There were so many winners from our condo at the Sombrero 5 K run/walk today that they are thinking of having "Team Cay" next year. The only one I saw with a bright gold trophy was our own Nancy Thorell who took first place in her age category. There was a very brisk wind, but she didn't let that slow her down. Heck, after the race, she got home, fixed breakfast for her husband, and then came on down to the beach and just about has Marilyn Richmond signed up to get on her team next year! Way to go, Nancy. We are all very proud of you, and you would make a great team captain.

What the??? Oh! Tamarind Juice!

Yes, they look totally disgusting while soaking, but trust me, they make the very best tasting juice. Here's my recipe: Soak 10 tamarinds over night. Strain, add some honey, juice from one key lime and a little chopped fresh ginger, then serve over ice. Delicioso! Thanks Stolz family for the leftover tamarinds, and now, my jug is almost empty and I'm looking for a tamarind tree. There must be one around here some where.

It's time for the wind to shift and for these guys to move on off of our beach.

The Rest of the Story

The grounded 50 foot sailboat is still out there and doesn't look quite as majestic with the sails down and when you hear the rest of the story.

This is the second time in 48 hours that they have had to call Towboat US. They ran aground also on Saturday. Someone may need some sailing lessons or a new captain. Today at 5:00 PM they are going to try to get it off the sandbar again, and you can bet there will be a nice crowd on our deck just cheering them on.

Note to self: Walk down to the beach with your cup of coffee before you read the Miami Herald and you will be treated to a magnificent sunrise. Nature vs News, there is no competition for the best way to start a day.

This beautiful sailboat ran aground on the sand bar out front this evening. A few boats came to try to get it off, but even the tow boat couldn't budge it. We watched until dark, and now, 8:30 at night, and it's still out there all by itself with it's lights on. High tide isn't until 6:26 AM. Hope they can drift off, otherwise I may have to bring them breakfast.

Zabelle's Party on the Deck

Zabelle's Party on the Deck
Originally uploaded by sache47

What a great opportunity for everyone to meet her son, Bill. It was a perfect evening, sunset and moonrise within a matter of minutes.
Thanks, Zabelle, for a lovely time with great friends.

All We Are Saying...

Love this photo by Rob O'Neal and headline in the Citizen this morning.

Higgs Beach, Key West, FL

Look who was at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon today, and yes, it was this cold down here!

"Weathering" the storm on the beach.
Originally uploaded by sache47

11:30 am, July 23. All's sunny here on KCB. Tropical Storm Bonnie was a no show, but we were ready...just in case.

The morning KCB City Commission was a hot one.

The commission voted to sign a contract with Monroe County for the next 3 years instead of signing a 5 year contract to continue services with Marathon Fire/EMS. The cost will be more, but three of our commissioners, DeNeale, Schmidt, Vorick, think we will get better service. The Mayor, and Geraldine Zahn wanted to continue with Marathon. There were some very hard feelings after the Marathon City Manager wrote a letter a few months ago asking for about $ 600,000 extra from the last contract because according to him we hadn't paid our fair share. Mayor Ginger Sneed from Marathon was at the meeting to try to convince them to go with Marathon, but it was to no avail. Marathon stands to lose $525, 000 a year from this decision. Emotions ran high, and it was well attended. Many from Key Colony feel that it is time for us to organize our own fire department, but this will take time. The plan is that two firefighter/EMS personel from the county would be placed on the island (at this point there is no place to house them) or on Crawl Key, about 2 miles away. Should be interesting to see what comes out of this for our island, and how the rest of Marathon will feel when they no longer have KCB helping to pay for their big new fire station. By the way, this photo, not taken by me, was at the fire at Rocket Man's house in Marathon 2 years ago. According to Mary Schmidt, last year there were 50 calls to KCB, 10 of them were false alarms, no fires, one cat in a tree, and the rest EMS calls. Last year there were 1600 calls to Marathon. She says Marathon pays $160. per household for fire protection and in KCB we pay $325.

Key West as seen from International Space Station

For the next five nights the International Space Station will be visible as it passes over the Key West Area. Note to self: Remember to get in the pool after dark, float on my back, and look up for something moving across the sky much faster than an airplane. It sure beats watching "America's Got Talent".

