Day 93, 18 Aug

40 Visitors

Brick Mason Restoring Brickwork on Gift Shop Wall

A beautiful morning dawned to start the day with an 8am phone call from Ken letting us know he was coming over with the two brick masons and loads of bricks. He would need the dinghy and tram to move stuff. I got up and started the popovers, and waited for the call from Fred to go out and be ready to give tram hand signals.  I went out to do that and met one of the masons. The first load of bricks came up and he proceeded to take them off, 7 at a time. We eventually had 3 loads of bricks and associated supplies. Both masons took bricks off and carried them up to the house where they were going to be used to replace old bricks.

In between all this I kept watch on the popovers and made sandwiches for Ethan and his helper. I also had two red velvet cupcakes left from the day before. We managed to have a nice popover breakfast with Jane and Tony before a few people began showing up for tours.

Around noon we expected the ferry visitors but it remained quiet. We later found out that Ethan was not coming out with his usual load. We had a nice chat with Ken and the mason guys were busy working away on the wall under the inner window of the gift store. A few more visitors trickled in from private boats. Fred was in contact

A Moss Rose Planted in the Rock Outcropping by the House 

with Jackson who verified the strange story of the guy who took our keeper box to use for keeping his lobsters in.  It is supposed to be custom for people to use boxes in this manner but it is still rather strange and adds to confusion on the part of us who nearly lost our dinner. Jackson asked Fred if he needed more lobster and I asked Jane if she would like more and she said yes so Fred asked Jackson for 4 more lobsters to be left in the cove. There was a nice lull in the visitors and we decided to cook up the salmon and green beans for lunch. Fred cooked the salmon in a pan on the stove and Jane microwaved the green beans. We had a delicious lunch and the mango salsa that I made up the night before went perfectly with the salmon. Tom would have been proud of my salsa since it turned out so good with his homemade

Young Seagull that we Watched Grow Up Down at South Point, Fred Actually
Saved one of them by Extracting Him from a Deep Crack that he was stuck in

chipotle seasoning. Of course when we were about to eat the salmon a group of 18 shows up but Fred told them well ahead a time that we were going to have lunch and could they please wait for tours. Fred barely finished his lunch and ran out to give the tours. I later went and manned the gift store. Jane and Tony again graciously washed the dishes and cleaned up after lunch. There were just a few more visitors after that big group and around 5 pm I took Jane and Tony down the South trail for a hike. Fred was busy mowing the lawn, which so quickly needed to be mowed again after the rains. It was nice and unseasonably cool again today and we had a nice hike down South trail though the flies started biting at the tip when we were trying to enjoy the views. The 2 young

Sunset

seagulls were lurking on the rock cliffs where they have been all their short young lives and it was good to see them again.

We hiked back to the main trail and went on down to the cove to see what was going on down there. There was a powerboat moored there but no dinghy and no people about.

Fred then appeared with a lobster bucket and he was going to go out to retrieve the lobsters. This time no one took off with our box of treasured crustaceans. I went down the Cobblestone trail to prune and snipped away till the end. I noticed the bucket from our last lobster meal that Fred had brought down to dispose of the lobster shells. I did see the dinghy from the powerboat round the turn and it’s 3 occupants wave at me and I waved back. I did a quick hike over to the other mini cove area and then returned to pick up the bucket and go back to the house, It was approaching 7:30 pm.  I noticed Fred ahead of me on the tram returning to the house with the bucket of retrieved lobsters. Jane and Tony were hiking back on the trail and we all converged at the house. We relaxed in the living room for a little bit and Fred cooked up some hamburgers for himself and Tony for dinner since they weren’t crazy for lobster dinners like Jane and I. I took a shower as Jane prepared the Red Lobster biscuits and the lobster water was boiling. As the lobsters were cooking we had salads that Jane made and biscuits afterward. We cooked all 4 lobsters and Jane and I had another gluttonous feast of our bright red beasties. We ripped apart the second set and stored the meat for tomorrow. I bought some lobster bisque soups and will put the leftover lobster in them for a meal tomorrow. It was now about 10pm and people started drifting off to bed. I of course stayed up late to finish this blog. It will be the last full day here with our cousins tomorrow and we will have to make the most of it. I also need to pack up a duffel of clothes and stuff to mail back home. Less than two weeks left at our island summer home.  We have mixed emotions about leaving. I won’t miss the constant stream of visitors everyday and exhausting schedule but will miss the moments of beauty and solitude of the lighthouse and island that we have come to know and love.  The dry warm desert of home is calling and beckoning us to come back and we do miss the beauty and solitude of our beloved southwest. Off to sleep with dreams of warm sunshine in a pastel hued canyon with tiny lizards doing their pushups as jackrabbits, roadrunners, quail and the magnificent rattlesnake doze on till dusk when the blazing Milky Way starts to light up the azure blue sky to illuminate a path to serenity and calm that only desert magic can do.