Spring's First Flowers

I wanted to share a few pictures of some flowers that I took last year about this time.  I had just recently started my blog, and I took our trusty point-and-shoot digital camera out to take some photos about which I could write a post.  I went to a local estate called Reynolda House and Gardens.  It was a sunny, cool day, and I didn't have the time or the money to spend touring the house; but I did take some pictures of the gardens.

These gardens have lots and lots of daffodils in early spring, and I really went there to see if the daffodils were in bloom.  There were a few blooming here and there, but definitely not at their showy peak.

But I did stumble on an unexpected and pleasant surprise at the edge of a wooded area near the formal gardens...

Snowdrops

 

Aren't they sweet?  I was so excited to discover them.  For some reason, I never knew these flowers grew in the South.  I've never seen any around here, and I've lived in North Carolina all my life.  I thought they only grew in colder climates.  According to the two online websites I checked, they can show up weeks before crocuses, making them the earliest blooming bulbs.  They can even bloom all winter long in the South.  At any rate, I'm glad I saw these; they were fun to photograph.

 
This was my first lesson in the challenges of photographing flowers outdoors.  There was a pretty strong breeze that day, and it was so hard to capture the flowers without them being a blur.  Every time I got in position with my camera and ready to take a picture, the wind would ruffle the flowers.  The same thing happened with the few daffodils that were blooming.  But I think I managed to get some decent pictures just the same.

 

If you're interested, you can read more about Snowdrops HERE and HERE.

It seems that across most of the nation, we're all experiencing warmer than usual winter temperatures.  While this is really pleasant on a day like today, the downside is that it's causing our spring flowers to bloom out of season.  I actually saw Japanese Cherry trees in full bloom in Greensboro last week...and this is January.  Come Spring and Easter, we'll be missing some of these pretty flowers.

Debbie at Words On Wheels posted about her Japanese Magnolia tree being in full bloom over the weekend, only to be followed up by nighttime temps in the 20's.  Our flowers and trees need a certain amount of cold in winter so as not to bloom too early and be ruined by a late freeze.  My point in all of this is that I was reminded of a poem I recently read by Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets.  It's called "Good-bye, and Keep Cold".

This saying good-bye on the edge of the dark,

And cold to an orchard so young in the bark

Reminds me of all that can happen to harm

An orchard away at the end of the farm

All winter, cut off by a hill from the house.

I don't want it girdled by rabbit and mouse,

I don't want it dreamily nibbled for browse

By deer, and I don't want it budded by grouse.

(If certain it wouldn't be idle to call

I'd summon grouse, deer and rabbit to the wall

And warn them away with a stick for a gun.)

I don't want it stirred by the heat of the sun.

(We made it secure against being I hope,

By setting it out on a northerly slope.)

No orchard's the worse for the wintriest storm;

But one thing about it, it mustn't get warm.

"How often already you've had to be told

Keep cold young orchard.  Good-bye and keep cold.

Dread fifty above more than fifty below."

I have to be gone for a season or so.

My business awhile is with different trees,

Less carefully nourished, less fruitful than these,

And such as is done to their wood with an axe--

Maples and birches and tamaracks.

I wish I could promise to lie in the night

And think of an orchard's arboreal plight

When slowly (and nobody comes with a light)

Its heart sinks lower under the sod

But something has to be left to God.

Robert Frost 

Thank you for stopping by House at Forest Manor.  I enjoy your visits!  I'm joining Laura at Happy Homemaker UK for the Post of the Month Club.  Please stop by her blog to meet some new people at home and abroad.  Thank you for hosting, Laura!  :)

Denise 

Replacements, Ltd., Part II

Back in December, before Christmas, Mr. Forest Manor and I took a little trip to Replacements, Ltd., which is about an hour from our house.  It was decorated beautifully for Christmas; we saw some spectacular Christmas tablescapes.  If you'd like to see those, you can read the post HERE.

We took a lot of pictures that day; the showroom at Replacements, Ltd. is fairly large, and it is positively loaded with all kinds of china, crystal, sterling and silverplate, as well as Christmas ornaments, Toby Jugs, and other collectibles.  In my December post, I just focused on the Christmas dishes and decor to go along with the season, but I wanted to show you some of the other things there are to see at this amazing store.

This first section I'm showing is their museum exhibit.  All these items are for display only; nothing for sale.  These items had no price tags -- maybe because they're priceless?  Anyway, here we go.

