Merry Christmas, Rockport Style

Merry Christmas!

It still seems kind of strange not to be awakened at 5 a.m. Christmas morning by excited children...even though we've been empty nesters for about 10 years. But we really enjoyed our leisurely morning, simple breakfast, and opening our gifts one at a time, appreciating each one. More and more our gifts to one another center around our individual interests. So Curt got plenty of books and some things to help with his new interest in fishing, and I received art supplies of varying kinds (paints, brushes, inks, etc.). Here's Curt sporting his new waders and boots, topped off with a beautiful scarf which our daughter Jessica knitted him:

We decided to head out for a walk on the beach in late morning. As we went outside, there was a couple who had driven into our driveway looking for information about renting the cottages. We often have visitors coming to the house, thinking it's the office, since we're the biggest cottage and we're closest to the road. At any rate, we had a wonderful long conversation with this couple from Houston, Barbara and John. 

They're thinking about perhaps some lifestyle changes while they're still in good health. We encouraged them enthusiastically. These past 7 months of daring to do something different have really been a joy for us!

Then on to the beach. It was a bit blustery, so we pretty much had the whole shoreline to ourselves.

Here's a flock of skimmers coming in for a landing on the water. They're amazing looking birds!

Pebbles on the shore. So many different colors!

The tide was out more than usual, so we could see lots of shallow and uncovered spots in the water. The pier in the distance is the one we're standing on in the following two photos, looking back toward shore.

As we strolled back toward the car, we spotted another kite-boarder in the bay. Brrrr! It was a chilly day to be out in the water, and since this guy wasn't as experienced as the last one I showed photos of, he spent quite a bit of time in the water. Way more time than up on his board!

How do you like the sun's reflection on the water? It was so beautiful! One of these days I'll do a blog with just photos of the water and sky in all different moods and weather and kinds of lighting, so you can see the variety we enjoy everyday.

Before leaving the beach, Curt, inspired by the woman we saw feeding seagulls the day before, pulled out a bag of breadcrumbs. There were a few gulls nearby, facing away from us into the wind, but the moment that bag came out, they KNEW! Suddenly the air was filled with flapping wings and gull cries. You toss up a handful of crumbs, and very few of them hit the ground. These guys are amazing acrobats, and they snag the crumbs in the air without hitting each other. Amazing!

Here's Curt telling them they can't have anymore. But they're not leaving...they can see there's still bread in the bag!

So he gave in....

I was just as happy to stand off to the side and take pictures. Something about being closely surrounded by a hundred flapping screeching gulls is just a little too intense for my liking!

Having worked up an appetite, back home we enjoyed the feast that we'd been waiting for. Fresh crab legs! They were so sweet and delicious! We think we like king crab legs even better than all the lobster we consumed in Maine last summer. Not totally sure, though...we'll have to try more of both to make up our minds definitively. 

Not much left!!!

After dinner I laid down on the sofa in the sunroom for a brief nap...and ended up sleeping almost 2 hours!!! When I opened my eyes, I saw the most stunning sunset. So, barely awake, I grabbed my iPad and stumbled outdoors. Over the next 10 minutes I was treated to brilliant colors in every direction. In our part of town it's hard to get a sky shot without telephone poles or wires, but just ignore those if you can, and soak in the flaming colors. I was thrilled! 

It started with smooth pastels, but quickly moved on from there.

What a way to end a beautiful Christmas Day! 

Christmas Eve in Rockport-Fulton

Rockport's Christmas tree

Happy Christmas Eve! I didn't realize how many days had passed since I last blogged, until Curt's sister Patty emailed and asked me if I was finished writing the blog. No, indeed! I guess I have some catching up to do! But tonight I'll start with just a little Christmas cheer around our corner of the South Coast, and then I'll backtrack and catch up a little in the next few days.

First order of business this morning, since the temperature was mild and the wind was relatively quiet, was to take a bike ride. We could see that within the hour the wind was going to kick up from 12 to 22 mph, and the temp was going to start dropping 2-3 degrees an hour, so we hopped on our bicycles and started to tour around the harbor and the little town of Fulton.

Here's one of the boats at harbor, decorated with lots of inflatable characters. Santa appears to be taking a nap up there in the rigging.

We stopped in a few places we hadn't been before. Checked out a couple of fresh seafood places, but decided to stick with our favorite Flowers Shrimp Shop, even though it's about 5 miles away. We passed the Bait Shop here at Fulton Harbor, and they're all decorated for the holidays as well:

We wanted to check out the expansion of Moondog's, a local bar/eatery. We ate lunch there a few years ago when we were vacationing here. At that time it wasn't much more than a little shack on the harbor. We recall that the food wasn't much to brag about, and the atmosphere was pretty dingy. But they've done a lot to it, so we wanted to see the changes. The first thing that caught my eye was the sign. It made me laugh out loud, so I had to stop for a picture:

It wasn't until we went inside and then out on the new upper deck in the back that we could see the original small blue building. All the new structures have been built around it and enclosed it. No wonder it looks so different than it did a few years ago!

