Had A Nice Pool Party

Doug sent me a few shots. Instead of creating another post, I simply added to this one. Hopefully, no one will get confused - dave, the Editor. Yesterday morning at about a quarter to eleven, I posted this on Twitter:

Oh, sure. Today we're supposed to have friends over and BBQ some steaks. What's it doing now? Dark skies, thunder, lightning, no rain yet...

Well, as it turned out, after the thunder clouds blew over, it turned into a glorious day. Our pool party and barbecue was saved and was a success.

Earlier in the day I had tried to get a shot of some parrots at the very top of a tree adjacent to our place. Of course, by the time I grabbed my camera and gotten the right lense on it - they flew.

Shortly after the party got in gear, there was a bunch of parrots who came by again. And again, I didn't even have my camera with me. Luckily, Doug did. He shot the photo below of a couple of our local green parrots. What a bunch of chatterboxes they all are - all day long too.

Chatterboxes - by Doug

Here's the group we had over. Doug and Twyla - our neighbors from up the street, Dan and Beverly - our neighbors from across the street, and us.

Having Enough Fun...

We got together a little after one in the afternoon, for swimming and beer (or in Doug's case, some Teachers Scotch).

Speaking of Doug's Scotch - Here it is.

Doug's Glass of Teacher's Blended

If you're wondering about the exquisite glass holding the liquor, it's Doug's find from the Boundary Store in Orange Walk - our Value Village or Goodwill. Looking Good!

Bev, Dan & Dianna Enjoy the Shade

The pool cooperated by having crystal clear water. In photos as well as real life, the blue water in the pool is so brilliant, it almost hurts your eyes.

Doug &; Twyla In The Wet

Twila Trying Her Waterwings - by Doug

Here's everyone except Doug - he's taking the photo.

Pool-Time Group Shot - By Doug

Here's Dan, sporting his first Cuban. Smelled pretty good too. Too dangerous for me to try. I'd be back buying a carton of cigarettes right after, if I had one of those.

Dan and His Stogie

Of course Cindy and Secret were part of the festivities as well. Mostly, they kept watch over us from the periphery, staying out of the way, unless they thought there was a chance of scarfing a morsel or two.

Secret in a Great Pose

Here's Cindy and Secret, hoping that something comes their way. Their hovering is quite discreet.

Cindy and Secret At Ease

Quite a nice shot by Doug of Cindy. That girl's always on duty protecting us from evil-doers and birds.

Cindy On Duty - Photo By Doug

We had steaks from Franks Meat Products, that I had purchased the day before. We marinated them for a little better than 24-hours. I had Frank's cut them about 1½" thick. I slow-cooked them on the barbie.

Our Cinty's Special BBQ Warming Up

Dianna did homemade baked beans and a German-style potato salad. Doug and Twyla brought some home-made brownies for desert. Dan and Bev brought a whole slew of stuff - garlic bread (also roasted on the BBQ), creamy peppery dip and chips, and a fruit salad. In short, there was more food than anyone could eat.

The BBQ is still new enough that I don't quite have the timing down on it after lighting the charcoal... That is, I pretty much burned through all the charcoal and had to have Doug pour more charcoal onto the thing - after I carefully moved the grate with the steaks out of the way.

Dave & Dan At Work - Photo by Doug

Anyway, we finally got them cooking and things turned out wonderful. I think we were all so stuffed. Of course, that meant a ton of left-overs to deal with.

Here's Twyla and Dianna having a good time in the pool.

Yak, Yak, Yak

Just a long shot up the length of the pool, showing the guesthouse and the main house.

Pooltime

After the meal, we all hung out on the front porch to let the food digest and to avoid most of the mosquitoes and doctor flies. We all ate enough to pop.

Dave Lining Up A Shot - by Doug

Tempting Secret With Brownie Bits

In short, we had a great time. Perfect weather, perfect water, perfect BBQ, and perfect ice-cold Belikin.

Hard to believe we're in the middle of hurricane season! It just don't git no better'n This!