Sun, 17 Jan

Sun, 17 Jan ok, i've been asked exactly how 'chores' work here .... Madi gets up somewhere around 5-6am .... first she takes care of her 'own' 4 cats that she brought with her from NYC, that stay in her room. then she comes down and let's the cats out that live in "Tiger's Den", 18 of them. they get an hour of 'playtime' while she prepares the food. it's easier to do that when they are out from under your feet, meowing ............ Photo of her getting ready to let the cats out. the round big orange structure on the right is her rain water tank. after all he rain they had in Dec, she said it is almost full. she uses this water for the cats ... NOT the water that comes out of the faucets in the house .... so i figured i shouldn't drink it either :) i'm still asleep but usually wake up around 6:30am to the sound of cats meowing ... Madi is already down there with them preparing their bowls, and they know it. so i get up and start helping her. just me ... Peter, Anna, and Mikko, are not helping with the chores. they are not going to be here that long, and it's too time consuming to try to get them acquainted with all the routines... so, it's Madi and i for now. it's a LOT! Since i'm here, i've identified a lot of little things that need to be done. so, Peter has been doing these 'fix-it' things in and around the cat areas. believe me, there is a lot to do, just little things; like fix the hooks that keep the doors closed. they had rusted off, and Madi was using a cement block wedged against the door to keep it closed. i was tripping over the block and it took precious minutes to move them, open the door, place the food, close the door, and replace the block! so getting those things done has been very helpful. Madi and i work together until about 8am, when she needs to get ready to go to work and catch the 8:30 water taxi into Belize. After she leaves, i continue to finish up where we were, ....cleaning litter boxes, filling water bowls, and washing all the food dishes .... after EACH feeding ..... do any of you do that ????????????? i never did! and then i go to another room where the kittens and young cats are living, and take care of them; then the cats across the street that really aren't 'hers'. after that, i need to get something to eat. i'm not much of a big breakfast person, so i've found some whole wheat bread from the local bakery and peanut butter (not skippy nor jif-- went to the grocery store and found a young guy and asked him which brand he liked best... i bought that one. it's good!). and i have some fresh fruit, bananas ... there is nothing like a fresh banana, papaya, pineapple, melons. more on chores later ... back to Sunday, ...even though it is Sunday, chores still need to be done. in fact the weekends are usually busier since Madi is here all day, and she keeps working, non-stop. this is the time that she 'flushes' the floors, shelves, and litter areas with water, then applies some biodegradable soap, then flushes again. since the soil is so sandy here, it drains pretty quickly and does make a difference. the morning was cloudy, cooler and windy, so snorkeling is off for today :( however, the afternoon turned out very nice ... and we could have gone ... but did not instead i walked around the island and took some photos. The Caye Caulker Water Taxi Dock. these boats go to San Pedro and Belize City, about every hour. This is the company that Madi 'works' for ..... or is trying to 'save' our Meijer's -- even though it says "Bar and Grlll" it is a combination grocery store with hardware in the back. Just like home :) Our Bakery ... whole wheat bread ! some nice sugar cookies :) my bug bites are making me miserable ... i can hardly stand myself, itching, itching, all the time. i finally thought to take some benadryl ... it seems to help. Peter is leaving tomorrow, so we took Madi out to dinner tonight. i was really tired, maybe the benedryl ... doesn't usually affect me like that.