MORE JIGSAW PUZZLES FROM MY IPAD

Well, I see I had one more post that I had scheduled ahead of time, so this really will be my last post for a while. All I can say is, enjoy! 

Always fun to do, some more challenging than others.

 No rhyme nor reason why I choose one. Wherever the fancy takes me that day.I have been doing these over the past year. I put them in a folder and forget about them. There are probably way too many to include in one post, but I don't want any more delays in sharing them.

All of them have the puzzle lines until the last piece is added, and then they melt away into the picture you see here.

I may even have shared them before as I'm getting a bit of deja vu here. Hopefully not!

All for now, until I share the next folder I forget about.

Thanks for taking a look, have a great day and see you in a week or so. I will be answering comments when I get back.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - HOPE

“Never deprive someone of hope, it might be all they have.”

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.~

and

A golden moon upon the tide,  

Its glow reflected far and wide.  

Twinkling stars in velvet sky,  

Whispering dreams as waves drift by.  

A lighthouse stands with steadfast grace,  

Its beacon guiding through the space.  

While on the sea, with sails unfurled,  

A crimson yacht explores the world.  

Upon its sail, a dove takes flight,  

Clutching hope in wings so light.  

An olive branch in gentle hold,  

A promise cast in moonlight’s gold

Through mist that dances soft and white,   

Hope sail’s on, a guiding light.  

A TRIP DOWN TO DOWN TO NORTH CAROLINA - PART 2

No Monday Morning recipe today as I have quite a few posts to share with you. I can honestly say we were on the go the whole time we were together, and didn’t make anything except for a very simple meal on Easter Sunday. 

Every day we gave them a few choices as to what they would like to do. We went to the National Air and Space Museum-Steven F. Udvar Hazy, where Gregg deposited me at the cafe for another sit-down. I drank a cup of coffee and Gregg joined me shortly afterwards. We waited for a while until our family had a good chance to walk around and joined us. For me it was fun seeing all the activity, people and families going back and forth. I will share the photos they took eventually.  

We gave them three days to relax and then traveled to North Carolina, staying with Gregg's sister and husband. It took us about 7 to 7-1/2 hours to get there. A good journey considering. It was so kind of them opening up their home to us all and thanks to them, we had a great time.Gregg's sister loves collecting shells and sees the beauty even in the broken ones. I agree as I thought those displayed in this vase were delightful. She has more upstairs, whole ones. She also gave me two conch shells a few years ago that are still treasures on our family room bookshelf.

I found this online. You can enlarge all photos for better detail.

One of the days we found ourselves at Bodie Island Lighthouse.

 Our niece with Uncle Gregg.

Here she is again.

I am including three maps showing the location of the lighthouse.

The current Bodie Island Lighthouse (Bodie is pronounced 'body') is the third that has stood in this vicinity of Bodie Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and was built in 1872.

It stands 156 feet (48 m) tall and is located in the Roanoke Sound side of a portion of peninsula that is the first part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse is just south of Nags Head, a few miles before Oregon Inlet.

It was renovated from August 2009 to March 2013, and was made climbable by the public. There are 219 steps that spiral to the top. 

The 170-feet structure is one of only a dozen remaining tall, brick tower lighthouses in the United States, and one of the few with an original first-order Fresnel lens to cast its light. 

You can read a lot more of its history at this website, which is where I got the above information.

On the itinerary? A sunrise! They got up at 0-dark-thirty. I again stayed at home as not only wasn't I able to walk too far at all but walking on the sand in the dark would have been an accident waiting to happen, so I was very happy to get a peck on the cheek from Gregg upon which I slide back under those nice, warm, cozy covers. His sister took them to the beach. I enjoyed the conversation later telling me all about it.

Our dear niece, photo taken by Gregg...

and another he took of the rest of the family watching the sun appear over the horizon.

With Uncle Gregg again.

Brother and sister who always enjoy each other’s company. They are looking forward to getting together with their other brother not too far down the road.

These photos were taken by various family members. Looks like they had a wonderful time.

That's all for Part 2 and more to follow.

Thanks for looking and I hope your day is a great one.

COROLLA, NORTH CAROLINA TRIP - SIXTH DAY - 9-6-17 - THE SOUND

Corolla, North Carolina Trip 
Sixth Day
Wednesday, September 6th, 2017
The Sound



9.41 a.m. We are watching the weather channel, and Florida is gearing up for Hurricane Irma.  Thinking of all our family and friends, for everyone down there.  People are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.  We are having such mad weather.  

Today started with Gregg going for an early morning beach walk with his sister.  Too late for the sunrise, just a pleasant stroll along that beautiful beach, worth visiting at any time of the day.  

When he came back we went out for a few hours of looking around.  As we were leaving a little later than usual and it was near lunchtime, we grabbed a bite to eat at a sandwich shop in Corolla, and it also had a very large wine selection.  Bacchus Wine and Cheese.  I can't remember what we ate now.  Their wine selection was impressive but we didn't buy any.

We wanted to explore the area near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.  When we were visiting the other day we noticed a walkway to the Currituck Sound. On each side of the wooden path there were grasses that towered over us.  

I can't remember their name but they were invasive grasses that had run amok, this from a description on a marker. They did make a pretty picture though.  

At the end of the walk was a seating area with half a dozen people holidaying from Pennsylvania, all members of the same family. 



They had been crabbing and made us aware of two small blue crabs that were nearby. 

They were catching them by tying raw chicken wings onto string, dropping the string over the side and the crab would grab on.  



The person holding the string slowly brings it up along with the crab.  They were letting them go but watching them as they walked themselves back into the sound.  The water was so high that it was lapping over the deck, and it was an easy escape.

It was a chance for me to study them, as well as listening to the family tell me how they were catching them.  I was glad that these feisty little crabs were making it back into the water.

A young Great Blue Heron was standing on the rail.  One of the ladies said it had landed on the rail only a few moments ago.  It looked a bit bedraggled, and at first I was wondering if it was molting. 

He was still a wonderful looking bird to me...

and I felt very lucky to be this close to one, without him being bothered by everyone's presence.  

We chatted to the family for a while and finally left them to their crabbing. 

We made our way to the nearby education wildlife center.  I may be wrong but it didn't look the kind of place the general public could walk around, more of a research place I think but didn't investigate it too much.  We did, however, walk behind the building.  It was built up on solid looking stilts and I spotted this parked underneath.  

It reminded me of the story our guide told us a few days earlier when we were looking for the wild horses.  On the beach we had passed two sites with sea turtle nests.  They had been blocked off by a fence, and we were told the man-made channel that we saw going down to the water, were for the newly hatched turtles to give them safe passage.  There were volunteers taking care of these turtle nests.  

There were other interesting things underneath the building.

I noticed a boat with a large container inside.

A closer inspection revealed these.

I thought it looked like a huge vertebrae but, it wasn't until I saw the following that I understood what it belonged to.  

Sadly it was from a young whale that had been stranded on the Southern Shores.

Next we made our way to a public gazebo built on the water.

We sat for a while. It was very pleasant with a cool breeze. 

From there we walked over to the historic Whalehead.  There were tours of the building but we didn't feel like it today.

  
The Whalehead is a restored 1920's building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 
On one of those trips we hope to make to this area again we will explore further, but for now it was time to make our way back to the house. 

That evening after another lovely dinner, we played Trivial Persuit with the family. Gregg and I haven't played it in years and we had fun, but then it was time to call it a night.  Not sure what we will be doing tomorrow but that's part of the enjoyment of this holiday, playing everything by ear.