Not Long

 The snow didn't last long, not past noon when the sun came out, so once it was all or mostly melted I went out and swapped the lawnmower for the snowblower in the garage.  The lawnmower was too cold to start so I had to push it around to the shed which wasn't bad but not taking a cord out to use with the electric start on the snowblower left me pushing it around to the garage too.  Not easy.  I'll remember this next fall. Or my back will.

Here's the reason I keep the birdbath thawed all winter.  This pair of Sparrows had a blast taking a bath this afternoon.  Sparrows are the most enthusiastic bathers of the bird world and they usually bathe in a crowd.

Once I was back indoors from getting the winter machinery set up I finished the Warm Harvest Beanie.  I only had three rounds left so it didn't take much time at all.  I love the colors of this yarn and hope some Seaman does too.  It's the first hat for next year's donation.

26 October--Barbara Malcolm, The Seaview. 

Chapter 4

            It was quiet in Sandy Ground, but it was a week night and every night can’t be busy like Friday night.  I peeked into Johnno’s to see a few of the regulars holding down their usual barstools and Johnno himself washing glasses behind the bar.  I knew that they had been busy because I had seen a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise ship sailing out of Road Bay when I went in for my swim.  All afternoon there had been the buzz of the launch from the little four-masted schooner ferrying passengers in to shore and back to the ship.

I knew that Ian and Thomas at the dive shop up the beach had been busy with divers and snorkelers too.  Maybe I would treat myself a dive in the next few days once I found someone to get started on the electrical and plumbing.  There had been a fax taped to my room door when I got back from my swim saying that the cargo freighter would be in port in about a week and would park the container in the vacant lot across the road from the dive shop.  I thought I would contact Mr. Abrahams the solicitor who handled the sale of the hotel and ask him about the possibility of buying that lot.  If I could buy it, then I would be able to have my guests park on my own property and also have land on the salt pond, maybe even build my own house there someday.  Oh, Will would be apoplectic if I told him I was buying even more land on the island.

My thoughts propelled me up the road toward Blue Harbor resort at the bottom of the hill.  As I walked along I decided to eat at the Barrel Stave restaurant instead.

The owner, Mrs. O’Neill was doing double duty as hostess and chef that night.  I introduced myself as the new owner of the Seaview but she already knew who I was.  “I am happy to finally meet you, Mrs. Rose, and welcome to the Barrel Stave.  It is very slow tonight,” she said, “you can sit any place you want.”

I looked around the empty dining room and out at the view of the bay with the moon and stars twinkling like a movie.

“Would you like to sit in the kitchen and keep me company while I cook?” she said.  “We can get acquainted.”

At first I was taken aback and then I thought about it and nodded.  “What a good idea, as long as you agree to eat with me.”

“Agreed.  I will open a bottle of wine and we can talk while I make our supper.  What kind of wine would you like?”

I smiled and turned the question back to her.  “I don’t know what you’re making so I will leave that up to you.”

She tilted her head, considered for a moment, and then pulled a pair of wine glasses from the rack over the bar.  “Come with me.”  She led me down a short hall into her open, airy kitchen.  “I do not like to get too hot when I cook so I had Freddy make big windows so that the breeze can come in.  I close the screens when it is rainy and the bugs rise, but most of the time I leave everything open to God’s breath.”  She pushed a glass across the spotless counter toward me after reaching into a closet and pulling out a bottle.  She uncorked it, sniffed it, and poured the golden liquid into our glasses.  “It was a lucky day for the fishermen, tonight we have mahi mahi in a mustard and white wine reduction with sweet potato fries and an endive and goat cheese salad.  How does that sound?”

I sipped my wine, nodding at each of her words.  “It sounds like exactly what I need.  Silas had me pulling nails all day and I feel like an old woman.”

“That Silas is a good boy.  He and my Freddy crewed on one of the regatta boats last year and they came in second.”  While she talked, filling me in on who was who in the neighborhood and who to watch out for, she also probed into my background and the reasons I had decided to come to Anguilla.

I was honest about my plans but I was also careful to tiptoe around any pitfalls I suspected might interfere with me becoming part of the tiny community of Sandy Ground wedged as it was between the salt pond and Road Bay, such a narrow strip of land that it only had one road with lots only one house deep on the pond side and slightly bigger, but still one deep, properties on the sea side.

Today's toss was a box of razors, ladies' razors this time.  None of them are disposable so I can't give them to the homeless shelter.

I did laundry today too.  The bag under the laundry chute was getting full so instead of waiting until it was crammed full I did wash, that way I had only three loads to do instead of five.  And I was even smart enough to sort out the summer shirts and socks to put them away downstairs instead of hauling them up to fold and then taking them back down to store.  *taps temple* I'm getting smarter in my old age.  

--Barbara