Tag Archives: lighthouse

A Lighthouse Novel for Young Adults by Nell Wise Wechter

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Two children’s books by the same author came across my desk today. Both books are available in paperback and in an omnibus e-book collection. The author is Nell Wise Wechter,1 a native of the Carolina Coast. She wrote the young adult novel Taffy of Torpedo Junction and Teach’s Light. Click the links for book reviews from UNC.

The books and the e-books are available from Amazon worldwide. A special offer by the University of North Carolina Press (UNC) makes the e-book a better buy as it includes the two books for a special price.

I just ordered the e-book omnibus collection as a special present for my fiancé on my Kindle. It sure makes ordering books easy.

A quick note on each book:

Taffy of Torpedo Junction by Nell Wise Wechter

A longtime favorite of several generations of Tar Heels, Taffy of Torpedo Junction is the thrilling adventure story of thirteen-year-old Taffy Willis, who, with the help of her pony and dog, exposes a ring of Nazi spies operating from a secluded house on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, during World War II. – UNC

Teach’s Light – Tale of Blackbeard the Pirate by Nell Wise Wechter

The legend of Teach’s Light has been handed down by the people of Stumpy Point village in coastal North Carolina for nearly three centuries. – UNC

 

What is lighthouse about these books? The North Carolina coast is host to a raft of lighthouses!

Please let the readers know what you think of the books. I will also add a note later when I have finished them.

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FOOTNOTES:

1 About the Author

The late Nell Wise Wechter, an Outer Banks native, was a widely admired author, storyteller, historian, and journalist. As a schoolteacher near Cape Hatteras during World War II, she could look out her classroom window to see ships being sunk by the Germans. Her story of Taffy was inspired by these real events and the courage of the people who lived through them.

Reprint – Lighthouse Homes

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The story below is completely fictitious, but is very well done. From her idea the author has created a delightful lighthouse home! Maybe one of my readers can create another one which we can reprint here. How would you decorate your own fictitious lighthouse?

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Lighthouse Homes

published Thursday August 12, 2010

reprinted with permission from paperbean(AT)gmail(DOT)com

The storm sent the waves rolling and the rain pelting down… She banged and banged on the solid door, hoping for some respite from the high winds and slashing rains…

The door swung open to reveal a gruff man…

I remember the setting. I don’t remember the name of the book or the author… but I remember the setting. It’s probably been 10 years since I read that book (which I no longer have!).

The gruff man lived in a renovated/restored lighthouse.

What would my lighthouse be like?

Via kopishke - http://www.kopishke.org/

(Normally I eschew homes with stairs, preferring the single storied kind. But as we all know, lighthouses are/were built extra-solidly to weather storms, gales, winds… so I think I could live there!) Continue reading Reprint – Lighthouse Homes →

DOTC Opens Bidding for P246-M Lighthouse Repair Project

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This article appeared in the Business Mirror (Philippines). Take a look at why they are refurbishing old lighthouses:

Lighthouses serve as aids to navigation, working as visual guides to ports and harbors especially for fishermen and even for larger types of vessels already equipped with global positioning system.

Any more questions why Canada’s lighthouses cannot be retained?

The amount in the title is 246 million Philippine Pesos (PHP) or about $5,904,000 Canadian Dollars (CDN).

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Published in the Business Mirror (Philippines) on Thursday, 02 August 2012 20:17 Lenie Lectura / Reporter

“The DOTC is inviting providers to participate in the open and transparent bidding process for the P246 million procurement of aids to navigation equipment,” said the agency in a published bid notice. (The amount is 246 million Philippine Pesos (PHP) or about $5,904,000 Canadian Dollars (CDN).)

The government will procure in bulk the lighting and other component of this project to efficiently utilize its funds.

The civil works for the project will be bid out separately.

The DOTC and the PCG will repair and upgrade 194 lighthouses. Lighthouses serve as aids to navigation, working as visual guides to ports and harbors especially for fishermen and even for larger types of vessels already equipped with global positioning system.

In particular, the PCG listed lighthouses in the following areas where repairs and upgrade should be carried out at the soonest time possible. These are the lighthouses in Northern Luzon, National Capital Region, Southern Tagalog, Palawan, Bicol, Western and Eastern Visayas, Southwestern, Northern and Southeastern Mindanao. Continue reading DOTC Opens Bidding for P246-M Lighthouse Repair Project →

MORE on Model Lighthouse Working Plans

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After writing the article on Model Lighthouse Working Plans for lawn ornaments or household decorations, I was told of another place in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania called the Lighthouse Man.who offers custom crafted lawn lighthouses – kits and ready-made stucco, stone, wood and plastic lighthouses. Wow, I do not know where to begin! Take a look at some of the beautiful creations in the photo below. Click the photo to take you directly to the page. For others follow the links on the left. Enjoy! 

 

Reprint – Lighthouses To Get a Facelift

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If India can do it, why cannot Canada? India is refurbishing thirteen (13) lighthouses! Canada is demolishing hundreds! Why is India doing it? For tourism! Tourism is not important to Canada? 

India is doing this even though they have just installed a new Automatic Identification System (AIS) for most vessels on their coast. Lighthouses are still needed they said.

What happens when most of Canada’s beautiful lighthouses are demolished and the next government in ten years decides they are needed. Build more? Not likely knowing the Canadian government mentality. You will have a light atop a pole. So much for history!

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Lighthouses to get a facelift

from the Hindu Business Line

Chennai, India, August 05, 2012 

Some of the famous lighthouses in the country are getting a facelift.

