Thursday June 25, 2015
67 degrees w/ 4 knots (see I’m getting better with my nautical terminology)
Day 42

You know how you wish summer would come because your cold….well the thought of HOT days doesn’t sound good to us right now.  We are loving the cool breezes and chilly nights.  We’ve got a heater down in the living room that is great for taking the chill off…but I keep turning it off at night welcoming the cold air to sleep in.
 
Spain is only 3000 miles straight across the sea, Texas 2000 miles
I don’t write down that we raise the flag every morning and lower it every evening.  It’s just become a given, something we do automatically without thinking about it. 

We haven’t even had our coffee and I’m already working in the gift shop.  We received new inventory of Fleece vest and jackets…I had a spot for them, but this is the first time I’ve had them on the shelves. 

Spiral staircase going up the tower
Larry said he hears the toilets and the North trail calling to be worked on.  These compost toilets are different.  They require constant upkeep to keep them functioning correctly.  They are at the same time kinda neat with the concept of “no water”.  There is one in each side of the duplex and one at the cove.
Entry to the tower

I hear the kiosk calling my name.  It is at the beginning of the Lighthouse trail.  It contains all the island rules and other bits of information.  I’m going to give it a fresh coat of white paint where all the info goes and clean the glass.  Last years keepers info is still up, so I’ve got to get our bio printed and pick it up at the office so we can get it on the board.  After the kiosk, if I have time today I’m going to touch up some of the other cove signs.  There is a “Welcome” sign, a “Do Not Anchor” sign, and another sign letting the boaters and guest know we have a “Museum and Gift shop”.

We had several visitors, some Ethan brought and two other boats came on their own.  Had a couple of teenagers that were really interested in the history of the island.  One couple had lived in Boothbay for many years and had come to Popham beach for the last fifteen years and had never been to Seguin.  They were amazed at the grounds, the buildings, the history and the views…they will be back!
After the visitors left, we grabbed a quick lunch which was hot dogs and chips!  With it being such a gorgeous day we figured there would be more visitors, but no….so back to work!
 
Larry pointing out what can be seen from the tower
Some of our visitors today
Finally got back to my painting on the kiosk and….You know when your really concentrating on something in one hand, and you don’t realize that the other hand  is holding something like a can of red paint…my green clogs will never look the same!
Larry worked till late on the North Trail.  He saw our first set of 2 baby gulls.  They were all fuzzy fluffy looking about the size of a softball.  They went running and momma wasn’t happy with Larry, she didn’t dive bomb him, but she was about 2 foot above his head calling him names!!

Chives blooms
Exhausted…and since we can’t get Pizza delivered out here…I had to cook…Hamburger patties, mushroom and onion brown gravy, salad, and baked potatoes with all the fixins.

With the dishes done, now its time for our “Sunset show” to end the evening.  It’s a different show every night.



Wednesday June 24, 2015
@ 4:20 pm it was 67 degrees w/2 mph winds
Usually I give you the morning temp..
Day 41

Shore Day….up early, gathered our container, dirty clothes, empty water jugs, paperwork for the office, and my list. 

Met Ethan at 7 am with two WW.  Gave Ethan his “cookies”…I try to make a batch the night before for our WW and Ethan.  Bandit had gone down the hill with us just in case no WW came today.  He was not a happy puppy when we got in the boat, he was running the shore line, went to the rocks and was running over them, even went up the stairs from the cove and came around to the boat house trying to go with us.  I’m really surprised he didn’t decide to learn to swim.

We’ve got this shore time figured out now…drop off our trash and fill our water jugs at Cyndy’s.  Then went and started the laundry, ran to the office, ran back to the laundry and put it in the dryer, ran to Southgate for breakfast, and back to the laundry mat to fold the laundry!  Makes me tired just typing it!  Then to get army green paint for a few projects….Rodgers Ace Hardware girls did an excellent job matching our sample.  We have to be strict on the paint colors used on the duplex and lighthouse. 

Groceries and Lowes and then back to Bath for Walgreens.  We were looking for some fresh fish.  We went down close to a park on Front Street in Bath and decided to just kill a little time and walk around.  On our way back we walked by a Pawn shop and stopped in.  Met some real nice folks, they knew Ethan and said they come out to the island every year.  While we were talking they told us of a place to get fresh fish….Plants...(that’s the name of the place).  We bought a couple of pds of Haddock. 

