It rained continuously a couple of nights ago, the next morning the sky and horizon still blended to one grey mass and I got to bail some 15-20 gallons from the small boat. The Bayliner’s not so much work, I just turn on the bilge pump for five or ten minutes. Jan discovers that you actually DO need an umbrella in the outhouse due to the unfortunate location of a hole in its roof.
Yesterday was still dreary and gray with strong wet gusts coming from the east northeast, bad news for the forecast and very poor visibility…another day cabin-bound. Fortunately I have plenty of computer work to do, Jan has untried recipes (an apple cake) and crocheting, and we both have a pile of good books…all is good.
But by evening we were quite weary of the damp and grey….when lo and behold, a glimpse of light was reflected off the dock and we raced down in time to see not only the sun but the amber/purple/gold/orange reflections of the first good sunset in a while.
Finally, a sunset...
And to the east of us us a rainbow! All bodes well for tomorrow.
...and a rainbow!
And sure enough, this morning the sun rises over a beautiful, bright sunny day. Bonnie and Dick Sibert join us for lunch, which involves a lot of laughs and an extended review of the history of the various neighbors in the neighborhood.
Dick & Bonnie come for lunch.
Pine Island has been their permanent residence since they built their home here 20 years ago, although they winter in Texas. So far as I know there are no year-round residents on the island. There are several weeks every fall and spring when it’s impossible to cross the lake either by boat or over the ice, and in any emergency during those times you’d be cooked.
And while we’re having lunch, Brian & Co. begin delivering the materials they’ll need to start putting up our new siding on Monday.
Matt with siding, boss Brian & young Trevor are at the boat.
When Brian redid the interior of the cabin a year ago we thought we were done renovating for a while, I figured the 1915 ship-lapped exterior boards could be calked and painted to hold up for some more years. But it was not to happen, the boards were too misshapen to make it possible to properly seal the the outside and protect the beautiful tamarack paneling Brian had installed on the inside. So we bit the bullet and asked him to go ahead with the siding.
We spot a Blackburnian Warbler in the back yard, bright and gorgeous!