The Gift of Friendship In Eleuthera

Hello dear readers – this week I want to talk about the gift of friendship in Eleuthera. But actually the gift of friendship and kindness is what the world needs more than ever in these times.

I am, as you all know, a keen reader and when I see a good review of a book that sounds like it appeals to me I quickly get on the internet and buy it – because we all know that it is hard to remember from one day to the next what the title of that book or movie was – right ? Anyway the book in question is called ‘Theo of Golden’ by Allen Levi.

This quote is taken from the back cover of the book and it totally sums up the beauty of this novel. – ” A story of giving and receiving , of seeing and being seen. Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life , and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another ”

Make you want to read it ? Well I highly recommend it – one of those books where you decide that an early night is the perfect opportunity to read a few more chapters ! I am probably two thirds of the way through the book – I’m sure there will be some revelation that pulls it all together – but I am relishing it. Best read in a good while…..

So reading something like this places friendship and kindness in the forefront of the mind and I have had several occasions recently to be aware of how lucky we are to have good friends here in Eleuthera. Firstly – if you live here then you will know that if you wear a wristwatch the batteries do not last as long as they do in a different climate. I took several watches to the UK last November and finished up carrying them back with no new batteries in them as I never had the time or opportunity to get them replaced.

When my last – and favorite watch gave out a couple of weeks ago I decided to buy a selection pack of watch batteries online. They arrived in a shipment on Monday and I quickly realized that I did not have the patience or  eyesight to be able to do the task. Our good friend Larry on Cupid’s Cay is a patient and calm person who seems to love fixing things – lucky me ….. So he changed the battery in one watch – discovered that even though there were probably 8 sizes of battery there was one watch that had a minute one – so he ordered that online and had it delivered to a friend coming down this weekend ! Not only that but another of the watches needed a special tool to open it up – he ordered that tool as well and had that delivered to the same friend. How kind and thoughtful was all of that – I felt very lucky that he took so much trouble.

Secondly the weather has turned pretty cold again here and I was visiting our lovely friend Carol who was wearing a fabulous pair of sheepskin slippers. They looked so cosy – and stylish too I might add. She told me where she had bought them online and that evening I scoured the website and couldn’t find them The next morning she messaged me to tell me that she had given me the wrong web site and gave me the correct one. A small thing but another lovely kindness that I am grateful for.

Many of you know who read the blog regularly know that I buy a lot from Ikea . For the Jewel I have bought both all the closet fixtures and the kitchen cabinets from there. And it is something I have done so many times I think I can nearly do it in my sleep. Well maybe not …. I bought all the wardrobe frames at 30″ wide and all the shelves and drawers and rails at 40″ wide. Not sure how I managed to make such a mistake but we are all human ! Thank goodness I didn’t buy the glass fronted drawers – just the wooden ones. So I am very grateful for the kindness from our 2 guys who were assembling everything and who painstakingly cut down 11 drawers to make them fit. And they did it with good grace too. Thank you Son and Sean…..

So I have not had to look very far at all recently to really notice the acts of kindness and friendship that have been a part of my life. Such a good practice to be aware of these things and then show appreciation for them….

Okay – now let me tell you about a great meal we had on Sunday up at the Cove. There were 6 of us and we had a lovely lunch. As you know we both love The Cove and Joel makes the very best sushi – it was a delight to be with friends as well who also enjoyed it.

This was not everything that we ate but of course it was the only thing I took pictures of ….

Talking of appreciating things – this below was the line of people waiting at Island Farm during the week to buy their famous cinnamon buns – there were about 12 people on the line ……

Okay dear readers – that’s it for another week. if you are here on island don’t forget about the sculpture exhibition at The Potlatch Club on Saturday – 2pm – 6pm.

Look out for those acts of kindness and friendship in your own lives – acknowledge them and make sure that the friends who did them for you know just how much you appreciate them.