Catching Up!

Hey Y’all!

Well I have been out of school for a few days and I have gotten a lot done. Well sort of. At least as of today our 15 minutes of fame seems to be over. I am still getting messages on facebook about our video still being shared, but the GMA moment seemed to have peaked our 15 minutes of fame last week. It is still so unreal. So I can check “appear in viral video” and “appear on Good Morning America” off of my bucket list! In fact, if you notice on the left hand side bar I named my Spotify Summer listening playlist “Summer ‘14 Bucket List!” Listen to it… it is a GOOD ONE! I just wish I could play Spotify in Miss Mitzi Mazda!

Anyhoo. I am still walking on Sundays and Tuesdays looking for sea turtle tracks and nests. So far we have zip, zilch, nada in Garden City. North Myrtle Beach got their first nest last Thursday. Several beaches south of us, Huntington Beach and Hobcaw have several. Each time we walk we cross our fingers, but this season is just turning out to be a slow one for most beaches. Yesterday, we found an intact conch shell on our walk. It was so intact that it still had someone living in it. We threw it back to the ocean, but it was a nice find.

A few weeks ago we came across a true message in a bottle. We were supposed to blow into a conch shell and battle a mermaid. We left it on the beach for some other folks to find!

 

One of my favorite things about walking so early in the morning are the sunrises. Here’s one from last Tuesday. We didn’t have one yesterday because it was soooooo foggy.

Last Wednesday I went to a presentation about the SC Aquarium and their plans for expansion, especially the Sea Turtle Hospital. It was very interesting and a lot of turtle folks were there. It just warms my hear to see so many folks concerned  about the welfare of sea turtles.

My bestie Marie came for a visit last week too. We had a great time eating in Calabash and doing a little browsing in Callahan’s. I am getting ready to re-do my kitchen and downstairs half bath. I am going with an ocean/beach theme with some sea turtles thrown in for good measure. I didn’t realize how much sea turtle accessories are out there. I have my work cut out for me!

Today I didn’t make it to the beach, I have some errands to run. I did got and sit for a little bit yesterday, but thunderstorms interrupted my beach time. I plan to spend some time there tomorrow.

That is about it for the catch up. I am just enjoying summer and being lazy. I am sure in a week I will be bored. But, I am loving it now! I’ll be back with an update after my turtle walk tomorrow… fingers crossed we see some tracks!

Tootles!

JKP

And Then There Was Good Morning America!

Hey Y'all!

 So guess who made an appearance on Good Morning America this morning? That's right. OUR SECOND GRADE TEAM! This is a copy of a copy from GMA. By 8:15 this morning my phone and computer were BLOWING UP! Thanks for all of the shares and likes y'all!

I promise fame won't change a thing! Hee, hee! I'll be back a little later. BFF is on her way into town!

Tootles!

:) JKP

The Summer We Went Viral.....

Hey Y'all!

As of yesterday I am "officially" on summer break! These past few weeks have been busy ones. I am now a "real" turtle lady and I have taken many walks since May 11th! And now that school is out, I have taken up another day of walking in a different section of the beach. So now I walk Sundays and Tuesdays and I just LOVE IT! We haven't had any nests in Garden City Beach yet and nothing north of us either. South of us is booming. Hobcaw Barony, Litchfield Beach and Charleston all have several nests. We have been very quiet. This week we had two strandings back to back. One on Monday and then another one on Tuesday. The Monday stranding made it to the Sea Turtle Hospital in Charleston, while the other Loggerhead did not make it in time for officials to help it. We are all quite stumped as to why we don't have any nests yet, but then again we are dealing with Mother Nature! Tonight I am going to a talk at the North Myrtle Beach History Museum. They are having a sea turtle photography show and some folks from the Sea Turtle Hospital are coming to give a talk. I am so excited to hear what they have to say!


 Now. Ahem. If you are friends with me on Facebook or Twitter you know that my second grade team made a "little" end of they year celebratory dance video and posted it to Facebook. Y'all. We are viral. As of this morning our little video has been shared over 21,568 TIMES. We were shared over 8,000 times just yesterday alone! We are hoping we will end up on Ellen. But for now, it feels strange to be viral, but yet, I don't have a temperature! And the fact that over 21,000 people have seen me dance! When you watch the video, I am the one who twirls. Hee. Hee! We had so much fun doing this. It was not choreographed and one of our student teachers filmed us.

   

 Today I am off to clean my house because my best friend is coming for a visit tomorrow. And let's face it, I have been very neglectful to my house lately. So it is time we had a "Come to Jesus" meeting. I'll be back tomorrow to share the cool things I have found on my turtle walks. Just last week we found a message in a bottle! Also make sure you follow me on instagram. I post like crazy over there!

Have a great day!
Tootles!
 :) JKP

Under Construction!

Hey Y'all! Don't be alarmed if you notice a few changes on and around the blog for the next day or so. I am trying to "pretty, pretty" things up for the summer. So just hang tight and know I am working some kinks out! Also... check out the number of sea turtle nests we have in SC right now! We still don't have anything here, but from the looks of it, we should have some soon! Hang Tight! Tootles! JKP

Howdy… and Guess Who’s an Official Turtle Lady Now?

 

Hey Y’all!

