the blasted Thing. Legs and wings beginning to move, so that's a good sign.

If the outside was frozen, the inside of Thing looks like its had part of an Artic ice shelf shoved up its backside. Pulling,

pushing, and tugging I finally gets Thing to open its legs, just enough to let water trickle in. By now it wasn't water I had thoughts

of letting in. Couple sticks of dynamite more like it. O K, the ice shelf is slowly starting to melt. Just enough to get the tips of

my fingers in. Poke around a bit, make some holes in the ice, let water in. Well that's the theory anyway. And Hallelujah, it seems

to be working. I can now get my whole hand up there. Just as hubby walks in to ask if there is anything he can do to help. ( BAD,

BAD THOUGHTS ). The bloody Thing shoots out bubbles and some pretty disgusting noises from its lower orifice. Hmmm, says

hubby, should I leave, only you and Thing seem to have something pretty intimate going on. That's when I started to laugh.

to be cont.

- SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:22:21 -0800

What a beautiful day we had yesterday!  I had to go to see some land
in Calibishie so I took time to go to the land first and then off to
watch the first ever surfing championships at Pointe Baptiste, held on
the beach by the hotel Red Rock Haven.  The waves were just a little
disappointing from the previous day apparently!  The beach was full of
colour with lots of children from Calibishie and other parts of the
island having great fun watching the experts strutting their stuff.
The surfers competed in heats of half an hour each; they had to ride
twelve waves in that time and the best perfomances of two of the waves
counted for the competition.  The people taking part were from the
neighbouring French islands Guadeloupe and Martinique!  I was
surprised that nobody came from Antigua - Mr Eli Fuller where were
you?  This event is going to take place each year the organisers hope!
 The local school put up the visitors for the two days of the
competition.

When the competition was finished the surfers took the local children
into the water lending them their boards and then giving them a lesson
on how to ride the Atlantic waves.

As you can see our near neighbour Allen fancied his chances in the
competition!  I am not sure he got much further than the photo
suggests!!

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- SNAKE IN THE BUSH

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:32:25 -0800

We had a cloudy Christmas day!  The rain kept off most of the time but
the temperature was cool and very pleasant.  Today we have woken up to
bright sunshine with cool temperatures which is great.  We hope
everything gets back to normal, the shops should be open however the
banks apparently will be closed!

Yesterday Jaco Ladd went to Roseau and saw the amazing cruise ship the
Queen Elizabeth!  He did not just go for that reason but very kindly
went to get me some paracetomal as I somehow have developed a very
stiff neck, no not too many drafty gateways!!  Probably too much
driving!  Today I am looking forward to a massage to hopefully help
alliviate my stiff neck!!

We were cleaning some bush yesterday in the garden and came across
this young lithe boa constricta.  We have left her to her peace and
this morning she is still in the same place, hopefully she will move
away and find a safer home as we are soon to be planting vegetables in
that exact spot!!

We have attached a couple of photo's you can see just how easily camouflaged
the snake is, nature is so amazing.  I also have put a photo of
Mindy's grave it is the first time I visited the site.  We were
delighted to see this beautiful hibiscus flower in bloom on her grave.
 We miss Mindy a great deal.

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- HAPPPY CHRISTMAS

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 04:20:32 -0800

We woke up bright and early! The weather looks overcast and rain is forecast for today for some of us in the Windward Isles, we hope it is not us as we have plans to go to the beach after our Christmas lunch! The mince pies are in the oven as I write this!!

We would like to wish all the correspondents and readers a very Happy Christmas and hopefully a Happy New Year with very few if any hurricanes!

- Barrels & Sun.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:15:35 -0400

Good morning everyone,

and a beautiful morning it is. That lovely bright blue sky, few little wispy clouds. A bright blue,

calm sea. Added bonus, watching the Star Clipper 'parking up' just outside the back door. They are

such beautiful ships. No breeze. Humidity comfy. Sun making it's way over the roof tops. Only the

sound of the birds tweeting. Aaahhhhh perfect.

Been a busy, busy week. Catching up with chores, seeing friends and neighbours, collecting

BARRELS from the port with all the goodies I bought while in the U K. Shame the barrels didn't come

wrapped in Christmas paper. Hubby saying " HOW MUCH DID THIS COST ", and having to put the

fan on him when he broke out into a cold sweat when I handed him the bills / receipts. Still it's such

good fun opening those barrels after a month, and finding stuff you forgot you had bought, and seeing

the look on hubby's face, when I go O yes and I bought this too. Love it. Remembered the Christmas

table crackers this year.

I'm off to my favorite spot. Cup of coffee waiting, and to check out that amazing view, while I

wait for the chicken man to arrive. Have this guy who comes round each week selling fresh/ frozen, chickens,

and eggs, and occasionally fruit from his truck.

Would like to wish everyone a Very, Very MERRY Christmas. Stay safe and have a good time. Enjoy

the season.

- Back to Lazy Days.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 21:07:44 -0400

Good Evening Everyone,

Just spent a couple of real nice lazy days. Sorry but I'm gonna say

it again, just sooo pleased to be here. Poor old U. K. has just been hit again with snow

and freezing temperatures.

Had a really lovely day yesterday. Rain came late in the evening. On

and off throughout the night. Nothing too heavy though, just nice light showers. Plants

all seem to be happy with the drink. Still light showers this morning and thick grey

clouds obscuring the horizon. This afternoon the sun managed to break through

and the rest of the day turned out nice. Slightly cooler this evening. I will probably end

up putting on a woollie. Very slight breeze every now and again, and I can just feel the

chill in it.

I'm off to find the glass. You all take care and have a great day tomorrow.

- GLORIOUS RAIN

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:04:49 -0800

We were so delighted to hear the rain on our roof last night as we were lying cosily in our bed! We have endured quite a dry spell and our water tank was getting low. Since we woke up this morning we have been having heavy showers interspersed with beautiful sunshine, it is fresh and beautiful.

We have had a very sad distressing situation here in the valley. Our beautiful Mummy dog Mindy was poisoned and died two weeks ago. We are all getting over the shock. Both our dogs had been poisoned and recovered fully six days previously. We inquired around the neigbourhood and everyone was mystified and said no one to their knowledge would poison our dogs. The reason I am posting this is because since Mindy died there have been several dogs poisoned in the area and very sadly yesterday I found out that Lily, Mindy's puppy and Tippy's sister had been poisoned and died this week!! All the poisonings are taking place at the peoples home which is very sad and shocking. All the poisoning is taking place within a three mile radius!

This is totally and utterly cruel, killing dogs for absolutely as we can see it no reason. We of course are now keeping a very close watch on our two dogs who are now more or less house bound. We are going on lots of walks though which keeps all of us exercised. I hope someone finds out who is doing this and explains to them how dreadfully cruel it is and how it breaks the owners heart to lose such a devoted pet and guard dog. The fact that the death to the dog or cat is agonizing. It is also really disturbing to watch helplessly as one tries everything at hand to save their beloved pet! I really hope we find out who is doing this so it can be stopped.

This is not an unusual practice throughout the Caribbean, however, it is not right it is barbaric! I wonder how the perpetrator would feel if they were poisoned!

On a brighter note it is good to have Jackie back from the UK. Hopefully we can all get together for some Christmas cheer.

- WARMTH.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:23:33 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Finally back in the warmth and ever soooo grateful to be here. Poor hubby

has been following me around with a mop and bucket, mopping up the water where I am

thawing out. Back in my favourite spot. Back balcony, looking at that lovely blue sea and

bright blue sky. Neighbours tooting, as they go past, and calling out welcome back, and

friends phoning and calling in to say hello.

Although it is nice to go over to England and see family and friends, and SHOP, it's

so nice to come back to my little piece of paradise. My view is now also improved,

due to the neighbours, and hubby. A huge tree blocked part of the view, and they clubbed together and had it cut down. The view

now has the WOW factor.

Hubby did a great job in keeping the dreaded weeds at bay in the garden. Just a little

tidying up to do. O yes, and the hole is still there waiting for me.

Will need to go to the store and buy some groceries. Not a lot left in the

fridge and cupboards, but before that I'm heading back to that view and another

coffee.

It's great to be back. You all take real good care out there.

- CHRISTMAS FAST APPROACHES

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 04:47:38 -0800

We are having lovely weather at the moment, cool mornings and evenings. The garden is looking so beautiful, lots of different colours with the red pointsettia out in full bloom plus a very wonderful white flower that looks like snow! The lawn is very green and the trees are in 3D mode; the view we have from the deck is pretty stunning with the backdrop of the cliffs of the Layou river - I think I should paint it one day! We have put our Christmas decorations up so our home is looking very seasonal at night. There is a good feeling of Christmas this year, I think it will be fun for everyone. Last year we were in the midst of a general election in DA so Christmas somehow took a step back; this year everyone will be able to enjoy the season of hopefully Goodwill and Cheer! It is a very calm, good time feel to everything now that the hurricane season is truly over for another six months!!

- LAST DAY OF HURRICANE SEASON

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 05:02:55 -0800

I am looking at the most beautiful rainbow at the moment, the sky is blue and the sun is shining! Looking back at this hurricane season we had a sting in the tail did we not! Hurricane Tomas hit with a vengence which managed to effect most of the Caribbean! Haiti has had a terrible year and is still suffering from the earthquake that killed so many and destroyed so many buildings and lives, with cholera killing so many and still continuing to do so; I can't even manage to imagine how terrible the conditions still are. We have to count ourselves lucky here in Dominica, our beautiful island has not been ravaged by anything at all this season.

We think that this website is really important and brings everyone together, keeps all of us in touch with our everyday lives and warns us well in advance of any bad weather system out there that wants to cannon ball into us. I think Gert wants some contributions to keep the site up and running a very good cause indeed.

Christmas marches upon us and then a New Year 2011!! We hope everyone enjoys the next six months ahead in relative peace!!

- Winter Weather

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:01:38 -0800

The past few days were very windy and cool in our valley, with quite a few heavy showers! In the mornings it is really cool and I sit out here on the deck with wearing a track suit top and socks on my feet to keep warm the same at night. In a way it is very cosy and as we near Christmas it gives one a real wintry feeling.

We had a very scary day yesterday as our dogs Tippy the baby (3 years old) and her mummy Mindy were poisoned. To see a dog poisoned is the most distressing site, it is even more upsetting when you have no idea of how the dogs were poisoned and what they have eaten, whether they are going to die in front of your eyes and there is absolutely nothing you can do!! Luckily for us yesterday help was on hand a very kind vet came immediately to our home and with a lot of TLC and medicine our two dogs are making a very good recovery. Something we have discovered if a dog has been poisoned by warfarin - which is a blood thinner - the thing to do is to boil the root of a Comfrey plant and then give it to the dogs with some warm milk and honey. The root of the Comfrey helps the blood to coagulate; this is a very important tip and one has to do this for three days! We are now going to be extra vigilant as our dogs are our companions and our security; they are brilliant watch dogs and alert us to anything that is around our home. We can't believe how cruel people can be that do this on purpose, which we are afraid to say seems to happen quite a lot in the West Indies.

- The Heavens have opened!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:26:42 -0800

Yesterday afternoon the rain came down in Roseau like a blanket, grey sky, vision was bad and everyone luckily was driving with their headlights on! I decided to leave Roseau around 4.0.p.m to get home in safety. I chose to go along the coast road and it was pretty good - not too many stones in the road from the cliffs! It can be quite scary driving along that way sometimes. The rain continued into the night and in the middle of the night we were woken up by the sound of the wind howling around the house and the rain beating on our roof! A squall indeed! We had a break this morning from the rain to take the dogs for their usual canter - and as I write this it is raining hard and the sky is very grey.

The weather coming towards us from the Atlantic looks really awful more rain! We really feel for St. Lucia how much more rain can that island take! It looks as if there is no let up for a while! It is bad enough for Dominica to have lots of rain, our rivers swell and we often have small landslides. There is a patch in the Antrim valley where the new road has been built that seems unstable, so this extra deluge is not good. The home strait of this hurricane season seems to show no mercy!

- TIFFANY'S

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:01:14 -0800

The past couple of days have been really pleasant, it has been cool with lots of white puffy clouds (we miss you Jackie) sunshine and quite heavy showers, this is good news as we actually really did need the rain.

It was odd walking the dogs this morning as there was a heavy dew and some showers in the night; when I was walking down the road the wind was gently blowing turning the leaves and causing droplets of water dripping on the ground like a light rain shower. The noise of the wind in the leaves was like a whispy romantic harmony, it just always continues to amaze us living with nature every thing even the smallest blade of grass is alive and wants to be heard!

We have a great new place to go and lime at! Tiffany's Art Gallery, studio, gift shop and cafe. This is a really lovely place to go relaxing and it has the most amazing selection of local food, snacks, sandwiches, cakes, milkshakes, beer anything that is required. The owner of the new premises is Tiffany Burnett, who is a very gifted artist and teacher of art. Tiffany is giving art classes which I have decided to attend as I want to learn much more about art. I have so far had one lesson and find Tiffany a very considerate and concientious teacher who is extremely encouraging and patient.

There are artworks displayed by all the gifted local artists: Earl Etienne, Ellingworth Moses, Annika Wide, Aaron Hamilton plus others including myself (first time my paintings are in a gallery)! Their also is some beautiful hand made jewellery designed and crafted by Tiffany, there are a lot of other local crafts, plus local preseves, hot sauce, chutney, jams a great deal of choice. With Christmas coming it will be a great place to go to get those seasonal gifts.

Tiffany's is located in Canefield on the opposite side of the road from National Bank and Old Mill. The building is a large warehouse with brightly painted yellow doors. There is a large garden with tables and chairs which gives one the option of sitting outside to enjoy a cold beer or whatever else you wish to drink and eat.

Tiffany's is open every day with the exception of the odd Sunday. Do go along and enjoy the atmosphere and a new place to party......................

- Rain in North-West

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:02:13 -0500

The Saturday night party-goers all slept in this morning, or went to the early church service, making for the most pleasant drive I have ever experienced from Roseau to Picard, Portsmouth.

It was hot and humid here until about 1:30 p.m. when the skies open up and we have been having thunder and constant rain showers since. Looks like it will go on for the remainder of today.

- A perfect morning

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 04:30:20 -0800

I am sitting on the deck looking out at a cloudless sky, there is not a whisper of wind, everything is clear and still giving a 3 D effect over the valley; it is cool and total silence except for the odd bird. As I write this I have a jacket and socks on! Autumn is with us here in the valley and it is so beautiful. It is so hard to imagine what the other islands are going through. St. Lucia and St. Vincent all having problems with water for drinking and bathing in. This is one of the jewels that Dominica possesses. We, for instance, have an underground spring that comes out of the rock cliff face on our land and the water - in all weathers - comes out cool and crystal clear. The rivers clear quickly when they are flood dirty and even in the drought of last year we never wanted for water! We can sympathize with those who have a shortage of it obviously because it sustains life and is so very precious.

St. Croix and the upper islands have certainly had a terrible swipe from Tomas, this is a hurricane that will go down in the annals of the Caribbean as a devastating late hurricane. Let's hope Tomas goes quickly now.

We are on count down now for the end of the 2010 season. Although the forcasters got it quite wrong with the number of big hurricanes, the ones that we have had - mainly 3 in the lesser Antilles - have amassed enough natural destruction to warrant a compartment in major storm history.

- Great day for hiking

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 10:48:10 -0500

Hiked through the Cabrits National Park aka Fort Shirley yesterday. Had the pleasure of meeting Dr Lennox Honychurch who informed us of the new trails at the park. Reminiscing on the days when we performed with PAT (Peoples' Action Theatre) was unavoidable.

Incidentally, Fort Shirley would have been the culmination of our intended Waitukubuli National Trail hike which started at Scotts Head on October 25th. With the high possibility of landslides, low visibility and minimal communication due to Hurricane Tomas, we decided to abort after about 6.5 segments at the Carib Reserve on October 31st. The entire trail consists of 14 segments, taking you through unimaginable sites which we intend to hike in the near future after its official opening.

With scattered high clouds, warm sunshine and occasional cool breezes, today is another great day for hiking.....

