61 Visitors
Today opened with sunshine and a very still,
tranquil sea. It was very serene as I
raised the flag at 8 am and fed the gulls. During breakfast people were milling
about before we opened. I noticed one family with a boy and girl and the kids
were walking on the ice plants outside the marked trails around the house. I
went out the door and asked the parents to please not allow them to walk all
over the plants and vegetation, they have enough trouble growing without people
walking all over them. I couldn’t
believe the parents ignored their kids stomping all over the ice plants. There
is a pair of oyster catchers that are nesting on the rock cliffs and we have
told people to please not go too far and disturb them. The seagull nest and egg
that we found when we first got here didn’t last long and disappeared. Such is
the harshness of nature.
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| Another Great Picture of the Lighthouse, Note the Ice Plant flowers are starting to Fade |
We opened at 10 am and Leon took the gift
shop, Terrie the first floor, me the second floor and Fred took the tower. Most
of the tour groups were smaller, 2-5 people and the tours went smoothly for the
most part. I did have one group with a bunch of kids and one lady had a small
little girl that wouldn’t stop squirming and another restless little boy. I was
giving the tour in the bedrooms and she starts wandering off with the two kids.
She then asks me if she can go up in the tower. I tell her no that there is
already a group up there and they would have to wait. She tells me that her
kids can’t stand still for long and they need to move. Too bad lady, you should
have thought about that before you dragged them on a tour and be an irritant to
everyone else. When they finally did go up into the tower they were a pain up
there too and the kids missed their opportunity to pick goodies out of the
treasure chest. Fortunately I had a group after that one with two young ladies
who were very patient and well behaved. We finished about around 12:30 with a
few more lingering on the island and we had placed the closed sign on the door.
I did let them know that the tide was coming in and they might want to start
going back a few minutes. They all wanted to see the gift shop and I let them
in and gave them some information about the lighthouse and lens in the gift
shop as they looked around. I did make 2 sales and they thanked me for letting
them in for a few minutes. After they left there were a few stragglers as usual
but soon they were gone and we had our isle of serenity back on this gloriously
sunny cool day. We had a nice lunch of grilled cheese and soup and fruit.
Squeezed our soap opera in with the Friday cliff hangers and I got some
knitting in. It was so pretty outside and we wanted to be outside to enjoy the
afternoon. Fred went out and relaxed and read on a picnic table. I grabbed my
watercolor paper and pencils and went down on the rock cliffs down from the
lighthouse. For 2.5 hours I sketched a scene with the lighthouse and the
Monterey Cyprus trees and even the flag. I will attempt to do a watercolor with
the sketch. It was great to get back into some artwork even though it took me
awhile to zone in. I haven’t painted anything since my nighttime painting of
the tower at Seguin in August. I like working with acrylics so the watercolors
will be a challenge. It was easier for me to grab my watercolors for our stay
than all the stuff for my acrylics. It is different to paint plein air and I
hope I have another sunny calm day to finish, otherwise I’ll use photos to
paint from later. The sketch was completed and my butt was sore from sitting on
the uneven hard rock. Our friends Drew and Cathy were to arrive soon and I
needed to make some guacamole for their arrival. Fred had the quad out ready to
go to get their things and he went over and retrieved their bulky and heavy
items. They burst in the door and it was great to see them at last and welcome
them with hugs to Battery Point. They will spend a few nights and days with us
and enjoy this very special place. We got some cold refreshments and gave them
the grand tour from bottom to top.
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| Wood Carving of Fisherman, It is Actually carved out of the Tree Stump |
We snacked on my fresh made guacamole and
blue corn chips before heading out to dinner in town at a nice little sandwich
shop nearby. We had nice dinners with some good live music and did a bit of
shopping at Safeway and back we went to our island home before it go too dark.
They got to see the lighthouse lit up at night with the floodlights and admired
how pretty she is at night. We all went out for a bit to look at the faded
color in the cloudy skies and Drew took some night shots with his newly
acquired camera. We were all pretty tired and they finished hauling their stuff
to their guest room – the Wayne Piland room. It is named after Wayne since he
was the last keeper here before the Coast Guard took it over in 1953. We can
thank Wayne for being instrumental in saving the lighthouse from demise and
having it become the private aid to navigation that it has become today. We all
watched a tiny bit of TV before everyone became too tired and drifted off to
bed. As they all went to bed the wind and waves picked up and you could hear it
in spite of our 2-foot thick walls. Fred built a little fire in the wood-burning
stove since it got a little chilly in the room from the winds. He went to bed
and I continued to stoke the fire as I wrote this blog. Everyone is asleep and
I need to be also. Off to sleep with thoughts of bringing to life a charming
scene of an idyllic little lighthouse with towering Cyprus guardians keeping
watch over a pink laced garden and brilliant blue skies with wisps of white
clouds to frame them all.
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| Cypress Trees on the Island |
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