E.C. Cherry Blossom Festival

Last weekend was the perfect weekend to visit

Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival

About a one hour drive from home, the flowering Cherry Blossom Trees were magnificent.

More than 4,000 Cherry Blossom Trees are on display

and fill Branch Brook Park with shade and color.

This display is bigger, more diverse and more colorful than the one in Washington, D.C.

These are Double Blossom Cherry Blossoms

This amazing festival had everything...
Music, live entertainment, crafters, family activities, live animals and plenty of yummy food.


You have to love all the "low calorie" food offered at these festivals.
We shared a "chipstick - potato on a stick"
which is basically a baking potato, sliced - on a stick - then deep fried.
Seasonings are added as soon as it comes out of the deep fryer.
We choose sour cream and chive...


YuM!!

Sunday, April 23, 2017
    

Saturday Critters ~ 176 ~

Let's hear it for the boys...

Spring always brings more Male Cardinals to the feeders.

They are brighter in color, chirping their "chip",

eating up plenty of sunflower seeds and using the birdbath for both bathing and drinking.

There are signs of Spring everywhere, especially right here at home.

Sharing today's images with 

Eileen at Viewing Nature With Eileen and 
Anni at I'd Rather Be Birdin 

What I'm Crushin' On

This morning I got a lil' distracted reading my own blog.

Entry upon entry about travel - and all the places we visit -

When I started my blog, I never wanted the blog to become one dimensional...

I wanted it to be diverse and fun.

My initial thought was to share with you, the little things that make life enjoyable. 
The little things that make "my" life fun.

We do enjoy traveling, mostly day trips, adventures we can take in the car.
We never have to travel far because we live in New Jersey...the Garden State
and there is always something beautiful to see, or something fun to do.
Getting back on topic...
here's what I have been crushin' on lately...

Beautiful Tulips from my garden...

A Birds Nest Breakfast...it was a heart, the egg did not cooperate.

The Tulip Garden around my mailbox...
The hubs plants the bulbs every fall, usually on Thanksgiving Day...
I call these my "Spring Surprises".

Homemade Short Ribs on a rainy day...there are no words, 
this is probably one of the best meals I make.

Black Tea...
I had this at IHop and it was really good.

Enough Dill from my Herb Garden...


to make my yummy pasta salad.


Yarn...new yummy yarn for more washcloth knitting.

These Hydro Flasks
Gifted to us at Christmas by my niece Emily.
These Flasks are amazing, keeping food hot or drinks cold for 24 hours.
We use them all the time and love them!!

The purple one is mine,
* smile *
~ peeps know me ~

Longwood Gardens - Part IIII

Longwood Gardens 
has an area devoted to Bonsai Trees

Not as colorful as the other areas of Longwood Gardens but very beautiful just the same.

The training on some of their older plants began in the early 1900's.
If you are interested in the history of the trees, you can read about it here.

Longwood Gardens - Part III

More from Longwood Gardens, 
today we are heading back outdoors to view 

The Idea Garden

The tulips here look just like patchwork quilts...

keep in mind the brochure boosts that more than 240,000 tulips are on display.
If you missed any of the previous posts, Parts I and II can be found here and here.

This is a view of the legendary Main Fountain Garden.
Under construction for the past 2 years, it is scheduled to reopen on May 27th.
If you are interested in reading about this revitalization project, you can read about it here.
Back - right, The Bell Tower is in view. 
It has a very interesting story, you can read about the 62 Bell Carillon here.

Longwood Gardens is about 2 hours from home.
The hubs and I have annual passes and we try to visit each season, 
as the gardens are refurbished seasonally.
I feel so lucky to live so close to this beautiful garden,
no matter when you visit, the gardens will take your breath away!
But I must add that Spring is my favorite time to visit!

Longwood Gardens - Part II

Today, let's go inside the 
Conservatory at Longwood Gardens.
On display, 20 different indoor gardens and 5,500 different types of plants.
The Conservatory was built in 1919 and has since been periodically expanded and renovated.
Presently, the Conservatory spans 195,668 square feet or 4.5 acres.

Tomorrow, we'll go back outdoors, here's an advance peek at the tulips in the outdoor Idea Garden.