family – Page 7 – The Hermits' Rest

Fun Up North

That’s north of Dallas, Texas. My pseudo-granddaughter had her third birthday party today, which provided an excellent excuse to visit her actual grandmother, my friend Pouri.

I drove up yesterday afternoon (still no fun driving through Dallas) and made it in time for a fabulous Persian meal. She overdid it as usual. I’m not complaining, of course. So many herbs, so much flavor. Saffron rice, salad with figs, nuts, and pomegranate…beef kebab and chicken with tasty potatoes. Wow. And there were persimmons for dessert.

Mostly this was a great chance to catch up and talk in a relaxed way. What a wonderful thing to do. That makes two nice talks with old friends in one week! This is the perfect thing to do in uncertain times, be with people you care about.

After a nice sleep in the cute guest room, Pouri gave me a “light” breakfast of many kinds of toast and exquisite preserves, like quince and sour cherries. Pouri is really a great hostess. I tried to take mental notes, but…

She put cute birds in the bathroom for me.

After breakfast, I took a walk around the neighborhood and heard 22 birds. There was a Great Horned Owl and a Cooper’s Hawk, and many overconfident crows.

Apparently this suburb is crawling with wildlife, including multiple bobcats. I saw enough squirrels to scare Anita for life, plus some rabbits, but no bobcats. I’m as intrigued with suburbs as I was last year.

The party was this afternoon at Ellie’s new house. It made me so happy to see how well she and Jimmy have done in their careers and with their daughter. I mean, Ellie just went with it when a vampire theme was requested for the party. All the dripping blood mixed well with the Christmas decor. So cute.

All the children were cute and I got to chat with the extended family some, too. Ellie and I plan to talk next week, when she’s relaxed.

Face painting went over very well. The painter was quite skilled. Pouri and I got flowers. Why not?

I drove back home this evening. So I’m pretty darned tired, especially since I hit a lot of rain. But I’m glad I went. I can’t wait for more catch-up sessions. I’ve been hiding too long.

I didn’t miss the dogs, because Banjo was there. Such a well behaved dog.

An Ancestral Home

Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?

There are a few places I would call “favorite” of the relatively small number of locations I’ve visited. I wrote about one, the springs at the head of the San Marcos River, in October. Like my other favorite spots, this resonated with me, like I was meant to be there, or attached in some way I don’t understand.

Often such places contain oak trees or springs/wells

Today I’ll tell you about another place where I felt an overwhelming sense of connection. I’ve only been there once, when my sons were very young. We had spent some time in England while the kids’ dad worked, then we visited members of his family and other friends. The time had come, however, to go to Ireland to see the boys’ grandparents and other kin.

We had a rental car, so we intended to take the ferry to Dublin, which was extra conveniently located near the grandparents’ home on Dublin Bay in Clontarf. I doubt you give a fig about these details, but in case my mind is going, I’m writing them down.

This isn’t exactly where they lived, but this was the view of the harbor.

To get to the ferry we had to drive through Wales, one of the most ruggedly beautiful places I’ve ever been (outside of quarries, mines, and such). After oohing and aahing at little trains and slate roofs, we crossed over into Anglesey Island, to catch the big car ferry out of Holyhead.

Here is where you get proof that my previous husband is a good guy. We didn’t go on the zippy motorway. No, we went all around this amazing bit of land that’s just crawling with my favorites: standing stones, stone circles, and holy wells. It would have been more fun if there weren’t a gale wind blowing so hard that waves went over the road occasionally. There were even places where streams or creeks crossed the road. The kids liked that.

I made that poor man stop at many of these. Neolithic wonders. From Pexels.

At one point, on the east coast, there was a sign saying something about ancient dwellings. It was a place called Din Lligwy and it’s one of the oldest ruins of ancient dwellings in the islands off of Europe. There are very early Roman ruins and evidence of people living there long before Romans showed up.

These photos are from this lovely article.

I got out of the car and asked for ten minutes or so to see it. Rain was falling. Waves were crashing, and a bitter wind blew. I barely noticed. I stood there amid the foundations of the homes that were beside workshops and barns. I felt as if I could see my foremothers tending fires, nursing their babies, and creating homes, just like I was doing with my little family. This place felt like a home to me.

