Happy Easter!

Photo Courtesy of Mike

Happy Easter wishes from Earl Capps, Heidi, Katherine, and Loki.

Denise shares a lovely Easter teacup and Peeps!

Not happy: Easter storms are brewing.

Love Your Mother (Earth)

Missed the opening of the Charleston Farmers’ Market? Couldn’t Carrotmob?  Take a look at photos from Go Green Charleston and video from The Digitel.

Organic Process Productions will have two programs on ETV on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

By the way, here’s a list of Earth Day events around the Lowcountry

Home-Ec Holla!

Take a look the newest Woman’s Day Magazine for a Home-Ec 101 shoutout. Onward and Upward ladies!

Misc and That…

Triangles, triangles…TRIANGLES everywhere!

The Charleston Observer takes a look at an Orthodox church in Mount Pleasant.

The Lowcountry blogging/tweeting community wasn’t quite the same this past week since Jared was out of town on business, but he’s returned with photos to share.

Tacos anyone?

Vera Hannaford blogs about her knitting and crocheting life in Vera’s Crafty Blog, and tweets way too much about music.

Image Courtesy of Tales of the Microbial Laboratory

Daylight Savings Time officially began at 2 am this morning.  I don’t mind the time change–especially on such a lovely day.

Spring forward and step back in time with the Stucky Family.  Make sure you’ve changed all your clocks and watches.

Eric is ready for Spring.

Never mind what the calendar says. It’s spring when people start venturing outdoors with looks of wonder on their faces. It’s like, hey, I lived through winter, and the world is a beautiful place. The coming of spring is intoxicating…

Denise shares a morning cup of tea and a haiku. I so wish that my kitchen table could be so neat.

Ian’s having coffee at the Waffle House.

Mike had an unpleasant wake up call.

Syd’s Sunday thoughts.

Pam started out with good intentions, but got caught up in a gorgeous Lowcountry day.

Vera Hannaford shares her knitting, crocheting, and other obsessions in Vera’s Crafty Blog

Photo Courtesy of girls about charlestowne (sorry Cardinals fans)

America’s game, the Super Bowl, is tomorrow evening, and some bloggers around  the Lowcountry are gearing up for the big event.

The Game…

Why Mike loves the Super Bowl.

The girls about charlestowne share a sandwich recipe, a place to party, and some smack talk for Cardinals fans.

The Commercials (Well, the ones you won’t see)…

The E*Trade Broker Babies.

PETA’s Super Bowl ad gets banned by NBC.

The Weather…

Here’s some Super Bowl weather trivia…

17 of 42 Bowls Played indoors
16 of 42 Bowls had a Trace or More of Rain at nearby AP
2 Bowls had Snow on Game Day (1982,2006)
1 Bowl played during an Ice Storm (2000)
Warmest High Temperature of 82° (1973,2003)
Coldest High Temp for Dome Game 16° (1982)
Coldest High Temp for Non-Dome Game 49° (1985)
Wettest Super Bowl .92 inches (2007)
Outside Games With High Wind Gust (1980, 1984, 1989,2007)

And, the Food, of course!

Yum! A snack food stadium.

How about some bacon? Shouldn’t there be a cardiologist on standby?

It’s the first Saturday of 2009, and it’s still early enough in the new year to look back and forth.

Ringing out the Old

Kristy reflects on 2008

Denise gives us a cup o’ kindness.

Hugging the Coast list their top 10 Hottest Food Trends of 2008.  I know I see pomegranates everywhere, but I’m not sure if I want a cup of bacon and egg ice cream.

Ringing in the New

The Mustang gets a clean start.

T. Ballard Lesemann shares his version of the U2 classic New Years Day

New Moon-New Year 2009

Polar Plunge!

Etc.

The Kinney Family is being a Tourist in Their Own Town.

More beautiful photos of Southeast Asia from Leigh Webber Photography.

You’re right Jared.  I can’t imagine you as a quiet kid.  Glad you opened up, though

Paisley the hedgehog is way too adorable.  I’m looking forward to more photos.

