beginning of summer

Well, looks like summer is arriving. It's very hot and sticky here. we have had 3 days of rain, which we really enjoy because it makes everything grow right up. You can almost watch the plants grow. Last month we planted another lime tree and a star fruit and transplanted a passion fruit given to us by our neighbor. Had to baby that one and couldn't actually put it in the ground until we had 2 days of rain. Donkeys visited the other night and kicked over lots of my empty potting things as they were looking for water. (see pic)
Seems like your new "digs" is coming along. Looks like sooo much work, but we know you will be happy there. How far away are you from David and Lisa?
What happened with the job at Nationwide?
Went to Water Island two weeks ago. It's such a beautiful place. A very small ferry runs there from STT every hour and when you arrive, the first thing you see is a two sided building with a roof, one wall of which contains mail boxes and the other wall is the "library". Some guys are building a house there and asked us to come over to look at the concrete. Had a really nice day. Felt like we were on vacation. It took us 2 and 1/2 hours to get there!!
Nathan is coming June 26-July 4 with his girlfriend. Our lower unit is empty until July 15, so we are putting them in there.
Having some visitors coming up this morning, so have to go.
Keep the pics coming
Marilynn, how was Savannah. bob and I went there and just loved it. The food is fantastic!!
luv,
Betsy

Been a Bad Boy

Just been super busy both with work and trying to get the new place ready to move into.. It's not done yet, but we're moving this weekend. Here's some pix. First the original before we bought it.

Didn't have any ceiling insulation so I bought 40 pieces of foam ... 4" thick by 27" by 12 feet long. Then we painted them all and then installed them against the ceiling between the rafters and held them in place with 1/4 round trim nailed to the rafters. Here's some pix;

Will take some recent pix now that the insulation is in and much of the painting is complete.

More later,

Herb

May news

Hi You Guys,

Bert and Kathy, I know you will be happy when you are settled in you new house and have begun the minimalistic life. When space is small you find out you really don't need all that crap you thought you did. I'm glad we had a chance to see the picture (before) and we're looking forward to seeing the pictures (after). It sounds like such a cool place. I loved your log cabin house in the woods and this seems like the same sort of country setting.

Ryan has a new job. He has been working as a bartender at 2 different restaurants on St. Simons Island for about 6 weeks now. The same guy owns both, they are both right down in the "village" near the water. One is a regular restaurant called the Iguana and the other is a bar, jam place with live music called the Rafters. It hasn't been too busy and he is only getting his tips plus $50 bucks a shift but they all say it will pick up after Memorial Day. He is looking for housing again in St. Simons as he figured it is costing him $400-$500 a month for gas. Sometimes he has double shifts, first at the Iguana and then the Rafters. He is still dating Tracy. They went up to S. Carolina this past weekend as her nephew was in some sort of drag race or something. I keep forgetting to ask him Tracy's last name. The last two girlfriends were both named Hayes. How odd, eh?

We are still working on the fence. The right hand side of the yard is about 2/3 done. Now it is good and hot here so it is much worse to work on it. On our anniversary Saturday, we hauled the riding mower over to Rick's office and cut, edged, and blew the yard, plus cleaned up the parking lot of leaves, weeded the beds. Ryan used to do this but he isn't coming home as often. We had a nice dinner that night at the Wine Cellar with our friend Bob and Pat.

Kyla is coming to spend a couple of nights with us Thursday, Friday and some of Saturday. We'll go up to Georgia and Ashley will pick her up on Saturday. We are going up to Savannah

with the Kuroskos and Weeks on Sunday and Monday.

The strep infection in Ashley's leg is slowing getting better. It sounds like it may drag on for awhile. The pain is much better, but it is still swollen and red. She doesn't have to go back to the surgeon for a month so I guess he feels it is getting better.

That's all the news for now. love Marilynn

new stuff

Well,had dinner and I see that no one has "blogged" in quite some time. We had a nice visit with Evan (May 4-11). A friend offered to take us sailing for the day for $25 pp, donation to the KATS (Kids and the Sea). She is an instructor. We took pics, but, of course, they are not on the laptop yet, so I'll send more later. Evan, this time, stopped to see some of his old buddies. His attitude was much better and I think he feels much better about himself. He made the Dean's list this last semester!!
Our renters in the lower unit moved out about 2 weeks ago to go to Hawaii to manage a dive shop. We had a call today and a "showing". Think she will take it. A teacher who has lived in Yellowstone for some time and never been to STJ. Looks good. I think she will be a good fit to the island. In the meantime, we are painting and staining.
Went to Water Island yesterday. these two guys are building a house there and called Bob about the concrete. They came over here about a month ago to see the floor. Of course, it was an all day event and we had lunch and took them back to Cruz Bay. They are not totally decided on the polishing process, but invited us to their little island. It's right next to STT. It's very beautiful, no crime and only about 200 people live there. The US used it for defense and built bunkers for citizens during WWII. War ended before they could complete the stances for the gun turrets. It was a very long day as it takes a lot to get there, but it was fun. I'll send some pics soon. Hopefully, someone else will blog soon.
We are planning to go to MI for about a week in June. Kathy and Herb - what's going on with the house?
luv,
b

ANNIVERSARY?

Happy Anniversary to you guys. It was 37 for us. Kathy said 36 for them. How many for you and Rick? I thought we were the last to get married, but I think it was we were the last to have children.