We had a great time on the Lobster Boat with Aaron and Samantha fishing for dolphin on Saturday. Samantha is Jack's granddaughter and her new husband, Aaron spent their honeymoon in The Keys. She has the Miller touch with the fishing rod and we brought in over 30 dolphin and a king mackrel and a black fin tuna. Yea, it's really hot down here right now, but the ocean is full of dolphin that are just begging to be caught, and the temps are just right for a relaxing noodle every afternoon. Tonight we put the black fin tuna that Aaron brought in to good use and seared it with black sesame seeds and served it with a little pickled ginger and wasabi. It was excellent. It was the last night for the honeymooners as they leave to go back to Milwaukee tomorrow, but have plans to hopefully return next year and try for some tarpon. Now how about a little dolphin for dinner, tonight, tomorrow night, the next night, etc. Fish tacos are definitely on the menu. Great times with new friends, thanks for sharing your granddaughter with us, Jack.

Coconut 101

Coconut 101
Originally uploaded by sache47

We asked Manuel to cut down the green coconuts by the laundry room
because they were falling with an alarming thud every time we walked
by. He did that, and also gave us a lesson on good coconuts vs bad
coconuts. FROM NOW ON we will only drink juice from the good ones.
Bottoms up! It's good for you.

Sun breaks through

Sun breaks through
Originally uploaded by sache47

This is the way a Sunday morning should begin; First, a cup of
coffee, then a swim, followed by a stroll on the beach. Life is great.

New shelving

New shelving
Originally uploaded by sache47

It's a cloudy morning,perfect for a little carpentry project. Bill
used the leftover scraps from the new fence to replace the rotted out
wood in the orchid house. "Desire", Bill's vanda, loves her new
surroundings and the misting she gets every day at 4pm.

Dolphin Are In
Originally uploaded by sache47

When I say they're "in", I'm using the term loosely. They are about 30
miles out, and it was a rough day at sea, but someone had to do it.
Bill had quite a catch on the "Reel Smiles" yesterday with Big Dave.
Here they are along with the one wahoo that Bill brought in. It was a
half day of fishing turned into a full day of fishing because nothing
was hitting for the first 3 hours until they came upon about 50 milk
jugs tied together and their they were keeping cool in the shade and
just waiting to be hooked. So tonight it's dolphin fingers on the
deck. Be there or be square!

Ocean Floor Clean Up

Ocean Floor Clean Up
Originally uploaded by sache47

As Doris, Dave, Bill and I noodled around and enjoyed a beautiful
Mother's Day in the warm water, we noticed this young girl snorkeling
around us and making several trips with a mesh bag back to the beach.
Turns out she was collecting lots of litter from the ocean floor. Old
cans, plastic pipe, big pieces of glass, snorkel equipment, she
carried it all back to the beach, and was still busy at if for most of
the afternoon. We looked over her collection, and thanked her for her
hard work. Christina's grandparents own a condo at Ocean Front Condos
and she comes down every weekend in the summer from Miami to check on
the place. How great to see someone working hard to clean up the
environment, and no, she did not find the diamond ring that the
Steiners lost out there 4 years ago.

Best Wishes to Warren

Best Wishes to Warren
Originally uploaded by sache47

All of us (those survivors who are still around) wished Warren the
best as he moves on to be near his kids in Denver. It was a great
night, beautiful balmy weather, delicious food, and a rousing game of
Alligator to top off the evening. The BIG money winner was Dennis,
but Cole Tracy did well also. We shared memories around the table and
told a few stories of parties in the ocean room, stories told around
the pool, and summer days of seeing Warren multitasking in the pool,
doing his walk and reading at the same time. He will be missed. You
know everyone in the picture except for his daughter, Mary, in the
green next to Warren. They will be flying out together on Tuesday.

