Riding home

We may be retired, but there is so much to see and learn and go that the day is full until the end of the day.

The best time

You can never say that Manjack does not have all fun all the time. Even emptying the compost bin brings excitement and communal spirit. The lucky soul who gets this coveted position shovels out dark black compost, seething with roaches. A chicken feeding frenzy begins. To best enjoy the work: prepare the chickens, wear gloves, and think of the big glossy monsters as Palmetto Bugs. Once all is in order, pick them up and throw them to the enthusiastic fowl. An indication of chicken memory is that the birds will attentively follow a compost specialist around for the next day.

Dark on the beach

In the middle of all the fun activities, the full moon comes. It brings a fire to the beach and keeps cruisers out way beyond their bedtime. Sometimes we were out until after nine pm. Only real pirates and dangerous folk are out at 10. Sometimes the pictures that don't turn out capture the moment best.

Lobsterman and Chef

We were delighted to find out that Alex was a creative and excellent cook and that Nick was a relentless and successful hunter of marine life. this led to many happy meals together. Since Alex and Nick have returned to land life we can only dream about spring rolls with lobster antenna meat and uuuuum good lime cookies.

In the branches

Of course, when the beds are done there are always more things to learn. Standing on top of a bucket with a running chain saw is one of them. Don't show Nick's mom this picture!


Alex also had tree time. Year ago Alex's grandparents owned property on Green Turtle Cay and she remembers coming to the islands here to visit them since her childhood. One day she returned to the land of her memory and picked fruit from trees near the home that her grandparents once owned. She made wonderful marmalade.

The Garden grows

One would think that piling a bunch of rocks together and slathering them with cement would be a relatively simple process, but it isn't. Gradually and step by step the beds were built. Now completed and filled with soil, which also has to be made, they are planted and beautiful. More vegetables and herbs for the future.

Step 6

Of course, someone has to sort the gravel from the big rocks and make the cement.

When making garden walls

The garden needed two more raised beds with rock walls. It is wonderful when work in a garden starts with rock collecting on the beach.

Making a raised bed requires big rocks and little rocks and medium sized rocks. Not only do you need to get the rocks, but you need to sort them, and arrange them, and shape them.

Alex and Nick or Nick and Alex

Alex and Nick came from Montana and Pennsylvania with a wealth of experience in winter camping, Teach for America, and travel. They are very interested in self sufficiency and renewable technology and Manjack is a good place to learn about life with a Bahamian flavor.

Manjack Colors

Bill and Leslie and Manjack are dear to us. A quilt was in order.

Day's end

Each day the sun rose and the sun set. Some days these events were more spectacular than others.

A Wise man

While we were dashing about with the Kings on unsecured floor joists and dancing past power tools, the thought of injury did cross our minds, especially since Larry's unfortunate altercation with his chainsaw. However, we left the Kings without a scratch and returned to our own little dingy. Again we learned that we are most in danger when safety seems sure. In summery: the motor died and it managed to hit Maria in the face with Vinnie's elbow while he was energetically trying to get it started in time to avoid hitting a dock. Rats. Leslie provided first aid for Maria at the house as Bill sympathized. When Vinnie arrived he was greeted by Bill. In a moment of profound insight Bill gave Vinnie a big hug and said, "I know you are hurting more than she is." Truly, when you love each other the one who hurts the most is not the one that bleeds.

Celebrate

On Manjack there are always people ready to celebrate with you. We got together to look at the progress and enjoy dinner before their flight the next morning.

Looking back

Finally it was time for the Kings to return to the US for a week. Although they hated to leave their work, it was good to sit down (for the first time in days) and look back at everything that they had accomplished.