Born to Hunt

For the uninitiated, the basset hound is a scent hound, bred for hunting rabbits by scent. Our sense of smell for tracking is second only to that of the Bloodhound. The name Basset is derived from the French word bas, meaning "low", with the suffix -et, together meaning "rather low."

So, my keen sense of smell and my short stature make me an ideal dog for sniffing out small game, like squirrels or cats. This morning on my walk, I thought I smelled something:

Nah, it must be my imagination. Moving on!

Dog Days of Summer

It's hot as a dog's you-know-what out there.

Memo to my mom: 11 a.m. is not a good time to take me for a walk. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to retire to my fainting couch.

Charleston in June

I don't care if it was 105 degrees in the shade today in Charleston. There is always an air-conditioned retail store to step into or a lovely Bloody Mary to be had at Poogan's Porch. Enjoy the sights:

Road Trip: Chucktown

We headed off to Charleston on Friday for a weekend packed with good friends, good food, and high-brow arts and culture, in the form of the Spoleto Festival and trashy celebrity autobiographies. Allow me to explain. Enter the Notorious BDC, birthday boy extraordinaire (pictured here in vintage Pucci):

It was his 25th birthday, and he orchestrated the entire weekend for several friends. On Friday night, we saw a pretty amazing ballet called Oyster, inspired by a book of poems written by Tim Burton. Performed by Inbal Pinto & Avshalon Pollak Dance Company, the production featured fantastical costumes, quirky story lines and sheer athleticism. (Can anyone else spot Tim Burton's influence?)

The next day, we saw a marionette production of "Cinderella" by Italy’s Colla Marionette. More than 150 marionettes were used in the production which was topped off with a wedding scene designed by David Tutera, I think.

The birthday boy wanted to go to roadside kitchen 17 North for his birthday dinner, and a good choice it was indeed. If bacon-spiked pimento cheese and smoked salmon and caper deviled eggs are wrong, I don't want to be right.

Following dinner, we all heeded the birthday boy's request to read selections from a variety of (trashy) celebrity autobiographies. The "celebrities" ran the gamut from Bai Ling to Mike Jones (the male escort/massage therapist who outed Ted Haggard) to Marilyn Monroe to Pam Grier to the staple (but not stable) Mackenzie Phillips. However, no one could outshine the birthday boy, who read from RuPaul's bestselling memoir, Lettin It All Hang Out:

Most delightful. Just remember one thing, Boo: we are queens and we should conduct ourselves as such.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Nancy, Nancy, quite contrary - how does your garden grow?

Heirloom tomatoes, pepper plants and herbies - all waiting to be eaten! - that's how they grow.

They also grow all in a row.

Can you spot the two lonely limes? Don't worry, I gave this tree a super-spike of citrus tree fertilizer.

And I'm trying to root these lovely hydrangeas from a plant given to me by my friend Angie, in addition to a fig tree, a camellia and a gardenia. Keep your fingers crossed!