4 June 2023
Somehow I haven’t turned over the calendar. I’ve been typing the month as May for the last two blogs. At least I got June 1st correct.
It was 10:30 am before anyone showed up for yesterday morning for the renovation. Eric said the others (including him) had a hard time getting out of bed and that he was the only one working. He immediately got busy and pulled the one piece of drywall off the east wall and then insulated all the spaces. He reinstalled that one piece and finished adding the drywall to the rest of the vestibule. He then left for another job. Eric apparently works six days a week. He says that on Sunday, he and some friends head to the beach to relax.
Jose should be in Monday to tape and put a skim coat on the drywall. There’s still a lot to do but I’m pleased with their progress. Once the skim coat is dry and sanded (I dread the dust) then it will be primed. I don’t know if they will put a coat of paint on it but if they don’t, I think I can handle that. I still haven’t decided whether to have it wall papered or just paint.
The outside east wall will need to be stuccoed. They have to wait a while for that stuff to dry before you can do anything with it but it’ll eventually dry and I’ll try to match the house color to that spot. The good news is that it is one entire wall and the color can be off a little bit and no one will notice. It may take a month or more (we are definitely in the rainy season) for it to dry properly. I’ve seen houses in the neighborhood that wait 6 months or more before painting stucco.
The outside paneling is all primed and all it needs is a coat of paint (again, as close as possible to the house color). If they have any paint left over, I’ll used that on the outside east wall. They need to replace the lower part of the pegboard in the garage that was removed because of flood damage. They’ve already sprayed it with a fungicide and bleach. They also intend to power wash the garage floor.
Eventually, they will move the washer and dryer out of the utility room, spray fungicide and bleach, and then either put down indoor/outdoor carpet or a water resistant vinyl. At that point, they’ll have to move everything back in and reconnect the washer and dryer. When done, the work should be complete.
John came over yesterday at noon and brought over rice crispy treats. I remember Mother used to make those when I was a kid. I can’t remember when the last time I had one but I think I was on one of my cross country trips and saw the commercial version in a quick stop and ate those. His were delicious, but he thinks the type of marshmallow he used was the wrong kind.
After showing him the construction, we headed to the Georgia Pig. It’s been in business since 1953. The original owners passed and their son took it over. I used to talk to him over breakfast at the counter. He was a former Coastie like me. Back in 1953, the road in front (US 441 or SR 7) was a two-lane road and that was the boundary of the Everglades. Today, it’s six lanes. You might say it has changed a little since then.
We always eat the same thing at the Georgia Pig – the deluxe pulled pork sandwich with fries and Cole slaw. They used to serve it with a dill pickle spear but no such luck this time. Their BBQ sauce is mustard based and really good. So is their Cole slaw. In a major change of the menu, they switched from curly fries to plain cut fries. They tried that switch pre-Covid but apparently went with a cheap version and had to switch back when customers complained. The new plain cut are pretty tasty.
After the son retired, three brothers bought the place and when you go into the restaurant (through the side door) it’s like walking back in time. The son’s wife used to make pies every day and she handmade the pie crusts. My two favorites were chocolate creme and coconut creme. Both reminded me of Mom’s.
Speaking of food, Tom and Kurt invited me to brunch today at Top Hat Deli. This is a new place for me but the menu looks good. I had the Grand Schlam with 2 eggs, latke, maple sausage with rye toast.
On the way home, I stopped at Whole Foods and found a pre-made sandwich for tomorrow. I’ll take it, some water, some carrots, and one of John’s rice crispy treats for food tomorrow’s 6 hour marathon of an infusion.
Last night was the first night since the port implant that I was able to sleep on my right side. Usually, when I turn over to the right, I get a tugging sensation at the site of the port. That seems to have gone away – at least for now. It’s still sore to the touch but at least I got a full night of sleep last night.
I’ll probably be up around 5 am tomorrow to get my morning routine out of the way and Tom will pick me up around 7:15 am. I have to be at the center by 7:45 – probably for the same paperwork I’ve already completed online.
Stay tuned!