Tiptoeing Hodgepodge

Jo From This Side of the Pond is back this week a new set of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions!

1. What puts a spring in your step these days?

Getting small and large tasks accomplished.

2. April 2nd was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Did you celebrate? Do you like PB and J? If so how do you like yours? What’s your favorite kind of jelly?

No peanut butter celebrations here in the past week. Yum and yes to PB and J. Toast with peanut butter and honey is a favorite. When enjoying PB with jam give me raspberry or strawberry please.

3. What’s a memory you associate with spring flowers?

The Skagit Valley Tulip festival in Washington State and visiting Roozengaarde farm and garden in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Skagit is the county where you find the towns that grow tulips in abundance. We’ve enjoyed tulip farms and tulips in Mt. Vernon and La Conner.

4. Three things on your spring bucket list? Do you have a spring bucket list? If not pretend you do.

Drop some pounds.
Travel over to the ‘coast’.
Start mowing the lawn again.

5. One place you will travel this spring? (It might be Europe or it might be the grocery store)

Waiting on our passports which needed renewing so no out of country trips this Spring. We will for sure travel south to Spokane for shopping at the big box stores. Hopefully (see #4) we will get a trip to the other side of the Cascades on the books.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of the tulip festival…

You don’t have to go all the way to Amsterdam to enjoy tulips galore.

Roozengaarde Tulip Farm

On the letter R and let’s go back to remember better days when we could schlep about the muddy tulip fields during the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The Tulip festival of 2020 had to be cancelled and the only way to see the Roozengaarde Garden is by a virtual tour.

Our very first visit to the tulip fields in Mount Vernon was a brief one in 1989.

This was in the late 90’s when my folks visited us in April and Katie was at least 10 years older. These photos were taken in the Roozengaarde Farm Garden.

We celebrated my mom’s birthday while they were here so we know they were here before and after April 8th.

The first time I met some of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook face to face was during the tulip festival in 2010.

That was the beginning of a incredible adventure.

In 2014 Katie and I visited the Roozengaarde again before she moved back to Jacksonville, North Carolina.

In 2015 as many of the Mennonite Girls who could, traveled down into the USA to meet me at Roozengaarde.

In 2018 we had a very muddy windy schlep through the fields with my sister, daughter and DIL.

We don’t live on the “Coast” anymore so a quick trip up to the tulip fields and to Roozengaarde Gardens is not easy anymore. I have lots of good memories and photos to remember.

There’s a Hole in My Bucket Hodgepodge

1. Three things on your spring bucket list? If you don’t have an actual list that’s fine, pretend you do.

Sell our home 2. Buy a new home 3. Be moved into our new home by the time Spring is over. This is my reality bucket list. Any other time in life it would be filled with things like travel here and travel there…

2. Where do you find rest? What restores your soul? When was the last time you did whatever it was you answered here?

Going to church on Sunday restores my soul, especially communion Sundays. I also need a day in between very busy days to have no agenda. All this moving crunch has messed with my soul restoration time but…it is well with my soul nevertheless.

3. April is National Celery Month. Who knew? Do you like celery? What’s your favorite dish made with celery? On a veggie and dip platter which would you reach for first-carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumbers or cherry tomatoes?

Celery is okay especially with peanut butter spread on it. A Bloody Mary with a celery stalk in it is good, too. My first go to on a veggie tray would be cucumbers. Mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions) is a great base for lots of dishes.

4. I read here eight things to do before 8 am to make your day less hectic-Start one load of laundry, drink water, empty the dishwasher, read your Bible, know what you’re having for dinner, get dressed, brain dump (two lists-one what you’re thankful for and one what’s weighing on your mind), and after the brain dump make your to-list for the day

How many of these are you currently doing? Which one do you think would help the most if you added it to your early morning routine?

I like this list of things to do but for a retired person this doesn’t have to be done by 8. I think if I do this list by 9 or 10 am it would be sweet! And because we are retired some of the things on the list aren’t critical like starting a load of laundry.

5. Describe the view from your window.

This is the view from my laptop spot on my family room couch.

Patio covers up and my patio furniture all set out with my privacy fence in the background. Leaves beginning to appear on the huge maple that looms above my patio covers. Sweet bleeding hearts blooming in a container just outside our “french doors” that exit to our deck.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m apologizing ahead of time for not visiting other hodgepodge posts in a timely fashion. Today is our outdoor work day to get the house ready for open houses before we hightail it out of here to Eastern Washington on Thursday. I mow, Dear weed wacks. So far we only have one house to look at in Colville on this trip. We are hoping for more houses to come on the market that we look forward to seeing. Time will tell. What’s great is that we get to see and enjoy our eastern Washington kids including dear little Addy May while we are in Colville. It’s been a while…

Spring is finally blooming here in our yard and in western Washington in general. How’s Spring doing in your corner?

Linking up to Hodgepodge Wednesday with Jo at From This Side of the Pond. She asks the questions and we answer them.

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.

Tulips Galore

If standing in fields of tulips is a dream of yours you really need to put a trip to the state of Washington in April on your bucket list. It’s way more affordable to travel to Washington than Amsterdam. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is outstanding and never disappoints. Mount Vernon is 60 miles north of Seattle with easy access just off Interstate 5.

I’m linking up to Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper today!

