Time continues to fly!

I did not realize that the whole month of September has gone by and I did not post anything! Not to say that there was much to post.

Let's see - did a little travelling to visit old friends, bought some more cheap camera lenses, converted a couple to Canon mount and slowly working my way to having all converted. There are 4 left to do. Two of the latest and greatest acquisitions were a Sigma APO 400mm F5.6 (the easiest conversion I have done to date) and a Minolta Rokkor 58mm F1.4 (waiting on a special adapter that will tell the camera it's a f1.4 lens attached). I just love taking old manual focus lenses and making them work with new cameras. The feel of the old lenses - a nice weight from being mainly metal as compared to the mostly plastic ones now being made. I get the satisfaction of converting something that would have been scrapped and extending its life. I know that most of the lenses will be useable long after I have left this realm. No electronics to wear out!

The Cayman Islands is once again going through a period of crime. We have had a bank robbery and some small store robberies. There have been a couple murders - one apparently related to drugs and the other to gangs. For a small island, these incidents are becoming all too common and the police have recently said that they will not be releasing any details of crimes as they happen. You have to wait for "normal" working hours to find out what is happening unless they determine it is significant! Sounds like they are becoming too complacent about what is going on.
I, for one, would like to know if there is a nutcase running around my neighbourhood!

The weather has been rainy over the past 10 days as one depression after another comes into the region. We have had about 10" of rain in the past 2 weeks! But thankfully, no hurricanes (as yet)!
Once the rains are gone, things will begin to cool down (it is already happening) and we once more get to pleasant weather and sunny skies.

There is a continued exit of expats as work permits are not renewed or companies experience slowdowns. The only blessing to these islands is that almost all of the people leave and hence do not become a burden on the system. On the other hand, it is expertice that is lost! On Oct 10, there will be a census to determine who is here and what they do!

These days, to still have a job, good health, food and shelter are all things one can truly be thankful for! It does not take much of an internet search to find out how difficult things are for some people in the US and EU. But one has to prepare for potential bad times during the good!

What you been up to Mike!

Wow! It hard to believe that almost 2 months has gone by and I have not updated! Obviously my fans decided to give me a break and not harass me for more news! :-)


Well, I've been busy. Spent more time doing photography than any other hobby. Tried to do some wide angle, portrait and learn a little more about Photoshop 4. Got it so better learn how to use it! Janie has been the reluctant victim (when I can convince her) and while they are not all winners, I do think that I have a couple keepers! Of course, my keep to discard ratio is bad but improving. If I could only find another victim ......I mean person to pose! Besides, she never signed any agreement limiting me to what I can do with her pictures .... I think!
N.B. She finally give her approval since she did not know how to get into my blog to change or delete it!





Rainy season continues with some accumulation most every week. Needless to say, everything is green and the grass is growing quickly. Have to make a major trim and cut every two weeks!


Not much done to the house. Broke down and got the AC installed. It was just getting too hot and humid. A couple weeks ago,the humidex went up to 120F. It was nice to come home and turn the AC on.


Chickens are giving eggs. Plants are growing - especially the mangoes and avocadoes. Two trees are laden with fruits - the guava and the june plum. expect to be feasting on those in the next 6-8 weeks. Bananas continue to produce and we usually have a ripe bunch or two every month.


No hurricanes on the horizon (as yet), but they are forecasting that we will have a busy season. So we continue to watch. and wait
I am now fully prepared to take hurricane pictures. I managed to get a digital camera waterproof case for one of the point and shoot cameras. It's good to 100' depth (hopefully that will not get tested) and I can get as high as 500+ pictures (if the batteries hold out).

The world slowdown continues to hit Cayman, and it is affecting us in a strange way. When people have a slowdown at work, they usually move back to the country of origin (if they are not Caymanian). The result is that many jobs are being posted by there are just not enough qualified people to go around. Time will tell how this affects the island!

Bye for now!

Gotta enter something for June....

Another month is almost gone by and life continues.

