Beach Time

This is the finished puzzle we started a week or so ago, thought we'd never get it finished but here it is.  What a beauty.  It would make a terrific wall hanging.   Bet you would like to be out there sailing around;  not me, I get nervous if I get my ankles wet.

Sheila Mary is leaving us today after a few days here in Brookings with me and Patricia.   She has been such fun to have around and is a great puzzle maker.  We have a new one started but she is leaving so that means we will have to find the pieces ourselves.   We rode up to one of the beaches in Gold Beach where it is easy for me to get on the beach and have a nice walk around.   I found the soft sand not to my liking though as it made it hard for me to get to the packed sand and once there, voila!  I could dance in the wind.   It was beautiful and I found a few things to brag about.

A wooden leg?   Something that looked like one.   Weather beaten and tossed about in ocean waves for a very long time.   I left it there for the tide to take it back out and maybe another time I'll find it again and see what has happened to it.  

We told Sheila that there were agates on this beach but not today.   The water was rough, the beach was almost with out rock.  When we did find some it was huge in size and not a sparkle to its name. 

This was a huge rock in the ocean and the waves were breaking over it.  I opened up the camera and got this shot just as the wave broke over the rock.    Sure is a good shot . . . almost broke my arm on that one!
 

Okay you  tell me what it is.  I say a dead fish, a big dead fish.  It must have washed up and laid on  forever.  It is skeletal and it is housing a billion flies so it makes me wonder.   Nature has a way of taking care of its own. 

What a lovely shell.    I just like the look of it and the colors too.   Almost abalone in its shading. 

I like the shape and the size of this tiny piece of drift wood.   It has a charm all its own.

And, you learn something new every day as these are actual live flowers growing in the sand.  I've never seen flowers growing in the sand .   A small miracle.

The wind was up, the ocean wild, the tide incoming and not a soul on the beach.   The houses here are in a cul-de-sac and wind around the shoreline.  Each one different and very well built.   They are huge in size and well taken care of.  Hardly a soul around.  The one we parked in front of was a place you can rent so we felt we could park and go through the pathway to the ocean seeing it was empty.    Many are for sale, signs of the times, I guess.    It is quiet and I didn't even see a gull.    Some of the summer folks are down as there were flags flying and several have planted barrel flower gardens which look very lovely.    A nice idea when you can't grow much in sand.    All in all we had a wonderful hour or so on the beach, a walk through the local gift shop on the way home as Sheila had some shopping to do.  We had already made a stop at the big bookstore on the way in and the ladies had a latte and a croissant.  I opted for water and saved  my appetite for I had already peeled my apples and put my pie crust together so knew when we got home I was going to indulge in a piece of hot apple pie . . . I did,  delicious!!!  

So if you can vacation at a beach area, do go for a hike and feel the fresh breeze in your hair and smell the ocean smells.   Stick your feet in the water, relax and enjoy.    There really is nothing like a day or even an hour at the ocean.  It has it's own way of making you feel like a new person . . bright, shiny, almost like a new penny . . . I guarantee you will feel like a million dollars, or maybe like that beat up quarter Pat found in the sand.   Face up too!  Isn't that good luck?  I hope so.

Enjoy your weekend.     and remember I was sharing an old adage or two a few days ago...well, here is another . . . "At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers.  A bar maid's job was to keep and eye on the customers and keep the drinks  coming.  She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in 'quarts', hence the phrase 'minding your 'p's and 'q's.  So mind them and have some fun while you do . . . Hugs to all.