Caretaker obsessions

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Caretaker obsessions

Originally uploaded by One2KnitFar

— Sent from my Palm PreI was determined to reveal the old helipad yesterday.  No easy task since it was totally overgrown and I didn’t have a shovel.  I tapped around and uncovered a few of the bricks and then I had to imagine the triangle with the "H" in the center.  Then I just had to follow the yellow brick path.  Now the Coast Guard can find us.  Next I will repaint the bricks.

Tim’s obsessed with clearing sumac.  There is ssomething for everyone here.

Somebody pinch me

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This is the view I see when I get up.  Incredible.  Boats are working or just passing by all day (and night), seagulls and other birds sing all day (and night).  A few years ago, we decided to try to live in beautiful places and we are.  We spent two summers here; one on Seguin Island in Maine; a winter on Fire Island and will return to the Adirondacks before traveling to Deal Island in Tasmania.

I’m counting on the Geek Squad

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Right before the weekend, my cmera bit the dust.  I had to wait until yesterday to leave it with the Geek Squad.  It may have been dropped one too many times.  We’ll see.  These are two of my last shots.  I hope to have either a repaired camera or a new one by next week.
Fireworks were all around us on the 3rd and Fourth of July.  Actually too close to us on the 2nd and Loki is just recovering from shell shock.   We have had pink, purple and red sunsets.  it was hot here yesterday but there has been  a light breeze.  No air conditioning or fans, just clean water to swim in.

Bee’s business

Adaptable cats

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Shirley and Loki are so easy.  They cruised on a sailboat for 2 months last year and now they are back at their favorite lighthouse.  I forgot their cat door (it’s not much use in the Adirondacks, where they may be eaten by coyotes, fishers and martens) but was able to fashion one from plywood.  We’ve gone minimalist on the approach and it hasn’t slowed them down one bit.
Loki was traumatized by locals blowing up fireworks on Friday but since then, the professionals have been shooting them off in the distance.  Last night we watched them at Manchester and tonight we expect to see them at Beverly, Marblehead and Boston.  We have ringside seats and the noise is much less.
My camera died yesterday and I will have to trust the Geek Squad to replace it with a new one.  I managed to upload some photos before it’s last breath.  Of course the sunset was magnificent the other night and I couldn’t take any photos.  My firework shots never really worked anyway so I’ll just get to enjoy them tonight.
Tim’s got the rowing machine back on the island, I’ve been running the trails and life is good.

Skylight view

Treasures of the day

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Tim went off island today to deal with boat and captain stuff.  I stayed home and did carpentry.  I cut a closet door, covered pipe holes in the floor and built a low shelf.  When he called to say he was on his way home, I headed to the beach and found treasures on the beach.  I’ll keep looking for the other shoe because I think it may be my size.  I believe the skull is from a bird because it’s very porous.

The new look: born to run

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Cooper recommended the book, Born to Run to me.  It’s about barefoot trail running and the negative impact the sneaker industry has had on our pocketbook and knees.  So I have been trying crocs with socks.  Not to attractive, I have to admit, but a pair of crocs costs $25 and I’ve been feeling pretty good.  The only problem here is that the newly mowed grass gets caught in my socks.

Last night we had the boat ride from hell.  It all started innocently enough. We went ashore to an afternoon play on Cape Ann. Then dinner with very nice but slow service and when we made it back to the dock to ride the whaler back to the island the fog was thick, THICK.  Visibility was less than 100 yards.  Luckily we had our handheld GPS with the waypoints of the buoys back to the island and the seas were calm.  We announced on the radio that our little boston whaler was headed outbound in the Salem Sound.  What are we?  Nuts?  But we made it back safe and sound.

We have had some water trouble.  Our well water didn’t pass the test so we had to get to the well and treat it.  We only had to lift three of these blocks to find it.

Concrete block over the well we lifted

Small craft advisory and thunderstorm warnings.  Time for sailing camp.

Crazy sailing school

Loki apres dinner

Faint rainbow, June 28

It was a dark and stormy night

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Not really but there was a brief, intense storm right before sunset.  Then the sky was beautiful.  Luckily we watched it from indoors.

Caretaker fingers

Tim and I have matching injuries.  My index finger got mildly caught in the flywheel of the string trimmer.  Oops.

Storm brewing

Striped berries

I want to figure out what these are.  Any ideas?

Nice clouds

Time to do it all over again

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We finally completed our first pass of mowing.  It took five days!!  Yesterday, I took the day off and we’ll be back at it again today.  Now we have to chop up the 3 feet long grass that is lying on the ground and take it down a notch.

The seagulls start their racket 4:30 am.  The other night, we heard a laughing gull.   We both stirred, laughed with it then rolled over and went back to sleep.  Yesterday, a dolphin washed up on the beach.  Very sad.  I hope the high tide overnight took it back out to sea.  Maybe it will take the deer with it too.

The projects begin.  At least the house is in pretty good shape.  Tim’s been on the roof to fix flashing (no easy task getting back down), we are having some trouble with our well water and need to install more batteries.  Not too bad.  And it’s sunny.  Small craft warnings today, so we’ll stay on the island.

Some things don’t change

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Last night I noticed both cats focused intently on something out the window.  I looked and saw a two point (I think) buck munching on the grass.  I could be in the Adirondacks.  Apparently, deer are not known here and this one may have swum out over the winter.  Two weeks ago, a rabid raccoon entered a house here via the cat door and bit the sleeping owner on the foot.  We have been acting as doormen for our cats who have already caught two mice here.

Deer on the island

Two point buck

We are settling back into island life.  We really appreciate how much work we did here last year.  Today, we saw more sailboats than we can remember.

Daisies and sailboat

We’ve been using the lawn mower, string trimmer ( the official name for a week wacker) and some other lethal motorized device to thrash our wheat.  I think we need pitchforks to create a big hay pile.  Today Tim found a scythe and looked the part clearing the lawn.

Tim with a scythe

Thrashed wheat from the lighthouse

Boston skyline

This was our biggest feat last year.  We managed to snag a snap on a pole, eight feet out and a hundred feet high.  This is the line that flies the flag off the lighthouse tower.  Except we don’t have a flag at the moment so we just admire our line.

Last year’s amazing project

I found a new Beaufort scale measurement today.  The wind speed was probably 20-25 knots which was enough to blow our rice crackers right off the plate.

To the lighthouse

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We drove to MA to head to the lighthouse yesterday.  The cats traveled like champs.  They didn’t do too bad on the boat and dinghy ride either.  Unfortunately, when we got here, our mooring had vanished, likely from a storm in winter.  We looked around and then arranged a borrowed mooring with the island’s winter caretaker.  While this was going on, a squall blew in and all my clothes and Tim’s electronics got soaked.  Then the grass was waist high.  But today was a new day and all is well.

Shirley bewildered

Cats and other luggage

My wet clothes

The waist high lawn

Today I tried to get the weed wacker to work for about an hour then took the John Deere lawnmower out to the field.  I set it on a hover craft setting and thrashed the wheat.  Much improved.

A better day

The helipad