His & Hers Weekend Projects

His project -- turning this:

Into this:

I can't give you step by step instructions, I just know this involved disassembling, sanding, spray painting, some cursing, clear coating, some more sanding, waxing, reassembling and lots of tuning.

His favorite part of the project? Going to the auto parts store to pick a paint color and finding the exact same "Toyota green" that his old (first) beloved truck used to be.

Her project -- a fall burlap wreath (inspired by Pinterest of course):

We had some old tobacco sacks laying around, so I was able to cut those up instead of buying burlap. They still smell a bit like cured tobacco, which I love (the smell of tobacco curing is nothing like the smell of cigarettes being smoked, which I hate).

I spread everything out on the driveway and worked right there, because I'm redneck like that. Of course, Sugar supervised.

First I wrapped a straw wreath form with the strips of burlap.

Then I made ruffles with the burlap strips, pinning as I went along.

Then I rotated the wreath around and tried to convince Lee that it looked good just like this and there was no need to keep ruffling all the way around.

He was not buying it. So I pressed on.

Orange and brown satin ribbon makes her complete.

Lee still thinks it needs something else. Maybe leaves or something. But what does he know?

We'll see if the mood strikes me to change it up or if I decide to just leave it be.

Another weekend project? Making some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup for my sick husband.

Can you see it steaming?

And in proof of the theory that 'no good deed goes unpunished' I got sick the very next day. Yuck.

It was still a good weekend though. How was yours?

Why I Love Him

Exhibit A:

He made me a homemade birthday cake from scratch (no box cake mix and tub frosting in sight).

Even if it wasn't the most beautiful cake in the world. And even if he just wrote "Happy Birthday!" and I had to remind him that it would be nice if my name was on it. And even if I did have to clean up the kitchen afterwards. It was the thought that counted. And, it was delicious!

Exhibit B:

He snuggles my dog.

I rest my case.

Labor Day Weekend

We had plans to go to the river for Labor Day, but obviously Irene didn't like those plans. So we ended up at the beach instead (and yes, we do know how lucky we are to have vacation homes on both my side and Lee's side).

We were also lucky to be able to extend our long weekend by taking Friday off as well, giving us plenty of time to beat the traffic on Thursday night and have the island all to ourselves on Friday.

I was totally lazy when it came to taking pictures, but it was pretty much a normal beach weekend filled with fun, relaxation and the usual shenanigans, so you can fill in the blanks.

There were a few signs of Irene still left, but for the most part Radio Island was back to normal.

Sugar had a blast and was a total attention hog as usual.

She even had a friend to play with on Saturday.

Not a sight you see every day -- rowers on the water:

I did break my camera out to take some pics of Leah before dinner on Saturday. She was hoping to get a good Facebook profile pic (because isn't that what picture taking is all about these days??). I think we got some good ones.

We capped off the weekend with a night in La Grange, complete with a steak dinner with my folks and a low-key hangout with friends.

All in all, a good weekend to unofficially wrap up the summer. We still have some fun (and I'm sure warm) weekends coming up, but I'm already starting to look forward to fall and all of the crisp, cool goodness it brings.

This Picture Says it All

Jarvis Landing

Jarvis Landing is a community of about 35 vacation homes on the Pamlico River near Aurora, NC (although a few residents do live here permanently). Every home on the street suffered a fate similar to ours.

From what we can tell, the river flooded its banks as a 6 to 7 foot storm surge swept through the community.

Here's the video I shot as we were first arriving at Jarvis Landing:

Nothing can prepare you for a sight like that.

As we assessed the damage it was clear what we had lost: everything. And what was salvageable: nothing.

The only thing we really could do was try to take it all in, remarking at the items left scattered in the yard, and the things that we had no idea where they might have gone.

This was a brand new queen-size mattress:

Can you image how powerful that water must have been to reduce it to this?

Where the pump house used to sit:

And the sun room:

Flat-screen TV anyone?

This tree that's laying down in the yard is not ours (we actually didn't lose any trees). Our theory is that it floated into the yard from Indian Island across the river.

Some festive 4th of July leftovers:

And of course pictures:

Snapshots scattered all up and down the road.

A few lighthouses left somewhat intact and a jar of pickles:

The amount of stuff that we can't locate at all is unbelievable. The refrigerator? Gone. The entire barn? No clue. The oversized picnic table where we've shared so many wonderful meals? Vanished.

We did spot some of our furniture in the marsh and woods across the street.

Can you make out the plaid in the middle? That's our couch.

We've lost our pier in hurricanes past, so when we rebuilt it, we built it in sections that could be taken up in the event of a storm. Dad went down last week and removed the sections and tied them up in the yard. The pieces are nowhere to be found now.

Here's a short tour of the property (sorry that I get loud at the end!):

But all of these things are just "stuff" that can be replaced. But there were some things that are irreplaceable:

• Dad's "river journals" -- where every weekend he meticulously documented who was down there that weekend, the activities and events of the weekend and how and where the fish were biting.
• His pride and joy 8+ lb trout , stuffed and mounted on the wall.
• Two paintings by my great-grandmother, recently framed and hung in the dining room.

The trout and paintings might still be hanging on the walls, if only we knew where the walls were. But they are nowhere to be found.

All up and down the street the scene was the same:

But again, everyone is safe at that is what matters.

We had insurance and we will rebuild.

It will take time but we'll be back. Slowly but surely Jarvis Landing will clean up, dust off and get to the hard work of rebuilding this community from the ground up.

And we will forever be stronger because of it.