The Tulip Fields

It is time for tulips in NW Washington State - millions of them are grown for market every year - some for cut flowers - most for bulbs.  So the viewing time is short - a few weeks ago there were no blooms - and this past week we drove down to see them and some of the fields had already been dead-headed, so the bulbs can grow strong and healthy for sales next year.  By this coming weekend I'm sure a lot more will be gone.

 Fields of every color you can imagine.

 The light was perfect, almost sunset, the evening we drove through the tulip fields

 Blankets of color

 Every year we see fields with yellow tulips with a few red ones.  These seem to be the only colors that we find mixed.  They don't plant tulips in the same fields two years in a row, so the red ones are not leftovers.  Not sure why it is just the yellow tulip fields that have stray ones here and there.

 So many shades of color!

 A tulip field in full bloom

 And after the flowers have been cut off and dropped into the pathways

And that day there was a lovely daytime moon.  The sky was so blue.  This was taken from our deck, Nikon COOLPIX P600 camera - with a tripod.

Mosaic Monday

Table Settings

Between Naps on the Porch is celebrating 500 posts for Tablescape Thursdays - let's see what all the fun is about.  She has many posts that you can follow to see her beautiful tables over the past 10 years.   

I don't have as many - but would like to share some of  the tables I've set for family and friends gatherings.

 We'll start with spring - this was my birthday this year, in March.  The Desert Rose dishes were inherited from my granny.

 With a butterfly cake - baked by our grandson Ben, who is becoming a very good baker.  The butterfly tradition comes from when I was very young and my family still lived in California.  My  cousin Linda and I have birthdays 5 days apart (but she is a year older) and our grandma would bake a butterfly cake for our birthdays and we would each get one half of the cake for our celebration.  It was so sweet of Ben to carry on the tradition - and with my favorite apple cake, which was delicious!

 Easter brunch - another year.

 And yet another Easter Brunch/birthday celebration - three years ago.

Add some pink tulips and the whole theme changes.

We do love our Easter brunches!!

Summer is a perfect time for girls only luncheon, with fresh fruit, finger sandwiches and pretty flowers from the garden.   

Early summer is perfect for Pink Willow dishes for dinner 

 And a barbecue and picnic on the deck - with lots of yummy summer food.

 Cool green jadeite dishes with summer fruit.

 Lots of picnics and barbecues all summer long

 Breakfast with a red and white theme 

The last of summer picnics on the deck - lighthouses and sand pails - summer is just great!

 And then come autumn tables - with turkeys and leaves and pumpkins!!

 The settings change over the years - mixing and matching all the fun autumn dishes and decorations.

 A nice cup of tea and an apple tart on a blustery autumn day

Christmas Eve - two different years.  The holly dishes are perfect!

 And christmas - with the new christmas dishes - now a favorite!!!

  Tablescape Thursdays 

Critters Large and Small

 Mergansers - all in a row

 A crow atop a tree behind our house - many different birds like that tree top.

 And a teeny spider on the deck - on a sunny day

Saturday's Critters

Saturday's Critters

One day we drove down to the nearby ponds, hoping to see some newly hatched Canada Geese - something caught my eye in a Flowering Quince bush.  This cute little Bushtit was busy building or tidying up the nest.  It was hard to get a good photo - as she hopped in and out so fast.

 She was using spider webs to fasten the nest to the branches of the bush.

 Lots of moss and lichens went into building the nest.

 The nest is very long - like a sock - so I couldn't see if there were any eggs or babies in it - though I doubt there were babies, as the mother was not bringing any food in, only materials for nest building.

 We stopped by on a different day - that was rather rainy - but didn't see the little bird.

We'll keep going back - this is only a few blocks from our house.

Saturday's Critters