Butterfly Migration: 10 / 2020

 There's been a party going on in our yard all summer long. As soon as our zinnias and echinaceas started blooming,

the Monarch butterflies showed up,

followed shortly by the Cloudless Sulfer butterflies,

and a misc. mix of other tag-along species.

But last week the Monarchs suddenly disappeared, and this week, the skies are filled with the Sulfer butterflies, all fluttering south toward to their winter migration grounds. It makes me sad to see them go. Our world seems so much brighter and happier when I am in their presence.

A Walk on PI's Refurbished Beach

It was a beautiful day for a walk on the newly refurbished

Pawleys Island Beach

And they've protected the dunes with fencing

 and  widened the South end to extend the  beach 

Stormy Day 4"20

We woke up this morning to thunder, lightening and

zero visibility rainfall.

It sounds like the world is coming to an end  again

but then again we have a tin roof on our house and even a drizzle sounds like

a hurricane is pounding us.

I tried to turn on the weather channel,  but the TV wouldn't turn on.  

( Damn remote is broken

 and Spectrum is taking their time getting us a new one)

So I  dialed into our Myrtle Beach live news station on my PC.

It turns out that the storm we were expecting yesterday

  has finally arrived complete with tornado warnings .

Unfortunately this station is not as helpful as we would like.

Their  Weather Doppler Station is located in North Carolina (about 50 miles North of us), 

and  some dense tall trees on a neighbors property

 just to the South of that station

are blocking their signal from reaching Pawleys Island.  

The only thing the station's newscaster can tell us about our area is

 that conditions are ripe for a tornado  touching down.  

(Right now that threat seems to be  about 5 miles to the North of us 

and moving in our direction).

 Due to the low visibility  the road conditions are hazardous.  

We are being advised to stay indoors and away from windows. 

Needless to say there will be no COVID emergency meal kits  delivered into the area today;

So this weather-maker  is imposing some very real hardships

 on some of our communities' low income families.

Congrats, from an awesome neighbor: 2 '20

Congrats!
We got some really good news yesterday  which I shared
 with our neighbor across the street
When we got up this morning we  found these tied to our street lamp .
We are so fortunate to  have such a thoughtful neighbor.

Date nite at Murrells Inlet and Hagley's landing

Bruce decided it was time for us to have a date nite so we headed off to Murrells Inlet to have a couple of appetizers and a tall glass of Octoberfest, and listen to some live music. 

As we watched the day fade away, it soon became apparent that we were in for a beautiful sunset. Only one problem, we were facing east, and the sun sets in the West.

So it was off to Hagley's Landing which faces due West.

It was well worth the effort. We were rewarded with a truly spectacular ending to an already lovely day.

Drone's eye view of PI after Dorian passed: 9 ' 19

This is a great drone's view of the creekside aftermath of Dorian on Pawleys Island starting from the north end of Pawleys Island down to the south end where it narrows to one street width. BTW scene 2:20 / 4:12 the camera is looking straight at the Pawleys Plantation causeway ( the long boardwalk through the marsh which leads to the island green at fairway 13). The causeway points directly to the end of our street with our home just behind the trees at the top of the scene. That should give you a good idea of why we watch the tidal flooding warnings so carefully.

Drone flyover of the PI creek

All's well Post Dorian: 9 '19

All's well on the Eastern front.

 

We had a large tree topple in the woods behind us, and another very large oak has uplifted its roots and is leaning precariously (away from us, TG). 

But otherwise, all is good. We spent yesterday restoring the house, and yard to pre-hurricane condition. ( put the carpets back on the floor, put all the furniture back, the emergency survival gear is stored away until the next storm, washed all the windows, put screens back on, moved potted plants back outside, etc. etc. etc.) We're pooped but grateful to be alive and well enough to do all this.

Do We Stay or Do We Go: 9 "19

 We are still debating whether to go or whether to stay.  There is no change in Dorian's path or intensity as of 8 am this morning, but to be on the safe side, the Governor of South Carolina has issued a Mandatory Hurricane Evaluation Order for the entire coastline of South Carolina. 'Mandatory' means they strongly advise you to leave' and you are on your own if you stay. The cops aren't going to throw you in jail if you choose to stay, but don't call for help if you find yourself in over your head. 

Right now Dorian is still a Cat V hurricane over the Bahamas. It is moving at 1 mph toward Florida. Dorian is predicted to be a CAT II or III when it reaches us on Thursday morning. At that strength, the biggest threat to our home is going to be from falling trees. We have a lot of tall, massive 100+-year-old oaks and pines directly behind our home. In our sandy low-country soil, the rain will loosen their roots enough that even a 40mph wind gust could topple them. I will post another update after the 11 am US Weather service refresh on Dorian's path and strength.

Mandatory Evacuations Ordered 9 '19

Oh Man! Not again! This means us. We're in Zone A (Highest Risk). Now we need to figure out which way to run which won't make things worse. If we go North, Dorian will follow us; If we go south, we will be driving right into the storm. West maybe?? The problem with South Carolina is that there are so many rivers to cross and so few major highways, that getting from point A to point B is always a slow crawl through a maze of farm community back-roads? I was really hoping to avoid having to evacuate.

Mandatory evacuations ordered for all South Carolina Coastal Communities.

Count down to Dorian is on: 8 '19

Just to muddy up the waters a little more, it looks like we might have a major hurricane bearing down on us next week. Dorian is a currently rated as a Cat IV hurricane which is large and powerful enough to engulf the entire state of Florida. Up until yesterday, it was aimed directly at that State, but the most recent European models all show it taking a turn and heading Northward towards Georgia and the Carolina Coastlines. That means we have a lot of preparation to do to get the house and yard ready for the storm that is coming. We spent the morning stalking up on food etc. and rechecking our emergency gear.

