Glorious Afternoon

Hiking at a wildlife refuge that is one of our favorite places.

On the Road Again

Current Vango outing got off to a bumpy start, but we are currently installed and sipping.

Christmas Dinner

With carrot cake to follow. So nice to live some place where we can grill outdoors for the holidays. (Salad is from our winter garden.)

Thanks to ?????

Amazon.com delivered a surprise gift to me. Soap smells incredible, but there's no indication who it's from. Hope my secret Santa doesn't think I'm rude for not responding...

Carrying on the Tradition

The first Christmas my mom and I spent alone after my dad died was looking to be bleak. We sat by the tree on Christmas Eve, watching the clock, realizing it was still hours before we could reasonably go to bed. Suddenly, my mother perked up. "I have a frozen pizza. How does that sound?" Then she directed me to get under the tree and find a present from her good friend Minnie. "I'm pretty sure it's a bottle of wine." Soon we were sipping and munching on a Tombstone pepperoni pizza and opening gifts, which my mother had always resisted before Christmas morning. It ended up being a warm and wonderful and memorable evening, and I've carried on the pizza tradition--albeit not frozen--almost all of the intervening years. This evening Tom is the pizza maker.

Shhhh! Think the Rain is Finally Slowing Down...

After 17.5"/44.5cm. The concern now will be for falling trees as the soil may be too sodden to support them.

Next Round About to Begin

After 15"/38cm, we hardly need more rain...

Now....

Our weather emergency radio is screaming flood warnings for the area. Well, yes.

And Counting...

We're up to 14"/35cm. of rain. And it's not quitting any time soon...

Wet Christmas

Just emptied the rain gauge. Again. We've had 10.5"/27cm of rain since yesterday. At least there's nothing to shovel, but with much more incoming we're eying up our kayaks in the garage...

Ru-Dolphin?! Small-Town Christmas Fun

The "Gift" that Keeps Giving. Not.

Yesterday we had an arborist come check out our trees. He informed us that we had multiple lightning strikes in the big storm. Yikes! This morning he was back with a crew and bucket truck to take out a large, damaged pine that was leaning towards our house. Very $$$ with more to follow, perhaps. We're certainly hoping for a less expensive new year.

Turkey Perfection

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner, and Tom was eager to deep fry the turkey. The process cooks the bird quickly--42 minutes, in our case--and results in crispy skin and succulent meat. (Not greasy at all, as some might expect.) The turkey literally fell apart when Tom went to carve it. I knew it was a hit when we couldn't get our guests to the table: they were gathered in the kitchen eating from the carcass!

When It Rains, It Pours....

And I'm not talking about precipitation this time. Tom and I have made our dentist very rich this year. (Think new swimming pool...) Between us we've had four crowns, one extraction, and one bridge. Ouch! Not to mention my dental phobia. Can't wait to be done with this.

Very Squishy

Since Saturday evening we've had about 10"/25cm of rain. Now we're expecting chilly and clear for Thanksgiving. Others living farther north will be out shoveling...

Weather Extremes

After heavy frosts last week, we awoke to a balmy 71*/22C this morning (complete with steamed-over windows). It's forecast to be down to 36*/2C in 48 hours. We've had around 6"/15cm of rain since Saturday evening with more coming. Things should settle down by Thanksgiving (Thursday). In the meantime, Holly pup is getting happy pills for her thunderstorm anxiety. (September's lightning strike didn't help...)

Mission Accomplished!

Despite no help from a certain kitty who insisted on being everywhere while we worked. I'm astonished I didn't somehow zip Hurricane into a slipcover!

My Ugly Chore for the Weekend

Washing all the denim slipcovers on the sofa. The real "fun" will be getting them all back on again.

And Then...

We celebrated 11/11 with a Korean feast.

Cue the Adrenaline...

We spent the beginning of the week tromping around a wildlife refuge. The scenery was spectacular, but it was hardly mindless hiking, what with all the big stuff lurking out there.

Another Weekend, Another Seafood Festival

This time we were in oyster land with our friends. Ate our way through much of the menu, including the low country boil. Afterwards we parked Vango in the sugar sand dunes along the Gulf. Conditions were blue, windy, and chilly, but Tom still managed to grill steaks. Sunsets were glorious!

Well, That Didn't End Well...

Vango outing #2. We're fine. Hope the van is, too. We know it shredded a serpentine belt. More than that, ????? More later. It was a great weekend. Up 'till the trip home.

NOT Taking it as a Sign...

Went out to try to run this evening for the first time in years, and look what happened to my shoe. So how much are good running shoes these days? Ugh...

New Accessory for Vango

The awning offers great protection again sun and rain, but now we're covered for skeeters, too. (Hope we don't have to use it too much, but it's good to have...)