Hello November

We've had a nice week here at Forest Manor -- Hal's first real week of retirement.  It has been a busy one.  I thought for sure I would have time to set a fall tablescape, maybe share a fall recipe, but no.  'Fraid not.  😉  Still, I am taking a few moments to pound out this post.  On Tuesday, we decided to go to the mountains for one of our very favorite things to do -- leaf peeping.  The peak of our leaf season in the mountains had already passed, and we knew that, but we were pleasantly surprised at how much color still remained.  This has been one of the most beautiful autumns we've seen in some years.      

  

We decided to stop in the town of West Jefferson, in Ashe County, to eat some lunch, take some pictures, and visit the Cheese Shop (which I posted about several years ago).       

My Favorite Season

"No spring nor summer's beauty has such grace,

As I have seen in one Autumnal face..."~John Donne, "Elegy IX, The Autumnal"  

Hi folks; I'm still here and thank you for not giving up on me.  :)  As of this evening, we finally have all our blinds back on the windows and all the curtains back up, too.  We had replacement windows installed in our home on September 15th, and we had 13 sets of blinds to re-hang.  On this Wednesday, September 28th, they'll be here to put up all new gutters for us.  We're thrilled because they'll look so much better, and we won't have to worry about cleaning those bad boys anymore.  ;)  Now it's time for me to get over to the carpet store and start selecting new carpet for our den and hallway.  I'd really like to have that done by Christmas if possible.

Are you ushering in fall in your part of the world yet?  Have you started to enjoy some cooler temperatures?  Today was the first cool day we've had in over a week.  I'm busily putting out the fall decor in our house, so I'll have some pictures to show you later in the week.  Those of you who are new to House at Forest Manor, you might enjoy seeing some images from previous fall posts.

Autumn 2015

This year it seems the trees have outdone themselves with their changing leaf colors.  I gather that fall is putting on a glorious show all over the U.S. and Canada.

First Day of Fall

Hello Dear Readers -- I'm so glad you're here!  It's the first (official) day of fall -- the most glorious season of the year!  I've been reading your blog posts this morning, and it seems that everyone is happy to see fall arrive.  In addition to the cooler air and blue skies, I love all the harvest celebrations.  There was an Apple Fest at a nearby community over the weekend, but I didn't get a chance to go.  It sounded like a lot of fun -- apples for sale and apple pies, too.  I need to put this on my calendar for next year.  ;)

Two weekends ago, we took some pictures along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina; those of you who read here regularly know that's one of our favorite things to do.  The trees hadn't really started turning yet, but we still found some nice color here and there.

Glorious Autumn

Hi everyone!  Is it cold where you are?  It's brisk here.  :)  The wind is blowing something fierce, and it was raining earlier today.  I think it rained through the night last night as well.  Those of you who follow Anita at Far Above Rubies and Penny at The Comforts of Home may have already seen that we got snow in the North Carolina mountains today.  Wow!  Snow while the leaves are still on the trees is not something we see a lot of.  The town of Sparta, N.C., which is where we go every year to cut our Christmas tree, had already received two to four inches by 11:00 a.m. this morning.

I'm sharing with you some images from two weekends ago of the mountains of North Carolina and Virgina.

Monday Snaps

Happy Monday to you!  I hope you had a beautiful October weekend.  It's time to get up leaves now, isn't it?  Our son did that here on Saturday, and there are already more leaves on the ground today.  No matter -- I love this time of the year.

A Wildflower Mosaic

Hi everyone!  Wow, I feel like I haven't talked to you in ages!  I never intended to disappear from my blog for two weeks straight.  A lot has been happening here (not all good), and it just hit me one day that I was tired.  I never seem to lack for ideas for blog posts; it's making time for all of them that is a problem.  But this time, my mind was even too tired to put thoughts and images together, and without meaning to, I just checked out for a little while.

Today I did a quick post (relatively speaking) -- those of you who blog know it takes awhile to make picture mosaics.  

Mabry Mill On The Blueridge Parkway

I woke up to a storm this morning -- not a snowstorm, but a thunderstorm.  I'm thinking I've heard an old wives' tale about a thunderstorm in winter, meaning snow soon to follow.  I really hope that's not the case.  It's dismal and dreary here, so I felt the need for a lighthearted post today.

Back in November of last year, hubby and I drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove all the way into Virginia.  We stopped at Mabry Mill to stretch our legs and take some pictures.  My husband took all the pictures in today's post.

October Note Card Party

I'm so glad to be participating in Vee's monthly Note Card Party again -- it's one of my very favorites.  :)  Stop by A Haven For Vee and see what the party is all about; I think you'll be glad you did.

I usually have a theme for my Note Cards, but you certainly don't have to.  I like to add a caption to my cards, too, because I'm just OCD that way.  :)  This month I'm simply doing "Fall Scenes."

