Poinsett Bridge

Today I had a treat - it was the second sunshiny day in a row and we went out for a ride, taking the dogs with us. It has been months since I had left the house for something other than a doctor's appointment or a hair trim. We picked up lattes, mine was decaf, and started down the road. We ended up at Poinsett bridge, a familiar place to us and our dogs. I hadn't been able to visit there since the summer of 2013. 

 Poinsett Bridge, named for Joel Roberts Poinsett (of Poinsettia fame), was built of local stone in 1820 as part of a road from Columbia, SC to Asheville NC. The bridge includes a 14-foot Gothic arch, is wide enough for a carriage, and stretches 130 feet over Little Gap Creek. Though no longer in use, the stone bridge remains largely intact. The bridge is part of the 120-acre Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve . Poinsett bridge is off U.S. Highway 25 north of Greenville, SC. and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It is a lovely area and attracts local visitors especially in the summer to escape the heat. 

It's in a very narrow place between two mountains, which I guess was why it was chosen as a place to build a bridge. It was part of a road to connect Charleston SC with Asheville NC,  and especially used in the summer when wealthy homeowners could escape the dreadful heat in Charleston, with its yearly dangers of Yellow Fever and Cholera.

Today I focused on the arch, topped with a lovely keystone. I imagined workmen's hands place each stone carefully to support the bridge. As you can tell from the width of the arch, the bridge was just the size for a worse and wagon, stage or carriage to cross over it in comfort. Each stone could tell a story.

The photograph may need a boost in contrast, so I may do some tinkering with it tomorrow.I like the angle of the bank and the creek, I just think the overall image needs to be richer. 

On another note, I noticed that Blogger has lost all of my pictures and I need to look into that. I'm not happy about it and I have been thinking I will change my web address for my blog. Perhaps this has pushed me in that direction!

PS, here I changed the contrast, which creates more interest-I really like this much better!

Orchid in the Gulf and a Story: Storms

Once of the graces that has been given to me during this illness, is the ability to create art. It's somewhat sporadic as I have to spend so much time lying down. This time I wanted to create something special for another sufferer, who is also a friend. I found out her favorite colors - yellow and the colors of the Gulf of Mexico. She has to travel to get to the Gulf, so she doesn't get to spend time there now. She also loves flowers.

Orchid In The Gulf

(click to see details)

I knew I wanted to be able to get it to her as soon as possible, so I chose a small wrapped canvas- 8 x 8. It is mixed media, with collage, gel medium, acrylic paint and oil pastels. The flower comes from an old English botany book, and I made a copy to transfer on. However, it did not do very well and I ended up painting most of it. I also included  a postage stamp to bring out the bits of red, and a strip of muslin, dyed blue with paint, runs along the bottom. I love to extend my collage to the sides, so what you see collaged folds over the edges. I chose that particular flower because of the colors, they resembled the colors of the Gulf water. She notified me when she received it, and she loves it. That just makes my day!

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STORMS

61st in the Tuesday Story Series

Watching the path of Sandy for the past several days, and praying for all of the people in the congested area it was aimed for, could only bring back memories of another severe hurricane we went through in 1989 in Charleston - Hurricane Hugo. It made landfall in the Charleston area about midnight on 21 September and wreaked havoc through the early morning hours of 22 September. 

When I was a child, we went through Hurricane Gracie in 1959, and it was a Category 4 when it hit the South Carolina coast. We battened down the hatches and rode it out, since no one was warned to leave. I was eleven at the time, and a few memories that stand out to me was the wind and rain, the fact that my mother boiled several dozen eggs and when it was over, she stated "Well, I was expecting buckets and things to be flying through the air! Wasn't anything like that!" She was from Pennsylvania and this was her first hurricane to go through. The major damage from that storm was in Beaufort SC, although we were without electricity for a couple of days.

When Hugo started taking aim at Charleston, I was not concerned. By that time, I had been through numerous hurricanes and thought it would be just like the others. We made preparations and settled in to wait. When the electricity went off around 10 PM, that was the last we would see of it until 8 days later. Tabitha was about 6 years old, and doesn't remember anything about the storm, just the aftermath.  We had bedded her down on the floor of our closet, as it was the most protected place in the house.

Hugo made dead aim at Charleston, and I remember when the eye went over around midnight, we went outside and there was not a bit of wind. The stars were gorgeous and several neighbors called back and forth to make sure we were all okay. Then the wind started picking up and we all scooted back inside.

