weather report

the weather report in today's newspaper says (and I quote) "torrential showers and thunderstorms fueled by a tropical air mass will dump a mind boggling amount of rain on the area"

never heard it put quite like that!

more rain

Wilmington made the news on Good Morning America and the Weather Channel by setting a record with yesterday's total of 12.1 inches of rain! I left my snow shovels in NJ but am thinking I should have packed a canoe. Today I got out to do some chores: bank, library, World Market, Bed/Bath/Beyond, Home Goods, ABC (state liquor store), and Harris Teeter (grocery store) so I am ready for MORE heavy rain (6-10 inches more) predicted for Wednesday into Thursday.

The pictures are of redecorating in my living room. My family informed me that I needed to move my artistic seasonal trees (painted when the boys were in 2nd grade!) to a more discreet location.

Rainy Days

Some more pictures of wood ducks, juvenile (teenagers) red-bellied woodpeckers arguing, and the Airlie Gardens Grand Live Oak.

After a perfect week of sunshine, swimming and beach weather, Bruce headed back to NJ this morning in a downpour. And it looks like it is going to be raining most of the week. This area needs rain desperately so it is time for me to look for "indoor" activities.

I have lots of pictures in my camera to go through. I want to make prints of many of them, frame them, and get them on the walls to enjoy.

Bruce and I got to see our boys play flag football yesterday morning. They won both games. Then John, Jess, Dave and our friend Jenny were here for dinner last night. A chance for me to try yet another new menu... this time Creamy Angel Hair Pasta with Feta, Mediterranean Chicken with Olives and Artichoke Hearts, and a Lemon Curd Fresh Berry Pie. No pictures.... all gone!

Peter is coming for a visit this Thursday!

The Wilmington Riverfest is this weekend. http://www.wilmingtonriverfest.com/

Taking a "Vacation"

Bruce is here visiting for a week, so it is like having a vacation in the middle of retirement.

- Amazing sunrises and swimming in 80+ degree water every day. (Time for me to get the boogie board from John & Jess.)

- Lots of time at Airlie Gardens.

- Good times with John, Dave, & Jess- Taking road trips to new birding sites.

- Discovering new restaurants.

- Bruce, Dave, John fishing and fishing and fishing.

Here are pictures of some of the highlights: tricolored heron and a five turtle conga line at Airlie Gardens... and lots of beach time

September 22

Have been enjoying swimming in 80+ degree water the last several days. Pictures are from a visit to Airlie Gardens today. Can you tell I am obsessed with wood ducks! The colors on the male look like they were painted on. The highlight, however, was the two otters we saw. ("We" is Bruce who is visiting for a week. Right now he and John & Dave are at the pier fishing.. maybe fish for dinner tomorrow!)

"Retired and living in NC" is becoming more and more a reality and sometimes I pinch myself to believe it is all real. But I am don't think I would be in this good a place if it were not for the phone calls and texts from my friends. And the chance to share parts of it all with those reading this!

Sept. 18 & 19

Loaned my small camera to Jess to take up North so pictures will be posted another time.

Accomplishments since Friday include:

1. found many new nature trails to explore in the next few weeks
2. updated my Airlie Gardens membership so I can "bring a friend"
3. hung at least a dozen pictures on the walls so it is looking even more like home
4. finished reading Cape Fear Rising, a very disturbing book about a race riot/massacre in Wilmington in 1898
5. continued to get to the beach at least once a day
6. Dave put together a new headboard for my bed
7. bought the ingredients to make "Anne's Caramelized Onion White Pizza" when Dave comes back from fishing tonight.
8. watched Dave play flag football (John still up north)

but the most important thing I "think" I have accomplished is...... I am learning that it is okay to just do nothing. I have always found it hard to not have a list of things I have to do at all times. I tend to feel guilty if I am not getting something crossed off my list. Perhaps part of being "retired and living in NC" is just enjoying the experience!

new birds

In Airlie Gardens this afternoon and saw 3 red-bellied woodpeckers together in a tree. Got pictures of one. Then I saw a Little Blue Heron.... didn't even know they existed until I got home and looked it up, beautiful blue color!

September 17

It is only 10:30 a.m. and I feel like I've already put in a full day. Took my morning beach walk, sat and read the paper, and was home by 9.

