Groundhog Day for Mike again as he goes down to meet the refrigeration guy about the freezer – again. This time he turns up and appears to fix it.
I stay in bed until midday hogging the internet which is absolutely bliss. I haven’t had a lie in like this for months.
Eventually I get up and Ann and I decide to do something about the huge tree propping up the corner of the garage. We drag the it out to the drive and I saw a few branches off the bottom of it so that it will fit more snugly against the wall.
Photos: Fighting with a tree that fights back
While Ann holds it against the garden wall to see if it works, I spot a large crab stealthily making its way towards her. What the bloody hell is it doing here? I try to head it off away from Ann with my foot and the plucky little fellow attempts to grab it. Visions of the cartoon scenario (you know the ones, where a crab is seen hanging from someone’s toe and they are hopping around shrieking) to through my mind but as I have my Ugg slippers on, he fails to get a good hold. Eventually Mike comes to see what all the fuss is about and gets him into a bucket and tips him out down in the garden.
Ann and I then drag the tree up the stairs to the front door and down the hall to the living room to check it will fit in its allotted space. Phew it does! We then dump it on the balcony to await the arrival of the cement and sweep up all the loose needles. I do hope it doesn’t shed quickly after all the effort of getting it into place.
Terry arrives with a huge bag of ready mixed cement. It really is an enormous bag – it wouldn’t be allowed to be sold in the UK for health and safety reasons (the dangers of lifting) but here it’s not a problem.
Mike and I go into town – we had noticed a couple of days ago that there appears to be an Avis office although it isn’t advertised as being one. We need to get me added to the car insurance so that I can drive. This should be interesting as I haven’t driven for a year! At least the cars and roads are just like the UK. We are lucky with the office. When we get there, it is all closed up and there are people standing outside who have been there for and hour and a half, making phone calls to the employee who’s buggered off. He arrives within 5 minutes of us getting there, and because the other party are well and truly in for a row, they let us go first.
We go to the pro golf shop on Thesen Island. If Mike is going to have a go at golf to see how his hands cope, he needs a glove to help improve his grip. He buys one, has a little putt on their pretend green and then we for a wander around. It’s quite attractive in a contrived sort of way.
Photo: Mike on Thesen Island
We then go shopping and buy some meat and veg to experiment with for Christmas and then take a quick look at the boat to make sure that the freezer is still working and it has stopped again. Not only that, but the bloody fridge has now stopped as well. I don’t believe this. We have nearly 4000 miles to cross soon and need to get this working. Mike phones the guy again and arranges to see him tomorrow. This is getting ridiculous. We’d get someone else but this guy has already been paid as it seemed to be fixed at the beginning of the week and I am reluctant to pay someone else – even if we could find someone!!
When we get back to the house, the tree, and its ten ton of concrete, are installed in the bucket in the lounge. Getting rid of it all will be interesting given the weight of it all!! Until the concrete sets, the tree is tied to the door on one side and the wood burner on the other and will remain like this for 24 hours. Ann couldn’t resist and has already put the lights on it but we will leave the rest of the decorating until we know it is well and truly stable.
In the evening, as is fitting with our usual Friday night tradition, Mike and I have Indian take away. Now being on the insurance, I drive there an back. I have to say it feels really weird and at first I can’t actually remember which foot goes on which pedal but when Mike tells me not to think about it but just do it, I am fine. Ann and Terry go to Simola for an altogether different type of dinner, although I think Ann would have been better off with our take away as she orders ostrich which turns out to be as tough as old boots and has to be sent back.
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