Tricia and Kismet Inn now have a new website compliments of our friend Kenny (he stayed here a few weeks ago). It’s:
http://kismetinn.cipherblue.com. He is a web designer, among other things, and promised her that he would build a site and host it on his server and he has done her proud. Please take a look. And, thanks so much Kenny!!!
Tricia had ordered 6 Polish hens from Father Dominic (the pastor of Holy Redeemer R.C. in Dangriga) a while ago and yesterday, Friday 3/4, 4 of them were delivered to Kismet. Father Dominic raises and sells all kinds of fowl including turkeys, ducks, geese, and chickens to supplement the church’s income. It’s pretty meager here so the sale of the birds helps support the church. Anyway, Tricia and Ron played with them for a while then she tucked them away in the chicken coop in a cardboard box, turned on its side, or so she thought. We were sure that her dogs couldn’t get to them because the fence is too high. She also plugged a few hole that we thought they could escape through, so thought they would be safe for the night. When I came back from fishing I went out to check on them, thinking I would find them wandering around in the small coop yard. It was strangely quiet so I went into the yard and looked inside the coop. One dead hen outside the box, one dead inside the box, and 2 missing. I woke Tricia up and told her. We looked for the other 2, hoping to find them wandering in the trees to the right of the coop yard but we didn’t find anything. We found the 3rd one up on the deck next to her door. No sign of the 4th one. We think it was a Coatimundi that did the damage, Later that morning Ron looked out the kitchen window and saw that Xanadu had dug a hole near the bushes separating the underneath courtyard from the parking lot and had placed the chicken in the hole and was about to bury it. He ran out and rescued a terror stricken hen, placing it back in the box and brought it up to the kitchen. It was shaking like a leaf and we could only imagine that it was from being carried off by and nearly killed. After a few hours it was almost as good as new, wandering around it’s box. Tricia said we needed a good name for it so I suggested Frances, after Francis of Assisi the patron saint of animals. She liked it so that’s the hen’s name now. Tricia was still waiting for 2 more (her original order was for 6) and she is ordered a couple more to replace the ones killed. She also moved them to a more secure area, namely the dog house, and surrounded it with a tarp, thinking that it would keep any animal out. Wrong!!! The next day (Mon 3/7) all but one of the new chickens are dead and Frances is missing and presumed dead as well. So today, Tues 3/8, Conan and I took a ride into Dangriga and bought 4 more. Tricia has been locking them in her apartment at nigh. So far, so good!
Conan finally bought his own fishing rod and spinning reel on Tuesday 3/8. Not that I minded his using my stuff but he finally admitted that he is hooked on fishing. We spent about an hour in Uncle Harry’s Hardware in Dangriga talking fishing with Harry and looking at components. Conan finally settled on a twin of my boat/lagoon rod and a medium weight spinning reel. It took 4 trips to the lagoon before he finally caught a fish on it, actually a couple of catfish, and they were part of his dinner that night. He says he wants to catch a “Rich size fish” now, you know, the ones that pop up in my Facebook page or on this blog from time to time. That too will come with time and I can’t wait for it to happen. I know I’ll be there because he hasn’t been bitten as hard as me by the fishing bug and taken a trip to the lagoon on his own. We’ve been itching for a reef trip too because it’s been a couple of weeks now and his having the new rod will hasten our planning of a trip. By the way he’s Ernest Robley on Facebook if you want to friend him.
We had a famous author in our midst at Kismet and she arrived on Friday March 11the and left on Sunday. Dr. Barbara Brodman is the author of “Looking for Mister Guevara" in which she follows the path of Che Guevara through South America prior to the Cuban Revolution in 1951. She is also a professor of Latin American & Caribbean Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She teaches an online course from her Belize home in Spanish Lookout too. Conan has a fondness for the humanitarian side of Che (he was a medical student and travels extensively on South and Central America) and was beside himself when he found out who she was. She’s been a long time friend of Tricia and I’ve seen her a time or two at Kismet but never had the pleasure of talking to her until now. She’s a very pleasant and fun loving lady.
I don’t know what it is about burnt foods but I’m a HUGE fan. Not meats & veggies (although some veggies) but breads and cookies. And it’s been that way all my life. Maybe it’s because I came from a family of 7 kids and most of them didn’t like the burnt ones so that left more for me. Maybe it’s just because I loved the taste. But no matter, I always encouraged, you might say pleaded, with both of my wives to leave a few in a few extra minutes. Now you know cookie bakers, they want every cookie picture perfect so it was hard for them to do it. But they would do it for me anyway and I loved them for it. My favorites are chocolate chip and oatmeal but burn away any other type and I gobble them up. Tricia baked a loaf of fruit bread in the morning and some kind of dinner bread at night. Her oven’s temperature is hard to regulate so there are times when I’m able to slice off the entire bottom of the loaf and sit in charcoal heaven, enjoying every last crumb. She made oatmeal cookies a couple weeks ago and burnt a few just for me. She’s such a good friend! One of the simple pleasures in my life in paradise!
We spent the day out at the reef and Bread&Butter Caye today (Monday 3/14) snorkeling and fishing and had a wonderful time. Crystal and Henry from Calgary, Valerie from Montreal, Conan, Tricia and I made up the list. I was the only full time fisherman, as usual, and everyone else mostly snorkeled. Conan did his thing with his Hawaiian spear and brought in a scrawled filefish, an Atlantic spadefish, a Spanish grunt, and a blue stripped grunt. He trolled for a few minutes on our way back to the marina but didn’t catch anything. I caught 3 barracuda. A 13lb one that I fought for about 10 minutes and a 7 and a 2-3/4 cuda. Needless to say dinner was delicious! After feeding 8 people I still have 6 pounds left for future dinners.
We’ve had a really fun group of people staying here the past few days and, again, it’s hard to see them go. Hopefully, and really more probably, the next guests will be ones we hate to see leave. That’s one of the things I love about living here. I get to meet so many wonderful people. Goodbye to Chrystal and Henry and to Valerie, all of whom were from Canada.
And that’s the way it goes, March 14, 2011; for the Fatboy in Belize! As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
