Bucket List Event

The Back Story

I've mentioned in the past that the East Point Lighthouse is one, if not the favorite lighthouse that I like to photograph.  Even before they repainted it white and the old brick face was exposed.  And when we are there, given the location, I'm not just content with standing next to it to take my pictures.  I like to get it from many angles.  

The parking is very precarious here.  I should make note to take a picture of that the next time.  There is a very narrow driveway from the main road to the back of the lighthouse.  And given the number of visitors on Challenge Weekend the cars line up from the main road to the embankment at the Maurice River/Delaware Bay.  HWNSNBP likes to pull all the way down to the embankment.  And it's a little tricky getting back out to the main road if there's another car coming in.  But he manages.

This used to be an open area to the water with a boat ramp, but the water level has been encroaching on the lighthouse property more and more and endangering the existence of the lighthouse itself so the Army Corp of Engineers has put in these barriers along that beach which is now roped off to humans.

It was after  I had taken pictures with my cell phone of the lighthouse from the back and sides (which I posted several days ago) that I decided to get out my Canon with the zoom lens so we could go back out to the road and down aways to get the front and side views from a distance when it happened.

The Event

I was sitting with the door open on the passenger side with the camera in my hands when I happened to look up........................ and there it was.............

............. an eagle in real life flying over the water right in front of us.  I quickly turned on the camera and started clicking away zooming in as much as I could.  Both of these pictures are further edited to get closer.  It was later that day when I went to use the camera again that I realized that I had it set on macro instead of on sports/action setting that I usually do.  (I seldom if ever use the macro setting with my zoom lens.)

I had gasped and called to HWNSNBP that there was an eagle while I kept shooting.  He in turn, let some challengers who were passing by know there was an eagle and pointed it out.  They thanked him for bringing it to their attention.  

And then I got my distance shots, which would also be a lot clearer if the setting had been right.  

So my bucket list item of getting a picture of an eagle IRL in it's natural habitat was achieved. Check!

World Card Making Day, Garage Sales, and Sweet Treats

World Card Making Day was on the first weekend of October and we were going to be away so I preplanned a little project.  I needed a get well card for a former co-worker - a male, so I didn't want to make anything floral.  I found this stamp set in my stash - Hi There Bear from Concord & 9th which hadn't been inked and had the perfect sentiment to go along with it.  I couldn't decide weather to go with the brown bear or the panda so I stamped one of each and fussy cut them.  I also found this blueprint background stamp from The Greetery that I thought would be a good background.  I gathered all the necessary supplies and packed them up to take along for when we settled in for the day.

I knew I had a pretty decent set of colored pencils at the condo and I was able to add some detail to that brown bear.  I originally stamped the bear's belly one way and then looked at the package picture and they had it the other way so I turned over the paper and stamped it again their way before cutting them out.  I still don't know which way I like better but I went with theirs.  

The finished cards.

The inside sentiment.

And just for fun, what I stamped on the back.

I should backtrack and say that we started the day at the Kirkside Garage Sale that they have twice a year down the road.  I had my "boxman" with me and I did pick up a few pieces to add to my box of stuff I'm saving to make more garden totems but I don't have any pictures right now.    

And speaking of boxes, we then went to pick up a box of goodies that I ordered from a new-to-us local bakery that they had advertised for a "Restaurant Week" special.  They only open their doors on Saturdays for walk-in customers and we are mostly at the condo on weekends during the summer so since we weren't going til later in the day on Saturday this time because of the garage sale I thought it would be a good time to take advantage of trying out their sweets and I wasn't disappointed.  I did spread them out over the course of the week to enjoy.

And I'm just going to add this for a smile.  GS2's class was shut down for another week earlier in October which meant his parents had to split their days staying home with him.  Our SIL sent us this.

When you're 2 1/2 you know everything, or you let him believe he knows everything when you know he doesn't like eggs.  

Welcome Fall

I found these fall themed plastic containers at the Dollar Tree recently along with some pretty fall themed paper products which just happened to fit in them.  So I bought a few of each, tied some sparkly ribbon around them and attached a tag I created from some new products from The Greetery and HWNSNBP and I made some drop offs to local friends and family.  

