Out My Window

Charleston is one of the places birds fly to when they fly south. Every morning is filled with the most beautiful concert of birdsong.

I spied this handsome creature out my window recently. I am sure he is glad to be here in this temperate  climate right about now.

Just as I am. 

Although I do sort of miss the sense of adventure of a big snow storm like the one that hit the northeast this weekend & of course the beauty of the freshly fallen snow
 I am ,like the birds,
 quite glad to be where I am.

I hope all my friends in the Boston area are staying safe & warm.

Thinking of Summer

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”  – 

Albert Camus 

Thinking of France & wishing you all a very happy week.

Happy February

Here are a few photos taken on a weekend outing a few weeks ago to John's Island.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend on this first weekend of February!

Crumbling Beauty

It is not just by chance that the city of Charleston is so beautifully preserved. Charleston is in fact one of the founding fathers of the preservation movement in this country. As early as 1783 the city's municipal government adopted  

the motto: "She guards her customs, buildings and laws."

Almost from the begining, Charlestonians have been keenly aware of the historic beauty of their city & have gone to great lengths to preserve it. Over the years they have progressed from preserving individual structures to protecting the whole historic area. There are now laws in place to prevent destruction or inappropriate modifications of buildings in this district.

These laws while saving Charleston's unique character, have in many cases put a hardship on owners, financially unable to restore their property to city requirements . 

As a result, you see many crumbling beauties, like those pictured here. 

Personally, I  find these faded gems equally as lovely as their pristine, perfectly renovated counterparts.

 It is for example, against the law to remove or replace the corbels or decorative lights that are traditionally placed over Charlestonian front doors. 

I liked how this still corner grocery preserved the old sign while restoring the rest of the building.

All of these details, both the crumbling & the reinvigorated  make up the special character of this unique city.

The House

A lot of the work that we have been doing on the house is not very interesting but indeed very necessary, structural things mostly. 

And although we have been painting, in most cases we have just freshened up the colors that were already there. Recently however, we decided to add a little pop of color to our tiny & rather boring entry hall.

We knew we wanted a green but we had a hard time deciding just what shade to go with. In the end we chose the lighter brighter hue with just a hint of blue.

 Even so it looked pretty dark as we put it on.

Once it was done though, we were quite pleased.

Now we can uncover the furniture & move on to the next project.

A Little Bit of Color

 I love photographing the facades of  buildings in Charleston. 

I love the roof lines, the architectural decoration...

....the windows & doors as well as all the many color combinations.

I love the decorative details, especially the doorway below, where a bird has built his nest just between roof & porch.

....Or this doorway that was once the address of a dentist.

 ....Or this bright & cherry door.

There are so many beautiful color combinations here in Charleston it is hard to pick just a few.

I hope all of you are having a happy & colorful week.

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Charleston seems to love a parade & today, being Martin Luther King Day, was no exception.

 Today is also the inauguration of Obama's second term.

 It would be nice to think that Martin Luther King 

would be pleased

to know 

just how far his dream has come.