Happy Halloween 10 '09

Happy Halloween everyone.

Black Cat Candelabras on the table

 The holiday is one of my favorite times of year

Rats in a fruit cage on the Breakfast  Bar

It gives me an excuse to decorate the house 

Bats  hang from the Chandelier

In a really playful 

Rats and gourds on the Hall tree

 and colorful way

Halloween at the Hammock Shops 10 "09

I was working this afternoon at the Hammock shops when I noticed a flurry of glitter.

 

 What to my wondering eyes did appear, but a princess

followed by a pink bunny in a ballerina tutu

Followed by a peacock

followed by a cow???

Trick or treat. This was definitely at Treat for me.

Sandcastle Building at PI Oct 09

Its a fine  Indian Summer kind of day to take a walk on the beach at Pawleys Island

or looking for shells

or building a sandcastle

or enjoying the sound of the sea oats rustling in the wind

HBSP Spoonbills 10 '09

Bruce and I decided to walk off lunch along the freshwater marsh at Huntington Beach State Park.  I don’t know what angel was guiding us, but it definitely was a day to remember for bird-watching.  In addition to the regular summer flocks of Woodstork, Ibis, Egrets, Moorhens,  etc, we spotted three rare bird sightings

Driving in across the causeway, I  told Bruce” look theirs some Ibis  right by the road … PINK ibis??? (my voice rising )  Those are Spoonbills”   Bruce slammed on the brakes so I could hop out with my camera to grab some shots while he parked the car.  Sure enough there were two juvenile Roseated Spoonbills feeding in the mudflats.  We watched them for a long time.  They are beautiful birds with strange wide bills that they sweep rapidly back and forth through the pluff mud seeking small crabs and shrimp.  Normally these beautiful birds are found in the marshes of Florida and the Gulf coast.  I don’t know what brought them so far north, but there they were posing for my camera. (An hour later, when we drove back out of the park they were no where to be seen)

Continuing on our walk, we walked out onto the observation deck over the fresh water march.  There almost at out feet was a Red Necked Egret ( a Dark Morph).  Again it hung around long enough for me to admire its beautiful coloring, swift hunting action, and beautiful colors, and again it was no where to be seen when we drove out.

BJ Scuba Dives the Bill Perry 9 '09

Coral surrounded by schools of fish

Bruce went scuba diving  today with the crew  of the Scuba Express out of Murrell's Inlet, SC.

Entering the hold of the Bill Perry

 They were artificial reef  diving  the sunken tugboat, " Bill Perry" which is in 65 feet of water.

Looking out from the hold

  Stats on depth however don't mean much in the silt laden waters off of South Carolina's coastline. 

Shrimp, sponges, coral and fish

 The wreck has developed into an artificial reef colony which supports  a lot of life . But  visibility is poor and you really have to look carefully to be sure you are seeing all that is around you.

7 foot Black tip shark

Clay Pot Cooking 9 '09

I have fallen in Love with Clay Pot Cooking.  They leave food so juicy and flavorful

Veggies

I bought myself two different style tagines

Pork with Couscous

Then my daughter, Laura, gave me a third  clay pot for my birthday

Chicken with lentils

Bruce loves it.  The house always smells so exotic

Guensey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society 9 '09

 Today my the Pawleys Plantation Book Club Met at the  Traditions  Plantation Clubhouse  for our annual luncheon and to discuss The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Society.  The fictional characters are based upon the very real living conditions of British citizens living on the German occupied British Isle of Guernsey during WWII.   It is a tale of  hope, and the strength of spirit that helped them support one another and survive the dire conditions they found themselves in.  

 As always the group first met to discuss basic business and to greet new members

Since much of the  book's plot revolved around  social dining events the characters devised to give themselves a chance to discuss the contraband books they were reading, our group felt that a luncheon composed of the menus mentioned in the book would be appropriate way to kick of our new year

Various food that were in the book were laid out on a spearate table for us to examine and discuss prior to having lunch

Half the fun was anticipating what the potato peel pie  would taste like.

  The Chef at the Traditions Clubhouse outdid himself with the menu.

Chef hold a Potato Peel Pie

We all had a great time.  I am so fortunate to have found such a creative  book club

Kat Walk

Kat loves to take walks with us .  We walk along the golf cart path in the early evening after all the players have left the course.  She follows about ten feet behind us  for a good quarter mile through three fairways and then back the same route.  Sometimes we cross the course to walk home along the edge of the marsh, and at other times stay to the shelter of the trees.  In any case she really looks forward to our evening walks and acts genuinely disappointed if we don't go for a stroll with her.

