September 2026 Island Trip – Day 12

I’m pleased with what got done today:

• Stella’s baseboard now has a complete coat of sealant on it. There’re more steps to go, and we don’t have to worry about it warping should the weather get damp before I get back next month to continue with the project.
• I picked more apples and pruned a bunch of dead wood out of the three smaller trees. They do look better, and this will help sun and air get into the interior of the trees next year.
• My DH’s office trailer has jalousie windows. It’s a 1972. I’m going to create insulated ‘curtains’ for the windows that will adhere to the frames via earth magnets. The trailer has decorative curtains, but they do very little to retain heat in winter. Today I took the measurements required to get rolling on this project.
• While rinsing out the brush used to apply the first coat of finish to the baseboard, I decided to explore what looked like a length of white lamp cord near the stand pipe in dad’s garden… This is what I dug up 😳

This was buried about 8” under the soil, and is clearly designed to either keep things warm or electrocute them. I am reluctant to plug it in… It’s entirely possible this has been under the soil since before my folks bought the property. And yet, this feels very much like something my dad would have used to keep tomato seedlings happy in their pots overnight, in the absence of a green house, when it was too early to plant them. I don’t get to know. 🧐

I spent some time advancing tomorrow’s departure. The food situation is gonna be WAY more manageable heading back. We’ve done a good job enjoying the leftovers, and are leaving all unconsumed beverages from the gathering here, as well as unused food items that got put into the lower barn freezer. We will not need to sprint to the grocery when we get home tomorrow.

Our neighbor to the east came over 5ish this afternoon. We had hoped to play croquet, but my DH had a work emergency. She and I had a lovely sit overlooking the croquet pitch, and my DH was able to join us eventually.

This evening we’re going to enjoy leftovers from Wednesday night at Tim’s. I’m feeling pretty relaxed about pulling out of here tomorrow. But then again, since the gathering, I’ve been feeling pretty relaxed about most things.