Landing at CharlesTowne

In our continuous search for things to do that don't cost a lot, we are playing tourist a lot. I am also playing Intrepid Photographer, and it's been loads of fun. Last weekend (again, painfully late on the pics, but oh well) we went to a hidden gem of educational fun that's just right down the street from me- CharlesTowne Landing!

It's loads of fun, and I got some pretty good pics. We ended up going twice that weekend- once without the dogs, once with them. Maya LOVED it. You could really see her little hunting dog instincts come out- she had her nose to the ground at all times, splashed through puddles, and pointed at things that we might be interested in (but could not see since we are not goofy dogs). Anyway, by taking most of the trails you end up doing several miles' worth of walking. It's good clean fun for only $5. Can't beat it.

You can click any picture to enlarge, but be warned that in doing so, the pic will REALLY enlarge. I didn't really resize them, as I am planning something for a lot of them.

A blue heron at the shorebirds Exhibit. He was SOOOO close to me. I mean, kind of scary close. the exhibit is very cool; its a marshy area that's sort of netted so that the birds can't get away, and you just mingle with them. I was sort of afraid of having my eyes pecked out, but they really don't seem to be interested in people at all.
since when were bison native to SC? I really am calling shenanigans on that idea, but then again what do I know?

The magnolias are beautiful, and huge there. This was the pic that showed me that I have indeed mastered the manual focus.
Shortly after the Triumph de Magnolia Picture, it became very overcast, and stayed that way for the rest of the weekend. So, I switched to black and white, or occasionally sepia. I really liked the effect it had on the live oaks.
It is at this spot that I was once held at knifepoint by a gang of wayward turtles. I am serious- they know that people have snacks, and will give them to you if you can manage to outnumber them. I surrendered my snacks and made it out alive.
A tree. Some oars. Yup.
Maya taking a rest in the shade. Find me a prettier face with a more gentle soul behind prettier brown eyes, and I will go back and fight those turtles bare-handed.
I will confess something to you. I have been walking under these oaks since I was little, and each time I still feel the same way. Especially when it's overcast, my imagination gets the best of me. It was gray, just a bit breezy and sort of ominous. I lagged behind everyone, taking pictures, staring up at the trees, and I have to say- I spooked myself out. I thought about being lost and alone in a spooky forest, and what sort of boogie boogies might be waiting to pounce on the one lonely girl who got separated from the rest. I literally ran to catch up with the others. I've always been that way, easily spooked by an extremely active imagination.
This guy almost gave me a heart attack! We heard a CHOMP! sound, and then a big splash, and you have never seen someone scoop up her 40 pound dog so fast. There are signs all over that warn of alligators, and I was sure it was a huge one with a taste for either foxhounds or girls with cameras, or both. It turned out to be just a little 5 or so footer (Dept. of Natural Resources won't even come get a gator that size and remove it even if you wake up one morning and see it at your kitchen table, eating your terrier and reading the paper!) and i think the splash was him moving to get away from us, but I sure did my best to get away from him.
Yet another place in which I lagged behind and spooked myself out. I have never gotten the courage up to see what's behind those gates. At this point, I am sure it's some park offices, or a lounge for the rangers. Maybe a soda machine and a place to store the golf carts they drive around. But if you let your mind wander a bit, maybe there are ghosts back there in a creaky old house, or shadows that move around amongst the moss. Maybe.

Knitted Things Unfinished

And now, the things that I am occasionally knitting on, and thusly they remain unfinished.


Fetching, by Cheryl Niamath
US5 needles
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK yarn

I love the color and the pattern has made for good movie knitting. However, it's sort of a hollow victory, working on stuff like this and then realizing that once you finish it, try it on, and then take a pic of it, the item then heads to the top shelf of the closet till the fall (at least). Curse you, temperate climate.

Anthropologie Inspired Capelet, by Julia Allen
US11 needles
Mirasol Miski in Snowdrop, held double (it's the best thing ever)

This is almost done, but now that all is left is one sleeve's ribbing and weaving in all those god forsaken ends, I am sort of bored with it. I hate how I get like that. Anyway, it seems to fit pretty well, and it's awfully cute, and will look good in the spring over a sundress. I consider the long, long time before I can wear it to be the perfect time to scout around the thrift stores for a truly magnificent brooch for pinning it closed at the neck.

Knitted Things

Who models knitted things in summertime, anyway? A crazy person, that's who. So, you can guess what this post is all about.



