“USA 🇺🇸 North Carolina ~Monthly Blog Series of….It’s Never Dull!! ~DECEMBER 2024”

• January 3, 2025
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

HELLO DECEMBER BLOG

Here’s hoping y’all had a great Christmas!!!!

Christmas Cactus 

 

 

 

 

 

A few years back I lost my Christmas Cactus to mealy worms, but my Thanksgiving Cactus made it. So, now that we are stationary, I got another Christmas Cactus. (Chelsie is still caring for my Thanksgiving Cactus; eight years later at her house, while we traveled the world). She jokes with me, she will never give it back…. We laugh and laugh 😂 😳…. Anyway, my new Cactus arrived during the cold snap, so hoping for the best. It’s in a bit of shock, but I’m babying it. Fingers crossed 🤞. In the spring, I want to get an Easter Cactus, but will get just a tiny one to start, due to lack of space in The Whale.

Identifying the differences in these types of Holiday Cactuses, are in the shape of the green leaves. They bloom annually, and the blooms differ in shape a bit too, but when buying these plants, when not in bloom, only the leaf shape can identify which cactus it is.

 

 

LOTUS FLOWERS

 

 

 

 

This Christmas, I also decided to grow some Lotus Flowers. I got the seeds and have been soaking them in water for about 10 days, before I saw sprouts.

 

 

 

 

I changed the water a few times a day while they started their growth. I look forward to their bloom, once they get there. I hear they bloom all year around. This is all new to me, so we shall see, and it is believed that the Lotus Flower dispels negative energy.

I’m not sure the Lotus Flower experience is meant to be had in a motorhome. I might need to try again, when in a house with better insulation. We are getting some serious cold snaps in the 20’s and they are getting too cold, I think. 

 

Reminiscing

Here, in North Carolina, this is the month we arrived a year ago, when the plan to stay, was only for a visit of four months! Ha!

It was the best decision we made all year! Getting to spend such quality and quantity of time with the grandkiddos has been such a gift. Supporting them in their sports, enjoying birthdays and other holidays, together is truly what it’s all about!

Going from “just” visiting, as I (we) have, since Chels moved to the East Coast from the West Coast, when she was 18, to became a Marine, which is all I’ve ever known, to seeing my kid and her kids on the regular, with very little effort, is quite nice!

Visiting on the regular, prior to a year ago, has required lots of plane rides and cross-country driving, to ensure we had quality time together; from the East Coast of Parris Island, SC, to California and (her) deployment to Iraq, to Okinawa, then back, stateside; in Pennsylvania, then back to North Carolina, to living near them on the regular, is really quite special!

Look at these cute pictures of our grandchildren, while living in Pennsylvania

 

 

 

 

AND, from Okinawa, where Rylan; the youngest was born. Yes indeed, quality time was special too.

 

 

 

 

Okay, that was a fun trip down memory lane….

 

It’s Coming Together

We’ve been living at our new site in the campground for a few weeks, and it’s been a very slow process getting all the personalized touches pulled together. Making a move in the winter, is very different from any other time of the year. This is our third move, in the campground, since we arrived, and our last, till we depart for good.

Currently, the day after Thanksgiving, we got in to a serious cold snap, that lasted well over a week, into December, where it got down as low as 22 degrees. Fortunately, the daytime temps got above freezing, but not by much. The ground was frozen, the air, very cold, and in spite of covering our; in the ground plants, and potted plants, we lost some.

Daryl got the drill set up for me with a small auger tool that digs holes in the frozen ground, so I could set-up my decorative solar lighting, but the shepherd hook poles for potted plants and bird feeders, will have to wait till the ground softens.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a big hit and miss, when the outdoor double-lounge we bought from Lowe’s, arrived after ten days, and Daryl went to pick it up. This is the cornerstone item for our outside living space, we were so excited about getting set up, under the newly erected Cabana.

After getting everything home, and pulled out of the boxes, there was no instructions and no hardware. There was also no retractable side tables, as the description wrote and showed photos of. The pillows were missing, too. The rest looked the same, but for $453, we were not happy campers.

 

 

 

 

Daryl packed it all back up and returned to Lowe’s. While it was of good quality, something was seriously amiss with that company. The Lowe’s employees were great to work with and promptly credited us our dough.

