An original, classically inspirted piece of art that you can own for your home, office, or give as a gift! Listing price is $99 with free shipping! I am the artist and am selling my art to help support my adventures and craft! Inspired by the great artists of the past, this piece is one of a kind! Framed and ready to hang, archival glass and treated to last a lifetime or longer!
Make me an offer! Click the Link
The heat and humidity have been super high in the Upstate and boy, are we all feeling it! The winds have picked up, hopefully to help curb this heat spell (it’s summer in the South, afterall.)
The clouds have rolled in and woosh, look at that rain and hear that thunder clap!
Don’t forget to visit my eBay shop and support this local artist and craftsman!
A beautiful, cleary, perfect day filled with sunshine and great weather! My Sweetness (aka my boyfriend) heard about Lake Jocasse from a a local South Carolina native (he is originally from Rhode Island, myself from the mid-west). A new adventure and location awaited us as we used the GPS to get us there! About an hour from Clemson, South Carolina, Devil’s Fork State Park is located in Oconee County, near the tiny town of Salem, South Carolina.
The lake itself was originally man made but it’s fed by local streams and more, keeping the water Very cool and wonderful. A tiny beach was created and a swimmer’s area is marked off with a yellow bouy line for a no-wake zone. While boating tours are offered (for a price), we decided to set up picnic in the grilling and table areas and hit the little beach for swimming!
The lake does cover up an old cemetery; gleaning from a a bit of research, the bodys were exhumed and relocated but the the village and cemetery are under the lake now. How the State park earned the named of “Devil’s Fork” is unknown to me but it sounds like something from the movie “Romancing the Stone” with Michael Douglas where he and Kathleen Turner have to use a treasure map and go past the Devil’s Fork to find the good stuff.
There were lots of families there today and at a neighboring picnic spot, the family was playing a variety of Mexican style tradiotional mariachi style music, which added to the ambiance of the day.
I swam from the beach to the no wake yellow buoy twice, which means my swimming in the pool is paying off as well (I swim several time as a week in an indoor salt water pool at a Rec Center. I used to be a lifeguard many many years ago, too). The water was cool/cold and super refreshing. While swimming around, one can watch the motor boats and kayaks, conoes and so forth, which are fun to watch.
Definitly 2 thumbs up for a great place and an lovely place to visit for a day-cation.
Summer in the South is especially hot and I don’t like heating up the house in the middle of the day to cook myself a meal and make the house even hotter, so what is the solution? A salad!
A bag of salad mix ( I used a Farmers Blend as it was on manager special)
a half pint of slice cherry tomatoes
small avocado, chunked small
2 tsp of chia seed
dressing of choice
*optional to add a can of tuna or leftover chicken
my cousin Amy and I were on a hunt for postcards and a souvenir T-shirt for our cousin Charlie, and in the meantime, we found some really cool stuff and amazing architecture.
while at walking was a lot of fun, there was a slight bit of a scary moment. There, as a Jesuit piece fell down and had a really bloody nose; so after helping him get himself together, we continued to adventure, and found a really pretty chapel dedicated to Saint Joan of arc.
Amy and I thoroughly enjoyed a Middle Eastern meal at a restaurant called FiFi which is located on Wisconsin Avenue
Enjoying the sunrise here in the upstate of South Carolina- nature always provides a wonderful entertainment, and the soothing sounds of the song birds.
Adventuring with a buddy is always so much fun, especially when your buddy is your Egyptian neighbor and friend. Nourhan is an international student (such a lovely lady)-so this eveing, our schedules finally aligned where we could go on an adventure together!
Nourhan spends a lot of time in the classroom and labs at Clemson University, studying hard, doing research, and working on her thesis–and hasn’t had much time to explore before now; We are making up for lost time!
We enjoyed the local history of the Maiden taking shelter along the waterfalls to escape her captors- and the history of the Stumphouse tunnel(where the Clemson Original Bleu Cheese was originally formulated and made by the old irish immigrant recipe and more!) Plus, on our way out, a fun armadillo decided to grace us with it’s presence as it crossed the road as we drove away. Nourhan hadn’t ever seen one before and asked me what it was, a cute little armadillo!
It has been a giant blessing having Nourhand as a neighbor and a friend and I am so glad she moved in next door to me!
Yes, I brought out the paints again and here I am, nerding it up big time at home! I do work a full time job but do my art on the side, hoping and praying that my craft will one day support me!
Here is the eBay link to my newest piece! Please, feel free to make me an offer (everything that sells via my eBay also benefits a charity as well as helping to support my adventures!)
Yes, I have been cooking different recipes as of late to add to my cooking skills, for starter, but also to add variety to the palate, without breaking the bank or hunting all over the state for ingredients. Friends, family, pinterest, old world cook books–all are wonderful resources!
The coating for the chicken (I used chicken breasts but any cut of chicken, boneless or not would work well) is pretty easy.
The Coating:
2 cups of cornmeal flour, add salt, pepper, dehydrated onions, cumin, dry parsley flakes, italian season, and minced garlic (I used the minced garlic that comes in a jar.)
Coat each piece of chicken in egg wash and the mix, twice over each (it’s thick, but that’s the inten.) Put in a deep pan with olive oil (you can use corn oil, too, if it’s what you prefer.)
Cook the chicken until it’s about 90% cooked through, put a bag of frozen veggies on top (I used a bag of the corn, peas, corn, and green bean mix.) Cook for about 8 more minutes, pull out the chicken and veggies and plate. While the chicken is resting, make a sauce.
The sauce is from the pan “drippings”. Add a couple of spoons of the cornbread coating mix left over from the coating; mix it all together until it’s pasty and getting toasted. Add either water or chicken broth mixing slowly on medium heat and ladel over the chicken and vegetables. Serve with a side of sliced tomatoes.
Super yummy and super easy to make! It can be reduced in quantity for smaller meal or increased easily for feeding many!
Sleeping post work, my door bell rang. I woke up and told the person I would be there in a minute.
Upon answering the doorbell, there wasn’t a person on the other side of the door but there was a chinese food delivery: A large container of vegetable fried rice, no receipt, and 2 sodas. I didn’t order a delivery and I wanted to tell the delivery person that I hadn’t ordered anything and he delivered to the wrong address but the person was long gone.
So, what was a girl to do? I, of course, ate the delivery for lunch, since I was woken up and realized I was hungry. A soda and a meal on someone else’s effort. Thank you to the person who mis-delivered the food!
My Travels 