The Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge at Dan Antion’s siteNo Facility for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post and then share a link to your post in the comments in Dan’s post.
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day with your mothers in the family last Sunday. We wanted to have Mother’s Day brunch, but many restaurants didn’t accept reservations for Sunday. Just showing up and waiting for several hours wasn’t what we wanted to do. So, we had Mother’s Day dinner on Saturday. On Sunday, we spent the morning visiting Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. It was a delightful trip admiring the beautiful flowers and sceneries there.
I didn’t find any doors at Crystal Springs. So, I borrowed two photos from their neighbors, Reed College and Eastmoreland Golf Course, with doors.
Reed CollegeEastmoreland Golf Course
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden is a botanical garden located between Reed College and the Eastmoreland Golf course in southeastern Portland, Oregon in the US. The Garden covers 9.49 acres. The first rhododendron show was held in 1956. In 1964, the Garden was officially named Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, for the numerous springs within the Garden.
The original garden was designed by Ruth Hansen, a landscape architect, and a Portland Chapter member. The portion of the garden known as the Peninsula was designed by Wallace K. Huntington and was dedicated in 1977. The rocks used to build the waterfalls and other features were gathered from Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.
Shortly after entering the Garden, we’re welcomed by an arched wooden bridge over a pond with waterfowl and water creatures. The garden is home to over 100 types of birds and other wildlife.
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Canada geese and their goslings
There are over 2,500 rhododendrons, azaleas, and companion plants in the garden. They are donated by volunteers and interested individuals or purchased with specially donated funds. Rhododendrons typically bloom from late February through July, and peak in late April to early May. The well-maintained Garden is a relaxing place to visit year-round.
I fell in love with the gorgeous rhododendrons and azaleas. I bought seven varieties and different colors of these beautiful flowers. So far, I planted two azaleas and one rhododendron in my front yard. I’ll plant the other four in the backyard soon.
Check out more Thursday Doors posts by clicking the following link.
The Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge at Dan Antion’s siteNo Facility for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post and then share a link to your post in the comments in Dan’s post.
I have two doors in this post. One is the door of the windmill and the other is the door of the Berry-go-round in the kids’ area in the Tulip Farm. The rest of the photos are the tulips that I wanted to share with you.
We had a family outing to visit the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival on Sunday, April 23. This was my first time being there. I had been looking forward to this trip for quite a few years. I missed it one year because the weather was cold, and the flowers were not blooming.
Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is 40 acres of land with over 100 varieties of tulips, a windmill, and a view of Mt. Hood on a clear day. The owners have been growing tulips since 1974. The farm has expanded beyond the beautiful tulips and added a gift shop, food, and family-friendly fun in the kids’ area, train rides, and pony rides. Visitors can purchase fresh-cut flowers and potted tulips, or tulip bulbs for fall planting.
Two days prior to the trip, my daughter checked the Daily Field Report. She reminded me to wear boots because the field was muddy. I was glad she thought of reminding me. Wearing my rain boots made me walk freely in the soft mud. We didn’t see Mt Hood because it was cloudy, but at least it wasn’t raining.
We spent almost two hours walking and taking photos of the tulips and admiring the stream trucks. After a light lunch, we took our granddaughters on rides in the kids’ area.
We all had a wonderful and fun day. I hope you liked my selection of the tulips I shared.
The Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge at Dan Antion’s siteNo Facility for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post and then share a link to your post in the comments in Dan’s post.
When Hubby and I were house searching after summer in 2022, we wanted to find a home within twenty minutes of drive from my daughter’s house. Beaverton and Tigard cities had larger inventories in the housing market. Friends recommended Beaverton. Eventually, it was the city of my focus.
Even though we’ve moved into our new home for almost four months, other than going to my daughter’s house, I still like to use Google Maps. I’ve saved about thirty locations for our frequent visits.
I did a little “Getting to Know You” about Beaverton City. What I’ve learned is more than what’s included here. I may bring up other information later.
Beaverton is a city in Washington County in the Tualatin Valley, Oregon, U.S. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in the county and the seventh largest city in Oregon. Beaverton is an economic center for Washington County. It is home to the world headquarters of Nike, Inc. Incidentally, our previous owner was a Nike employee. He moved because he was relocated.
Beaverton covers a total area of 19.7 square miles (51 km2), all of it land except for small creeks, ponds, and lakes. The city is located along the eastern edge of the Tualatin Valley, just west of the Tualatin Mountain. It is bordered by Portland to the east, Hillsboro to the west, and Tigard to the south. Much of the remaining area surrounding Beaverton in the north and southwest constitutes unincorporated Washington County.
Beaverton City is divided into 13 neighborhoods: Central Beaverton, Denney Whitford, Raleigh West, Five Oaks, Triple Creek, Greenway, Highland, Neighbors Southwest, Sexton Mountain, South Beaverton, Vose, West Beaverton, and West Slope.
I’ll tell you some more after I visit these attractions. Several of them are close to my home.
The weather is getting warmer in Portland. In fact, Friday will be 86o F, and Saturday will be 80oF.
I took some photos of the doors when I was out and about. There are two sets of doors included. The first set has basically brown doors with different styles.
The second set has colorful doors.
This pink flower tree and its counterpart white flower tree are in bloom right now. I see them everywhere on the road.
I mentioned we canceled the Victoria, BC, trip and went to Pot Angeles in Washington. I booked the flight coming home from Seattle. My husband didn’t want to rush, so we went to Seattle the day before returning to Southern California.
I read about the Chihuly Garden and Glass in a blogger’s post. Since we would be in Seattle for one day, I made a reservation to visit this magnificent exhibit. The museum is right next to the Space Needle. Here’s what the website says about Chihuly. https://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/about/dale-chihuly
Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.