- SATURDAY

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 05:52:29 -0700

It was a week ago today that Tomas decided to call in on Dominca! We are so lucky not to have had the severe damage that St. Lucia and St. Vincent have had and are having to deal with. Life is set with challenges and nature is always the winner. In a way it is good as it puts our species the homo sapien well and truly in its place. It would be terrific if man was not so destructive to nature. Tomas at the moment is visiting Haiti, we feel so sorry for that island and its people especially the folk who are in tents and flimsy shelters, what misery the rain can bring. Not to mention that a life can be taken in a blink of an eye! We have to live for each day and as I write this the sunshine is coming out.

We only have so many days left of the hurricane season and it is poignant that we should have the whip at the end of the tail so to speak, let's hope we have no more.

We miss Jackie, our fellow correspondent from DA who is at present in the UK. We hope she is enjoying her glass of wine and cups of coffee there, although the weather is bound to be somewhat alien!

- ELECTRICITY IS STILL OUT OVER PORTIONS OF DOMINICA

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 06:23:11 -0700

Quite a number of people have telephoned me this morning to let me know that they do not have electricity and have not had any electricity for two days, just the same as us in the valley. Bellvue do not have electricity, my friends in Pond Casse do not have electricity. A lot of frozen food is no longer frozen. I was asked to post this update. Luckily we do not have any real damage like they have in St. Lucia; those photographs are amazing! Poor St. Lucia!

I also notice that Gert needs our help to keep this website up and running. This is essential as it is read by so many around the world. I would on that note like to thank folks who write into me and Jaco Ladd. The Internet is truly amazing.

- STILL WITHOUT POWER!!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 04:57:36 -0700

We had a really dreary day yesterday in the storms aftermath, it was made worse for us as we still have no electricity supply and have been without power since Saturday! We are very lucky to have a generator. We ended up playing scrabble last night by oil lamp, very romantic, Jaco Ladd won (of course)! It rained heavily in the night and this morning our gardner has arrived to help us clear up the debris from Tomas!

The show went on last night and we think it cheered everyone up and got them back in the party spirit for our Independence celebrations. We are lucky not to have too much damage over the island.

We hope the other islands get back to normal as quickly as possible and we're sorry to hear about the damage that Tomas reaped!

It is 1st November today so we hopefully only have this next month to get through and then our hurricane season will be over for yet another year!

- In full swing for now…

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 07:50:11 +0000

So far our weather seems to have stabilized greatly from what it was late on Saturday into early Sunday morning. Thankfully light winds have replaced the earlier brink wind gusts and there appears to be a lot less moisture as well since most shower activity has mostly tapered off.

The recent inclement weather from Hurricane Tomas did put up a reasonable enough challenge at times to the utility companies here, however, full electricity service was never out for any significant length of time, which speaks highly of the efficiency and competence of our electricity/and by extension telecommunications service providers. Indeed, Kudos must be given when they are due and in the case of the latter, ideally phone/ cell service was for the most part totally uninterrupted.

Over the course of Sunday normalcy was realized in quick fashion with Masses and Church services being held as usual with several Dominicans turning out in their National wear. In fact, conditions proved to be rather favourable quickly enough for there to be no Qualms whatsoever about proceeding with the ‘make-up’ half of the World Creole Music festival which had to be postponed Saturday evening due to the stormy weather compliments of Tomas.

Apparently, officials deemed it okay for the 14th annual World Creole Music Festival action to proceed as early as 1 p.m. Sunday, since weather was permitting and fans were anxious to make up for lost party time. The official third night of the 14th World Creole Music Festival is in full swing in the Windsor Park Stadium…I suspect that there’ll be no interruptions –weather or otherwise this time. I trust that all in attendance will have celebrated their money’s worth this time around!

*Also It was really awful to hear about the reports from St. Lucia and St. Vincent- especially the suspected incidents of Looting in Castries, and now flood damages in Tobago…May God’s providence be upon all affected; let us all not let down our guard, and continue to keep a keen eye on the weather.

God’s Blessings to all!

- STORM PASSING

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 08:10:42 -0700

I think from what we are hearing from our friends around the island is that we have not got any real structural damage. Yesterday was a write off for us here in the valley, the night was the worst; we had a great deal of rain and forceful gusts of wind, that made an eerie whistling soud, we also have bamboo close to the cottage and that makes it's own cracking, creaking noises so last night was very spooky, just perfect if your into halloween. We were very warmly tucked up in bed with our shutters firmly closed. Unlike Dean we did not hear any trees falling so we felt pretty safe. We got up early this morning, no power, no landline telephone. We cooked a great breakfast of sausages and fried potatoes washed down with a steaming hot pot of coffee! We then went on damage control around the cottage and our generator shed! We have lots of branches from the trees down by the generator shed. A few branches down in the garden but really not a lot of damage at all. Our telephone line is back on; the internet is intact as we know. The road was unblocked an hour ago which is really great!

The show went on in the stadium last night but had to be stopped after the first act as the weather was too wet endangering the band! We think and hope that the show can go forward tonight. We hope so too for everyone's sake.

We do not have any Domlec current on yet but no doubt it will be on soon. We have to thank all the services in Dominica for getting us sorted out so quickly!!

This tropical storm going into a hurricane truly caught us all out. It emphasises the fact that one should always be prepared in hurricane season, with provisions, enough fuel for the generators, oil for our oil lamps. This is one thing we have truly learned over our years here in the Caribbean. Tomas marches on causing havoc and it looks like there is still a lot of mess in the Atlantic. It is late in the year but we still have the month ahead to worry about. I hope everyone has stayed safe here in Dominica and the other islands struck by late OcTomas.

- Toxic Tomas...

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:45:57 +0000

Good morning all,

So far Unfortunately, the effects of Hurricane Tomas appear to be nothing short of Horrendous...from St. Vincent in the South to as far north as Guadeloupe the impact has been moderate to severe depending on where one is posting from…

Here in the Nature Isle, Dominica we have not been left unscathed -thus far the winds have been gusting to about 25-35 Knots -sometimes as high as 40 knots or greater on the North East coast accompanied by driving rains. So far no thunder has been heard at all. The occasional higher gusts often create a howling sound- which only makes me even more apprehensive to think of what terrible Tomas has done to the islands of St. Lucia and St. Vincent in addition to what Barbados has already experienced. Major lessons ought to be learnt from the ‘surprise’ nature of this system’s development and the resultant deficiency in forecasting and warning by regional authorities et al.

Amazingly it is said that the Creole Festival went off last night...Incredible but that there were reports of some structural damage around town -though apparently minimal. Here the vegetation has taken most of the beating with leaves, branched and twigs down etc. Some banana plants have also taken a good lashing from Tomas.

For most of yesterday and this morning there have been some brief but moderate squall lines coming through. The Atlantic has been churning madly and I’m pretty sure the storm swells/ surges have reached the Caribbean Sea- western facing side of the island by now. I do hope that Yesterday's inclemency from early in the morning which continues into this morning gave most people enough time to be ready for what we had to endure overnight-early this morning. It appears from the satellite that as the system moves to the wnw now at an even slower pace that we will have to deal with a few more heavy squall lines into the next day. I do pray that everyone will remain safe throughout the day especially those who may still be out in this weather at the various Creole/ Independence events.

Major tropical systems are never a pleasant experience! God’s Blessings to all.

- Rain and more Rain

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:36:00 -0400

It is raining hard here in Dominica. Our electricity has been off since 3 p.m. We are at the moment pulsating the generator. We understand the show at the stadium will go on tonight; we are not positive so people should check! We still think anyone who goes should be thinking they will be there all night! Looking at the Stormcarib picture to us it looks like we could be getting hit with a great deal of rain and stormy conditions tonight! This is the weirdest storm we have known, unpredictable to say the least. The valley I and I feel that Dominicans should still take care and be aware;Tomas has not gone totally away by any means. Tomas is capable of giving us more than a good swipe!

Cakafete....Brothers and sisters!

- COOL WEATHER

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:24:09 -0700

I have just been on the stormpulse website and it looks like Dominica is not going to be hit by Tomas. I have to say I am greatly relieved and so hope that the show can go on at the stadium in Roseau tonight. The weather here is bright with some showers but at no time has it been difficult. The dogs have been spoilt being allowed inside our home! I hope I am noot counting my chickens before they are hatched! As I look out onto the deck we have a lot of brightness,

I am not being flipant and know that the other islands have been hit hard by Tomas. Fingers and toes crossed that we have little weather now and the show can go on!

- The Lull before the storm!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 07:51:10 -0700

Up here in the valley the weather varies from sporadic pouring rain
and right now total stillness.  The calm before the storm!  We are
reading the reports from the other islands and are sorry to hear of
the damage that has befallen Barbados!  We hope the other islands are
a little more prepared for Tomas!

We have prepared for anything  that the weather wishes to throw at us.
 Our hurricane shutters are tight shut.  The animals are all safe and
with us.  They just instinctively know that something is up!  Me, well
I bake when it is like this so the bread is on the rise and we have a
stew slowly cooking on the stove!  We also have some good bottles of
wine and we of course have the scrabble board out, the oil filled
lamps and we are just going to hunker down.

We will keep everyone up dated.  We are just so, so disappointed for
the bands, organizers and everyone who has tickets to go to the show
tonight.  I have not heard what is happening with this situation, I
guess we will know more this afternoon.  It seems that the storm has
stalled a bit and we await what changes this will make to wind force;
does this means it is gathering itself to strengthen!?

I have posted some photo's of the Pagua river and - at the moment -
our very orderely garden!! plus by accident a display of my art work
which is being shown at Tiffany's art gallery/ restaurant which opened
yesterday!  The gallery/restaurant is located in Canefield opposite
the National bank.  Do make sure and visit this very charasmatic new
business.  I will write more about this in another post.

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- CREOLE FESTIVAL

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 07:22:08 -0400

I forgot to post just now that this weather system is quite devastating for the festivities that are going to be held in the stadium over the weekend. We have groups coming from all over the Caribbean and world to be here for our Independence celebrations! We have two more nights of music at the stadium in Roseau! I am not at all sure what will happen as I would imagine if the weather gets really bad folks won't be able to travel at night to go to the show. Some of the planes might not make it today! The best thing is for everyone to take a sleeping bag and stay all night under cover in the stadium and hopefully enjoy the show as the stage is covered and so is the stadium. Maybe party all night providing we only get a side swipe!! I wish good luck to all the organizer's, bands and followers. I hope the show can go on!

.

- Grey and Moody

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:59:22 -0400

We had some heavy rain in the night but not really any wind! Jaco Ladd had alerted me to the fact that Tomas was coming in the night so I was surprised this morning to see a grey sky with not a lot of water around. We took the dogs out for their walk this morning and the whole place has an eerie feel just like we are expecting something mystical! The one thing that is fascinating is listening to the wind in the trees. We have forest on all sides of us and the wind moving the leaves and branches is rather like an orchestra! The sound starts across the valley and as you are walking the sound travels through the branches making it's own music. It worries me sometimes as the odd branch does come down across the road and I would definitely not want to be under it!! As everyone so far is pointing out this tropical storm has caught us all out a bit. It looks like we will be swiped by the weather later today. I hope everyone stays safe as, yes, a lot of islands have been caught with their pants down!!

.

- Kudos to Crown Weather and to Chris- Who’s watching and warning?

By Micheal Colaire <nichs2002 at yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 00:39:15 -0700 (PDT)

Greetings!
To those who have been following the cyclogenesis of this system the 
inevitability of this system’s formation seemed a guarantee…so yet again 
the reality of impending Tropical storm Tomas which only less than 24 hrs ago 
was nothing but a vigorous tropical wave- underscores the need for more 
advanced Tropical system Caribbean forecasting in conjunction with the NHC. 

Kudos are in order to Crown weather which accurately predicted this system with 
relevant intensity forecasts as well, and to Christopher of St. Lucia who 
alerted based on their projections –well done.

The alerting mechanisms  for tropical cyclone formation in our region 
definitely needs to be more pro-active and timely. The cost /consequence of 
such un-timeliness with forecasting is quite truly a human one. 
Indeed, throughout the island chain but more so in St. Lucia and especially in 
Dominica where Islanders and lovers of Creole are out celebrating aspects of 
the culture’s music, dance and food- the lack of overall awareness of a 
threatening system could actually make the human impact rather serious. Because 
Who’s really watching and or warning at this point?

The fact that this system has caught so many off guard should hopefully serve 
as a lesson which out to be well learnt- then again we do have a dilemma of 
quickly forgetting lessons taught-which is a sort of an annual Hurricane 
amnesia -if You will… Perhaps it a coping mechanism of sorts, nonetheless we 
must all get our act together more quickly especially during the 6 month long 
Hurricane season.

So far the occasional shower or light squall has come through here,  but 
nothing really intense as yet. Let’s pray this system does not get too 
powerful while crossing the Windward/ Leeward islands.

May God’s Blessings continue to be upon us all!

- Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert?...

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:45:41 +0000

Good Evening all!

The fringe effects of what is likely to be 'Tomas' have already begun pushing their way very near to the islands. Here in Dominica the odd shower has come by, however a lot more could 'grace' our Creole festivities over the week-end.
Indeed, this potential cyclone formation alert should have probably been issued long before since 91L seems intent on becoming a named system -i.e. TOMAS rather soon. Regardless of the change in this system's intensity; the coming day's weather etc. is almost certain to be very severe. Let's all remain vigilant and safe during this latter half of this hurricane season and may God give us the wisdom and strength to cope with whatever eventualities come our way.

God's Blessings and Good night.

- Creole in the Park

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:51:03 -0700

It has been a crazy week!  Everything is happening here in Dominica,
it is party time.  Creole in the Park sponsored by LIME started on
Monday.  The day was not that sunny and bright, in fact it was a
little damp and muddy underfoot at the Botanical Gardens  Since then
we have had glorious sunny weather and everyone has been out in their
Creole outfits having a great time dancing to some great bands in the
open air.

Yesterday we went to the park and had a great time, we had the best
roti!  Also the rum was flowing to wash it down with!  I took some
photo's of the crowd.  We loved this one of the Great Grandma and her
great grand daughter.  Also a photo of a very talented young singer.

We are watching the weather below us and hope that from Grenada down
the islands do not get hit too hard with 91L.  We, here in Dominica,
need the sunshine until after the weekend.

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- Creole Festival

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:25:02 -0700

We have been having continuing lovely weather; what is so refreshing is that it is so cool in the mornings and evenings, in fact I am sitting with a jumper on and a pair of socks on my feet, as pleasurable as it gets.

Dominica is gearing up for the Creole festival starting next week. We have Creole in the Park for the week, this is a lot of fun. The festivities are held in part of our Botanical gardens, there are stalls, selling everything from delicious food to arts and crafts. There is the main stage that have performers from dance, soca, rap, Jing Ping, every sort of music. The fee to get in is 2 EC dollars and you can stay as long as you like, it is colourful and fun. The World Creole Festival officially is a precursor to the independence celebrations A place to catch up with friends and meet new ones! Weatherwise the out look for us is good, so we will keep our fingers crossed.

We also feel that they are trying to finish paving the new Pond Casse to Canefield road in time for the festival; we are having a procession of trucks loaded with ashphalt that will glorify the highways and byways. We will be so pleased when the roadbuilding finishes and the tranquility of the valley returns.

- WEIRD STONE

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 04:51:38 -0700

We have had great weather over the weekend.  We actually managed to go
to Mero beach on Saturday and yesterday to swim, the sea was crystal
clear and a great temperature.

Jaco Ladd came with me yesterday to Syndicate to view some land.
Syndicate is an amazing part of the island.  It is the heart of
agriculture and grows a great variety of citrus, bananas, plantain,
pineapples and many different varities of vegetables.  Rated as the
highest mountain in DA, Morne Diablotin is part of the land;  there is
the most amazing forest of tall trees with great big roots that one
can actually stand in, it is really prehistoric!  There are many walks
in the area for the avid hiker, some great waterfalls to visit and so.
 There is also a great reception centre that contains refreshment for
the weary and somewhat bruised; and this holds a comprehensive history
of the island and is well worth a visit.

