Bringing Up The Babies

Today was actually a really nice day for me.  The weather was beautiful, albeit a little warm for April.  I got a lot done, including photos for this post, and I got Wordle in three guesses today.  Woohoo!!  😀    

   

A Bouquet For You

Hello -- I'm glad to see you!  :)  Come inside and have a cup of tea.  Hasn't this been a beautiful spring so far?  Even though we had a couple of late freezes (not unexpected) the blooms still keep coming.  Don't you love the way everything blooms in sequence, so it's not all gone at once?  First the daffodils, the tulip magnolias, and the Japanese cherry trees, and they were prettier than ever this year.  Then came the crabapple trees, the redbuds, and the dogwoods.  It seems like they've all been spectacular this spring, although the dogwood blooms are still in the process of opening up.      On the ground, it's time for tulips and iris, but we don't have any of those.  However, I picked some flowers that have self-seeded in the wooded area next to our driveway.   

      

The Month of March - This and That

How has your Saturday been?  We've been having a thunderstorm this afternoon here.  Once again, it's been two weeks since I've posted.  We've had a stressful couple of weeks, and I just haven't felt like writing on my blog.     
We were back and forth to the veterinary hospital three times this week because Duncan has not been using his left leg; he walks hobbles around holding it up off the ground and not putting weight on it.  The veterinary practice where we take him had a broken x-ray machine, and our doctor had to take him to another animal hospital to get him x-rayed.  It turns out that his kneecap is dislocated, and it may require surgery to repair it.  We're going to try him on another week of anti-inflammatory/pain medicine, and if he's still not putting weight on the leg, we'll have to schedule surgery for him.      

      

The Gertrude Jekyll Roses

These are our David Austin roses, "Gertrude Jekyll."  I share pictures of them about every other year, mostly for posterity I think.  😉  They are really photogenic roses, and Mr. Forest Manor likes to take pictures of them.  Plus, everything's just been extra pretty this spring, hasn't it?  I can't recall when I've seen so many beautiful blooms everywhere, and I don't think our grass has ever looked this good.     

            

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.🌷🌼    

April

Hi everyone!  I'm still around -- just haven't had time to put together a post.  First things first; I'm so, so sorry that I haven't been by to visit my dear fellow blogging friends!  I have to say that this situation is taking a little getting used to.  😉  I do love having Mr. Forest Manor here during the day, but... it certainly changes my schedule.  I consider this a rehearsal for retirement; we're in training, I suppose.  😜  Anyhoo, with both of us here all the time, we're consuming an awful lot of food.  Suffice it to say, I've probably gained back every pound I had lost last year.  Sigh.  At any rate, the kitchen is definitely getting a workout.  I'm constantly thinking that I'm so thankful we had the re-model done in 2012, and I'm glad we gave careful thought to our new storage spaces, in addition to the new sink, stove, and dishwasher.   

All Things Bright and Beautiful

"All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all." Anglican Hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander     Hi folks!  It's well and truly spring here now, and I love it.  The redbuds, one of our very favorite trees, are in bloom now, along with crabapple trees, cherry trees, and the dogwoods are opening out now, too.        Yesterday Hal and I drove out to my mom's house to pick up some pine needles we had purchased from a lawn service she uses, and we saw some pretty sights along the way.  We also have 20 bales of pine needles to put out, but we'll worry about that another time.  😉   

Hello SPRING!

It's still quite chilly outside here; there's a crisp March wind and I still need a coat to go outside, but it's officially Spring today.  I couldn't be happier, and I'm willing to bet a lot of other people out there feel the same way.     I'm glad I planted pansies back in the late fall/early winter because now I can enjoy their colorful blooms.  They're already starting to get leggy and hang over the sides of the pots; does anyone know whether these plants can be pinched back?  They seem a little too delicate for that, but I just don't know.   

  

May Day

   

"Queen Guinevere's Maying" ~John Collier

Airlie Gardens

Last weekend while at the coast, we visited Airlie Gardens in Wilmington on Easter Sunday afternoon.  My in-laws had been before, but we didn't even know this place existed.  It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.  

The Curio Cabinet

I like to think that I have a mind of my own, in decorating as well as other things.  But one of the fun parts of blogging is that I do sometimes get wonderful ideas that really click with my own style; I  love that other bloggers share their ideas with the rest of us.

I mentioned Laura Ingalls Gunn at "Decor To Adore" a few weeks ago when I wrote a post about some of my favorite bloggers.  I wrote that I love Laura's decorating style, and when she posted about curio cabinets a few weeks ago and told us the history behind curio cabinets, or cabinet of curiosities, as they were originally called, this post really resonated with me.  Laura then shared her own "cabinet of curiosities" Here, and after seeing it, I was on a mission.  I immediately went into our living room and started putting together my own curio cabinet.  I didn't have to buy a thing for it; everything was collected from throughout our house.  Thanks for the inspiration, Laura -- I hope you don't mind my copycatting!  :)

Spring Biltmore Tour, Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of our Spring tour of the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina.  If you read the first two posts, thank you for your interest!  If you'd like to catch up on those, you can find them Here and Here.

Today, I want to show you a bit of the downstairs at Biltmore House.  This section didn't feature any movie costumes, but it was interesting, nevertheless.

Spring Trip to Biltmore House

Hi there friends!  Happy April to you; I hope you had a good weekend!

On Saturday, April 1st, we went to Biltmore House again.  Yes, I thought the Christmas candlelight tour would be our last visit for awhile, but Mr. Forest Manor decided to renew our annual membership.  That suited me just fine.  :)  The reason for our trip this time was to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday.  He turned 80 back in February, the same week that his mother turned 100.  For this reason, his birthday got somewhat overshadowed.  I was glad Hal thought of this because we all enjoyed the trip.

Take Time to Smell the Roses

Today it has been misting rain here, and our rose bush is covered with pink roses.  Not to be dramatic, but it seems as if it burst into bloom overnight.  We cut some of the blooms (and a few buds) to put in the house because we're sort of expecting more rain, and the rain tends to beat up the delicate petals on the roses.

Biltmore Gardens

I think maybe I should do wordless posts more often.  ;)  Based on the number of views on my "mostly wordless" post, there's a lesson to be learned here.  ;)  This post will have more words, but I promise to keep the words to a minimum.

A (Mostly) Wordless Post

Silence is golden.  :)  Enjoy...

Wisteria in Old Salem

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

An English Spring

Except for a couple of cold snaps and frosts, I think this has been the most gorgeous spring.  I've heard more than one person around here say so.  Has spring been beautiful where you are?  Are your flowers and trees putting on a show this year?  It helps a lot, here in the south, when the weather doesn't turn hot too quickly.  The heat tends to shorten the bloom time for the spring flowers.

I told my husband earlier this week that it feels like we're having an English spring here this year.

The Start of Another Week

Happy Monday everyone.  I can hardly believe it's the start of another week.  March zipped right by, and now April seems to be doing the very same thing.  It's nice here today, but the temperature dropped to 28° F over the weekend, and my husband and I were outside early Saturday evening trying to cover our climbing roses with leaf and lawn bags (not an easy task, by the way).  ;)  I'm really looking forward to the David Austin roses blooming,

April First and "Five on Friday"

Happy Friday and April 1st to you!  I'm still not sure where the month of March went; the days are just speeding by faster and faster.