Mermaid Cottages

Can we get any busier???

2009-07-04T18:48:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry to everyone for not blogging the past week , but we are right in the heart of season and I'm so busy my head is spinning! I'm trying to slow down a bit and be intentional each day in my thoughts and plans and goals for the day, but when the island is this full and all our guests are here and every single cottage is full each and every day, it's just hard to live with intent sometimes! I'm so grateful for everyone who has found us and staying ( or trying to stay) in our cottages and homes . I also took 3 days to go to Atlanta to watch my all grown up nephew Ryan plan in the Junior Olympics for Volley Ball and spend time in the stands with my sister and brother in law watching Ryan's team play. Not the best time for a road trip, but I wouldn't have missed this for the world. And then on Friday, the reservation server we use in Seattle had a major fire and for almost 48 hours guests couldn't make a reservation on line or access our info.... And it's the 4th of July weekend!!!

I will catch everyone up on what's happening on Tybee and with the cottages- lots and lots of great stuff. In the meantime, right now I'm looking out my front door and there is all the folks from the movie being shot here- The Last Song- and they're shooting a scene- literally in front of my cottage! I can see Miley and Kelly Preston talking in the car. And Danny my dog won't stop barking....... hmmmm- I guess it didn't understand that quiet on the set means him too.....

My baby birds are growing up!

2009-06-27T18:26:00.002-04:00

My amazing little baby birds are starting to fly. All this week they kept getting braver and braver venturing from the nest more and more. They'd sit on the branches for hours on end just flapping their wings. They are really too big for the nest now, but one will take turns sitting in the nest at a time. Then on Friday they started to fly! They flew from their branch on the live oak over to the big palm tree. They'd stay there for a long time then fly back to their live oak. Then today they've been gone for hours but now are just sitting on the branch, their feet tightly clinched and wrapped around their branch- they look exhausted. I don't think it will be long before they fly and take off for good. I'm sure going to miss these little guys!

The Carnival came to town

2009-06-25T21:37:00.000-04:00

Those Disney folks just keep amazing us with what they are creating on Tybee. The newest scene for the movie was the "Tybee Seafood Festival" complete with a full blown carnival on the beach. A honest to goodness carnival was set up for the shooting and the Pier and Pavilion was turned into an old style carnival/ festival. Much of the shooting was done at night and the pier and beach was lit us with huge Football stadium style lights. My pictures aren't the best but they show how the area looked. Tonight everything is gone, just like it was never here. But we are brainstorming about recreating this as an event next spring because it was so much fun just to have it all here for a few days!

We DO live on an island!

2009-06-24T22:49:00.009-04:00

The Tidal Flooding is wild! Spring tides combined with the new moon created this abnormal sitaution. The water is creeping up everywhere on the island with the tidal flooding 10 feet over the normal high tides. Highway 80- the Tybee Road was shut down last night, fortunately the road was not shut down tonight. Marsh water flooded over Venetian Drive- these are pictures taken by Sunset Cove and Tybee Tides ( appropriate name for sure!). Horesepen Creek looks like a lake because the water is so high. I rode my bike all over the island last night and was truly amazed by the water.

Oh yeah, we do live on an island surrounded by water...

2009-06-21T11:49:00.000-04:00

One of my promises this summer is to get out and enjoy the water which surrounds us. I sometimes forget we're on an island! This past week I did two things really, really fun. Kayaking with Suzanne off her pier on Horsepen Creek and ...... Paddle Boarding!

The first three pictures are of our group on taken on the North Beach with our boards. The class was conducted jointly by the Savannah Yoga Center http://www.savannahyoga.com/ and High Tide Surf Shop here on Tybee. We first did an hour class on the beach to get limber, strong and balanced ( watching the dolphins swim off shore was just an added bonus!) Then we took these big wide paddle boards and our paddles and learned how to get up on the board and then paddle around. Balance is the number one skill to have and yoga is a great teacher to learn and keep that balance. The water felt so good and warm that you honestly didn't mind falling in one bit. GREAT GREAT Class and I highly recommend the class!

The other pictures are of Suzanne's dock on Horsepen Creek which is just a few blocks from my cottage. We put the kayaks right in off her dock, paddled down the creek towards the back river and then paddled over to Little Tybee. The tide was high so it was very easy to paddle. After we got back, Suzanne who is a great cook we sat on her dock and enjoyed her literally fresh from the creek shrimp she made into shrimp salad. We kept looking for dolphins but no luck though we did paddle right by two dolphins in the Back River. Heaven on earth!

