Things are cooling down and the breezes are lovely. When pulling a few weeds today around the lavender bushes the scent was wonderful.
Time will tell if I am able to steal away to some lavender farms this year later in July.
Today I’m pulling out the 4th of July decorations and doing the rest of the shopping for our menu. Dear will be smoking the meat and our guests will be bringing along some dishes to share. What are your plans for the 4th?
“Ladies fair, I bring to you
lavender with spikes of blue;
sweeter plant was never found
growing on our English ground.”
Caryl Battersby
Appropriate quote as we end the Olympics in London. I wasn’t able to make it to the lavender festival this year but I do have 3 lavender bushes in my yard. I finally went out and cut some to enjoy inside. We never know what a day holds let alone a year. We make plans and then we wait and see what the Lord’s will is.
This photo was taken at the Sequim Lavender Festival in 2010
Our son Josh directed a junior high camp this past week at Lakeside Bible Camp. He came home from camp on Saturday. On Sunday we were able to have dinner with Josh and Laura and it was good to get the first hand report on how the week went. Such a fragile time for youth in this age group. It’s great to hear good reports about these junior highers and the help they got in their struggles.
I’m looking at making plans to fly to Southern California in September to visit my folks and see as many loved ones as I can. I’m learning more and more that we make plans but we can’t hold on to those plans too tightly. I’m getting more flexible in my older years and learning to go with the flow of life. We had a weekend filled with real good news and very sad news. That’s life isn’t it? Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. We have been rejoicing and mourning.
Hope that you are finding joy in the midst of life!
It’s not very often that I end up in a photo because I’m usually the one snapping away. The third weekend in July my bloggy friend Jill came to spend a few days with us. In the course of our sight seeing in Seattle and at the Lavender Festival in Sequim she had her camera clicking even more than mine was clicking. I borrowed some of the photos she took and created the following mosaics…
I’ll start with a mosaic featuring the photographer Jill and photos she took of our daughter Katie. I took the photo of Jill and Katie.
On Jill’s last night with us we prepared dinner at home. Dear barbecued Sockeye Salmon and I roasted vegetables and tossed a salad. The bartender was in the kitchen shaking up some nice cocktails for us, too.
Thanks Jill for sharing your photos with me.
Linking to Mosaic Monday with Mary at Little Red House.
Time to join in with Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday and we are on the letter P.
You might have thought my Lavender Festival shots were finished but not so. Today is perfect timing to share photos from Purple Haze Lavender Farm.
The Lavender Festival in Sequim Washington is always held the 3rd weekend in July.
This year because of our strange weather everything was a bit behind. The lavender was not as robust and full as it was last year. Here are two photos from last year just so you get the picture…
The next photo is approximately the same spot taken this year…
The lavender festival is a wonderful event to experience and if you are ever in Washington State the 3rd weekend in July you should consider it…
I hope to get around soon to see what inspired the rest of you with the letter P!
Katie spotted this farm and the sign for a free bundle of lavender for those with a Military I.D. so she made her mental navigating note for us to return after the farms opened to visitors.
Katie wanted a bouquet with a few of all the different varieties of lavender. The hardest part of gathering the lavender was dodging the bees who were enjoying the lavender. Katie has always had a fear of buzzing insects that can bite!
We really enjoyed the owners of this farm. They were so friendly and ready to go out of their way to explain lavender to their guests. Jill got a good explanation of culinary lavender compared to lavender with a strong camphor odor and slightly bitter. If you want culinary lavender buy the augustfolia which has a light sweet smell.
This farm had some rows of pink lavender, too.
When we went into the lavender store at Creekside to show Katie’s military I.D. the lady of the farm made us cry by tearing up and thanking Katie when my daughter told her that Andrew was serving in Afghanistan. Thankfully she had a box of tissue handy…
Katie’s bouquet that she got for free with her military I.D.
Wednesday is a big soccer day in Seattle. The English Premier League’s Manchester United is visiting and having a friendly match against our own Seattle Sounders. Season Ticket holders for the Sounders got a ticket for this game. I’m meeting up with my son and daughter in law to attend the game. I hope to get some photos of Wayne Rooney, Chicharito and others!
Hope your week is going well!
Here’s proof that things are taking a lot longer to bloom this year…
These photos were taken on July 9, 2010. Hydrangeas, and lavender blooming nicely and apples nice and round. This next mosaic are photos I took today July 10, 2011.
Just one bloom on my hydrangea bush. We have maybe a total of 12 apples on our tree and they all look a bit deformed. The lavender is just starting to show some purple.
