This Week...Bear Adventures...Jimothy

 Eating good in the neighborhood...

The salmon run is picking up...and so are the bears!

Almost every-bear is back.  So many that I don't know...and many of the usual suspects...Grazer, Gully, Chunk, Scuba Steve, Bucky,  Bean and Bead, Backpack, Wayne's Brother, 151 Walker, Studious and Social, Holly, Jolly and her Jolly Beans, 132 and her triplets, Electra and her twins, 806 and 806 jr and Biggie.

Conspicuous in their absence: 856 and 747...but they may show up later.

And cubs.

We are positively inundated with cubs this year.

I've counted 25 already!

We lost one to the river...but the rest are doing fine!

Gully is sporting a heart shaped scar on his foreleg that looks like it needs the word "Mom" tattooed over it.

Bucky is still the sheriff, for now...but there are many of the male sub-adults who are coming into their own.

Walker had a run-in with some-bear and has scars, now.

And Scuba Steve (...admittedly obnoxious with his belly-flop fishing technique and no sense of personal space...) has now been scarred up and bit in the butt pretty badly.

...he has not recognized the correlation and continues to flop...

The BEST news of the week....is JOHN!!!

Hitting all PT/OT goals they will soon discharge him to aftercare...and he is now 175 pounds...eating really well...driving short distances...and even having a Euchre Game today!!!!

...still completely cancer-free... 

Making arrangement for The State Fair in August with Eric and Melissa!

And planning our own get together, soon!

Life is slowly getting back to normal.

Except for Jimothy.
  

The Seattle Racoon who has short spine syndrome and looks a bit like a child's drawing come-to-life.

The neighborhood loves him...he seems to be doing fine, not in pain, thriving...and just so Seattle.

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Weekend!

Love,

Carla  

 

Stay Safe...Eat A Doughnut!

Virtual Jamaica: Great Bay...Fish and Wildlife Preserve...Reef...Pelican Bar

 

Brought flowers into the Seaweed Cottage and had breakfast with the doors open to the sounds of gulls and waves.

Not a bad way to start the day.

I could live like this forever...or at least until the money ran out.

And we are off to Great Bay... 

Home to many things...Great Wharf and Fishing...The Reef...The Fish and Wildlife Preserve...and of course, World renowned Floyd's Pelican Bar!

Great Bay'

https://youtu.be/XAoGPm2LdcM?si=_LL_kbLLyX0V4Qbj

 

Wildlife Center

https://youtu.be/Uwx_zvIvzxY?si=qjqHXbS0jecF701a

 "Love dem little turtles...dem turtles what I loves to eat..."

Pelicans

https://youtube.com/shorts/G1pSlxP-KXM?si=jJ1Jtpa1Qh5OlPqc

Bay

https://youtu.be/WkZJFWxCKKI?si=5sqa7vj5tDbuE3YP

Panorama of Great Bay 

https://youtu.be/WnghjqnQlDo?si=hmORo7YfBLeT08EB

The reef provides an up close and personal view of colorful fish and corals...as well as the occasional shark!

and after fish and chips for lunch...

We head to Floyd's Pelican Bar.

This is Floyd.

This is Pelican Bar.
 

About a mile and a half from the mainland...accessible only by boat...people come from all over the world to see it...and Floyd.

Inside

 Video Tour of Pelican Bar.

https://youtu.be/FsDYCrCg8z8?si=bNwdOoZ8xmFuJPUb

They even have a gift shop online

https://www.greenapples.store/shop/

Back now to The Seaweed Cottage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time... 

Virtual Jamaica: Calabash Bay and Jakes

 

Planning a rather uneventful day to Calabash Bay...which I had been told was another fishing village when this happened...

 A sprawling Bohemian-type hotel/spa/restaurants/bars/hair braiding...and a whole lot more.

Jakes is a hidden gem on Treasure Beach.

A Destinatiion.

Come along...

Calabash Beach

https://youtube.com/shorts/ylfbu1njLiw?si=dFUvO-Let5YfkD42

Jakes

https://youtu.be/m2LWI-RVM3Q?si=hbWtPpcgFjOUDhiY

https://youtu.be/XqXNXvs8f3E?si=8rVx-vMh8gY1lO6j

https://youtu.be/4bdYRmuF17w?si=Vsdnyqt6_gpUFJ0J

https://youtu.be/_57dcoNPzB8?si=AqUrGUZeyBH6LKEl

 

Sell the house...sell the cars...sell the kids...I'm home!!!!

