Thursday's Inspiration: Architecture

Because I love houses and interesting buildings (especially old buildings) I guess you could say I love architecture.  I was excited that Mary at Little Red House chose architecture as her cue for this week's Thursday's Inspiration.  I have a lot of existing pictures to choose from; and since I haven't had a chance to go anywhere this week to take new pictures, I'm sharing a few from the archives today.

Conservatory and greenhouse in Reynolda Gardens, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"Historic Reynolda Gardens"

The New Decorating/Design Book, Part 2

Two weeks ago, I wrote about one of the decorating books I got for Christmas.  It's called "THE GREAT AMERICAN HOUSE, Tradition For The Way We Live Now," by Gil Schafer, III.

  

Downton Abbey

I think it's safe to say that many most of us were unhappy, disgusted, incredulous, sad, frustrated, and maybe a little angry at the way the third season of Downton Abbey ended.  So I wondered -- have you all seen this?

source

Mr. Forest Manor found this on Facebook, and we just had to laugh.  Ironically, they were doing fundraising on PBS the very night they showed the Season Finale.  Just sayin'.  :)  What do you think?

Denise

Winter's Still Here

Hi everyone!  What's the weather like where you are tonight?  Thursday nights and Fridays seem to be our days for getting wintry weather this year.  Right on schedule, we got sleet and freezing rain Thursday night and into Friday morning.  It was cold and dreary, so my husband decided to brighten things up a bit.

February Note Card Party

I don't want to miss Vee's monthly Note Card Party like I did last month, so I've published two posts today.  If you want to participate, just choose four images which you've used in previous posts that you think would make pretty note cards.  Then pop those picture note cards into a post and join us at A Haven For Vee, February Note Card Party.  It's easy and fun, and you'll meet some really nice bloggers.

You don't have to do a theme with your note cards, either, but I usually do 'cause that's just how I roll.  :)  This month I've chosen Valentine's images for my note cards.

Attract More Birds To Your Outdoor Feeders

Hi everyone!  If you've read my blog before, you know that my husband and I love to feed and watch the birds in our backyard.

  Last year, we discovered something that the birds here really, really love to eat -- it's called bark butter.  We first purchased it at our local Wild Birds Unlimited store, along with a fairly small log containing three holes to hold the bark butter. We hung this from a chain under the eave of our screened porch.  This is a good spot for our bird feeders because they're visible from the kitchen window and from our den, as well.

Stratford-upon-Avon -- England Trip, Part Three

The Season Three finale of Downton Abbey will air tomorrow night here in the U.S.  With that thought in mind, I thought I'd share some more of our trip to England; so today we'll visit Stratford-upon-Avon, in south Warwickshire, England. 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Today is Thursday, and this is the first post I've published this week.  I had a couple of ideas in mind for the week, but things didn't work out quite the way I had planned.  I had a terrible headache Monday and Tuesday, my asthma flared up Monday night at bedtime, and I got very little sleep for two nights in a row.  That's more information than you want to know I'm sure.  I don't normally give you the details on my health issues, but I was just so frustrated not to have accomplished more this week.

I plan to link up to the "Be My Valentine" blog party, hosted by Laura at Decor To Adore, so without further ado, I'll share my Valentine's post for today.  I had actually thought to post something different, but I got a special surprise yesterday which called for a change in plans.

The New Decorating/Design Book

Hi everyone!  In Monday's post about our living room, I showed you a glimpse of the two new decorating books I got for Christmas.  The book I want to share with you today is called "THE GREAT AMERICAN HOUSE, Tradition For The Way We Live Now," by Gil Schafer, III.  This is the first time I've been exposed to Mr. Schafer's work, but based on the houses in this book, I would say that Gil Schafer, III, is an architect extraordinaire.

"THE GREAT AMERICAN HOUSE" features a forward by interior designer, Bunny Williams.  It's a 255-page hardback, coffee-table style book, that's chock full of information and beautiful photos.

Our Home in Winter

Hi folks!  Did you all watch the Super Bowl, or did you opt for Downton Abbey?  We always watch the Super Bowl at our house, but we recorded Downton Abbey.  I'm planning on watching it tonight, so I hope I don't accidentally see any spoilers today.

Last week I showed you our foyer, and this week I want to show your our living room.  Like our foyer, I've only shown a few pictures of our living room on my blog, and those were mostly little close-ups of Christmas decor.  This is the living room in winter.

Art and Flowers at Brookgreen Gardens

On this Friday and first day of February, I thought you might like to do some garden dreaming.  If it's as cold where you are as it is here, maybe some flowers will help us remember that spring is not as far away as it was.  We even have more hours of daylight than we did a month ago.  :)

These pictures are from Brookgreen Gardens; we took a side trip there in 2011 while we were staying at Myrtle Beach.  Brookgreen Gardens is located just a few miles south of Murrells Inlet in Georgetown County, South Carolina.  I'm only sharing about a dozen pictures today, since I'll probably do more posts on this beautiful place.  **These pictures were taken by my husband, Mr. Forest Manor.