Charleston, South Carolina

After visiting the tea plantation, the rest of the day was spent in Charleston, walking along the battery, at the end of the peninsula. The sea air was wonderfully refreshing and the park is lovely even though hurricane Hugo did quite a number on the beautiful live oak trees a few years back. Of course you can not visit Charleston without visiting the old Market, it's always fun to see all the unique things people make. If you ever get a chance to visit, you will love it I promise! Oh, and be sure to pick up a sweetgrass basket. They are gorgeous, last forever and I can tell you from experience, the skill involved is amazing. I took a class once from Ms. Mary and it is NOT easy. I never did finish my basket. I got the bottom done and decided it would make a great refrigerator magnet!

We also went to Hymans Seafood for dinner. It's a favorite of ours, the food is fantabulous. Our son was thrilled to again have seafood that was swimming that morning:) The owner, Eli, came by our table, chatted and a few minutes later a plate of fried green tomatoes arrived with his compliments. These are not just plain old fried green tomatoes, they were served on creamy grits with cheese and bacon. OMG It was totally orgasmic I tell you.

One of the locals who produce sweetgrass baskets.

Sweetgrass baskets are only made here and the habitat that supplies the grass is becoming more scarce. These baskets are even on display at the Smithsonian.

Inside the market.

The mural on the market is a recent addition, and so lovely.

Charleston Tea Plantation

We had an amazing day yesterday! We went to the Charleston Tea Plantation, on Wadmalaw Island, one of the sea islands just south of Charleston. We took a tour in a trolley that was converted into a bus. There they were, acres and acres of bushes that we learned were Camellia Sinensis tea plants. So this tea is a cousin of the beautiful flowering camellias found all over the southeast!!

Every other tea growing country has a very cheap labor source. Other countries pay the workers $3.00 a week to harvest the tea. That won't quite work here in the States, so this tea plantation invented their own mechanized system to harvest the tea. They used parts of a cotton picker among other things to make this machine that appears to roll over the bushes while picking the top layer of leaves and blowing them into the collection, or hopper area. The tour included the greenhouse where propagation takes place, the fields, irrigation ponds etc. We also had a tour of the factory where the tea leaves are processed into tea. It really was fascinating, and.... we got to sample lots of tea, iced and hot! The gift shop is new, and very nice. Of course we bought some tea, I chose Plantation Peach and Green Mint while our son selected the Charleston Breakfast tea , Green Mint and the First Flush. Tea plants' "first flush" of new growth for the season, is harvested to produce what is said to be the most unique, fresh, and amazing tea. It's only available once a growing season of course and was traditionally reserved only for royalty back in the day.

I've GOT to tell y'all about the hand lotion I got there. It is amazing!! My hands are always dry and a mess it seems. I've tried every kind of hand creme on this planet, but this is hands down the BEST STUFF. It's called

American Classic Glycerine Hand Therapy, and the scent is intoxicating and lasts hours and hours. This stuff is much better than anything in Bed Bath and Beyond.

one of the ponds used for irrigation

rows of tea and the irrigation ditches

harvester in action

the resident gator, named Wally

greenhouse where cuttings are tended until they can be planted

the factory, where the leaves gathered at harvest are taken to be processed into tea.

the bar area is where you can sample all the tea

the map shows where tea is grown across the world and this is the only tea grown in North America!

The gift shop offers an amazing assortment of tea items as well as all the tea grown and produced here. Teapots, mugs, tea sets all gorgeous- and I brought one home:)

Beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina

Hello Everyone!
This weekend my friend Pam and I going to Carolina Stamper to take a class from Fred Mullet. Fred is an immensely talented artist who excels at nature printing. I've been a fan of his for years, and never dreamed I'd be able to take one of his classes.

Carolina Stamper is in Beaufort, a truly lovely city. I've been there many times. We often go crabbing on Hunting Island, and I've been there just to take pictures as well. One of the best things about this charming city is the growing art scene. Last summer while taking pictures and browsing galleries I came across artist Hank Herring. This soft-spoken former marine and I  struck up a wonderful conversation and he shared a lot of his work with me. I loved hearing the stories that put various pieces of his art in context.The fact that he works with rescued materials may explain the versatile quality of his work. I have one of his hand carved wood stamps. It's a Celtic image and I dearly love it. Hank has been to Ireland and so it has naturally influenced his work.

Horse drawn tours are such fun, but there's another type of tour you can take in Beaufort.... a ghost tour! Complete with a guide dressed in period costume who tells the most marvelous stories... AFTER DARK of course.

Old Sheldon Church is one of my favorites haunts, literally. Amidst the eerie serenity of the church yard there are graves dating all the way back to the 1700's, where one can just feel the presence of the souls who used to walk here.  Guns and ammunition were actually hidden in the Bull family vault during the Revolutionary war. Surrounded by iron gates, the ruins are always open to the public.  There's even an old hand-operated water pump near the gate that still works. Oh, I didn't get a picture of that! There's another reason to go back.

I'll take more pictures this weekend and post them on Monday:)

 

 

Christmas in Colorado

We spent Christmas visiting our son and had such a wonderful visit!  The Rocky Mts. were so lovely, very different from the Smoky Mts. not too far from my home.  Denver is such a big city! Wow! You have to understand that I live in a small city and have lived here most of my life, so it was such a treat to visit such a place.  The population of the Denver metro area is 2.4 million, y'all - there are only 4.5 million in the whole state of SC! The shopping was to die for:)

The mall had a Western motif with timber ceilings, boulders, waterfalls, and hard wood floors! There were no benches for sitting, instead they had groupings of leather sofas and chairs and a fireplace!! Lots of artwork depicting the landscape of the area before it became a city.
Coldwater Creek, Nordstroms, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and tons more. There was a whole store for Vera Bradley!! Tons of sales, and an awesome selection too:)

Mule deer

You can drive by a Target or a Bed Bath and Beyond, and five minutes later you pass another one! I bet there are 4 Walmarts within a ten minute drive from my son's house. It was such a nice new, CLEAN city. Needless to say I was very impressed.

Minning Camp

Elk on the side of the road.

Rocky Mts.

Minning Camp

Trip to Ireland

I have been wanting to go to Ireland ever since I can remember. I was finally able to go last year with my son. We had such a wonderful time!!  We began in Dublin, then traveled west to Kilkenny, Waterford, Killarney, Limerick, Galway, and finally to Tullamore and Kingscourt. My favorite place was the Ring of Kerry it was soooo beautiful. The Cliffs of Moher were also pretty amazing. We saw puffins on a tiny island right off the cliffs.

Cabra Castle in Kingscourt - we stayed here and wow! It was so cool staying in a real castle!!

Jaunting Cart in Killarney, we had the most fun riding one through the Nat. Forest.

Killarney- while riding in a jaunting cart, I saw this dog walking his man.

Cabra Castle in Kingscourt

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher - Visitor's Center
 
Killarney