Monday on Tybee Island

Even on this paradise of an island there are things that must be done. Today we had some yard work to do and a little bit of home repair to take care of. The area down near Carol's quilting room is a bit lower than the mulch outside. There are slat walls but when in rains hard the mulch floats in between the slats. This morning I cut some treated lumber and fastened it at the bottom of the walls to keep the mulch outside where it belongs. I had cut a garden hose down so I could allow the dehumidifier to drain outside while we were in Illinois. I had bought a repair kit and joined that piece to another hose. When that project was done it was time to trim bushes and pick up sticks. There was some kind of vine running from the ground up one of the palms. I had seen the neighbor put on some leather gloves and pull part of it out a couple weeks ago. I figured I would just grab it and pull it down and out. Much to my surprise it had really sharp thorns. One of the problems for me has been the fact that the weeds and flowers are different here. We had big gardens in Illinois but very little of what we grew there is suited for here. I put on the leather gloves and won that battle. Next was fixing some of the deck boards. Some of the screws had rusted off and the boards were popping up a little. Crawling around fixing that got us to lunch time.

I finally took the motorcycle out for a spin today. Just a little ride around the island to see how it would run. Carol didn't want to go since I hadn't ridden on sand before. It wasn't a problem getting from our house to a paved street. Riding on sand was easier than riding on gravel back home in Illinois. It doesn't have that riding on marbles feeling. The areas to watch are where a little sand gets on pavement. That can be a bit slick. After the motorcycle ride we went to Benny's for a beer. It is nice to have a quiet adult bar to sit and relax in. Much of the talk today was about Pirate Fest which begins on Thursday. It marks, for the permanent residents on the island, the end of tourist season. Many of the homes that were vacation rentals during the summer will now convert to places for the snowbirds to avoid the cold northern winter. After our beers and socializing it was time to head home for supper. Cardinal baseball is on the agenda shortly so it's time to end this effort for today.