Puppy Power

Greenhill Rd, Charleston, SC

Altogether now, .......say "Aaawwwww!"

I couldn't resist. They were too darn cute. They were yapping at people on the sidewalk with the confidence that only having a cannon as backup can give a little dog

Horsing Around

Horsing around, Charleston, SC

The hospital nurses held an educational fair yesterday. To build enthusiasm and attendance at these programs they tend to choose a theme. The theme for yesterday's event was "Regulatory Roundup" and it gave everyone the freedom to get out of uniform and wear denim for a change. I had been reminded frequently to expect photo ops.

When I went to the classroom I was stunned to find that the Emergency Room Nurse Manager had access to a life sized horse model. Now we are talking photo op! I told everyone that I wanted the horse out of the classroom and in the lobby for a group shot with all the cowgirls. The funniest pictures were all of them hoisting up the horse and carrying him. Perfect.

If you have to sick, it doesn't look like such a bad place does it? I've had pet therapy dogs before but this is my first horse.

Broad St.

Broad St., Charleston, SC

I have a design link for you this evening. notcot: ideas.aesthetics.amusement. Cool stuff.

The end of February. How did this happen?

Don't stop. Keep on going.

Hollywood, SC

"Don’t stop. Keep right on going. Hitch up your trailer and go to Canada or down to Old Mexico. Head for Europe, if you can afford it, or go to the Mardi Gras. Go someplace you’ve heard about, where you can fish or hunt or collect rocks or just look up at the sky. Find out what’s at the end of some country road. Go see what’s over the next hill, and the one after that, and the one after that."
Wally Byam.

I love looking at the wacky old pictures of caravans of Airstreams traveling around the world. There are incredible scenes of them in France, India and in front of the pyramids in Egypt in 1958. What a sight that must have been.

Busy Wednesdays

Charleston, SC

I'll be very upset if anyone every tries to fix this door.

Speaking of fixing doors, I've been very grateful to have a good handyman helping me out with a few things around the property lately. He recently suggested that he might spruce up my garage doors. Huh?, Huh?, Huh?, Huh? What do you think? Shall I paint them gray? It's been my only chance to boast about how many people have been in my bed.

I went to Pecha Kucha this evening at the American Theater. It was one of those events where suspense was built by not announcing the location until a couple of days ago. Creative types had a few minutes to present their projects and ideas. The evening moved along very quickly, the place was packed and we were left wanting more. They could have kept talking all night as far as I was concerned. It was terribly exciting hearing directly from these talented creative people.

Okay, okay. I added the little "follow this blog" feature. I've been trying to keep things streamlined without adding all the little widgets but a couple of folks have asked for it so I'll give it a spin.

G'night kids. It's been a very long day.

Tuesday Funny

Family Barber Shop, Spring St., Charleston, SC

Tuesday Funny
A man decides to take the opportunity while his wife is away to paint the toilet seat. The wife comes home sooner than expected, sits, and gets the seat stuck to her rear. She is understandably distraught about this and asks her husband to drive her to the doctor.

She puts on a large overcoat so as to cover the stuck seat, and they go. When they get to the doctor's, the man lifts his wife's coat to show their predicament. The man asks, "Doctor, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"Well, yes," the doctor replies, "but never framed."

Walking Quote

Charleston, SC

Blossoms are sneaking out here and there. Keep your eyes open.

Once a year I drag out my favorite walking quote for you:

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. Soren Kierkegaard

Good Stuff

Wentworth Mansion, Charleston, SC

My entries have nothing to do with my pictures. So there.

Check out this sweet story I found on MissCellania about construction workers at a children's cancer hospital in Boston who delighted the kids by spraying their names on the construction beams:

It has become a beloved ritual at Dana-Farber: Every day, children who come to the clinic write their names on sheets of paper and tape them to the windows of the walkway for ironworkers to see. And, every day, the ironworkers paint the names onto I-beams and hoist them into place as they add floors to the new 14-story Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

Cheap Sleeps

NotSoHostel, Spring St., Charleston, SC

I've been walking Canon and Spring St. lately. This might be the solution if you aren't ready to pay the high cost of hotels on the Charleston peninsula.