MONKEY BUSINESS

Big celebration at the Brass Monkey today, and we were a part of it. It was a tense week in Marathon when the Winn Dixie gave the Monkey 30 days to move out after they refused to sell their liquor license. Winn Dixie owns the property. The town showed up to support the Monkey and threatened to boycott the Winn Dixie, and so their lease was extended. Part of the victory party today was 1000 hamburgers and hotdogs provided by Winn Dixie. The band rocked out with Clarence Clemons (Bruce Springsteen's Band) on the sax, and us in the Monkey for our first time enjoying the local crowd and the music. Yes, that really is Clarence Clemons, he just bought a house in Marathon and enjoys jamming with the band at The Monkey now and then. Doris even got a big smooch from local talent, "Rocket Man" from Porky's. Check out his jewelry and monkey hat! We decided we need to hit the local watering holes more often. It was lots of fun.

The 7 Mile Bridge Run, Saturday, April 17th. Cool, breezy, very little sun. Isn't that about just right for an early morning run?

Ukranian Egg Decorating at Cindy's starts with sucking out the innards with a special tool.

Ukranian Egg Decorating at Cindy's starts with sucking out the innards with a special tool.
Originally uploaded by sache47

IMG_0064

Before melting off the bee's wax

Before melting off the bee's wax
Originally uploaded by sache47

IMG_0063

Using a kitska to paint on the bee's wax

Using a kitska to paint on the bee's wax
Originally uploaded by sache47

IMG_0060

Lot's of colors to choose from

Lot's of colors to choose from
Originally uploaded by sache47

IMG_0061

Ukranian Decorated Easter Eggs

Ukranian Decorated Easter Eggs
Originally uploaded by sache47

IMG_0067

It's ST. PATRICK'S DAY and tradition is that everyone shows up in The Ocean Room at The Cay for a little Irish cheer. It was great to have Tom Storey here to celebrate with us and since his birthday was the day before, the partying seemed to just go on and on.

Cole and Rex stopped by, probably on their way to wrapping up the evening at Cabana Breezes.

We took time out from the party to watch the "big" parade as it went from 15th Street Circle, right past our driveway and on down 1st street. Lots of people got into the spirit of decorating their cars, and dogs, and bikes.

Dinner was at Sparky's. The green beer, cabbage and corned beef was enough to make your hair stand on end, right Bill?

Valentine's Day Sunrise

Here's Where We Live

Key Colony Beach - an island off of Marathon Key, upper right side of photo - just behind Joe Lombardo's left wing.

Big Catch off Key Colony Beach

This was one of the two swords that were brought in today, and here's our own Jack Miller, posing with the crew of the "Reel Easy" with the largest of the two, 300 pounds, caught in 2000 feet of water. It took a good hour and a half to bring it in, but it will be worth the effort for the swordfish steak dinner someone will be eating tonight.

THIS is more like it!

It's beautiful down here today, look, people are even swimming in the ocean. Our friends, Karen and Steve, are coming down for the weekend and it's supposed to continue to be beautiful for several days to come. There is only one thing missing on thebeach, and that's me! I'm on my way!

Arctic Temps = Indoor Crafts

A beachblogger has to find something to do when it is way too cold to be outside. I'm getting in touch with my Native American roots that I'm sure must be buried somewhere deep in my DNA. First, collecting and sorting the pine needles; some from Northern Florida, some from Withlacoochie State Forest, some from Big Pine. Then it's on to soaking them in boiling water and removing the caps. Bill slices the shells with his grinding tool attachment and drills holes (sorry about the noise on our porch, neighbors). Then the best part, coiling, sewing, coiling sewing, around and around. What a great way to pass the time while listening to a good book on tape. However, the sun is out, the temp is warming up to the 50s, so I must get down to the beach this afternoon. This squaw is turning into a pale face!

"Dear Abby", the men's acappella choir from Boston University is vacationing here at The Cay and treated us to a mini performance on the beach today. They were excellent! It sounded just like they had percussions backing them up, but no, it was just voice sound effects. Doug Enger's nephew is a member, and I am pretty sure he is the third from the left. If you haven't heard them, they'll be around all week and may do little street performing at Mallory Square.

