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Old Salt

A week after Hurricane Maria and we are here on the island, The Doer and I.  There was little damage here on Ocracoke, praise God..... some high water which got into our little storage shed under the house, but not into the Boathouse or main cottage.  We have close family friends in Puerto Rico (we call them our Puerto Rican family, and may even be a blog subject down the road) who's lives have been traumatized by the storm; through the decimation of their yards and gardens, power outage, fear of looting, etc. but we are very thankful that they are safe and well.

This was a much needed vacation after another Summer of Aunt Blanche for me and an extremely stressful work season for the Doer. So thankful for a place to get away from the “worries of the world”.

The week after a fall hurricane brings with it blissful weather and the Doer and I have been soaking up the sunshine and cool breezes. October is paradise here on Ocracoke Island. The doors and windows are flung wide open every morning (temps in the 70’s every day) and every morning I get up to linger on the dock with my coffee and Gimpy, the Gull. Oh, maybe I haven’t mentioned him before? He’s an old salt... a crippled old seagull that hangs out near our dock in the fall and we watch each other in curiosity each morning. I didn’t see him in June when we were here. I was concerned that maybe the winter had gotten the best of him. But he’s back, thank goodness.

Last night we were totally entertained by a large raft (yes, I looked it up) of ducks in the canal, at least 20; quacking, fussing, pecking at each other like a class of kindergarteners on the playground and providing hilarity (we are easily entertained!) We are learning much about bird life here: seagulls are prolific in the summer; ducks, herons, and egrets in the fall; and pelicans and geese in the winter and early spring. 

Regretfully, I must report that another old salt, Becky the Cat, is gone for good. She disappeared in the spring, according to our Fish Camp neighbors, and has not been seen since. In the great scheme of things, the loss of an old, deaf, matted cat is not a big deal, but it was painful to me. I don’t like loss..... The other black and white kitties are still around but avoid us. They only approached us when she approached us. They probably miss her, too. They were a strong threesome.

Anyway, we finally installed the new kitchen island with the beautiful handmade Mexican tile that was supposed to be installed last March. We had some pretty serious issues with the cabinet maker that I don’t care to address here but it’s finally done and looks awesome!!! So phase 2 of remodeling has begun! The Boathouse was phase 1 and the kitchen is phase 2. We just met with a remodeler (10 minutes ago, in fact) and have decided to paint the old wood kitchen cabinets (of course, my favorite white color, Simply White) and replace the counter tops (we’re thinking of concrete). Hopefully phase 2b of 10 Cuttin Sage remodeling will be done in time for next year’s rental season.

Must talk about food.....The Flying Melon, Eduardo’s, Dajio, Smacnally’s, Howard’s Pub and, last night, peel and eat shrimp on the porch at 10 Cuttin Sage at sunset have provided some outstanding meals this week... mahi, smoked bluefish, drum (the best!), and shrimp. We are so spoiled.....and blessed.....

Also, this week, we reconnected with our realtor and looked at a cottage on the market. We may have the “bug” again. We’ll see.....

We met, today, the fellow that happened to build our cottage in the 1970’s. He built numerous houses on this island and now he does strictly concrete counter tops and furniture. He is an interesting old salt. He moved to Ocracoke Island in 1976 from New Jersey after having traveled the entire east coast from Maine to Florida looking for a perfect spot to settle. Seemed Ocracoke fit the bill for him and he has been here ever since. This 69-year-Old Salt, when he’s not building and remodeling, spends his time surfing and he says he’s better now at surfing than he’s ever been!

All in all, the trip has been uneventful. Even The Doer is not doing much, except for the installation of the kitchen island on Saturday, and we are filling our fast moving days with reading (my bible and cheesy fiction novels), eating seafood, napping, watching Netflix movies, eating seafood, sitting on the porch and dock, blogging, and, of course, eating seafood! Now for this post’s photos....





One of our newest additions to 10 Cuttin Sage, Old Salt, was carved out of a pine tree by a woodcarver in Franklin County, VA. He was a gift from me to The Doer.





He’s the doorman to our cottage, although a rather grouchy doorman.




Our other new addition, the island with the beautiful hand- painted Mexican tile!







The base has a pale yellow distressed finish.




So happy with this colorful tile!





Still in awe of the beauty of this place. This was the first morning here looking out from the screened porch.






All week we had the french doors swung wide open to catch the October breezes. The sun is lower in the sky in October, so the light was pretty fantastic.






Looking out from the dining area to the screened porch.





Our little compound from the dock.



The raft of ducks now hanging out on the dock next door.


 This is a good shot of Gimpy the Gull and his crippled foot. He’s been around our dock for several years now.




Duck silhouettes at sunset.






And, of course, a sunset photo.


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