NotSoHostel
The NotSoHostel is a basic but homey little compound of 19th-century homes and valuable parking spaces off busy Spring Street. Private rooms with shared baths start at $60 a night, and if you don’t mind risking snoring neighbors, you can bed down in a bunk room for $21. The hostel offers bike rentals (highly recommended for exploring downtown nooks and crannies), linens, Wi-Fi and full kitchen with a cook-your-own waffle breakfast.

Then, just because I am in a bouncy good mood here is your quote of the day:

Some people are like slinkies; not really good for anything but they really bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

I know. Terrible. But it goes so nicely with this cute little video from Fuzzco, Everyone loves a Slinky Dancer. Coolness!

Remember what you saw....

Cumberland St., Charleston, SC

Remember what you saw and what you heard...

Advice for tourists or for life? Sooner or later I find everything in the pavement.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

Second Presbyterian, Charleston, SC

Surrounded by so many trees, the Second Presbyterian Church is a tricky one to get a good picture of. I grabbed this shot just before I climbed back down the ladder from the roof of the Marion Square Embassy Suites Hotel a few weeks ago.

Not exactly a church picture but I thought you might enjoy this Buddhist temple made entirely out of empty beer bottles.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I am watching the Oscars, eating oranges and getting ready to pay my bills.

Chasing the Black Cab - The Citadel

The Citadel, Charleston, SC

I've been introducing my favorite Frenchman to some of my best Charleston spots on our walks. Last Saturday I showed him Charleston's own odd little piece of the Netherlands at the windmill on Plymouth Rd. in Riverland Terrace. Today we walked through Hampton Park, around the Citadel campus, peaked in the beautiful Summerall Chapel and stopped for lunch at Hominy Grill, all before he headed in for a full day of work.

I am the most boring person in restaurants. As soon as I find my favorite item on the menu I never order anything else. At Hominy Grill it is the eggplant, goat cheese and red pepper sandwich. I haven't eaten there for well over a year but my tasty little darling was just as good as I remembered. Yum. I could do a directory of my ONE chosen item at each restaurant I go to.

My friend Andre' has a new blog and is the General Manager at McCrady's, one of Charleston's top restaurants. Stop by and say hello at Out of the Kitchen.

What should be next on his lowcountry tour?

Garage on Spring

Spring St., Charleston, SC

I am a softie for hand painted signs and like the fading colors of this garage on Spring St.

SCIWay finds some of the neatest SC pictures and included my recent one of the mattress swing on Edisto Island. They tracked down the fun story to go with it!

Back later kids.

Little Shop of Colors

Spring St., Charleston, SC

I like this colorful little shop, you know I do, but it does make it odd/funny to remember that I had to have the exact shade of blue that I painted my house voted on and approved. I especially enjoy the way the number 33 in the eyeball looks like streaks of black blood.

A friend brought me a $25 gift certificate to the Terrace Theater today to thank me for pictures I took of her daughter. It was the perfect gift and made me finally get out of work in time to get to my Friday matinee and saw the Frost Nixon movie. Now my weekend can begin. What do y'all have up your sleeve for the weekend?

Joan's brother - no accent there, no sir...

Meet my brother Jim.

How do I make this video fit on the Charleston Daily Photo site?

Some of you, familiar with my previous blog, knew that I had been fortunate to grow up in what we consider the most beautiful part of India, in the hills of the far north east. I was one of eight children. My youngest brother Jim, was born at home during a wild March windstorm while I sat cross legged on the upper level of a double bunk bed waiting to hear him cry.