The rainy season is upon us, along with a bit of help from Invest 93/Tropical storm Alex. While the closest approach of the center was about 150 miles south of Cayman, we did get rain, rain and more rain for a couple days.
During the dry season, there is a very light, continual mist of salt spray the is being deposited over the island. It builds up and up and without the rains, would eventually poison the land. The rains wash and dilute this salt spray so it cannot harm the vegetation. It was needed as we are coming out of a long dry season. Of course, all vegetation is looking green and the grass is growing like crazy! The mosquitoes are out in force (usually happens 3 days after the rains) but the brisk winds are keeping them under control. Most everyone is keeping an eye out for weather disturbances coming off Africa and entering the Caribbean Sea.

All our preparations are finalized. Hurricane shutters installed, generator tested, fuel stocked up and supplies are enough to keep ug going for a coule weeks if needed.

Chickens are as normal, fruit trees are growing and everyone is healthy and alive.

Mango season is starting to wind down (shame). While I did not produce as many as in other years, I did manage to eat my fill a few times.

With the storms that have been passing by, I have had a greater than normal interest in photography - mainly lightning photography. These (like all photographs) are stolen fractions of a second in life. I am sure the neighbours are wondering what I am doing with a camera in the dark but so far, no one has asked so Iam not telling.

Lightning photography can be done two ways - continual long exposures hoping you catch a flash or with the help of a lightning trigger. Thankfully, I chose the trigger method.

A lightning flash lasts for up to 1/4 second (250 milliseconds). Triggering the camera by hand, you stand a very great chance of not being fast enough to record anything. With the lightning trigger, it detects the flash through a phototransistor and triggers the camera (usually in under 100 milliseconds), allowing you to capture the strike. The only problem is to make sure that you are pointing the camera in the right direction.

My only concerns have to do with the lay of the land and the two electrical wires that run in front of the house.

Cayman is very flat! Therefore, you cannot find a location that allows you to overlook a valley or a mountain to get the complete cloud to ground flash. But, I think that I did OK! Pictures are straight from the camera - no editing or cropping.

A long time....

I knew that it had been a while since I had posted anything but I could not beleve that over 2 months had passed! The daily monotony of life keeps going on!
Well, here goes.
Chickens - doing well. Get eggs most every day. And have built up a small number of free eggs clientele - between family, my work and Janie's work. I usually get a small reminder - amy eggs available? We have lost a couple of the Rhode Island Reds as well as a couple of the local chickens. Not sure why but there are no signs of disease. They get quite a varied diets from kitchen scraps, grass, vegetables and the usual staples of corn and layer pellets.
Weather - hurricane season starts in 3 days and I will be undetaking some of the annual preparations that we undergo every year. Communications, generator testing, checking and updating the canned food supply, checking on water in the cistern, hurricane shutters, etc. They are call for an above average number of storms this year so best to be prepared.
Photography - I continue to play with this hobby. I believe that it is the third oldest hobby I have - sitting behind bicycling at about 40 years, astronomy at around 37 and photography at 36. My lens collection is about complete (just the 10-22 wide angle and possibly a 100-400mm telephoto left on my wish list)and I have to say that I am averaging about 100 photos a week. A lot of them get discarded but I do get some keepers.
Travels - I went to Honduras for a long Cayman weekend two weeks ago. It is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere and the sights were an eyeopener. Scenes like young children sleeping on the sidewalks, people scavenging or begging for food, living under a tarp held up by branches, collecting drinking water from a river that runs through town were among the more daily sights.

