A Day At The Zoo, Part I

On Saturday, DH and I visited the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro, NC.  The company Mr. Forest Manor works for sponsored a family day at the zoo; they provided tickets for admission and lunch for employees and family members at the picnic pavilion.  The weather was perfect and we had a great day!  I've been wanting to visit the zoo for years now, and we just somehow never got around to it.  The last time we went to the N.C. Zoo, our son was 4 years old, and he turned 21 this summer.  My how time flies.

The zoo is located at the foot of the Uwharrie Mountains in the Central Piedmont Region of North Carolina.

According to Wikipedia, the zoo encompasses 1,371 acres, is the largest "walk-through" natural-habitat zoo in the world, the first in the U.S., and only one of two state-owned zoos in the United States.  Wow -- who knew!?

We ate a quick lunch, and then spent four hours walking through the zoo, and we still only saw about half the park.  We just managed to make it through the North America complex, and to my disappointment, we didn't get to see the Africa complex before the park closed for the day.  We'll definitely have to go back :)

If you're a bird lover, we saw lots of really interesting birds.  We saw some adorable and entertaining seals and river otters.  There were beautiful cats (not the domestic variety, of course), bears, and possibly my favorite, two red wolves.  We walked and walked until our feet and legs were worn out.

My DH took all of the pictures in this post.  The photographer (and the shutter speed) have to be pretty fast to get a good picture of the animals because they were not standing still and posing for these shots.  It was a great day to be there because the weather has been cooler, and I think the animals were feeling pretty energetic.

Too cute, right?

There were just a few of us standing at this area when the seals started playing and showing off.  There was no one coaching them; it was totally spontaneous.

 Never has swimming looked like so much fun!  They swam upside down, on their sides and rolled over and over underwater.  This guy is on his side looking at us through the glass.

Have you ever seen Puffins?  These are the neatest birds.  DH and I recently saw a special about them on UNC Public TV.

There were bunches of Puffins in the exhibit, but they were behind glass, and it was hard to get a good, clear picture.

This one is tucked into a hole in the rock.

This funny-looking fellow is a Hooded Merganser.  From the side, his head looks almost flat.

This next picture looks funny.  The other ducks were swimming peacefully in the water, and suddenly these two fellows came chasing each other through the water, flapping their wings, stretching their necks, and generally just "showing off".

This sign explains their behaviour ;)

These bobcats don't really look that big.  If you didn't know better, you could almost believe they're house cats.

The cougars were napping in their hidey-hole.

Amazing that all of our dogs are descended from wolves.

The desert animals are enclosed in a dome, which has its own micro-climate where plants and flowers normally found in the desert can thrive.

This is a Prickly Pear Cactus.

I'm ending this post with these desert birds, which I thought were so

interesting.  Have you ever seen a real Roadrunner?

I always thought they looked like this...

"Meep Meep"

This last bird is called a Gambel's Quail.  He's so colorful, and I love the, well...dipsy-doodle on his head.

And I couldn't help but remember...

And here's a cutie with two dipsy-doodles...

**Disclaimer:  Subjects in previous two pictures not found in the zoo ;)

Have you been to the zoo lately?  I discovered it's a wonderful way to forget about all your problems for a day.  Hope you enjoyed the sights, and thanks so much for visiting the House at Forest Manor.  More zoo pictures soon.

I'll be joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays later this week.  Thank you, ladies, for hosting these parties every week! 

Denise

Wednesday's Words

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her early leaf's a flower,

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

                  Robert Frost

(This poem was written in 1923 and published in October of the same year)

We are into the month of October now, and I've been looking around the web to find interesting words relating to October.  October is derived from the Latin "octo", meaning eight, because October was the eighth month in the old Roman calendar.  It is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

My word for this week is "vendange",  and it's the French word for grape harvest.  Nowadays, wineries have automated presses to crush the grapes and get the precious juices for wine.  But a few centuries ago, the grapes were crushed by dumping them in a huge container and the people of the village would take off their shoes and stomp the grapes with their bare feet.  That always makes me think of the old "I Love Lucy" episode. ;)  Does anyone remember that?

When I first started my blog, I had several ideas of things I wanted to write about and photograph. I knew I definitely wanted to blog about our local wineries here in North Carolina.  We live in the Yadkin Valley region -- the Yadkin River is about three miles from our home (as the crow flies).  We've visited these wineries many times over the years, and we're always amazed at how they've grown and multiplied.  The first winery to open in the Yadkin Valley was West Bend Winery, and it's about half an hour's drive from where we live.  I actually did a post on it back in the winter; you can read about it here.  Unfortunately, that's the only winery we've had a chance to visit this year, what with all of our other traveling here and there. :-)  I'm hoping we'll be able to do some winery tours before winter arrives.