We played our childhood games with large packs of barefoot kids and Jim strapped on one of our backs. He grew up speaking fragments of many languages and finally settled back in Shillong, married and now has two adorable little boys. He leads eco-adventure travel trips in an area that had been closed to travelers for many years.

So, let's see.....he has visited me in Charleston many times. He painted my lowcountry house twice. His wife Val, met her first Santa Claus in Marion Square and practically leaped onto his lap. I think that will do. We can't even pretend that he has a Charleston accent after this video. When any of you are ready for a real adventure give him a call. He scouts for National Geographic documentaries and serves as a guide for photographers and travelers.

Congrats on the interview and travel book Jim!

Here is more info on our little corner of the world:
Still mysterious, fierce and almost immeasurably vast the modern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam present themselves to the visitor today.

Politically they are a part of India. Together they are forming a triangle, which is called India’s Northeast or the “Seven Sisters of India”. Framed by Tibet in the north, China in the east, Burma in the south and Bangladesh in the west the expression “Seven Sisters of India” has been chosen appropriately – evoking associations of a certain connection to the motherland India, but also feelings of distance and remoteness.

Bless You!

Slave Cabin, Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, SC

It has been a very bad season for colds. I walk daily through a valley of germs, coughing to the right of me, sneezing to the left. Even the name "common cold" is disrespectful considering the disruption and misery it causes.

There has finally been some good news about cold research, but why is there so little attention paid to one of the biggest health nuisances of all? Where is the National Cold Foundation?

Seriously. Rest, fluids, gargle? Is that is the best we can do?

Why aren't we:

Collecting Coins for Coughers
Walking to Stop Mucous
Running the 5K Saturday Night Fever Run
Raising funds by dancing the Sniffle Shuffle
Celebrating at the Salt Water Gargle Gala

How about a $1 from every box of Kleenex going to Cold research?

Meanwhile, no relation to the entry, our picture today is of the slave cabins that are being renovated at Magnolia Plantation because someone did a google search that led to me and I had nothing for them to find. Now I do. More here.

I am off to make chicken ginger soup for a friend with a cold.

Hat Peeps

Charleston, SC

I can't call them "hat ladies" since there is a gentleman in the middle.

Our hospital gift shop started carrying the most outrageously flamboyant hats. Every time I walked by, I watched women who couldn't resist trying one on so I rallied a group from the cafeteria at lunch time and made them model them. You can tell they hated every minute of it.

I know. You wonder what kind of place I work at. I worked like a manic whirlwind today. I promise.

Super Bad and assorted links

Super Bad, King of Fashion, King st., Charleston, SC

For the days you need to look Bad. I may need a Super Bad suit myself.

Obama's Elf

Dude, where's my Porsche?

The most depressing calculator. Sigh.

Okay, I really am going for my walk now. Leave the light on,

Cemeteries to see BEFORE you die

Bethany Cemetery, Charleston, SC

Hmmmph. In the list of Fifteen Remarkable Cemeteries to Visit BEFORE you Die I've only been to the first one and I've been to a lot of cemeteries.

It's dark, it's chilly. Someone make me go for my walk.

Sharrie Williams & The Wise Guys

Sharrie Williams and the Wise Guys, James Island, SC

Tonight was the last night of the 19th Annual 2009 Southern Comfort Lowcountry Blues Bash, and shame on me, the first event I've attended this year.

This final event was held at the Lowcountry Senior Center and since they are part of our health system I like to support their events if I can. Sharrie Williams and the Wise Guys were the entertainment and they were wonderful.

During this song she had every women in the place up on the dance floor with her and they were clearly having a blast. These folks makes the expression "senior citizen", look like the happening thing to be. They were having a grand time.

Hot tip, kids: Shrimp City Slim told me that he has plans for regular Blues & BBQ river boat cruises in the works. Fun!

Lazy Weekend Mornings

King St., Charleston, SC

I'm late. I can lay in bed for hours on a weekend waiting for someone to bring me breakfast.

