Day prior to departure

Monday, March 23, 2009
Today is that sad day that comes to each trip we make down here – packing up the cabana until next time. At 10:30 tomorrow morning Jason will take us by boat to the Placencia airstrip for our first leg of the long trip back to Minnesota. So today has us sorting our belongings into various piles: 1) things that go back with us, 2) things to give to Richard and Joy, 3) things to give to Sue and Chris, 4) things that get cleaned and locked away, and 5) things that get cleaned and put away ready for the occasional overflow guests from SteppingStones Resort to stay here. Pile #1 is warmish clothes and some few toiletries to get us back to Minnesota. It is the smallest pile. Pile #2 is a breadkeeper, unused cheese, butter, and veggies and vegetable and fruit seeds in starter pots, and some larger pots for bigger plants. To Sue and Chris go decaf espresso and other food items. Towels, linens, pillows, most kitchenware and tableware is in pile #5. And the pile that is to be locked away has our Belize clothes and snorkel gear, some kitchen things I am especially fond of and don’t want to have walk away, and some tools and electrical things that Dennis is fond of.

We also had some time for a couple of fun things today. Chris stopped by this morning and ate breakfast with us. Then later in the morning Richard took me, Dennis, Joy, and Allen in the boat up Black Creek to see where the path Allen cleared through the marsh hit Black Creek. We will site a “rough weather” dock back there for the boat when the sea is too high or rough for the regular dock. You can walk back there now, but the footing is treacherous, and come the wet, the path will be underwater. We want to put in a boardwalk that will allow us to use a wheelbarrow to take stuff back and forth to the boat during any season. I’ve posted a new album that includes photos of Black Creek and a couple of other things in the top right of this blog.

What were our accomplishments this trip? We never get as much done as we would like, but this time Dennis and I did tile and grout the kitchen walls (see photos). I am delighted with the way it turned out. That took us about twice as long as we thought it would. When we return in September or October, we will paint the kitchen walls above the tile a nice creamy yellow. Dennis and Richard installed a pressure tank for our water system. It helps give us a steady supply of water for the cabana and the cottage. Dennis changed out most (maybe all?) the screws holding the windows in place to stainless steel screws and he put in a door stop to keep the front door from banging into the window louvers. We also got a gray water system in place for the kitchen drain water to use to water the ornamentals. And an old water vat drained and moved and a new water vat installed. Richard fixed a new composting box for us. We add washed up sea grass mixed with the mature compost to add some texture to our soil, which is mostly sand. We didn’t make any progress on putting together a solar water heater or in getting a locking cupboard built. There’s always next time!