Happy Birthday Ian!

The dismal state of the economy is probably the biggest topic around, and the Lowcountry hasn’t been spared it’s ill effects.

Xarker shares somes thoughts on saving the domestic auto industry based on his concept of Virtual Publishing Groups, which focuses on giving the consumer what they want instead of pushing whatever’s in inventory.

Congress could use its crisis leverage to broker an agreement that essentially puts our automobile production infrastructure into a form of receivership, to be directed by a board. Its mission: To license our national automobile production capacity to the most competitive automobile designs.

As a condition of the deal, The Big 3 would have to divest themselves of their R&D departments, which would now be run as independent firms.

Anyone could submit a car design to the production board and request a share of the annual production capacity. The selection process would be open and transparent.

In the short term, design teams from The Big 3 would likely get most of the contracts, since these R&D teams are already in place. But by 2010, it’s likely that third-party designers with innovative ideas would win a share of that production capacity.

Over time a new kind of auto industry could emerge: The Big 3 would still be “in business,” as the companies that profit from providing manufacturing and other services (yes, I’m describing manufacturing as a service) to the best and most desirable lines of automobiles. There would be no mass shut down, no sudden shock to the economy, no destruction of our unions, yet the automobile business would be revolutionized.

The Donnelley Foundation is reviewing a proposal for $250,000 for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston Ballet Theater, and Charleston Stage.

The City of Charleston is cutting the Fire Department’s training budget. Good timing?

A group Charleston Symphony Orchestra supporters has offered to match donations.

On Wednesday, the CSO announced that a group of long-time supporters were offering a $75,000 matching pledge for donations arriving between now and the end of January. The challenge requires all donations be above $1,000, but any amount up to $75,000 will be doubled.

“It’s to encourage major donors,” says Newcomb. “From the articles, we have gotten a lot of lovely gifts … but we need to get some of the bigger donors back too.”

Say it isn’t so Santa!?!

With only 19 days until Christmas, here’s a sampling of what Lowcountry bloggers are doing to prepare.

Getting Ready

The lights are up at Newki’s house.

For Becky, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Love, love, love it! I love the smell of Christmas, the sound of Christmas, the look of Christmas. Pretty much if it’s Christmas I love it (that is with the disclaimer of Christmas commercialization not being what I’m talking about). So, when it’s time to break out the decorations I am in heaven…

Things to Do…

Today’s holiday events include The Parade of Boats, The City of Charleston’s official tree lighting, and the Chuckotwn Santa Pub Crawl.

Here’s a roundup of area parades.

See the Metropolitan Opera at the library.  In fact, there’s one this afternoon.

You Gotta Eat…

Check out the yummy and festive Pomegranate Hibiscus Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Virrenes on Tartelette.

Vanilla, cranberry, and almond biscotti.  How sweet it is.

Gifts!

I have some friends who would go “Arrr!” for those ice cube trays.

Great Christmas gifts for under $5.

Go Green Charleston encourages us to purchase gifts from local artists.

Misc.

Denise shares some beautiful holiday teacups.

Concerned about a holiday mess?  Here’s six ways to cut down on holiday waste.

The fiber lover in me cannot resist singing and dancing sheep.  O’ what fun!

More Halloween Fun

Check out The Stuckey Family’s Halloween treats.

Halloween at the Break Room

Rita’s group hosts a party.

Cody loves Halloween.

Talk About the Weather

According to Brad, the Lowcountry will be mostly sunny with a high in the low to mid 70s today, but rain is on the way.

Here’s Brian’s Winter Outlook…

November:
This month appears to be very volatile. It appears the SE will start off mild/warm but the the middle and end of November (near Turkey Day) We could see several shots of cold air over the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley. This could lead to a stormy period in the SE with perhaps a snow threat for TN and points north and east. We’ll have to watch this trend carefully.

December:

This could be our coldest month of the season based on the latest info. I think we have a high chance of the two jets phasing during this time with perhaps a week or two of Alberta Clippers that will keep cold air mostly over the east.

