Friday, December 18, 2009

Snow!

Wow...my mother used to love to watch the snow and, as my husband reminded me, so do I.  It's a rare treat to get a pretty snow. 









Um...no, we didn't have blue snow.  I did something in the editing process.  No idea WHAT I did or how to fix it.  Tsk.  My car, parked beside the old house on our property. 


Our front yard -- I took this from our front porch.


Front porch...all of these pictures were taken a couple of hours ago.  The snow's gotten considerably deeper by now - but it's dark.  I'll ramble more tomorrow, perhaps.





To heck with all that wet stuff - let's relax by the fire!

Til next time~~

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Brief Escape - Part 2

Here are a few more pictures from our Outer Banks trip last week...



Polly wanna -- oh, wait, I'm not a parrot.



Eastern view of the sound.



I think I already posted this one.



The screened-in porch where the hot tub lives.



Getting darker...



Surf fisherman...



The Frisco Pier isn't faring so well...and is closed now.



A dune (no, really?) ...



Lovely, isn't it?



The marina near the ferry from Hatteras Village to Ocracoke.



Another marina shot.



 
Nice little "boat," huh?



How to avoid adding to the landfill!


That's all folks - unless, that is, you'd like to see more dune photos.


Til next time~~

Monday, November 30, 2009

Brief Escape

Hubby and I spent Thanksgiving week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina . . . specifically in a secluded soundfront cottage by the name of Cat's Meow in the village of Frisco. The time away was desperately needed, as it had been three years, I believe, since our last vacation. Twas a peaceful week of napping, eating, hot-tubbing and shopping. Below are a few pictures...





Our cottage in the trees ... this is the sound side.





Cape Hatteras Lighthouse--not a level shot, is it?


Sunset over the sound...



The sound - so close!


Cool trees beside "Cat's Meow"


Isn't this neat?


The driveway to our cottage - super secluded!


Windsurfer...there was LOTS of wind on Friday.

Til next time ~~

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Good Morning, Morning~~~

The sun has risen on another day, and I pray the Lord will give us a good one.  And if He chooses otherwise, I pray He gives us the strength and peace to handle whatever comes our way today. 



 


Saturday, October 31, 2009

Early Evening Rambles

Rural beauty is not limited to daytime.  I wish I had a "super camera" to show you the wonderful starry skies here, but I'm doubtful that mere photographs would do them justice.  Instead, here are a few photos taken at sunset taken a week or two ago. 







 

Okay, so I'm not a prize-winning photographer, but I love sunsets - always have. 



  

Monday, October 26, 2009

Let's go to the Fair

Granddaughter Katie and I enjoyed a warm autumn afternoon at the Dixie Classic Fair Saturday (the 10th). Oh, the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of the fair!  It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all.


Katie wanted to try the rides - and not the "baby rides," either.  I was hoping for somewhat sedate ones so that I could ride with her.  It's been quite a few years since I'd ridden anything more than a "bench" on the carousel.  So, off we went into the midway area.  We managed to get past the "step-right-up" hawkers and came to the first "ride" that I remembered loving as a teenager - the Himalaya.  It looked innocuous enough and I thought Katie might enjoy it.  Have mercy.  The poor child went straight into a panic as soon as the ride began.  You'd think there would be a gradual building of speed on the thing, but noooo, it went straight into hyperdrive speed which, of course, threw her into me.  The poor thing was terrified and fighting the physics lessons being forced upon her.  I finally convinced her to just come over next to me instead of trying to fight it and she loosened up some when she realized we wouldn't be hurled to a neighboring state.  She even learned to scream woooooooohoooooooo (or something similar), which helped release some tension.  It's a good thing we chose not to eat anything before taking on the rides.





After that particular introduction to the Strates midway rides, Katie was happy to walk a lot before trying another ride.  I believe she was a bit skeptical of Nannum's decisionmaking skills.  Truth be told, so was I!  It's funny how the long-term memory of rides-gone-by kicks in once you experience the g-forces of just one of them.  I persuaded her away from the Tilt-a-Whirl and Spider-type rides, remembering how her mother reacted to those many years ago.  I was feeling badly-slash-guilty and so decided to sacrifice my fear of heights for a mostly smooth, slow ride - the ferris wheel.  Urf.  She loved it!  My stomach did not.  I can still feel the car rocking every time the wheel stopped, but the big-eyed look of awe on Katie's face made this ride worthwhile.  A lady and her daughter sat across from us - reminiscing about the rides the daughter rode as a child.  Shoot, the daughter was barely a teenager, but Katie chimed in about the caterpillar ride.  Too cute.  The lady pointed to mountains behind Katie and me.  No way was I going to turn around to look, and I settled for my view of the concrete mountains known as good ol' downtown.




After the ferris wheel ride ended, Katie was stoked.  We walked a bit more, trying to decide what to do next.  "Would you like to ride the ferris wheel again, Nannum?" she asked, eyes twinkling.  I do not resist twinkling granddaughter eyes.  So, back we went to the ferris wheel, and I encouraged Katie to sit on the other side of the car so we could see the mountains this time - which were very lovely.

















Two young teen girls shared this ride with us.  Here's a photo of the shoes of one girl.  Too cute.




 After a pizza lunch, an underwhelming animal show, a haunted house ride and several trips around the midway, we headed for the gigantic slide, carousel, petting zoo, several critter barns and a cotton candy stand.  Katie picked out a toy for her little brother and an inflated pony for herself somewhere along the way.









 


Check out the t-shirt on this guy. "Will trade wife for tractor."



Colorful rings for sale...






Got a carrot?




After many long, fun-filled hours, we said tired goodbyes to the 2009 Dixie Classic Fair and headed home.  Nannum went home and happily collapsed.  Katie went home and played chase with her little brother for an hour, I'm told.  Ah...to be young again!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Monday, October 5, 2009

Live and Learn....Ad Nauseum

 





When I took the above photos a week or two ago, the thought had occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, this is ragweed.  But, I thought, it's such a pretty "wild flower," and look at the wasp enjoying the blossom.  Oooh, let's see how close we can get!  Time passed, and just for the heck of it yesterday, I went to ask.com and typed "What does ragweed look like?"  Sure enough, I had been within inches of the dreaded weed, with my persnickety sinuses, at that! 

I always feel a day I've learned something is a good day, but why couldn't ragweed be gnarly and a putrid shade of brownish-green? 

Til next time ~~