Now what? I decided to try Amazon. I mean it’s not like outside furniture items are stocked in stores this time of year, for us to go buy, in person. I found one, that’s not quite as big, but will do and it has actual side tables, not attached to the lounge.

 

 

 

 

 

Fingers crossed when it arrives, it will have hardware and instructions, and all the cushions. For some reason the blue material was way cheaper than the cream color.

In the meantime, we got decorative lighting and functional lighting, three heat sources: our propane fire ring we got quite some time ago and had on the road travel with us, an electric blanket, and an electric fire-view and heater fireplace.

 

 

 

 

 

Next week, the cold snap is supposed to to end, and then much needed rain will take place. These outside Cabanas are not rainproof, but they are rain resistant, sans some drips here and there, plus when its breezy, all side enclosures are separated and tied to the posts to allow air flow, so it doesn’t make flight, but all things get soaked, obviously. During major storms, the very top will need to be removed, as well. I had one of these Cabanas in Texas, and “professionally anchored down.” During a storm, it ended up in a crumpled heap in the neighbors back yard; up and over palm trees and fences. We are taking extra precautions this does not happen, here.

 

 

 

 

 

So we got all items, sans some more decorate lighting hung, as well as solar ones put in the ground, and all items went together, JUST in time for a thunderstorm to roll in! But, all outdoor items we got for this space, also have waterproof covers, to keep them dry and clean, through the winter months, when not in use. After the storm hit, with 44mph wind gusts and lots of rain, all was well, so it was a great test for success!

…..This outside projects has been mostly fun, thanks to Chelsie, who always showed up with a smile, to help Daryl with assembly; rain or shine, cold or wet, they got this!

 

 

 

 

 

We look forward to uncovering everything for our first evening, to enjoy all the things “outdoor living,” to watch the sunsets, and all the Egrets and Herons on and around the water.

Mornings will be great, too, as there were 10 deer grazing right behind our Cabana, just before the big rain. I know they will be back.

Painting Projects

Chelsie came over to finish our paintings, which were our harvest-themed one, just before December arrived. It was a fun project and Chels was excited she did her first “wildlife” painting (seagull) she cracks me up…. Though she says her seagull looks more like a Puffin. I think she did a great job and it’s very fun watching her develop her own style!

Not sure if we will be able to work in a Christmas-themed painting or not. It’s a busy time of the year, but for sure we will paint together again after the new year. McKenzie has expressed an interest in learning to paint, too, so of course I said sure!

 

 

 

 

On the subject of painting, I took about ten loose canvasses of varying sizes in to a local framing shop, to get a quote on having them stretched and attached to a frame, so I can paint on them. I was guessing, maybe $300? It would be $1300!!! I was shocked. The guy uses heavy-stocked and finished framing material, to wrap the canvas. I only need lightweight, and simple 1”x 1” unfinished pine frames, but that’s not how he rolls. He literally uses expensive framing material on the back, just like would be chosen for the front, finished product. This made zero sense to me, so I thanked him for his time, anyway. Oh well.

Now that Daryl has a little shop, he’s going to make all my frames for me, for probably $40 in materials. What a relief 😅

 

 

 

 

 

 

From this long board he already created dome frames for my canvases! 

 

 

What a fantastic job, Daryl did for me. It west be his Norwegian blood, as he does beautiful wood work. I’m so glad he’s able to get back to building, like I’ve gotten back to painting.

The photos are of the largest canvas frame sizes. I need three of them; 16×20, the rest will be smaller.

Thank you, honey! ❤️

 

 

Look How Pretty

On a trip to Tractor Supply to buy a propane tank that was on sale, and get it filled for our outdoor living space, we stopped off at this park, that overlooks the White River. As you can see we are enjoying beautiful sunshiny days, in spite of the cold.

We were specifically checking out how shallow the water edges are that have natural shell beds in them. Having a Zodiac made of durable rubber, these live oyster beds are sharp as razors, and can slice up our boat, so it’s a learning curve for us, here in the Carolinas, as we figure out these things.

