What a Day!

I find that I'm waking up in the wee hours of the morning lately. Probably due to stress that we're down to the last full week before we HAVE TO BE OPEN!

Yesterday started out to be a productive day with the final punch list items that needed to be completed but ended up being just like we're open for business.

By mid morning we had a handful of medical students that came up for pool, tennis and drinks and then had about a dozen local children who arrived for a "pool party".

They all enjoyed their time in the pool and Paul made them Sliders which they devoured!

As the kids were finishing up another group of folks arrived for sunset cocktails and then I had just about two and a half minutes of down time before Trish Birthday party started.

The guest list was about 30 people and they had fun drinking, dancing and socializing until the wee hours of the morning.

I played bartender for the evening and even got to wear her special tiara for a short while.

At least the cash box is starting to fill up again!

But WEE HOURS of 4am until just before 2am?? Where in my contract does it state that 21+ hour days are part of this deal?

I think it's Pathetic.........

that I'm actually excited about my new back pack vacuum cleaner that arrived yesterday.

Dealing with all the construction mess and debris has really started getting to me. Every single day and sometimes 2-3 times per day I'm sweeping up dry wall dust, saw dust and debris caused by the ongoing renovation.

I finally broke down and told Paul that I MUST have a new vacuum cleaner to help in my cleaning duties.

This new commercial grade vacuum really does the job and I've been runnning around the property sucking up everything and anything in sight.

Heloise doesn't hold a candle to me today!! Hah!

Painter Bob

Now that all of the drywall taping and sanding if finished I got to play "Painter Bob" today.

After sweeping and vacuuming up all the dust and wiping down the walls I was ready to roll, literally.

I got the whole waiter's station finished on the first coat of the primer and also finished 2 of the upstairs baths that needed some wall repair.

Once 2 coats of paint goes on tomorrow I can go back to finishing the faux finishes on the main Dining Room wall.

All done for today, time for a quick shower, have a drink and watch the sunset!!

and More Equipment Has Arrived

Today has been a heavy lifting day here. Most of the final equipment arrived and we got to unpack it all, put it together and place it in its designated spot. Nice new stainless steel tables and counters came for the kitchen.

Yesterday we got all of the Corian countertops installed where we built custom pantry shelves and storage cabinets.

Here we have a new fancy dancy meat slicer.

And here we have the new deep fryer for the kitchen.

The commercial size refrigerators and freezers are up and running.

Also on today's arrival list was this prep cooler with lots of individual holders for various gourmet items.

And here we have the new "table top" grill for the steaks on the menu.

And last but certainly NOT least is the new 96" cooler for behind the bar that will keep all the beer, wine and sodas nice and chilly.

Had I had my choice though I would have asked Monty Hall for Door #3 which held the BMW convertible (and would have probably saved a few dollars to boot!)

Urban Legend? We're now the Myth Busters

The "antique table" that we were given for the Dining Room holds this tall tale about it being built out of wood salvaged from a wrecked ship here on Saba and although the folklore makes for a pretty good story we found out today it's just that, A STORY....

As we were sanding it down in preparation for the new coat of stain and varnish we uncovered a stamp burned into one of the legs that reads "Made in Mexico"

I felt this way once when I bought this "fine china" at an estate sale back in the states and had to fight for it only to find "Made in Japan" on the underside when I got it home.

Don't be so Crabby!

Last night Maggie and Baxter went out for the "bedtime" walk and on the way back down the stairs from the upper terrace they came across the big mean land crab.

They were all excited about it but someone was feeling a little crabby and didn't want to play.

Here he is sitting on the steps ready for a fight!!

Unconvinced or Inconvenience?

We had 2 packages of pedestal legs for the sinks that arrived damaged so Paul had placed a "damage" return request with this company via email.

This was her reply:

Hi

We filed the damage on the item. The replacement will go out tomorrow, I am sorry for any Unconvinced this may have caused.

Sincerely,

Barbara
Customer Service Representative

I thought this was pretty funny that someone is "this" position would not have the proper command of the English language!!

It's Blowin a Gale today!

Last night we had a crazy strong storm that blew through the island and today we are still dealing with the leftover high winds. All the patio umbrellas are down since one of them took to the air last night and ended up in the pool. We had winds that topped 50 miles per hour with gusts even stronger than that!

I get this nice shot of a stream of light shooting through the clouds just before the storm came roaring through though.

That meant a lot of garden clean up today but was good because I "found" lots more fun plants and flowers.

This first one, I believe, is in the Eucalyptus family and has whole pods of the little lantern looking flowers.

This white one is actually an orchid and the petals are tiny, like the size of a pin head.

And the last one for today is a standard on the island but pretty nonetheless. It's in the Mandavilla family and grows on a long vine.

Happy "Well Blow Me Down" day from Saba.

Oh Go Fly a Kite!

