Monthly Archives: July 2015

I Have a Fairy Living in My Backyard!

I am always honored to have a fairy take up residence in my backyard.  It is fun to look in and see how they live. Today I could see the soaker bathtub and loofah in the house.  It was made out a tub-shaped oyster shell.  She had a kitchen counter top made of flat pieces of shiny shells that reminded me of granite.  I noticed a lime on the counter and a bowl with white squash in it.  The house has hardwood floors.  The walls are wallpapered or she has painted the floral pattern with water colors.  It’s hard to tell.

Tonight my husband and I went out very quietly to see if she was home.  The house was so cute all lit up.  When we saw the lights were on, we tiptoed up to the house so not to disturb and took a couple of pictures with the digital camera.  Hope you enjoy looking.

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God’s Garden at the Carter’s

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You’ve heard the cute proverbs like “bloom where you’re planted”, and “you reap what you sow.” My favorite one is on a sign at St. James Plantation, near Southport, NC.  It says,”Don’t be afraid of change, without change a seed would never be a flower, but remain a seed in the ground.”

With a lot of moving due to job transfers, I tried to bloom where I was planted. I believe God honors our efforts to do good wherever he puts us. When we got the call out of the blue to take a job in Hendersonville, where Tony and I met and started our family, I knew it was from the Lord. Tony and I had just discussed a few months earlier if we thought we would ever move back home and he said let’s pray together that if it is God’s will then He will make it so clear that it cannot be denied. So you can’t get much clearer than getting a job you didn’t apply for or even know existed.  So we sold our business and closed the Georgia chapter of our life. It was bittersweet because I love Georgia very much.

When I saw this quote at St. James Plantation it resonated with me in a special way. As I researched the Oak Island area and experienced the lovely people here in Brunswick County, I kept having thoughts about this quote.

I feel like I’ve never been afraid of change and God has planted us in a lot of wonderful places.  Lastly, being planted back in Hendersonville, we have been blooming there.  I still wanted to take this trip to the coast to see if we would like to live here. The time here has helped me to realize I’ve been planted, I’ve grown, budded, blossomed, and now is the time to just enjoy the many blossoms bestowed to us.  We are so content with our friends, church, home, and neighborhood. I’m not sure it is time to change dirt at this point of my life.

A book I’ve been reading by Kelly Minter called No Other Gods  hit home also to confirm my feelings.  It’s amazing how God has everything we need at the precise time we need it.  As I do my Bible study each day, I feel as if God is telling me to wait.  Sarah didn’t wait on God.  After God promised her a son,  she helped things along by giving her maid servant to Abraham to have Ishmael instead of waiting on God.  What a mess she made!  I hear God saying wait, so I wait. If God gives me Oak Island one day, it will be in his perfect timing and He will make it clear as He did when He planted us in Hendersonville.

I’m grateful for this wonderful experience and I will definitely be back to visit beautiful Oak Island, NC.

Famous Fourth of July Celebration!

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Southport, N.C. has been celebrating the 4th of July for over 200 years. In colonial times, the ships would anchor in the harbor and let off cannons to celebrate our freedom holiday. They now let off fireworks from a barge parked in the harbor. It has grown to be a festival of around 50,000 Americans gathering to celebrate with the fireworks,dancing and other hometown festivities.  It is a sight to see and unforgettable. In the movie Safe Haven, from the Nicholas Sparks novel, you get a tiny glimpse of the stimulating experience on film. 

HAPPY 4th of JULY, AMERICA!!!

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Famous Britt’s

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I first read about Britt’s doughnuts in Our State magazine and then I saw a travel channel episode about them.  My doctor in Hendersonville is from Wilmington and she told me I had to go to Britt’s and eat 13 doughnuts for her.

So on this hot and humid day my husband and I decided to see what Britt’s is all about and if they are worth their fame.

We drove to Southport 5 miles and boarded the Fort Fisher Ferry.  The ferry ride was 25 minutes. That took us to Kure Beach for $5 each way. From there we drove to Carolina Beach and parked at the boardwalk for $3.  We then bought 2 drinks to have with our doughnuts and that was $3.  We then went into Britt’s and bought 1/2 dozen doughnuts for $5.50.

Was it worth all of that trouble and expense to eat 6 doughnuts?

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

After eating 3 each, my husband and I looked at each other and said at the same time, “who was the idiot that only bought a half dozen?”  It was VERY hard to walk away, but we really did walk away after a half dozen.

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Taylor’s for Breakfast

Josh Duhamel in an interview about filming Safe Haven said his favorite restaurant in Southport was Taylor’s for breakfast.  This morning we went to try the place for ourselves.  It is a purple and green building on Howe Street, so easy to spot.  I had a sweet potato waffle that was really delicious.  Tony had purple pancakes.  Yes, I said purple pancakes!  We were happy to have pure maple syrup and no artificial crap.  All of the Safe Haven cast and crew ate there along with many celebrity chefs that have their pictures along one wall of the dining room.  If you are a Republican you will want the food to be over the top awesome to overcome the decor.  That’s all I’m going to say about that.

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Loco Joe’s in Southport, N.C.

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       In an interview with Julianne Hough about filming Safe Haven, she said her favorite restaurant in Southport was Loco Joe’s because of their fish tacos.  Today we went there to try them for ourselves.  This is a tiny hole in the wall popular with locals and tourists.  We had to wait about 30 minutes, but well worth it!  There’s also a sarcastic sense of humor about the place.  The sign on the porch says “This place sucks.” Inside by the cash register sat a galvanized bucket used for the tip jar, but it says “trash”.

And….my friends and family know I always seek out the sanitary rating.  It is 99%.

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