This week has been one long hectic rush. So much has been done on the house that it is difficult to know where to begin. Unfortunately no pictures will do it justice as we are down to detailed work. All the upstairs pillars have been plastered and painted. The basements outside walls have been plastered, as have the bathrooms. The shower areas are now obvious and ready for the glass blocks to be put in place. Every wall that has drywall has been filled and sanded and in many areas the primer has been put on. All internal doors have been fitted and have had there undercoat put on. The basement has got electricity and all the sockets are fitted and lights and fans are in place. The carpenters are making a fantastic job of the balcony railings, the wood they use is Purple Heart and it really is a lovely purple colour. We hope to be able to seal the colour in with a special treatment otherwise it fades quite quickly once the sun and rain gets to it. This will also be used inside the house on the staircase railings; it should make a nice contrast with the greenheart. The first of the round windows are in place, completing the gallery window. The others may arrive today but could be delayed as it appears our window maker was so impressed at getting some money upfront, supposedly to buy materials and pay for extra labour, that he spent it on a new truck and now is unable to complete our order on time, as he is now a one man band and is having to earn extra money at night as a taxi driver to get our money together to finish the windows. Of course not having windows in place means the weather side of the house can’t be decorated in case it spoils the paint work, either that or we resort to plastic coverings at the windows.

All that is left of the rudder bearing housing. This electrolysis is most likely caused by the copper anti foul coating we have on, which is very effective as you can see from the bottom of the boat which hasnt been cleaned now for 3 years. The solution may be to peel off the coating around that area and then paint the aluminium housing with a special anti foul for that metal.

Jeff and Reno taking it easy.

Lucky Dog at Sunset

We finished of our dogwatch on Tuesday. We loved being with that big old dog; he was such a character. The cats were fun too, although hard work, especially Presley who did escape one night into the gardens of the hotel but didn’t go too far. It was a relief to hand back three cats, one dog and a boat intact at the end of our watch.

We got the nod from the boat yard that we could be hauled out on Friday first thing, so Jeff had to quit work early on Thursday and take the boat up to Rodney Bay, whilst I took the guys home in the truck. The boat is now out and ready for the work that needs to be done. We hope it will only be a few days until she is back in the water ready to go sailing at long last. In the meantime we have moved into Doreen’s house and once again are enjoying a soft bed and a loo you don’t have to pump. Today is Jounet Kweole- patois for Creole Day. There are celebrations up and down the Island today and tomorrow. The main emphasis seems to be sampling the various local dishes and finding out about traditions, crafts and customs. Doreen, myself and another couple of girls are off down south tomorrow to some of the bigger events. Jeff can’t come as he will be overseeing the work on Wine Down, so it’s a girls day out soaking up the culture..well, more like eating our way through the Island really!

It has been a successful week for finding lights that match. Once we made the decision that each floor would have different exterior lights the task became easier. We still haven’t got seven lights for the first floor but it shouldn’t be too long now. The upper balcony post lights were a real hassle as I was reluctant to buy the old-fashioned carriage type lights as they all look like funeral urns for ashes. In the end we gave in and bought the plainest and smallest ones we could find.
The inside of the house has changed in appearance now that it has a ceiling in place, albeit with wiring sprouting through where lights will be fixed eventually. The balconies have all their posts in place and the plasterer has skimmed all the floors ready for tiling. The wooden railings should be next on the list, which will be great for me as I will then be able to peer over the edge without fear of falling. We also have doors, lots of them, all with a set of keys, so my task today is to match keys to doors and label them before the bunch becomes too large.

This weekend starts with the World Cup Final and we have our seats booked at the bar. Unfortunately our friendly South African crew have had to take their owners sailing and will not be back until Sunday, so there will be no sport on the day.
Sunday has been put aside for a bonfire. The bamboo that had been used as supports and was to be saved for goodness knows what, has been deemed useless, so Jeff can now burn it. This clearance is in preparation for the mini excavator to come and prepare the ground for the pool and decking area. That will be an exciting time as after the main concreting is done we can get a good idea of how the land will look and start thinking about landscaping.
Our dogwatch started on Thursday. There is one large German shepherd, called Reno and three longhaired Persian cats, Elvis, Morgan and Kiki. Reno is a gentle giant who walks slowly and deliberately using his big snoz to capture the best smells. He puts the fear of god into all the locals as he is so huge but at least I don’t get any wise cracks if I am taking him out alone. He is a big softy who likes his nightly routine of licking his carers face (Jeff), then getting a treat out of the pot next to the bed after which he retires happily to his mat at the end of the bed. The cats are a different matter. Presley is the fearless playful one who likes to join you in bed in the morning. Morgan is a bit of a recluse although has demanded a bit of attention and is very keen on two hourly feeds. Kiki is ancient, set in her ways, grumpy and chooses to pooh in the en suite bathroom of the owners stateroom. She spends most of her sleeping hours in their basin but last night chose to sleep in ours, hampering our bedtime ablutions. We moved to another room rather then incur her wrath! The owners come back on Tuesday, earlier than expected. He had gone to Miami for bowel cancer treatment only to be told he had been misdiagnosed in St Lucia. Great news for him but a bit of a shock to those of us who use or plan to use the hospital services here in the future. Second opinions are obviously a must.
Our rudder bearing has arrived, hurrah; the boat hoist is being refurbished and will not be available for several weeks, boohoo!

