Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

Welcome!  I'm glad you're here!  I want to share one of my favorite places with you.  What a discovery!

When you park in front of the brown awning and step out of the car, you know you're at a special place.   Before you even go inside, you can smell it.  The unmistakable aroma of chocolate,  so strong that it totally bombards your nostrils.  The Chocolate Tree has grown to become a Beaufort landmark and a visit to the area isn't complete without going there.

"Forrest Gump" was filmed in part in Beaufort.  "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.", Forrest quotes his mamma, but it is only partially true.  At the Chocolate Tree you know exactly what you're gonna get.  Mouth watering, creamy, chocolaty chocolate!  They have other candy as well, all kinds of fudge, every nut brittle imaginable, gummy everything, but there's nothing anywhere that tastes like their solid dark chocolate.  A bite lasts forever on your tongue, rich with chocolate flavor as it melts, oh so slowly.  If you're a milk chocolate fan, The Chocolate Tree can satisfy you as well.  "They" say when Tom Hanks was in Beaufort for the filming of "Forrest Gump" he would walk to The Chocolate Tree every day for a sample.  He also treated the crew, cast and everyone connected with the movie daily.  The man knows his chocolate!

Walking on the beach and picking up sand dollars is one of my favorite things to do.  They're beautiful and plentiful on Hunting Island beach.  It's hard to compete with Mother Nature, however the chocolate tree makes a good attempt.   Their solid dark chocolate and milk chocolate,  yummy, sand dollars would make even her mouth water.  My perfect,  perfectly self-indulgent day, includes a walk on the beach, chocolate safely tucked in my backpack, ending with just sitting and letting my five basic senses go to work.  One of those little things that make you say Ahhhhhhhh......

Thanks for stopping by.  Hurry back soon and wherever you are.... enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hi!  Welcome.  I'm glad you're here.

The days are flying! We're finishing the guest room we call the "kid's" room and baking cookies. The lights are strung, tree is up, candles in the windows.  Little beach house is almost ready for the biggest birthday party of the year. 

I was worried about my favorite holiday being different in the low country.  I shouldn't have.  Christmas is like home. It lives in your heart.

Jerry and I were privileged to attend A "Gullah Christmas" at USC-B (University of South Carolina Beaufort) Saturday evening starring  'The Gullah Kinfolk'.  What a joy!  The Gullah's are decendants of slaves brought to the sea islands of South Carolina from West Africa.  Gullah Kinfolk depict the history of their culture in drama and song.  They sang some of the best gospel I've ever heard!  "Amazing Grace" was beautiful, spiritual and emotional. There were many wet cheeks in the audience, mine included.   And there was food.  Lots of food!  Tables were filled to the brim with possibly every rice dish ever concocted on the sea islands. There was Low Country crab and shrimp gumbo, Frogmore stew, fried chicken, Bar-B-Que,  sweet potato everything, corn bread and tables of cakes, pies, cheese cakes, etc.  I had my first taste of collard greens and loved it.  The audience filled their plates, some several times and ate in the auditorium before the show started.  It was a wonderful evening and I can't wait to go again next Christmas.  

Funny coincidence today, A friend fell in the snow.  She wasn't hurt,  thank goodness!  I, however, tripped on my husbands foot, in my bare feet, on dry floor and broke my little toe. Go figure!    

Speaking of friends, we were in Wal-Mart yesterday and saw two couples we know.  Both permanent Beaufort County residents who retired and moved from Ohio.  Funny...four out of the six had on an OSU article of clothing.  Just proves once a Buckeye, always... etc....also proves how great it is to see a friend! 

Thanks for stopping in.  See you soon and until then...enjoy!

A Dog Gone Day

HI!  Welcome to SHIbuckeye.

