Last night's Beautiful Beach Walk

Has anybody noticed how pretty the sky has been this last week?
I went for a walk in the evening last night and this is what I saw!

 Good Lord above!

a Pretty Rainbow

My cottage survived the storm very well. Thank you all for the emails and the prayers!
 I've been very busy lately putting things back in order, and cleaning up.
I thought it might be a good time to post a couple of nice rainbow pictures that I took in  North Wildwood.

It was a full arch and I don't have a wide angle lense so I had to take several separate shots!
Below is the other side of the arch.

And I just luv how the sea birds have a glow about them in this one:

Also been busy getting ready to move my youngest into a college dorm room tomorrow.  Making pillow covers and picking out bedding, and printing pictures for her new frames. We are trying to decorate with lots of pictures so she doesn't miss us all too much. I'll post pics of her dorm room  re -do, after we get it all set up.
She wanted to make a statement. Can you guess what color scheme she is going with?
The choices:

• black and white
• black, pink, and white
• red and white
• red and black

We've got everything ready now and packed in the car!
hasta la vista, baby

What makes me Smile

I smile at lots of stuff.

• My granddaughter the most.

• Heading to the beach on one of those glorious summer days in August when the Atlantic is warm.

4th of July weekend, full of Sun, Beach, Ocean, Rocks,

How was your weekend?
I had a great time and my little cottage was packed with family and friends. We have more coming than expected so I set off to  the local discount store to purchase an extra blow up bed, I couldn't resist stopping to gander at the sunset. Just loving how the pink-orange reflects in the wetlands water.
I didn't have my camera, but my iphone works nice in a pinch. Those tele poles you see on the left of the shot is the road I will travel to go get the extra bed

 It was a beautiful journey.

The next morning as I headed to the beach with my teenager daughter...more eye candy.. our cottage is on the other side of the lighthouse so we often walk through the lighthouse gardens to get to the beach. They have these huge hydrangea bushes in there!!
Again happy to pull my iphone out of the beach bag, for a quick pic.

Secret little spots to step into off the garden path. I promised myself to go back here next week with a real camera, just to take some pictures of these beautiful flowering bushes.

And then much to my surprise when I get to the beach there is another huge change. I need to walk closer cause I can't believe my eyes.... Am I seeing the rock jetty again?

In just the 6 weeks since Mother's Day, all of the rocks that were previously completely burried under sand, have become exposed again. This is at Hereford inlet and the ocean at North Wildwood NJ

These rocks have not been visible above the sand for at least about 15 years. They started to get covered with sand back in the early 90's and once covered completely stayed that way all throughout the 90's and 2000's

 Now this year in  6 weeks time the ocean has taken back it's sand and exposed them again. I love them, and remember them well. It is just so strange to see them again in such a short period of time.

 Usually these changes occur a bit more gradually. Like over decades, not weeks. As I get closer I am amazed and excited to see them all again.

I adore their natural beauty

And the designs and colors...
Like this pink and green standout in a sea of black rock.

and this pretty blue and grey.. makes you want to take it home.

Just watching the waves wash over them, is soothing and they are like beautiful pieces of granite.

My sis ad my daughter kept pointing out new ones for me to capture. Like this one with a pink stripe down the middle....Gotta love that I phone. Handy dandy thing to have.

And this one with the purple stripes in it...

Or the gorgeous grey stripes. How's that for a nautical stripe?

I am so happy to see them all again, even though it means we lose some of our sand. The people on the promenade in the top right are probably thinking "Oh no... what happened to the beach?" That wooden X you see used to actually be an entrance to the beach from the promenade. Closed off now it says " no safe entrance"... Mother Nature is a rebel like that.
I love the natural element of the rocks.

We walked up as far as we could get through without climbing.

Now we will head back to our chairs on the beach!

I hope you enjoyed our little visit to the beach here in North Wildwood, NJ with me.

I will be joining these wonderful ladies linky parties.
Good Life Wednesdays

Outdoor Wednesday
Show and Tell Friday

Wonderful Whites

This post is about some of my favorite white things.

White Sugary Soft Sand.... how it feels on my toes.

White Sandy paths on the beach........to contemplate this great life.

White Foam of the Shore......as it splashes over me.

White Fences and Palms.... to soothe my eyes with their sereneness.

White Chenille at Hemingway's House..... inspiring me to seek such a piece.

White Thrifted finds at my Cottage.... their textures, so delightful.

The thrill of the hunt for Vintage Usable Whites

The  smooth white sand of Islamarada...........calling me back to the Keys

Simple White Dishes

...so fun to arrange.

Various Shells on Whitewashed Wood

Chippy White Shelves

What is your favorite White thing?

posting at

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Missing Florida, I want to go back.

We had such fun, visiting all the different islands. Me and the kiddos during spring break.
 Our last trip was to Siesta Key. It was so pretty there. The sand was so so soft like powdered sugar!
And the snorkeling was pretty neat too.

I love when the water is clear, and as you can see in this pic, so, so aqua!

You can see from the hotels in the background this Key is a little more populated.

We swam over to this little private cove.

Where the birds just sit right next to ya.

 I think he was the gate keeper. He let us pass.

That is a pelican just floating out there.

This is such a peaceful place. Makes you think that ...yes life is so good.

 The kids were loving it.

 So was I. 

I wanna go back.

Hunting for seashells.

Away from the sorting of the socks.

cleaning of the fridge.

The Scrubbing of the bathrooms.

Just enjoying the sea.

And the good life.

Joining Good Life Wednesday at Sarah's abeachcottage.com

Just wandering about the Shops and boutiques in Key West

We had a wonderful day on Thursday.
Beginning the day with breakfast with the" lattitude  to change your attitude" printed right on the table!

We found ourselves the most wonderful little Frenchy style shop!
I loved their window and had to go in.

Very drool worthy.

On Petronia 2 blocks west of Duval. I believe it was called Besime Mucho

An absolute stop if you visit Key West.

There are five antiques shops in key west. I think we hit them all.

 (Mary Louise

 I adore these vintage bowls.

 And a lot of boutiques.

 I love this purse discovered at one of them.. burlap and buttons, cute isn't it?
I'm not sure which was more fun, discovering little shops, cozy eclectic houses or little side pubs, for refreshment.
Check out this front porch on this house discovered on one street. Obviously an artist. It reminds me of a mayan calender! It also appears they are preparing to hang a gorgeous stained glass lamp.
So awesome.

And one of my favorites is below- Only in the keys will you find such luscious colors combined, all in one house.
Peach, aqua and yellow. I love this one!!

Margarittaville on Duval is a fun place to stop in and if you order a large drink, you get a glass to go home with!

I loved Earnest Hemmingway's house, so much energy there from a previous era. The grounds are lush, and full of fung chi.
Warning picture heavy.

 As soon as you enter you feel it!

The room to the right

Love these doors that open up to the outside!

bench is behind the staircase

Upstairs... the Hemingway bed, complete with kitty cats.

Some personal pics in the house of Hemmingway

Me on the porch.

 (Eileen )

 I loved the view from the 2nd floor porch!

 And sitting by the Hemmingway pool....

Can I go swimming?

Ahhh time to go back and swim in the hotel pool.