Recent Travels

Things have been busy here between our honeymoon in  Bermuda, a trip to Seattle to visit friends and work on the house.  It's been a fun spring (except for the New England weather) and we've gotten a lot accomplished at the house. We've been painting and I've been redoing the bedroom and choosing new furniture and fabrics for the living room--more about that in future posts.
 

Although our travels started in Bermuda, I couldn't help but lead with this photo I took of a Camellia in bloom at the Japanese Tea Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum. More about that below.

Jon and I honeymooned in Bermuda in early April and it was everything we imagined it would be.  We stayed at a tennis club on the island and I took this photo from our table on the terrace where we had lunch everyday.  It's paradise, if you ask  me. Jon and I want to visit Bermuda once a year, if possible.  It's only a one and one-half hour flight from Boston, which makes it an ideal get-away.

In mid-April we flew to Seattle, Washington to visit friends.  During our stay, our friends took us to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Tulips of all colors are grown in these vast fields and then harvested and shipped to stores throughout the country.  The Cascade Mountains are in the background.

The festival features an extensive garden planted with thousands of tulips in many varieties and colors.  Wherever I looked there was a blanket of color. This was a welcome sight after a long gray winter in Boston.

I was completely awed by the color combinations. 

 

Dancing flames of red, pink, and orange.  It was hard to take a bad photo in this garden.  We were surrounded by beauty.

 

Pretty ruffles of white petals are accented by soft-pink blooms and bright blue Muscari.

The sea of color goes on and on...

This tulip reminds me of a peony, with its broad, rounded petals and variegated pink and white color.

I couldn't get enough of the pink tulips...

...especially when paired with a hot orange variety.  Pink and orange is a spectacular combination.

 

Cool, quiet purple and green.

 

More white ruffles

How about lavender and bright yellow for a change?

A mass of traditional yellow and red tulips against a weathered fence

More tulips. Thanks for hanging in there with me--I'm almost done.



 

 This white tulip with unusual furled petals is "Liberstar" and it's one of my favorites.

 

The next day, we visited the Japanese Tea Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum.  I only have a few photos of the garden as they didn't turn out very well.  It's the most peaceful and beautiful garden I've visited.

I like the contrast of the purple Azalea against the gray-green mossy ground and trees.



I took all the photos on my iphone and for some reason, the photos of the Japanese garden all look muted.   

 

And lastly, our friends took this photo of Jon and me at the garden.  Very Zen, don't you think? I realize that's Chinese, not Japanese, but I think you get the idea.

 

Thanks for following along.  No more tourist photos next time--I promise.