[To read Holding Down the Fort, Part 1 ~ Havoc Reigns, click here]

With Michael in the USA and Nadica and Sheila sheltering in place at their homes, Michael set up a WhatsApp chat group for Sheila, Nadica, and us so we could stay in communication. I was trying to post pretty plant pictures so Michael and Sheila would know I was taking care of the plants.  I was also chronicling all the adventures I was having with the house.  Sheila and Nadica were beside themselves.  They were being paid but not working, could see I was overwhelmed trying to do their jobs, take care of all the craziness, all while feeling sick and going back and forth to the doctor.  Busses still were not running, so they had no way to get here to help.

Here are some pictures of our flower gardens that I posted to our group WhatsApp chat

In May the roads were reopened during daylight hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Sheila and Nadica proposed that I come and get them on a Monday, they would live here until Friday, and then I’d drive them back home for the weekend. They thought they would work one week on, stay home with their families the next week, and then come back.  I nearly cried with joy at their suggestion. I thought if they could just help me get semi caught up, I could start to manage. So after 6 weeks off, Sheila and Nadica came back to work.

Grenada’s distilleries had started making sanitizer, and I bought a case on the way to get Sheila. Nadica was able to get a ride.  We all started to dig in.  Sheila couldn’t believe the weeds (even though I’d weeded multiple times) until she remembered she’d been gone for over 5 weeks – a lifetime for tropical garden weeds. I had started sanitizing all the kitchen cabinets and everything in them but still had a long way to go. With Nadica’s energy and help, she got the kitchen back into working condition.

The rats also completely trashed our cabinets in the outer hallway where we have our clothes washer and bunches of shelves that have cleaning supplies and extra food in plastic containers so that was another major project.

 

 

Both women tackled the critical tasks with a vengeance, working from early morning until late afternoon. It was such a relief to seeing things start to get back to normal, and it was a total treat to see them again.

We are such good friends, and it was heartwarming sitting together in the evenings eating and talking.  It was unlikely that any of us had COVID since we all have been sheltering in place for weeks and not going out. Still, we are careful to social distance and continued to wash our hands frequently to stay safe.

Nadica and Sheila are staying in our two-bedroom cottage, so of course, it had to get into the act as well.  The air conditioner in Nadica’s room made a considerable racket the first time she turned it on. She quickly turned it off, and we called our appliance repairman to come. Then, the pipe that fills the cistern broke.  Nadica heard a car drive by at about 5 AM had heard it splash through water.  Since we hadn’t had a drop of rain in months, she got up to investigate, turned off the water inlet, and I called the plumber.

Three days later, we saw water running outside the cottage again but initially couldn’t find the source of the leak, and none of the shutoffs solved the problem.  Of course, it was after 5 o’clock at night.  I couldn’t let the water run all night long and was on the phone with the plumber (who was supposed to be eating his dinner) trying to troubleshoot the problem. After checking everything outside, I found the toilet running but couldn’t get the flap to seal.  At least I could turn off the toilet valve until the next morning.  When the plumber arrived for the 4^th time in less than 2 weeks, I asked for the volume discount.  He laughed and now he thinks I’m crazy.

You can’t make this stuff up!

Now that Nadica and Sheila have been here for a few weeks, the house is looking great, and things have settled down.  No disasters to report in the past week. Nadica was originally going to stay here while Michael and I were in the US, and she said she was so glad I stayed home.  She is an incredibly competent woman but said she thought she would have run screaming from the house after the first 2 weeks.  This is the first time I have ever seen Nadica flustered.

I’ve got every handyman on speed dial now. All of them were fabulous.  They knew Michael was off-island and did everything they could to prioritize my issues.  One day, I had four workers here trying to get things back on track. Grenada is still a traditional country in a lot of ways, so none of them asked me for money.  They just assumed they would wait and bill Michael when he got back.  I wasn’t having any of that.  I wanted to put money in their hands immediately since they had been out of normal work for weeks and as insurance they’d be back quickly if I needed help again.

Other than the Manicou (possum) who has been walking through our back yard every night for the past few weeks, which drives Red Dog crazy, and the random lizard, here or there, we’ve had no new issues.  Of course, all that can change in a flash.  We’ve had our first rainstorm, and I’m waiting for the rainy season to arrive in earnest.  Then the annual invasion of the land crabs will start.

Let the games begin!