home improvements

There are many small projects around our house & yard that seem to escape completion, even with the richness of time. The “in-box” is always full, and I in particular have a trail of half finished projects dotted around, with a list of new ideas vying for a start in life. While I was away Tom embraced the DIY bug, and with the help of a local “handyman” connected the power to our bedroom pod. A year after finishing the building, we finally have light and a power point. A grand step toward luxury. The well pump is now hardwired into a switch, a safer option than the dodgy plug that zapped me twice. We originally asked for the electrics to be earthed, but the earth wire got lost in the middle of a bird’s nest tangle and only two wires emerged out the other side.

I imparted Tom with the job of building a towel rail for the beach shower area with free creative licence. Using drift wood found on the south coast of the island, he fashioned a unique sculptural piece. Form and function – his two essential elements of design. The shower is a single piece of wood from an old canoe that was abandoned in front of our house. We bought it from the local owner for $25 and put it to creative use. The rest of the wood is on it's way to becoming a garden bench.

Tom also got excited and started building a little generator shed with a line to the kitchen so we can make smoothies without lugging the blender and the gennie together from their respective storage zones. I really should go away more often.