We finished by going to Spinney’s Restaurant next to Fort Popham.  We split a chicken tender basket for lunch and waited for Ethan at 3.  Finished and unloaded our supplies and I went and parked the pickup.  Popham Community Chapel lets us park there…thanks!  Walking back down to the pier, we loaded and back to the island.  The ride was bumpy, but that’s ok, make you realize your awake and on the sea and it sprays and hits you in the face. 

The WW were exhausted and ready to go home…I had left them cookies…they said they ate them all and were grateful.  Bandit was so excited to see us.  He is sitting on my foot as I type this….guess he doesn’t want me to get away.  The WW said that we had only three visitors today.  They were from Australia and come to America and spend three months a year sailing the coast of Maine.  The WW said that a window pane got broke in the Museum….but they fixed it….with duck tape.  They will be back out and fix it correctly next week…just love what you can do with duck tape!!

Tired and sore…I fell backwards, well it was really like I sat down and leaned backwards on the rocks in the cove…I was laughing because it was all in slow motion….and of course the guys on the boat saw it all…legs in the air…dang!

I didn’t mention the weather…it is gorgeous!  Families were out on Popham Beach playing in the water and sand.  Dogs running into the water chasing toys and bringing them back and guys fishing off big rocks around the Fort.  I didn’t see any seals today, maybe they are scared of the people. 
Next shore day we pick up one of our boys and his family and our daughter…can’t wait to see them and share this island with them.  Four generations on Seguin!

Only pictures are of tonight just a little after sundown.
Another beautiful day on Seguin comes to an end
Tuesday June 23, 2015
54 degrees w/8 mph winds
Day 40

Wow…40 days, it seems like it’s only been a week.  The clouds are thick, but it’s bright outside this morning with some drizzle.  Stayed up late last night trying to get my blog to post, but everything was running in super slow mode.  I finally got it to post this morning, but it wasn’t much faster.  Praying my computer wakes and does its job for the rest of the time we are out here.

Tuesday mornings are usually the time we drink coffee and get out our list of what needs to be done while we are ashore.  Listing to the weather station on the radio we aren’t sure if tomorrow will be a good day for Ethan to come get us.
Noon photo from keepers porch looking SW
 
This is what it looked like around noon
This is what it looked like at 9 pm...still so bright
One of our list is for food…trying to plan a menu and get all those little items that are usually in your pantry or you could borrow from a neighbor have made us better meal planners.  Another thing we have learned on this island is to make smaller meals.  I still tend to make enough for our entire family…cooking for two is different.  We want to find a local fish market…we find all kinds of places for lobster and that kind of seafood, I’m wanting some fish! Our second list is everything we need to do besides the grocery store.  If we need any prescription filled and picked up, paint supplies or repair items from Rodgers or shampoo, etc…  We also have a list for the Friends of Seguin office where we turn in our sales and pick up new items to stock the gift shop.  We get our mail from the office and talk with Catherine about anything we might need to know.  And of course we have to plan where we want to eat breakfast and lunch!  We also have to do laundry…I miss my washer and dryer!  Washer and dryer or island living?  I choose the island!

We had about two hours of thunderstorms today with thick fog around the island.  A day to sit inside and rest, take a nap, watch a movie on the computer, play card games or all the above!

Spaghetti sounded good for a late lunch and early dinner with garlic toast. 

The sun has since come out and the fog slowly faded away.  I haven’t had to water my vegetable garden since I planted it.  It rains every couple of days and does the work for me.  Not too many photo’s I can take during the rain.

Ethan thinks it will be ok to go ashore tomorrow.


Another view out the front at 9 pm
The rain let up but just for a little while.  Around 8 pm the thunderstorms started.  I’ve got a few photos of what it looked like at 9 pm. 
Looking out my kitchen window at noon
I had two seagulls out on the lawn, one flew away when I came out on the porch, but the other one must have something wrong with him…he’s been out there for most of the day and didn’t fly off anytime I went out to look at the weather.  
The seagull is just to the right of the bell...9 pm