When I first moved in I didn't think I could use the fireplace so I put my TV in front of it. Since then I found out I can use it and I don't like seeing the TV the first thing whenever I walk in. So I decided to move all the furniture this morning, by myself. It took some creative strategies to keep from marking up the hardwood floors, i.e. placing furniture on pieces of carpet and pulling them around, but I did it. Here is my new floor plan. Still living with the newness and open to suggestions! Where is a decorator when I need one (hint to Joan)? And it is much too early to even try to use the fireplace. Still in the high 80s, low 90s each day.

Another contractor just left. People just show up to fix things I didn't even know needed fixing. The college kid who lived here before me put a decal over the bed upstairs and it left a mark, so two guys came to work on it. May turn into a big job if they have to cut out a section of the board.... BUT it is not my problem! I love renting!

And now on with the rest of the day.

Sept. 16

I went downtown Wednesday night and stopped at Circa 1922 for dinner. I'm getting good sitting at the bar alone and enjoying the people I meet. Then on to see Winter's Bone, a disturbing movie that I won't forget for awhile yet am glad I saw.

Thursday, September 16

Up at 5 to take John & Jess to the airport. They were flying to Albany to spend some time with Jess's sister and then on to MA for their friend Josh's wedding. John is in the wedding and has spent some great times with Josh in Bermuda (where Josh lives, lucky man). Then they are heading to NH to see Jess's parents. Back home on Tuesday.

Headed to the beach after the airport and was able to watch the sunrise. I still cannot believe how lucky I am to be in such a beautiful place.

Dave stopped by to put on my new license plate (singular, only one!) and we carried a 90 lb. package containing the new headboard for my bed upstairs. Dave is coming back Sunday to put that together for me.

Went over to the Oceanic and met up with some of the Senior Ladies of Wilmington for dinner on the pier. Back home to hang out with Dave a bit. He had put in a load of laundry, gone to the pier to fish, and stopped back to wait for it to finish. I think I run the best laundromat around since he left with clean clothes and a bag of food!

September 15

My NC driver's license arrived in today's mail. Tomorrow I will register my car and get NC plates. That means I will be a Jersey Girl driving around incognito!

Spent most of the morning at Airlie Gardens. My camera is still not working properly and is cause for GREAT frustration, to the point that I have thought of going out and buying a new camera (is that why I was surprised by $800 in the mail this week?)

But here are some of the photos I was able to take, even though I usually had to turn my camera off, take out the battery, replace the battery, turn the camera back on... and then take a picture... sometimes I could even take 2-3 in a row before having to do the whole routine over again.

Other than the obvious butterfly, mute swan, and LARGE spider there are

several pictures of juvenile white ibis, a flying wood duck, and some kind of hawk or falcon that I watched swoop out of the trees several times and try to catch lunch in the lake.... of course, those were the times the camera did NOT take a picture.

Tuesday, 9/14

Got up to be at Greenfield Lake by 8 for an Audubon field trip, but either I had the wrong date, place, or time or the trip was cancelled because no one was there. There was a great blue heron less than 6 feet in front of me and a group of 6 wood ducks swimming in the lake when I discovered that my camera isn't working again. Found a camera repair store where someone suggested I either reformat the card or buy a new one. I did both. It worked for awhile and then the same error message. Going to buy a new battery tomorrow and if that doesn't work I have to send the camera to Canon for repair:(

Got home to discover I didn't have any running water. Waited until 5 before I called the realty agency. (I like being able to call someone else when there is a problem.) Some wonderful gentleman did a little investigating and found out a main line was repaired and the water was back on around 5:30.

I didn't accomplish much today. So I am staying home tonight, drinking prosecco and watching some more of season 3 of Dexter.

The best part of the day was once again realizing I can make any time schedule for myself that I want!

Sunday, 9/12

Got to the beach late (8:00), walked, sat, was reading paper and it started to rain around 9:30. By the time I got packed up and back in the car.... the rain had stopped.

John & Dave played their first flag football game with mom as a spectator (not cheerleader, don't want to embarrass them YET).

Went over to watch the Giants beat the Carolina Panthers with John/Jess. Then came home and relaxed and read and shared a good long telephone visit with Joanna.

At one point last night I looked over and found Buddy sitting at the bar. Wonder if he wanted a drink?

Monday, 9/13

Stayed up reading until around 1:30 a.m. last night.... because I can:) So once again I didn't get to the beach until after 8. It was a beautiful sunny morning with just a hint of cooler weather coming. Stayed until 10 then had to go back to the hardware store and buy another "thing" to fix the downstairs toilet. The other one broke.... I bought one that isn't plastic.... hope this works.