Tybee updates on a hot Saturday

2009-06-20T17:56:00.006-04:00

Boy it's hot! This is like August weather- which I know all of our guests are loving but the rest of us are just hot !! Updates on life on Tybee-

The Saga of the Green Herons continues:

One of the baby green herons fell out of the nest on Friday!!! DRAMA! ANGST! WORRY! The poor mother and father green heron were flying all over talking but he/she was in the ground level bushes and there was no way I could get him/ her back up to the nest. I called around and found the most amazing person- her mission in life is to rescue and rehab wild birds. Pat is permitted and certified thru the US Fish and Wildlife and knows what she's doing. I followed her instructions and drove the little guy to The Landings in a big box where Pat lives and works- he was screeching the whole time, but I knew if he stayed in the bushes someone would come along and eat him during the night. I talked to Pat today- he's not eating unless she hand feeds him and he's scared and lonely. The good news is she's picking up two more baby green herons on Monday and they'll all be together. I've been lecturing the two remaining baby bird to stay put and not try and fly the coop early like their brother/ sister did! It's unreal how fast they are growing up- they are still another week or so away from flying but they perch all day long on those branches. Mom has been feeding them and enjoying my bird bath in the front yard. These are pictures of the nest and then the two pictures are of Pat holding my little guy and showing me his wings and how he was too young to fly.

The Last Song Movie Update:

We just continue to adore these movie folks! The pier has been turned into the 37th Annual Tybee Island Seafood Festival with a beach carnival, a completely cleaned up and fluffed pier and all the excitement of Disneyland on Tybee Island. Extras were hired from all over the community and were in the shoot the past two days. Friday night was the night shoot on the pier with the lights going, music playing, extras in place- and action! A bunch of us watched from the beach looking up to the pier and it truly was magical! I'm looking for some evening pictures from last night so hopefully I can post for everyone to see how great it looked!

We love Miley!

2009-06-18T09:15:00.003-04:00

We truly love our newest summer resident. She is not only here working very hard on the movie that will positively affect our island's economy for years to come, but she's constantly out and about enjoying the island like the rest of our summer guests! There have been Miley sightings all over ( and let's not forget how much we love Greg Kinnear as well who's equally out and about enjoying Tybee.)

This is a picture taken and then posted on the internet of Miley playing very impromptu at Stingray's Seafood restaurant right on Butler and 14th Street. Here in the words of Libby Green who wrote about what happened:

"Miley apparently felt rather musical after dinner so she decided she wanted to sing and play guitar with a local artist named Jason Courtney.
Libby writes: "One of the few talents artist around, she played the guitar beautifully and sang even better. ( the song she wrote was in her pocket, she used it to remember the lyrics, pretty sure it was a " getting over a break-up song")"
No need to guess what that song was about!
But, how nice! What a treat for Tybee Island!
Most people are shelling out 80 bucks a seat to see Lil' Miley belt a tune. We bet this intimate performance was much better!"

Thank you Miley! We hope you continue to enjoy our island paradise all summer!

My baby birds have a name- Green Herons!

2009-06-18T09:02:00.004-04:00

I LOVE how so many of you are reading the blog! I heard from not one but two of our loyal readers who've told me my baby birds ( and mother and father) are Green Herons. Here is the info they shared with me. This picture is how a male looks. Here's some info they shared:

"The female green heron lays three to six eggs in a nest made of sticks. Both the female and male make the nest. The male gathers the materials and the female constructs the nest. The nest is built in a tree, in a dense thicket, or occasionally, in the reeds or cattails in a marsh or in an orchard. The eggs take about three weeks to hatch and both parents incubate the eggs. The chicks are fed regurgitated food by both parents. When a parent comes to the nest, the chicks grab its bill to stimulate regurgitation. The chicks fledge in about three weeks but are hopping around the nest and snapping at insects when they are two weeks old. "

Our babies are making me very nervous! They are all three out of the nest and sitting on the tree limbs watching everything that is going on in the neighborhood. I wish they would stay in their nest until they are ready to fly! They are still too young to fly and if one of them were to fall out of that nest, not sure what I would do... I'm going to try and take some pictures to share.

The baby birds have hatched

2009-06-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

You really can't see in these pictures- but there is a very unique looking bird's nest. It's built from twigs and branches like an osprey nest but much smaller. The bird that built the next hangs out in my front yard, drinks in my bird bath and watches my front door and all the comings and goings. The babies have hatched! I saw two or three little fuzzy chicks sitting on the edge of the nest yesterday. The mom was else where but the babies are either waiting to learn to fly or also just watching everything that happens on my street ( and believe me right now my street is a very interesting place to watch and observe!) The bird is very odd, Michael Boddine our technology guru and I were trying to figure out what she is and my camera couldn't pick up her up in my pictures. She's a dark purple with little tufts on her head and about the size of a duck ( but she looks more like a small heron or egret) I'll hopefully be able to capture her on film better next time. I hope I can also see the babies better today!

