The Pipe Project

It has been very rainy this year here in western Jamaica - 17.5" of rain since we arrived on November 8 - and as a result our road in to the property has been very muddy and impassable to vehicles much of the time. We really would like to make the road more stable, and part of that project involves getting the water off of the road. Looking at the situation, we determined that installing a culvert would help. We had two sections of very heavy concrete pipe that we acquired years ago, but of course the pipe was nowhere near where we needed it - about 900' according to Google Earth. So we made a couple of phone calls and at 8:30am a crew of nine friends showed up and we were off and running.

My calculations put the weight of the pipe at around 900 pounds, so we decided that sliding the pipe with the assistance of rollers cut from a log looked like the best bet. Maybe some rope would help!

OK, time to get this monster moving.

Around the tower and through the fence to the road we go.

Looking good so far. Now it's a pretty straight shot up the road for a ways.

Hauling through the muddy part. You can't see it in this picture, but when we hit the mud the rollers just sank in and the pipe wouldn't move. So we got some long 2x4's and laid rails for the rollers to run on. That worked and we were on our way again.

Once the pipe was moving we tried hard to keep it moving, so we'd grab the rollers as they came off the back and run them to the front. Sometimes we actually got them there in time!

Whew! We got the pipe to where it needed to be, and finished digging out the trench.

Almost ready to roll the pipe in. Tom inspects the progress.

OK, let's get this in!

Watch your feet! Watch your feet!

And with a thump it was in.

A bit of shovel work and we were done by 10:30am. Great work by all!

Holidays in Jamaica

The holiday period has been fun here at Whimsey Hall South, with animals, friends, and fireworks. We have a collection of animals that are regular visitors. Our streamer tail hummingbird, who we have named Speedo, continues to grace us with his presence.

Two feral cats come by to chow down on our food scraps. Stripey is named for her racoon strpied tail, and Howler for his distinctive voice.

And we occasionally have some free range chickens come for a visit.

We brought down a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, and even got Binghi into helping with it.

The usual kids came over for a visit, and my how they have grown up!

We're now beginning the next generation of kids...

And as we've moved into the technological future, the kids preferred mode of entertainment has changed.

We got some paint onto our grocery cart, which has the locals all very impressed.

As we approached New Years Eve, our Ithaca fireworks guys came down to do shows. Tom did the show at the Grand Palladium resort, Bob Hollenback was at the Round Hill resort, and Bill Turner did the show at the Tryall resort. Here we are having lunch and doing some planning for the big evening.

Doing the show at Grand Palladium was quite an experience. It was the first time we had been at one of the big all-inclusive resorts. It is an amazing, huge, place.

Tom had quite a good six man crew, so JC (aka Barbara) got to relax while Tom and the guys set up the show.

A big well lit cruise ship came by while we were setting up the show.

And then it was on with the party and the midnight fireworks. Someone videoed the show and put it up on YouTube.

 Bob came up to stay with us for a couple of days after New Years, and learned to cut tile on the diamond ring saw.

He also brought his homework with him - planning for fireworks back in the states for 2018.

And of course we had sunsets to admire. This one was from the Negril beach.

And this on from our porch at Valley View. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!