So, Tuesday the 26th was Elaina's "special" birthday.  She took this entire week of leave from work in order to celebrate.  Monday we went to Topsail Island beach and spent a good part of the day.  We both got a little tan and a little burn.  My shoulders haven't seen the sun in a long time!  Here it is springtime and the beach was only slightly occupied, unlike a California beach.

On Tuesday we drove into New Bern and stopped briefly at a farmer's market and walked around town for a bit.  New Bern is a beautiful small town that looks like it's out of a book.  They're known for the fiberglass bears that you see around town.  This one is definitely a farmer.

We went to lunch at Persimmons, a favorite restaurant of Elaina's on the water (The Neuse River). We sat outside at a shady table.

Persimmons Restaurant

View from our table outside

Birthday Girl

I had a Dagwood sandwich (yummy) and Elaina had a burger (gluten-free without a bun of course.) We also had an appetizer of North Carolina style deviled eggs with crab meat. They use a wine vinegar in their deviled eggs here.  They were really good.

Elaina decided after lunch that we should take a drive to the town of Oriental (named after a steamer ship that wrecked in 1862). Oriental is called the "sailing capital of North Carolina." Population 900. It too is on the Neuse river.  What Californians don't understand is that the rivers in Eastern North Carolina open up to the "sound" which is basically the Atlantic ocean.  So yachts and sailboats sail up and down the rivers and right out to the ocean. In this case it is the Pamlico sound. I watched crab pots bobbing up and down in the river.  

We sat in Lou-Mac park and just enjoyed the water, the sun and the breeze.  Elaina had taken me to this place a few years ago when I visited and I often thought of this little park when I needed to "get away" in my head. 

The clover here is everywhere you look and the scent is so strong.  There were also some wild flowers growing in the grass.  I took a couple in the car with me when we left so I could continue smelling it on the ride home.

It was a beautiful day and I know the birthday girl enjoyed herself.  Today she is off to a "Wine, Cheese, Bread and More" seminar in Beaufort, part of the 2016 Beaufort Wine and Food Festival.

Looking forward to what God has in store for my wonderful daughter in the coming year!

Just Another Day

Since I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing with my life, I stepped out and went to a free two hour class at Coastal Carolina Community College yesterday.

The class is hosted and lead by the US government's Small Business Administration.  There was only 6 of us in the classroom from varying backgrounds.

The instructor came into the room, said, "Hi Y'all.  I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."   He clearly meant it as a joke.  There was only a few snickers from those of us in the room. 

The instructor had lots and lots of information.  So much so, that my head was "swimming" with too much to think about.  I didn't know the Small Business Administration did so much to help people get started in their own business.  Not sure that this is for me, but at least I have some information.  (According to the instructor my Etsy shop is a "hobby"  not a business)  For now, I will continue with my hobby.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PicketfencesVintage

Morehead City and Beyond

This morning I read an article on Our State magazine about three antique stores that are three of the most popular ones in NC.  All I said to Elaina was, "We should go to this one in Morehead City sometime."

Well, Elaina said, "Let's go today."  She wanted to go to the "Friendly Market" in Morehead City anyway to buy our produce. This is a place that has local fruits and vegetables, a shop with homemade-like cakes, pies, breads, etc. and a plant nursery. 

The antique store was Seaport Antiques (Morehead City is a seaport) and was a really good one.  I bought some vintage buttons and a seashell but that was all.  The wind was so strong there today, that the proprietress had to keep the door locked or the wind was blowing the door open.  So, she had to let us in and lock the door again.

From there Elaina said, "Let's just drive over the bridge to Beaufort." So, we did.   From there she said, "Let's just drive to (what she calls) the end of the world. Want to go?  Should we? " There's no sense in asking me if I want to go.  Of course I want to go.  

That took us out to Cedar Island which is as far as you can drive without ending up in the water.  We stopped at the ferry long enough to use the "rest area"  and let Abby go potty.  Someday we will take the ferry to the Outer Banks!

The red flag is where we were and the ferry takes you to the Outer Banks,
 that narrow strip of land out in the ocean.
I had to make this photo huge in order to read the words.

We got home about 6:00! We were gone all day!

I'm so glad this girl has an adventurous spirit because I get to benefit from it!  She doesn't know just how much these trips mean to me.  I spent a lot of time in California not going anywhere or doing anything fun.  This is ALL fun to me.  Traveling around seeing new places and new things...I'm blessed.  That's for sure.

Just Interesting Stuff about NC

1.  The City of Jacksonville has 4 Fire Department stations situated around the city but none are near us.  There are two volunteer fire departments near us:

Haws Run Volunteer Fire Department    and
Southwest Volunteer Fire Department

We live in the area referred to as "Southwest" but we live just off of Haws Run.  I don't know who would respond to an emergency at our house.

