Today, six long months after Hurricane Helene inundated this area, my house passed its final inspection. Such a relief to put this ordeal behind me!
While I tackled the majority of the work myself, I would not have successfully navigated this without help and support from my friends, family, and neighbors. I’m very grateful, thank you all!
My celebratory beach walk this evening rewarded me with two brittlestars and three sand dollars, all rare treats. It was definitely a 5-star kind of day! 🌟
Someone is demanding my attention. Westley is such a sweet boy!
When you go to an outdoor concert and the local rock station has a tent with freebies, it makes sense to check it out. Instead of the usual koozies and bottle openers, tonight they were handing out vitamins.
And not just any vitamins, but ones for women over 50. As if they were worried we wouldn’t make it through the night…
It was oddly hysterical. Rock on, sister! 🎶🎸
While sitting in a neighborhood park this morning (waiting for my car at the shop) I observed this colorful spectacle.
It was unexpected to see them in this part of town (so close to my house) and in such a large grouping. I counted 18 of them, the largest free-roaming flock I’ve ever encountered.
What a special treat, my very own little Mardi Gras parade! 🦚
Sharing some of last Friday’s sunset, because sometimes we just need to watch the waves roll in…
There are 7 toys in this photo. Westley plays with 0 of them but apparently they make great napping companions on a chilly, gray day.
I discovered a surprise guest in my backyard earlier today, an Ivy-leaved Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederacea). Not sure where this tiny volunteer came from but this bright blue bloomer is a welcome addition.
I imagine my pollinators will take full advantage of this new nectar source. Fun fact, did you know that the genus Ipomoea also includes sweet potatoes?
While leaving work the other night the writing on a van in the parking lot caught my eye.
At first I thought it was a sarcastic social commentary on the overall lack of road skills exhibited by many drivers down here.
But then I read further. Nice word play, Joe!
While tending to my yard yesterday, I was a bit surprised to see this wriggly horde. I’ve seen so few butterflies in my yard since the hurricanes tore through that I just presumed it would be a quiet Spring.
Though the floodwater killed the original passionvines my sister gifted me a few years ago, two of their seedlings managed to survived.
This Gulf Fritllary seemed pretty pleased to have found them. She even gave my toes a gentle brush. I’ll take that as a thank you. Nature continues to amazes me with its resilience!
Yesterday afternoon I finally tackled my side yard. It was long overdue but I had been avoiding it. Primarily because I’ve had other things that required my attention but also, many of my plants had been killed by the saltwater flooding during Hurricane Helene and it was demoralizing.
As I cleared away the dead vegetation I had a few pleasant surprises. Some of my plants managed to survive and I came across a mostly intact snake shed! Based on the markings (and previous experience with this species in my yard) it was left by a Black Racer (Coluber constrictor).
I didn’t note any flood debris attached to it and the shed looked fairly recent. So I’m taking it as a positive sign that my resident snake also survived the flood.
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