My Garden is flourishing!

2009-06-16T16:11:00.000-04:00

No- it's not the rain barrels ( but I have collected .5 inch of water!) but look how beautiful my garden is doing this year!!! I love the addition of the Sunflowers- this will now be a yearly plantings because they are so big and beautiful. BTW- the rain barrels can't be painted- they need to be black for some reason ( I had asked) . I also don't have a rain spout to collect more water- I just need to keep moving the barrels around till I find the exact spot where I can collect the most water. There are butterflies and dragon flies all over the garden but so far no luck with any hummingbirds...

Tybee Tour of Homes 2009

2009-06-14T08:55:00.014-04:00

The Tybee Tour of Homes happened last weekend. For the first time in 6 years I was able to enjoy the tour vs having one ( or two or three!) homes in the tour. It was GREAT to be able to just go from home to home seeing the creative genius that is all over this island. We always are a sponsor of the Tour, but that doesn't involve any work. There were some cute little cottages , a Grande Dame Old Tybee Cottage fully restored and even a very modern "South Beach" style home with an IKEA kitchen . Thank you to all our friends on the tour committee for having such a super fundraiser and great way to spend a Saturday.

We're already on to 2010- Mary Kay Andrews has agreed to have Breeze Inn on the Tour... Visit www.tybeetourofhomes.com to see more details on this year and of course next year's tou

My Rain Barrel

2009-06-12T07:54:00.005-04:00

I have a new addition to Mermaid Manor- 2 rain barrels! They were a product of the Tybee Beautification Association and now sit on the ground ready to catch any and all rain we receive. Too bad they weren't finished about 2 weeks ago when we had that massive rain storm for days! The barrels are now all over the island at various homes and cottages and if you see the top- the have a great mesh cover to collect the water but keep the bugs and mosquito's out. We just need the rain to show out now.. Thank you Deb for coordinating this effort on the island. We're waiting for the compost containers next!

Getting ready for the Big One...

2009-06-11T08:05:00.002-04:00

As Mary Kay Andrews said.... oh my gawd it's the big one! There is an estate sale starting Friday in the historic district of Savannah... an entire home of "stuff" from the 1920's on. Preview is today and then the sale starts tomorrow. The email said to wear comfortable shoes, dress cool ( the home has no AC and it's Savannah Summer) Susan of SeaSide Sisters and I will be there looking for treasures!

The pictures are from my yard sale adventures on Tybee a few weekends ago- bed linens, metal stools, vintage hamper- the list went on and on!

I'll be taking pictures on Friday of what we find and purchase!

BLUE Ocean Film Festival 2009

2009-06-10T23:27:00.001-04:00

I've always wanted to really go to a Film Festival. SCAD has a tremedous one in the fall and I went to see Winn Coslick ( son of Jane) and his entry several years ago but I've never actually gone to all the various movies. Well, I'm finally going to an incredible Film Festival- right here in downtown Historic Savannah. BLUE is a film festival completely devoted to films about our oceans and the life within. 4 days worth!

I just came back from the opening event held at the beautiful Trustees Theatre and the showing of the first feature film by Disneynature which is a new division of Walt Disney Studios. The movie was called EARTH and opened on Earth Day 2009 . INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

I plan to see as many of the films as I can over the next three days. For the full agenda and more on the whole event go to http://www.blueoceanfilmfestival.org/

The magic photography of Richard Leo Johnson

2009-06-09T07:50:00.005-04:00

We have a new picture for our blog courstey of Breeze Inn Cottage http://www.breezeinncottage.com/ and Jane and Richard Leo Johnson http://www.atlanticarchives.com/ Richard and Jane are one of our favorite artistic teams - Jane styles and Richard does the photography and were recent guests at Mary Kay Andrew's beach cottage Breeze Inn.

They took some pictures of the cottage and were kind enough to allow us to use the pictures on our website and blog. Richard's work is currently featured in this month's issue of Coastal Living Magazine http://www.coastalliving.com/ - take a look at the amazing beach cottage he shot at the very south end of the Tybee beach. And here's a little insider tip- this home is almost next door to the home that will be featured in the movie being shot here on Tybee starting this week called The Last Song! The screen play is being written by the very famous author Nicholas Sparks and the book will be out later this year.

Thank you Richard and Jane for you glorious art and thank you Mary Kay Andrews for allowing us to manage such a very special beach cottage!

Our first Sea Turtles have arrived!