Did Santa bring you snow for Christmas? Well not us, we musta been bad because all we got was a huge load of weeds on the beach. The wind was out of the southeast on Christmas afternoon and in rolled the sargasso weed. It's filled with little blue man-a-wars and lots of sea lice and so the seagulls are having a Christmas Day feast. NO one is even thinking about getting in the water or even close to it, although it's plenty warm enough for a dip today. I have no idea what the beach raker will do with all this stuff when he shows up tomorrow morning. Dump truck? Bulldozer? We shall see.

The KCB Boat Parade on Sunday was the best we have ever seen. There was quite a variety of boats, from huge right down to kayak size. One very large yacht had a marching band and vocal group that sang the Star Spangled Banner. A small dinghy was cleverly made up to look like a sleigh pulled by Rudolph, and now it's parked in front of Sparky's for the rest of the season. Of course Tucker DeGraw was there in "Tuck's Toy", as always, having a great time. There were 3 kayaks this year, the waitress from Stouts was in one. They had themselves wrapped in battery powered lights, and were so much fun to watch. My night time photography skills are really lacking, so I couldn't capture the real beauty of it. There were no tandem kayaks, and I couldn't talk Bill into making a fool of himself, but when either of my sisters come down for Christmas again, we WILL be the Kayaking Sisters Act in the Christmas Boat Parade. I promise!

Today my retired teacher friends and I went to lunch at the Marathon Yacht Club with Mrs. Gradick. It's a Christmas event I look forward to every year. Mrs. G, in her 90s now, moved down here in the '50s, and was principal of Marathon High School for 20 years, and can she tell the stories. I love to hear her talk about school life down here back then, it was a different ball game, and she had a way with the kids, and they knew who was in charge.
I love to get her going on her athletic career. She was phys. ed. teacher first when she came down from Philly. She made the girls' gymnastic team for the 1948 Olympics in London, but had to drop out right before the competition when she caught and seriously injured her knee while vaulting the horse. Heck, I was only one year at that time! She has a basement full of medals, trophies, and ribbons, and can tell you every single competition she was in. She competed in the Senior Olympics until she has 87. That year she was in the discus throw, shot put, and hammer throw, and broke a hip. She still lives by herself with her dog, Heidi, and is quite active in the community. "The girls" sure have a good time when we get together. Our bodies may be less active than in the past, but our mouths can still run at full speed.

I guess it's not too much of a surprise that the wildlife around here is not one bit afraid of us. After all, we are very predictable, swim/walk/bike in the morning, Scrabble under the palm in late afternoon, cocktail on the deck before dinner. What's to worry about? They know where we will be and when. This juvie heron seemed to like to be near me this morning. Laps 1-3, he watched from the top of the fence. Laps 4-6 he did figure eights on the ground in between the fence posts. Laps 8-10 he stood on the side of the pool and counted along with me. He's a good influence, and nice to have at my side. He kept me swimming a little longer while Bill got the camera. Hope he's back again tomorrow. I think I'll call him "Coach".

Late afternoon seems to be the best time to watch the osprey practice his hunting skills. He perches right above us while we sit in the shade of the palms. We think he's a young one, first of all because he's not one bit bothered by us being so close, and also because he's really not that great of a hunter yet. He has a few obstacles to overcome. The palm frond he sits on swings in the breeze while he spots his target. Then just as he takes off, the seagulls on shore charge to his prey and make all kinds of noise and shadows and scare it away. He likes to go for the needle fish that are bluish green, easy to spot, and sit still by the surface. When he's got his approach just right, he comes up with the fish, head first in his strong talons, jealous seagulls flapping along just in case he drops it, and carries it off somewhere else to chow down. Then he returns to the palm tree to get ready to try it all over again.

Only in Key West...
KEY WEST: A 62-year-old
Clearwater man was jailed
Monday after allegedly using a
golf putter to beat a man who
tried to kiss him, saying he
was acting out of “moral self
defense,” police reports say.
John Crawford Swindle was
charged with disorderly conduct
and aggravated battery
causing great bodily harm.
from Key West Ctitzen

THIS IS WHY you don't swim in a canal on Key Colony Beach. Daniel Calahan, Fifth Street Canal, 130 stitches at Fishermen's Hospital. Bull Shark attack. I'm taking this post off very soon because it is just too disgusting.

