caretaking

Hold onto your hat

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Yesterday’s weather was exciting. Top wind speed was 48 knots (55 mph), which classifies it as a Storm on the Beaufort Scale. I couldn’t walk against it. The weather station recorded it as the highest for the year and gave a wind warning and told us to hold onto our hats. It was so loud we couldn’t hear the foghorn.

The rider mower and the weather station are my two favorite gadgets here. The jury is still deciding if the mower is going to remain on island but I think I may have fixed the temperature sensor on the weather station by connecting a wire, which was loose.
48 knots
We had already boarded up the house and put outdoor furniture, grills and planters away. Our only casualty was a broken oar on the dinghy. We checked the boat during the strong winds and it was secure but there was a new moon and very high tide and it must have been tossed around.

The dinghy was fine, except for sand and seaweed washed into it
 but the working end of paddle broke off and rendered it useless. We had a few extra oars in the boat house and I drilled a hole in one for the oarlock and it looks fine. It’s too rough to test it today because it’still very windy but we should get a chance tomorrow.

Low ceiling

Rest stop for passing birds

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Fly by
The island is a rest stop for many migrating birds. The species have changed during the month. We’ve had common flickers, american kestrels, some from the warbler family and others (unidentified by me).

They dart into open doorways, windows and people. We’ve had birds in the whistle house, donkey engine house and the lighthouse. I hear my children’s ancestors having premonitions because of three birds in the house! Tim and I have managed to get them all out unharmed. One was still in the lighthouse when the USCG chopper arrived. Luckily they were only looking for a toilet and never ventured into the tower.
Touch down
 Really.  A very cute, young USCG, with an English accent, hopped off and asked to use the bathroom. They are all closed up here, so after a brief walk,  he reboarded and they took off. THEY LOVED THE NEW HELIPAD. He said it looked brand new (Ethan uncovered the old triangle of bricks and I mowed it when the rider mower ran). They will be back this week because they plan some work on the light.

I was just getting ready to incubate a batch of yogurt in the lighthouse before they arrived. It turned out to be too cool so I used a combination of a warm water bath in the crock pot and a slightly warm oven. We had homemade yogurt and english muffins for breakfast. Now I am going to try to use the rest of this batch as a starter for the next. And so on and so on…

Yogurt

Could be a long walk

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The cove
This photo highlights our bathroom situation. We sleep in the quarters at the top of the hill and use the outhouse at the bottom of the hill near the cove. It’s all about planning.

There is a crisp north breeze today. It’s great sleeping weather. Fruit or birch wood smoke is drifting from the mainland and I could hear the ringing of the bell buoy to the north.

I am calling the rider mower repair a small victory. After it ran for 20+ minutes two days ago, yesterday it wouldn’t start. I had moved a ‘kill’ wire and adjusted my favorite idle screw on the carburetor. The battery sounded weak so I charged it. Then the mower started right up and I gingerly mowed the upper 40 while I waited for it to stall. Never happened. The only time it conked out was when it ran out of gas.

And I finished knitting a sock made of possum, wool and silk from New Zealand. At least one foot is warm.

Finishing touches

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It’s a regular day again today. The lobster boats are out and the water seems calm. the last two days have been windy and sunny and I mowed the upper and lower forty – about six hours. All’s tidy. Tim painted the new doors for the keeper’s house and it looks spiffy – still needs a new roof though. P9040028.JPG

Windows are secure, for the most part. Someone installed a skylight in the keeper’s house,with a direct view of the lighthouse, which would be good if you had to keep it lit. Tim has caulked it at least three times and there is still a small nagging leak.

Power tools are winterized, the workshop is swept and now it’s time to clean the living quarters. We’ll start moving some stuff off the island today because the beach is calm(er). We haven’t told the cats we’re moving again yet. They’ll be happy to return to Seguin though. Nice weather provided another gorgeous sunset last night.

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My Urbanista hat is almost complete, now I just need a pair of mittens. I think it will take some stretching to fit my head.

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The sound of the waves was great the other day. The outgoing water pulled all the rocks out and they made a neat sound while they tumbled.

