Long Time No Blog!

Well, a lot has happened since my last blog post: we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas, Kim passed first semester, the boys finished their first semester in Dominica and I started a bread business.

Thanksgiving in the Large Learning Lab

I started selling homemade bread on Tuesdays and Fridays in December

Banana Bread packaged and ready to transport on Tuesday
Chocolate Chip Banana is the most popular and I also make a Walnut Banana Bread

I do about 20-25 loaves of White, Wheat and Cinnamon on Fridays

100 pounds of flour.
I spent about $1,100 for start-up costs and almost broke even in December.

The boys made a couple batches of Christmas Cookies to sell during December

Elijah decorating Christmas Cookies

Miles rolling out the dough with our make-shift PVC rolling pin!

We sold out each time we brought these to campus!

Hi class i'ts me Elijah! I've had a great time so far on Christmas break. Let me show you what I have to share. Enjoy!


On the first day of Christmas break me and my family went to a Caribbean Sea view hotel for three days.
On the beginning day we went to a nature park called Emerald Pool.


It takes a ten minute hike to get to the actual pool but once you get there it looks amazing! On the back there is a little cave where you can literally pluck out a piece of stone from a big rock because when water and mud combines it gets really soft. I'ts really cold in Emerald Pool so it takes a while to get used to it. If you swim in front of the cave there is a big waterfall. This is a picture of me and my mom standing right next to the waterfall.

The pool was pretty deep so I had to cling on to my mom.

My brother did not want to get in so he just played with his nerf gun.

On the second day we went shopping in the main capitol of Dominica called Roseau.Pronunciation (Rose - o) First we went to the French Bakery to have breakfast. I had some Hawaiian pizza, and coke. Miles ate pepperoni pizza and water. My mom and Dad both had salad and coffee. Then we went to The Botanical Gardens where they had a Christmas celebration. There was music, Santa, food, smoothies, and toys. It was a blast!

Douglas Bay

 Was out for a run last weekend and kinda stumbled on Douglas Bay park and beach.  This is less than three miles from our house.  Just some beautiful views!

Directly across the road from the beach

I came back home using a different road and came by this beautiful little church and cemetery

The old Catholic Church building in Portsmouth

Cemetery across from the church in Portsmouth

This is Why I Brought Power Tools

I shipped a big bag of tools down here, hoping I would be able to find some projects to take on.  I love using reclaimed wood to make simple useful furniture.  We have everything we need here, but I thought it would be nice to add some shelving above the desks in each room, so this is what I came up with:

Someone dumped some old shelving near our house I used for this.  Sanded down ready to stain.

Finished shelf in Elijah's room.  Designed for Lego display with books underneath

Miles' shelves came from scrap wood after Ross tore down the old Piccolo Hot Dog Stand.  I liked the colors that were already there!  This is a cabinet door cut in half.

Kim's shelf works nice above the small built in desk we had against the wardrobe.

Glad I brought masonry bits, because everything is concrete here.  I've used my drill and wall plugs to mount and reposition shower organizers, a giant whiteboard, mirrors, a wall fan and a soap dish.

This sink is a tad angled, so you can't balance anything on the ledge, had to mount a soap dish.

Kim's whiteboard we repositioned from Elijah's room into ours.

  

Fall Weather in Dominica

Well, everyone said we would get used to the weather here and our blood has definitely been thinning.  Ever since we got some fans the first week we were here, we haven't used air conditioning.  Now with the cooler weather moving in, we haven't been hitting 100 degree heat index most days.  The last couple of nights have felt chilly, dropping into the low 70s!  It is still very humid and usually hits 95 heat index by mid-day, so still nice for a swim or trip to the beach.

If you are in the States and need a break from the cold, consider a trip to Nature Island!

Miles posing with his pen-pal figures from a class in France.  We have beautiful flowers all around our place thanks to our wonderful landlord, Ms. Judith.

We are moving into a "drier" season, but still usually get a couple rain showers every day.  This is following an afternoon shower on the way home from school.  It was actually still sprinkling when we saw this beautiful rainbow.

Family Trip on Independence Day

November 3rd was Dominican Independence Day (37 years old with independence coming in 1978) and Kim had the day off, so we finally got to take a quick trip as a family.  I really wanted to have everyone hike up the steepest trail at Cabrits to enjoy the view.  It was a bit strenuous for the little one, but the view at the top made it worth it!

Trail was pretty rough compared to most of the trails at Cabrits

Dad - are we there yet?!!

Taking a break on the cannon at the top of the trail

We made it!!

That's Guadalupe in the distance.

Edge of the cliff that drops down a few hundred feet to the Caribbean

Somehow Elijah packed vanilla pudding for the break at the top!  Thanks Auntie Jessica and Auntie Cathy for the care package!!