I am SO glad we moved south to keep warm!  The freezing of body parts has begun.  Toes and nose most especially.  It is NOT supposed to happen here.  But it is.  It's 37 at the moment.  The high was around 47 today.  I guess I have gotten used to being warm because 37 in Ohio felt like a Spring day!  They tell me it's unseasonably cold.  I heard the same thing in the summer, only then, it was unseasonably hot.  I choose hot!  We had 4 different companies here today giving us estimates on picket fence to contain Grace and our two Grand dogs when they visit.  One of the dogs is the famous Mulligan.  Darling little guy.  Trying to figure out where to put the fence so he can't eat the outdoor furniture cushions is a challenge.  If they don't satisfy him, he will probably eat the fence, so maybe to keep him from getting indigestion, we should forget the whole thing.  This is the dog that ate the fourth roll of toilet tissue during the cottage remodel before Jers came unglued.  I was in Ohio and missed the fun but I was told it was an eye-watering, knee slapping, bend over and laugh until you can't breathe moment.  That was before Mulligan ate the blinds in the living room and two bedrooms.  Oh, did I mention the couch?  The poor little guy has issues.  He needs someone to "whisper" to him, desperately!  Grace, being the angel she is, is horrified by his behavior.  I casually mentioned the other day it won't be long until he will be here and she'll have a playmate.  She looked at me in terror and ran to cower in her bed.  She's still there!  Anyway, I digress.  It was during this running in and out that I got chilled.  I finally got warm and we went to dinner.  The big chill is on again.


Today was one of those days where nothing was accomplished..  The tree is up, naked, with the exception of a few lights and an angel on top.  The outdoor lights are waiting for a warmer day to be put on the bushes and trees.  Flour,sugar,butter, brown sugar and other goodies are on the counter with expectations of their separate parts being mixed into cookies sometime soon.

SHIbuckey just decided to publish its self before I had edited.

Yep, one of those dog gone days.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll see you soon. Until then, enjoy!

Beach Surprise

Hi!  Welcome!  I'm glad you're here.  I hope you had a great day.   

You never know what you'll see here on the beach.  Today was an extra special surprise.  A group of women were there with their horses.  They had the beach to themselves until Grace and I, our neighbor and her grandchildren came on the scene.  And what a scene it was!  Like out of a movie!  They were having a great time galloping on the sand and in the surf.  There must have been at least a dozen riders.  I had a meaningful conversation with one of the them as she galloped by.  Me:   "That looks like fun"!   Rider:   "It is but so is walking your dog on the beach!"  Very nice comment meant to make a granny feel better about being on foot instead of on horseback, however, I remember trail riding up to 30 miles a day. It is not the same.  No way.  My hair was not blowing in the breeze.  I didn't have saddle sores.  There were no bugs in my teeth.
Just saying..... 

While I was gone, Jerry was simultaneously watching WVU/Rutgers, SC/Auburn and putting Christmas lights on the roof.   He has 5 strands of icicle lights strung, 300 per strand, and the job is about half done.  We're going to play "watch the meter go 'round!"  Sparky Griswold has competition this year! He told me the bushes and palm trees are my jobs. I've never put lights on a palm tree!  I think I'll see what's new on the beach instead and let my Sparky work his magic.  If you hear of a BIG outage in the south...
it's not terrorists.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon.  Until then, enjoy your days! 

Homeward Bound

Hi!  I'm glad you're here!  We're back on St. Helena after a great two week visit in Ohio. Snow is falling in the buckeye state with two to four inches expected this weekend.  Brrrr!  Driving across Fancy Gap was scary both ways.  Fog, rain and yuck!  How could we be so lucky?  Although the video shows the poor visibility, hold on to your hat!  The road is a little bumpy!  This shows the return trip.  It was actually worse going north.  You'll note the only happy people is "Sugarland" in the background.

  

While in Ohio, we helped with yet another move. This time it was our daughter and son-in-law doing the moving and one we didn't have to see to the end.  We left them still living in box chaos filled with "stuff!" 

 Definition of "Stuff": 

 a:  unspecified material 

 b. Household or personal items considered as a group  

 c worthless objects.

Yep, that's about right.  It's all of those things! 

After a beautiful Thanksgiving with family and friends, we braved the elements at 6:00 A.M. for black Friday bargains.  What an experience THAT was and one I don't think I'll repeat.  We live on Beaufort time and it doesn't have a 6:00 A.M. or crowds or lines. Saturday, we watched THE Ohio State University beat that team up north and I caught up on girl talk at the local pub in the evening. 

We were glad to see our church family Sunday morning, attended a birthday party in the afternoon and an open house in the evening hosted by Pastor Bracken and lovely wife Kimberly.  Afterward, we enjoyed helping decorate the church. Below are the professional garland untanglers hard at work. 

