Beach Week 2013-It's All About the Sunsets

For the past five years I've been spending a week in August at a rented cottage on the ocean in Stonington, Connecticut.  For one week of the year I do absolutely nothing.  And I mean nothing.  Nothing except read mindless fiction novels, work on my tan, eat fried seafood and watch the sun set.  Since I'm only a little over an hour from home, I usually get a steady stream of company.  I enjoy sharing the the experience with friends but try to maintain a good balance so I get the time I need to recharge.

Every year the week flies by and this year was no exception.  Two weeks would be nice but between work, pets and garden care it would be difficult for me logistically.  And why overdo a good thing?

Loctaed in a small cove, the cottage faces west.  Every night I set my beach chair out on a small spit of sand just steps from the door and watch the sun set.  Weather obviously plays a huge factor.  Some years are better than others.  On a scale of one to ten, 2013 was a ten.

Saturday night

Sunday night

Monday night

Tuesday night

Wednesday night

Thursday night

Friday night

Normally on vacation I'm not up at the crack of dawn but one morning I woke up and noticed the moon was setting outside my bedroom window in the southwest.  So I grabbed a robe and went out in the dark.  Not the best pictures but not bad for a handheld camera on the slowest setting.

Early mornings weren't bad either.  Some were overcast.

Some were brisk.

Some were calm.

And one was foggy.  I love foggy.







All in all it was a great week!  Now it's back to reality.

 

 

Sue~

Wordless Wednesday-Everything Is Better At The Beach

Terra Nova Nurseries-Sunglasses Required!

On my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, one of our stops was at Terra Nova Nurseries in Canby, Oregon where we received a personal tour of the operation by owner and renowned plantsman, Dan Heims.  Terra Nova is a wholesale nursery best known for cutting edge plant introductions which are propagated by tissue culture.  More information about the tissue culture process can be found HERE

One of Terra Nova's many high tech greenhouses.  A Heuchera bandit could do well here.

Dan Heims pointing out something in the display garden to Kathy, Lisa and Denise.

Meandering around the sales office and visitor parking area is a series of drop dead gorgeous display gardens.  Granted they are a sales tool, and probably switched out frequently depending upon what's in bloom, but the thoughtful design and riot of flower color left even a die hard foliage over flowers gardener like me questioning my own sanity.



Aralia cordata 'Sun King' (the blazing yellow beacon of foliage) is a plant I simply must have.



Be still my heart!



Exploding with color.

The display gardens at Terra Nova in the shadow of their monstrous production greenhouses.

Keep your eyes peeled for this series of Kniphofia called Popsicle.  Supposedly they rebloom from summer into fall.

Fortunately from a photography angle, the morning was overcast so the colors just popped.

Echinaceas everywhere but not a one we could buy!

Our visit to Terra Nova was made possible by one of our group members who was unfortunately unable to make the trip this year.  Thank you Marlene!  Hope to see you next summer at IU10!




Won't You Let Me Take You On A Seattle Cruise?

Will a ferry to Seattle do?

While in Washington, we stayed in Silverdale on the Kitsap Penisula.  From Silverdale, the quickest way to get to Seattle is to take one of the Washington State Ferrys from Bremerton.  On the water is my favorite place to be so I was looking forward to the ferry ride as much as I was looking forward to the gardens we were scheduled to tour that day.

Waiting in line in Bremerton for the ferry to Seattle

The M/V Walla Walla

Although we were warned that the ferry might be crowded, it didn't come as a huge surprise that on this chilly overcast Saturday morning we virtually had the 7:20 AM ferry to ourselves.  Or at least it felt that way.  The M/V Walla Walla is a ship of Titanic proportions.  Check out her stats here.  Two thousand passengers and 188 cars?  In comparison, even the largest ferry to Martha's Vineyard only carries 1200 passengers and 76 cars.

Waterfont park at the Bremerton ferry landing.  Too bad we didn't get a chance to see it up close and personal.

The cone shaped structures on the right were some kind of fountain like water feature timed to go off in succession.

Land ho!

Fellow travellers and bloggers Denise and Kathy braving the windy cold to get the best shots of the Seattle skyline.  Never fear-the tourist set was well represented by our group.

A cruise ship docked in Seattle.

For the return trip that afternoon we were gifted blue skies and warmer weather.

While in Seattle, we visited the Dunn Gardens, had a fantastic lunch in the cafe at Swanson's Nursery (why don't we have nurseries like this in CT?) and spent the afternoon strolling through the Bellevue Botanical Garden.  As usual we spent alot more time at all places than anticipated and didn't get to check out any of the Seattle landmarks like Pike Place Market or the Space Needle.  All the more reason for a return trip!