If You Love The Outdoors…

Hey there! How’s everybody? I trust you all had a great Christmas and a happy beginning of the New Year.

 

We had a great Christmas. Both of our children were able to be at home with us this year. Times like these are rare these days and I really love them. I’m not going to bore you with Christmas pictures and such, but I do want to show you a few pictures taken on our day after Christmas. If you love the outdoors, like we do, then you take a walk in the woods. And then there’s this one of Cliff cooking our Christmas steaks outside over an open fire. Since we went traditional at Thanksgiving, we decided to part from the norm at Christmas. Yes, we had steaks and all the fixins to go with them. Delish!

Our walk in the woods was so fun and beautiful and peaceful. We may even make it a tradition. I mean, when you have a child as active as Whitney and a husband who would love to just live in the woods or swamps, then you conform. It wasn’t hard at all. I love it, too. Not the swamps…just the woods. Especially, when there are no snakes out.

 

And then after the New Year, specifically this past weekend, there was the promise of snow. Accumulation was expected to be about 3”. For the south, that’s nearly paralyzing. Well, that didn’t happen. We had a trace…I don’t even know if it was enough to measure. But to this snow loving woman, it was beautiful. I stared and gazed and was mesmerized for the two whole hours that it snowed. Ha!

This week, I’m working on my goals for 2017. They include health, organizing, new plantings, crafting, and such. I’ll probably share. Stay tuned.

Hoping you all have a great New Year!

Laurie

White Spots and Devil Worshipers

Backstory: 

One day, last week, I received an email that a burglar alarm had been tripped at sensor 12, at the lake house. We don't even have a sensor 12, but I checked the Pulse online anyway and everything looked normal. So, I called and everything looked good on the alarm company's end, too. They were going to have their technicians check to see what kind of glitch it could have been.  

Friday: 

We came up to the lake. I arrived first and decided to walk the perimeter of the house just to make sure no windows or doors were busted in. They all looked fine. But, when I walked up onto the front porch I saw something so strange. It was a white spot of something with arrows pointing to it. After receiving the notification of a burglar alarm being tripped, I immediately thought, "Someone has been here on the porch. What in the world is that white spot and why would someone paint arrows pointing to it? Could this be sensor 12?" I got a little freaked out, I'm not gonna lie.

Up close....definitely looks like arrows...

Pointing right to the spot.

You can faintly see the others making a path straight to it.

Cliff arrived a little later and I took him straight to the porch to show him. I said, "Look at this. Why would someone do this? Do you think it could be devil worshipers"?

Without blinking an eye...he said, "Laurie, a bird pooped on the porch, stepped in it and then walked off".

OMG! I laughed and said, "Well thank the Lord! I sure am glad it wasn't devil worshipers".

(Found picture on internet)

It was most likely a Great Blue Heron.

There are plenty here at the lake.

Ha! Still laughing.

Saturday:

Went to Lidia's belated birthday paint party with her and...

Sawyer.

Sunday:

Cliff tried out his new kayak.

 It's 18' long and narrow. Our other kayaks are 16' long and are wide enough that you don't feel like you're going to flip them over.  He practiced at keeping the new one upright. Didn't take long. He's doing a triathlon later in the year that is a little different than what he normally does. He will kayak, bike and run.

And then today:  

We got this.....I was a happy girl.

I mean, I've been begging everyone that has snow to send me some....

And, I would just like to thank whoever did.

As little as it was, yes was, as it's all gone now....

Still....

I was in snow heaven,

Laurie





Winter Storm Leon

(If you're visiting from the GYBP, you might want to start here.)

***************

February 2010



You remember this photo from our snow storm in 2010.....This is what I was looking forward to last week from Winter Storm Leon. Everyone in South Carolina was ecstatic. We watched the Weather Channel like it was our job. The storm would start with freezing rain or sleet and turn into snow.  There were warnings of power outages, if the ice got really bad. The Weather Channel was giving us a STORM:COM of 7. They were telling us that it was going to be significant. We could possibly get 3-5 inches. For Heaven's sake Jim Cantore came to Charleston. And we all know what that means......he goes where the weather is going to be the worst. So, we set about making preparations.