In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly co-founded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as fine art.
His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Outdoor glass workOutdoor glass workSpace Needle in Seattle
An update on our life
My husband and I are moving to Portland, Oregon, to be close to my daughter and the grandkids. I have always wanted to do that and even wrote blog posts about my desire. But my husband was not ready. On a couple of occasions, I went alone to be with my daughter and the grandkids for Thanksgiving or Christmas. My husband, Lynton, stayed in Southern California to be with his mom during those holidays. Lynton’s mom passed away two months ago. His siblings are busy with their extended families. He seems to be free from the obligation to stay in Southern California.
When we were in Port Angeles, Lynton expressed an interest in moving to Portland to be close to the grandkids.
I searched for a home right away. Then contacted the realtor whom I worked with for the last 15 years. After one week of communication back and forth, we signed an offer on August 28th on a home within a 13-minute drive from Mercy. Mercy and Will toured the house and sent us the videos.
We’re working with the agents and signed a listing disclosure to sell our California home.
We’re packing and will have everything in a storage unit by the 15th. We’re going to Portland on the 16th for Autumn’s BD. The agents will show our house while we’re gone.
Everything happened so fast. My head is spinning. We’re excited about the move. At least we don’t need to travel every six weeks to see the grandkids.
An update on my book
The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival is now available on Amazon.
I have uploaded the ePub file of my book The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Yay! I’ll let it sit for a few days just in case. I’ll set up for the pre-order on August 1, and will have a short launch tour the first week of September. We’ll be gone most of August to spend time with the grandkids, and take a short vacation in Canada for our anniversary later in August. I don’t want to publish the book yet because I don’t want it to be unattended.
This is part 2 of my Toledo, Spain post.
We traveled to seven cities in Spain and spent one to two days in each. Typically, when we arrived in a city, the tour bus drove us around some major sightseeing sites. Some tours are included in the package, but some are excursions which required additional fees. I usually paid for all the excursions, so I don’t remember which ones are included in the basic package.
We arrived in Madrid and took a quick tour around town. The tour coach drove about 45 minutes from Madrid to Toledo. Toledo is about 89.6 square miles. It didn’t take long to go on foot to view some sights. After we did some sightseeing of the exterior of the buildings, we toured the interior of The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca. We also visited the Museum of Swords. I’m presenting the locations in the sequence of our itinerary.
The Church of San Román (Iglesia de San Román) was constructed with a Mudéjar design during the 13th century. It is one of the oldest in Toledo. Inside are stunning horseshoe arches characteristic of Islamic architecture. They are decorated with Romanesque and Arabic frescos painted with warm hues of orange and red. The structure is now the Museum of Visigothic Councils and Culture. The photo on the right is from Wikipedia.
The Primatial Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo (Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo), known as Toledo Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church. The cathedral of Toledo is one of the three 13th-century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain and is considered to be the magnum opus (a great work especially the greatest achievement of an artist or writer) of the Gothic style in Spain. It was begun in 1226 under the rule of Ferdinand III and the last Gothic contributions were made in the 15th century when, in 1493, the vaults of the central nave were finished during the time of the Catholic Monarchs.
The Primatial Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo
The Museum of the Army (Museo del Ejército) is a national museum attached to the Ministry of Defense. The history of the museum began in 1803 when the royal military museum was established in a building in Madrid known as the Palacio de Monteleón. The building also served as a barracks for artillery units, and it was attacked and looted by the French when they suppressed the Dos de Mayo Uprising of 1808. The museum was reestablished, but in 1827 it was divided into two sections: the Museo de Artillery and the Museo de Ingenious. The collections were moved from Madrid to Toledo in 2010.
The Museum of the Army
The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca (Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca, which means ‘Synagogue of Saint Mary the White’) is a museum and former synagogue in Toledo. Erected in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, it is considered the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing. The building was converted into a Catholic church in the early 15th century. The synagogue is located in the former Jewish quarter of the city. It is one of three preserved synagogues constructed by Jews in a Mudéjar or Moorish style.
We toured the interior of The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca. The columns are in white. I waited a long time to take a phot with no people in it.
The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca
The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes (Monasterio de San Juan de Los Reyes) is in the heart of Toledo’s Jewish Quarter. The late-Gothic style monastery was built in the 15th century to commemorate the political victory of the Catholic Monarchs. The structure is beautifully decorated both on the inside and out. The interior features a combination of late Gothic-style detailing on the bottom floor and a Mudéjar design on the top floor.
The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
Museum of Sword – Toledo steel, historically known for being unusually hard, has been a traditional sword-making, metal-working center since the Roman period, and came to the attention of Rome when used by Hannibal in the Punic Wars. It soon became a standard source of weaponry for Roman legions. Toledo produced all of the swords for the film trilogy and apparently some of the rings. This should explain the number of Lord of the Rings-themed shops that are around town selling swords and memorabilia.
We toured the forge of the Museum of Sword where a blacksmith demonstrated the process of forging a sword. This facility is for demonstration only. The current facility is moved to somewhere that produces large quantity of swords.
Lynton is checking out the Japanese samurai sword
Toledo Puente de Alcántara, a 13th Century Boorish Bridge, is a beautiful historic bridge situated below the medieval Castle of San Servando. It is an elegant arch-style bridge that stretches across the Tagus River which surrounds the historic center. The old Roman bridge used to be the only entry to the city for pilgrims. While the Puente de Alcantara originates from Roman times, the bridge we see today was rebuilt in the 10th century after it was damaged.
This post concludes my presentation of our tour in Toledo, Spain. I hope you find something interesting in the architecture and history.
The Showers of Blessings 
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