Chez Nous!

Mine, mine, mine! Chez Nous, Payne Ct., Charleston, SC

How does that look? Just a little bit tasty! It's tiny, it's hidden, it only has two appetizers, two entrée choices and two desserts but Chez Nous is always a treat. On the way out take a look through the open window to see Chef Jill Mathias looking like she is preparing your dinner in a painting.

The last of the jasmine

Montagu St., Charleston, SC

I tried to buy some jasmine this weekend but everyone was out. Nothing to it but to walk with snippers and start my jasmine trimming service. No charge!

Traffic has been awful here after a tractor trailer overturned on the Cooper River Bridge. The bridges were closed for hours and the other options naturally got tangled up as well. It wasn't a bad day to live and work West of the Ashley. Wondering if the bridge is open or not? Thanks to Sean McCambridge you can check this site: Is the Cooper River Bridge Closed?

Two ladies who met online meet up to eat their way though Charleston. They covered a lot of bases! Well done. Read their photo laden blog here but don't read it hungry.

I was doing pretty well cutting back on sugar until I remembered someone had long ago given me a bottle of Godiva Chocolate liquor. Hello there! Sip, sip.

No jasmine but I spotted this new garden design on Ashley Avenue that will be fun to check back on.

Short week, kids! We can do it.

 

Patriotic display on Lockwood Blvd.

Memorial Day 2015, Lockwood Blvd., Charleston SC 

Thanks to the Evening Exchange Club for this annual patriotic display of flags on Memorial Day. I'd like to think a perfect day like this was what soldiers had in mind that felt worth fighting and giving up their lives for. Let's treasure, honor and protect it in their memory.

My mother was in the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed in London during World War II and her brothers, my uncles, were both pilots. My family was fortunate and they all came back alive. My mother's role was to gather information on lost and injured soldiers to notify families of their loss. I can't even imagine what a heartbreaking job that must have been and the gift those soldiers gave that we might enjoy days like this.

Dance like everyone is watching

Marion Square, Charleston, SC

These dancers put on a show most Saturdays during the Farmer's Market season but drew a big crowd yesterday since it is the beginning of the Spoleto Festival. Almost as much as the performers, I enjoy watching the delight on faces of the other performers as they admire the stunts and wait for their turn. I try to make a big show of dropping a donation in the bucket to encourage everyone else to support the team.

Marion Square, Charleston, SC

Marion Square, Charleston, SC 

John C. Calhoun just wanna have fun!

John C. Calhoun Balloon Ride, Charleston, SC

John C. Calhoun can't resist having fun with the Spoleto festival props and I can't resist documenting it. Check the back files to see his antics.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend.

Owling good time!

These aren't sharp photos but I was so tickled to get them I can't care about the quality. My birdfeeder has been a popular spot lately and the bear's head has become a landing pad before they dart in for dinner. I thought I'd hang out in the back yard for awhile and see if I could capture a cardinal on the bear's head.

I'll need to get a bit closer and before dusk but not only did I catch the little splash of red but look what landed right after him - an owl! This was fun. I need to set up a tripod and get a little closer.

Teeny, tiny houses of the lowcountry

Tiny cottage, Bluffton, SC

This one is a cutie to add to our collection of teeny, tiny houses. I spotted it behind an impressive mansion in Bluffton. I spotted a steam of maids going in to clean the main house but it wouldn't take much to keep this little sweetie in order.

I am fat and full after a giant Fish Pie at Madra Rua and I have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.

My favorite garden: Free admission to Magnolia will be offered on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, to active duty military personnel and their immediate family. This gift to those who serve America only applies to the general garden admission and not the separate tours of the house, swamp garden, nature boat, nature train and "Slavery to Freedom" program. Valid active duty identification is required.

