The Desk Chairs Saga

 Most everyone knows that 4 years ago we moved off of our boat and to a house and had NO "stuff"!  Only what we could fit in our van left the boat with us.  We had a few boxes of things in storage but no furniture of any kind.  So, it was time to start over - again.

Daughter Christie found some great wooden arm chairs for us sitting out at the curb on trash day and saved them for us.  When we arrived in Mount Pleasant and began to set up housekeeping I managed to find a really long "desk" at Habitat for Humanity for $20.

So, for 4 years we have used the free curbside chairs and the $20 table for our computers, sitting side by side.  Those chairs were fantastic.  Not a thing wrong with them but the padding finally was wearing out and our fannies were hurting.

Today we made the big splurge and went to Office Depot and sat in every chair on the floor.  We both found something we like but I think I will always miss those big wooden chairs.  (Ah, but my fannie loves this new chair!)

So now you can see where I sit when I am writing my blog or posting on Facebook.  I have the smaller chair on the left and you can see the green box on the floor which acts as a small footstool for my short legs!

Birds

Just like the title suggest - just a bunch of pictures of birds.  Not too exciting but I got to use my big telephoto camera lens that Kirby gave me.  I don't use it often.  I happened to look out the window and there were mockingbirds using the new bird bath and I watched until they finished and then waited to see more.  There were plenty of birds but none of them in the bath.  I decided to try the camera but thought they would all be gone by the time I got the camera and changed lenses - but the weren't.  These were all taken through the dirty window so they aren't that good but I did have fun and that is all that counts, right?

A moma cardinal - these are all better if you enlarge them of course.

I think this is some sort of fly catcher?

I don't know what any of these other birds are.  Maybe someone will tell me?? The one on the right looks young.

And then I turned around and got a picture of the lovely red carnations I gave myself for the holiday weekend!  Hope you are having a good one!

Party at the Cave

We started the long weekend off with a party with friends at the Cave last night.  We always have a good time with our neighbors - we are so fortunate to have such great friends right next door and across the street.

Diane shared her fruity frozen delight with Jen.

Now here is a picture.  Derek got his first haircut in forever.  He is a really good looking young man but I didn't know that before because he had so much hair hanging in his face!  Congratulations, Derek, on making such a good decision!

Robert promised us really, really big burgers and that is what we got!

Ray promised real homemade french fry's! 

Yum!  (and fat free of course!)

The burgers really were wonderful!

Doesn't this picture make you hungry?

Sometimes people don't want me to take their picture - I do it anyway!  haha!

Mother Daughter Day! Yea!

Christie and I took all day yesterday and had our Mother Daughter Day.  We hadn't done it in so long and were way overdue.

We spent all day in Charleston.  I love this picture because it is so "Girlie" and we were having a girlie day!

But we actually began our day at 8 in the morning at Charleston's oldest public cemetery.  I understand that not everyone loves old cemeteries the way I do - Kirby even thinks it is kind of weird - but I love them and fortunately for me, so does my daughter, Christie.  We wandered around for about an hour taking pictures and making up stories about the people who were buried there.

And then it was on to downtown and the historical area of Charleston.  We never tire of walking the streets and walked and walked and walked enjoying the flowers, the gates and doors and the color of the whole area. The way the homes have been restored is amazing.  Each detail seems to take you right back to the 1800's.

Christie makes friends with dogs wherever she goes.  I looked back and found her scratching his ears through the fence.

We marveled over this garden.  As I was saying, "It is so....", Christie finished my sentence for me as I couldn't find the right word, "interesting".  It was in stark contrast to all the formal gardens we had been enjoying.

After walking the for blocks and blocks we settled on Blossom for a wonderful lunch.

And on our way back to the car we spotted this.  No one was around and I couldn't tell which car was parked there first but it didn't look nice.  Ah, the streets are very crowded!
We finished our day with lavish pedicures - a fitting end to a perfect day!

Farmer's Market

We seem to never tire of the Charleston Farmer's Market as there is always something new and fun to entertain us!  This time it was the drummers - I have no idea where they were from - a high school probably.  But the fun part was the toddler who was watching them.  I should have used the video feature for this....he watched for about 2-3 minutes and then just started moving to the music!  It was the most natural thing to happen.  No one prompted him and no one else was dancing.  He just "felt the music" and moved with it!

And then there was the dog that belonged to the dancing child's family.  He had been shaved/clipped for the summer - his summer cut.  But do you see the Mohawk here?? Very subtle but it is there none the less!

We had never seen the market so crowded and I have to believe it was because of the cruise ship that sat on the harbor.  It was good to see $$$$ coming to our economy!

I loved the flower stand the best as the colors were fantastic!  But all the stands were colorful and fresh!  All the veggies and fruits were wonderful!  Ah, spring!

After the market we tried a new pub on for size.  Molly Darcy's.......the bartender was great but the food and ales were lacking.  Of course we had a good time anyway!

Tybee Island Fun

It is time to get back to our wonderful holiday with Rick and Tanya.  After a fun filled day in Savannah we headed to nearby Tybee Island .  On our way there we took a walk down memory lane and visited an old anchorage to reminisce about our cruising days.  Ah, the stories.....

We found our hotel which was just steps from the beach and set out to have a fun filled evening.

Here we are drinking wine by the pool....very civilized.

But it was downhill from there!

While on the waterfront in Savannah, Tanya and I had purchased matching sundresses.  We just had too much fun modeling them for the guys!  Do you think the wine had anything at all to do with this??

We had a great dinner that night at AJ's and then the next morning we were out early for our walks.  I loved the early morning light for my pictures.  Beaches are wonderful!

Last Visit From Rich

I finally found this picture from Rich's last visit to Charleston.  It was in Nov of '09 and we had dinner at the Charleston Crab House.  Time flies!

Kellie Ray Comes to Charleston

Our friend Rich stopped by Charleston this week on his way to Maine and Canada for the summer.  He invited us to have dinner on his boat - and it was homemade pizza!  It was really good to see Rich and hear some of his boating stories.  We reminisced about some of the times we have seen each other.  We began in Maine he invited us for cocktails on his boat.  I think the next time was in Annapolis, MD at the Boat Show.  Then it was all the way down to the Bahamas where we met up in the Georgetown.  He has stopped in Charleston before and we also saw him in Nova Scotia when we were there a few years ago by car and he was on his boat.   Somehow we have managed to always find each other!

And I went around taking pictures of the boat.  It was so fun to be on a boat again!!

Strange Cult - Beautiful Schooner

Before we left Savannah, Tanya and I decided to take a Free Tour of the beautiful "old" schooner that was docked along the boardwalk.  I can never pass up a boat tour unless the line is too long!  It was so lovely and they were letting people come onboard and walk all over it.  I couldn't figure out the gimmick.  So, I asked....It belongs to the "12 Tribes".  You can look them up.  My computer won't let me go to their site....I don't know why.  Is it protecting me from something?  I read the literature they gave me and whoa!  CULT!  But the boat was very, very lovely!  (They all live together - commune style!)

Just look at this galley!  Better then my kitchen!

And the bathroom was big and luxurious.  (Here is my Tanzie!)

I sure never had a stateroom like this on my boat!  I really could handle this!

The pilot house was very traditional with the wooden wheel and all the varnished wood.

But the mast was not wood!  What a shame!