It's the talk of Key Colony Beach, and it's really no joking matter. This past week someone was attacked by a bull shark in the 5th Street canal. As far as I can tell from overhearing different conversations, bull sharks weighing about 200 pounds were seen in the canal in the morning. In the afternoon a man was snorkeling in the canal,spotted the bull shark and tried to get away, but was bit on the foot as he was climbing up a ladder out of the water. The number I heard was 42 stitches.
Yesterday afternoon, as the water is gorgeous right now, Marie had just got out of the ocean, and we were about to get in, when Steve, the manager came down to let us know that someone had spotted an 8 foot bull shark off of the pier at Sunset Beach Condos next door. That is just way to close for comfort. It could have been Marie's last swim forever, and our final noodle if he had decided to cruise the shore while we were there. We have had a number of seagulls, pelicans, and herons hanging around the shoreline on our beach this week. Something is coming up and scaring the pilcherds up onto the shore, and the seagulls are grabbing any that they can. Sharks? Barracudas? We don't know, but if we get in the water today, it will be while we are inside our kayak.

BABY, BABY, BABY!
Last night looks to have been a very busy night for at least 83 hatchlings that crawled out of their nest here on Key Colony Beach and headed out to sea. Most of them followed their natural instincts on a very dark night with just a crescent moon, and went the right way. Eleven of them, for one reason or another, headed off to the pool at The Residences, where our manager discovered them this morning. One lively little hiker was actually found getting ready to cross Ocean Drive. The nest was next door at Monte Cristo, about 4 beaches down from us. It had been discovered and reported to Save-A-Turtle on July 4th, and marked off with flags. The hatching was to have occurred exactly 53 days later, on Aug 27, so you see our guys and gals arrived a few days early. This morning after his discovery, Steve called Ed Borysiewicz, or City Inspector and head Turtle Count person on Key Colony, and lucky for me, I was riding my bike by, and got in on the whole thing. The nest was inspected and hatched eggs counted, 83. Eleven disoriented will be held until this evening when they will be given a second chance to find their way at exactly the same spot. The eggs that didn't hatch were also counted 33, and then buried back in the nest. All of this is carefully recorded and reported back to Save-A-Turtle. We hope that the little tikes that made it will return here to the same beach in a few years to lay their eggs, that's how it's supposed to happen.

It would have been nice if Mama Turtle would have come back for the evening to show the babies where to go, but she was out to sea after laying the eggs 53 days ago, and more interested in her own survival. And from the looks of the beach this morning and all those tracks, there must have been quite a bit of confusion on which way to go, and it sure looked like a lot more than 83 hatchlings were marching around.

I know were I'll be at dark tonight, when the 11 wanderers are given their send off... down at the beach!

A NEW BIKE! And it's MINE!!
It's a Trek Pure, and believe me, I spent way more time bike shopping and test driving than we spent on our new car purchase last month. But this was important, a new bike is not something to be quick about. I had it narrowed down to 3 so called comfort bikes that I really liked after riding several. Comfort, that's the important quality for me these days. I checked out the bike shops in Key West last week, and ended up at my LBS, that's Local Bike Shop in biker lingo. For those of you who have had bad experiences with Overseas Outfitters, I know what you went through. But now there is a new young manager/part owner, and he is really making an effort to turn things around. His parents (my age) live on Little Torch Key and help out at the store. They couldn't be nicer, and the Dad has had two weeks of bike mechanic training...what more could you want?
Now not to bore you with too much ancient history, I got my biking start exactly 58 years ago with my first bike and some tender loving help from my Dad.

I think it looks a little bit like my new bike, except for the training wheels. As a young girl, I rode my bike daily until I got into my teen years. For some reason, it just wasn't cool to ride a bike in the 60s. I took about 40 years off in my riding, and then bought my next bike when I was about 50 and put many miles on that Trek. Because of various back issues, I find myself riding it less and less, so time to try something new. That old Trek won't go to waste, Bill has already taken it over and attached his motor to it. It will be an improvement over the K Mart Dirt bikes, and those two will go to Manuel, who will put them to good use.