Have a waffle with Carol

[Bill B]

Well maybe it is haunted, or at least inhabited by a gremlin who is constantly breaking things. Arrived home last evening to find the carpet in the laundry room completely soaked due to a leaking feed line to the faucet in the utility sink A few days ago it was a light switch which suddenly stopped working. Ah, the joy of owning an older house. Of course I realize that due to cultural differences the 70 years that my house has been around would be considered almost brand new on your side

Bill

[Paul Williams]

Just a quick waffle, its been amazing with the rain this week and this is the dry season.

Went fishing with Jade on Monday and its another tale of the one that got away again, we almost had it in the boat and I slipped and slackened the line and he was gone, we did enjoy the smaller ones for dinner though.
The worst part was having to bail out the boat not from the sea water but the rain.

Fairly nice day on Tuesday and went for lunch at Stonehaven Villas which has a lovely location for its restaurant and then did the trails at Grafton Bird Sanctuary.

We took the trip to the rainforest yesterday and we now know why its called that it chucked it down.

Duck took a party of 14 to No Mans Land on Tuesday and they seem to have managed it without too much trouble and they were still partying strong when I toddled off to bed.

Carol
I finished the book yesterday and have to say it should be issued as a compulsory edition when you book to stay in Castara as it both helps and also means that you have another excuse to sit there laughing, really enjoyed it and its being passed around our group now.

Got to go as breakie is being served

Good bye from a slightly damp boy in Castara

Paul

[Gisela Grell]

Hello Paul,

so much rain but better now than on carnival. How long do you stay? Will you have the chance of some dry days in the next week(s)? I heard that Paul Tallet promised sun for the next time.

I bought three books from Carol to bring them to Tobago and give them to the mentioned people like Doris, Jackson and Cheno when I go there in March.

I really enjoyed reading the book. Knowing the house on the hill makes it more funny.
Enjoy Tobago in any weather and if it feels cold somethimes rum does help

[Carol Townsend]

Well maybe it is haunted, or at least inhabited by a gremlin who is constantly breaking things.

Bill

Bill,
If objects start flying through the air you know you've got a poltergeist!
You're doing well living in a 70 year old house. I can do a little better at 81 years.
The oldest property I've stayed in was a bed-and- breakfast establishment which had some rooms that were a thousand years old. The ceilings were very low and bumpy, with an old pantry with enormous meat hooks hanging from the ceiling. The hallway was crooked, as was the floor. You came out of the bedroom and walked downhill! The bedrooms couldn't have en-suite bathrooms as the building was GradeTwo Listed and the owner wasn't allowed to make any structural changes, so it was down the twisted hall to the shower you had to go.
We asked the owner about American visitors, and she said they were always enthralled by the place, and couldn't imagine a building being of that age. It wasn't haunted though.
In case you don't have a similar system (after all the US is gradually getting older!) buildings are 'listed' when they are of particular historic or architectural value, Grade One being the most important of course.

Paul,
I'm glad you're enjoying the book. I'm just about to check my proof copy (having spotted some errors which I I hope you didn't notice and which I've now corrected, and made what I hope is the final revision) with a view to making it available on Amazon, who, for the present at least, don't charge for postage. I've got the ISBN so it should take about six weeks or so, then the world is my oyster! Or, as Del Boy says: my lobster.
Thanks for your lovely comments, and for buying the book, of course.

Gisela, a special thank -you for being my best customer!
Love to all
Noe.

[Gisela Grell]

Hi Noe,

as I planned to have on of each of you books (at least one of each version) I'm now going to buy the 4th one... The first one is a 'limited edition' but can you please stop now changing things on the book? IT's going to ruin me

Have a nice weekend and for the Tobagonians hopefully dry weather!

[Carol Townsend]

My dear Gisela,
Don't panic! I've only corrected some errors, made a few minor alterations to the layout of the text, re-phrased a couple of sentences, and added a sub-title, so don't feel obliged to buy another copy.
Of course, if you want to, who am I to try and stop you?
Love
Noe

[Tony G]

Wishing you a belated Happy Birthday Sis. Sorry to have not attended the waffling sessions for a while but Janette & I flew off for a bit of winter sun (not Tobago sadly) and arrived back on 9 Feb, thankfully missing the worst of the bad weather. Three of us went away together and we all read 'Da Book' - lovelylovelylovely my dear, much enjoyed by all. Of course it made us all wish we were on Tobago rather than La Gomera but this year funds dictated that we go somewhere a little nearer for our annual winter break. The trouble is... once one has been to Tobago (and especially Castara) you find that nowhere really matches up no matter how nice it is. La Gomera was also a little tricky in that I was the only one of our party who spoke any Spanish. I was like the big daddy with his two lost kids. Don't have the language problem in Tobago... well not to the extent that the 'Bagonians speak a completely different language, more an interesting variant of what we know as English. Just gonna have to save a bit harder I guess. Hey Gis, my birthday is also in July but like Bill I do like to get away from the cold and ease the creeping joint aches and pains that are definitely increasing with age.

Gotta Go

Work calls.

