Thursday, March 30, 2017

Whirlwind Wednesday

About a month ago we learned that one of our favorite authors, J.A. Jance, would be appearing at a library in Olympia in the evening for a book signing and talk. It just so happened to be the same day as our anniversary, so we decided to make a day of it. Olympia is about 60 miles south of where we live in South Seattle. 

We went on line and found some nurseries that we had not ever been to in the Olympia area. However, our first stop was a Cabela's, a sporting goods mega-store on the way. We had decided that since our shellfish licence was expiring at the end of March, and a beach on the central Washington coast would be open for razor clam digging on Thursday, we needed to go clam digging. We had only gone with my sister and brother-in-law before and used their equipment, but they couldn't go, so we had to buy our own clam guns. 
Happy Anniversary to us!. No, we don't do big gifts for anniversaries. But clam digging was for Thursday. This post is for Wednesday. 

It was another rainy day, of course. We followed our GPS to the first stop, The Barn Nursery.
 The graphics on these fancy fertilizer bags were good enough for framing. 
 Colorful seed racks.

 The man who made these chair planters had just unloaded them. We talked to him a bit. He used wood he finds on river banks near the coast. 
 The several attached barns were filled with layers of treasures waiting for just the right buyer. We weren't that buyer, but we had fun looking. 



 In one room we saw this big burlap "tree". 




 They actually had plants too! But the fierce wind was blowing the rain sideways, so we only ventured into the greenhouse. 


 Tom bought a "Spotty Dotty" May apple.
At the next stop we had no idea what to expect, but this organic garden shop was on Black Lake and we had never been to that lake, so off we went to Black Lake Organic.  It turned out to be an outfit that sells specialty organic fertilizers and other remedies for plant problems. We bought a jug of something magic to spray on fruit trees and roses and everything else. We'll see if it was worth it.
 And we found Black Lake, right across the road. 
 Somewhere in here, I guess before Black Lake, we found a Subway sandwich shop for lunch, our usual choice for road lunches. Our next stop was Olympia Bark and Garden. This is a very large nursery and landscaping supply company.  


It had just been raining very hard, and these bloomed out pussy willows had water plastered pollen. 

How about a pottery pony perch. 
Can you grasp that?
I love heucheras, and this is the best supply I have ever seen in one nursery. 
Lovely hellebore blooms. 




Do you wanna iguana? 
Pretty camellias. 


So many colorful shrubs!

What's lurking in the hothouse jungle? 

Done with our nursery list, we spent a little time browsing antique shops in Old Olympia. 

Then it was time for dinner. We drove out to North Point, surrounded by the waters of southern Puget Sound. 
 We had dinner at Anthony's Hearth fire Grill.
 We watched the squalls gather over the water.


 And maybe a chance of clearing!
 And then we went to hear J.A. Jance. She writes murder mysteries, but her talks are more like watching a comedy routine. She was very entertaining.
We didn't stay for the book signing since we still had a hour's drive back home. Besides we don't own any of her "books". We do own everything she has ever written in our cloud library. Tom reads on his Samsung tablet and I read on my Kindle. You can't sign those. 

It was a very full, and a very good day. 

14 comments:

  1. Your day a filled with garden places. That part of the world is perfect for that. I was caught by the sentence that there were some garden places you had not yet visited!!

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  2. Yes, it was a full and very nice day. I liked touring those garden stores with you. We have an Anthony's Hearthfire restaurant here, too, which I enjoy. thanks for the great pictures! :-)

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  3. You find the most interesting and beautiful places! You are also lucky your husband enjoys nurseries. Mine would have spent all day in Cabela's. I didn't know you had to have a license to dig clams. I didn't know you needed special equipment either. How interesting! What are you using for a camera?

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  4. So many fun activities in one day! I've only been to the Barn once but loved it and want to go back. The size and collections at Bark and Garden are pretty incredible. Happy anniversary to you and Tom!

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  5. how fun, love the sign that say women on beach must wear bloomers...lol! Pretty activities for a rainy day which we have today-quite unusual. Our heater is on after 70-80 degree weather. Good day to stay home and relax.

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  6. Another fun adventure! I would love to read mysteries but so far have been unsuccessful. I'll check out J.A. Janice.

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  7. A fun day! I've been to both of those nurseries and loved them! All of my books for the past 8 years are also on my Kindle. I think I may even have a couple of J.A. Jance's there.

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  8. What a fun day! Love to wander around garden stores although I am not a big gardener and I LOVE author talks.

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  9. How nice! You have very good self control at nurseries. I would have wanted so many of the plants - except for the hothouse plants. Those are common here in Hawaii.

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  10. This is a very colorful post, but I think I'd have a hard time leaving the clock made with tools.

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  11. What an awesome day you had. I think that would be a perfect way for DH and myself to spend a special day. Too bad we can't bring anything back across the line though. Must find more places around here!!

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  12. Your first stop at The Barn was my favorite. I would love to walk around in there. Like Red, I like the clock made with tools. You and Tom have such a good, happy marriage.

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  13. That clock was way cool! What a fun place to visit!

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  14. That nursery was something else. WOW. I would love to go there.

    My husband reads J.A. Jance. I showed him her picture that you posted. Like you, he reads everything on the Kindle (on his iPad). I no longer read on the iPad or Kindle. I have have gone back to books. I enjoy reading them so much better that way. Having said that, I do keep a book going on the iPad for days I have to go to the doctor, or know I will be waiting somewhere. That way, I have reading material, but I don't have to carry a book.

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