Friday, May 28, 2021

A Week of Small Adventures

 

 
Can you see him? We were quite a distance away, but so fascinated by this Kingfisher with the fish in his mouth. He kept whacking it against the branch. My grandson and I just laughed to see him. My guy and I definitely had been looking forward to bird watching at the Ridgefield Refuge in Washington. What a treat to share this time together just a week ago.

We also spotted many red-winged black birds.
Then just a couple days ago my "live-in gardener" and I ventured south near Salem, Oregon where we visited the Schreiner's Iris Gardens. I have surprised myself in realizing there are many places I haven't visited in my own backyard. The pandemic has caused me to look there and go. These gardens were just gorgeous and the pairing with other flowers was just amazing.
You know spotting the Adirondack chairs throughout the garden just made me smile. 
They weren't be water, but in the garden I am not complaining. Many were enjoying the day in the garden. When we left home it was pouring rain, but it cleared and was a beautiful day by the time we arrived.
I may be a bit strange, but regular bearded iris are not my favorite. I did find I really liked the Siberian iris and this is one I would like in my garden.
There were many paths to walk just full of blooming flowers and that did bring a smile to my face.
And then just down the road a couple miles we stopped at Adelman's Peony Gardens. I have ordered from them in the past, but never visited their gardens. The coral colors particularly caught my eye.
And again walking in these gardens was just plain gorgeous. Now peonies are a favorite of mine and we have several in our garden. Now after visiting here I want more peonies. A bouquet came home just to prolong the enjoyment.


This garden also paired other blooms with their peonies and it made for a stunning garden walk.
Aren't these lupines just amazing?
The pink and yellow just sang to my heart.
Fields of peonies and a red bloom too.
To end my week just in my own neighborhood while out on my walk, I stopped for tea at Lovejoy's.
Next week Oregon is opening up and we will once again be able to enter into restaurants, but this week I was thankful that it wasn't raining as I sat listening to the traffic pass by while sipping tea and nibbling on a sandwich and scone. What a treat of a week of small adventures.
Small adventures delight our hearts.
Have a great weekend, dear friends!
Find a small adventure!

2 comments:

Lorrie said...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your small adventures, Marilyn. Yes, there are many delights near us that we often fail to explore in our hankerings to venture further away. The peony garden is sensational - mine are tight buds just waiting to burst into layers of petals. Great shot in getting the kingfisher with the fish in his mouth! I'm glad you enjoyed that time with your grandson.

Linda P said...

I'm glad that you enjoyed your trips out. The one with your grandson must have been exciting when you saw the kingfisher. The peony garden with the fields of peonies growing that you can also purchase looks wonderful. We are waiting for warmer weather before we venture out to somewhere on my list of gardens to visit. We have some lovely stately home gardens in Yorkshire and over the border in Derbyshire county, but one has to book a visit in advance so that numbers are limited. Meanwhile we stay in our neighbourhood and enjoy our garden. With family coming this Bank Holiday Monday we hope it'll be a sunny day and we'll be able to entertain our visitors in our garden.