What a neat building downtown Charleston, SC!

On August 18, 2013December 21, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME3 Comments

Carolina Antique Maps & Prints sure has a cool building. I love the trim color, it’s so Charleston! Walking downtown and taking photos is so much fun, there is beauty everywhere you look! Of course I can find beauty just about anywhere, but some great strong colors downtown. I’m not really into maps or prints, but I just looked through their website and I have to say, they’ve got some really interesting things!! I’ll be stopping in this place!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

My post from one year ago… A walk downtown… (Charleston Photograph)

My post from two years ago… Foods that should never cross your lips – part one…

House Plan: Low Country Beach House – Plan W44091TD by Architectural Designs

On August 15, 2013December 21, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House PlansLeave a comment

Low Country Beach House [image] — Low Country Beach House

This is a neat house plan if you had a great water view… Perfect for the Charleston area, but would be great anywhere there is water! This home is 2,621 square feet…

As you can see by the sliding door system, this plan optimizes the use of windows to capture the view. That feature coupled with the wonderful deep porches makes this quite the perfect home… and if that isn’t enough, if this plan is a bit too large for your needs, they have created another plan that is a bit smaller and it’s fabulous! Plan W44116TD: Low Country Beach House (1,581 square feet) – personally, I would go for this one!

One good thing about this plan is it offers a space for everyone to spread out and have their own quiet time. A nice feature! From Architectural Designs:

Video Tour: Fly around this house plan in a 32 second You Tube video. What a novel concept!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

My post from a year ago… Featured Artist… Jane Chapin!

My post from two years ago… Quick and easy macaroni salad, perfect for a warm summer day!

All images via ArchitecturalDesigns.com

Do you know what today is? Don’t miss it…

On August 11, 2013August 11, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Just a reminder, if you’re in the Charleston, SC area, that today is SECOND SUNDAY ON KING. If you haven’t walked on King Street while its closed to car traffic, let me tell you it’s quite the treat. Music playing, tables and chairs set up in the street where you can dine at some of the restaurants along the way… sales of all kinds. LOTS of people! It’s so much fun, truly it is! It makes you realize what a cool city we have here! Second Sunday begins at noon, when they block the street to traffic.

When you finish on King Street take a short walk to Queen and State Street… pop in the Anglin Smith Fine Art Gallery and say hello!

Click HERE to print a parking voucher, good for two free hours in a city parking garage (or email info@charlestonppt.org and they’ll send you one)!

Hope to see you there! Catch you back here tomorrow!

My post from one year ago… Port Clyde, Maine – Truly the way life should be!

My post from two years ago… Cancer Prevention Tip #12

House Plan: Nipper’s Escape by Flatfish Island Designs!

On August 8, 2013August 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Nipper's Escape by Flat Fish Island Designs [image] — Nipper’s Escape by Flatfish Island Designs

Fred found this house plan and I have to say, I LOVE IT! Nipper’s Escape is such an efficiently designed plan! It has it all and only 1,100 square feet! An open plan with an optional upstairs, great living space on the porches, a master suite tucked away in a secluded spot and STORAGE! I know I’ve been showcasing small cottages, I will move up to the moderate sized 2,000-2,500 square feet roughly… in the coming future. I just know when we look for a home to build one day AFTER we retire… it’s going to be small. Neither of us want a large home with more room to spread out and collect “stuff”. We’re pretty good at getting rid of excess just because we don’t have a lot of extra space to store. So a pantry, and a few closets… fabulous!

So many great features. Especially if this house were built here in Charleston, SC. Just look at these wonderful porches! We could easily be outside on our porches the majority of the year (all but summer with the mosquitoes and heat/humidity). A little powder room right inside the front door, can’t beat that for convenience! I LOVE the kitchen, lots of counter space, and open to the living/dining room… and A PANTRY! Oh, how I would love a pantry! Fabulous design, done right here near Charleston! Check out their website… full of amazing house plans!

Here’s a blip about Nipper’s Escape from the Flatfish Island Design website:

For a couple or a small family, the Nipper’s Escape house plan has a cozy, casual, outdoors feel perfect for a weekend retreat.

The Nipper’s Escape home plan features classic cottage styling, including distinctive gables with shed dormers. A private master suite on the living level features three exposures and a private patio offering spectacular views

This house plan features wrap around porches that offer a relaxed setting and lovely views. The deep-set design of the covered porches provides excellent shade for the entire ground floor living area, making the Nipper’s Escape home plan an efficient, eco-friendly green design.

