Treasures from a North Carolina Beach....

What a wonderful summer it was!  My daughters and I joined my sisters and their families in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week on the beach.  On a Friday we flew into Raleigh where my nephew lives, grateful for the yummy curry vegetable and rice dinner and soft beds to sleep in.  Saturday we all hit the road, caravan style, and drove on to the Outer Banks.  Here we approach the bridge over the sound ~

Once we fought through the bumper-to-bumper traffic (everyone seemed to be making a beeline to their beach house on the two lane road) we finally arrived at our home away from home -- a large 3-story where we all had our own bedrooms and bathrooms, a pool, two hot tubs, and wood steps right down to the beach! 

There were 16 of us in all.  The real reason we planned this very special family reunion was to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday this year.  Although he is no longer with us, we knew he would want us to get together and live lovingly and joyously in his honor.

Here are just a few treasures we'll remember ~

Yummy, yummy suppers from the grill and juicy watermelon

Squealing grandnieces and grandnephews when our flashlights spotted crabs in the sand when we went "crabbing" at night

Lazy moments in the swinging hammock chair, reading our assorted novels

Rooting for our favorites on the Olympics on TV at night

Long walks and collecting shells on the beach every day 

Swimming, boogie boarding and sand castle building

Working on our family jigsaw puzzle for several days

Discovering the old village of Corolla

Jeeping to see the wild horses of Corolla

Spa day with massages, facials, pedicures and haircuts

An afternoon visit from a thoroughly entertaining magician who performed extraordinary tricks

No schedule, just awaking when we wanted and going to bed when we were tired

Game night with all around the table.

Pelicans roosted on the tops of these wood poles in the water.  We enjoyed watching them fly in formation and dip into the water at dinner time.  Sand pipers joined us in running from the waves on our walks.

 The view from our back yard!

Moon light dancing on the Atlantic...

How did he do that?  The "Amazing Stanley" amused us with his tricks and witty jokes!  As close as we were to him, and none of us were in on his tricks, we could  NOT figure out how he did things!

 The little village of Corolla is quaint, nestled in the trees near the light house.  Here is the first school house of Corolla:

One day my daughters and sister were going to go parasailing -- we paid and walked down a long wooden walk way to the water where the boat was docked.  As you can see, storm clouds suddenly came in, the wind began to blow, and the captain cancelled the trip for safety reasons.  (Later we saw water spouts over the ocean!)  All was not lost -- we went shopping nearby where I found that darling picture at the top of this post -- it was on a wall by the gourmet popcorn shop where we bought bags of Cheesey Garlic Popcorn!

Tons and tons of photos were taken.  This is such a small sample...  I hope you enjoyed peeking in on our week.

And guess what?!  From Corolla, my girls and I drove our rental car to Washington D.C.!  Can you remember your geography to know some historical places between North Carolina and Wash. D.C.?   Stay tuned for my next blog!

Progress and the Home Stretch

More buzzing and pounding today, but the end is in sight!  Mike said he hopes to be finished by this evening.  I had homework last night!  They dropped off all the baseboards (I'm having new 3 inch high baseboards installed throughout most of the downstairs) -- they were primed but needed painted.  So after they left yesterday afternoon I ran up to Home Depot and began searching the color samples for the perfect shade of white.  Those of you who paint regularly know how many shades of white there are!  Some too pink, some too yellow, some too gray.  I finally settled on "Spiced White."  (To be honest, who would really know the difference now that they are on the wall?)  I came home where they had kindly set up some saw horses and the 16' long slats of baseboard in the garage for me to tackle.  I changed into my "paint clothes," turned on Pandora to Crosby, Stills and Nash and Led Zepplin, and began rolling on the paint.

Can you tell which ones I've done and which ones are still just "primer-painted?"  (Me neither!)  It was a whole lot of wood to paint, but it looks so nice now that they are skirting the rooms!

The rooms are coming along -- the guys just have a bit more caulking to do and the stairs to the bedroom wing to finish off.  Then they will help me put the furniture back into place and the cleaning of the dustbowl begins!  Everything is covered in fine dust, which has me sneezing.