Of course I ran back to the car all wet and jibbering, but my ex was used to me and my ancient landmarks, and the boys liked my stories. I’ll never forget the short time I stood looking at the Irish Sea during a storm, like so many other mothers had before.

By the way, the weather did not improve and we all got very sick on the ferry. But it was an adventure!

Boating in Bluffton

At the moment I’m reeling in righteous indignation at someone I used to know who insinuated that members of my family are abominations in the eyes of her deity. If you think that, try to keep it to yourself so you don’t reveal your hypocrisy. But, I reminded her that Jesus loved everyone and moved on. Karma can take care of her (and me; I have lessons to learn, too!).

My day was good, however. I didn’t have to work, so Lee and I were able to head to our favorite neighboring town of Bluffton. It’s a town on bluffs, you see, on the shores of a river that’s not actually a river (I think it’s an inlet).

Numerous cool older houses are in the old part of town.

We ate lunch in the new part of town, in one of those perfect little business areas with apartments on top of the businesses. It was full of pastel colors and trendy board and batten. The place we ate had an immense beer menu and fun burgers. I had the peach/blackberry cider shown below, which was just perfect, sweet and tart. My burger had fried pineapple on it, which was delicious!

Next, Lee drove straight to my favorite art galleries, which was really nice of him. I met the lady who made a necklace Lee got me last year, and I got two crystal and silver earrings from her.

Not a great picture of the main shopping street.

We had to then hurry to catch our boat to go look at the river. We were joined by four women who all met in the early 80s when they were riding the commuter train up north. They have a large group who are still friends. How cool.

It was a beautiful day, and we saw a good number of dolphins out feeding and just hanging out.

I enjoyed all the birds, of course, and the huge piles of oyster shells and sand bars. The spartina grass was golden and very pretty. Lee got most of the good bird pictures.

There were, of course, many fancy houses to observe, but I like the mostly empty islands best.

We’re now all ready to head back home. We will take our time, so maybe we will stop somewhere along the way! I’ll try to be as accepting as possible as long as no one insults my family.

Announcing My Dislike of Food Prep

What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?

Announcement: I don’t like to cook anymore. That’s my least favorite routine item. I enjoyed it when I was making meals for my kids and ex, who ate most foods and really seemed to appreciate my effort. Since the kids grew up I’ve lost my motivation to cook family meals, though folks often say they’re glad for the food.

Nope. Not making this. Photo from Pexels.

Some of my issue is that none of us need or want the same foods, due to health issues, allergies, and preferences. Since I’m not very creative, I can’t come up with meals. Nor do I have much time with animals to care for. Heck, I don’t even want to make meals for myself. I just want to eat stuff like fruit, yogurt, rice, and cheese.

My ideal meal. Just slap it on a board. Photo from Pexels.

I’m not sure how this all happened. It’s not my family’s fault. I’m just not motivated. Other things interest me more than food. (Unless I’m feeling extremely anxious like right now.)

What does interest me is nature, animals, reading, and knitting. Speaking of nature, I’m going to get better images from now on, with the macro lens Lee got me. It’s cool. I took pictures of small things.

I didn’t get to go try it out until late afternoon. I had a lot of work to do and I wasn’t feeling mentally well. I had nightmares all night about being afraid of people around me. Where did that come from? Lee has had CNN on again. Their coverage gets me scared sometimes. Sure, I’m easily frightened, but it’s worse when there’s justification.

Anyhow, the lens is great fun now that I’ve figured it out. I love how it focuses. Hilton Head is a good place to see small flora and fauna.

When spring comes around, I’ll be all over the flowers and insects back at the ranch. I hope, at least, to be able to! The beauty will still be there. It’s timeless.

Sending love, and understanding to each of you who has a secret part of their daily routine they’re not fond of. I can’t be alone in being bored by cooking!

Cameras and Cacophony

Is anyone reading this? Judging from my stats, few of us are interested in pretty pictures. Well, that’s what you get, my friends, because I’m not wallowing in worry about 2025. I’m going to have as much fun as I can in case I can’t later.

Gonna grab the joy of nature as much as I can. Photo by Lee.

Today was a beautiful day. Of course, because I had to work. But I squeezed in my valuable restorative nature time. I had to, because I have a new camera to play with. Lee got it for my anniversary gift ( and a macro lens for Christmas, lol, the surprise is ruined). I’ve never been good with “real” cameras, but I’m gonna try. I can upload the photos to my phone and share them with Lee, so I’m encouraged.