Did my Monday cleaning chores. Love the new Sharp steamer that Barbe V. encouraged me to buy. Then I headed out to buy a new wireless modem. I could not figure out how to add security on my old one and my solution was to start all over again. It seems to be working!

There was a check in the mail today from my car insurance company for the $ I had lost when a hit-and-run driver rear ended my car last August.... I had all but given up hope they would ever track him down!

I also think my camera and SD reader on my computer have "healed themselves". I am just going to enjoy that they suddenly seem to be working.

I think Dave is coming over after work to do his laundry and visit. And now I am going to sit on the deck and enjoy my book. The temperature is only 80 degrees and it is 2:30 p.m..... that is a first!

Shackleford Banks Adventure (with a capital A)

First the play Shadowlands last night was a grand experience! Got home around 11:20 and was in bed around midnight.

Alarm went off at 5 this morning... and I was at Port City Java (the Wilmington answer to Starbucks) by 6. Met up with 9 members of the Cape Fear Audubon Society and headed for Shackleford Banks. I did not have to drive! Took about 2 1/2 hours with one stop. We met about 8 more people there, including the leader John Fussell, III, author of A Birder's Guide to Coastal North Carolina and our leader. Ferry ride was eventful for those who know one bird from another.... we saw all kinds (who knew there was more than one kind) of godwits, willets, plovers, dunlins, sandpipers, terns, oystercatchers, herons, egrets, warblers and more! I loved the passion of the leader and people; the weather was perfect.

Somewhere during the festivities my camera stopped working. I kept getting an ominous Error 99 message. I tried everything I could think of but could not get it to work. I had charged the battery overnight and didn't think I had another battery. When I got home just now I found the other battery in the camera case. I had it with me all the time! That seems to have done the trick. And now I can not get my computer to load the SD disk, other than these two pictures. So it has been/is a technical challenge.

We did see horses! That is (get ready Anne) AWESOME! To first hear horses in the distance and then see them appear on an island in the middle of nowhere is a first for me. I was told there are 114 horses on the island and they are completely wild, never fed or watched over. Amazing!

Our leader was a bit more adventuresome than some of us were ready for. We spent at least an hour ankle to shin deep in the marshlands. My sneakers & socks were not happy.

Stopped for dinner on the way home and arrived back at Lion's Gate around 6:30, showered, hosed off my sneakers, put on my pajamas, and now am ready to pour a glass of wine and be done for the day.

Joined the Senior Ladies of Wilmington meetup group at Panera Bread yesterday morning and met some more fabulous women! Then caught up on some "chores" during the afternoon. One (of the many) joys of being retired is being able to do chores anytime I want to.

I discovered that the shrub behind my deck is a gardenia and the flowers smell better than any perfume I have ever owned (not sure if that is a compliment to the flowers or an insult to any perfume I have every worn).

Since I didn't get to the beach yesterday morning, I went back up around 6:00 and walked my two miles. Then picked up my camera at John's.

This morning I joined the Audubon society for a tour of Mason Inlet. This was my third try. First time Buddy Cat was sick and I spent the morning finding a vet, second time No Show Earl had created a surfer's paradise and there was no parking. And today I met even more great people, but it was high tide and we could not get all the way to the end and there were very few birds. Still I discovered another entire part of Wrightsville Beach that I look forward to exploring. Stayed on the beach until noon.

This afternoon I am going to drop off some things at Goodwill... and I thought I had gotten rid of unwanteds before I moved! See my delightful new insurance agent/friend Gina (a friend of John and Jess's) to get car insurance. Go back to Circa 1922 from 5-7 to sample their bar/tapas specials and then go to see Shadowlands at the Big Dawg Theatre downtown.

I am excited about heading to Shackleford Banks tomorrow. It is about 2 1/2 hours north so the group will be leaving at 6:15 a.m. The trip is to be (and I quote the Audubon Society) a ..... Special outing to Shackelford Banks with expert birder author, John Fussell. Peak migration! Marbled Godwits, Wilson's Plover, possible Long-billed Curlew. Fee for ferry. Carpooling encouraged. Bring water, food, sun protection and insect repellent. Be prepared for a two-mile walk.

Although featured as a birding trip the island is also known for the wild ponies and excellent shelling. I hope my camera and I will have lots to share in my next blog!