In other news, here is a new blog for you to check out. What a neat creative gal. I leave wanting to copy all her little pranks and I got a big kick from the entry about how she met her boyfriend. Go visit: colormekatie for a morning smile.

Artfull Bras - Quilt Display

People's Building, Broad St., Charleston, SC

I thought the picture fit the wildlife weekend theme but the content is unrelated as usual although the topic is a bit wild. Marcia in Jackson, SC sent me this link to the quilters of SC project called Artfull Bras.

Wow! Talk about crazy quilting!

THE ARTFULL BRAS PROJECT

Members of Quilters of South Carolina have created one-of-a-kind bras for Breast Cancer Awareness. The exhibit consists of forty-nine original works of art which are unique, entertaining, humorous, and beautiful to make the public aware of breast cancer, to memorialize those lost to the disease, and to honor survivors.

This exhibit will tour SC until Oct '09 at which time individual Artfull Bras will be auctioned and the proceeds donated to the Best Chance Network, a program to provide care and treatment of uninsured women across the state who are diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer.

The bras come prepared for display on their own hangers and are available for exhibit across the state of South Carolina. The exhibit is available until October of 2009. If you are interested in delighting and inspiring your organization membership, contact Sandra Baker, president of QSC at Sandra25@bellsouth.net

Monkey Business by Anita Bowen

These are some crazy bras! I'd love this display to come to Charleston but this is the first I've heard of it. I've referred women to the the Best Chance Network before and know they are good folks and a cause worth supporting.

Valentine Kisses

Parrot Kisses, Marion Square, Charleston, SC

I interrupted my walk this morning with a stop in Ooops and picked up a steal on a teeny, tiny size two black dress for my daughter when a bewildered lady walked in wondering, "what exactly is SEWE?"

It's a gray and drippy day but town is bustling with people here for SEWE - South Eastern Wildlife Festival. SEWE can attract up to 38,000 people and is one of those odd festivals where an artist in one booth might sell beautiful paintings of tigers in the wild and the next one is staffed by a hunter boasting about blowing one up. I always walk through the outside displays and often buy a Sunday ticket to wander through the art, photography and wood carving before the regular attendees wake up. I've dabbled just enough in art, photography and song bird carving to appreciate what incredible talent this festival attracts.

This fellow was entertaining early morning listeners with stories of Amazon parrots.

Southeaster Wildlife Exposition
Now in its 27th year, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) is the largest wildlife art and nature event in the nation, one that you have to experience first hand to understand and truly appreciate. Held each year in the weekend preceding President’s Day, SEWE attracts 35,000+ attendees to beautiful Charleston, SC, to enjoy world-class original art, diverse exhibits, interesting presentations and lectures, not to mention Southern hospitality and lots of fun!

Sugar Overload

Cupcake Contest, Charleston, SC

I've been so busy at work lately I could have stayed in my office straight through the weekend and perhaps cleaned my desk off but since I couldn't even guarantee that I didn't do it. It's been so many weeks since I've skipped out for my normal Friday afternoon movie at the Terrace Theater that I'm almost ashamed of myself. The Theater manager must think I am sick.

I love it when I am given a hard hat and invited on to a construction site to take pictures. We are building a garden in an enclosed atrium at the hospital and have a crane on site hoisting large boulders into place for the fountain. Then, since I already had the camera and an escort they let me go up on the roof to look at all the changes in the campus landscape and get a view of the garden from above.

We had cupcakes everywhere this morning and customers lined up to buy trays of goodies. The Emergency Room nurses held a cupcake decorating party the night before. I liked the little one on the right with the EKG monitor strip on it.

Bedtime for me, kids. Y'all turn the lights out.

