Blog Entries for Neil and Moni

Villas we like.

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:51:39 +0100

People are always asking us which of the many villas on the island we would recommend.

{mosimage}There are many great villas here, but it all boils down to a matter of taste.
What we may think is a perfect getaway, others may find not to be their first, second or even third choice.
With that in mind, here are two which we think are prime examples of what a villa in the Caribbean, or at least, a Villa with Caribbean flair, should look like.
Ixora villa is located in Lance Aux Epines, [...]

Rough Seas

neil@spicy-design.com — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:28:07 +0100

{mosimage}The weather this year is quite unusual.
By this, i mean that the dry season has started pretty late and we are still getting the occasional shower or two.
You would not think so to look at the outskirts of the island, because everything is brown and dry and looks as though it has been that way for a couple of months. In fact, it has only been this dry for about 1 month.It is Easter and one of the things we normally expect are the easter breezes. For this Good Friday, it has been very [...]

Carriacou Flight

neil@spicy-design.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:37:16 +0100

{mosimage}This past weekend i had to make a side trip to Carriacou for the day.
Normally, i'd take the Osprey and laze around for the hour and a half ride
up. Its usually not boring, especially when the water is a little choppy.
If you like people watching, then this is a good time to travel on the
Osprey...just make sure you have a strong stomach......(Don't stay below.
Best place to ride is on top.)
Just watching people change colors on the trip up is amazing. The different
shades of gr [...]

Garfield's Beach Bar at Grand Anse

neil@spicy-design.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:38:00 +0100

{mosimage }O.k, i may be a little late with the news, but for those of you who don't know, there is a new bar on the beach.
Its on the corner of the Grand Beach property, near the public access road to the beach and is open daily.
Talk about a good spot! This is one of the best places on the beach for a bar, and Garfield has certainly made the most of it.
Its not large, nor is there much in the way of music, but what you get is a nice shady spot to relax and have a
cold Carib, or a rum punc [...]

National Colors!

neil@spicy-design.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:08:37 +0100

{mosimage}Over the last few years we have noticed that people tend to display their national pride, especially around Independence day, more than ever.
In fact, this has been so since hurricane Ivan a couple of years back.
It started out as the usual flag decoration in the same old places, like the government offices, but has grown to the point that, wherever you go on the island, between the middle of January and the middle of February, you will see flags on cars, the national colors painted [...]

House on the hill.

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:01:39 +0100

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We thought we would do something a little different this time.

My cousin, who has helped us out innumerable times over the years, has his family home for rent.
This is one home which has an absolutely spectacular view.

It is up for rent, both long and short term.

The house is located on the hill by us, which is on the outskirts of the town, and has a view which is to die for.

{mosimage}It was devastated by hurricane Ivan and has since been totally rebuilt [...]

Native Spirit Scuba

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:16:53 +0100

{mosimage}This time around i thought i would write about some friends of ours who recently opened their own business.
We have several dive shops on the island, but i thought that this one was definitely worth mentioning, not only because they offer excellent service, but specifically because it is the first locally owned and operated one.
We have known Adrian and Rahel for a long time and were glad to hear they finally got the chance to start their own dive business on the beach.
Adrian has b [...]

Grenada Billfish Tournament update!

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:44:29 +0100

{mosimage}Thought everyone would like to know how the billfish tournament is going.
Thursday (17.1) was the second day and went down there again to see if any records were broken.
In the billfish department, none as yet, but they had this 417Lb Blue Marlin on the scales.
Apparently there have been getting lots of hookups, but none which the anglers think will break any records (or at least, none which decide to give up the fight!).
Wednesday I saw a couple of Yellowfin tunas being landed, i [...]

Grenada Billfish Tournament starts today!

neil@spicy-design.com — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:19:45 +0100

{mosimage}Was just looking at the lagoon from our balcony and admiring the fishing boats taking part in the Grenada Billfish Tournament.
This is held every year around this time and we get boats from several of the other islands, with the largest contingent coming from Trinidad.
We did this for a few years as well, with our pirogue 'BlackJack', but not anymore.
With all the large boats taking part now, smaller boats like ours are at a big disadvantage.
It is now a tag and release tournament, [...]

Grenada St.George Market on a saturday morning.

neil@spicy-design.com — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:46:31 +0100

{mosimage}We were recently in town on a saturday morning looking for some cucumbers.
Occasionally, there tends to be a shortage of certain fruits and vegetables. The fruits because they are not in season all year round, and the vegetables, because most farmers seem to plant them at the same time, so when the crop is finished, there is a short time when you can't seem to find any.
Just before Christmas, it was tomatoes and cucumbers.
Anyway, we were doing some window shopping in the town and d [...]

