The Chinese Garden

Several times a year, we like to visit the Seattle Chinese Garden which is under development near South Seattle Community College. It's never crowded on weekends, and the 4+ acre garden is filled with unusual flowers and rare plants. It also has lots of birds, and some interesting downward looking views of Seattle across a large greenbelt.

The Seattle Chinese Garden is being designed by artisans from Seattle's sister city, Chongquing. It's a big, ambitious project moving forward in slow stages, and construction is just starting on the large pavilions. A group of 30 Chinese artists will be living and working on the site this spring.
Eventually, it will be one of the largest Sichuan style gardens outside of China, and presumably a busy community attraction. But in the meantime, its still a great place for a quiet stroll. Here is John admiring the conifers.

Many were blooming with colorful and unusual cones.

A Chinese garden is designed to represent a symbolic microcosm of the universe, using the four elements: water, stone, plants and structure.

From the Chinese Garden website:

The Chinese garden ideal is to provide its visitor with access to philosophical wisdom, spiritual insight, emotional balance and physical health.

The colors were vibrant on a brilliant spring day...

And the rhododendrons and azaleas just starting to bloom.

Martha Washington

We had odd weather in Seattle yesterday. It was dry, but with a cool wind blowing and high overcast that didn't clear out until late afternoon. John mowed the lawn for a second time, and I went to Costco in the morning.

Shopping at Costco is like a competitive sport. I don't know why that is, because there is plenty for everyone. Something about that big parking lot and warehouse makes people barge around rudely, or maybe they just want to get in and out as fast as possible. Who can blame them? Anyway, speaking of competitive, I was one of the first in the door at 9:30, and snatched up a flat of Martha Washington geraniums before they were pawed over. I believe this one is called "Halo." Dark red flowers trimmed in silver; it should be pretty in clay pots around the mossy old fountain.

After I planted the kitchen window box with plain red geraniums, I hosed down the deck and it was dry with a few minutes. There's already lots of radiant energy from the sun, and despite the clouds and wind, a feeling that spring is winning out.

So nice...

Here's some views of our newly painted rooms, and what a nice change from dirty beige. Take a look at that ceiling molding Tom painted perfectly. I watched him do it, and he made it look easy. It is not easy-- there isn't a straight line or even surface in this house.Our favorite books are going back ever-so-slowly...
Here's corner of the dining room, with more molding professionally done for the first time. This may look boring, but after all those dark walls and clutter, I think it's restful. The new cream colored blinds will be installed in a week or so. They're two inches wide, so it should be a "chunkier" old-fashioned look.
And the clean mantle, with just some pottery and the tourist trap painting I bought in China years ago. Suddenly, less is more.

Bluebells and scilla

Most gardeners love blue. It goes with everything. This early spring flower looks like a "bluebell," but it's a type of scilla called Siberian Squill. It has strong upright flowers, while the wild English bluebell nods at the tip and blossoms on one side of the stem only. This squill actually grows in Siberia, it's that hardy. It spreads like crazy in a rich flower bed, and the lush foliage can smother the delicate lilies trying to poke through at the same time. Then it disappears and you forget about it until next year, so it's hard to get rid of. Not that you would want to, unless you have big mass in the wrong place like I do.

So the "major spring storm" never materialized and left our weathermen with egg on their faces. In fact it was bright and sunny yesterday, and looks like a mixed bag of weather for the weekend. I've been busy inside the past two weeks, and the weeds are having a heyday behind my back. Maybe I'll give the bookshelves a rest and get caught up outside this weekend. The tulips are at their peak, and lasting a long time in this cool weather.

The Havard Classics

The good thing about a painting project is you have to lay hands on everything twice. First when you pack it up (do I really want this?) and again when you put it back (do I still really want this?) When your stuff is out of sight, you realize what you missed and what you can live without. And the fresh cream paint makes everything look new and better when you put it back. Now the shelves are dry, and I'm ready to tackle books. Here's my opportunity to finally act like a librarian and create some order from 25 bags of chaos.

Many years ago, I bought a set of Harvard Classics from a friend; it was a big purchase at the time. They sit on the top shelf and we never read them, but it's nice to know they're there. The Harvard Classics series was originally known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf." It was compiled by Harvard University president Charles W. Eliot and first published in 1909. Dr. Eliot said that an education could be obtained by spending 15 minutes a day reading from a collection of books that could fit on a five-foot shelf. I like this American idea of self-betterment through study and discipline. You think of Abraham Lincoln walking seven miles just to borrow a book.

The Harvard Classics collection was a huge success when it was first published and 350,000 sets were sold in 20 years, so thousands are still moldering in basements and attics. For this reason it's surprisingly easy to find a complete set for $300 or so on Ebay. This works out to about $6 a book. I see there are also new hardcover and paperback versions (now public domain) in print. I should check Amazon and see if I can download one free on my Kindle. Although if I have a sudden urge to dig into some Greek drama or a light volume of Voltaire, I think I'll just pull down my own dusty copy.

April showers

Amanda, Tom and Nova had a safe trip home over the mountains yesterday. It's still winter "up there" with more snow predicted for later in the week. In the lowlands, we'll get rain and unseasonably cool weather for April. I noticed Sizzle put her spring shedding on hold for now, so she looks like an old buffalo with a fuzzy winter neck and sleek summer body.

I miss Nova's smiles in the morning. What a gift to wake up with a happy, shining face and take each day simply as it comes. So much we could learn from our little ones...

Over the land is April,
Over my heart a rose;
Over the high brown mountain
The sound of singing goes.
Say, love, do you hear me?
Hear my sonnets ring?
Over the high, brown mountain,
Love, do you hear me sing?

Robert Lewis Stevenson