Thursday Funny

Charleston, SC

I've been tugged in a thousand directions lately. I did walk tonight but it was late and dark so I've pulled this shot from one of my Charleston albums. My coconut cupcakes are baked and frosted and I am off to bed as soon as I download a song for a slideshow. Y'all don't stay up too late. Here is a quick funny from oldhorsetailsnake:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Dr. Seuss: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

Ernest Hemingway: To die in the rain, alone.

Grandpa: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

Barbara Walters: Isn't that interesting? In a few minutes we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

Albert Einstein: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

Colonel Sanders: Did I miss one?

Heart to Heart

Charleston, SC

For all it matters, tomorrow is Valentine's Day for me. I announced a cupcake decorating contest and sale. (Neat trick, eh? People bake and decorate cupcakes and then I sell them for a fundraiser). I have buckets of carnations in my office ready to deliver to patients, baskets of valentine fortune cookies for the employees and a couple of honorary volunteers scheduled for the day. Whew.

It's become tradition that the hospital is one of the first public appearances of the new Miss Charleston each year. She is a big hit, but this year I am expecting a second guest. Yep. Yep. Yep. Someone tracked down the pirate in my picture from the Maritime Festival and suggested he might like to join us. I've had to keep snatching back the picture to keep people from drooling on it. Not one woman looking at this picture even noticed I was in it.

The pirate is scheduled to come looking for me at 11 a.m.

I am writing myself a reminder to keep reading out loud. "Joan, you work at a gracious and traditional Catholic Hospital." I am either going to get fired or earn an award for improving employee morale. Wish me luck.

Lowcountry Gum Trees

East Bay & Market St., Charleston, SC

Am I the only one who kinda likes the lowcountry version of a gum tree? I thought we were cool until I saw the Market Theater in Seattle on the Seattle Daily Photo blog. Clearly we still have some chewing to do folks! Gum for everyone.

Yesterday was my birthday but I don't see any reason the festivities shouldn't continue all week. My party at work yesterday was planned by a 95 year old gentleman. It was a blast. I got so many cards and little gifts I couldn't bring them all home. My son came over in the evening and did some magical work on my computer - the perfect gift. Now I can enjoy playing with graphics again.

This evening my friend Linda, the publisher of Island Life newspaper and I went down to take advantage of the specially priced dinner at McCrady's restaurant and my friend and General Manager Andre' treated us like royalty. Not only was I presented with a special chocolate dessert with a candle on it, but they brought out a steaming bucket of frozen strawberries. Sound weird? It was.

The strawberries had been frozen in liquid nitrogen. I was encouraged to pop them right into my mouth still frozen for the most dramatic display of smoky looking vapor pouring out of my mouth and nose. It was the coolest thing and my delighted laughter caught everyone's attention. We had to pass the plate of strawberries to the folks at the nearby tables who wanted in on the fun.

My Literary Evening

Shell House, Ashley Hall, Charleston, SC

I've circled Ashley Hall school for girls countless times on my walks, but in all these years had never actually been on the campus until this evening. Even this picture of the Shell House was taken through the gate on Rutledge Ave.

I'd recently had a fun email conversation with the author Josephine Humphreys and when I read that she was returning to her old school to do a reading I thought I'd slip in the back of the room to listen and then see if I had the nerve to introduce myself.

She was terrific. She read the first paragraph from each of her books and told warm and entertaining stories in between. The Smithsonian had asked her to write an essay on her hometown and she talked about how unexpectedly difficult that had been. She jotted down pages and pages of ideas and things that should be included and then wrote the essay on Charleston, which she partially read to us.

To make things even more fun, I discovered I was sitting next to an old boyfriend of the author and I was introduced to the "Head of School".

I did go up to meet Josephine Humphreys and she kindly raved about discovering my pictures and blog in her research and then blew me away by saying that in all of her pages of notes about Charleston, my name had been written three times.

Wowsa! I walked home with a big grin on my face. What a neat thing to know and generous thing for her to say. It's a safe bet I'll be buying her latest book.