During that first half, we had heard all 15 trees fall, and each time they hit the ground, our stone fireplace shook. We heard several tornadoes go though between our row of houses and the houses behind us, and they do sound like trains! In another story, I will describe in more details about the destruction and how it affected us. For now, I will just say we were all right, but after that whenever a hurricane took direct aim at us, I packed the car and left for my parents. John stayed at work, in the emergency center area, because he couldn't leave. 

Hugo was a Category 4 when it slammed into our area, and the damage from it was the costliest in the US history till that time. Now, it's ranked as the 11th costliest storm to have made landfall in the US.

And they still built large beach houses right at the water's edge after that. Dumbest thing I ever saw.

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Blooms ! :)

Before I start this blog post, I want to thank those who have responded to my last post about our dog, Abby. We are encouraged by the suggestions and comments and look forward to finding a way to help her (and us!) out of her current situation.

On to today's post - Blooms! Spring is here, and even though on the calendar it is still winter, it seems that many things here are tired of waiting! And the pansies, which have been around all winter to give us color, are vigorously cheering the warm weather.

I have two of these waterfall pansies hanging pots on our front porch and they are so pretty. Next year, I hope to get 6 of them to hang all around the porch.

Cheerful faces in an old Hungarian baby bathtub; we have some smaller pots of pansies scattered around the house.

We went to Martin's Nursery on Saturday to get some help with planning what to do with the ugly bank behind our house, and came home with a drawn planting plan and several suggestions by the owner of the nursery. I had taken photos of the area and printed them out. She did all the rest. How great was that!?

Yellow Jessamine for the arbor we'd had built, the state flower of South Carolina.

I received ten tiny trees from the Arbor Society last fall, planted them and held my breath. Now nine of them have sprouted leaves! (The 10th one was eaten by our daughter's dog, Kit) These are the Hawthorne trees.

We have several Forsythia shrubs - one full grown bush given to me by a friend, which we divided into 2 plants; both are doing well. I rooted several cuttings and now we have lovely little shrubs growing in front of the fence, as well as the two in front of the barn. Only one did not make it.

This is Loropetalum, also referred to as Chinese Razzleberry or Chinese Fringe Flower. There were 6 of these around our back porch when we purchased the house, which was not a good place for them to be, since they grow to about 6'! We moved 3 to the outside corner of the fence (shown here) and 3 on the side of the fence, last year. They all made it!

This is the Ugly Bank, with some puny Juniper plants (we will have someone help us put the plants in, since I have fatigue issues) ....

..... and these is the arbor where the Jessamine will go.

And besides flowers, all of the birds are busy claiming their territory. The bluebirds built this nest in the bluebird house last week and started laying eggs.

So far we have 3! I expect them to lay 5 total, as usual.

I hope where ever you are, you are enjoying the weather. I feel richly blessed!!

Click on any picture you want to see closer.

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Birthday

My husband John's birthday was Saturday, 3 December and we spent some time outside in the local beauty. We drove up to Caesar's Head, which is about 30 minutes from our house, after we ate lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. I was very happy to have a bit more energy so that we could do something relaxing on his birthday! I was very tired when we returned back home, and the next day I was pretty wiped out but I am so glad I was able to do it. The past few years we have not been able to do much of anything, so this was an improvement, and John enjoyed his time!!

Birthday Boy

So glad to be out together!

Me.

He found a small piece of rock and chipped it into the shape of our state.

Thankfully we did not have far to walk. This is the overlook on top of Caesar's Head.

It was so overcast, it was hard to get a good picture of Table Rock and its reservoir.

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Thanksgiving 2011

For the second year in a row, we went to a restaurant for Thanksgiving. We were all so happy that I had enough energy that afternoon that I could make it; usually mid-morning to mid afternoon will be my best times, and I was sure to rest the days prior to the big day so that it would be possible to go. And I am very thankful for that! Afterwards, I collapsed on the bed, so exhausted, but with great memories of the time we had together.

We went to The Green Room, a restaurant in Greenville which serves some of the best food I've ever tasted. I even had a $40 coupon that I had purchased for $20 in February for the restaurant, so that worked out perfectly!!

We each chose something different from the set menu; it was a 3 course meal, but you had several choices for appetizer, main dish and dessert.

I just love my family!!!

We had great conversation, and made several toasts. We are richly blessed as a family!!

And then it was time to say goodbye at Tabitha's house!

