10 Cuttin Sage

Speaking of Eternity in the last post, I wrote this in February, 2001, long before the song “I Can Only Imagine” came out (just sayin’)... I can’t imagine what Heaven must be like; Though I catch a glimpse from time to time; A glimpse into a realm I cannot fathom; Yet someday soon this realm will be mine. I think of Heaven in many ways And at oddly different times; In the midst of a simple, beautiful moment, Heaven often come to my mind. Such as a back rub from my husband- The feel of his hands against  my skin; The melting, relaxing, warm caress That loosens tension from within. Can’t imagine what Heaven must be like! How about an evening of fellowship With close-knit Christian friends? Warmth, hilarity, songs and laughter; No pretense, no put-ons, sincerity transcends.     Can’t imagine.... Or standing knee-deep in a Caribbean blue sea, The water calm, the brilliant sun shines clear, Flowers in every color and shade imaginable, Tropical fish swim near.

This is Part 2 of the previous post.  Last month, during that rainy September week that ended up causing unprecedented flooding up and down the east coast, we were at 10 Cuttin Sage tolerating the soaking rain and wind because we were anticipating and celebrating the gift of the engagement of our youngest daughter, The Hospitality Manager, to her fiancé, the Engineer.   6 weeks prior, in August, my hubby and I were privy to his secret plan of whisking her down to Ocracoke Island (her favorite place in the world), proposing under the Ocracoke Lighthouse, bringing her home to our cottage, and giving her a surprise party with all of her closest friends and family.  What a guy he is and how proud we are to be his future in-laws!  The Doer and I waited patiently all week from Saturday, Sept. 19th to Friday, Sept. 25th for the Big Event.  Our other daughter, The Teacher, took a day off school that Friday to drive down to 10 Cuttin Sage and the other best friends traveled far and wide (on

It’s mid-September and I am here at last with my hubby enjoying 10 whole days of vacay time here at 10 Cuttin Sage. I have been planning and longing for this trip for most of the year.  Of course, when you plan and long for something for such a long period of time, you tend to build it up to impossible heights of the imagination, heights unreachable by human effort and maintained by human ability.  So, as I imagined lazy afternoons on the beach, drinking wine and eating shrimp salad and grapes by sunset, kayaking into Autumn-touched marshland laden with herons and egrets who take off in a whoosh as we meander by, getting up at sunrise to run 3 miles every day as I train for the Thanksgiving Drumstick Dash to raise money for our local homeless shelter, and reading spiritually uplifting books on the sunny dock each morning as I drink my coffee (after my run, of course), here’s the reality: The weather is crap. Day 6 of 10 days and we have still not been to the beach. The kayaks are s

Another summer has flown by like a swarm of honeybees searching out a new place to hang their honeycomb shingles. Sorry for the corniness.  I’m using bee similes a lot these days because I’m taking up a new hobby this fall.  I’ve also actually seen bees swarm and it’s quite a sight to behold. If you’ve never seen a swarm in real life, you’re missing a miracle. It’s a Winnie the Pooh experience.  I’ve decided to become a beekeeper (an apiarist if you want to get technical). This hobby is growing in popularity as the population of honeybees has slowly declined over the years due to fewer small farmers who keep hives, the commercialization of farming, and mass use of pesticides. We have a tiny brick building on our homestead that is about 70 years old and suffering about 60 years of neglect. It was originally built as the business office of the builder and first owner of our home before my grandparents bought the place.  We have always called it “the Office”.  It's a simple pine-p

Last weekend, our youngest daughter, The Future Hospitality Manager, graduated from college.  She is now A Current Hospitality Manager and started working at a new and trendy boutique hotel about 2 hours from home.  She has worked a grand total of 4 days so far, and loves it!  She will be moving soon into her new apartment with a new roommie and a new grown-up life and every possibility ahead of her.   The other daughter, The Teacher, is well-settled into grown up life and is also loving it and is also about 2 hours away from home; thankfully both are in the same town. As I write this, I’m a little teary-eyed because my day-to-day job as a mom has officially....ended.  Now, I know that a mother’s job is never really done; I know that grown children do have a way of coming back home and I know that a daughter always needs her mother whether she’s one day old or 56 years old (me) but that day-to-day carpooling, soccer-momming, lunch-making, laundry-folding, nurse-maiding, sibling

I just finished reading a book that changed my life.  The only other book that has changed my life and is still changing my life is the Holy Bible, which I know with all my heart and without any doubt, is God’s infallible and immutable word to each one of us.  This new book: The Insanity of God  is by a pastor and missionary, Nik Ripken.  In his book, Nik travels the world over a period of 15 years to interview people who are in the midst of being persecuted for their beliefs.  He tells their precious and priceless stories to give them a voice and a testimony of their faith and strength and healing in the most dangerous, hopeless and darkest places on this planet: places where evil reigns, miracles are daily events (survival is a miracle), and persecution is expected and even welcomed as “seminaries” of growth and maturity. I was so appalled by their stories, that I felt sick to my stomach.   Here I am, looking out my window at 2 acres of land, mountain views, yard full of azaleas, d

So, what is this?  A story about an island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina?  Is it a story about a beach house rental?  Is it a decorating blog?  A marketing blog?  Is it about me?  Is it about life and love and ups and downs and blessings and waiting and wondering and fearing???   Monday:  I’m sitting here in the dining area of 10 Cuttin Sage- sick, my hubby’s sick, the weather is gray and windy and cold.  We have a monstrous amount of work to do this week to get the cottage in shape for guests next month.  The winter months on Ocracoke always wreak havoc on paint, porches, outdoor furniture, decking and walkways.  Ants and other crawly creatures have moved in to take up residence and get out of the cold (I don’t blame them).  The cedar trees are out again this month and allergies have combined forces with this cold I’ve caught to battle it out with my immune system.  I can’t sleep because of the Doer’s truck-rattle kind of snoring that shunned me from the bedroom last night. I

It’s been 5 months since I’ve published an update!  I missed a great opportunity to blog about our first Thanksgiving on Ocracoke Island:  sharing the holiday with my hubby, 2 daughters, one boyfriend, my mom, and one cat (Mowgli),   the daunting task of creating a full Thanksgiving dinner 9 hours from home in a kitchen I’m not used to, being able to finally show the cottage to my mom (one of the last things on her bucket list), a 5k family run around the harbor to raise money for a charity back home, the finishing of Phase 2 (The Boat House), and other various adventures on the island over a holiday week.  Life has been full since then and my cup overfloweth!!!  Since Christmas, my attention has been on the new responsibility of an elderly family member which I may blog about another time. It has been truly a gift of grace to be able to spend more time with this dear great aunt of mine, but it has taken much of my time.  As I sit here, watching another beautiful snow fall (which I