This past week has been a very busy one for us, as we continue to downsize, while re-homing furniture and other stuff. Thankfully the more we give away and sell, the easier it becomes. Nonetheless, it still feels a little overwhelming at times. While keeping up with work, we have also been spending time working in the gardens, with the highlight being picking and eating our blueberries.. Yum!
We have lots of butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects enjoying the myriad of flower blossoms, which is most encouraging to see! So I want to take you on a little virtual walk through the gardens via these photos below… I hope you enjoy 🙂
Our grapevines are absolutely loaded again this year and are going to provide a wonderful crop! I must say that we will miss our homemade grape puree, which we enjoy eating on a variety of things, including a bowl of vanilla ice cream! The brown thrashers are currently enjoying them as the perfect nesting site.
With the warmer temps, we’ve been eating our lunches out beneath the oaks, and the best part of course, is being entertained by all the squirrels that come to join us. One day, we had as many as fourteen!
Wes grilled salmon for us one evening, and we thought it was so cute that his little “sous chef” joined him … LOL! You can see him lying on the handrail next to Wes, he’s an adorable little skink.
I made and recently uploaded this short video, which features photos of the abundant wildlife and beautiful scenery we enjoyed during our amazing day spent at Huntington Beach State Park, with friends Diane and Bob, last month.
Here is a video I made for the Society of Animal Artists featuring the special show presented by the SAA and Brookgreen Gardens, titled “A Founder’s Legacy”. It also features photos from their stunning gardens and the Lowcountry Zoo.
It has been a very busy past couple of weeks for us, as we finalized everything which needed to be done in order to list our house with the realtor. We went with the same group that sold our beloved home in Townsend, TN, where we lived for twenty years. Now we are selling our beloved home in Grandview, TN, and are embarking on a much anticipated and exciting chapter of our lives! We will be downsizing once again … like really downsizing this time … taking only our artwork, kitchen items and clothing. We will most likely be moving into a tiny house for the next several years, while we travel in our camper van “Allons-y” throughout the West. There are sooooo many states, National Parks, State Parks and other areas we have never been, and are eager to see. This next season of our life should be one in which we make many wonderful memories, and we can’t wait! It has been my dream since I was a young girl to travel around the United States in a camper, while exploring and enjoying the tremendous amount of beautiful places we have here. So as you can imagine, I am very excited! Our home was listed with the Dwight Price Group (See Our Home HERE) last Wednesday, and our house is already currently pending. Even though we are sad to leave it, we are delighted to pass on our beautiful “personal park” to another family to enjoy in the years to come. I will certainly be keeping you up to date, as we move forward into this next chapter of our lives.
We did take a wee break to go camping for two nights with friends Mike and Barrie. We were blessed with beautiful weather and had so much fun kayaking and hiking! The flame azaleas and mountain laurels were still blooming, which were quite lovely.
Black rat snake
It’s always so peaceful to be on the water and is certainly a happy place for both Wes and me.
One evening we sat with our friends around their campfire for a quite a while, talking about what had transpired in our lives over the past few months and what are future plans are. Whilst camping there, it’s always been our tradition to walk over to the water’s edge at night, and gaze at the stars. It was a very clear night, and the moon was exceptionally bright, creating a glorious sky overhead! We looked for constellations and watched as the occasional satellite travels across the sky. That night we even saw a shooting star! It was a delightful time indeed. Once back at home, it was time to get back to work and continue with our downsizing process.
I am sad to say that the beautiful Gallery by SEWE located in The Charleston Place in Charleston, South Carolina, will host their last Artwork on June 5th, 2026. The Charleston Place is embarking on their next phase of renovation, so the gallery will be closing and transitioning into their virtual gallery. So if you’re in or planning to be in the Charleston area before June 30, 2026, be sure to visit the gallery and take home one of our miniature paintings available through the gallery. These are the nine miniature paintings currently available through the gallery, shown below.
IN THE STUDIO
Here’s one of my latest portraits, of a handsome and precious little boy named “Gibbs“, whom I absolutely loved petting and had so much fun drawing! I recently finished another painting commission that I will share with you once it has been gifted to the recipient.
This week we’re going back in time once again, to the beginning of our trip to South Carolina a few weeks ago, where we attended the opening of the Society of Animal Artists “A Founder’s Legacy” show at Brookgreen Gardens. We started off our journey with a delightful visit with dear artist friend Dale Weiler and his wife Loti at their beautiful home in North Carolina. We loved getting to see Dale’s studio, where he does his stone carving. The interior looked as if a large container of powdered sugar had exploded, and covered every square inch! It was hilarious and the complete opposite of ours as miniature painters, where a single speck of dust can ruin a painting … LOL! We were delighted to see what Dale was currently working on, as well as other pieces he has stored in there. We enjoyed spending a couple of relaxing days with them and seeing some of the highlights in their area. After saying our goodbyes, we headed to our next spot of interest, which was Santee State Park.
We had a lovely campsite beside the lake, where we would spend the next four nights. While at the campsite, Wes moved out his containers of garden seedlings, so they could get some light and fresh air. They were too little to leave at home while we were gone, so that’s why they went camping with us. Our first day there brought rain, but it ended in time to go for a nice little walk that evening. So we headed to a trail not too far from the campground. We saw and heard lots of birds as we walked along and I was thrilled to spot this beautifully constructed little basket-style bird nest. Thanks to the help of our birder friends, we learned it was the impressive construction of a white-eyed vireo. That made sense, since we heard several of them singing in that area.
