Mayberry, North Carolina

Were you a fan of the "Andy Griffith Show?"  The "Andy Griffith Show" is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from 1960 to 1968.  I guess what our family watched when I was in junior high school must have been the syndicated episodes, since I was only eight years old when the original show ended.  

An Apple Orchard and Apple Fritter Bread

The month of October is off to a beautiful start, wouldn't you agree?  In my previous post, I wrote about our little getaway to Hendersonville, in the North Carolina mountains.  On the day we headed home, we got an early start after breakfast and made our way to Grandad's Apples.  This was the first time we had ever visited an apple orchard; we've always just stopped at produce stands along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall to get our fresh apples.     

A Fun Trip to Hendersonville

Hello Friends!  Are you having a good week?  We left last Wednesday driving to Hendersonville, North Carolina, for a two-day visit.  My mom and I started this annual tradition in 2020, and this year, Hal went with us.  We all had such a good time.  The weather was perfect, and it was a real treat to get away for a change of scenery.       

      

Paul Ciener Botanical Gardens

Happy Friday all!  What a quick week this has been.  This past Sunday afternoon, we paid a visit to Paul Ciener Botanical Gardens in Kernersville, North Carolina.  This small town is about a 20-minute drive from where we live, so not a lot of our outrageously expensive gas was wasted on this drive.  This was our first time to visit these gardens; they're small, but very pretty.           We passed under this arch to get to the main flower beds,   

   

Reynolda Gardens 2021

Would you like to take a (virtual) walk through Reynolda Gardens with me today?  These pictures are actually from last year, but we can look at them in the cool and comfort of our own homes.  Reynolda Gardens are part of the original R. J. and Katharine Reynolds estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  R. J. and Katharine's daughter, Mary Reynolds Babcock, loved the formal gardens at Reynolda, and after her death in 1953, her husband donated the formal gardens and greenhouses to Wake Forest University, with specific instructions to preserve the space as a community resource.  There is no charge for admission at Reynolda Gardens, and that's a real plus in my book.  😉   

      

July

Hello everyone!  Friday has rolled around yet again -- the start of another weekend.  I haven't posted here since the first week in June.  Shortly after I wrote that post about our family beach trip, Hal and I got Covid.  We came home from the beach the day before Memorial Day, and later that week Hal got Covid.  By the first of the following week, I had it, too.  We both had very mild cases; Hal thought his was just a head cold, but mine was just different enough that it made me decide to go to the doctor.  I had a bad case of pneumonia years ago; it was terrible, and I wanted to make sure I didn't have that again.  The worst thing about this Covid for us has been the cough and the way our energy got zapped.  However, we're almost completely back to normal again, and we are thankful.         I hope you all had a nice Fourth of July.  My friend, Vee, posted something that exactly summed up my thoughts about July 4th this year, and I was glad to read it.  You can see her post here.  Today, I'm sharing some pictures from Reynolda Gardens, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  We haven't done much lately other than try to stay cool indoors where it's air-conditioned.  I took these pictures last year, in the last week of July, so possibly many of the same things are blooming there right now.  The pictures were taken in the evening, so they all have a rather mellow (and sometimes) fuzzy quality.   

      

A Wonderful Week at the Coast

Thank you to the folks who replied to my previous post asking for help in commenting.  My husband told me this morning he'd just found out that the browser I normally use, Microsoft Edge, has added some updates and these updates have some new security tags.  Apparently, the updates are making things hard for everyone (Hal wasn't able to do his online banking) and our bank is working to fix this.  The updates must have affected Blogger, too.  What a nuisance.     Thank you also for your kind comments on the loss of my uncle.  Honestly, I still can't believe he's gone.  In that post, I mentioned that we were at the beach house when we got the bad news.  On Sunday, May 22nd, we returned to the beach for another week spent with Hal's parents and our son, Will.  It was so nice to be there with family, and we had a great time.     

   

   

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?   

      

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).       

The Month of September

Hello everyone.  Are you having a good month so far?  We just returned on Saturday from six days at the beach; it was a much-needed break for us.  