The Government plans to develop 13 lighthouses into tourism spots through the private-public-partnership.

IL&FS has prepared a feasibility report on the project which is likely to cost over Rs 300 crore.

The iconic lighthouse on the Marina beach in Chennai and the Mamallapuram lighthouse, are among the famous lighthouses that will get a facelift. The lighthouse on Marina will house a lighthouse museum, said the Union Shipping Minister, G.K. Vasan. Continue reading Reprint – Lighthouses To Get a Facelift →

Model Lighthouse Woodworking Plans

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Have you ever wanted to build your own lighthouse for a lawn display, sitting in the house, or maybe on the beach as a decoration, or how about a bird lighthouse? I received a notice about free lighthouse plans. Following the lead I came to a website that asked for US $67 for their free plans. Not really wanting to spend that much money, I started a Google Search. I found this model lighthouse below at U-Bild.com. Not a bad price either.

Lighthouse (Plan #860)

 But it does not end there. They have a Lighthouse Value Plans package that gives you three lighthouses to build – Lighthouse Plan #C159. This package includes the plan above Continue reading Model Lighthouse Woodworking Plans →

Reprint – Finders Keepers

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Finders keepers
Published: 31/07/2012 with permission from the Aberdeen Press and Journal

Earlier this month, we revealed that the Northern Lighthouse Board was selling off three lighthouses near Stonehaven, Lossiemouth and Thurso, with price tags ranging from £75,000 to £270,000 – along with a foghorn at Girdleness, in Aberdeen.
All the buildings, once a beacon for sailors and fishermen, would be ideal for those willing to spend some time and money creating an unusual home.

Rua Reidh Lighthouse, on the other hand, is ready to move in to. The keepers’ accommodation, at the foot of the tower, has been run as a successful home and holiday accommodation for years.

This B-listed home sits in a stunning location, on the cliff edge at Melvaig, around 12 miles from Gairloch on the west coast – officially named as the happiest place in the UK last week – and overlooking the Isle of Skye to the south-west, Harris to the west and Lewis to the north.
It is for sale at offers over £325,000.
Building of the lighthouse was started by David Stevenson, one of the famous family of lighthouse engineers, in 1910. Two years later, it was helping steer boats safely through the seas. Continue reading Reprint – Finders Keepers →

Reprint – A Light on the Past

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A light on the past

with permission from Rosalind Duane, North Shore News, August 05, 2012

Elaine Graham remains the only resident among the historical buildings at Point Atkinson Lighthouse. Photograph by: NEWS photo, Lisa King

ELAINE Graham was raised in the slums of London, far from the multi-hued green of nature.

“There was nothing on my street when I was growing up,” she recalls. “I had lots of play-friends, loads of kids to play with, but there wasn’t even a geranium on a windowsill.”

Many years later, Graham is now surrounded by 75 hectares of the largest first-growth stand of coastal-elevation trees in the Lower Mainland. Her home is nestled among the remaining structures at the base of Point Atkinson Lighthouse, which stands on a craggy promontory at the edge of Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.

She has spent half her life here, and is eager to tell the story of her neck of the woods.

Graham moved to the Point Atkinson Lighthouse station with her husband Donald and two young sons in 1980. Donald became the last of the lighthouse keepers at the site (along with senior keeper Gerry Watson) when the lighthouse was automated in 1996.

The Grahams stayed on in one of the two keeper’s houses, she as a park attendant and he as a groundskeeper. Continue reading Reprint – A Light on the Past →

Reprint – Christmas Tree Lighthouse

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Do you want to save a lighthouse? Do you like lighthouse Christmas ornaments? This article might appeal to you. It appeals to me because it is another way to raise money to save a lighthouse. If you look on this website, there are many more ideas too.

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Christmas tree lighthouse

Reprinted with permission from Tim Croft of The Star

First published July 26, 2012 11:58 AM

Lighthouse ornament

The St. Joseph Historical Society (Port St. Joe, Florida) is encouraging folks to put a touch of lighthouse under the Christmas tree this year.

As part of a fund-raising effort in its quest to save the Cape San Blas Lighthouse from the wrath of Mother Nature, the Historical Society is selling a gorgeous brass-and-silver colored replica of the lighthouse in the form of a Christmas ornament.

Cape Blas lighthouse

Each ornament costs the Historical Society $10 – Cape San Blas Lighthouse is emblazoned across the top-front of the ornament, St Joseph Historical Society on the lower back – to produce.

Members of the SJBHS are selling each ornament for $20, with the other $10 going directly toward the fundraising pot to save the lighthouse. Continue reading Reprint – Christmas Tree Lighthouse →

Mise Tales Nine

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For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.

LIGHTHOUSE GIN – A BEACON OF HOPE FOR GIN LOVERS EVERYWHERE

I am planning on making a post later on the use of the lighthouse symbol in advertising, but this advertisement for Lighthouse Gin from New Zealand came across my desk and it was too good not to mention.

Nicely designed website, New Zealand product, lots of information, and some delightful recipes for those that like gin.

The source for this link actually came from The Dominion Post website in new Zealand that had a recipe for Gin and Tonic cake. One of the ingredients was this Lighthouse Gin, so I just had to research it.

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This seems to be turning into an advertising Misc Tales post. Today I found this website for Lighthouse FTO Coffee Bright & Light produced by the Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company, USA. At $12.99 US it is not too bad a price.

For the lighthouse collector, there are several more varieties available in different cans, so you will have to drink a lot of coffee to make up the whole collection!

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