I die cut those leaf sprays our of various shades of fall colors and then used the negative space from one of them in my Misty as a way to hold them so I could stamp the detail on each of them rather that trying to line up the die on the stamped image each time.  It goes so much quicker that way.   

The word "Autumn" is die cut from some sticky backed cork paper.  

I got carried away and made a lot more of those leaf sprays which I'll be using for something else soon.

 

2021 Lighthouse Challenge - Day 2

We didn't rise as early on Sunday morning but were out of the condo by 9:30 and on our way to the Squan Lifesaving Station in Manasquan.  I didn't have printed directions for this one so we relied on Siri to get us there.  Siri sent us past this building and down a one way street to a recreation area.   There was no Challenge signage visable outside this building so we did ride past it before turning ourselves around.  It had taken us about an hour to go 37 miles to get there.

In contrast, it only took us a few minutes to travel the 3 miles to the Sea Girt Lighthouse. 

Instead of getting onto the Garden State Parkway we opted to take the "shore route" which took us through a string of shore towns up the NJ coast though at no point was the ocean visible until we got much nearer to Sandy Hook 29 miles and an hour later.  Sandy Hook is a beautiful barrier beach peninsula recreational area that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Sandy Hook Bay.  Given the beautiful weather conditions, although slightly cooler than the day before, the park was full of all kinds of activity on land and in the water.  The lighthouse and the lighthouse museum building however were closed on the inside and had the challenge tables outside the building.  Sandy Hook is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States.

   This is the back of the barracks that remain from Fort Hancock located on the Sandy Hook peninsula and steps away from the lighthouse.

They face the mainland and have fallen into disrepair.  The majority of them are not occupied and have not been for a very long time.  There appear to be a few that have been renovated and are being used for something.   These pictures only show a few of them. There are many more in various states.  A lot of the porch roofs were being propped up so that they wouldn't collapse and take the whole building down.  Not sure what the plan is for them. 

Leaving the park we have only to look up the hill in the distance to see the Twin Lights at Atlantic Highlands, the highest coastal elevation on the east coast of the United States.  There is very little room on the grounds of these lighthouses to be able to get a picture of both of them together from the front without tumbling down the hill.  So my shot this time was to try to get the two of them from the north side.   It is a grassy hill, but I didn't want to find myself at the bottom.  I didn't realize until later that I didn't get too much detail of these buildings as the sun was behind them.  The lights are connected with a building in between them that serves as a museum.  They remind me of chess pieces.  

Turning myself around just slightly to my left I could see the tanker ships that are waiting their turn to enter the New York harbor and empty their cargo.  This is only what could be seen from my vantage point.  There are a lot more out there but I don't believe as many as what they say are waiting off the west coast these days.  

Turning a little more to my left I could just barely see the NY City skyline in the distance.  I don't remember the trees obscuring so much of the view here.  I don't remember if I had gotten better pictures of that view from the top of the north tower at some point or weather it was just the growth of the trees in the area.  

This is where we ended the challenge stops.  We found a pizza shop and a bakery down the road aways and had a quick lunch in the car before making the 57 mile trip home.  The total mileage for Sunday was 172 miles in about 4 1/2 hours.

This is the challenge booklet that we purchased at the start of our trip on Saturday morning for $4.  And on the right you will see an example of the stickers that were given out at each site.  

Here is the booklet opened up with all the stickers in place.  We didn't do a night climb (the top center) but they gave us the sticker at the last stop anyway to make the book complete.  They also gave us the completion sticker (center bottom).  I've only put those stickers in one of the booklets for now.  HWNSNBP said he is going to create a frame for this.  We have our tokens from past challenges displayed in a glass topped coffee table at the condo.  

Close-ups of the stickers.