Mary at Home Is Where The Boat Is has done some recent posts on North Carolina wineries, so if you get a chance, you should stop by and see her blog.  Her pictures are always gorgeous!  Mary's "Celebrating The Grape" posts are about Wine Appreciation Month (actually designated for September) in North Carolina.  Even though it's now October, I think it's still a prime time of the year to visit the vineyards.  We've probably missed the actual "vendange", or grape harvest, but you can still enjoy visiting your local winery.

Image Source: Rodsbot.com

Thanks for stopping by House at Forest Manor!  Your visits are always appreciated!

Denise

Wednesday's Words

This is the last Wednesday of September, and my word for the week is Michaelmas.  It's another of those words that I find fun to pronounce :)  Michaelmas is a good September word, because it's officially celebrated by the Roman Catholic church and the Church of England on September 29th.  Michaelmas, or the Feast of Saint Michael and the Archangels, falls near the equinox in the northern hemisphere, and thus is associated with autumn.

In England, Michaelmas is one of the four "quarter days" in the year; Lady Day (March 25th) , Midsummer (June 24th), Michaelmas (September 29th), and Christmas (December 25th).

In earlier times, the harvest had to be completed by Michaelmas.  It was a time when land was exchanged or debts were paid, and when servants were hired.  Eventually Michaelmas came to be the time for electing magistrates, and the beginning of the legal and university term.

England used to have harvest festivals, or fairs, and goose was the traditional dish served in households for Michaelmas Day.  Our local Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem opens September 30th this year, one day after Michaelmas.  The North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh begins October 13th ( in Britain Old Michaelmas Day was October 10th).  Coincidence -- I think not ;)  Another tradition carried over from the Old Country.

I do love this time of the year.  Cool, crisp weather; fall festivals at schools and churches; local fairs; big, golden-orange moons; beautiful fall foliage; and cooking and eating comfort foods.  What's not to love?

By the way, have you planted your Michaelmas Daisies yet?  In America, we know them as Asters.

Image courtesy of local.garden.org

Have a lovely end of the month!

Denise

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

   

Never Forget

The week before Christmas 2005, our family went to New York City with my husband's parents.  We were determined to see Ground Zero while we were there.

This small fire station was directly across the street...

from these craters, which were all that remained of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

A small temporary memorial had been erected outside.

The extraordinary courage of those men (who were only human, after all) stays with me to this day.  They had been trained to fight fires, all of which could be deadly, but I can't imagine that they ever expected anything like this.  I know I certainly didn't.  But they all responded as they had been trained to do.

A group of people with an evil purpose tried to destroy our country that day.  They inflicted incredible pain and loss, and yet...we persevere.

I don't live in New York City, but I do live in the United States of America.  And I want to say "Thank You" to those heroes of September 11, 2001; in New York, on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, and in Washington, D.C.

I'll never forget.

Denise

Linking to Seasonal Sundays, hosted by The Tablescaper.

"Word Is..."

I'm one of those people who are fascinated by words, how about you?  I like some words because I enjoy the way they sound, and others for the context or meaning.  But I'm really fascinated with the derivation and history of words.  Cause ya'll know I love me some history :)

So, where to start when there are about a gazillion words out there to choose from?  I decided to start with September, and try to follow that pattern for each month; and after that, I'll have to come up with a different theme.  September just happens to be my birth month (and my sister's, too), and it has always been one of my favorite months of the year.  I love the gradual weather change from hot summer to early fall.  The autumnal equinox occurs (in the Northern Hemisphere) in September; this year it will be on September 23, at 9:04 a.m.

September is derived from the Latin word septem, meaning seventh, because in the Roman calendar, it was the seventh month.  The Gregorian calendar (which we use today) was introduced in 1582, where after September became the ninth month of the year.

Some words are just fun to say because they seem to roll off your tongue, like derivation, septem, autumnal, equinox, and Gregorian.  I know I'm quirky, but there you are :-)  More about September next week.

*You're invited -- if you enjoyed this post, please consider following me at http://houseatforestmanor.blogspot.com.  Thanks for stopping by!


Denise

Image Source -- Wikipedia

"September" from a 15th century calendar, or 'book of hours', the Tres Riches Heures (the Very Rich Hours)