August 2026 Island Trip – Day 4

The last of the mowing for this trip happened today, and because we slept in, it ended up happening noonish and kicked my butt. 🙄 Despite the sun hat and nice breeze, something about over an hour being bounced about on the mower in the sun did me in for a few hours. Yes, I was hydrating, and I’m feeling much better now after more fluids.

I got word from the Grange’s garden manager that they can use the greenhouse film we clearly aren’t going to use (all 1100 sqft of it), and dragged the box out from the lower barn to its overhang. Maybe that’s what did me in 🧐. I’m really happy they can use this film.

I took a walk in the woods today. The artesian spring is all but dry now. The soil holds a trace of moisture that you almost smell more than you feel. It’s easy to spot where the spring is. The areas are filled with horsetail and buttercup. These plants are signals of moisture.

My DH continued to work on the Stella couch project. After creating a template, he built a floating floor for the storage area under the right couch arm. The same will happen on the left side where the floating floor will protect the 12-volt wire ‘snake’ from things stored under that arm if the couch. All those 12-volt wires were previously protected by the old carpeting.

Our neighbor to the east came for dinner and croquette this evening. We had a really good visit and wonderful dinner. Earlier in the day I toured the gutting of her downstairs apartment. She asked a few questions, mainly to make sure she was correct in her thinking about certain points: insulation, working around plumbing, and old rodent oder mitigation. This girl is seriously competent regarding construction for someone who spent their career in law!

I spent a little time yesterday and today trimming back one of the lavenders on Stella’s slope. There’s now a generous bunch in a jar in the lower barn. It ephemeral, of course, but meanwhile it smells incredible and in the winter will remind me of summer days.