Nipper’s Escape is a simple house plan that allows for easy expansion or modification. For example, you can add three beds and two baths to the second floor to create a loft space if you wish.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images via flatfishislanddesigns.com

House Plan Thursday: the Beach Bungalow plan…

On August 1, 2013December 12, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans7 Comments

Beach Bungalow SL-243 {image} — Beach Bungalow SL-243
{image}

The Beach Bungalow plan from Coastal Living… this is an exclusive design for Coastal Living by Dennis Wedlick. My husband, Fred, found this plan years ago while looking through Coastal Living magazine while we were renting a cottage in Port Clyde, Maine. It’s a great small plan… I can’t tell you how small because that part of the site isn’t populated… hmmmm? Isn’t this the perfect beachside plan for a quiet weekend getaway, or for some empty nesters?!

I saw this plan and the first thing I said… cute… but I don’t like spiral stairs… Fred’s idea was to remove the spiral staircase, enclose the porch to make a sunroom and have part of the stairs there as well as the area to the left of the fireplace. Another good thought… pocket doors for the bedroom, saves on space! What would you do??

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Let me tell you about the harrowing saga…

On July 30, 2013December 12, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Let me tell you about the harrowing saga that filled our weekend… I was working away… attempting to write a post. Everything was painfully slow… and then all I could see is that little colorful ‘death wheel’ as I like to call it spinning around… computer unresponsive. Thankfully, I purchased the Apple Care extended warranty (adds two years on to the regular one year warranty). So I was able to call support to get some much needed help. I’m not an Apple genius. I try to keep up, but whew, some things are beyond me, and this was one of them! I got a great support person I could understand, he was clear, we went through steps and he determined I needed to wipe the hard drive and reload Mac OS X Lion. “Uuuuhhhh”, I heard myself stutter “ooooo-kkkkkk”, but really my innards were screaming NOOOOOOO! “Do you have a backup?” he asked. “Yes” I replied, without hesitation. I mean I have an external hard drive plugged in, I assume it works? I have taken a trip through the TIME CAPSULE just to see what riding in space is like… it miraculously captures your info from each day… We wiped it clean, and reloaded Lion. After that, the computer was unresponsive. We determined that we would make an appointment and take it to the ER (Apple store)… luckily we were able to take it that night. Genius Brian ran the first diagnostic on it. “Everything looks like it should”. Oh. Great. I don’t want everything to look like it should or these problems are going to keep happening, I mean I DO want everything to be ok, but not unless it really is… He said there is one more test… he ran it… and it could not recognize the hard drive. Ok… now we have a diagnosis… that’s a relief! It was scheduled to have the hard drive replaced, and I am sooooo very thankful that it was still under warranty (I LOVE YOU APPLE CARE!)! We were able to pick it up the next morning…

It was nice to have it back in our hot little hands. The backup worked like a miracle. It costed us nothing. Dropping it off we even got a parking spot in the front of the store, WHEN does that ever happen. One more thing… next week is tax free weekend… which means it would have taken MUCH longer for the computer to be worked on, because the Apple store becomes a zoo during tax free weekend! After all, that’s when we bought it a few years ago! It was worth standing in the heat for hours to not pay tax on it!

All this blah blah blah, to say… if you’re about to purchase an Apple product… do not hesitate to buy the Apple Care extended warranty. It’s worth Every. Single. Penny. We, in Charleston, SC, are so fortunate to have the Apple store right here. First class all the way.

So glad to be back among the living… !

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Image: Apple.com

Rockville Beauty…

On July 27, 2013July 23, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTS1 Comment

The beauty in this tiny town is beyond comprehension. You can just feel the history. It has that feeling of days gone by, kind of like Mayberry, but quieter, more refined and certainly very special!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

House Plan Thursday: Inlet Cottage SL 1519 – 1376 sq. ft.

On July 25, 2013December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Inlet Cottage (SL1519) An Exclusive Design for Southern Living by K2 Urban Design [image] — Inlet Cottage (SL1519)
An Exclusive Design for Southern Living by K2 Urban Design [image]

The Inlet Cottage house plan by Southern Living House plans is a sweet floor plan that affords you the ability to downsize and still have a nice usable space! Depending what the conditions were (sun/shade and what my view was) I think I would add a side porch off the house, where you see the stairs, or even a nice deck, that would be quite nice!

If you really enjoy cooking you might want a larger space… I’m thinking, as much as I love a porch, I would sacrifice the one between the bedroom and the kitchen to expand the bedroom maybe a foot or two and expand the kitchen with the remaining space. I think it would be nice to have a bar to sit at for casual meals, so I would move the stove… but that’s me, what would you do??

Catch you back here tomorrow!

