Clint hosted this group of Warriors for a fun day on the Island.

Staying Busy On The Island

Greetings from the island everyone. I hope that all of you are doing well and had a great Mother’s Day with mom last month, either being able to visit with her in person, or enjoying a heavenly visit. Corky and I went across the bay that early Sunday morning, and Mom had her kids with her in church, including my sister, Darla, who made the trip from California. We all had a nice lunch together and visited, and then the next day we celebrated the birthday of my sister, Sherry. It was a very nice Mother’s Day.

I also hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Fathers Day with your dad this past Sunday, whether it was in person, or speaking to him in a heavenly way. I am so thankful to still have my dad, Henry, with me and to be able to visit and spend time with him. To all the dads in heaven, thank you for watching over your loved ones, you are greatly missed.

Last month I braved the onslaught of people, and ventured in to attend the POC 7th annual Crawfish Festival. It was fun seeing all the decorated crawfish boiling team booths and how much work and passion they put into this event. There was a great crowd there with lots of good food and drinks, and of course delicious crawfish. The POC Chamber of Commerce does a wonderful job organizing this event, and it continues to grow every year.

I also went across the bay very early Easter Sunday morning to attend the Sunrise Service on Front Beach. There was a great turnout and the weather was nice, making for a very beautiful sunrise over Matagorda Bay.

My Spring cleaning around the yard is just about done, just a few more odd and ends to gather and haul to the dump. In a very painful way, I was reminded that you should always wear closed toe footwear when cleaning and hauling things outside. While throwing an old section of fencing onto my little trailer to haul off, the fencing caught under my big right toenail, ripping the toenail upwards and separating it from my toe. . . ouch! Thank goodness I keep plenty of peroxide, neosporin and large heavy duty bandaids on hand. Just one of those things that you gotta be careful about.

My tomato plants are finally in the ground and hopefully enjoying all of this rain we have been having lately. I’m looking forward to fried green ones and vine ripened red ones in a few months. Not much better than a homegrown tomato on a BLT.
The chickens and guineas are doing just fine. After their winter layoff, the 15 hens are laying 12-14 eggs every day, and I’m getting three guinea eggs just about every day as well.

My boxer, Corky, is also doing great. He will be 3 years old this month, and he has been such great company for me out here, and thank goodness my cat, Jetty, has learned to tolerate him. Corky loves this lifestyle, running on the beach and chasing the seagulls and playing in the surf. I could not have asked for a better disposition in an island dog out here with me. I truly believe that Barnacle guided me to find Corky, knowing that he would bring me happiness.

Summer is definitely upon us it seems. Other than a nice little cool front that provided a reprieve a few weeks ago, the heat and humidity on the island have been brutal. I try to do my outside chores and yard mowing before noon on these hot days, and have to make myself wear a cap, otherwise my forehead takes the brunt of the sunburn.

The 13th annual Warrior Weekend took place in POC on May 17-19 last month. This is a wonderful event that honors our veterans that have served and/or are currently serving in the military. I got a call that Saturday morning saying that more boats were needed, as many of the boat captains that had signed up did not show up to take the warriors fishing, leaving them waiting on the dock. . . something that is inexcusable! I grabbed my wallet and Costas and headed across the bay, and brought back four warriors to spend the day on the island and beach, and they loved every minute of it. I was proud to be able to help out and meet these wonderful and appreciative people. . thank you for your service!

I decided to give apple trees a try on the island. I chose three of the lowest required chill hour trees that I could find, as apple trees require a certain amount of “chill hours”, temps between 32-45 degrees during the winter months, in order to blossom and produce apples. The varieties I chose were Anna, Dorsett Golden and Tropic Sweet, all requiring between 100-200 chill hours. I planted them in 25 gallon tubs and I’m hoping for the best.

Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone take care and have a wonderful day.