Settling In

We have decided that Thursday will be cleaning day here at the condo.  So with a little elbow grease and Windex, I cleaned the sliding-glass doors so that the view of the ocean is unobstructed; I don't think it had been cleaned since last January.  Then I changed the batteries in the smoke alarm, replaced the furnace filter, replaced the vacuum cleaner bags and thoroughly vacuumed.  We had arranged to have the carpets cleaned before we arrived and they look good.

Martha has been busy, too, organizing the Owner's Closet, and washing all of the dishes in  the kitchen.  While she had the dishes out, she installed and/or replaced the shelf paper in all of the cabinets and drawers.  Light bulbs, Damp Rid - the list goes on and on.  After talking to Lizette, we also changed the locks on the door - who knows how many spare keys there might be? - so now we feel more secure while we are staying here and Lizette has better control over letting people stay here.  The mini blinds in the bedroom were also broken when we arrived, but after a bit of difficulty I removed them, straightened them out, and reinstalled them.  Lizette had given us the green light to replace the old-fashioned vertical blinds in the living room, too; some of them had broken and were piled up behind the television cabinet.

This type of blind is difficult to maintain; we have encountered them before in rental units in Duck.  So we replaced them with energy-efficient drapes, a nice color called Sea Foam  which coordinated well with the existing valance, and after much difficulty and three trips to the local hardware store they are now in place, framing perfectly clean windows which no doubt will need cleaning again after the first storm comes roaring in from the ocean. 

Lizette is kind enough to let us stay here this time of year, so it is always a pleasure to return her hospitality in some way by treating this place as if it is our own, making small improvements every year.  Next on the list:  cleaning the kitchen and bathroom floors and repairing the popcorn ceiling in the corner of the bedroom.  As at our own home in Highlands, there is always work to be done.

We have stocked up the refrigerator with the essentials, but in addition to the local grocery stores we depend on a great locally-owned seafood market called Blue Ocean, which was undamaged by the hurricane and is fully operational; they sell the best fresh local seafood for miles around.

And then there is Friendly Market - fresh, local, and healthy - where we can find dips and appetizers and breads and scrumptious desserts.  This year, they are expanding their operations, and it looked like they were already preparing to plant something in the little garden area off the parking lot.

Is it possible that they can be considering planting a garden in January out here?  Our garden beds in Highlands are months away from being prepared for planting.