Not much changed in our celebration this year !! Genny did not join us so we will have to take her out to the beach another time. We did not have our little Italian girls but we had their mom so we still had a lot of fun. After all the fireworks, the grands and Big Daddy and Kelsy and Amy and I took a blanket out on the beach and watched the stars and enjoyed the breeze out there until midnight... the kids loved that .. they chased sand crabs and ran all over the beach until they were exhausted. Everyone slept well that night. Happy Birthday America !! We all love you !

July 4th

Our annual July 4th celebration was wonderful . We could not have had better weather. The temps were perfect and we had a constant breeze . We had a large crowd of family and friends spend time on the water building sand castles and swimming , body surfing then up to the house for hamburgers and brats on the grill. We all sang the national anthem before the blessing and it was fun watching the little ones try to sing along. Eventually , they will know it and teach the newbies. After stuffing ourselves and topping it off with apple pie, cherry pie and key lime pie, we all took our chairs down to the ocean and watched the firework display, chased ghost crabs and walked in the cool sand. It was truly a day to embrace freedom and be thankful for this great country and the men and women who have fought to keep it free.
Our little bulldog, Genny made her splash in the ocean and we found out she is a beach bum !! She loves the water and waves !
Once again, thank you to the old house !!! What a great place to party !
Watch for pictures in the next week !

Summer is here !

This is really the first year that I have been able to really get to the beachhouse a lot.. that is my plan anyway. We are not planning a wedding, moving to a new house, moving to a new state or changing careers or anything that should prevent me from being there most of the summer...so as they say...If I'm not here...I'm at the beach. See you in September...or maybe October.

The Big Day

Frogmore Stew !

NO the stew does not actually have frog in it ! Friday night we hosted our new cadets and their families for a little frogmore stew and dessert out at the beach house. The original plan included grilling some brats and making s'mores over the open fire but alas , the rain took over and we were kept indoors. It was great meeting the families of Alex and Sutton, our new cadets. After about an hour, we all felt that we had known them for years. Now we see why the guys are so wonderful.
For those of you reading this who are not from the lowcountry, Frogmore stew contains the following:
Shrimp
Sausage
Corn on the cob
New potatoes.... all of this is cooked together in a huge pot with Old Bay Seasoning, an onion and a little lemon and them poured out onto a large platter. Everyone then digs in and you have cocktail sauce and butter for condiments. This is a traditional dish in Charleston when you have a big crowd.
The S'mores were still good even though we had to do them in the microwave... how can it not be good when you mix marshmallows, chocolate and cinnamon graham crackers? My sister, Cindy also brought a cheesecake so I think everyone went away full !!!
Once again the old house proved her worth. We spent the night and had coffee on the porch watching the shrimp boat on the horizon. A dishwasher and more counter space in the kitchen has moved up to the no. 1 priority for house improvements. AFTER THE WEDDING !

No surprise for me today...

Optimism is a great trait as long as you know that things do not always work out the way you hope. I got to the beach house today and found that my standard of clean was obviously way out of the scope of the last tenants ( Bo, Dennis and crew)... it's okay, just glad they had a good time. If you do not have a place at the ocean , there are certain things that you might not know about beach living. First and foremost, open food has to be put in ziplocks. The humidity will ruin it and the pests will find it if you leave it open in any way. Secondly, you cannot put the trash out until trash day...raccoons are abundant out there and they can open a locked can !!! Not kidding. No harm done, I put my signature on it today and it is ready for the next memory makers to move in.
Fall is in the air. I found myself not wanting to leave the beach. It was cool and breezy making the porch an especially inviting space. My wonderful neighbor, Hugh keeps the yard cleaned up and the dead palm branches cut so today was his day to work there and everything was green and clean. I took my time doing my work stopping frequently to have tea on the porch and read a magazine about summer cottage decor. I got a lot of good ideas and cannot wait to get going on some of them. If I can just find a weekend when I am not busy to actually go stay there and work. Retirement is not for the faint of heart.

Expecting a Surprise !

I am normally an optimist... so today I am expecting a surprise. Bo and his friends stayed at the beach last... I was informed by Dennis , a long time beachhouse squatter that they cleaned up before they left. Today Caleb and I are headed to the beach to see exactly what that means in Dennis' vocabulary. Optimistically, I will only be out there about an hour to spit shine the place before our friends arrive there tomorrow. I have allotted a lot more time just in case my idea of clean does not jive with Dennis' idea of clean. Being fair to Dennis, he did have quite a group out there with him and they were all quite busy with a wedding so let's just say I am not feeling so optimistic as I think about it.
Our friends, The Becks will be using the house this weekend. The weather is a little cool so it won't be a sunbathing, swimming weekend but the beach in fall is fun. A little sweatshirt and you can take a great stroll on the beach and collect more shells than usual because their is a much smaller group looking for them now than in the busy summer months. This is the first year since we have owned the house that all the new windows will open and we have screens on them all so the crisp fall air can flow through the house and at night it will be nice to have the windows open to sleep. We might even be able to hear the waves at high tide.
The month of October seems like the perfect time to paint .... the bedrooms are all getting a coat of primer and fresh "winter white" paint. I think it will make everything out there seem cool and breezy. My free days will be spent out there painting and making curtains . Hopefully , by next summer, the place will have a new look and most of the work will be done. ( It really never ends)
We plan to put a central heat and air unit in this winter also. That will make a great difference. The window units are noisy and a constant issue with temperature and turning them on and off as we visit out there.
Anyone who likes to paint...feel free to join in !!! Who will help me bake the bread?