Lavender and Strawberries

 Some of the best moments of summer can be found in a visit to one of the local farms.  I recently learned of a nearby lavender farm just a few miles from my home.  So I scooped up my mom and my cousin, who was still visiting and we took off to check it out.  We were about a week too early to be able to experience the full blooms, but the sights, sounds and scents were still heavenly!

 

 

The farm distills its own essential oils which are then used in some of the products that are sold in their little gift shop.

There are so many wonderful benefits from lavender.  Too many to count so we will save that topic for another time.

 

Our lovely tour of the farm was over but I knew that my favorite berry farm wasn't too far away.  Naturally, we had to stop by.

 

 

Strawberries in the front. Raspberries in the back. We could have gone out into the fields to pick our own, but I elected to just choose  a flat that was all ready to go.

Who can resist a ripe red strawberry fresh from the farm!

 

 

I went home and made a fresh pie that very afternoon! Yum! It's one of the best tastes of summer!

 

Lavender and strawberries! A divine and delicious combination, as well as a lovely summer memory.

 Adieu!

 

 

 

Mukilteo Lighthouse Park

 Tuesday morning I took my visiting cousin and my mother for a drive to see the Mukilteo Lighthouse and Park.  In our earlier years this was one of The Inspector and my favorite spots to bring a picnic with our children. They loved playing on the beach and wandering around the lighthouse.

It was one of those perfect summer mornings, sunny but not too hot.  My nearly 90 year old mother was content to relax on a bench and enjoy the beautiful views across the water to Whidbey Island  while my cousin and I did some exploration.

 

 

Located on the point between the Port of Edmonds and the Port of Everett, the lighthouse has been in continuous operation since 1906. Of course today, there are no longer any lighthouse keepers as everything is now fully automated. At one time this point was a winter camping site for the local Native Americans.  The name Mukilteo means "good camping ground". In 1855 a treaty was signed  between the Territorial Governor and about twenty-two Chieftains representing the tribes. The treaty ceded the land to the Territory in exchange for other lands as well as fishing and hunting rights in perpetuity.  A copy of the treaty can be found in the Lighthouse museum.  The museum was closed that day, but we were able to tour the lovely grounds around the buildings.

 

Views from the seawall and down to the beach. The waterway is  called Possession Sound and is part of the larger area known as Puget Sound.

 

 

It's always fun to watch the ferries sailing back and forth between Mukilteo and Whidbey Island.

 

When Captain John Vancouver arrive here in 1792 he named the point "Rose Point" because the hills were covered with wild pink roses. It was renamed Point Elliott about fifty years later.  However, there are still pink rugosa roses to be seen all throughout the area. 

 

Views from the pier.

 

 There is something so special about a lighthouse.  Hopefully, we can come back again very soon.

"Look to the Lighthouse of the Lord.

There is no fog so dense, no night so dark,

No gale so strong, no mariner so lost

but what it's beacon light can rescue."

Thomas S. Monson

 

Adieu!