Prep 1: Heat. In the event we would be without power, I needed my fireplace in good working order. I had already summoned up Mr. Tanner the Chimney Sweep to come out that Tuesday to give the fireplace a clean bill of health. Well, as luck would have it, that's when the ice was supposed to start. So, I thought Mr. Tanner would probably want to reschedule so as not to be stuck on the roads in the slick stuff. And, He Did Not! God love him, he came anyway. I was so happy. That meant I could have a fire that night, in case we lost power. Heck yeah!

Prep 2: Water. I live in the country and we have a water pump. Because our water pump operates with electricity, if we lose electricity, we lose water. Get it? Ok.....so our preparations are that we run the tub full of water in order to flush toilets (we do the same for hurricanes).  For drinking, we either buy it or store it in empty milk jugs. I did both. Milk jugs are plentiful around here. Mama saves milk jugs like nobody's business. She is the epitome of preparations, y'all!

Prep 3: Food. I didn't really need anything...I had just been grocery shopping a few days earlier. But, Cliff felt like we needed extra cans of dog food for Spooky. So off to the grocery store I go. After arriving, the parking lot was full. Everybody and his brother was stocking up at the last minute. I did not feel panicked like some...after all I was just there for dog food. So I got one of those small buggies and head for the dog food aisle. I passed the bread aisle and it was wiped out. Don't know what the milk inventory looked like, but if it was anything like the bread.....there were going to be some people in a world of hurt. Why is it that, in times like these, milk is so important? I loaded up on can dog food and headed for the register. Well, you would have thought I was slightly retarded from the looks I got. They looked at the dog food and then looked at me and back at the dog food. HaHa!  Here they are frantically looking for bread and milk and all I have is can dog food. I can only imagine was was running through their minds.

Preparations were done and now I was ready to hunker down and ride out Winter Storm Leon. I waited all afternoon. Finally, we started getting some sleet late in the evening and I got excited. Cliff built a fire and I sat there in front of it and knitted for what seemed like hours. I kept getting up to check the sleet hoping it had turned to snow. It just wasn't happening that fast. I went to bed with hopes and dreams of seeing drifts of snow in the morning. I rose early the next day, fixed my coffee and headed to the windows to check for our winter wonderland.......and this is what we got.......

January 2014

Gah, I was never so dissapointed! I wanted to jack slap Jim Cantore. Oh well, nothing left to do but get out in it. Can't let an opportunity like this go to waste. So, I woke Cliff up and we decided to ride around town to see how pretty it looked with a dusting of snow and a little ice. I guess the roads were a little worse, they did have ice on them until traffic picked up and then they cleared up quickly. I had my camera at the ready mark, but who can get a good picture when Cliff hits the breaks every two minutes to see if his Jeep will slide on the ice. Lord! Even so, a little more exploration was needed on my part. So, Cliff took me to the Francis Marion National Forest....the place where he hunts and the following photos are what we saw. I would have to say, ice can be pretty in a whole different way. I enjoyed our little adventure. And now, I'm ready for some more. Come on Mother Nature, cooperate...please!

Johnson's Swamp...just down the road from our house.

Black River

The Hell Hole Swamp area in the Francis Marion National Forest.

Ice coated Pine needles.

Ice covered Holly leaves.

An old gas station near the Francis Marion National Forest. Notice the ice hanging from the tin roof.

 Day 2 of Winter Storm Leon: Icicles hanging from my roof.

I am very appreciative that no one lost power. Ice events are nothing to sneeze at. It could have been really bad. The ice stayed around a couple of days because the temps didn't rise out of the twenties. And now, it's just a distant memory. I sure do love winter weather. And I hope, we get to experience a little more before spring pops in. For all of you that are sick and tired of your snow and cold weather, I'm so sorry. Time does march on and it will be hot, sweltering and humid before we know it. For now, let's enjoy what Mother Nature has gifted us with.

Talk soon,

Laurie

Waiting For The Fun To Begin

February 2010

I'm just sitting here waiting for the fun to begin. Certainly not looking forward to ice, but HOPE this is what it's going to look like tomorrow. This was my house in February 2010.  We rarely get snow events like this in the south, so when we do.....watch out. Some kind of adventure is bound to happen.

And.... far be it from me to hold out on an adventure story gone wild....so while we patiently wait for the white stuff, thought you might like to read about a sledding adventure I had at Sista's in the upstate about this same time last year. You can read all about it by clicking here.

Oh wait, in case you were wondering about the workout at the gym yesterday......I survived without nearly a barf.

Let it snow,

Laurie

She Did Not Just Say That

Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!

