Finally....Spring! A few photos from the yard.

After days of rain, everything’s popping up – even the hostas I thought I had killed last winter! The azaleas and camellias are blooming together – always a nice overlap. Tiny purple flowers are everywhere - delicate wild violets and clover. Amaryllis are dominating their space, as they always will. The seeds in the greenhouse have popped up, the herbs and lettuces are thriving and even the tiny limes are starting to take shape. Glorious!

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How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I thought it might be fun to show you what's been going on in my world.

Here are Blossom, Bubba and Katie, doing what they do best. I love these dogs to distraction and I just can't get too worked up over a little dog hair on the couch when they're this content.

Here's Bubba all suited up for a recent crabbing expedition. We've found over the years that terriers love to leap off a moving boat, so the doggie life jacket is a necessity.

We've been growing things. It's really satisfying to whip up dinner using herbs and vegetables you just picked. Combine that with the shrimp and crab you just walked down to the dock and pulled out of the water, and you'll understand why we live where we live. Even though it's really hot and humid.

Last weekend, we got KC settled in at the Kappa Delta house for her junior year of college. I used to get excited to pick up a new cigar box for my school supplies every year. KC's version of my cigar box is the newest Pottery Barn bedding ensemble.
Ahhh, you just can't beat the aroma of that high thread count .

We have photos - lots and lots of photos.

Not yet appearing in the list of "100 Things About Me" is that I love to take photos. I've thought a lot lately about becoming more deliberate about it. Digital has made it all so much easier - and more disposable; keep the ones you really like and delete the rest. Here are a few that I like:

This is our house one Christmas a few years ago. Mr. C. said I should take an excellent photo for posterity because he would never put up those damn lights ever again. So I set up the tripod and crossed my fingers.



From Spring of 2005 near Negril, Jamaica. Driving along the coast one morning, we found an amazing beachside hotel in the middle of nowhere. Next to the hotel, the fishermen had just come in and this one was selling his catch. We had a traditional Jamaican breakfast at the hotel just after this was taken. We had salt fish, ackee, callaloo, coco bread and Blue Mountain coffee served on a covered verandah overlooking the ocean. There must have been six or seven dogs lying around us on the tile floor patiently waiting for leftovers. Heaven.

These were taken in San Francisco, Fall 2006. I kidnapped Mr. C from his office for a "destination unknown" anniversary trip. I highly recommend this tactic when you can't get your spouse to commit to going somewhere fun. I rarely take a food photo in a restaurant, but the clam chowder from the Hog Island Oyster Co. looked beautiful and tasted even better. And what the hell, we were tourists.