Reno and Presley spend a lot of time together and really enjoy each others company.

Kiki in her basin .

Here we are, right in the middle with a dark green roof.
Now try and find us from afar !

Installation of the solar panals and the new water pump.

Gallery window with view of the sea.

Four day old puppies and the proud Mum.

It’s been a week of mixed fortunes. On Monday night the site was broken into and they stole a water pump and 3 doors. We were able to use the hotels CCTV and got a good idea of which van did the dirty deed but as yet nobody knows whom the van belongs to. The police are worse than useless, as they have failed to interview a witness or check out the CCTV. It would appear that they only record crime rather than investigate. Jeff then spent a long day going from one end of the Island to the other getting a new pump and collecting all the various plumbing bits to go with it. The progress on the house this week seems a bit slow but that is because a long time has been spent on positioning and fixing a large semi circular gallery window. It looks fantastic now it is in place and has dry wall around it.
We have had some really heavy rainstorms and our large water tanks are now a third full. There are no leaks in the roof or from the tanks, so that’s a relief.
I have kept myself busy with an odd assortment of tasks. The skipper on INXS, a mega yacht that has been here for a while, wanted a haircut, which I did with the clippers and it looked quite good. I have been giving daily injections to a friend who is anaemic and was also called upon to help with the delivery of puppies, one of whom wasn’t breathing too well and wouldn’t suck. All five are doing well now and it is difficult to see which one was the runt.
There was a concert last night in Chateau Mygo. Doreen’s cousin from Canada, Christine, came and sang a selection of songs. She is a professional singer with a wonderful voice. Unfortunately the keyboard player from the resident band didn’t read music, so she had to hum him the songs so he could pick up the tunes and then they performed them. It was a little bit makeshift but a very enjoyable night.
Our weekend off will include watching the England v. France rugby match at Discovery hotel, with a large French contingent. Most of the management at Discovery are French so there could be lots of lighthearted banter. Just hope we win though as they can be an arrogant bunch!! Whereas we are always magnanimous in victory or defeat-yeah I know, what a load of tosh!!

The beginnings of The Bullens banana plantation.

Three thousand, one hundred and six holes later and the doweling is done! It was hot and tedious work, dangerous at times and I am glad I don’t have to watch Jeff balancing on the precarious scaffolding anymore. The solar water heating system is in place, just needing the final connections when we have water circulating. We have had some cracking thunderstorms, which have half filled our water tanks very nicely but only to discover we have a leak in one. So there has been pumping water from one to the other to reseal and strengthen liners. We will know early next week if the problem is solved. The painters have been continuing with the external ceilings that can be seen and have also just about completed the basement. Our bedroom is next in line as the bathroom has now been plastered and all the plasterboard is in place.

It has been a bit of a struggle to get the paints chosen and mixed as when I went to town the first place had some colours, the second had no pastel base paint and wasn’t expecting any until next week. In the next place the computer that mixed the paint was broken, so it was back to the first shop to start choosing again. This all takes time in hot heavy traffic but it is the way of life and you become a little resigned to it and just leave early to start doing the rounds. Ringing up beforehand doesn’t work because they wont mix it until you are on the premises - just in case you change your mind!

I went to inspect the plants that we had bought and was disappointed to find that four had been completely stripped of their leaves by large African snails that are in abundance on the plot. We shall be getting hold of sacks of rock salt to put around future plants but also researching more permanent methods of eradication. These snails are not natives of St Lucia but come in a boat and went forth and multiplied. It has been a huge problem for farmers and gardeners alike.

There are three other boats on the dock where we have our boat, all large motor yachts of 80 ft plus. One of the owners, who has been here for a while, with his wife, large dog and three cats, has just found out that his bowel cancer has returned, which means he needs an operation ASAP. They are off to Miami in a few days time and the rest of us are to take it in turns to look after the animals and take care of his boat. Reno, his Alsatian is a huge dog that gets lonely, so one of the tasks is to sit with him at night on their boat and watch DVD’s and then take it in turns to sleep over. They will try and get back as soon as possible.

It’s a day off tomorrow but also funeral day for Austin. Jeff has volunteered to carry the food in the truck to Bexon where over 400 people are expected to turn up at the family church and they all get fed after the ceremony. Lots of work for Doreen who is cooking the chicken and making sandwiches and fruit juices by the bucket full.