House Plan Thursday: Nautical Cottage (SL-224)…

On July 18, 2013December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans, THOUGHTS4 Comments

Nautical Cottage (SL-224) A Southern Living House Plan by Architect Scott Ziegler — Nautical Cottage (SL-224)
A Southern Living House Plan by Architect Scott Ziegler

This is a great house to have nestled in the trees… of course I always think about a view of the water, a definite bonus! This plan has porches on three sides, one screened and two are open… what a luxury to sit on such a fabulous porch! The Nautical Cottage is 1,315 square feet. Pretty small in square footage, but space is used wisely! You have to keep in mind all the outdoor space you get from the porches… that adds a lot of living space, just not heated space.

Now lets check out the main floor of this sweet cottage:

Nautical Cottage SL-224 - {Image} — Nautical Cottage SL-224 – {Image}

My first thought is… that I would switch the kitchen and the living room… I would want the kitchen sink about where the fireplace is, so I can ~~eat a cookie~~ wash dishes and look out my window over the sink. I love my kitchen window (great view down the street) and it would be hard to give up! It seems easy enough to flip the living room and fireplace to the other side of the room (being the expert that I am)… that way, maybe there could also be a fireplace on the outside? A house in our neighborhood was built like that, and it’s quite charming! How nice to curl up with a book in a comfy chair, OUTSIDE, in front of a fire?! I love a screened porch for the buggy time of year!

If I ever start painting again, I would make one of the downstairs bedrooms into a studio, it’s also a room the ~~dreadmill~~ treadmill could hang out in, always a thought!

I think I would also make this upstairs loft space into a closed off storage area. How about you? What would you do?

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

On July 14, 2013July 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTS2 Comments

Recently we had a situation with our refrigerator that required us to unload everything into coolers for 48 hours. We had the best time ever. Hmmmm. The first day we ran to the gas station nearby and bought a few bags of ice… it costs over $7 for 3 fairly small bags of ice… the next day I remembered this vending machine. Ha! ICE HOUSE AMERICA is the name of it… click HERE to find a location near you, they’re all over the USA. In Charleston, SC it was $1.50 for 16 pounds OR you could drag your cooler over to the side and get #20 pounds for $1.50. Quite the deal! We only needed two bags. So if you need ice, check out one of these vending machines… This one is located on St. Andrew’s Blvd…

Stay cool – Catch you back here tomorrow!

House Plan Thursday: Artist Studio Cottage by John Tee!

On July 11, 2013December 12, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans4 Comments

Artist Studio Cottage - JohnTee.com — Artist Studio Cottage – JohnTee.com

The Artist Studio Cottage… This is a great one floor plan with 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a fireplace and 760 square feet – perfect for an artist’s studio! It really is a neat plan, even if you aren’t an artist! Oh to plop this on a sweet little lot somewhere… what a dream, huh?! Along with it, you could even have a little garage with an upstairs studio/guest room. That way other artists could come and visit and have their own space. John Tee (architect) has a nice website and so many different plans. This one is a favorite (if you super downsize, or live alone), this is plenty. So whatcha think??! Storage is my only concern… I guess you just learn to live with less OR you bump out that closet wall and make it much bigger. We’re pretty good about cleaning out closets and donating items… but this would take a lot more donating… a sweet happy place nonetheless!

Check them out, they have some great plans! Click on the link to the plan to see the different roof options… love them all! Catch you back here tomorrow!

House Plan Thursday (on Wednesday this week)… Holly Grove by Southern Living…

On July 3, 2013December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans3 Comments

Holly Grove (SL-1581) by Southern Living House Plans – An Exclusive Design for Southern Living by John Tee, Architect

* Beep * Beep * Beep * I would like to announce that House Plan Thursday will be today instead of tomorrow due to the 4th of July holiday… Didn’t want you to miss out on this sweet little house plan! It boasts a nice front porch to sit, drink iced tea and catch up on a good book… Ahhh, the possibilities are endless! Here’s a description of it from the Southern Living House Plan website:

These days you need every square foot in your house to count, just like each dollar of your paycheck. Our Holly Grove plan offers a modest 1,269 square feet, and this design is as straightforward as it is charming. Based on a shotgun house (so named because you can see clear from the front door to the back), Holly Grove boasts a combined living, dining, and kitchen area that’s suited to today’s casual lifestyles Two bedrooms and baths round out the other half of the house.

For great looks and space-savvy rooms, Architect John Tee designed this plan to give you the biggest bang for your buck!

So, if you’re looking to downsize, or if you need a small getaway… this could be the plan for you!

I really like that there is a separate utility room, as well as a back porch. Wouldn’t it be great with bead board and lots of hooks for hanging coats, etc.? As well as a place for shoes? Perhaps a dog wash station?!