…So yeah, a vague forecast overall. I can only base it on long wave trends. As I said earlier, this winter will be a huge challenge to predict. Neutral winters can be fun, but a headache for meteorologists.

Sunday Misc

Wendy is participating in NaBloPoMo.

As seen in the grocery store

Loki gets decorated.

Eargams has a performing arts roundup.

Why SF 49ers coach Mike Singletary should keep his pants on.

What Time Is it?

Hopefully, you’ve set all your clocks one hour back.  What are you going to do with that extra hour? Joan plans to do some baking.

Halloween Roundup

Photo Credit: Microbial Laboratory

It’s my observation that Halloween is getting bigger, bolder, and brighter every year with more decorations, costumes, and parties.

Joan , Jeff, and Denise share some awesome pumpkins.

Here’s what Wendy, Jonas,  Ricsha, and their families did for Halloween.

The Lowcountry’s own Jared W. Smith, circa 1991, and 2008.  Costume Win!

You can celebrate and still keep it green. Jennifer notes…

…Hmmm…all that spooky fun can cause a lot of consumption and waste. Chad and I found some ways to manage our haunting excesses, and I’m certain we could always be doing more.

Buying local pumpkins was a cinch. Boone Hall Farms, hosts a Fall Festival with one of my boys’ most favorite places, their pumpkin patch. For five dollars, your kids will also love the jump castles, mazes, goats and tractor ride (check out all that bamboo!) This fun filled event is a mere 2 miles from our home. I’d love to hear where you all are buying your locally grown pumpkins.

Then the carving fun begins. Chad and I are looking forward to composting our pumpkins again this fall. From the pulp to the seeds to the sorry rotten faces jack-o-lanterns become, all will be put back into our own gardens…

Stumped on what to do with all that leftover candy?  Hugging the Coast has some recipes.

Public Service Announcements

Now that Halloween is over, it’s time to countdown to Turkey Day 2008.

Speaking of time, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour tonight.

Looks like the Lowcountry is headed for another day of rain.  Even though it’s bad for the Blognic, which is postponed for now (a new date will be set soon), we can use more rain.

From Brad…

Another wet day for the Lowcountry looks to be on the way.  An area of low pressure located just off the Georgia coast will continue to feed moisture into the region.  This means more clouds and rain for us on Sunday.  High pressure will begin to build into the area by Monday and that will provide us with a nice stretch of weather later in the week.

While it is the weekend, this rain is very beneficial.  Rainfall for the year is still about 7 inches below normal.  However, our rain deficit is nothing compared to the drought like conditons that continue across the upstate and other areas around the southeast.

Other things being blogged about…

Robert is in search of barbecue.

I want to knit some Wild Tea Cosies. That cover one is so Lowcounty.

Katherine documents her painting creek painting.

Make yourself Super.

Don’t talk to Mike’s gnome and, especially, this young person about the outcome of yesterday’s football games.

Who can name a country that borders the Republic of Congo?  Sadly, I had to pull out an atlas, but my husband named four countries.

Speaking of geography, this photo is not where you’d think it might be upon first glance.

*with apologizes to Brad for stealing his title.

With the stock market meltdown, bank failures, and economic uncertainty added to the stresses of our everyday lives, it’s easy to feel anxious.

Let’s take time out for a little Lowcountry Zen.

• Observe wildlife.
• Enjoy some chocolate.
• Clean up around the house.
• Take a walk in a garden.
• Have a tall refreshing glass of the State Hospitality Beverage.
• Whip up a batch of yummy cookies.

Feel better now?

As the seasons change, Bran shares her reflections.

So, perhaps, this year is the year I invent something else. A new winter. A new zero. Something less reliant on snow and cold, and more derived from an inner quiet. After all, people have to slow down to think sometime, and I hope that even down here–in a humid land full of palmettos and pecans–people still use winter as the season of meditation, reflection, and calm.

Breathe, smile, reflect, and relax.