6-16-06 (Friday): Yesterday Lori recommended us to friends who wanted some help with weeding their gardens. We spoke to them on the phone, and they agreed to pay us the same hourly rate as we earn here at the campground. We thought it would be a bit of a lark and give us a chance to meet some other people. So we headed over to Lincolnville this morning. Lisa is an artist, and part of the house she lives in is over 100 years old (a Cape Cod). The gardens were beautiful but very weedy. We spent 4½ hours and earned $80 (she gave us a little bonus). She was very pleased with our work—she kept saying we’d gotten more done than she’d thought.

As we got in the truck to head home, Wiley noticed that I had some bloody marks on my neck and legs. Then we realized he had some, too. I never felt anything biting me, and the marks didn’t itch, but something sure chewed on us pretty good. When we got home, I looked up biting flies on the internet, and I’m pretty sure what we have are black fly bites. I’d noticed a lot of gnats swarming around me, but didn’t worry too much about it because I’ve never known gnats to bite. Turns out black flies are a kind of gnat. They’re also known as buffalo gnats because they have a hump on their backs like a buffalo. Guess we’re going to have to wear long pants for a while!