2009-06-08T07:27:00.000-04:00

Horray!!!! The first Loggerhead has laid her eggs!!!! Here is the story from the Tybee Sea Turtle Project Coordinator- Tammy Smith ...

"After dark on Saturday, a loggerhead sea turtle crawled out of the surf, dug her nest, and laid 140 eggs right next to a bright red Coke can on Tybee Island's Eighth Street beach.
It was the first sea turtle nest recorded on the island this season.
Volunteer Danny Carpenter found the nest while patrolling the beach Sunday morning, said Tammy Smith, who coordinates the sea turtle volunteers through the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.
"It was a large, large nest," Smith said.
Because it was just below the high-tide line, where the eggs could drown, Smith and other volunteers relocated the nest higher up on the beach.
Smith reserved one egg for an ongoing study of sea turtle genetics and put the rest back in the new, safer location. Volunteers cordoned off the nest site to keep people out and put a wire screen over the top of it to prevent animals from stealing the eggs.
On nearby Little Tybee, raccoons depredated the first nest of the year before it could be protected, Smith said.
"They gotta eat, too," she said. "I just wish they wouldn't eat my turtle eggs."
So far this nesting season, which began in May, 128 loggerhead and four leatherback sea turtle nests have been recorded in Georgia, said Mark Dodd, the Georgia sea turtle coordinator.
While that's a slower start than last year, which turned out to have a record-breaking 1,646 nests, Dodd is predicting an average to above-average nesting season of about 1,000 to 1,400 nests.

The newest creations from Pam Martin

2009-06-05T07:50:00.000-04:00

Our newest art from SeaSide Sister favorite Pam Martin- these little wall hangings measure about 7 inches by 7 inches and are Pam's usual whimsical creations. We have palm trees, fish, mermaids, flamingo's in her bright and cheery colors. Best of all , they are only $15.00 each which means you have a piece of original art for next to nothing! We just love Pam and can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Tybee's very own produce stand

2009-06-03T09:39:00.003-04:00

We are thrilled and found yet another reason why NOT to leave the island once you cross over the Lazeretto Creek Bridge.... our very own produce stand featuring local and regional organic fruits and vegetables. Libby Bacon and her family have taken on this project and we are truly delighted. The stand just opened up last weekend and is open every day from 11AM- 7PM. Located right beside the High Tide Surf Shop ( the best place to buy a bathing suit - even for middle aged mermaids) and the logo was created by our artist friend Jill who's beautiful art is featured at SeaSide Sisters ( I told you we were all connected somehow on this island!)

Be sure you support this great little local business and shop like the Europeans do- you visit your local market and see what's fresh and then create your dinner from today's selection! Enjoy.

Tom's Fresh Fish!

2009-06-01T07:24:00.001-04:00

Tom who is not only the co owner of Breeze Inn but also known to many bloggers and readers as Mr. Mary Kay ( visit http://www.marykayandrews.com/ to read of Tom's many adventures) is also my fresh fish supplier! Tom loves to fish, Mary Kay and family aren't big fish eater fans, Tom is a very good fisherman and catches fish and as a responsible fisherman, only keeps certain fish which finds their way to my kitchen.

Saturday night was the opportunity to cook some of Tom's fish- flounder and trout were on the menu and were just delicious! Simple to prepare- dip in 1 fresh organic egg, then dip in Panko bread crumbs ( japense style bread crumbs) and then quickly cook in olive oil. Yum, yum, yum!

These pictures show Tom with the fish on the boat and then the fish in the frying pan! Doesn't get much fresher then that.

Thanks Tom ! Keep fishing!

My Gecko's are really Anoles!

2009-05-28T08:10:00.006-04:00

I've learned alot about my front porch wildlife from the Postles and the Parkmans. These are actually Anoles not chameleons or gecko's ( hey in my world those little green creatures looked like the Geico green guys on all those commercials!)

The two little guys I saw fighting and who I told to stop were indeed battling for their territory. These are the pictures from yesterday- I don't know my little friends well enough to figure out if these were two different guys on either side of my front door or the same guy who just changed from side to side. I do know the guy on the right side posed for me- my camera was inches from in ( true- it was from the inside looking out the window) but he let me close enough to click and take several pictures! His pouch was bright cherry red and he kept opening and closing the pouch to either try and scare me off or impress me. I hope they'll stick around all summer for me to watch them.

Geckos, Frogs and Birds Oh My!

2009-05-26T08:26:00.002-04:00

Who knew my cottage was a wildlife preserve! In between the rain drops this past week, I've had a chance to observe wildlife in action, literally just outside my front door!

