New Newbie - Baby Soto is here!

On 27^th January, 2014 at 6.35 PM, EST a baby girl was born to Bridget and Mark. Weighing in at 7 lbs and 6 ounces, she announced her arrival in lusty yells which her uncle recorded for posterity.  She was then bathed, swaddled and returned to her parents and family.  This photo was taken a mere two hours after the birth. This was for everyone there and Bridget and Mark in particular a truly wonderful day.

Kidner Jeremy didn’t fare so well as the proud parents, finding all sorts of things to fret about (unnecessarily as it turned out).  The youngest Soto had a good number of people there to greet her including 3 generations of the family – Great Grandma Ms Goldie who looked younger than Kidner Jeremy, Grandma Sherrlyn who was simply stunning, her Dad Mark, tall and handsome who was there throughout and cut the umbilical cord can you believe. It is not often one gets to see four generations at one sitting. 

A couple of things are slightly different here.  The hospital provides no soap for the little ones. Mothers have to bring their own.  It is a tradition here that the baby’s hair is not washed for 6 weeks after the birth nor is the baby taken out during this time, all as a precaution against catching a cold. Maybe that’s why they don’t provide the soap – no point really if one is not going to wash the hair for 6 weeks. How on earth do the Brits survive in DOB (Dear Old Blighty) where the temperatures rarely venture above chilly.

The huge irony of the little Soto is that she had more hair than either of her Grandfathers combined.  Such is life eh!

It’s not often Kidner Jeremy is stuck for words.  This is one of them.  I hate to have to use a much over-used cliché but it was AWESOME!

There is a link to this blog and the Cayman.  Our thoughts go out to Daphne Delahaye who lost her Mum this week.  Loyal readers may remember she also lost her husband Russ when we were here first time which led to this blog not being posted for two years.  As Daphne put it in her email “The cycle of life goes on”.  Good on ‘Yer Daphne.  I hope Soto junior has as much charm, intelligence and strength as you and your late Mum.

Kidner Jeremy and Mrs K, Grandparents.

Keep Well, Stay Safe.

Newbies Jan 2014 - The Spirit of 2014

Spirit of 2014; Take off your skirt Kidner: Cross Polo; Cross Beer Packaging; Cross Cooking: Cross Coppers; Hot Cross Fish and Chips.

Well, Christmas is over; what does 2014 hold in store for everyone? Why not leave a comment on the blog with what you hope for for yourself for 2014.

For Kidner Jeremy, it’s very simple. Good health and contributing to sorting out at least on social problem and a few organisational problems.  The social problem I hope will be “Mount Trashmore” in the Cayman and I plan to do that by creating an online resource with technical solutions (invite companies in the business to post their products and solutions), educating people as to what can be done perhaps through social media and creating a groundswell of opinion that will lead to a political solution.

Here we are for those that miss us – New Year’s Eve at Camana Bay.

Mark, Bridget, Mrs K and Kidner Jeremy

 Here we are again – see what the elderly get up to when unattended.

"Please let me out of here with this old git in the car" shouts Mrs K

Add a caption if you like to edify and amuse our dear readers. (By the way, we were fitting car seat covers to the Yarris. And yes, I did have a pair of swimming trunks on.)

Take off your skirt Kidner

Loyal readers may be surprised at the reference to cross dressing. Soon after we arrived in Caribbean Paradise, and at a well-known local beach side restaurant famous for its curries, Kidner Jeremy ordered a mild vegetable curry, mild (as he was jet lagged and had a delicate tummy tum tum, poor little fellow).  “Take off your skirt” was the riposte from the barman to the order.  Quite. Reminds us of little Zoe Lee who lived with us while Mum and Dad did their reno.  “That’s a nice skirt Zoe” said Mrs K. “It’s not a skirt, it’s a skurt” (rhymes with “hurt”.  Well, now we know.

Cross Polos

Talking of “Cross”, why is this (VW) Cross Polo I wonder?  Ideas would be welcome. For example, I wondered if it was cross because it wasn’t the “GT” version, or it is made in India.

Why is this Polo cross?

Brand Cross Promotion

Purchase one brand here and you could get pretty well anything, in this case buy Coors and get Hoegaarden.   That made me cross as I didn’t want the Coors it was for guests; now I will just have to have a curry and a Hoegaarden.  Such is life.  What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me.  Enjoy the classic by Jerry Lee Lewis. (http://youtu.be/mzhNmhGIfio)

 

What kind of beer did you say?

Trivia – Schlitz beer was what made Milwaukee famous and is now owned by Pabst.  Coors apparently owns the largest brewery facility in the world in Golden, Colorado.  What for goodness is two stage cold activation? This sounds remarkably like the reaction a bloke gets when he gets back home full of Coors.  Stage 1 is “What time do you call this?” and Stage 2 is “Don’t tell me the time.  I know what the time is”.  Other interpretations are welcome dear readers.

Cross Cook

Kidner Jeremy was tasked with preparing spaghetti bolognaise. On the great day, Mark and BK due any minute and, disaster! The pasta sauce had disappeared.  “Of course I bought the effing sauce – look, it’s on the receipt” followed by a dash to replace said bottle.  It turned up the next day in Mrs K’s shopping bag with all the Christmas stuff ready for the great dessert cook up. Here’s the pasta with Paul Newman laughing at Kidner Jeremy’s “loss”. “What Made Paul Newman Famous, Has Made a Loser Out of Me”.

"What made Paul Newman famous has made a loser out of me"

Hot Cross Fish N Chips Cayman Style.

Loyal readers will recall a Santa run to East Side.  Well, we found the local fish and chips shop and thought, fish and chips by the seaside, what could be better? What Captain Herman forgot to tell us and what we found out the next day was that you DON’T eat the onions; you just pour the sauce on the fish, because as Mrs K found out it is VERY, VERY HOT.  Oh dear, she was speechless for at least a minute….

Don't eat the oninos Mum, they're really, really hot!

Cross Coppers

Loyal readers who know Mrs K might not believe this, but the lovely lady got a warning from a cross copper a week or two ago for a VERY serious transgression – being seen in public with an old git!  No, I jest, it was for parking in a handicapped parking space.  Naturally the good looking, young, fully armed, bullet proofed vest copper in an unmarked car was treated to the full array of “Oh gosh officer, I’m new here, I didn’t see the markings, we’re here to see our daughter who is expecting our first grandchild at the end of January” array which seemed to work OK.  “Well Ma’am, please be more careful in future” response. Readers are welcome to suggest other responses. And yes, Kidner Jeremy had to eat his Financial Tradie cap to stop laughing.  Dreadful ain’t it! Oh life is sweet sometimes…..

Keep Well, Stay Safe

Kidner Jeremy and Mrs K