Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Butchart Garden

Trip Talk: We Will Need Another RV… So Steve Went to the Largest RV Show on the West Coast! Steve and I are serious about going on the road full-time, but what that also means is that we need a better RV (Recreational Vehicle). We've learned so much since we got our RV and a critical point is that we have a "weekender", not a "full-timer" RV. Industry companies have several tiers for each of their models and they vary DRASTICALLY in quality. The businesses themselves are also vastly different in policy, quality, and customer support. From the frame to every last detail, a trailer can be a "low price-point" build that is utter and complete garbage (not that first-time shoppers would have the slightest clue!), all the way up to substantial and extremely high quality across the board. However, RV companies are notorious about hiding bad workmanship behind the shiny exterior. It may be hard to believe but spending more money does not mean you are guaranteed a better RV. Steve and I learned that even the most luxurious RV can be a total lemon because every single RV is hand-made by an industry starved for a workforce which is ultimately a hodge-podge of labor which ranges from literally "never-held-a-hammer" to wizened professional. In other words, each trailer must be scrupulously inspected from top to bottom and anyone who plans to get an RV seriously needs to do their homework before buying. Bottom line: these companies are all about making money and most don't care if they're putting out actual road hazards as long as they make bank. Buyer beware. This being said, we found out about a 10-day RV show here on the West Coast and thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Steve to get some serious first-hand research done. The hope was to narrow down the choices and figure out which trailer(s) would be right for us as a full-time rig. We decided it made better sense for me to stay home with Steve giving me the important details, so this past Sunday he drove down to the show and on Monday he started his research. The California RV Show was totally overwhelming! Over 1,000 RVs of all sizes, shapes, price-points, 37 dealers selling them, and bunches of other companies selling all things RV-related. You'll want to click on the link above if you want a tiny idea of what that crazy place is like. Let's just say that Steve's eyeballs have been rolling around in his head from the enormity of it all! Steve went with a job at hand so he didn't look at anything that didn't fit in our criteria, and even still, it took him two whole days of looking, scrutinizing, hours of talking, and figuring out what made sense for us. However, after all those long and exhausting hours of focused energy, Steve has been successful in his research! There are a couple of different models from a pair of companies which meet our needs and now it's just going to be a matter of time. Much needs to happen before we get a different RV but finally we have a real understanding of what's out there, which companies are total crap, and which are more trustworthy than others. Even though we have plenty of RV dealers around here, it's been amazing to see, first-hand, the offerings from just about every last RV company out there. Yesterday Steve spent his last day at the show with his sister, who just recently bought a new (used) trailer to replace her old one. They had a great time looking around and checking out all of the fun trailers and options out there. And this evening Steve will be home! Hooray! :) Today's Pictures The begonia in my main image was part in one of the hanging baskets that we found in the main courtyard inside Butchart Gardens. So outrageously colorful, don't you think?! I think this is called "Glowing Embers" and certainly comes by the name perfectly! Until we came to this park, I had absolutely no idea that begonias came in so many varieties! They are truly remarkable flowers. :) Inset 1: here's another glorious banana leaf. Just can't get enough of these beauties! Inset 2: such a lucky shot of this bee in a purple haze! Inset 3: this is another one of the hummingbird pictures that turned out well! Inset 4: did anyone say, "breathtaking begonias"? Sheesh…what a bunch of divas. :D Inset 5: I'm such a sucker for pond lilies! I believe this is Nymphaea 'Andreana' Inset 6: another jaw-dropping begonia, this time in variegated red and white! Inset 7: this golden echinacea was just one of dozens that glowed brilliantly in the sunlight! Inset 8: I noticed movement when I was leaning in to take a picture and look what I found! This is a Northern Alligator Lizard! :D This species is also found in Oregon but I think the only kind on our property is the Southern Alligator Lizard. Inset 9: a single lavender blossom against the bokeh of a pair of cream-colored zinnias! Inset 10: a small army of lemon-colored marigolds looks out on a vista of beautiful flowers as far as they can see! Pam, have you ever been to an RV show or a really huge RV lot? They are so overwhelming! When I was a kid my grandparents would take us kids to the San Francisco Sports and Boat Show every year and I remember going into every single RV and boat, pretending that I was picking out the exact one I would have as my own. What about you? Did you do that as a kid? I have to say…it's pretty exciting when it's for real! :) It's our plan to eventually end up on your doorstep with our new on-the-road home so you can see it for yourself! :) *sending all my love* Explored on 10/10/19; highest placement #4.

