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.
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.
Our Aldo Leopold bench continues to stand watch over glorious sunsets.
We are bound for Maine to finish the season at Seguin Island Lighthouse and close up the island and buildings for the winter. We will take 2 ferries and a dinghy and hope to keep our stuff (and cats) dry.
The bridge above is the new Champlain Bridge built with a design voted on by it’s users. Isn’t it pretty? It’s not done yet but will be soon.
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.
Today started mellow enough. I had a visitor via Ravelry, who has friends in common with me. I posted for Maine knitters to visit and the only taker was from Long Island, NY. We had a whirlwind fast tour before she and her daughter had to leave with Capt. Ethan. We have an extended family visiting with the cutest daughters, 8 and 11 years old, and are having fun with them.
But moving isn’t fun even when it is in an idyllic setting. We were too busy today. We finished closing chores: cleaned the main outhouse, emptied one of the cisterns, tacked up the last couple of boards on the house, applied linseed to the gutters, jacked up the deck and shored it up with rocks, winterized the rider mower, cleaned the house, refrigerator, moved picnic tables and benches into safety and found a dead woodcock in the gutters. Then we packed and sent our stuff down on the tram. Whew! Now I am on the couch with a Shipyard Ale.
Yesterday was bittersweet. Rose a caretaker in 2006, brought a bench to memoralize her husband, Jack, who passed away earlier this year. He loved Seguin and has a bench here to honor him.
It’s getting colder and windy weather is here to stay. I am glad our last few days here will be sunny and hope for calm seas when we leave.
The cats enjoyed the chance to get outside and took several hikes with me. I am feeling a little bit of a traitor because as much as I love Seguin, I am getting excited about going home, seeing family and our next caretaking gig on Deal Island, Tasmania. My three month shopping list is in progress; can’t forget anything.
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.
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.
The third nor’easter of our stay is passing by today. A gale with wind and rain. It’s not raining yet but there’s a fresh breeze from the north.
We took advantage of fair weather yesterday to board up the keeper’s house and other buildngs in preparation for our departure this weekend. Now we look though grates in the first floor windows. Nice jail.
Last night, Tim thought he heard voices, no music, on a couple of occasions and I heard footsteps. Hmmm. Maybe someone’s happy we are getting ready to leave.
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.
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…
Glorious morning. Wind shifted to the north, crisp air so why is the fog horn still sounding? Hmmm.
We spent time in the whistle house yesteday working on lawnmowers. I ran the rider mower 30 minutes. Today’s test will be to mow with it.
I used the rowing machine for the first time this trip. I started with it outside on the deck of the boat house. Then the rain began and I hauled it inside and continued, on a 30° downhill slant. When I finished, I walked to the beach to check out the surf.
Michael, Susanne and Eleanor managed to hike the south trail during a brief moment of sunshine yesterday and shared chili and stories with us last night. Blueberry muffins were delicious.
Island and North Country Life 