Look at this tiny spider! And that’s not even with the macro lens.

I took a short walk this morning on the prayer trail to try the camera out, but I got all excited about the birds I was hearing that I was distracted. The owl even showed up on Merlin, and there was some kind of major Pileated Woodpecker discussion that lasted quite a while. But I did try out the camera.

After work there was still some light, thanks to starting at 7 am, so we zipped over to a favorite spot, Pinckney Island Nature Preserve. I didn’t make Lee wait hours for me like I did last time we were here. He had more fun this time, since he got to mess with the camera a lot while I basked in the glory of looking at wading birds with my new binoculars. Oh, the glory of ibises and egrets!

The Ibis pond is one of my favorite spots in this area, and it didn’t disappoint. It was loud, though. The gallinules were making a real racket, with a variety of calls, squeaks, and hoots. I barely heard any of the other water birds. But they were all fun to watch, since there were many family groups.

I did hear and see many songbirds as I walked around the pond. There was even a new one, a group of Palm Warblers. Thanks to the binoculars I was able to easily ID them. They are distinctly marked and have pretty olive bellies. Others were bluebirds, nuthatches, vireos, kinglets, and catbirds. Oh, and there were pretty plants.

I got so involved with birds that I nearly missed this guy. Reptile goal accomplished.

I always enjoy the herons and egrets, so they filled my heart.

Mostly Snowy Egrets. My Little Blue Heron photos didn’t work out.

But where were the ibises of Ibis Pond? They were roaming all over the salt marshes finding tasty snacks. The new camera’s photos of them at a distance weren’t as good as the camera photos. I would need a telephoto lens, which we used to have…but it’s hiding.

All in all, I was holding a lot of equipment, so I’m going to have to make arrangements for everything in the future. But it was fun.

And I had a great dinner at a new restaurant in town that is in a beautiful spot. Lee isn’t fond of food or portions in nice restaurants, but my halibut was perfect, and my fancy drink was tasty and not too sweet.

Lee showing his feelings about restaurants with cloth napkins. Also, my beverage. It was like a berry old fashioned.

I’m glad to have someone to listen to loud birds and try out new technology with. It’s helping me stay centered.

Though this photo slants, which makes me less centered.

Bonus. Here are some marsh and coastal forest photos to enjoy.

What You Do

What you do on a hard day is what you do every day. You put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. You persevere.

I hope I and those I love can stay safe and free to be ourselves.

I’m glad I had my relatives for one last meal together this evening. We made it a very good one at a beautiful harbor-side restaurant. I’ll miss them, but not trying to navigate with conflicting sets of directions. We did laugh a little, make that a lot.

I know this blog has been dull lately. I’m in more of a survival mode than a creative one. But I’m not going to stop noticing the good around me and sharing it. Some beautiful images from today.

Bonus: Lee has been trying out the new camera and found some photos of New Mexico from the first time we went.

Hugs All Around

It’s a hard day in the USA, so I’m sending hugs it to all. Let’s send peaceful energy out to our country even if we disagree with what happens. We’re still all family.

Love is what we need, and what I experienced today. I found a little clump of trees chock full of beautiful birds this morning. The woodpeckers were everywhere.

Maybe my best bird photo ever. Red-bellied Woodpecker.

I’m not going to go on and on about birds. It’s killing my blog stats, but they do bring me comfort. There were lots of them today, in between doing things to distract myself. Thank goodness for my relatives and their willingness to drive me all over the place! At our late lunch at Hudson’s I had a divine crab cake and the best potato salad ever. I saw lovely herons and of course, gulls.

Then we went to the nature preserve I love to visit. They’ve done a lot there since last year, but the rugged beauty was also there. I got lots of ideas for the Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary to share with our committee. And it was beautiful near sunset.

We went to “second dinner” because we didn’t want to go back to our rooms. This was at the Fish Camp restaurant next to the beautiful dock overlooking the Broad Creek. We got Old Fashioneds, appetizers and bread pudding. I, of course, went to the beautiful dock and looked for birds, the best of which was a very vocal Clapper Rail. I do love a good marsh at low tide!

Mostly, though the three of us women enjoyed each other’s company, telling stories about our parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We are resilient, we determined. It was a beautiful night, and that just added to the fun.

