Day 64, 20 July

 39 visitors

Yacht we Shared Nice Company and Wine the Evening Before

We had a foggy morning today and cooler temperatures. Bertha went about getting more photos as the fog lifted. I replanted some flower seeds in my square flower boxes that have taken a hit from wind and rain. There are some plants growing but there could be more. The big flower box at the boat dock really took off with one small bald spot. The box by the kiosk is full of plants and flowers just starting to bloom. My little rock gardens are struggling with a few scattered plants. They dry up quick in the nice weather and have to be watered with frequency. The garden is going strong and we have been enjoying the lettuces and cilantro. New broccoli plants have sprouted and I’m hoping for more peas to sprout. Visitors started trickling in and the boatload from Ethan’s ferry arrived at its usual time. We gave tours and manned the gift shop. Bertha had brought her stuff down from her room and Fred loaded it on the tram and she took pictures as it went down to the cove. She decided she wanted to get back on the ferry a bit early to beat the crowds when they left and to have a more relaxed departure. I was at the house giving tours and in the gift shop and didn’t get to say goodbye. Eventually all the visitors left and were getting ready to leave on the ferry. I rushed down to the cove and hopped on a dinghy going to the Leeward so I good say goodbye to Bertha. A quick climb up on the boat and I ran over and gave her a hug goodbye and then ran back and jumped into the dinghy and back to the shore. Fred and I helped with the last load by pushing on the dinghy as the waves went back out from the beach. We had a few more visitors trickle in the afternoon as the weather cooled even more. Fred went down the North trail to weed whack it since it needed it badly with all the overgrown foliage from all the rain we had gotten. At around 6 pm I went down the North trail with clippers to prune after Fred.

Three Chicks and a Adult Seagull up North Trail

I met him at the little rainforest area and he went back to the house. I continued on clipping away where it was needed. I noticed the raspberries and blackberries and blueberries that were forming. I got to the high vista point to see three large baby seagulls hanging out with adults. They were almost the same size as the adults. I didn’t go up to the vista point since I didn’t want to disturb them. I went around the loop to the right through the wet soggy bog and back around to the far vista point. As I went out to the point the seagulls were dive bombing me and screaming – must have chicks about. Got to the point for a quick look and didn’t see any more chicks. Back up I went to the main trail and picked up the gas can that Fred

Lighthouse Reflection in Oil House Door Window

had left with the irate seagulls swooping upon me. Back up the big hill area to the high vista point where I snapped some silhouette pictures of the 3 young gulls sitting on their rocks. I wondered if Arthur was this size now and hoped he was. I kept snipping away on the way back up the trail and caught a nice glimpse of the lighthouse lit up in the late sun that came out finally with a sundog behind it and snapped a few photos. As I got back to the house Fred was walking Sac and I got more sunset photos with the Oil house and resident seagull on top. I went over to the Oil house to get more sunset photos with the foliage and noticed the reflection of the lighthouse in the glass panes of the Oil house and snapped a series of art shots of that.  By now it was about 8:30 pm and time to relax and get some dinner. We agreed to just make pizza and salad for an easy dinner. So, we relaxed in the living room for a bit and I got to knit more on my dress – up to 18 rows on the skirt!  Fred went to take out Sac for a walk and came back to tell me about the fireworks that were going off up north along the coast. We watched the nice show for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the good sized and varied fireworks. We went back in and while Fred worked on the computer I went back out and gathered the lettuces, cilantro and chives from my gardens with a headlamp in the dark and started a salad that Fred finished making later. I put garlic, oregano, mushrooms and turmeric on the French bread pizzas and put them in the oven. After our salad and pizza, we had some slices of the pumpkin roll that I made a few days earlier for dessert. Sac finally calmed down to sleep as we watched a movie and we got too tired to continue. Off to sleep with visions of Men in Black 3 creatures running through our dreams.