March 22, 2014 - Part 4

We've been to the park before, but not deep enough into it to find the pond - that was a nice surprise.

These geese were pretty funny to watch, although I don't expect they had any idea they were entertaining anyone.

The gist of the plot is that the geese on the left has spotted a bit of food - what looks like a bread crumb - but naturally as soon as she moves towards it (and I'm assuming this is the female of the pair) she captures the attention of her partner.

 Of course he decides that he needs it more than she does.

 However, he doesn't appear to be having any more luck getting it in his mouth than she did.  :)

The ubiquitous Spanish moss...I think it's kind of creepy looking usually, but in small doses like this I kind of like it.

March 22, 2014 - Part 3

Our last adventure of the day including lots of tree climbing in the park near our house.  We stopped there for yet another missing letterbox, but Jed was not disappointed in that loss like I was.  :)

March 22, 2014 - Part 2

These are the blossoms of an ornamental pear tree.  They're usually the first sign of spring in the south, at least the areas I've lived in.

This is the front of the restaurant we ate lunch at.  Note the cobblestone street and the railroad tracks.

Walking back to our car later that afternoon, we passed these lions guarding the side gate of a magnificent house.

And this is that magnificent house. It's much deeper than it is wide, but I wasn't far away enough to get a good picture of the side.  Maybe next time.  :)

March 22, 2014 - Part 1

We finally got out today and explored our new city a bit.  Wilmington is situated on a peninsula between the Cape Fear River and Masonboro Sound.  The area along the river is full of little shops and restaurants, and it was a pleasant day for walking about.  We parked a block away from the riverfront and walked down a side street, where we passed this gated community.  What really struck us was the brick wall...it looked like the outer wall of a fortress.  It was nice to see something old...so much of the south is new.

Our first glimpse of the riverwalk.

This was the outdoor seating area of a restaurant we stopped at for lunch.  I had a crab cake and fried okra - I've really been overdosing on the fried okra since moving back to the south!  It is hard to say which I missed more in the 11 years we were away - fried okra or sweet tea.  :)

It was nice to sit and watch boats pass by.

After lunch we continued our walk down the riverfront.  Jed was wearing a backpack because we tried to do some letterboxing while we were out; we were unsuccessful, but I wasn't nearly as disappointed in that as I usually would be.

The USS North Carolina, decommissioned and permanently berthed in Wilmington.  We're planning to tour it when Jed's cousins come for a visit in May.

It was fun to see people doing summery things like this guy painting.  I expect, though, that he would be trampled by the foot traffic if this was really summer.  :)

March 21, 2014

We've seen some pretty incredible moon shots in this new house.  The windows high in the ceiling are a huge help for that.  That almost makes up for the sunny afternoons when sunshine is streaming through them right onto my computer screen.  :)

February 27, 2014

Jed has spent quite a bit of time this winter making things with his Legos.  This invention is unique, though, in that it is a conveyor belt which actually creates Lego bricks and parts.  I predict this little beauty is going to save us a fortune. :)

February 14, 2014

We started losing our power on Tuesday, and lost it for good Wednesday night.  The lady on the right, Miss Louise, lost her power Wednesday afternoon, and since we had power at that time, she came over to our house and spent the night.  We spent a very chilly Thursday morning going through the address directory of our church, while she explained who everyone is and how they are connected.  It was enough to keep our minds off the cold, along with our fleeces and blankets.

Thursday afternoon Miss Louise got a call on her cell phone from her cousin-in-law, Miss Mary, who had never lost power.  When she learned that we were chilly, she invited us to come spend the night with her, which we gratefully accepted.  Tracy decided to make it a boys' night with Jed so they spent the night at a motel at the beach and Miss Louise and I headed over to Miss Mary's. 

I suspect the ladies' pajama party was more fun.  :)

February 12, 2014 - Part 3

This little guy was breaking my heart, out in the icy weather.  He seemed pretty content to be sitting out in the open, though, flitting about from place to place.  Our house is on stilts, so he had plenty of protected space to hide out in.  Perhaps he was as excited to see some honest-to-goodness winter weather as we were.  :)

February 12, 2014 - Part 2

 By mid-afternoon the ice was getting quite a bit thicker.

My favorite was the pine trees...I loved how each needle was coated.

This was taken late in the day, just before dark.

We lost a lot of branches, as well as our power, but it sure was beautiful.

February 12, 2014 - Part 1

We had another ice storm today - a real ice storm, with real ice.  :)  This first batch of pics was taken early in the morning, when things were just getting cranked up.

February 10, 2014

We had a great time making Valentines this year!  Jed chose a pretty difficult design, which I was pretty happy about because I've been trying to get him to make this card for two or three years now.  :)  I forgot to get a picture of the arrow once it was pulled, but it spelled out J - e - d, in cursive, of course.  :)

January 29, 2014

That might look like snow on the dock, but it's actually ice.  I've never seen anything quite like it...it was like ice granules.  This is probably the closest thing to snow we'll get in Wilmington, so we called it a snow day and went out and played.  :)

The marsh water was even frozen! 

Getting down the front steps was kind of tricky.

The neighbors had a snow day too and came over to play.

It was a good day.

Not as good as a winter day in Maine,

but good enough.  :)