It's been a rainy week here in Lake Lowcountry. Mom visited last week and helped me plant and/or repot some pots, so it looks a little more cared for around here. All the rain has helped all these new plants to relax and snuggle their roots down, down, down. Things have visibly grown in just 10 days.
Mom left me with explicit instructions to water and fertilize frequently. Mother Nature has been helping me out there.

Other wins have been that I'm feeling quite a bit better after a recent doctor visit confirming that my thyroid levels were totally out of whack, I got rid of many random partial sets of dishes and bought a nice set, so the cabinets are less cluttered. I've been for a walk most days, and a friend and I are going to start a weekly yoga class. I've figured out how to change my Kindle from mom's account to mine and I didn't lose the books she had bought. I've figured out how to download an audiobook, purchased from Audible, through Amazon, onto my Ipod (my new plan for walking entertainment). I spent a couple of mornings writing emails to SC Senators and Representatives for a friend who is trying to get a political appointment. And the Cubs are winning.

My knitting however is a bit at an impasse. I tried to do a sweater for a toddler, and made that unfortunate mistake of two balls of yarn from different dye lots. So reknit in a different yarn, and still not completely happy with the pattern's way of doing bringing the cap sleeve together under the arm.

I've been knitting a pair of socks with yarn purchased in the fall at SAFF. I was never happy with the first sock -- the cuff was not tight enough and it was overall too big. So after I got through with the 2nd sock where I corrected these issues, I unraveled the first and began to reknit. All was well until I realized I had not cast on enough stitches and this sock was going to be an entire pattern repeat smaller than its mate. So, I unraveled again, and am going at it for the 3rd time (surely the charm but I've lost interest).

For the coming week, my hope is to pull together the new lower deck to be a pleasant place to sit and enjoy coffee or a glass of wine. I'm going to do some spray painting and perhaps experiment with chalk paint.  Hmm fun times ahead.

Two weeks ago, I put this oblilisk-shaped trellis beside this clump of ivy.
It is already going for it!

Cat in the Bag

Ethel has discovered a paperbag makes a great toy. She circles it, she bats at it, finally, she gets in it.

 

I lay down on the floor with the camera because she is so-o-o cute, but she decides she doesn't want to be cute for the camera.

I'll bet she wishes she could take MY picture.

Changing the subject, I bought this African Violet for $0.75 off the "almost dead" table at K-Mart.

Stay cool, friends. It's entirely too hot outside.

Easter Flowers

We've had an very early spring and in the last week temperatures have ranged wildly from the high 80s to the low 40s. We took a walk in a sweet residential neighborhood right behind the Battery this afternoon and I enjoyed looking at yards, behind gates, and generally at plants. One of the things I've always liked about Charleston is you don't have to have your entire house and yard in tip top shape. You can pull it off with one small bed running down the side of your house, or around one tree. It sort of takes the pressure off. Here are some of the pretty spots we saw. (Google's Picasa has given you all kinds of new photo editing options, so I've played with Easter egg colors.)

Behinds one of those tantalizing gates

This is the Catholic Diocese's grounds -- right off of Broad Street.

Another shot of that pretty lawn

You can't go wrong with pansies

Here is a very formal side yard set up for outdoor dining. Sweet.

They decorated the tree they had. . .

A pretty little bed between the front entrance and the street.

Amaryllis grow in the yard down here.

Knock-out roses and the remains of a white azalea.

Who is this man? (I should talk - I have a plant stand with a lady's face . . .)

Honeysuckle

 

 

It's been a nice day here. Happy Easter, everyone!

December 4th and my summer flowers are still blooming.

When Mom visited in October we bought this Debutante camellia. It blooms now and the Lady Claire blooms in Feb.March.

We've had one night when it threatened to go below freezing, but the following day it went up to over 70 again. I recently said I wished it would get colder so it would feel more like the holidays and someone told me to be careful what I wished for. True, true. So, I'm enjoying this e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d fall.

Best Houseguest Ever!

A couple of people have told me they've been looking here for updates about Mom's visit. I haven't taken the time to write anything and I'm sorry to say, we didn't take any pictures. It was so nice having her here, I did not want to spend the time at the computer. If 2 weeks was too long of a visit for her, she was too kind to let on.

She was totally a good sport about everything. She did not complain about being left at home with Eloise every day while we went off to work. She brought a fresh eye to my attempts at flower beds and pot gardening and she fixed almost all of our evening meals. I was in heaven eating my mother's cooking again! -- and so was Duncan.

Otherwise, we went to Charlestowne Landing and Folly Beach for walks, spotted a 12' alligator going into the pond behind Duncan's office building, had friends over for a dinner of fresh-caught flounder and mullet, went to the Farmer's Market at Marion Square, watched some movies, and just generally hung out.

One long day we went on a SCIway roadtrip to Hilton Head/Bluffton. It was a whirlwind trip -- not enough to do or see even a portion of what we would have liked to -- but enough to see that it was a really pretty area and know we'd like to go back.


While I was at work one day, mom greatly improved the appearance of this little bed at the bottom of our steps -- though the picture doesn't do it justice. She moved a very unhappy knockout rose to a place where we hope it gets more sun -- and put in this sweet grass, a pot of pansies, and some catnip especially for Eloise.

Despite every kindness, Eloise was her usual rude and aloof self until the last 4 days of the the visit. Finally, she condescended to spend part of her night on Mom's bed and let Mom scratch her ears. I would not nominate Eloise to work for the visitor's bureau.

Mom's Garden Spot

This is the view my Mom has created for herself (and for her neighbors) at Glenaire, the retirement community in Cary where she moved over a year ago. The wooded area out her back door was one of the selling points on this particular apartment -- and to get it, she probably moved sooner after Dad's death than she would have liked.

But, as things turned out, we are glad she moved when she did. It is good to have that big transition behind her and the house sold easily just before the economy completely collapsed last year. She has really transformed this little glade from underbrush completely overgrowing the azaleas and camellias that were there -- to this pretty little area where the plants have room to breathe and flowers offer spots of color as well. She has always had a green thumb.