Volunteer Fair

Lowcountry Senior Center Volunteer Fair, Charleston, SC 

There was something for everyone who might consider giving back at the Volunteer Fair at the Lowcounty Senior Center this morning. From Pet Helpers to Hospice every agency that uses volunteer support was represented.

Charity

Charity, Charleston Museum, Charleston, SC

Charity was the statue that stood on the top of the old Charleston Orphan House. This is all that remains of her (framed in this shot by the hanging whale bones in the museum!) but the image below shows what the complete piece looked like.

Time to reproduce her. We need Charity to balance all the military related statues we have in the lowcountry.

Clearest image I can fine - from Shorpy

Why did the Guinea Hen cross the road?

Charleston, SC 

Sighting Charleston's merry band of guinea fowl always makes me happy. They were on a route, squawking and cackling and two started a squabble in the middle of South Battery which startled the tourists. They dodged in and out of yards along the way and were a noisy bunch. I backtracked to find this story from the 2013 Post & Courier:

Post & Courier; Edward M. Gilbreth;  April 10. 2013  - It’s been awhile since I mentioned downtown Charleston’s famous guinea fowl that amazingly and unbelievably flew in out of nowhere and landed on our doorstep a little over three years ago and have been hanging out in the neighborhood ever since.
They’ve become local celebrities and everybody loves them, even a couple of neighbors who were concerned that these completely out-of-context farm animals wandering around their porch, pecking hither and yon and leaving unwanted calling cards, might actually hinder the sale of their house.
Well, the house sat there forever and didn’t sell ... until prospective buyers saw the guineas. “Gus” and “Ginny” sealed the deal and now everybody’s happy.
The birds’ social antics are hilarious, and they are never seen outside each other’s company. Over the past three years, they have withstood innumerable close shaves with passing automobiles and attacks by a Northern harrier, a peregrine falcon, a red-shouldered hawk and what we think was a great horned owl during an insidious nighttime attack.
Last summer, Gus was bloodied up by the hawk and had a serious eye injury and a piercing talon wound to the neck. But he fought bravely to protect his hen and two young chicks, and, incredibly, the hawk retreated.
Bloody feathers were strewn all over the place, and we thought there was no way he could survive. But survive he did, with the help of Dr. Doug Berger, DVM, who captured the ailing bird and gave him a shot that seemed to jump-start recovery.
He’s completely back now, attitude and all, brazen enough to sit on an exposed perch at the end of each day and bugle sunset, with a note of defiance to boot.
“Bring it on!” he seems to be saying, with his chest puffed out and silhouetted against the sunset. It’s a thing of beauty.
Meanwhile, the two chicks, “Roberta” and “Fowler” (and aren’t you glad Roberta’s a hen? speaking of bad puns), are two of perhaps 50 hatchlings to make it to maturity without intervention. The long-suffering mother hen now has herself a closely knit family of four, and the rest of us have twice the entertainment.

Sunshine!

White Point Gardens, Charleston, SC 

For those of you having snow storms at the moment this was Charleston on my morning walk. We get our rain tonight and cold tomorrow but what a treat this sunshine was!

To whom much is given, much must be protected:

Guard pigs on Murray Blvd., Charleston, SC 

To whom much is given, much must be protected. Meet the guard critters of Murray Blvd. and South Battery. I found pigs, lions, dogs and teddy bears!

What a lovely sunny day. We have rain coming this evening and cold tomorrow but everyone was out enjoying the sunshine as I walked this morning.

On the Joggling Board trail

Parcel 32, King St., Charleston, SC 

I used to document all the joggling boards I came across in my wanderings but haven't posted one for awhile. This one is in front of the recently opened Parcel 32 restaurant on King St. They always tempt me to sit and joggle a bit!

Wild Kingdom of Harleyville, SC

Bear carving, Harleyville, SC

I always look for the bear carving when driving through Harleyville, SC. I almost missed him this time but sure enough, he is still there! There must have been a wood carver living in the town at some point because the eagle a little further up the road appears to be done by the same artist. Familiar roadside art work that I always look for.

The driveway gorilla was a new surprise and required squealing brakes and backing up for a shot. Thanks Harleyville!

Rockabilla-Que Mural

David Boatwright mural, North Charleston, SC 

I took a detour to the Park Circle area of North Charleston the other day to track down mural artist David Boatwright's recent Rockabilla-Que mural and was not disappointed.

See more of the artist's work here: luckyboyart.com

Happy New Year!

Folly Beach, SC

Happy, happy new year to all of my blog reading friends! 

I hope 2019 treats you kindly. 

Thank you for your friendship and all the delightful comments this year. 

Walk with me - North Charleston, Riverfront Park

Charleston Naval Base Memorial, Riverfront Park, North Charleston

Fog! I was not the only person with a camera enjoying yesterday's fog. I went to North Charleston's Riverfront Mark & Naval Base Memorial. Along the with usual sculptures they have rotating outdoor sculptures on display. I was pleased to see a few of the historic buildings under repair.

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year!

Blog as diary

Thai House, Santee, SC - 2009

I love it when this blog serves as a diary.

In 2009 I stopped at the tiny Thai House restaurant in Santee for green curry. They had a tradition of posting pictures of their customers on the wall and I turned the tables and had the family join me for a shot.

This weekend, ten years later, I realized that they had moved down the road into a larger building and stopped in again to find they still had some of the old pictures. Thanks to the search feature on this blog I was able to pull this shot on my phone and it caused such a joyful reaction. The grandparents had been visiting at the time of the photo and recently passed away. They were delighted to have this three generation shot. Too bad I am in the middle! 

From the travel file - Bergen

Bergen, Norway

My sister sent me brown cheese for Christmas. We had been surprised by it as a regular menu option on our trip to Norway this past summer and quickly went from, "what the heck is this? to "yum, I like this!" She found a source and had it mailed to me. What a treat!

The shop in the photo was in Bergen. I had to bide my time to get a clear view without tourists cluttering my image!

Happy weekend, kids!

Orange you colorful holiday decorations?!

Church St., Charleston, SC

Interesting and eye catching use of oranges as a holiday decoration.

I'd rather not be the one who had to clean out the trough after they start to spoil but it is colorful and creative!

Folly Beach

Folly Beach, SC

A lone beach watcher.

Merry Christmas from Folly Beach

Folly Beach, SC

As close as I live to the beach, I am most likely to be there in the winter when the rest of the country isn't. The crowds driving to the beach on a warm sunny day take much of the appeal away. Luckily we still get bright days in the winter. Someone decorated trees like this last year so I went hunting and sure enough, I found it! Merry Christmas!

Happy Charleston Holidoors!

Queen St., Charleston, SC

I tried to capture some of the Charleston doors decorated for the holidays this morning and had no trouble finding a good selection.

Folks on the peninsula do put in the effort to keep their properties in fine shape for us wanderers and I appreciated it. It made me come home and get out the rake to gather all the leaves in my own yard and plant a few winter blossoms. Happy long weekend, kids!