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There was a schooner festival and our local boats, the Fame in the foreground, and the Friendship were on the water. It looked like we were living in another era.

Surge is here, now we are waiting for Earl

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Couldn’t help a little hurricane speak. The weather is beautiful, sunny, hot, clear but the surge at our beach made our shopping trip an adventure. We pushed the dinghy out over 2 foot surf, then the seas were flat. This is the remnant of hurricane Danielle. On our return trip when we were laden with water jugs, paint cans, antifreeze, groceries and the lunch we ate ashore, we surfed into the rocky beach.

One of the reasons we went shopping today and ran all our errands was to hunker down for Hurricane Earl, which may bring gusty winds and high seas. We’ll see. In any case, we are well provisioned until we leave on Wednesday (weather permitting) and head to the lighthouse on Seguin for the month!!! Woohoo!

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We had another glorious sunset today. We said goodbye to the workers who have done a great job on the assistant keeper’s house. Doug even custom built a screen door for the porch on the keeper’s quarters and now we get a nice southerly breeze downstairs. We have some rainy day priming and painting to take care of this weekend.

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Windows and skies

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After the storm last week, we heard a foghorn offshore and went out to see a coal ship entering Salem Harbor. While we checked the windows for leaks, we were able to follow it as it entered the harbor. I shot a video of it with our foghorn in the background that is here.

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There was another gorgeous pink and blue sunset tonight. We’ll enjoy the weather while we can. We’re expecting some strong winds due to Hurricane Earl later this week. We are at the end of our provisions as we anticipate moving off the island. I managed to crack all our remaining eggs this morning when I dropped the crate. I think they’ll be fine, they are just pre-cracked.

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Day trip around Cape Ann

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We took advantage of beautiful weather this weekend and took a boat ride around “Cape” Ann, which is actually an island. It began with the Manchester lighthouse. This tower is not really a lighthouse but part of a big house. Rumor has it that the interior walls are carpeted so the acoustics are better when the owner relaxes in the tower with his music and cocktail.

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I think this s Graves Island off the coast of Magnolia Harbor

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This house is the only occupant of a beautiful peninsula, Crow Island (not really an island).

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We encountered schooners and pirate ships along the way. I think we were even fired upon.

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We explored a Lane’s Cove with boats tied to a stone pier.

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Then we returned to our summer home. Sailboats were out in full force because the wind picked up during the day.

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We had a luscious strawberry shortcake for dessert and went to bed. I tried in vain to see the Perseid meteor shower this month but it has been either cloudy or there is too much ambient light here, with the lighthouse’s rotating red and white light, flashing green and red channel buoys and the glow of Boston in the background.

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Boat traffic

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There has been lots of activity around the island and harbor.  Yesterday, at 5:45, I was awakened by a ship’s horn, blowing every minute.   I got up and went outside with my camera.  Another 300+ foot coal ship was coming into Salem for the power plant.  The morning was foggy and I heard its horn for fifteen minutes before I caught a glance of the boat.

It obliterated the local lobster boats who didn’t seem to mind its presence.

It was followed by a large motor yacht,  dwarfed in size.

We spent the day emptying the oil house of 30+ years of debris, animal nests, very nasty.  We brought the bags of trash onto the beach and were greeted by the landing craft and strapping young men this morning.

We offloaded 30 years of trash and then brought new gear onto the island.  Ikea furniture for the house and lots of construction materials for the assistant keeper’s house.

We emptied the goodies,  loaded the trash and sent the boat on its way.

The Salem Maritime festival was taking place today so after all the loot was stored, we went ashore and played tourist.

A large boat anchored off of Great Misery Island and we went to get a close look and found a young bloke in the rigging.  Apparently, I never got a good picture of it.

We were happy to see the Louis Story (sp) careened on the beach.  It’s a small, beauriful pinkey boat that we have seen sailing and at its mooring.  Maybe we’ll get a chance to sail aboard her.

We finished the day with a tour of the Friendship and ice cream from Captain Dusty’s.  A good time was had by all.

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.