The finished project is below.   Pretty little church, we'll be

 thinking of your special candle light services Christmas Eve.

On the return trip we stayed overnight in Statesville, NC.  We usually drive straight through, but having driven over the mountains safely, we decided enough was enough!  Pet friendly rooms make traveling with Grace worry free.  She sniffed the room out for at least half an hour before she declared it a worthy place to curl up on her bed.  Say "cheese" Gracie!

This morning I woke up in my own bed.  The birds are singing. The sun is shining. Spanish moss is gently waving in the breeze.  Jers is grooving to Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way".  Little beach house is rocking!  There is no snow.

Life is good. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day!  See you soon.

For Janie

Welcome!  As always, I'm glad you are here.

Today started with a phone call to Florida to wish a long time friend a happy birthday. She too is a Buckeye who got cold. If you're reading this, OLD friend, I hope you had the best birthday ever. It's hard to believe we're #%*% years old!  Wonder why we still feel sixteen inside our  heads?  Knees that squeak, fingers that stick and our mom's hands coming out of our shirts tell a different story.

  

Next on my check list today was a trip to the beach.  It was a beautiful sunny day with a seventy six degree temp.  The video that follows is for my beach loving friends.   If you're not in that category, you'll find the dolphins, sea gulls, pelicans and surf sound, recorded especially for Janie,  pretty boring.  To see the video full screen, double click.  To go back to smaller size, hit escape. 

The refrigerator is cleaned out, last minute laundry done and six pounds of Gay's shrimp iced and in the cooler.  Prescriptions have been picked up and Grace's blankey washed. Packing is not quite finished but hopefully it will be before the 5:00 a.m. ETD.  The CCU essentials (camera, computer and underwear) are in the bag.  The Buckeye State beckons.  A supervisor is required.  Number two daughter and son-in-law are moving and I volunteered to boss the process.  Granddaughter number two just presented us with a new great-granddog.  She would like him to be as well mannered as Grace, therefore, I need to boss the training.  Grace graduated number one in her obedience class.  It really doesn't matter she was the only one in the class.  Thanksgiving is on the horizon and no, I'm not supervising it but I am looking forward to visiting with family and friends.  I hear there's an exciting Tupperware party planned and a girls night out at the Chat.  Chat, short for Chatterbox, hometown's version of Cheers and home of the world's best carrot cake for two.   

"Dancing" is on as I'm writing this and waiting on the video to finish processing  Can someone please tell me how any fifty year old can look as good and move as well as Jennifer Grey?  I just hope when I'm her age, I can do that.  One good thing about blogging....I didn't have to sign anywhere to tell the truth and nothin' but the truth.

Thanks for stopping by.   I'll see you soon and until then, enjoy your days!

Welcome!  I'm glad you're here.  We had a lot going on this weekend and I can't wait to tell you about it.


The fun started when we decided to go Christmas shopping Friday morning.  Actually, I decided to shop, Jers agreed to go along.  I thought I was way ahead of the season but I couldn't have been more wrong. The Hilton Head Tanger Outlet is already decorated for Christmas.  No fall or Thanksgiving decorations anywhere.  Whodathunkit?  We ate our lunch beside a beautifully decorated Christmas tree sheltering a collection of snowmen.  Cute...but...what happened to fall?  Not even one leaf or pumpkin!  I took my camera along and not only forgot to take pictures, I forgot the camera at the restaurant.  Thanks to Jerry, the keeper of my mind and my camera, it was missed  hours later and retrieved.  Taking pictures never entered my mind.  My one track brain was shouting "SHOP" all afternoon. By the time we got close to home it was dark and as we wound our way through people the last mile, it was obvious there was a par-ta goin' on!

Our little island was transformed.  Usual serenity drifted away with the tide and this place rocked!  Sounds of music drifted down the road and the air was full of mouth watering aromas. The fact we'd had a late lunch was forgotten. Cooking of the worlds best deep fried shrimp, fish, oysters, crab and low country stew had our senses working overtime and we had to investigate.  Our noses didn't steer us wrong.  All the seafood was local and delicious!  I'd tell you we went back for seconds if I wasn't embarrassed.
Saturday brought more of the same along with tons of homemade goodies and the usual vendor food that was soooo tempting.  Heritage Days Celebration was the reason for the festivities which is a once a year weekend long celebration of the Gullah culture.  The Gullah's are African American descendants of slaves from South Carolina's low country.  Thousands of people converged on Penn Center, here on the island,  from everywhere.  Now a historical site and museum, Penn Center was the first school for freed slaves. It also happens to be where Martin Luther King, Jr. drafted his "I have a Dream" speech in a little cottage on the campus.   The Penn Center web site http://www.penncenter.com/ is a great place to spend some time.

