PI Christmas Selfies:12 '18

  No doubt you have heard the proverbial expression

'the best laid plans of mice and men .., which is used to signify the futility of making plans when the ability to execute them is beyond one's full control.

Once Again....the proverb holds true ...

 

Our plan was to take advantage of a brief break in the rain 

  and  take some selfies on Pawley's Island Beach

capped in our Santa Hats

 for posting  Christmas morning.

The wind was so strong and sand so biting,

 that we couldn't keep our eyes open,  

much less keep the Santa Caps on our heads.

LOL!  

Merry Christmas, everyone

PS  We still had a great time on our favorite beach.

Updated Tidal Forecasts for PI: 9 '18

Finally, the hydrology folks at NWS are producing forecasts for the gauges in Pawley's Island. Because the water headed our way is moving so slowly, crests are expected Friday or Saturday about 1 - 3 feet higher than the last tide.  This is very good news when you consider the worst-case scenarios we were receiving. 

The Bridges are open and may not close at all based on the new estimates.  Freshwater should be available throughout the flood, dikes have been build around pumping stations to protect them.  We have been asked to reduce our water usage by 50%  The Coastguard has closed the Inter Coastal Waterway from Georgetown to the little River ( We are still boiling our water and/or drinking  our emergency supply until this passes.) 

Just how many forms of disaster can Florence create? 9 '19

Unbelievable. We've just been alerted that a tornado watch has been issued for this area. Some of the outer bands from Florence are still swirling above us and their stirring up mini twisters. Not as dangerous as the big ones, but strong enough to rip your roof off. And a heavy squall just drenched Kat and is beating up the zinnias I had just staked back up.

To the astonishment of beachgoers, a large waterspout came ashore at Myrtle Beach at 9th Avenue North, near the town’s seaside Ferris wheel, tossing umbrellas and beach chairs into the air as bystanders gaped. The funnel’s wind was estimated at 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.  Other waterspouts sightings were reported in Hunting Isle, Beaufort, and North Charleston SC.  

 This is like a very bad disaster movie, I can't wait for it to be over.

Storm Surge Warnings are out: 9 '18

The PI marsh is at very high risk of Storm Surge

For those of you who think that we are out of the woods because Florence has weakened to a Cat 2... No such luck. We are still at risk from storm surge.. check out google maps (switch to satellite image view) of our street. We have marsh on two sides of us

 and 

YES, THIS IS A FLOOD ZONE!

Click on this link to see the PI Marsh around us

Time to go 9 '18

This is all happening so fast..we just got the windows boarded up and thought we'd have more time to pack before we had to leave.

As Hurricane Florence barrels toward the Southeast as a Category 4 storm, South Carolina’s governor has ordered evacuations along the state's entire coastline — which could affect up to a million people.

“We know that this evacuation order is going to be inconvenient for some people,” Gov. Henry McMaster, R-S.C., said in a press conference on Monday afternoon, “but we do not want to risk one South Carolinian’s life.”

Schools will be closed starting Tuesday in the affected counties and state officials will reverse lanes on four major roads leading to the coast to assist with the evacuation.

“We are not going to gamble with the lives of the people of South Carolina,” McMaster said.

Low Country Prepares for Florence: 9 '18

All across the low country businesses large

 and small have begun preparations for Florence's fury.

Those which can provide needed services are remaining open

are remain open.

But most of the  public entertainment

and smaller private tourist shops have already closed.

Some  are preparing to meet the storm with humor,

and others with defiance.

My favorite are those low country folk who  are showing  us

we will get through this one too.

Our Day Off - Samworth WMA: 4 '18

Today is our day off from the phones.  It has been a long  time since we had a day off together, and  last week was quite stressful.  We both felt like we really needed to get as far away as possible, from tax talk,  phones calls, and all the other routines of tax season.  When we suddenly realized we both had been re-scheduled to have the day off together,  we  wasted no time in taking advantage of this unexpected  blessing.  All chores were put on hold, and  we headed off  to explore the low-country  west of where we live.  

(Above) The small yellow house on the right lower side of the screen represents starting point our home ( above the 708 Springs) while the  blue car in the upper center of the screen  is where we wanted to go. The area is  by-n-large  an un-populated tract of wetlands under the control of various wildlife management organizations.  

In particular, we wanted to see the Samworth Wildlife Management Area which is located 7 miles due west of us ( as the crow flies).

To get there we had to head South on Highway 17.  Turn west via  the bridges which cross the Waccammah , Black and Pee Dee Rivers at Winyah Bay. Then circle back to the north via Highway 701.

From there  we veered off on  a series of successively smaller  paved county roads  which took us past interesting civil war ruins

and  through beautiful cypress swamps filled with waterlilies in full bloom.

Even though the Samworth WMA is only 7 miles due west of us, we had travel 24 miles to cross all the rivers creeks and streams, and it took us a full 40 minutes to reach the well graded road  leading into the WFA.

 ( *see footnote ant the end of this post for specific directions from Georgetown SC)

It was time well spent.

