San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden

Really I am almost done sharing my adventure to California last month and then it will be on to the holidays which are coming quickly. Hold on to your hats and enjoy!

One of the places I dearly wanted to visit was the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. The first time I ever visited there I was a young girl and my grandmother took me there. I remember scampering over the bridge. Did I scamper this time? Nope! But I loved standing there to remember with a smile.

The Japanese Tea Garden was built in 1894 for the World's Fair. It is the oldest Japanese Garden in the United States.

Next week I will share the Japanese Garden in Portland, which I just visited. They each have their own personality and both beautiful in different ways. The San Francisco garden seems to have more concrete pagoda's.

Both garden's have sculptures of herons.

The red pagoda is quite impressive. Because of it's age it is going through renovation right now, but it was still so special to see.

 A real bird posing just for me.

For an "old lady" with over 100 years behind her, she has been kept quite beautiful. The red structures just shined in beauty.

And of course Buddha was there to greet us.

I always love seeing young children enjoying history. They were so cute in their matching tees.

The teahouse where I paused for awhile over a cup of genmaicha (green tea with barley). It has a very unique flavor and if I am going to drink green tea this is most often how it goes.

And yes, once upon a time I had tea here with my grandmother. Then it was tea with an almond cookie and I thought it was quite a treat. 

Of course a Japanese Gardens must have a teahouse with green tea.

Have any of you visited these gardens? If you ever find yourself in San Francisco it is a must for being at the top of the list.

Returning and remembering for me it was a treasure. Memories are made of this.

Now this isn't a Veteran's Day post, but I will send best wishes and a thanks for all those that have served to protect our country.  It has not gone unnoticed. 

Sending love to each and everyone of you today.

Have a blessed weekend, dear friends!

 

A Gift for You - Luther Burbank's Place

Have you heard of Luther Burbank? When I hear his name, because of the Luther, I sometimes think people more often have heard of Martin Luther King. Luther Burbank also made an impact on our world by developing over 600 varieties of fruit trees, flowers, and vegetables. The Shasta Daisy is among his creations. He lived in Santa Rosa, California and if you visit there you will find his home and gardens to walk through. However, he also had several acres in Sebastopol, California, where I lived, and now his little orchard house and 2 acres have been preserved for people to visit. So on my adventure in California I walked in his garden and orchard.

 

I knew my uncle, an apple grower in Sebastopol, had a connection; so wrote to my cousin to get the story. The following is what he responded:

"My dad had an orchard on Bloomfield road with what I think were the first Golden Delicious apples planted in Sebastopol. We called it the Burbank Place. Dad rented the orchard first and then ended up buying it. I remember going with my dad to Santa Rosa to deliver the rent check to Mrs. Burbank. I must have been about 5-6 years old. I think this orchard was planted after he passed away, but I could be wrong about that. Stark Brothers purchased the rights to growing Golden Delicious in 1914. Luther Burbank was somehow involved with them. He died in 1917. His wife was very young. It was his second wife. They had no children. She died in 1977. "

 

I remember riding in my uncles jeep through "the Burbank Place" on several occasions; so for me it was fascinating to get this information from my cousin.

The volunteer I talked to didn't think that anyone ever lived in the house, but it was used more as an office and studio. It was mostly just one room.

 

There were several varieties of quince ripening on the trees.

"She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last."
-  Willa Cather

Lilies were blooming. I remember having lilies like this in my childhood garden.

He developed varieties of cactus thinking they would be good for feeding cattle.

Not sure if cattle eat this fruit or not.

There were hibiscus in bloom.

Many varieties of daisies and cosmos also were in bloom.

This was an unplanned stop, but so glad we did it.

Earlier we had stopped at the old cemetery next to this farm to lay flowers on my grandfather and my mother's graves. I think my grandfather chose to be buried there because of the orchards and gardens that surround it.

 

For me it was like poetry to walk in these gardens and remember my childhood in the surrounding countryside. As Willa Cather stated, I loved standing in the orchard and touching what was growing there.

 

Have a great week, dear friends!

 

Asian Fashion at the Museum

 

When I was in San Francisco last month we stopped at the Legion of Honor Museum. Now I shared a bit of that visit after returning, but to my surprise there was a special exhibit by Chinese designer, Gua Pei, based on the history of China. The designer took into consideration many myths of dragons, phoenixes, and totems in putting together this amazing collection.

This first dress was a show stopper and just took my breath away.

Warning:  picture heavy since I just wanted to capture it all and share it with you.

Enjoy!

Can you imagine wearing this to a special event?

Even the shoes were each a piece of art.

The blue and white pieces reminded me of Delph china.

This one was my favorite and stunning in person.

Displayed in this museum setting just was beautiful.

I don't know if it was just because it was in San Francisco, but the Asian community was particularly enchanted by this exhibit.

Even the furniture around the museum was gorgeous.

As stated at the museum, the designers designs were a fusion of Chinese art with diverse traditions and styles. To me she displayed a wonderful, whimsical imagination. The detail of each was truly a work of art.

May you have a spectacular weekend, dear friends!