October...Fat Bear Winner...Football..John's Update...and Movie

 

Welcome to Spooky Season...

The night-time temps have dipped into the 40's with the first frost on its way. The humming- birds are gone, and noisy crows have taken their place. Leaves are slowly turning bright orange and scarlet.

It's my favorite time of year.

The bears are digging and getting ready for hibernation.

Backpack #89 won Fat Bear, this year.

And a throw-back picture of he and his mom...when he was little...and used to ride on her back...earning him his name.

John has been in quite a bit of pain and having to take painkillers (coupled with the chemo-brain). Good days and bad.

Football helps.

Sunday was wonderful as we watched together as The Colts won in London...then possibly the best game of the season thus-far as the Chiefs won against the Raiders!

4-0 BABY!!!!!

Sunday was mostly football and food with a nap tossed in for good measure.

He did turn me onto a new 2026 movie.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck...officers who are sent on a 150K RIP only to discover with their team an excess of 20 Million dollars.

A true study in human behaviorism.

Friendships are strained...people are killed...who can you trust?

Available on Netflix...which I immediately signed up for.......

Well worth the money!

Now, back to my Cinderella Day...

 

Finishing Virtual Jamaica: Swamp Safari

 

Think Gatorland...only with crocodiles...

Here we are...our last day in Jamacia.

I'm really going to miss all this!

...if I had discovered Jamaica in my 20's I would have soooooooooooooooooooo moved here...

But, here we go...

Swamp Tour

The park covers 50 acres and began as a crocodile sanctuary.

One of the first signs you'll see is TRESSPASSERS WILL BE EATEN.

Home to literally hundreds of the dinosaur-like giants...you realize this is only somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

They are huge, have lots of teeth, and would gladly eat you.

Swamp Safari

https://youtu.be/bfBDNIE72OA?si=omZmlcOs1LzmZLQU

A little cramped and old.

A few hands on programs...which was nice.

A final souvenir.

And we say goodbye to Jamaica!

Virtual Jamaica: Trelawny Parish

 

Today, we begin the last parish of our Jamaican adventure...Trelawny.

By Friday, we will finish Jamaica.

Most of what Trelawny offers is much of what we have already experienced on this trip...beautiful beaches...waterfalls...plantations...food...duppy...rum production. 

Then I saw the Swamp Safari!

The more I read about it...the more interesting it seemed.

Friday, we will go on a Swamp Safari!!!!!

Until then...

Sisters Day...Moments...Bears...Autumn...and Football

 

Busy weekend with Chris, Tina and Lachlan!

Had one of the most beautifully pure moments near the end of a Friday visit when Lachlan was sleepy...and he came over and laid his curly head on my lap and looked up with those huge eyes and quietly said

"I love you."

Unprompted.

Totally honest and innocent.

There are no words.

This is what makes life worthwhile.

I would die for this child.

Yesterday, my little sister was over.

We had Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken from the Fluttering Duck...and I made a Dutch Apple Crumb Pie with Whipped Cream and Caramel Drizzle for afters.

Brunch and chat, and the kids brought Lachlan back over so she could see him!

Laughed when I saw the tee-shirt she had bought both of us...because I had also recently seen it and bookmarked it to buy. 

We're going to wear them during October's visit.

FBW is progressing.

And it looks like #164 (Bucky) has definitely made the cut.

Really hoping he gets the title this year!

John is back to radiation and chemo, now.

We're hopeful.

Taking it all one day at a time...and today is FOOTBALL!

His team taking on The Texans.

Mine taking on Miami.

And there are snacks, of course!

Autumn is here.

With yellows and orange creeping in...and 45 degree nights with 70ish degree days...noisy crows and crickets and my hummers are gone.

The pink morning glories are giving it one last hurrah and they are lovely in the golden morning light.

And all is right in my world.

                        WE WON....WE WON...WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

FBW...Fall...and Phone

 

FBW continues...

