We arrived at Carney's Ranch on 22Apr parked, relaxed and slept soundly. Woke to a chilly morning here in Half Hell, NC Met some of the new owners, who grated the easement sand roadway and took some of the land for temporary storage of their trailers. They will move them to their side when Devon finishes the outbuilding. Another neighbor stopped to say hello as she was passing to her house, Patricia has lived here for many years.
Archie Williams stopped, quite the character at 70 year of age, is farming (share cropping) the land to grow millet for his cows. He spoke with William Bennick, who gave him permission to farm the land to keep the wild pigs away.
We did some clearing along the easement and milking barn, William Bennick stopped by while we were outside, as did Archie. We were able to access the old oak tree by the old homestead one afternoon, Keith worked on that while I was finishing up getting more saplings down, grabbing the cut Chinese Privet and taking it to the burn pile. We now have 3 set up for burning.
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| Boondocking spot near the milking barn, easement road on the other side of the trees |
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| Looking from the easement road to the RV |
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| We were able to clear a little to check the milking barn |
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| We were able to expose the milking barn |
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| milking barn and part of the easement road |
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| Keith looking for a way to the old Albright homestead from the field |
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| Chinese Privet along Albright Road, so thick we cannot get in from that direction |
We spent our first 4 days at the property working on clearing and dodging poison ivy, poison oak, Virginia creeper and nasty bramble vines. The thorny vines and grape vines can be as long as 20 feet high into the trees. Success is when the whole thing comes down with all its green leaves high above.
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| Spurge Nettle |
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| Eastern Kingsnake |
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| Milking barn is nearly completely exposed but for the poison vines |
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| we can now see the RV and fields from the easement road |
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| the bulk of the trees are now gone, thinned out |
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| Let the sunshine... |
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| Keith broke through and now see the giant oak |
27Apr we met up with J. and Barry on s/v Glaedr they were taking their boat to New Bern, NC and stopped in Holden Beach at the Public Dock. We drove over and boondocked in Holden Beach for the night. We went to dinner at Provision Company across the intercostal. We each had shrimp burgers, an amazing sandwich.
We went over to Glaedr for coffee and breakfast. The guys left shortly after we were back on the land. Keith was able to work from there while I walked to the beach and checked out the area.
Holden Beach is a very quaint area on the intercostal and Atlantic Ocean. Restaurants are preparing to open for dining with the new COVID rules in place here in North Carolina. The town occupies an 8-mile-long (13 km) barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean, bounded by Shallotte Inlet to the west, Lockwoods Folly Inlet to the east, and the Intracoastal Waterway to the north. One road, North Carolina Highway 130, crosses the Intracoastal Waterway to connect Holden Beach with the mainland. By NC 130 it is 10 miles (16 km) northwest to the town of Shallotte.
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| Reflection on the lake |
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| when we first arrived there we 4 fledglings and now 3 |
We completed the cleaning, removal of carpet and pad, disassembled the kitchen cabinets all before the contractor entered the unit to take up the subfloor to remediate the damaged trusses and supports for the building. We did as much as we could in 9 days. Interviewed painters to paint the unit, ordered new kitchen cabinets, searched for vanities for the bathrooms.
We finished cleaning and took the afternoon off on 7May to celebrate my birthday, the contractors were already in the unit taking out the kitchen subfloor, kicking up dust and dirt. We had a great start for lunch at Dockside Restaurant and Marina but Mother Nature let it pour heavily for about 20 minutes. We had delicious peel-and-eat shrimp, hushpuppies and French fries. I ordered the Uptown Bloody Mary for my salute to 64.
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| Mr. Keith all masked up |
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| Masked with drink in hand, clouds rolling in |
We are into 25 days in NC, painters arrived today to start preparing the walls, priming and painting over the next 3 days. Temporary subfloor has been put in for the painters to work and have that part of the project complete on the Sundance Way condominium. The temporary floor will be removed after they leave and structural work will be completed after inspection. The cabinets have been ordered 14 days ago and should be ready.
We are both exhausted from all the work and prep-work we have done to be ready for this day 19May, we have taken out overhead cabinets, vanities in both bathrooms and light fixtures.