We had a great lunch at the Purple Turtle beachfront restaurant at
Portsmouth then scooted back to Mero for a swim and bumped into a
gentleman who had found this green stone that I have attached!  Has
anyone out there seen a green stone like this, we would love to know
what it is?

It looks like we will have some showers today which is great, the
garden is a little in wilt mode.

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- MANIC WEEK

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:12:31 -0700

Weatherwise we have had a really lovely week! It is definitely cooler in the mornings and evenings which we love. There don't seem to be so many fireflies committing susicide in our home which means less vaccuming for me! Luckily our home being not very large I can clean the whole place at a fairly quick speed. There is a lot of sense having a smaller property especially when there are only two of us! The garden is another matter because it is huge so we have to employ a gardner!

This week has been manic with work for me and also I had the first art lesson with a fantastic lady Tiffany, what an amazing artist, Tiffany spent five years in two of the top art colleages in London. Tiffany's art work is truly stunning she has an amazing talent. I feel so lucky that she has agreed to teach me more technique. I only started painting in 2008 and have only had eight lessons; now I want to learn more about mixing colours and the suttleties of shading. It is just fascinating to me and a wonderful way of totally relaxing. Tiffany is starting her own art gallery and shop selling jewellery and arty stuff, plus she has a great garden where she is going to serve refreshments! The plan is for the gallery to be open for our big Creole festival at the end of this month! I am going to hang some of my small paintings in the gallery so am working hard on my painting! Tiffany teaches art at the primary schools and is going to be teaching from her large wharehouse in Canefield which is the gallery! I will give more details on this in the next week.

Paula went and I still believe my gut feeling that the Caribbean has got off lightly this hurricane season. It is definitely a good beach day today!

- Happy Saturday

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 06:16:37 -0700

Yesterday turned out to be a very beautiful day with a light breeze.
I had to spend several hours in the office, I managed to sneak off at
about 2.30 p.m.  I was hungry and hot.  I always carry with me in the
jeep a basket with my swimming things!  I made the decision to go to
the Evergreen hotel.  This is a great place to go for a couple of
quiet hours with a book!  I ordered a sandwich for lunch, changed into
my bikini had a delicious cool swim in their pool which is located
next to the ocean, which was the most amazing blue yesterday; the sea
was rough and there was magnigficent spray coming over the rocks as
the waves crashed around the wall.  I had two blissful stolen hours
with my book, swimming and eating before having to go back to work!

Today is going to be gorgeous, what a change from the darkness of last
weekend!  John Fuller and the back room boys are in action again which
means that John must be getting fit again which is great!  He reckons
they have waterfalls in Antigua.  He has to come and see our huge
variety of waterfalls all the year around in Dominica!

I have attached some photo's of our nature green island, with an
amazing catapillar (these turn into the most beautiful butterflies I
have ever seen)

Sent from my Chuckberry device  Digicell 24 Stock Farm Correctional Centre

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- Glorious Sunshine

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 06:29:43 -0700

What a beautiful day we had yesterday.  The sun was shining all day.
Dominica was sparkling in more ways than one.  I was out all day
looking at land and took some lovely photographs of the Pagua river
which I have enclosed.

Today is starting out another fabulous day, unfortunately I have to be
in Roseau today.  Roseau can be sticky hot and on a Friday everyone is
in town!  Hopefully we can go to the beach tomorrow, with all this
weather we have not been for a swim for nearly two weeks!  This for
waterbabies like us is a long time.

We here in Dominica seem to have got away really well with the
tropical depression; although we had rain we did not have anything
like our neighbouring islands Antigua and Barbuda and further up the
Leewards.  Otto looks like he's capitalizing on the favourable
conditions out there.

Otto go now.

I still feel we will be OK for the rest of the season hurricane wise
in the Caribbean islands, fingers crossed.  We hope Jackie will return
safe and sound to Dominica from the UK soon.

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- Clear skies

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 00:36:01 -0400

Had an exciting trip to Roseau. Great weather to walk, so parking the
car and walking in and around Roseau is the most practical way to go.
Accomplished everything on my "to-do" list. Had lunch at "The Garage"
then visited "Screw's Spas"

Developing car trouble at Dublanc on the trip back to Picard proved to
be a great reminder that Dominican motorists will go out of their way
to help others. I was impressed at the number of people who stopped to
help along the way. Car had to be towed home, but that didn't stop me
from enjoying the bright stars in the clear sky.

- Lightening show

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2010 22:17:54 -0400

A continuous bright lightening show from the west currently lights up the sky.
Bracing ourselves for the coming rainstorm from the south-east edge of
Otto overnight.
My drive to Roseau tomorrow should be interesting if at all possible.

- BIG MISTAKE

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 15:08:33 -0400

This morning was fantastic! Set out to Roseau, stopped on my way in Canefield to see my artist friend Tiffany! I noticed the ocean on the way in, the bank of black clouds on the horizon.

Well as I got to my friend's building the heavens opened and then came the thunder and lightning! It was really shocking. I had to use four wheel drive to get out of the driveway! I made the decision not to go to Roseau but popped into a supermarket out of town, got necessary shopping and came home. The drive home was scary as there was obviously a lot of water and big boulders falling off the cliffs, really nasty!

I checked the weather when I got back and can see we are still in the thick of this weather system!

I hope everyone is taking care as it is weather for landslides and flash floods. I saw four slides up the valley on the way home. Luckily none had blocked the road!

The Layou river is filling fast and obviously filled with very muddy water cascading down into the ocean. Oh for the sunshine!

- Tropical mountain breeze

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 14:15:03 -0400

Tropical mountain breeze mixed with clean ocean mist sounds like a
fabric softener, but that's exactly what we are experiencing here in
the North.
Heavy showers yesterday made for crystal clear water in the Picard
river. High overhead cloud cover lingers on.

- WEIRD DAY YESTERDAY

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 06:46:17 -0700

Yesterday, was a cancelled day as far as we were concerned. It was just so strange, we had a fair amount of really heavy showers followed by wafts of mist. We heard thunder rumbling in the distance but very luckily never experienced any thunder or lightning in the valley. The day was dark, the dogs slept most of the day as if they were in hibernation. Today we can see patches of blue through the cloud cover and it is much brighter. Jaco Ladd while running with the dogs this morning came across some small landslides down the road but nothing too big. We have heard nothing on the radio that indicates there were any real problems yesterday anywhere on the island which is great.

We are off to town today to get some needed supplies. It looks like we could be getting hit with some more weird weather in the next week. I just hope it dissipates and blends into the Atlantic. We are living in the Caribbean and as such expect the odd ray or two of sunny disposition to lift the spirits, as we will.

- Incessant Rains!

By Micheal Colaire <nichs2002 at yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 09:02:44 -0700 (PDT)

Greetings!

           Well, we have had incessant rains here in the north and east of the 
island, and have probably collected well over a couple of inches in the rain 
gauge by now from Invest 97. At times the weather pattern with banding 
signatures in the cloud tops seems to suggest something beyond an Invest more 
like a depression- and to say nothing of some conditions being reported in the 
other islands…
Today from early this morning there has been a minor to moderate wind reversal 
with the rainfall, which has been heavy at times with wind driven bands of 
water causing most areas of shelter to be drenched…school children out today 
must be giving mother nature a ‘piece of their mind.’ I suppose it’s a 
small price we do pay annually for living in the sweet tropics, and in an 
island as lush and well watered as Dominica, the Nature Island!

From the looks of the satellite pictures- the blobs of convection seem to be 
crisscrossing the islands- largely from the west to the East. Hopefully we 
won’t get one of those really intense bands of convection going over our 
island again as happened earlier this morning. 
 There was minor thunder/ lightning activity, but there was copious amounts of 
showers –now there are a couple of slides being reported around the island- 
however, the public works department is normally quite efficient in dealing 
with the clean up- so these main thoroughfares should be tidied up pretty soon.
Well, unfortunately we’re still in the hurricane season –so we must all be 
as prepared as possible and vigilant- OTTO may be on our doorstep… My most 
Heartfelt prayers and sympathies go out to all those affected brothers and 
sisters in Jamaica. Remain strong and Safe in God’s grace and Blessings 
–remember this Too Shall Pass!

- DARK AND DISMAL

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 08:50:29 -0700

The weather here is much like what all the islands are getting, that's those who have written in so far. We are having a very, very, dark day with lots of heavy rainfall. I am delighted to say though that we have not had much donner & blitzen! I hope this is does not to come to pass.

The radio has warned Dominicans to stay home if they do not have to travel, to be careful of flooding and landslides, as we live in the valley we are staying at home today! Yesterday was very overcast most of the day, we did have a bit of rain in the night but not much!

We so hope this weather does not got to Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti. Jamaica especially is suffering from this seasons very odd weather!

We also watched the you tube rescue that Barbados posted yesterday, very amazing.

We hope as always that everyone stays safe and is careful when driving or having to go out. I so hope that the weather is better tomorrow. It is depressing to say the least.

Martha in Antigua seems to be having fun as in her vicinity; it seems to be raining men! On that note I am going to put some soup on the cooker and snuggle up with my book and Jaco Ladd of course.............

- MISTS OF AVALON

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 07:22:56 -0700

What truly weird weather yesterday! What an amazing day. It was a really cool and incredible misty experience. We live in the valley and look at a very dramatic backdrop of cliffs that drop to the Layou river. All day yesterday we had an awesome sight to behold as this really ethereal fog followed by a cloud mass billowed up the valley, with a strange golden light, it was as if we were enclosed by a magical presence and we had entered a mythical place; it was made even more mysterious as yesterday we had zero traffic passing, it was as if we had entered another planet, really awesome. The attached pics may help - but difficult to capture the aura.

There is a really awful looking splodge of weather stretching the length of the islands lingering really far too near us for comfort, we will be watching this and sincerely hoping it does not advance our way any further!

It is good to know you are out there reading our blogs. I have been informed that there was a tsunami off St. Croix in 1876!!! We truly hope that there is not a tsunami coming to St. Croix in the near future, however, as they are going to put in a warning device on the island, they will be well prepared to take cover!

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- How you like them apples!

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 11:38:56 -0400

Light ocean breeze with an occasional shower. Great weather here in
the North for growing apples. Who said apples don't grow in Dominica
never heard of Mammie apple, Sugar apple, Custard apple, Star apple,
Golden apple....and the list goes on.

Heading to Melville Hall Airport in a few to drop off some friends
leaving (reluctantly) for Connecticut.

- Sticky day!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 05:29:16 -0700

Yesterday was a really whacky day weatherwise, we had some really heavy showers followed by a haze and very sticky muggy conditions in Roseau. I had lunch at a new restaurant which is located in the most lovely old building near the library. The place is called - I think - 'The Tallipot' a great new addition to Roseau a good place to meet friends and chill out!

We have woken up to a beautiful sunny day, everything looks calm and it should be a settled weekend. We are so glad that the big blobs of angry weather have more or less passed by us.

We have an English sense of humour and it always amuses us at the beginning of the hurricane season because all of us writers are girded up and active! Yes, it is stressful and we are all concerned about each other and the islands we live on. There is definitely a feeling of camaraderie and that we all are here for one another. This is a great thing about the site.

However, this morning reading the reports around the Caribbean I caught the one from St. Croix about the island getting decked out with alarms for Tsunami's!! There might be one coming soon! Well I don't think we have ever heard of a Tsunami coming to St. Croix but I suppose there is always a first time!! It just really struck me as funny as if it is not enough to be watching out for hurricanes we have to be on Tsunami watch and God forbid if we had to watch out for snow as well!! On that note everyone have a great weekend.

- LANDSLIDES

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:30:55 -0700

Wow, poor Jamaica - the weather seriously has taken everyone by surprise; 9 deaths reported! Looking at the conditions in the Atlantic approaching the islands it looks like we are in for some really wet weather! We had rain on and off all night. Sitting on the deck as I write this, we have some dark clouds with good blue patches! I have to take clients to look at land today so hope it stays fairly dry!

Yesterday I was really surprised to see several small landslides along the valley! We usually have landslides here after really heavy rainfall which is fairly normal, however, I have not known them happen when we have been having really good sunny weather. Just wonder what triggered them?

The weather really looks horrible for the next few days. Let's hope that the weather moves away from Jamaica very soon and hopefully the Domincan Republic will be OK as well.

We pray everyone stays safe and is sensible in the rain; flooding is scary and flash floods can occur within seconds!

- Plumbing done Yippee!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:20:14 -0700

We had a really gorgeous day yesterday it was sunny with cool breezes. I had a very busy day driving to Portsmouth and back to Roseau. Roseau was really hot and sticky not my favourite place in those conditions!

It looks like there is very messy weather on both sides of the islands but today looks like being clear although we had a very hearvy shower this morning. I have to go to Calibishie today which is another long day of driving!

We managed to get a plumber yesterday to mend our pump it was the air pressure water tank that had given up the ghost! We were so glad to get the water fixed it is not fun living out of buckets for everything. Yesterday I came home late after working a long day and was able to jump into a high pressure shower!! Total bliss! How we take our plumbing for granted, it truly brings you down to earth when something so fundemental to our lives breaks down.

- Titiwi Festival

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 05:29:11 -0700

What a weekend!  We are having cooler weather, mostly sunny with the
odd shower.  The temperature has definitely dropped in the mornings
and evenings.The early mornings are darker and there is definitely an
autumnal feel.  We are nearing November now and my gut feeling is that
we will not suffer a large hurricane here in the Caribbean! - but
never take one's eye off the ball.

The weekend for us has been very interesting:  Our water pump started
to make funny noises; it sounds like the pump is being starved of
water.  We tried everything to get into the pipes but short of hitting
them with sledge hammer nothing has worked!!

I don't know about other islands, but here we tend to telephone the
people who are supposed to fix things like water pumps etc.  The
person assures us they will come but they don't come!!  So you
telephone them again and then because of caller ID they don't respond
to your call!  This is something that really irks me as it is only
good manners to answer calls!! - allso if you cannot make the
appointment at least tell the person.  So for the weekend we have been
swimming in the river taking a bath which is very refreshing, hence
posting photo's of the Layou river which is just by where we live.  We
are so lucky!

We also attended the Titiwi festival that was held at the village of
Layou over two days, Saturday and Sunday.  Titiwi are little fish that
are really tasty.  The beach at Layou was covered with brightly lit
bars, people cooking over coal pots, barbecues, offering all sorts of
delicious local food.  The beer was chilled and the party atmosphere
was refreshing.  Layou is famous for catching Titiwi at certain times
of the year, so the only place to have the fete!

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- IGOR

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:46:33 -0700

We are so glad that Igor did not cause too much damage to Bermuda that
is so fantastic.  It sounds like everything is getting back on track
in a quick fashion.

We here in the valley having been having the most lovely weather, a
great breeze, dull, overcast weather no rain but the temperature is
great.  It feels very Autumnal, the nights are pulling in a bit as
well.

Our friend Sharon has written to me today letting me know that Igor
went on to hit them in the islands off Newfoundland, Canada.  Sharon
lives in Woody Point right by the ocean and they had a great deal of
damage from trees coming down, coastal erosion and a lot of high winds
- apparently Sharon cannot remember every experiencing weather like it
before and was quite fearful on her own with her kittens.  I am glad
to say she has survived and is fine now.  It was a very big surprise
to them in Newfoundland, a rarity some may say and certainly something
they do not want to happen again in the near future.  It made Sharon
appreciate what we go through in the islands each season' looking out
for those hurricanes!

It is windy and overcast, I am catching up with work.

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- Where did that come from?

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:18:21 -0700

On a Sunday that started so beautifully, ended up in the afternoon turning black, then the worst thunder and lightning we have had all summer rocked the valley. A friend of ours stopped by for a drink and some delicate victuals. I was bringing lunch out onto our deck when there was the biggest flash of lightning that struck the house followed by the loudest crash of thunder we have heard. The storm was directly over us. I, being totally freaked out about lightning, nearly dropped the plate with our goodies on it. We quickly retreated inside. The best thing to do was to steady the nerves and imbibe some quality vino as well as the food! The storm went on for what seemed a very long time. We stayed inside and partied.