Okay, maybe not...but I am moving from Sunset Resort to Jakes for the rest of this parish.

I'll miss breakfast overlooking my tree...but this place is amazing!

They have villas...bungalows...cottages...ocean views...and garden views. 

The one I have selected is a thatched roof two bedroom beach-side cottage called

SEAWEED COTTAGE

 DECK

 

 But first a stop at Jakes Driftwood Spa!

 

Seriously...this place has everything.

 

 

 

 

 

Next: Great Bay 

Virtual Jamaica: Frenchman's Bay

 

Good Morning!

Beginning the day at Jack Sprat's at Frenchman's Bay...with a (virgin) Pina Colada.

Still a fishing village...but slicker and more touristy.

 

This is the restaurant

recommended

by

everyone.

 

 Frenchman's Bay

 

https://youtu.be/jEYHy6NtnDY?si=byhBaxWvh3xYE9ys

 

 

The Patio

 

Frenchman's Bay

is 

kind of a 

misnomer

as it

was actually

named for a woman

whose last name

happen to be

French.

 

 The beach is clean

The water is clear

and the rum 

is flowing

as we wait for

the 

Catch of the Day!

 

A nice place

to

spend a summer

afternoon!

 

 

 Tomorrow

we will

explore

Calabash Bay!

 

 

Virtual Jamaica: Magic Tree...and Billy Bay

 But first...

Eating breakfast overlooking my favorite tree, again.

I've learned that the locals refer to this as The Magic Tree, because of the hurricanes and storms it has survived.

I love it, and its story of survival...and think that this may be the subject of my Jamaica painting.

Anyway...

Today, we are off...2 miles down the coastline to a small fishing village on Treasure Beach known as Billy Bay.

Let's go!

 The name is derived from the word for boat (here) which is Billy.

...makes sense...

And there are so many of them...heading out for a day's work in the early morning light.
 

  

By the time we arrive only a few remain at the beach...the rest out casting nets for today's Catch of the Day.

And nearby local grills assure this will be the freshest seafood I've ever eaten.

 Beachwalk

https://youtu.be/6KCEKN6jcpI?si=w2XLUNoWtExKl-hv

https://youtu.be/_DdsPfJYfGc?si=p-hxaHxgOiukU3sj
 

A small non-touristy place where sitting in the sun basking and reflecting on life is encouraged.

When the afternoon light comes and the boats arrive home with their catches then the feast begins... 

 

Next time, we will check out Frenchman's Bay!

Heading back to the resort in a seafood coma... 

Virtual Jamaica: Treasure Beach~ Ft. Charles

 Sipping coffee overlooking this...

 

And I am completely smitten by this old gnarled wind-swept tree!

What a breath of fresh air after the last two dubious parishes.

I may just stay here for a while!

 

Amazing how the coast has recovered after an October 2025 catastrophic hurricane strike by Melissa... 

Everything (pretty much) back to normal.

...normal being laid back...relaxed...island time...

Treasure Beach After Melissa

https://youtube.com/shorts/Eqleopq4YUY?si=sxlTqteU8VLaMj4C

And Today

https://youtu.be/SPko--1YOWw?si=vJi86Lx8LBEFTcpV

 The beach, actually a series of five coves.

Ft. Charles

Billy's Bay

Frenchman's Bay

Calabash Bay

Great Pedro Bay

Today we will start with Ft. Charles!

Come along...

 The History

https://www.theswissfreis.com/fort-charles-jamaica-pirate-attraction/

 The fort originally named after The Earl Cromwell. 

Pirates (...er Privateers) hired to build this fortress to protect the island from the Spanish...that they had fought and taken it from in the first place.

It's complicated.

 The cannons, today, are used for photo ops and not for fighting off would be invaders.

Lime Cay Beach is a quick (and beautiful) walk from the fort.

Ft.Charles Beach

https://youtu.be/BnLe9YsJNU8?si=d3qitGi-bF2tMm9B

Ft. Tour

https://youtu.be/Qop1DEJ6CA4?si=b810aiV_7UomcE-q
 

 

But for now it is time to go...and we are back to the tree...

 

 

 

Until next time...