Day Seventeen – Homebodies

July 7, 2016 – Temperatures drop

I wake during the night and I finally understand the “can’t see your hand in front of your face”! I grab my trusty little mini flashlight and head for the porch.  I’m nearly there before I can tell the trees from the lake and sky!  It is raining gently and the temps have dropped.  Although it might not be necessary, I bring our computers and my camera inside, since there are no windows, only screens, on the porch. I go back to bed and to sleep and don’t wake again until seven!  I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well!

We’ve been leaving the butter on the counter so that it is “spreadable”.  Today, however, it has hardened up considerably!  Guess that rain was a cool front coming through.

This poor little guy flew right past Marilyn and hit the window.  Don't worry, though a while later he was gone!

We’re planning on staying home today.  There’s time for leisurely stretching before breakfast.  The coffee is even better today and Marilyn makes bacon and fried eggs.  We decide we want toast, too, so I figure out the broiler.  It’s pretty low to the ground (like every other stove!) and she can’t bend down there without hurting, so I’m in charge of toast.

When it’s time for dishes, Marilyn trudges out to the generator.  Happily the rain quit before we got up.  Since the power is running anyway, I plug in my phone so we have some means of communicating with the outside world.

Ya gotta eat, even in the rain!

After breakfast Marilyn begins working on her expenses list for her taxes and I blog.  We also go through all the maps and pamphlets that we’ve accumulated and decide which, if any, we want to keep.  Paper is so darned heavy! In the course of that we read more about Campobello, where we can have tea with Eleanor! You have to go on line to make reservations and I have trouble getting my phone to connect.  We’ll try again when we’re closer to town.

I’ve also got to go through my photos and pull out those of Marilyn, so she can select  some for her book.  She puts all her photos of me on an SD card and when I plug it into my computer, I return the favor, so we’re all caught on that score.

Now some photos of the upstairs!

Notice the banister!

We figure the cabin can sleep nine.  The bathroom and hot water, not so much!

My next project is to enter all my credit card receipts into Quicken, so I don’t have to do it when I get home.  It’s a race to see if I can finish before my computer battery runs out.  I can’t charge up again until we need the generator for more water.

It’s a good thing we planned to stay indoors today, as it rains again and at one point is hard enough to come in the porch screens.  We move the bed as well as we can and wonder what happens when no one is staying at the cabin.

For lunch we have the most delicious “black and blue” hamburgers with blue cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and the last of the sauerkraut.  Maybe it’s so good because we’re starved;  but I think it’s the blue cheese!

A couple of days ago, Matt Storey sent me a text with a photo of the beginning of my new kitchen!  He’s torn out everything and it looks so barren and different!  I know I’m going to love it when it’s done;  but it’s kind of hard to look at right now!  Today I get another one, this time with the new wiring going in. He’s getting so much done in such a short time! He did Marilyn’s kitchen and did a superb job.  I can’t wait to see how mine turns out!

Later on we have ice cream and somehow we skip dinner, opting instead for popcorn with garlic seasoning (Thanks, Natalie!) and more coffee.

We decide that it is cold enough for us to learn how to use the propane heater. There are instructions on the side and I sit on the floor with a flashlight and magnifying glass, reading the directions to Marilyn.  First sniff for gas!  We don’t smell any, so she turns the dial and pushes the button to start the pilot.  Success!  We will be warm!

The next trip to the generator is for water for showers.  There is supposed to be hot water on demand;  maybe we aren’t demanding enough!  I get about a minute and a half’s worth and Marilyn isn’t even that lucky.  The cabin is beautiful;  but a bit too rustic for an extended stay!

We’re going to bed as soon as it’s dark and getting up with the sun to head to Eastport, Lubek, and Campobello, FDR’s summer home.  We might even try to do some laundry on the way home.  Saturday Dana and Sharon have invited us for a lobster feast!  More lobster!  Life is good!