Thursday, June 15, 2017
Today was a day of chores because the forecast is predicting rain for the next 3 days and if we did not get all the grass cutting and weedwacking done today, it would be out of control by Monday. The island always looks her best when all trails and lawns are ready to greet guests, so Brian and I split up the list and off we went.
Brian ended up working the Cove and Cobblestone Beach area. He was having mechanical issues with the push mower down there and need to work on it for a while. It is hard to play mechanic on island when there are no spare parts for most of the older machines and his go to test equipment are on the boat in Georgia. It took him some time to figure out the spark issue and borrowed a part from another machine to let him get his grass cutting done. Now a part is on our shopping list for Wednesday.
I ended up with the top of the island’s maintenance, I feel like I competed in a grass cutting triathlon, first event weedwacking, moving on to transition into the push mower and then complete the day with a pass with the riding mower. It took most of the day to get done, but we are ready to have our weekend guests arrive. The negatives Brian and I both dealt with yesterday is the unbelievable clouds of pollen when you hit a bayberry bush and there are ant hills on island that easily challenge the ferocity of fire ants from Florida. If you accidently hit one of these ant hills with the weed whacker, be prepared for 1000’s of ants to quickly try to attack your feet and legs. Yes, we both are taking allergy medicine at night and putting a lot of triple antibiotic ointment on our ant bites.
With the warmer temperatures during the day, the island is coming alive with color. The wild flowers are blooming along the trails and it is adding a new dimension to the island.
There were 6 visitors to the island yesterday. A couple traveling to Boothbay Harbor for the summer on their boat and needed a pit stop for their 3 border terriers. A fun visit with the dogs and it seems they couple visit the island many times over the summer. The second group was from Harpswell, ME and they had with them a very cute set of twins, Zach and Ryan. Again, there is nothing better than giggling children on the lawn playing and were curious about everything.
At the end of the day, we enjoyed a quiet meal and a cocktail on the sunset bench. It was a hard day but worth it and it allows us some down time over the next few days to work on inside projects.
Guests today – 6
Guests total – 91
USCG – 6