Now I get to settle in and watch the last David Letterman show since I didn't stay up that late last night.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Old Navy Chapel

Location of the Navy Chapel, Charleston, SC

Waaaa.....see those brick steps? That is all that is left of the old Navy Chapel. It was on my list of renovation projects to be completed when I won the lottery. Too late. It is gone. See below for what used to be there. It was in worse shape each time I visited. I've heard that it was dismantled to be reassembled somewhere else but I don't know where yet and am hoping for the best. Hang on kids, I'll buy another lottery ticket and take care of it.

Prom time!

Tunnel Road

Years of paint. The most recent artist gets attention for their message until someone else paints over it. I took my life in my hands getting the pictures hoping no one would race through the tunnel as I focused my camera. Alyssa loves Gregory, Bradley loves Amanda, I love Ken. I wonder how many of the couples are still together. Long live the moment!

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

South Battery, Charleston, SC

Zoom, zoom, zoom! Isn't this a cutie?!

I parked on the Battery and walked the lower peninsula yesterday morning. It was a glorious Charleston morning. The oleanders are in bloom and the sky was dramatic. I reached for my heavy camera and kicked myself when I discovered I had left the battery charging. I never do that! I always take one picture of either my office or my kitchen just to make sure everything is working - except yesterday. Grrrr.

Everything was so very fine that I took a few shots with my cell phone. I couldn't resist capturing that cute little car on South Battery. The other shot I took as usual but my phone took some freelance editing priviledges and turned it into what looks like a vintage postcard.

Interesting note - when I first came to Charleston, I rented the kitchen house behind the house in the top picture for a year. I did not have a car like that.

I am just back from a quick walk around the neighborhood to balance sitting on my butt in front of a computer half the day at work. I showed a couple of kids the step counter on my phone and they skipped along with me as far as they were allowed watching the numbers climb and then made me promise to circle the block to see how many steps I had added, and then again. I got my 10,000!

Still Life with Yak

Bedside Yak Attack

I picked up this lamp for $11 at Consign Charleston this morning and it found a spot on an end table by the little black yak. I travel lightly and don't bring much back but this odd mini yak came all the way home with me from the mountains of northern India. He is a long way from home and now has a lamp to snuggle up to.

 

Old Hobbies

Stamp collection, Charleston, SC 

I was cramming a few books into a bookshelf today and came across one of my old stamp albums. Does anyone collect stamps anymore?

My grandfather liked the fact that I was interested and sent me some of his old collection of British, Canadian and South African stamps. I have some of the silk and 3D stamps from Bhutan, Bangladesh when it was still East Pakistan and some cool tiny triangle stamps. I don't think my collection is worth much in dollars but it is a fond childhood memory.

Thursday Night

George St., Charleston, SC

The College of Charleston has such a pretty campus. On Mother's Day this is where graduation is held with the gentlemen wearing white suits and the ladies wearing white dresses and carrying red roses. Tradition.

I am loving the late light. I worked late this evening and still had time to march around the neighborhood before dark.

I've been watching Grace & Frankie a new Netflix series with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. I imagine it is designed to appeal to people of a "certain age" - their seventies. I am all for a drink now and then but these folks are swimming in it - booze, pot, peyote, cocaine. There isn't a single episode where they aren't slinging bottles around. They all look great, healthy and spry and they didn't get that way drinking and smoking for seventy years - or heck, they are actresses so maybe they did. 

I ran out of titles. Maybe I will start naming the posts after the night of the week. I am stumped.

Movie Night at Magnolia Community Garden

 Magnolia Community Garden

Movies at Magnolia 

When: Sat., May 16, 6:30 p.m.
Price: Free.  Join the City of Charleston Rec Department in a 8:30pm viewing of the film "Paddington" in an outdoor setting. There will be plenty of food trucks as the event kicks off at 6:30pm. You are welcome to bring a picnic, blankets or chairs. The Magnolia Park and Community Garden is located in West Ashley at the corner of Magnolia Road and Sycamore Ave.

 

Paddington might not be my movie of choice but I like the idea!

          

                                       

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.

Add caption

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!

Add caption

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