Moving again

Where did the last two months go?I have to be a masochist since I subjected myself to moving yet again.I'm still officially at Edisto but I bought a little house in Oxford, GA where I lived for more than 20 years. I was able to get stuff out of storage that had been there since Howard and I had a parting of the ways.I've wrestled with rugs, big boxes and all manner of heavy storage bins but I've finally gotten most everything in this house and was able to host Thanksgiving here.

The house was in pretty good shape but needed updating. It still does but it has been painted, inside and out and I put a light hickory laminate over the old dark tile floors. Now I am working on planting some perennials and shrubs that will bloom in the spring.

As much as I love Edisto, Oxford feels like home and I'm enjoying my old friends, church and the sense of community that is here.However, I'm a gypsy at heart and look forward to going back to Edisto next week.

The second photo is part of the new Oxford Trail that begins off my street.

September Song

Fall is here. We've had two frosts last week and after the big Labor Day weekend, there are no campers to be seen.I have beautiful sunflowers in my front yard and some very large green tomatoes.

My neighbor and I hosted our second annual tea for about 15 ladies. We all wear hats to this event. A couple of friends and I decided to add wigs, as well.

I was full and overflowing over Labor Day. Two very nice women who are regular customers asked if they could have a wedding here. I was honored.

It was a beautiful ceremony and they stood in my front yard and looked over the Bay as they said their vows. They are both in their fifties and have been together for 16 years.

Without a break all summer, last week some friends and I took a mini-trip and went to Lunenburg and Liverpool for two days.We saw some beautiful scenery, including the Ovens which are sea caves.

The pictures have gotten all bunched up and I'm not savvy enough to know how to move them. I will add one more that I took last weekend when there was a full moon. I plan to start home on the 16th.

August on the Bay

The batteries in my camera are dead and getting the lithium kind I need will mean a trip somewhere at least an hour from here so I might not have photos on this entry.

I'm sitting here waiting for Hurricane Bill to do his thing. He is coming in as the normal tides are the highest in the summer. That could be interesting.All of the coastal provincial parks have evacuated but I'm staying right here with an almost full house. I did get my neighbor's grandson who speaks French to translate for me as I convinced the French family from Quebec who speak no English to move from their tent into a cottage for the evening. They seemed relieved.

Fishing has been good for striped bass. A number have been caught right off my bank, one 35 inches long.That 's" some big" as they say up here.I'm trying to get photos to post in the Bass River general store for free advertising.

Temperatures have been very high the last couple of weeks, upper eighties and even nineties.Friends keep asking me if I find it hot. I tell them "yes, if I were home, I'd have the AC on".There's usually no need for it here.

It's Tuesday now and Bill was merely weak Willie. The wind and rain here were no more than we often get but we did lose power for a couple of hours.I have batteries for my camera and all is well on the Bay.

Cool July

Half of the summer is gone and I realized that I haven't written anything lately. Today is a good day to catch up. It is 60 degrees, threatening rain and no customers in sight. I do have two tent sites occupied , one cottage and one RV tonight but that's not much for mid July. Between the economy and the cool, rainy weather, business is way down. In fact, we've had only four dry days in July.

I've had a number of family and friends here this summer and they have enjoyed the sights and the food. Lobster is cheaper than chicken. It just went up to $6.00 a pound.

Obama is very popular in Canada. I wish I had bought hats for all of my friends here.Nova Scotia just voted in the New Democratic Party, getting rid of the Conservatives who have been in power for years.It looks as if we all got our change.

There are lots of stories I could relate but will save those for later.

I got here June 5 after four days on the road with the little guys. They were very good on the trip up here.I was thankful for video games and CD's.We did have some adventures, such as putting up the new tent on our first night on the road in PA. It was 93 degrees with mosquitoes the size of small birds. Jamie tried to help but wasn't tall enough to hold the poles. With his help, we did get the tent up after an hour. We had peanut butter sandwiches and were in bed by 8:30. Thunder woke me up about midnight. As the boys slept, I frantically put up the rain fly and got the cats back in their cage from their mesh kitty walk. Neither were easy tasks without a working flashlight.As I was crawling back into the tent an hour later, the rain came down soaking me. Then we had a mother of a thunderstorm.The boys slept through it all but the sleeping bags got wet.As Sandy looked for his shoes the next morning he stated " I don't like this place".