It actually made us think how lucky we were that we were not in the midst of Igor and were thinking about a good outcome for the folks in Bermuda. Even though the hurricane has waned a lot it is still a hurricane and can reap a lot of damage. We are waiting to hear some news from up north, we hope everyone is OK.

It looks like there is still a lot of mess weatherwise out there but nothing to watch closely yet. I have to go to town today so hope the sky stays blue!

- Lightning and thunder

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:02:29 -0400

Lightning and thunder over the past few hours.
American Eagle flight from Puerto Rico to Melville Hall canceled.
Winds remain calm so light raindrops flutter down like wannabe snow flakes.

- All is calm

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:50:33 -0700

Today is absolutely beautiful we have Jackie's white puffy clouds in a blue, blue sky! A perfect day for taking Sunday as a day off, going to the beach or the river for a swim and relaxation!

Yesterday I was in town visiting a friend from the UK, we decided to have lunch at the Evergreen hotel and then relax by the pool for the afternoon. As I arrived the heavens opened and the wind grew incredibly strong then suddenly the ocean stirred right up and started crashing onto the rocks below the dining room of the hotel, the spray going all over the place; it was truly incredible like a mini hurricane! We guessed it must have been from the outer bands of Igor, within an hour it was totally calm again and we were able to spend a tranquil afternoon by the pool!

I was not able to post for two days as Google closed my g mail account. I was really surprised but it turned out that someone corporate from another country was able to hack into my account!! I am truly thankful that I was alerted to this by Google. It is seriously frightening - and quite commonplace - that hackers can access our computers and e mail accounts! The internet is essential to our world today but how easily it could cause total havoc also! Technology is amazing but we all have to be on our guard and protect our online privacy!

We are thinking of Bermuda at this time; Igor has weakened somewhat but the oncoming duration of many hours will take its toll on the strongest of buildings and the most determined human resolve.

- Overlooking North-West

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:24:22 -0400

- Sunshine and rain

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:21:20 -0400

Having sunshine and rain is like having your cake and eating it. No
problem here.
Looking towards the north west over some breadfruits, carambolas.
guavas, and coconuts.
It rained for about 5 min after pic was taken. Wind continues to be
exceptionally calm here.

- Rough Seas

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 04:45:18 -0700

Dominica is having the most beautiful weather at the moment. You would not think that anything huge like hurricane Igor is lurking out in the ocean only a few hundred miles away! Igor also is just hanging around taking his time to move away! I went to Hatton Garden yesterday which is on the Atlantic coast near Pagua Bay and the ocean was pounding on the beach and the waves were actually carrying on up the Pagua Bay river! Where I was able to enjoy a beautifully relaxed swim in those cool, cool waters. We are so lucky to have the choice of swimming in the ocean or the rivers! Igor though is impacting the ocean and I am sure all the Leeward islands will feel the whiplash of Igor via the ocean! We are having a very lucky escape! November is not that far away the end hopefully of our hurricane season, we hope without any hurricane doing real damage to our islands. I still have the faith this could be true!

I hope the people in Bermuda stay safe!

- CAT 4 IGOR

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:42:17 -0700

This definitnely brings memories of Luis for us as Martha has pointed out that was the worst hurricane to go through, we so hope this hurricane goes up in the northerly direction it is supposed to take!

Antigua and Barbuda, St. Martin, Anguilla and Tortola certainly need to keep an eye on this one.

The weather center here in Dominica are telling the fishermen to get their boats out of the water as they are expecting rough seas in the wake of Igor.

Today is a cloudless day it looks like it will be a brilliant day. No sign of Igor out in the Atlantic. Here's keeping our fingers and toes crossed that Igor goes by all of us in the Caribbean.

- Struck by lightning modem down!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:31:53 -0400

Crash, bang, thwack, flash and ZAP. Last night around midnight the God's clashed, there was light and out went one of our wireless modems! Luckily nothing else of value. The storm with no warning came and went out pretty quickly. We got a great deal of rain which we are actually grateful for! It looks like the to be depression is heading to Puerto Rico which was predicted, hopefully it will not strengthen too much.

We are very sorry to hear Eli tell us about his father John Fuller who we have known for many years and definitely need around for a lot more years to head up the back room boys! We hope he gets fixed up quickly and back on a healthy track. To think Martha and John started with Gert all those years ago! Old age has definitely done them some favours like the sea dogs they are!

.

- Bring on the rain

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:26:39 -0400

Warm September rain showers are as pleasant as the
sounds from the lizards which they bring tonight.

Temperature: 27C (80.6F)
Humidity: >80%
Winds: calm
Clouds: broken to overcast
Smog: zero
Smiles: abundant

- Wonderful Sunset

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:28:49 -0700

Yesterday was another gorgeous day in Dominica.  I had the luxury of
staying home, taking the day off to paint!  My trip was cancelled due
to the clients being unable to make the appointments!  It is very rare
I take time out!

We woke up to an amazing rainbow and red sky, really pretty!  We had
quite a lot of rain in the night.  As I sit here we are looking at
dark grey clouds and the rain has is now coming down quite heavily.
None of Jackies puffy white clouds in a blue sky today!  It looks like
thr depression below is visiting us now!  Of course this would be the
case as i have clients to take to show properties to today!

We had another amazing sunset last night so I took some photo's and
also have posted two paintings i finished yesterday.

I hope this depression leaves the Windwards today and we all get some
seriously good weather; having said that we did need some rain in
Dominica!

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- Red mornings

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 04:34:11 -0700

We woke up once again to a red sky early this morning it makes the
whole place look ethereal  The colours though are amazing very unreal.

It looks like very unsettled weather down below us and reading Sally's
report from Grenada thunder and lightning of great magnitude.  My pet
hate is lightning so I totally sympathize with her, the whisky
definitely helps!!

We had a very sunny, windy day yesterday.  We took time out and went
for a swim at Mero beach and a swim on the way home in the river to
get the salt off!

It looks like we could be having some rough weather if the bobbles of
unrest below forms!

Jackie, one of our other writer here in Dominica has informed me she
has had to go to the UK so I have to be more vigilant with my
reports!!  We will try hard to keep up the good work.  We just hope
Jackie has some time for a glass or two to keep up her spirits.

I was asked to post some more photo's of the beach at Pointe Baptiste.
 This is a very popular place in Dominica especially with expats,
living in this area.  As you can see from the photographs the sand is
white, the sea a clear blue and the cliffs are bright red.  The
scenery is very, very stunning.  We go to the Red Rock Haven hotel
which has a great bar and restaurant right on the beach a great place
to hang out in the daytime and the evening.

Good luck everyone with the weather that is coming.

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- Reports.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 23:51:10 -0400

Good evening everyone or nearly good morning.

Must have been about 4.30am this morning when the thunder disturbed me and believe

me that's hard to do when I'm asleep. Huge claps of thunder right over the house. Finally gave

up trying to sleep and got up. Which at a guess must have been 5. 30 am. Went out onto the

back balcony and the rain was hammering down. Complete whiteout. Lightening streaking

through the sky and the thunder rolling. All very dramatic. Then it stopped and the rest of the

day has been stunningly beautiful. Bright blue sky. Sparkly blue sea. Hardly any breeze.

Humidity up though.

This is going to be my last report for awhile from the west coast. HAVE to fly back to England

for a few weeks. Will happily send reports from Essex if you want them. L O L. Most likely will

only read wet, cold and dreary though.

I'm off for one last refill, then a couple of hours sleep. You all take care out there. Watch for

those landslides and bouncing boulders. Hope all hurricanes go to the north and well out to sea

for you all.

- SUNSET AMAZING

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 09:00:54 -0700

We are having the most amazing weather at the moment.  Beautiful sunny
days with great breezes.

Getting up in the morning yesterday and today was very incredible,
Jaco Ladd and I get up around 5.45 a.m. most mornings, on the last two
days the sky has been an amazing red colour with a rainbow in the sky
that was in the shape of a complete circle.  We have never seen
anything so different or beautiful.  We wonder how a rainbow could be
in a circle, definitely no pot of gold at the end of this one.

The evening sunsets have been spectacular, we captured the sunset last
night going from orange to red!

We also have added two photo's of Pointe Baptiste where we spent the
day on Sunday after seeing my nephew off at Melville Hall airport.  We
were sad to see Matt go.  I had been able to be a tourist for two
whole days - it was such fun and a big change from working.  Perhaps
something to do more often.

The light at the moment is so interesting.  Hopefully the weather will
remain peaceful for the rest of the week.

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- JUST HOT.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 20:14:10 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Phweeee, its been another hot day here. Sky, bright blue. One of those make you squint

its so bright days, or go find some sunglasses. Sea, calm and blue. Occasional breeze. Just not quite

enough though to help with the cooling down bit. Hubby says he's not moaning though. Humidity comfy.

Horizon, still with a light haze to it. Silence this afternoon. Not even a mouse stirred. Just so hot.

Nice early morning down to the market for fresh veggies and fruit. Breadfruit ( my personal

favourite ) everywhere. I do tend to buy my breadfruit from one particular guy though, he has the best

breadfruits I have ever tasted. Has anyone out there ever frozen breadfruit ?? and if so how is it

best to do it.?? Have been on the net, but getting conflicting reports.

So then, I'm off to find the glass. Have a nice evening everyone and a great day tomorrow.

Frans Jr. What you have is commonly known as a Confederate Rose. Part of the Hibiscus family.

My neighbour has one in her garden. Lovely. Careful though, it will become a tree.

- All Clear for now

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 18:57:02 -0400

All Clear on the North-West Coast.
Winds - Calm
Clouds - Scattered and moving lazily
Clothes - hanging out to dry
Another great day for the beach.

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- Been Hot Again.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 20:02:45 -0400

Good evening everyone,

And another HOT day. Horizon fairly clear, but could just see a little haze out there.

Brilliant blue sky. Blue sea. Light cooling breeze. Humidity up. ( That horrible clammy

skin feel. Too much info hub. says )

Just hoping now that Gaston does not to take into his head to reform. They sure are

lining up to exit the African coast though. Pleased to read no major injuries to anyone from

the passing of Earl and Fiona. Looks like my son may get a little of Earl. My son lives in

Newfoundland., and it looks very much like Earl will make a passing call. Still gives the son

a chance to test the new roof, he has just had done.

Quick look on the net news and see New Zealand has had an earthquake. Only seen

the headline, not read it yet.

Well I'm off to find the glass. You all take care. Have a great day tomorrow.

- Counting pebbles on the beach

By Earlsworth LeBlanc <echoalphalima at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 14:40:50 -0400

Landed in Dominica a few hours ago. All flights PXH-MIA-Bdos-D/ca were uneventful with no sign of hurricanes or even the slightest "bad" weather.

LIAT impressed me with being professional and ahead of time.

Great 45 min drive home on the left side through lush dark green vegetation as if the trees were giving me hi-fives along the way. Light drizzle in Picard, Portsmouth as soon as I entered the garage.

Clouds -broken to overcast

Winds -calm

I'm heading to the beach to take inventory. Tough job counting pebbles on the beach, but someone's gotta do it.

- Cool days

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 06:17:17 -0700

Yesterday was really windy very pleasantly cool.  Jaco Ladd and I went
to Mero beach for a couple of hours and had fun watching the kids
playing in the large waves, belly surfing and ducking in and out of
the sea.  It was such a pleasure to watch the young people having such
a fun time all on their own with no adults standing by watching their
every move!  It makes us acknowlege how lucky we are to live in the
Caribbean where children can enjoy their childhood, be adventurous and
grow up without fear.

The day before yesterday I was on the way home and came upon a tree
across the road and there were these strong men chopping the tree up
so we could pass.

That is another weird thing about living in the forest we often here
the crash of trees and branches falling down.  This can happen on a
really still day and it makes us jump.  I keep my fingers crossed each
morning that when we are out exercising, a tree, coconut or bread
fruit does not decide to fall on us!!  The forest definitely has a
life of its own!

We are watching Gaston, it looks on course to swipe us all again, we hope not!

My nephew is coming to stay this weekend.  He has had enough of the
hurricane season and is looking forward to going back to Austria where
he lives.

I have posted four photo's one of the kids in the sea at Mero, the
guys with the tree and a beautiful susnset.

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- Back to normal

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 03:59:49 -0700

The weather yesterday was glorious, everything looked fresh, green, green, green and so colourful. The ocean was the only thing that had not calmed down. The waves were crashing onto Mero beach. It was seriously beautiful.

As promised, here are two photographs of the coastguard boat on the rocks. I have been told though by many of my friends that the boat was really old and needed to go to the nautical graveyard! So perhaps it was for the best!

We are still watching the African coast and there is another cannon ball coming our way, the Lesser Antilles has become a veritable magnet! Let's hope Gaston runs out of gas.

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- Earl doth wrecketh!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:54:50 -0700

The weather seems back to normal and I am off to look at some gorgeous land today with my sky blue wellie boots and Carib fashioned stick in tow - a very necessary item for walking acres of wild land in Dominica. It also keeps me very fit.

Yesterday morning it bucketed down, loud claps of thunder and some very bright flashes of lightning. I made a great and potentilly foolish decision to go into Roseau as one of the motors on my automatic windows had gone awol and the window was being held in place with plastic clothes pegs as wedges!! With the onset of Fiona and other hurricanes maybe coming along, I felt it was a good idea to get my window fixed! I ended up having both windows done just in case!

On the way into town, I noticed that there were three craft on the sea which was extremely rough being tossed about like flotsom. I thought to myself how really irresponsible to have those boats on anchor; it only looked like only one anchor on each boat! I was just amazed. Well on my way back home I was not at all surprised to see all three boats wrecked on the shore; one of the boats appeared to be the Dominica Coastguard boat!! Just utterly unbelievable, photo to follow later.

We have heard from our friends in Antigua and they are all fine but said there was a great deal of water everywhere. Earl is still out there beating up on everything he passes.

- Calm

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:27:29 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Do hope your all safe and well. Afternoon, still a lot of grey cloud and sea still

looking rough with whitecaps rolling in. Breeze has died down to almost non excistent.

Can no longer hear the pebbles and rocks being moved around by the sea. No rain.

Mozzie explosion. Ahhgggg.

You all take care.

- Edge of Earl.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:16:24 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

Do hope all that are taking a battering by Earl are safe and well. Hopefully not

to much damage for anyone.

Being just on the edge of Earl, we here have had some pretty heavy showers,

thunder and lightening during the earlier part of the morning. Good strong breeze, with

some heavy gusts thrown in. Sky and sea are just grey. Sea looks decidedly rough. Can

hear the pebbles, rocks and stones being shifted around. Watched a yacht out with all

sails up, probably enjoying themselves, me, I think mad. Listening to the news, sounds

like part of the north of the island have been taking a battering from the sea. Sky seems

to be brightening, but still thick cloud.

We also had 2 tremors last night. It rumbled from the south of the island. 2. 7 mag.

Depth of 8 km. Felt and heard the first at 9.49pm. Not the other at 9.50pm. No reports of

injury or damage yet.

I'm off for a coffee, watch the runoff from the river. Because it is fresh water, it's the

most amazing aquamarine colour, but likely to turn that horrible brown when the mud starts

washing down. Wind picking up again. Once again, you all take care. Stay safe.

- Yellow Sky

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:07:18 -0700

We have woken up to a really weird yellow sky with white clouds surrounded by purple. It still feels as if Earl is around but leaving us.

We had a very quiet night last night there was not a lot of rain, several gusts of wind and we did not feel any earthquake here in the valley!

We actually decided to watch the movie The Perfect Storm and thought about our friends on Antigua and in the other islands.

We hope that nobody got hurt and the any damage is minimal.

The to be Fiona looks as though she has dispersed a bit, we certainly hope so.

- Hurricanes and Quakes.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:03:32 -0400

A very early good morning to everyone,

Late afternoon we had some heavy showers, thunder and lightening. A nice strong breeze.

