Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Just thought that I'd give a brief posting on our gardens. Gardens, by the way, are great! They are full of dirt! Which, while not actually tasting great, is fun to play with and perfectly eatable (though, according to Mommy and Daddy, not edible -- I think differently).

Dad just got a bunch of concrete blocks/bricks with which to create garden boxes.


Also, we have daisies growing by the mailbox, lots of tomatoes (for which Mom and Dad are especially excited -- Daddy also says that they are a good lure for getting grandparents to visit8), a few raspberries everyday, some strawberry plants, and giant pumpkin plants, which are just starting to flower (if they really are giant, I won't even need a fairy godmother to make a pumpkin coach big enough for me to sit in, but just Daddy with a knife!)


Oh, and while Mommy is not letting them bloom, because their roots and leaves need to grow, we have roses, and got quite a number a little while back.

But there are currently some daisies coming up by the mailbox.




Oh, and finally, we have the most beautiful tree: it is a fern tree! It has ferns instead of leaks, and has puffy pink blossoms.



That's all for this special gardening report. Signing out,
J.G. Stewart from the Palmetto State

Thursday, May 22, 2008


Well, things are clipping along here in South Carolina. I am now crawling and farther developing my mobile skills. I only wish that my editor in chief was developing as rapidly in his blog posting skills. There is so much to tell! However, today's issue, from here in the Palmetto State, will concentrate on an event hosted by SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). Every year that college has a sidewalk chalk contest, and Saddie's family invited our family to go. How the contest works is that in a public park in Savannah the contestants come with a standard set of sidewalk chalks (at least we assume they were standard, everyone seemed to by using the same set), and then every contestant takes a section of sidewalk in the larger sections of SCAD alumni, current students, and future students. It was really cool. There were all sorts of pictures -- a lot of mermaids, a scene from the Sistine Chapel (as seen above), anime, ninja turtles, and other art.














There were a lot of technics used -- a common one was to crush up the chalk and then mix in in cups with water to make a sort of paint.


Unfortunately, just like in Mary Poppin's, it rained! Silly clouds! Anyway, some of the artists were dedicated in trying to perserve their work, maybe because the competition hadn't been judged yet.














The next guy in green looks like he knows that he is about to melt away, and really doesn't look forward to it!















Savannah was beautiful. There is a look to see, and a lot of leafs to chew on too (though generally speaking mommy wouldn't let me...)














We saw the church were the composer of Jingle Bells worked.














The Oglethorpe mentioned in the above sign is James Edward Oglethorp, the founder of Georgia. He looks a little but like a pirate from Prates of the Caribbean.



















Speaking of pirates.....












And speaking of churches... we saw of gorgeous Catholic Church. And guess what! They had a wedding in it! Somebody out there may be planning to populate the world with more little people like me!














Mommy went to catholic school and knows all about the stations on the cross. These were carbed out of wood in this church. They also had some beautiful stain glass windows.







































We also saw some iron flower gates! They are a little bit like mommy at bath time: beautiful, no matter the time, season, or weather, but inflexible. (You try telling her you don't need a bath!).



















There was, or course, a lot of revolutionary and civil war monuments. I'll have to write again about them. Before I leave, here are a few more chalk pictures. Between you and me, I don't think the artist who drew the last picture has ever actually seen the Mona Lisa.











































That's all for today,

Reporting from Goose Creek, S.C.,
J. G. Stewart


Sunday, May 18, 2008





and that's all there is for this test

Monday, April 14, 2008















Hi again,

I'm reporting from Cypress Gardens -- we went there last Saturday. As you'll see, Dad didn't let me row, but that wasn't for lack of my trying... He wouldn't even let me feed the alligators (something about me being to small a snack, I think he was kidding).

So, these "gardens" used to be a rice plantation, and now it is a large swamp, that isn't normally deeper than 6'. Cypress trees grow up through the water (see the next picture). Their roots give off some sort of inky dark substance, so that the water is almost black and you can hardly ever see the bottom!














The little cute one in the other boat is my friend Sadie Nan, with her parents Richard and Tammy (and Tammy's cousin). Richard works with my Dad at the Navy Nuclear Power School. Saddie Nan is four days older than me, but she doesn't hold it over my head too much. However, I hear that she makes less noise in church, and Dad holds that over my head all the time... In my own defense, he normally takes me out for making joyful noises. What's wrong with that? It's the south after all...

We saw a mama duck with a bunch of little ducklings following her, as wells as a bunch of turtles, and some hawks and alligators.















There were big kinds of lilly pads and also some plants like super little pads that grew so thickly together that it looks like the water was completely mossed over! Curious Mommy threw sticks and rocks into it to see if they would actually bounce or make splashes. Also, the Cypress trees grew "knees" -- these little stub like growths. What are they for? I don't know, Richards claims they are an evolutionary defense to trip and impale loggers. I think they're just cute cypress trees in utero. They just take longer to grow than normal cypress trees, and they suddenly become trees instead of knees when no one's looking. The swamp can get so murky people aren't sure that they weren't there in the first place. Tricky little nubs!



Just two more things:
I:

Inspired by my name, no doubt, everyone decided to try out their Tarzan tree swinging skills, on a big old vine hanging from a tree.











II

We went into a really cool reptile house. There was a giant galapagos tortoise outside, and a bunch of cool alligators, crocodiles, snakes (little and big), fish, etc..., etc..., etc..., and a frog that kind looks like Dad in the mornings.




PS I tried to talk the crocodile into giving me a trunk, just like the elephant child... but mommy couldn't coax him in to even trying. Maybe it's like Dad says, I'm too little even to snack on -- (if only I could convince mommy of this...)

With love from the Palmetto State,

-J.G. Stewart