Saturday, August 1

A great day. Weather, fantastic, no fog or rain, temperature in the low eighties with a nice breeze. A perfect day for outside work. So off I went to the shop for the weed whacker, mower and shovel. You know what the weed whacker and mower are for. As for the shovel I needed it to remove the grass from the edge of the walkways. It was trim up time.

While I was busy working on the lawn Brenda was working on the guest quarters. She wanted to put another coat of paint on the floor and finish with the curtains.

She didn’t get a lot done. Visitors started arriving and did not stop until 1800. Brenda was very busy with tours, shop and museum. I planned to help her out, but plans change.

Duane Prugh showed up around 1100 with Tom and Chris Adkins. Duane is the instructor from the Maine Senior College and Tom and Chris were two of his students. They showed up to participate in one of the island work parties. With their arrival I decided to tackle one of the projects on our list.

The base of the steps on the north side of the porch consists of loose bricks held in place with sand. They rest on a sand base that had been washing away causing a low step and uneven surface. Our job was to remove the bricks, add sand as needed, re-bed and level the surface and re-set the bricks. The only sand available is down at the beach which means we had to get buckets, load the buckets with beach sand and get it back to the work area. This took a team effort. Sand is heavy and wet sand is heavier. We filled and moved about fifteen buckets. Even some kids on the beach got into the spirit!

Duane was the onsite engineer and did a great job of setting the bricks. Tom, Chris and I assisted and by 1600 the job was done. Many thanks to all three of these folks for giving us a day of free work.

Meanwhile Brenda was staying busy with visitors. Kids and dogs all over. Families having picnics, enjoying the island and the great weather. Maybe August will be the good weather month!

While I’m sitting here writing Brenda just saw a shooting star out the window. Isn’t that a sign of good luck, a positive omen? We also saw the CAT again this evening. I’m thinking that might be a great future trip. Ride to Portland on our motorcycle. Take the CAT to Nova Scotia and spend two or three weeks making our way back, all on the bike. Something else to plan.

I'm sitting on the porch right now in order to get a good internet connection and I am watching fireworks off in the distance. Is August 1st a holiday in Maine? The sea is relatively calm and I hear the waves breaking far below. A beautiful evening.