The Beach and The End of Summer

 

We went to the beach with our son back in the first week of May -- it feels like so long ago now.  We like to go early before everything gets so crowded, but I think this is the earliest we've been since our son was in pre-school.  He finished his final exams around May 4th, and we took our vacation a few days later so that he could go with us.  He had to get back to school because he was working as a Resident Advisor on campus both sessions of summer school.

While we were there in May, I did a post on Historic Wilmington, which you can read HERE.  I wanted to do another post showing some pictures we took around the island and on the beach.  I'm posting these this weekend, because to most of us, Labor Day weekend symbolizes the end of summer.  As I mentioned in my Wilmington post, I love houses.  There are so many interesting houses, both old and new, at the coast.  I don't think these pictures are as pretty as they normally are because we had overcast skies almost the whole time we were there this year.  But as my DH says, "A rainy day at the beach is still better than a sunny day at work."

These first homes are in a development adjacent to my in-laws' house.  I always like to walk or ride the golf cart through there, because I love to look at the houses.  A pretty wooden bridge over a pond and fountain marks the entrance to this neighborhood.  You can see how overcast the sky is in these pictures.

This first house is possibly my favorite in the development; it reminds me of a storybook cottage, with it's cottage design and charming landscaping.

Here it is from the front...

The next house is hard to see because their trees and shrubs have grown so much over the years; I suppose they wanted the shade and the privacy. It's three stories counting the bottom level.

I love the pink garden butterfly and the pink geraniums on the front porch.

Can you see the starfish in the glass above the door in this next house?

The next house has been here for about 20 years, and during that time, the shrubbery has grown so much.  I was disappointed when we tried to get a picture because the shrubs are hiding some of the architectural features, namely the pretty steps leading up to the front porch.  This is what I think of as low-country style architecture.  A steep, sloping roof with dormer windows, front porch running the length of the house, and sweeping steps (hidden by the shrubs, or course) up to the porch.

This next house is built somewhat in the manner of Charleston houses.  It's built practically on the marshes of the intracoastal waterway, so we were only able to get a picture from the side.

If you notice the taupe colored door on the bottom left of the house, these are a prominent feature of Charleston homes.  It's an interesting feature -- a door that leads to an open front porch rather than to the interior of the home.

The next house is actually a better example of low-country style, and thankfully, it's not hidden by lots of landscaping.  I'm thinking the houses built in the real low country of the deep south probably are built a bit higher off the ground, with more steps leading up to the front porch.  I really LOVE this house!

On this particular day, we had driven the golf cart to this neighborhood in order to take some pictures.  Just after we crossed the pretty white bridge, we had our wildlife adventure.  I happened to glance over to the right, and this is what I saw in front of the big, pink Oleander bush --

Our son was driving the golf cart, and I called for him to stop.  A debate quickly ensued between my husband and I about whether or not this fellow was real or someone's peculiar idea of a lawn ornament.  My husband tended to think it was not real -- it stayed completely motionless while we got out of the cart and stared and pointed.  And it still didn't move when my husband got his camera out.  I was convinced it was real.  I pointed out how leathery its skin looked (you know, like those belts, shoes, and purses you can buy).  ;-)  Animal lovers please don't be offended, I don't own any alligator leather accessories (just sayin' folks).

This guy was also sitting next to the pond; I wonder if he was starting to feel like he might wind up as lunch.  I was kind of worried for him.

While we were debating and taking pictures, a resident came over the bridge and we pointed to the alligator.  She stopped and told us it was real.  By this point, I was starting to agree with my husband; it hadn't so much as batted an eye.  Then before we could bat an eye --

He's definitely real.  Do you think the turtle's relieved? :)

So that was our wildlife adventure.  These gators are actually pretty common in that area, but it's always interesting to see one (as long as there's a pond between it and me).

We saw some pretty pink and yellow Snap Dragons..

and some pink and yellow Lantana in the neighborhood.

And finally, some pictures of the ocean and the beach.

 More gray skies.

Can you see the fishing boat way out on the horizon?

These last photos were taken in the evening.  The fishing boat has its lights on now.

A touch of pink in the evening sky...

I'm linking this post to Seasonal Sundays hosted by The Tablescaper and to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.  I hope you'll stop by and see all the interesting posts there.  As always, thanks for stopping by The House at Forest Manor!  I look forward to your visits and comments.  Hope you enjoy this holiday weekend -- the official end of summer.

I'm joining Susan and the other bloggers at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.

Denise

Oreo Cows -- "Got Milk?"

Do you have Oreo Cows in your area of the world?  We saw some yesterday, and I decided to do a post about them.

I've seen them before, but we don't seem to have a lot of them in our area.  My husband first saw them years ago when he was travelling back and forth to England for a project at work.  He told me about them, and I think he may have taken some pictures; I can't remember now (that was before we had a digital camera).

Actually,  "oreo cows" is just a nickname.  They are really Belted Galloway cows.  According to Wikipedia, they're a rare breed of beef cattle originating in Galloway, in the southwest of Scotland.  Some of their other nicknames in the U.S. are "police car" cows and "panda" cows.  Aren't they cute?  I realize that "cute" is a funny adjective to apply to an animal of this size, but nevertheless, I happen to think they're cute.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Based on the posts I've done lately, it probably seems like all we do is travel.  But, that's not really the case.  This is just one of those in-between times in our life.  We only had one child, and he's no longer a child.  He's flown the coop, so to speak.  He's making it known that he wants some independence.  So all the time that we spent doing things with him and for him, has suddenly become free time.

There are some projects we would like to do on our house, but that's out of the question until our son finishes college.  And we are fortunate that all four of our parents are still living, but they are quite independent too :)  I quit my part-time job (which I liked a lot, by the way) after our son's sophomore year in high school.  Now the job market is terrible, but I knew that was a possibility at the time.  Thankfully, my husband has a good job, but it's very stressful right now.  He likes to get away whenever we can.

We have always liked the mountains.  We love the ocean too; we really do.  But it takes us four hours at least, to get to the coast, and we can be in the mountains in a little over an hour.  So yesterday, we drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed north into Virginia.  I love Virginia.  I think it's such a pretty state, and there's so much history there.

We stopped at an overlook on the parkway to stretch our legs and maybe take a few pictures.

We've driven by this little farm many times before, but since we had stopped (and of course there were the oreo cows), I got the urge to take some pictures.  Such a pretty, pastoral little scene.

This house appears to be new, so I'm not sure if the existing farmhouse was torn down to build a new one.

What I found so amusing was that this cow stared at us over the fence the entire time we were taking pictures.  My husband pointed out that she had a calf, so I imagine she wanted to make sure we weren't a threat. 

In a pasture right beside the cows, there were several lamas, and a sign that said "Alpaca Farm and Store".

The mother cow is still giving us the eye while the young calf is nursing.

Moooo  :-)

It was a beautiful day up there, but the breeze was so strong that it was hard to hold the camera steady enough to take decent pics.  That's okay; we still had fun.  And I almost forgot to mention that we took our "adopted" child on the outing with us...

...because he needs a change of scenery, too, and a chance to get rid of some wiggles ;)

This is my Seasonal Sunday post for the week.  Thanks to The Tablescaper for faithfully hosting this party every week!  I'm also linking to Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

Thank you for stopping by House at Forest Manor; I always enjoy your visits!

Denise