I’m gonna read magazines and check the news later. I feel safe and grounded for now, because I feel the love of my family and friends.

The Best Way to Spend November 4, 2024

I wish Lee was here, but I had a great time distracting myself from the fact that tomorrow is a scary day. I answered a lot of questions at work, and managed to have a much better birding day than yesterday.

After I enjoyed songbirds, I checked out the park I’d visited yesterday. It was quieter today, and I got to enjoy turtles, an Anhinga resting on a small tree, and a Great Egret on the hunt.

I turned and walked back up the beach to see shorebirds. First I enjoyed the beautiful boardwalk leading to the beach.

I also saw a pretty dark and brooding sea. It reminded me of how American people feel right now.

I did enjoy the birds as they scrambled around for their food. My favorite was this gull trying to get ahold of an acorn. The gull did not want to share with the Sanderling.

They were all entertaining, even the crow, who had some kind of tidbit in its mouth, too.

Later in the day, my relatives whisked me off to lunch in the part of the island I couldn’t get into yesterday. It’s very pretty. And guess what? I found more birds from the restaurant we ate at.

We’re actually not related, but we look like it.

As we were driving off to visit more relatives (including a baby relative) we spotted white blobs in a parking lot. The stepsister wheeled the Acura around like the pro driver she used to be (kind of) and we got to enjoy the beauty of a flock of Wood Storks with a Great Egret buddy.

It was so much fun to get so close to them. They sure looked fluffy and festive.

So yes, today was a good day spent with family and avian friends.

Hugs to all who are stressing. Remember, worrying won’t change anything.

Dear friends, New Friends

What a nice day it was. I got lots of exercise, enjoyed scenery, watched football, hung out with my “sisters,” and met fellow birders. Not bad at all. Living in the moment!

I enjoyed dinner with my lovely relatives. I just love eating the little oysters at Hudson’s. And the view. Ahh. I’ll hang out with the relatives more this week. They brought me stuff from my dad to go through.

After I got back from our early dinner (time changed) I watched football on TV at the good ole resort bar. I met a very nice couple originally from the part of England where my family came from and discovered we were all birders. I sure enjoyed that conversation!

We all talked to the Gullah bartender. She was an interesting woman, and I appreciated the opportunity to learn more from someone who’d lived their life here. This island is fascinating. I’m happy to be here.

Renovating the Motorhome, by Necessity

I promised I’d write more about Seneca, our motorhome. On our last camping trip the bedroom slide-out that makes a path to the bathroom and provides access to the drawers (such as they are) hasn’t worked.

It’s not a problem going to horse lessons, since there’s a half bath Lee could use if needed. But camping means shower access is useful, and to get there you have to crawl over the king-size bed. That’s hard on us elders.

Much effort has been put into trying to fix it. It turns out the batteries weren’t the issue. Or were fuses, though I believe fuses fixed the issue of lights on trailered vehicles not working properly. One issue fixed! Yay!

This has been referred to as the rats’ nest. No actual rats are in the very, but I vacuumed up mouse evidence.

The slide apparently has a short in it. My home mechanic/electrician figured out the diagnostic code by delving into the bowels of the system. But no one here at the ranch can do the repair. We will have to take it to a pro.

No photos of this, so here are my cool nails that can look green or purple.

But I hadn’t been camping in a while and wanted to go before we can get it in to get fixed. So, the clever men of the house came up with a plan and implemented it. I found it quite creative!

With the slide in, the base of the bed doesn’t stick out too far. The piece of wood above the base is what’s longer, to support the mattress, so needed to be removed and replaced with a shorter piece of plywood.

This is close to our floor plan, only the washing machine is in the bathroom in the 2022 model.

A twin mattress, which we happened to have one of in the former Airbnb, fits perfectly in the bed space, turned sideways. There’s a little more base hanging out, but that’s no problem (my guess is a double bed would have fit perfectly).

Once the setup was done, I put sheets on and turned the area into a cute daybed. You can easily get to the bathroom and I can sleep fine.

We’re lucky that Lee sleeps in a zero-gravity chair. That makes a single bed for me quite practical. We sure have customized Seneca to our idiosyncratic needs!

Lest we forget, the former dinette is now a desk. The living area is wider when its slide is fully expanded.

Tomorrow we do get to go. I had hoped to leave today, but there was a communication mixup. It will be fine.