Emancipate yourself from mental slavery...

To our legion of fans who have waited on bated breath for the next installment, we want to say thank you for your patience and our apologies for the delay. The fact that our legion is most likely 2 people doesn't remove the sincerity of the statement.

It has been a while since our last post, and I promise you short of a foreign invasion we will never be away that long again. The reality is you can count on it happening within the next 6 months, but we will try not to. I could go on in this post for awhile to catch up but I will most likely cut it into 2 or 3 mini ones. Mostly just because we all have short attention spans and I like to keep everyone on point.

So in our last post we were heading away to Jamaica. The trip overall as great. Weather was perfect, the food was great, the booze was top notch and everything was smooth and painless. As mentioned before we have been a to Jamaica a couple times so we knew what to expect. The fact language is not a factor and that most of the laws are pretty loose is always a plus for us. I just don't feel as comfortable when there are military personal on every corner or I'm the in situations where I'm not sure if I ordered a beer or traded my wife for a mango. It could happen...

We ended up going to a place that was a little on the plus star side and I couldn't have been happier with how things ended up. Fact of the matter is I let D take care of it all. I show up and get in line like 3rd grader on a local museum trip. If you gave me a fruit drink in a box I'd probably nap while doing a thumb suck.

What made the place really great was how laid back most of the rules were. Usually we go to places where you have to line up in the morning for special dinner reservations and the beach towels are treated like royal jewels. This place was open season in every way and it was just what we needed. No reservations for dinners, the room bars were stocked with everything you could need and if you wanted 10 beach towels to build a fort, all the power to you.

Our room was the best on the whole resort. We came to this conclusion after doing a recon and taking everything into consideration.

• Distance from main lobby and loud entertainment stage
• Distance from food and prime beach location
• Height off the ground in terms of bugs avoidance vs total stairs 
• Fact it had a hammock (only 1 of 12 on entire resort) 
• It over looked the nude beach section of the resort adding to the entertainment

In the end, we had a great time. Retrospectively I wish we had done more things. It seemed by the time we had rested up and were ready for some free water-skiing, the wind picked up a little and the trip was over. I blame myself, as always. D is very accommodating to my boisterous and sometimes laid back personality. I fear she accepts more of my crap than she should but I'm working on that
not happening.

What tips do I have when traveling you ask? Well let's see...

1. Make sure you know the currency situation. We met a young couple who had exchanged a boat load of money into local and also unneeded currency. US dollars worked very well. 
2. Bring your own thermos mug for the hotel bars. Small plastic cups are a pain. 
3. Bring your own toilet paper. Enough said... 
4. Chat up the front desk people, they can get you interesting deals on trips you may not know about. 
5. Save yourself the hassle, no one cares about what your wearing. Bring one pair of sandels and a pair of runners, that's it. 

Actually surfing the net here...

When we got back home all was well. Cooper had chewed a couple chair legs but overall the place hadn't burned down and all the animals remembered us. We looked forward to coming home for sure. The road ahead is so exciting on the new farm. How could we not be just as happy to be home as we were on a beach surfing the net in a hammock...



Life Lesson #559: Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out...

You never count your farm equipment while sitting at the table...

The other night I was invited to a poker game held by a friend of mine who lives locally. I'm not much of a drinker and have little patience for when people are overly drunk. In no way would I be classified as a prude or preacher, I drink from time to time. However my tolerance for idiocy is very minimal. That being said, if you choose to play a game for money and you also get loaded and lose your shirt to me, so be it. So just as the night is wrapping up, a couple of the guys were a little low on funds and the betting turned interesting. During a game of Hold em, I flopped a King high straight and totally played another guy into a classic limping trap. Once all was said and done, I cleaned him out and walked away with $$ and a new fertilizer spreader. Isn't it funny how life goes, I never thought I'd be happy to win farm equipment in a game of poker but there it is...

Been a year already??

D and I are leaving day after tomorrow for a 'honeymoon'/anniversary back to Jamaica. We were married there this time last year but with the 30+ guests and stress up the ying yang it wasn't much of  a relaxing time. With the new house, farm work, Cooper: the super pain in the a$$, and just all around bad things happening around here, it will be a very welcome break. Coop is still pretty young and we should be here for him but the trip was booked a while ago, and as mentioned before is very badly needed. A family friend is gong to stay here to watch the homestead and take are of our menagerie of animals.

I'm going to try and leave a few neighbours with jobs to do on the property while we are gone. Why? Because they're mostly retired and have offered, or they want some of our trees to trade so it may actually get done by the time we're back. Most likely we'll come back and nothing will have changed. If I don't get that back Montego plot prepped by winter it will be a tough season of growing next year. I'll let you know how it turns out.   

And although it is a day late, and no one really reads this blog, I want to say thank you to all those who have served our country locally and abroad to keep us safe. Remembrance Day is an important day in our family, both my grandfathers served in WWII and the Korean War. Years ago I was walking through a school yard and a home whose fence backed onto the school had an older man working on his garden. We struck up a conversation through the fence and after a few minutes he had briefly mentioned serving in WWII. I gave him a sincere thanks for his service and he started to tear up a little. It was a great moment I try to recreate any chance I get. So anyways... thanks.

Life Lesson #3: Being born in Canada is winning the human race lottery. Appreciate and take advantage of it...