Such a crowd voting yesterday that they are adding an additional day (today) for the first round candidates so that everyone gets to vote.  Yesterday, there were so many votes, that it actually crashed the site.

That is a lot of votes.

Woke to the sounds of Fall, today. The Hummers and Tree Frogs leaving and crows and crickets taking their places. The endless tze...tze..tzeeeeeeeeeee of cicadas winding down and subtle change of colours in the trees because Hoodie Weather is finally here!!!

54 degrees when I first checked.

The Fat Bear site wasn't the only thing that crashed this week...there was the matter of my phone (replacing today) that gave up the ghost.

For 3 days communication has been solely e-mail.

It has been unusually quiet.

Probably not going to start that last Jamaican parish until next week.

Off for brunch with Susan...

later,

C

A New Week...FAT BEAR WEEK...Last Night's Game...and Ajusting

The bears are ginormous as we enter FBW!

I'm not sure yet who I'm voting for...

John and I watched the Chiefs/Colts game last night. OMG!!! So good.

It went into OT and The Chiefs barely eked out a 3 point win. 

This year I won the standing $5.00 bet.

...I'm framing it...

Both teams look amazing this year!

We're dealing...adjusting to...John's Update.

He starts chemo again on Friday.

More as it comes...

The Trumpdate...23

 

The bad news...it's STILL here.

The good news...next month we'll be halfway through!!!!!

Chaos reigns.

This month we've seen:

...the war is over...okay it's not...just give us two more years...yeah...no...the first amendment...not really familiar with that one...gas is crazy expensive...deal with it...housing is crazy expensive...deal with it...food is crazy expensive...deal with it...

Yeah...November is coming!

VOTE!

Virtual Jamaica: Montego Bay

 

Our last day in Montego Bay...

There has been so much to do here, it is hard to know where to begin!

Sailing boats and catamarans...complete with snorkeling.

https://youtu.be/0nhPLr5Y0sE?si=HyLrm0BKE3QLn5Oc

Lovely reefs to explore.

Eighteen beautiful beaches!

Open air markets

And the street food!

https://youtu.be/EoWIPF-aNcg?si=JmqfUv36yms_NaCI

A great way to end our adventure at Montego Bay.

Next week we will explore the final parish...

Until then.

And We're Back....Fat Bears...Update and Plan of Attack...New Stuff and Football

 

She said I was

pretty and fat!

She said Pretty Fat, you idiot!

Here it is

almost 

Fat Bear Week!!!

And I'm Back

New Laptop

Restored

(*except Facebook which I have dropped)

Older and Wiser

(*I'll NEVER eat/drink around a keyboard again)

The Update on John's 

PET

Scan

Not good

Multiple metastases'. 

Brain...bone...liver

and the original

lung tumor

has grown.

Meeting 

with 

The Cancer Team

today

to 

formulate a plan of attack.

Keeping Positive

One Day at a Time

Besides

we have

football!!!

The Colts 0-1

The Chiefs 1-0

And coming on

Sunday

our 

5.00

standing bet

when we play

each other!!!!!

The New Domino's Pizza

The Domino

Tried it Friday.

Their answer to a personal pan pizza.

Greasy and altogether

NASTY.

Hard pass.

Back to Jamaica

TOMORROW! 

Tonight's Update

Met with the doctors today.

Rough news.

Poor prognosis because of rapid and scattered spread.

Going to try a bit more chemo

but saying realistically

maybe six months.

Tonight we are gutted.

 

Well...THAT Was Interesting...

 

Did you know that if you spill 20 ounces of Coke into your keyboard...it makes R2D2 noises as it is dying???

Yeah...me neither.

Back soon...just getting this new laptop set up...

Love,

Carla

Update.

 "Well...shit!"

 

We got the MRI and CAT Scan back...and John is no longer in remission.

A tiny (five mm) metastasis to the right frontal lobe of his brain...that they think they can zap away with radiation.