The good news is that I had already started our hurricane planning and preparedness last June (Just before hurricane season started), so much of our evacuation and our post-hurricane survival supplies are up to date, and readily accessible.

Hurricane Dorian: Here we go again! 8 '19

Ugh! Here we go again. A National Hurricane Center meteorologist says the threat to the U.S. mainland from Tropical Storm Dorian has grown, with forecasts showing it could hit southeast coast as a Category 3 hurricane. Dennis Feltgen says Dorian may also grow in size and could land anywhere from South Florida to South Carolina on Sunday or Monday.

Hurricane Dorian over the US Virgin was a Cat 1  at 3:47 pm EST

The good news is that we are much better prepared to evacuate if need be this year than we were last year. ( No kitty-cat to worry about, emergency supplies up to date, emergency personal supplies still packed and ready to go, all potted plants and patio furniture already in the house because we had to move them for the exterior maintenance that was being done on our unit's deck this past week. 

The bad news is that we won't be able to board up the windows this year. And since this hurricane's track is still so ill-defined, we don't really know yet which way to go to stay safe.

Butterfly Migration underway? 8 '19

I had been thinking about  scaling back some of the taller growing zinnias in our front yard today,  but when I went out with my cutters I found there was a pollinator on almost every blossom.  Every sunflower had a bee harvesting its pollen, and

the zinnias were aflutter with admirals, monarchs, painted ladies, sulfurs, and swallowtail butterflies.

I don't remember the butterfly migration  season ever starting so early in the year,

 but it certainly looks like it is in full swing in my yard this year.

Tidying up the front flower beds will have to wait. I can't mess with the butterfly buffet during their  peak migration.

Mini-Alii Rescue: 8 '19

I thought Bruce was joking when he called out to 'come to see the alligator in our back yard' and 'bring your camera'. Surprise! There WAS a 3 ' young alligator in our back yard. It was stalking the ground feeding birds under our bird feeder. DNR had been called by some neighbors but they just said to let it find its own way back to the water. Unfortunately, the construction fence behind our property had blocked off its only access to the water.

Bruce captured it with a large animal net, then had me get our largest sturdiest animal cage. As you can see it is about 4' long and still had its baby stripes.

It wasn't happy at all about being in the cage and kept hissing and growing at us. We didn't want to stress it out too much, so we wasted no time loading the cage into the back of our SUV and driving to the nearest set of large freshwater ponds, where we released it.

Once the cage door was open it wasted no time scrambling out and heading to the pond, where it was last seen swimming away unharmed.

Home again: 8 '19

I was pleased to find all my potted plants and bedding flowers had not only survived but thrived in my absence. Some of the sunflower plants are towering over my head, and a number of the zinnias are almost as tall. I asked Bruce to help me stake up some of the tallest plants lest they topple over from the weight of all their blooms.  Bruce is still suffering from post-vacation blues. So I cut  I cut armloads of bright flowers to cheer him up.

Bruce's Welcome home Bouquet.

 I have to admit, thinking about doing laundry, grocery shopping, or doctors appointments is not nearly as pleasant as thinking about going to Temple with family, or playing mini-golf with the grandkids. But for now, it is back to reality. and I, for one, am grateful we are still able to take trips like this.   So, for now, it's back to reality until we start planning our next trip.

Day 10 of Road Trip: Norfolk VA to Home: 8 '19

Norfolk to Home: 351 miles, 6 hrs 31 min

Bruce was experiencing his usual end of vacation blues today, 

He's got the Vacay End Blues

while I was anxious to get home to my garden. 

 To please me, he got up early this morning (6 am) to get an early start. 

Good Morning, Norfolk.

 That may have been just a bit too early; the hotel hadn't set up their breakfast bar yet, so wound up hitting the road with nothing more than coffee and some cold donuts in our stomachs. Also, another round of rain showers followed us all day making travel seem a bit slower and more stressful than we would have liked. Low blood sugar and back/leg pain from sitting so long made Bruce pretty darn glum. But we made it home in just under six hours and managed to get the car and suitcases unpacked before dark set in.

Round trip total: Ten days  1351 miles

Post holiday walk-about: 7 '19

Bruce and I managed to get in another walk about  around the block this morning. 

We've been keeping the treks short.  July is the start of our hurricane/rainy season and we don't want to get stuck out in the open in a lightening storm..

Luckily we made it home just  before it started pouring.

.

New Year's Day Walk on the Beach 1 ' 19

 We  were blessed today with clear skies so we were able to continue our tradition of taking a walk on the beach on New Years Day .

It was  perfect  beach walking weather

Temperatures were in the low 70F s and there was a light refreshing breeze 

Other than a couple of other people, 

 

we had almost the entire beach to ourselves

 I said 'almost' because there were a hundreds of terns, skimmers, gulls, pelicans and other shore birds lining the edge of the water awaiting the next incoming tide.

The tide  was lower than either of us could remember it ever being. It felt like we were walking to where the sky met the sea.  It was the perfect start for the new year.

 

Happy New Year' Day Brunch 1: '19.

Bruce surprised me with  a special New Years Day brunch for us this morning.  He made us a Bacon, Brussels sprouts, and Goat cheese tart.  Oh, sooooo good ...... paired with a mango mimosa... it was to die for.  

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.

Hanukah Holiday Decor 12 '18

 Throughout all of the years we have lived here, most of our neighbors  were away visiting their relatives in other states at Christmas. The few who remained, did little to decorate the exterior of their units other than hanging a wreath on their front door and stringing a few lights around their doorway.

Our front yard has what Bruce calls our Hanukkah Holiday theme.  Other than maybe a blue six-sided star in the upstairs windows, and a menorah in the kitchen window, there isn't any decorations to be seen from the exterior of the house.