Day 86, 11 Aug

53 Visitors

Osprey Taking off near the Tram

What can I say about another stellar sunny morning to get going to? We had to get up a tad early because the ABC Portland affiliate news crew was to arrive at 8:30 am to interview us and take video and pictures for a 3 minute clip to be shown on a local show Saturday. Ken was to boat them out to the cove and Fred met them all in the dinghy and brought them and their gear to shore. I managed to get down to the cove to meet and greet them also. We said our hellos and I started up first to the house via the tram. I noticed one of our ospreys sitting on the tram railing ahead of me and stopped to take photos of it. Onward I went to the house with the osprey flying off the railing. The two- man news crew came up to the house after being escorted by Ken and Fred. I arrived to the house to see the osprey now sitting at the north apex of the house and I crept ever closer to get more nice shots of him. The news guys finally showed up and asked to interview us first. A bench was set up with us facing the sun and one news guy facing us in a chair while the other one was lying on the ground with his big camera filming and taping us. So while we squinted into the sun we answered questions that were put to us for our interview. I think I had my eyes squinted shut the entire time since it was awfully bright out for my baby blues and I will look ridiculous – so much for my close up!  After our interview the guys interviewed Ken for a while and I was able to get Sac her vitamins and her morning walk. We then escorted the guys into the tower and up to the lens. I was like a nervous, protective mother the entire time the big camera guy was near Beauty with his equally big camera. He did fine and was very careful but I still didn’t relax till he was down and away from her. He also took a few shots in the gift store, museum and our private quarters to use for the video. So we will have to tune in on Saturday and check out our 3 minutes of fame – HA!

Osprey Sitting on the Roof

We were surprised we didn’t have any visitors show up till about 10:30 am and Ken graciously gave them tours while I was busy with the news crew. We took over as soon as we were done and soon after Ethan arrived with his boatload including our overnight guests. They greeted me outside the side door of the gift shop with all their stuff. They hauled it up the trail themselves. They were a very nice family of grandparents with their two grandchildren of 11 and 13, a boy and girl.

I showed them their quarters and they knew how busy we were with tourists and went off to have lunch. The crowds weren’t as big as on the weekend but we still were busy with them on this perfect afternoon. Ethan had brought me one of his stylish sweatshirts that I had asked about. It has his business logo on it with the Leeward pictured. He sent a small and an XL and the small fit me great so I returned the XL to him. The ferry group left at their usual 2pm time and we thought we could finally have some lunch. NOT! Private groups started to show up and we took care of them. At around 3 pm I was able to cook up Kim’s easy enchiladas, which went much smoother this time. They were delicious with my fresh lettuce, some tomato and a bit of sour cream. Not soon after we ate more people showed up including a group of 14 that looked like they were having a good time on their party boat. One of the gentlemen was the owner of the Depot bar and grill in Gardner and that we were to stop in for a free drink. We just might do that.

Enchiladas for a Late Lunch

After this group left it was fairly quiet and I grabbed the computer to catch up on delinquent blogs to write. Fred was working on sawing off the end unneeded frayed cable end near the tram house making the tram stronger. The nice overnight family group went down to the cove to look for sea glass and take a swim. Fred was able to find a nice cobalt blue piece for the girl, but she was finding pieces just fine on her own. I was enjoying my quiet time on the bench overlooking the ocean facing east. I did get one blog done and the family returned to get their private tour of the lighthouse. They urged me to continue to stay in my private time and Fred took them up for a very nice tour, which they greatly valued and appreciated. I started to get eaten alive by the emerging mosquitos and ran inside to change into leggings and my warm, soft, new sweatshirt and spray myself with Deet on my legs and ankles. I went over to the sunset bench to work on the remaining blogs with its fantastic western view of the sea and Popham Beach. It was that magic serene time just before sunset where all is calm and beautiful. I had my Singapore Sling sitting in paradise for a brief bit of time. The sunset faded into some fogginess in the distance and my time was done too quickly. Our family was having a nice relaxed dinner not too far away on a little table outside as they watched the sunset. They invited us over for some brownies and we partook and sat down for a chat. It was so nice to see these young people so comfortable and close with their grandparents.

Cynthia's Completed Painting of the Lighthouse Finished the Day Before

We started to get inundated with bugs with the dusk arriving so we invited them in to our living room to chat a little more.  After they left I went out and picked lettuces and herbs for our evening salad, which I made up and we munched on. Fred cooked up some tender and light sole fillets with lemon, dill butter sauce, which rounded out or late dinner. The fog rolled in and Tooter stared tooting away. The great spokes of darkness emanated from Beauty’s light in the deepening fog in the night. We drifted off to sleep with dreams of just how, will I, capture that in a painting.