Back from St Martin

Hello all, Jane and I just returned from three glorious weeks in St Martin(the friendly island). The first week we were joined by by daughter Tracy,Danny and our two beautiful grandaughters Cassidy and Camille. The girls had a ball playing in the ocean and playing all day. They had no problems sleeping at night. Danny and I fished just about every morning and evening. We caught a lot of snook. A few over twenty pounds. The fishing was incredible. The girls went shopping and sight seeing and a great time was had by all. Jane and I had a few days to ourselves and then we had friends from Toronto,David and Karen Jones spend a week with us. A tribute to David was that he was out of bed every morning at 5 AM to go fishing. Unfortunately the fishing had slowed down but we were still able to catch a few good fish. We ate like kings . We had fresh fish a lot. I was giving away fish to the hotel guests. I think I fed at least twelve people. I made four big batches of cerviche during our stay. We had a great time with the other Jones'es. One day we took a road trip. It was truly an adventure. When they left, Jane and I still had three days to ourselves. We flew home to 50 degrees and a driving rain storm. This morning I woke up to snow coming down and the temp at 31. Makes me want to go back to the island. All in all it was a very relaxing vacation. Next off to Las Vegas for a week. Until later Peace Don

Back from St. Martin

Hi everyone, Well we had a great time in St. Martin as we were able to spend three weeks there this time. We will try to shoot for the same or more next year. It is truly an island paradise. I got so many large snook, the largest was fourteen pounds that I was giving them to the resort guests and staff. They are a great eating fish. I also landed three tarpon in the 20-25 lb range and lost at least 7 more. We have videos which I'll post a link to. The food was awesome and the beach at Mullet Bay was spectacular. The water was crystal clear and the snorkeling was very cool. We even saw an octopus. They have some of the best ribs I have ever eaten at Daleo's beach bar and the staff were very friendly. Jane painted a lot while we were there and she now has her work in a gallery in Phillipsburg. She is an international artist. The local economy is hurting because of the recession so there are great deals to be had in jewelry and electronics. There are no social programs in place on the Dutch side so the people that aren't making money are not doing well. The French side has a lot of social programs and they don't have it half as tough. Well it is back to reality and work until our next trip in about three weeks . We are going to Nashville for a short business trip. The weather here is 66 degrees and cloudy. AH! New England. Until later peace and may God spare your life. CatmanDon

Piranha marketing and St Martin

Hi all, Jane and I are off to St Martin on Friday. We will be missing all our friends from Piranha in Arizona this week because of the scheduling conflict. It seems it happens every year. Jane's birthday is April 25th and we will be celebrating it on the island again. This is her favorite place and I am quite fond of it to. I get up at first light every day and put towels on our beach lounge chairs, then I go fishing for snook or tarpon until about 8:30 or 9. I then take a short walk to the french bakery and get great croissants and go back and have coffee and breakfast with my beautiful wife. We then get ready to go to the beach , either the one at the resort or one of the many great beaches on the island. Nights begin at the tiki bar happy hour where drinks are two for one from 4 to 6 and then we have dinner at one of the outstanding resturants or eat in. We may go to one of the many casinos at night or just walk on the beach. It really is a magical place and time. Do I miss seeing our friends from Piranha? Sure I do, but I cannot pass up this adventure. Maybe next year Joe Polish will have his meeting in St Martin. LOL Peace CatmanDon

Springtime

The snow is melting and the crocuses are starting to flower. It is a beautiful site. We are once again busy with cleaning and our rebuilding projects are going smoothly. My builder has enough work until July. He is one of the few that are busy in the area. A friend of mine who owns a cleaning company just got his first call for a clean up of a house that was occupied by raccoons. Last year we did over 20 thousand dollars of raccooon related clean up work. I love those little masked bandits. I got a new Chevy truck and I am having it lettered today. My last truck I didn't letter and I hate to think how much money I left on the table by not having that rolling billboard out there on the road. We will be going to St, Martin at the end of April. I heard that the economy has really hurt the island and that the locals are begging people to buy. Maybe the real estate prices will come down. Thats it for now. peace CatmanDon

whats happening now

Hi all, I have been incommunicado for awhile. I just got a new computer and my geek is coming today to straighten out my issues. The cleaning business is a little slow right now , because we are in between seasons. That would be mud season and dry season. It is snowing lightly but it won't stay. I bought a new truck and am picking it up on saturday. Lots of good deals out there right now. We had a good time in Atlantic City , it was good to get away for a few days. We are going to Peter Havens resturant on Sat night with friends. It is a really nice place to eat. I played racket ball for the first time this week and it was great exercise. I will try and play at least one day per week. We are going to St, Martin for three weeks at the end of April. I really miss the sun. It is the best of the carribean. You all stay healthy and i will write next week. A belated happy St. Patricks day to all you beautiful Irish folks. You know who you are. peace CatmanDon