Had an island wide blackout, from reports on news on line, but the electric company got us up and

working again in quite a short space of time. Good work guys. Around 7pm we spotted lightening

to the north of us. Could hear no thunder though. A nice pleasant evening. Watching a film, enjoying

the contents of that long cool glass. WOW, the house is shaking. Had a quake. A strong one. Have

no details yet though, still checking news reports to find out where it occurred. So hope everyone is

safe and well. Now is the time to be aware of those slides. Started to rain, and the breeze is picking

up again.

Well I am off to get some sleep. You all take care. If your one of those who are still awake and

will be for some time, have a good night.

- First Clap of Thunder

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:27:30 -0400

We are experiencing a lot of dark clouds and rain coming from the west. At the moment it is very dark. I know, here in Dominica we are -supposedly - in the outer bounds of Hurricane Earl but earlier dices with Nature's fury has conditioned us into thinking treat ever thing as Cat 5, so the shutters are in place.

I had to go and walk an acre of interesting land this morning, a little unprepared, and got absolutely soaked to the skin within seconds.

The train from Afrrique rolleth!

Hide in a safe place.....thunder now.....!

.

- Dark & Raining.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:28:28 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

Sky very dark. Now raining. Breeze picking up. Hubby had to

make a dash from the west facing balcony, he started getting wet. L O L.

Sea very grey. Humidity not to bad.

Will give update if anything really starts to happen and while the

power lasts. We usaully lose power at some point with a good storm.

You all take care. Stay safe.

- Outer Breeze

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:55:57 -0700

We sincerely hope Antigua and Barbuda and the northern Leewards will not be hit too hard by what is now hurricane Earl!! My nephew is in Antigua at the moment and this will be his first experience of a hurricane. Hopefully Earl will not strengthen too much more, fingers crossed. Everyone in Antigua must be battening down; they really did not have much warning as Earl was meant to move more northward! We hope everyone stays safe.

We in Dominica are experiencing in the valley some blustery winds which are actually very pleasant. The sky is grey yellow and the dogs are all fast asleep.

We are now watching Fiona, canon balls seem to be coming off Africa headed for us in the Caribbean.

Good luck to all in Antigua and Barbuda.

- A Nice Day.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:33:07 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

the sat pic's I am looking at sees Earl splitting into two parts ( Looks like 2 fish kissing or is that just me )

Anyway, this splitting into 2. What does that really mean to the less well informed like me?? Good or Bad. All

looks very interesting. Just hoping he takes a swing soon and struts his stuff elsewhere. Preferably out at sea.

Another hot day here. A really nice breeze. Sky a bit overcast. Sea, more grey than blue. Horizon, very clear.

Humidity seemed high this morning, but now seems to have dropped some and feels a lot more comfy. Had some

rain in the wee hours of this morning, just enough to give the plants a drink.

Finally managed to get to the market today. Have not been for weeks. How lovely, everyone saying hello,

asking how we are and that we had been missed and pleased to see us back. Also had a good evening at the local

B.B. Q. meeting up with old and new neighbours. Just a couple of flashes of lightening, more to the south, and a few

spots of rain. Which did nothing to dampen the spirit of the night. Seems everyone had a good time.

I'm off to await our guests. A cup of coffee and check out the view. You all take care. Have a great afternoon.

- Not a cloud in the sky!

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 06:13:17 -0700

We have woken up to a beautiful sunny cloudless sky. The morning is cool at the moment but it looks like it is going to be a scorcher.

I have already got the washing on the line all the cushion covers; things that usually take a very long time to dry hopefully will be well dried by this evening.

When hurricanes gather out in the Atlantic and are sweeping pass us in the Caribbean, the prevailing hurricane sucks up all the air making the islands very hot and humid.

Hence the last week being so very hot and airless.

Our sometimes neighbour is new to farming, being brought up in Roseau as a boy! He is now turning his hand to organic farming which is fantastic, however, he insists that the

two guys working on the land burn every piece of weed or grass. We have had him over and explained that this is not necessary and that it is better if he piles it all up

and let it rot down to make compost to put back on the land! Every day this week we have had put up with smoke gliding over to us from the incessant fires that seem to

smoulder all night! The worse thing is that they have used tires (which are hugely odorous) to burn the grass, we also pointed out that tires are toxic and not good at all on the land!!

Jaco Ladd and I have been spoiled too much we are not used to neighbours! As time goes by so everything alters so this is just another chapter.

I so hope they take Sunday off, Praise the Lord!

We are keeping an eye on Earl he looks to be coming quite close to the islands lets hope he makes a swift turn and leaves us all alone.

- Mozzies and Bolivia.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:33:26 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

Hot, Hot, HOT. And another beautiful Caribbean day. Sky and sea, that perfect blue,

with little white fluffy clouds floating past. Nice breeze, helping, just a little, to cool things down.

Hopefully Earl is going to make a swing to the North and bypass. Looking at the sat pic's is a

bit scary.

Just had a real quick trip. A very nice, charming man rang from the Met Office to tell me

that my site was being listed somewhere in BOLIVIA. All seems to have been sorted out and

I am now back in Dominica.

Back to the mozzies. Seems Martinique and Guadeloupe have real problems from a

report in one of our weekly papers. We have been giving the mozzie problem some thought.

Hubby came up with gun holsters and small cans of spay on each hip. ( Just like the wild west

gunslingers ).

Well I'm off. Got to get ready for the local community B. B. Q. Will be wearing something

long and swishy for obvious reasons. Good fun and we get the chance to meet up with the

neighbours we rarely see. You all take care. Have a good evening and a great day tomorrow.

- Cool Evening.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:11:21 -0400

Good evening everyone,

we have had some thunder and lightening, with a really good downpour of

rain this evening. Feels quite cool out there on the balcony. Kind of evening to go

find a cardie, just to keep the chill at bay. Although the stuff that goes in that long

cool glass helps keep me warm.

Danielle is moving along nicely now. Hopefully she will take a turn to the North

and swish that tail of hers out to sea.

You all have a great evening. Take care.

P. S. Thanks for the card Mr & Mrs C. We are doing our best with the smiles.

- House of Dengue.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:29:22 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Well what can I say, been so ill Hurricane Walter and his marching band of Thunder

and Lightening could have tapped danced across the roof and I would not have known, or

cared very much. Luckily we haven't got to Walter yet, But see Danielle is making her play.

This is the first day I have felt well enough to get on the keyboard. Read Anne is having

problems with the Mozzies, well take care, because that old Dengue is not very nice and I

can safely vouch for that. This has been the house of Dengue for the last 3 weeks, Hopefully,

we are now all on the mend and feeling lot's better. Only real problem left now is paranoia, when

we feel something brush our skin. Out come the sprays, candles, coils, plug- ins. Anything.

Even gave some thought to making myself a net burka. Anything to keep the vampires at bay.

So then, this morning. Well the sea is a very dark blue and looks just a little rough out

there. Sky, started out a nice bright shade of blue, but is now darkening, with some pretty

big dark heavy looking clouds. Good breeze, (which helps keep the mozzies away for a bit. )

No dust, horizon nice and clear. Humidity feels up. Looks very much like we have some rain

on the way.

The garden could do with a drink. Lost some of my seedlings and cuttings, due to Dengue.

Oh well never mind, give me something to do,replacing them.

I'm off to have that other coffee, enjoy my view. You all take care. Have a great day.

It's started to rain and heavy. Whiteout conditions.

- Heavy hitting rain

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:50:14 -0700

All night we had heavy rain on and off it sounded like we were under several waterfalls. The weather today is messy, it is hot, though we are having a bit of breeze! The sun peeps out with the rainbow attached then the rain cascades. One of those Sundays to chill out at home. I have a miserable cold which has decided to come out over the weekend. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a good day with no snivels.

It looks very, unsettled off the African coast with huge weather, we hope this dissapates and that the promised hurricane does not go up to Bermuda. What should I say bring on the Sahara dust.

I hope you all have a great Sunday, I am going into have some great fluids, put my feet up and kill off this blocked up heady thing ! Jaco Ladd is at hand with a soothing massage..... way to go.

- Heat, Hot, Hot

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:36:13 -0700

Over the last week we have had a mixed bag of weather. The temperature has been interesting as in the day time it is very hot up in the 90's yet at night it is becoming beautifully cool! It reminds me of Autumnal weather in the UK. It is though the middle of our summer!

We have had a lot of thunder, lightning and rain over the last three days, it has been refreshing. Today is breezy and sunny. Is it the lull before the storm!? Jaco Ladd keeps telling me that there will be some very nasty weather coming our way at some time during this hurricane season, that we have to be prepared to batten down and be ready which of course we try to be.

I feel though that this season will not be as bad as predicted it is a gut feeling that I have and I totally hope I am right.

- SUNSHINE

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 10:01:46 -0400

Saturday was the most perfect day, beautiful sunshine a cool breeze
the light was fantastic so I took photo's of our garden which is
flourishing in this weather.  Sunday was a wet windy day but still
really fresh and nice!  I have just heard a big thump and a little
thump!  The big thump was a breadfruit dropping from the tree and the
little thump an avocado dropping from - yes, you're right - another
tree!  We are surrounded by fruits from all over the place.  There is
nothing better than taking a fresh avocado from the tree, splitting it
open and eating it the taste is just so amazing and avocados are so
good for us.  The size of our avocado pears here are amazing, the size
of two and a half apples, enough for a meal on it's own.

We are very lucky at the moment with the weather.  Pakistan is having
the most terrible time with floods, it does cross my mind that in the
past when that part of the world is having bad weather our side of the
world seems to have an easier time!  We feel so sad for all those
people affected by the flooding they now are saying that the amount of
people affected are many more than in the Tsunami and Haiti.  What on
earth is happening to our planet!?

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- Perfect

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 20:14:48 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Just had one of those beautiful Caribbean days. Brilliant blue sky, with little wispy

white clouds. Sea, not quite so blue and looking just a tiny bit rougher than normal.

Few white caps out there today. Nice light cooling breeze. Humidity comfy.

The fat foot is going down nicely. Have enjoyed my few days of rest. Hubby doing

all the odd jobs to keep me off the foot.

We are having a lovely Caribbean evening. Breeze has died down. The sky is clear.

A very light shower off rain just went across. So light I had to go check that it was rain I

was hearing. Perfect day, perfect evening.

I'm off to search out that glass. You all take care. Have a good night and a really

great day tomorrow.

- Rain & Resting.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 10:25:24 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Around 9.30pm last evening spotted lightening way over to our north. It eventually

made its way over to us and around 11pm we had a couple of real good flashes of sheet

lightening. We could hear thunder way of in the distance. Just a very low growl. Had plenty

of rain throughout the night and in the early hours of this morning it became really heavy.

Pounding on the roof for all its worth.

This morning it is still raining on and off. Grey sky, with the sun making the odd attempt

to get through. Breeze so light its hardly there. Humidity comfy.Sea a sort of steel blue. There

is also a warning out for small craft and bathers. So you guys go with care out there.

Me, well I'm just gonna relax, take it easy again. Friends are on their way up to see us.

You all take care and have a great day.

- Raining Cats and Dogs

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 05:22:10 -0700

What a night thunder, lightning, heavy rain, rain and more rain! It was an extremely rough night; our deck - which as a rule is fairly dry when it rains - really got a drenching. Luckily for the dogs their rug is in the one place that never gets wet! The dogs are definitely spoiled, this is OK because they look after us.

Yesterday we went to Mero in the afternoon, a Bank Holiday Monday, what a party was going on, we have never seen the beach so full of people. There were also a lot of very large speed boats cruising up and down the beach which made us think twice about going in the sea to swim! Lots of music, entertainment, plenty of fresh barbecued food to eat and Kubuli beer to drink. It definitely was party time!

It was good to wake up this morning to see that the now TS Colin was well on his way far away from us, again we hope it stays like this for the whole of the rest of the hurricane season!

- Intense Thunderstorm activity!

By Micheal Colaire <nichs2002 at yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 20:40:58 -0700 (PDT)

Greetings everyone, 
                
Wow! -Currently the North East of the Nature ISLE is really being walloped by 
severe Thunderstorm activity. It has been quite a wild show of Lightning, 
driving rain, and booming thunder for at least the last couple of hours.
A truly stormy end to today's National holiday (August
Monday) -Emancipation day; which was otherwise a mix of sun and some showers, 
which was not too bad.

I SINCERELY HOPE THAT THIS IS NOT A FORETASTE OF ANYTHING
 TO COME...WITH PRE-COLIN already LURKING TO OUR EAST.
 
 I wish everyone a Safe and a Blessed Night and even more
 Grace and Blessings for the rest of this Hurricane season!

- Rain & a Fat Foot.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 20:25:24 -0400

Good evening everyone,

The day started out really lovely, with deep blue sky and sea. not a lot in the way of breeze.

Humidity comfy. Gradual change over came us from late morning. Humidity started to creep up.

Hubby seem to be feeling it the most today. Breeze kicked in with a few hefty gusts thrown in for

good measure. Rain and lots of it. On and off most of the afternoon, with some heavy showers.

No thunder and lightening.

After my fall, curtsy of the algae, I now have a fat foot. Think I managed to sprain it, still I

can walk on it so I guess that's something. Hub's has cleaned off the rest of the paths around

the house today. So I have been laying around and taking life easy.

I'm off. Find that glass. You all have a good night and a great day tomorrow. Take care.

- SLIPPING AND SLIDING

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 11:35:05 -0700

What amazing weather we have been having; a great deal of rain with the odd splattering of sunshine!! We are definitely having valley rain at the moment! Our water tanks are full to the brim with clean, clear beautiful water. One spectacular portion of bamboo, with a girthof 6.5 inches, is growing a foot a day - I kid you not - one shoot we monitored came through the surface 11/07 and today it's 19.7ft tall...let's not quibble!

We had a night of thunder and lightning on Wednesday and for the first time slept like a baby through most of it!! I am working really hard at the moment and as Jackie said - our correspondent living in Wallhouse - I am very busy with my business www.acecaribbeanrealestate.com This is all the more reason that I follow www.stormcarib.com everyday to get my weather update as to what I should do with visiting clients or not!!

So far today we have had really heavy showers although there is nothing significant showing on the Stormcarib site, so it must be ordinary Dominica valley weather. I am, after pandering to the masses, going to watch one of my favourite movies "Dirty Dancing" with Patrick Swayze - oh how he is missed, what an amazing dancer and actor!

We hope Jackie is feeling OK after slipping over in her property. Thanks for reminding; us Jaco Ladd is spraying the napalm on our path as I write, sorry caustic crystals.

We are keeping our eyes on the incoming potential storm Colin, we hope he will end up being a pussycat. How's that Tom?

- Hmmmm, Algae.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:26:51 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Well, we have had a perfect Caribbean day. Blue sky, blue sea, hardly any breeze,

humidity way down. Perfect.

Finally caught up with a job I have been meaning to do for ages. Had a rude reminder

on Friday morning putting out the garbage. Coming back into the house I managed to find

myself flat on my back with my legs in the air, ( not a pretty sight ) looking something like an

overturned turtle trying to right itself. Just glad it was early morning and none of my neighbours,

or the garbage guy's, spotted me laying there struggling to get back up ( well I don't think so anyway,

nobodies mentioned it ) So today was spent cleaning up the algae on the path. Just one of those

things you forget about till it gets wet. And wet it has been with more to come by the look of the

sat. pic's. Anyway I now know I can walk the path safely. So if it's one of those jobs that you have

been meaning to do before the H. season started, guess it might be wise to get it done now.

This evening is one of those lovely Caribbean evenings. Not much breeze. Warm. Frogs

singing their little hearts out. Bless em. Clear sky, with a thousand twinkly stars. Yep, one of

those evenings you know why you're here, even though there is something wicked this way comes.

You all take care. Clean those paths. Have a great day tomorrow. I'm off to find that glass.

Need it after all that work today.

- Interesting Night

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:11:03 -0400

Good evening everyone,

We are under all those pretty colours somewhere. Looks a bit messy out there,

with more to follow. So then, what an interesting night last night. A great topic of

conversation today. Everyone asking everyone else if they had a good nights sleep.