The end of the weekend

Folly Beach, SC

It's been a glorious day. It feels as if the weather has turned a corner and spring is on the way. I sat in the courtyard of the Palmetto Cafe for brunch this morning, the girls lay in Marion Square in their bikinis and kids, dogs and pregnant ladies were in their glory at Folly Beach.

Check out these insanely graffiti painted castles.

Top ten moments caught by the google maps street view camera.

The picture I want, is the one of the person who took the picture of Michael Phelps at the party and posted it. That's the picture I'd like to see passed around with a name attached to it saying "don't trust this person." Just because you have a camera doesn't mean you have to share every single picture.

Bittersweet. Fellow Canadian in the lowcountry, Eugene has been fostering Barkley and just sent him off to settle in with his new family. No surprise, he already has a new foster dog.

Wm. Shakespeare's Five and Twenty Random Things Abovt Me.

When I am Queen we will have three day weekends.

Roadside Napping

Edisto Island, SC

I am posting this early in case you were looking for a romantic spot to take your sweetheart for Valentine's Day. $10 for a photo op. Wonder what it would cost to take a nap? Uugh.

We are going to stray off strict the "Charleston Daily Photo" territory once and awhile. This will be the start of a "day trip" from Charleston category. This one is from a lovely drive to Edisto Beach. I took the picture some time ago so the mattress may have rotted away by now.

I am just back from a pre-pig out walk. My friend Estelle is treating me to brunch at the Palmetto Cafe at Charleston Place Hotel this morning. I have to walk a couple miles and then walk there and back to earn the calories I am planning to eat this morning. Yum.

A view from the past

Charleston, SC

I have boxes of old pictures in my office closet and while looking for a shot the folks in Marketing needed last week I came across some old pictures of downtown Charleston documenting the building of Roper Hospital.

This one was taken from the roof of Roper Hospital on Calhoun St. looking towards the Ashley River and is labeled 1953. I was amazed that there were no buildings between the hospital and the river. No buildings, no hotels, no docks built out into the river. Only one bridge.

Here are a few others.

Hmmm. Wonder if I can get up on the new tower and take another shot of the same view.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

Family Matters

Meeting, St. Charleston, SC

Imagine my delight when I found the original Perry family crest inscribed on the streets of historic Charleston. Now we know what to put on our flag.

It seems we came by the Perry nose honestly.

Friday Funny

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC

Does it seem like everyone is sick lately?
____________________

A man walking home alone at night hears a "bump, bump, bump" behind him. He walks faster and looking back, makes out the image of an upright coffin banging it’s way down the middle of the street towards him.

“Bump…bump….bump…” The man begins to run towards his home, and the coffin bounces after him faster…faster…"Bump, bump, bump".

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door and locks it behind him.

The coffin crashes through his door and the lid to the coffin begins to lift open, bumping towards him.

The man runs to the bathroom and locks himself, heart pounding. Crash! The coffin breaks down the door, coming slowly towards him, the man screaming...

He reaches for something, anything....

He finds a bottle of Robitussin and it at the coffin…

...and the coffin stops.
--------------------

Busy day, kids. I've been here, I've been there. I've been everywhere.

Go Red Day

Marion Square, Charleston, SC

Brrrr. Not the best day to do a human heart. The cool part is that I got to climb the ladder to the roof of the Embassy Suites hotel to get the shot. That isn't a view we get everyday.

More later. I stopped at the house to upload a few shots for the Heart Association folks. Y'all behave.

Birthin' Babies

SCRUBS Mentoring Program, Barbara Stone - CNM, Charleston, SC

Long day, kids, but if there is a shortage of medical professionals in the Lowcountry ten years from now, it isn't going to be my fault.

I had 38 teenagers this evening traipsing around the Labor & Delivery unit thinking they wanted to work in Obstetrics. We set up stations in the birthing rooms so they could learn about care of a woman in labor and delivery. One of our ultrasound techs happened to be seventeen weeks pregnant and offered to be a guinea pig so they could see a live ultrasound, which was a big hit.

