Hi all! I finally got a good opportunity to take some pictures this past Sunday afternoon. I don't think I've mentioned here that my husband gave me a new camera for my birthday back in 2018. It's a Sony ILCE-5100, and I absolutely love it. It's a compact camera with a lot of capability. I've used it so much more than I did the Canon Rebel, partly because it's much easier to carry around with me, but also because it takes terrific pictures. That means for the last three years, I've done my own photography for my tablescapes, my recipe posts, travel pictures, and decor pics around the house. When I first started writing House at Forest Manor, I made no secret of the fact that my husband did most of the photography for the blog. I'm still no great shakes as a photographer, but I do feel like I've learned a few things over the years I've been writing this blog. Sunday presented a good opportunity for me to take some pictures of one of our local historical areas, Reynolda Historic District. Today, I'm sharing some images of Reynolda Village, which is a collection of shops, restaurants, a greenhouse and gardens, and a wedding venue, as well. Come along and see what you think. Before I go further, I'd best explain that Reynolda Village is part of the original 1,087-acre estate belonging to Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds, founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and his wife, Katharine Smith Reynolds. source - Our State Magazine
Hi everyone! I hope you're having a good week, and I'm glad you're here. Today I'm sharing our major tree removal project with you; this work has been going on for a period of about three weeks (off and on). Next week, the stump grinder will be here to take care of all that remains of these monster trees. We put this project off for a long time because we knew the cost would be prohibitive, and it was. By the time the stumps have been ground, we will have spent about $20,000 and some change on this. For that kind of money, we could have had a sunroom added on to the back of our house, which I've wanted to do for years. But...then we would be constantly worrying that these trees would drop a massive limb on the sunroom, or worse, one of the trees would get struck by lightening and fall on the house. Among their many "endearing" qualities, poplars are also known to be lightening magnets. 😏
Hi all! How was your weekend? We are well and truly into summer now, yes? Hal and I walked Duncan yesterday evening around 8:00, and the air was still very hot and heavy. It's more difficult to breathe in that kind of weather, and I tire more easily. I'm always thankful for central air conditioning this time of the year. I hope you had a good Fourth of July; ours was very relaxing. Last night, we had a no-fuss meal of grilled hot dogs with sides and some leftover dessert from my mom's cookout on Saturday. My mom made a chocolate sheet cake, and I made a trifle. The trifle is what I'm writing about today.
Hello Friends! I hope you're all enjoying a beautiful day in your part of the world. It's lovely here, but already hot. Yesterday was the most perfect July day, weather-wise. July 3rd is my Dad's birthday, and he would have been 80 years old yesterday. He's been gone for three years now, and my mom decided to have a family get-together yesterday on his birthday. It was so nice for us all to be together and enjoy one another's company and remember my dad. We played corn hole (my first time ever to play) and it was fun. Hal had already spent the first half of the day at car events taking photos, and he was well and truly worn out by the time we got home last night. We had a very full day yesterday, so today will be somewhat low key.
Hello Friends! Are you having a good week? For those of you affected by this heat wave, I feel your pain. We have those here in the south, but at the moment things are not too bad in our part of North Carolina. I hope you have some cooler temperatures headed your way soon! I wish I had some prettier pictures of the house at the moment, but I don't. It's still in the in-between, ugly stages. The house itself doesn't look so ugly, but everything around it looks rough until we can get some landscaping done. We won't be doing much landscaping until the rest of the big trees are felled, cut up, and hauled off. Our tree guy won't be able to get back to us until week after next (most likely). The rest of the work has to be done with the assistance of a crane operator. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but I would never buy another home with so many enormous trees so close to the house.
Hi all!! How has your week been? Ours is fine, and the weather is gorgeous today. Lots of work going on here at the moment, and I'm considering going to a hotel for a few days. 😄 😜 We have two men painting today, and all three doors are open (since they are the things being painted). The breeze is nice, but we have a few bugs now. There are two tree guys here, and they're using chain saws and wood chipper, and whew! Oh, and the country music station is being played at a fairly loud volume. I think I'm going to have to put some cotton in my ears. 😉 In all seriousness, these men have been just great. They've been good workers, and so very amenable about what we want done, as well as being courteous, too. The exterior of the house is looking good now, but there's still a lot of cleanup to do. I'm so excited now about getting our new roof. That should be the icing on the cake. Isn't paint a wonderful thing, though? Having the doors and all the trim work painted makes everything look clean and new. It's hard to show that with pictures, though, because all the tools and equipment are still sitting everywhere. I will share a few photos with you -- try to imagine how things will look when the yard and porch are cleaned up.
Hello again all! How has your week been? Ours has been busy, but overall good. Work continues on the house; we've selected a front door, and now we're looking at front porch light fixtures. We've also had two tree people by here this week to talk about taking down several big trees.
