Cluny's Summer Internship ...

Cluny spends a fair amount of time at the office with Dad ... I must say this is a pretty awesome perk when you work for yourself.   

Cluny is a pretty popular attraction at the agency and whenever Jeff posts a picture of him, we are amazed how much traffic he can drive to the agency FaceBook page.   Should Jeff post a snippet about a Farmers company contest or why you should buy life insurance ... Jeff will get a 'Like' from me, but a picture of the dog can elicit 25 'Likes' every time. 

Cluny is always intrigued by glass doors, and one of his favorite places is the office front door.  He will sit here for hours and watch the pedestrian traffic and meet the clients that come to see Jeff.  You could say this is Cluny's contribution to the Clark Agency.

When not keeping track of the passers by, Cluny can be found fast asleep under Jeff's desk.

Jaime (r) and Erin are members of the Cluny Fan Club.  Or more succinctly, they are both dog lovers and like it when Cluny comes to work. 

Jaime keeps cookies in her desk drawer and Cluny's affections can most definitely be bought...

And on those days, when Cluny can't make it in, Grant's dog, Brady, can be counted on as a worthy surrogate.

The house should be done ..

in about 45 days ...  and we can't wait!!

I was looking back and it's been some time since I posted an update on the progress of the house.  The last time I posted a picture, we just had sub-floor ... there's been a few changes since then.

Here's some pictures from the framing stage.

Then came the roof.

And we have a front door, electricity, and rough-in plumbing.

Windows!! This one is in the guest room.

The fireplace has been installed.

Tonight, we found that the bricks for the front of the house have been delivered.

The insulation is in and next week the drywall will go up.

More ... Jamaica

We took an evening trip to the Luminous Lagoon .. the bay near Falmouth has incubated the perfect mix of salt water and fresh water and created the perfect environment for the luminous microorganisms.

When the water is stirred up, the microorganisms glow ... it was fascinating.  I can't take credit for the picture, but since I was unable to capture a picture of the water when it was aglow ... I grabbed this one off the interwebs.

A few days later, we headed into Ocho Rios to do some shopping and we stopped for a lunch of Jerk chicken.  This is our driver Eric with Mom. 

We also took a trip to see the Great House at Rose Hall. A former sugar plantation belonging to John Palmer. John Rose Palmer inherited the Rose Hall after the death of his great uncle.

 Rose Hall was restored in the 1960s with mahogany floors, interior windows and doorways, paneling and wooden ceilings. It is decorated with silk wallpaper printed with palms and birds, ornamented with chandeliers and furnished with European antiques.  

According to legend, the White Witch, Annie Palmer, murdered her husband, John Rose Palmer, and several husbands afterwards.  Annie was known as a mistress of voodoo, using it to terrorize her slaves.  The stories include a love triangle between herself, her husband John and a slave named Millie.

The legend says she was murdered in her own bed during the slave uprisings of the 1830s.

On the way back, we made a quick stop at discovery bay for a picture

Here's a picture from our last day at the villa with all of our new friends.  John (groundskeeper), Mom,. Eric (driver), Millie (cook), Angela (housekeeper), and Ozzie (houseman).





Jamaica ... July-August 2012

We spent a couple of weeks in Jamaica.   We usually try to take our beach vacations in the winter ... but this year we decided to mix it up a little.

We arrived in Montego Bay and hooked up with Uncle Buck and girlfriend Valya.  We were happy to see them after a long day of traveling.

Here's a picture of the Carousel villa where we stayed.

We were also very pleased to meet our houseman, Ozzie, who had a cold pitcher of rum punch waiting for us when arrived.

Despite the minimal rainfall this year, the landscaping on the grounds was beautiful .. thanks to the resident groundskeeper, John. 

Our first full day, Jeff and I decided to spend the morning on the beach.  So we hopped in the golf cart and headed down to the water where we had privileges at a private beach.  

After a couple hours at the ocean, we packed up and headed back to the villa and sat by the pool.

We also had the services of our own private security guard ... here's a picture of Blue and me.

Our first excursion was a trip to the Appleton Estate and rum distillery.  On the way, we stopped in a coffee grove.  If you have never had Jamaican coffee, you are missing something special.

We also tried roasted yam and salt fish that we picked up from a roadside stand.

At the rum distillery, we were treated to a terrific tour.  It started with a little rum punch !!

Then our guide, Keyon, showed us around the estate and told us how they used to employ donkeys to operate the machinery.

Here's a picture of us in one of the storage buildings where the rum is aged.  The temperature inside was probably 25 degrees cooler than the temperature outside.  The variance is the result of evaporation from the rum kegs ... they refer to this as 'rum conditioning'.

and at the conclusion of the tour, Keyon was out bartender, where he offered us a taste of the many different types of rum.