Thunder so loud, it actually woke me up and nothing wakes me. Sheet lightening so

bright it was almost like daylight. Rain pounding on the roof. The hole in the garden

(which I dug and still refilling ) full to the top and overflowing. Although it was just a

little overcast and humidity high we did have quite a nice day today. Sun came out,

everything dried out nicely. Comfy in town, normally we try to get in and out of town

fast. Not a lot in the way of breeze. Rivers running fast.

Had a very pleasant visit to town today. Think we managed to bump into almost

everyone of our neighbours, who all wanted to know if we were o k and did we have

any damage done to the property last night. Also on a visit to the Gov't building we met

a really pleasant, friendly, helpful, polite lady. That really made the day. Spoke to Lisette

(Jacolass ) who apologies for no reports, but is just soooo busy.

This evening the noseeums and mozzies are having fun and are out partying. Especially

on poor hubby's ankles. Have had a couple of light showers, still not much in the way of

breeze. Sky looks heavy with more rain. Humidity up. Lets see what the rest of the evening brings.

I'm off to find that wayward glass. You all take care. Stay safe. Don't forget those

slides and bouncing boulders. Spotted a couple in the road on our way back from town today

which were not there when we went out. Have a good evening and a great day tomorrow.

- Sun, now Rain.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:11:18 -0400

Good evening everyone,

We have had two perfect days. Sun shining in a picture perfect blue sky. Little

white fluffy clouds floating on bye. Not much in the way of breeze. Sea, back to

that lovely blue and looking pretty calm out there.

And the rain is back. Started about two hours ago. Been on and off for most

of the evening. Fairly heavy at times. Still not much in the breeze department.

Humidity creeping up. After today which was hot the plants are enjoying it.

You all take care. I'm off to refill the glass. Have a great day tomorrow.

- Pretty Wet Now.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:25:05 -0400

Good evening everyone,

And down came the rain. From my last posting just after noon it has not stopped.

Had some complete whiteouts. Watched my neighbour who was out on his balcony

make a hasty retreat into the house. Still not much in the way of wind / breeze.

Humidity now down and a lot more comfy. One low growl of thunder on this peice of the

island. Nothing I have noticed in the way of lightening. Looks like we are in for a wet night.

You all take care. I'm off to search out that glass. Have a great evening.

- Wet and occasionally windy

By Micheal Colaire <nichs2002 at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:23:27 -0700 (PDT)

Greetings from the Nature Isle,

This last squall line was really one to chase even the bravest indoors...winds 
must have gusted to at least 35Kts and the rain has been wind driven coming 
sideways at the buildings for at least an hour. 
Raging white caps can be seen on the Atlantic Ocean here on the East coast.

     The rainfall rate seemed at times to be at least on the 3-4 inch an hour 
total. Tomorrow's reading of the rain gauge will reveal definitively what the 
day's overall accumulation really is.
 
Right now it looks like another round of storms is about to hit... A loud 
thunder peal has just sounded so it might be pretty ominous. We may have a wet/ 
wild night ahead.

Our Prayers go out to those who have had more than their fair share of the 
liquid gold in the Leeward islands...

God's Blessings to us all!

- Wet & Grey Still.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:09:14 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

for all those under that huge blob, stay safe.

We here, are not quite so wet as some of you. Nothing like being ankle/waist deep.

We have been getting on / off rain for a couple days. Some of it fairly heavy. Not a

lot in the way of wind / breeze. Very calm really. Humidity fairly high. Which helps

bring out the no seeums and little vampires. Which have been driving us nuts. Especially

poor hubby. Hmmm, for some reason they love his ankles.

Sky and sea, well they are both still that lovely shade of grey. Although from our

vantage point the sea looks calm, there is a warning out for small craft and bathers. So

be carefull. Breeze picking up a little now. Nice gust just blew through the house. Had

some thunder and lightening also. Just get a couple of loud rolls of thunder and flashes

of sheet lightening, then nothing. Raining now. Coming down pretty heavy.

I'm off for my coffee. Once again you all take care. Watch for those slides and boulders.

Have a good afternoon and a great evening.

- Just Wet.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:46:07 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

My those sat. pic's look pretty colourful. Went into town yesterday morning and it was sweltering.

Got back to the house a little after 1pm and approx an hour later it started to rain. Kept going all through

the afternoon. Nice steady downpour, which lasted into, and through, the night. Nothing much in the way

of thunder and lightening. Hardly any breeze.

Still getting some heavy showers of rain on and off today. Breeze almost, but not quite, non existent.

Haze seems to have cleared. The horizon is clearer today. Sky and sea both that lovely shade of battleship

grey. Humidity up. Local river running fast, can see lots of fresh water, and mud, stretching way out to sea.

Our friends from Holland have just had themselves a fairly big storm, with winds blowing at 125mph.

They usually come over for the diving well after the H. season, so have never had the pleasure of experiencing

an H. They have told us that what they just experienced was really scary, and now know roughly what it must

be like to get caught up in a Hurricane. Think they will keep to waiting for the H. season to pass. Wussies.

I'm off to find Hubby, who is making himself a desk, see if he would like to join me and a nice cold Kubili.

Do birds fly. ??? You all take care. Watch for those slides with all this rain. Have a great day.

- Update

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:19:55 -0400

Good morning everyone,

A pretty good day yesterday, fairly sunny most of the day. no rain and

a light breeze. It just got hotter as the day went on.

This morning is a little overcast. Not much in the way of breeze.

Horizon a bit hazy, no clear distinct line. Humidity comfy for now. Good

gardening day.

Sad news from the east coast. Two teenagers swept off the beach by a

freak wave. The sea does get extremely rough over there. Also very strong

undercurrents and rip tides. Please go with care if your anywhere near the

sea, regardless of which side of the island your on. Have great respect for it.

Sun is making a feeble attempt, and humidity feels like it is creeping up.

You all take care. Have a great day.

- Itassi’s Rainfall Records

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:36:35 +0000

Good evening,

Well, as promised here is a detailed posting of Itassi’s (Vieille Case Catholic Presbytery) Rainfall Records (North Dominica)-Latter June to Mid July(2010):

*June 19^th -91.3mm ,20^th - 35.0mm,21^st - 1.2mm,22^nd -1.8mm ,23^rd - 22.8mm,24^th - 12.5mm,25^th -25.0mm ,26^th - 5.9mm,27^th -19.0mm ,28^th -1.0mm ,29^th - 6.9mm,30^th -19.5mm

July 1^st - 8.0mm,2^nd - 13.5mm,3^rd -0.5mm ,4^th - 0.5mm,5^th - 24.4mm,6^th - 41.2mm,7^th - 1.0mm,8^th - 0.6mm,9^th - 0.5mm,10^th - 7.5mm,11^th - 8.9mm,12^th - 35.3mm,13^th - 4.0mm,*14^th -49.1mm

Of course, the two most notable rainfall totals are those of June 19^th from the ominous Invest 92/93L -which we now know was definitely Pre-Alex, and today’s rainfall accumulations from last night’s 'blobette' which was complete with even a minor wind reversal. No doubt there were other parts of the island that received much higher rainfall totals; after-all this is Nature’s very own little island- the Nature Island of the Caribbean…

The observation hour for Rainfall records has been at 7:00a.m. daily.

A Blessed night to All!

Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.

- Hectic Times

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:05:32 -0700

We have not posted lately as we are having hectic times!

The weather in the valley has been fantastic for us. A good wind, plenty of sunshine and showers here and there, the sublime temperature is just right.

Last night we went for a meal at East Carib Dive which is located on Salisbury beach; the proprietors of this establishment are open to the public every Tuesday night. It is a very pleasant location with the dining area right on the sandy shoreline. The west coast has glorious sunsets so it is lovely to go there before the sun disappears and enjoy the pure beauty of the glorious colours in the sky. Last night though we had rain, lightning and thunder so had to make our way with plates and glasses in hand to the safety and cover of the restaurant. (Jaco Ladd pointed out to me that lightning always comes before thunder so why do we all say thunder and lightning when theoretically it should be the other way around!!)

This morning we woke up to grey skies, a fabulous wind and the howl in the distance of our dogs!! We are used to the dogs hunting in the 3sq. miles of forest behind the house and often hear their yelps of delight as they are terrorizing some poor creature running throught the bush. This morning was different as there were intermittent howls; after half an hour Jaco Ladd and I decided we had better go into the forest and find the dogs. I donned my Woodstock wellies and got a stick; JL got booted up and armed with a machete we set out on our intrepid expedition. We were taken way up the hill at the back of us shouting the dogs names - first the puppy Tippy arrived followed fast by daddy Sinbad and then bursting forth the mother dog Mindy who had obviously got stuck down a hole. We got them home, they were caked in mud and we went to town with the hose washing each dog. Mindy had obviously got stuck by her collar in the hole and had managed to bite and dig herself free, she has lost half a tooth and had heavy roots wedged in her teeth which we removed. These miscreants are now lying at my feet fast asleep Just another day in Paradiso right?

- Water & Weeds.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:39:15 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Well the garden has been well and truly watered. It's been raining on and off

here since my last posting. And it's still coming down. Canefield airport reported a

rainfall of 240.0mm for the whole of the month of June. For this month so far they

are reporting a rainfall of 200.5mm. And we still have just over 2 weeks to go before

the end of the month.

Yesterday evening we had only one very large flash of lightening, that lit the

whole sky, then a very loud clap of thunder. Then nothing, apart from a lot more rain.

This morning is looking pretty much the same. Patchy blue / grey sky. The

sun is making a very determined effort though. Sea, grey and looking a just a little

rough. Go with care out there. Nice gentle, cooling breeze. Humidity down. Everything

looking lush and green. Even the weeds. Which reminds me, I was once told, many

years ago now, that there is no such thing as a weed. They are all just uncultivated

flowers and bushes. Hmmmm, will try to keep it in mind, in future, when I'm breaking

my back pulling the blighters out.

I'm off to finish that other coffee. Check out the grey view. You all take care.

Watch for those slides and boulders. Have a great day.

- Stormy Night...

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:41:07 +0000

Greetings!

We’ve just experienced what has to be one of the most intense thunderstorm lines that the Nature Island of the Caribbean has experienced so far this rainy season- or at least for the northern portion of Dominica. Of course it was a wet and wild ordeal, but it did have the kind of powerful lightning flashes that one can still ‘see’ even with eyes tight shut. That’s exactly the kind of Lightning that Lisette speaks of disliking with such a passion -and of course to say nothing of the thunder…that’s another story entirely.

Moderate rain is still falling as I type. I’m sure this latest advance of storms has dumped a few more inches of the ‘liquid gold’ upon us in this Nature Isle. I’ll have to see what the rain gauge records tomorrow morning God Willing, and then give a detailed posting. Hopefully the rest of the night will not prove too eventful weather-wise.

P.S. (A little rumble of thunder has just made its faint boom...)

May Our Lord Jesus Christ continue to grant us all his protection this season, and sufficient grace, blessings and courage for whatever weather eventualities may come our way during this season of storms.

Pleasant night to all.

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- Rain & Footie.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:22:10 -0400

Good evening everyone,

A beautiful morning here on the west coast. Nice light breeze, sun shining, blue sky,

blue sea, humidity up.

The afternoon bought showers and grey sky. Humidity went even higher.

This evening humidity still up, but not so bad. Seems to be a lot of cloud cover up

there. Just checked from both the front and back balconies and no stars to be seen.

Had a really nice day yesterday with friends. Found the most popular hotel on the

island showing the footie, we thought they would. At a guess about 50 people were there.

So we parked our backsides there. The hotel also very kindly supplied nibbles for us, which

which we thought was very good of them. They were really nice nibbles. And we all had a

nice time regardless of win or loose.Regarding the nibbles, would love the chef to show me

how to make those meat patties. They were just soooo Yummy.

Well its raining again. Hubby says this is all my fault because I complained that we had

no rain from the blob. I don't care, my garden is being watered.

I'm off to find the glass. Have a good evening and a great day tomorrow. You all take care.

- The Blob Returns ???

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 07:23:01 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Wellll, a tiny little piece of the blob must have got left behind. Rain's hammered down

most of the night and it's still hammering down. Just had a quick peek at the sat pic's, and

yep there it is. right over us. Hubby's blaming me again for this. A very large clap of

thunder right over the house. No breeze at all though. Humidity down and feeling comfy.

Can see some tiny specks of blue sky to the south. Over us it's just grey. Sea, Grey.

Getting a lot of runoff from one of the local rivers. It's making the sea look smooth

like glass. Rains eased for a bit. But I'm sure more is to come.

I'm off to finish my coffee. Check out that grey view. You all take care. Have a great

day. For all those interested in the footie, Hope your team wins. We hopefully are going to

be watching too. That's if we can find somewhere showing it. Not much in the way of

advertising it here. Doesn't seem to be lot of excitement for it going on.

Watch for those landslides and bouncing boulders.

Another roll of thunder. Sky getting darker.

- What Rain and Wind ???

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:27:08 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Not sure what happened to the blob ? It just fizzled out on us here.

Had some rain from it, but was expecting a lot more. Couple of rolls of thunder

and only two flashes of lightening. Even the light breeze died down to non

existent. Then nothing for the rest of the evening.

We have had a really lovely day here today. Bit hazy. Blue sky. Sea,

more grey than blue. Very light breeze. Humidity up. Also had a couple of

light showers of rain. For which the garden is extremely grateful.

The new plants have taken and seem to be holding their own. Have

already had some roses bloom. Most pleasing. My neighbour has given me

what I think is a cutting from a frangipani. Not to sure on that one. Still

whatever it is I'm sure it will be lovely. So that is going in tomorrow.

I'm off to find that glass. You all take care. Have a good evening and

a really great day tomorrow.

- Thunder now

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 17:32:54 -0400

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Sky really grey and dark. Looks looks like winter in England. Breezy, but

not really bad, Yet. Fair amount of showers. Some heavy. Gardens loving it. It

was in need again. Roll of thunder, but well into to the distance.

- Is It the Blob ???

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 14:49:27 -0400

Good Afternoon Everyone,

We think that BLOB that's out there has finally reached us.

Have had some real nice get in the garden days. Now we have torrential rain.

Gusty wind, which is nice anyway. Very cooling. Grey sky, grey sea. Looking

out from the back balcony ( facing west ) it is a total whiteout. No thunder or

lightening yet.

Watch for those landslides, they love this weather. You all take care.

Have a great evening.

- Raining now.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 09:36:15 -0400

Hi, me again,

What was that I said about getting into the garden. The rain has come with

vengenance. It is now thundering down. Have a total whiteout.

Lets see what the rest of the day brings.

- Back to Grey.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 09:08:52 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Grey sky, grey sea and sea looking a little rough out there. Breeze picking

up nicely. Couple of very light showers. It looks like England in November out there

this morning. The plus side is, it's still nice and warm. Humidity up.

Did have some flashes of lightening last night. No thunder and only one short

sharp shower of rain around 10. 30pm.

Hubby is blaming me for this, because I insisted on the garden being watered.

Sorry. Still if the rain holds off like it seems to be doing, looks like a good day to get

out in the garden. Plenty of shade this morning.

I'm off to have that other coffee. Look at that very grey view and think about

getting out in the garden. You all take care. watch out for those boulders and slides.

Have a great day.

- Perfect Days

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2010 19:52:59 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Have had two fantastic beautiful days here on the west coast. Hot, Hot, Hot.

Sky and sea that lovely shade of blue. Light breeze helping to keep things just a little

cool. Humidity comfortable. Looking round at the surroundings, everything that grows

is some sort of shade of green. Perfect.

Unfortunately from the peek at the sat pic's it looks very much like it's about to change.

Breeze, which was nice and gentle is picking up. Still nice and warm this evening. Temp

on the balcony is 82f. Had a couple of spots of rain, but that's probably due to me asking

hubby to water the garden. Reckons it always rains when he gives the plants a drink or

the guy across the road washes his car.

I'm off to sort out that tall, cool glass. You all take care. Have a great evening and an

even better day tomorrow.

