Beautiful fall day...in December

There is nothing about South Carolina or the weather here or our house that makes me think it's Christmas in one week.  Today was a perfect, cloudless, 60 degrees with a light breeze and falling leaves.  We don't have any holiday decorations up because, well, we don't have any.  We haven't had a Christmas tree since we owned the house in Ridgeway, although I never missed it because we at least had snow in Wisconsin and the house (and boat) in Maryland were too small. 

Today though, a week out from Christmas day, it feels like September.  Steve and I raked leaves for a bit this morning (our tree is really starting to lose them now).  Then Beth picked us up and we all went out to Charlestowne Landing, the actual settlement site from 1670.  We've been there before (see July 2011 post) - there's a small zoo of local animals, a replica trading ship, archaeological sites, a plantation house, and lots of gardens and ponds.  For $7.50, it's a heck of a bargain.  Today we were shocked to see flowers blooming - and lots of them.  I'm pretty sure they are camellias, which I thought bloomed in spring.  Maybe they do bloom then too, or maybe they're messed up since it's so warm out.  Either way, they're pretty!

The same cannot be said for this turkey.  They're pretty unattractive.  Look at the hair on the end of that...thing...by it's beak.  Not pretty.

 

Running

Encouraged and (I'll admit) a bit envious of Steve's fun time with the Tough Mudder a couple of weeks ago, I have started running.  Well, maybe running is a bit of an overstatement, because it's more like a lumbering-foot shuffle-while gasping for breath endeavor right now.  But, today was the second attempt this week, and I was faster, but didn't go farther.  There will be no pictures.  It's not pretty. 

It feels good though.

Windy day at the beach

Even though it was cold(ish) and cloudy, Steve, Beth and I packed on layers of clothing and went to the beach.  I don't know birds very well, but I think these were some sort of ibis (from the bill shape).  We also saw these (below) on the beach - again, I don't know what they are.  I guess I should invest in a bird book!

As usual, we had the beach to ourselves. Since no shell collecting is allowed at Botany Bay there's always an awesome array of shells, but today was even better than usual.  We found about 10 really nice pen shells, which are usually broken into bits because they're so delicate.  One was more than a foot long and both sides were still together and unbroken!  Someone had stuck this shell onto the root of a tree.  The shell was bigger than my fist and in nearly perfect condition.

 
Steve found a horseshoe crab exoskeleton too.  Seca used to get really freaked out by them when we lived in Maryland.  :)

Workshop = more work than shop

I was in St. Petersburg, Florida for a workshop on stock assessments.  It was a 'working' workshop, where you get lectures and exercises and have to work late into the night with a group on a project.  I wasn't that excited to go because I knew there would be a lot of work involved but I am so happy that I did get to go in the end.  I learned a lot - about stock assessments, new tools for doing analyses, and as an added bonus, I think what I learned will make me a better coordinator at work.  There was some time for fun - happy hour at the hotel was from 5-7 and included free drinks and snacks so we would gather there for some socializing.  And I got up early most morning and went for walks.  The room where the workshop was held was overlooking a small airport, which was distracting because of the nice view of the city and the steady stream of airplanes in and out.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Building (where we met each day) also had some cool 'ocean life' themed mosaics on the walls...

Hey it's good to be back home again

South Carolina-North Carolina-Virginia-West Virginia-Maryland-Pennsylvania (then do it again in reverse).  That's a total of 1300 miles, 21 hours and 5 minutes of driving, and three bathroom stops (we were aiming for two).  Oh, and we had rain and snow (!!) on the way home.  We had a fantastic time, but it's nice to be back home.

This was the sky as the first rain ended as were were near Shenandoah National Park in Virginia today.  The clouds were really pretty.

Christmas cookies

 

We baked and decorated dozens of Christmas cookies today. Then we helped eat them!  Natalie and Margaret are very creative decorators.  Steve's pretty good too - his cookies were thick with frosting and he called them '3D' cookies.

Relaxing in Pennsylvania

We're in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, enjoying a visit with Steve's family.  It's been more than two years since we've seen everyone and we're having a great time.  We've spent time reading, playing outside, fishing and exploring a local stream, having fun with their new puppy (Chloe the Yorkie) and cooking good food.

Both girls are big readers.  Nat is reading Encyclopedia Brown (one of my favorites as a kid).

Steve downloaded a game on his phone and the girls were TOTALLY into playing it.

Mark with his huge catch at the trout stream.

Natalie was scouting for rocks to paint with their new painting kit. That water is really cold!  I don't know how she could stand it.

A good family photo on the first try!!

Chloe.  So cute.

Margaret checking out the water at the trout stream.