Hello All! How's your week going? Are your Christmas preparations well in hand? We're still busy, busy here. One thing that makes all the preparations nicer is listening to Christmas music while we work. I know I've written about our favorite Christmas CDs over the years, and I have a few new ones to share.
Hello Dear Friends. I know it's only Monday, but I hope you're having a good week. I mentioned in an earlier post that we were planning to address our Christmas cards in calligraphy this year. Well, we did it. I was really nervous at first, afraid I'd mess up too many envelopes, and those cards aren't cheap. But it went well, overall, and I had fun doing them.
Happy Advent and Christmas Season to you!! It's a busy one, isn't it? As usual, we have several things going at once here -- just like all of you. :) Thank goodness we went to the mountains for our tree the weekend before Thanksgiving this year; we heard on the news later that several of the N.C. tree farms had to close early this year due to a shortage of trees. This shortage started a few years ago, and will probably continue for several years. Apparently, the trees grow about a foot per year, so...you can do the math for a six to eight foot tree.
Christmas 2018
Good morning all. Is anyone else besides me having a hard time believing Thanksgiving is just a week from Thursday? Wow!! For me, 2019 has seemed like a record year for speeding by.
I've already started putting out Christmas decorations. I never thought I'd see the day when I would start my Christmas decorating a week and a half before Thanksgiving. I felt really guilty about it at first, but now Hal and I are both glad we got an early start this year. I want to be more organized and hopefully we'll all be able to savor the Christmas holiday more fully.
Happy November everyone! I want to apologize to my readers for not posting anything (once again) for almost a month. I have good intentions, but this seems to have been the busiest year we've had in a long time. I want to show you the rest of our den -- pictures of the whole room with the rug and the hallway, but as you all know, it takes time and work to get everything staged and ready for pictures. I will share eventually, though, probably Christmas pictures at this point. 😉
Hello friends!! Are you having a good week? As we used to say in the office, "It's Friday's Eve." 😁 I've popped 'round to share a few quick things with you before the weekend is truly here. My dear hubby will be home Friday through Monday, and we're hoping to get some things done around here.
Good morning folks! The start of a new week, and my head cold is much better -- almost gone, I think. Let's talk about decor for a bit, shall we? Have you seen the current Country Living magazine? The November issue, to be exact. I have to tell you that this is probably my favorite issue of Country Living that I've received in a long time. My sweet mom has gifted me with an annual subscription for several years now, and I do love getting magazines in the mail.
Sorry about these first two pics. -- it's very cloudy here today and the house is dark.
Hello Dear Friends! Happy Fall to you!
"An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."~Henry David Thoreau
On the last morning of our visit to Southport back in April, I got a chance to take some pictures of cottages that I haven't seen before, as well as a few pics of the marina. This was the trip I took with my mom, sister, and niece; would you care to stroll with us?
Happy Monday to you! Yesterday's post was compiled of random bits about what I've been doing this summer. I started off by writing that we had just returned from a few days in western North Carolina at Nantahala Lake, in the Great Smoky Mountains. I forgot to mention that I learned while we were there (thanks to my sister-in-law) that Nantahala is a Cherokee word meaning "Land of the Noon Day Sun." This name fits the region, as some parts are so wooded that the sun's rays only reach them when the sun is high in the sky at mid-day.
Hi everyone! How was your weekend? We just returned home yesterday from two and a half days in the mountains of North Carolina at Nantahala Lake. It was so nice to have a little getaway. I didn't take a single picture while we were there, just too much going on.
Dry Falls near Highlands, NC
Happy Fourth of July to my readers and blog friends! This will sound corny to many, but I love this country for so many reasons. I hope you enjoy the pictorial tribute.
Southport, NC
Happy Friday all! I'm glad you stopped by! Let me show you the flowers I got last Saturday at the Farmer's Market. Here it is Friday, almost a week later, and they're still pretty (I took these pictures late yesterday afternoon). I sometimes save those packets of flower food you get with supermarket flowers, and I used some in this bunch. Wow, did it keep them fresh and perky!
I realize that Father's Day was last Sunday, but I'm just now getting a chance to share this post.
Happy Friday everyone! How nice that the first official day of summer and the summer solstice are on a Friday this year. I thought I'd kick off the weekend with some flower pics from our Williamsburg trip in April.
