Thursday.  The weather is amazing  for this time of year!  It's been close to 70 every day this week giving us time to enjoy the morning sunshine on the patio as well as time to catch up on last minute garding chores.  Thanksgiving feast is long gone along with turkey soup, leftover pie and sweet potato casserole.  (All delicious, by the way.)  I did not do my usual marathon Black Friday shopping this year, but have rediscovered the joys of cyber shopping at store that have free shipping.  As I write, the little brown truck is wending it's way to Aydlett with half my holiday shopping in it.

Last week the tundra swans made a spectacular show as they flew over our house on their way to Currituck Sound just a few minutes away.  They are so shy of people that it's hard to get close enough for a good look or photographs.  It was disappointing that by yesterday their usual spot  in a protected cove was empty.  They must have decided there were better accomodations elsewhere.  Last winter they stayed most of the winter, so maybe they'll come back. 

I've been sort of caught up in Facebook these last few days as old high school classmates and I found each other.  As I wrote on one of their walls, it's really great to see birthdays in the same year as yours!   It's pretty interesting finding out what interesting lives people have led in the last 50+ years. 

Sunday. We are definitely spoiled by our normally wonderful North Carolina weather.  Our last 4 days of rain have seemed endless, and, when the sun came out this morning it was cause for celebration.  Everything is still a little damp, but the sun and warmth made it feel more like spring than fall. 

It was nice to take a drink outdoors this afternoon and sit in the sun on the new patio.  Although it will be much improved by spring, the pansies we planted are perky and happy, many with bright new faces turned to the sun.  The patio is coming along nicely.  Bill went ahead and laid the paving bricks before I had a chance to get the wall painted, but it won't be long before the flowers and herbs in the flower beds will camoflage the cement blocks. 

Here's a view of the back of the house before: we tore of the rotting flooring on the foundation wall and cleaned up debris:

The "After" view shows flowers planted on both sides of the wall, patio pavers laid down and raised flower bed built inside the wall.  Add a trellis for the wisteria and a table umbrella for shade and it's perfect for morning coffee or an afternoon drink.

I have to admit that until the  Nor'easter hit on Thursday, Nov. 11th, I always thought a Nor'easter was something only Maine fishermen experienced.  Actually, we thought it was kind of funny to see eastern Virginia and North Carolina going into a panic over a little rain and wind.  Plans were announced for tunnels closing, businesses and homes in Norfolk and Virginia Beach started blocking doorways with sandbags, weather news began broadcasting almost 24 hours a day.  By Thursday night, however, we were convinced that a Nor'easter is no joke.  5 inches of rain fell, winds picked up to 40-50 mph in some places.  News broadcasts showed streets flooding in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake, made worse by the 7ft. above normal high tides.    In the Outer Banks, streets were flooded in Kitty Hawk and Nags Head as the ocean overwashed the sand dunes.  Roads and bridges were closed because of flooding and sand washing onto the roads.

See some images from Nags Head, NC here:  http://media.wvec.com/images/323*430/IMG_0686-4.JPG

Bill and I hunkered down indoors for the next couple of days.  The driving rain and high winds howled outdoors reminding us of the sounds of blizzards we had experiences in central New York.  Surprisingly (for us), it wasn't cold.  Temperatures stayed in the 60s, so even though it was miserable out, we only ran our heat once. By Friday night, it was still raining.  Rainfall had reached over 7 inches in 48 hours, high tide was almost 8ft above normal, winds had reached up to 75mph in some areas.  Basically, Virginia Beach and Norfolk were flooded, many trees down and power outages in those areas.  Luckily, we did not have either flooding or power outages where we live.  Our subdivision must be built right with good drainage, because our street never flooded, nor did our lawns.  There was some water on our new patio, but nothing serious.  Our worst damage came from a leak somewhere in the RV.  The driving rain from the north east came in and soaked the rug by the driver's door.  We still can't figure out what leaked, but a lot of water came in.

Gemini had cabin fever and kept crying to go out.  When we opened the door for him, he stuck his head out far enough to get wind and rain in his face and backed up into the house again.  Poor cat, he kept trying, but it just didn't get better.

One good thing came of our being housebound.  We unpacked several boxes of handpainted china and paintings, and spent a couple of days reframing pictures and hanging them in various empty spots around the house.  It was fun bring some of my and my brothers' paintings to the light of day again, and we both enjoy seeing the artwork on the walls after being packed away for so long.

Thanks to my granddaughter, Jennifer, I pulled out boxes and bins of yarn I've been saving for years.  Jenny and I found some neat crochet hat patterns on the internet and spent a day together working on our respective projects.  I forgot how much I like crochet, and hats are great, easy and quick projects.  Although neither one of us got our project completed that day, I went wild in the following week as you can see from the pictures below:

For lack of handy granddaughters to model them, I let my resident bears try on the completed hats.  For some reason, the pink gum drop hat wouldn't upload, but that one is for Becky, whose favorite color is pink!  And I still have 3 tubs of yarn left! 

