90 Degrees at Midnight

Hampton Park

2010-05-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Girl

2010-03-21T12:09:00.001-07:00

Emma doesn't really like her picture taken, so I'm happy when I can get one I like, even if it's slightly fuzzy because she turned her head.

The Boy

2010-03-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

Must be Spring ...

2010-03-16T10:00:00.001-07:00

The pine pollen is here. Hampton Park duck pond, March 2010.

Eight-Year-Old Bliss

2010-02-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

Joseph woke up at 4:20 a.m. - he was so excited that he hounded me out of bed at 6.

Alternate Universe

2010-02-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

Roy is pitifully confused. He's only 3, and has never seen snow before.

Winter Volunteer

2010-02-07T14:27:00.001-08:00

We have a compost pile, but during the fall and winter we also do lazy composting by throwing vegetable peels/scraps directly onto our garden plot. Every once in awhile, we're rewarded with a surprise. The other day, I noticed a discarded piece of broccoli stem had regenerated itself. Spring must be on the way.

2 p.m. in the Garden of Good and Evil

2010-01-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a child and we lived right down the road from All Saints Episcopal graveyard near Pawleys Island, I've loved to visit cemeteries. We have plenty in Charleston - this afternoon we walked up to Magnolia Cemetery, stopping off at the Jewish cemetery and St. Lawrence Cemetery on the way. We didn't see any epitaphs to rival my and Emma's favorite so far: "She made good gravy." (All Saints, PI). We did find a name (Whitemarsh Seabrook Smith) to rival our current favorites, Obadiah and Czarina Brown (Morgan County, OH). I guess if you have a name like Brown or Smith you can get the urge to break out with a creative first name. I also spotted what is by far the most unusual child's grave I've seen, along with rows and rows of Confederate soldiers' grave markers. One thing I'm still waiting to find is a gravestone that says "Suffer in Torment" instead of "Rest in Peace."

Eat Your Heart Out, Martha Stewart

2010-01-11T16:00:00.003-08:00

Or maybe cover your eyes. I'm not sure. I'm too much of a slacker to have taken "before" pictures, when this was a tiny little bathroom between the kitchen and basement. Awhile back, we had the plumbers take out the fixtures, and this weekend we finally got around to setting up a pantry. And when I say "we", I mean my husband. He refloored the section where the hole from the ex-toilet was, and set up the shelves. Now I get to use it. Yay. My first idea was that I'd paint it some cheery color, but my ingrained slackerness came to the fore, and I persuaded myself that was a complete waste of time.

Post-Christmas Cheer

2010-01-11T15:56:00.001-08:00

No, we haven't taken the tree down yet. It's kind of cheering me up during the cold spell. Yes, if you look closely, you will see that the tree is set tastefully atop a moving blanket. Thanks for asking.

January Blight

2010-01-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

I think the tomatoes have finally given up the ghost.

Back in Time

2010-01-01T05:24:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve, we drove over to Walterboro for the day. My first job out of college was for the weekly newspaper there, but I hadn't been back in at least 25 years. Here are Joseph and Emma outside the house where I had my first apartment. Hampton Street doesn't look too different, but E. Washington Street is now Antiques Row. I loved the Artisan's Center.

Rite of Passage

2009-12-28T07:59:00.001-08:00

Yes, Emma is the last 13-year-old on Planet Earth to acquire a cellphone. A cellphone that is, by the way, a lot nicer than mine. There's something wrong with that.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

2009-12-27T04:13:00.000-08:00

"Next to me in the blackness lay my oiled blue steel beauty. The greatest Christmas gift I had ever received, or would ever receive. Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, pinging ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots."

When I was about Joseph's age, my sister, brother, and I shared a BB gun. Our parents taught us how to use it, and turned us loose on the world. Those were the days. Here's Joseph, in our makeshift shooting gallery in the back yard. He's a pretty good shot. We'll have to scout around for some woods where he can get better practice.

Peace and Quiet on the Cooper

2009-12-25T15:43:00.001-08:00

At Mepkin Abbey, in November