If you don’t know the story ofDr. Seuss’s Solla Sollew — it is about a being who encounters some challenges and then tries to deal with them by escaping to a magical place where there are no troubles (at least very few) …….to many this might describe this venture…..or perhaps describes BEING in this venture…… 
seuss always captures things perfectly.
as it seems that when one problem is resolved….. another arises…..
to put it in Seussian terms….
38 But now I was safe
39 Both in back and in front.
40 Then New troubles came!
41 From above!
42 And below!
43 And a Skritz at my neck!
44 And a Skrink at my toe!
45 And now I was really in trouble, you know.
46 The rocks! And the Quail!
47 And the Skritz! And the Skrink!
48 I had so many troubles, I just couldn’t think!
(i know that there are many who are thinking….i wish i could have such troubles….yeah… i know……. and i am not bitching –least not that much)
SO while we were busy thinking about the rats and the tile and the wood….. (rats…gone-ish…..) the tile has been cleaned up and re-grouted and looks SO much better–I think i have the tile whisperer working…..
J-1’s crew is working miracles on the woodwork — The people working at the house are really a terrific bunch– i am VERY lucky. Our electrician –has been great at untangling our electrical ‘issues’ has been assessing the wiring…. to paraphrase “most people would go a to b to c….they seemed to go a to n to d….” or words to that effect — i have in my possession an light that is ‘switchless’ (how about that!) and wiring that apparently is a bit crazy.
The electrician has been a godsend and is a really great guy–I was really worried about the wiring –knowing how corners were cut and things were put together- I am feeling much better now that he is working the system out and pulling it into some semblance of sensible.
We knew that there was a roof leak. and there was some rot in the T-111 in the ceiling of the front porch deck– we thought it was a small issue…..but the leak in the corner turned into a maze of rotting wood that requires most of the roof to be redone
We have a lot of mystery drainage issues at this house… and funky sizes– in fact i spent a better part of a day running around St Thomas (actually DRAGGING my friends, my VERY PATIENT friends!–and in their car!) finding oddly sized PVC pipe, reducer bushings and unions…. (2.5inch pipe, 2.5-3 inch bushings, etc) I have got to say that if you EVER need oddly sized stuff (and you KNOW you will someday–ok, maybe not) that Plastic City in Bovoni is the place to go….and they give away cool swag too! (i got a keychain flashlight!) — i learned a lot though– the difference between schedule 40 and schedule 80 PVC and that 4 inch unions are HUGE (yeah a guy’s business for sure….) — Home Depot doesn’t carry most of this stuff and even the very good plumbing supply store up here said that most of this was a special order…. so…. Plastic City wins– and BONUS… steve is from New Hampshire….and sox fan…. ‘nuf said….if PVC is your thing, then this is the place to be.
So, for this trip the last thing was the cabinets… did i already say how the rats had eaten thru a bunch of the cabinets? well they ate thru some pretty important structural stuff (at least in the sink/oven area) and the finish is falling apart and spending more time effort and energy and money trying to fix them seems like a waste of it all– SO the big bad news of this trip was the decision that we probably need to replace the cabinets…..ugh. This is a huge and unplanned expense and the G-man (while i think initially not a big fan) has been far more understanding than i had anticipated…. the question remains though– do we keep the current layout and only replace the cabinets on the sides (so keep the island and the cooktop in the island) OR do we revert back to the original layout where the island is simply an island and the stove/oven is placed next to the fridge– pro’s : easy to run a gas line to that location so i could do a gas stove! cons: all new counters……
We return to the island on the 13th this time with everyone (and more) in tow– we will camp out there — should be interesting…
hardlaborstj 
Great post! The tile and the ceilings look great freshened up.
thanks! and thanks for your patience…..
Hi Lori … I’ve been following Eric’s Seas the Day blog, and found my way to you. Would you be willing to share with me who your electrician is? My wife and I bought a lot out at the East End and are just finishing up with the architect on a small cottage and are getting close to permitting …. at the moment we are still lining up a builder et. al. It sounds like picking the right people can make or break a project! We will be down on Island the week of the 28th, will you still be there? Mark and Anissia Lawlor