***First of all, before getting into today's post about my knitting adventure this weekend, I would just like to say thank you for all the visits and nice comments from the folks at the Grow Your Blog Party that went on Saturday. If you are just now getting around to visit, that post is below or you can find it in the blog Archive in the sidebar under January 2014. Feel free to stay and read at your leisure.   
 
***Second of all, I just heard the most wonderful news this morning......We are expecting.....SNOW! You just can't imagine how happy that makes me. However, I am beginning to realize that there may be an ice event also, which could lead to power outages.  I am surely looking forward to the white stuff. Maybe after all these years, I will finally be able to ride my horse in the snow. But, I don't want anyone to be without power and I hope everyone stays safe, especially while out driving. Take Care!

Knit and Purl Adventure 101

 

One of my favorite past-times is observing people and making up my own stories about their life. Usually, it's older people that I watch. You can really learn a lot from them. You just have to know what to look for. Lord, I crack myself up sometimes doing this. For instance....what on earth would you think of an elderly lady sitting in Barnes and Nobles reading a Rolling Stone magazine? Oh well, let me just tell you...I had a great time with that one. My imagination gets stoked by all sorts of things.  The following account of what happened at the local Knit and Purl is not so much about developing a story of this particular lady's life as much as it was just observing. I had to concentrate on my task at hand, anyway. Read on to see what I mean....

So, I went to the beginners knitting class Saturday and I'm glad I did. I learned that I had been doing some things wrong. That is evident by the looks of that ugly shawl I showed you the other day. Anyway, after arriving at the Knit and Purl, I was astounded by all the yarn and different colors going on in this shop. I can see how it would feed an addict's habit. In the middle of the store was a table that looked to sit 6 comfortably, but this day it would sit 10. Yeah, a little crowded for this claustrophobic. And I was stuck in the middle! For 2 hours! I handled it because I can be brave like that.

We began the class by going around the table and telling about our experience with knitting. Most were absolute beginners and a few, such as myself, knew a little. The instructor, Molly, began by showing us how to cast on our stitches. Of course, I had been doing it all wrong....so I hunkered down and paid attention. She had us practice several times casting on, then taking it off and repeating. I got the hang of it pretty quickly, but this elderly lady sitting directly across from me was having some trouble. She was definitely an absolute beginner. She would get about half way and then snort, tear it off and try again. Molly tried to help, but the lady just wasn't getting it. Frustration was written all over her face. All of a sudden, I heard someone say, "S**T". I looked up to see that it was the little lady across the table. OMG! She did not just say that! I liked to have died laughing. Well, not out loud.....too close quarters for that. She might have taken her knitting needle and poked me. But I did giggle. No one else said a word. They may have been scared. I can only imagine. But, I was intrigued! So, the rest of the class I spent watching her and listening for more expletives from this little white haired lady. She said "S**T" one more time and I giggled again. I was clearly entertained! I'm quite sure Molly, the instructor, was not! HaHa!

Molly seemed to be impatient at times. She said things like, No, Stop, Wait, Start Over several times. I learned that she was a retired school teacher, so her impatience made sense. She kept talking about kicking children off the bus.....her words for dropping stitches. She asked me how I had cast on stitches in the past, so I showed her. She looked at me over the top of her bifocals and said, "Don't ever do that again"! HaHa! I liked her, so I giggled again. By the end of the day I had learned a lot. I learned the correct way to cast on stitches, the importance of which way your live yarn should hang when starting your stitches, how to purl, how to knit one purl one and how to rip out mistakes and add your stitches back on the needles. It was a productive day. I think I'll take another class. Who knows what I might learn........some new stitches, some new techniques, whether or not the children got run over by the bus or maybe some new cuss words. HaHa!!



I love close-ups. The fibers look really cool and I love the color.

I love the way the yarn is wound into a ball and you knit with the center thread.

The Knitting Class project in progress. Looks nice and this yarn is definitely

easier to work with than the yarn from Satan.

 

Love these needles. I had used the straight aluminum ones before,

but was told that these were more ergonomic.

 

That's it for today. I have an appointment with the trainer at the gym, later. I'll let you know if it works this time or if it was barf city.

 

Oh wait, in case you were wondering......

 

Ran 9 miles Sunday....the first 5 with my good friend, Christie, and then the last 4 alone. Well, except for Cliff flanking me in his vehicle.