"On The Blue Ridge Parkway"

Closet Progress and A Purse Organizer

Hello everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful weekend wherever you were.  We had a pretty weekend here, and a hot one.  A bit of Indian Summer in this first week of October.

I'm still in the grip of my cleaning and organizing frenzy.  Wow -- I know I've made some good progress, but there's still so much to do.  This is what I get for procrastinating.  :)  Our city gives everyone a large trash can for weekly pickup (I think it's about a 50 or 60 gallon can on wheels) and it was completely full yesterday evening, just in time for today's pickup.  That's a good thing because it's not always full, and that means I got a lot more junk cleaned out this weekend.

My closet is about 97 percent finished.  I do still have to go through some of my clothes, and I'm sure I'll be putting some of them back in the closet.  When I first posted about my big closet re-org, I mentioned that I had purchased a new purse organizer, and one of my friends commented that I should show a picture of said purse organizer.  These pics are for you, Dotsie.  :)

Autumn on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I'm writing this post as a follow-up to my story on Holy Trinity Church of the Fresco.  We drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway after touring the church, and the leaf colors were really gorgeous that day.  Sometimes I save my pictures and material and wait weeks (or months) to write about them; but I wanted to go ahead and get this out because the leaves are being blown off the trees faster than I've ever seen before.  There have been years where some of our trees in the area still had pretty leaves as late as Thanksgiving.  I'm pretty sure that won't be the case this year.

Not only were the leaves spectacularly colorful, but the sky was colorful as well, and full of interesting cloud formations.  I love the different layers of sky colors in this picture.  There are violet, pale rose, white, pale blue, and then the smokey blue of the mountain ridges in the distance.

October Note Card Party

Hi everyone!  I love the monthly Note Card Party hosted by Vee at A Haven For Vee.  We always get to see the prettiest pictures submitted by bloggers with an eye for a good photo.  Mr. Forest Manor and I were watching the presidential debate last night, so I'm linking on a bit late.  This is my favorite time of year, so I didn't want to miss the party.

This month, I titled my note cards "Sunday Drive".  The pictures were taken on two separate afternoons when we took a Sunday drive to enjoy the beauty all around us.  You can find the posts for these pictures Here and Here.

Finding Mitford, Part 2

I've been MIA from Blogland for the past few weeks.  I had just intended to take a few days, or maybe a week, off.  Sometimes we all need a break.  I've been reading other people's blogs, but I just couldn't seem to find the energy or inspiration to do anything on mine.  Last week was a really bad week for us -- you know how life has a habit of throwing those curve balls at us.  We're just hoping for a better month in October. 

In July, I did a post about the fictional town of Mitford from the series of books by Jan Karon.  Mitford is actually based on the real town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  In the first post, I shared a lot of pictures of the town, including Father Tim's church, the antique shop, and the town park.  That was a long post, and I decided to save the rest of the pictures for a second post.

If you've read these books, you'll remember the character of Sadie Baxter.  In the author's words, "Miss Sadie Baxter was the last surviving member of one of Mitford's oldest families.  At the age of eighty-six, she occupied the largest house in the village,

...with the most sweeping view."

"And she owned the most land, much of it given over to an aged but productive apple orchard."

Miss Sadie's house in Mitford was called Fernbank; and it was such a prominent part of the stories, I was very determined to find this house.  You see, after I read the books about ten years ago, my husband, our son and I drove up to Blowing Rock for the day so that I could wander around and try to find the places that Jan Karon wrote about.  It was fun for me, but by the end of the day, I was really puzzled.  Where was Fernbank?  Oh I knew the house wouldn't really be called Fernbank, with a big sign out front identifying it as such.  But still, based on the description in the books, nothing seemed to fit.  There were several large, old homes that could possibly have fit the bill (most had been turned into Bed and Breakfasts or shops).  But after walking and driving through the main part of town several times, I realized the house just wasn't there.  Surely they hadn't torn it down?  Or did this house exist solely in the imagination of the author?  Somehow, I didn't think so.

I couldn't get that house off my mind; I guess I love a good mystery, and I felt more determined than ever to find it.  But time went by, we were busy with other things, and we didn't go back to Blowing Rock right away.  Then one day in autumn we were taking one of our drives in the mountains, and I happened to get a glimpse of a big white house just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  When I asked my husband about the location, he said it was not far at all from the town of Blowing Rock.  So the next time we stopped at one of the information centers along the parkway, I looked at the brochures until I spotted the house.  It was called Flat Top Manor, and it was part of Moses H. Cone Memorial Park.  Well, what do you know ;)

We didn't have time to stop at the house that day, but some months later, we made a point to visit Flat Top Manor.  As soon as I got a good look at it, I knew.  This was Fernbank.

What a wonderful old house!  And the history of Flat Top Manor is very similar to that of Fernbank in the Mitford books.  In the books,  Sadie Baxter's father, who built "Fernbank", earned his money in a lumber mill located in the valley near Mitford.  In real life, Moses Cone and his brother, Caesar, earned their money in the textile industry.  In 1895, they built their first cotton mill in Greensboro, North Carolina, named it Cone Mills, and went on to become the world's leading producer of denim.

