A Look Back at 2024

Our year was filled a little wandering, a Caribbean Cruise, a high school graduation, a hurricane, and many quiet days. Health issues for both of us kept us close to home most of the year.

January

Our plans for January were to spend a quiet month at home. It’s a good thing we didn’t have any plans because in early January two major things happened. My 16 year old car died and we had to replace it.

I also tripped going up the stairs to our house and broke my left arm. I was happy to hear I wouldn’t need surgery. I wore a brace on my arm for weeks. It took a while before I could use my left had so I learned how to do many things with one hand. That’s a skill I hope I never have to use again. The good news is I am right handed!

February

We were scheduled to go on a two week Caribbean cruise in February. My doctor gave me the go ahead to go with my broken arm so off we went. It was a challenge getting through the airports with our luggage but we made it to Puerto Rico for a two night stay before boarding our ship. The ship, the crew, the islands, the sunrises and sunsets, and the food were amazing! It was a great getaway.

I couldn’t have gotten through the trip without Henry! I’m grateful for Henry and the staff at the hotel, the crew on the ship, and the drivers and guides who helped me get on and off of boats and buses.

March

March was filled with St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations.

Wandering Dawgs celebrated 11 years of blogging in March. Thank you to everyone who follows the blog and reads the posts. I appreciate all of your kind comments.

April

The spring flowers in our garden were beautiful this year.

May

May began with a day at the Savannah Scottish Games. Later in the month we had a great visit with our daughter’s family when we traveled to attend our granddaughter’s graduation.

June

We stayed at home all of June. I enjoyed a few walks on the beach.

July

July was another quiet month at home with more walks on the beach.

August

August was hot but the heat didn’t keep the hummingbirds away.

September

Butterflies were feeding on the nectar of our garden flowers before Hurricane Helene came roaring through in September. We lost power for two days and had to get a new roof after the storm. We were very fortunate and our hearts go out to those who are still suffering because of this powerful storm.

October

My Meyer Lemon tree lost most of it’s leave in the hurricane but over 30 lemons survived. On a beautiful October afternoon we spent the afternoon at Ft. Pulaski.

November

Instead of a turkey this year we celebrated Thanksgiving by making our family’s secret recipe Brunswick Stew. Making the stew brought back many happy memories of family gatherings when we all took turns Stirring the Stew.

December

In December I harvested over 30 Meyer Lemons just before we were expecting a freeze. We took a road trip and stopped for a picture of the UGA Football Barn Sign along the way. If you are not familiar with American college football, we are huge fans of the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Our Grand Dog Jack enjoyed his new bed on Christmas Eve.

I learned a long time ago that no one knows what tomorrow will bring. When health issues and doctor’s appointments slowed us down this year we cancelled a couple of trips we had planned and made the best of the time we spent at home. I’m grateful for all of the places we have been over the years and hope to be able to make some more trips close to home in the future.

Don’t put off doing the things you dream of. Cross off those bucket list items while you can. Every day is a gift!

Wishing you good health, happiness and much joy in 2025!

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills Year in Review

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #306 – Habitat

Tina’s challenge is to examine the habitats of both humans/and or animals.

A quote from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources tells us that “Georgia’s coastal marshlands encompass approximately 368,000 acres in a four to six mile band behind the barrier islands. Thriving in the waters of the estuaries, these marshes have been identified as one of the most extensive and productive marshland systems in the United States. There are nearly 400,000 acres of coastal marshlands in Georgia which represent a considerable portion of all remaining marshlands along the entire eastern coast of the United States.”

I chose to feature images of some of the birds that feed on the fish, shrimp, snails, and other small creatures that live in the salt marsh. Sometimes I see the birds perched in a tree or on a dock above the marsh as they search for food. It’s fun to watch them wade through the marsh or a creek as they feed.

Great egret wades through the salt marsh searching for food
Ibis feeding in the salt marsh
Wood Stork
Roseate Spoonbills and Great Egrets share a tree
Roseate Spoonbill fishing in a tidal creek
Great Blue Heron perched on a rail above the marsh
Osprey searching for fish

Many thanks to our host Tina for this challenge Lens-Artists #306 – Habitat

A Look Back at 2023

Our year was filled with some wandering, some quality time at home, and good times with family and friends.

January

A week long getaway to the Florida Gulf Coast was just what we needed to start the year. The week was filled with beautiful sunrises, bird watching, swimming with manatees, and a Mermaid show at Weeki Watchee Springs State Park.

February

February was a quiet month at home with porch sitting when the weather was nice, a trip to the Ships of the Sea Museum in Savannah with friends, attending the Livestrong program two days a week, and watching the camellias bloom.

March

We stayed home for the month. The azaleas were blooming and the days were filled with St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations with the Junkanoo band from the Bahamas.

April

We took a road trip to do some wandering in middle Georgia, enjoyed the spring flowers in our garden, and watched a few backyard birds.

May

We celebrated Henry’s birthday at a Savannah Bananas game and made a trip to Virginia to visit family.

June

We celebrated my birthday with a road trip to Orlando where we had a delicious birthday lunch at Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and spent a day at the Animal Kingdom theme park.

July

July brought a gorgeous full moon, a double rainbow and a trip to the Georgia mountains to celebrate our anniversary.

August

The weather was hot but the flowers in the garden were blooming at home. We made another trip to middle Georgia where we wandered around Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch.

September

There were walks on the beach and gorgeous sunrises.

Tybee Island Sunrise

October

I made a trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Back at home we wandered around Ft. Pulaski National Monument one day.

November

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale to begin our long awaited Panama Canal and Central America Cruise. Watch for another post about this adventure coming soon.

December

We celebrated the holidays with friends and family at home. Some mornings I woke up to a brilliant orange sky at sunrise.

Coastal Georgia Sunrise

There were also many events with no photos to share. In March I completed a three month Livestrong program for cancer survivors at our local YMCA and I still continue to stay fit with water aerobics and other classes at the gym. We had some long delayed home home improvements taken care of. We cheered on our 13 year old granddaughter at a few middle school volleyball and basketball games. We were safe and dry in our home as we watched and heard the rain and wind from hurricane Idelia passed by in August.

Wandering Dawgs celebrated 10 years of blogging in March. I appreciate all of you who read and follow my posts. I’m looking forward to keep this up for a while.

Wishing you good health, happiness and much joy in 2024!

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills

Summertime is My Lazy Time

July and August in coastal Georgia are always hot, humid and stormy. It’s too hot to sit outside on my porch or go out to take photos. With heat indexes over 100 degrees Fahrenheit it’s easy to be lazy and stay inside to cool off in the air conditioning. Many afternoons have found me inside reading or watching the storms as they roll in. The rainbows after the storm have been spectacular.

The full moons have been spectacular, too.

It’s much too hot to go out and tend to my garden. This year I got lazy and put off pulling weeds in my flower beds because of the heat. I finally found that if I got started pulling weeds about 8:00 a.m. I could get a little work done before the heat got too much for me. Despite my lack of attention, some of the flowers are thriving.

Here in coastal Georgia we usually don’t start getting cooler weather until October. Until then, if you need me, I’ll be inside where it’s cool.

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills Lazy, Hazy Daze of Summer