WRAPPING UP... OR NOT

A quick trip sandwiched between other obligations with hopes of wrapping things up.  We indeed left the cottage tightly sealed and secured (hurricane proof?  we hope) but far from finished.  Dan has been occupied with other jobs and a boat down and a pick-up truck wreck and thus we find most of the punch-list that we left in July still open in November.  Mahogany for the stairway and T&G 1x6 for the ceiling was brought over this week... and Kath and I managed to install drawer pulls, seal and paint, build more Ikea furniture and outdoor stairs and walkways, and clean, clean, clean but it all seemed a pittance versus the larger tasks that remain.  The place and space is comfortable, though, even unfinished.  Showers were hot, fridge cold, and breeze constant.  As were the mosquitoes which have bloomed a bit with the great rains and the beautiful flowering and greening of everything.  Funny how the whole Zika thing shifted over the course of 5 days.  Our initial vigilance (and certainty that every mosquito carried the virus) waning to the point where we just let it go.   Ours will be interesting test cases as we both certainly sustained bites...  But on the bright side the cistern is full (24,000 gallons)!

A surreal (very overused term these days but can't resist) Tuesday night with no TV but streaming NPR for election results.  Dark comes early to Lovango (sunset before 6 pm) so early to bed with Hilary in control.  But a niggling drove me to check again at 4 am (3 am EST) and it was a Twilight Zone experience trying to absorb a full 180 on so many fronts over one long nap.  The USVI does not get a vote in the presidential elections but people certainly had opinions.

The barely balanced, termite infested pelican that graced the dock that Jeff barely brushed but in doing so effected its demise has been replaced with this synthetic beauty that was brought down in an over-sized suitcase and is made of a composite that should outlive the stones on the beach.  Crossed off the do to list.

Master of the burn pile.  The recent rains made it a good time to burn... and there was plenty to burn.  All gone now including, I'm sure, things that will be missed.  Cost of progress.

First closet rod and hangers.

The obligatory dog shot.  Eeyore.  Olive Oyl and Eeyore spent most waking hours (theirs,not ours) hanging out as we were the only people on island during the day.

Beating the weather... sort of.  Sadie Sea delivers the drywall, mahogany and ceiling T&G just ahead of, and then in, the weather

Sunnier day for hauling drywall up from Love Shack (and not breaking it).  Enough to finish off the bathrooms now on site.

Before the guests arrived.  Table set for Thursday night dinner for everyone on the island (6) including Dan, Fiona, Alison and Captain Phil.

Stolen from the beach- more stones for walkways.

Picking up sconces from artisan Catherine Perry who lives and works out of Coral Bay on the east end of St John.

Final touches... color coordinating the thus far palm rat-proof plywood garbage lid.

Serious business.  Painting shutters (internior).

View from the dock

PAINT CREW

A quick visit for Kath and me to try to pull things together.  We had hoped leave the place closed up and finished.  Reality intervened.  Less done than we'd hoped... and more added to the punchlist.  Time mostly painting walls a basic white to brighten things.  Slow going and not very elegant over exposed nails and framing and electrical systems.  Staying true to that (unfinished) cottage motif.  Systems like boat, water, solar, screens, septic, ATV, and electrical all worked well.  Palm rats and mosquitoes were not in evidence, perhaps blindness on our part.  Neighbors, house, island feels comfortable, more and more like ours. 

New cups worked great- keeps the drinks colder longer and don't sweat- thank you Brad and Barb!

Morning shower.  Note railing/clothesline holding up well.

Slopping the paint.  Not pretty but brightens the place up.  Basically 3 days of painting sun-up to sun down.

Well... with a little break.  Western tip of Mingo Island which is just west of Lovango.  Yellow canvas was repurposed flotsam.

Kitchen area after paint

Avocado plant, St John lily and retaining wall all thanks to Rigo

The ever-present, ever shifting, never ending punchlist as we left it.

TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Yup... two years since sitting at Tira's Colgate graduation and getting texts from Dan that the excavator had moved its first dirt.  I would not have believed that it could take so long... and that we would feel fine about it taking so long.  In fact I feel only appreciative of all the hurdles and hassles that have been handled by Dan and crew and thankful that we're closing in on it.

Last of the tongue and groove coming over on Sea Biscuit.  Interior walls in process.  Communal bedrooms a thing of the past... end of an era.

Aluminum angle iron on shutters will serve as prop point when open and latch/lock when closed.

Interior walls going up downstairs.

Walkway from top of drive to living level of cottage.   Or enter through the upstairs bathroom.

Rigo stairs down the bank.

Using the extra siding to cover what used to be plywood.

Upstairs floors... simple gray paint right over the plywood.

Extra stainless steel hinges being put to work for home-made screens.  Swinging allows access to the shutter to prop it open.

First screens!  Securing the perimeter.  The first salvo in the bug/rodent wars.

FORCED FAMILY FUN

And so we descended upon Lovango.  The all of us with Brad and Barb besides.  Dan worked miracles to have a refrigerator, toilet (1), outdoor shower (1, no hot water) and the entire container all ready and waiting for us (truly incredible).  Over the course of the week we gained much furniture,  a stove, two working sinks, counters, overhead fans and an appreciation for palm rats.  Especially on the heels of a New England winter, the unfinished cottage was comfortable as warm breezes trumped the clutter and chaos.  We learned (relatively painlessly) that island living has complexities which encourage simplicity, improvisation and compromise.  All pleasant enough pursuits.  And yet one's natural inclination is to fight this until the futility deems otherwise and all, even dad, succumb... yes, a drowning metaphor... you go with the flow.

Pulling the boat out of the rack in St. Thomas.

Arriving to a working refrigerator, toilet, and shower, and 5,000 lbs of stuff, much of it Ikea.

First task- building beds before dark.  And learning to think like a Swede.

Working amidst the rubble.

Garbage heaving over makeshift railing.  The farther you throw it, the shorter the haul from there.

Snorkel break.

Sunrise over St John.

Eeyore (L) and Olive Oyl (R) enjoy the only rug we rolled out.

More thinking like a Swede.

Eeyore sleepover (on the only cushion we laid out).  Luckily it was white.

Barb, Brad and Sam priming shutters on east side.

Shutter priming on west side.

Olive Oyl oversees Martin's final grouting.

Thinking like a Norwegian.  Brit fixing mis-built drawers.  Tira helping.

More Norwegian thinking.

Quittin' time.

Heading out to the all-island dinner party.

Morning yoga in the master bedroom.

Morning coffee.

Gibney selfie pano.

Driving home.

Alison's Sunday evening peace meditation on Peace Hill.

Crew lunch with L-R Martin, Rigo, Chris, and Dan.

One of 4 loads of cardboard hauled to St John.

Lovango's "Home for Lost Soles" tree.

Personalized drinkware.

Kitchen area- stove working!

View from the kitchen.

Housewarming gift from Dan and Fiona- jasmine.  Planted and blooming by day 4.

View from the east.  Ranger made the climb up the path so can live under cover of the porch.

As we left it.  Shutters and doors all painted, most furniture assembled and cardboard packaging hauled off.