Week 8 Villa

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sat 16 May 2020 23:57
Week Eight at Sleeping Indian, Jolly Harbour
 
 
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Sunday the 10th of May. The day began early with a wonderful two-hour video call from Miffy, Rachel, Andrew and Edward, OH how it really cheered us both up but, it also highlighted that underneath all our busy-bee-ness how much we are missing all our family and friends. Boiled eggs and a handsome win for me at backgammon was all the comfort Bear could offer. Huh. For a change I got a picture of the chef in delivery mode, and the usuals - my perfect trio, Bear settled and a better look at his egg event.
 
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It rained heavily enough to shroud Sleeping Indian Hill, and continued on and off all day. Bear decided we needed a change, a break and a battery charge so he suggested we hire a car for a week to go exploring for tiles etc. The chap at Pineapple Car Hire answered the telephone sounding somewhat glum but soon cheered up when he heard I was a customer. Nine o’clock on the morrow then all done. Roast chicken and all the trimmings with a glass of vino. I settled to write last weeks blog and Bear set up a VPN as we are both fed up with the cable TV here....
 
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Monday the 11th. We jumped up and were soon driving to Furniture Warehouse to see how much it would be to change the kitchen countertop (still in my bid to eradicate anything to do with brown). Short answer “No”. The sheet of counter, cutting and fitting comes to two thousand and sixty six pounds, we simply cannot justify that so sadly it was crossed off the list. Bear went in search of filters for the fridge and I fell for a little vanity unity for the front bedroom. Other than the new air con and a lick of paint I felt the room was not being treated fairly enough. Bear called me just then......
 
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What do you think to this sink ??? That’s a definite wow and goes beautifully with the teal theme in our room and a no-brainer compared to the current sink. Can I have it for my sixtieth birthday ??? I won’t waste the old one I’ll make it a feature in the front garden and grow cacti in it. Mmmm. We didn’t buy but everything went in my workbook and pictures were taken. By the end of the day lurve struck and we went back later in the week.
 
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 Next was Mi Casa to look at tiles where we picked a soft grey for the staircase. 
 
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If I can’t have a new kitchen work surface then I’ll re-tile the splashback. We found a couple of trendy tiles that would almost work as a blend between what we have and the soon-to-be-white cupboards – but not quite up to scratch, will keep looking.
 
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Next, Town House to get a ‘proper’ sized pedal bin and after rummaging around upstairs we found two little tables for the patio – everyone needs a little gopping so I snuck two candle lanterns to the trolley but Bear forgot the bin...... Utterly impractical as it gets so hot during the day the candles will simply melt but did that stop me ??? We did see a really lovely dining set and coffee tables that got entered into my workbook. Bear stopped at a couple of ‘boys’ shops where he bought plumbing bits, enough for today let’s have a treat in the form of KFC, oooo naughty.
 
Tuesday the 12th. ....
Wednesday the 13th. ....Both days spent searching through our list of shops. I bought Bear a bell for his bike, we picked up loads more plumbing stuff for the outside shower including the new showerhead, and lots little necessaries.
 
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Thursday the 14th. We began by going back to Town House to buy the dining set we had seen, the coffee tables and the decent sized bin, so love a big bin. We found VEG the nearest equivalent to B&Q. The front door section was the most impressive for me and I lost Bear in the maze of ‘blue stuff’ for ages. I spent the time in the air conditioned tile room that is undergoing a massive overhaul. I did find a rather lovely splashback set and will await the skippers approval.
 
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We spent the next couple of hours in the ginormous Epicurean and spent far too much on treats.......including a naughty cake for Bear’s birthday eve and an apple turnover for me. Sitting at the cane dining table I am so pleased we are replacing it, far too wiggly.....
 