2.  Buying alcohol here is a lot different than in California.  Grocery stores and retail stores can sell beer and table wine but if you want other types of alcohol, you buy it from an ABC store (Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission run by the state). Alcohol can be sold and purchased between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday, however, you may not sell or buy alcohol between 2 a.m. and 12 noon on Sundays.  That means if you are grocery shopping at 11:30 Sunday morning, you can't buy that bottle of wine you want for dinner that night.  

I'm learning new things about this state all the time!

More Thoughts on Spring

There is so much "spring" here now!  The trees that are budding out have bright green leaves.  The azalea bushes are HUGE and different shades of pink.  Some homes I pass have multiple azalea bushes that actually cover the length of the home.
Like this:

Credit for the pic: Elaina Avalos

And then there's the dogwoods in bloom.

There's another blossom that I'm seeing that I understand is considered an invader by some, but others love it, I'm sure.  That's the wisteria plant/blossoms.  It's EVERYWHERE!  If you are a gardener and take care of it, it's very nice, but it gets out of hand apparently.  It climbs way up high into the tallest trees. It's pretty to see, but I can see why some gardeners don't like it.

 


On another note, on my way to my storage unit this morning I saw a dead deer at the side of the road.  Oh my goodness.  So sad.  It was quite small, so maybe it was a young one.  Right in front of a house on Burgaw highway.  I didn't realize there might be deer that close however, I did see a "watch for deer" sign on Onslow Pines Rd later in the day. Raccoons and possums in the road are quite common.  This was my first deer.   Now that I think about it, one night when Elaina and I were out driving, she had to brake for a deer. Just don't remember where we were. (She'll remind me)

Today I drove to the cute little town of Burgaw to visit some thrift stores.  On the way I passed a hog farm, and a blueberry farm named "Newberry's Blueberries."  I think Eastern North Carolina is famous for "festivals."  There is a blueberry festival, an azalea festival, a chocolate festival, and more I'm sure.

http://www.townofburgaw.com/

I crossed the Cape Fear River going into Burgaw.  It's very lush and green. There's a movie called Cape Fear with Gregory Peck. May have to watch it sometime.

Still need to find some thrift stores in the area.  Will be looking in the town of Richlands next.

March is Gone, April is here!

I may have said it before, but I bought myself a sewing machine for my birthday last month. My mom always had a sewing machine around.  When we were younger, she made us some clothes and a kitchen curtain or two, or three.  She also made several quilts over the years.  That sewing machine sold in the estate sale.  Any sewing I ever did was 1. Home EC class in junior high, 2. Curtains for my own home.  But, mom was always there showing me what to do and helping me along.

I bought this new machine that was very economical, but fancy for me. 

1.  It has 25 different stitches
2.  It has an automatic needle threader thingy
3.  It has presser feet for blind hems, button holes, sewing on a button, and doing a narrow rolled hem.
4.  It has directions right on it for threading the machine and the bobbin. So easy!

The best part of having this (without mom to tell me what to do) is that there are so many youtube videos showing just how to make some things.  They have been so helpful!  I have made pot holders, pillow covers and aprons. I'm going to recover my ironing board cover next and a cover for the sewing machine.

I also had a great month for Etsy sales.  Well, great for me.  I had seven orders last month.  I was going to the Post Office every few days!  I hope April will be even better for sales, but I will need to get out to some new thrift stores and look for inventory. The next towns I want to visit are Burgaw, and Richlands.  They are both about a half hour away. Hopefully they have what I'm looking for.

Looking forward to spring here.  Green and flowers are popping out everywhere!  (So are my allergies)

Easter Sunday

Elaina and I went to River of Life Church this morning, to the 10:00 service.  It was their third one of the day and they had one more to go.  The parking lot extended onto the grass and the church was packed.

The singing/worship time was contemporary, which I'm used to, and very lively.  The sermon was very good, encouraging and convicting, as it should be.

As I was sitting there among everyone, I couldn't help but think of the multiracial-ness of the people there.  The room was made up of about half caucasian, and half black.  Now mind you, I'm sure there were other nationalities and races present, as well as mixed races, to be sure.  But just to look around you could say it was half and half.

With all the terrible things going on between blacks and whites in other parts of the country, the country could take a lesson from the Christian church in the south.  Specifically in this case North Carolina.  It's been my experience that the races get along very well here, even outside of the church.  I don't understand why there has to be so much of the racial unrest in other parts of the country.  

Well, I know, I'm probably naive. But who would have thought that the SOUTH would be the place where I see more camaraderie between races, than where I'm from originally?

Elaina fixed a nice dinner, I made deviled eggs and baked a banana bread (from a box).  It has rained steadily all day long.  It was a very nice day all in all.

Elaina is off work tomorrow, so if the weather is good, we might go do some exploring.  Happy Easter everyone!