As you all know, I’m a fan of an open plan, this way if you’re cooking you can still be a part of whatever might be going on! Perfect that the sink looks out a window… I do a lot of dreaming while I’m washing dishes looking down the street from my kitchen window… Hey, don’t laugh… DREAMING. IS. FREE. ha…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images are from houseplans.southernliving.com

Charleston Photo: Rockville Door

On June 29, 2013January 8, 2014 By Barbara StroudIn HOME3 Comments

Back in time, right? Rockville, SC is pure charm… everywhere you look! Have a great weekend…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

House Plan Thursday: Tidewater Cottage SL 998 (Southern Living)

On June 27, 2013December 12, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, House Plans2 Comments

Tidewater Cottage (SL-998) An Exclusive Design for Southern Living by LRK, Inc.

For today’s plan, I was searching for something a little edgier, with a more modern flare to it… and look what I found! The Tidewater Cottage (Southern Living Plan SL-998) is 1,710 square feet. It’s got that open plan that we love (and it’s not for everyone, but it fits our lifestyle quite well). It would be neat to build this house out in the country or on the water… I’m not picky, I would take either one! I LOVE all those windows… especially if you had spectacular trees as your view! Perhaps on the edge of a forest.

Here’s a blip about the Tidewater Cottage from the Southern Living House Plans:

Our Tidewater Retreat (SL-998) is a 1,710-square-foot escape that maximizes indoor/outdoor living. After a day at the beach, stow gear in the storage room and wash off sand in a bathroom located on the ground floor. On the main level, the kitchen flows into the dining room and living room and two bedrooms are quarters for friends and family. Walls of windows look out to the wrap-around porch, a perfect place to enjoy ocean breezes and sunsets over the water. Upstairs await the master bedroom and a bunk room. A third-floor loft offers a panoramic view.

The ground floor… great for living at the beach, a bathroom so you don’t have to track back through the house… a shower to rinse off… Hmmm… not sure I would want to clean all that. Personally, maybe a toilet, tiny sink and make the rest storage…

Rinse off with the garden hose ;)

The first floor has everything you could possibly think of… two small bedrooms down are nice, in case one day it’s difficult to climb the stairs… hmmm… although you would still need an elevator to get you to the first floor I suppose. I’m not a big fan of caddied walls… I would see if that one wall could be straight…

The second floor… the Master Suite… matter-of-fact… I might even make the two bedroom downstairs into the master bedroom… I would put the toilet and sink where the bathtub is, and make a doorway to the bedroom, closing off the hallway door. I would put a little tiny powder room (toilet/sink) under the steps. I would let guests have the upstairs bedroom. The bunk room could either hold another bed, or be used for storage. Storage. Wow… that would be great!

WHAT A GREAT ARTIST’S STUDIO!! Buns of steel from going up and down three flights of stairs, an added bonus! Wow!!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images: http://houseplans.southernliving.com/

No GMO, no poison, just fresh veggies… are these guys cool or what? Say hello to Sothel Farm!

On June 25, 2013December 17, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, HOME, THOUGHTS5 Comments

Sothel Farm. Have you heard of it? It’s located in scenic Byrnes Down, right off the West Ashley Greenway. You may have noticed a few houses that made ample use of the unused space behind their homes. They planted a garden. Not any old garden. A community garden. You won’t see a little Farmer’s Market stand, with scales, calculators and a cash box. The vegetables are free. What?! I know… since when do you hear news like that?

Planting a garden on an easement… What a brilliant idea! Instead of looking at space that is unused and just sitting there, to make something of it that the community can learn from, get people active in is great. New friendships are forged. Kids see how cool a garden is, how it grows and then are excited to eat what comes of all that hard work! And hey, pulling weeds… it’s good for you!

A photo from Sothel Farms earlier days, wow, it’s like these guys know what they’re doing!

So thank you to those of you who put yourselves out there in the heat… tending these gardens, making them so prolific AND for sharing everything! I look forward to meeting you one day to say THANK YOU! I had a squash with my dinner one night, and a tomato on my salad. I’m telling you, it’s the little things in life that make you smile!

They seem like a fun bunch… this is how they describe the farm (very creative I might add):

Free & fun. Sothel Farm. Byrnes Down, USA.

Hee hee… who couldn’t love that?

Read more about the Sothel Farm (and see the many photos!) on their blog at http://sothelfarm.tumblr.com

It’s free. It’s fun and it is oh so entertaining! Check this out…

Sothel Farm as seen from the Greenway… no zoom… so you can see it’s way out of the way… I’m starting to think we should make the entire Greenway a garden!! How smart!

Here are a few other gardens planted in out of the way, unexpected places (easement)…

This one does not have a sign that says the veggies are free… so please don’t pick unless you ask first ;)