 

Apparently, this stirred up the neighborhood. A man and his wife honed in on Cliff thinking he may have been the person who broke into their home a few days earlier.  They approached him and asked why he was just sitting in front of their house. He told them he was watching out for me as I ran. I guess they didn't believe him because just a few minutes later they approached me and asked if my husband drove a black jeep. I told them that he did and the women said, "Oh good, then he was legit". Because of the break-in they were very suspicious of Cliff. Good thing folks are on their toes these days. It was just too funny that we caused such a ruckus in the neighborhood.

 

The End,

Laurie

I Left on a Jet Plane

The red tail lights were headed for.....no not Spain. Denver. What's wrong with you? Yes, I took a little trip. I was Colorado bound! And although many of my adventures are stories in their own right, I think this one just says....keep it simple, LaLa.

First leg....Charleston to Charlotte:

The flight out was unremarkable. I usually like the window seat, but since this trip was a spur of the moment kind of deal, I was unable to purchase one. I had the middle seat all the way. And if you are the least bit claustrophobic, this seating arrangement will definitely rub you the wrong way. I twisted and turned, crossed and uncrossed my legs, fidgeted with my bag and boarding pass. That's when he saw it.... The guy next to me was paying attention to MY boarding pass. He asked, "So, what you gonna do in Denver"? Have mercy, that was creepy! But, I replied that I was visiting my daughter and that just opened the door. His foot was in and there was no stopping him. He talked my ears off for the duration of the flight. Turns out that he was an employee of  US Air. He was the manager for the group that loaded the luggage onto the planes. Oh wait, I had an exclusive.....Yep, I was the first to know that American Airline was merging with US Air.

Second Leg......Charlotte to Denver:

Soon enough we were on to Denver. Stuck in the middle seat again. This time...a sweet little lady had the window seat, but the light was too much for her. She kept the little blind closed the whole time. Uhhgg! The not so little man on the aisle seat decided he needed a little libations. He ordered one cup of coke and added two mini bottles of Jack Daniels to it. I was paying attention! And, I was waiting for that to kick in. Ha! And when it did.....he started talking to himself. And every once in a while, he would shake his head vigorously back and forth. I scouted out the flight attendant's call button, just in case.

First night in Denver:

My daughter has a cat. Her name is Kitter and apparently she is a stealthy little thing. Sketchy at best. She lays claim to the guest bedroom except when I'm there. Then, she gets shut out, as in....close the door and keep it closed. Well, I had to get up in the middle of the night for a.....umm, you know.....a visit to the loo. I kept the lights off because I didn't want to wake Whitney and Jason. I'm good at creeping around in the dark anyway. But upon returning to bed, I spotted something dark on the floor out of my periphery. OMG! It was moving! Yikes, I pulled up the covers kind of tight. It looked like a black ghost......like a black ghost Kitter. "Jeez, Kitter, you are creeping me out. How did you get in here"? I later discovered that the bedroom door wasn't closed all the way and Kitter is good at pushing it open just enough. Lesson learned.

Normal Kitter

Ghost Kitter


Second night in Denver:

I slept with the window cracked open, y'all. It felt great to have that very cool mile-high air enveloping the room as you're bundled under the warm covers. Only.....my thoughts went back to the night before. I hope Ghost Kitter can't sneak in through the window. It was pure chilling. But with that fresh mile-high air and all, sleep came so easily.

Third day in Denver:

Shopping for some new hiking shoes. Score! And, you know that when mama comes a calling....that she comes a cooking. I made egg sandwiches for breakfast and home made chicken noodle soup for dinner. My child and her husband loved me! Later, we saw the movie "Identity Thief". What a hoot!

Home-made chicken noodle soup.

Forth day in Denver:

We had a full day Saturday. Whitney and I started by going to the gym. I've been running and despite a little knee problem, I felt like I was physically in good shape....at least enough to do 30 minutes on the elliptical. Well, HELLO!  I did the 30 minutes and then had to call 911.... The 911 conversation in it's entirety: "Hello 911, send oxygen! Fast!! 30 minutes on the elliptical and I'm pretty sure I've developed mile-high lung syndrome, rubber leg syndrome and I've gone blind." They were slow to respond so I gathered my belongings and heaved all the way back to Whitney's. After getting cleaned up and my breathing returned to normal, we went to a painting class. That was a lot of fun! It started snowing while we were there, but was finished by the time we were. Later, we took the light rail downtown to have dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Oh my, Yum!