 

 

 

 

 

Above photo shows the oyster beds, near the shore. Also, the water is less than a foot deep, out from the shore, at low tide, and that muck can have a human sink in it, up to their chest…. More learning curve for us, as we learn from those who know, and we appreciate the education.

 

 

 

 

In Other News

This was quite interesting. Chelsie had told me a few months ago she saw a critter cross the road that looked like a raccoon, but it wasn’t black and white. So, I did some digging.

Now we know….There are red raccoons but they are quite rare. Their reddish-brown fur is caused by a genetic condition called erythrism, which creates the red pigment in their fur. This mutation typically runs in families, so red raccoons are usually born to parents who also have red fur.

On our way over to Chelsie’s house one day, we saw the same animal Chelsie had described, prior, only this one had been hit by a car and was no longer alive. So sad. It was quite beautiful, though and especially the tail.

Not my photos, but showing photos of both Raccoons, which are in North America.

 

 

 

 

 

A few years back, we tried to preserve a fox tail, when we found a fresh loss on the road, in Arizona. That was a trial and error procedure on many levels, while we were living in Tiny,….but we knew what we did wrong, so here was a chance to try again.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not looking for a coon-skin cap or anything, but the sad loss can be honored with this preservation, in my humble opinion.

I added it to my dream catcher I bought on the Pueblo Indian Reservation a few months ago, while in New Mexico. The tail is a nice addition and I just love it!

This Finally Happened

 

 

 

 

As soon as the cold snap ended, we did date night under our Cabana, we’ve been working on; coming together with all the things. It ended up still being too cold when it dropped into the 40’s, so we finished watching the (rather weird) western movie, indoors 😂

The fire ring would not keep a full flame, so there is some valve stuff needing tweaked, and while the electric blanket was perfect, I forgot, they still require a top blanket over them, to help keep the heat in. The ambiance was nice with the decorative lighting and it was very private, considering we are in a campground. We see nothing but the field, water and woods, back there.

 

WOW! What Great Timing at Onslow!

 

 

 

 

Chelsie and I hit the unusual low, low tide, that was not related to king tide, JUST RIGHT!!!

We had a blast! Chels found the prehistoric Auriculaus Shark tooth and we both found so many shells. We only saw two other people on the beach…. There were many dolphins playing and a unique feeding frenzy by birds on the shoreline. We even saw Turkey Buzzards on da beach, which was a first for us. I think the sea snails, clams and crabs were caught off guard with the low tide, by predators.

(We don’t keep anything alive… we toss them back in these sea). I did find a fossilized snail, though…. My first.

After summer, when we start to see broken corals, we know the seas have changed, and looking so forward to winter beach time again, which is my preference.

 

 

 

 

 

The above two pics are Chelsie’s treasures!

 

We Have a Birthday Boy!!!!

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthdays Luke!!!! We love you so much and are super proud of you. You are so funny and witty. You also have a very kind heart and compassion for others. Getting straight A’s and being an amazing athlete, is also quite impressive. You are such a good boy and just too cute to boot!

Luke, at this age, opted for shopping money, to get something “just right.” Kool Kash is fun to get and even fun-er to spend! In the meantime, we picked up some fresh shrimp and I made a dish to surprise him. He loves specific foods that aren’t part of his everyday life, in his family of five. One of his favorite foods is SHRIMP! I can remember him as a three-year-old, when he was visiting me in Texas. I had never seen a small child gobble up shrimp like he did. It was so funny and cute. Boy, I get it, too, since Shrimp is a favorite of mine, and his mother’s too. It’s in the DNA 🧬

 

 

 

 

 

Every time I’ve made a shrimp dish over this last year, when we’ve had the fam over, there has never been enough shrimp, no matter how much I prepare, (he would never say, but I can tell)…. 😂 So, on his birthday, he is getting a whole double-shrimp serving, just for him, from us. It might not be a big deal to just anybody, but it will be to Luke.

Anyway, Luke asked his folks for an ice cream cake and for his dad to grill him up a Tomahawk steak! 🥩 So now, he will get surf and turf!

I wanted to make a hand-made card for Luke this year. They are all getting old enough to appreciate these kind of things, and it’s me, embracing, that they are growing up, real fast!

 

 

 

“Luke, we can Bear-ily believe you are 11!!”

