April Days

Hello everyone -- I hope you had a good weekend!  It's been a few weeks since I've posted because we have been busy.  We had a nice Easter, and I hope you did, too.  We enjoyed Easter lunch at my in-laws' house, and Hal's maternal uncle was there with us, too.  It was so nice to see everyone.  We had a Honeybaked Ham, creamed corn, green beans, a gelatin salad, rolls, and deviled eggs.  I made a lemon loaf pound cake for dessert, and it seemed to be a big hit.     

   

What I've Been Reading

Hi everyone!  I meant to do a book post long before now, but better late than never.  These are some recent reads, as well as a few that I read last year.     

      

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,   

   

Hello Spring and a Recipe

Our first few days of spring have been cold ones -- 26° F yesterday morning and only in the 40's throughout the day.  Brrrr!  Things are looking green and flowers are blooming, but it's still cold.  However, if our weather forecast is to be believed, the temps. will reach 80° on Friday.  Seriously?!  Yesterday, while talking with my mom, I reminded her it was the first day of spring, and "Friday is the first day of summer," I said.  😁  Welcome to North Carolina.   
Did you have a fun St. Patrick's Day?  We ate at Hal's parents' house on Friday evening; we had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots, rye bread, and an Irish apple cake I made for dessert.  Have you seen this recipe?  It's all over the internet, and I finally decided to try it.  I'm sharing the recipe with you, and if you like apples, it would be good any time of the year, not just for St. Patrick's Day.   

The Shortest Month

Hello Friends!!  Happy Valentine's Day to you all; I hope you've had a good day.  I like what my friend Lorrie, at Fabric Paper Thread, says in her post today -- that she is of the firm belief love should be celebrated every day.  What a great sentiment.   I try to say, "I love you" to the people I love as often as possible.  Our family is pretty good about that, on the whole.  I don't treat Valentine's Day as a day exclusively about romantic love, but it's still nice to celebrate romance now and then.   

Valentine's Tablescape 2020   

Happy 2023

A new year has begun -- ready or not.  I remember how glad we all were to usher 2020 out the door, and then 2021 was not a whole lot better, as I recall.  Turns out that 2022 was not the best of years, either.  Yet, we're still here, and I'm thankful for that.     I hope you all had a good Christmas holiday; we did here at Forest Manor.  I'll share a few pictures from our Christmas decorations (for posterity).  😉  I'll try to show a few touches that were different this Christmas, since I mostly decorate the same way every year.  When reviewing Christmas 2022, there were a lot of small things that made me happy, and the small things are sometimes the best.   

Merry Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas Everyone!!     

   

From our house to yours...