In the Mitford books, the author talks about how Miss Sadie loved to give away the apples from her family orchard; and the firm, slightly tart apples had come to be called "Sadie Baxters".  The village cooks preferred to make their pies from Sadie Baxter apples rather than Granny Smiths.

Moses Cone who built Flat Top Manor, along with his wife, grew over 30,000 apple trees in four orchards on their 500 acre estate.  The Cones were key contributors to the town of Blowing Rock, and they donated land and funds for the beginning of what is now Appalachian State University.  The Manor House is now the home of the Parkway Craft Center, which features crafts by hundreds of regional artists.

I don't have any pictures of the interior of the house to show you.  As best I recall, it wasn't really furnished, except for a few pieces here and there.  I do remember the rooms were large with high ceilings and lots of fine mill work (carved molding and such), which was considered a status symbol at the time.  Now, it's mostly used as a venue for the arts and crafts sold there.  Tours of the upper floors are available at very limited times.

Here are the remaining pictures we took on our visit Memorial Day, 2011.

Looking down at the back of the house...

The approach from the side of Flat Top Manor...

Imagine how long it must have taken to carve all the spindles in these banisters.

More side views...

I love the elegant Greek Ionic columns.

More pretty columns and a wonderful conservatory for enjoying the sunlight and the spectacular views.

This drive runs along the front of the house.

I'd hate to have to keep all this woodwork painted :)

This looks like one of the few remaining apple trees on the property -- kind of sad I think.  You can tell it looks very old.

This is a side view of the carriage house belonging to the Cone family.  Sadie Baxter talked about her papa's carriage house in the books.

Fernbank's namesake plant.

Thanks for stopping by The House at Forest Manor, and I hope you enjoyed the tour.  I'll be joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday this week.  I hope you'll visit these blogs to see some creative and inspirational posts.  Have a great week!!

Denise

   

Oreo Cows -- "Got Milk?"

Do you have Oreo Cows in your area of the world?  We saw some yesterday, and I decided to do a post about them.

I've seen them before, but we don't seem to have a lot of them in our area.  My husband first saw them years ago when he was travelling back and forth to England for a project at work.  He told me about them, and I think he may have taken some pictures; I can't remember now (that was before we had a digital camera).

Actually,  "oreo cows" is just a nickname.  They are really Belted Galloway cows.  According to Wikipedia, they're a rare breed of beef cattle originating in Galloway, in the southwest of Scotland.  Some of their other nicknames in the U.S. are "police car" cows and "panda" cows.  Aren't they cute?  I realize that "cute" is a funny adjective to apply to an animal of this size, but nevertheless, I happen to think they're cute.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Based on the posts I've done lately, it probably seems like all we do is travel.  But, that's not really the case.  This is just one of those in-between times in our life.  We only had one child, and he's no longer a child.  He's flown the coop, so to speak.  He's making it known that he wants some independence.  So all the time that we spent doing things with him and for him, has suddenly become free time.

There are some projects we would like to do on our house, but that's out of the question until our son finishes college.  And we are fortunate that all four of our parents are still living, but they are quite independent too :)  I quit my part-time job (which I liked a lot, by the way) after our son's sophomore year in high school.  Now the job market is terrible, but I knew that was a possibility at the time.  Thankfully, my husband has a good job, but it's very stressful right now.  He likes to get away whenever we can.

We have always liked the mountains.  We love the ocean too; we really do.  But it takes us four hours at least, to get to the coast, and we can be in the mountains in a little over an hour.  So yesterday, we drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed north into Virginia.  I love Virginia.  I think it's such a pretty state, and there's so much history there.

We stopped at an overlook on the parkway to stretch our legs and maybe take a few pictures.

We've driven by this little farm many times before, but since we had stopped (and of course there were the oreo cows), I got the urge to take some pictures.  Such a pretty, pastoral little scene.

This house appears to be new, so I'm not sure if the existing farmhouse was torn down to build a new one.

What I found so amusing was that this cow stared at us over the fence the entire time we were taking pictures.  My husband pointed out that she had a calf, so I imagine she wanted to make sure we weren't a threat. 

In a pasture right beside the cows, there were several lamas, and a sign that said "Alpaca Farm and Store".

The mother cow is still giving us the eye while the young calf is nursing.

Moooo  :-)

It was a beautiful day up there, but the breeze was so strong that it was hard to hold the camera steady enough to take decent pics.  That's okay; we still had fun.  And I almost forgot to mention that we took our "adopted" child on the outing with us...

...because he needs a change of scenery, too, and a chance to get rid of some wiggles ;)

This is my Seasonal Sunday post for the week.  Thanks to The Tablescaper for faithfully hosting this party every week!  I'm also linking to Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

Thank you for stopping by House at Forest Manor; I always enjoy your visits!

Denise