The Weekend

 We have no known family that lost their lives on battlefields or seas, and while in the past we have visited cemeteries, this weekend we mostly stayed home. We did go to the stadium Saturday evening for a Sounders soccer match. Yay! We won this one.

On Sunday we planted flowers - glass flowers. We finally got them out in the garden, with Tom doing most of the work and putting up with me as I fussed over/ contemplated their placement.

These are all creations that I designed out of thrift store glass, and Tom glued together.

Today, Memorial Day, we did our usual Monday chores: laundry and house cleaning. 

It was chilly but the sun came out in the afternoon, allowing me to enjoy a walk around the garden, taking photos of my new "blooms". 

Now it is unofficially summer, although calendar wise we have to wait until June 21st.

I am happy to wait. Spring is so beautiful.

Winding Down on Whidbey

 We have been back home since Thursday, but I have more to post.

Wednesday was a work day for for Tom and Jake. The low bulkhead wall that Tom and I installed in the front yard of the cabin when we landscaped it 18 years ago was deteriorating and needed to be replaced. It took some studying to engineer it over the septic tank, where they needed a post but concrete was just under the surface.

Tom got the new header in while Jake studied the situation.

I went for a short walk over to the beach, sat on a log, and watched eagles sunning on the tide flats.

Another trip to the lumber store for some long wood screws, and some scrap lumber we had at the cabin solved the problem.

Job done.

After lunch, Jake went for a walk on the beach and Tom and I took a shorter walk on the lagoon dike. The wild roses, which cover much of the dike, were in bloom.

There were birds and bunnies. 

Later we had good conversations with Jake and then the three of us went out to dinner at our favorite island Mexican place. 

Thursday Tom and I spent some time in Langley just strolling and enjoying the scenery and the flowers. We visited the family bench of course.

W

We had coffee in our now favorite Langley coffee place.

And then we stopped by Bayview Gardens, a  nursery we love just up the hill from our cabin.

The Viburnum Walk was in full, glorious bloom! Those of you who know something of English gardening and gardens might know of the famous Viburnum Walk of Rosemary Verey. This is a worthy imitation.

What a treat!

We strolled through the nursery, checking out plants and enjoying the color. We bought a couple of things, but mostly we enjoyed.

After a slow, quiet afternoon, we tidied up the cabin a bit, packed up, and were on our way home.  It was a good little vacation.

More Whidbey Wanderings

 After leaving Meerkerk Gardens and the lovely domesticated rhododendrons, we drove further up island to a county park devoted to wild, native rhododendrons, the Washington State flower.

This is also a rustic forest campground, a lovely place to park an RV for an overnight among the blooms scattered throughout the forest here where the conditions are just right for our native rhodies. 

Now it was lunch time and we found  a restaurant on Front Street in historic Coupeville, with a view of the Sound, for fish and chips.

Then we did a little strolling before driving on to find a coffee shop we have discovered on a previous trip.

The Sunshine Drip is a great little place that the locals seem to love. 

Now back to nature and a drive over to Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve. 

We used to love to climb the steps up to the bluff and walk along the trail up through the woods with views of the sound, but now I have to be content to sit down by the water and enjoy the bird song and the peacefulness of this historic place.

This prairie was the site of the first settlement on Whidbey Island. Isaac Ebey lead the settlement until he was killed by a party of Haida Indians who came from the north to seek revenge for the killing of one of their leaders by killing a white settlers' leader. It was not always so peaceful.

But on this day it was a lovely place to stop and be calm before heading back down island and back to the cabin.

And the wild roses were blooming.