USVI-On-Line

Cat/sis...glad to see you back on here!

Wakey - I forget that everyone else calls it a median We watched the LSU game too before heading to the bonfire; I wish it was a little more exciting though.

Jan - I don't even want to think about when we are gonna take our tree down!

Kellee - has no one else made you do that since you were here???

No. It only happens when I'm really having fun---so I guess I haven't had any fun since Jazzhand fest. Good times!

Cat hasn't been on here either in a while?

Bob and Anita, that is a beautiful wine room. I am jealous! That's really impressive that you built it yourselves. My DIY experience stops at about the level of putting an Ikea bookcase together.

liamsaunt wrote:Bob and Anita, that is a beautiful wine room. I am jealous! That's really impressive that you built it yourselves. My DIY experience stops at about the level of putting an Ikea bookcase together.

Thanks for the compliments. This is what we did in 2008 instead of STJ or another big vacation (our version of a staycation) We were very pleased with the way it came out. The project took us about 6 months from initial planning to final completion. Now we get to have fun filling (and emptying) it.

Kellee - Cat is traveling alot for work and always seems to be busy lately.

Jan&MikeVa wrote:I am SO ENVIOUS of your garden..........what kind of good stuff do ya grow? And how big is it?? I'm such a gardener but the house we moved to 8 years ago has LOUSY soil...........any secrets you want to share??? Thanks

Not sure how much help we’ll be as we are experimenting and learning ourselves with what will work in our garden and still trying to improve the soil. It's not in an optimal place from sunshine standpoint and there is a fair amount of clay. There are tall trees on the East and West sides so full day sun is a problem. We located the garden there because it is in an unused unseen part of our property that we call the "back 40". We put it in 3 years ago as a smaller garden to see if it would work. We've been working the soil every year and Bob has taken down a couple of the smaller trees. Last year we put up the fence, brought water out to the garden and put in drainage to help control the run-off from the road when it rains. The garden is now about 18’ x 24’.

That said, what seems to be working are: tomatoes, various lettuce types, pepper plants (jalapeños, habaneras), carrots, radishes, green beans and peas. What have not worked seems to be plants that require high nutrients such as spinach, broccoli and eggplant. Also, we have had no luck with any vine type plants (melons, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc.), broccoli and spinach and eggplant.

Now that we think we have the run-off under control, which was taking away the soil we were conditioning, we should be able to make headway on getting the soil in better shape.

We haven't gone out in years. There aren't too many exciting options in our area so a tradition of friends coming to our house started years ago.

This year it was three adult couples, one of which is our STJ travelling friends. The other couple has two teen daughters and each daughter brought a friend. The STJ friends son and GF also joined us so we had eight adults and four teens for dinner.

Menu was coconut shrimp, soupies, homemade deer sausage and cheese for appetizers.

Dinner was crab legs, elk loin and ribeye (beef) steaks with side salads.

The stroke of midnight was rang in with a horn blowing out on the front porch. (we have several including a tuba)

Our 3 year old lasted until 12:30 before falling asleep in the kitchen.

That wine cellar is amazing! We now have a fairly good-sized unfinished space under a new addition (about 20'x30') and I'm getting some ideas after looking at your pictures! Wow, it's just gorgeous. I'm impressed that you did that yourselves! Are you for hire?

We have been lucky to spend the last 3 NYEs on an island (last year on STJ.) This past one was on Kauai and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Plantations Gardens, which is right on the property where we stayed. Then we walked over to the lawn of the property and watched fireworks. It was a great way to ring in the new year!

chicagoans wrote:We now have a fairly good-sized unfinished space under a new addition (about 20'x30') and I'm getting some ideas after looking at your pictures! I'm impressed that you did that yourselves! Are you for hire?

Thank you for your compliment; it was fun and satisfying project. You certainly could do something nice with a 20’ x 30’ space. While it’s a dream to build wine cellars for others I could not make any money doing it. I work so slow and meticulously that if I worked on a fixed price basis then I would end up making about 50 cents an hour. If I charged an hourly rate then no one would hire me because the cost of the job would be astronomical. I guess I’m destined to keep my day job and only putter and muddle through these types of projects in my spare time.

Cheers,
Bob