Horse, bicycle or donkey drawn carts are the norm and most people use public transportation. Some people were collecting discarded water bottles from along the side of the road to sell for some money. Children collecting firewood to cook the meals or walking to get water to drink shows how difficult their lives are. It really made me appreciate how much I, my family and friends have been

blessed. Poverty was much more disturbing in the city. In the country, most people have food to eat but still seek the few limperas that can get for items they cannot produce by selling firewood or a few fruits and vegetables along the roads. I intend to bring the wife and kids there so that they can also see life from the other side. Came back with around 700 photographs.
Other items - I have been busy around the house. Built a few items for the kitchen - cabinet and island as well as planting fruit trees. SO far, I have added 10 mangoes (2 died) and 3 avocado (all OK), 2 limes (1 is struggling), 2 oranges, 2 sweetsop, and will be adding 5 naseberries (sapodilla) as well as an achee.
We curently get a new bunch of bananas about every 6 weeks. Nothing like the flavor of a tree ripened banana.
Still cycling, tinkering and keeping out of trouble. I haven't done any more cooking but with mangoes becoming more available, I am sure some treat will be soon tested!

More, more, more!

I think I have unleased a monster!
After my initial foray into the wild world of culinary delights - namely desserts - I have gone into something I had previously only tasted in Cayman but have now created for myself. Since my first heavy cake endeavour, I have made more and they are still turning out fine. Slight variations in taste, but still OK by my books. Sarah thinks so too.
I have been reviewing the Miss Cleo's Cayman Kitchen book that I borrowed from Janet (not sure when I will give it back at this rate) and found a recipe for cut guavas (also known as stewed guavas). Tonight, after dinner, I decided to give it a go. The recipe was fairly simple
5 lbs of guavas - I picked those from my tree yesterday
8 cups of water
3 cups of water - you need two different batches
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp red food colouring (skipped this because we don't have any in the house)
1/4 cup of lime juice.
The first thing is to peel the guavas, cut in half and remove the seeds. For those who don't know, a guava that is two inches in diameter once peeled and deseeded, leaves about a 1/4" thick shell. A lot of the fruit is mixed in with the seed - probably about 70%- that is thrown away. In my case, the chickens will enjoy their treat.
Place the guava shells in the 8 cups of water and boil until the tender.
Strain the guavas and place again in 3 cups of water, 3 cups of sugar, cinnamon nad lime juice. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer until you have the consistencey you want, stirring occasionally.

Sound simple enough and it is.
From start to finish, 2 hours. I made a quart and a half of cut guavas.
Tomorrow, Janet and Jennifer, my two "at work samplers", will once more put their lives in my hands as their sample my products!

Still on the cool for us side as temperetures only got up to 74F today in the bright sunshine. Currently the temp is 71 and looks like we will be below 70 tonight. Winds are still blowing from the NE at a constant 20 mph but gusts to 35 are recorded. Perfect sleeping weather!

Goodnght all!

Into the beast

Here is the deep south, we usually have warm 80F days and cool 70F nights - give or take a few degrees. But this year, things have been cool with one nor'wester after another. The odd thing is hearing peoples air conditioning units going on when they can open the windows and get lots of free, cool air!

I had a problem with one of my cameras - the Canon 30D. Some of them suffer from a faulty intermittent shutter switch. What happens is at times, you press the button to focus and take the picture, and nothing happens. No click and no picture. It is all done by electronics and switches.
A bit of research showed me the source of the problem and how to fix it. I had two options, send it away to Canon for a $300 fix (probably represents 75% of the value of the camera) or fix it myself for about $20. I chose the latter.
The switch was delivered this last Wednesday and I attempted the fix as soon as I got home from work. It was fairly straightforwards and within 1/2 hour, I was ready to make the changeover. Another 15 minutes and everything was back together for the big test. And you know what, I successfully completed the repair.
I took a picture with another camera to show what the inside looks like amd the location ofthe replaced part.



Continuing with my baking, I made another heavy cake and it also looks good. Time to try another adventure.
We have a couple guava trees and the fruits are beginning to mature. Fortunately, it is one of those trees that spreads the ripening of its fruits over a month or so. You just don't get it all at once. Janie made guava jam last year and I am going to try stewed guavas sometime soon.
You can Google it to see how simple it is.