This is a collection of the "Rothschild Bird" dishes by Herend.  Again, these particular pieces are not for sale, but I believe you can buy some of the dishes in the "Rothschild Bird" pattern through Replacements, e-bay, etc.  They are quite expensive.  Susan at Between Naps on the Porch did a post about this pattern last year.  She has some of the salad plates, and they really are lovely.

I love the way they've created this display of the bird in a tree with a necklace to go along with the china.

Here are a few cases containing sterling coffee and tea sets.

And below, you see sterling flatware, candlesticks, and other miscellaneous pieces.

This is a case of Haviland china, including Haviland "Limoges".

The set below is called "Summer Glory" by Shelley-England.  I love the soft pink background. Those flowers look like lilacs to me -- so delicate looking.

I loved this George Washington Portrait Plate.  I'm assuming that must be Martha on the plate to the left of him.

These Royal Worcester plates depict famous cathedrals in England.

The writing on the inner rim of this plate reads "Queen Elizabeth at Old Moreton 1589".

The placard on the right of this shelf is hard to read; I had to use the zoom feature on Picasa to be able to read it.  I thought it was interesting; it explained about the provenance of these dishes. They're called Royal Doulton Series Ware, and the card reads:  "Starting with a line of tableware featuring images of the Eglinton Tournament(?), Royal Doulton began producing their popular series ware with scenes from literary, historical and everyday British life.  The Dickens series ware was probably the most popular of these.  Featured here are a variety of "Coaching Days", "Queen Elizabeth at Old Moreton Hall", "Under The Greenwood Tree", and Historic England series ware pieces."

Anybody recognize the scene depicted on the plates below?  It's Robin Hood and his Band of Merry Men -- the pattern is "Under The Greenwood Tree", c.1909.

This is the fun part where you get to look at the cases and see if your china, crystal, or flatware patterns are on display.

Does anyone recognize their crystal or flatware in here?  It's hard to tell anything about the flatware because we didn't get a really close-up picture.

Here's my crystal pattern below on the left, "French Cathedral" by Gorham.  I bet yours is somewhere in here too. ;-)

Here are some pretty Spode patterns.  I like the "Herring Hunt".

On the top row in this picture below, I see two of my Johnson Brothers patterns; "His Majesty" and "Old Britain Castles-Pink".  To the right of the "His Majesty" pattern, is my Mom's blue and white pattern, "Indies-Blue"  I also spotted my Mother-in-Law's "Runnymede-Blue" Wedgwood pattern.

Third from the right, top row, is my Royal Doulton "Juliet".

My husband's grandmother had a huge set of the "Blue Danube" with lots of pretty serving pieces.  It's a beautiful pattern.  The pattern beside it called "Grenadiers" by Bernardaud is one of my favorite Christmas patterns, but definitely out of my price range.

So, did you spot your dishes in there anywhere?  It's fun to look, huh?  Next are some beautiful Belleek pieces.

Purely whimsical...we love Charlie Brown and friends at our house.

Miniature teaset atop a bright pink hat box...

I really LOVE this Cameo pitcher and bowl set made by Minton China. I think the cameo and the garland with bows is so elegant.

  

Well, that's it for our tour.  I hope you saw some things that caught your fancy.  It's fun to look, but we don't buy here often because most of the things are too pricey for us.  I have, however, found some pieces for my patterns that I wasn't able to find elsewhere.  If you're ever in the area and you get a chance to stop at Replacements, Ltd., it's definitely worth a visit.

Thank you for your visit and have a great day!  I'm joining the following people this week:

Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

Home and Garden Thursday, hosted by Kathy at A Delightsome Life

                                Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound

Seasonal Sundays, hosted by The Tablescaper

Post of the Month Club, hosted by Laura at Happy Homemaker UK

Denise

Christmas 2010

I hope everyone had a peaceful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and wonderful food.  I've already seen lots of Christmas lights and decs all around town and in the mountains where we went to get our trees today.  I'm so ready to get started decking the halls, but for tonight, I settled for looking back at some pictures from last year's Christmas.

These pictures were actually taken after Christmas; hubby had just gotten his new camera, and he was learning to use it.  I decided to do a short post showing some pictures from last year's decorations.  A sort of Christmas preview. :)

Happy Decorating!  I'll be linking this post to Seasonal Sundays, so kindly hosted every week by The Tablescaper.

I'm also linking to The Post of the Month Club, hosted by Laura at Happy Homemaker UK.  Thanks so much for hosting, Laura!

Denise