They couldn’t find any Tomahawk steaks, but he got a big steak, just the same.

Critters

We continue to see more and more squirrels, since relocating to our new lot, and something is eating the food from the Rabbit bowl; like carrots and apples, but it gets so dark too early, so we didn’t see what it is for sure, till one night we did see a bunny, and a few more bunny’s, afterwards.

Daryl has also seen holes in the ground in the woods. Fox? Maybe?

What we have seen are Peregrine Falcons. They are beautiful birds and the squirrels don’t seem bothered by it, but the little birds don’t come around, when it was here. Daryl took these pics.

 

 

 

 

The Squirrels will sit and eat sunflower seeds, but they rarely sit and eat the peanuts; choosing to run off with them and bury them, instead.

Recently, we started getting visits to the bird feeder, by a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. He is just gorgeous! 

 

First of Three

 

 

 

 

 

While this is not a holiday painting, I have been working on it for a while.

I am planning a 3-part series of VW Vans on the beach, but will do them in between other paintings, to keep the variety going.

This was one of my 16”x20” loose canvases I talked about, prior, that Daryl and I stretched onto another (unused) canvas on a frame, so I could get started. Now, it needs to be removed and stretched again on to the new frame.

Feels good to complete this one! Two more to go!

 

 

Feeling Festive

 

 

 

 

 

We often call these characters “Gnomes,” in North America, but in Scandinavia, they are known as “Gonks.”

 

 

 

 

 

In the New Year, I finished this one. I often think about the struggles in this world and how we are all impacted, but in different ways..…

“We are all in the same boat, just different Seas.”

 

I made a decorative “Jar Lantern” with a wintery scene from cedar tree greens, and Epson Salt for snow

 

 

 

 

 

5th Grade Christmas Program

 

 

 

 

 

We love being able to see these cute grade school programs. Of course I hardly notice any other kids, as I only have eyes for my grandchildren. Hee Hee.  Luke did a great job!

For the Record 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to hit up Onslow again!!!!

It was super early, and cold, but dry and we got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. We were up and out the door by 4:15AM, for low tide at 5:30-ish. I love dark-thirty hunting. It’s so peaceful out there!

 

 

 

 

Unlike our last visit, there was zero shelling to be had, but I found some good Sand Tiger Shark teeth, which are a favorite of mine.

 

 

 

 

Those big items are bones. The large one is a rib bone from a Dugong, which were the prehistoric version of modern-day Manatees. The Megalodon fed on them.

 

 

“Gunny Gumdrop”

She’s been showing up at the Richardsons house for the last four years. The closer it gets to Christmas, the more often she makes an appearance.

Here We Go Again

 

 

 

 

We are in another cold snap; only the second of many to come. This one is for about four days, and we use heat instead of A/C, but that can all change, quickly in the South.

BUT, The Good News Is

Now, we will start getting lighter, longer in the evenings… slowly, but we will take it!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Like many of you, we had a wonderful Christmas. This is our second year in a row, spending it with Chelsie and family. It’s a real treat to do so!

We got the grands matching pajamas, again, and I made cookies and hot cocoa (with extra whip)! They did a great job decorating the cookies and had fun. I made a banana cream pie and brought a pumpkin pie, too.

We got them a hand-held popper game and personalized blankets, plus Ka$h for a shopping trip, while they are still on winter break. We hope to take them to a movie and dinner, too. It will be a fun time and they are all quite excited about it!

McKenzie wants me to teach her to paint. I’m totally up for that and it’s looking like she wants to paint a sea turtle in the ocean. Chels will join us and it will be a girls date. I’m looking forward to this, too!

 

 

 

 

 

I did not realize till I uploaded these pictures that Chelsie and Grandpapa are missing from any pictures! ….They were present, though. Joey was in the background of a few pics of the kids.

We made a big Christmas Dinner of Prime Rib, Green Beans, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, and Amish Onion Bread. I managed to cut my finger real bad, and that stalled any cooking for a bit. Ha! Once the cut was under control and bandaged up, I commenced with preparation. Dinner was a little late, but it was so good!

I added a few stem cell patches to my finger, since I’ve cut myself one other time, since on the therapy. The healing for this cut will be rapid, like the first one. Already, after an hour there was no pain, and healing was under way.

