Tueday June 9, 2015

55 degrees w/16 mph winds

Day 26

Still hazy outside, moist winds and then later fog covering the island.

I slept in….8:15.  I’m telling you Texans that the sun is brighter up here in Maine and it wants you to get up much earlier too.

Breakfast of pancakes…yes, again!  And sausage!

I worked on some house cleaning, rearranging, etc…

Larry worked on cutting shelves for the guest quarters closets.  He finished my spice rack….which I have written on the bottom…In Honor of my mother, Judy Beth Pittman

Spice Rack in Honor of my momma

Howard, for the many meals she prepared in this kitchen in 1960-61. 

Ethan called….the weather isn’t going to allow us off the island tomorrow, maybe not Thursday, but Friday for sure.

That’s ok….love being here and we aren’t hurting for anything, well except a pedicure maybe.

Lunch….4 cheese grilled cheese sandwiches! Oh so good!  I tried to make “crack” from a Trisha Underwood recipe…saltine crackers, covered with a caramel toffee mixture then covered with chocolate chips. 

"Crack" and a crockpot of Pork butt

Guessing the weather is too moist…yep, that has to be the reason they didn’t turn out. 

Historical Fact

 1796, March…Seguin’s first keeper was Major John Polereczy, appointed for $200.oo per year.  He was a Hungarian Hussar and Count, his family had been Hungarian nobility as far back as 1613.   He was born in France and fought with French troops during the American Revolution.

He settled in Dresden, Maine after he resigned his commission, and he served for 25 yrs as town clerk, before and after his time on Seguin.  In October 1795, he wrote to Benjamin Lincoln to express his desire for the keepers position “for the better support” of his family.  “I am willing to sacrifice the pleasures of society,” he wrote.

1796, May…He wrote to Benjamin Lincoln to request a raise in pay…denied.

1796, November…He again requested a raise in his salary to $300.00.  “I have but one cow here for my family”.  The raise was again denied.  He served eight years as keeper.

My History

Kenneth Duke, Russell Wilson and my dad, Ronald Howard who were all stationed here at Seguin in 1960-61 decided to shave their hair….totally bald!  They were almost court marshaled for that.  Their hair was government property and they had no right to do it.  Lots of paperwork had to filled out.

Front of house with thicker fog

Well I didn’t take many photo’s today because there isn’t anything to take a photo of. 

Front of house with fog, can see a little of pebble beach below

So I took some to show you what you can’t see, but FOG…yep, more fog and a little more fog over there….the fog horn goes off, but it is so gentle that you can hardly know that it is sounding. 

Outside the back of the house...this is usually where you see those
fabulous sunsets....not tonight...Fog!

Still guessing it that the sound carries over the water.

Monday June 8, 2015

53 degrees w/16-20 mph winds

Day 25

Sorry for any mistakes that are made in typo errors.  I read and reread my post before I post them….just to find the error later on.  I haven’t figured out how to go back to a post after I “publish” it to correct the issue.

                                                                      

Dark and cloudy this morning, waves are high and I can see them coming in with white caps and hitting the rocks below in what we call Cobble Stone beach. Lobstermen aren’t even out.  Chances of rain later today or tomorrow. The weather channel, which is a must out here, isn’t saying good things about the rest of the week either.  We may not get off the island on Wed.

Photo from the internet of Seguin, tram, and the cove

 Breakfast of champions….cereal, then off to work we go!  Mowing around the whistle house and tower.  That was going well till the belt broke.  We thought it had slipped off, but after taking it apart, found that it was so thin in one spot.  We will call Rodgers, the local ACE store in Bath, to see if they have one we can pick up on our onshore day.  Did some general house cleaning.  The spice rack: sanded, nailed, stained and the first coat of clear coat.  Next emailed a few committee members.

Got a pork butt for dinner.  It didn’t look that big until I actually put it in the crockpot.  It’ not going to be ready tonight.  Guess pulled pork sandwiches will be tomorrow for lunch.  Lunch today were hotdogs, nice and easy…now back to work.

Historical Facts

1903-1907 Keeper Herbert Spinney was something of an ornithologist.  He had collected and mounted birds since his he was child.  He filled the dwelling with his collection.  His home became like a museum and since so many people were coming out to see it, he began to charge a dime for each visitor.  Not really to gain money, but to deter the amount of people visiting. 