Thursday.  A perfect day to visit Brookgreen Gardens and enjoy the sculptures, fountains, gardens and butterflies. 

We've been enjoying our days volunteering as hosts at Atalaya as each day brings new visitors and some interesting conversations.  Last Saturday there were 3 weddings at the park:  one on the beach, one on the lawn outside Atalaya and one inside Atalaya in the courtyard.  It's been fun seeing the wedding parties come in to take pictures, and interesting to see the differences in the people.  Our day did get a little hectic, though, as there were times when more than one group was inside the house taking pictures.  My favorite group was the one who just sort of wandered in with both bride and groom in white gauzy finery.  Their happiness was contagious with none of the typical pre-wedding tension displayed by other groups.  But after a busy day, we were glad to turn over responsibility for the evening to the Ranger on duty and the other campground hosts.

For some reason, Saturday was also the day that some of the alligators in the freshwater pond decided to mosey across the walkway leading from Atalaya to Route 17.  Some walkers and bicyclists were surprised to come upon them too suddenly -- not a pleasant surprise when you're not expecting it.   Other  visitors have never seen an alligator and rushed down the walk in hopes of seeing them and getting photographs.  When we had the oppotunity, we warned people not to get too close and keep their little dogs at a distance.  There have been instances of alligators snacking on peoples' pets.         

But we were happy to see Sunday, the beginning of our 3 days off, roll around.  All three days turned out to be clear, hot and sunny with water temperatures in the 80s.  We enjoyed coffee and breakfast on the beach each morning followed by refreshing swims in the ocean and lounging on the beach until noon.  Once again, we scrapped our plan to visit Brookgreen in favor of spending time on the beach and in the water.

I've always been fascinated by reflections in water and the coastal waters, marshes and ponds offer many opportunities for viewing them.  Yesterday we arrived at the ponds along the causeway just at the right time.  Roseatte spoonbills and woodstorks were feeding and preparing for the night in the shallow water near the causeway.  The light enhanced their colors and still water was a perfect mirror.

Even though we've been working most of the days since we arrived here, we've had some time to enjoy the beaches and bird watching . The water is 86 degrees!  Way too warm for the Atlantic!  We did go swimming a few times, but the water has been sandy and a little murky.  I don't know if it's because of the hurricane and storms off shore or if this is the norm here.  It's a great beach for kids, though. The water is so shallow and has been extremely calm. 

The park has a fresh water pond and brackish water ponds divided by a causeway.  There are a number of alligators in the freshwater half as well as a good number of wood storks and other coastal water birds.  Today we saw about a dozen rosette spoonbills, a few tricolored herons and lots of egrets in addition to the woodstorks.

Well, we're all settled into our volunteer site, which, it turns out, is very nice.  It has a couple of trees for afternoon shade and is in a quiet part of the campground.  We did our volunteer training on Thursday, including a tour of Atalaya, the former winter home of Anna Hyatt Huntington and Archer Huntington.  Anna Hyatt Huntington was a world renowned sculptor who specialized in animal sculptures.  She was married to Archer M. Huntington, a very wealthy scholar, poet, philantropist and patron of the arts.  Atalaya was built in 1930 as a winter home where they could escape the harsher climate of the north east.  It's architecture is quite unique, styled after a Moorish castle.  The home is at Huntington Beach State Park and has been designated a national historic landmark.  Our duties as volunteers are to tend the admissions cart at Atalaya 3 days a week.  In exchange, we get a campsite with full hookups.  Not a bad deal, since Bill and I split the time and each only have to be there 3 half days.

Some pictures of Atalay

What a busy summer it's turned out to be!  It was wonderful to spend some time in New York at Brian's, then in PA with Linda and Ted for a few days.  The cool weather was a welcome relief from North Carolina's summer heat.  We have a wonderful neighbor who mowed our lawn and watered our flowerswhile we were in New York, and Jeff checked on the house and garden every week.  It's so nice to be able to leave our place in such good hands!

We returned home on August 8th just in time to unpack and be ready for a visit from our niece, Cathy, her husband Roy and their two girls who came up from their beach rental with Bill's sister, Marie, for a dinner and a visit.  On the 15th, Brian, Jackie and Alex arrived to spend a few days with us and get in some beach time.  They were here the best time!  The ocean was calm with water temperatures in the 80's, the beaches were just lovely.  We enjoyed going to the beach with the kids (Jeff included) a couple of times, and also enjoyed being home to get the flower beds weeded and the lawn mowed.

As soon as Brian and family headed home, we started getting ready for our 6 week stay in South Carolina at Huntington Beach State Park near Myrtle Beach.  We're really looking forward to volunteering there, and getting to stay at the beautiful park for 6 weeks as a bonus.  Huntington Beach has a beautiful 3 mile long beach and lots of places for relaxation and fishing (for Bill).  By Wednesday, Aug. 26th, the rig was washed, packed and we were on our way to our new "job".

