"Following where my camera leads me!"

"Following where my camera leads me!"

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Friendly Charleston Kitties


They approach me often. Alot. Well, actually ALWAYS. They seem to seek me out. My hubby says I am a 'cat magnet.' 

Just out walking, they will stroll up cautiously and look up as if to say "Are you friendly?".....when they pretty much knew the answer to the question beforehand.....animals sense these things, don't they?

This pretty little tortoiseshell bounded up with her little squeaky voice meowing "hello, hello, my name is kitty, notice me!"

She ran clear across the street to get to me (as most of them do)







After a quick petting and purring session..........she went back to her driveway........
...........and commenced rolling and tumbling as kitties often do. Perhaps she thinks her job is "guard kitty" and she must keep an eye on things in this neighborhood. Or maybe she just fancies herself as the official "street greeter". She seemed to take her little job seriously.
On a different day, this little black and white gazed at me.
Whats that up there in the flower basket?
Lets move up a little CLOSER............yep, its a nice yellow kitty, nestled in for his afternoon nap. 


This gorgeous kitty always greets me from her sunshine porch
she is so soft and fluffy!


I met this talking little kitty over on Queen Street recently. It came bouncing up to me just meowing and meowing and meowing..............it sure had something IMPORTANT TO SAY.

SUCH A PRETTY LITTLE BLACK AND WHITE KITTY!


This friendly kitty was one of the 'street bounders' I told you about............they come bouncing and trouncing and bounding across city streets to come greet me. I have no explanation other than I am a cat lover and maybe they sense it?


I think I met this kitty on Tradd Street. Another black and white.

This pretty blue kitty is approaching..........got off his porch to come down and see me.........




































WOW, ISN'T HE ELEGANT??

And those are just a few of my little DowntownFriends. (except for Blue up there, he is a Mount Pleasant kitty----he lives on a big white porch in the Old Village) I dont get pictures of them all.....sometimes I try though!

Friday, April 17, 2015

We went to see the Mermaids!

A couple of weeks ago, we took our little mermaid crazy granddaughter to see the mermaids to celebrate her third birthday!
Yes, the world famous "Weeki Wachee"mermaids swam into the Charleston Aquarium and of course we were there to greet them!

It was amazing, because I have wanted to go see the mermaids since I was a little girl, and now it was even more special to get to do this with our daughter (who is ALSO mermaid crazy!) and her little girl.

Click below to see some of the original mermaids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUmsE9iQ4YI

Amazingly, quite a few of them went back into the cold Florida spring to do several "reunion" performances. It just came back to them, like riding a bicycle! Towards the end of the video, you can see them.












(below, waiting for the mysterious mermaids in the Great Ocean Tank)

"We've got the world by the tail!!"
The mermaids put on amazing underwater shows set to music, they swim right amongst thousands of beautiful fish, and yes, sharks! We saw quite a few sharks. 
In their home spring in Florida, not far from Tampa, they often encounter the gentle manatees who sometimes join their shows, and once in awhile, even an alligator.

Please forgive some of my blurry photographs....shooting at moving targets plus through water made it difficult.

The mermaids have been performing in their native Weeki Wache Springs in Florida for over fifty years now! They have perfected breathing through underwater air hoses so that they swim totally without any scuba gear or even masks.




to see the current mermaids, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZymMONi1XA

(below, this is what little children do when they spot MERMAIDS IN THE WATER!!) They flock to the window....and put their little hands up on it, reaching for the mermaids.   They were mesmerized.
Amazingly, all the mermaids open and shut their mouths while underwater.....they sing along to all the songs, and they smile and playfully blow bubbles,  and they look right at you.

"We're not like other women!...."   the weeki wachee mermaid song









"Sisters of the Ocean"



The mermaids practicing for their Charleston performance, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hedh1LFBSL4












(below, taken from the balcony. Here you can see how big the tank is)



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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Two, Four, Six, Eight.....

....Meet me at the Garden Gate!

An old ornate gate. Would YOU walk through this?


I'm not sure this gate has been opened since 1880!

..................Joining Tex for "Good Fences"

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Belvedere


We walk past this elegant home on Rutledge Avenue alot, but we've never been inside. What secrets do you think it holds?

........Joining Lavender Cottage for "Mosaic Monday"

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Wisteria Time in the Lowcountry

Looks like everybody had a great Easter! We did too!

Its time for the lovely purple wisteria here in Charleston. I love it and eagerly wait for it every year. Its such a delightful shade of purple!


Its just dripping from everything and everywhere right now.

I love how it is NOT AFRAID OF HEIGHTS. You can spot it clear to the top of telephone poles and swaying in the tops of the lofty trees.  Brave little flowers, indeed.


There are so many plants, flowers, and trees, and flowering bushes in full bloom here, I can scarcely keep up with it all, or the names of them all.  One thing for sure,I love them all!



Hot pink Easter Azaleas greeted us outside our church:


After church, we spent the afternoon on Sullivan's Island. The restaurants were hopping and lively! This is Poes, a neat place!


A walk on the beach:


A little girl digs her toes into the Atlantic sand

After our Easter lunch, and the opening of Easter basket for little granddaughter, we set out on the search for Easter eggs.
Look at her sweet little Easter shoes and Easter socks:

Lookie....there's one now!!
The nice lady at this house was so thrilled I noticed her pretty yellow flowers, said she'd been working so hard to get them to grow back this year. She said they are a type of jasmine I think.
An alert "horsie" directs us to the next eggs!






Maybe theres some in here?
Her little basket got full SEVERAL TIMES.....and we kept doing it again and again and again......until we were all worn out!
For dessert that night, there was plenty of THIS!!!:
WHAT A WONDERFUL EASTER IT WAS!