rockrootsretirement

Category: Main Blog Posts

  • To Bee or Not to Bee…

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    7th October 2025 …that is the question. And it’s a question we are getting asked over and over again. It’s a positive sign of Pollards being a good natural environment, but it brings its challenges. The roads of Barbados are littered with signs saying ‘WE MOVE BEES’ followed by a phone number. Many small outfits…

  • That sinking feeling

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    October 3rd 2025 According to the tracking at 18.00 last night the Valparaiso Express docked in Bridgetown. The ship looks just massive, I mean ginormous and soooo very heavy. Nestled in the melee (I hope not at the bottom), one of those little squares, is our huge 20ft container. I have to admit being initially…

  • Coming of age

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    1st October 2025 Happy birthday to us. A year ago today we collected the keys to Pollards Mill, eventually gained entry (see ‘Key Day’, 3rd October 2024) and began living this crazy experience for real. What a rollercoaster of a year. We’ve pushed our boundaries way beyond the limits of what we expected or even…

  • Repair Shop

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    30th September 2025 The monkeys have been particularly interested in the orchids in the large hard wood trees in front of the kitchen window. I’m guessing that there are new tender shoots that they are munching on. The fall out for this is that they pull out the orchids and the remnants plummet to the…

  • A week is a long time in Pol….s

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    28th September 2025 Friday (19th September) The day after termite Armageddon, and we had a day off because we expected workmen on Saturday and planned to work whilst they were here. So we kicked back, chilled out at home and managed four dips in the pool before lunch! It’s really lovely having the time to…

  • Thursday’s Child

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    18th September 2025 Buried in our long list of to do things, admittedly fairly low down, was treat the property for termites. We had a recommendation that it needs to be done every 5 yrs. As we have come to accept the sparsity of information from the previous owner extends to all manner of things…

  • Jamming

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    14th September 2025 Those of you who have asked when we are having a rest will be pleased to hear that we have managed to have the entire weekend off. Woohoo. We returned to Kensington Oval on Friday for Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders. (Not another post about cricket, please – Ed. OK, OK…)…

  • Bat shit crazy

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    12th September 2025 It could be put off no longer. We had to deal with the machine gunned guano debris on the walls of the mill. We had lined up someone to come and help, a vat of bleach and a pressure washer. Needless to say after initially saying he wanted the job, for 3…

  • Back on the Beast

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    10th September 2025 The highlight of this week was set to be the resumption of my stormy, steamy affair with the Beast. Our drive mower has tested my patience, faith and wallet in equal measure since we first met each other’s magnetic gaze nearly a year ago. To be fair, I have inflicted as much…

  • We need a shower

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    by

    TrickyAndNIcky
    in

    10th September 2025 The last couple of days have been very hot and humid, and actually despite it being the rainy season we have had little rain recently. Any rain we have had has been a short, sharp shower, nothing substantial. The garden is dry. Some plants are thriving, the bougainvillea is a mass of…