It's fall. Time to go swimming!

      So we are now half way through September, which means that summer is coming to an end and most folks are thinking about pulling out the winter clothes. Not.
      We're thinking about filling the pool. The tile man has been busy making his magic. The knife edge is being refined and we're almost ready to plaster the whole pool. If we can pick out a plaster color. Much debate. Blue, green, white, grey? Pebble, quartz, smooth finish? After looking at tons of photos on the internet we're in visual overload. Mr. Pool-man, send us some samples please.

       Inside the house the work is moving at breakneck speed. The washer and dryer showed up. Tile is climbing the bathroom walls. Closets are being installed. All the floors are finished and base-board tile is starting to run around the rooms. Door knobs? Who has the door knobs?

      Even the kitchen cabinets have been delivered. But where to put them? How about a big pile in the middle of the great room? Where's my screwdriver? Oh, it's somewhere under there. Now, do the door pulls go horizontally or vertically? Hey, where are the counter-tops? Still in Florida?

      Back outside, the stucco guys are working their way around the house. They may have the whole first floor finished this week. We are anxious to see the darker color applied downstairs. How about a sunset reflection in the windows. Nice. Let's order some outdoor furniture shall we?

                           Turn around and there's the 'ol sunset again. We never get tired of it.

Labor Day laboring?

       We thought that Labor day was supposed to be when everyone took the day off and celebrated with a bit of rest. Not. The guys were out working on the house today! There seems to be a lot more crew at the site too. Roofers, tile people, plumbers, electricians and plasterers. We had to dodge people coming from every direction.

    
      The floor tile is going down quickly. Here the fellow is placing the first interior piece of travertine. It's wild to watch how they do this. First a mastic is smeared on the floor . Then on goes a pile of cement. It looks kind of dry. Then they smear mastic on the back of a tile and place it down. What follows is a lot a tapping with a rubber mallet. All very slow and carefully done. Look how thick the cement layer is. Whatever.

      The travertine is just about finished outside. But only on the main level, they haven't started downstairs yet. We love the look. The outside tile is a rougher version of the interior stuff. So when you stand inside and look out, it all seems to be seamless and all the seams line up. Of course they do. We are both art directors after all!


     Notice that the windows are in, and if you look closely you will see the sliding bug screens just at the right side of each door. The screens slide across the whole opening. Solar panels will come down from above, hidden in a valance that is yet to be built. Have we forgotten anything?

      Meanwhile, the roofers are hard at work overhead. They are laying down the shake shingle roof. Actually it's not true cedar, but it looks like it. This is a composite material from Canada that is hurricane rated and enviro-friendly. Part wood, part tires, part 'who knows'?



      Shake rattle and roll, the roof is flying on. They have managed to finish the whole job in just over a week. You may notice that there are no downspouts on this house. They are hidden within the walls. All the water that falls from the sky goes down through the wall system and into our cisterns. Pretty cool, no gutters to mess with.

      Jim is checking out the rear patio. You can get a good idea of the finished roof from this shot. Even the flat roof that connects each pavilion catches rain water.
      Back here on this patio will be the outdoor grill. The forms for the grill are behind Jim at the left. Then go to the right, inside the door and you're at the kitchen. When it gets really windy we will sit outside in this patio. If we close the windows to the den there is no wind. It's a small patio but we think we will welcome the relief from the sun and wind.

      Here I am back out front on the main deck. Hey, where's the railing. It's coming soon I hope. It's a long way down to the first floor.
      We need some water in that pool. It's averaging about 85 degrees every day.

       Don't jump Bob!

It's all in the details!

      All of our island friends warned us that things would start to slow down. But progress is happening, one small detail at a time.
      This week we took delivery of all the travertine floor tiles. And boy do we have a ton of tile!

      The interior tile is a creamy white. The exterior tile matches it, but has a rougher texture so that it won't be slippery if wet. You can just see the difference between the two. The second tile from the right (left picture) is the interior one. All the travertine feels really good on your feet!

