Cayman vacation 2010

We are finally on a very much needed family vacation to our timeshare in Grand Cayman. We have been working and on the go since before football season started and haven't really had any significant family relaxation time since last summer when we all were together at a North Carolina beach house in July with my family. So here we are...relaxing on the beach in Cayman with the biggest decision of the day being "what kind of rum drink should I have now?" We still have half a week left and plan to do some diving. Off to Georgetown today to give our sunburns a rest and stimulate the local economy. We are renting out our place here for next year and currently have spring break booked in April! (that can easily be changed if needed). Let me know if you're interested! Here are a few choice pics so far...

view from our room at the Westin on Seven Mile Beach

the Caribbean sea is like a giant swimming pool

pics of our condo

view from our patio

the kids are on their 2nd mudslide!

kids with their favorite pool toy

Soccer Days

Jennifer plays on a 4th and 5th grade soccer team. Poor girls for all of their might can't seem to win a game. Not only can't they win they have yet to score a goal! In any case Jen is always in the mix of things and getting right into the action. The funny thing is the girls will get right up to the goal with the ball and then stand there petrified and paralyzed and without the chutzpa to knock the ball in! Oh well - this to shall pass...(right through their legs unfortunately). Good times, even the Corgis got a field trip out to watch a soccer match. Jen's team lost 6 to zip. Maybe next time...

Dewey is happy for a day out

Murphy is a little more stressed out with the field trip

Jennifer gets into the mix

good kick but it didn't go anywhere

The Wrong guy...

Well we had a well fed big ol raccoon this morning in the trap. He's no worse for wear. He was sound asleep curled up waiting for his relocation project to his new digs at the beautiful Rose Lake wildlife preserve. He ate all of the tuna as well as the dead starling that Jeff had put in the trap and was curled up sleeping like a baby. I have to say he's pretty darn cute and just looked at us curiously as Jeff carted him off to his new home. He can join 5 other raccoons from the hood that Jeff has relocated there! I am pretty darn sure however he's not our "koi kulprit". I'm going to make a few phone calls to the local landscapers today and see if they have any ideas on baiting for our elusive mink. Along that line I may reload the pond with a few of the fancy type goldfish in hopes that brings them out. Onto Phase two...

Here's our little bugger checking out the trap



OOPS! Trapped now! Check out his arm reaching out to the fence.



Get me outta here!!



The morning after...








Even Murphy was checking him out

Desperate Times call for desperate measures...

Well he's gone. The last terrified koi was taken Saturday night. We are now sans fish. This pisses me off to no end since I've had this pond for 5 years and had 5 year old beautiful fish without the slightest disturbance until this winter. Time to call in the troupes - better known as my neighbor Jeff and his live trap and field cameras! Hopefully we can catch this varmint and "relocate" him to a lovely spot out at Rose Lake Nature Preserve.



placing the trap





placing two infrared field cameras in hopes of seeing who's coming to dinner

And then there was one...

Well the latest pond tragedy happened sometime during this past week. I noticed that I hadn't seen our largest fish that managed to survive the wintertime carnage of the mink. We also replaced the koi that we lost with 5 babies. Now we are down to one after the latest in "koi karnage". I am seriously pissed. Once these little vermin find your pond it's all over. Several ponds in our area have been ransacked by wild mink including 2 landscapers immense ponds within a mile. Time to take matters into our own hands although how that looks varies between husband and wife. I would like to live trap and relocate said critters while my husband on the other hand... well let's just say we'll try my way first and go from there. We have one remaining terrified little spotted koi who has managed to find a great little hidey hole crammed into a crevice in between a planter and a rock. Now it all makes sense why none of the fish would swim about freely recently. We will keep you posted on the progress.


hiding behind the rock

Zen and the art of Pond Maintenance

So here we are in the spring trying to deal with the sludge that winter has left us. All but one of our koi were taken from us by a wild mink this winter. It's a heartbreaking thing as these fish have been family members for over 5 years and were like little dogs swimming up to us when it was dinnertime looking for their chow. We netted the one terrified remaining guy and put him in a tub while we drained and cleaned the pond. And by "we" I mean of course my fabulous pond boy Tommy.

Trying out this blogging thing!

OK so I'm giving this a go as several of my friends do it. It seems an easier way to update happenings and post fun pictures than on Facebook! We are in major yard mode to get the Zen Garden up to speed including the pond. My new "pond boy" a.k.a. Tommy is working hard to get the water quality shipshape which is a major pain with the algae blooms of spring. Pics to follow...