Chickens are OK. We now have 4 Rhode Island Reds laying on a steady basis. Over the last two weeks, egg productions has ranged from a low of 3 to a high of 8 per day. Luckily, I have family members who readily take the surplus. I was a bit concerned about their calcum intake but after I put some coral sand in the pen, they readily go and eat some when they want to. The result is strong egg shells.

Oh, no!

This weekend, I am going to venture into the world of cooking.
During the choosing of appliances for the house, I went looking for a double oven gas stove and a fridge that was very flexible in how the shelves could be arranged. I managed to succeed and it is time to begin to use them.
When I was at the Agriculture Fair on Ash Wednesday, one of the Junior Achievement groups was selling a "heavy cake kit" that contained everything except the main ingredient. What is heavy cake? Well, the name says it all. It is heavy because the main ingredient in it is a root crop called cassava (yucca to the Spanish). Add some brown sugar, spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, a bit of vanilla and mix it all together and the result is a item that anyone in the Caribbean and Central America will readily accept a slice of (assuming you prepared it well). Heavy cake is a great seller no matter where it is available.
I got into a discussion with a co-worker Janet who knows how to make it (by seeing her Mom) yet had never made it herself. Topics ranged from type of container it should be baked in (thick metal not thin but pyrex is acceptable and cast iron is great - and I though I understood the laws of thermodynamics), coconut milk (fresh made from the coconut, not from the can), how to bake (slow not fast so that it becomes stretchy - still working on understanding that) and finally basting the cake as it is cooking. Eventually, another co-worker Jennifer got involved in the chat. Needless to say, they thought that I was starting at the wrong end of the learning to cook scale but I still contend that how hard can it be?
The end result is that I now have two not too willing but will give it a try Caymanian tasters for Monday who will hopefully survive the experience.
I did let them know that I an going to take the quick way in preparation for now by using canned or previously prepared items as much as possible. Once I get the procedure down pat, I will explore other methods of heavy cake creation.
I have learned that most of the cooks in Cayman don't follow a recipe. They can estimate well enough based on what amount of ingredients that are available to deliver a consistent product.

If anyone is interested in trying heavy cake, here is the Junior Achievement recipe. You can replace the cassava with most Caribbean root crops (yams, etc) for a slightly different taste and texture but I believe the procedure and other ingredients remains the same.

Ingredients for Process A:-
-1 and 1/2 cans (32oz) of coconut milk
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup dark brown sugar
-1/2 tsp Vanilla
-1/4 tsp Allspice
-1 tsp ground nutmeg
-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Process B
-1 cup light brown sugar
-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
-1 1/4 tsp vegetable oil
-1/4 cup dark sugar

Step 1 - Peel and grate 3 lbs of whole cassava (a food processor can be used) or you can buy pre-grated cassava if you are lucky. I was!

Step 2 - Place the ingredients for Process A in a large pot on a heated stove. Bring the mixture to a boil until a film of froth is seen.

Step 3 - Use a spoon to remove and collect the froth from the top of the boiled mixture until you have a measurement of 1/4 cup. This froth will be used to later baste the cake. Please preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 4 - Add the grated cassava to the mixture along with the ingredients from process B. Stir until well mixed.

Step 5 - Lightly oil an 8 x 8 inch baking pan and pour the mixture into pan.

Step 6 - Place mixture in oven to bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and baste it lightly with the froth.

Step 7 - Place the cake back into oven for 10 to 15 minutes. After this period is complete allow cake to cool overnight.

Step 8 - Enjoy your delicious heavy cake.

Sounds pretty straightforward to me, but then what do I know as I have only been a consumer for all my life! Since last night, I have had the 3 lbs of cassava defrosting in the fridge. This morning, It was still a solidly frozen mass. I have placed it on the counter to speed the process up.

An update on chickens. When we were transferring the Rhode Islands Reds from the chicken tractor to the coop, they were like pets. Calmly allowing us to hold them without any sign of fear or fuss. And true enough, 3 have begun laying eggs. Our maximum daily count so far is 7 but some were very small. These are believed to have come from beginning layers.

