Bloedel Nature Reserve - Autumn Delights

"Bloedel Reserve is a 140-acre wonder of nature, created by the imagination, vision, and passionate love of the natural world shared by our founders, Prentice and Virginia Bloedel. Working with the rugged geography of the land, they artfully transformed a rough-hewn Northwest forest into a harmonious series of curated gardens, structural features, and distinctive landscapes, with nature as canvas and paint."

It is located on Bainbridge Island, not far from Seattle. My "live-in-gardener" and I love visiting here when we are in the area. It is listed as one of the top ten botanical gardens in the US.

When we entered Bloedel Reserve we asked if there were any pumpkins about. The person greeting us said "you should be able to find eight or nine pumpkins".  I think there were a few more than eight or nine. What do you think?

There was a contest to guess the weight of that large pumpkin.

And we could vote for the best decorated pumpkin here.

The bats will flip,

the owls will hoot,

The little elves will

dance and scoot,

While friendly spooks

and witches bright,

Will guard you

through this magic night.

May joy and fun

and frolic sheen,

Be yours this happy Hallowe’en!

1910 Hallowe’en Poem

 Hope you had a spooky, scary, smile filled Halloween weekend.

Now on to a month of THANKFULNESS AND BLESSING!

Sending love,

Marilyn

An Adventure North

 For those of you that followed along with me for awhile, you have seen this view before. Last week my "live-in-gardener" and I ventured north to visit my sister-in-law. This view always takes my breathe away when we step into her home. I sit mesmerized at times just watching the landscape and nature outside her windows. There are always many birds and if we are lucky we see river otters and eagles. This visit I was lucky to spot them. Boats sail by and the sun rises to enchant me.

It was a beautiful time to walk into Autumn and walking we did.

I will show more of this lovely location on another day.

We even took a little time to walk on the sand at a local beach. I love walking here. Sometimes you can find sea glass, but the tide was quite high; so no sea glass was found. Though "live-in-gardener" couldn't resist a bag of rocks. Now I ask, "what are you going to do with all those rocks?"

On the way home there was a stop at Point Defiance Zoo to see Thomas Dambo's four traveling trolls. The first one was easy to find, it greeted us at the entrance.

We had not been to this zoo before and it was fun just to see the zoo and get in a good walk too.

The three others were tucked in the trees in different parts of the zoo. 

Someone offered to take our picture with Troll #2.

Of course, there were animals at the zoo too. It was feeding time for the tiger.

Troll #3 found!

Troll #4 had a garbage container on his head. Silly troll!!!

We learned there are more traveling trolls in another location near Seattle, but we had to head home. Maybe another day. They are so  much fun to find.

How's your week going?

Have you been in nature or found a troll?

I am home now to enjoy Autumn and Winter in my own surroundings, but who knows what adventures might call me.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Focus on the Stars

 "And all at once, summer collapsed into fall." Oscar Wilde

This past week my "live-in gardener" and I drove north to the top end of Washington State. As we drove north I was looking for fall/autumn. I saw many trees along the way that were beginning to turn golden and some glimmers of red too. This part of the world has many evergreen trees; so the golden and reds are mixed in with the green. The weather was still sunny, not at all like fall/autumn. I continued watching along the adventure to see my sister-in-law and sipping a little tea.

The tea sipping happened in Seattle at the Northwest Tea Festival. There were a few hugs too for all the tea friends I saw there. I had some lovely puerh and oolong teas, which I shared with friends.

Along the road, the clouds told us that rain would be coming and along with the rain, fall would arrive.

This is Mt. Rainier with the cloud capping the top.

There is a lot of water in this part of the world. Here we were just taking off from Bainbridge Island to head across the water to Seattle. In no time at all we had arrived.

The views are plentiful. The water, cloud sightings, and trees touch my soul.

One of the little villages, Port Gamble, has this beautiful garden. I hadn't seen their re-do; so it was fun to see what they had done.

At the back were dahlias in bloom. They indeed brightened my day.

And across the road was more water.

This dock is on a military base at Port Townsend. It is a Marine Life Study Center.

Nearby we saw many deer wandering through town.

And we walked on one of my favorite little beaches to look for sea glass and rocks. My "live-in-gardener" couldn't resist a few pieces of driftwood to add to his bonsai collection decor.

And the view from my sister-in-law's home always delights my soul.

While watching from her windows I saw many birds, including an eagle, then also sea birds and river porpoise.

Nature always adds glimmers of joy to my heart.

I did find fall/autumn too; in the clouds and in the color of some trees.

Then the cooling of the weather and the drizzle of today said "here I am, I am here" as I pull out the socks from my drawer and the sweaters and hoodies from my closet I know the fall has arrived.

Has fall/autumn arrived in your part of the world?

Sending love,

Marilyn

Focus on the Stars

 

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche (Thanks Corey)

Welcome Fall Equinox

Here we are on the first day of fall where night and day are equal in length for a very short time. We are headed into the dark nights with less light in our day. It is even more imperative that we notice the small glimmers of light. Hold on to the glimmers, celebrate them, and never let the darkness get you down.

Last evening I attended a fund raiser for a local organization called Growing Gardens. It was a celebration of growth and helping others. My "live in gardener" and I sat at a table of all Hispanics. It was fun to hear their involvement in the organization and their joy of gardening and honoring each other. Even though we didn't understand their conversation, they were kind to include us from time to time in conversation.

The watermelon bouquet was all edible, from the garden.

The cucumber/honeydew melon, kombucha was made of things from the garden.

Earlier in the day I attended a tea tasting.

That also was a joy, a sparkle in my day.

The green leaves were much of the tea we tasted.

It also came from someone's tea garden.

My friend, Ana, pouring the tea as we sat around the table in a friend's greenhouse.

And there were small flames and sparkles on Saturday night, where my church had a gathering on a farm to just celebrate being together as we enter fall.

As the sun goes down over the orchard in the country, I noticed the colors of the sky and they sparkled.

And the light of the fire made my heart happy.

Simply, I just keep noticing and sharing with you. May our spirits stay happy, sending love to each other in the dark night and chaos. We can be those "dancing stars" in the dark night.

Notice what you Notice!

Sending love,

Marilyn