Harkers Island in Instagram

Harkers Island, Instagram, originally uploaded by Scarlett Design.

  This weekend I took a short hike, and decided I would just use my phone for photos instead of carrying my camera. I knew the light wouldn't be good mid day and Jon is out of town, so its easier for me to send him photos from my phone than to download them onto my computer first.

  Harkers Island is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore, but unlike the rest of the barrier islands, this one is accessible without a boat ride. This part of the national seashore is pretty small, the entire circuit hike I did of the area was only 2 miles. But its pretty, and is just the sort of trail I like, going through several different ecosystems: marsh, coastal forest, and past a small pond. This is exactly the type of walk Jon and I like for Sunday afternoons with a picnic, and we'll definitely be back here with the dogs once the weather gets cooler.

52 Photos Project: At the End of the Day

http://www.52photosproject.com/2013/09/gallery-20-at-end-of-day.html

IMG_1156, originally uploaded by Scarlett Design.

  My day often ends in the same place it begins, on my back porch, reading my email, pausing to admire the changing light and these beautiful towering pines.

Cape Lookout National Seashore

This last weekend, Jon, the dogs, and I took the ferry out to the Cape Lookout National Seashore. It was beautiful. We had planned on going to the beach, but instead spent most of the day exploring and driving the mostly deserted beach.

  Unlike Ocracoke Island, the South Core Banks has no permanent residents, although there are several cabins located near the vehicle ferry landing. There is also a Lighthouse, and a small, uninhibited fishing village. But mostly it is just a 20 mile long stretch of sand and dunes.

Due to high winds, the ocean side of the island was cooler than we had expected, but the sky was a beautiful, bright blue.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

An abandoned home in the old fishing village.

If you go, seriously consider brining a 4WD vehicle. The vehicle ferry costs more than the passenger ferry, but the island is too big to explore on foot in just one day.

52 Photos Project: Light and Dark

IMG_1189, originally uploaded by Scarlett Design.

A hawk, gliding on air currents against a cloudy, white sky.

I took this last week, while walking in the Croatan National Forest, and I think it works perfectly for this weeks 52 Photos Project Gallery, Light and Dark.

Flanners Beach

  For a few months now I've been curious to check out this beach on the Nuese River, part of the Croatan National Forest. I finally got a chance thanks to a week of rainy, cooler weather. It was really pretty, and quite deserted, probably due to the rain, and the dogs and I had the area mostly to ourselves for 45 minutes.  There are two beach areas, one is a little wilder, with a sloping wooded trail down to the water, and a small stretch of sand, with fallen trees. Once the weather cools off enough for us to start taking out Sunday walks as a family again I think we'll come back to this area frequently.

52 Photos Project: Unusual and Uncommon

IMG_1195, originally uploaded by Scarlett Design.

Unfortunately, what's unusual for me right now is getting out of the house at all. After 2 months were still getting settled in the new house, and the weather has been so humid we haven't explored the area much. Fortunately, thanks to some thunderstorms this week, we've actually gotten some cooler weather, and today I was able to get my dogs out for a decent walk. We went to Flanners Beach, on the Nuese River, in the Croatan National Forest. It was a very pretty area, all fresh and green from all the rain we've gotten this week. And the beach was interesting too, just a narrow stretch of sand along the river with cypress trees almost down to the water.

Cape Lookout National Seashore

  This weekend I finally got a day off! Its the first time, since we moved a month ago, that I wasn't working on something in the house, either unpacking, rearranging, or cleaning. I didn't even do dishes. It was great!

  We went out on a friends boat, to the Cape Lookout National Seashore, and went to the beach. It was an amazing, relaxing day. The water was so warm we just sat in it for hours swimming and drinking beer. In the picture it looks like the beach was pretty crowded, but the nearest boat was actually at least 100 feet away.

First Camping Trip of 2013, Ocracoke Island

  Easter weekend was our first camping trip of the 2013, to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks. We were here for Easter weekend last year too, but this year was definitely colder, still comfortable for sleeping outside though, and the sun was warm, so great for sitting out on the beach, just not for swimming.

Flip flops! And now that it is started to warm up, finally, I've worn them several times since. I made the skirt myself, using a pattern from the Alabama Studio Style Book. I'll hopefully get around to posting full length photos of it sometime soon, because I love how it came out.

Alone on the beach. We got the off road driving pass so we were able to drive out to a nice secluded spot on the beach. We saw maybe 3 other trucks all day. Even last year on July 4 weekend, other vehicles were at least 50 feet away even during the most crowded part of the day.

I love collecting shells, and I found a bunch of little pink ones to bring home with me this time.

This is the third time we've been to Ocracoke, and every time I wish I had a few more days. I haven't even gotten around to exploring much of the little village yet. Hopefully, I'll be back soon.