What a day for a daydream

With the help of the alarm I was up early this morning.  I didn't want to have a repeat of yesterday and wanted to be up, dressed and enjoying a coffee before heading down to the beach.  Well I was up and dressed, and pouring my coffee when I saw that the sky was becoming a majestic red colour.  Oh my, it's getting earlier and earlier each day.  With coffee in hand (thank goodness for plastic Starbucks cups) and my tripod and camera in the other I raced out to capture the sun.  Initially I had planned to stay behind the grasses and fence and play around with capturing the pictures there, but the sunrise was just too pretty not to focus on that first.  I think I was one of the first out on the beach but it wasn't long before others came out as well to enjoy the beautiful morning.  I met up with John and Grace as they set out for their morning walk.  It was a perfect temperature for exercise.  We chatted for a while before they headed off and I continued taking pictures.  I was very pleased with todays results.

Afterwards I went back to our condo where Ralph spoiled me with a lovely breakfast.  He certainly takes care of me.  I am truly blessed to have him as my husband.  We enjoyed a relaxing coffee and then headed to Huntington Beach as the low tide was in the morning which is the best time to see the birds.  While at Huntington Beach I talked to a few fellow photographers and learned that there are "Blue Birds" in the park and that across the street at Brookgreen Gardens there are several Owls which apparently are easily spotted.  I'm hoping that we can check out both while we are here this month.

We were blessed to see the Eagle who flew directly overhead of us.  What a thrill that is.  Otherwise, it was relatively quiet.  We went for a walk to the other pond and saw a few alligators (small ones) and a baby Night Shade Heron.  That was pretty interesting and exciting to see.

Overall we had a great day.  We topped it off with having lunch at our favourite "Grilled Cheese" restaurant.  I think I'm going to have to double up my walking for the next couple of days to remove these excess calories but oh was it worth it!!

Sunny days of February

The morning came with a beautiful sunrise as well as warm temperatures.  I was up very early but decided to go back to bed for a while.  When I awoke at 6:30 I was shocked at how much colour was already in the sky.  I quickly got dressed and headed down to the beach.  The sky was very pretty with wispy clouds.  I just love it when this happens as it adds so much more to the sunrise.

What a beautiful day we had.  Our tee time was just after 10:00 and by the 2nd hole we had taken off our jackets (yes even Teresa did) and we enjoyed the warmth of the day.  As well we were blessed with the most amazing skies with their clouds.  It was like looking at a piece of art up in the sky.  

What a wonderful surprise when this Barred Owl flew by.  I was able to keep it in my sight enough to get a picture of it.  Sadly I didn't have a zoom lens on my camera so this is cropped in from a big distance away.  We were just thrilled to see this.  We also enjoyed seeing an Eagle fly overhead.

Another week has come and gone

It's been another lovely week here in Myrtle Beach.  John and Grace have arrived and we've been able to enjoy a fun couple of rounds of golf with them.  We feel so blessed to be able to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Golfing has been a lot of fun.  Most of the time the courses aren't that busy so we have never felt rushed as we've played.  The courses are all in good condition however at times they can be pretty wet in places.  I think it must rain at night because for the most part we haven't had very much rain during the daytime.

While out for a walk I spotted this jellyfish on the beach. It was huge.  I put my room key beside it to give you an idea of size.  I find it sad when I see these on the beach as they look so beautiful swimming in the ocean although I understand that they have a pretty wicked sting.

After golfing at True Blue we went back to Caledonia Golf course to take a few more photographs of the Oak tree's with the moss hanging from them.  They are so hauntingly beautiful!!

While walking along the beach I spied this gull with what looked like a beard or puffed out breast.  It almost looked like a goitre or tumour.  I did some research to see if I could find what this was thinking maybe it had to do with looking for mate but I couldn't find anything.  Needless to say it certainly set this gull apart from the other birds.

We have been truly blessed with amazing sunsets and sunrises.  The warmth of the sun is always reflected so nicely by the ocean and it's one of my favourite times to shoot photos.  I often get out for a walk just before dinner to share this time with the birds on the beach.

Taken at mid-day directly into the sun

Today the forecast was for rain for most of the day. When I woke up the sky was very promising so I went down to the beach and looked for some different compositions.  While I don't find these fences very attractive, they do add some interest to the pictures.  The wind was blowing slightly and as a result the grasses reflect some motion as well.  I'm glad I went down as the colour reflected in the water this morning was beautiful.  I'm always amazed at how quickly the colours change and then all of a sudden it's gone.

A day of rest

Today is Sunday.  I love Sundays, getting ready to go to church and listen and learn as the pastor preaches on a chapter in the bible.  Today we had a sermon from Isaiah 5: 8-30 on the Six Woes.  It was a very interesting sermon and very thought provoking.  We met several members at church today as well.  One lady reminded us so much of Mrs. Buikema.  She was very friendly and made both of us smile.  Ralph particularly enjoyed the way she caressed the back of his neck when she was talking lol.  You will have to ask him about that hah hah.  

Prior to church I had woken up early so I decided to go down to the beach again to take photo's of the sunrise.  The sunrise itself was very muted and had a really heavy cloud above it making it a bit disappointing but it was still nice to be by the ocean enjoying the waves crashing.  I tried a few different things but wasn't overly happy with the results.

After lunch we decided to spend the afternoon again at Huntington Beach.  We really love it there enjoying the birds.  This time, the Herons were pretty active.  I think mating season is upon us and they were very animated with each other.  It was fun to watch.  The grey heron kept chasing the white heron.  She didn't seem particularly interested which only made him try harder.

Hah, hah, hah, this was so funny the way the heron would swing his head back and forth trying to impress the female.  When he became too obnoxious she would turn and take flight.  

As the tide was going out, it became fishing time.  These herons are amazing at catching their dinner.  Ralph and I are so amazed at the size of the fish that they catch and the way they slowly turn their catch (head first) and swallow them whole.  It's quite a process to watch and we are just in awe of how God created these birds.

While we were there we saw the Osprey but sadly the Eagle only few high up in the sky and didn't come down to do any fishing this time.  Oh well, we have plenty of opportunities to see it while we are here.

We decided to take a walk to the other path and enjoyed seeing the turtles and some night shade herons.  There was a alligator but I didn't see it.  The heron's were well hidden in the reeds and we couldn't really capture a nice picture of them.

On our way home we drove to Caledonia Golf course to capture a photo of their beautiful drive into the course.  I love these majestic Oak Trees and how they line the entire road into the course.

Since I didn't quite have my 10,000 footsteps, I went down to walk the beach when we got back to the Condo.  Since leaving for vacation, I have achieved a minimum of 10,000 steps every day.  This is something that I want to keep doing when I get home as well.  I feel so much better when I'm out walking.,

I was delighted to see a sun flare.  It was beautiful to see.