Playing tourist

 This has been another busy month as we prepared for the hosting and entertainment of town guests, as well as the planning and organization of ourselves for our upcoming European trip.

Last Wednesday we drove down to the airport to pick up an old Navy buddy of my husband, The Investigator.  He and his wife had flown out from Florida to stay with us for a few days before taking an Alaskan Cruise up the Inside Passage.  Knowing that they had not been in the Northwest since the 70's we were glad to have the opportunity to give them a tour of the area before they caught their ship. 

So, on Thursday morning  after breakfast we all piled into the car and headed towards North Whidbey Island and Deception Pass.  We stopped in Mount Vernon along the way and took a stroll along the Skagit River waterfront before walking into town, and then into one of the old brick buildings which housed a book store specializing in old and rare out-of-print books There were numerous rooms and alcoves filled with floor to ceiling bookcases. I could have spent hours browsing in there.

Eventually. we dragged ourselves away and continued on up to Deception Pass.  It was still a bit foggy on the beach.

 

We discovered someone had been practicing their engineering skills.:)

After a while, we left the shore to go walking up the cliff side through trees covered in Spanish moss.

 

Looking out over the cliff, visibility was still pretty low.

A peek through the trees and fog to the Deception Pass Bridge.

After a few hours on the island the fog finally cleared, and we were able to walk out onto the bridge to admire the beautiful views before heading for home.

On Friday we stayed more local, driving down to Mukilteo Lighthouse Park to walk the grounds and watch the ferries.  Everything is always so beautifully maintained.

 

After leaving the park we drove into Everett for one last walk around one of the neighborhoods overlooking the harbor before going to dinner.

 

These flower baskets were right outside the waterfront restaurant where we had dinner, some of the last summer blooms of the season.

 We had hoped to walk along the boats in the harbor, but it started to rain. So we just headed for home after dinner and watched a movie. Yesterday we drove our friends into Seattle and dropped them off at their cruise ship. Now we are in a marathon race to finish all our packing as we will be flying out to Switzerland tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed our little Northwest Tour. See you in a few weeks!

Adieu!

 

 

Woodland Park Zoo

I am still working on the photo download problem with my blog.  I have managed to get a few pictures off of my phone.  However, since I could only get them to download one at a time and things kept freezing up, it has been a slow and tedious process. It has taken me a month to get this done. Hope you enjoy them. 

 

 It's been quite a number of years since I have visited the Woodland Park Zoo. I used to go quite often to the San Diego Zoo with my family when I was a kid growing up. It was always an adventure.  So when my daughter's family came out here for a three week visit we decided it would be fun to go with all the children and grandchildren to Woodland Park for the day.  

My youngest son and wife recently acquired a season pass just to have a nice place to spend a couple of hours walking when they were in the mood.  I could certainly see why. It's a beautifully designed park with wonderful pathways leading to the various natural looking animal exhibits.

I think my favorite place was in the butterfly exhibit, so many different kinds fluttering around. We had to be checked before we left the room to be sure no one had hitched a ride on our way out!

 

Of course, the best part of the whole day was being able to spend  it with family.

 

Now as Summer has drawn to a close and Fall begins to make its entrance I pray each of you have enjoyed some wonderful summer memories with your loved ones as well.

Adieu!

Blogger Woes

Hello all,

I have been trying to put together a post for the past several days.. Unfortunately, my photo's are not loading in spite of my best efforts which are rather pitifully inadequate.  I don't know if it's a blogger issue or a google issue or something else, but hopefully it won't take forever to get it figured out.

Meanwhile, I hope to find time to visit each of my blogging friends and add a comment from time to time.  Take care and I hope to be back soon.

May flowers that blossom in June

 "April showers bring May flowers that blossom in June".  Now, here we are in July already!

In early June it was good to see that the Iris bulbs we transplanted last fall made it safely through the chill of a late winter. Baloo the Bear came out of hibernation to welcome them in.

A walk through my mother's garden. "Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do...."

 

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Does anyone know what this flower is called?  It traveled from a neighbor's yard into my mother's garden. Even if it turns out to be a weed, I really like it.

For the most part, at my house I have been concentrating on the front courtyard planters and pots.  I love the Mediterranean look of  geraniums overflowing from pots surrounding the fountain and pond. I am amazed at how these Hosta plants have thrived in their planters. This is their third year and they are huge!

 We watched our 17 month old grandson a couple of weeks ago.  He was quite intrigued by the fountain.  I thought about adding some small goldfish for the grandchildren to feed and to look at.  Unfortunately, when I tried adding them a few years ago the raccoons kept coming to try to fish them out of the water.  They made quite a mess! I don't think I want to deal with that again. The orange lilies in the corner of the picture were a Mother's Day gift from our daughter a number of years ago. They keep coming back every year.  Such a treat!

The courtyard is just as beautiful at night as it is in the daytime. .

 

The lighted teapot is another Mother's Day gift from our daughter.  She usually gives me something for the garden each year.  I love the way the light reflects against the wall.  It's a wonderful place to spend a quiet summer evening. 

Of course it was anything but quiet two nights ago as the neighborhood celebrated The 4th of July.  The fireworks went on until after Midnight, but it was a glorious and joyful sight, even if it was "a bit" noisy!

 
Happy Birthday USA!

Adieu!