Hello friends! Are you enjoying the last days of summer? Maybe I should say "official last days of summer." Chances are, it could be hot in parts of North Carolina into October. Nevertheless, summer is waning, and fall is just around the corner.
Hello all! Are you having a good week? We're staying pretty busy, but we're ready for some cooler weather. In spite of the heat, we've gotten good rain this summer, for which we're extremely grateful, as we have all those baby trees that really need water. One thing that we've done every day this summer, I believe, is watched the birds in our backyard. I can't tell you how much we've enjoyed that, as it has been way too hot to spend any time outdoors since early June. We probably spend too much money on bird seed, but we sure get a lot of pleasure out of our birdwatching.
Hi All, It's Friday's Eve again already! 😀 I just want to give a shoutout to Linda Primmer of Life and Linda blog for once again updating the look of House at Forest Manor. I had grown tired of my previous look and contacted her for help. The first time I had Linda re-design my blog, I wasn't completely certain of the look I wanted, and I probably drove her crazy by changing my mind multiple times. However, this time I knew what I wanted, and I'm so happy with the results!! I found the laurel wreath and bee graphic online and showed her an example of the gold print I liked, and she totally delivered. I wanted a simpler, more classic look, and that's what I got. She also helped me get set up to receive my blog comments via e-mail again. Linda is always so pleasant and helpful to work with, and I'm so appreciative. I also appreciate her tutorial posts showing us how to do some of these things ourselves. I know she has done blog designs for many of you, so you're familiar with her work. Thank you again, Linda!!!
Would you like to take a (virtual) walk through Reynolda Gardens with me today? These pictures are actually from last year, but we can look at them in the cool and comfort of our own homes. Reynolda Gardens are part of the original R. J. and Katharine Reynolds estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. R. J. and Katharine's daughter, Mary Reynolds Babcock, loved the formal gardens at Reynolda, and after her death in 1953, her husband donated the formal gardens and greenhouses to Wake Forest University, with specific instructions to preserve the space as a community resource. There is no charge for admission at Reynolda Gardens, and that's a real plus in my book. 😉
Back when it was still spring of this year -- before the heat descended in a big, moist, hot blanket, I set up a table in the dining room using my Butterfly Meadow dishes. I do a table with these most years because I think they're just so pretty in the spring (and summer). If you are a regular reader here, you know we went to the beach twice in close succession, had a death in my family, and then Hal and I both caught Covid. The table just sat there languishing -- dishes in place, but no centerpiece. I thought about just putting the dishes away because I'd lost the initial spark to take pictures and write a post. But then, our new butterfly bush bloomed and my limelight hydrangea has about three times as many blossoms as last year, so I decided to make a centerpiece for the table and take pictures.
Hello everyone! Friday has rolled around yet again -- the start of another weekend. I haven't posted here since the first week in June. Shortly after I wrote that post about our family beach trip, Hal and I got Covid. We came home from the beach the day before Memorial Day, and later that week Hal got Covid. By the first of the following week, I had it, too. We both had very mild cases; Hal thought his was just a head cold, but mine was just different enough that it made me decide to go to the doctor. I had a bad case of pneumonia years ago; it was terrible, and I wanted to make sure I didn't have that again. The worst thing about this Covid for us has been the cough and the way our energy got zapped. However, we're almost completely back to normal again, and we are thankful. I hope you all had a nice Fourth of July. My friend, Vee, posted something that exactly summed up my thoughts about July 4th this year, and I was glad to read it. You can see her post here. Today, I'm sharing some pictures from Reynolda Gardens, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We haven't done much lately other than try to stay cool indoors where it's air-conditioned. I took these pictures last year, in the last week of July, so possibly many of the same things are blooming there right now. The pictures were taken in the evening, so they all have a rather mellow (and sometimes) fuzzy quality.
Thank you to the folks who replied to my previous post asking for help in commenting. My husband told me this morning he'd just found out that the browser I normally use, Microsoft Edge, has added some updates and these updates have some new security tags. Apparently, the updates are making things hard for everyone (Hal wasn't able to do his online banking) and our bank is working to fix this. The updates must have affected Blogger, too. What a nuisance. Thank you also for your kind comments on the loss of my uncle. Honestly, I still can't believe he's gone. In that post, I mentioned that we were at the beach house when we got the bad news. On Sunday, May 22nd, we returned to the beach for another week spent with Hal's parents and our son, Will. It was so nice to be there with family, and we had a great time.
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