Love Tony

[Carol Townsend]

Lovely to hear from you Bruv!
I noticed that you were AWOL. I couldn't be bovvered wiv looking it up, so excuse my ignorance, but where exactly is La Gomera?
I was going to write a quick note here as today my school was visited by guess what- a steel- pan band! Okay an English high school steel-pan band, but with a proper West Indian teacher, and they were FANTASTIC!!! I was telling everyone who would listen: "Oooh, this reminds me of my holiday in Tobago. Did I tell you about my holiday in Tobago?"
So glad you liked Da Book. It should be available on Amazon and other sellers in about eight weeks, then I might publicise it a bit more, like in the school staffroom!
Hope you're nice an' chilled.
Love Noe
xx
PS Thanks for the birthday wishes. Got one of those Nintendo Brain Training thingies to help ward off my impending decline...

[Tony G]

It took me a long time trawling the web to find somewhere that looked like the kind of place I would want to go for a couple of weeks chillin' before I came up with La Gomera. I'd never heard of it either. It's a tiny Island in the Canaries. We had to fly from Gatwick to Tenerife and then catch a local ferry. Very few tourists and what there were tended to be German. No dual carriageways, no traffic lights, virtually no night life as everything seemed to be closed by ten o'clock, lovely scenery and friendly people. Seems like we didn't have the rain that has been falling on Tobago except for one day when so much fell that I had to paddle barefoot across the flooded main road to get to the local supermercardo to do the shopping.

Next trip planned is to attend my great nephews christening two hundred odd miles north in Hull at the end of the month. Should be a bit of a family get together. Hope the weather improves up there.

Work Calls
Love
Tony

[Carol Townsend]

Sounds positively idyllic! I've often thought about going to the Canaries so I'll add La Gomera to my ever -growing list of Places I Think About Visiting But Probably Never Will.
I expect the Germans are thinking: " Oh no, the rest of the world are discovering this place!"
Have a good trip Up North (VERY north for you) and I hope the weather isn't a problem or we'll have Young Bill laughing at us.
Sorry Bill, never wished you a happy holiday.
Love
Noe

[SandraK]

Tony
Good to have you back.

Gisela
How many days now ?

Carol
Lent book to a friend who is thinking of going later in the year, she rang yesterday to say it is now a done deal ! They need you on their tourist board.

[Carol Townsend]

Thanks Sandra!
You couldn't drum up some sales for me could you?
I'm waiting for the Tourist Board to offer me an all-expenses-paid VIP visit....

[SandraK]

Carol
As friend 1 has now passed on to friend 2 don't think I'm cut out to be an agent.

[Carol Townsend]

Hey ho, never mind!

[SandraK]

Bit quiet here people. Anyone out there ? In need of a waffle - probably cos turned ankle and hobbling - really pi--ing me off. Am so accident prone it's a joke.This time pruning clematis, need to learn - use ladder and not odd bits of furniture to stand on.

[Bill B]

Greetings All,

Sandra, sorry to hear you hurt yourself. At least you can get at your clematis; we need a snow shovel to prune ours.

Arrived home from beautiful warm Mexico the other day and DW had to wade through a foot and a half of snow to get into the house while wearing her sandals. I know you all will ask why she didn't wear something more substantial but other than sandals the only shoes she brought with were some old ratty sneakers that she wore while we were hiking in the jungle and then left behind (to make more room for all her purchases) Had a great time but after 11 days it was good to get home.

Tony, good to hear from you. It sounds like you had a good time. The first four days of our trip were spent in a tiny fishing village only accessible by a 45 minute water taxi ride. Electricity was installed only 5 years ago, no TV, limited phone and internet at the cafe that took 10 minutes to load the first page before I gave up. No vehicles at all; the locals used burros to transport goods. We needed flashlights for the last quarter mile of the trek to reach our 'casa' from the last street lamp at the end of the village. Made Castara look like a thriving metropolis

Bill

[SandraK]

Bill
Sounds like bliss to me - no annoying phones or constant emails - I'm all for that. Reminds me of a holiday years ago, we went to Portugal, at that time nobody had heard of the Algarve. Hired a mini and went everywhere - coming "home " was a nightmare, no lights, no road as such, ended up in too many bushes to recount. But we had a ball - suppose why I now love Tobago - the life is simple. Sorry, that sounds so patronising but you know what I mean. Am now counting the days .... Get that clematis cut down PDQ !

[Tony G]

Hi Y'All

I agree with you Sandra, Bill's Mexican hideaway sounds like my kinda place. Maybe it's a sign of age but our modern way of life is just too much bl**dy hard work. It's the simple things that give me pleasure - friends, family, gardening, sunshine... I am happily ambition free. I don't want a better job with more money (and stress) that will inevitably take up more of my precious time. Hearing the news just upsets my equilibrium, it should be more correctly renamed The Bad News... oops! I feel myself slipping into a negative rant. You see. It's so easy.

Anyway, BIG happiness to everybody.

Tony

[David Watkins]

Hey Tony,when will you and the boss be out here again?Same question to all who know(or may like to meet)me?
David(on gsome countdown)

[SandraK]

David
Don't arrive until 29th. of April - I know, not the best time but only option this year. Staying in Cambee if you are still around. Gisella arriving 18th. of March I believe sure she will meet up for a Carib or six !