It is hard to believe that we have been here for almost 1 1/2 months now. If only I could stop the clock... or at least slow it down.
A week after we arrived...our 12 pallets of stuff.. more solar panels, batteries and their accessories; the makings if a swimming pool; a new refrigerator; food from Cosco; a rug; a small cement mixer; furniture from Ikea; plywood and 2/4's ; etc. arrived. We had to hirer an 18 wheeler truck to bring it out to Greenwood and then a forklift to bring each load up to the house! It took us weeks just to unpack.
When we received the customs bill , we considered for a brief second sending it all back. At first they tried to charge us 45% duty on the solar accessories (solar panels are duty free) .. Jack spent 2 frustrating weeks on the phone trying to talk to someone in Nassau that a solar panel with out the inverter would be useless.; it is part of a system. In the end, the powers that be.... understood. But with the swimming pool which is a 45% duty.... not only would they not acknowledge a 10% discount that we received (They would have respected a 2% but not a 10%. ???), but they charged us $500 for the shipping from Alabama to Florida... even though we had free shipping from 'Pool Man DAN'... and then another $570 for shipping from FL to Cat ! As our neighbor Gilly advises (she has lived here for over 40 years) there are 3 rules for living here.
1. supervise.. supervise ..supervise
2. never assume anything
3. do not expect them to be rational.

This is one of the irrational ones! I t all left us with little money to start the pool. Thus we put our Ikea furniture together... or should I say tried as it took us days and made me wonder how do we think that we can possible build a 'do it yourself' pool, when we can barely assemble a chest of drawers! ??? Then Jack started working on his solar ... pouring a concrete floor beside the S side of the house and then building a box for the numerous batteries and constructing a shelf for an outside water heater , etc. Always busy.
We are hoping that by mid-January we can start construction on the pool. I had not realized just how big a 12/32 pool is; it will take up our entire back yard... the beautiful royal poinciana will be cut down (I admit it loses it's leaves in the winter and blossoms in the summer when we are not here!)... other plants and trees will have to be moved.... OYE. But besides just moving plants and having a huge hole dug , it will be a complex project. I suggested to Jack that we hirer the only ... 'slightly knowledgeable' builder here... , but J feels more comfortable subbing jobs out and controlling the construction. Maybe time will slow down for me then!??

Dec. was one of the warmest months on record..day after day of hot, humid ,sunny. We walked Ella on the beach and swam . Life was good. With Christmas came cooler weather, wind and rain. I do not mind.