Looks like they recycle

I liked the contrast of the blue recycling bins in front of the door. The building is behind Memminger School on Beaufain St. so I imagine the bins are from the school since it doesn't look like anyone lives in this building. I'd love to see it fixed up but it has been abandoned as long as I can remember.

Goodnight kids! It's been a full day.

 

Colonial Lake renovations

Colonial Lake renovations, Rutledge Ave., Charleston, SC

Colonial Lake renovations, Charleston, SC

I am sure it will be beautiful but I am missing the lake (and my secret parking spots) during the renovation period. It will be nice to have it back new and improved.

The excited buzz in South Carolina today is about Volvo's announcement that we have been selected for their first US factory. Woohoo! This is grand although I did pause in surprise when I read they are now a Chinese company and will be making Swedish cars in South Carolina. Still, even with all the incentives offered, the possibility of good jobs always feels like positive news. Happy day!

Am I a complete wimp? I just turned my air-conditioning on for the first time. I went for a walk to finish my 10,000 steps and came home hot and sticky.

Sunday evening

Tire swing, Charleston, SC 

Between Mother's Day and graduation events Charleston has been hopping! We'd been threatened with stormy weather from tropical storm Ana but had a lovely weekend and I've had all the windows and doors open enjoying the breeze.

I cooked up a storm this morning and hosted a group of very special volunteer ladies for a Mother's Day luncheon. We had a lovely time and then I took them out for a photo op with my bear in the backyard. Heheh.

This is one of my favorite Mother's Day images. The boat on the side of the road to Folly Beach is painted over and over with personal greetings and I spotted this message last year.

Rustic barn in Bluffton

Bluffton, SC 

My day trip down the coast to Bluffton was last weekend but I have photos stockpiled that haven't been featured yet and this old shed is one of them. We wandered through a store that had an art gallery and an artist was at work painting a picture of this old barn so I had to take a detour to get my version of it.

Since I went out for Mother's Day early it freed me up to invite a few ladies to brunch tomorrow so I've been cooking up a storm. Pear tart is out of the oven and potatoes simmering for tater salad. I hope we don't get rained out or I will be eating a lot of leftovers. Luckily I am only cooking things I would want to eat anyway.

 

A note? For me?!

You are amazing!, Charleston, SC 

We are going to assume this note was left for me to find on my walk to the Dentist's office. You are amazing! They did mean it for me, right?

Uugh. What a week. I thought it was be a good day to win the Lottery and hit the road but once again I hadn't bought a ticket and it was Friday so everything began to look brighter anyway.

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My son was pro-active taking me out to dinner for Mother's Day last night to skip the Mother's Day production line. We enjoyed an Indian feast at Nirlep and he gave me this 3D printed face. I haven't decided where to put her yet so propped her in the flower pot for her portrait.

Have a good weekend, kids!

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Blessing of the hands - Nurses Week

Nurses Week, Blessing of the Hands Ceremony, Charleston, SC

Bless these hands

May they be instruments

of compassion,

love and healing.

 

Before & After - Beaufain St.

Beaufain & Rutledge Ave., Charleston, SC

I like it when things don't change too very much. I believe these are condos now and still very nicely kept up at the corner of Colonial Lake on Beaufain St. and Rutledge Ave.

Last night I mentioned the Lowcountry Day of Giving. Holy cow. We gave over $4 million in twenty four hours. This was a national campaign but the lowcountry had the most generous number of donors by far. Amazing. I made donations to the Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic and Water Missions International in support of the earthquake in Nepal.

I finished watching four seasons of The Killing on Netflix. What shall I do with my life now? Every time I had a free half hour I watched another episode.

Lift the Lowcountry

Charleston, SC 

Isn't that a beautiful porch? I love the brick flooring.

Today is Lowcountry Giving Day supporting area non-profits and encouraging you to support causes you believe in. At this time, 8:30ish pm 12,542 gifts totaling $3,781,564.92 has been raised for local charities and non-profits. I hope it will make a difference. I made donations to Water Missions International for the Nepal earthquake and to Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic. #liftthelowcountry

About Lowcountry Giving Day: Lowcountry Giving Day is our local 24-hour online giving challenge. This challenge is designed to encourage our friends and neighbors to support their favorite causes and organizations right here in the Lowcountry.
To celebrate the centennial of community foundations nationwide and Coastal Community Foundation’s 40th anniversary, we participated in a national effort, Give Local America, on May 6, 2014, to kickstart our first Lowcountry Giving Day, raising more than $4 million from thousands of donors for dozens of nonprofits.

Tilting at Windmills

Sancho Panza, Brookgreen Gardens, SC 

Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."

"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.

"Those you see over there," replied his master, "with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length."

"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone."

 

—Part 1, Chapter VIII. Of the valourous Don Quixote's success in the dreadful and never before imagined Adventure of the Windmills, with other events worthy of happy record.

 

Don Quixote, Brookgreen Gardens, SC

Bluffton day tripping

Bluffton, SC 

The weather is so perfect right now that it is lovely no matter where you are. Yesterday a friend and I took a day trip to the sweet town of Bluffton on the May River. We wandered through antique shops, admired the beautiful historic churches, visited the Oyster Factory and had a tasty lunch on restaurant porch.

Charleston Dragon Boat Festival

The Skeleton Crew, Charleston, SC

 From my quick walk through this morning the 8th annual Dragon Boat Festival appears to have been a grand success. I tried to catch the teams I knew for group photos and enjoyed the colorful and high energy crowd as much as the races themselves. The festival raises $150,000 for cancer survivor programs. Well done paddlers!