The Samworth WMA was a gift to the sportsmen of South Carolina from Thomas G Samworth   The original 500 acres of the property has grown to 1588 acres though acquisitions and additional conservation grants.  About 1300 acres are  wetlands, 200 acres are uplands and agricultural fields, and 88 acres are long leaf pine. From February 9 to  October 31,  the WMA facility is open  9 am to 5 pm EST to the public for fishing, bird-watching, hiking ( a 2.8 mile nature trail),  canoeing- kayaking, and plantation tours.**

To the right of the end of the road  stands the original colonial era plantation home.  

To the left is a large  picnic area  shaded by centuries old  heritage oaks

Some of which are truly impressive even by South Carolina standards

This one even boasted an osprey nest  in its crown

At the Northern end of the picnic area is a boat ramp for launching canoes and kayaks    It too is surrounded by massive centuries old Tupilo Cypress.

There is also a brand new dock to facilitate  loading, unloading, and landings. 

Both  facilitates allow easy access to  a small tributary of the Little Pee Dee River.

Other than the historic plantation house, there was not a human structure or sound  to be seen along the river.  One could get lost in the peacefulness of this place. Hopefully not literally,  as we intend to try kayaking  here.

But for the present, this trip certainly satisfied our desire to get away from it all.

We came rested and feeling at peace.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

* Directions from Georgetown travel 15 miles north on US Highway 701.  Once crossing the Black River Turn Right onto SC-S-22-4/ SC-S-22-52 and travel approximately 6 miles and turn right onto Samworth Loop road.  Follow to stop sign and turn left.  Travel about 300 feet and turn right onto Dirleton Road arriving at Samwort WMA.

**  ( For an interesting 3 min. video tour of the Samworth WMA see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toDkiw0Hp8Y)

***From February 9 to  October 31,  the WMA facility is open  9 am to 5 pm EST to the public for fishing, bird-watching, hiking ( a 2.8 mile nature trail),  canoeing- kayaking, and plantation tours.  For safety reasons, the WMA facility is closed to foot- traffic from November  1 through February 8 to allow public hunting of waterfowl, deer  feral hogs and doves.

Still Frozen: 1 '18

This mornings view of the house from inside my car.

 Bruce cleared  all the snow off the SUV yesterday evening so he could make a run to the store.  By this morning it had iced over again.  Those ice crystals are pretty but hard to see through.    In a day or two  it is supposed to warm up a tad. Hopefully the ice will melt and  everything will thaw out.

View of our  house from the street

Still Icy Here in the Low Country: 1 '18

Pond Adjacent to Fairwayt 3

We're still iced in!

Based upon prior years records, for this area at, time of year, the snow should have melted days ago, but as you can see, it has not. Worse yet, everything has turned to a dense layer of ice

... including all the retaining ponds.

Pond adjacent to 6th Green

Bruce took these photos this afternoon when he did a  supply speed run.

Pond adjacent to Pawleys Plantation Way and PP Way looking east

 Most of the streets are clear of snow and ice, but as you can see there is still snow everywhere that does not get a full sun. 

 DUH. Its the South. Most folks here thinks that global warming  means its going to get hotter.   It is already 'Hotter than Hades' here in the summer, so of course   all development are built in harvested forest area,  where the developer attempts to preserve as many  of the remaining shade trees  as possible around the homes to shelter them from the summer sun's rays.  

What's that you are saying?  Global warming doesn't mean that every place will be equally hotter ? Huh... it means that as the global average temperature goes up,  our  jet stream based climates will change dramatically,  so stand by, we could be in for more weather extremes. 

Really??? Oh No!

Tee time availablility: 1 '18

 Twelfth fairway looking east toward the  green near the marsh

Better hurry up and book your tee time. 

The rush is on at Pawleys Plantation.

 Twelfth fairway looking NW toward the tee off

Brrrrr, Again! 1 '18

Front yard

Brrrrr.   It's not much warmer than yesterday, and there is  a thick layer of snow covering everything

Back yard

The snow is deep enough to make snow angels 

If we had snow clothes we might be out doing that.

Icicles are formed on everything, even my poor camellias which were just about to bloom

At least the sun is out, so hopefully  the snow and ice will melt off  soon.

Low Country Snow Day: 1 "18

Aaaack. It's snowing. 

View from my upstairs office window

Very dangerous road conditions. All the bridges between us and Charleston are closed again. SC has no equipment for handling snow or ice so they are forced to close the highways and bridges.

Everything is Icy. Our street light has icicles,

as does my poor vehicle.

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.

Condition of MP Homes on Sept. 13, after cleanup: 9'17

Amazing Blades showed up about noon on Sept. 11th to begin horticultural clean up after Irma.  By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, you would not know a tropical storm with 50 MPH winds had just swept through the day before.  Here is what the east end homes on Masters Place Drive looked like at 8 am on Tues., Sept 12th.

  

Unit 108-3, 108-4 front

Unit 108-4 side

Unit 108-4 rear

Units 108-2, 108-3 front 

Units 108-3, 108-2 rear

Unit 108-1 front

Unit 108-1 rear

Building 113 front

Unit 113-3, 113-4 rear

Unit 141-1, 141-2 front

Unit 141-1, 141-2, 141-3 rear

Unit 141-2, 141-3 front

Unit 141-2,141-3 rear

Unit 141-4, Unit 141-5 front

Unit 141 3, 141-4, 141-5 rear

Unit 141-6 rear/east side