Saturday, 20 April 2019: Brussels

Justin and I have been busting it the past few days since we returned to Brussels.
Justin worked first on getting the heaters on, water re-connected and shutters down while I worked on  uncovering the cushions on couches and chairs, getting the bed made and getting the phone and internet connected.

We had a glitch with the water: Justin had gone through the exact same procedures for blowing out the lines that he’d done last winter but this year some pipes burst.  The plumber we called explained that it had been such a rough winter that many people were having similar problems.  After the water was on and the hot water heater humming we were in business.

When we moved our attention to outside we started raking.  And then we raked some more.  At least there was no snow.  Don and Amy, our next door neighbors, still have a bit of a snow bank in their yard but thankfully, we have none.  Don had to get the snow blower going for our driveway when we returned last year.  Thankfully this year it wasn’t so.  The water in the bay is already up farther than it ever was last year which isn’t what we wanted at all as these high levels will not allow us to get any work done on the break wall.

There was a moment when I was reminded of our days in Mexico, but only a moment.  The plumber was at the house working and at the same time the guy came to pump the holding tank.  So, two sets of workers at the house except today, Justin and I weren’t just supervising, this time we were working too.










After a quick trip to Woodmans we went to the sailing club to meet Chris.  Chris is buying the Emerald.  He doesn't know how to sail but he knows how to repair the engine.  He's done some work on both the Emerald and the Merlin; Justin is happy to teach him to sail and will sponsor Chris to join Windjammers Sailing Club.  In effect, we are inviting Chris and his three year old daughter into our family.  

We made our first trip to Marchants to buy a ham for Easter dinner and a few other essentials -- things like bacon ... and cheese...essentials.  I stopped by the post office to tell them we were back so they’d start delivering our mail again.  When I walked in, Postmaster Penny was on the phone.  She saw me, smiled and continued her phone conversation.  As soon as she hung up, she turned to another lady in the back and said “the Miller’s are back.”  Then she came to talk to me.  Carl stopped by to say hey and to tell us of his winter.  We were home in time for a spectacular sunset.

Yes, it is nice to be back.