Our Life Lately

I just cannot believe that it's almost the end of April 2022.  Once again, I have fallen behind in my posting here.  If there are still any of you who look forward to reading House at Forest Manor, I do apologize for being so lax.  Part of the problem is that I've had a hard time deciding what to write about.       We're still having a beautiful spring here, so much so that allergies have hit hard -- for everyone.  I've had a persistent sore throat and so have re-discovered the pleasures of hot tea in the morning (in place of my normal coffee).  Hot tea with honey and lemon are so soothing to the throat, and I'm currently favoring Twinings' Lady Grey tea.  Such a civilized custom is the taking of tea -- wouldn't you agree?   

         In my previous post, I shared some pictures of our "babies" -- the trees that we had planted last fall and early spring this year.  Those 14 crape myrtle trees now have a good growth of leaves, and I'll show a picture here at the first opportunity.  Meanwhile, Hal and I paid a brief visit to Reynolda Gardens in the first week of March.  Not much was happening there, but I bet that's not the case now.  I hope to get back over there soon!   

This is some of what we saw there almost two months ago.   

   

I love this color of pansy.   

As you can see, the gardens were still somewhat bare from winter.      On Good Friday this year, I again went to three cemeteries with my mom to put flowers on the family graves.  These cemeteries are in the south side of town, where my mom grew up and our family lived until I was ten years old.  The neighborhood is in the city; the houses and yards are small and close together, and the streets are mostly named after famous battles of World War I.  Our house (and my maternal grandparents' house) was on Marne Street.  My mom's grandparents lived on Verdun Street, and more of her relatives lived on Argonne Boulevard.  I looked it up, and these were battles in World War I.  It brings back memories to ride through there now, though sadly things have changed a lot.  My mom can still point out where so many of her friends and family members lived when she was growing up.     

My mother was a McGee before she married, and my husband is a McGee.  We were a little concerned when we first met, but neither family knew of any common relations.  Last year we found out we're sixth cousins.  My uncle (mom's brother) did our family genealogy years ago, and my mom shared some of the information with Hal's dad, who is very interested in genealogy.  My father-in-law discovered the common family member.  I have since discovered that there are a lot of people with the surname McGee in our area of the state.   

This was my maternal grandfather's older brother, killed in Italy in World War II -- aged 25.  I can certainly understand the fascination of following up your family genealogy; it's kind of a treasure hunt, with a combination of history, romance, tragedy, and mystery.     We've been watching Season One of "The Crown."  It seems I'm always late to the party, but we're enjoying this series so far.  I read some good books over the last few months and will list them in an upcoming post in case anyone is looking for book recommendations.  I've also enjoyed spending time in the kitchen and have been trying some new recipes.  Most I have gotten online, and I'm adding them to my recipe box, as I try them and decide they're keepers.  😊  We haven't made any further progress on our home office/hobby room.  Sigh.  I told Hal if we could find someone to do it for us, I would just pay to get it painted so we could finish up in there.  It's so hard to find good people to do work on a home right now; there's so much new building going on around here it's unbelievable.     Sorry this has not been the most interesting of posts; I just can't seem to get back in the groove.  However, I will keep trying.  😉  Wishing you a wonderful weekend in your part of the world, and thank you so much for your visit!     Hugs,