Beez Neez now Chy Whella

Week 4 Villa

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Sat 18 Apr 2020 23:57

Week Four in Jolly Harbour

Sunday the 12th of April. Everything ached this morning so we decided on a slightly slacker day. A cup of tea in bed doing the bank and credit card checks to begin with. Bear moved the pink mobile from dangling from our top cupboard door to the fan in the second room (temporary until we decide where it will hang), that gave me space to make the mobile for our room. Bear settled to see if he could set up our media player through the bedroom television as we have such an awful selection of channels (we paid and had fitted a new box but lockdown came before Flow could switch on our new package), he had marginal success..... We had a loaded and game of backgammon on the balcony outside our bedroom – sadly I lost five nil. But it was my turn so I don’t feel any guilt. Huh. I set about making my ‘office’ neater in crates rather than a saggy cardboard box.

I sat and watched (well, supervised) as Bear hung our little lanterns around the patio. I snuck a win at Mex Train Doms. Pork chops, roast potatoes and mixed, tinned veggies after showers and we watched Shaft.

Monday the 13th. We got up and decided to start with a massive sort out. Piles for Beez, stuff for the UK and clothes / smellies to stay here (a box each in the top cupboard). Bear helped me strip and make the bed, then he hung the pink mobile in the corner of the second bedroom....

.....and the green one in our room way above the door. I boxed up spare smellies and put on the first of four loads of washing – Bear’s trousers and tops for the UK, anoraks and picnic blanket, darker bedding and towels then pales. In between times I made carbonara. Loaded cappo and and I managed a five four win, close shave, close is as close wins, what, never mind I going for a canter with the paint brush. I finished the patio emulsion and side walls whilst Bear connected Netflix through the media player to the bedroom television. I was allowed a Mex Train win, allowed my foot and growling. A super busy day with all sorts of jobs.

Sunset this evening.

Tuesday the 14th. Had a wonderful, long catch up on a video call with Chris and Steve. After lunch we put Gerry and Jerome (with his fish friends) up on the walls each end of the patio. Somehow the rest of the day flew by in prep work and planning.

Wednesday the 15th. Another day of various jobs began at 05:30.... Too early for making noise so we pottered quietly. I got four chicken breasts out of the freezer – two for sweet and sour and the other two for butter chicken. I set about the under stairs cupboard that went on for miles and was full of toot. That sorted and swept I put Joyce’s / charity shop pile inside. We bimbled to the bin at 07:30 and then it was time for breakfast and a backgammon win for me. Bear began to sand doors whilst I cooked and tidied the kitchen. My chap came up with quite an idea – how about turning the coffee table into the map of our circumnavigation and countries we’ve visited ??? Mmmm, where did I pack the map roll, ping came the memory, in the yellow case in the second bedroom, yes there it was.

With help from my beautiful assistant, the table was carted to the end of the dock where I sprayed and Bear supervised. Before and after. Once sprayed, back to dry on the patio. Sweet and sour chicken and rice for lunch, I lost at Mex Train and then we settled to sort the scratch map.

Bear checked the countries visited, gave me co-ordinates and soon I had dotted out our route with gold pen.

Labels made, taped in place, glass back on top and table all finished. The rest of the black spray gave the BBQ a once over then I put a green first-coat on the mirror for the downstairs toilet (to be distressed with white) and the three lampshades for our room.

Meanwhile, Bear sanded the toilet door. After lunch we played Mex Train for a bit of a break. The afternoon saw us take lots to the bin and tidy up a bit. Time for showers and supper.

Thursday the 16th. After breakfast I began by distressing the mirror from our room – now heading for the downstairs toilet, sprayed topcoat on lampshades, made four lots of biryani and four lots of chicken curry (I find it hard to start cooking at the end of a long day, so quick meals at the ready). Bear sanded. It rained. We watched Seamen (Grand Tour Special) that made us laugh, I began first coat on in-between-the-glass-bricks – lucky me, such a painstaking job.

Friday the 17th. I leapt up and put the first coat of gloss on the cupboard in the downstairs toilet (primer went on on Thursday - picture before), already looks so different. First coat on the cupboard doors, this will be the test as to whether the kitchen gets the same treatment.

Bear set about emails and some internet research. We stopped for breakfast and a backgammon win for me. Huh. At nine he sanded the utility room door (outside with the patio doors shut), this door is in quite poor shape. We had rain mid morning. Bear had pulled pork and salad wrap, I enjoyed one of the last Granny Smith apples still going strong from Cape Town with yoghurt and then I had a bad defeat on the Mex Train..... Bear carried on with the door, I took the steps and with a tiny art brush set about the glass bricks in our room, quite a difference at the top – I keep saying eventually all my jobs will add up to the complete thing.......

Such a fiddly job painting in between each glass block and no I certainly was not going to masking tape around each one. It took all afternoon to complete the bedroom side. Deep, deep joy I have the other side to do, then scrape off all the old grout and glue left by the builders some years ago, do the wall in the shower and the wall in the second bedroom en suite, all requiring an each side. Mmmm, sometimes I get all the best jobs....... Shattered, Bear helped me fill in my tax return and we watched an episode of The Grand Tour. We had supper and began to watch the TV series of Jack Ryan. Showers and a bit more television, still a bit of a novelty for us.

Saturday the 18th. Up at five thirty, yet again. Messages with children with lots of pictures to look at and some of the current ‘funnies’. An hour later I was in the kitchen putting the second coat of emulsion on the walls. Kitchen chaos ??? not really, just so many different paints, at least the floor is clear save for the dust sheets. Bear did lots of emails and had a happy reply. The alternator will be covered by the company. Yay, that is good news. We had breakfast on the patio and I snuck a five four win at backgammon. Then Bear set about sanding the toilet door, it needed to go down to nearly the bare wood as so many layers of paint were flaky. After lunch I managed a good win at Mex Train, there is a regular theme happening and it has to stop, I don’t want to keep losing. But, you do it so well. HUH. I finished the second coat on the walls and started on the ceiling - kitchen end done but silly me, I should have finished the first coat over the other side but my arms ached so much that I did the wall behind the settees. Then I wanted to complete a job I had promised myself. Out I went.

Bear spent the entire afternoon fighting with the bookcase, it’s my bright idea to chop the bottom off, paint it white and settle it at the kitchen end of the lounge. The current height is just too tall to happily fit under the light switches and other walls it would cover plug holes. My request meant stripping it to pieces and gluing the bottom shelf in place, left to dry overnight in the kitchen. A tricky job but it’s coming together, slowly.

I second and final coated around the patio doors, scrubbed the floor, cleaned the outside glass, dusted the table and Bear helped me lift it back into place. Lower patio finished. Bear then shook out all the dust sheets at the end of the dock and sorted all the many instruction booklets for appliances and bits. While he did that I scrubbed the kitchen sinks and attempted a bit of tidying, too tired to do any more I went to shower, Bear followed soon after, showered and we settled to watch more episodes of Jack Ryan until supper. Then we carried on watching. Cannot believe this is the end of week four.......