This week started badly. Our container was eventually released from the port on Monday afternoon and hauled to Marigot Bay. The driver was unable to manoeuvre it around a corner because of a parked car but said he would return later. It was left out side the hotel main entrance, which didn’t please them at all. He did return and there were no obstructions but he said it was too dark to move it now but someone would be back in the morning at 6 am. Jeff was there at five to six, the next driver turned up an hour later in a foul mood, declared it couldn’t be done (even though there have been at least 4 forty foot containers in the last few months doing the exact same thing) and drove off up the hill, leaving the container exactly where it was. This meant we had to get it offloaded as quickly as possible. Due to the special circumstances it was arranged that two customs officers would oversee this at 3.30pm that day. This is very unusual because all offloading has to be done after 5pm so that the officers can get their overtime. Needless to say, they didn’t pitch up until 5pm, it was now raining and about 45 minutes away from sunset. The female officer, in full uniform plus patent leather stilettos, ensconced herself on one of our antique chairs (that I had lovingly re-caned and restored a few years back) on the dirt track road, using my umbrella whilst she ordered boxes to be opened and serial numbers checked to see if they contained the correct items. The rain continued to pour and the night was getting wild as we were feeling the effects of Tropical storm Olga that was bearing down on the Islands further north. We stood and watched our worldly goods being taken off the container, put onto a waiting truck and then being driven the 50 yards to our holding container. Everything was drenched and even though it is now in the new container it will have to be taken out again and dried before we get too many problems with mould and mildew. We finished four hours later. Absolutely everything was looked at even though everything matched the manifest. It never occurred to her that if the first fifty boxes were as stated so would all of them be. She even commented on how well everything had been packed as she requested that the movers slash through the boxes with Stanley knives to get to the contents. We were soaked to the skin, muddy and fed up when they left and just locked up the container, went and got into dry clothing and headed for the bar. I was feeling very emotional; I needed copious amounts of rum before I could even start to slander the woman! Jeff was equally tired as he had been trying to get things organised from early in the morning and still did a days work on the building site, which is mostly cement and moving block and that is hard graft. It has rained everyday since then so we still haven’t been able to air the containers.

The building of the pool continues but it is a messy business in this weather. I don’t know how the guys can do it with such good humour. The carpenters have completed the flooring upstairs and have finished the walk in wardrobe. It all looks very good. Guy, the electrician, requested the lighting and fans for that floor, so yesterday I had a mammoth shop in Castries and Rodney Bay trying to find lights that matched. Eventually I had to resort to lights in the same room matching, as nowhere had any more than two lights the same. I still have one more journey to make to get a fan and two bathroom lights which I couldn’t get yesterday as I was fast loosing the will to live, dealing with the dozy sales assistants and trying to hack my way through the Christmas crowds, who were gathering for the turning on of the Christmas lights.

Hopefully things will settle down for a while. Mum arrives tomorrow and the guys have opted to take a holiday from the 20th Dec to 2nd January. I think we all need a rest and maybe even some time away sailing.