Blink and you miss it.
It’s been over two years since the last post. This is partly due to the fog of COVID and
partly due to the fact that the project has basically come to stasis. Though, as I've said before, just maintaining stasis against harsh conditions that never rest and both lift and destroy
things is a fulltime job. Indeed, there has been some significant
loss. First Eeyore (Basset Hound) and
then Olive Oyl (Great Dane) passed in ‘20 and ’21, and then recently Olive’s
replacement, Scotia (another Great Dane), succumbed as well. Widget remains and still another Great Dane is in
the offing for Dan and Fiona.
But hardest of all was the loss of friend and neighbor
Captain Phil who in addition to being a student and teacher of the seas was a
great resource for us on all things island.
It was stunning to see him- as an 81 year old- nimble and active and
standing toe to toe- every day!- with the challenges of Lovango living while also running his
charter business. Then gone at 82. We will always seek to create “shiny bells”
amid chaos and remember him as we do so.
The Lovango Resort & Beach Club has made a lot of
progress since 2020. Over the summer of ’20
they added the pool, dozens of palms, tons of sand, a restaurant, kiosk shopping
area, and (14) mooring balls. Then, over the summer of ’21, added 7 “tree houses”
and 7 glamping platforms on the north side of the island. The Sniders have been great stewards of the
island and islanders, always welcoming and neighborly. Really, little has changed for us beyond the
fact there are more boats more often and we have a place to walk for dinner or
drinks once in a while.
It’s been fun to connect with the resort in other ways:
first with project manager, Django, and partner Kelseagh, who lived in and
nurtured the cottage from September 2020 through May 2021 and then with the
newly hired assistant project manager, Will Ingraham and his wife Maddy, who
oversaw the addition of screen sliders for all doors out to the porch as well
as flooring for the upstairs over their residence between September 2021 through June 2022. Both couples brought great additions to the
property and our lives.
And the big news is we are getting new neighbors. Sharpe and Margie Kemp have sailed around the world (and done many other things including bringing two young boys, Flip (3) and Thomas (1), into the world) and are building on the beach west of the Love Shack. It's exciting to have their competence and kindness (and youth!) joining the island. They are renting Capt. Phil's place from Alison while they build.
So, in another blink, there’s a summary of the last 2 and a
half years. I’m dropping a bunch of
photos to provide further perspective.
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| NOV 2020 Dinner with Captain Phil with full moon rising. |
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| NOV 2020- New day dawning. |
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| NOV 2020- Prepping for wall painting. |
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| NOV 2020- Resident kestrel. |
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| NOV 2020- Beach bonfire at Corey & Billie's to burn the last of Irma/Maria debris. |
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| NOV 2022- Bougainvillea from Veronica on STJ. |
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| NOV 2020- Corey & Billie always welcoming with a cocktail. |
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| NOV 2020- Landscaping- before. |
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| APRIL 2021- Landscaping- After. |
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| APR 2021- Cleaning dog poop off the beach. |
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| APR 2021- Shopping for guests |
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| APR 2021- Django (L) giving a tour of the pool area at LR&BC. |
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| APR 2021- A saw blade from Dan's tool shed that took flight (both the shed and the blade) and was strewn by Irma, now growing into shrubbery. |
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| APR 2021- Best not to use the LR&BC dumpster. |
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APR 2021- Thetford Hastings in the house.
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APR 2021- Thetford Hastings in the cabana.
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 | | APR 2021- Arts & crafts day... with screen-printing added. |
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APR 2021- Dan's new toy (before it sank in 90' of water).
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| APR 2021- Dinner at LR&BC... and Jack's first rum punch. |
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| APR 2021- Parking next to the cool kids. |
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| APR 2021 Miche's salon. |
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| APR 2021- Widget working a coconut. |
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| APR 2021- Brit working from home. |
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| APR 2021 Dinner with Django & Kelseagh. |
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| APR 2021- Banana trees - take 2. |
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| APR 2021- Palm plantings take 1 (not optimistic). |
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| APR 2021- Morning constitutional. |
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| APR 2021- Creating boundaries. |
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| APR 2021- Traditions... w/ Dan & Fiona. |
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| APR 2021- L'objet d'art- early days. |
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| APR 2021- Karina home schooling. |
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| APR 2021- Brit's incense vanquishing bad juju. |
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| APR 2021- Puzzling. |
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| APR 2021- Work-gang cleaning (and communing with) Captain Phil's place. |
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| APR 2021- Espresso martinis at LR&BC. |
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| MAY 2021- Wall painting complete. |
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| MAY 2021- L'objet d'arte complete. Artist's representation of the one that got away from U. Chris. |
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| JULY 2021- Cummings & Matt at World Cup soccer watching @ LR&BC. |
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| JULY 2021- More soccer fans at the LR&BC bar including J. Good & Amy. |
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| JULY 2021- Headed for more propane. |
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| JUL 2021- Parting beach bbq w Alison, Dan, Fiona and newcomers Sharpe and Margie who will be building next to the Love Shack. |
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| NOV 2021- Welcome package from Will and Maddy. |
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| NOV 2021 - LR&BC one of 7 tree houses under construction on the north side (to house guests in less than 6 weeks). |
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| NOV 2021- Fiona's surprise birthday present from Dan. |
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| NOV 2021- In memoriam of Captain Phil at his old dinghy dock tie-up. |
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| NOV 2021- Evidence of turtle nesting on LOV. |
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| NOV 2021- Building sample screen sliders for downstairs bedroom. Nice true lumber from Home Depot. |
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| APR 2022- Sample screen sliders installed in downstairs BR. |
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| APR 2022- Scandinavian vodka wars. |
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| APR 2022- Another l'objet d'art. |
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| APR 2022- Bath time at Kamp Katha. |
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| APR 2022- Blasting the sunset conch. |
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| APR 2022- Post Cross-Island-Killer. |
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| APR 2022- Sunset conching on the new patio area on the west summit accessed by newly bushwhacked path. |
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| APR 2022- Saying goodbye (and appreciating the LR&BC ferry on a rainy am). |
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| APR 2022- Bench lugged up and assembled on west end summit. |
