My blog about knitting, teaching, and being a mother to two energetic young boys.

Monday, July 23, 2007

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Rainfall in the Pacific Northwest really pays off. Everything is so green, lush, and smells fresh. We love it! Today Wade's folks brought the boys into Portland (from Sacramento). We decided to head downtown & visit the Rose & Japanese gardens after reading about them on Sandy's blog awhile back. Wow. Can I just say it again? Wow.

The roses were amazingly beautiful. I think Portland is nicknamed "The Rose City" - for good reason. We took a zillion pictures - refer to the slide show on the left. I wish we could grow such beauties in Anchorage. I think people do try to grow roses, but have to cultivate them with extreme care & bring them inside during the winter. Sounds like lots of work to me!

After our stroll through the Rose Garden, we wandered up & took a tour through the Japanese garden. If I had a yard large enough, this is how I would want it landscaped.
Isn't it just beautiful?

A Koi pond & waterfall wouldn't be too much, would it? I mean - it could double as an ice skating pond in the winter. :0)

Wade's folks enjoyed the gardens as well.

Here are Ross & Wade. Ross was our best man at our wedding - almost 11 years ago! (July 27) I'm convinced they were cut from the same cloth. It's too bad that so much distance separates us - they certainly have fun together. I know thoughts of moving to this area were on Wade's mind while we've been here. Don't think that will happen though. However... the selection of yarn here is quite remarkable....

This is how Wade would want to landscape the yard - complete with a Zen rock/sand garden. Yeah = I'm sure our cat, Raja would love that! :0)

No new knitting news, as I'm reading HP #7 as fast as I can. I'm on page 300 and something - so far it's been a great read! I'm almost wishing we were back in the van again so I could enjoy hours and hours of uninterrupted reading. J.K. Rowling certainly has not disappointed me thus far. I know I'll be sad when I finish the book even though I'm excited to know how everything wraps up.

I should finish my Embossed Leaves sock soon after I finish the book - just in time for the end of SAM3. I did sign up for SAM4 - with all of the new STR yarn I purchased, I'll have lots of socks OTN!

Ciao!

5 comments:

Sandy said...

Love the Portland Japanese Gardens. Looks like you guys picked a beautiful day to visit. We love Portland. It is such a fun city, so much to do & see, the people are so nice and great food. And the yarn aint bad either. Too bad it's not Thursday or you could waste your evening at Knit Purl knitting and sipping champagne ... truly a knitting store wwwwaaaaaayyyyyy ahead of their time. Keep on Trekkin'

Holly Jo said...

We have friends who just went to the japanese gardens too. They had the same things to say as you - though they said it was kind of surreal to be in the gardens yet in a downtown area.

Fitknitmom said...

Hey Heather,
So glad you're having a great time in the city of my birth! The Rose Gardens are gorgeous there. Hurry and finish Harry, I just did and I'm DYING to talk about it!

Mrs.Q said...

Welcome to the "Wet Coast"! I figure if I have to live anywhere other than the Rockies, the West Coast is the place to be. (Also, a LOT less snow to shovel!) Looking forward to seeing pics of the socks - though of course Harry Potter is the best reason for not-knitting! Did you ever find any Socks That Rock? Coz it's great suff. Happy travels!

Unknown said...

You made an insanely good choice dodging I-5 on Thursday. Saw this on the news after we talked on the phone:

Diesel spill backs up I-5 traffic for 14 miles

Whitehorse to Anchorage is just insane! You're my new heroes! We'll see if I can do the same next week.