Samhain Weekend

I don't know where this month went. I came back from vacation, and that's about the last thing I clearly recall.

Well, some work got done around the house. The three walls we initially intended to paint in the dining room are finally done. I said it that way because we were not going to paint the fourth wall, the one that's the outside wall with the door and window. The old rather cheap-looking paneling that covered the entire room, was paneled over on this one wall with nicer, richer looking paneling that wasn't actually so bad. So we thought we'd try leaving it. So far I'm not too keen on how it looks, but I won't be able to judge for sure until we get more done in there - the proper curtains put up, the molding painted and installed, stuff like that. Once the room's more 'done' I'll be able to judge whether that one dark wood wall looks silly or is okay.

I've had several fires in the upstairs "Captain's Parlor" fireplace this month! It's great, because it's the first time we've had fires in that fireplace since we moved in. It's working grand - and that room looks absolutely gorgeous with a fire in the fireplace.

Spent two days raking and chopping up leaves, and the entire front yard and walkway and porch is covered again. Having those two beautiful maple trees in the front yard is wonderful year-round ... except for that is an awful lot of leaves. Next year I think we have to come up with a better, more efficient way to deal with them all.

But now - sadly - all the leaves are down, there will be no more ... so once I get the existing ones cleaned up, we're done till next year. I've left them so far, because I liked the look of the beautiful, bright maple leaves for Halloween. But after this weekend, they're going to need to go.

Speaking of Halloween, our yard is all decorated for this weekend, and we'll be handing out candy for the first time in our new house. I hope we got enough - we don't know how many trick-or-treaters to expect for sure, although we have a rough idea from a friend who lives in the neighborhood. So, we shall see.

And I've been doing a little work in the Imaginarium, though there's much yet to be done. But I've been spending a ton of time up there, like all the time anymore. It's great to finally get to be using it so much. It's starting to feel homey and comfortable, and the more time I spend there, the more ideas I get for fixing it up.

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Just a sort of quieting down and snuggling in for the coming winter, I guess. Appropriate to the season, anyway. But I thought I'd check in before it looked as if I'd abandoned the place.

Okay, I Guess I'm Back

It's been a strange week. Initially I was in denial I was back from vacation, but the definitive lack of water out my front door finally convinced me.

Then things just got busy. But now I'm finally posting some more vacation pictures.

Tyler

This looks goofier than it did in real life ... Tyler was actually playing, jumping around and racing back and forth on the deck. It was a beautiful thing, even if this picture is just silly. I mean, the Poo will be 15 years old next month ... I had to capture this moment. (smile)


Tyler loved the deck, especially the dune walk-over ... because this deck was completely enclosed and dog-safe, so he didn't have to be tied up. He could run free (as much as a dog can on a deck). It's the most freedom he's had since we moved to the new house (with no fenced-in yard). He sometimes just went and ran up and down this part of the deck.

Pelicans (but no Laurels) (ha ha)

Miscellaneous Fun Stuff

Greg body-boarding.


Me and Greg's brother, Bo.


Shrimp boat. Bubba Gump? Could be.

Found at the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

Our ledge.

When we got to the beach, there was this 4 foot drop-off down by the water. We'd never seen anything like it before, and after asking around, it's not very common, though it happens from time to time. Apparently there'd been a bad storm the day before we got there, and it had eroded this huge section of the beach. It generally fixes itself. During the week it grew shorter and taller as the tides came and went. But by the time we left it had been reduced to only a foot or two, and looked to be correcting itself slowly but surely.

A storm at sea ... I loved how you could see the rain.

Sad.


A fisherman just up the beach from us had caught this little shark. He decided to use it for bait, so tossed it aside and let it die. Then he changed his mind and never cut it up. I was sad that he killed it, especially when he didn't even use it for anything (not that I think cutting it up for bait would have justified killing it, but at least he'd have used it for something ... I guess).

How I spent my birthday.

Well, This Sucks

I've come from a week of sunny-and-80-degrees to waking up in Wytheville, Virginia to about 40 degrees. Ugh.

We split the trip home pretty evenly, we have about 7 hours to drive when we leave here this morning. It was a great trip, as always. And as always, it sucks coming home.

Meanwhile, I've got some of my pictures ready, so I thought I'd post them now. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I usually do, and I know Greg has more (and better ones), so after I get a chance to borrow his card I will probably have more to post tonight or tomorrow.

Our beach house living room ...

... and the kitchen ...



The walkway from our main deck to the beach.



I didn't take many pictures of the house, but it was really nice. It was smaller than the ones we've gotten in past years, but it worked out great. The other places were actually kind of too huge. This place still had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a large living room and kitchen area, and an absolutely perfect deck - better than the other places, as it was bigger, and it was dog-safe - I could let Tyler run loose out there without any danger. This house was really perfect for us, and I totally wouldn't mind staying here again.

Tyler on the beach.


Tyler napping.


A dolphin ...



And some ocean pictures ...