Category Archives: Beauty

Finding Beauty ~ I will Sing…

I took these photos at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens last week. Lavender and purple seemed to be the winning colors that were blooming at this time.

The plush green of the Japanese Garden was so calming and refreshing. Spring is just so lush around here. There are benefits to getting a lot of rain. All this beauty makes me want to smile a lot and to sing. You might even catch me talking in song lyrics. Don’t be alarmed!

…All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings…

Excerpt from All Things Bright and Beautiful

Words: Cecil F. Alexander

Footnote: I won’t be participating in weekly memes due to several key events happening around the homestead and in South Africa! World cup begins on Friday and I’ll be trying to catch every match and probably singing Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole! This is also a busy family weekend because of visitors, graduation, and kayaking. If the whales attack us while we are kayaking I’ll have my sister write a post so you’ll know where I disappeared to.

So until I post again…Go U.S.A.!!

Finding Beauty…

 

Short and sweet this week. This shot was one of many I took last Saturday at the Japanese Gardens in Seattle.

Hope you found some beauty in your world this week. Visit Claudia at Dipity Road to see more beauty. She has lots of sweet bunnies to show you…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Finding Beauty ~ Pleasanton, California

Click on the badge above to join in the beauty with Claudia at Dipity Road.

We traveled 1200 miles over 3 days last weekend and we found lots of beauty along the way. We traveled from Camarillo, California north along Highway 101 stopping in Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Gilroy, and then for our first overnight in Pleasanton, California.

 

Main Street in Pleasanton was a nice street with lots of great shops, wine tasting rooms and restaurants. The rain that fell on us for much of our journey subsided when we arrived in Pleasanton so we had a very nice walk before dinner. Our hotel was located on Main Street and I’ll publish a post about it soon.

 

This Veterans Memorial Building really stood out against the blue sky and clouds.

 

 

They changed the original verse from the Bible to read “for his country” instead of  “for his friends”. I’m including more of the context of this passage with the verses that follow. These are from the King James Version of the Bible.

John 15: 13-17

13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Thank you to Claudia for hosting “Finding Beauty” and I do hope you all have a beautiful Friday!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Finding Beauty ~ Fresh Flowers…

Time to visit Claudia at Dipity Road to join in on Finding Beauty on Friday.

Just click on the badge above!

I love fresh flowers. They always stand out and brighten a room. They don’t have to be expensive, either. I’ve been eyeing the daffodils that are showing up at Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores this week. I will put off getting a bunch until I arrive in Seattle for a 10 day visit next week. I dare you not to smile when you see a bunch of daffodils!

 

Daffodils

by William Wordsworth

I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Webbed Feet?

It’s time for Finding Beauty on Friday hosted by Claudia at Dipity Road

 

Aren’t the feathers on this duck beautiful?

~There are a lot of people here in Southern California that are checking to see if they are developing webbed feet. The storms that have blown through the Southland over the last few days are causing lots of havoc and closed roads and evacuations due to fast moving water or standing water or mud slides. We are all ready for a dry day…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Finding Beauty ~ Look Up!

 

It’s time to join Claudia at Dippity Road for Finding Beauty.

My husband was out barbecuing on Tuesday night and called me out to our little front patio to check out the great sky! Little puffs of clouds covered the sky around our condominium complex. I love it when all I have to do is step out my front door and see something as delightful as this!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Gardens of The World in Thousand Oaks, California ~

On Tuesday morning I stopped by Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks, California. The Gardens of the World are privately owned and operated by the Hogan Family Foundation. There’s a Japanese Garden, French Garden, English Perennial & Rose Garden, and Italian Garden.

 

I walked in and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. First of all I was treated to Wisteria growing on their entry gates! I had a quick stroll through the free garden. On Wednesday I returned to the Garden with Willow after we had Tea together at a great new Tea Room in Thousand Oaks (post to follow soon) and it is really hard to choose what photos to show from this wonderful place.

 

After the Wisteria we were treated to these pink beauties.

 

The walkways through the different themed sections of the garden were inviting.

 

The water features were dramatic.

 

This was the majestic bamboo in the Japanese Garden Section.

 

You walked through a Olive tree lined path to the Mission courtyard with the outer walls filled with Bougainvillea

 

The Mission Courtyard is an authentic Mission Courtyard. This courtyard features murals of the 21 remaining missions painted by local artists.

This is an example of one of the murals.

The fragrance in this courtyard was amazing from the 4 orange trees whose blossoms were in full bloom. Oh so lovely.

 

The rose garden was blooming and I got some close-ups

 

These were just a few of the beauties.

 

 

 

 

There were other beauties besides roses.

It was well worth the trip here and I think we probably picked the best time of the year to visit.

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.
e. e. cummings

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!