Okay, so that is a Delores Park Cowl
-yarn: Alpaca with a Twist
-needle: 11, I think? I dunno.

Socks-
Monkeys, by Cookie A.
yarn: Imagination Hand Paints, in the Looking Glass colorway.

I tried two shots on the porch with them on. It sucked, so i took them off and photographed them on the chair instead. Geez, it's hot.

It's really shameful a) how long it's been between the time they were finished, and the time they were photographed and b) how terrible the pics are considering how hard I have been working on my photography skills.

Oh well, there they are.

Bliss

Today is already shaping up to be the best day ever.

This morning BF and I got up for early breakfast with friends. that's always nice.

After that, I headed downtown for the yarn store's birthday sale. almost everything (but the really really good stuff, ahem) was 40% off for the first part of the sale. I arrived with a shopping bag, a list, and sheer determination. This is the last purchase I am allowed to make before my trip. No more. My yarn cabinet is full, and I must empty it by way of using up yarn before I can have anymore. I left a loophole in this promise by saying no more YARN, which does not include needles of any sort. So anyhow, in the course of saving $50, and spending a bit more than that (kind of a big bit) I now have enough yarn to finish my capelet (I hope I hope I hope) and make three summer tops, all of which I plan to take on my vacation. Fun stuff, huh? Normally I abhor shopping. It's boring, I hate people, and I never know what I want, and I wrestle with wondering if I really want something, or if I just want to buy it more so than have it and use it. Then I curse my consumerist mentality, and vow never to shop again. But this was different. I brought a list. I brought a shopping bag. I left with nothing that was off the list. I have plans for all of it. I am victorious.

BF is gone for the day. WHAT'S THAT? Sorry, i can't hear myself think over the choir of angels that begins to sing whenever I say that. He's out doing some work with a friend on the disc golf course, then cooking out, then playing a round or so of golf. This means that I have the house all to my glorious solitary self. Most likely till dinner. I feel silly- I have been giggling to myself maniacally thinking about the cleaning that I plan to do. Cleaning and actually putting things away. Finding places for stuff. Deodorizing things. Then, locking the animals out, and basking in the cleanliness. Then napping, on the couch, or maybe in the middle of the bed- on clean sheets of course. Or maybe I should have one nap on each? Then a bubble bath in a clean tub? Lots of Style Channel? Hopefully there's a Golden Girls marathon! Oh, thank you, universe. Thank you for this day of alone time. I promise to use it well; if you can keep the rain away then I might be alone long enough to sew something.

I also would like to mention that there is an exhausted foxhound at my feet. she has spent the morning playing with her new sister, running, smiling and wagging her tail. I am sure the downstairs neighbors didn't appreciate the stampede, but I sure do. I can't believe the change in this little dog. I have had her for 13 months, and she went from completely shut down emotionally to a normal dog. I find maya very inspiring when I think back on this year. I think that a lot of people could benefit from trying to be like her. No matter what you do to her, she never lashes out, not even out of fear. She's overcome God-Only-Knows-What and learned how to trust, no matter how scary that is. And she always knows when to go to a quiet place and take time out when it gets to be too much. I'm so proud of her, and I am proud of me too. She is the first thing that I didn't give up on when things got tough. I am glad I stuck with her.

Have a wonderful weekend. I hope it's filled with clean floors and sale yarn and friends that make you smile, no matter how many legs they have.

the State of Things

Have you been wondering how we are here? Have you wondered if my bloggy silence means that BF has killed me and stuffed me in the toilet tank? Lord knows a time or two he has certainly had the motive, as have I.

Things are new here.

New is good. New is bad. New is different. New is exhausting. New is exhilarating. New is distracting. New is becoming familiar.

For the first few nights after BF arrived, I slept terribly. I woke up at all hours, fought for covers, fought for room on the bed, had my covers forcefully removed from my grasp, had sleepy arguments about who was taking up all the room, and so on. At times I woke up, simply thought, "He is here next to me now" and then went back to sleep. That makes me smile now when I think of it.

