September 2026 Island Trip – Day 1

The day has gone exceptionally well, except for discovering the electric fence around the plum tree was damaged, and the plums have been pilfered 😢. More on that below.

Packing out, which has been most on my mind, went so well that we left early, and we didn’t even use all our potential cooler cubic. What we did use was maxed out, and what saved us was a large insulated grocery tote that I used for frozen baguettes and items that were happy to freeze, but didn’t absolutely need to be.

Upon arrival, I swiftly emptied the lower barn fridge of its liquids (mineral water, soda, ginger beer, and beer), and loaded it with groceries for the gathering. I’ve been eating down its little freezer and it was able to absorb everything I needed it to 😁. Hours later, we’re almost ready to load Stella’s fridge (remember, evaporative fridge’s take Forever to cool down) with groceries that really do want to be cold (cheeses, meats, certain veggies etc). For now their chilling in one of the coolers that is colder than the evaporated fridge 😏.

My DH set up LJG for the beginning of his work week tomorrow while I took down the electric fence. One of the posts, that hold the electric tape, was broken in three pieces, and the wire that attaches the system to the grounding rod had been torn out. The ONLY thing I got is that we’re approaching rutting season, and perhaps two bucks were having a territory squabble and tumbled into the posts. The posts are fiberglass, but far from fragile. So, the raccoons were, Hot Damn, let’s strip the tree!! There’s not a plum on it, which is why I know coons are to blame. The tree is 16’ tall and only a coon can climb that high 🦝. The only retaliation I have is that the assholes had mad dysentery. Italian plums are also known as prune plums… I’m going to look into permanent steel stakes for the electric tape.

We went on a walk to the end of the road and back late afternoon. It’s time for some backgammon.

Happy Labor Day everyone. May we always be mindful of those who worked hard to win the rights we have today in the employment arena. May we continue to support and fight for those rights for everyone.