I'll take a picture of the finished room once the tables are dusted, the plants and candles are placed, and all is in order again.

And now I'm going to go check on their progress again!

Buzz, buzz. Pound, pound.

I'm hanging out in my upstairs studio right now, listening to the sounds of carpet being pulled up and new wood laminate flooring being put down in my family room below.  Lots of chaos and noise but it will be so worth it!  In order to stay out of the floor crews' way, I'm forced into exile -- what better day to declutter and organize the home office/studio.  Frosty and Chaucer don't care much for the buzzing and disruption and are staying close to my side throughout the ordeal.  This is similar to what I picked out:

Fresh Paint!

My heart just went out of writing in this blog ever since my dad passed away.  It had to be from my heart -- not forced, no fake smiles, no hallow words.  So I waited.  I tried. I waited some more.  I don't know if my heart is fully into writing here on a regular basis again, but tonight I feel somewhat inspired so I'll capture what I can. 

Summer has arrived.  Not a joyous, yippee, shout it from the rooftops summer, but a soft roll into longer days, sleepy mornings, warm walks in the sun.  It has been a good summer to take care of needs -- inside and out.

So I've been having work done on my house.  Some wood siding and window trim showing signs of wood rot have been removed, the house has been pressure washed and fresh butter-colored paint applied from top to bottom, some plumbing and electrical repairs made. 

The side fence which was in such pathetic shape that the nails wouldn't even hold the slats when I tried to repair it, has been replaced with a sturdy redwood fence.  Pretty new cushions now adorn our patio furniture.  And next week I'm having my old family room and hallway carpet (with one too many stains) pulled up and homey wood floors put down.  The house seems grateful for the overdue attention. 

My dad was a carpenter -- a good one!  He had a saying, "Be a job, big or small, do it right or not at all."  I thought of him often as the carpenters were sawing and hammering on the sides of my house.  He would have been happy I was getting things fixed around the place.

Spring Break is Here!

When I was a little girl we lived next door to my Aunt Bel.  She had the most luscious lilac bushes in front of her house.  Inhaling their sweet fragrance with my nose buried in those blossoms is a memory I will never forget.  Big fat bouquets of these purple flowers adorned our table tops.  Between lilacs and wild violets, no wonder I have such fond associations with the color purple.

Why have I deprived myself of that simple joy for so long?  Today I made a decision that I need to start asking myself more often -- is this something that I can bring back into my life?  Some things are impractical and must remain dear memories, but other things can relive in our lives once again.  It took a little research, after learning that I live in zone 8 and most lilac bushes do better in zones 3-7, but I finally found a hardy lilac shrub that will thrive in my climate. The blossoms are more of a pinkish hue, but it has a long bloom time.  So a Josee Reblooming Lilac bush will soon be on its way to me!

Here's to bringing beauty into our lives!

More music, more nature, more goodness

My soul is craving all things beautiful these days.  I woke up with a mission in my heart today -- a walk on the beach, connecting with people I love, restoring my soul.

I'll listen to beautiful music as I put away the winter things and bring out the little bird and bunny figurines to open my heart to spring.  Like this music by pop-opera teens Il Volo: Watch and Listen Here. (Click on the pause button for the music at the bottom of this page first, though).

Pen and paper will come out later today -- journal entries, pressed spring flowers, love notes to friends and family.

It's a day to get in touch with goodness.

Laying My Father to Rest

It has been almost three months since I made a blog entry here.  My heart just wasn't in it.  In early January my dad had had a massive stroke.  I was on a flight to his bedside that afternoon and my sisters joined me the next day.  January was a month I would just as soon forget -- just a little over two weeks later, he was gone.

He was a great man.  People spoke of his kindness, his heroism, his gentleness, his sense of doing what was right always.  How do you sum up the life of a man so beloved, so strong and gentle, such a role model to not only his children, but all around him?  On a very windy afternoon, we paid tribute to him.  He'd been a Navy man for six years when he was younger so there was a 21 gun salute, the presentation of the flag to the family, and the playing of Taps.

I miss you, Dad.  Sleep well.