Certified Nurse Midwife Barbara Stone showed them how a cloth baby rotates through a plastic pelvis and then my buddy Ginger startled the kids by uncovering a real placenta and raved about it like the miraculous organ that it is. Dr. Victor Weinstien talked about complications in pregnancy and we let them pass around an old pair of forceps which always make such an impressive clanking noise. Good stuff.

Thanks to my buddies Ginger, Kelly, Lorrie and Kristen for making an evening these kids will never forget.

PS: Sometimes it is easy to tell a baby is a girl even before she is completely born. Heheh.

Time for me to get to bed. Tomorrow is "Go Red" for heart disease awareness. The American Heart Association is trying to gather enough women dressed in red to form a human heart at Marion Square around 9 a.m. If anyone is local and available, join in!

And nobody knows, tiddly pom......

Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Charleston, SC

It's cold outside, kids! The hibiscus plants look like swaying ghosts wrapped in my old white bed sheets, the geraniums are in off the porch and the taps are dripping.

I am guessing no one else has this Charleston picture (except me, me, me!), although there are rumors we might see a few snowflakes tonight. We don't often see one of our grand live oaks covered in snow and it was a beautiful sight. I took the picture almost ten years ago.

Altogether now, in the voice of Winnie the Poo:

(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
Are growing.

The more it snows
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddly Pom)
How gold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
Are growing.

Aaaargh........you my Valentine?

Pirate Flag, Buccaneer Restaurant, Faber St., Charleston, SC

We talked of pirates at work today and the fact that the Tall Ships would be sailing into Charleston Harbor this year. The lady I was talking to is a period reenactor and offered.....(drum roll) to let me be an official costumed Pirate's Wench at the Maritime Festival if I wanted. Haaa! Why would she ever think I might want to be a wench? Check out my grin in that picture. Drool.

I googled to find the source of today's image which is a piece of a pirate flag I spotted at the new Buccaneer restaurant on Faber St. The Buccaneer has an incredible amount of real Pirate loot. From weapons and costumes to gold coins and model ships. It is a treasure trove of authentic Pirateware. I didn't come across any explanation of the picture but I did find all kinds of valentine theme pirate booty for you.

Free down loadable Pirate Valentine's Cards because Even Pirates Need Love.

If you're feeling frisky, and maybe have a touch of the scurvy, hop around town with one of these fun Love Pirate Eye Patches.

Spend a little more and be a Pirate of Love

Make your own Candy Heart Arr!

Finally, in case you need a non pirate themed image for your sweetheart, here is a lowcountry Valentine image you can use.

Uuumm....this was taken where?

Oyotunji African Village, SC

I received an email some time ago from a gentleman explaining that he worked for a production company and was putting together a video about a mission trip to Africa. He was missing one shot and thought he had found what he needed going through my online album. He needed a picture of an African medicine man and found this picture.

I explained that there was one little teeny, tiny problem. I've never been to Africa.

The picture was taken right here in the lowcountry at the Oyotunji African Village. It looks like they are still in operation, are taking their show on the road and have a special event coming up this month.

Fuschia Tea Emporium

Fuschia Tea Emporium, 113 Church St., Charleston, SC

Even though I brought work home to make up for it, it felt deliciously wicked to skip out of work to join a few fellow bloggers to try out the new tea room on Church St. Since we have our very own official Tea Blogger and Tea Tour Operator right here in the Lowcountry, it seemed like the right thing to do.

Running late, I parked at home and walking down in a rush met my friend Estelle on King St. and kidnapped her as well before we joined Uniquely Tea, Kittens on the Keyboard and the Pat half of Pat and Kathie.

Scones, mushroom and leak tarts, balsamic chicken with provolone, spinach and sundried tomatoes, crab with roasted golden corn and asparagus, boursin spread with vegetables over cheddar crisps......and I haven't even mentioned the desserts. Yum.

