Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, Canada

Recently I enjoyed three days and two nights with my daughter-in-law and granddaughter in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. Such a lovely place! One of our days was spent at Butchart Gardens.
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

As the sign says, "Over 100 Years in Bloom." According to the garden's official website:
With a former limestone quarry for her backyard, Jennie Butchart envisioned landscaping a sunken garden in its place, transforming the property for her family--and visitors--for generations to come.

This is the classic view of the sunken garden. I'll wager that 99% of the garden's visitors take a photo from this overlook. 

Throughout the gardens, we did not see one drooping blossom or spent flower. The grounds are meticulously maintained.

The dahlia border dazzled. The website says: More than 200 varieties in 11 different forms, in all colours of the rainbow.  

Fountains, too!

And totem poles.

I can only imagine what this magnificent garden looks like in springtime when rhododendrons and azaleas are in bloom. Autumn must be lovely, too, with the trees changing color. I've heard that the Christmas decorations are a treat to see. 

More information about the garden's history and plants, a map, and more: Butchart Gardens

I'm linked with:

Jo's Monday Walk -  Johanna at Restless Jo - Link HERE

Our World Tuesday - Link HERE

Saturday Snapshot - Melinda at A Web of Stories - Link HERE 

Bless Me Father For I Have Sinned - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

Seattle PD Homicide Detectives Nick Winston and Pat Strom are once again on the hunt for a killer in Bless Me Father For I Have Sinned. In this fourth book in the series, the victim is Father Michael Dunne. Who would want to murder the beloved priest? Could the killer be a former lover? A druggie? A sexual abuse victim? The search takes the detectives from Seattle's squalid homeless camps to Tacoma's Catholic sanctuaries in search of the killer.

Kelly Marshall sprinkles her mystery with humor--sometimes dark, often politically incorrect--and the ongoing banter between Winston and Strom provides a respite from the plot's tension. The strong friendship between the detectives shows their human side, too. Marshall kept me wondering whodunit until the story's end.

This book stands alone but once you've read it, you'll like the characters and plot so much you'll want to read all four Winston-Strom mysteries.

Book Beginning:
     Hunched in a pew outside the confessional, Cecilia Armstrong fingered her blue rosary beads as she whispered the well-known words, "Hail Mary, full of grace...." She completed the rosary and opened her eyes. What was taking Father Michael so long with the last penitent? She tried not to judge, but surely someone had confessed mortal sins. Otherwise, why would the priest have to counsel them so long?

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
     "He threatened Dunne on more than one occasion. We don't have a smoking gun yet but give us time. We'll find it because this creep murdered Dunne."

Genre:  Police Mystery
Length:   244 Pages
Amazon Link:   Bless Me Father For I Have Sinned
Author Website:   Kelly Marshall Books

Synopsis (from Amazon):
     A charismatic and popular priest, Father Michael Dunne is brutally stabbed to death in the confessional. The Seattle Catholic Community is stunned and in mourning for a cleric who served not only the people in his parish but many in the Northwest's burgeoning homeless and drug-addicted communities.
     Seattle homicide detectives Nick Winston and Pat Strom find Father Mike face down in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds to his body. Because the attack was so savage, the police surmise the killer knew the pastor. What in his past could account for the highly personal nature of the crime? Was he murdered by a penitent scared that the priest would break the seal of the confessional? Or did an illicit love affair come back to haunt Michael Dunne?
     Everyone loved Father Mike...with one grave exception.

              

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.

Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 

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Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

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Naches Peak Loop / Tipsoo Lake, Mount Rainier National Park

Each day hiking brings a new perspective. The last time I explored the Naches Peak Loop at Mount Rainier National Park, the day was sunny. Mount Rainier filled the horizon. On a recent visit, however, clouds shrouded the peak and it stayed hidden all day. The good news is that wildflowers lined the trail. On this hike my gaze focused on the beauty of the blooms and the path ahead.
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

We walked over the Chinook Pass bridge. Wikipedia says: The Chinook Pass Entrance Arch marks the east entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. The rectangular log entry arch ... is one of several placed at the entrances to the park. It was designed in 1933 by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs, and was built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The arch consists of two stone abutments carrying horizontal logs over the road. The arch functions as a bridge, carrying a horse trail, which is now part of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Into the mist, surrounded by wildflowers, evergreens, and rocks.

Beautiful alpine lake. Mount Rainier usually dominates the background, but not on this day.

To see this same hike on a sunny day, take a look at my blog post from three years ago: HERE.

I'm linked with:

Jo's Monday Walk -  Johanna at Restless Jo - Link HERE

Our World Tuesday - Link HERE

Saturday Snapshot - Melinda at A Web of Stories - Link HERE