People ask us why we keep doing this even though we don't climb the lighthouses anymore.  Of course there is beauty to be found in the view from the top, but there is beauty just looking up and looking around.  It's such a nice time of the year to take a drive, why not take a drive with a destination in mind.  Sure, it's fun to collect the tokens along the way, but we did part of this on our own last year when it was only virtual and didn't miss getting the tokens at all.  We see parts of our state that we don't see every day.  It's fun to notice the changes in areas from year to year.  There are places that we have stopped before that no longer exist and we are finding new places to explore along the way making note of what we might like to come back to.  We have a comfortable car that happens to be a hybrid and gets great mileage.  I do admit that I only do about 1% of the driving, and on long trips I tend to fall asleep when HWNSNBP is driving, but my only naps on this excursion were before the first stop on Saturday and after the last stop on Sunday.  I don't want to miss any of the scenery in between.  And, you'll see in another post soon, there's always the chance of a bucket list accomplishment.

Will we do it again?  There's our health, the weather, and other social commitments to consider but I'll say probably right now.  It's nice to have something to look forward to.

2021 Lighthouse Challenge - Day 1

This past weekend we participated in the NJ Lighthouse Challenge once again.  We started doing this in 2001 and have missed a few years here and there for illness, weather, or other commitments.  Last year the official challenge was virtual but we got in the car and did some visits on our own.  This year it was back in full swing with 10 lighthouses open, 3 life saving stations, and one museum to see in 2 days.

Full disclosure - I am not an early riser, but bad weather was predicted for late afternoon on Saturday and we knew we wanted to finish a certain amount that day so an early departure was required.  We actually left at 6:48 before the sun rose and about 20 minutes into the trip there it was.

Our first stop was in Paulsboro along the Delaware River - 76 miles from home on the west side of NJ and an hour and a half later.  The official opening time was 8 and we were there shortly after.  This was were we paid for our souvenir booklet so we could collect our tokens for the day.  (That'll be in the Day 2 post.)

Found a WaWa nearby to make a bathroom break and then on the way to Finn's Point in Pennsville.  This is another rear range lighthouse that helps the ships on the Delaware River.   Twenty seven miles in 41 minutes and entering the lower portion of the state off the major highways.

The distance between the last stop and East Point in Heislerville is the longest of the day - 49 miles.  Took us just short of an hour and a half through some towns that always look like they were forgotten by time.  Made a stop at an Amish market outside of Bridgeton and picked up some baked goods for when we got home.  And of course, since we were there, another bathroom break.  

The view from this side of the lighthouse had those wonderful clouds in the background.  There was another surprise there that I'm going to do a separate post of in a couple of days.

I love to photograph this one.... can you tell?

Time to swing out to the east coast of New Jersey now and on to Cape May, the southernmost tip of the state.  It's a 36 mile trip and took us about an hour.  We stopped at the lighthouse first and then HWNSNBP dropped me off at the outdoor mall so I could check the Swede Shop for some new felt ornaments for fall and Christmas.  (When we were there in early Sept. they said they would be getting more mid-October and I had called during the week to make sure.)  I'll post my fall findings in another post.  While I was shopping he was eating his lunch in the car.  I ate mine on the road to the next stop to save time.  (We had packed our lunch for the day.)

The next two stops were at two of the life-saving stations.  Tatham in Stone Harbor was first.   It was about 18 miles and my records for the time are a little sketchy because it included the shopping time from leaving the lighthouse at Cape May.  

The two doors on the outside open out and have these murals painted on the building behind them.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the next station 25 miles away.  It's in a residential area of Ocean City and travel through those streets is slow.  I wish they would rope off the parking spaces in front of these venues so the photographers could get pictures of the buildings unobstructed.  

To get to the Absecon lighthouse you have to travel through Atlantic City taking the AC Expressway off the Garden State Parkway, 45 minutes to go 41 miles.  This is the tallest lighthouse and almost impossible to get a picture of while on the grounds, thus my picture is outside the fence.  There were a lot of people here at this time that were taking group pictures in front of the porch so I grabbed what I could with the least amount of people present.  HWSNSBP was doing the token pickup at the lighthouses while I was doing the photographs to save time.  They did ask him to put a mask on before entering this building.  All the others did not.