Work continued to progress, we were exhausted for days after pushing ourselves to extreme limits to get ready for the painters and finalization of the structural work. We have been able to sit on the deck, watch the birds, Geese and goslings, turtles and enjoy some time.
It's June, Pride Month has started. We attended Pride Drag Brunch Show at Rumcow in Wilmington. The entertainment was so-so but fun to get out and away from the condo for a while. The cabinets have been installed, now we get the granite countertop and flooring installed to finalize the work here.
We finished the work on the condo touching up and cleaning the unit after the trades. the place came out fantastic with new cabinets, granite counter and new appliances in the kitchen, new floor through out and upgrades to the bathrooms by the buyer.
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| After the structural repairs, subfloor was installed, wall repaired, getting ready to paint then installer to put in the cabinets |
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| New cabinets were installed while we were gone. Danny did great work. |
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| We were surprised the morning following the install that the flooring contractor was coming in. The floor looks great, we are so happy the colours all work and blend. |
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| Vanity the new buyer purchased |
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| Granite in and ready for the appliances, we are at day 54, 17Jun |
We did take some time for ourselves outside of the painting, touching up, and working under a lot of stress with getting the place complete to move on to our travels. walking around the neighborhood and a far to the photos, read, clean up the computers. Keith organized things on his side too. Between the severe storms that hit this area day after day, trying to paint outside in beautiful sunlight then a storm hits was unusual but fun.
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Fly on hydrangea
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| Bee and the Mimosa. Getting used to the new camera, doing some macro work |
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| Sunset at the pier, Cape Fear River in Old Downtown Wilmington |
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| Rain coming down |
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More rain the following days |
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| Parasol Mushroom after the rain |
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| Conecap Mushroom |
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| Boletta, this variety we believe is toxic |
While here we have experienced watching the fledglings grow and look like the parents. Amazing how fast they grow into young adults. They are now practicing how to fly, go underwater to resurface and mimic the adults sticking out there tongues as warning. |
| We are in the beginning of June |
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| End of June |
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| Bald Cypress after the rain |
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| raindrop orb on crepe myrtle |
On the weekend of 4th July , with the closing postponed to 7Jul, I got up with an alarm for 4:30am to meet Peggy for sunrise at Crystal Pier on Wrightsville Beach. The weather was perfect the company grand. We had a lovely stroll and photos galore. We went back for golden hour sunset with Keith and Ken in tow.
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| Black Skimmer at the estuary, Jetty |
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| Crystal Pier and Photographer at sunrise |
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| Sunset stroll Wirghtsville Beach Jetty |
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| Peggy and Keith strolling on the beach |
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| Estuary alive with flight |
We have made some new friends here while in Wilmington, Peggy and Ken have been so welcoming to us. Craig has become a very good friend, we have spent many hours with him and Amanda & Scott on the boat and beach. The new owners, Miranda, Carol and Jeff Nelson has been really nice to work with on the condo. We have enjoyed them very much and our conversations. We have made some really awesome connections here.
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| Keith, Craig and me post Scott's photo bomb. |
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| Scott's photo bomb |
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| The intercostal sailing school activity |
On 5July we went to Masonboro Island with Craig, Scott & Amanda, and their son, Tyler for the day. The warm water, warm sun and super friends.
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| Scott and Craig chilling in the water |
We finalized everything on 7Jul with the closing on the Sundance Way Condo. We prepared the RV for travel, cleaned from stem to stern inside. We had dinner with Ken & Peggy at Oceanic. The stars were aligned, first parking space across the road and seated outdoors immediately for dinner.
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| Oceanic Restaurant and Crystal Pier |
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| Ken, Keith, Peggy and me dinner on the pier |
We filled up the water tank, preparing us to start to our next destination, Raleigh.
We have had a lovely time here, enjoyed the people and the area. We wished we had more time for the beach but the work and weather controlled what we did. We will miss everyone.
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| Miranda has changed the place adding her personal touch of gold and pink with grey. The condo looks great, she is now the keeper of the castle. |
You guys were so busy but it sounds as if you're really enjoying yourselves... holding the fort in Sarasota.... Dave
ReplyDeleteWe were straight out in NC
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