John had been very sick with a bad head cold and bronchitis for almost 2 weeks, but he did feel well enough to go by Thursday, for which we were also very thankful. Both he and I were pretty worn out, and I have had to watch my activities today. But it was so nice to enjoy good food and not have to do any cleaning up!! And Tabitha was thankful to not have to do the cooking too!!

Hope my US friends had a wonderful day with family!!

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Tag Tuesday - NADA, and a Story: Tale of Two Bridges, part 2

No Tag Tuesday today at Kard Krazy, Louise has some other obligations, but will have a challenge up for next Tuesday. In the meantime, here is another collage on tyvek with acrylic paint.

(click for detail)

I did another one to practice letting the paints flow into each other, which was the object of the lesson. This is actually not finished, but I am waiting for a template to come in the mail to complete it. When everything is finished, I'll put it on here for you to see!

TALE OF TWO BRIDGES (Part Two)

With Apologies to Charles Dickens

(10th in the Tuesday Story series)

Last week I gave a brief history of the first bridge to cross the Cooper River in Charleston SC. In 1966, the Silas Pearman Bridge opened next to the Grace bridge, and immediately both bridges were locally referred to as the "New" Cooper River Bridge and the "Old" Cooper River Bridge. The Pearman bridge was built to help relieve the traffic congestion on the old bridge, and after it opened crossing the river on the Grace bridge was designated as off-limits to anything heavier than a dump truck. By this time, the Grace was 37 years old and the maintenance crews were having a hard time keeping up with the natural deterioration that takes place on a steel bridge. Rusty areas were a common sight and it creaked and groaned, especially in high wind. More than one Charleston resident would wonder aloud if the bridge would just collapse into the river one day. Yet it was still heavily used.

The Pearman bridge was designed with three 12 foot lanes, two bearing traffic from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant and the third lane was reversible. The explanation given for the reversible lane was that this design would help alleviate rush hour traffic. Above the lanes were lights: a green check for "Yes this lane is open for you to drive in your direction" or a red X for "No you don't - it's for the other direction". Well, it's almost surprising how many people did not look up at those bright lights. There were several head on collisions unfortunately, and finally the reversible lane became permanent. So now the bridge had two permanent lanes going north and one lane going south towards Charleston.

Here's a photo of the Pearman bridge before it was dismantled. Now, notice anything odd about it? There are no divisions between the south bound and north bound lanes! Many people continued to lose their lives in collisions on this bridge while officials frantically searched for a way to divide them safely. Nothing ever worked satisfactorily, and in my humble opinion, this was a very poor design from the beginning!

In 2005, The Ravenel Bridge was opened, and the other two bridges were taken down. The new bridge is lovely, and even has a separate lane for pedestrian traffic. It has 8 twelve foot lanes and is high enough for the largest ship heading to the ports to move under it with ease. It's a bridge whose time was long overdue, and it certainly makes things easier for those on both sides of the river. However, I do miss those silhouettes of the other bridges, once among the most immediate images of Charleston! For many my age, it's hard to think of Charleston any other way.

If you were wondering how the bridges were dismantled, this video 

will give you a quick hint!

Tag Tuesday - Postcard, and a Story: Tale of Two Bridges, part 1

Anything to do with a postcard, that's the theme at Kard Krazy today.

(click for details)

I copied the back of an old French postcard and made it into a tag, extra postage stamps were added and I rubber stamped flowers on the tag. Embellishments include striped tape, velvet flower and 3 tiny keys; distress inks were also used.

TALE OF TWO BRIDGES (Part One)

with apologies to Charles Dickens

(9th in a series of Tuesday Stories)

As I have mentioned before, we lived in Charleston SC before moving up to the mountains. Charleston is a very historic city and has a lot to offer anyone who visits it, from history to nature and enjoying the beaches. However, two of its landmarks are no longer there, but they are etched into the memories of many people - the bridges which crossed the Cooper River.

The first bridge, named the Grace Memorial bridge for a former city mayor, was quite a feat for its time. When it was built, it connected Charleston with Mt. Pleasant and Hwy. 17, which was a major North/South highway long before interstates were built. The Grace bridge was completed and opened in 1929.

As you can see from this old postcard from my collection, it was a very big deal and when it was opened, Charlestonians celebrated for three days! Each lane was only ten feet wide and it was two way traffic. Of course, the cars were much smaller back then!

