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!
It’s the most beautiful place, ever! Water surrounding this small island on all sides. The creative people who live here all year long… the creative people who visit make it a fascinating place. Not just for the breathtaking scenery, but for the friends you make along the way. We’ve made many, and they’ve become like family to us. It’s neat to keep in touch all year long and then catch up once we’re all on the island. It’s a place of hiking, eating, ocean watching, photo taking… painting… and just being. When was the last time you sat down (without TV, radio, cell phone, etc.)? You can do this on Monhegan and be completely entertained. The thought of a TV doesn’t even pop into your head… we’ve met some of the coolest people ever.
If you ever get a chance to go… don’t miss the opportunity! You will become crazy like me and post photos like you live there, ha ha…
Tell me a place that you’re passionate about! I love to hear of new areas!!
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!
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.
Who remembers the Orange Julius drink? Do you remember that wonderful orange flavored iced drink? I remember certain things about my childhood… like when my dad would go to Sears and look at tools… as a little girl… I can still remember the tiles on the floor at Sears in Macomb Mall (St. Clair Shores, MI). A beigy colored tile… HOW do I remember that?
Monhegan, ME. Artists everywhere. I. Mean. Everywhere! Everyone is busy painting away, doing their thing, and let me tell you , there are some incredibly talented artists who’s work just blows you away! We met artist, Tim Bell (pictured) on the island years ago (I’m thinking 2006?!) and have remained friends with him through the years, and have made new friends through him. He’s such a talented, brilliant artist. Tim had so much information to share that I had to go get a pen and paper. Great, useful information. One year we watched him paint this painting… and as he walked away with it… we had to have it. So it’s pretty cool that we have this painting… good memories. We love every one of our paintings, they’re all special to us in one way or another. This is a perfect example!
Have a great Sunday! Catch you back here tomorrow!
Ahhhh, about this time every year I really get “home sick” (if you can call it that… since I’ve never lived there) for Monhegan. There is nothing like a Monhegan sunset! I would love to catch a sunrise, I’m definitely up early enough, I just haven’t been able to give up my coffee… yet! This photo was taken during dinner at the Island Inn (and I am longing for good fish dinner from that restaurant… the best ever!), I had to excuse myself during dinner to run outside and get a quick shot. How stunning is this?
Ahhh, see you just went on a mini vacation… you feel better already, don’t you? I know I do!
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.
I shouldn’t say ‘freaky’ flounder, they’re actually very cool. Flounder is a fish that is caught here in Charleston, SC. One day we were at the Shem Creek dock and watched a man catching them… I’ve never seen them (other than in a restaurant on a plate)… he told us some neat things about them…
The opposite side was a different color… did you know, as they feed on the bottom of the sea they can change color AND PATTERN to blend in… they can even resemble grains of sand! I guess this one was trying to blend in with the railing?
Read this from Wikipedia… its just what he told us!
Eye migration
In its life cycle, an adult flounder has two eyes situated on one side of its head, while at hatching one eye is located on each side of its brain. One eye migrates to the other side of the body as a process ofmetamorphosis as it grows from larval to juvenile stage. As an adult, a flounder changes its habits and camouflages itself by lying on the bottom of the ocean floor as protection against predators.[1] As a result, the eyes are then on the side which faces up. The side to which the eyes migrate is dependent on the species type.
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!
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!
Inlet Cottage (SL1519) An Exclusive Design for Southern Living by K2 Urban Design [image]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??
Every time we hear Nora Jones sing, we think of the Island Inn on Monhegan Island, Maine. Every. Single. Time. One of us will say “the dining room is open”. One year, they played the same Nora Roberts CD, over and over. Not complaining. We rather enjoyed it. Matter-of-fact we looked forward to it the following year, and I’m guessing someone who worked each night couldn’t take it anymore! This dining room holds lots of special memories for us. We’ve met some wonderful people over the years. We’ve had wonderful breakfasts with some and long dinner’s with others. You know that comfortable interesting conversation that lasts long into the night? It’s rare to run into cool people like that. Monhegan, ME allows you to spend time with others because there isn’t a lot to distract you… no TV, radio, spotty cell coverage. All are blessings.
Special memories indeed! This photo was taken in 2008. The paintings in the dining room that year were by Alison Hill…
Have you been to Monhegan, ME? It’s an amazing island off the coast. It’s not large, but it’s special. Oh. So. Very. Special. There are cliffs, trails, a wharf, hiking paths and the woods… not any old woods… not the creepy full of bugs kind of woods, but nice, clean beautiful woods… this is a hike, that from town, can bring you to an amazing location overlooking the cliffs and the ocean. It’s beautiful. Serene. Peaceful. Absolutely magical.
Read a little blip about Cathedral Woods from CamdenMaineVacation.com (click the link to read in its entirety):
Many natural attractions can be found on Monhegan Island. One of them is Cathedral Woods, named because of the way the branches of the trees are arched like that in a cathedral. The place has a very serene and peaceful atmosphere – like one would typically find in a church. Rare flowers and plants are abundant in Cathedral Woods, as well. At the southern part of the island, you can visit Lobster Cove. It is a very good place for picnics and bird watching. Swimming in the water is discouraged here, however, as it is very dangerous and unpredictable because of the large waves and rip currents.
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:
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?