HIT THE MOTHERLODE.............................

For all those that hit the highway in the morning, to rush to work, in order to make house payments and put food on the table, for those that take care of the kids and those that spend days on the phone or stand behind counters, or sit at desks, all of this may be totally irrelevant, but yesterday, the Queen and the wonderful crew of the yacht "GYPSEY PALACE" hit the motherlode. The "MOTHERLODE" is when you find a beach, that no-one has discovered, and you collect the most beautiful pieces of glass, all rounded and polished by the timeless ocean waves, and you painstakingly adore each piece, not for its shinyness or its size, but for its dullness and roundedness. This bowl-full is an hour's work but priceless in its value and more beautiful than diamonds. Just ask the Queen and she will confirm it. Competitive beach-combing could become an Olympic sport, they way they went about the search on Powell Cay.................... and each wave would expose new pieces.....

After returning to Green Turtle Cay, I was able to take a quick look around the storeroom of the Island's Electrical Supply services. They do have a lot of outages and I was wondering if there was a connection.........................or lack of one...



Truly, without doubt the high-light of this day, was to meet Mr. Alton R. Lowe, seventh generation of Lowe's in the Abacos, who is not only extraodinary for his magnificent creative talent and artwork, but for his organizational ability and vision in the various arts and cultural events, and tops it off with a garden beyond description. His works, many of which are displayed in the gallery, and range from island scenes, portraits and flowers, are to be found world wide. The Queen has at least three of his paintings as presented by the Prime Minister of the Bahamas ( I mean the other Queen, Elizabeth Rex, of the England and the United Kindom). One leaves the gallery, in absolute awe of a lifetime filled with achievements and dedication. A prince of Tides in the truest sense, living on an island far from the mainstream, who organises 70 piece orchestras and stages drama plays, on a island that doesn't have enough flat land for a football field. The blessings were all ours.



Yes, Alton's paintings are as beautiful as this orchid we found in his garden, and when he annually organises a classical concert in this garden, more than seven hundred people attend. The island's population is less than a quarter of that and our guess is that not a lot of those play the "oboe" or the "clarinet" and for whom "castinets" are ...... " Well Mon.....dat is a ting you catch dem fish with". Kind of speaks for itself. ........ Perhaps this was the "MOTHERLODE"...............

The Crew of "Gypsey Palace returning with their treasures.

The time has come to give the real Queen a 'promotion', but not before we got her Highness to pose with her Royal mangoes.



The smile certainly says " GODDESS ".

Laurie may have to wear that T-shirt for quite a while before I can accept the change to "Goddess"....... meantime these fine two gentleman, Captain Bob & buddy Buck, sailed the trimaran in the photo below, all the way from Florida to the Abacos, during this period of extreme weather. Bear in mind, the trimaran is 23 ft long, a foot above water and a foot below water. That's the same as camping on a moving waterbed at between zero and ten knots, and if you need the outboard, well then its three knots, if the water is flat........ Champions in a class of their own, which explains why their yacht is called " WET MONKEY".............. Good call.



And these last few photos speak for themselves................(feel free to double-click on any of them) including these multi-flowering 'Oleanders', also known globally as Municipal flowers. Three squalls per afternoon, all coming in at over 30 knots, ripping and tearing, and then the rain hits, and our hearts stop racing............... while the horizontal rain becomes more vertical............. and ..... never mind................... one mistake and you end up like this piece sitting in and on the water on a deserted beach........................
Now ask us if we're having fun yet?