Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
Jardin du Soleil is another of Sequim’s local lavender farms that I never tire of visiting in summer.
I visited on a weekday — weekends may be busier — but in a time of social distancing our lavender farms offer a soothing and pleasant respite.
No one is likely headed to Provence anytime soon in these days of pandemic. But Sequim’s dozen plus lavender farms are a none too shabby consolation.
Sequim is blessed with good growing conditions for lavender and July is the peak season for enjoying it. We have over a dozen farms of varying sizes, each with its own personality and offerings. Purple Haze, which I’m showing you today, is one of the oldest and one I always enjoy visiting.
Sequim’s annual Lavender Festival which includes music, craft sales, and lavender cultivation and distilling demonstrations at many farms, has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic.
The fields at Purple Haze are designed with an artist’s eye. They cover seven hillside acres and the property includes a gift shop and a vacation rental.
Many types of lavender are grown, including early and late varieties, and colors range from almost white to deep, rich purples. The green stripes in this shot are bushes that have already been harvested. The blossoms are available for visitors to pick. Likely, these blossoms went into some of many lavender scented products offered by Purple Haze.
Purple Haze offers ice cream and lavender-infused beverages during summer months. For us no visit would be complete without their lavender lemon custard ice cream (which has very subtle lavender undertones). Richly decadent and delicious.
In May I posted a photo of the barn that once occupied the land in this photo. When I took this shot recently all that was left was the silo. The land is being repurposed for modular housing.
Here’s a shot that I took of it in 2014.
If there’s anything I’ve been doing a lot during home quarantine it’s cooking. Some days I’m more enthusiastic than others. But sometimes I miss things, often ethnic cooking, that I know I can’t cook as well as well as someone with skills and seasonings I don’t have.
The other day we got takeout from Sergio’s, a local Mexican restaurant. A chili rellano and enchilada verde with all the trimmings, including homemade chips and salsa. Enough food for two heavenly meals for this cook.
These signs have continued to show up around town. I posted one in another location last April here. I called it a virtual hug then. It still feels that way.
Summer is the best time to see the American Goldfinch here. It’s always amazing to see them perched in a thin weed stalk no thicker than a pencil lead as they peck for a meal of seeds. This is a male in his bright yellow, showy plumage.
I was close enough yesterday that I heard a “crunch.” When I investigated I discovered that one of my favorite trees at the Dungeness Recreation Area had suffered a devastating failure.
Fully half the tree collapsed. No great wind did it. When I looked through the shrubbery that surrounded it I saw massive rot around its base. Time had taken a toll.
This is one of our native willows — there are three types around here. They are relatively short-lived. Two types, the Pacific or red willow and the Sitka, live in moist soils as this one does. The Scouler or fire willow is a third that is common and also given to wet sites.
The recreation area staff expects to start clearing these branches away today. I hope the remaining upright portions of the tree can remain…if it’s safe. I’m glad no one was nearby when this occurred.
This is one of my favorite trees. I have featured it before. This link will take you to a series that featured it in several seasons. And here it was last January during a snowstorm with a link to other shots.