Raige Creations

 I can hardly believe how long it has been since I added to my blog. I often open a tab, create a new post, and watch the blinking cursor tempting me to type something. But it blinks in vain. I sit there, my mind blank. Mind you, it is not blank any other time. In fact, I have written many a great post in my head while laying in bed at 1am or 2am, after a 2 or 3 hour nap on the couch. But the minute the cursor blinks, great words and ideas disappear. I wrote this blog many months ago, but never thought it was quite ready to post. Plus, I had to ask my friend if I could post her picture. We had both been so busy we didn't get to talking about that, or even swimming much. But here this is, I am sharing now because I finally asked and she said sure! The sad part is, we were chatting because she is moving away. And I said, " NO!!! - What will I do without my Swim Buddy!?!? Oh, by the way I have this blog....." So much like the original night I wrote this , I am sitting here o...

Well this year I am trying it. A Good Things Jar Good things jar. Strategically placed. For years we have seen this idea, but I bet no one has really ever done it. Well, okay not no one, but really, do you know anyone that has ever done this? Just do a quick  Pinterest  search and you will find a bunch of Jar Ideas. Source - Pinterest I never have started a jar, but always thought it was a good idea. This year, I finally put one out. Strategically placed next to the fridge, on top of our antique medicine cabinet, in plain view. (a photo of my mothers now in the background, near our duct tape because you never know when you will need duct tape, and emergency flashlights and candles which we need more than you would think because the power goes out that often. Ah island living.) I still need to put scraps of paper near it with a pen, so it is easy to add the good things. All in an effort to ensure this year, setting the tone for the next decade, will be differe...

I can be friendly and outgoing. I sometimes thoroughly enjoy conversations with strangers. Sometimes I keep my head down and try to avoid any conversations with strangers at all. I have even been known to be frowning in the grocery store to avoid someone saying something to me. Other women seem to regularly strike up conversations with me in the grocery store...I think the place I live is just filled with friendly people, or do other people regularly strike up conversations with strangers about what is on the shelves in the grocery store? Or it could be that they are interpreting me talking to myself as me trying to strike up conversation with them. That could be it. But many a conversation has happened, about beans, ground lamb, chips, produce the most. from brooklybackroom.com buy here Another time, we actually had someone ask my hubby if he was Mormon in a home improvment store. We were chatting about gardening and garden lights, and she was very nice, but you could t...

I got this idea in my head. I thought I should try to find one cool thing a day, or write what I am grateful for each day. So I started snapping pictures. Random, things I thought were cool or interesting. Because life has always got interesting things happening if we just take notice. This week, a list of random things that caught my eye. I found a lizard living in a little plastic guy we found on the side of the road. The plastic guy sustained an injury getting blown off the porch rail, but it seems to have worked out because now he is open for business as a Hotel for Lizards . See this little lizard hanging out on the 'arm porch'?  Great for taking in the scenery. Then the lizard just turns around and goes up inside the head when he ready for sleep, or hiding. Lizard Hotel We were visited by this great Old Arnold bird, what they are called here. They are in the cuckoo family of birds , and make the coolest sounds. Perhaps named after an area of the island, or ...

The commute. Some days it just wears you down. The stop, then go, then slam on brakes because the guy in the next lane suddenly has to be in your lane, right in front of you. The longing looks at the lane next to you who seems to be going by rather fast, maybe 10 miles and hour, while your lane is going so slow the speed does not register. And the realization you cannot sneak in front of one of those cars zooming by you in the next lane because your car is so long, it won't fit snugly in the space that exists before the next car moves up. You would need to get the drivers attention and make sure they stop to let you in, which doesn't make you an appreciated driver. And with one of the only 2 on the island like it, your car is memorable. No need to make enemies on the road.  The stress of the drive just beats you down some days. Then when you finally reach your destination, and dread the parking. Where I am, the parking sucks. No other way to explain it. Spaces too smal...

Grateful. Thankful. It is said if we acknowlege what we are thankful for regularly it will make us happy. If we write down what we are grateful for we live a more fulfilled life. So here it goes. Today  - I am thankful for SPACE. We just moved, again. Sixth move in just over 3 years. We are now in a house. No more condo, no more apartment. We have a yard! I wander the house amazed there is so much space. Beautiful space. I have room to display things that have been boxed up for over 3 years. I have room to NOT walk in front of the TV while my son is playing. (and get him killed in his pow pow games). My son has his own room - with a spare room for when his siblings are home. No more sharing beds and air mattresses. We have a den! An extra space to allow hubby to make art, to make messes. I have room in the kitchen cupboards - actually empty shelves and drawers! I am not looking to fill this space with 'stuff' either. Nope, leave me room. Dont need 2 large fyi...

First, let me apologize. I am sorry for subjecting you to The Scorpions . They are far from a band I like, but after this weekend, and until Hurricane Matthew has inched it's way out of the Caribbean, hurricanes have been in the center of our daily activies. What other song could I pick?? I moved to the Caribbean back in 1993. Being from Western New York, I was not familiar with hurricane tracking. Snow storm tracking, yes, hurricanes, no. But over the years, it became a part of daily life during hurricance season. In June, we get the little newpaper insert that has a tracking map, the list of supplies you should have on hand at any given moment, and with each Tropical update you either add the new tropical depression to what is on your radar or you sit and wait until the next one.  There were many times we prepped for whatever storm might pass close by. Got the supplies, moved our 'important' things where we thought safest from wind and water, hunckered down and wat...

Taking a minute to take stock of the week. It boils down to: Stories, A Stormy Start, Snails, Plants, Flowers, and Coffee (or late coffee really). Sounds nice and simple, right? Even if a little horrifying (late coffee....). But dang I am tired. It has been a long week! Stories: I did manage to get some writing in, but I have to wait to share because it will be published (!)  on this great site, Women Who Live On Rocks . It is a site featuring a fabulous group of women who, well, live on rocks. It is a collaboration of funny women writers celebrating the humorous quirks and eccentricities unique to island living . (See regular postings on the Facebook page.)  It will be my first article published there, and I am so excited to have a new outlet. Hubby stumbled across this site, and thought I would like to expand my writing a bit. As hubby said, it is more a story telling style, which he knew I would find rather challenging. I also have been taking some photos, again, w...

That is a good summary of my week, actually. Didn't realize it until I started writing. It was a week of negotiations for a bathroom renovation (due to an unexpected leak - pain the...well wallet, ass, life, etc), loss of a family member, and injury of my stupid quadracept in a Cross Fit class. Breaking waves, and rain in the distance.  As I see it, it is still a beautiful view.  First, we now have a contractor we think we can work with - thankfully for a decent price. Second - the loss of a family member is sad, leaves an empty spot, but she lived a beautiful life. Through her life, she taught us how to be caring and giving. She was both to the extreme. Third - the injury. The burning pain made me realize perhaps I jumped too hard and too fast into the Cross-Fit class. I like the class, but it is HARD. Nothing like an injury to help us set our boundaries and limits. So I will have to find other, less strenuous ways to get my workouts in.  The waves broke...