Bearly Blooming

Bearly Blooming, Charleston, SC 

Yes, that is a bear in the background and he lives in my yard. I love my bear! I found him guarding the door to an antique store in Walterboro and rescued him. I believe he began his life in an amusement part in West Virginia but he seems content hanging out in the lowcountry. I pity anyone who wanders in the dark into my backyard. Boo!

Busy week but I made it to my 5 p.m. matinee and saw the Age of Adaline and let the work week melt away as I sat in the theater with my kiddie pack of popcorn. Enjoy your weekend, kids!

Dining Out for Life

Oh Valentino! Charleston, SC 

Today was Dining Out for Life day and many restaurants participated giving a significant percentage of profits from dinners served to the Ryan White program. I always mean to coordinate a dinner party for the cause but some how get tangled up in other events. This evening I was hosting 30 teenagers at the Mount Pleasant Hospital who wanted to learn about birthin' babies.

I didn't miss out entirely since we had a food truck rodeo for the cause at work today and diners were entertained by Oh Valentino. Aaron and Christina O'Brien set up and played for us under the oak trees on the hospital campus. The weather was perfect, the food was tasty, the company was good and the music was lovely. Can't beat that!

The Holy City

Steeples, Charleston, SC 

Happy rainy Wednesday, kids! It's a dreary picture but it is a dreary day and raining this afternoon. I caught this scene with three church steeples from the window of the College of Charleston's Stern Center yesterday. Charleston's many steeples earned it the name Holy City.

Charleston - the Holy City: While the earliest settlers primarily came from England, they were followed by other immigrants including French, Scottish, Irish, Germans, and others. These many various ethnic groups brought with them numerous Protestant denominations, as well as Roman Catholicism and Judaism, which would later earn Charleston the nickname of the “Holy City,” for its long tolerance for religions of all types and its many historic churches.

We do indeed have a lot of churches and I hope I have taken pictures of almost all of them. They stand out even more noticeably because we have height restrictions for most construction on the peninsula. 

Doors of Charleston - Jasmine

Jasmine covered door, Montague St., Charleston, SC 

I was in the right place at the right time this morning. I was heading down to the College of Charleston for a reception for the REACH program this morning when I came across this door on Montague St. with the jasmine in full blossom.

There was a car parked right in front so I had to squirm around it to get the shot without the vehicle showing. I was almost tipsy with the scent of jasmine in the air. It is a beautiful time of year in Charleston.

Sculpture Garden - George St.

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Sometimes when I am traveling and delighting in huge art installations in other cities I get cranky about how little we have here in Charleston. As much as I appreciate the historic preservation it is a sad loss not to have more of the glorious creative and modern sculptures that cities like Chicago, St. Louis and New York city have.

Every time I stop by Caviar & Bananas I detour through the little garden across the street to see what the College of Charleston students have been up to. This is the current display.

Up, up and away!

Update on Harold's Cabin

President & Congress St., Charleston, S.C.

 

I wrote about the renovation plans for this building on the corner of President & Congress St. just over a year ago and not much has changed except quite a few more missing boards. The Post & Courier looked into it and it sounds like the renovation is ready to kick into action.

Post & Courier: One year after announcing plans to resurrect the original Harold’s Cabin as a contemporary restaurant, the partners behind the project say progress is back on track.

“We have had a few delays in the process,” says John Schumacher, the longtime RiverDogs food specialist who joined with Bill Murray, Mike Veeck and Ben Danofsky to renovate the legendary emporium at the corner of Congress and President streets.

Schumacher says the group is “pushing to restart by the end of April.” The project’s contractor estimates the work can be completed in five months, he adds.

Harold’s Cabin opened in 1929 as a snowball stand. Within a few years, the business had expanded to include a deli and grocery. Harold’s Cabin relocated to downtown Charleston in the early 1950s.

Currently, the building consists only of its rickety façade. A scrawny Christmas tree appeared outside the front door during the holidays, but there’s currently no sign of activity at the address.

 

Dinner at Middleton Place

Middleton Place, Charleston, S.C.

Middleton Place has a lovely restaurant. It is easy to forget it is there since it is tucked away inside the garden. I had an unexpected call from a cousin I hadn't seen in many years hoping I could join her for dinner and since she had spent the afternoon wandering the garden I couldn't think of a better place to eat.

The trick is, if you go after 5 pm you don't have to pay garden admission and can still enjoy the beautiful spot before and after dinner.

Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens, Pawley's Island, S.C. 

I was without a computer for about a week recently so I have a few backlogged photos waiting to be posted. Spring is the most beautiful time to visit Brookgreen Gardens and well worth a trip up the coast. It is the first sculpture garden in the US and has an impressive collection of statues.

Brookgreen Gardens, the first public sculpture garden in America, has in its collection more than 1,400 works by over 350 sculptors. Exhibited within the gardens is the largest and most comprehensive collection of American figurative sculpture in the country, by sculptors who worked from the early nineteenth century to the present. Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historical Landmark, and is accredited by the American Association of Museums. Brookgreen offers workshops in sculpture by nationally known sculptors throughout the year.

          

Odds & Ends & Bric-a-brac

Parking lot off Beaufain St., Charleston, S.C.

Definitions for bric-a-brac:

knick-knacks

ornaments

trinkets

baubles

odds and ends

curios

stuff

miscellany

objets d'art

gewgaws

bibelots

kickshaws

objects of virtu