Happy Start of Labor Day Weekend! - Friends of Seguin Island Light Station

Friday
September 2, 2016

Guest blog post, Patty here at the keyboard.

The day started off cool and sunny with a gentle breeze, although coming from the north so blowing right into the cove. While Mitchell was working on a blog post, I used up the last of the pancake mix left by the Munro’s. I added in some blackberries picked on the island, and made a side fruit salad to go with the pancakes.

After breakfast I spoke with Cyndy who was calling to let us know that our campers this weekend will be staying only Saturday night leaving on Sunday instead of the planned Monday departure because the seas on Monday are supposed to be extremely high. Huh, from hurricane Hermine? Seems kind of early to me for it to be affecting us, but what do I know? Cyndy also wanted to know if we could do a short day next Wednesday, coming back to island around 1pm so we and the Wednesday warriors could all have a picnic together. Why, yes, we can! I hope the arrangements work out for this, since it would be great to spend more time than ‘hello and goodbye’ as we rush past one another on the beach during the dinghy shuffle.

We then went down to the cove for water and also just to check out the conditions. The wind had picked up a bit and we are expecting an almost high tide when the Leeward arrives from Popham with today’s guests. That combination makes it difficult for Brook to get everyone unloaded from the dinghy on the beach. While we were at the cove, I pulled Hinckley

up a little bit higher since we keep hearing rumors about rough seas coming. Normally this is a ‘Mitchell job’, but he wrenched his back yesterday pushing me and a super heavy load of our stuff (we are moving all of our stuff off island in three regular trips) off shore. It was bothering him all day yesterday, and even though he says it is ‘better than it was’ (what does that mean?), I know it must really be bothering him since he didn’t stop me from pulling up the dinghy. Also, as I write this, he is taking a mid-morning laydown which NEVER happens.

Rich & Corinne with their guests picnicking on the helipad

I digress…back to Friday. Before Ethan arrived with the ferry group, I made salsa which we snacked on with some tortilla chips. On the ferry were 25 people, including a group of 15 consisting of 4 generations! The oldest was 93, the youngest an infant. I think this may be our oldest visitor this year, although we haven’t been keeping track of that. Also in the group were a father son who left mom and two other sons on the Leeward to fish. I sure hope they caught some dinner! Another couple that arrived on the ferry were from Maine and very interested in lighthouses. I showed them the guest quarters, and they hope to stay here for the night, maybe for their 30^th anniversary next year. I had to tell them Happy Anniversary now, since we won’t be here next year. We also had a member of the Percy family from Popham who brought along two out of town friends. We chatted for a while in the museum, which was fun.

Just as the ferry group was finishing up their tours, Rich who has been here several times this summer arrived with a group of 12. He told Mitchell that he and his wife have had a ton of houseguests this summer and we have met them all! Some of today’s group had been here before and some had not. A young lady who was here with him last Sunday had picked a bunch of blackberries and had plans for a pie. I found out that she made 2 pies, along with a homemade crust which turned out ‘awesome, best pies EVER’. She picked more berries and I hope whatever she makes with them is just as good. The jury was out on more pie or sauce for ice cream.

Grill cheese sandwich with cheesy longhot pepper

After giving tours to those in Rich’s group that wanted them, we had grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches with a side of longhot peppers with more cheese. This was definitely a Mitchell lunch with every part of it involving cheese. After lunch we had a return visitor from Andover, MA bringing along a friend and his daughter from Victoria, B.C. Another pin in the map!

After this group, the afternoon was quiet and we didn’t do a whole lot. Mitchell is not capable of resting his back if I am outside working, so we read some, I packed some kitchen things that we won’t use before leaving, and made dinner of chicken and beets. Beets…yum! While eating we listened to a ‘Maine Calling’ segment on NPR about goat farming. It was quite entertaining. We struggle with wanting to live out of a backpack, but also wanting goats and chickens. How does one reconcile those two things?

Visitors – 40