We were getting closer to home and on our way to Tucker's Island Lighthouse in Tuckerton.  We travelled about an hour and 34 miles taking a little detour to once again find a WaWa for a pit stop.  This is actually a reconstruction of the original which perished in a storm a long time ago.  There was a gentleman in line in front of HWNSNBP who was bragging that he was going to finish the entire challenge in one day.  The challenge worker there pretty much told him that was impossible because it was around 3:30 and the lighthouses were only open until 6:00.  There are 6 more stops after this one and our goal was to get to 2 more for our first day.  The guy was insistent that he was going to do it but we doubted that he could. 

On to familiar digs - the Barnegat Light Museum at the north end of Long Beach Island and within walking distance of Old Barney.  You can tell by HWNSNBP's wardrobe that it was an unseasonably warm day although at this point the temps were beginning to drop and rain was moving in from the west.  From Tuckerton to here it took us a quick 50 minutes to go 22 miles.  I say quick because at this time of the year the traffic lights on the north end of LBI are turned off and the speed limits are raised a little so you can get to the north end much faster than during the summer months.

They have a beautiful garden on the left side and around the back of this building and at this time of year it's a little worn out (as are much of the summer plantings everywhere), but this rose caught my eye.  There was only this one on a, I won't even call it a bush because it was tall and thin and over my head which is why I asked HWNSNBP to pull it down so I could get a picture of it.

Around the corner and into the parking lot at the home of Old Barney in Barnegat Light on the Barnegat Inlet.  I've taken so many pictures of this lighthouse and try to find different views.  This was up through the trees on the path outside the Visitor's Center building.  I should note that at this stop and the last one HWNSNBP was providing weather predictions for the upcoming rain to the challenge workers.   They were going to be closing up shop for the day at 6 and that was just about the time that the rain would begin.  

This was our last challenge stop for the day and from the lighthouse we made a short detour to say hi to some friends who live on LBI year round and left as the storm clouds were approaching.  HWNSNBP had pretty much nailed the forecast.  The was very angry looking but the rain was brief and non-existent by the time we reached the condo about a half hour later.  

And,  while we settled in with our dinner and baked goodd there was a little treat of fireworks from across the nature preserve before the bigger rain came.  I looked back through my pictures and there were fireworks there last year also - don't know what the celebration is though.

So we had left at 6:48 a.m. from Branchburg and made it to Barnegat by 6:25 for a total of 337 miles.

Day 2 to come.

Jingle Belles - Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

If you follow along with the Jingle Belles and here you will know that this time of year is saved for a very special challenge - the Pink Challenge for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Pink holiday cards with a majority of pink on them are the criteria.  

Most of you that follow know that flying pigs are special to me and even though this pig doesn't have wings it can certainly fly down a hill on those skis.  I bought this skiing Santa pig stamp from Rabbit Hole Designs last winter and didn't get around to using it until now.  A pink pig would be perfect for this challenge - but how to stage her........

But first to color her I stamped it in fade out ink and used my decades-old Prismacolor pencils with a few gel pen accents where needed.  Choosing the right shades of pink to try to match the background papers was an afterthought - well, after I finished the first one.  I searched through my papers to find backgrounds to blend with and also the card backing.  This pig's complexion proved a little harder.  Which made me glad that I didn't color the few images that I had stamped in tandem.  

I chose a different combination of pinks for this card and trust me, those doilies are white IRL, they look a little dingy in the photo.  

When I bought the stamp I also bought the die so I didn't have to fussy cut it.  The sentiments "Merry Pigmas" and "Happy Hoglidays" came with the stamp and I should note that HWNSNBP doesn't care for either, but I thought they would be okay.  Thoughts?

So, the other special part of this challenge is the donation that goes to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation by our Jingle Belle hostesses.  They each donate $2 for each card = $4/card combined.  

