Good grief ....

Good grief because this is only the 7th post

for 2019 in what is supposed to be my family journal

I blame Facebook.....once that came along, I really slacked

with my blog.

I need to work harder with this

so whats new.....

well, I retired!! 

May 24th after 23 years with Capital One

very bittersweet

I made soooo many great friends there and even

though I have been working remote from the beach and

not seeing them very often, I do miss them.

Thanks to Facebook I am able to keep up with so many

of my friends so there's a thumbs up to FB

2 months after retiring I am STILL in awe at how

sweet, awesome and thoughtful my team was

in my send off. So many great notes, cards, gifts 

one of which was a Betta fish!

I have never entertained the idea of having a fish

but I just love this little blue fish

It is so relaxing watching him swim around

They gave me a large fish bowl that was half filled with gift cards

and there in the middle in a little container was

this beautiful blue Betta fish

We have upgraded him to a tank with a filter and heater

and this allows me to not have to clean it every week

but now only once a month

We also added some live plants and he loves swimming

through them

I can not get that plant that is floating to stay at the bottom

I think I need to add some more stones

also to the right in the back you can see the moss ball

that is supposed to help with keeping the water clean

Johnny was busy the first part of the spring finishing up

his shed or as I call it, his she shed

and now is all done and looks great

as our builder was able to get the same vinyl siding

as we have on our house
the blocked off area there will be filled with garden dirt
and we are going to plant something, haven't
decided what yet

There are lots of foxes here on the island
we catch glimpse of them here and there but now have
2 little ones living in the ravine by our house.
though as I type this we have not seen them in over a week
guess they have moved on

and to finish up this post.....my new obsession
cold brew coffee! 

I love it and this is my favorite brand
I add 1/2 and 1/2 but no sugar
and I can thank my son-in-law for this as Bucky
is the one that got me to try it.
so refreshing on a hot day

and that's all for now.....hopefully I can get more post done

later.....

Worrell 1000 .....

The Worrell 1000 is a 1,000 mile beach catamaran

race between South Beach, Florida and Virginia Beach, Virginia

It started as a bet in a beach resort restaurant between 2 brothers, 

Michael and Chris Worrell

The bet was it was impossible to sail a 16 foot catamaran from

Va Beach to Florida. The first race was in 1976. 

It has missed a few years and rules changed to allow

for larger catamarans

The race for 2019 is the first one in 17 years

They started in Hollywood, Florida and will finish today

in Virginia Beach

We were lucky enough to get out on the beach this morning and

watch as they prepared to launch

The North Carolina stops were Wrightsville Beach,

Hatteras and Kill Devil Hills

It was fun being out on the beach this morning to

see them launch

later....

This week .....

After having such a wonderful day on Sunday, warm,

out on the beach

Monday was cold! Probably not as cold but after having warmth

it felt cold and it was very, very windy so that made it feel colder

so that was the perfect time to pull some of my white bean chili out of the freezer. Then I made my fave salad

tomatoes, cukes, sweet onions

with vinegar, olive oil, onion powder and fresh basil...yum

On Tuesday I worked, Johnny ran some errands

and as soon as I logged off we headed over to the beach

83 degrees....and we took Pippa Lou who loves the beach

as much as we do!!

She is so good, no barking and there were a lot of dogs on the beach

she just lays on her beach towel and watches the ocean,
people and dogs

Wed was just working

81 degrees but we did not go to the beach

just had a lot of things around the house to take care of

Johnny worked on the shed...it's coming along!

he is in no rush...as he says, I work on retired time! haha

Thursday of course was Trivia time!!

we went to Hurricane Moe's for Happy Hour

yummy good shrimp and cold beer

Afterward we walked over to the beach....so beautiful

Then walked to Longboards for trivia

and we did awful....only got 12 out of 20!!

Below is the beach in Kitty Hawk

Then came Friday and all of these restaurants started posted

that they had fresh soft shell crabs!! one of my favorites
So we headed over to Blue Moon Beach Grill for soft shells
It was the first time this year we had to wait for a table....but only about 
20 minutes so not too bad

later.....

First winter ....

When we started telling people we were

retiring to the Outer Banks, most people would say....

"but what will you do all winter"

I always thought that was kind of weird and I would always answer

"I guess the same thing I do in Glen Allen in the winter"

I know it used to be so many places closed up down

here during the winter months but now it's not that many

and some close only for a month or so, not the entire winter

We had a great first winter down here though we have

heard it was mild in comparison to some of the winters

But that happens in Glen Allen too

Johnny will tell you the worst part was the wind

when cold, it just cut right through you, cold to the bone!

here we are on the beach Nov 25th 

I'm not wearing a coat, only a vest

and walking on the beach in November is great

December 1st our good friend Tim came to town and 

we were out on the beach again

it's also when I found my first piece of red sea glass

I understand it is very rare

Tim and Johnny fishing....no coats needed

we just couldn't believe it was Dec 1st and it was so nice

I still made my cinnamon buns

and we loved decorating our new house for Christmas

and as I do every winter, I work on a puzzle

I did change my wardrobe slightly....added a bunch of hoodies

of course Johnny brought the excitement.....

so sick having to be flown to Greenville, NC

Turns out winter is some of the best shell hunting

we went out every chance we got

and here is the beach at the end of January

grandkids came down and we had a lot of fun on the beach

and went to one of the lighthouses

more great ocean treasures

We also saw some of the most amazing sunsets 

Feb 14th on the beach!

I def did a lot more cooking during the winter

and especially soups and chili's

always interesting weather...be it the wind, fog and Nor'Easters

we took the off season to check out new to us restaurants

and enjoyed most of our favorite bars

a couple were closed for the winter

We shopped, went to art galleries, went to craft shows, went exploring

and really had a wonderful winter here