      

Reynolda Village

Hi all!  I finally got a good opportunity to take some pictures this past Sunday afternoon.  I don't think I've mentioned here that my husband gave me a new camera for my birthday back in 2018.  It's a Sony ILCE-5100, and I absolutely love it.  It's a compact camera with a lot of capability.  I've used it so much more than I did the Canon Rebel, partly because it's much easier to carry around with me, but also because it takes terrific pictures.  That means for the last three years, I've done my own photography for my tablescapes, my recipe posts, travel pictures, and decor pics around the house.  When I first started writing House at Forest Manor, I made no secret of the fact that my husband did most of the photography for the blog.  I'm still no great shakes as a photographer, but I do feel like I've learned a few things over the years I've been writing this blog.     Sunday presented a good opportunity for me to take some pictures of one of our local historical areas,  Reynolda Historic District.  Today, I'm sharing some images of Reynolda Village, which is a collection of shops, restaurants, a greenhouse and gardens, and a wedding venue, as well.  Come along and see what you think.           Before I go further, I'd best explain that Reynolda Village is part of the original 1,087-acre estate belonging to Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds, founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and his wife, Katharine Smith Reynolds.     

source - Our State Magazine            

October 30th, This and That

Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of October?  2020?  What a year, right?  I hope you're enjoying a beautiful autumn wherever you may be.  We have some pretty colors here in our town, but we've seen prettier.  Weekend before last, we drove up to the mountains for the day, and the colors were so dull; it was as if the leaves were seriously considering just skipping the whole show this year.  It was a disappointment, for sure.  Chalk another one up to 2020.  I am thankful for mostly blue skies and puffy white clouds today.  Yesterday, we suffered the leftover wind and rain of  Hurricane Zeta, and I realize that what we had was mild indeed compared to what the people of Louisiana have been hit with.  There were several large trees down in our neighborhood and the surrounding town; this morning we heard that about 100,000 residents in North Carolina are still without power.  In looking at pictures of the Gulf Coast, we were very fortunate.   

   

My First Visit To A Tea Room

First things first.  I've been having a little trouble with the new Blogger lately.  I'm assuming it's Google Blogger, but it could be my browser.  At any rate, I've had trouble pulling up several of your blogs that I normally read, and last week, I wasn't able to make some basic changes to my sidebar.  Very, very frustrating; but let's move on to more pleasant things.    

Hello August!

Hello again everyone!  Thanks to those of you who commented on my last post, and especially those who are/were having the same problem as me.  We'll see how it goes in the future.        Gosh, I have not done well keeping up with my blog this summer.  I think I can be forgiven with everything that's been going on around here.  My Bell's Palsy did clear up (thankfully) but it has caused some pain and difficulty of movement in my right jaw.  I'm hoping that will repair itself, too.  Our air conditioning system, which we've only had for seven years this summer, was leaking coolant and had to be repaired.  It had actually started to leak last summer, but we didn't get around to having it fixed then.  As Murphy's Law would have it, the weather got really hot and humid here (after what had been a very mild season) before we could get it fixed.  A new part had to be ordered, which was quite pricey, and once that arrived, we finally got everything repaired.  😰   Do you ever ask yourself how in the world people did without air conditioning years ago?  I'm constantly wondering that in the summertime.  

July Already!

Wow, is this year ever flying by!!!  I'm just trying not to get left behind.  😳  Before I forget, I want to say "Happy Canada Day" to my dear blog friends in Canada!       For most of this Fourth of July week, I'm planning to share photos we've taken over the years in the summertime.  A lot of them have the American flag in them, and some are just images featuring red, white and blue.  I love those colors together -- have you ever noticed how many countries have flags with red, white and blue?        

       Southport, North Carolina
  

First Post on New Blogger

Hi there and welcome to my blog.  I'm glad to see you!  I'm running out of time to get acclimated, so I'm just taking the plunge and trying a post on the new Blogger forum.  Like most folks, I don't think we'll be doing any traveling this summer, although I hope we'll get to spend a few days at my in-laws' beach house.  I imagine they'll be putting it up for sale before too long, and we need to spend some time there, if possible.  We have so many good memories from our times there.      For this post, I thought I would share some links to places we've visited in previous years; if you happen to be a new visitor to House at Forest Manor, you won't have read these posts.  I imagine we'll be mostly doing armchair travel this year.  :)    

Spring Beauty -- Biltmore Gardens 2016

Hello Dear Ones!  Has spring sprung at your place yet?  We're having a beautiful spring here bloomwise, but it's still been pretty cold.  Cold nights and windy days, for the most part.  I'm very thankful for the profusion of spring color, though.🌷🌼    

A Stroll Through Southport

   "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?   

    

The Land of the Noon Day Sun

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.   

Bits and Bobs

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