I had "this brilliant" idea a while back for something fun and creative to do here at the hotel to attract interest which was to get some professional quality kites and have them fly above the hotel.

The winds remain constant on the cliffside and I thought it would be fun to put them out each morning and have them fly high in the sky all day and people could see them from the town below, from the main road and from the sea.

I was thinking of memories from the beach when the boardwalk kite store had them flying and didn't require any "real attention" to keep them in the air.

Well, when Paul was in St. Maarten this past Thursday he bought 2 of them for me. The first one is the swirly one and and has streamers on it and the second one is a big fish.

I put the fish together first and attempted to fly it but it promptly nose dived into the pool. The second attempt landed it into the cactus and the final approach took it over the roof and straight into the prickly Bouganvilla vine on the second floor.

Enough of the fish, I though so went straight for the swirly one. (I like the word Swirly - it kind of slides right off my tongue)

Anyway that one didn't work either. I couldn't even get "swirly kite" off the ground.

The best efforts recorded for an hour plus attempt was Mr. Fish about 20 feet in the air right before making it's death dive!!

So much for Joy and Whimsy for me today so back to my chores.

Jeez! Keep it in your pants for Goodness Sake

So I was just reading about this chick, YaVaughnie or something like that who took out billboard ads revealing her affair with this "high up" with Oracle who's the same guy that was just named to Obama's something or other. (Notice I don't really shive a git about this BUT)

Why don't these fellows in the public eye just buy a magazine or DVD or something....

I mean, like it's gonna come out sooner or later that they've been a Pesky Pete. Right?

Come on guys!!

Bill Clinton
Jim McGreevey
Tiger Woods
New Gingrich
Eliot Spitzer
Kobe Bryant
John Edwards

and the list goes on and on and on and on.

I say "Good for You, YaVaughnie for having the chutzpah to do this" - even though the cost of it was probably not worth it.

What is Pithing??

To Pith or Not to Pith; That is the Question:

I always thought Pithing was when clothing, blankets, shawls or sweaters made these little "fuzz balls" which annoys the Hell out of me. Having some doubts as to that meaning I looked it up and found that pithing is a slaughtering technique of livestock. Hmmmmnnnnn.

Regardless of the definition I will stick to MY meaning as it would ruin my story otherwise. (By the way, I wanted to slaughter Paul when this happened so both meanings would work)

After my little electrical mishap I decided it would be best to do some more, shall we say, domestic duties around the property.

I started unpacking the pillows, comforters and linens for the hotel rooms and one decorative piece is this burgandy colored chenille throw for the beds. As soon as I took it out of the bag and laid it on the bed the base sheets were covered in these little red fuzzy things.

Living on Saba it's not like you can just run down to the store and get a case of lint brushes so that sort of annoyed me.

All of the sheets are pure white Egyptian cotton sheets and the thought of having to De-Lint the beds everyday was something I wasn't interested in thinking about.

So I started to think about Pithing and simply burst into laughter. It kind of sounds like a man with a lisp is urinating, doesn't it??

Just think: "Thteve thays to Thuthie: Thorry dear, I can't anthwer the phone. I buthy taking a pith"

Thank goodness I can entertain myself from time to time.

Meanwhile, down below the hotel, Trish made some awesome progress with the Housekeeping area and everything is all neat and tidy, organized and ready to go!!

Happy Friday from Saba.

Snap, Crackle and Pop

Chris' chore list for today included removing all of the old light fixtures in the baths on the cliffside. Thinking that would involve lots of stair climbing I prepared myself and planned accordingly with all the tools I'd need to accomplish the task. WRONG!!

The old lights are the mirrored style tracks that hold these big white light bulbs which kind of reminded me of the dressing rooms for "actresses" in a burlesque house. They are hideous!!

The problem with removing them is that all of the screws were rusted which required a trip down the 75 steep steps to get some WD-40. Back up I go and it doesn't work.

So I run back down 75 steps to get a power screwdriver, hammer and some other tools to try and pry them loose. Nothing!!

I finally get the first one down by simply ripping it off the wall and the sharp edge of the metal cut my arm. Back down 75 steps to get some more "tools of the trade" and allow my tyrade to ebb.

I finally get to the last one and don't realize that the ceiling light and the wall light are on the same switch so as I'm taking it off the wall the 2 wires hit together against my thumb ... and .... Snap, Crackle, Pop!!

I had things on my body pop to attention that hasn't happened in a very long time!!

Once recovered from my little Zap I realize that THIS fixture is bolted on with concrete screws which require, yet another trip down the 75 steps to get the crescent wrench and lock nut set. Back up I go and its the wrong size.

The string of expletives that came streaming out of my mouth would have made a grown man blush. I'm sure all of Booby Hill heard me.

The good news out of all of this is that the first "new" fixture is installed and looks great.

No Booze on Voting Day! What?

Holy Mackerel!!

