Attack of the KILLER Gourds in Arizona

 













Attack of the Killer Gourds…coming to your town!

They will be coming in shades of purple, green, red, yellow and some will be BIG, some small, some FAT, some skinny, some funny and some unexplainable.  DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let them into your homes (they multiply when you aren’t looking)!

 

Whew, you don’t have to be afraid of the killer gourds because George and I went to the annual Gourd Festival in Casa Grande, AZ  and discovered so many things about gourds that will make you feel safe again!

 When I told George I wanted to go to the Gourd Festival I thought he wouldn’t want to go but he is a trooper and wanted to check it out.  It didn’t hurt that I mentioned there would be hot dogs and fry bread there. I really think he enjoyed the festival more than me…if that is possible.

First off, there is a very large farm in Casa Grande - Wuertz Gourd Farms www.wuertzfarms.com that grows gourds and sells them to all the crazy people who paint, carve, chip, embellish and then display them in their yards, homes and even RV’s.  Once a year they hold this festival to sell and show gourd as artistic items.

 

Big ones, little ones, every size and shape you can imagine!

The main attraction was the big hall that had all the entries for the prize of either a first, second and third place ribbon.

This was the Grand Prize winner for the show:

 

Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

Now are you still afraid of gourds or do you want to add some to your home, yard or RV?  From the many people we talked to at the festival it can become addictive to buy just one and start designing on it, which leads to more, and more and more!  Buyer beware!

Happy Travels,

Peggy (and George & Coco)

Fort Moultrie, South Carolina

Ft Moultrie is not as well known as Ft Sumter but without the first the second one is not important. It was from Moultrie the first shots were fired at Sumter. It was the ‘rockets red glare’ that Moultrie put in the sky towards Ft Sumter that inspired our national anthem song.

The ride around to Sullivan’s Island made it clear how big Charleston Harbor is. We entered the Fort first by visiting the National Park Service Museum. After viewing this museum we found out how important Ft Moultrie was to Ft Sumter over the years.

The Fort was not even complete before it was attacked in June 1776 by nine British warships. It was constructed by rising two palmetto logs 16 feet apart and filling in the space with sand.  The spongy palmetto logs and yielding sand absorbed shots from the British artillery. Positioned on Sullivan’s Island it was unseen until ships had entered the harbor. In this position ships couldn’t fire on it until it was too late.

Over the years it was modified three major times. Moultrie II (MII) in 1794 was one of 16 forts of the new American Defense System (SDS). The Fort was built as a five sided structure with earth and timbers 17 feet high. It was neglected and was destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. Congress in its wisdom authorized funds for a second and stronger SDS and so Moultrie III was built. 


 Moultrie III (MII) was made of brick and stone. Moultrie changed little after that but with the addition of Ft Sumter and Castle Pinckney in the SDS it now completed a three Fort ring around Charleston Harbor.

They received their baptism of fire in December of 1860 with the succession of South Carolina from the Union. The new rifled cannon used during the Civil War demolished the brick-walled fortifications. In 1870 the Fort  was modified again using new cannons, magazines and a bombproof building by using thick concrete covered with earth. Over the years large weapons were placed elsewhere on Sullivan’s Island and the old fort became just a small part of the Fort Moultrie reservation. The Fort was last used in WWII to guard from enemy submarines entering Charleston Harbor. Over the years with modernization of high tech weapons and the need for a coast defense was no longer needed.

We entered though the Sally Port where you could see the thickness of the concert walls. Through this entrance you could turn right to the underground fortifications or straight into the Fort’s center court.  The heavy steel door would keep everything from entering, even hurricanes I thought. Walking the grounds we could see the different fort layouts, four-point, U-shaped and the pentagon-star shape. Large batteries faced the open waters of Charleston Harbor on three sides. The WWII submarine tower sat high on a hill inside with high tech equipment. Off to the side stood a signal light and semaphore flags. Below in the bunkers were offices, bomb shelter and a communication room. Against the south and western wall they had place some of the different cannons from the Civil War and the modification periods MII and MIII.

I stood on the battery’s highest point and tried to capture a picture of Ft Sumter far off in the bay.  It was more than a stone’s throw. It was impossible to see the city of Charleston. I was humbled and yet amazed to see how these forts were built without cranes. Each of the original cannons weighed more than 1500 pounds and was placed on the battery ridges using a block and tackle system.

In the front of Ft Moultrie was the grave of Osceola and a monument to the Patapsco American Natives who once lived here. The island that day was covered by clouds as we walked the beautiful white sand beach. Most of the houses on Sullivan’s Island are summer cottages raised on high water stilts. There were a few fishing boats but most of the commercial water docks were built for the novice fisherman. Then it was back across the bridge to the mainland…wait the draw bridge is up? A small sailing craft had requested a port opening to the sea. “Is he crazy” I said to Peggy because the rain was coming down pretty hard now as he turned back inland to a small pier. The bridge clanged back into place and the traffic started to slowly move. It was back across the large Charleston bridge home to the RV camp for the night.

Happy RV travels to the next nearest Fort,

George (with Peggy & Coco)







 

I DREAMED OF ITALY

What is it like to fulfill a dream?  It is invigorating, emotional, stimulating and fulfilling to say the very least. 