I also have some new plants to plant. 5 pineapple, a black mint, a peppermint and a thyme were bought at the Agriculture fair. I had pineapples about 15 years ago. Very small in size (the fruit was definitely less than 6" long) but it seemed to have contained all the flavor available in a large sized one.
Every now and then I start to imagine what would happen if the supply ships could not get here or we delayed by some disaster. Then I go out an plant another banana or some fruit tree. Who knows when they will be useful!

We did manage to move the lathe and stand on Wed. Only 4 guys and Janie, Sarah and Dorothy as standbys and counterweights but it has been successfully installed in its new (and hopefully permanent) parking space. It takes up more space that I thought (have to re-plan the garage organization) but it never hurts to have more room around it for working and maintenance.

Addendum:
It's Sunday morning and for better or worse, my heavy cake concoction is in the oven. Last night, I was over at Janet's and she had a Caymanian cookbook with a heavy cake recipe by Frank Conolly. I work with his daughter and he made a heavy cake for our family Christmas dinner in 2008 which was enjoyed by everyone. His recipe differs slightly from the one above but that is to be expected. He claims that the older Caymanians "cooked by eye".
Mr. Conolly's recipe called for more sugar and for some butter, which was not mentioned in the JA recipe. So I compromised and split the amount between them. I also added a bit of almond extract and honey for a slightly different twist on things. Mixing time was not long. I spent more time locating pans, measuring spoons and figuring out how to set the oven. I am cooking at 325 instead of 350 so that I can see how things are proceeding.
Here is the mixture before cooking...



Just waiting for the result - maybe an hour or two?

And the final result. The slash in the middle is where I insert a knife to see if the center was cooked




Now I have to find some coconut icecream to put on top but we will be tasting this by dinnertime if not before.

February already?

They say that the older you get, the faster time flies! They were not kidding!

Things are still progressing on the house. We completed the trim for the four storage areas and they have all been primed with two of them already final coated. Just have to choose they type of flooring and the doors and all is completed. The biggest problem is still the garage. I never realized how much stuff I have stashed in the old one. Ash Wednesday is a holiday and after a visit to the Agriculture Show in the morning to get fruit trees and other plants, later that day is "Let's move the lathe'! The lathe is about 6' long and weights about 600 lbs all stripped down. The base is another 400 lbs. Luckily, we can get a flatbed trailer within 3' of it so with 6 guys, we should be able to move things quite easily.
Then to plan the milling machine!

The chickens are fine. On this past Friday, we came home to find out that the Rhode Island Reds had laid 3 eggs. This was not natural as we are still feeding them grower, not layer! Later today, they will be joining the main flock and start to eat layer and corn.
The biggest problem I have seen is the roosters. They are continually chasing each other around and fighting. My solution - prepare 5 of them for the pot. The hens seem a lot more settled since we have cleared that mess up.

Still playing with photography. Got a couple new lens and attachments last month, but there are still some more that would be nice to have. With the upcoming Easter 4 day weekend and adding some vacation days, I will have 10 days off work. One of the things I am planing is an all day trip where I will do is drive around and photograph the island. Should be fun.
My newest lens is a Pentacon 300mm F4. It is made in Germany and is all old school - metal with very little if any plastic. Weighs about 5 lbs. It is not a hand holding lens and has to be used with either a tripod or a sandbag. It goes back to the old days when you bought a lens, you got a leather round case that is velvet lined. These days, you are lucky at times to get a glare hood much less a case.

To those that don't know me well, I collect and read magazines. Not everyday stuff but useful ones like Fine Homebuilding, Fine Woodworking, the Handyman, Home Shop Machinist, Projects in Metal, etc. You get the idea. DIY is the theme!
Some of these magazines have been in publication for 30 or more years. And I have almost every copy! Of course, the wife sees it as clutter but use an idea from them and she thinks I am the smartest guy in the world! I just smile and bask in the short limelight.
The problem for me is how to index and store them and for her is to get them out of sight? I have managed to locate in Cayman some medium sized plastic storage boxes from Sterilite. They have an air and moisture resistant seal and hold the magazines quite nicely. Solution - store the magazines in them in sequential order. I will have to build a storage unit in the garage where the boxes can all be lodged safely but still accessible when needed. I hope she likes the idea.

