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Arrived just before sunset the evening of January 10th. This is the first year I've come down before Mike to open the house.  Keys in hand, I stumbled through opening all the doors and into the utility room to turn the power on.  Probably should have gotten a flashlight out of the drawer first, but hey... I just flipped on all the circuit breakers and... voila!  I could see.  The house is always damp after being closed for three or four months, so the first order of business is opening all the windows to get the air to flow through. 


Click to view larger.

 With three foot thick 150-year old stone walls, the house stays pretty cool, but the dampness that collects takes about a day to dry out - and even then, it's never completely dry.  The "windows" are screens with two sets of shutters.  One set of shutters outside to keep the weather completely out, the other set on the inside to "adjust" the natural air conditioning.

Fortunately for me, the weather is cool when I arrive.  The temperature inside the house is about 68 degrees F.  Perfect for sweeping off the window screens and cleaning the floor and furniture.  It wasn't bad... just a light salt dust over everything.
It's hard to find a good time to take pictures inside the house - the light from outside can be so bright that it lends a yellow color to the photos... and at night the windows look like black holes... so here are a few shots taken when the sun first came up this morning...

Click to view larger.		 This is the southeast corner of the main room.  Note that the window above is the same one in this picture and the colors are a little truer in that picture.  The window sills are two feet thick, original windows from the main house.  Great for keeping it cool inside when its hot.

Click to view larger		 The kitchen is the southwest corner of the main room.  Mike and his Dad, Ed, did all the cabinetry - it's wonderful!  And the barstools are made from old tractor seats - Mike made those too.  Okay, Mike can do it all... but he stays out of the kitchen and let's me cook!!  And I love to cook in this kitchen.

Click to view larger		 This is the northeast corner of the main room.  The "window" with the stereo in it is one of the original windows from the old house and goes through to the other room (our bedroom).  Okay, and here's something I made - the basket on the table and the other basket hanging from the door latch.  The door goes into our room and the bathroom, so it's always open.

Click to view larger		 Here's a better view of the door to the other room.  Note that the doorway is two feet thick - also one of the original doorframes.  This house was built about 150 years ago of stone.  The original house has two-foot thick walls.  Through this door was the original kitchen that was added on about 50 years ago.  The addition was falling down and we had to redo it with block.
That's all for now.  I'm off to try my hand at making croissants... flour, butter, yeast - should be simple.  Mike is in Providenciales (Provo) looking over the M/V Beachcomber until Friday.  More on that later!
This is a link to assorted photos I've taken...