Where did I go? I've been busy with my metal detector! You may have noticed that I'm not posting as often as I usually do. At one point I was posting every day when I was working on my Pictures for Pam project. Though I'm still dedicating my pictures to Pam I'm not posting every day. I'd like to but I'm just too busy with other things going on around me. The biggest culprit is my new metal detector, a wonderful present which I got a few weeks before my birthday. With that, my attention has been pulled away while I go snooping around our property looking for treasures. I haven't found many special items but I have found a few things: my year-lost bracelet, a fancy chrome show collar for a dog, some old tools, a quarter one of us dropped in our meadow years ago, several corroded pennies and even an old rusty motorcycle chain! The majority of what I've found is metal junk: nails, screws, bolts, washers, wire, and…exploded bombs. STOP THE BUS! WHAT-WHAT-WHAT?!! DID I SAY EXPLODED BOMBS?! YES!! I kept finding these chunks of totally corroded metal all over the place and couldn't figure out what they were. So I searched online for any information I could find. I posted a picture of the metal shards on a metal detecting forum and of all the odd luck, a fellow who lives less than two miles away replied and told me exactly what I was finding: artillery shrapnel circa 1942-5 from Camp White, which was a temporary WWII training camp. At one point there were over 50,000 soldiers there in training. The US government purchased the entire area around we live, including about 10 miles in total, which they used for training. The whole area is littered with the results of their artillery fire. A lot of what I've found is buried several inches down or deeper, and that's because when Camp White was disassembled, crews went around and turned the soil over the whole area to bury the majority of the shrapnel. Is that crazy or what?! So anyway, my attention is severely split. I have, however, been working on my pictures and the bottomless pit of amazing images from Butchart Gardens is just unbelievable! Looks like I'll have a sixth set of images to share because I can't stop processing them! Today's Pictures My main picture today was a wonderful surprise! Steve and I were wandering around and suddenly I saw a hummingbird zoom in for some nectar! I believe it's a Rufous but I'm not positive. I did my best to take a bunch of pictures but I really had no idea if any would come out. SURPRISE! I have four winners to share, two of which I'm posting today and the others in my next presentations. :) Inset 1: another winner from my hummingbird attempts! Inset 2: a very busy bee, delirious from the amazing flowers, is an example of the vast number of happy insects there at Butcharts! Inset 3: a gorgeous banana leaf glowing in front of translucent greenery at the Mediterranean Garden where Steve and I had our picnic! Inset 4: this lovely hydrangea looks like a mini pink tree! Check out the shadows!! :D Inset 5: a leaf abstract showing the glowing, translucent details of some of the foliage at the Mediterranean Garden Inset 6: an artistic view of the whole leaf and another in its mature form…these may be two different plants though! Inset 7: this is not your ordinary begonia! I saw this and nearly fainted! Who ever SAW such an incredible begonia?! Soon after we began walking along the first path leading into the heart of Butchart Gardens, we saw a covered area that had about a billion flowering planters hanging from the structure. This was "Begonia Bower" and I was utterly blown away by the mind-blowing collection. I didn't get a picture of the area but I found one for you to see at Butchart's Facebook page. Seriously, I could spend days taking pictures in that lovely little spot! Inset 8: mottled magenta Lobelia (I think) with a red petunia glowing warmly in the background…this is a picture of some flowers from one of the outrageous flower baskets found everywhere in the park. Inset 9: although this isn't the best picture, it shows one of the hanging baskets I've been telling you about. If you want to have some fun, just try counting the different flowers and decorative plants that you can see. Mind you, the other side is equally stuffed with more species! Can you even believe it? Now, consider what I've been saying…the park has literally hundreds of these hanging baskets and planters totally overflowing with these explosions of color, shape and texture! Every single one could be studied and photographed for hours. Getting an understanding of how ridiculously amazing Butchart Gardens is? Trust me, you have NO idea! :D Inset 10: this is a stunning pond that, like the Mediterranean Garden, resides outside the main park, bordering the parking lot! It gave a tiny clue of what we were about to see inside! Pam, what species of hummingbirds live in your area? We have quite a few species, though I think I have pictures of Rufous adults and juveniles. They are so darn cute. And each is a flying jewel which is so very special! You've been on my mind and I hope all is as well as can be! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 10/07/19; highest placement #2.

Trip Talk: Eavesdropping and Fun Conversation at Butchart Gardens While Steve and I were enjoying our day at Butchart, I noticed a young girl concentrating on aiming her phone camera at a flower. Next to her was an older man and I heard her say, "Oh, look at this one!" The older man, I guess her grandfather, was watching with a smile on his face. "That's a beauty!" The girl replied, "Do you think mom and dad are going to be worrying about us?" Leaning into a flower for his own picture, he answered, "No, they knew what would happen if both of us went off with our cameras, there's only one Butchart Gardens!" I had to laugh as I meandered on…they got that right! While Steve and I were stumbling around in the Sunken Garden, Steve saw a couple taking pictures of each other. Whenever he sees this, he walks right up and offers to take the couple's portrait, and this pair was very happy that he offered. Steve gave them modeling cues and made a joke to get them to laugh for their photo. I was focusing on the imageI was taking but couldn't help overhearing their snickering and the happy chatter from the couple. We wandered down the path together and talked about the park and pictures until parting company at some point. Later on we ran into them again and it was fun to say hello. What an amazing place to be. Today's Pictures I had a really hard time choosing which picture should be my main one--they are all such a bunch of screaming divas! I finally just closed my eyes and picked at random. It turned out to be another Candy-Striped Gazania, this one in yellow and red with a very shallow dof. The enormous patch of gazanias we found threatened to shackle me to the spot…I just couldn't get enough of these ridiculously colorful flowers! (I've included an inset of the other gazania picture I shared) Inset 1: a pair of purple-blue Lobelia against a sea of flowers transformed into colorful bokeh Inset 2: a brilliant orange and red Marigold in front of many others Inset 3: a perfectly pink Impatien Inset 4: an ornate coral and white Impatien with a group of back-up beauties Inset 5: a hot-pink Impatien in a pack of others Inset 6: here's a punch-drunk honey bee crawling around on Lantana…there were so many insects enjoying the bounty offered by the Garden's millions of flowers! Inset 7: another glowing abstract of a Canna leaf Inset 8: more lovely curls from the succulent I saw when entering the park Inset 9: a carpet of colorful Coleus Inset 10: a human-sized chess set! I enjoyed watching this boy heft pieces around on the board. Apparently one of the pieces wasn't there judging by the sign, "We apologize for the missing chess piece. It is currently being repaired." Pam, have you ever tried growing flowers like gazanias? I'd like to at some point but won't bother until we can have a garden in a cooler setting and without critters I have to fight with! I hope you're having a good day. It's rainy and cold here today, not lovely like Butcharts! Explored on 10/04/19; highest placement #11.