Dimock's in Jamaica - In Tom1
Home Jamaica Residence 2014 2014-3

February and March

Usually January thru March are the heart of the dry season in Jamaica, but the Polar Vortex that caused so much cold up north caused rain down here. In January we had 8.7" of rain, which is more than 3 times the normal amount. February was not quite as wet with 5.1" of rain, still about 2.8 times normal. And March is not over yet, but we've already had 4.3", which is nearly twice normal. For comparison, we had almost no rain in that period last year. The result is that the plants are all going nuts, we have not had to buy any water, and it looks like we may get through the season with no wildfires.

In spite of that we have made quite a lot of progress in taming the more overgrown parts of the property, and now most of it can be maintained with a lawn mower instead of a weed eater and a machete. The big pile of white rocks that has been behind the Spiegel house is finally gone, as Tom hired our neighbor Blakka and they turned the pile into another terracing wall.

Our social life has been lively, with visits from Bob and Jenny Stundtner, Charlie and Lily Mayer, and Bob and Norma Frieden. We also got to a couple of parties, one thrown by fellow Saxham property owner Frank Beatty, and Binghi's birthday party.

Speaking of Binghi, he and Tom have been working on several more tiling projects. Binghi completed the wainscoting on the north wall of the bedroom, which leaves the bedroom with only one small panel left to tile. Tom took on a project he's been thinking about for a long time, rendering the iconic illustration of Alice getting advice from Absalom the hookah smoking caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. This panel is six feet tall! They are now working together on tiling one of the arches on the front porch - pictures of that project next time.

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