He is not working right now. That's fine; we knew this would happen. Unfortunately, job leads didn't pan out, and there has been little interest in the resumes he has put out. For now we are okay though, so we are not worrying. Part of me loves coming home to a Mr. Mom. I like that there are shiny happy doggy faces (Charlie's face is neither shiny nor happy, more on that in a minute.) waiting to greet me, sometimes errands are done, the bed is made, and the kitchen is sort of clean. I say "sort of" because he tries, God knows he does, but Domesticity is not his bag, and so things like wiping off the counters escapes him. It's cute, like when 5-year-olds make breakfast on Mother's Day. It's not really done well, but the effort is so apparent despite the lack of skills that you love it more than something easily and perfectly executed. However, he is bored with running to the post office, being the resident dog walker, and staring at the classifieds. He wants to bring in money too, and I appreciate that. Please think good thoughts for us on the job front. We need them.

Oh, animals. We have so many. Or at least it feels like we do, here in our cozy little apartment. Two hounds, one tortured feline soul. Lilly has quickly learned that this is her home, and she's rather happy with that. She would be a fool not to be- after the Long Car Ride, she got another person, a sister, and a bunch of car rides with friends and parks and dog shows waiting at the end of them. Maya is slightly less overjoyed, but still happy. She is braver now as a result of Lilly and BF. When we all go on walks together, she smiles and doesn't pull away or seem to have any reservations. I guess that a pack of two wasn't big enough for her, but four seems to be just fine. I think she gets tired of all the activity, and she seems sort of offended when Lilly steals her toys out of her crate (not that she would dream of doing anything about it). Secretly, I am sort of liking the way the New Dog and New Person have made Maya a mom's girl. She sits with me while i cook now, trails after me while I water plants, and sadly does not draw the line at trying to sit with me in the bathroom while I...you know.

And then there's Charlie.

Oh Charlie. My poor little moustache face. He now has what we call his Office- the triangle of space behind the loveseat in the office. The loveseat sits catty-cornered by the window, and so he has a private little pocket of space where no dogs can go. Occasionally he comes out, like when I pull him out of it, and close off the office, and he growls, hisses and swats at Lilly whenever possible. She can't seem to find it in herself to ignore him though; and is sort of fascinated with how much he seems to hate her guts. It's all rather exhausting, but no one has shed any blood yet, so we'll take it. I guess. Poor kitty. I miss him. I miss him sleeping on my pillow, scooping up and hugging him too hard, all of it. This is tough on him, but he's just got to keep kicking Lilly's ass till she leaves him alone. Keep fighting the good fight, Charlie.

So yeah, that's where we are. I love all the company around the house, although I have been known to pretend to be going number two, just so i can sit quietly alone and read a few pages of my domesticity book. I hide it away like it's a stack of Playboys, and savor just a little bit for a few minutes. It's bliss, all of it. Except the hissing and swatting, but that will get better, I'm sure of it.

The Crawfish Boil

Again, I am late on this, but I can't let the Crawfish Boil & Americana Music Fest go unmentioned. I had a FANTASTIC time. For $12 it was all you can eat crawfish, potatoes and corn (I ate about 5 mini ears- not kidding) and all you can listen awesome local musicians. Beautiful weather, cold beer, great music- I hate how much I love this town sometimes.

By the way, are you noticing the quality of my photos? Are you noticing that there's a bit of quality there? I am working hard on them, but mostly I am loving downloading them onto the computer and not groaning at all of them. I still groan at a fair amount, but hey! I got a few good ones.

In which I play with my food and the macro function:

Farmer's Market and Dog Show

I can't believe that I am about a week late on this post! The days are just flying by. Once I get home from work (read: where all the pics are stored) I am not going near the computer. There's too much life going on in the house to lock myself away in the office at home. But still, I wanted to share these pics with you.

Last Saturday we went to the sort of Town Square thing where they were holding a dog show, and the usual site of the Farmer's Market. It was such a beautiful (as you can see) and fun day. Lilly came with us, and behaved splendidly. We ate kettle corn, bought tomatoes, ate various samples and enjoyed the Dog Show. Sigh. It was a marriage of all my favorite things. Well an orgy of them, really. Dogs, local produce, handmade things, The Pickle Lady, beautiful spring weather, and so much food you can't believe it.

Let's get on with it then.


Beautiful Weather:
Dolly Parton (costumes were by FAR my fave):


Swine Flu:

Pirate Wench:
Ever wonder what a 73 pound Bassett Hound looks like? Gunther will show you. Bassett Rescue was out at the show and they make me feel all melty and wanty. I am a sucker for floppy ears.
I just can't stand the nice weather.
Child Handler Event. A girl and her Big Pink Bow and her Whippet. Even my heart of stone melted for them.
I love doing all my produce shopping here. It really gets no better.
Lilly, having what possibly amounts to the Time of Her Life.