McClellanville boats 9 '09

We took a short drive to McClellanville , SC today to pick up some local seafood from their shrimp docks

 But while we were there I took the opportunity to take some reference  photos

 Pretty sure some of these will get translated into paintings

Footprints in the sand 8 '09

Have you ever noticed how certain themes seem to pop up, and once you notice  them once, you start seeming them everywhere.

I was admiring a  giant sand sketch  of a footprint that someone had put on Pawleys Island  beach this evening

The I looked down, and what is right next to my footprint, but an oyster shell that looked remarkably like a miniature footprint.   I took the shell  home and made a necklace out of it.

Hidden Park in the middle of Winyaw Bay Aug '09

East Bay Park is a Georgetown County City Park  which sits near the end of  a peninsula which juts out into the middle of Winyaw Bay. The park is an open grassy area  which is used for  funtions like farmers markets, soccer matches, and  other out of door gatherings.  The area around the grass  surrounded by parking lot. Which seems at first glance  to be all there is to the place.

Then one day we were loading our purchases from the farm stands into the car and noticed a man with a fishing pole follow a small trail from the end of the parking lot into the marsh. Hmmm! Is there more to this place than we knew about?

Curious, we followed the same narrow trail as the man before us.

It led us  through the marsh grasses to a small wooden bridge which crossed the march and brought us very close to  many  beautiful marsh birds.

Then we found ourselves on a small pine tree covered island at the very tip of the peninsula. 

The island  while unknown to us is obviously well known to local fishermen.  It has a a picnic shelter with a fish cleaning station, and lots of places along the banks where it is clear that angles hang out regularly.  It also has some remarkable views of the Winyaw Bay.

  Definitely a good place to check out the sunrise.

Pawleys Island Farmer's Market 8 '09

Yesterday  morning I thought I would try shopping the new Pawleys Island Farmers Market

Georgetown County has always held a Farmer's Market in a couple of locations within the Georgetown City limits, but only recently has it  authorized Pawleys Island to have it's own Farmer's Market..

  The first thing I discovered is that it is an adventure just finding the place.A small sign tells one to turn west off of Hyway 17, and then one follows the road through the woods for a mile until another small sign directs one to turn right onto a residential street that meanders through a run down trailer park community... another small sign directs a left turn onto a dirt road that leads through  more woods and passes through a cemetery.  The quest finally ends at a large empty lot / community playground. 

All was forgiven when I reached the half dozen tents and the local merchants vending their wares.   They were selling everything from fresh bread , to herbs and eggs, to seafood, to handmade soap.  I loaded up on fresh butter beans, squash, baby potatoes, and basil, tomatoes, multi-grain bread and my favorite McClellanville Clams brought in by Thornhill Farms.

Boy did we have a feast last night

Miniature Golf in Myrtle Beach ' Aug '09

Bruce wanted to  try his hand at a round of miniature golf, but  that is easier said than done. Myrtle Beach takes pride in its claim as the Miniature Golf Capital of the World. There are over 50 courses in all; most form an ecosystem of manufactured mountains and Ty-D-Bowl blue waterfalls along a strip of Hwy 17 that stretches all the way to the North Carolina border.   There are so many places in Myrtle Beach to play a round of miniature golf it is very difficult to select just a few that stand out from the rest. 

Using eye appeal as our guide, we cruised Hwy 17 to see which courses grabbed our attention. It's a 25 mile panorama of fog machines, fake rocks, and palm trees, enlivened with an occasional dinosaur or pagan temple, with names  such as Cancun Lagoon, Mayday Golf, Hawaiian Rumble, Mt. Atlanticus. 

We finally settled on the Mount Atlanticus Minotaur Goff (yes, that's how they spell it) opened in 1988 at a cost of $3 million. It is situated in the heart of Myrtle Beach, just next door to the Pavilion Amusement Park. Atlanticus offers two huge courses (the Minotaur and the Conch) in a truly unique setting: it occupies the former Art Deco department store, Chapin's. 

The courses twist through the building's three floors, up stairs on the side of it, and up to the roof with views of the beach and roller coasters. The holes themselves are challenging and creative

 Bruce felt right at home in the underground portions Conch Course.
They offered a cool respite from the sweltering heat of summer.

But even out of doors the course was fun, and the abundance of running water made the sunny areas a lot more tolerable

Bruce takes his golfing quite seriously and did very well on most holes.

CC... not so much so.. especially on  taking the game seriously.

In the end Bruce won  (by one point) , so much for taking the game seriously!

He seemed  happy, but  if not,  we can always have a rematch at one of the other 49 courses.
You can check out the Mt Atlanticus website at
 http://mountatlanticus.com/