Yesterday, I went to the first birthday party of my God-daughter Sarah. Never had a God-daughter before and I am still feeling out what is required. She seemed quite happy to be running around with other children and did not have a care in the world. I took quite a few pictures and Janet will be combining them with others that have been taken of her by during the past year to make a photo book. First attempt at this but hopefully it will be a fun project.

It's also Valentine's Day everyone so hope that your special someone has remembered!

How we look at things

It is amazing how one's view of things can change rapidly. The new year started out normally, looking like the old year. Plans were being made for various vacations,trips and achievements that one hoped to make and all seemed well.
Then the earthquake in Haiti happened. A land where the average person lives on less than US$1/day. Being only 600 miles east of Cayman and close enough to the US so that there was full news coverage, we have been able to follow the developments. It is saddening to see the damage and struggles they are going through and it reminds us how blessed we really are. Our prayers go to the people in Haiti.
There were discussions at work on who would be willing to go and help the Haitians if they could. Most would go in a flash but some would isolate themselves from the scene.
Then Cayman gets a little shake to remind it that we are still here. A 5.9 earthquake on Tues Jan 19 rattles a few nerves but fortunately no damage was done to buildings or people. The only "damage" that we know about is a sinkhole that formed beside a beachfront condo.



One of my images was used in an online news site and I am now looking at adding watermarks to some of my photos. You can never tell when one of them might be important - but I'll keep on dreaming!

Chickens - some days we are getting 5 eggs as more of them begin to lay but 2 or 3 is the norm. We are now giving eggs away to family members. The Rhode Island Reds are all alive and just keep getting larger. When you lift them, they are solid and heavy and it seems like they might all be females. Another month or so of grower feed and we let them join the main population.

Still moving house. The good thing is that one can get organized as new stuff comes over. The biggest challenge is still the garage but I expected that move to be not only slow, but among the last to get done. I have been building cabinets and shelving to house sorted items.

AS work on the house continues to slowly get less and less, I am spending more time playing with my hobbies. Photography and astronomy are getting more time spent on them as well as woodworking. I just like creating/building things and keeping busy so I am always looking for neat projects or ideas to undertake. I will have to post some pictures at a later date on some of my projects.

Another year has begun

By the reckoning of the Western world, we have entered into a new decade, 2010. I did a bit of research and our counting of years is a little on the new side. It seems that our current numbering was calculated by a guy named Dionysius in around 523AD. Previous to those days, the year was calculated using the reign of the current king (i.e. the 20th year of King Mike). Of course you can see the confusion when you have King Mike in country A and King Fred in Country B. They just don't start or end their reigns at the same time!
I found out that this is 2010 (our calculation) but it is also 2753 for the Romans, 2312 for the Greeks, 5770 for the Jews, 4707 for the Chinese, 1931 for India, 1424 for Islam and Persia and 2001 for Ethiopia. So pick your number.

Cayman has been personally quiet over the holidays. Good food, company and days off are the usual fare. Did not leave the island but I'll fix that soon enough.

We have achieved something a bit disquieting as a country. We were #6 in terms of murders per population at the end of 2009. Not a great achievement to be boasting of. A total of 8 murders with a population of 60K puts ahead of Mexico but behind Russia. And it seems to be all gang related. A sad trend these days.

Still moving into the new house. Installed closet organizers over the holiday as well as sorted out some things. Trying to declutter.

I was reading about New Year resolutions and decided to follow the lead of a great thinker - the Adam comic strip. It is recognized that most resolutions are broken by February as we settle back into the old way of doing things. I am keeping mine simple but achievable and promise to brush my hair, have at least one meal every day and try to keep alive.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2010.