The view from the back deck is wonderful. Now THAT is a place I could enjoy eating!

They've even done a little landscaping out front, which isn't something you find often in Fulton:

The menu looked good, but since it wasn't lunchtime yet, we pedaled on. We'll try the food someday soon and give a report then.

We turned away from the beach and rode through some residential streets. At one point we passed two young men fishing in a channel cut between some condominiums. Just as we passed by, one of them pulled up a beautiful 20" speckled trout. Curt gave him the thumbs up sign, and the young man called out, "Do you want it? I'm just going to throw it back!" Quick U-turn! We were delighted to take the fish off his hands. Curt hooked his thumb through a gill and we headed home. Curt had to ride his bike with one hand, holding the fish that was whipping and bucking all the way home. 

Ok, NOW it was time for lunch!

Later, as we got in the car to run some errands, we drove by the spot, just in case the guys were still fishing and wanted to give away more fish. They were gone, but what we saw made us laugh. Right in the spot where they had been fishing was this sign:

No wonder that fish tasted so good!

We headed to the library in Rockport to get our library cards:

We had gone by there a couple weeks ago to do that, but we couldn't find the library. Turns out it was under a huge black plastic tent, being fumigated for an infestation of bedbugs, of all things! I'm happy to report that so far, we haven't experienced any itching from our library visit. 

Curt found himself a new girlfriend there. He has a way of making fast friends with quick-witted older women, and he and Joyce bantered back and fort and swapped friendly insults with each other the whole time we were in the library. Already he's looking forward to returning the books we checked out!

Then down to the harbor at Rockport to see a section of the dock decked out for the season:

We watched a woman feeding the seagulls. It can be so quiet without a gull in sight, and the instant someone opens up a bag of bread and begins tossing pieces up into the air, the gulls pour in out of nowhere, clamoring for a piece. It's a pretty impressive sight!

Back at home I found a single gull taking a bath in the swimming pool that's right outside our front door:

Apparently he can't read the sign any better than our generous fishermen friends could!

This evening we attended a beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service with Communion at our little Methodist Church in Rockport. The church was so lovely, with all the banners in ivory and gold:

As Pastor Laura preached about the love of Christ coming in the form of an infant, she was able to illustrate some of her sermon while holding a brand new 4-day old baby boy from one of the families in the congregation:

I sang in the choir:

Tonight the church looked totally different than it did this past Sunday morning, when we sang the Christmas cantata, with the colors and banners of Advent as the backdrop:

Now we're tucked snugly at home, enjoying our own little Christmas tree, reflecting on the glorious and unfathomable love that God expressed that first Christmas. We pray that you know the peace and joy brought by the Christ Child so many years ago.

Tonight may you sleep in heavenly peace.

Historic Homes Tour...Saved the Best for Last

Forgive me for making you wait so long to see this last house on the Christmas Historic Homes Tour. I've been out of town. But I hope you'll agree that it's worth the wait. 

Here's the front again... Very pleasant and inviting, but the outside did nothing to prepare me for the inside. When we walked onto the front porch, and the docent greeted us, I thought the porch was lovely. 

She explained that the original part of the house was built in 1938, after many years of the depression. Just a small square building....tiny kitchen and bathroom, one small bedroom and a living room. That part has now been converted to two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a laundry room, and the newer addition has a living room and kitchen/dining room area. Still not a large house by today's standards. When we opened the front door we were greeted by a wonderful riot of color and texture:

The living room:

The owner is a CPA, and this is a vacation home for her and her husband. She loves to collect folk art, and she has an amazing eye for combining pieces from different countries and cultures, and blending them all together in a happy explosion of color. Every corner of the house is filled with interesting and colorful combinations. I couldn't get enough of it!

The kitchen...

The art on the side of the fridge:

Dining area...

Here is another lovely docent who shared a bit more about the history of the house:

bedroom #1:

Bedroom#2:

Check out the bathroom sinks and decorations:

I love the crabs!

Even the laundry room is fun!

And then...the color parade continued to the back yard and patio:

Looking back inside from the patio:

Even the garage wall is decorated!

You could wander around that little house for hours and still not see it all. On the way out, I saw one of my favorite things: a very simple Nativity scene:

Check out the nose on Baby Jesus. I love it!

As we left the house, I took a backward glance. No, indeed... From looking at it from the street, you really would have no idea how exciting it is inside. It was just like finding a hidden treasure!

As we returned to our little beach cottage, the time for the tour was almost over. We entered our house along with the other tour participants, pretending we were looking around for the first time. It was such fun to have the docents, who didn't know us from anyone else,  telling us all about the cottage, the history, the owners, and the people who are renting it for the season (us). Kind of funny having someone tell you about yourself in the third person. Curt finally fessed up and told them who we were. We all had a good laugh, and then they stayed a bit longer for some really nice conversation. I must admit, they were very good sports about being fooled.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. Phoebe estimated that almost 400 people went through our house in those two days! And it was none the worse for the wear,,,just a few extra sand burrs to pull out of the carpets as we walk around in our bare feet. The whole thing was really a fun experience.