Saturday morning and the dogs are waiting for me to get out of bed. Chester, the big beautiful boy in front, is 3 years old and as patient and smart as anything. Durban, the youngun on the far side is now 6 months and he is a handful. He is trying to bite my hand to get me to play with him...not so patient, but as cute as the day is long.

Whenever I have to wear heals for a dressy occasion I think of these women and their grace and charm. Watching as they passed us by on a busy Cuban avenue, during a festival that I have forgotten, I was struck by the color and life they brought to an otherwise rather grey and barren place. There is so little in the way of luxury in Cuba that even the bigger cities are without embellishments, Buildings, cars, roads, everything goes unrepaired and broken as there is just no money to put back into the country.

Despite the poverty, the people are warm and generous. They earn extra money in very inventive ways and are always thrilled to get anything you are nice enough to leave them. We left our clothes as we had little else to give them. Our suitcases were certainly a lot lighter coming home. We took lots of personal hygiene products there with us, coloring books, pencils, anything we could think of. I wish we had thought to take tooth brushes. It seems that they have a very hard time getting these as well as soaps.

If you are planning to go there, pack stuff you don' intend to keep. Someone will be so happy to have them.

Micks not one for "shows of affection" , so I was thrilled when he was approached by these two lovely ladies for a smoochie-woochie. He couldn't exactly say "no" without seeming rude, so he became a "Mick sandwich" instead. Notice the lovely shade of crimson he is wearing?

I do so love my Mick but we are so very different. Perhaps that is why we are still married. I am extroverted and not-so-modest, while he is proper, quiet and well behaved. He keeps an eye on me to be sure I am not in too much trouble, but despite all his efforts I still manage to find myself in SITUATIONS from time to time.

Ah...to be in that very square, enjoying the sun and the sights of Cuba again. Saving all my Aero miles up and will be in Costa Rica in March (early on so we miss the rains). Right now it feels as though I've been here forever! A very long, tiresome summer. I need a holiday.

Going to the UK in October. I hope to have some nice pics to share with you then.

TA TA

Affection in a dark damp cave! My hubby is such a romantic. The places he takes me have you writhing with jealousy, I'll bet. No roof top, sky line dinners by candle light for me. No river boat night time cruises with gentle music for this girl. I get caves, holes in the ground, bug infested backwood forests where nobody has dared to go! I get dirty, sweaty clothes, bug bites and poison ivy. OH YEAH!!!

A bat took the picture

Chester and baby Durban getting to know each other the first day home. Chester is three and Durban 6 weeks. Does it get any damn cuter than this?

As an exercise in blogging again I thought that I would share this picture of our latest acquisition and member of the family - Durban. The name 'Monkey Jim' came about in a frenzy of affection and has stuck like glue because of the number of younguns in the family who like the name. Durban is slightly darker than Chester and makes a very aesthetic addition to the family.

Any comments on Monkey Jim are welcome.