Random Observations

Just more random observations of North Carolina:

1. There is no graffiti here!

2. Speed limit downtown Jacksonville is...20.  Not 25, 20!  The bridge I take to get down there is only 35 mph, but most of roadways are 45 mph.

3. City of Jacksonville has a fountain at city hall called the Freedom Fountain.  They switch the lights on it to coordinate with holidays and special days like this:

75th Anniversary of 2nd Marine Division, USMC

4.  I love yellow blinking left turn arrows!    I don't remember seeing them in California, but maybe they are in some places.

5. Because of the enormous amount of pine trees here, in the spring, the yellow pollen covers everything.  And I mean everything. This is my car windshield. It's actually all over my car.

6. There are so many abandoned farm houses, barns and out buildings (especially in the country) that there are Facebook pages and photographers dedicated to them.  I just found a whole Pinterest board of photos of abandoned houses, etc.

https://www.pinterest.com/oldhouses21/old-houses-in-north-carolina/


Moving to a new place opens your eyes to a lot of neat things!

Southern Hospitality

I had another little adventure today.  I needed a comfortable chair to use in the living room and I had just the right one in the storage unit.

I decided today I would check with the storage place, Autry Self Storage, and see if they would rent a pick-up to me, or if they provided any kind of moving services.

The usual clerk was not in the office, but there was an older gentleman fiddling around in the office.  I asked him if there was any kind of moving help available to move one chair from storage to the house.  He said, "Well, I could take it in my truck..."

Hesitantly, I told him, okay, if you're sure, as he walked out of the office with tools in his hands.  They were having trouble with their automatic gates.  When the usual clerk came in I told her what I was there for.  She told me the older man was the owner.  I asked her if I should take him up on his offer.  She said, "Well, he's not as strong as he thinks he is..."   Uh oh.  What do I do now?

When he was done messing with the gates he asked me where to go.  I thought it might offend him if I said no thanks. So I told him to go down Murrill Hill, turn left on Burgaw, and left on Haws Run but I planned on being right in front of him all the way to direct him to the house.  So he and a teenage boy followed me out the gate toward home.  I drove slowly but somehow I missed him somewhere along the way.  I even pulled over and waited, thinking he was just behind a slow car or something.  I waited and waited.  And waited.  No big black truck.  I drove to the house, thinking I had to have lost him somewhere but I saw a big black truck drive down Haws Run, so I followed for a while thinking that was him and he missed me.  After a few miles I decided it was just not the best solution.   I called the storage office and the clerk told me he had just gotten back there and was looking for me.  Uh oh.  She put him on the phone and I tried to give him directions again.  He said several times, "You're off Dawson Creek Road, right?  Oh gosh.  I don't even know where Dawson Creek Road is.  He put the clerk back on the phone and she said, "Don't worry about it, I'll get him directions." 

I parked the car out by the main road and stood on the corner to watch for them.  He passed me by briefly but backed up and came to the right place.   His teenage helper carried my chair into the house for me.  I asked the gentleman what I owed him and he said, "Nothin.  Just keep using our storage."  Oh man.  I was so grateful.  I asked him if I could tip his helper and he said, "If you want to."

I think the owner is probably 75 or more (I'll call him Mr. Autry) and possibly has a little Alzheimer's or some degree of dementia possibly.  But, what a kind thing to do!  I'm so grateful to have my chair!  I'll find out from Robin, the clerk, if he has a favorite cookie or something and I'll take him some.

By the way, Mr. Autry told me he lived on Haws Run in the sixties. Oh my.  Now I'm curious where Dawson Creek Road is...

Rack Packs

Yesterday I worked at a Rack Pack Party.  If you don't remember what that is, or didn't read another post about it, here's some info:

https://uso-nc.org/wp-content/uploads/rack_pack.pdf

I think we made about 1000 rack packs and another maybe 500 deployment packs.  Deployment packs have the same items as rack packs with a few extra items added, like prepaid phone cards.

Yesterday was really my first hot, humid day here.  Working in the basement of the USO was a challenge for me, but the director brought us some water bottles on ice.  I gulped mine down about half way through!  We were on our feet moving as quickly as we could in the humidity for two hours.  There was probably 8-10 of us talking, laughing and working on these.  Of course they have to be counted and packed in boxes so when they get a request from a unit, they know exactly how many they are sending.  Everyone cooperates and digs in where they are needed.

I'm finding that many of the people who volunteer at things like this are either current or former military spouses, or former military men or women, so they all "speak" the same language.  My only connection to the military is my daughter, the FRO (Family Readiness Officer).  That's okay.  They won't reject me anytime I want to volunteer!

I have a total of 14.5 hours of volunteering recorded.  

(By the way, they're always looking for donations of the items that go in the rack packs.)