Also arriving this week, the bamboo interior doors.  These came all the way from California. The wood came from China. They are 'fosilized' which means that the color is a rich medley of browns. The bamboo is run in a horizontal pattern. This is the same wood that is up on the ceilings. And also this wood will make up all our cabinetry. Cool!

    


      More details. They are beginning to face the stairs that lead up to the house with stone. As you can see this is the same stone that was used to build the planters. Most of this material comes from our site. But they did bring in some additional colors to add to the mix. The stone mason is definitely a master craftsman. All of these pieces are fit by hand with a hammer and chisel. It's really time consuming. Yes, it's expensive! But worth it, right?








     
      Hey look! The driveway is starting to creep down towards the road. There will be a retaining wall along the downhill side, notice the rebar waiting for wall forms. Off in the distance you can see our closest neighbor. All that 'white' above their house is the retaining wall that holds their driveway. Retaining walls are just about everywhere on this island. Otherwise everything would end up in the sea. We've decided to stucco our walls with a dark color. That way they will disappear into the foliage. Landscaping will help to hide the walls as well.

      The last of our windows came this week. So pretty soon the house will be closed in and the roof will be finished. Just in time for hurricane season! We've had one tropical front pass through, but nothing scary. We have finished purchasing all we need to finish the house. Things are still arriving from Florida in a steady stream. Now we wait and watch as all this stuff gets assembled. Details, details. It's a good thing there are two of us to keep track of everything.
      Hey, how about some water in that pool? It's hot down here!

Raise a glass to glass!

      As many of you may remember, our current abode has no glass windows. Only screens. Which is fine as long as you don't mind rain blowing inside. Or dead bugs. Or dust. Or just about anything that can find it's way through old screens.
      But now! Our new house has windows! Real windows. Not just made of glass. But hurricane rated glass. 200 mile per hour wind rated windows. We are pairing them with screens too. And the end result should  be awesome. See for yourself!

      The guys began to install these plates of glass last week. It took a bit of work to man-handle them into position. After they had all the panels installed in the great room, we figured out that they were all in backwards.
Ahh, de Virgin Islands. No problem mon, we just move dem to de other side, mon.

    

 Oh look, de windows, they be upside down?
No, de screws are on de inside. Are de screws sposed to be on de inside? I don't tink so.
Is there a book. You know a book to read to see bout de screws? I don't see no book. Let's look in de box. Oh yea mon, dere be a book in de box. Should we read it? No it be lunch time. Let's read it after lunch. Cool. It be too hot to read anyway.



     Ok, I'm exaggerating a little. But once I found the installation guide and read the passage about the adjustment screws being on the exterior, all was well. And the windows move really smoothly!
More so than de installation.
Whatever.


     Jim has become quite the task-master. Each Sunday night he sends out an email to all involved with an update as to work completed and outstanding issues. The result has been amazing! All the trades-people follow the memos. I think it embarrasses them to read if they have missed something. Watch out...Jim is on de job!

 

      All work and no play... well you know that part. So over the Fourth of July weekend we went for a sail. And some sail it was. The winds were blowing over 30 knots per hour. Which put us and the boat to work. It was amazing! We loved it. And of course we got to take in a caribbean sunset after a day of sailing. Both of us slept like rocks that night. In the morning it was raining. Who cares?

      Bob was a happy camper. Sitting on his own boat in a quite bay in paradise. Doesn't suck!

      Pass me a chardonnay, mon!

My camera takes panorama shots...who knew?

      So as you probably know if you've been following this blog, the roof is going on de house.
And they are starting to stucco the interior walls and put in the windows. Major progress. We hope to have the house inclosed soon as hurricane season is upon us.
      JimBob are in full-on purchase mode trying to nail down the floor tile, swimming pool tile, deck railings and anything else that hasn't been decided. Hurry up. Spend money that you don't have! Just get it done! Whatever!