Jerry and I were honored to have the opportunity to meet Mr. Jonathan Green, well known local artist.  His beautiful work is a history lesson to island life at an earlier time.  Google him too!  Mr. Green illustrated the children's book  "Amadeus : The Leghorn Rooster" written by our neighbor, Delores B. Nevils.  The story is true and she really does live in the quaint little cottage with 26 windows and a red roof depicted in her book.  Ms. Nevils was kind enough to invite us to go to the Saturday morning parade with she and Mr.Green.  He is as delightful and pleasant as he is talented.  He was recognized often and was most accommodating to everyone who came up to talk to him or ask for pictures.  Thousands of people lined the street for the parade and afterwards formed huge lines of polite, laughing, patient people.  They waited for tickets, food and rides for the children.  Martin Luther King, Jr. must have had a vision of such a day when he drafted his speech in little Gantt cottage across the road. 

After we watched the parade and some great talent on the outdoor center stage, Jers found HUGE brats smothered in peppers and onions.  My calorie booster was bar-b-qued ribs.  YUM-ME!  Feeling fat and happy, we left the party early to cheer on our Buckeyes.  Good thing we did as they started a little slow.  Well, no, that's not exactly true.  They started WAY slow!  Once the Buckeye flag was flying on the porch, the "whirlie" was out and we were settled in front of the TV with our OSU shirts on....things started to shape up and they finished up winners. It was a nice end to a beautiful day. 

Jerry grilled after church today and took Grace for a run with the bike.  I had the hard job of taking a nap. We spent the day watching football and being lazy after a weekend that made my heart happy.  The one flaw was Sunday's Steelers game.  Perfection 3 days in a row is hard to achieve.....just sayin'!


Thanks for stopping by and until I see you again, enjoy your days!

SHIbuckeye

Welcome!   Thanks for dropping by SHIbuckeye!  Recently, my husband Jerry and I moved from Ohio to South Carolina's low country.  Seven generations of my family including me, our daughters and grandchildren have lived in that little corner of the world.  We left our comfort zone of friends, most of them from childhood, and our family.  We sold our home of 35 years, reduced our ownership of  "stuff" considerably and opted for new experiences.  Simply put, we endured one too many cold winters!   This  blog will be a way of keeping in touch with the "Buckeyes" in our lives and a love letter to both our old and new homes.

I love Ohio!  I love the beauty of spring, lazy days of summer, the smells, colors and crisp days of fall.  A white Christmas with all the trimmings, friends dropping by with homemade goodies and gifts, a crackling fire, decorating our small church, Christmas Eve services, our family and church family are only a few of the things we'll miss.  There's nothing like the company of longtime friends and family sitting around a campfire roasting hot dogs and sipping the world's best cider made at the apple orchard down the road. 

Since moving, I better understand how someone can say they love two people at the same time!  I am falling in love with our new home more every day while still loving and missing Ohio.  South Carolina low country is a breathtakingly beautiful, unique place.  We live on St. Helena Island, one of South Carolina's sea islands.  St. Helena is seven miles from Beaufort and across the bay from Hilton Head.  Savannah, Ga. and Charleston, SC are only an hours drive.  It is a rural area with tomato and watermelon farms, shrimping, a half dozen gift and art shops and a few restaurants.  We are 10 minutes from Hunting Island and the Atlantic Ocean.  We live in the middle of a history book and can't turn the pages fast enough.  My camera stays red hot!  

Live oaks covered with Spanish moss, sweet tea, hush puppies and thrift stores filled to the brim with wonderful treasures are things I instantly loved.  I am learning about tides, pluff mud, sea turtles and Frogmore stew.  Island traditions, haint blue, blue bottle trees and the Lands End light are things I am looking at from a distance........and will explore with you in another post.  

 Until then,  thanks again for dropping by and enjoy today!