10 Cuttin Sage

My hubby and I left home early Wednesday morning about 7:30 for the looooooooooong, loooooooooooooong drive to Ocracoke Island.  It was kind of nice being just the 2 of us this time.  Two days before we left, it was my birthday and one of my gifts from him was 4 tickets to a Sheryl Crow concert at a summer park festival this July.  Now, I’ve never been a Sheryl Crow fan- simply because I didn’t know much about her music; but now I’m a bit of a country music fan and I had mentioned to my hubby a few weeks prior that a concert in the park would be a fun thing to do.  Hence: 4 tix and 2 Sheryl Crow CD’s! So we traveled across VA and down through NC eating trail mix and listening to Sheryl's greatest hits and a new album called “Feels Like Home”.  (She’s my new fave now and I can’t wait to see her this summer!) The trip flew by because I had to listen to all the songs first just to get a feel for the music and then re-listen to really hear the lyr...

The garden is a peaceful place, I adore the sun upon my face; The gentle terrain, the rolling land, The smell of earth clings to my hands. With the softness and richness of the soil, The work is energizing--not toil. The song of the birds, the cool spring air-- Perfect conditions like these are rare. Sometime between winter--cold and dreary And the summer--hot, dry and weary, I must take advantage of this glorious day And relish the chores that beckon today. Long ago in Gethsemane, Another Gardener was upon His knee, Pleading before His Father above, “Not my will but thine be done”. For hours and hours He cried through the night, Weary, alone, not a soul shared His plight. You see, His friends had forsaken Him,       all fallen asleep; No one to comfort Him, no one to weep. No one to encourage Him, no one to pray As another close friend approached to betray. Beaten, spat upon, belittled and scorned; The ultimate insult--a crown of thorns....

When my kids were little, I had my own rendition of the the gospel song, "Soon and Very Soon, We are Going to See the King”.  I awakened them the morning of our beach trips loudly proclaiming (at the top of my lungs), “Soon and Very Soon, We are Going to the Beach.....Hallelujah, Hallelujah, We are Going to the Beach” . Second verse:  “No More Crying Now, We are Going to the Beach......Hallelujah, Hallelujah, We are Going to the Beach”. This drove them absolutely nuts.  They hated it.  Probably because it was 5:30 am. And of course, the older they got, the more they hated it!! So, all the more reason I continued doing it! Some days from now, we are going to Ocracoke. It will be a bit different this year.  I’ve reserved 10 Cuttin Sage for 10 days because everyone has a crazy schedule this summer. Family will be coming and going throughout the 10 days. I hope there will be at least 1 or 2 days when we’re all there together, but I don’t know for sure yet...

Here we are at 10 Cuttin Sage; mid-March. It’s like the Island is slowly peeking out from under a blanket of winter-gray, stretching it’s arms, yawning at the dawn, and feeling like it’s time to get up and get to work! It’s high time to hit the sand and get this island ready for summer company!  Today is Saturday and I can hear hammers hammering and construction tools running; shops are open, but only for cleaning and stocking store inventory for now.  Our favorite restaurant, Dajio, is thankfully open and we had some marvelous seafood there Thursday night! My hubby (The Doer of All Things Well) and I are working, working, working to get our little cottage ready for summer fun. It’s looking spic and span, freshly cleaned, paint touched up, dusted, vacuumed, mopped, polished....... I would love to stay here for a vacation!!! One daughter (The Future Event Planner) was here with her boyfriend (The Future Engineer) and her best friend (The Future Businesswoman) to s...

This post seems hard to write because it’s been a year now since we bought 10 Cuttin Sage and I’m feeling the need to do some type of grand finale. I’m wondering if I should end it here since this would be a good place to do that.  I’ve gotten a little addicted to writing it; and I would hate to disappoint my 2 followers (Mom included. Thanks, Mom for supporting me!)  We took a trip there just a few weeks ago in October with my husband’s parents so that they could see the house. My mother was supposed to go but she decided to wait until next year to see it.  We arrived on the anniversary date of the day that we closed one year ago and two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. (There is no feeling like the one you get when you close on a beach house and then have to evacuate the next day due to a hurricane!). We were very blessed that no damage occurred to Ocracoke Island except for a little water here and there!   So on October 25th we celebra...

First an apology to my ornithologist friends out there who might be (but probably aren't) reading this blog.  Anywhere you've seen the word "heron", please substitute the word "egret".  I have admitted my inadequacies in photography, history, and measuring distances. Now I admit that I know nothing about birds and bird watching.  I thought an egret was a heron. The problem with a blog is that eventually a person's ignorance is bound to come out with a blunder somewhere.  Anyway, the beautiful white birds with long, graceful necks that look like a cross between a swan and a flamingo are egrets and are prevalent in the marsh grasses behind our house. I'll include a photo of them soon! Last month, I visited the island again; this time with my college roommate and dear friend for many years, a reconnection that was years overdue. That's one of the beautiful things about the empty nest. You can travel in September!  We spent our days drinking coffee ...

My Uncle Jack passed away at the age of 80 in May of 2009.  He was my father’s identical twin.  Unfortunately, Jack was born severely mentally handicapped due to a birth injury and spent the rest of his life under the care of my grandmother until her death, and then subsequently in a home for mentally retarded adults in Deland, Florida.  After my Dad’s death I became his legal guardian.   Jack unexpectedly developed a severe case of pneumonia. My mother, husband and I flew immediately to Florida to be with him in his final hours.  As guardian, I had to make the decision to take him off life support.  It’s a terrible position to be in even when you know you haven’t got a choice.  My mother couldn’t understand why I was in agony over it when the inevitable was going to happen within the next day or so.  All I could think of was, what if he doesn’t go to heaven???  It just suddenly seemed like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. My ...