Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Home Again!

Last Tuesday we Chicks had a quiet, busy afternoon. Karen, on the far right, was working on a pretty lace camisole for her daughter. Elaine, in the middle, was working on her pink poncho and Barbara designed a royal blue and blue tweed poncho using Encore yarns.

The "Crochet Queen" closeup view.
Liz, in the center, was working on a feather and fan afghan and Kathleen was making mittens.
The feather and fan pattern is one of those old standards that always looks pretty.
DH and I just got back from a few days relaxation in Hilton Head Island, S.C. I had a rough start because of a really snotty TSA agent at the Albany Airport (it's ok to bring 3oz. of shampoo, but apparently 3.5oz. is grounds for suspicion!) but as soon as we arrived at H.H.I. I could smell the fresh sea air and everything was right with the world again.
I spent a lot of time knitting by the pool surrounded by these lovely hibiscus blossoms.

On Sea Pines Plantation, at the very end of the island, is a commercial area with shops and restaurants and these beautiful macaws. The Blue and Gold macaws sat preening themselves in the shade...

while the Scarlett macaw appointed himself official greeter and said hi to anyone who stopped to listen.

We ate lunch at a place that sat at the edge of the harbor overlooking the playful dolphins that darted all about. The sun was strong that day but the puffy clouds helped to block it occasionally.

There were egrets and herons everywhere but they were not very cooperative when it came to having their photographs taken. This one just happened to be standing still long enough for me to capture him before he took off again.
On our way back to the airport on Monday we had time to sightsee a little in Beaufort, S.C. The house that was owned by John Mark Verdier back in 1824 was nicknamed the Lafayette House because it was where Lafayette greeted the townspeople on his year long tour through the colonies almost 50 years after the Revolution. The story goes that the boat that was bringing him into town for his speech got caught up on a sandbar and they had to wait for high tide to come in so the boat could float to the dock. As a result Lafayette arrived very late, at about 10PM, ran down the alley across from this beautiful house, spoke to the adoring crowd for 10 minutes from the lower porch, and then left.

The house went through many different uses after it left the possession of the Verdier family, as you can see by the next photo. And by the 1940's it was slated for demolition. Luckily, it was saved and is still now in the process of renovations. A professional restorer has determined the actual colors of the house and it is being recreated to it's original beauty.
The jewelry artist Lee Perry and her sister made this mermaid, "Miss Beaufort" to greet visitors as they enter the city.
The Spanish moss hangs everywhere in the trees giving some streets a very eery feeling.
We had a wonderfully relaxing vacation and it was over all too soon but I did manage to finish one whole sock and get halfway through a second before we arrived back home.

And it felt really good to be back home again.


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