I’m breaking up my tulip posts by color and I’ll also include one post with photos from the world class gardens at RoozenGaarde.

Katie out standing in her field. (Sorry couldn’t resist!) Some years I jump in my car and head to the fields all by my lonesome. It was fun to have a traveling companion this year. After we tromped around we went to lunch in the nearby town of La Conner.

More rows of different colored tulips to come soon. Here’s a hint of the colors to come.

We’ve had a very productive few days at this old house. We took Katie and Andrew’s car in to get a good overhaul so it’s safe for our road trip. We had a bathroom consultant in to give us a bid on gutting and remodeling our main floor bathroom. I managed to mow the lawn while Dear reorganized our garage to work more efficiently. We had a barbecue with Josh and Laura joining us to watch the Sounder’s Soccer game on Saturday evening. We came from behind and beat F.C. Dallas, yippee. Church on Sunday morning helped set our minds right as we get ready for Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Now we are relaxing. I’m going into this week with the following prayer…

O gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate on you,
and a life to proclaim you;
through the power of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(St. Benedict c.480-547)

Inside a Tulip…

Donna’s personal Photo challenge this month is Close-Up/Macro. I just happened to take some photos of the inside of the tulips my daughter and I bought at Roozengaarde Tulip Farms in Mt. Vernon, Washington and decided to join in the fun. The Skagit Valley Tulip festival is on during the month of April.

We were truly in awe of the details of God’s creation in these tulips. The color blue inside this one was such a sweet surprise. My daughter pointed it out to me and I grabbed my camera. We bought 4 bunches of tulips and got a 5th bunch free, 5 bunches for $20.

I have to also add one I took of my apple blossoms yesterday at dusk.

I used my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 on the intelligent auto setting.

Hope to get around and see everyone’s photos between mowing the lawn and barbecuing today.

M is for Mt. Vernon…

“Mount Vernon sits at the center of Skagit County, a true slice of Pacific Northwest heaven located halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. About 25 miles wide and 95 miles long, some of Washington’s most scenic and pristine landscape is found in the Upper Skagit’s North Cascades National Park. From there the land flows like the Skagit River through nutrient-rich farmland to the shores of the Salish Sea.”

In April people from around the world descend on Mount Vernon and the Skagit Valley for it’s annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Here are some photos to show you why. My daughter Katie and I headed north form our house to see the blooms on Monday. We enjoyed a wonderful 70 degree day and got a little sunburned as we tiptoed through the tulips!

It’s best to wear mud boots when you go to the tulip fields!

Beautiful daffodils bloom here, too.

Later this week I’ll be posting more of my photos from our Monday in Mount Vernon!

ABC Wednesday is a weekly meme that originated with Denise Nesbitt and now others keep it rolling along.

I’m also linking up to Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

The Tea Drinkers…

A tea table would not be fun without guests sitting around it so I’m showing you my guests before I show all the tables. On Wednesday I’ll be posting all about my table for Kathleen’s Let’s Dish Challenge.

The theme for our Friendship Tea this year was Snapshots. The church lobby had some great backdrops for photo opportunities.

Behind every snapshot there’s a story.

Our daughter Katie came early and was able to take some snapshots before the crowds came.

Our daughter in law, her mom and grandmother were able to come and share a place at my table, too.

Sisters by marriage and Laura’s dear friend, Shavonne.

Pat, Wilma, Laura, Katie, Susan (Shavonne’s mom), and Shavonne.

Me and Katie

All my guests at my table Susan, Shavonne, Laura, Wilma, Pat, Andra, Judy, Katy and Katie.

More to come from the tea…

Today we had a glorious sunny day and Katie and I took the opportunity to head north to the tulip fields in Mt. Vernon and then to have lunch in LaConner. We even got a little sunburned. Soon I’ll be sharing my photos from the fields, too. Here’s a little tease…

That wasn’t nice was it? Here’s a different view…

Hope your week is starting well…

Time to Pack it Up…

…this will be my last tulip field post for now. It’s time to pack and head south.

I’m always on the lookout for the odd one in the bunch…

I was so happy that I was prompted to stash my yard boots in the car before I headed to the fields because…

…here’s what I got to walk through to get to all the different colored rows of tulips!

Yes, I felt quite smug! I’ll admit it…

If you didn’t have boots on the Roozengaarde Garden was a good choice to see many beautiful varieties of tulips and to be able to buy bunches of tulips, too.

Packed fresh and ready to send to the stands to sell.

I managed to take the garden shots avoiding hundreds of people that were milling about. The later in the morning the worse it gets.

Tuesday will be my day to get everything organized at this old house for my absence. I will be packing the suitcases for a very early departure on Wednesday morning. Dear will be coming later in the week.

Mixing It Up!

Hope you aren’t tired of tulips! Today I’m sharing the variegated and mixed up tulips. We have had rain, rain and more rain this weekend. Finally on Sunday afternoon we got some blue skies and sunshine!

We had some fun news this weekend. Our nephew Caleb asked his sweetheart Marie to marry him. Looks like our family will be having another wedding celebration come August! Reasons to celebrate are the theme of this year!

A friend of Caleb and Marie was hiding out to take this photo and others of this fun moment.

Congratulations on your engagement Caleb and Marie!

Anything new in your neck of the woods?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Skagit Valley Tulip Festival