It's been a banner October on the Cape for tourism with enough warm and chilly weather to please everyone at some point during the month. The Vacancy signs went up briefly after Labor Day for the first time all summer, then disappeared again for the rest of the month. The windows are open again, allowing the sounds of birds and wind chimes in and the fresh smell of ocean air. It hasn't been a particularly colorful Fall, probably due to the salting we took during Hurricane Irene, but when the impossibly blue New England sky peeks through the bare branches, all is forgiven.
The birds definitely know what month it is, despite the return of some unseasonably warm days. The hummingbirds, who faithfully frequented Ron's feeders all summer have moved to their southern estates without even a quick note in the guest books. That leaves the blue jays, grackles and sparrows to duke it out at the feeders, when the squirrels and chipmunks leave them anything. The Hav-A-Hart Trap Count has reached 114 squirrels and 53 Chippies. Unfortunately, the neighborhood possums have decided to get into the act, too. After trapping the same one 4 times (he limps from an injured rear left leg), we decided to escort him to a new neighborhood by a big pond. Not to be outdone, the deer are making stealthy forays into the garden and knocking over all the critter traps. Apparently, there is no one in the animal world who can resist peanut butter. It's a real jungle out there!
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| Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary |
The last scheduled Outdoor Sale of the season was held at the Orleans Community Exchange. These were both a blessing and a curse for me, and at the very least, another learning curve about the world of treasure hunting and consignment. When taking advantage of the every other weekend opportunity, they can easily double or triple monthly sales. But, the treasure hunting is the fun part. When one considers the hours it takes to tag, load, unload, display, repack and unload again at home, it deserves some consideration about how one defines treasure. I'm still figuring out work-smarter techniques for next summer as we reclaim the garage space from treasures that are being returned, to be rediscovered by someone else.
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| Bob modeling a "treasure" |
As no surprise to me, I came across another blogger's take on her visit to Cape Cod in our Chamber of Commerce monthly e-news. I know what sites I enjoy seeing, but it's always fun to see the same places through other eyes. Here's her link, if you're interested:
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| October Color |
It's hard to believe, but there were actually little white flakes mixed with raindrops on the last weekend forecast of the month. I took it with a grain of salt when our fisherman friend predicted a hard winter, but maybe he's on to something. We only had one more reservation on the books for the season for this messy weekend and it wouldn't have surprised me if they had reconsidered, but like seasoned New Hampshire ladies, they were not to be kept from their long-awaited weekend getaway by a little old Nor'easter. As it turned out, they traded 11" of snow and no power in NH for an exciting day and night of 70 mph wind-driven rain on the Cape, and felt pretty smug about it. Since we had nobody else on the books, we urged them to stay another night (on us) and enjoy a day of sunshine before they returned. It didn't take them long to see the wisdom in that plan and we made 2 new friends.
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| Salt Pond Family |
With 2 summer seasons under our belts, there is one observation about B&B guests that I can say for certain. They are all unique. Some are rarely here as they try to see how much ground they can cover with their explorations. Others use their room as their whole vacation, reading in the tree swing and strolling on the nearby walking trails. Some take full advantage of the kitchenettes and gas grills, while others hit a different restaurant every day. The chirping of a cricket and the gentle, nearby whoosh of traffic may be soothing to some, but others crave total silence. We have Boston Metro people for weekend getaways and world travelers who include us on months-long holidays. This month we had guests from as far away as Russia and Germany. I thought I was really ready for a break, but it didn't take long to miss the steady stream of interesting people who show up. So, now it's time to shift gears to winter projects that have had to wait and look forward to the surprise travelers who march to a different drum beat and find their way to us when we least expect it.
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| Stuffed Lobster Treat a la Ray |
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