David, our cottage handyman and retired editor from the AJC ( Atlanta's newspaper) pointed out to me I have a very large nest in the palm tree outside my door with some sort of large bird and her 6 babies. This is not a small bird- this is some sort of wood stork or other large water bird. No chance of this nest blowing out of the tree- it looks like it's made from large sticks! I tried to get a picture of the mom and babies, but I couldn't quite get them to pose.

Then on the rail on my front porch area I saw two green geckos doing what I thought was the mating dance. Both their pouches beneath their neck became big and red, but then one lurched and grabbed the other's head and looked like he was trying to eat the other!! I was so startled I yelled at them to stop which scared them both and one ran away. I think it was a fight and I saved the little guy's life!

But the loudest and funniest wildlife visitors are the frogs. My next door neighbor has a large pond in their front yard as a direct result of all this rain. Whenever this happens we have a large group of big fat squishy frogs who have this deep throated croaking which sounds like ducks! The noise is so loud that inside even with the TV on, you can hear them over honking and croaking over and over!

Just more pleasures of living on a barrier sea island- no matter how well populated we are , the wild life finds a way to shine through!

Look at the results of all the rain!

2009-05-23T09:38:00.003-04:00

All this rain ( and it's still raining....) has resulted in great flowers in my window boxes and in front of the cottage. I took these yesterday when there was a brief ( yes very brief!) break in the rain... The entire island is over flowing with rain, but also beautiful gorgeous flowers!!!

Rain Rain go away

2009-05-22T08:13:00.004-04:00

We've had rain now for the entire week. The rain is moving up the coast and has stopped on Tybee for a few days ( can you blame it? Great place to hang out for a few days!) This has been a very hard loud rain and water we'll be grateful for later this summer. I only wish I had my rain barrel in place to have been collecting all this great water! Next week I'll have two in place and will share the pictures.

The dogs wish they could be sitting out in the yard watching birds, people and bike riders. Instead they are stuck on "their" sofa looking out the window wishfully at that pouring rain.

At night the frogs arrive and start their croaking. We have a virtual pond at my neighbors home next door and the frog noise is so loud you can hear it over the TV!!! Rain again today but we're about to sneak out between showers for a quick walk.

Nests!

2009-05-21T08:06:00.006-04:00

We've had crazy winds all week. Lots of rain ( which I actually love because it helps our flowers grow so beautifully) but with the rain has come winds which make it feel like the fall and winter. I've been walking the dogs like I usually do and started to know an interesting phenomena- birds nests are being blown out of the trees!

I love nests. I love the concept of "nesting" as in being so happy in your own home ( nest) that you don't ever want to leave. If I hadn't named my own cottage Mermaid Manor I would have found a name that included the word nest. I actually just helped name one of our soon to be Mermaid Cottages which I've been sharing the process with you- Wrenn's Nest ( more pictures and details to follow soon!)

This week while walking the dogs I've brought home 4 bird nests- all empty - and they now help decorate my home. There are little birds flying everywhere on the island and singing as well- it's quite musical when you walk outside!

Enjoy my newest collection!

Farrah's Story

2009-05-20T13:31:00.000-04:00

When I was in college in the 1970's, we all tried to have Farrah's hair. There is a picture of me with my college Pom Pom squad floating around my blog somewhere from last fall of our group in the 70's what our version of this hair style- including me...

There was a special on NBC Friday night documenting Farrah's fight with cancer. Extremely personal in how open she is about the 2 year plus struggle she's going through. When she shaved her head finally - that hair that made her so famous intially- you wanted to cry because her hair is part of what so many of us grew up admiring...

There was one statement she made that I can't get out of my head since I heard this on Friday night. About a year into her struggle, she just kept saying how she wants her life back. Not the Hollywood life of making movies or going to "must see" restaurants and events but the day to day life which made up her life . The moments of life that are too easy to forget. The moments of making dinner for your 93 year old Dad, spending an evening with your girlfriends laughing and having fun, spending time working on her paintings. She's in the final stages of her cancer and the last few scenes were of her in bed because she's too sick be up and around.

I can't stop thinking about this because really and truly my life is pretty darn perfect in all it's inperfectism. I think about how healthy I am and can walk the dogs for a hour at a time if I want because I'm strong . I can go to Huckapoos on a Saturday night - riding my bike in the rain- to heard friends perform and see other friends there. I can cook a dinner making anything I'd like to eat . After hearing Farrah talk so sadly about missing her day to day life I just keep saying a silent prayer of thanks for being able to have such a rich and full day to day healthy experience. And to all of you reading this as well, do the same. There is a wonderful expression out there which says " If the only prayer you ever say is Thank You, that is enough".

I'm saying Thank You right now and mean it with my entire healthy being!