August 2021 Island Trip – Day 1

Taking the late morning boat is an easy way to start the day. I even got into town early enough to have a frolic at the fabric store before heading to the ferry terminal. The boat left a little late, but it did leave. Increased sailings are being cancelled due to lack of certified crew. I popped into the grocery once on the Island for a couple of things before heading to the property, and was glad to see that I only need to do some spot mowing with the little mower.

My favorite task today has been swapping out Stella’s fluorescent ceiling bulbs with LED bulbs. The quality of the light is so superior! I cleaned the hardware store out of these little LEDs and need six more (three fixtures) to finish the job. Really, the rest of what took up my time this afternoon was unloading LED lights for the lower barn, a shelf, and a bar fridge. Stella has a new silverware holder. This may not sound like a big deal, but it’s SO much nicer than the the metal coated (with cracked) vinyl one that my folks had. Some things just need replacing when they wear out.

It took a while to stow clothes, and what seems like the never ending little things that continue to make Stella truly functional. The idea is to get to a point where clothes, food, and the latest books are the only things we have to think about packing when we’re Island bound. We’re getting there.

Stella’s fridge worried me for the first couple of hours I was here. It’s an evaporative fridge and does not cool down fast. While having a little lunch I actually read the fridge manual. I think it’s like scalding water that won’t boil if you watch the pot. This unit won’t cool if you fuss over it. After unloading the truck into the barns, checking the apple trees (wow are they full of fruit!!) and plum, and walking a puzzle over to my neighbor to the east, the fridge was showing signs of behaving.

One reason for bring the bar fridge here is to keep the condiments in it rather than carry them back and forth each trip. You’re asking, “Why not leave Stella’s fridge running?” Well, that fancy pants fridge needs 12-volt power for its circuit board. If Stella’s batteries pooped out, or we had a power failure that caused the batteries to become exhausted (yes, batteries get tired 😂), her fridge would cease to work until the batteries were happy again. Yes, the bar fridge would lose power too, but we Know it would turn back on when power was restored. We don’t need the bar fridge at our mainland home anymore, and redundancy is not a bad thing in the country. 🙃