March 17, 1907
Dear Luke, I miss you so much and am doing all the chores while you are away. Please come home soon. I love you always, your wife Bessie P.S. It’s okay by me if you vote.
Author: Sheila Morris
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Casa de Canterbury, A Retrospective: Part IV, Hope Springs Eternal
If winter comes, can spring be far behind? Yes, apparently it can be far, far behind in 2017 because today is the ides of March and our high temperature at Casa de Canterbury is supposed to be 47 degrees this afternoon. We had a low of 25 this morning and while we are grateful to avoid the blizzards of our amigos in the northeast and certainly don’t want to complain, I is cold…you is cold…we is all cold in the sunny South just a few days short of official spring. Brr…we are sending our hope for spring weather to everyone in the northeast who is shivering and shoveling snow today.
As the moving days get closer, I find more and more hidden treasures in my office that create more and more indecision. To keep or not to keep. That is the question. Where on earth do I put these memories…
Red paced, Chelsea panted…
Annie and Ollie contemplated the meaning of life
in the spring of 2011 in our back yard
Welcome to Forest Hills from the magnificent
trees at the corner of Canterbury and Westminster.
We will miss them.
Manning Avenue behind Casa de Canterbury
Casa de Canterbury – the intersection of two worlds
Lyon Street Community on Manning –
Forest Hills on Canterbury Road
We will miss our neighbors in both worlds.
Oh my, the azaleas and dogwoods
are incredible in the spring
Pretty and I are still trying to figure out what to do with our Casa de Canterbury marker – unfortunately, our next house number is not 2501. Other than that small detail, we could carry it with us to Casa de Cardinal. (What’s with this “C” thing?)
Spring is my favorite time of the year – next to fall – because it’s the time when new life bursts on the scene, green becomes a real color again, hope springs eternal for a fresh start; which is exactly what Pretty, Spike, Charly and I are about to have as we leave Casa de Canterbury after eight awesome years. We leave with a bucket list of memories, hope for the future and gratitude for the opportunity to once again move on…stronger together.
Casa de Cardinal – our new home
our knees are doing a happy dance!
Stay tuned for more updates.
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Casa de Canterbury: A Retrospective, Part III, Winter
“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer”
Nope. Don’t think so,Will. At least not at Casa de Canterbury on this Sunday morning which is one of the last Sundays we’ll be in our casa before moving across the three rivers. Snow was noiselessly falling when I woke up today, and I thought that was a particularly appropriate Mother Nature trick in March after the azaleas, dogwood trees, red bud trees and all the other glorious colors had already popped out for us to enjoy too early. Now I am afraid the colors have an unpredictable future which is something we have in common with them.
But this is a winter retrospective for Casa de Canterbury…brr…baby, it’s cold outside
Canterbury Road, January, 2014
Casa de Canterbury shivering
The Red Man never liked snow –
hated to get his paws wet
Slow never liked to get her feet wet, either
The Red Man ruled Casa de Canterbury…
…whenever it suited Paw Licker Annie –
she was the Queen
Chelsea just tried to find a place close to Red
And speaking of finding a place –
never good to be late to bed with Pretty
and four dogs ahead of you
Christmas at Casa de Canterbury, 2012
All is bright
Smokey Lonesome Ollie a bit disinterested in
Number One Son’s Christmas gifts
Paw Licker Annie found Christmas tiring
Pretty Too loved Christmas
But Pretty loved Christmas most of all
Stay tuned – one more – spring. Summer, autumn, winter, spring.
(Somebody should be packing instead of “retrospectiving.” Seriously. Who can spell Packing P-r-o-c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-o-r…)
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Casa de Canterbury: A Retrospective Part II, Autumn
Once upon a time on the corner of Canterbury and Manning in a city called Columbia lived a family of two lesbians and their dogs.
And the family was happy in their home which they called Casa de Canterbury because one of their dogs (The Red Man) spoke fluent Spanish.
For years and years the old woman Slow and Pretty and their dogs lived in the casa which saw seasons come and go because that is the way seasons act.
The old woman Slow got slower and slower as her knees rebelled whenever she climbed or came down the 14 steps connecting the first and second levels of the casa. Even Pretty’s younger knees grew so angry with her she had to get a new one in 2016, but that really didn’t help her very much and didn’t help Slow at all.
And so it became clear to Slow and Pretty they had to leave Casa de Canterbury for…what? new digs. So that is what they are going to do. They are moving west across the Congaree, Saluda and Broad rivers closer to Texas – but not much – to West Columbia, South Carolina, which is not to be confused with where Slow went to high school: West Columbia, Texas. How weird is that? Let’s hope she isn’t confused by this coincidence.
As the family says goodbye to Casa de Canterbury, they invite you to take a little trip down memory lane with them through a few of the seasons at their casa over the next several posts.
Looking up Canterbury Road
toward Casa de Canterbury
(November, 2012)
The Red Man on backyard patrol
(fall, 2012)
Amazing foliage at Casa de Canterbury
on Manning Avenue side of front yard
(fall, 2012)
Coming home to Casa de Canterbury
from Worsham Street
(October, 2012)
From 2010 to 2014 the two lesbians and their dogs were bi-stateual because they lived on Worsham Street in Texas and also at Casa de Canterbury in South Carolina. They felt like they were always on the road between the two places they called home.
Pretty was in charge of driving
and dog walking while Slow was in
charge of…well, nothing.
(October, 2012)
Pretty busy, busy with 5 dogs at Casa de Canterbury –
they all became a blur
But she was never too busy to celebrate Halloween.
Pretty at the Mast General Store
(October, 2012)
Stay tuned for winter. Summer, fall, winter, spring.
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Casa de Canterbury: A Retrospective – Part I, Summer
Once upon a time on the corner of Canterbury and Manning in a city called Columbia lived a family of two lesbians and their dogs.
And the family was happy in their home which they called Casa de Canterbury because one of their dogs (The Red Man) spoke fluent Spanish.
For years and years the old woman Slow and Pretty and their dogs lived in the casa which saw seasons come and go because that is the way seasons act.
The old woman Slow got slower and slower as her knees rebelled whenever she climbed or came down the 14 steps connecting the first and second levels of the casa. Even Pretty’s younger knees grew so angry with her she had to get a new one in 2016, but that really didn’t help her very much and didn’t help Slow at all.
And so it became clear to Slow and Pretty they had to leave Casa de Canterbury for…what? new digs. So that is what they are going to do. They are moving west across the Congaree, Saluda and Broad rivers closer to Texas – but not much – to West Columbia, South Carolina, which is not to be confused with where Slow went to high school: West Columbia, Texas. How weird is that? Let’s hope she isn’t confused by this coincidence.
As the family says goodbye to Casa de Canterbury, they invite you to take a little trip down memory lane with them through a few of the seasons at their casa over the next several posts. Enjoy.
First day of summer, 2016
one of Pretty’s bottle trees
Charly’s first summer at Casa de Canterbury
First figs of the season
also possibly the last – the tree was never prolific
Summer flowers
a rose is a rose is a rose…by any other name
Charly listens to the sounds of summer
perfect place to cool off in summer heat
so, so hot out there
(summer, 2012)
did somebody say HOT?
back yard in the summer of 2012
tres amigos brave the heat
Stay tuned for fall. Summer, fall, winter, spring.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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