Busy Day

8- 9:30 a.m. Bird Walk at Airlie Gardens... lots of great people.... saw more BIG spiders than birds

9:30 - 12:30 Went back to Fort Fisher and Carolina Beach State Park to look for some birds to photograph... got some good pelican pictures... love that I can just take off and go there whenever I want!

1:00 - 2:00 "Alex" was here to fix my compter.... new hard drive and motherboard (what is that?)

2:00-3:30 - Computer had to reinstall many, many, many files... wish Brian Z was here

3:30 - 5:30 - tried to get computer back to being "mine", still have to upload my music and photos

7:00-10:00 Dinner at a tapas place in downtown Wilmington called Circa 1922 with another meetup group called Women of Wilmington..... great waiter, wonderful good... going back to enjoy the bar menu Friday 5-7

Came home to a close encounter of the raccoon kind to discover a large raccoon raiding the bird feeders on my deck. So now I have bring them (all 7 of them) inside every night!

Time to Catch Up!

Having MAJOR computer issues... luckily I found out that my laptop is still under warranty... spent over an hour on the phone with a technician today and the end result (get ready) is that I need 1) a new hard drive, 2) a new motherboad, 3) new casing...... not sure why they don't just send me a new computer... but someone is to ring my doorbell in a few days and install all of the above... I guess I will renew my warranty!

So... Sunday, September 5 I was on the beach in the morning (of course) and then got ready to go to John & Jess's for a Birthday BBQ.... I decided to try to make something I saw on TV that used puff pastry (Barefoot Contessa's Savory Palmiers) and IT WORKED. I have never used puff pastry before and can now cross that off my life list! The BBQ was wonderful... John, Jess, Dave, Andy & Jenny (friends of John & Jess's who were in their wedding, and just got engaged) were all there. Lots of good food, laughter, and conversation and a perfect birthday cake from a local place called Apple Annie's Bake Shop (which I will be visiting!)

Monday, September 6, MY BIRTHDAY.... I decided to start a new tradition and was on the beach until noon.... don't think I have ever been on the beach before on my birthday. The day was filled with phone calls, Facebook birthday wishes, cards, etc. Spent some good time on my deck, ate leftover birthday cake and realized (to quote my friend, Tom V) now that I am retired "every day is my birthday".

Tuesday, September 7 ( the day is not over, but I'm not sure how much longer my computer is going to cooperate)... I GOT MY NC DRIVER'S LICENSE THIS MORNING!!!!!

Left my camera at John & Jess's house so pictures will have to wait.

Birds from Airlie Garden

After the beach this morning I spent some time in Airlie Garden and took some pictures of juvenile white ibis, green herons, and butterflies. Enjoy (I did)!

Earl?

Earl was a "no-show". I think the winds gusted to about 25 mph one brief second Thursday afternoon but that is all. I did go over to The Oceanic on Wrightsville Beach and joined two other new "friends" from the Senior Ladies of Wilmington to watch the ocean from the bar. The most interesting was to see amost 100 people standing on the beach "watching" the ocean! I hope all my hurricane encounters are of the "close kind" like this one.

My social calendar is filling up thanks to my discovery of www.meetup.com which I have been told exists everywhere. You just put in your zip code and area of interest and up pop chances to meet new people. So try to keep up with me:

tomorrow - 9/4 attending a production of The Secret Garden at Thalian Hall with two other "senior ladies" with dinner downtown before the show

Sunday - 9/5 going to John & Jess's for a birthday bbq

Monday - 9/6 attending a Humanism Class at the Unitarian Class (can't ignore my intellect:)

Wed. - 9/8 Bird Walk at Airlie Gardens in the morning and dinner at a tapas place downtown (Circa 1922) with another group of women, this time of all ages

Thurs. 9/9 meeting at Panera Bread at 9:30 to meet more women from the Seniors group, including one who has started a camera club

Fri. 9/10 going to see another play (Shadowlands) downtown and this time going out to eat after the play

Sat. 9/11 - going with the Audubon group to Shackleford Banks, 2 1/2 hrs. north near the Outer Banks ... trip is being led by John Fussell who wrote "the" book on birding in NC

so ..... I am having a GREAT time..... can't wait to share it with you....

not going "Back to School" day

This is my first not going "Back to School" day in forty years... if you count the years I was a student in school this is the first September in 57 years that I haven't been heading into a classroom!

I wondered how I would feel and, in the words of James Brown, "I feel good!" Of course I miss the wonderful people I worked with, but also know I am in the right place.

Had a great time last night with the Senior Ladies of Wilmington. There were only 6 of us there but it was good to have some "girl conversation". A couple of us are going to try and go back tomorrow night to see what the ocean looks like during a tropical storm!

That's right, no hurricane but Wilmington does have a tropical storm warning starting tomorrow morning. That means I have to get the deck cleaned off tonight so there are no projectiles blowing in the wind.

The bar stools I ordered arrived today and I managed to put them together by myself. They match my dining table chairs but need some cushions (a bit hard on the butt!).

"Date" Night

The guest room is ready for guests!

I planted some herbs and they are actually growing!

Started the morning finding a large starfish on the beach... seemed to still be alive so I gingerly carried it/him/her (don't much about starfish sexuality) to the pilings by the pier and released it/him/her.

Then I went to the hardware store and bought the correct parts to repair my toilet ALL BY MYSELF! (no picture here)

Called the realty company and found out that I can use my fireplace! So now I have to rearrange the furniture to get the TV somewhere else.

My oven only has one shelf and today I found out that they no longer make pieces for my oven. Anyone have any suggestions? How do you bake cookies or Thanksgiving dinner with only one shelf in the oven? One solution.... don't bake.

Had two hummingbirds stop by this afternoon.

Then the electrican came and I now have 1) a doorbell that works 2) a new light out front 3) a light in my food pantry 4) a new ceiling fan in my bedroom.

Hurricane Earl looks like it is going to miss Wilmington. Right now we have tropical storm warnings and concerns for high surf and riptides.

And now it is time for me to go meet the "Senior Ladies of Wilmington".... more about that tomorrow!

August 30

Found a group called Senior Ladies of Wilmington that is meeting at the Oceanic (my favorite place on Wrightsville Beach) tomorrow night for Music on the Pier. Check out the information at

http://www.meetup.com/Senior-Ladies-of-Wilmington/calendar/14519745

I am looking forward to talking with someone other than the cats!