Better Days

I'm playing with my Photoshop Elements program. I'm not much on processing images extensively, but thought I'd do some experimenting. I saw this house (again) in the Skagit Valley and it's age is really showing now. Hey! The satellite dish is still holding strong though. I bet it was beauty back in the day.

Original Image

End of the Season

Most of the blooms are off of the tulips now, except for a couple of fields at Roozengaarde in the Skagit Valley. The Roozen family business of growing tulips, daffodils and irises is the largest in the world, covering the valley with more than 1,000 acres of field blooms and 16 acres of greenhouses. Maybe next year I will have time to venture up there when more of the fields are in bloom.

Barn Charm - Flower Power

Nestled in the tulips fields of Skagit County.

 Flower Power in Skagit Valley

Tricia at Bluff Area Daily is the host each week for Barn Charm. Click on the logo above and come visiting with us!

Barn Charm - Skagit Gem

It's Monday which means it's time for Barn Charm. Hosted by Tricia at Bluff Area Daily, come barn hopping with us by clicking on the barn logo below.

I found this charmer in the Skagit Valley over the weekend. I like the cleanliness of it. So much so I turned around after passing by it just so I could take a picture on the side of a busy road. It is actually a very pale green color but it doesn't show well in the photo. Bummer. I was so excited about seeing this barn I forgot to check my camera settings before snapping away. Oh well, it is still a fine looking barn.

Skagit Valley Barn

My World Tuesday - Trumpeter Swans

On Saturday, I spent about twenty minutes on the side of a country road, engine off, window down, watching the swans in the farmer's field about seventy to one hundred feet away. Just listening and taking pictures. I love to hear the swans honking to each other, especially when a bicyclist passed by. They'd get up, move a few feet in one direction, and then settle back into the tall grass. Occasionally a few would fly in and join the group. It was wonderful to just stop and enjoy.

Skagit Swans (Click to Enlarge)

Wren, Sandy, Sylvia, Louise, Fishing Guy and Klaus are the team behind My World Tuesday. Click on the logo about to what's happening in other blog worlds.

Barn Charm - Skagit Farm Stand

This is a produce stand during the growing season and they also sold Christmas trees this past year. They've come a long way from having a wagon from which fresh picked corn was sold to this fairly new barn.

Skagit Farm Stand

 Come join Tricia at Bluff Area Daily who hosts Barn Charm each Monday. If you love barns, you'll love this weekly meme. Click on the icon above.

World Bird Wednesday - Trumpeters In Flight

Trumpeter swans in the Skagit Valley...my first entry into World Bird Wednesday.

Click on the icon above to view other great bird shots

Barn Charm - Skagit Valley Charmer

While doing a grocery run on Sunday, I took the scenic route to and from the store. I went down a back road that I had never been on and was rewarded with this unique barn find. While it looks like it could use a little bit of loving, it still had the windmill on top, unlike another nearby one.

Skagit Valley Farm

Trisha at Bluff Area Daily hosts Barn Charm each week. Click on the barn icon above to go visit other barns shared this week.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Today I took my mom up to the Skagit Valley to see the tulip fields in bloom. I generally try to avoid this area during the month of April because of the traffic, but she had never been before so off we went.

We started off at Roozengaarde which has some of the most beautiful tulip gardens I have ever seen. I can't believe all of the different colors, shapes and sizes of tulips we saw.

Tulip Garden

White Emperor

Scarlet Pimpernel

Seattle

Plaisir

Pink Impression

Garden Party

Unknown Variety

Unknown Variety

There was one tulip called Red Riding Hood. Look at the variegation in the leaves. Wonderful! The flower itself wasn't in bloom though.

Roozengaarde was not strickly limited to tulips. They had plenty of daffodils and hyacinths as well as other flowering shrubs and plants.

Iamviolet Rhododendron

King of the Blues Hyacinth

After leaving Roozengaarde, we went driving around the valley past several tulip fields.

The tulips were just so pretty. Pictures don't capture the beauty of it all. It's one of those things that are better in person.

Let's Take a Drive

The weather was halfway decent today so I took a drive.

I wound my way around parts of Skagit Valley, from Fir Island on the south end to Edison up north. Just before reaching Bayview State Park, a series of new telephone poles were laying along the road waiting for installation.

At Ease Soldiers

I stopped at the state park where I saw a few eagles in the distance. The wind was blowing strong enough for a kiteboarder to enjoy himself. Personally I thought it was too darn cold to be out there, even with a drysuit on.

Escaping Boredom on a Board

Beach Scenery

I drove across country roads that I'd never been on, searching for things that made me want to stop and snap a photo. I was surprised by how many others were out driving around enjoying the day.

Skagit Barns

I'm trying to learn more about the different settings on the camera. I might get my own so I can continue to take photos when Karl is out with the other one. I believe I'm starting to have separation anxiety whenever I don't have the camera with me. You see things and go "If I only had the camera!"