A Rare Sunny Morning…

My new header photo was taken at the Roozengaarde Gardens in Mt. Vernon in the state of Washington. When we heard we might have a few hours of sunshine on Tuesday, Dear and I zoomed up north about an hour from our home to see the very end of the tulip festival offerings. I’m first sharing the photos I took out in the few remaining fields of tulips.

The well planned garden and the borders of tulips in alphabetical order to help you know what you might want to order were still lovely to enjoy. I’ll be sharing photos from those areas next.

We had a warming up today which is much appreciated. We even were able to throw open a few windows to enjoy the fresh air.

Snow Geese and Barns…

When my sisters and I were in Mount Vernon, Washington to see the daffodils back in March we also were treated to a large invasion of Snow Geese. I just realized I never shared these photos and since there are some barns in the background in some of the shots I’ll link up to The Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveler.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Here’s a closer view of a barn in Mount Vernon that we drove by on a different weekend.

We are getting some fine sunny weather in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. There are predictions of it hitting 80 tomorrow. We are tempted to put up our patio covers and get the patio furniture out. I had a good week of Zumba at the gym and I’m happy to say my muscles aren’t screaming at me anymore. On Saturday we worked in the yard and I got some new shrubs planted. Later my son and I had a fun evening watching the Seattle Sounders beat Philadelphia Union 2-1. It’s always more fun to win. Quote of the night from coach Zigi: “You can’t score your second one until you get your first one … It was a big weight off his shoulder.”

Hope you all have a good week and that your tax returns are mailed or electronically submitted!

Our Jaunt…

…a short excursion or journey for pleasure.

Last Saturday the Bagdanov sisters had a jaunt in Washington state that took in Mt. Vernon, La Conner, Deception Pass, Coupeville, and Langley leaving the island by ferry back to the mainland in Mukilteo. Here are some photos of what we saw.

Daffodil Fields in Mount Vernon, Washington. Soon these fields will be full of tulips!

The Swinomish channel in La Conner.

Deception Pass Bridge between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island.

Deception Pass State park on Whidbey Island.

Saratoga Passage and Penn Cove in Coupeville on Whidbey Island where Penn Cove Mussels are famous.

Saratoga Passage in Langley on Whidbey Island.

Ready for our trip from Clinton on Whidbey Island to Mukilteo on the mainland.

On the mainland we stopped for dinner in Millcreek before we headed home to put our feet up!

Lots of posts about our sister weekend but they don’t happen very often and I have the need to document our time together. Treasured times at treasured locations in the state of Washington.

Linking up to Tuesday’s Treasures with Tom at The Backroads Traveler and J is for Jaunt with ABC Wednesday with Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger with the ABC Team.

A Sneak Peek…

…into part of our sisters weekend. I’ll share more later because we’re still cracking each other up…

My prayers were answered for a nice day on Saturday for our major tour day! Thank you Lord!

I’ll be back in my blogging saddle on Wednesday!

Barns, Daffodils and Tulips!

A little road trip to meet up with my girlfriends from Canada to see the tulips and daffodil fields in Mount Vernon yielded an added photo op with barns in the distance, emphasis on in the distance. I’m linking up to the Barn Collective #25 at Rose Street Reflections. Thank you Amy!

Hope you didn’t have to squint too hard to spot the barns! Next time I’ll show the ones I got closer to without any flowers in the foreground!

Have a wonderful Easter Week everyone!

The Barn Collective

Mount Vernon, Washington (Western Washington)

Somewhere between Addy and Colville, Washington. (Eastern Washington)

Barns from the West and East side of the Cascades in the state of Washington.

Linking to The Barn Collective hosted by Amy from Rose Street Reflections. Thank you Amy!

X is for…

So here we are at good ole X in the alphabet. This is a letter for ABC Wednesday that takes a little creativity. Thank you to the ABC team for managing this meme and to Denise Nesbitt the founder.

Did you know that X stands for Christ and Cross and other stuff, too?

At Easter I make a Russian sweet cheese spread called Seernaya Paska that we spread on Russian Easter Bread that is called Paska by a lot of people and Kulich by my Russian relatives. In the Russian alphabet X is the first letter in Christ. We decorate the sweet cheese spread with an X and a B. X for Christ and B for arose/risen. Christ is Risen.

If you are a regular on my blog you know I like to wander around very old cemeteries. There are always a great variety of crosses to photograph. Here are a couple.

Windmills have a natural X visible from the formation of their rotor blades.

This windmill is located at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.

This Windmill is located at Roozengaarde Tulip Garden in Mount Vernon Washington State.

That’s it for my offerings on the letter X. I’ll be curious to come around and see what you found for this challenging letter.

Summer has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. I’m still watching all the World Cup Soccer I can fit in. Our bathroom renovation is progressing. Never a dull moment at this old house. Someone mentioned and I’m in agreement that we don’t seem to have ordinary weeks or days anymore. I’ll have to cling to the verse in the Bible that says…

“This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Good Fences

Sometimes you just need a good meme to set your mind at ease.

This week I’m joining

The Run Around Ranch Report for Good Fences #5.

Some of these photos will look familiar to some of you but these views only come once a year and they are worth repeating. These were taken on April 7th at the Roozengaarde Display Garden in Mount Vernon, Washington state. (not to be confused with the Mt. Vernon estate of President Washington!)

If you’d like to see more tulips and tulip fields scroll down for my other posts about our trip to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April.

Roozengaarde Display Garden

Besides the great experience of strolling through the tulip fields during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival there are garden options for touring, also. These are some shots from the Roozengarde Display Garden.

After we were done at the tulip fields and gardens we drove a short distance to the picturesque town of LaConner for lunch at Seeds Restaurant. We also did a little shopping at Re- Feather Your Nest right next store to Seeds. That’s where I bought this little sign…

This is my last post from our tulip excursion this year. It really is something that I enjoy taking the time to see every year. As I said before, if you are ever in the Seattle area in April this would be a worthwhile side trip.

Meanwhile back at ~~the ranch~~ this old house…

Suitcases line the entryway. Piles of clothes neatly folded to go into said suitcases are on our bedroom floors. Emails are exchanged back and forth about possible meet ups with blogger friends along the highways and byways. Tears pool up from the stress of planning so much for the 25 days I’ll be gone from this old house. I don’t mistake those tears for anything but what they are…my body and mind are on overload. My heart is content. I’m looking forward to the unexpected traveling mercies from my loving God along the way and the joy of new sights and sounds. I do wish I had a medium sized suitcase instead of just small and large.

What’s on your mind?

In the Pink!

I’ve got one more post from our trip to the tulip festival this year.

Meanwhile at this old house we are busy busy getting ready for Easter.

Today is Maundy Thursday—the Thursday before Easter. Christians around the world and across many denominations take time on this day to remember the Last Supper, when Jesus and his disciples dined together for the last time before his death.

The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for commandment (mandatum), which Jesus talked about when he told his disciples that he was leaving them “a new commandment,” that they “love one another.”

As a reminder of this commandment, some churches hold foot washing ceremonies on the Thursday of Holy Week. If you’ve never been a part of a foot washing ceremony, it’s an incredibly humbling activity—one can imagine how difficult it would have been for the disciples to allow Jesus to humble himself in this way.

ht: Bible Gateway

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Mount Vernon Washington State