White-eyed Vireo nest
Each evening, I walked the short distance to a little secluded cove area along the lake, taking along a chair and a book. It was most peaceful setting listening to the sounds of the gentle waves and abundant birdsong.
I was delighted when three baby squirrels came over and checked me out. They immediately accepted me as obviously safe, and commenced searching for treats found in a pile of debris, that had been washed up on the shoreline. At times it appeared as if they were eating mussels, but I couldn’t quite tell for sure. At one point a friendly little spotted sandpiper flew over and walked up onto the shore next to them just a few feet from me. I guess it thought the squirrels had found a buffet and wanted in on the action.
Spotted sandpiper and squirrels
Then a pair of mallard ducks swam by and after bobbing up and down on the waves for a few minutes, ambled onto the shore as well. It was turning into a wildlife party on the lake, and I was thrilled to be included! While I sat there surrounded by all of my new friends, an oriole flew in and landed in the tree above and started singing. It was truly a magical time each evening, and I looked forward to it during the day.
Mallard ducks
One day we drove the short distance to visit Congaree National Park. What an amazing place it is, containing the largest remaining contiguous expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the Southeast. So as you can imagine, there are ample huge trees in the forest there! We started our day by visiting the welcome center, and watching a short film on the history of Congaree, which was very interesting. Then we headed out on the boardwalk trail. Immediately, we were surrounded by tall trees and a symphony of birdsong! It was stunning!
Adorable gray squirrel
The forest was home to an abundance of gray squirrels, all happily going about searching for things to eat and playing.
Soon we too were hungry, so we headed back to the van to make sandwiches for our own lunch. Afterwards, we headed back out on the trail and went a different way. We came to several beautiful spots along the river, and found the one shown below, where we could walk down to the water.
It was a great place to sit and enjoy a little snack, whilst admiring the lovely scenery. We noticed something on one of the limbs next to the water, and upon closer inspection, realized it was a snake. So Wes carefully snuck up a little closer to it, with camera in hand.
Once he had gotten closer, he saw that there was a wee turtle less than a foot away from the snake’s head! Of course I had to also make my way closer so I could see it too. The snake and turtle graciously let us watch and photograph them for quite sometime, while they laid there soaking up the warmth of the ample sunshine.
Red-bellied water snake and wee turtle
Eventually we decided we should keep moving, so we left them behind and continued hiking. There were so many large trees all along the way.
We saw several anoles in various locations, but this one in particular pictured below, was quite friendly and graciously let us get several nice photos of him. Isn’t he absolutely handsome? I do believe he knew it to, and was like “Oh, this is definitely my best side” while posing for us.
A very handsome Anole
There were so many huge trees and I couldn’t resist hugging some of them, where you were allowed to walk up to them. This one was most interesting with all of its burly, wiggly openings along the trunk. I’m sure quite a few critters take full advantage of those openings and call it home!
The color of the water was most interesting and the milk chocolate color paired beautifully against the light, sky blue reflections.
Eventually, we made our way back to the van later that afternoon, and headed back to the campground. Congaree is such a gem and truly spectacular place to see old growth forests and enjoy birding. It was indeed a wonderful day! The next day we decided to stay at the State park, and hike the long trail there, which was most lovely. We ended up making it to a perfect spot along the lake to enjoy our sandwiches. We bought a can of diet Dr. Pepper and sat there on a bench for sometime, just relaxing and watching the birds flying by.
On the hike back, we saw lots of birds and delighted to spot this turtle who was laying her eggs. We quietly took a few photos and wished her and her offspring well, before slowly circling way out around her, being careful not to upset her. Of course that evening I spent sitting by the lake and hanging out with all of my critter friends, and must admit I felt quite sad knowing it would be my last evening spent with them.
Laying her eggs
The next morning we were up early and after saying goodbye to our delightful campsite, headed to Santee National Wildlife Refuge. W enjoyed taking a scenic drive through the Cuddo Unit first. It was a delightful drive, taking us through swamps where we saw a few alligators and several birds.
It was very convenient for taking photos directly from the van, which helps with not spooking the birds.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Leaving that area, we headed over to the Bluff Unit located on Lake Marion. There we visited the welcome center and the lovely butterfly garden filled with native plants and flowers. We were thrilled to see a painted bunting coming to the one of the feeders behind the center. We took a walk to the top of the Santee Indian Mound, which offered a nice view of the water from the top. After a picnic lunch, we decided to walk a trail nearby. We were so glad we did, because we saw more gorgeous prothonotary warblers along that trail, than we have ever seen anywhere else!
Prothonotary Warbler
Sections of the trail took us along raised boardwalks. We were told the area is in a severe drought and that the lake was about ten foot lower than normal, so much of the area beneath the boardwalks was dry, unfortunately. It was still lovely and we continued seeing so many birds as we walked along.
Summer Tananger
Soon, it was time to head back to the van and make our way over to Murrell’s Inlet, where we would spend the next several days with friends. Back in the van and driving along, we stopped after noticing a pair of summer tanagers right next to the road. So Wes stopped, and there a foot from my open window, sat the stunning pair, so close I could almost pet them! Needless to say I was thrilled, but not quick enough to get a photo of them both.
Eastern Kingbird
It was yet another wonderful day spent hanging out with birds and critters in a beautiful location!
Eastern Wood Pewee
Zebra Swallowtail
IN THE STUDIO
I’m delighted to say that I learned this past week that I received “Best Still Life/Floral” on my miniature painting titled “Mother’s Things” at Seaside Art Gallery’s 35th International Miniature Art Show!
Under the Magnifying Glass 