Happy Friday everyone! As promised yesterday, I'm back today with a post on our master bedroom. I've been working on this room for the last few weeks, and I'm ready to have it finished. I don't have before pictures for you because I just forgot to take them. At any rate, I'll share again when I've added the finishing touches.
Hello dear friends! I'm sorry I have lost touch; I really didn't mean to take such a long break from blogging. I've been working on some things here around the house, and sometimes I just have to focus on one thing at a time.
I hope you're all doing well and having a good summer. Today I want to share with you some more about our trip to Williamsburg back in April. We really enjoyed strolling around the historic area every day, and we also had some good meals while we were there. I will warn you, though, if you're thinking of visiting Williamsburg and you haven't been before, be prepared for the prices. We didn't have to pay for our lodging, but souvenirs and food were quite pricey. I thought our lunch the first day was very expensive for what it was -- two, pre-made, deli sandwiches from the refrigerated compartment in the Raleigh Bakery. I found out why the price seemed so high a few days later. We were in the DeWitt Wallace Museum, and we went down to the cafe in the museum to get something to drink. The lady in front of us was questioning her total at the register, and the cashier told her that there was a 14 percent sales tax on the food. Yikes!! I almost choked on my colonial, King's Arms ginger ale. 😲 The cashier said the sales tax differed from city to city in Virginia. Hal and I decided that Williamsburg is imposing a soak-the-tourists tax. 😏 I mean no offense to those of you who live in Virginia; we love to visit Virginia, but had no idea the sales tax was so high in certain areas. It won't stop us from visiting again, though.
Would you care to see some of the shops in colonial Williamsburg?
I finally got to go back. We last visited Williamsburg when our son was in Cub Scouts, and he'll be 29 this August, sooo -- it's been awhile. I'm really thankful we were able to use my mom's timeshare points to stay at a nice resort, within walking distance of the historic area of Williamsburg. Thanks again Mom!!
We haven't been to market to buy a fat pig 😉 but we have just returned home from four days here --
Governor's Palace
Hi all! As promised, I'm sharing the rest of this charming cottage in Southport, North Carolina. I posted Part 1 of the cottage tour Here, and today we'll be seeing the bedrooms and the bathrooms.
Last week, I enjoyed a girls' trip to Southport, N.C., with my mom, my sister, and my niece. A good time was had by all. 😊 My mom rented a little cottage for three days and wouldn't let us help her pay for any of it. She said this was a gift to herself, but she generously shared it with us.
So, without further ado -- meet B & K Cottage. You can find the second part of the cottage tour Here.
Happy Wednesday dear Friends! My husband brought me a bouquet of tulips on Sunday, and I thought they deserved a tablescape in their honor. 😊 I haven't done a tablescape just for spring (other than Easter and St. Patrick's Day) in years, so this was fun to do.
"All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all."
Anglican Hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander
Hi folks! It's well and truly spring here now, and I love it. The redbuds, one of our very favorite trees, are in bloom now, along with crabapple trees, cherry trees, and the dogwoods are opening out now, too.
Yesterday Hal and I drove out to my mom's house to pick up some pine needles we had purchased from a lawn service she uses, and we saw some pretty sights along the way. We also have 20 bales of pine needles to put out, but we'll worry about that another time. 😉
Happy April everyone! Here in our part of North Carolina, we received our April Fool's Day "joke" on April 2nd. It snowed here yesterday. Yep. Saturday it was 72 degrees and sunny, and yesterday (Tuesday) it was low thirties and snowing. I guess I should say it was a "wintry mix" as our meteorologists charmingly refer to this combination of rain and snow. By 5:00 p.m., the sun was back out and the sky was a perfect blue. 🙃
It's still quite chilly outside here; there's a crisp March wind and I still need a coat to go outside, but it's officially Spring today. I couldn't be happier, and I'm willing to bet a lot of other people out there feel the same way.
I'm glad I planted pansies back in the late fall/early winter because now I can enjoy their colorful blooms. They're already starting to get leggy and hang over the sides of the pots; does anyone know whether these plants can be pinched back? They seem a little too delicate for that, but I just don't know.