Annual Getting Ready for Rental Ritual

At Botany Bay Plantation where I volunteer we have Grunt Tuesdays where we just do work. Just work is what I've been doing this month.As I write all of my furniture is stacked on the front porch as the floors are being sanded and refinished.They haven't been done in about 18 years so it's about time. To get ready for that, I had to move stuff off all of the furniture, no simple task.I took 21 storage boxes down the two flights of stairs to be stored.I hope that is the bulk of it except for the kitchen and some clothes. I slept in the RV last night and ate a Piggly Wiggly vegetable dinner. Luckily, I have a shower downstairs.

While the floors are being done, I'm visiting. Tonight I'm at Kira and Ross's home in Atlanta, tomorrow will be Oxford, then on to Ridge Spring to do some family history and go to a high school reunion.Perhaps I will get some photos of the old people who tend to show up at these reunions.

My plans now are to leave for Nova Scotia June 2 with both grandsons. It should be quite an adventure. More later!

Working with Habitat

This was the first day of the Columbus Habitat for Humanity Spring Break Build.In March almost 300 college students from 15 different colleges spent their spring break here, building 14 houses in 5 days.It makes one feel good about the younger generation.In addition to the Care-A-Vanners, there are neighborhood youngsters from the Boy's and Girls' Clubs working with us this week.One of my partners today was a beautiful little 8 year old girl who ran errands and hammered nails all day.She will sleep well tonight.

I cannot say enough about how great this organization is and how special to be doing this during Holy Week.When people get decent housing, their lives can change and a cluster of Habitat homes can change an entire community for the better.This is my third build with the Care-A-Vanners and each one is different but the volunteers are all wonderful people who have done interesting things with their lives. Three of the women here are retired teachers.I'm the only single woman here .

Today we did inside finishing work to get ready for the drywall folks.Tomorrow I think we will paint which isn't my favorite job but we do whatever is needed. I'd rather put on siding.About 25 people from AFLAC (without the duck) came today to begin their house. That company builds a house a year for Habitat and pays its employees for the volunteer day.They had twice as many volunteers as they could use for this house and the rest go on next year's list.What a neat way to help the community!

Fishing

What happened to February? I haven't written anything since January and all I can remember is that this was a cold winter for coastal SC and I suppose I was inside reading or walking on the beach looking for signs of spring. Well, it is here! Today my brother and I spent another delightful day on the Combahee River in his jon boat.He caught the first fish, a small bass and released it. Some hours later my rod bent way over and I had a much bigger bass which I kept. It was actually 2 and a quarter pounds and I'm sitting here still covered with fish scales but will have fish and grits tomorrow!

That was it for the fish but the blackberry vines were blooming, the deciduous trees have new leaves and the wildlife was abundant. We saw nesting ospreys. When a parent presented the babies with a fish we could hear the little ones but they were too deep in the nest to see. There were vultures, cormorants, hawks, herons, little wrens and many we could not identify.The gators were all over the place with one bull gator longer than out 17 ft. boat.

I'll add photos later.

Cold Weather Musings

The holidays have come and gone and the cold weather has come to Edisto with temperatures in the teens. Luckily, our winter is usually over in February. There were 18 here for dinner on the 27th of December and it was warm enough then for the children to eat on the porch.Jamie and Sandy stayed here with me until New Year's Eve and we had fun playing games and looking for beach treasures.

January has brought friends down to enjoy the beach in winter, from Florida the weekend of the 10th and another group for the traditional MLK women's weekend where we eat too much and drink our share of wine.This year will be especially memorable as they stayed for the inauguration celebration and were joined by special friends from here, Nick and DuBose Lindsay.What a wonderful day!! The media has already given most of the superlatives but for a person who grew up in a segregated south and secretly participated in early civil rights activities in college, it was as one person interviewed said " almost an out of body experience".I can't even imagine what it meant to African-Americans of my era.

I'm making plans to do some camping, volunteer with Habitat in April and choose a destination for my next travel adventure.