Brookgreen Gardens, Part Two

I have some more pictures to share with you from Brookgreen Gardens today.  You can see my earlier post from February Here.  Brookgreen Gardens is located in Georgetown County, South Carolina.  As I noted previously, these public gardens are situated on a 9,100-acre property which was formerly four separate rice plantations.  Brookgreen Gardens includes a Lowcountry Zoo, a self-guided history and nature walking trail, a Butterfly House (opened in Spring 2011), and a 50-acre sculpture garden.  So far, we've only toured the Sculpture Gardens; there's just so much to see and take in.

We were there the last weekend of March, so there were lots of spring bulbs in bloom.

Stratford-upon-Avon -- England Trip, Part Three

The Season Three finale of Downton Abbey will air tomorrow night here in the U.S.  With that thought in mind, I thought I'd share some more of our trip to England; so today we'll visit Stratford-upon-Avon, in south Warwickshire, England. 

A Trip to England, 1999 -- Part Two

Hi Folks!  Did you all enjoy Downton Abbey Sunday night?  I know lots of you were planning on watching the Season Three opener; we certainly did at our house.

Which brings me to the topic for this post -- our trip to England in 1999.  Back in the summer, I wrote about the London part of our trip, and you can read about our visit to Stratford-upon-Avon, as well.  We also went to Ireland at that time, and I've done two posts on that part of the trip.  You can find those Here and Here.  Since I'm still undecorating and putting away Christmas things, now is a good time to do a travel post.

We basically had one full weekend in England, plus the following Monday through Friday afternoon.  My husband had to work the Monday through Thursday that we were there, but we still managed to do some sightseeing.  We took the train to London on the Saturday, and we drove to Stratford upon Avon on Sunday.  In addition, the owner of the country hotel where we stayed kindly offered to drive me to a nearby town one day to see some sights.  Warning:  This post is photo heavy, folks.

I enjoyed seeing London (a whirlwind visit, to be sure), but without a doubt my favorite part of England was the countryside and the small villages.  We spent seven days and nights at the Bellows Mill, in Bedfordshire, just outside the small town of Dunstable.

Winter Concert at UNCG

Hi everyone!  Can you believe it's December?  I like it when Thanksgiving falls a week earlier on the calendar because it gives us an extra week between the two holidays to prepare for Christmas.  I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's Christmas posts so far; I've seen some wonderful Advent wreaths this week as we enter into this holy season.

I don't have a Christmas post for you today.  I'm still decorating, and I'll have some pictures to show very soon.  In the meantime, I'm sharing some pictures of our son's winter band concert yesterday evening at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

A Mountain Treasure -- Church of the Fresco

Autumn is so beautiful -- and so fleeting.  Just last weekend we were out enjoying the colorful leaves and gorgeous mountain views; and now, this evening, the wind has whipped up and is blowing the leaves off the trees.  I'm not ready for them to be gone yet; fall is our favorite time of the year here at Forest Manor. Somehow, it always goes by much too fast.

I think that winter can be beautiful too, with the bare, lacy branches of the trees stretched across the sky.  But for now, I'm celebrating autumn, and I hope all the leaves won't get blown down just yet.

In the mountains of North Carolina, in the small town of Glendale Springs, stands this tiny wooden church.  Holy Episcopal Church was built in Glendale Springs in 1901, and is now called Holy Trinity Church of the Fresco.

Let's Go To London!

In the spirit of the 2012 Olympic Games, I'm introducing a new Olympic event.  It's called the Touring/Sightseeing/Eating/Shopping-in-London event.  I'm not very athletic, but I think this is one "sporting event" that I could medal in!  I've been training for quite a while now, and I'm ready to compete.  :)

Okay, actually, I'm ready in spirit, but the economy and the value of the dollar just aren't cooperating.  So, in addition to watching the games on the telly, I've pulled out my pictures from our trip to England in 1999 and I'm re-living the experience (as best I can remember it, that is).  It's amazing how much you forget after 13 years.  This is Part One of my travel series on England.  You can click on the links to see Part Two and Part Three.

A lot of things have changed since 1999, to be sure.  A new princess, the Chunnel, and a new skyscraper in London (the tallest in Europe standing 1,016 feet high).  But it's still fun to look back at our time there.  We were in England for a week, but we only spent one day in London.  My husband was there on a project for work, so we stayed in a small village near his company facility.  I still feel so fortunate that I was able to tag along with him and see the sights.

Historic Reynolda Gardens

Last month I posted pictures of some Snowdrops and Daffodils that I photographed in Reynolda Gardens last year. I took those pictures exactly a year ago this week. You can see them HERE.

I want to share with you the rest of the pictures I took that day. Reynolda House and Gardens are about 20 minutes from where we live. There wasn't a whole lot in bloom at that time (late February), but you can still get an idea of the style and layout of the gardens.  This is a photo-intensive post, my friends.  There were so many pretty things to see, and I couldn't bear to leave any of the pictures out.

Pink flowered Cherry trees are just bursting into bloom...

...

...while the Saucer Magnolias' pink buds are still closed.

I love this rich, vibrant shade of pink. 

Cheerful,  sunny, yellow daffodils.

I'm pretty sure this is Candytuft --

White Pansies with yellow centers...

More Saucer Magnolias.

 

 

Someone's soaking up the sun.  :)

The pictures below show the 1913 Lord and Burnham greenhouse and conservatory, which I think is an integral part of these gardens.  These pictures don't do this building justice; it really is beautiful.

This is still a working greenhouse.  Some examples of what they do here are gardening classes taught by local Master Gardeners for adults, as well as programs for school students.  In the spring of this year, the gardens will offer a rose care clinic, and the greenhouse will have a tomato plant sale offering hard-to-find heirloom varieties.  In addition, every spring the Friends of Reynolda Gardens host a spring plant sale of specialty annuals and perrennials, including herbs and vegetables.

Bunches of daffodils waiting to bloom.

You can see the manor house through the trees in the distance.  I'll post on that later.

Do you see the cottage in the background of this picture?  It reminds me of a woodcutter's cottage in a children's fairytale.

Here's a closer view.  I love the shape of the roof and the hinges on the door.

Precious Snowdrops...

 

 

...and some holly berries to remind us of winter.

I'll leave you to enjoy the remaining images.

It's really not hard to imagine I've just taken a stroll through the gardens of Downton Abbey.  Later in the spring, there will be Roses, Azaleas, Dogwoods, Redbuds, and English Bluebells blooming here.  A beautiful place to spend an afternoon.

If you're interested, you can read more about the history of Reynolda Gardens HERE.  Reynolda House was built in 1917, and the gardens date back to that same time period.

Thank you for your visit, and I'm joining the following:  Potpourri Friday, hosted by Honey at 2805, Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, and Seasonal Sundays, hosted by the Tablescaper.  Thank you, ladies, for hosting!

Denise