I just got this notice that was delivered to me by the Police. It is a statement or an order that, tomorrow from 6am until Saturday at 6am, no "hard or soft" alcoholic beverages may be served, sold or handed out due to it being Election Day!! Wow.

I guess this means big business for the grocery stores TODAY!!

Tomorrow's election will choose the new member of Parliament (senate) for Saba. They have 2 parties here on Saba, The Orange and The Blue. The Orange is WIPM or Windward Islands Peoples Movement and The Blue is something else that I've not paid enough attention to remember but if I had the option to vote I'd probably vote "Blue".

Afterall, that's my signature color....... :)

And more arrivals for Shearwater Resort

This week's container arrived early this morning and I got the first delivery of boxes which contained the new chandelier for the lobby and all of the bathroom light fixtures for the hotel rooms. The chandelier is "Danish Modern" but very simple in design.

The overall look we're trying to achieve is "Simple, Modern and Chic".

Paul's in St. Maarten today buying last minute items for the place and will hopefully confirm with the upholsterer for the cushion covers

which is this fabric. It is a Sunbrella indoor-outdoor fabric and has this modern but fun pattern of polka dots.

We are down to MAJOR CRUNCH TIME to get ready and I'm running out of steam. I've got bags under the bags under my eyes and my entire body just aches.

Stressed much??? Can we say???

More Cool Stuff found in the Garden

Here's some more cool things I found in the gardens around the hotel. This first on is actually a small tree but has "vine like" branches and the flowers on it just bloomed. It is crazy and wild looking with these long tendrils that shoot out of the main flower petals.

This next one was given to us by our neighbor who dug a bunch out of her yard. They are in a bucket of water right now and we'll need to get them planted right away. It is called "Mother in Law's Tongue" I know I have plenty of friends that would be happy to use them in an arrangement to give to their spouses' Mamas come May for Mother's Day!!

This last one is called, I think, a caterpillar plant. It has these long, bright red, fuzzy, dangly things that hang from the branches.

Back to today's project which was putting the third "layer" of glazing on the Dining Room wall. 3 down and ONLY 4 coats to go. What was I thinking???

Tonight we have a group of 8 people coming up for sunset cocktails. They are part of a dive group here and we're happy to have them up to see the place. So, I guess it's time to break from the sweat work, grab a shower and be ready to play bartender.

Happy Wednesday from Saba!!

Flora and Fauna

Today's work day started early, before 7am because we had lots and lots to do today. The first project was to put together the remaining beds in all the rooms. That involved cutting extra bed slats for reinforcement. We felt that for a hotel operation the beds needed the extra support especially since, as Paul put it, there's gonna be a lot of Horizontal Mambo going on. Yuck!!

I pretended to know how to use the power saw but got the job accomplished without any losing parts of my body. It's a good thing because now the ice chest can still be used to hold poolside beverages instead of appendages for a trip to the hospital.

I decided to break a little early because my back hurts, my legs hurt and my hands hurt. I'm very sure that Mr. Arthur Itis will be visiting me tonight.

Since I had a little down time I took a stroll around the property to see what's in bloom and this is what I found. The first shot is a tree below the pool and the blooms look like white Spider Chrysanthemums.

Coming up from the pool towards the hot tub is this pretty white Bouganvilla that we chopped way back and now it's flourishing and in full bloom.

Around the corner from that is this Bird of Paradise Palm tree that has about 4 pods on it.

This guy is in the Lilly family but I don't what kind it is.

And finally is this new little plant that we bought and put in. It's called a Shrimp plant and looks like a little shrimp and blooms in yellow, orange and bright red.

Looks like it's going to be a nice night tonight. Clear skies for a good sunset and cooler temps - down in the low 70's tonight so it's finally sweater weather!!

Shoobies!

"Shoobie" is a term that is not so affectioniately used for people who are day trippers to the beach on the New Jersey shore. These folks would invade the beaches for the day hauling all of their crap down and in the olden days, carry their lunch in shoe boxes.

We had our own little version of shoobies here at the hotel yesterday. They had called to see if we were open for lunch. We said No but offered the pool for them to use.

They showed up with every imaginable bag, tote, umbrellas, clothes and food and set up camp for the day here. When we open our doors for business soon we will not allow any "outside food or drink" on the premises but for now it's OK.

The pushy kind of way they did it was what bothered me though.

I told one very "large Marge" at one point that she should put on some suncreen and even offered some for her and she said she wanted to get some sun. Well, she got it! As the afternoon progressed she started getting those tiny little white blisters on her bright red and oh so generous figure. Boy was she fried......

As they were packing up to leave she waved her hand towards the ocean and asks "Do ya ever see any of them Orcas out there?" I said "Why yes and on very special occasions you can even see one when you're looking TOWARDS the hotel" She got this very confused look on her face and then exclaimed "Oh, through the reflection on the glass?"

"Exactly" as I winked.......