Hello September

Hello September, I'm happy you're here -- my birthday month, and the start of one of my favorite seasons of the year.  Even though you can still be hot, you bring a subtle relief from the scorching humidity of July and August.  You bring the promise of a change of pace after the long days of summer.  When I was a child, I looked forward with such excitement to your first days of a new school year and all that it might hold.  New clothes, notebooks, and lunchboxes.  New teachers, classrooms, and new friends.

The roadside wildflowers are in bloom, 

It's Friday!

Hi there folks!  Have you had a good week?  The last two or three days have been beautiful here; the sun is out and the air feels fresh instead of heavy and humid.  Fall is on its way, and I feel rejuvenated.

October 2014

Living With History

My husband and I took a Beginner Digital Photography class yesterday at our local community college.  I've taken pictures with a digital camera for about five years now, but it's a point and shoot camera.  I was very comfortable with the point and shoot (too comfortable in fact); I felt like I could take some pretty good pictures with it, but they were never going to be as good as the photos Mr. Forest Manor takes with his DSLR camera.  I mentioned recently that Mr. FM got a new, even better DSLR camera, so I've decided that now is the time for me to learn to use his older camera.

My first pictures won't win any photography awards, but they weren't disasters either.

We're Alarmed!

Do you remember the episode of "Keeping Up Appearances" where Richard arranges to have a security system installed in the house for an anniversary gift to Hyacinth?  I thought it was a hoot.  :)  Anyway, Hyacinth had to brag to her neighbor, Elizabeth, and she said, "Elizabeth, I want you to be the first to know, I'm going to be alarmed.  Richard's going to alarm me for our anniversary."  Understandably, Elizabeth was a bit confused.  Silly, silly Hyacinth.

Well, I'm pretty sure we're not as pretentious as Hyacinth, but we've been alarmed here, too.  ;)  Before I go any further, this is not in any way a sponsored post.  Installing this system was something we did during my blog break, and I just wanted to share some of the details with you. 

I'm Still Around

Hi everyone!!  I'm still doing family things and working around the house right now.  I hadn't planned to take such an extended break, but I must say, it's good to spend (mostly) uninterrupted time with my husband, as well as seeing our parents and son when we can.  Life is too short, and we all know tomorrow is not promised to us.  I love all my family so much; I'm blessed to have them, and they've been so very good to us over the years.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Don't you think baseball is always more fun to watch in person than on TV?  Okay, maybe not if it's 100° outside and you're sitting right in the sun, but thankfully that wasn't the case here last night. It was actually 90° and we were in the shade.  ;)

I've Been Away

Greetings everyone!  How are you?  I've been away from blog land for a bit (almost three weeks actually).  Life has really kept me busy lately.  My dad was in the hospital for a few days last week.  Because of his serious health problems, life has become difficult and stressful for my parents.  They are handling things to the best of their abilities, but my sister and I still worry about them.  I don't say much about that here because I'm not really comfortable talking about it on my blog at the moment.  I know many of you have been through similar experiences, and you can probably relate.

My husband was on vacation last week, and we took our annual trip to the mountains near the end of the week.

Lake Santeetlah