Pandemic Columbus Weekend 2020

 First rainy Columbus Weekend that I can remember in a long time-- 

BUT the sun came out on Monday Columbus Day.  It was wonderful to have out little Franklin stove to keep us warm in the evenings.  Bob did a terrific job of cutting down a dead honeylocust tree and sawing up logs for the fire.

We both did a lot of cleaning out flowerbeds and wooded area near the front lawn. 

We did a huge job cutting down briars, honeysuckle vines and ivy vines from around the clothes line!!!

Because of the challenges of getting to outlets and getting the library table drawer open, we decided to move the table and consequently we rearranged the living room space!  It was fun and we both really liked the new configuration; we will see how it will go for the long haul. Can you guess which piece of furniture is missing?

Here are some photos of the beach:

 

Morning canoe jaunt

November 6-8 Closing up Cottage for the year.

Wow, Look at this beach in from of the cottage.

Beautiful big beach compared to last month when there was no beach!

Modeling

Dana painted a new heron on our sign earlier this month.

Bob did a lot of splitting wood for a nice fire in Franklin Stove

October 2019

I was shocked to see that we had no  beach. I found out that it was an historic 5 ft. high tide above normal!

Looking west down the beach towards Grizzard's

Looking East toward Ann Nichol's house.

June canoe around the Island

7:00am "Let's canoe to the end of the island and have breakfast."
By 7:40am we had packed a breakfast of hard boiled eggs, chips and fruit and a BIG bottle of water in the canoe ready to roll.  As we headed out we saw an unbelievable sight -- two sting rays mating close to shore!!

It was a beautiful morn and we canoed leisurely commenting on jetties and houses and birds. It took us most of an hour to arrive on the beach at the end of a long sandbar connected to the main island.
The end of the island is secluded and peaceful, but did not have as many shells as the year before.

Since we detected a head wind when we decided to head back, we decided to go around the island!
We crossed the sand bar pulling the canoe then jumped is for what was about three more hours of paddling!  It was neat to see homes we had never seen and go under the bridge.  We took a bunch of photos of The Islander; (it has always been my wish that nephew Greg would purchased it and renovate it properly!)




 We made two phone calls out on the water -- to sister Harriet in Montana and to the grandkids back in Fairfax!


We beached the canoe on a little small stretch of beach where some workman were repairing a deck; I needed to get out and stretch my legs!


When we arrived back to the cottage, it was exactly five hours from when we left -- 12:40pm!
We were exhausted and hungry -- but it was a good exhaustion! Love being on the water!

Thank you God for this wonderful little island cottage!

Hurricane Florence: not your mother's / father's storm of a Lifetime

Friday beautiful



photo credit: Valerie Johnson Lewis, Gwynn's Island, Virginia

Grandkids Overnight at Gwynn's June 27-28, 2018

The biggest sandbox ever!

Naya loves the water - a real fish!

Loved BIG turtle float - a Grandpa B. gift!

Supper on the Perch

Monopoly Cards; the kids are great playing together.

First time taking two kids bike and Grandma B.'s bike to Gwynn's Island!

Clean-up days April 2018
It was a cold but beautiful sunny three days at Gwynn's
We put all the furniture back in place on the porch
Bob split lots of wood for the stove.
He also transplanted privet and day lilies by Mad Calf Lane and dug up stumps.
Beth washed porch windows, trash cans, kitchen cabinet drawers and pulled honeysuckle vines from underneath the privet.
We biked to Scrooch's island market and met the new owner Scott.