Category: Businesses

Water works

Butchart Ross fountain 1

At one end of the Sunken Garden at The Butchart Gardens is a fine excuse to sit on a bench and be entertained. The Ross fountain is a mesmerizing water feature.

Butchart Ross fountain 2

The fountain cycles through an amazing display of patterns. It was created and installed in 1964 for the Gardens’ 60th anniversary by the grandson of the Butcharts, Ian Ross. The family still owns and operates the Gardens.

Butchart Ross fountain 3

The water flows through so many different movements it’s hard to know when a cycle has completed. Even with so much more of the beautiful gardens to take in it’s hard to pull away from this hypnotic view.

More in the Sunken Garden

Butchart path

The Sunken Garden at The Butchart Gardens is probably one of the larger areas in terms of space. Like most areas in the gardens, anywhere a visitor looks from a pathway exposes a new area of panorama, either near or at a distance. Gardeners were out in force when we arrived in the morning, raking, pruning, and primping the grounds. Nearly a million visitors a year come to Butchart.

Butchart four tulips

It rained the day before we visited.

Garden inspiration

Butchart sunken garden pano

Here’s the chief reason for our recent visit to Victoria: The Butchart Gardens. We’d never been there in spring and I was longing for tulips, lots of tulips. After winter’s grey palette, Butchart was an explosive celebration of spring.

Butchart colorful pond

The Butchart Gardens are 55 acres reclaimed from a limestone quarry and are designated a National Historic Site of Canada. They are the result of over 100 years of loving care and stunning design. The Sunken Garden I’m showing you today starts with a lookout (in the top photo). Ponds reflect some of the spectacular rhododendrons, willows, and other foliage in the shot above.

Butchart layers

The gardens have paths that wind through beds planted with masses of flowers. In spring it’s daffodils, tulips, fragrant hyacinths, forget-me-nots, and more. Beautifully shaped trees and larger shrubs complete the picture.

I think I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite places in the world. I’ll show you more of these incomparable gardens in the coming days.

The Coho ferry

Coho cart

One of the nice things about Sequim is the ease – and pleasure – of travel to Canada. A 90 minute ferry ride on the Black Ball Ferry M.V. Coho takes travelers across the international border into Victoria B.C.

Day trip or longer, it’s like travel in the olden days of the last century. Dare I say it? You don’t have to remove your shoes, belts, keys, or day packs as stern people x-ray you and your gear for overly large bottles of shampoo or lotion. The lineup for customs isn’t onerous and the agents are even polite, if not pleasant. It’s a welcome throwback.

I’ll show you some of what I saw on my recent trip to Victoria in the coming days.

Rusting Rooster

Rusting Rooster 1

The Rusting Rooster opened late last year in downtown Sequim. It certainly looks like a fun shop. It features “upcycled, repurposed, vintage, local art, and cool finds.” Can’t argue with that. At least for now it’s only open on Fridays and Saturdays.

Rusting Rooster 2

There has been an assortment of businesses at this location. Since I’ve been here there has been an auto repair shop and auto detailing. And through it all the Texaco and the Chevron express lube signs have remained. At least one of the businesses tried to get the Chevron sign removed. After all, Chevron wasn’t there anymore. But Sequim has a sign code that doesn’t permit a sign to be removed if it’s been in place for some measure of time. At least I think that’s what it is. Truthfully, I don’t understand the code. Bottom line: the sign stays, even if Chevron doesn’t.