Welcome back, beach lovers! 

    After an overnight home to see my peeps and re stock my car, I was off early the next morning to pick up my guy Santo, for the big job of spreading 30 bags of mulch (2cu ft. each!) on the property. Except for power washing the deck and patio blocks, the garden area is pretty much done. I also must find some time to repair the birdhouse Emmett and Ayla made. I’m sure if I were a bird, I wouldn’t find it too appealing. 

I stopped by the Grove Market, and saw the awesome displays of food ready for hungry customers. This year, they’ve added a vegan/plant based fridge, accompanying the organic one. Old favorites are back, including one of my lunch go-to’s, spinach & sweet potato veggie burger. 

  

 We had several days where the wind chill prevented me from priming and painting window and door sashes. To get me and Sheba outside, I took walks to shoot some beach house names. There are a few new owners, so some of the names were foreign to me. I have to say, I missed seeing Deer Abby, but it was replaced by Ethel’s Mermen.

         

   

 Another plus due to the chilly weather this week, I stayed in and worked on a new painting. My painter friend Susan Thornton, commissioned me last summer to do a painting of her beach house. And since it’s finally gotten a bit warmer, I can sit on my patio and start a couple of new ones to exhibit at the Artist Tour of Cherry Grove, coming up on the weekend of June 12. If you’re on Long Island, I hope you and your BFFs will take the ferry and visit all the artists in their studios and back yards. You'll be given a map of artists houses after disembarking, with red dots coinciding with red balloons on each walk. We will have more than 20 this year, showing paintings and photos, jewelry, beach glass, stained glass, mixed media, found art, driftwood, etc. I’ll be displaying my beach paintings and photos. Here is my display from 2019. 

    Well, the sun is out which means it's time for sitting on the beach. Only kidding... there's priming and painting to be done! In exchange for being on task, an Amstel awaits!

    I hope you’re enjoying my blog ramblings and photos. If you click on   Follow  ,I’ll see who’s reading and hopefully enjoying my page. Comments welcome!

                                                                                                         

April 23 - May 7 Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

     I returned to the beach house and saw that David had gone thru almost $1800 of new decking (!) which sorely needed to be replaced. Fortunately, I have all the tools needed for any work that has to be done each spring. He also took off the rear screen that never closed properly, and repaired it with new screening and paint. With a small amount of help from me, he stripped all the windows and door frames and caulked areas that need prime and paint, which will be my job once he leaves. I was very lucky to have his help during these very important weeks before the house opens for the season. 

My baby screen door needs repair. Stay tuned for the reno soon.

Back deck set up for work!

David is a handy guy, for sure.

More David.

I'm helping out by eating a banana so it doesn't go bad today.

As you might notice, I'm checking the work from a prime location.

And this was only about half of the old wood.

I know...it's a mess.

Windows need repair every 2 or 3 years.

A couple of newbies while "shopping"on my walks.

We treated ourselves to drinks at Island Breeze. 

David - Gin & Tonic, AX- vodka & pineapple. I think I had two.

Stopped to say hello to Brett at Floyd's.

He's reconfigured seating for better separation of the human's eating.

Thank you Reggie, for taking care of feeding us before the season starts!

I'm not the only one who looks for beach glass.

Too tired to cook, so it was an eggplant parm for dinner.

  CG 4/16-19 RAMBLINGS

Now the house opening work begins! 

I was here for the weekend with my guys Santo and David, and we’ll return next weekend for more. They set up up outside furniture, and cleaned out the garden and house surround, filling 25+ large trash bags of yard debris, assorted wood and dead bamboo!!! David started the exterior trim scraping, priming, and painting, a task that has to be done every other year...color: Athena Blue. 

Mulch coming in at the end of the week, along with deck lumber to replace old boards. Patio lights are up, along with new rust pieces (is that an oxymoron?) along the fence.

Had dinner and catch-up with friends in their lovely cottage. Went down to the Island Breeze both evenings for a couple of beers and camaraderie with the locals! 

Too beautiful a night not to take a long walk and take photos!

BTW: You’d be lucky to find a vacation rental at CG this summer. I was fully booked by early February! No summer week for me this year. I’ll be at Arondavous most of May and June, and back again in mid Sept until closing sometime in October.

Other news: Verizon has been up and down the walks installing cable. Good news for all of us who have a Fios! I also had a new Internet antenna installed yesterday, and with the new router from last year, all communication, should be much improved.  

Hello Beach Lovers!

I did a quick Sunday trip to have all of the entry grasses at the walk removed, in preparation for a totally new look as you approach the gate. The rain the day before kept us away, but we lucked out waiting an extra day. Fortunately, Santo was able to adjust his schedule so he could do the heavy garden work needed. 

The healthiest grasses were moved to the new space I’m creating off the pergola. He also cleaned out the dead bamboo-like reeds along the side path to the backyard, so the new wood fence could be installed. I spent part of the day weeding, pruning, and refreshing the containers for new annuals. 

Before the yard work could take its toll on my bod, I spent some time doing a few loads in the spanking brand new washer! The 18+ year old GE served us well, but it was time to christen a new “smart’ GE, and it’s partner, the Pure Wash Pro, which cleans clothes with oxygen…no laundry detergent needed! And I must say, I was very impressed. The machine did a great job on sheets, quilts, and towels, and was a breeze to run. Not complicated at all, because you know reading manuals is not my forte!  

There was little time to roam around and check out the shops, etc. Next time. Stay tuned!