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!