We had such a fun time and Mary Margaret McLernon was the perfect hostess. Thanks Ladies! Let's make it an annual event.

Twenty Five Things

Charleston, SC

Mr. Scribbler tagged me to do this "Twenty Five Things" exercise on Facebook. Groan. Twenty five is a lot of thinking. It's strained my little brain.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. I'll think of a few people to tag and come back to add them. Meanwhile, consider yourself tagged and get to work! This is how we should do resumes.

1. I once failed a Septic Tank Inspector's exam in West Virginia.

2. I used to help deliver babies in Hurricane, a small town close to Charleston, WVa. A few years later I was delivering babies during a Hurricane (Hugo) in Charleston, SC

3. I took English as a second language and didn't bother to do very well at it. Ha!

4. When Charleston Magazine featured Ten Beautiful People of the Millennium in 2000, I was "Generosity"

5. I'd only seen three movies in my life before I turned 17. Now I happily watch that many in a week.

6. I wanted a job whistling for the Andy Griffith show.

7. I've had more smallpox vaccinations than anyone you know.

8. I was sleeping on a cot in the cheapest hotel in Kabul the night the old King was deposed.

9. I used to walk three miles to school in the rainiest place in the world.

10. I eat a handful of baby carrots for breakfast each morning.

11. Another job I would have considered was painting Indian buses.

12. I love reading the newspaper every morning even if I've already checked
the news online.

13. I get a such a kick out of Craigslist's Missed Connections and if I recognize someone I try to get the message to them.

14. I doodle all over a Styrofoam cup with a ballpoint pen in meetings.

15. The words "sub committee" and "by laws" put me into a coma.

16. I'm a really bad sport about team building games.

17. I'd probably lose ten pounds if I stopped eating cheese.

18. I don't like driving so I try to be the most agreeable passenger.

19. When I was a kid my mother treated head lice by soaking our heads in kerosene, wrapping towels around us and telling us not to get too close to the coal stove.

20. I love the HBO polygamy show Big Love. Are they nuts?

21. Picnics! I love picnics!

22. I had gray hair in my twenties. Oh well.

23. I used to make a pet monkey wear a doll's Red Riding Hood cape so he could be Super Monkey.

24. I had braids long enough to tuck in my belt as a teenager.

25. If I never have to paint another room it will be too soon. Uuugh.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

St. Michael's Church, Charleston, SC

St. Michael’s Church is the oldest church edifice in the City of Charleston, standing on the site of the first Anglican Church built south of Virginia. In the 1680’s a small wooden church, the first in the new town of Charles Town, was built on this spot for the families of the Church of England, and named St. Philip’s. By 1727, the town had grown too large for the small church and a more spacious one was built of brick on Church Street, later destroyed by fire in 1835.

It's tradition. I have to feature a Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance. Put the money in the collection box as you leave.

Our word of wisdom for the day is from Aldous Huxley:

It's a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'Try to be a little kinder.'

I have a busy week ahead. Let's hope everyone remembers to be a little kinder.

Paths & Passageways

Philadelphia Alley, Charleston, SC

I am learning my way around the Daily Photo community. Each month a theme day topic is announced and participants from all over the globe are encouraged to submit related pictures from their town. The theme for February is Paths & Passageways.

The little alleyways around Charleston are favorites of mine so my first theme day entry is of Philadelphia Alley, the shady pathway between Queen and Cumberland.

Philadelphia Alley
Originally named “Cow Alley” then renamed to “Philadelphia Street” and later changed to “Philadelphia Alley.” Originally named Kinloch Court but in 1810 changed to Philadelphia by William Johnson who owned much of the property in the vicinity. He had been sent to Philadelphia as a prisoner during Revolutionary War and named the street in admiration of Philadelphia.

I'm thinking his prison experience wasn't too bad if he came home and named a street after it.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants