Merry Christmas: 12 '17

And a Merry Christmas to All

New Boundaries; 12'17

At 7 a.m. this  morning, the developer began putting up a storm fence all around his property boundary.  He said it will reduce soil erosion when they start grading.

Along Tanglewood

Across the Heritage Oak lot

Does a jog at the corner of Masterplace

Cuts across the grass  behind MP  Buildings 51 and 57

Stays at the edge of the woods behind Building 92

Enters the woods at the east end of Building 92

Runs through the woods behind Building 108

Connects with the street behind 108-4

 It runs around the west and south edge of the private home property-line at the end of Twelve Oaks Drive.

And yes, it does run the length of the 18th fairway!

Xmas is back on the table:12 '17

With Hanukkah behind us, the Christmas lights are back on and the table is set with gold and silver  in anticipation of  the Christmas and New Year's  Eve Celebrations

Happy Eight Night of Hanukkah: 12 '17

It is the last night of Hanukkah.

The menorah is burning brightly.

There are games to be played for who gets to open their gift first.

Everyone wins on  the last night of Hanukkah.

And a feast awaits us.

Wish it could be Hanukkah all year long.

Wishing y'all a last Happy Hanukkah for 2017.

Not the best way to celebrate Hanukkah: 12 '17

Pre-op

 Those party pooper nurses at the hospital wouldn't even let Bruce light the  Hanukkah candles ( but we did say a prayer at sundown.)

Post-OP

Perfect end to a perfect night:: 12 '17

And our decorated  Hanukkah Bundt cake

 provided the perfect finish 

to a perfect first night of Hanukkah

Happy First Night of Hanukkah;12 '17

Honoring each others holiday traditions in a mixed religion marriage can be a bit or a challenge, especially when the holidays overlap one another.  But with a little effort, we have made it work for both of us.    For example, this morning, all the red and green Christmas theme decorations were switched out for a blue white and silver Hanukkah theme.   We'll return to the Christmas theme, when the eight days of Hanukkah are over on Dec. 20th. Now after 25 years, I don't think either one of us could imagine ending the year without celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas.

 But for us, Hanukkah is not about the color scheme.  It really always begins with lighting the candles on a simple Menorah Bruce, and reciting the Hanukkah prayers. Bruce got both the menorah and the book from his family when he went into the  military at age 18. Bruce reads the prayers in Hebrew, and I read the translation in English. 

Then we  each open  a gift from under the Hanukkah bush.

The gift giving is more symbolic than luxurious, since the gifts are almost always something practical we  would be buying anyway, but

receiving it wrapped up does make the evening seem a bit more special.

Then we sit down to a formal (and fancy) Hanukkah dinner  planned and prepared by both of us.

Happy Hanukkah everyone.

Star of David Bundt Cake: 12 '17

CC is so pleased with her new bundt pan. 

We can't wait for the cake to cool enough to decorate for to night Hanukkah dinner.

First frost:12 '17

We just had out first hard frost of the season.   So glad we brought our tender potted tropical plants into the Carolina Room yesterday. It is so cold that Ms Kat won't step outside!

But it could be worse. Check out this video we took in the same location on Jan. 29, 2014.

Thanksgiving's over:11'17

 With Thanksgiving feast behind us, we didn't waste any time packing away all the Fall decorations and begin trimming the tree for Christmas.. Then CC really got carried away, and continued  decorating every other room in the house.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Bye Bye Butterfly: 11 '17

This summer CC  planted three Butterfly weed plants (Asclepias tuberosa)  in  the front yard.   These easy to grow North American natives are trouble free and  produced umbels of bright orange, yellow or red blooms all summer long. 

In turn, we were rewarded with a constant collection of beautiful butterflies which were attracted to the plant's color and copious production of nectar.

Sadly, the temperatures  have begun to drop in this area.  The plants are still ablaze with blooms, but the butterflies have migrated on.

Haunted Castle at HBSP: 10'17

I didn't even need to add glow sticks to get my cloud to light up inside the Haunted Castle

This year we celebrated Halloween with a visit to the Haunted Castle at Huntington Beach State Park.   Historic Attalaya was the perfect setting for a haunted house. The Park rangers and Park Friends put months of work into making the decorations for the interior and exterior  of the building. On the Big Scare side of the tour, eerie lighting and creepy characters  that moved around you recreated almost every scary movie set you've ever watched.  

The Little Scare side was set up more like a series of scenes from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean'; Nothing jumped out at you, and nothing was super frightening.  Even the Littlest ones had fun  going through that side.

Don't mess with Mother Nature: 10 "17

After all the hurricanes we have gone through this year, it seemed only fitting to choose a Thunderstorm for my costume this year.    I had so much fun making the raincloud hat and storm outfit from scratch.  When I put it all together with metallic face paint, a chiffon gown, and crystal raindrops I almost appeared to float above the ground when I walked.

Charlestowne Landing SP: 10 '17

We paid a short visit to Charlestowne Landing State Park this morning. The Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site sits on a marshy point, located off of the Ashley River, where a group of English settlers landed in 1670 and established what would become the birthplace of South Carolina. Charles Towne Landing introduces visitors to the earliest colonial history of Charleston colony.

Unfortunately, we were limited on time so we concentrated on seeing all the educational exhibits in their visitor center, where we Interacted with hands-on exhibits and took an audio tour on the self-guided history trail.

There is much more to do and see in the park, including touring the Adventure, Charleston's only 17th-century replica sailing ship, see cannons fired, or taking a peek at otters, bears, bison and more at the Animal Forest natural habitat zoo. The grounds also include 80 acres of gardens, with an elegant live oak alley and the Legare-Waring House.

Unfortunately, today, the time we had was limited, but we'll definitely return.

For more information on Charlestowne Landing go to:

https://southcarolinaparks.com/charles-towne-landing

Irma's Impact on Pawleys Plantation: 9 '17

 Irma's impact on Pawleys Plantation was minimal. No residential structural damage, minimal horticultural damage, and light facilities damage.

Eighteenth Fairway: no change all three days

I (CC) took photos documenting the condition of portions of Pawleys Plantation early on  Monday morning,  Sept 10th before Irma could be felt, and again on  Tuesday morning September 12th right after she had passed; then the third set on September 13th  (Wednesday morning) after the cleanup crews had gone through. They say a photo is worth a thousand words so, here are the pictures.

Clubhouse pool fence is blown down: Sept 12

Seventeenth Fairway, Sept. 10

Seventeenth Fairway: Sept 12 am

Seventeenth Fairway, and Hunt House: Sept 12 am

Minor Damage to Hunt  House Chairs: Sept 12 am

Seventeenth Fairway: 13 am 

Thirteenth Fairway Causeway: Sept 10 am

Thirteenth Fairway Causeway.. lots  debris, no damage: Sept. 12

Thirteenth Fairway Causeway.. back to normal: Sept. 13th am

Twelfth Fairway, Sept. 10

Twelfth Fairway, Sept. 12

Twelfth Fairway, Sept, 13

 The worst structural damage was to the dyke which holds back the PI tidal creek.  It was entirely washed loose of its moorings and deposited on the cart path at the eastern end of the twelfth fairway.

Dyke damage at edge of 17th blue tee:  Sept. 12 am

Twelfth Fairway cart path blocked by broken dyke: Sept  12

 12th Fairway cart path was cleared of  debris: Sept. 13 am

 The broken pieces of the dyke were moved to the edge  of the creek, 
all other debris removed entirely.