Queen's Creek

This is the creek by our place and yes this is what "creeks" look like when you live at the beach. The morning light and water always mix to create such a dreamy state which makes it very hard to keep driving to work. I just want to pull over each morning, sit on the bank, and just drift away with my thoughts. Of course this would be possible if I got up earlier but ..... This particular morning was just too hard to resist and luckily I had my camera. I love how the clouds are mirrored in the water, calling for all those passing by to come and take a moment to reflect.

This gives you a look back at the bridge. You can see how they did not span the width of the creek when they built it, but filled in the land on either side. Even though it is wide it is pretty shallow. I'm told it used to be much deeper and when they built up the sides they interferred with the tidal flow which caused it to fill in. Our land is part of an old Pine Tar Plantation and the large vessels used to traverse down this creek to pick up their loads. My husband has a collection of some Ballast Stones that boats would drop off when they picked up the Pine Tar. I love to sit sometimes and imagine all the activity scurring around the plantation and the ships pulling up to the creek bank to be loaded. Just imagine how many people through time have passed this way.

Commute

I have a very stressful commute to and from work each day. I have to cross four bridges over three different bodies of water and parallel the Intracoastal Waterway for half the trip. After this I arrive at my office on one of NC's outer islands where sometimes I'm subjected to the sound of the surf if the weather permits the door to be left open. Most of the sunset pictures I have posted on KAP have been from one of these bridges on my journey home. The bridge pictured above is the largest, it spans the Intracoastal of which I cross to get on the island.

And this is what I see from the top of this bridge. Back and forth I go throughout the day, water and salt air all around me. It is tough working conditions but someone has to do it.

Calvary

I thought this was so fun and creative. This isn't my donkey and I didn't get the boys name, but I did ask permission to take his picture so I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here. I took this while at the NC state fair a couple of years ago. We were there for the donkey and mule day we had seen on the equine show schedule. For those that ask "what do you do with them?" well this is one of them. This was a costume competition much like they do with cows, sheep, etc at many fairs. There were other competions with people riding carts including working them through obstacle courses. They were also showing them at hand much like dog shows. My favorite though is coon jumping which looks like reverse limbo. Donkeys and mules can stand flat footed (no running start) right in front of a hurdle and jump it. This used to have (or maybe it still does in some places) a practical purpose. Hunters would use their mules to carry things and when they would get to a fence line in the woods the mule would just bound over it. There were other competions including all the typical horse show events with the riding mules and there were some BEAUTIFUL animals there, I wanted one so bad. That is my dream, to one day have a riding mule. Some women dream of diamonds and fine living, I dream of asses.

Salt?

Just like seeing this ....? riding the roads around here, kind of fun.

I especially like the license plate - Got Salt. BTW, February 22 is National Margarita Day.

See the snow we had this weekend at the beach over at KAP.

Small Towns

While picking up feed at the local garden/feed store yesterday I got to visit a while with Smokey. Most places you go around here have a resident animal to greet you. Besides Smokey, there is a Calico at the hardware/lumber yard, a Lab at the insurance agency, Fritz the Schnauzer at the surveryors, a Jack Russell that rides around with the most burly construction worker, Labradoodles, Pekingese ..... and oh I can't forget Bonnie a mixed Shepard at the real estate office next door. I get to watch Bonnie take her person out to play catch a couple of times a day in front of my office. She has quite an extensive wardrobe of bandanas. I don't know if this is just a small town thing, the laid back beach lifestyle, or if it's more common than I realize. Do many businesses where you live have animals on staff as well?

Smokey seems wise to nap on the feed bags in case she wants a snack.

Meet Agapios

Agapios is a Mediterranean donkey so named because the breed came to America from the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinea. His name is Agapios but everyone just calls him Gapi and I sometimes call him Little Man. The name Agapios, which is after the greek word for love, is his registered name given by his breeders. Yes Gapi has papers, he's somebody and if you don't believe me just ask him. I'm sure he does not like me calling him Little Man because in his mind he is The Man. He is pretty full of himself and feels he is the center of all things and without him we have no purpose. Yes he's arrogant but in that cute adorable way, like a little dog running with the big dogs and thinks he is just the same size or bigger.

He's a sweety though and has stolen my heart along with everyone who meets him and few who have only seen pictures. You can't be around him and not smile or laugh it's just physically impossible. People come here and just watch him even when he's not really doing anything. After a while of smiling and feeling warm just being around him they turn and ask "but what do you do with him?" We are baffled that we get this question over and over, my answer is only "you just did it". I don't know why people think equines are just for riding, we actually enjoy caring for them and seeing them contently grazing as much or more so than riding. Getting back to Gapi, I don't really have any pictures of some of his most fun moments but I'll work on getting some. Also my camera takes video if I'll just try it out and of course then I'll have to learn to get it on the computer and into the blog. Always something to learn. Hopefully I'll be able to capture some moments that will make you laugh or at least give you a warm fuzzy smile.

Welcome

Welcome to Sweet T Farm and my new blog. KAP will still be around and the Kids Awareness Program is still a work in progress but this site is to explore and share other aspects of my life and of me. I have been inspired by visiting some of your blogs and by a few FB friends to write with more joy. I will leave KAP as my place to continue my quest to live mindfully and ask questions while learning not to worry about the answers. I hope you will continue to enlighten me with your comments there as well as here, they have meant so much to me. This blog will be me, unedited, unscripted, and uncensored. Here I want to share where I live, work, and play and I'm hoping through this blog I'll learn to do more of the latter. Sweet T Farm will be a place to walk on the beach, see sunsets and sunrises over the waterway, go along on a horseback ride, and follow along as my critters continue to teach me many life lessons. At this blog I still look forward to your insight but I hope more than that we share smiles and laughter. I would like this to be a place where I can expand more while still keeping it light, a middle ground between FB and KAP. Some days there may be post with or without a photograph, some days just a photograph, and occassionally I may just pop in and say OMG I can't believe I just did that ..... More than likely I'll just meander here and there, finding my way and making it up as I go along, sort of "leaping and building wings on the way down". So come on in, kick off your shoes, and sit a spell. I'll pour you a glass of sweet southern iced tea while we chat a while and share some laughs.

Note: BTW the above picture is not me, that's Rebel the king of all the four legged beings around here (shhhh, don't tell the donkey I just said that).