- Hurricane Louis 1995

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2010 05:33:05 -0700

Dave this morning has reminded everyone about hurricane Louis. He forgot that this hurricane had a catastrophic affect on Antigua as well as St. Martyn and the British Vigin Islands. We will never forget that hurricane! We were in our home from 6.30 p.m. on Monday evening and did not get out of our home until 9.30 a.m. on the Wednesday. The hurricane was 600 miles wide and a forward speed of 7 miles an hour; it hit the island with winds of 145 miles per hour gusting to c200 miles an hour!! Antigua was devastated, there was no electricity on some parts of the island for 3 months. The structual damage was island wide, leaving many houses without roofs. The insurance companies descended on the island, big style - what a headache for everyone. We so hope this does not happen to any islands this year. We feel very sorry for the people who have suffered Alex in Monterrey Mexico.

Today is a bright sunny day; it is a bit hazy probably from the Saraha dust; there is no breeze it is still. We are off to get some citrus trees to plant this morning. We hope everyone has a good weekend.

- Stormy weather

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2010 07:35:23 -0700

The last couple of days have been very stormy. Heavy rainfall cascading on the roof, thunder and lightning has luckily been sporadic! The really good thing is the temperature in the valley is very cool and extremely pleasant. The sun is trying to burst through the clouds so hopefully we could end up with a fairly dry day! All we have to say is we are green, green, green. It is quite hazy we think this must be all the Sahara dust that is flying around at the moment.

- Still Grey and Wet.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2010 07:41:31 -0500

Good morning everyone,

Had plenty of rain, wind, thunder and 2 really good flashes of lightening last night. About 11.30pm

we had this almighty deluge of rain. No warning, with that little pitter patter on the roof first. It just came

crashing down. Then stopped. Nothing. Zilch. Gone. It sounded real weird, this thunderous noise then

silence. Spooky stuff.

This morning is wellll Grey. Grey sky. Grey sea. Humidity up, but not uncomfortable. Light to almost

non existent breeze. Sea from my vantage point looks fairly calm, but the local meteorological site does say

above normal sea swell. So go with care out there.

Plenty of mozzies about, little blighters. Doesn't seem to matter how much I spray, how many plugs

in's I put in. One always manages to slip past into the bedroom. Just dozing off, and there he is, Zing Zing

in you ear. Well the dogs are all going nuts out there, guess the garbage guys are around.

Sun is making an attempt, but I don't think its going to win just yet. Feel sorry for the tourists, wait all

the year for that annual couple of weeks in the sun and all they get is wet.

I'm off for that extra coffee. Relax and look at my grey view. You all take care. Have a great day.

- Grey and Wet

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 08:23:44 -0400

Good Morning Everyone,

For most of this week the weathers been pretty good during the days with the

odd shower of rain during the night. That seems to have changed this morning.

Thick grey cloud up there. Heavy rainfall. Breeze building up nicely. Humidity up.

Sea that lovely shade of grey. Plus thunder. Not noticed any lightening yet.

While writing the rain is hammering down and the thunder is rumbling almost

overhead. It's creeping closer. A quick peek at the sat pic's showed a nice layer of

Sahara dust with a little break in it. Yep that little break is now over us. Ahh well.

Worked all week in the garden fighting the weeds. Guess they are going to start

rapidly growing again. They love a bit of moisture. Managed to get both the new rose

bushes and a new hibiscus in, so the rain is welcome for them.

I'm off for that other coffee. Check out the view. Will probably be seeing runoff from

the local river soon. You all take care. Have a great day.

- Thunder Above.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:20:35 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Had a glorious day here on the west coast. Beautiful blue sky, brilliant sunshine, light

breeze. Temp at approx 4. 30 pm was at 85f on the back balcony ( facing west ).

Not much of a breeze now. Very warm tonight though. Also getting distinct thunder

noises. Odd flashes of lightening. We can see a huge rain cloud out at sea to the north of us.

Thunder now overhead. Closing down for now, just in case.

You all take care. Have a great evening.

- Great beginning of the day

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 05:38:26 -0700

The sun is shining brightly, it is very still and looks like it will be a glorious day.

Looking back at the week it was a really stormy cool time; the temperature much reminiscent of winter, it was really quite pleasant. The landslides though and boulders on the roads on Wednesday were to say the least: hazardous!

When I was walking the dogs this morning I was very aware of the roaring of the Layou river and the noise of the forest. It so amazes me how the river and the forest have a life of their own. Listening carefully you can hear the leaves of the trees whispering to each other just as if they are having a great time gossiping. Just like humans, they have their life cycle! On Wednesday we had a huge tree crash to the earth it was completely rotten inside but looked to be flourishing! How looks are deceiving even in the tree world. We live surrounded by the timberlands and never have a dull moment. We have a beautiful bamboo grove next to our cottage. The wet weather bought the bamboo earthward till it was leaning heavily towards the cottage. Now it is dry, the bamboo is gradually reaching back up to the sky as it starts to dehydrate. There is no way we can be bored as we feel we are part of the forest world and by design, nature itself. We can totally understand how horrendous it is that woodlands are being needlessly chopped down all over the planet. It takes years of growth for a rainforest to mature and enable it to keep the climatic conditions balanced in our precarious world. It takes a matter of weeks to destroy it forever! We are so lucky to be surrounded by the beauty and life of the Nature Isle.

- Hmmm Thunder.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:08:31 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Had a lovely day in the garden doing battle with the weeds. Think I'm winning.

The rain came in the early part of the afternoon. Heavy enough at times to make me

retreat to the balcony. It is still raining on and off. And just had a fairly loud roll of

thunder. Seems to be coming over the ridge to the east of us. Not much in the way

of breeze. Humidity comfy. Have not seen any lightening yet. Going to turn off just

in case.

You all take care and have a good evening.

- Sunshine Today.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:00:49 -0400

Good morning everyone,

During the course of yesterday we did have some more rain, but nothing like

the deluge of the early morning. It stayed overcast and windy for most of the day.

This morning is a little overcast, the sun is making a very determined effort

to break through. Lots of very bright blue patches of sky showing through the clouds.

Horizon looking just a little hazy. Not that lovely crisp, clear line. The wind seems

to have died down and we now have a nice light breeze. Humidity creeping up.

Sea is still that grey colour, but looks a good deal calmer than yesterday. Can still

see runoff from the local river clearly, but it now looks just like a larger patch of light

grey and not that dirty brown colour. Looks very much like we are in for a nice day.

Apart from the wind nearly blowing me away yesterday, it was a really good day

for the garden. Managed to get quite a bit done. Went to war on the weeds. I haven't

won yet though. Finally managed to get one of my new roses in, poor things have been

stuck in pots for weeks. Hopefully will be able to get the other one in today.

I'm off for that coffee which hubby has thoughtfully made for me. You all take care.

Have a great day.

- SLIDES +++ Wet weather

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:20:10 -0700

Wow, did it rain last night! It felt as though we were under a waterfall all night! Usually the rain is soothing to go to sleep listening to, but the rain was thunderous on the roof. There were huge gusts of wind all day yesterday which actually bought down a lot of our beautiful bamboo by the side of our home! Bamboo is priceless as it gives us so much protection from the elements. We have a lot left but have to do a good trim job in the next couple of days.

What we are finding weird is the weather; it's like winter, the temperature is very, very cool. I didn't want to go anywhere but my jeep is injured and I needed to get a new radiator in town. My vehicle is at Coulibistrie. I had to drive there and saw so many boulders and stones on the roads. I really don't like driving in bad weather as the rocks on the cliffs are unstable. It would be totally terryfing to be hit by a boulder or even worse a tree fall on you. (There but for the grace of God go I; so they say.) I saw so much water pouring off the cliffs and mountains. The Layou river is running high with a lot of brown dirty water powering down to the ocean.

I am writing this in the afternoon we have no rain but it is very dull, windy and cloudy. The one thing that did impress me about today is that the Dominican people are now taking a great deal of notice of the coming season and the people I met today were chatting to each other and me about making preparations for a hurricane. As we were all agreeing it only takes one hurricane to do enough terrible damage to the island.

- Plenty of Water Now.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:46:56 -0400

Morning everyone,

Well we wanted more water, and that is what we have got.

The rain started early evening, stayed with us through the night. Roughly around

5.45am. the sound of rain on the roof woke me. Crikey, it's still dark and I'm awake.

Opening the back door onto the balcony saw why it appeared to be dark. A whiteout

all around. Rain lashing down in great torrents. unable to see the mountains to the

east of us. Covered in cloud and rain. Could barely make out the sea. Just make out

the whale watch boat moored at one of the local hotels. Wind pretty gusty. Humidity

up, but not uncomfortable.

The torrential rain lasted approx 3/4 hour. Seems to be easing slightly. Can

just make out the horizon. neighbours making mad dashes to their cars, either to get

to work or to take the children to school. What I can see from the balcony is the

runoff from the local river. Mud is being washed down in large amounts and it is being

swept along the coastline. From my angle it looks like we have a beach there is so

much of it. The sea is being turned a dirty brown. The sea looks rough out there now.

The rain's stopped. More on the way though from the look of the sky. Anyone

out on the roads, go with care, this is just right for landslips. You all take care.

Have a good day.

- Update

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:23:19 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

Just a quick up date on the lingering moisture.

A complete and total whiteout just went past.. Retreated into the house rapidly.

No thunder, no lightening. Not much in the way of wind. Nice light cooling

breeze though. Sun is now making an effort.

Take care.

- Well it's Wet.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:05:35 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Just had a look at the local meteorological site, and it says, lingering moisture from

a T W continues to affect the island. Just love that description.

It's been raining since yesterday. Pretty heavy at times. Must get a rain gauge.

Sky is overcast with tiny little patches of blue peeping through. Sea still nice and grey,

and can still see fresh water running into it from the river. Wind's died down, still getting

the odd strong gust, but nothing like we have had over the past couple days. Friends over

on the East coast tell me the river running alongside their land is up and running fast. That

side of the island always gets a lot more rain than we do here. So stay safe you guys.

Humidity slightly up again, but comfy.

I'm off to try do some gardening in between the rain showers. Weeds love that

lingering moisture. You all take care. Have a great day and watch for those landslides, and

bouncing boulders.

- Fantastic Evening

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:00:05 -0400

The storm seems to have left us for the time being although we notice a lot of bad weather coming off the African coast!

We have had a great afternoon playing table tennis and scrabble totally different pursuits.

We find it fascinating reading the reports from others on the island! This island is so different as we live in the valley and experience such different weather conditions from different parts of this beautiful island Dominica! At least we all have the ants!! Now we have bright, bright sunshine and are looking forward to a sundowner and a great sunset.

- Ant's.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:47:24 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday turned into a fairly reasonable day. Windy but no rain till about 4pm. Sun made

several attempts, but mostly it was just overcast. When the rains did come, started with just the

odd light shower. They just got heavier as the evening wore on. Loved the winds, great, blow the

little vampires away, instead we got ants, leaving their nests. Millions of them. Took me all week

to have what I thought was a good clean up, but I can now see all the cobwebs I missed. Ant wings

hanging from the ceiling like little Christmas dec's. Ahh well, it's part of the price.

This morning is still overcast. Can see the odd patch of bright blue. Fairly calm, still getting

the occasional strong gust of wind. No rain since I have been up and about. Sea still that gorgeous

shade of gruesome grey. And looking a little rough out there. Go with care anyone thinking of going

out fishing or bathing today. Humidity down a lot. Feels nice and cool.

The view's got better. Apart from a couple of the neighbours plantain trees that went down,

a couple of fair sized trees that were growing in the next road down have gone. Locally other than

that, have not seen or heard of any major damage in the area.

I'm off for that other coffee which is patently waiting for me. You all take care and have a real

good day. Especially all you dad's. Relax, take it easy and enjoy.

- Wintry conditions

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 07:52:35 -0400

Yesterday for me was a write off! I stayed at home with Jaco Ladd, painted relaxed and actually really enjoyed the weather.

We had a great deal of rain and wind here in the valley. The trees were dropping a lot of leaves and we could hear the thud of the odd branch crashing to the ground. There are a lot of little avocados on our trees and we're hopeful that they may make it to the edible stage. When we arrived in 2007 we experienced hurricane Dean and lost our total crop of pears!

This storm has come very early which does not bode well. Our generator decided not to work yesterday and we were without power for about 4 hours! Jaco Ladd gave the Briggs & Stratton a good seeing to but it still would not splutter into life! We have now made a long, long list of things we need to do to prepare for the hurricane season. Generator fixed, shutters greased and working properly; buy provisions, tinned food, lamp oil, gas for generator and many other things. We are especially aware of our vulnerability living in the country. Every one needs a to do list there are so many little things one forgets that can be crucial; it is too late when the hurricane arrives!

Last night we retired with the rain pounding on our tin roof. I actually love the sound when I am tucked up in bed warm and cozy, especially, as there was no thunder or lightning through the night, we just got the tail end of the storm. It looks like it is hanging around this morning. I had to clean the deck of thousands of wood ants that decided to come out and party last night so we closed ourselves in and watched a great movie, had a lovely dinner with a good bottle of wine.

Looking on the weather front it looks like we should be clear of this this afternoon, we might even go to the beach later. Let's hope that there have not been any landslides or boulders falling on the roads. No news as yet. All we are hearing this morning is the roar of the Layou river making it's thunderous way to the ocean.

.

- Wet & Wild Out There.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:19:46 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday turned into a beautiful day here. A little overcast, sun did its best, light breeze,

and a couple of nice cooling showers. Perfect day for a bit of gardening. Into the evening the rain

started to increase, but nothing too heavy till about 11 /11.30 pm. Then it came down in torrents.

And stayed with us throughout the night. Winds picked up.

This morning the wind is pretty strong with some extra strong gusts thrown in. Sky is really

grey. Sea is a gruesome grey,with plenty of white caps. What I can see, is the run off from the

local river, fresh water running right through the grey and it stretches out to sea for a good couple

of miles. So those rivers are running pretty strong and fast. It is also lovely and cool. Humidity

way down.

Anyone going out today take care. Especially out at sea and near those rivers. Watch out

for landslips and loose boulders.

Just been out onto the back balcony, which faces west and I can see a couple of bright blue

patches in the sky way down to the south.

I'm off for that coffee. You all take care. Have a good day.

- The Dark horse (storm) experience

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:28:31 +0000

It's unfortunate that this system seems to have been underestimated so much in potential intensity...There are lessons to learn from this bout of inclement weather. I hope no one is caught outside in the midst of this wild tempest...

Day light should reveal the true impact which for the most part should be very minimal/ hopefully only superficial.

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- STORM Conditions continue...Long night ahead?

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:07:59 +0000

Well, the rains have not abated at this point though it is a little less heavy than before in most of the squall lines coming through. It appears that the worst of this weather is STILL to our north and East. This probably means that Marie Galante got the worst of this weather system so far. As I type the winds have picked up -Some more- absolutely incredible...a bit of Howling... Looses items are being blown around in the yard.
From the intellicast Caribbean Infrared satellite -it appears that the system may be trying to form a new center of circulation -LLC within the core of the new Meso-scale system to the East of Dominica/ Guadeloupe/ Marie Galante.

We'll see what the next hour may hold.

Blessings.

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- Unbelievable STORM CONDITIONS!

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:12:11 +0000

I've just come back indoors and the conditions which are still pounding the north are nothing short of ASTOUNDING. The winds have been gusting for the last hour to at least tropical storm force strength in fact there are a few tree limbs down on some streets.
Its remarkable that the power has held so well though -not even a flicker as yet- cudos to our electricity company Domlec...occasional rumbles of thunder can be heard, but its the RAIN which keeps coming down in BUCKETS/ SHEETS/ AND SHEER VOLUMES. If these conditions keep up for the next hour plus there may be some major landslip/ landslide issues to deal with by morning.

All vehicles were forced to drive with high beams tonight and everyone was making their way home as quickly as possible. Umbrellas were useless in such conditions...

I cannot say for sure that the south of the island will experience this -since my last call to someone there revealed only moderate showers...however, if the south is due for this kind of weather -now is the time for persons there to ensure that they are in a safe zone which is not prone to flash flooding and land slippage.

Be safe everyone and God's precious speed and protection to us all!

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- 92-L Alex yet to be Born...