      How do you like the outdoor pavillion next to the pool. Bring chairs, maybe a towel?

      Check out the Great Room with it's finished ceiling. That's bamboo flooring in between the rafters, not that we're planning on any walking upside down. We are going for modern with a Caribbean twist. Groovey, huh. Lots and lots of glass for Jim to wash!

      Here you can see that the sub-roof with insulation is in place, waiting for the shingling. Our contractor has to be certified by the manufacturer before he can start putting on those shingles.  Here's a better shot of the roof inside. We like the variegated color. All of our cabinetry will be made from the same bamboo. Interior doors as well.

       Now we're down at the parking level looking back up at the house. You can see that the pool really sticks out into the view. There will be a bench in the water at the view's edge. Can you say, "Pass me a rum punch?"

      Here's that view again. You will see our closest neighbors. Down there to the right. Our beach is right where that sailboat is anchored. We're thinking about getting a kayak. But anyone could swim out to that boat.  This shot makes the bay look far away. It's not.

      This is the how the house looks from down the hill. But you've seen this angle before. My drawings and real life are starting to converge! Coming next...tile and windows. Stay tuned!

     

It's beginning to feel like home.

     There's been a big jump forward with our home project. The 'home' now has walls. The big pour was a couple of weeks ago, and now they have removed most of the wooden forms to reveal what appears to be a house! Here you can see the two outdoor pavilions. The closest will be a dining area, and the furthest away will be a seating area overlooking the pool and water view. Got chairs?

      This view is looking up the main entrance staircase towards the dining pavilion and front door. To the left is the pool and main lounging deck. The walls of the house will be white stucco on this floor. Down below we have chosen a darker brown color, Similar to some of the natural stone surrounding this staircase.

      This photo is of the back patio area. You can look through the den out to the water. Just to the bottom left will be the bar-b-q grill. The roofing materials are stored under those tarps at the right. Roofing should begin in a week or so. First they have to finish prepping all the rafters.

      Here's the view from the master bedroom deck looking over at the den and the front part of the house. The windows are 'on-island' and should go in right along with the roofing. Our contractor has moved into hyper-mode.


     


      Check out the house from afar. It's really all falling into place! We are so excited. Pack those bags!

Something new floats in to St. John!

      Off, off in the distance I pick up the first clue that something wonderful may be out there in the ocean. Could it be what I've been waiting for?

      Now what you probably don't know is that there are very few navy blue boats in the Caribbean. People tell me that this is because that hull color makes them 'hot'. Whatever. So when I received a text message from my delivery captain telling me he was just passing St. Thomas, I immediately jumped in the jeep to go have a look. Looks like a navy hull to me!
 

      Oh boy, it is Far Niente! Furling up the head sail. So I call the captain on his cell. Everything is great. Except they have run out of fuel. So this will be picking up the mooring the old-fashioned way. By sailing, no motor! Let's see, I haven't done that in maybe 20 years?

      Here they come, entering the harbor. The wind is blowing 10 to 15 knots. Very nice and easy under the mainsail alone. I am so excited I can't stand it!

 

      All the way into the harbor on one tack and right up to the ball. Very impressive. Here we see Crewman Mike picking up the mooring. All completed on the first try.

      I am standing at the waters edge taking telephoto shots. When along comes the mooring guy Colin in his dinghy. Would I like to go out with him? Is the Pope...you know what? Off we go out to meet Far Niente. I am so excited I could wet my pants. Well maybe not that excited!

 

      Crewman Mike greets us and picks up the dinghy painter. Both Captain Dale and Mike look tired but happy. They tell me it was a smooth passage with very little problems. OK, so they ran out of fuel, ran out of water, ran out of food. Tried to catch a fish and came up empty. But then they told me that all their supplies lasted until just this morning. So I guess 99% of the trip was uneventful! 

      So here's the best part. Far Niente sitting on her mooring in Great Cruz Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands. Am I happy?  Remember the part about the Pope?