caretaking

Final days on Seguin 2011

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Our last days are full of activity. The weather is exceptionally nice and visitors arrived by ferry, lobster boat and kayaks. Lobsterman are back to their traps after several days ashore because of bad weather. And we’re closing up the house. In an effort to preserve our clothing, we were removing some things from the house, naked. We thought all visitors had left. Nope, new ones arrived. They didn’t run off so they could not have seen anything. Could they? They even offered to help.

Working harbor

Visitors heading off

Kayakers heading in

Household items heading below

Tim was in a glory because we had a scheduled burn in the cove below the tide line. He built a great little structure, burnt his New Yorkers as starter and the construction debris went up in flames and smoke. We called the fire department before we started, to prevent them from thinking the island was on fire, and left a message on their voice mail. Left a message on their voice mail?

Bonfire diminishing

Today was a good caretaking day

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Miraculously, the rider mower we worked on last year unsuccessfully, runs like a charm! We’re not sure if it was used this summer but I was able to mow crop circles around the upper 40, near the keeper’s quarters and lighthouse. I love that mower and was so happy to have enjoy it running again. We had our first group of visitors since we arrived and got to show them around the lighthouse (and take pictures of my crop circles). They arrived while we were finishing up a successful repair of another lawnmower and the weather was beautiful. What more could we ask for? Plus, I finished my pair of socks tonight and will have another pair to wear before we head home.

crop circles

helipad

I couldn’t resist a different view of the lighthouse: its shadow over the cobblestone trail.

Lighthouse shadow

Caretaking heaven

Low flying rainbow

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High pressure arrives

A cold, high pressure system blew the fog away today. The wind was dry and from the north, so Tim headed out to one trail to work and I went to another with our respective weed whackers, more delicately called whipper snippers in Australia. He had the good sense to get back to the house when a rain squall blew by. I saw it and thought it would just pass. Well it did pass but not before it soaked me and with cold, wind-driven rain and hail. Back at the house, I caught a rainbow in the storm’s wake, which had hardly any arch and was almost flat along the water.

Low flying rainbow

We are not alone here

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Well of course not. We have the cats with us. But even during the storm last night, a boat was tucked in behind the lee of the island. They must have been waiting for the tide to change because the weather didn’t really get better until later today and they were gone by early morning. We had several hours of sun today, which was very nice and brightened our moods. Even the cats were a little stir crazy. We were all happy to be out for a while today. Lobsterman were back out and a tanker went by about 3 miles south of the island this afternoon. There’s a hawk, which circles the east and south sides of the island and a few seagulls about. There’s an assortment of migrating birds passing by and attracted to the light.

Enterprise

I accomplished a lot of knitting yesterday and now find I like to have several projects going at once. I used to be almost exclusively a serial, monogamous knitter but there are so many projects. Some I have to focus on and others are more mindless. I’m knitting a “one stitch lace scarf” for patients who receive chemotherapy at the hospital, in a teal, machine washable blend. It’s simple garter stitch, with a dropped stitch lace pattern, and great to knit while we catch up on old episodes of Dexter.

Knitting trio

The gray and pink lace scarf was a mistake but now I’m so far along, there’s no stopping me. The stripes, combined with the lace, are too busy but I’m six feet into it so there you are. The pattern is Traveling roses, a pretty pattern but 43 stitches by 43 stitches for one repeat and this old mind just hasn’t been able to memorize it. I have it on my Kindle and insert a note to remind of the last row knit.

Monkey socks

The third project is a pair of socks for me with knitpicks stroll in a heather. Very pretty yarn and I have made myself a pair of socks each time we have been here (I’m wearing my pair from 2008 now). So I want to keep up the tradition. It’s a nice reminder all year of the wonderful time we have on Seguin.

One stitch lace scarf

Traveling roses scarf

Seguin 2011

Outhouse bound

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Outhouse outfit We’re in the middle of a four day storm.  Hurricane Ophelia is passing offshore tonight stirring up the wind and water.  There’s no way on or off the island for a few days, which is always interesting. It makes me just a little more cautious.  No power tools, careful walking the quarter mile or so (in full foul weather gear) to the outhouse and spend way too much time indoors.

At least I have several knitting projects underway and lots of food to cook. Yesterday I made a couple of loaves of bread, chile and chicken soup. Tonight I’ll bake an apple pie. What could be more cozy.

Microwave mystery

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Microwave mystery
Getting to know an old home again has it’s benefits and disadvantages.  I can’t figure out one of the icons on the microwave. I’m not sure if I ever knew what it meant but now I am curious. Middle row, right.

I understand the cup with wavy lines over it will heat my coffee.  Defrost and clock are fairly self-explanatory although I would never trust top-brown. So what does it mean? I tried baking a potato with it to no avail.  It looks too smooth for popcorn but I will give it a shot.  The only thing it reminds me of is the Rolling Stones image but what would I cook with that?

Acorn soup fog

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Seguin oil house
It’s great to be back on Seguin. Today the fog rolled in and so the foghorn is blowing.  I made a curried apple and acorn squash soup and worked forever to replace a broken window pane.  All’s cozy now.  

The weather report said we had “uncharacteristically high astronomical tides” today.  Something must be up with the moon and the sun.

A long way to go

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Distance traveled
After a six hour drive to Popham Beach, ME, our stuff still had a long way to go.  Naturally we arrived at dead low tide and we had to lower everything by boat hook, including two cats, off the fixed pier to the Seguin Ferry below.  On the other hand, low tide exposed the beach so offloading was easy – with the help of friends.

Aldo Leopold bench
Our Aldo Leopold bench continues to stand watch over glorious sunsets.

The bridge is now unabridged

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The bridge
The road crew returned, put a few more boards and supports down and announced the bridge is unofficially open. With a running start we may make it over the hump.  

I took advantage and went shopping to buy some of the heavy items we’ll need on Seguin Island next week.  Time to plan for a couple of weeks’ provisions.  I just have to take the Deal Island, Tasmania list, convert it from kilos to pounds and divide by six.  Maybe I can just divide by 3 and call it even.

A beautiful ending

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We are poised to leave Deal island on the 15th of March. The Parks manager arrived with the new caretakers today and we are officially off duty. And the weather couldn’t be better. It’s warm, like summer. It was calm this morning for their trip out. We’ll see how we fare in two days. We’ve spent the past couple of days cleaning and getting everything in order. Now we’ve moved over to the visitor’s house and are visitors. Yesterday we walked to the lighthouse and had fun looking at our shadows. P3120147.JPG

At the end of the day, I had a home brewed stout, which had a creamy foam.

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Today, I put the work gloves away. It’s official.