Opening Day

It remained the only bridge over the Cooper River until construction was started on another bridge in the early 1960's. By this time, traffic was very heavy across the bridge and cars and trucks were much larger than the bridge was built to handle. I remember when my father used to take us for Sunday drives, he often maneuvered the trip to include the bridge, much to my mother's dismay and the children's excitement! It was breathtaking in several ways- both the view and the adrenalin rush of having cars and big tractor trailers come toward you with no room for mistakes. When I had driver's ed in high school, we were required to drive over the bridge before we could pass our driving test. 

Sometimes drivers approaching the bridge from the Mt. Pleasant side would simply stop when the bridge loomed into view, and be afraid to proceed. The county police began offering a service to drivers who would cross the bridge - one officer would drive their car over, and the other officer would follow in the patrol car! In 1946, a freighter hit the bridge, taking out a span and several people lost their lives when their cars plunged into the river far below.

When the Pearman bridge opened, authorities made the Grace a one way bridge coming toward Charleston. A lot of folks would still be nervous driving over it and would drive squarely down the middle. I remember being behind some of those poor people (usually with an out of state tag) and I would get so irritated because not only could I not go around them, they were driving much slower than I wanted to go. When my daughter got her license, she began to drive over the bridge and handled it very well. 

I loved that old bridge, it was great fun to go over in a motorcycle, and I was fearless driving my Excursion over it. I think having driven it when it was two way traffic made driving it as a one way bridge seem a piece of cake. It was like a roller coaster - a steep incline, then almost down to the ground in the middle and back up another incline to finish the trip. When a car broke down on the bridge, there was no place to pull over (except at the middle section of the bridge) so traffic would be backed up for hours. When Charleston started holding its Bridge Run in 1978, they would use the Grace Bridge (also known as the Old Cooper River Bridge by this time) until the bridge became too fragile to withstand the constant pounding of hundreds of pairs of feet. I never ran the bridge, but I did walk in the Walkers group and it was a glorious view to be at the top of a span and see the land and water. 

(Next week, the conclusion of the story)

If you want an idea of how narrow the lanes were on the Grace, this video is a good way to find out.

Tag Tuesday - Valentine, and a Story: How They Met

For today, Louise at Kard Krazy had the theme Valentine. Even though it's still 3 weeks away, the January weather demands something cheerful, because we sure aren't getting much for cheerful outside! It's rain today, and a mix of rain and snow tomorrow. The poor folks in the New England area are having such bitter cold, and many other areas in the US are sort of just stuck in the January mode, needing something bright and cheerful. So I was happy to design yet another heart themed project! I have another heart theme on this post.

(click for details)

The background is two colors of tissue collaged; then I added two puffed fabric hearts and organza trim. I cut out an image I copied from my stash of old postcards (this one was postmarked 1907), added a double heart charm with a jewel brad and a metal Love sentiment. It's finished off with  Golden glass bead gel touched with silver leafing, and a pink heart ribbon. I very much enjoyed doing this tag!

HOW THEY MET

Today's story (5th in the series) came to mind as I worked on today's tag; it's the story of how my parents met.

When World War II drew in the United States, both of my parents stepped up for the sake of their country. Dad was from a small village in the center of South Carolina, Mom was from a small village in south central Pennsylvania. Dad enlisted in the Navy, and Mom as a nurse in the Navy WAVES. Dad was on a ship off the coast of Germany, near  Bremerhaven, and used to tell us that during that winter, salt water froze on the ship's rails and the seas were so rough, many of the personnel were very seasick and they wondered if the winter storms would ever stop. He contracted pneumonia and later ended up in the hospital stateside. Mom was working on his floor and they met when she was with some other nurses making rounds. They would see each other often, Dad would joke around with her and wanted her to go on a date, but she said no, he was too young for her.Then she found out he was actually two years older, so she finally consented! They spent a lot of time together until Dad was discharged and went back to South Carolina; Mom was discharged as well and she went back home to Pennsylvania. They wrote each other frequently and then Dad had an opportunity to go to New York for a lodge group convention. My grandmother said after Dad left that when he came home, she didn't think he would be alone! Mom and Dad were married in a small outdoor ceremony in her hometown and came back on the bus to South Carolina, living with my grandparents until they went off to Auburn on the G.I. Bill, carrying me along.

Mom and Dad on an outing to Steeplechase Park

before they were married.

An interesting evolution in marriage took place after World War II: for the first time very large numbers of people married someone not from their hometowns. Dad had a brother in the Marines, and two brothers in the Army and they all married women from other states, which happened all across the country. Up until then, people generally married someone closer to home. 

A postscript to this story is that all of my uncles, and of course my Dad, came home safely from the War. It was not always that way for many families, and we are all very thankful!!