My History

Dads Boat….While on Pond Island, my Daddy carved a ship.  He loved making and building things. 

Momma, Me and my little dog Fritz...on Pond Island

He would do this in the evenings when they weren’t playing cards. Not sure what kind of wood it is made from, but he did make it to scale.  Momma said she can’t remember what kind of ship he called it.  It is about 18” long, painted black with white windows along the top edge.  He made the glue he needed out of flour and water.  He used old lamps, jewelry pieces and other mini metal odds and ends to complete this. 

Dad's Boat

It has three post sticking up and one going forward…ok , don’t know the correct words for those post.  He did use a string like put dental floss for the “ropes”.    Momma said when they were having to hurry off Pond…remember the hurricane…she grabbed a galvanized tub, threw the wet clothes in, grabbed the pot of half cooked supper and the ship on top, then grabbed the two handles on the galvanized tub and hurried out the door.  As she went through the door, it broke the front post.  I still have this boat and keep intending to repair it.

A close up of the boat details

More detail on ship

Sunday June 7, 2015

55 degrees w/4 mph winds

Day 24

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalms 61:2

The sun rises sooooo early here in the northeastern part of the U.S.  At 5:22 am (4:44 am in Texas) the sun was shining so bright into the bedroom, that you would have thought it was already 10 am.  Going to work on a thicker curtain today!

It’s Sunday morning and I miss my church and my church family!  Aurora Baptist Church in Aurora, Texas.  One of my goals for this summer is to read my Bible completely through, saying each and every name. 

Raised the flag!  It is a perfect morning to go outside.   The sun is shining, the wind is low, the birds are chirping, the waters are calm and I have a cup of hot coffee.  The view…just wow, I can’t even begin to describe it. 

Maybe some guest will come today?!  The gift shop looks good and we’ve got lots of things to choose from.

 

By 9am the weather was already up to 62 degree’s!

Breakfast was wonderful….Larry could make a bowl of cereal and it would be wonderful, but this morning it’s eggs, fried potatoes’, bacon and toast.

We have decided for this to be a day of rest!

So that is exactly what we did all day….just rest and relax.  We really were expecting visitors to show up, guess that time will come soon enough.

The weather has turned a little cooler this afternoon with moisture in the wind.  Yard work tomorrow!

Historical Facts

Fog Signals: Cannons were the original fog signals, but were quickly deemed uneconomically viable. 

1858 The Jones fog bell arrived on the island.

Jones Bell back on Seguin

It had to be stuck twice every 15 seconds in foggy conditions.  Problems were the strikers would break and the inconsistency of the person doing this by hand made it ineffective.  Then came the steam engine and with it the invention of the fog horn. 

1870 coal was hauled up to the top of the island to run the steam engine.  The original bell was found at the USCG way station in Boothbay Harbor and has since found its way back to our island.  Thank You to those who made this possible!

1876 or 1889 a brick fog signal house, which we call the Whistle House, was constructed and another whistle was installed, a diaphone horn.  There have been many different electronic whistle installed with the use of modern technology.

Fog Signal/Whistle house

My History

Hurricane Donna…yep, couldn’t wait, they had to move us in the middle of a hurricane.  As we arrived at the house on Seguin, which just happens to be the side the Larry and I are living in.  Anyway, as we arrived at the house, the doors open and at the top of the stairs are several men who are “holding” down the skylight.  The hurricane was trying to suck it off the roof.  Here we are wet, tired, probably a little scared and a little upset because all these people are in our home.  They had moved the family that was in the third home into ours for the hurricane.  So momma tries to put what little bit of stuff down, trying me to a safe comfortable place and the rooms are full of people!  Really….they couldn’t have waited to move us “after” the hurricane.  Lots we don’t know…maybe the Pond Island house wasn’t safe.  Daddy’s ship building story tomorrow!

Praise God….My grandchildren called from Texas and our sweet Sarah told us she had asked Jesus into her heart….AMEN!

Three of the five of our grandbabies....

.... and two more make the five!

No visible sunset tonight, its cloudy and moist, hope that doesn’t mess up our plans for yard work tomorrow.