Happy New Year!

neil@spicy-design.com — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:10:27 +0100

{mosimage}
{mosimage}We were just sitting on our verandah watching the lights come on after the sunset.
Glorious sunset (Moni saw the green blip), the last for 2007.
The Royal Clipper is all lighted up outside the town. At Port Louis, the 'Reverie' is all lighted up as well. She is the largest private yacht built in Italy. The photos of her on their website are unbelievable! More like a floating palace than a boat.They were decorating the top deck, just before the sunset. I guess there is [...]

QE2 Final Port call

neil@spicy-design.com — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:26:14 +0100

{mosimage}Yesterday, the Queen Mary was in port for its usual Christmas visit.
Today, the QE2 has taken her place.
This will be the last time the old girl visits Grenada it seems.
Heard that she has been sold and will be turned into a floating hotel later in the year (2008) at Palm Jumeirah, Dubai ...not the end you would envision for one of these old cruise ships.She has been plying the seas for more than 40 years, and i guess it would not be cost effective to try upgrading her. After all, t [...]

Maltese Falcon......

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:15:30 +0100

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The largest privately owned yacht in the world, pulled into the lagoon today.

Now THAT is a one beautiful and expensive toy.

The Maltese Falcon is currently moored alongside the jetty at Port Louis (where else?). Seems they are waiting for their guests to arrive tomorrow.

Stopped off after work to take a shot of it...WOW!

O.k, i know what i want for my next Christmas....;-) I guess the daily upkeep on that baby is more than i make in a year.

Moni found a li [...]

Christmas in the islands....

neil@spicy-design.com — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:30:44 +0100

{mosimage}There are two seasons during the year which attract the most attention, and these are Carnival and Christmas.
Carnival attracts both visitors and locals alike. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find space on a flight into the island at that time, as it seems that every Grenadian living overseas, is trying to get home in time for the celebrations.
Christmas is usually spent with the family...and in Grenada, that can mean a VERY extended family.
Of course, there is the usual rush [...]

Island time........

neil@spicy-design.com — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:46:42 +0100

{mosimage}I guess it comes as no surprise to some people how difficult it can be to find the stuff you are looking for.
Grenada is a great place to live, but you certainly need lots of patience sometimes.
For instance...after Ivan (yes, more than 3 years ago, if you insist on keeping count), as we had lost all our furniture, we decided we would like to re-decorate the house in a warmer, more caribbean style. This means brighter colors and furniture which tended to be either rattan or bamboo.
[...]

Rainy Day....

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:47:28 +0100

{mosimage}We have been having an unusually hot rainy season this year. Sitting here now, i wish today was one of those hot sunny days.
Started out sunny enough this morning, but that didn't last very long!
Since around 9:30 its been raining off and on, but it didn't really start to pour until nearly midday...and has been ever since.
You would think that, if you live in the Caribbean, you would never feel cold and your biggest worry was sunburn....HAH! O.k, it might not snow in the next 5 minu [...]

Green flash...excuse me, i mean ..blip!

neil@spicy-design.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:43:09 +0100

{mosimage}One of the little things which seem to elude lots of people, is the green flash...or, as Moni would put it, the green blip.
Personally, i have seen it a few dozen times....well, its either the green flash or i was seeing green spots after staring at the sunset waiting for the green flash.
Moni had not seen one until about a year ago.
Her first reaction when i told her about it was 'Yeah, right! Pull the other leg! ''Only after a few rum punches!'
She had never seen one.Just so hap [...]

What is it???

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:23:26 +0100

{mosimage}Moni was walking into the kitchen the other night when she was nearly attached and dragged off by this interloper.
Ever had something uglier than a bloodhound which didn't get enough sleep, stake its claim to your home?
Well, here it is!
Not too sure if its a spider, beetle or something the dogs dug up, but its BIG!
Any ideas? Two suggestions so far are some type of beetle.....? and a scorpion spider.....suggestions welcome!
By the way, we showed it the door...forcibly!

Charming guesthouse...

neil@spicy-design.com — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:45:06 +0100

{mosimage}Yesterday i visited Epping Forest to take some new photos of the exterior for their website.
It is a charming place and they have done their best to keep the old Grenadian plantation house look.
The house of course is in excellent shape and you simply cannot compare it to what was there at the beginning.
Dave & Jackie, the owners, have done a simply amazing job of rebuilding it.
They had visited Grenada in 2001 and fell in love with the place. After searching the island, they came [...]

New Webcam Problems

neil@spicy-design.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:46:37 +0100

have been a little late in posting this week, mainly because we have been
exceptionally busy.
Finally got the new webcam...with zoom!. Lots of people have been asking if
we could give closeups of the lagoon development, so we decided to order in
a more sophisticated camera which has zoom capability.
Of course, setting it up would not be easy! No no!
If the box says easy setup, this actually means that you need a at least a
day and an engineering degree to get it to work as it should.