 

My dream of visiting Italy had been on my bucket list for over 15 years.  You can imagine when I saw Italy for the first time in the early morning sunrise from the airplane as we crossed over land to arrive in Venice, how teary eyed I was.  To finally get something that you always hoped and dreamed about was such an emotional ride for me.  I was so glad I had along my best friend and lover, my husband George, to share this dream with me.

What can I say about Italy that you haven’t already seen in pictures or heard about from friends or saw on some movie screen or PBS TV special.  Didn’t want to bore anyone with the same ole…same ole. That has been my dilemma about what to write about Italy.

So, I am going to share with you my most intimate, emotional and favorite things I experienced in Italy. 

 

First one is the most emotional:

It has to be Venice…..ahhh…VENICE!  It was the first stop on our trip and I can tell you it fulfilled every emotion I had.  It was beautiful, scenic, historic, glamorous, and the words go on and on.  My favorite emotion about this city was the feeling of love.  I loved this city without cars, bicycles, or motor scooters.  It made the city very quiet and intimate in my interactions of walking down the many small alleyways and over the many scenic canals.

  This city is trying so hard to stay afloat, literally; so I have to love their valiant efforts. It is sinking and our tour guide said that the main piazza was flooded 50 times this last winter and spring of 2014.  The normal had been about 10 times. 

Saint Mark's Piazza & church

I loved all the famous handmade masks for carnival season in almost every shop, all the gondolas that are so unique to just this city and the famous Moreno glass.

Then there were the canals with all the special secret alleyways and streets connecting them.  Loved that I could eat all the pastries and pizza I wanted because I walked so much.  Love this city and it will always have a special place in my memories and heart from now on.

Most intimate:

It had to be Florence.  As I walked through the Uffizi Gallery and the Academia Museum to see all the great artwork by all the famous painters I was able to get up close and intimate with each painting or sculpture.  These were things that I only saw in books and now I got to see the brushstrokes and chisel marks.  I so appreciated all the people through the years that have preserved these great masterpieces so I could one day enjoy them.  My favorite painting surprised me because I was unfamiliar with it.  Everyone goes there to see the Botticelli painting ‘Birth of Venus’.

 

But mine was a painting by Botticelli named ‘Allegory of Spring La Primavera’. I stood there as long as I could just gazing and taking in this magnificent painting that is so huge! 

 

This painting is to be read from right to left. In this master piece Zehyr (the Roman god with wings) is catching a nymph, Chloris, who he wishes to marry. When they marry, Chloris becomes Flora (goddess of flowers) and flowers spill out of her mouth. In the middle is Venus (goddess of love and beauty) with her son, Cupid, above her, shooting an arrow at Chasity (one of the three Graces). The 3 Graces are Chasity, Love and Pleasure. In the picture they are dancing. Chasity, the brunett in the middle, is gazing at Mercury, who is pushing the clouds away with a wand. Mercury is god of weather. Your eyes are drawn to Venus. She looks a lot like Virgin Mary.

 Pleasant surprise to a fabulous day but I ended with the naked man that I had been waiting to see all my life, Michelangelo’s David. 

But, I also enjoyed immensely the unfinished sculptures by him that were on display also.  I loved the intimate feeling of seeing a leg or arm emerge out of the stone with the chisel marks still on it….like it was being birthed from the marble.

 

Last….but not least….favorite things:

While we were in busy, noisy, energetic and historical Rome we loved the feeling of just being in a city that was the center of the world at one time in history. 

  Visiting the famous Coliseum and Forum gave me a feeling of really how old the city was. What a magnificent city it was in her heyday. 

Of course, the modern Roman's desired form of transportation

 Now we can ride on a subway to reach our destination and shop in stores like Versace, Louis Vuitton, Georgio Armani, Gucci, Hermes, etc, (no we didn’t shop in those stores!) and eat to our hearts content on every corner (yes we did), which gets me to my favorite things…..food and wine.  Yes, in that country we ate and drank our way across with such a smile on our faces and expanding waistlines be damned.

Just had to add this guy....what a fun guy with an accordion!

Everything we had there was delicious and well worth the Euros we paid for it.  I do believe that their pasta is so much better than US ones. That is why the only thing I brought back from Italy besides a tee-shirt and small motor scotter replica (one of my favorite things also) was a suitcase full of pasta and biscotti.  If I could have gotten frozen gelato in there I would have…..another favorite of mine.  My goal was to have gelato everyday and I think I did that except for one day.

Of course, I cannot forget Tuscany countryside as my favorite place I would love to live.  Unless George or I win the lotto that is never going to happen but a girl can dream.  Every movie, song, painting doesn’t do the green hillsides dotted with oil trees, vineyards and cedar trees justice when you see it in person.  Give me a villa in Tuscany and I think I could live like the ‘rich and famous’ even in a simple cottage.

So, there it is folks, Italy in a small nutshell.  My blog doesn’t do it justice and maybe I will continue to write about different things we saw and did there, but for now…I’m complete!  My wish for all of you is that you can also attain a dream and then I’d love to read or hear about it.  Dreams do come true!

Ciao, Peggy (plus George & Coco)