June 29 - Uncle Bill's Pancake House

Friday was breakfast at Uncle Bill's, something we look forward to every year.  Uncle Bill sure knows how to make a great breakfast.

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June 27 - Images of the shore

Some images from a day at the shore.

It started out with a long walk on the beach with my brother.  I love the different light, shadows, and textures available at the shore in the mornings.

For lunch I had the best fish taco ever at Jay's Crab Shack.  Dave said the fish and chips was really good too.  We'll be going back there.

Some relaxing at the house, supper and then off to the boardwalk.

A day at the shore.

Hermit crabs everywhere.

Yum!

Karen, Stephanie, Meredith, and Rich.

Ramping up to the boardwalk.

The time-lapse boardwalk army.

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June 26 - Family fun

Tuesday Karen's aunt and uncle came over with two of her cousins.  It's always good to see Uncle Anthony and Aunt Camille and it's surely a bonus when Janet and Julie come along too.  I've said many times that I am blessed to have married into such a great family.

My brother also arrived for a couple of days.  I really like to spend time with him and we always have a lot of fun.

Early morning.

Stephanie, Ryan, and Justin clowning around.

Karen, Julie, and Janet.

John and Anthony.

A family meeting on the beach.

Atlantic City in the distance.

While waiting for my brother to arrive
I found a nice cloud at the end of the street.

Later, the moon caught me.

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June 25 - Weather

Monday the weather threatened several times late in the day and into the evening.  It held off while we went to the boardwalk, but came back with a vengeance at about midnight.  Nothing like a storm at the shore.

Clouds are building dramatically.

The boardwalk was surprisingly empty,
perhaps because of the threatening weather.

Karen with her buddy, the Shriver's Salt Water Taffy guy.

                                       The storm hits.

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June 24 - Beach walk

Sunday was my birthday and Karen bought a delicious cake for me from the bakery downtown.  After we all had our cake several of us went for a long walk on the beach.

The sky over the sea was beautiful, with puffy clouds.

The land side with the setting sun was beautiful too, but a whole different story.

Rich, Scott, Meredith, and Karen.

We saw more ghost crabs this year than any other so far.  Everywhere we walked they were either diving back in their holes or running madly across the sand.  I'm always amazed at how fast they run.  Wikipedia says that the scientific name is Ocypode which is derived from the Greek roots "ocy-" meaning "fast" and "podos" meaning "foot".  I concur.

Sitting still for a moment.

On the way back we found a mermaid someone had made in the sand.  She had sea grass hair and shells on her tail.  She was beautiful, but due to the low light, I couldn't get all her details in one photo.

Almost home.

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June 23 - Shore trip

Saturday we arrived at Ocean City, NJ for our annual pilgrimage to the coast.  I grabbed this shot with my cell phone on the back porch at about 8:00 pm.  The sea was calm and pleasant.  The only sound was the pound of the surf and the occasional gull.

Inside the house was a completely different story.  Everyone bustling about, unpacking, finding a place for things, and enthusing about the week's vacation.  Six adults and five teenagers can raise the decibel level quite a bit during this project.  It's good to be surrounded by family, but it's also nice to have a quiet place to slip away to for five minutes.

Walking through the patio door I am right back in the fray.


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June 20 - Oh Well

Remember this pot?

It was featured in my post here.

It was made from the Allison McGowan porcelain mix and I really liked it.  Unfortunately I spent so much time on the walls that I didn't notice that the bottom was too thin.  When I cut it off the bat there was no bottom. [sigh.] 

I have re-slaked the clay for a third time and am looking forward to throwing it again.


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