 

 

 

 

 

I really liked my “Bear in the Woods” painting I did for Luke’s birthday card. His was mostly in watercolors, but I painted it again on canvas, in acrylic.

 

 

 

 

 

I also painted another card for somebody who is retiring, so I’m def keeping busy, having added painting back into my life, and feel so happy about it!

 

Family Fun, Had by All!!!

Jacksonville, North Carolina USA 🇺🇸

Christmas Light drive-through and Christmas Town visit….outing with family!!!!

Very well done!!!

Christmas Town 2024 Elj Farms in Jacksonville, NC

“Christmas Town is an annual Christmas light show trail experience the entire family is sure to enjoy! We are located on the Gumbranch – Halfmoon side of Jacksonville, NC and we are a Christmas time favorite in the area.

Here at ELJ Farms, Christmas Town is a season that spans the length of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Each year families, businesses, churches, and organization from all over the eastern coast make their way out to ELJ Farms as a part of their holiday season celebrations! While here they enjoy the area’s largest Christmas light show, wagon rides, food trucks, market vendors, Santa, Santa pictures and so much more!”

Time for Another Bonfire

We invited the fam over for dinner, then we all went over to the fire pit by the water, to enjoy some S’more time!

Movie and Shopping

 

 

Following Christmas, we took the kiddos out to spend their Christmas money they got, and we worked in a movie, too. They all three wanted to see a different movie, but decided on Moana 2. We had a fun time.

 

 

Painting Class

Kenzie and Chelsie came over a couple of times to paint, while the kids were on holiday break. I just loved the time together and we are all learning a lot!!!  It will take more get-togethers to complete “The Turtle in the Sea,” but that’s fine by me. The boys came with, on the second class to hang out and run around, whilst us ladies painted.

CHANGES

So now that it is the new year, I’ve decided to no longer do a monthly blog. Our lives changed a great deal over this last year of being in one place, and this includes the normalcy that goes with it. 

I see this new year being similar to the last, at least in the beginning months, like more Shark Teeth Hunting at the beach, my paintings, grandkid activities, Birthdays, Holidays, bon fires, Sports, and the like. While it is a good life, it’s not the travel life, from which this blog was born.

I also have some formatting issues to fix on my long-since completed blog posts, and since I have hundreds of them, this will take a lot of time, which I don’t seem to have extra of. Now, I hope to trade some new blogging time, for the much needed editing/formatting time.

So, if we take any trips, there will be blogging again. We hope to get back over seas in 2025, so we are looking forward to that. We will also do a special trip for the kiddos during their Spring Break.

In the meantime, everybody, thank you so much for reading/looking at my (our) blogs, in the first place. It’s a real honor!

God Bless

~Pen n Daryl 

 

 

 

 

 

INCIDENTALLY

If you are interested in visiting the many, many blogs I (we) have created over the years, or view my photo website, here is how to find them…..

My photo website is about 15 years old, where I upload photos, and the name of the place of origin. These are photo galleries, with no writing. I started this website when I started learning photography, so there are travel photos here, from before I built our Travel Blog Website.

For our Blog:

2 Gypsies in the Wind

http://2gypsiesinthewind.com

 

Click on to our page that looks like this:

 

 

 

 

From there, click on the menu bar, up at the top right corner. When the next page opens, there are your choices for looking around:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, for example, click on the down-arrow for “Countries We’ve Visited:”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each Continent opens to Countries, where you can click on the many created blogs, which highlight our visits in each one:

 

 

 

For My

Pics by Pen Photo Website:

picsbypen@smugmug.com

Like our Blog Website, the categories for travel photo galleries, (under “Places,” are arranged by Continent, with many photo galleries highlighting various countries.

 

 

 

 

You will see the Photo Galleries, categorized by “People,” “Places,” “Things.”

To be honest, I’ve not added to anything but the “Places,” Photo Gallery, since we left to travel, full-time, in 2016. There was just no extra time, while overseas.

 

 

 

 

 

I will still be adding to this photo website each month, of special moments; mostly in North Carolina…..to get to this:

Places > North America > United States > North Carolina …. Then, you will see galleries to click on, there 

I hope this helps!

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