I am so sorry for taking a few months off from the blog. But, as with any major change in life, sometimes you have to sit back for a little while and let everything sink in. And. That is what I did during February,  March, April and this part of May. If you have kept up with my instagram feed on the left side of the blog, you know that we have been busy. But, I just couldn’t get myself in a blogging frame of mind. So many folks have told me how much they miss reading the blog, so I thought it was time for me to end by blogging vacation. Just in time too, because folks… it’s Loggerhead Turtle Nesting season.. and guess who is an official Turtle Lady now? ME!!!!!

Y’all may remember that last summer I attended several turtle nest inventories in the Garden City Beach area. I met several folks and I was very interested in volunteering. Fast forward to April and I finally got to take my turtle training! I walk the beaches in the wee hours of the morning.. well 6:00 and look for turtle tracks and signs of turtle nests. It is still early in the season, so we haven’t seen anything yet. But we hope to in the next week or so. We also monitor the beach for erosion, pick up trash and educate folks about the turtles when folks get curious. I am walking on Sunday right now, but I hope once school gets out I can add another day. Our group has a lot of volunteers this season so getting one day already is a blessing! I just love spending time on the beach and it is very peaceful early in the morning. Right now we have a ton of jellyfish in the area and I have seen several sharks too. While walking this morning we saw evidence of ghost crabs that had been VERY busy.

My walking buddy is actually one of my former parents! My former student Hayleigh sometimes walks with us too.

One of the most moving things I get to see on my Sunday morning walks are the sunrises. They are so beautiful!

After we walk, we go to the pier and look in the water. Last week we saw a HUGE Horseshoe crab and then a few seconds later we saw a loggerhead sea turtle! It was such a neat experience! This week we just saw a ton of jellies… which is good because the turtles like to snack on those!

Pitty Pat is doing great and is marking off the days on the calendar until summer. As of right now we have 14 days. Woot!!!! I am not doing anything major this summer. No classes. Just turtle watching!

One exciting thing that has happened is that I got a Fitbit from the Easter Bunny! I have the Zip and I just love it. I also love that by 10 am on Sunday I usually have all 10,000 of my steps in from walking the beach. You’ve got to love that!

That’s about all that is going on here. I have also added a SC Sea Turtle Nest counter to the left side of the page so you can see how many nests we have on the coast. The box is a clickable link that will take you to the Seaturtle.org website. There’s tons of great info on there!

Well let me run, tomorrow is a school day and I have been up since 5:15. Well. I did sneak in a nap, but it is bed time y’all!

Tootles!

JKP

Wintermaggedon-2014 Edition

Hey Y’ all!
Wow. We are experiencing the craziest winter here at the beach! When I last posted, we were on the verge of a four day snow/ice/slush event. Yes. Four days. We missed four days of school! Here is a pic of our backyard….


Pitty Pat was not thrilled with all of the frozen precipitation. Luckily our portion of the beach melted quickly, but other parts of our county were not that lucky. It warmed up by Groundhog day and Pitty Pat and I took a trip to the beach just to show Mr. Groundhog what we thought of his predictions!


But late last week, I started tracking a storm and knew the news was not going to be good for us. Today we got hit with a HUGE ice storm. So far I have lost 3 trees in my back yard and one is very close to taking out my fence. The temps have warmed up to 32 degrees, but with melting trees are continuing to lose limbs.



They just announced that we won’t have school tomorrow either. Oh well. I will enjoy being home with Pitty Pat and working on my new hobby…. Loom  knitting!

Several years ago, when loom knitting was just getting started, I bought a set of looms and never used them. With losing Granddaddy, I just haven’t been able to pick up my knitting needles and concentrate. So the other night I went upstairs and picked up the smallest loom in the pack. Within 30 minutes I had made a preemie hat! I have so enjoyed making them and usually make at least one a day! If you follow me on instagram you have seen my progress. For now it is a great activity to do, especially while watching tv. It doesn’t require a lot of concentration, but you still get the satisfaction of making something everyday! And the hats are just precious!

I have found some great websites with some easy patterns. I plan on trying a cowl tonight. If you see a loom, pick it up… it is a great activity! Here is a video that helped me get started with making a preemie hat. Just grab some bulky yarn and a loom and go!



Alright, I am off to enjoy my night. Keep your fingers crossed that we keep our power!
Tootles!
JKP

Heavy Heart

Hey Y’all,

If you follow me on facebook, twitter or instagram, you know by now that last week my precious Granddaddy Abe passed away on Monday.

This past week has been very surreal. I took last week off from school and went back to work yesterday. I am having good days and bad days, but mostly I am still in a fog getting used to this change in my little world.

Today, believe it or not, we have a snow day! We have an impending winter weather event that is about to hit the SC coast very hard. I think Granddaddy knew that I needed a few days to stay in my pj’s, drink coffee, and snuggle with the Pitty Padster. I haven’t been able to pick up my knitting needles since I lost Granddaddy. I am hoping that over the next few days of being home, I can get my crafty rhythm back again. My heart is just kind of heavy right now.

I am currently trying to charge every electronic device I own just in case the power goes out. We are expecting almost an inch of ice and snow on top of that. I have my heat running on 75 just to get the house really warm in case we lose power once everything starts this afternoon. I have my ipod, ipad, kindle, laptop and phone full of books, knitting podcasts and music to keep us entertained. I also plan on catching up on some much needed sleep!

Every time I let Pitty Pat out this morning he keeps sniffing the air and pawing the ground. Yup. A winter event is coming!

Hopefully I will hop back on here with a weather update soon.

Tootles!

JKP