Today, I'm sharing a few recent changes to our living room. Actually, they're more additions than changes.
Mr. Forest Manor spotted this hawk in the woods behind our house back in late fall of 2017. He put the pictures online for me, and I totally forgot they were there. I spotted them recently, did some editing, and am finally sharing them here.
I just feel like a little Saturday chat today. How about you? It's kind of a dull time of the year, isn't it? I was going to take some pictures here at the house yesterday, but when I tried to cut my camera on, the battery was dead and I couldn't find my spare, charged battery. I think I spend half of my life looking for things that I've put down and can't remember where I put them. Sigh. I have a certain spot where I keep that battery, and it beats me why I didn't put it there. Where were we -- oh yes, a Saturday chat.
Hi all! We made it through the month of January, and it was a long, cold month this year. It's 32° with a wind chill of 26° here, as I type this at 9:20 a.m. I'm pretty sure that's already warmer than it got all day here yesterday. I know that's warm and toasty compared to the Midwest, so I hope they're warming up today, too.
Hello there my dears -- I hope you're having a good day. I can't imagine being in the Midwest today; I hope folks there are managing to stay warm. Today, I'm sharing a few things that I'm wearing this winter season. These were all Christmas gifts in 2018.
The weekend is here -- are you ready? We actually have a forecast for a sunny day tomorrow, yippee!! It will still be cold, but the sunshine will be most welcome. It's sunny here today, too, and that's what made me decide to take some pictures this morning. I want to share something Hal gave me for Christmas this year.
This is the final post sharing Christmas pictures of my mom's friend's house.
"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house."~Henry Ward Beecher
I love this quote and couldn't agree more. I'm taken aback when I see a house with no books; it just doesn't feel like a home to me.
Hi all! How's your week going? I'm making progress on our house now. The Christmas decorations are
coming down quickly and I'm transitioning to the softness of winter
decor. I like this time of the year; it's a chance to catch my breath
and re-group. This past weekend, our area had a winter storm consisting of freezing rain and a small bit of snow. We had a crock pot of chili and a skillet of cornbread here, and it helped to take the chill off.
Today, I'm sharing more pictures of my Mom's neighbor's house decorated for Christmas. In this post, I'm showing Susie's den and living room. I
Hello dear friends! Is it cold, wet, and dreary where you are? It certainly is here. Brrr!
I know you're all ready to be done with Christmas, but today I'm sharing the home of my mom's good friend and neighbor, Susie. I promised to photograph her house in all its Christmas glory, but I simply did not have time to get over there before Christmas, or even before New Year's Day. Last Monday, I visited my mom and we checked out Susie's Christmas home. I actually did another Christmas post about this house when my blog was still very new, back in December 2012. You can read that Here and Part 2 Here.
The sun has returned to our corner of the world today. Of course, we knew it was there all along, right? But sometimes lately, I think we've all had our doubts. I truly don't mind a few rainy (or snowy) days, especially this time of the year. The rain makes things that much cozier inside and makes me want to fluff the nest a bit. :) But the amount of rain we've had in 2018 just boggles the mind. It seems that the eastern United States and particularly the mid-Atlantic states have all had a sopping wet year in 2018, but thanks to two almost back-to-back hurricanes in the fall, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia really got slammed. Decades-old rainfall records were broken. Read here to find out more.
Yesterday seemed like one of the dreariest days of all. I'm not sure why except that it rained non-stop all day, and the sky never brightened until near sunset. Soooo, I turned the Christmas tree on in the morning, and left it on until bedtime. I thought I'd enjoy it one more time before we take it down. I also took some more pictures because I realized that I hadn't taken any in the living room or foyer with all the candles "burning." Sorry guys; I said in the previous post that those were the last of the Christmas pictures. 😏
Happy New Year to you! I hope you're all looking forward to a new year of good things. I know we are here at Forest Manor. Last year had some good parts and some really tough parts, but isn't that just life in general? We are thankful for the good things and pray for strength to deal with the not-so-good things. I really like the feeling of hopefulness and expectation that comes with the start of a new year.
Before I completely leave last year in the rear-view mirror, I want to share a few last pictures of Christmas decorations at our house in 2018. I hate that I'm so late showing all this, but I just didn't have time to do so earlier.