Whitney

That's me.

And these are our finished paintings. That's Norman......2nd bird from the left. Kitter made friends with Norman. She was a little intimidated, 4 to 1 odds that if she didn't, she was going to get a nasty pecking.

Fifth day in Denver:

I wanted to play in the snow and after a disappointing lack of snow in Denver (they only got a dusting), we had to look elsewhere....so we headed towards the mountains. We were trying to make it up to Mt. Evans, but the closer we got the more ice and snow were on the roads. We decided it was a little too scary to try to go all the way. So we turned around and found a small camping area in the Arapaho National Forest just outside Idaho Springs. I got my snow fix. Then I got my Starbucks fix. And, since we had a pretty big lunch, we decided that I would just make some "Hissy Fit" dip and chips for dinner and finish up the chicken noodle soup. If you read my post "I'm still cracking up" then you know I'm vegetarian. And you'll understand when I say....I picked around the chicken. Ha! Ha!

It's me, again.

Whitney and me.

Whitney and Jason, aka ski bums.

The pretty snowy woods.

Sixth day in Denver:

The kids had to go back to work, so I relaxed with the Kitter and read pretty much all day. Kitter and I had come to an understanding. She could lay on my lap and sleep, but my bed and luggage were off limits. She came to terms with that. And we meshed just fine. For dinner I made Buddha Bowls. Yum! You start with rice, add black beans, chopped tomato, chopped cucumbers, celery and avocado, corn and cilantro. Top it off with a little lime juice. Crazy good! Uber healthy!

Seventh day.....back to South Carolina:

This was a very long travel day. It began at 5 a.m. I left Denver and had a layover in Newark, NJ for 3 hours. I took a few pictures of what looked like the Empire State Building. I was pretty sure New York was just over the river. Maybe one of you guys can confirm this for me. I've included a picture of what I saw below. After leaving Newark, my next stop was Charlotte. This ride got a little bumpy. I didn't need any Dramamine which was a good thing considering I left it at home. But from Charlotte to Charleston, it was so bumpy that the flight attendants never came around with the drink carts. A few more minutes on there and I would have paid $5,000 for a Dramamine. Alas, by 9 p.m., we made it to Charleston. And there waiting was my wonderful hubby ready to take me for home.

View from Newark, NJ airport. Is that the Empire State Building? Someone, anyone?

It was a lovely trip, but I was happy to get home.

And then, just today, Whitney calls.... "Mama, I think you need to come back. Jason has a nasty virus and needs you to take care of him. I'm Lysoling the crap out of everything and walking around the house wearing a surgical mask. I don't do viruses".

So, I say....."Mama doesn't either. You'll be alright".

The End.

Laurie

A Slightly Snowy Seaside Sunday

It was a rare occurrence for South Carolina last night. It actually snowed in parts. It was pure delight when I awoke this morning to the slightly snowy seaside. I jetted out of the house with my camera in hand to capture the following images before the sun began to melt away this gorgeousness. It all began last night.....

Cliff and I were at dinner last night, when the snow began. It was a blizzard! See! I mean it was almost a pure whiteout. I almost couldn't find my way back to the car. Thanks to the many streetlights in Market Commons.....the lost in the snow crisis was averted.

Ahhh, daybreak. What new wonders will we behold this Sunday?

Well, what do you know? Snow! On the boardwalk, down by the sea....

A blanket of snow is what you'll see.

Myrtle Beach's shore line with the Ferris wheel in the distance.

Said Ferris wheel.

The gulls gather at the swash near Lakewood.

The snow covered fence dividing the dunes from the campground at Lakewood.

Snow covered deck.

Seaside seagull I.

Seaside seagull II.

One of many seashells by the seashore.

The Pier.

The End.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the snowy pictures as much as I did. I was like a kid in a candy story scooting around Myrtle Beach this morning.....in 30 degree temperatures.....snapping pictures.

Oh wait! In case you were wondering....................

I've eased back into running after being sidelined with IT Band Syndrome for nearly 6 weeks. I started back slowly, keeping the miles low, as well. And I am happy to report that my knee feels much better. I'm a happy runner, once again. Last week, I ran 4.4 miles. This week I ran 8.1. This coming week I'm hoping to run 17-18 miles. I have that 10K coming up and I need to kick it up a notch. Check back often for updates.....

Until then,

Laurie