The View from Buzby Beach

We have an old shed that K and I built from a kit 28 years ago when we first moved to this house. The shed has weathered several hurricanes, winter storms, and various other weather phenomena since its construction. Time and nature have taken their toll on the structure, though, in slow more insidious ways.  Now, vines are growing on the sides and across the roof. Their roots are pushing into the shed's interior as can be seen in the photo.  We don't use the shed to store much these days. A wheelbarrow with a flat tire, some rarely used gardening tools, remnants of wood from long finished projects, various other odd bits of flotsam and jetsam are all that inhabit the place.  K keeps suggesting we tear it down and put up a new shed, or buy a prefab shed. I prefer the idea of letting nature take its course for reclaiming the shed as we don't really need one these days anyway.  She will eventually win. It's only a matter of time.  In the meantime, I wil...

  I can testify that the water was cold because I waded barefoot in the ocean this morning.  We had a lovely walk on the beach with the dogs. Our timing was good as there were not many people on the beach when we were there. As we were leaving, people began to arrive in droves.    The photo is of Ace and Sophie near the Coquina Rocks at the northeastern end of the beach are at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area. We walked from the main beach access to this end and then about a mile in the other direction.  We went back at the camper and ate lunch - our leftovers from last night's meal from Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn. The afternoon was spent relaxing here in the campsite with our two very tired dogs. Later, we ordered dinner from a different local restaurant to brought back to the campsite to eat.

  19F (-7C) is too cold to go camping when it comes on the heels of a wet, rainy day. Why? Things that should move when you push the button tend not to when they are frozen.  For some, it was the leveling feet. For some, it was busted pipes flooding the storage compartment of their camper. For us, it was the bedroom closet slide-out (circled in photo) freezing in the extended position.  Whether it actually froze from the cold is open to question. No matter what the reason, it wouldn't slide in. This meant we couldn't leave, at least not until we figured out how to get it to work.  No easy task, I assure you. It took over 2 hours, advice from several friends, calls to so-called experts, and a random suggestion from the campground owner to accomplish retracting the slide. We were ready to leave the camper there, which meant me taking off work tomorrow and driving back to find an RV repair shop that makes campground calls. Thank goodness that didn't happen....

  When we moved here 27 years ago, we went through the ordeal of finding a doctor, a dentist, a hairdresser, and a barber, and all those things one must do upon settling in a new city.  We were lucky and found a great dental practice right away and stayed with them for 20 years. Then, the dentists who owned the practice started retiring. Eventually, the practice was bought out by a chain operation that practices factory-style dentistry.  We were not happy. Hygienists were assigned randomly. You never knew which dentist you might see. They fired or retired all the receptionists and office staff we knew and trusted.  Still, we stuck with them until the pandemic. I haven't been to see them since the spring of 2020. Thankfully, I've had no problems. Now. though, I realize it's time to at least go in and get things checked. So, one of my "honey-do" list items for today is finding a new dentist.  Our school has a Bishop's Holiday today. That's why I am...

 Look who is peaking out from under the porch. This is our 9-month old Corgi puppy. She is enjoying exploring under the back steps. This beautiful little girl has spent the last week recovering from surgery. We had her spayed. Keeping her quiet has been a challenge. She was ready to start running around the backyard a couple of days after we brought her home. Having a Corgi in the house has been a new experience for us. Over the thirty plus years we've been married, my wife and I have had several dogs: Labradors, Brittanies, a rescued mutt, and a rescued mini-Schnauzer. Learning to live with a Corgi has been an adventure.