Today is our last full day with Joseph since tomorrow, Sunday, is a work day for him.   Last night we left the car at the Crowne Plaza and took a cab home so we all went to the Promenade this morning and went for a final walk along the beachfront before driving up to the hotel to get the car.  Joseph and Carrie did their usual circuit of two lengths of the Promenade while John and I meandered. The tide was in this morning so there wasn’t a lot of beach to walk on compared to the other times we have come.  I am always amazed at the quantity of small shells that are washed up on the beach with the tide.  Thousands and thousands of them.  No wonder the crafters have no trouble finding enough shells for the necklaces and boxes and trinkets they make.

At the hotel John and Joseph got in the Honda and Carrie and I took the BMW and we went to the Qurum City Center Mall to get butter and cheese, some small paint rollers that Carrie wants for an art project, and a ladder.

 We need the ladder to change the burned out light bulbs in one of the fixtures in the upstairs living room.  The villa has 10 foot ceilings on each floor (and 22 steps from the ground to the second story) so even though Joseph is 6’3″ he can’t reach the fixtures even standing on a chair.

It was a bit of a disaster at the ladder display.  Someone had stacked the ladders so they leaned on each other and when John and Joseph removed one to check it out a bunch of others fell over – thankfully only to the floor, not on to any merchandise.  They started to pick up the three or four fallen ladders and all the rest fell down the other way.  Seconds after the second loud crash a voice on the intercom called for staff to attend our aisle.  Carrie and I found it quite startling – also slightly humourous if the truth be told.  Unfortunately the store only had smaller step ladders that were quite expensive so the light will have to stay out awhile longer.

Then it was back to the villa for one of Joseph’s hearty egg scramble breakfasts, two games of Oh Crap, both of which Carrie won by a huge margin, and a relaxing afternoon.

Also, for those of you who know how much I generally dislike gardening, I want you to know that all the plants survived the intensive pruning I administered and a couple have started to bloom.  Several of the cuttings we stuck in the ground look like they are dying, but a few others are still looking okay.  They may lose all their leaves and take root later.  I’ll have to get Carrie or Joseph to keep us informed as to their progress over the next few months. So…nothing too exciting today, but since our intention on this visit was to spend time with our son and daughter-in-law, and John and I both do nothing well, we are not bothered by quiet days at the villa. I suspect tomorrow, our final full day will be similar.