The Big Island Yard Sale And A Few More Spring Pictures

Saturday was the big Island yard sale and we heard that around 30 registrants were plotted in on the map. Many people from Maine came across to see what treasures us islanders had for sale. We had set up “shop” between 8 and 9am and were still carrying stuff from the house to the bottom of our driveway when the first cars stopped with people browsing over our tables.    Nice collection of teddy bears and dolls We were not surprised to see that most of the sales came from Bea’s tomato plants. And who would complain to get healthy tomato plants for $3 each when garden nurseries on the mainland were charging the double. One of our neighbours brought a full-fledged hot-tub to our sale and it was sold within 2 minutes for 35 Dollars. What a deal! A lot of “junk” went to new owners as well. I am wondering whether it will furnish next year’s yard sale at a different sales post. While sales was going on Molly was patiently watching squirrels. Weather was a bit on the cool side with some fog lingering around the island. But it all changed during the afternoon hours. The sun broke out and brought daytime highs into the low 70s. In fact, it was getting so warm that we had our supper out on the deck. Not so warm during Sunday though, as we got some rain and wind. But summer is right around the corner now.    The long weekend brought lots of visitors to the island. The Roosevelt Campobello International Park’s parking lot was filled up in no time and the border stations had hundreds of passports to check.

All Plants And No Play Makes Bea So Tired.

Well, she loves it and when you love what you are doing you are not complaining. Yet you can get tired and that’s what happens to Bea some times during the afternoon. And look at all the plants we got sitting on every available space. She has been nursing up every single one.       And we have also spring time going on all around. Just look at all the blooming trees. Cherry trees, Apple trees, Service Berry, and even Maple trees are in full spring attire.   Crabapple tree on a neighbouring property Our front yard apple tree The front flower bed – so decorative and today I saw the first lilac flowers opening up.

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I could have said Good Morning America as it is in fact America I am seeing first thing every morning. But we all know it’s the name of a famous TV morning show. So to me it’s the world I am looking at every morning.                        View across the Water to America And this morning was so gloriously clear and sunny and the bay was out there, calm as the surface of a bathtub. I still light up a fire every morning to have it warm and cozy. But the fire is dying out over the day when we are outside. Most recently, I have begun the arduous task of painting our north wall yellow. It means hours on the ladder and one coat is not enough. Gotta do it all over again a 2. time. But then I know it’s gonna be good for many years.    Our driveway maple tree                           Our apple trees are in full bloom Saturday an island-wide garage- and yard sale is taking place. Bea has 40 tomato plants and she will be offering most of them for sale. Neighbours are gonna bring stuff to our front yard and there will be coffee and lots of chatting going on. Same day is the 2016 seasonal opening of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.  Also the Provincial Campground will be open for business. The local hotel is already filled up with guests and our first sightseeing tours are scheduled to begin soon. We are also extremely excited about this year’s new super-fast boat connection between the town of St.Andrews and Campobello Island. The distance across the water is 12 miles and it used to take 2.5hrs to drive the distance all around the US or –in the summer take a ferry to Deer Island and another ferry to the mainland. With the new boat it will just take 15 minutes on calm waters. The operator is the company “JOLLY BREEZE” which is also into whale-watching tours with their stately tall ship. They bought the new fast boat second hand from the FBI who used it to hunt gangsters.

“The Summer Wind”

The summer wind, came blowin' in from across the sea It lingered there to touch your hair and walk with me All summer long we sang a song and then we strolled that golden sand Two sweethearts and the summer wind Like painted kites, those days and nights, they went flyin' by The world was new beneath a blue umbrella sky Then softer than a piper man one day it called to you I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind The autumn wind and the winter winds, they have come and gone And still the days, those lonely days, they go on and on And guess who sighs his lullabies through nights that never end My fickle friend, the summer wind The summer wind Warm summer wind Mmm, the summer wind And I can’t say it in any better way. What a tremendous day it was. A warm summer wind was playing around the house, just enough to cool us down a tad, for, yes, it was hot today. While I have been replacing a window on our east gable and Bea was busy with her garden, Molly was the busiest of us all. Most recently we have experienced an increase of squirrel sightings and now that Molly is outside a lot, she is sooo busy trying to catch them, which she, unfortunately, is too old for. Nevertheless she is staying under the old Hawthorne tree looking up into the branches for hours. Her patience and endurance reminds me a lot of cats waiting for the mouse to show itself. But like I said, Molly is not fast enough anymore and besides she can’t hear them when they make their typical “CHECK,CHECK” noise. When I was up on the roof today, I called out at her – but she could not hear me. Our Molly is gone deaf. It fills us with sorrows and a feeling of helplessness. But Molly is in her 14th year and she is an old lady now. The more we were pleased to see her so busy as she was today. I mean she hasn’t been bored a second. This afternoon she was hanging around the LTD and I figured a squirrel was under the car or in the wheel wells. So I jumped in and started the engine. BOOM….a squirrel was in a straight beeline to escape Molly the Hunter.  We repeated that game a couple of times, but then i headed inside to prepare supper. “Chicken breast Et-La-Legume-Speciale” was on the menu. The veggies was half an onion, a tomato, a few “bread & butter” cucumbers a piece of a banana in a sauce of chicken broth, with a  spritzer of lemon juice and a dash of sugar. The pre-cooked chicken breast was warmed in this concoction. The left-over rice from a bygone day  was “sautéed” in butter and bacon with a bit of the chicken broth. It was very good indeed. When I get into the mood I can create the most amazing stuff for supper. “Amazing” like in “never done before”. And that’s it for today. Have a great Sunday.

Work Progress And The Man From Darwin,Australia

With warmer days we are pursuing our working projects around the house. The North wall of the house was still in need of more sanding so I got into my old dirty work clothes and up the ladder I went.   Yesterday                                       Today Did most of it yesterday, but finished up sanding today. The worst with this kind of job is the amount of dust. It settles on my eyeglasses on and in my ears, and my shirt changes colour. A full shower is always in order to get myself cleaned up afterwards. Much better job is the painting. No noise, no dust, just the peace and quiet of our neighbourhood to enjoy. Yet, I had to climb up and down the ladder when I started with the white board right under the roof edge. But a good rest after a day’s work and I’m like new again. But around 11am I had to check out what was happening down at the old Welshpool wharf. A group of enthusiasts had managed to get public funding for constructing and installation of a floating dock. Yesterday evening we had been down by the wharf and met a guy, originally from Darwin,Australia, who was installing the floating dock.   One of the floats was carrying a mighty long aluminum gangway.    The worker, explained that he would install the gangway the next day and if I was interested to have a look I could come down at around 11 in the morning. So, I had grabbed the NIKON and started shooting from all angles. Always fascinating to see other people working. After the excavator had arrived the last float with the gangway was moved into position to be connected with the rest of the floaters.   Than a strap was hooked from the bucket to the gangway and the excavator started pulling the gangway towards land, lifting it up until it was in position to be permanently connected by brackets. Great job guys!     From now on private yachts can moor at the old Welshpool Wharf. The old wharf body itself is in poor conditions and has been closed for a long time. Interestingly I discovered that a similar gangway was in place way back then. However, old photos reveal that a lot of traffic has been going on there since the early days of Campobello.