Saturday.  Saling along Route 90 at the the Route 90 Garage Sale is a summer institution in central New York, attracting large crowds who browse along miles and miles of sales on the last weekend of July.  We started in Homer and followed the route up through King's Ferry and then along Cayuga Lake for about 50 miles until we came to Route 20 near Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a great day for it --warm and sunny with a refreshing breeze.  Bill and Brian got some bargain golf equipment.   Bill also found the medium sized crock perfect for his next batch of pickles, and I bought some books and a handpainted china plaque done by one of my friends 30 years ago.  Jacaranda found a beach chair and a stoneware milk jug.  All in all it was a fun day and we each found a "treasure" to take home.

A short detour to Treleven Winery in King's Ferry for some wine tasting was a nice break from the saling.  Our server at the wine tasting was interesting and knowledgeable, giving us great ideas on complementary foods to serve with various wines.  We enjoyed the Reislings and Merlot,  Jacaranda liked the sweet ice wine and some of the other whites.  When we passed through Union Springs, we came upon a German couple who had set up a food stand selling Bratwurst and other German foods accompanied by lively German music.   By that time, we were all starving and decided that it was a perfect time to have lunch.  

We left North Carolina little more than a week ago and headed north hoping for relief from the heat and humidity.  We are not disappointed!  When we arrived in Pennsylvania to visit our friends, the Atkinsons, the weather was cool and breezy.  It was so nice to sleep with the windows open and have the fresh night air blowing in.  Richie and Betty are wonderful hosts, and it was great to catch up with our old friends.  It was a special treat to see their daughter, Dawn, again after many, many years.

The Atkinson's farm and B&B is situated in beautiful Pennsylvania Dutch country.  They have many small animals which their guests enjoy, including peacocks and chickens.  Their rooster entertained us by crowing outside our bedroom window each morning at 4:30 am.  Aren't chickens supposed to sleep at least until the sun comes up???  Better than that, the male peacock flew up to the roof top and screeched once an hour all night long.  I'm truely surprised that one of their guests hasn't cut it's tongue out a long time ago.  Betty told us that one of their guests suggested making chicken McNuggets out of the rooster.  I'm thinking a little Pea soup would go good with that!

But we're teasing, not really complaining.  We had a great visit and enjoyed the beautiful views and lovely weather as well as the great visit.

Above, the peacock shows off his beautiful tail for us.  Below is a picture of the summer kitchen which the Atkinsons have converted into a quaint and comfortable guest house. Go to  http://www.hopeprydefarm.com  to see more about their Bed and Breakfast.

 It's hard to believe that I haven't written in my blog since May.  I think that joining Facebook has distracted me from the more important things in life!

Bill and I spent May and June working on our lawn and garden.  Bill spent a lot of time working on his little vegetable garden, but had a losing battle with the ants that ate his crop of peas and some of the tomatoes.  Our cucumbers produced a bumper crop, however.  By the time we were ready to leave for our trip to NY, he had so many that he decided to make a crock full of pickles.  As I write this, they are fermenting in the crock in the guest bathtub.  I hope our house doesn't  smell like pickles forever!

We had a great visit with Vicky and Beck in June.  Bill and I drove out to Ohio in the car, picked them up and brough them back to our house.  We took them to the beach 3 times because they loved it so much.  It was Becky's first visit to the ocean, but she was absolutely fearless.  I'm glad that the water warms up so early  in NC.  We all had a good time in the water, playing in the sand and collecting shells.

Vicky was such a good help in taking care of her sister.  She's an amazing girl for 14 years old. 

While the girls were with us, we took them to the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kitty Hawk as well as the Sea Aquarium in Roanoke.  The weather was perfect for all of our adventures.

Monday.  Showers all weekend had us confined to indoor activities.  I set the camera on a tripod by the dining room window in hopes of getting some good shots of our bluebirds.  Aren't digital cameras wonderful?  You can snap, snap, snap away all the pictures you want and never have to print them if you don't want to. 

Bill is slowly getting the RV ready for some summer travel.  There are always things to maintain and repairs to make before a trip.  Luckily, he can do everything himself, or we could never afford the maintenance. Now that we have a house to support as well as the RV, we are more careful in our trip planning.  At 7-8 mpg, the motor home is not cheap to run!

Much as we love the house and gardens, we sometimes yearn for the simpler (and cheaper) days of full-timing.  No taxes, no power company, no house insurance, no lawn mowing....  am I talking us out of home ownership??? 

Friday.  Suddenly both of our cell phones dinged with new messages -- pictures of Stephen in all his Junior prom finery. 

The bluebirds have settled into their new home.  After the rain this morning, they happily hopped around the lawn near their box picking up bugs and grubs.  In the process, the male would often land in the mimosa tree just in front of the dining room window.  I got some great shots of him -- will post soon!