Here are other slow bloomers this year…
Blueberries still green…
Lilie’s being reluctant to burst open.
Speaking of late bloomers did anyone watch the U.S.A. vs. Brazil Women’s World Cup Soccer game today? They kept me guessing but late into overtime during 3 added minutes Megan Rapinoe delivered a beautiful ball into the box and Abby Wambach headed it in to tie up the game. The women went on to win the game in penalty kicks! What a game.
And if that wasn’t enough soccer excitement for me our own Sounders beat our arch rivals the Portland Timbers in a back and forth game where we came out one goal ahead! We beat them 3-2. You should have heard the whooping and hollering in my family room today! Yes soccer is my favorite sport…
I’m joining Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.
The Friday before my company arrived I headed out early all by myself to the Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington. Sequim is pronounced Skwim, one syllable. I crossed the Sound on a ferry from Edmonds to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. It took me an hour to drive to Sequim from the ferry landing. I crossed another body of water, the Hood Canal, to the Olympic Peninsula and finally arrived in Sequim which sits along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Dungeness Spit is close by which boasts home to the very popular Dungeness Crab. This part of the Olympic Peninsula has perfect weather to grow lavender and every year the third weekend of July is set aside for the Lavender Festival.
The first farm I stopped at was Jardin du Soleil. I arrived here before the official opening but was still welcomed to stroll about the farm.
“ladies fair, I bring to you
lavender with spikes of blue;
sweeter plant was never found
growing on our english ground.”
Caryl Battersby
The second farm I stopped at was Purple Haze Lavender Farm. This one was my favorite.
“lavender, sweet lavender;
come and buy my lavender,
hide it in your trousseau, lady fair.
Let its lovely fragrance flow
Over you from head to toe,
lightening on your eyes, your cheek, your hair.”
Cumberkand Clark Flower Song Book 1929
“here’s your sweet lavender
sixteen sprigs a penny
that you’ll find my ladies
will smell as sweet as any”
Lavender Sellers’s Cry, London England CA 1900
Each farm had food vendors offering some good eats and this farm even had some creative hard drinks for sale. I tried one and some of you will be able to guess which one I tried.
There were other flowers besides lavender to enjoy.
Before I headed to 2 more farms on my way back home I stopped at the street fair for a pulled pork sandwich and while I ate I listened to Cisco, a Northwest gardening expert.
Cedarbrook Lavender and Herb Farm was in a nice setting and has a Garden Cafe Restaurant on the premises.
Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm was the last farm I stopped at. It was right on the highway and was my least favorite. There were lots of interesting things to see here besides lavender, though, like this little one…
Every farm had a U-Pick section of their farm where you could come away with a nice bouquet of lavender for $5.
It really is worth the trip to enjoy this heady lavender experience if you ever find yourself in Washington the third weekend in July!
I’m adding this to Outdoor Wednesday with Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. Click on her link to see the Outdoors around the world.
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
I’ll be stepping away from my computer room which will be occupied with guests for the next two weeks. Can’t promise any posts or visits but I’ve been known to change my plans. If you don’t see anything new around here don’t worry, I’ll be back full swing in August!
This shot was taken at the Lavender Festival in Sequim on Friday. When I get back to posting I’ll share some photos from the lavender farms that I visited. Here’s a sneak peek.
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night,
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, adieu,
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu.
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
Lavender and Clement Robinson
(Handefull of Pleasant Delites, 1584)
Lavender is for lovers true,
Which evermore be faine;
Desiring always for to have
Some pleasure for their paine:
And when that they obtained have
The love that they require,
Then have they all their perfect joie,
And quenched is the fire.
Next weekend is the Lavender Festival in Sequim on the Kitsap Penninsula. I’m thinking about going and checking out the fields early on Friday with hopes of taking our summer visitors there the week after the festival. I’ve never been and would like to know what to expect before I haul a car full of visitors over there. I’d also like to inquire about how long the fields are full before they are cut back.
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
It’s time for Outdoor Wednesday with Susan at The Southern Daydreamer. I’ve been enjoying my June blooms in the yard.
The lavender is blooming which makes weeding in the beds an olfactory delight!
Lovely splashes of crimson are welcome in the planter. This rose is so prolific and I cut it back aggressively wondering if it will bloom again…and it does.
Last but not least my new addition this year a Sarah Bernhardt Peony which has stolen my heart. I will be planting more Peonies next year!
What’s blooming in your yard? We are so happy here in Western Washington to be enjoying some nice sunny days. We still have promises of more rain coming but we’ll enjoy the sun while it lingers and entertains us!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 