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Friday the 15th. Bear’s Birthday. Sadly, his special day had to begin with an unpleasant task – to go and tackle The Alien about being double-charged our community bills (part of the whopping bill of last week). I chose to pop in to see Lady Ronnie and sign our contract and Bear appeared soon after having been told to go “in on Monday”....... Growling. Bear drove back but I wanted to bimble to get in some stomps, en route I picked some bougainvillea to make cuttings. Once back I set about the boy’s birthday party treats and settled on the bed to wait for Family Quiz time. A first for us.
 
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At one o’clock we waited excitedly but nothing happened, a quick message to Kate – we had been left off the list that would have told us the event had been put back an hour. We munched at our treats and at two (seven in the evening UK time Stuart (nephew) appeared. In total there were six sets of nieces and nephews and Team Tinson (led by Kate daughter). Bear’s sister Cecily provided the entertainment. We had been sent an instructional email during the week that told us which App to download and how we had to have a mobile ready beside the IPad or laptop. Too much for the Falmouth Duo. Twenty minutes or hilarious instructions from Stuart to his mum and the mood was set for great fun. When we left in 2008 the first IPhone had been out about six months, Skype was in its infancy and Facebook was very new to us. Today, I was watching Bear chat to both his sisters and as people spoke they were seen in one of the screen boxes. Incredible. During a break between rounds Kate produced a chocolate birthday cake complete with candles and Stuart conducted twenty people (including two babies) in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Bear. How fantastic and he got to blow his candles out in a ‘virtual’ way. So touching and we cannot thank everyone enough. What a special memory for the last in his sixtieth decade.
 
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After we had come third and were chatting to folks there was a knock on the door. Our new dining set and two coffee tables arrived a day early. (Town house are closing tomorrow as a mark of respect for a close family friend who had passed away). Not without incident as Bear had to take the front door off to get the delivery in. Quite pleased with the table (complete with drawer underneath) and chairs, in came the twinkly placemats to complete the look. The coffee tables look at bit odd with their rubbed gold look but that will soon be changed to grey.......
Time to cook Bear his birthday steak, new potatoes and salad. What a very different birthday full of fun and laughter.
 
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Saturday the 16th. After breakfast and a win at backgammon for me, we had a visit from Amy (Starry Horizons). After expertly parking her dinghy on the dock she hopped up the steps and handed over some home-made sweet bread in the shape of a knot. Tasty indeed. We showed her the total chaos about the villa and then settled to chat - keeping up our social distancing of course. It made for a lovely change, a great catch-up and time flew. There is a low pressure off Florida that is delaying the decision to leave Antigua so we may enjoy another visit. As Amy was leaving Mr. Kingbird flew in. I asked him not to disappoint and threw a little piece of bacon rind in the air, great catch, then Mrs. came in and she caught on the wing as well. We said our farewells and thought it was high time that we got something done on our ‘in day’ as most of the shops we need close on a Saturday but all open on a Sunday – seems odd but there we are. First job for me was to organise a new larder. An indoor air con box was set up to the left of the cooker and was soon quite orderly with the tall storage and dry goods. A trimmed down outdoor air con box to the far right became the tin cupboard. The lid placed on the top became the parking place of condiments, sauces etc. Why ??? So the tall cupboard and all the door fronts can go on their ‘oliday to be sprayed, hopefully next week sometime.
 
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We took the glass from the old dining table and set it on the patio table, dressed with the Malaysian elephant placemats. Bear settled to eat his birthday tart (too full last night) and I was delighted to see what I call Bear’s Mickey Mouse Eared cacti have begun sprouting roots so I spent a couple of hours potting them, ready for the sink display ?? yes indeed.
 
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A very welcome sight at dusk was the fogger. Since lockdown the mosquito population have been having a real party as no weekly fogging has been happening. Not many on the patio but it only takes one or two to become a pesky nuisance.
Other news. A massive fleet of yachts have left to cross to Europe. A ship has loaded seventeen boats to take them home from St John’s and we now only have two cases of Covid-19 left over on the island – very good news.
 
 
ALL IN ALL PLENTY OF IDEAS PINGING ABOUT
                     A GOOD BREAK FROM DOING AND FUN FINDING