A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

It's time for another (nearly) wordless post.  :)  These pictures were taken in the French Quarter of historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina. 

Wisteria in Old Salem

It's been quite a while since I took you through our little community of Old Salem.  

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Northern Ireland

Recently, I came across these pictures among our many hundreds of old photographs.  My husband had taken these snaps on a business trip to his company facility in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland.  While there, he visited Armagh, the county town of Armagh County and a civil parish.  The town of Armagh is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.  Following are some pictures of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh.

Living With History

My husband and I took a Beginner Digital Photography class yesterday at our local community college.  I've taken pictures with a digital camera for about five years now, but it's a point and shoot camera.  I was very comfortable with the point and shoot (too comfortable in fact); I felt like I could take some pretty good pictures with it, but they were never going to be as good as the photos Mr. Forest Manor takes with his DSLR camera.  I mentioned recently that Mr. FM got a new, even better DSLR camera, so I've decided that now is the time for me to learn to use his older camera.

My first pictures won't win any photography awards, but they weren't disasters either.

Finally -- The Guest Bedroom

Happy Friday everyone!  I want to thank you all for the nice comments you've left for me over the last week or so.  I'm very appreciative, and I haven't forgotten about you.  I posted on Monday and haven't been back on the computer since then -- until today.  I'll be paying my regular visits to everyone in the next day or so.

Back in January of this year, I gave a very brief, sneak peek of what I was doing to our son's old bedroom to give it a new look and turn it into a guest bedroom.  I really thought I would finish it sooner and would be showing it to you during the winter months.  That didn't happen, so here it is finally, almost completely finished.  This is a long, picture-heavy post, folks --just wanted to give you fair warning.  :)

Southport Cottages

I can hardly believe it's Sunday night again -- another weekend has flown by.  I hope yours was a good one!  A few weeks ago I shared a cute cottage in Southport, N.C., for St. Patrick's Day.  Here are some more Southport cottages for you.

Brookgreen Gardens, Part Five

Since so many people in the U.S. and Canada are suffering from brutal winter weather, I felt like sharing some images that would, hopefully, warm our spirits until spring arrives.  I'm about to exhaust my stash of Brookgreen Gardens pictures; these might be some of the last ones that I haven't yet posted.  Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina comprises over 9,000 acres of themed gardens, including a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve.  It's built on four former rice plantations and takes its name from the former Brookgreen Plantation.

Kapp's Mill and Mosaic Monday

Today, I'm sharing some photos we took last fall in Dobson, North Carolina, about an hour's drive from where we live.  We happened upon this spot some months ago on an outing with some other people, and we couldn't stop for a closer look that day.  When fall rolled around, we decided to go back for a visit and take some pictures.

Christmas Images

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and for Christians, the Christmas season has officially begun.  Most of us have probably already bought a gift (or two) to get a head start on our Christmas shopping.  Laura, at Decor to Adore published a beautiful and heartfelt post today about the meaning of Advent, if you'd like to stop by and read it.

We'll be putting the two trees in their stands today and bringing them into the house, after which Mr. Forest Manor will put the lights on and then turn the decorating over to me.  :)  Since it will take me awhile to get everything decorated, I wanted to share some images from our home at Christmas last year.  You're probably all working on your Christmas today, too; I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures when it's time for you to take a break. 

Cozy Up To Fall

Hi everyone!  I finally got the fall touches added to our den a few weeks ago; I'm behind schedule for fall decor.  :)  We don't usually go out of town in October, and this year we went to the coast for three days.  So, now I'm working on fall and pre-holiday cleaning.  I want to get the house nice and clean before it's time to start dragging out the Christmas decs.

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.

An Italian Tablescape and a Giveaway

Pfaltzgraff is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its "Villa Della Luna" pattern of dishes this year.  I was contacted by Lifetime Brands and asked to do a tablescape for fall featuring these dishes, and I was happy to oblige.  :)

Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery

What a beautiful last day of September we're having!  I've just come in from walking Himself, Mr. Duncan, and he was feeling his oats.  :)  The sky is so blue and the sunlight is clear and warm...and thank goodness for retractable leashes.  ;)  Duncan was able to dash all about, and I could walk at a (mostly) sensible pace without having to run to keep up with him.

Back on the very first day of this month, we visited a local winery called Raffaldini.  It was a gorgeous day, just like today, and we had a great time walking around snapping pictures and enjoying the amazing views there.  It was crowded that day, so obviously, a lot of other people had the same idea we did.  :)

Hal and I first visited this winery back in 2003 or 2004, and I thought it was pretty then.  I was even more impressed on this visit.  The building and surrounding gardens and walkways are beautiful, and the views are spectacular.

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.  

Walt Disney World for Mosaic Monday

Hello Friends!  How has your weekend been?  It's been hot and humid here in North Carolina, and so I was reminded of our visits to Disney World when our son was in high school.  :)

Mountain Wildflowers

You've probably figured out by now that I really, really love flowers.  Yes, I'm smitten with them and have been for as long as I can remember.  Not only do I like to plant them and watch them grow, take pictures of them, and put them in my house to enjoy; I also like to try and identify them when I see them in a garden or growing along the roadside.

A few weeks ago when we were in the mountains, we drove across the Cherohala Skyway from North Carolina to Tennessee.  We did this a few years ago, and I wrote about it Here.  This year, I was just bowled over by all the wildflowers we saw growing along both sides of the road almost the entire length of the skyway.  It was amazing!  I've never seen such a profusion of wildflowers -- it's like they were on steroids.

I was able to identify 11 different varieties of wildflowers this year (I had to look up some of them online); that's the most I've ever seen in one area.  These flowers were so pretty, I felt like most gardeners would be pleased to have them in their own gardens.  Yet they were just growing wild with no one tending them but Mother Nature.  Have a look and see what you think... 

   Wild Phlox

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.

The Big Chill

I feel kind of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz -- "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."  Wow, what a snowstorm!  It just stopped snowing here about an hour ago, so we had 24 straight hours of snow, at times mixed with sleet.

I can't pretend I didn't enjoy it -- I've been longing for a pretty snow this year.  

Chateau Morrisette Winery

Hi everyone!  We're having a cool snap here, how about you?  It's been bright and sunny, so all in all, a really nice fall day.

Do you like to take day trips?  We almost always go to the mountains for our day trips, but we haven't gotten to do that in quite a while.  This is our favorite time of the year to go to the mountains and drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Technically, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park, so I wonder if it will be blocked off with barricades?  Hmmm -- sure hope not.

All the pictures in this post are from fall of 2011.  We have several local wineries near us in North Carolina that we like to visit, but Chateau Morrisette is actually in Virginia.  It's further for us to drive, but we enjoy spending an afternoon there in the fall if we have a free day.  It's right off the Blue Ridge Parkway in a little community called Meadows of Dan.

Summer's End

Hello all!  I know most of you are probably kicking into fall mode now (I am too) but before I completely leave summer behind for another year, I want to share a few images from the beach trip we took over Labor Day weekend.  We normally go to the beach much earlier in the summer, like May for instance, but this year we couldn't manage that.

September and October are beautiful times to be at the coast, too; we've discovered that in years past.  After all the rain, rain, rain, and dismal skies we had most of the summer here, it was beautiful and sunny for the three days we were at Oak Island.

Dry Street Pizza in Southport, North Carolina