The couple who originally owned our home many, many years ago, had our house and a lot of both sides. We had heard (and have seen evidence) that she loved to garden. After her husband had passed away, she moved – and sold the lots on either side of her. New homes were built and her gardens were no longer. But every once in a while we’ll see a sign of her handiwork. This daylily comes back year after year, decade after decade. I hear about daylilies spreading, but ours has not. I think it’s staying just as Mrs. H. had intended it to. Every year it’s a nice (and striking) surprise.

Continue reading “Portrait of a Daylily!” →

Sending a little happy your way, I think this is supposed to be another hot day here in Charleston, but we’re getting close to less humid weather – it can’t come soon enough for most people I talk to.

On another note, Many of you have dropped off your sons and daughters at college, others are sending their younger children back to school. I’m not sure where the time goes, but some of the kids in the neighborhood that I still picture as young are now in high school, off at college. How can that be? I saw the sweetest thing a neighbor did when she sent her young children to school…

Continue reading “Happy Weekend – May the sun shine!” →

I love to be out and about and spot something cool – grab my phone and get a snippet. These flowers were beautiful against the sky, and their color, whoa! I love fuchsia – such a vibrant color. The butterfly was zipping around, I waited for him to land and get comfy before taking the pic. #alwayslookup

Continue reading “Take a Moment to Look for the Lovely!” →

Sending HAPPY ANNIVERSARY wishes to my sweet husband! I can’t believe 30+ years have passed so quickly. What fun we have. You are the best of the best – here’s to another 30+ years! #blessyoudear

Continue reading “Happy Anniversary to my love! ✨” →

Well, I made it! Another trip around the sun has flown by (do they not come faster and faster with each year?) – This image is supposed to be where we were going to be today, however, life happens and sometimes you just have to roll with it, right?

Continue reading “Thankful for another trip around the sun!” →

Sending happy thoughts for a beautiful weekend!

🌸May your flowers always bloom beautifully, and your bees fly around happily.🐝 Enjoy every second of this beautiful weekend! Get out and do something or stay home and read a book, the choice is yours – just make it count! #gratefulnessgoals

Continue reading “Happy Weekend, Y’all!” →

Hummingbirds. They are quite amazing. I can sit and watch them all day long. They have limitless energy which is probably why they’re constantly eating. They flit from feeder to feeder, flapping their wings so fast – they are tenacious to say the least! Tenacious and a joy to watch!

Continue reading “Hummingbirds in North Carolina!” →

We have a canopy of live oak trees over streets in our neighborhood. This is something to protect and something to cherish. Each was planted when the neighborhood was developed in the 1920’s. They had the foresight to plant a tree in front of each house (previously a cabbage field with no trees). Ingenious is the word that comes to mind.

Continue reading “If these trees could talk…” →

Seriously, who knew chives were so pretty? My dad has a knack for gardening… to put it mildly – his backyard looks like it has exploded in gorgeous blooms – as well as veggies that are just about ready for the picking. Last time we visited I wandered through the backyard taking photos of his (then in the beginning stages) plantings. I came across this – how pretty, what is it? Chives. What?? I’ve got to get some, ha ha… Problem is, I eat mine.

Continue reading “Who Knew Chives Were So Pretty?” →

Trader Joe’s. Who doesn’t love them? We have a lot of staples (see below) and they are fabulous. Anytime a new business is about to open, the buzz is always “Trader Joe’s”, sadly it’s not – we head to Mt. Pleasant (10’ish minutes most of the time, which isn’t too horrible). I love getting there early, I whip in and out in no time! 🌻I thought their sunflowers were the perfect HAPPY WEEKEND image!

Continue reading “Love *Grows* Here – Happy Weekend!” →

It’s hard to believe this little guy has come upon another birthday. Birthdays (for all of us) come faster and faster the older we get. Charlie is a happy guy who can also be quite demanding – he has trained us well, sigh. Charlie is the reason I started writing a blog – it was the one time he would sleep, in the chair behind me, with his paws in my back fast asleep. I didn’t want to scroll endlessly, so I looked into starting a blog. The first one was all about Charlie, LIFE WITH CHARLIE – his first year, after his first year I started another: ALMOST DAILY PICS (which included a lot of photos of Charlie). Some of the photos make me laugh out loud, although I wasn’t always laughing. This little guy was like a two year old on steroids. Then in 2011 I started this blog…

Continue reading “Happy Birthday, CHARLIE! 🐾” →

Koi are so interesting. They’re lovely creatures with so much spunk. I named the orange fish coming up for a bit of food “Orange Crush”, ha ha… The lily pads were stunning (as were the ever changing purple flowers) – that’s an entirely different post. When I looked back at this image it looks so much like a painting to me (it’s not!). I love the rings of movement and the reflected light from the sky creating interesting patterns in the water, the movement of the fish is beautiful. So elegant.

Continue reading “Like a Koi Pond Painting…” →

When I’m out walking I’m always looking up to see what I see. Cool cloud formations, birds flying, golden light against tree limbs, etc. In this case – does this not look a little spear-like? Hence my motto, always look up! #avoid

Continue reading “Always. Look. Up.” →

Hummingbirds are pretty magical little creatures. We have been to the mountains in May and there were no hummingbirds – which, after seeing them so plentiful one August, you really miss their never-ending entertainment! This time we visited in June and tada, there they were. This is Waynesville, NC – which is stunningly beautiful.

Continue reading “Well, Hello Hummingbird!” →

Saluda, NC – elevation, 2,103′. If you haven’t been to Saluda, NC, I highly suggest it. It’s a small town with big atmosphere! We need to spend more time there – we stop on our way to Waynesville, NC for a nice lunch. Everything is so tasty! In Saluda, there is something called a Coon Dog Day Festival – and it’s going on NOW… Isn’t this mural fabulous? I love the dog and the writing “it’s all about the dogs“!

Continue reading “Coon Dog Day | Saluda, NC | Mural on Canvas” →