The primary tumor in his lung is back and larger than before...hoping the concurrent radiation and chemo can shrink it again.

And there are now lesions in his liver which may or may not be metastasis...the PET Scan on the 15th will tell us more.

We are going to spend as much time before all this starts, together.

If it isn't one thing..it seems to be another.

We're taking it one day at a time.

More as it comes... 

 

Virtual Jamaica: Rose Hall

 

Today we visit Rose Hall...

 

The Great House Plantation...as well as The Story of The White Witch.

Tour:

https://youtu.be/eZupefWmfhA?si=0gqmG7RT-hyfENm6

Imposing as it is...there was once even more. The East and West wings being burned down after Annie Palmer's death.

Palmer was said to murder three husbands and several male slaves she took later as lovers. 

One such slave eventually strangled her to death.

Because of her cruelty and sadism they dubbed her The White Witch of Rose Hall.

 

After her death she was entombed on the property...and is still reported to be seen wandering there to this day.

Beneath the Great House was a dungeon of sorts where slaves were often tortured/maimed and left without food or water to die.

Bear traps placed around the plantation to discourage runaways. 

 

 A lovely plantation or a house of horrors.

You decide.

 

Until next time... 

 

 

 

Virtual Jamaica: St. James Parish

 

We return to Jamaica in St. James...Montego Bay, actually.

You are here.

And we've found the best accommodations this parish offers.

The all-inclusive Rose Hall Villas.

Which sits on the grounds of the Grand Rose Hall Plantation...we will explore another day.

Tour:

https://youtu.be/5A3Uy9_9934?si=ORd3JfJNztNCrCSJ

The bay is packed tight with expensive hotels...and a bit of a tourist trap.

The all-inclusive is nice...where all means literally everything.

From meals and restaurants...bars...scuba trips...snorkeling...kayaks...childcare...it is all included in the price of your room.

Make no mistake...we are talking in excess of 500. USD a night, here. 

Everything can be brought directly to your room.

The villas range from the modern to the old-world opulent. 

Total relaxation...great food  and drink...and spa/resort.

Who could ask for anything more????

Next time we will check out The Great Rose Hall...which comes with its own ghost story.

 

 Until then...

September...End of Preseason...Bears...Company and More

 

The Morning Glories are giving it one last final hurrah...blooming pinkly...the hummers are filling their tiny tanks before their long October journey...the fireflies...gone...replaced by 1000 screaming cicadas in the early evening and hundreds of trilling tree frogs at night.

 

...live in the country, they said...it will be peaceful, they said... 

 

The hummers are soon to go and the geese and crows are back...I anticipate an early Fall.

 

But not this week.

 

Temperatures are suppose to top out at 97 degrees by Thursday.

Summer's last stand.

Pre-season is over and in a couple of weeks Football begins!!!!

John and I watched most of the pre-season games for our teams.

It was painful.

This week the MRI's and CAT scans are scheduled...just cancer follow-ups...and so we hold our breath.

Nice to get them out of the way before the holidays.

...we enjoyed friend chicken, mashed potatoes, fried okra...and baked apple pie last Thursday together...it was wonderful!!!!

He brought me enough good chocolate to last the rest of the year!

He is holding his weight and starting to rebuild muscle.

It was nice to just be able to hold each other.

The bears are slowly trickling back from walk-about...and they are HUGE!

 909 is a contender now.

She may be a less-than-stellar, Mom. Has had 5 cubs in two years and lost ALL of them...but this year she is matching the big boars in size.

She and 164 (Bucky Dent) have pretty much been fishing and eating salmon from sun-up to sun-down.

Don and I had our summer get-together this week.

Ordered a plethora of Chinese food...and will be enjoying Chinese for the near future...also baked a cherry pie for afters.

Caught up with family...children...grandchildren...politics...and football.

In a Chinese-Food Coma, now.

Back to Jamaica, tomorrow!

 

 

                                           Gadget...who loves watching pool on TV!