Another Glorious Day

We had another beautiful November day today.  It was sunny and got up to 70 degrees again for the fourth day in a row.  I got to spend some time over at DS's house visiting with him and the grandkids.  It was the perfect afternoon for backyard playing, probably the last we'll have for 6 months.  They've predicted one more day like today, with a possibility of the 60s on Monday and then things are going to go downhill fast.  They're talking rain and temps in the 40s for the rest of the week.

This Bluejay waited out the squirrels to have its turn on the cobs of corn.  I know it's hard to see but the bird is essentially upside down but determined.

A lone Sparrow came for a bath.  Usually there's at least a pair of them splashing around but this one stood on the rim, dipped its beak, and then had a little splash.

The squirrel spent quite a bit of time hanging from its back legs, gripping the suet pellet feeder, and gnawing away at the bottom.  He must get enough satisfaction from the little bit it can nibble at a time because he sure comes back often and brings friends.

I worked on the Cashew Marl dishcloth.  It's bigger than shown.  I've been slacking off on knitting because of doing NaNoWriMo and because lately knitting has made my hands ache.  I'm trying to convince myself that it's because this cotton and linen yarn doesn't have any give.  Yeah, that's it.

 

07 November--Barbara Malcolm, The Seaview. 

            That big iron ring of keys weighed on my mind.  I knew that there weren't fourteen doors in the Seaview so where did they all belong.  I decided to prowl around trying to find locks to fit the keys.  I knew that one of the brass keys opened the front door so I walked through to the back door hoping that it also opened that one.  No luck, but a different brass key did.  I poked around in the toolbox on the counter and found a roll of masking tape so I tore off a scrap to stick on the key to mark which door it opened.

            There was another lock on the door into the owner's apartment and another newish brass key worked there.  That left five brass keys which, fingers crossed, fitted the guest rooms upstairs.  My luck held, the keys worked in those doors so I gave each room a number--rooms one and two on the front facing the sea and rooms three and four in back which faced the road and the salt pond beyond it.  A check of the container packing list reminded me that I'd bought a couple sets of knobs with matching keys and some metal room numbers for the guest rooms.  I'd use those for the front and back doors.  I'd have to get duplicate keys made so that each guest room fob had a key to an outer door so that I didn't have to wait up to make sure that all guests were in or, worse yet, leave a door open all night.  I hoped that one of the hardware or home stores on the island had a key machine but guessed that I'd have to take the ferry to St. Martin to get the duplicates made. 

            The gallery across the front of the second floor and the small porch out the back of the center hallway up there also had locked doors.  The keyhole on the gallery door had been plugged with gum or tar.  It opened but didn't lock.  I was glad that there weren't stairs up to that gallery but knew that a determined thief or vandal would have no trouble scaling the building to get in.  Since it was a lock that needed one of the skeleton keys I hoped that Silas could take the lock apart, gouge out whatever was stuck in there, and make it work again.  I wanted to preserve as many of the original features of the hotel, even if it was only a tiny keyhole on a door that not many people would use.              

           Sorting through the keys on the ring there was one new-style brass key without a piece of tape marking what it unlocked.  I started walking through the place looking for keyhole number nine.  Both guest bathrooms had keyholes but none of the keys on my ring fitted them.  I'd have to figure that out, those doors needed to lock or we'd have to devise a signal that the room was occupied.

Today's toss was a couple more old canned goods.

I didn't really do anything worth mentioning today.  I spent the late afternoon and early evening watching Netflix and knitting a little.  That was my day.

--Barbara