Since my pink pig has a personal tie to breast cancer awareness I thought it would be a nice idea to make a donation of $2 for each comment I get on this post (1 per user).  If you can't figure out how to make a comment, send me an e-mail and I'll count you in.  If you post as anonymous I'll need an e-mail as there could be multiple anonymous posters.  Click on my profile for my e-mail info.

I'll be visiting all the other Pink Christmas participants soon and you can too by clicking here and leaving some love.

UFO's - Of a Different Kind

UFO's - Unidentified Flying Objects or............. UFO's can be UnFinished Objects.  In this case they were identified flying objects that were unfinished.

Going through some of the accumulated "stuff" both in the stamp cave and our "den - repurposed as HWNSNBP's work space" things were found.  Many of them unfinished, lots of them unstarted.  In the stamp cave I found some bead and wire ornament kits.  Two of them were angel kits which I decided to complete this summer.  They weren't hard to do, I just kept putting other projects before them, but finally finished them up a couple of weeks ago.  

This next UFO I found whilst looking for something different with a Halloween theme (which I still haven't found).  At some point, who knows how long ago, I had started cross-stitching this witches dress.  At least I think it was me, or it could have been part of my sister's stuff that I wound up with.  In any case some of the lower leaves had already been started and since it's October and the time for witches I thought it would be a good time to actually finish this.  I ran into a problem when I ran out of floss for the pumpkin on the right.  Thankfully the instructions had the number of each of the floss colors so I was able to pick up another skein at Michael's.  Of course I chose to get back into cross-stitching with black canvas and a pattern that used half-stitches - meaning my eyes were challenged as well as my fingers.  And if that wasn't enough of a challenge, the clothespin for this kit was MIA and despite all the wood bits and bobs that I have (a post for another time) I couldn't find one in my stash.  I did find a few 1"x4" blocks and I was able to carve one down with my dremel tool into a head and body.  I thought I had taken a picture of the before and after but apparently I didn't.  I gave her a green face and black body underneath and substituted some orange ribbon for the suggested floss bow.  I think she turned out rather cute. 

Now where did I put those cross-stitch angels again?  It might be nice to get them done before Christmas. 

Jingle Belles - Dashing Through the Snow

Our nights have been getting cooler but thankfully not cool enough for snow yet.  However, those Jingle Belles wanted us to be in a snowy-frame of mind and add snow, in any form, to our cards.  So here's a family of Flakes surrounded by flakes wishing Joy.

I took these photos at the same time in the same place and see how the camera changes that wood background depending on the color of the card background.  It's frustrating at times and I really should get out one of my lightboxes but I'm playing Goldilocks as one is too big and the other is too small and I thought this natural lighting would be just right.  No porridge for me!

The snowman were cut from a portion of a larger stamp by Newton's Nook - Frozen Fellowship.  The JOY die is from Ellen Hutson, and I don't know the source of the snowflake die at this time.   I used white glitter paper for that and wish I would have remembered the tip from my stamping friend LeAnne about peeling the backing off the glitter paper before die cutting it.  It was much easier to punch out that die on the second one after I had spent so much time with an exacto knife on the first when it didn't completely punch through.  I stamped some additional snowflakes onto the card base in VersaMark ink.  The little glitter snowflakes are the punchouts from the snowflake die.

I've really got to get back up into the stamp cave and tidy up, but I think I'll visit some of the other snowy contributions to the Jingle Belles first.  You can join in by clicking here.

Foxes and Owls

I've had this Sizzix die set in my stash for a while now and decided it was time to make some foxes and owls.  I will find some autumn treats for the grandsons to fill them up.  I think maybe some pretzel nuggets and goldfish as their parents aren't too keen on the sugary treats.  (But I might sneak a few M&M's in there for a real treat.)

 

September Birthday

My mother turned 90 in September and I forgot to get this posted before the calendar page turned.  These sunflowers are for her.  They are made using a new BotaniCut die from The Greetery.  The background is also a from The Greetery.

We passed a field of sunflowers today but we didn't stop.   Last year they were in an adjoining field and their heads were all faced away from the road so it was totally unexpected to see them facing out a little further back.  They say they follow the sun so I guess you have to know the right time for viewing.