July 2024 Island Trip – Days 7 & 8

Day 7:

My DH got LJG level and stabilized. It wasn’t the most straightforward process and she is built differently than our little Airstream. Two bottle jacks (not bottles of jack 😏) , and lot lots of perseverance later, she feels much better when you climb into her.

Our roofer and his wife stopped by to take a look at extending the upper barn roof over LJG. He then sent a website for kit carports and gazebos, saying there’s no way he can build what we’re thinking about for less than three times the price of what’s on offer online. He’s also very, very busy! They also are loaning me a little car. When I told them I was staying on and would rent a car from my classmate, they were having none of it!

And old friend of my folks also stopped in and adopted a bunch of leftover sheetrock. Jacque went from being a liberal Berkeley hippy to a old conservative curmudgeon. I’m happy to give him sheetrock scraps. At least he kept his hair long. 😂

I kept after the painting project in the lower barn, but only what I could do from the floor with the extension roller. My right knee was grumpy from all the ladder work, which then made my right ankle grumpy. There’s a song about this, but its meaning changes as we get older 🤣. I also took the finish paint around the electrical outlets so I could deploy their covers. I found it so exhilarating to get the covers off the table they’d been sitting on for months, that I kept after that sort of straightening. I’ll get back to the ladder Monday…

I finally sewed the strap back on the big awning on the front of the trailer. I used a sail maker’s tool. When I make other repairs to the awning (the 25-year old thread is giving it up) I’ll use a heavy needle. It’ll be WAY faster.

I had words with European paper wasps, booting them out of where they’ve been trying to make a holiday cottage on Stella.

We went out to our fav restaurant for dinner and came back for backgammon, cards, and chocolate.

Day 8:

We allowed ourselves to sleep in before launching into what was a mostly chore oriented morning. My DH cleaned and closed up LJG and packed. We practiced putting the big awning away as a solo endeavor, and I can do it! This means the awning can stay up for the remainder of my trip. I hung with my DH and a grumbly cat in town until their boat loaded.

On my way back here I went to donate cassette tapes we’ve decided we won’t listen to, and was turned down. Not surprising. They did take the cloth napkins! I also stopped in to say hello to our AN’s wife, but she wasn’t home. I am unsure if she’s on the Island right now or with him on the mainland. And in half an hour I’ll head to Tim’s for dinner.

The wasps are right back at their construction. I’m going to have to up my game.