Friday, April 26, 2013
Charleston, South Carolina
Early Monday morning, we dropped the wet tent and put it in the back of the truck and drove from Live Oak, Florida (just across the Georgia/Florida border) through Jacksonville, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina.
We drove through quite a bit of rain.
We were checked into a m/hotel by noon, showered and were fast asleep within an hour.
Several hours later, we parked in the Galliard Auditorium parking garage in downtown Charleston and walked south on East Bay Street.
The United States Custom House.
The Charleston City Market lies in the heart of the historic district.
It has a unique combination of historic buildings housing imaginative shops.
The original building dates back to 1790.
The Waterfront Park is a twelve acre park along the Cooper River.
The Pineapple Fountain has an area for waders along the bottom of the pineapple.
The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality.
The three masted schooner was sailing down the Cooper River.
From the north end of the Waterfront Park, we could see the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.
The USS Yorktown where fighter pilots landed in WWII.
We ate dinner, and returned to our hotel.
The sun was shining.
We took the wet tent out of the truck, laid it on the warm cement parking lot to dry.
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Tuesday morning, after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, juice and coffee, we headed towards Keysville, Virginia.
No one was home.
We walked down the lane to the small cemetery.
Bees and butterflies were all over the blueberry bushes.
We stopped to say 'Hello' to Todd and Kim. We were surprised to find them home.
They were equally surprised to see us!
We had a nice visit before we resumed our journey towards home.
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Florida Bicycle Safari
The Florida Safari begins Friday evening at the Suwanee County Fairgrounds.
Riders camp, stay in motor homes or in local hotels.
And, wouldn't you know?
A windy afternoon brought rain that fell all during the night.
We, as well as other campers, spent Saturday drying out tents instead of riding.
We usually put our tent inside the arena.
Look at the puddles of water!
Our ground cloth is drying over the fence above the blue car.
Later in the afternoon, the sun came out.
The tents were dry.
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After breakfast Sunday, we headed out on the 34 mile route.
It was a beautiful day for a ride.
Sunday evening, bikers are treated to beer and sweet corn. The young man on the left made 'home-brew' for the bikers. He had brewed an outstanding Belgium pale ale.
The corn is boiled in a huge pot - and tasty it was!
Ron, enjoying his second ear of corn - or maybe it was his third.
John and Karen, enjoying a little of that home brew.
The Free Wheelin' Band from Tallahassee.
A little older group, music not as raucous as in the past.
Line dancing to the music.
After dinner, 'groupies' joined the band.
The band members didn't seem to mind.
Rain poured Sunday night. Monday morning, after breakfast, we tossed a wet tent into the truck and headed towards Charleston, South Carolina.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Visitors
Minnesota Fred and Liz came for a visit.
They brought a hand-made wooden can crusher.
Minnesota Fred installed the crusher before they continued on their journey.
They headed up north to see Uncle Walter.
They headed up north to see Uncle Walter.
The new can crusher next to the older can crusher.
The can is crushed and ready for recycling.
Liz is sewing the binding on this quilt.
Pretty, isn't it?
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Saturday, April 06, 2013
Spring
Although it has been spring now for 17 days, today actually felt like it with temperatures in the mid 60's.
There will be warm days and rain, the sun will come out periodically and flowers will grow. Like spring. It is about time.
The average daily high temperature for all of March was 45.3 degrees; eight degrees below the average daily high, according to the National Weather Service.
Be happy.
Ride those bikes.
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Thursday, April 04, 2013
The Visit
The children enjoyed their traditional Easter Egg hunt.
This year, K.K. got to go home with the Ohio grandparents for a couple of days. Plans included baking an apple pie, sewing a ruffly skirt and baking a pumpkin pie.
Monday morning, not so bright and early, K.K. and I cut up apples and made the crust for an apple pie.
After lunch, we took two big garbage bags out back to pick up trash from the houses that are behind our property.
K.K. found a tree to climb and posed for pictures.
After picking up the trash, we walked through the daffodils.
Look what K.K. found sunning him/herself in the grass.
An Eastern garter snake.
Then we traded.
I got to hold Sydney.
Look at that tongue.
K.K. decided on the name Sydney. The name had to be a boy or a girl's name; it had to start with the letter 's'.
Sydney the Snake has a certain ring to it.
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I found a relatively easy pattern for a ruffly skirt on the internet.
Tuesday morning, we shopped for fabric. The fabric was a little transparent, so we bought additional fabric for a lining.
K.K. sewed and I pinned; I sewed and K.K. pinned.
I needed a break. We walked out back,
just on the off chance we might see Sydney.
We weren't for sure it was Sydney, but we pretended.
Tuesday evening, the ruffly skirt, its lining and I were at odds.
The ruffly layer and the connector layer were incorrectly sewen together.
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Wednesday morning was a new day. While K.K. slept in, I repaired the errors and made the casing for the elastic. The one skirt now would become two skirts.
We wanted to make a pumpkin pie this morning, too. This would be our last day together.
The pie is ready for the oven.
The elastic is in the casing, the two skirts are completed.
The skirt on the left has sparklies; the skirt on the right was w-a-y easier to sew.
K.K.'s mom and siblings ate hard boiled egg sandwiches for lunch.
K.K. took them for a walk out back.
Would they find Sydney the Snake?
Look carefully.
You can see two of the garter snakes.
Even Little Miss El handled the snake gently.
Which one is Sydney?
New names are needed.
Sydney, Slither and Sam.
The snake adventure!
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