In the afternoon, a fog, or low flying cloud, moved in off the beach and gave us this interesting view off our balcony. Looking straight out to the ocean from our balcony you could see nothing but fog, not even the beach below. Then down the beach, you could actually see it moving between the buildings. It came and went several times during the day, but the temps were mostly in the mid 60's and just beautiful.
We found a local winery, "La Belle Amis", that was hosting a bonfire event for the day, with these terrific Jazz musicians. They were just great, and one guy was making s'mores with Gheridelli chocolates and handing them out. What a marvelous taste! The wine was pretty good too, and what a great afternoon, to nibble on cheese and fruit, sip wine and visit with the people around us.
The winery had two dogs that worked the crowd and added to the fun. One was a border collie, Belle, who would herd any small child who came close, and the other Amis, just strolled among the relaxing guests, mooching snacks.
One of our favorite stops is at a local seafood market, where we buy a whole bunch of fresh, never frozen shrimp. So delicious! Jim buys a half dozen oysters, and ceremoniously shucks them out, then sits down to eat them raw, accompanied by a bottle of dark beer. This year he had a special bottle of dark beer from Vermont, a birthday present from our favorite Vermonters. It's a treat he alone loves, and the rest of us just watch. 
This year he bought a couple extra dozen and we enjoyed them together in oyster stew, with scrambled eggs, and a couple in a brand new way, cooked in the half shell, with just a dash of hot sauce. Yummy. The shrimp gets parboiled and peeled, then we've enjoyed it in kabobs with the best fresh pineapple we ever tasted and other goodies, then just garlic and buttered, and with eggs. We have enough for one more shrimp meal, and it'll be great. There's something so very special about fresh shrimp. So sweet and delicious.
This shot is from this morning's sunrise, right off our balcony. So pretty and peaceful.
Happy New Year everyone.
We left early Christmas Morning and drove the motorhome south. It was great to see the mountains again, even though they were cold and snowey. We spend Christmas night in a motel in Tennessee, where I used the microwave to warm a pre-packed dinner for my favorite birthday guy. A cornish hen roasted with rosemary and garlic butter, baked potatoes and a delicious salad made up our dinner, served with a nice bottle of chardonney. Cakes are out for me, and he's kind enough to go along with the wheat-free lifestyle too, so his birthday cake was a warmed dish of rice pudding, topped with coffee creamer and birthday candles. 
There was a change of hotels from our original plan, when they closed our original hotel for repairs, so Kim talked the management into finding us another, newer, nicer hotel, where we had a set of rooms so new they still smelled of fresh paint. We're on the 19th floor and the view is just beautiful. We keep seeing flocks of pelicans flying along the beach, BELOW our balcony. What a view!
Just a couple hours after we checked in, we saw two dolphins cruising by off the beach. They looked like they were just slowly rolling along, out for a stroll in the evening. Just gorgeous. We had a great seafood dinner last night at the restaurant next door.
So today, we drove up to the nearby State Park to walk the beach to see what had washed up onto the beach. It was fun to watch the shore birds running through the surf. We found lots of broken shells, one shark's tooth, and a sea anemone. 
Jim got stuck on a pier support when a big wave came in. Funny picture.
There's a stark quality to some already harvested fields these days, sort of a clearing away of the clutter to leave the bare fields ready for spring.
In contrast to that, there's the jubilant variety of colors in the woods that form a backdrop to it all.
This morning, our Anna is with us, and it's cold and sleeting outside. We always want to get her outside when we can, so decided this was the time to try out the fireplace in the teepee. She loved it, and we all had fun, sitting on the ground inside the teepee, watching the small fire and hearing the sleet patter on the walls of the teepee surrounding us. It was amazingly warm and cozy inside with that little fire going. Next Jim's going to set up a spit and cook a cornish hen. 
I've formed the habit lately of taking a daily walk to gather sticks for the stove. It serves several purposes: gets me away from the computer for a breath of fresh air, exercise, cleans up the woods a little, and provides bunches of free firewood for those short time evening fires that really don't need big heavy chunks of wood to burn a long time.
Being out there daily lets me notice all the changes too, as our place turns toward winter. This path struck me yesterday as being particularly gorgeous. It's the space behind the blueberry bushes, and always looks like an entrance to a secret space to me. Today, with the yellow leaves on the ground, it looked like a scene after the party, with the party favors and confetti left laying about. Do you suppose the deer and raccoons were dancing late into the night here last night?
Today was one of those blessed days, when we were especially grateful to be retired. We needed a good brisk walk, so headed up to Warren Woods for a long walk under the giant beech trees there. We were amazed to see the giant trees that had fallen during the recent winds. Trees that measured up to 4' across the base had grown hollow in the center, as beeches do, until there wasn't enough strength to hold up their 70' height anymore. They came crashing down, taking other trees with them, and look like elephants laying there, but still dignified in their stillness. Beautiful trees, and they'll slowly melt back down into the soil to enrich another hundred years of trees to come.
Now this one's just silly, the result of two goofy people, with time to spare and a camera to play with!
In the morning, we were off again to see more amazing sights. Our goal this day was to find a trail that Jim could take off and hike by himself to work out his kinks from sitting so much. On the way there, we saw more small streams and camping places, and swampy spots where there should have been at least one moose, but never was. 
While Jim was hiking, John, Lora and I found a gorgeous long overview with several mountain ranges marching away into the blue distance, and talked with a nice couple visiting there from Ohio. 
Then we came across a mysterious, beautiful place with several paths that explored different faiths. While walking there, we found a labyrinth! I'd always been intrigued by these very special walking paths, so plunged right in to walk the curving trails to the center of it. Once we got there, we found this nice little basket, where others had left little tokens of their walk. We needed to leave something, and finally found that perfect yellow leaf to drop in. Notice the little golden Buddha, and all the other little trinkets there. What a neat place.
We ended that amazing day back at the riverside property with a big fire and a picnic of hotdogs and goodies. The picture I'm placing for that shows John, proud landowner of this beautiful place, Lora, relaxing, with her eye on her beloved river, and Jim, poking at the fire. What a great, quiet night to just sit and listen to the river chuckle in its bed as it rushed by us. As you listened to it, you could hear so many levels of sound: the base note of the big rocks slowly moving against each other, mid tones of large waves flowing over the rocks, and the high, almost giggling sounds of the smaller splashes. Constant variety and always fascinating.
