"They're going to put me in the movies.....""

That song by country music star Buck Owens has been going around and around in my head ever since the news broke that the novel "The Secret Life of Bees" will be filmed right here in little ol' Southport!! Productions companies have been "swarming" (forgive the pun!!!) Southport looking for ideal spots to film this best selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd.

So what better time to become a movie star!!!! Just when I thought my life was going nowhere fast, here comes HOLLYWOOD!!!! They haven't knocked on my door yet asking my advice on bees, or if they could use the HFH to film a segment. (This, after all is not a horror film), but if they do come calling I will "bee" sure to "buzz" you all with the news. AND if "they put me in the movies" I will see that my friends ( and you know who you are) will get tickets to the premier!!!

......"I'm going to be a great star wait and see...they're going to put me in the movies and all I have to do is act naturally!!!!!

A Rose by any other name.......

Ask any of my friends and they will tell you that I am having a very difficult time acclimating to my new surroundings. My husband and I have recently moved to Southport, NC, a quaint little southern coastal town which seems so inviting to all the tourist who visit here. I am now not a tourist but a resident, a bonafide, tax paying resident. Yes, I do live in downtown Southport, no I do not live in one of the multi-million dollar historical, charming homes you see down by the river, but instead a not so charming brick ranch that I have named: The House from Hell.

The HFH is currently under construction or should I say reconstruction. New floors, new paint, old walls taken out, new appliances, you name it and we are doing it. Oh did I mention new windows, new landscape, the lists goes on and on. I now know the meaning of the word "Money Pit", remember that movie??? This is not what I had in mind when moving to charming Southport for retirement, but this is what I have for the moment.

I say "moment" because I know that my husband will turn the HFH into the stunning residence that will hopefully bring enough dough to get me out of here and back to where I belong....my hometown! But until then I will need to be like the rose you see in the picture above. This rose bloomed on Jan 2nd. What is so special about this rose you ask? Well this rose just so happens to be growing in the middle of holly bushes that are by my front porch. A healthy, green leaf, no aphids rose, growing as strong as it can in unfamiliar territory. It produced two huge blossoms that brought a smile to a friend's face when I delivered it to her on New Year's Day. I have decided to be like this rose bush by making the best of unfamiliar, uncharted territory where I am planted for now. Hopefully when you ask my friends in the future about me they can say she has bloomed where she is planted!!!