Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
“Bicycles,” the City Daily Photo theme for August, takes me to our local bicycle race, “Tour de Dung” (as in Dungeness, the region where the race is held each March). The cyclists are very fast and often colorful.
Click here to see other interpretations of today’s theme from photo bloggers around the world.
The Sequim Lavender Festival planted stars in my eyes before we moved here. So many of the lavender farms have that dreamy, picturesque beauty that fills lifestyle fantasies. For me it’s almost Martha-Stewart-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland. Too crazy good to be true. But it isn’t, at least during Lavender Weekend and most of summer. This is Oliver’s Lavender Farm.
The location is glorious and the grounds are so well groomed. A place this gorgeous needs a combination of staff and obsession. And a fistful of green thumbs, too. I love wandering through such a beautiful farm. Before moving here I held high hopes that some of it might rub off on me.
This is the home that greets you as you arrive at Oliver’s. Really, can’t you just imagine moving in? Help me, Martha!
Many lavender growers allow visitors to walk through their fields and pick bouquets of fresh lavender. People often pose for photos in the fields. Cheap thrills. Take some home!
Workers were busy harvesting lavender at Graysmarsh Farm this week. Soon bundles will scent cars and luggage as our visitors head home after this weekend’s Lavender Festival. Some farms pre-pick bundles for lavender lovers and some are harvesting the herb to dry or distill it for lotions, soaps and essential oil.
Professionals harvest and shape the bushes at the same time.
These bundles were waiting at Jardin du Soleil last week. Lavender bouquets typically run $5 to $6.
Next weekend, July 17-19, is Sequim’s annual Lavender Weekend, an event celebrating all things lavender. As with any crop, timing can be tricky. But this year the lavender fields got the memo and are already showing off blooms. This is a view taken recently at Jardin du Soleil.
The festival features tours of our many lavender farms, a street fair, music performances, and a variety of other community events. Visitors can find an array of lavender in shades from deep purple to pink and white with varieties grown for essential oils, cooking, dried foliage, and classically beautiful landscaping. Most farms sell lavender plants, dried and fresh bouquets, and lavender infused products from soaps and lotions to spices. The view above is Olympic Lavender Farm.
Where else would you go to find an “upside down” version of the world than the carnival of a fair? In this case the carnival was at last year’s Clallam County Fair where young and old trooped onto rides promising to flip their world topsy turvy.
Click here to see how City Daily Photo bloggers from around the world have interpreted today’s first of the month theme of “Upside Down.”
Sequim’s new Civic Center was dedicated a week ago with a brand new totem pole taking center stage in the adjacent plaza. You can see it to the right in the photo above. According to the local Peninsula Daily News, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe was originally asked if they might contribute some wall art to the Center.
The tribe, Sequim’s first residents, decided instead to commission a totem pole from their master carver, Dale Faulstich. The 30 foot pole depicts “The legend of Sequim’s sunshine.” Click here to learn more about the legend as well as the dedication ceremony.