By Conan Shillingford <nichs at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:14:41 +0000

Greetings to all!

Well the Indomitable 92 L has been relentless in reaching the islands and very early this morning it paid the Nature Isle a visit.
It was a rather impressive display of thunderstorm cell activity and many bright flashes of lightning illuminated what was at times a rain darkened sky.
Some parts of the island like near Roseau where Tommie girl is seems to have gotten more of the wind gusts. Here in the North the Atlantic Ocean has been churning and there have been a few brief gusts -but for now there is mostly the occasional thunder clap and ongoing moderate to heavy showers. However, the rain has been coming down in spurts, though I've heard that in other parts of the island so far it seems to have been near continuous -so we'll have to be vigilant for landslides and minor flooding as the day goes on.
I hope everyone stays safe on the island and if travel is not essential, then today proves to be the ideal day for book-reading or some other pleasurable indoor activity...

God's Blessings to us all in this season of storms!

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- O What a Night.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:42:48 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Jeez what an interesting night. Started around 11pm here. Down came the rain, in torrents.

So loud we had to turn the volume up on the T V. Then some lightening, which prompted a mad

dash around the house, unplugging computers etc. Then the thunder rolled. It finally moved to just

a steady rain fall after about 20 / 30 min's. Early hours of the morning it started again. Only this

time we had a nice healthy wind howling down the side of the house to go with it.

The neighbours plantain tree is over. I left some washing out on one of those little dryer things.

So at 7.30 this morning I was picking up my undies that were scattered around the garden. Hopefully

I found them all, if not our local farmer is in for a nice surprise when he comes to check on his crops.

This morning is a little better. Not much in the way of rain, but the wind is still fairly strong.

Sky very grey to the east. I am looking out the door to the west and there is bright patches of blue.

Sea, a light grey colour. Doesn't look very nice. Humidity down.

It's offical, we have Borrowers in this house. Something we simply could not find while the

daughter was here has been found. We almost tore the house apart looking, and we both checked

at least 3 times each, but hey there it is. Problem is when they return things they take something

else, but thats another story.

I'm off for that other coffee. You all take care. Watch out for those mud/land slides. Now will be

the time for them. Have a great day.

- Flash & Boom

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:57:44 -0400

Woken up this morning at 1 a.m. to loud thunder clap and bright lightning. Tore our of bed and switched off the electricity; all the plugs out of the walls, usual thing. The storm went on for about an hour or more. We had a couple of claps of thunder early this morning. It is looking very dull now and we are expecting to have to turn off the computer at any minute awaiting more of the same. I absolutely hate lightning and it sounds as though there's gazillions more to come!

.

- Hurricane season

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:02:02 -0700

We are having really lovely weather up the valley, plenty of showers
during the night bringing with them a cool breeze, in the day time
beautiful sunshine.  Exactly what the garden needs!

We went to the beach on Sunday and had a wonderful time in the sea
which is so warm!  It is great to swim in but as everyone is
predicting this is really not good for the hurricane season.  We are
not getting a good feeling about this summer at all.

The main thing that concerns us is if we have a great deal of rain!
The soil is very rich and moist in Dominica with a lot of underground
springs, streams and rivers.  This makes the land susceptible to land
slides!

I went to San Sauveur which recently had a landslide with heavy rains,
three people were killed; it was swift and sudden the house next door
was lucky not  be hit.  Apparently there was a spring on the land and
obviously this helped to make it unstable.

We live on flat land and do not have any nearby hills.  I often say to
Jaco Ladd how lucky we were to buy this property as at the time we had
no idea about landslides and building on hills or underneath them!

It has made all Dominicans aware of their vulnerability living in
areas where landslides are more likely to happen.  We hope that this
will save lives in future.  We really hope that the islands do not get
the battering that is forecast.

I have put some photo's in of Dominica; two are in San sauveur one of
them being the landslide there.

Attachment: san Sauveirre 001.JPG
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Attachment: san Sauveirre 011.JPG
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Attachment: san Sauveirre 037.JPG
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Attachment: san Sauveirre 045.JPG
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- Patchy Sky. More Rain ??

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:10:53 -0400

Good morning everyone,

The rain thundering down on the galvanized roof at approx 6.45 / 7am. woke me.

It really hammered down. Rain much needed still, the downside is the mud/landslides

that come with it. So be careful out there. Sky is a patchwork of blue and grey. Sun

making a very bold attempt to break through. Not much in the way of breeze. Odd little

gusts now and again. Horizon a bit hazy. Sea a light shade of grey. Again if your going

out to sea, take care. Advisory warning out for swimmers and small craft. Humidity up.

Well the Daughter's gone back to England. Left yesterday, believe there was a delay

in take off from Antigua, which was possibly due to weather conditions. Not sure yet,

waiting for Daughter to explain. Last words from Daughter was, I'll be back. A little disappointed

she never got to see a turtle. Ah well, turtles don't come to order and a good enough reason

to make sure she comes back to our little piece of paradise to try again. All I now have to

do is put the house back into some sort of order and restart on the garden. Which was left

for 5 weeks, jungle now taking over.

I'm off to have my other coffee, relax, (nowhere to have to go today). Enjoy my view.

You all take care. Have a great day.

- Horizon Seen.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2010 16:22:50 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

Can see the horizon clearly today. Went into town this morning for

fresh veg & fruit. Wow it was HOT. Have had a couple of nice gentle

showers of rain. Not much in the way of breeze. Humidity up still. Plague

of mozzies still rampaging their way through the house and garden. Daughter

says its been the only downside of her visit. Been bitten to pieces. Join up

all the bites on her legs and you have the milky way constellation.

Have a huge rain cloud out at sea, to the west of us, and a nice breeze

just whipped through the house. Sky turning patchy grey/ blue. More rain

heading this way hopefully.

You all take care. Watch out for the mud slides and boulders.

Have a great evening all.

- Busy, Busy.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 21:48:52 -0400

Good evening everyone,

Almost a week since the last report, and what a week. Exhausted is a good word.

The days have been long and hot, with the occasional light shower of rain, but mostly

just hot. Yesterday we had a thick layer of Sahara Dust, could barely make out the horizon.

Skies a fantastic blue. Sea a mirror image. Very light breeze, and I mean light. Humidity

way up. Plague of mozzies, noseeums and tiny little black flies, which look more like miniature

beetles. O yes, and more roaches than normal. Yuk.

The reason for exhaustion, hmmmm, that could be from attending the book ship the

Logo Hope, which is pretty good, providing you take your time and look with care. They arrived

with over 7,000 titles on board and at good prices. Books on almost everything, from arithmetic

to zoology. Next we headed for Pond Casse, spent time with friends visiting around the east

coast. Included Rosalie, Bout Sable, Rosalie, Bay,Citrus Creek, Layou River. Meeting up with

old friends and making new ones. Then there was the turtle watching. Spent the whole night

camped out on the beach at Rosalie, waiting for a turtle to come ashore. It did get pretty chilly

out there in the early hours. Unfortunately no turtles wanted to come out of the sea to lay eggs.

Next time we go will take a bottle of rum to help keep us warm. The good side was it was a

beautiful night. Almost a full moon, no breeze, no rain. Hopefully we will be able to go again

and this time see a turtle. The daughter loved it. Next stop, cricket. Had a fantastic day. Great

fun. One of our local strimmer guys was well into it. Spotted a few rows down from us he made

sure everyone joined in the Mexican wave. Shame the W. I. lost to South Africa, but it went up to the last ball and one run, which made for a really exciting finish. The whole stadium was ooooing and groaning.

A terrific atmosphere through out the day.

So I'm off to fill the glass, put something good on the t.v. Have a nice lazy evening.

You all take care. Have a great day tomorrow.

- CRICKET

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 05:03:10 -0700

Dominica was blessed with gorgeous sunshine yesterday. Dominicans turned out in their thousands to the Windsor Stadium to give the West Indies team there support and show their undying love and passion for the game and their team. It has been reported that our beautiful Island had the most supporters of the cricket tour so far! Dominica is not a rich island and many Dominicans saved their hard earned money to buy tickets. The West Indian team won the toss and decided to bat first. The batting was exciting and kept everyone on the edge of their seats, cheering, cheering, waving, giving one hundred percent of their enthusiasm for the game. Over 300 runs were scored and the West Indies were in a very good position to win.

When lunch was over, the crowds were expecting a nail biting bit of fielding and bowling from the West Indies team to gain their first win in the series. Jaco Ladd and I have never ever seen such bad playmanship. The team played as if they were in a practice match, dropping balls, flopping on the ground not bothering to run after the ball to stem the flow of runs. The team showed absolutely no pride in themselves. We left early as it was dreadful to watch. Chris Gayle is blaming the bowlers for losing the match, Chris Gayle was one of the main bowlers! It looks to us as if the West Indies need to have a proper team, have pride in their game and support each other, it was obvious that they were at odds with each other and uncomfortable. The West Indies Cricket board need to look closely at each member of the team there is definitely need for some drastic changes, morale boosting and a change at the helm.

If the activity in the 2010 hurricane season measures the amount of apathy shown by the Windies team we'll be in for an easy blow.

Next time we have an international cricket match in Dominica lets have a win! - the supporters yesterday definitely deserved it!

- Cricket

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 May 2010 06:26:23 -0700

Dominica is at the moment enjoying really lovely weather, sunshine with a good breeze. We have been getting showers at night and the garden and surrounding land is looking lush, colourful, bearing fruit, vegetables and the flamboyount trees are especially outstanding.

Dominica is alive with many guests who are here to enjoy the two one day cricket matches, ODIs. The West Indies lost to South Africa in the first match played yesterday. But whatever, the cricket ground was full, town was full of parked vehicles and the shops and business's had the radios on listening to the game live. Everyone is so proud to have the cricket here and yes, we boast the most attractive ground, as I have alluded to before because we have the river running past the stadium, making a great backdrop plus a fabulous sound. We are off to cricket tomorrow and I would imagine a great deal of the island is going to be there! I am cooking up a storm today to make a picnic to take with us tomorrow, it certainly will be a big party.

We had a fun visit with Jackie (Tommie girl) her husband daughter and friends yesterday afternoon. They came into the valley to see how Jaco Lass and Ladd live up here in the forest while they live in the hub of Wallhouse with fantastic views of the ocean. We had a few vats of wine and Kubulis while discussing the up and coming hurricane season! We were all of the opinion that we would be very lucky to get away unscathed this coming hurricane season. We have very solid shutters on our home which is a very solid cottage, we feel we would stick out most hurricanes in our home, we did for hurricane Dean and were fine, a catagory 5 however would be different!!! Let's hope we won't have to find out.

Tomorrow the DA stormcarib reporters will be at cricket having a fun time!

- Windy.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 26 May 2010 08:46:25 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Reports of a fatal landslide over on the east coast. Please be careful out

there people.

Extremely windy during the night and this morning. Sky is a dull grey, with

odd little patches of blue. Sun is doing it's best to get through. The horizon is

hazy. Sea looks to be a bit on the rough side. Can see white caps out there. So

anyone going out fishing take care.

We are off to town to visit the Logo Hope book ship that calls at the island.

Should be interesting. More on that later.

I'm off to have a coffee, watch the waves. You all take care and have a great day.

- Hurricane Season

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 14:05:41 -0700

Today has been strange as here in the valley we have had no rain really to speak of. I was at Syndicate this morning and the weather was absolutely glorious.

When I reached the valley I noticed that the river was running fast and very high the water was extremely muddy. On reaching Layou I was told by my neighbour

that a family of three in San Sauveure,had been trapped by a mudslide - I wonder whether this plus isolated heavy downpours has contributed to the land slip.

- Jazzy Rain.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 12:00:14 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Well, we had a great day yesterday. The weather appeared to be on our side.

Blue sky, sun, and a light breeze. Made our way to Purple Turtle beach at Portsmouth

in the north of the island, where we met up with friends. A quick slurp of something to

keep the throat wet, then onto the Cabrits Park, and Fort Shirley, where they were

having a Creole and Jazz festival. What a brilliant time we all had. The rum punch

flowed, plenty of food about. Daughter enjoyed herself, meeting our friends. A couple of

light showers to keep it cool. The music was good. Unfortunately there was no coffee to

be had at the show. Trip to the bottom of the Fort, and there is a nice little cafe/bar. And what a

delightful surprise we had. A small reggae group were performing. So while topping up

the caffeine level, we were very well entertained. Never managed to get the name of the

group, but they were pretty good and worth listening to. Back at the fest, lightening was

spotted way down to the south. So we ended up with a light show to go with the music.

Nature, much better than Jean Michel Jarre. No way can he compete with it.

The lightening kept going all the way home. We were heading into whatever was happening.

By the time we reached the house, rain was falling, but we had missed the torrential

downpour. Knew the second I stepped onto the balcony that the rain had really lashed

down. Water everywhere. We must have missed it by about 5 minutes. It continued to

rain throughout the night, with another heavy downpour early this morning, loud enough

to wake me.

It is still raining on and off, pretty heavy at times. Can see the colour change in

the sea where the rivers are flowing into it. A nice breeze, with a few good strong gusts

thrown in for good measure. Temp on the back balcony 80f / 28c. Humidity right down.

Sky, well that's a bit of a mix, plenty of grey cloud up there, with patches of blue.

I'm off for another coffee which I can hear hubby making. You all have a great day.

Stay safe. Watch for those mud slides, bouncing boulders. If your going to the river

be careful.

- Plenty of Rain.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 11:20:22 -0400

Good morning everyone,

Plenty of rain this morning, it's been thundering down. Rain barrel well and

truly full. Garden watered properly at long last. Everything looking green, instead

of a dirty dusty colour. A very slight breeze, which is welcome. Sky and sea a

nice shade of grey. Ah well, the rain is needed. Humidity down.

Not so much fun for the Daughter who has come for a short visit. Not a great

deal to do when it rains so heavy. Most of the islands attractions are outdoor

pursuit's. Shame, but we have got our tickets for the cricket between the W.I. and

Sth Africa. Looking forward to that, should be a good day. Just about everyone we

know will be there along with the rest of the island.

Well I'm off for another coffee. Look out on that grey view. You all take care.

Enjoy the day and have another great day tomorrow. Watch out for those landslides

with all this rain.

- Cricket Cometh

By Lisette Stevens <jaco.lass at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 05:56:55 -0700

The weather is just so lovely at the moment showers, sunshine and rain, everything is budding and we are enjoying lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and cabbage from the garden, it is definitely growing time.

Dominica is alive with a vibrant feeling. In a couple of weeks we will be having two international cricket one day matches; it will be the first time Dominica has had the top West Indian and South African players on its doorstep. It seems every mortal on the street is getting very pumped up and excited.

We went to buy our tickets yesterday for the Sunday bash - lucky for us there were a few left. Can you imagine an after the event conversation with your smart friends who attended, like "You missed the cricket? Are you of this planet or what?"

The West Indies are playing the South African team, sometimes called 'the Proteas' and Windsor Stadium in downtown Roseau will have not seen anything like it! Dominica has something unique about the location of their cricket ground, it is one of the only islands that has a river running right by the cricket pitch!

Gert is letting us crew of writers know that June is fast approaching and we must get ready for the coming activity. We are getting here - we hope!

- Raining at Last.

By Jackie Fullbrook <fullbrookt at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 12:18:52 -0400

Good afternoon everyone,

What a welcome relief. RAIN and lots of it. Started last night and has been

a steady fall most of the morning. Sea is a total white out, cannot see a thing.

Well except for some little black dots which I assume are the Frigate birds. A nice

little breeze blew in last night, which made for a comfy nights sleep. And it is still

with us this morning. Humidity 's dropped a lot. Back balcony temperature down to 78f.

Rain barrel filling up nicely, and the garden is getting a long awaited drink. Hopefully

the ground will have softened enough for me to get a new rose bush and hibiscus in.

The birds are loving it. Lots of feather washing going on.

The down side, our hot water is solar powered. Eeeekkk cold shower.

I'm off. Cup of coffee. Then a busy afternoon ahead.

You all take care. Watch for the mud slides and the boulders. Have a great day.